Tending the Eclectic Kinder-Garden

Couldn’t resist.

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2008 has been busy, educational, enlightening, germ-filled, history-making… all around a memorable year.  While IM’ing with Alice yesterday afternoon, I shared that while I’m not an advocate for adding more hours to the day, I am feeling a bit frustrated that I’m missing out on doing all of the things I’d like to be enjoying.  Prioritize, organize, sort, toss, de-clutter, sacrifice…they all work in emergency situations, and I’ve found them helpful during times in my life when I’ve felt overwhelmed, without direction, treading water.  Shake it up, clean it out, start fresh- all those things many people resolve to do at least once a year.  But spending time with my family, teaching kindergartners, crafting, reading, blogging, exploring, keeping up on letter writing/correspondence and enjoying “down time” are all important to me.  While I don’t ever put aside family or my job,  I absolutely feel loss when I push one or more of the other pleasures to the side for a weekend, a month, or a semester.  I’m not falling behind, I’m just not getting to do what I want to do.  It’s my selfishness coming out- or many things simply do matter to me.

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Thoughts floating around in my mind for the next year:

~ Listening to political pundits and spin doctors diagnose, mis-diagnose, blow smoke, and generally keep the American public on some terrifying rollercoaster ride once our new President takes office is not something to which I’m looking forward.  As an individual, he didn’t get us into this mess folks, he’s been hired to help get us out of it.  And it won’t be easy, and it won’t be fun, and it won’t be quick, so:

(find other colors of this poster at sfgirlbybay’s ETSY shop)

~ NCLB continues to have me worried, especially when state/formal assessments for pre-schoolers and beginning kindergartners are being considered, adopted, and inflicted upon young children.  It’s not that we as teachers don’t assess- we do, constantly.  I’ve shared what I’m noticing and what I check for when I meet my students for the first time, and I assess students daily using academic and social/behavioral rubrics throughout the school year.  I assess in order to know what each child’s strengths, needs, and prior schema are in order to adjust my teaching style so that I can provide an effective and enjoyable kindergarten experience for each of my Stars.  I do NOT rate them on a scale from 1-10, with the goal of having each and every student a perfectly matched 10 by the end of the year.  One child’s handwriting may still appear wobbly while another’s is almost freakishly calligraphic.  Several students may be comprehending literacy materials several grades above their level, while many classmates will still be building their sounding out and sight word recognition skills in preparation for their future light bulb moment in the first grade.

NCLB doesn’t help the varied needs of our diverse student populations- it looks to punish diversity itself. We are not clones, biologically, emotionally, physically, socio-economically or mentally, yet we are all capable of accomplishing in our lives.  Forcing students to learn how to pass a single test (because if they do, then gee, that means we’ve solved society’s ills, made everyone equal, and can finally compete in the world market, right?) robs them of the time they need to learn what may be their most important life skill of all: how to find the information they need.  Go ahead and teach the basics.  Add a bunch extra too, and encourage students to ask questions and to go out and experience the world.  Keep them interested- and teach them how to find the answers to what they want and need to know.  Guide them as they continue to think, learn and explore for themselves, no matter how much it frightens marketing gurus, religious zealots, and other predators.*

* (Yes, I group them together.  If it bothers you, never fear:  I’m just a kindergarten teacher.)

~ Dear Husband is likely to deploy for the second time in three years.  We’ve bought December 2009’s Christmas cards, and have already signed them and tucked them away.  Pre-deployment preparations start early…really early.  We’ll begin stockpiling flat rate mailing boxes soon too.  Hooah!

~ Is anyone willing to share not-so-obvious yet completely-necessary tips with this beginning gardener?  Remember, I’m in Oz, have a yard that enjoys a lot of sun during the summer, and like many families enduring our nation’s financial fiasco, want to grow our own veggies to see us through.  We also have roaming deer in these parts- my guess is they too, will try to enjoy our (hopeful) bounty.  Ideas?

~ The movie wasn’t as good as the book, which has me a bit worried that seeing any future film installment made of the Twilight series will also be disappointing (come on make up specialists, the vampires are supposed to look ethereally beautiful, not cakey and plastered), but I read all four this year (Dear Daughter is finishing the third and hopes to finish the fourth before the end of January), and enjoyed them enough to hop on the marketing bandwagon to purchase a Twilight pendant.  No, no, no, not from Hot Topic or some other teeny-bopper mall shop… I found mine on eBay, and followed the seller’s link over to her ETSY shop: OliviaMoon.

The front…

…and back:

Photography, books, jewelry, exploring, typography, crafting, teaching, ranting, family, friends, blogging, kindergarten fun… so many things to carry over into 2009!  Goodbye 2008, hello NEW YEAR!

Tags: January, military life, NCLB, reflection

Apologies for being away Friday and Saturday~

Gown ironing, hair curling, make-up applying, and high-heel teetering was taking place Friday afternoon after school since Dear Husband and I had the MP Ball to attend:

We enjoyed a wonderful meal, sat at a table with funny and friendly soldiers and spouses and even did a little dancing before the clock struck twelve, though we didn’t make it out of the ballroom quickly enough before my aching feet demanded to be freed from shoes that *felt* like glass slippers.  Ouch.

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Though my carriage was a Dodge Ram driven by DH, here are some inspiring pumpkins from BlogLand:

~ Oscar the (Pumpkin) Grouch?  See it at Craft and Clutter!

~ Smitten Kitchen makes Pumpkin Swirl Brownies…

~ CakeSpy posts a letter to the editor from the Mellowcreme Pumpkin (TOO funny!)

~ A Storybook Life shares painted pumpkins…

~ Bella Pink Cafe visited a pumpkin patch…

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Carriage found here…

Tags: family, links, military life

As organized as I try to be at work and at home, once our family has to relocate, the packers, however nice and polite they may be, seem to think it’s GAME ON.

Boys, I made you all lunch, three days in a row.  Granted, the first day was pizza, but hey, day two was homemade sub sandwiches. We certainly kept the fridge stocked with Gatorade, water and soda so you wouldn’t dehydrate or run out of energy.  We even pushed Otter Pops on you when the temp got unbearable!

So would you mind telling me where my dining room chair pillows are?  How about half of my Somerset magazines (that were all in one spot when you started)? The receiver for our cordless phone?  Because the way things are going, I’m thinking I’m not going to find these things until I open my SCHOOL-SUPPLIES-THAT-HAVEN’T-SEEN-THE-LIGHT-OF-DAY-IN-OVER-A-YEAR that *you* opened and “re-boxed” because of some packer/moving company policy.

Soon-to-be-teaching-colleagues, I’ll apologize right now for any outbursts of exasperation you might hear coming from my new classroom two weeks from now.  It’s not you, and no, I’m not some psycho hose beast.  I’ve just finally found my crochet hooks~ in exactly the furthest location from where they originated in our home.

Darn packers.

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My finger and toenails are happy this morning.  After enduring two weeks without a mani-pedi, I gave in, removed what little polish was left on them last night, buffed, filed, and polished with a non-summer color.  MUCH better now.  Yes Bev, you read that right: my nails were in disrepair for two weeks!  Nope, I didn’t go looking for an emergency bottle of polish for the chips and nicks either.  Scary, huh?

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With the repairs and modifications we’re having to do to the rental, we’re stuck, shuffling boxes and piles around and around and around as we get each new area designated, arranged, and decorated.  The upstairs is  nearly done, but the only reason why is because the downstairs still looks like a bomb hit it.  My desk is upstairs, along with most of my crafty stash that was stored beneath it in Texas… but it will be clutter free when what I hope will be my crafting area is set up and ready downstairs.

Now if I could only find my three remaining ribbon boxes.

Maybe I should have made the packers extra cookies.  Lesson learned.

Tags: colleagues, family, military life, organization

Hello House!

Hello beer bottle in the backyard:

Hello, duct taped gutters:

Hello, er…walkway(?):

Hello lawn decor:

Hello wasps!

Hello, “freshly painted walls:” (**cough, hack**)

Hello, garage door opener track that has been jerry-rigged so it’s cutting/gouging into the drywall each time the door is opened or closed:

And hello to you, exposed-fiberglass-insulation-in-the-garage-ceiling-that-covers-the-entire-area:

Hello water heater, propped up and tilted on cinder blocks:

Hello light boxes falling away from the ceiling, hanging on by only a few screws:

… a few things I’ve learned this past week…

*Renting over the internet might not be such a great thing, especially when the property manager posts photos online from THREE TENANTS PAST.  Oh my, those photos were downright flattering.  Flattering enough to make us want to rent.  Surprise, surprise, surprise (go Gomer!) once we arrived.

*While it’s wonderful having household goods delivered the day after arriving at one’s new home, it’s not so great when a painting crew is hired the evening before to peel the paint from the walls (oh yes, they PEELED IT OFF IN SHEETS), patch, mud, sand, and prime, with painting occuring as the moving truck pulls up in the driveway.

*When speaking with the property manager pre-rental, don’t just ask “is the garage finished?”  Ask things like “Is there exposed fiberglass insulation (rotted in places) hanging from the ceiling?” “Is the garage TALLER THAN MY HUSBAND?” or “DEFINE ‘finished.’”

*Make sure to keep receipts (okay, so I already knew this one, but it’s worth bringing up for other renters out there) for any and all improvements you have to do to the property, and by gum, make sure you negotiate an agreement that you can write them off of your rent each month.

*My definition of “house in MOVE-IN condition” is obviously different from other peoples’.  My definition is better.

*And finally, it’s awesome having a great big tattooed Harley Tech/Soldier husband, because when the retired military property manager tells you “Well, you’ve lived in military housing before, this shouldn’t be bad for you at all,” SGM Grumpy can growl and assert his impression of what is and isn’t acceptable for his family…and oh my, what an impressive scene that is!

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Never fear, dear Readers!  While we’ve had to deal with the not-so-fun elements of moving this past week, we’ve also met some pretty terrific people too: the painters on the paint crew, our gutter service guy (more on him tomorrow), the DISH installer (he stayed for dinner), and we’re looking forward to meeting the air conditioner repairperson sometime today.  Oh yes, we’re really looking forward to that visit!

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It’s a few weeks before school starts, so check back in periodically as I’ll be posting some helpful tips and ideas about setting up your classroom, making lunch time easier for kindergartners who bring “home” lunch, and any other news from the world of public education!

Tags: family, military life, photos

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!

Tags: military life, moving, Music

Let’s just jump right in, shall we?

I found out my job placement for the fall:

Whoo hoo! Yipee! Cool beans!

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Shannon sent us goodies as well~ look at the pillowcase and toy bags she made for the toddler:

She said the patch was from JodieFlowers Shop on Etsy.

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Finally…you KNOW you’re a military family when the entire neighborhood is FULL of these:

No silly, not lamp posts! MOVING TRUCKS AND VANS! Our move in late June will be our fourth move in five years. It’s gotten a little…old…but such is the Army life.

Packing up the household and making the drive is made easier with the knowledge that friends and a kindergarten classroom are waiting for us back in Oz!

Tags: friends, military life

… when you have Dillard’s, Monet, Sam and Libby, a set of Swarovski Crossed Pistols, and a handsome Sergeant Major to escort you to the Graduation Ball?

The dress, not a meringue in sight:

The bracelet and earrings (sparkly marcasite):

Did you think I was kidding when I mentioned pistols?

A black lace shawl, though none was needed since the temperature was in the TRIPLE DIGITS yesterday:

My new, most comfortable shoes by Sam and Libby:

Me and my dear husband, who graduates Thursday from the Sergeants’ Major Academy!

Tags: family, fashion, military life

Another reason to look forward to our new post assignment: we’ll live there long enough to make two-year magazine subscriptions worth it!

Here’s what I’ll be subscribing to:

…and the British version as well:

Just makes me all the more eager to find out what our new address will be so I can fill out all the subscription cards/forms necessary to get these treasures started on their monthly/seasonal trek to our mailbox!

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* PhotoJojo posts games you can play with your camera…

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I hope Moms everywhere enjoyed their special day yesterday! I certainly did! I have no clue why the toddler decided to sleep in (and therefore let ME sleep in) two extra hours, but it was the first of many special treats my family had in store for me! Other treats included a stash of peanut m-n-m’s (friends, family, and especially colleagues could tell you a story or two about my fixation on those candies!), a new digital photo frame, new movies (Sweeney Todd, and the new Alien/Predator movie…SPOILER ALERT... I haven’t watched Sweeney Todd but the Alien/Predator movie crossed some lines I didn’t care for, including violence against children, newborns, and mothers-to-be...honestly, THAT was the best script they could come up with? I love Sci-Fi, but am going to find it difficult to see any future films in the “Predalien” franchise thanks to this one.), a new little device for my iPod so I can enjoy tunes in our new-yet-still-old vehicle when we drive back to Oz this summer, and a very good dinner at Outback.

The rest of this month is full of celebrations: the SGM Ball, our toddler’s third birthday (Martha’s Crafts were on sale at Michael’s last week so he’ll have the monkey themed party)

and my husband’s graduation from the SGM Academy.

Whew!

Tags: family, links, military life

The post-wide yard sale was a success yesterday, at least in our neck of the woods. We sold enough functional-but-no-longer-for-us furniture (the bookcases with glass doors, the pink wingback recliner, our daughter’s computer desk, two televisions and vcr’s… a kitchen cabinet, a dryer in need of a new heating element, the toddler’s bed, some area rugs and runners), some kitchen odds and ends (single glasses, mugs, pots with no lids, lids with no pots-heh heh heh, no, they didn’t match!- the toddler’s old plastic Playtex bottles, baby spoons), clothes (toddler, adult, teen), home decor (some of my handmade seasonal wreaths, tchotchkes I didn’t want to try to renew/refurbish), toys, books, and magazines. It was rather funny, all of my British Home and Gardens and Country Living style magazines sold while my husbands biker-type mags didn’t. Yard saling ladies know what to avoid, apparently!

I’m not sure we lightened our load significantly however. For you non-military family readers, soldiers and their families have a weight limit on their household items based on the soldier’s rank. My husband’s promotion in October added a thousand pounds to our allowance, but I’m guessing we’ll still be close. While in the Bordertown, our daughter got a new double bed and two new chests of drawers, the toddler upgraded to a twin bed, I purchased a desk and bookcase set for my cubby, and the family gave me a kitchen cart/island for Christmas. Dear Husband added a bookcase to his study and our kitchen microwave is huge compared to our old one. We’ll see.

It was very easy for me to NOT go yard saling yesterday! Though the weight limit has consistently asserted itself in the back of my mind for the past five years, I also know we’re moving back to the land of antique malls, thrift stores, and hidden treasures this summer! My husband and I have decided that we are willing to spend the next two years searching for just the right pieces for our home: “real” barrister bookcases, complete with leaded glass panes in the doors
,
an overstuffed low-backed leather chair
,
drop leaf tables
,
a new desk for our daughter
,
and various styles of storage furniture~ file drawers
,
map chests
,
card catalog drawers…

Yes, the weight limit will be blown off its doors when my husband retires!

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Of course, I’ll also be on the look-out for “vintage bling” so I can make photo frames like Cupid’s Charm …

Michelle at Scribbit posted a delicious sounding French Onion Soup recipe that just might become my post-furniture-shopping-trip-treat…

…and if I stumble across one of these, I will in fact NOT buy it, though I certainly will try it!

Tags: collections, family, military life

My family and I will watch The Wizard of Oz, Return to Oz, and Tin Man this weekend because…

Uncle Sam says we are to return to the land of Munchkins, scarecrows, and ruby slippers this summer!

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Please do me a favor and help me in the “oohs and ahhs” department once you see my latest attempt at scrapping (my husband doesn’t quite understand the need for encouragement for this kind of thing). In preparation for moving this summer, I’ve been snipping and clipping my favorite recipes, photos, craft and home decor ideas for my Inspiration Binder. I’ve mentioned before that we have a weight limit for our household goods each time we move, so packing and hauling stacks of magazines isn’t feasible. I just can’t bear to be without all of the beautiful, creative and innovative ideas I come across though, so I sort the clippings by season/holiday or subject (health/diet; home decor; houseplans; fashion; crafts/patterns), pop them into page protectors and add them to my binders. Wouldn’t you know it, I had to buy larger binders because my old ones were stuffed! Here’s what I started with this afternoon:

There were so many pretty papers I wanted to use, so I decided on a nine-patch pattern:

I used ribbon as border around some of the squares, and photo corners, brads, and embroidery floss on others:

Out came the chipboard:

Then tags,text, paper flowers and more ribbon:

And a bitty photo of little ol’ me when I was MUCH younger (don’t worry Mom, it’s a digital copy):

I was only able to finish the front cover before the toddler woke up from his nap, so tomorrow I’ll be adding the spine detail and back cover:

I feel like it’s a bit of a “sampler” of scrapbooking ideas, though I didn’t use stamps or “fancy scissors” yet…not sure if I will…

Tags: crafts, military life, Oz