PLC Conference

Professional Learning Communities have been a goal for our staff for a few years now. I can honestly say I don't feel like 'goal' is the right term anymore. We are on our way. I now consider PLC's a work in progress in our building.

Curt, my principal:

Ken, second grade teacher, and extraordinary trouble maker:

Diana, my brilliant teaching partner:

And myself:

went to Porland to attend a conference on PLC's. The first night there we went to The Kennedy School for dinner.

The burgers, beer and tater tots were delicious.

At the conference we learned a lot. (Including how NOT to open soda during presentations.) Now we all feel ready to get a fast start on our work in progress next year.

Happy 40.1

2010 will ring in the big 4-0 to many of my closest friends. In February, Marc and I took a quick trip to Medford to surprise Dianna for her 40th birthday party.

Her husband Greg went over the top in planning the party. I'm pretty sure it wasn't a complete surprise, but I don't think she ever guessed that I would be driving 8 hours to spend the weekend with her.

We had our nails done, went shopping, and talked endlessly. It is remarkable that we can go months without seeing each other or talking at all and pick up like it was yesterday.

The Jello shots were nasty - but we each put one away for old-times sake.

Mr. Party Planner himself was the first to hit-the-hay... but he had worked hard, so we didn't torture him too much about it.

I hope they get to head up our way in June to watch me roll into the next decade!

Mini-Me

Taryn got her braces last Monday. For the record, she is much tougher than I was when I got mine on. She only has the tops ones so far. The bottom braces will go on once her molars come in a little more. All four of us needed braces, Marc is a 'been there, done that' so we are 3/5 of the way through the braces.

Homemade Noodles

My mom bought me a pasta maker a few years ago for Christmas.

I don't have much counter space but I engineered a pretty sophisticated system to dry my noodles.

-Yep, a $9 shower curtain rod.

The Chicken Noodle Soup was wonderful. I had enough noodles left over for my lunch on Monday. (Shh... I am hiding them from my girls.)

Phil 4:4-7

Today, maybe because I had read of a single mother who is raising 4 children on her own, three of which are autistic; maybe, I had a moment today because it is Christmas. For what ever reason, the second reading today spoke to me. It could be that this verse spoke to me so clearly because right now life is really great. It isn't picture perfect, but it is pretty amazing. So I really wanted to write this down for those days when things are not all in order. I am getting much better at letting go of things that I can not control. This verse needs to be my verse. I need to let it speak to me when my imagination of 'what-if's' gets the best of me. I hope to be able to live this verse, through the good times and through times of struggle.

Phil 4:4-7

Brothers and sisters:
Rejoice in the Lord always.
I shall say it again: rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all.
The Lord is near.
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Rejoice in kindness, without fear and anxiety.

Merry Christmas to my friends & family ~ near and far!

New do...

I'm not a blonde right now. I've gone dark before, but never this dark. My first graders are going to flip tomorrow. Mark my words, some sweet little kid will give me a nice compliment, but I bet at least 5, no 8, kids will freak out and tell me they liked my hair the 'old' way. And by that, I hope they mean they liked it better blonde and not GRAY. There was a lot of gray to cover up. When I got called Grandma (twice in two weeks by different kids) I knew it was time to spice it up a bit.

Also, I'm not a big fan of self-portraits. They seem to be even worse when you are a nearly 40 year old trying to hide your braces. Sheesh, is it April yet?

**SPOILER**

The following images may spoil a surprise if you

• have recently adopted a baby boy from China
• are expecting a baby boy this spring

or

• currently are a teacher to one of my children
• are a fabulous assistant in my room
  

This is what I have been up to in my sewing room for the past 8 days! The five table runners have been a work in progress for 2 years. My apologies to the teachers of my children last year. I hope you liked the Starbucks cards, I love quilting and doing projects... but they sometimes take me longer (a lot longer) than I intend.

I actually have one more I made... but I liked it so much I am keeping it for myself. It is vintage red-white-blue for 4th of July.



Both quilts are a new pattern called 'I Spy with a Twist'.
It is my favorite type of pattern - one that looks more difficult than it actually is.



I am trying to decide what projects I will tackle over Christmas Break. I will need to help the girls get started on 4H projects soon... so my projects may be put on hold again.

Simple Minds... Simple Joys?

I decided to start collecting old spools of thread.



They fit perfectly on the ledge around my sewing room.



I can spend hours trimming up the loose threads.



I can organize them by color.

If I get bored I can play in my button box.

Simple minds only need simple joy?

Maybe.

Or is the truth hiding?

I only get joy out of the simple tasks because I am procrastinating
the bigger messes that are not so simple to clean up.

9-9-09

As a 10 year veteran, but first year, first-grade teacher I was DELIGHTED a week ago to see this date on my plan book. It meant that for an entire day I could plan '9' activities. So we came up with 9 ways we played with 9's at the end of the day.

1. Sang 9 songs...
2. Stuck 9 stickers on a nine inch piece of paper...
3. Sat quiet for 9 seconds (and not one second longer)...
4. Wrote '9 or nine' for 9 minutes quietly (my favorite)...
5. Made 9 rhymes (they didn't get 'wine' but did get Frankenstein-wow)...
6. Fact families of 9...
7. Read Comet's Nine Lives by Jan Brett...
8. Read Girl Wonder: A Baseball Story in Nine Innings by Deborah Hopkinson...
9. Had a 9 min. recess (oops...should have be 15, but I can't get my schedule down)

Another bit of interest for the day was the lead story in the EO, our local newspaper. Yep, that is yours truly. Now, in the honor of 9-9-09 may I share these thoughts:

1. Thank you for leaving out the nose picking boy.
2. Thank you for not mentioning the farting that was taking place.
3. Thank you for not showing my roots that got colored/covered today.
4. Thank you for taking time to show a bit of extra effort we all do in education.
5. Thank you for sharing that we do our best to be resourceful.
6. Thank you for an article not about a teacher having sex with her students.
7. Mental note: Starch is better than a quick iron job.
   
8. Next time, let's not take the picture at that angle, please.
9. Next time, could you leave out the 'vultures on roadkill' comment?

And my final, too good to leave out Reagan-ism, overheard by dad as she and Grace were circling the catalogs for Christmas, (yes, already.)

Grace: I want this.
Reagan: I want this.
Grace: I want this.
Reagan: I want this - oh and this too. Because you know Grace, when Taryn moves out we are going to have a lot more room, and then Mom and Dad can spend all their money on us!

Oh, so that's how that works!

Mark your calendars everyone...the next time we can have this much fun on a school day will be 11-11-11. I can hardly wait! (It is a Friday, BTW)

First Grade

I have spent countless hours the past few weeks getting ready for my new adventures in teaching first grade. Here is a glimpse inside my classroom.

We will start with a caterpillar/butterfly/Eric Carle unit

My boards are cute, but they don't hold a candle to Mrs. Z.
She's untouchable.

She painted her own paper and free-hand cuts her letters.



I love-love the sun!

This shiny, organized, *empty* classroom gives me peace just like when I look at a sleeping child.



Tranquil, sweet, perfect, full of hope!

The top posters were created by the talented Queen Renee. I was delighted when she offered her services. I hope she does not regret opening that can of worms. The best part of Renee coming wasn't the posters, even though they are fantastic. While we were chit-chatting I mentioned being from Klamath Falls. She smiled and told me she was born there. Then we started the 'where did your family live, how long were you there, what schools did you attend' routine, when she stated, "My mom went to school in Bonanza."

My grandma was the sixth grade teacher in Bonanza forever. She was *only* a sixth grade teacher too. She never got a wild hair and decided she needed a change. She was a smart cookie.

It only took a quick phone call for Renee to confirm that her mom was a student in my grandma's classroom. It warmed my heart. It was so unlikely, unexpected for my grandma to show up today. Just like always, she has a knack for knowing when I need a little nudge. I'm going to be just fine in my new grade. There will be bumps, but I'll just pull myself up, dust myself off and try again. I know she would be tickled to see me teach. She's been gone for five years. Missing her sneaks up on me...today was one of those days, but in a good way!


************

Some things should never come out of the closet.

I want to keep it real here. No false illusions. This is my closet, it houses all that are NOT right in the world. Yes, things fall on me when I open this closet. Yes, this was on the to-do list.
Someday! The closet is closely related to the area 'behind my counter'.
I did not get a shot of that, but you get the idea.

This is what I brought home with me. I have vowed to spend the day at home on Sunday. I will make good on that, however some time needs to be spent reading teachers guides or I may be in big trouble come about Wednesday.

First Grade : Learning : Growing : Changing

I can't wait!

Dear Teacher,

I need to remember this ...

Even though I am a teacher and a mom, the teacher in me sometimes forgets what the mom in me knows!

Vodka Mom did a guest post here and I will read it again and again this year. I will also put it in the staff room.

Sometimes it works...

• I like to be organized, but it doesn't always happen.
• I like to be efficient, but it doesn't always happen.
• I like to be creative, but it doesn't always happen.
• I like my children to do their share of the work, but it doesn't always happen.

I will keep you posted as to how this turns out!

This is my camp packing list I made for the girls. The plan will be for them to pack for themselves and then have one of their sisters double check their bag and 'grade' them on their efforts. I will be tickled pink if this makes the 'getting ready to go' part of camping a little less hassle for me. I am thinking it will be easy enough to change around for different trips by just copying and pasting the pictures.

We head out for Cousin Camping at Trillium Lake tomorrow morning. The weather is going to be a cool 60 degrees while we are there. I am looking forward to cool after our very hot 4th of July weekend. Triple digits are miserable! Our tent trailer has a heater but no air conditioner so I prefer to be a little cold, rather than being too hot.

Wisconsin: Fish Tales

FISH ON!

During our vacation in Wisconsin we were able to spend hours on the lakes and in the creek fishing. In the lakes we all caught blue gill and a few crappie.

In the creek, Marc and I were looking for
'THE BIG ONE'!

Our wonderful fish guides Don & Cal assured us we should be able to catch a Northern Pike.

We both were skunked the first few days we went out. It took us a while to get the feel of our poles. Both of us spent more time than we would have liked untangling 'birds nests' in our line.

Finally, one evening when I was about to call it quits I got a strike.

I'd like to say I was cool as a cucumber, but I squealed like a 4 year old. Everyone on the creek knew I had caught my Northern.

My fish measured 27" and weighed in at 5 lbs.



See my big muscles?

Now if you think Marc had fish fever before I caught my fish, it only got worse. Marc was diligent in getting out on the creek - taking with him both poles. Heaven forbid I catch another fish before he had caught his.

As luck would have it...he did make a catch on the last day...



His fish measured 30" and weighed in at 7 lbs.
Stinker...couldn't let me out fish him!

See his bigger muscles, holding his bigger fish?

Fishing was just one of the wonderful
adventures we had on our vacation.

Mixed Bag...

This week was a mixed bag for me. It is really hard for me to wrap my brain around everything. A list is about all I can do for now.

+beautiful flowers
-terrible allergies...

-sweaters, clouds, wind to bring in the week
+sun, sunscreen, flip-flops to close the week

+Tractor Bob (our wonderful neighbor) tilled a huge garden for me
-rocks, rocks, and more rocks are taunting me from where seeds should be

+An $8,000 grant was awarded to a team of teachers at our school to purchase Promethean Boards for next year. Yeah!
-I realized I was $100 short of grant money to pay for the District Art Show that I will be setting up tomorrow. Oops.

-Saturday morning we got the news that Walt Johnson had passed away. No matter how prepared you think you are...grief takes hold and won't let go.
+Prayers were answered to end the 2 year courageous battle. Our faith helps comfort us in knowing that this faithful man is rejoicing with Our Savior.

+My dad had to check on cattle that he has at a feedlot in Boardman, so we got a wonderful two-day visit. He even went and spoke at both first grades at Washington about raising cattle. Reagan proudly introduced her Grandpa as Uncle Jason. (You didn't know I came from one of 'those' family trees did you?)
-My mom didn't make the trip because she is in Portland watching my niece and nephew while my sister is in Boston to run the marathon tomorrow. Run hard Jilly! I am proud of you.

+About 6 hours after my dad left, Marc's parents rolled in from Eastern Montana. Marc, his dad, and Tractor Bob dug post holes for our fence. Vera (mostly) and I whipped out another 'Recess' quilt. Many hands make for light work!
-24 short hours later they loaded up to head to Yakima to see Great-Grandma & Great-Grandpa. The trip was too short, but we made the most of every minute.

The week ahead looks like another busy-mixed-bag sort of week. The weather is all over the charts, my allergies will be too. I will delight in hanging all the incredible art for the 5th Annual Pendleton School District Art Show on Monday and then tear down on Thursday in time to help set up for the memorial service for our dear friend.

May comfort and peace shake the grip that grief holds on us...
May friends and family know how to reach out and ease those hurting...
May the words come to help me explain to my girls that death is a time to rejoice and not fear, even though we feel such sadness and loss.
May we all cherish in love and life the gifts we have been given.

47 days...

Lent: 47 days of:

• no Facebook


• no Blogging...or blog surfing


• no Diet Coke


• no coffee
  
• (almost) no Chocolate*

*Does accidental ingestion count? I mean, I didn't accidentally eat the chocolate donut gems, but I just did it without thinking. As far as I can tell, it was my only slip.

While I was 'out' I kept myself plenty busy. I wasn't sure what would be the worst of my sacrifices. The computer withdrawal was pretty tough, but I think it helped me the most. The Diet Coke was only really bad one time...that was at the movie theater. Gatorade simply does not wash down movie theater popcorn adequately. The chocolate was bad! No coffee was the worst! I really missed my morning cup of java. I think it is just so routine in the way I start the day. It is also impossible to isolate yourself from the tempting 'fresh coffee smell' in the staff room. Tea just didn't quite cut it.

Here is a quick recap of events around here:

Baby bummer lambs - two - Flower & Rose - adopted from people who quickly realized that the 'cute' takes a lot of work. Luckily, by the time we got them they were only needing 2-3 bottles a day...and they are now completely weaned.

Puppies - two - You saw Griz as a little ball of fur...he now looks HUGE compared to our new addition 'Basil'. They are only 2 months apart in age, but right now Griz looks enormous next to her. We think Griz is 1/2 poodle & 1/2 terrier. Basil is 1/2 Shih Tzu & 1/2 Schnauzer. We love them LOTS.

4H Lambs -two - Buck (who jumps very high) & Storm (who escaped his pen one very windy afternoon) are growing and thriving.

Sewing - lots -

• 4H outfits:

Reagan: Olivia PJ bottoms & T-Shirt

Grace: Marco Polo Monkey swim pants & T-Shirt

Taryn: Flower tank top & demin capri's

• Anne: Bird quilt as a house warming gift for the Nelson's

Phew... there was more... but I'm getting sleepy. Did I mention that by stepping away from the computer that I got at least one or two extra hours of sleep each night?