Planting Our Tree: Helping the Earth and Strengthening Our Family Bond

I consider myself a hands on parent. I do things with the kids and often but I found that planting a tree helped make us a little closer.

Let me back up. We won a $25 dollar card to Home Depot from Gather so we could plant a tree for Earth Day. This is actually one of the greatest things I won and I've been lucky enough to win some pretty cool stuff. I say this is one of the greatest things because I had to use it to buy a tree. I'd love to buy more trees and stuff like that but it's just not in our budget so this way, we got to be green, bond and have fun.

I know it sounds cheesy saying that it helped us get closer to each other but don't underestimate planting new life, together as a family. The older two kids often argue with each other and while we were doing this, my older son was actually giving his younger brother tips! It also helped make my partner feel more connected to our family and I won't deny it, I look forward to watching our tree grow together with the ones I love.

It all started with a trip to Home Depot. The older two boys were in school and the afternoons aren't a good time for us to go to the store so I took my younger son with me to help pick out a tree. The kids had said they'd like an orange tree so that's what we were on the lookout for.

My youngest son has PDD so being a part of this was extra special to him. He has a hard time communicating in ways that we can understand (though he's getting better!) so he was excited about being at the "plant store" and pointed at the tree he thought looked good.

Helping pick out a tree.

After looking at several different orange trees, we found THE tree to plant!

After the oldest son were home from school and homework was finished, it was time to go outside and get the ground ready. They were quite excited to dig in.

First we picked a spot together:

Digging in

Then we had to soften up the ground with water.

Then it was Seth's turn:

They finished getting the hole ready and then they each wanted to pose with the tree before putting it into the ground.

and together:

Before taking the tree out of it's container, the kids decided to see if the hole was wide and deep enough so they set it inside.

They dug the hole too deep so Carleen helped them get set up with a bag of soil we'd bought.

They used their hands to scoop some dirt into the bottom of the hole.

They tested the tree in the hole again:

Success! It was time to take the plant out of the container.

It was a group effort.

It was time to put it in the ground!

The boys looked foward to putting more dirt into the hole.

They took turns getting it out of the bag.

Carleen used a blue light saber to help the kids get the dirt all the way around. She doesn't need no stinking regular garden tools! The force was within her.

Dumping the last of the bag in:

Chase put the tiny bit of soil from the tree container in too.

Do they look proud or what?

So there you have it. I hope you enjoyed our family experience. The kids loved planting a tree.  ♥ Carleen♥ helped. I helped (though since I took the pictures you didn't see me!). ♥ Carleen♥ wishes that her daughter could have been with us to do it too but I told her that we have a big enough yard that they can plant something on their own later on when she is here on one of her weekend visits or this summer.

We bought a Valencia Orange tree. The kids have already decided how old they might be when it starts producing. We can't wait. They'll help with the care of it.

If you're looking to have some Earth Day fun with your children, visit Kaboodle here (http://holidays.kaboose.com/earth-day/) , they have a nice selection of things to do.

Happy Earth Day everyone!