It’s Tuesday… Time to Dance!

**Just because.**

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Go ahead,*try* telling me your toe wasn’t tapping!
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By the way, Shannon has split her treasures between Green Gemini’s Designs and Angel Kisses Alaska.

Think I can talk her into making some stylin’ lanyards from which my school i.d. card can dangle?  Plain ol’ cotton just isn’t pretty enough for my teacher fashion:

BLECH.

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A Full Teacher Work Day Tomorrow

…and you know what *that* means! No meetings, no professional development, no inservice topics to discuss. My to-do list? A full page in my notebook. But it’s a small notebook. And I’ll have Dear Daughter to help. We…will…plow.

Tonight I’ll be making the Rolo/Pretzel/Pecan nummies, and tomorrow my house will be smelling delicious as I bake cookies, cookies, and more cookies for my colleagues’ Friday treat. When you’re new to the staff and can’t possibly learn the names of everyone in the school, I highly recommend taking in wonderful treats. It’s staff support, I tell you!

Don’t tell my grade level colleagues, but I’ll be making something for each of them this weekend! We are going to have a GREAT year!

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I need to make sure I have my “beginning of the year” kindergarten playlist loaded onto my iPod this weekend.  Songs to remember?  Shake My Sillies Out, The Wheels on the Bus, Five Little Monkeys, Purple People Eater, YMCA… and some Summer Solstice selections by Windham Hill for our “Brain Break” time.  Can’t forget Apples and Bananas (you *know* it’s a cool song if Keith Urban will sing it!):

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Tomorrow is Show and Share Thursday (hey, I didn’t forget this time!) so check back in for some updated photos of the classroom- school starts Monday, so we’re in the home stretch!

Need…More…Coffee

I’m ever-so-resistantly moving back to my school schedule.  In bed by nine(ish), up at five(ish), out the door by seven(ish), needing another cup of coffee by three(ish).  Problem is, if I drink coffee at three, I’ll be exhausted but unable to get to sleep at nine.

My toddler has been *so* helpful keeping me on my school schedule over the past two weekends as well.  He’s awake and rarin’ to go at five.   Not five(ish), FIVE.  Bouncing.  Running.  Yelling.  Happy, smiling, exuberant.  No coffee needed.  Not a chance of sleeping in for me.  I feel no guilt sending in the attack toddler to wake up Daddy and Sister at seven.  NONE.

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My husband took me to Lydia’s last night for our anniversary dinner.  Num, num, and MORE NUM!  He enjoyed the bottomless pasta (the servers had a much prettier sounding name for it) and I indulged with a perfectly cooked salmon steak on a bed of Yukon Gold potatoes and (get ready to catch my mother as she faints) green beans!  We had a piece of “Happy Anniversary” Tiramisu for dessert, and then attempted to burn off some calories walking through Barnes and Noble.

Finding the newest editions of Somerset’s Artful Blogging, Somerset Home, and Somerset Life in stock at B-and-N also helped burn off some of our delicious dinner: jumping up and down with glee is exercise, right?

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Yes, I’m heading back to my classroom today.  I managed to avoid it yesterday, though I did take the kids on a bit of a drive to find another teacher store out of town, and visited Goodwill to find a reading chair.  Two vests and three purses for the pretend center later, I found a sturdy yet comfortable chair.  I’ll be so happy when my class finally has that “all pulled together” look, ready for students with bright, shining eyes.

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Speaking of bright, shining eyes, get comfy, and watch this video of Benjamin Zander, speaking about classical music and life, and think about checking the connection you have with your students when you meet them for the first week of school:

So Often, Kids Just Get it Right: Happy 4th

Thank you, Cactus Cuties.

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Getting Back to My Teaching Groove

…and because I teach kindergarten students, this one is on my “must-practice” list:

Sing along, won’t you?

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.
I dunno why she swallowed that fly,
Perhaps she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,
That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly -
Perhaps she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a bird;
How absurd, to swallow a bird!
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly -
Perhaps she’ll die

There was an old lady who swallowed a cat.
Imagine that, she swallowed a cat.
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird …
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly
Perhaps she’ll die

There was an old lady who swallowed a dog.
What a hog! To swallow a dog!
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat…
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird …
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly
Perhaps she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a goat.
Just opened her throat and swallowed a goat!
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog …
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat.
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird …
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly
Perhaps she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a cow.
I don’t know how she swallowed a cow!
She swallowed the cow to catch the goat… She swallowed the goat to catch the dog…
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat…
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird …
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
But I dunno why she swallowed that fly
Perhaps she’ll die.

There was an old lady who swallowed a horse -
She’s dead, of course.

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Don’t forget to look for these when you visit the library or bookstore:

Don’t Mind Me, I’m Just Jammin’ Out

… to very acceptable remakes as I drive with the family to Kansas!



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What are some of your favorite “versions?” Dear Daughter is crushed I haven’t included anything by Hilary Duff…*sigh*…I just couldn’t do it. My iPod will be shuffling through music from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s…new John Mayer, Jason Mraz, Goldfrapp, with Journey/Steve Perry as my usual reliable motivator. Of course America will keep me in the driving groove:

Music Memories

As you’re reading, I’m probably wrangling the toddler out of the movers’ way, or making lunch for the crew, or trying to coax Anni the Cat out of her hidey hole so that the movers can empty the furniture from the next room. Thanks to postdating my blog entries this week, I’ve been able to supervise the wrapping of my dishes, glasses, and other breakables while *you* get to decide whether or not to indulge in some of my awesome music memories from the Bordertown. The memories aren’t from this year, they’re from my childhood, 1970-1980. If the tunes get stuck in your head for the rest of the day, blame my mother… I do!

(Enjoy the fashion!)

Diana Ross and the Supremes, Where Did Our Love Go

Tommy James, Crimson and Clover

ABBA, Dancing Queen

Seals and Crofts, Summer Breeze

Mom let me listen to the good stuff!