GoodyBlog, Shop.com and Samsung, THANK YOU!
Look at this happy face:
At the beginning of the summer, GoodyBlog posted a terrific Father’s Day Giveaway, with one of the prizes being a fifty inch television and stereo surround sound system offered by Shop.com. I posted a comment entering the giveaway, but never expected to win. Fast forward two weeks later, and I received an email notifying me that I had won the prize for my husband! He did the happy dance, I did the happy dance, and then Shannon (GoodyBlog) and Sheila (Shop.com) figured out the logistics of holding the television and stereo surround system for us as we moved from Texas to Kansas.
My husband opened the boxes this weekend, and my goodness, talk about a kid in a candy store! He set up the Samsung Surround Sound System (the wireless speakers are way cool!) which also is a multiple disk dvd player with a station for my iPod, and placed the television (also from Samsung) in its place of honor in the living room:
The picture is sharp, the sound is phenomenal, and my husband…is now glued to the couch.
Never fear, dear Readers, the kids and I will shanghai the remote this evening so we can watch a family movie together with popcorn!
Thank you, thank you, thank you Goodyblog, Shop.com and Samsung!
Bloggin’ the Blues
Congratulations Paulette F.! Your name was drawn for the blue tulle wreath! Email me a.s.a.p. with your snail mail info and I’ll put this pretty thing in the mail for you this week!
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More blue links:
*The album Blue by Simply Red (I love Mellow My Mind)
*Robert McCloskey’s Blueberries for Sal
* My blue selections from Flickr:
1. blue moo, 2. blue hair, 3. Osiyan marine blue in Jain Temple, 4. Blue Angel Tears, 5. blue shoes., 6. Greek blue, 7. Blue Morpho Butterfly, 8. Blue Roses, 9. Blue Moon
*My favorite blueberry muffin recipe
Show and Share Thursday: Thimbles
My mother started a thimble collection for me *years* ago, which thankfully several friends have continued to add to:
Pewter thimbles, porcelain thimbles, metal thimbles, figurine-style thimbles, Royal Family thimbles… though in honor of May Day, I’ll show you closeups of the floral thimbles:
A daffodil and a shamrock:
A red rose with golden leaves:
California sunflowers:
A lotus:
A vining flower on black lacquer:
Pink porcelain rosettes on glass:
A bunny hiding amongst leaves and flowers:
Old Country Roses:
Blue….what are they?
And my favorite, pink roses:
Do you know which thimble I’d find hilarious to add to my collection?
Yep, the Monopoly Thimble!
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Have you ever played the Thimble Game?
One person hides the thimble somewhere in a room. Children/family members are then allowed into the room to hunt for the thimble one by one. Once each child has found it, he/she leaves it and sits down in the middle of the room. After all the children have found it, the first one to find it gets to hide it the next round. Of course the giggles, twitters, inhales of breath, etc., make it easier for younger children to play as they take their cues from the other players who are trying their hardest to not give the location away!
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~Inspired Ideas, volume1, number 3 has arrived!
~Ez at Creature Comforts offers a “D.I.Y. Paper Wrapped Soaps” tutorial in time for Mother’s Day and Teacher Appreciation Week…
~Skip to My Lou offers some of the cutest Teacher Appreciation gift/craft ideas I’ve seen in a looooooonnnnnnnnggggggggg time!
~Laura Rebecca’s Kitchen is baking again, this time it’s Peanut Butter Cinnamon Raisin Oatmeal Cookies…num!
~Kelly at PhotoJojo has found a web site that will “oldify” photos you choose to upload…
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And my newest blog discovery?
(go, go, go, you know you want to!)
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Don’t forget to leave a comment here for my blue wreath giveaway!
Wednesday’s Wreath…a GIVEAWAY!
Funny, the inspiration you can find in the clearance sale bins at Michael’s! Tulle on sale, in a color I haven’t used before…some pretty pink buttons, a piece of pink felt, left over blue fabric, and some wavy blue sparkle yarn (also on clearance). Put it all together around a wreath form and voila:
With a few sheer pink ribbons throughout:
Blue felt too:
And no, it goes with NONE of our home decor. It’s too foo-foo for Dear Daughter, and I’ll be lucky to get the buttons I’ve chosen as “filler” back from the toddler in order to finish this pretty take on a blue mood.
Eureka!
A giveaway! Yeppers, I want to guarantee that this blue/pink/tulle combo goes to a blue/pink/tulle loving home! Leave a comment on this blog post (or at Kindergarten’s 3 R’s, same post) by next Wednesday, May 5, and I’ll draw the winning name to be posted on Saturday!
I’ll post another photo once the wreath is completed- you know, after I sneak the buttons away from the toddler during his nap!~
Childish Clothing/Hostess With the Mostess
Remember when I told you that I had won a 500$ giveaway from Childish Clothing via Hostess With the Mostess?
Guess what arrived today:
I’ll post a slideshow at the end of this blog so you can see my toddler sorting through all of his cool, new, funky fashions, but here are some close-ups for you:
It was like Christmas (or a fashion-filled birthday!) in April when we unwrapped all of the goodies, and the timing couldn’t have been better, considering the toddler just went through a huge growth spurt:
“Big boy” underwear…
Some of the coolest tee’s out there (they say “My Dad is My Hero” and “My Dad is Cooler than Your Dad”…
The softest shorts and pants (t-shirt soft!), swim trunks too:
And big boy flip flops (we’re still working on keeping these on our feet):
Go, go, go check out Childish Clothing (we ordered for our son, but yes, they have girl and mommy-to-be items…great gift items too!)-
…and see if you can tell which shirt ended up being our toddler’s favorite:
THANK YOU Childish Clothing and Hostess With the Mostess!
Making Progess/Giveaway Reminder
I’m making progress on assembling the hearts for what will hopefully become a Valentine wreath- this is taking much more time than it usually does when it comes to wreath making, but that’s to be expected when I’m *not* just wrapping garlands, bows, and clusters of flowers to a grapevine form!
Don’t forget, I’ll be drawing the winning name for the Book Giveaway tomorrow (Sunday) evening- go here to enter by leaving a comment, or email me directly at michaelek1(at)yahoo(dot)com a.s.a.p. .Good luck!
Show and Share Thursday: Loose Ends
Today I’m tying up loose ends: finishing up the latest baby afghan (pink!), finding a nice “rule” font for the plain notecards I decided to dress up with patterned paper and stickers (”embellish” is too-grand a term for what I do, Queen Scrapbooker/Mixed Media Artist I am *NOT*), packaging up giveaway books in preparation for mailing on Monday morning (check Kindergarten’s 3 R’s to see how to enter), and taking Daughter back to the dentist to re-repair a chipped tooth. All this while my husband prepares for his latest hunting trip (which any military spouse will tell you is like a mini-TDY, so the house will finally be CLEAN!) and I try to decide what Valentiney-type of craft to busy myself with this weekend.
This afghan brings my baby-stash up to eight:
These are the cards that despite my lack of embellishment know-how still look more appealing with the little work I DID do to them:
And here are the giveaway books, nestled in and ready to move to their new home where I’m sure they’ll be shared and enjoyed:
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Some sites to share with you:
Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy now has a site all about HER up and running now, and has some very cute crochet patterns (available for purchase and download) that I’ll have to take a closer look at now that I’m wanting to take a short break from afghans.
Songs for Teaching has a list of songs for Valentine activities for February. Some of the songs have sound file samples you can listen to- my favorites are “Valentine’s Song” by Hap Palmer and “Valentine, Valentine” by Denise Gagne. Head back to the home page and you’ll find recommended songs for academic subjects, holidays, etc.
Though I’ve never been a Room Mother myself, Parents.com has some wonderful Valentine Treat recipes that have me looking forward to the time when the toddler has his first kindergarten class party several years down the road- I can hear the oohs and ahhs already!
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Remember, if you have a craft, recipe, photo, or idea to share as a teacher, blogger, crafter, parent, or military spouse, feel free to email me at michaelek1(at)yahoo(dot)com by each Wednesday of the week so I can add them to Show and Share Thursday- yep, I’m happy to link back to you!
Have You Ever Lost a Day?
Feel free to check yesterday’s blog for proof that *I* certainly have! Yes, yes, I appreciate your kindness- refraining from chucking a stuffed animal at me while yelling “Helloooo, McFly!” Sigh. It was a wonderful Monday, not Tuesday in fact. My brain did a time warp. The fact that I’d had a good day must have subconsciously registered to me that it couldn’t have been Monday, because who has a good day on the first day of the week? Perhaps I just didn’t have enough coffee.
Today is Tuesday. And I know why I’m “off” this morning. The toddler was up at 12:45 a.m. He was up at 2:15 a.m. Round three was at 3:05 a.m. Fittingly, round four was at 4:00 a.m. Daughter decided to sleep in because she *knew* Mom would come and wake her up. Didn’t happen. Daughter woke ME up at 7:25 a.m. with “Mom! I missed the bus!” Who was asleep? Daddy and toddler. Thank goodness the coffee pot didn’t die during the night. Cup of coffee number one was chugged on the way to school. It wasn’t enough however to numb the effects of hearing the school’s daily announcements over the intercom.
Imagine the dullest voice you’ve ever heard. Now imagine it droning on and on with a series of public-service-type announcements at 7:45 a.m., first class period of the day, at a junior high school. The counselor’s statement ended with “Students, if you are being abused or neglected, know that there are people here at school who can help you. You can make an appointment with the school counselor to get help. Remember, you can have a good day, or not, the decision is yours.” Followed by the principal with several announcements he thought sounded humorous (they weren’t), concluding with “Teachers, please take this time to do a school uniform check in your classrooms. Make sure all students are wearing the school uniform appropriately. Check that undershirts are the required white color.” Yadda yadda yadda yadda (in drone-tone). Ten minutes of mind-numbing “essentials” that frankly, made me wish I had some Kahlua in my coffee mug. Okay, a lot of Kahlua.
Who was walking in to the building as the morning announcements were wrapping up? Substitute teachers. Not kidding. Other tardy students walked by the office without signing in, and without stopping when teachers addressed them about their hoods, or shirttails hanging out. Wow, that dress code enforcement is really consistent, I tell you. Did I mention that in this very bi-lingual city, district, neighborhood, that the announcements were only made in English?
What worries me? In my mind, the dress code announcement/request by the principal (along with three other “reminders”) could have easily been made via school email, at the last staff meeting, or in a morning bulletin (and so logically was only done over the loudspeakers as some sort of reminder/enforcement addressing students). Yes, the teacher in me wondered how much time was lost sitting through the babble. I also wondered how difficult it would be to get the kids on track and transitioned for classwork after getting their minds on (or off) track regarding their undershirts and possible personal states of abuse or neglect. I mostly wondered why any staff would choose to start each and every day in such a way. It was prison, not school. And the district wonders why students are disinterested, resentful, sneaky walking zombies.
When I was asked why my daughter was late, I replied that we had accidentally overslept (no, it’s not a regular occurrence, in fact it threw me that it happened in the first place) to which the secretary replied rather abruptly, “well, it’ll be an unexcused absence.” The coffee kicked in. I replied with “that’s fine, she is here, after all, and obviously instruction hasn’t yet begun.” Smile smile smile. It is apparently too much to ask that other adults with whom one interacts be polite. Positive. Happy even. While filling out the admit slip for my daughter, the secretary was asked by another staff member the location of a volunteer. The secretary replied “I told you, she’s not coming in today until tomorrow.”
Huh? Coffee. Need….more…..coffee.
I’m no Pollyanna, really. I’m sarcastic, and can be downright rude. But I know what kind of workplace I want to be a part of. I know what kind of feeling I want my children and students to have about school and their environment. I believe in the self-fulfilling prophecy. I believe in the Golden Rule. I believe we reap what we sow. And yes, I believe in standards, and trying to measure up to them. I behave accordingly, and do my best as a parent and a teacher privately and publicly, never perfect, but well-intentioned. My intentions are formed by experience, wants, likes, dislikes…information. Data. The general process tends to work for most people.
Perhaps not in the Bordertown. Instead of seeing this year as one full of “lost days,” my family and I will do our best to put a positive spin on things (we’ve learned how “not” to be, after all), and will look forward to our next military move with anticipation.
Thank you for letting me vent! I’m off to get my 100th Blog Post Giveaway photographed so I can pretend this is Wednesday and get it posted (check my last post for the link) for you to see- after the eye-strain I’ve put you through, you certainly deserve a treat!
GIVEAWAY at Kindergarten’s 3 R’s
In honor of my 100th blog post at Kindergarten’s 3 R’s, I’ll be hosting a giveaway (at that site)! Check in on Wednesday for specifics and to enter your name in the drawing (remember, I’m a kindergarten teacher so expect the giveaway item to be something literacy-enriching)!
Yay!
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