BFF

Isn't it crazy sometimes when you look at those around and realize how long they've been in your life?

My friends from work - I've now know for as many as 10 years since I started teaching.

My friends from college - I've now known for as many as 15 years since my freshman years.

My friends from high school - I've now known for as many as 19 years.

The few friends that I'm still in touch with from elementary school...even one dating back to kindergarten...friends now for over 25 years...

But how many friends can you say you've known for almost your entire lifetime? 29 years....(we met when I was 3...but who's counting...).

We've been through everything together...childhood, broken bones, Barbie dolls, bike rides and NKOTB, first crushes and kisses, camping, concerts and going off to college, first dates, first loves, blind dates, heartbreaks, deaths, weddings, fertility struggles, children...the list goes on and on...

I've had lots of great friends in all areas of my life over the years but there is only one BFF...we wrote it in the sand when we were kids, we exchanged lockets, wrote it in notes and dreamed about the future...still as BFF's...and here we are...almost 30 years later...still BFFs.

Lisa and I

Shine On

Decorating our house with hearts, having two sunny days in a row, and watching all 3 of my children enjoy the simple pleasures of shadows cast on the walls and floor (they played with the sunlight for over 30 minutes on Saturday morning, watching it come and go and making their own shadows in its light...) made for a nice weekend!

(A night out with my hubby and our best friends topped off a great weekend, too!)

Twinfatuation

lovies

When Jacob and Sarah were small infants and I was preparing to head back to work and put them in day care, I was reading many books and articles about how to help them sleep through the night and cope with the separation. Interstingly, experts on both topics suggested finding a lovie for your baby.

I also read horror stories of babies who lost their beloved comfort items and they couldn't sleep until a proper replacement was found (which included countless hours on Ebay and many dollars spent, not to mention sleepless nights and inconsolable babies).

With those 2 things in mind, I asked my Mom to make small blankies (multiple ones in case one got lost...), made of super soft fleece and edged with taggies. Pink for Sarah, Blue for Jacob.

What she made was just what I had pictured and around 6 or 8 months of age, we started letting them cuddle with the blankies in hopes of bringing them comfor whenever they needed it most. They took to them after a short while and even now, at age 3, they love their blankies.

Over time, they've each had their own personal way of cuddling with their blankie.

Jacob sucked his thumb with his pinky looped through one tag and the blankie tucked into his other hand, cuddled up close to his cheek. stroking a silky tag and laying on top of it when lying in bed. (side note...we realized recently that he has stopped sucking his thumb but that blankie is still right underneath him when he lies down to sleep.)

Sarah had a paci up until she was a year old and she used to just cuddle with her blankie. When we weaned her of a paci, she began to use her blankie as a paci...sucking on the silky tags (she'll switch from tag to tag) while stroking the soft fleece and tags. At age 3, she still lives for her blankie and taggies. We only let them have them in their bedrooms and at bedtimes and any time she is upstairs, she beelines for her blankie to 'take a hit' off a taggie. haha!!

When Adam came along, I asked my mom to make a blankie for him, too. We had not yet started to get him attached to his when we traveled to Chicago this past summer. After a long trip, our over tired little 5 month old sobbed and screamed for a stretch of the trip. Jacob was sitting next to him, holding his own blankie and I suggested he share his blankie with Adam to see if it help him feel better. Being a very nice big brother, Jacob handed his beloved blankie over to Adam and almost instantly, Adam pulled it close, snuggled and stopped crying.

We knew right then that we had to pull his own blankie out when we got home...and just like that...we had 3 lil ones addicted to their blankies! Adam loves to rub his face into his blankie when he first gets it then he snuggles it underneath his head when he lies down. He'll nab his siblings' blankies whenever he can get his hands on them...he doesn't discriminate! LOL! He'll steal a clean one out of the laundry basket and lunges for the one in his bed as soon as he sees it.

I didn't want time to go by without capturing each one with their blankie..as it is, I have to wonder if I have any photos of Jacob sucking his thumb now that he doesn't do it anymore...



Hosted by Cecily and Robyn

Twinterview

Our household was VERY noisy when we got home today - lots of fighting, teasing, and crying - and I needed to think of something fast to change the mood so I told the kids we were going to 'play a game' and I was going to ask them some questions. Thankfully it was just what we needed and their bad moods lifted and we spent some time answering questions (even once I ran out of questions, Sarah kept asking me to ask her another question...).

So here is a look into their lil minds right now at age 3....

What's your favorite color?
Jacob - blue, no Yellow!
Sarah - orange


What's your favorite TV show?
Jacob - Mickey Mouse, Dinosaur Train and Chuggington
Sarah - Little Einstiens

What's your favorite TV character?
Jacob - the Green train (Koko from Chuggington)
Sarah - June (from Little Einstiens)


Who's your favorite Princess?
Sarah - Cinderella
Jacob - I like Cinderella, too.

Who's your favorite train?
Jacob - Percy
Sarah - Henry

Who's your best friends?
Jacob - Logan and Corrine
Sarah - Cole and Lauren

What's your favorite song?
Jacob - Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (theme)
Sarah - Baby Signing Time (theme) and Daisy Bo Peep

What's your favorite dinner?
Jacob - Spaghetti
Sarah - Avocado and noodles (we've never had that combo for dinner! LOL!)


What's your favorite thing to do?
Jacob - play with Thomas
Sarah - color

How old is Mommy and Daddy?
Jacob - Mommy is 3, Daddy is 1.
Sarah - Mommy is 4, Daddy is 2.

What do you want to do when you grow up?
Jacob - a Mickey Mouse job
Sarah - get big swing sets

What's your favorite place to go?
Jacob - the Animal Circus (we've never been!)
Sarah - school

What's your favorite movie?
Jacob - Cars
Sarah - Snow White

What's your favorite animal?
Sarah - pig
Jacob - a dinosaur...no...a horse!

What's your favorite game? (I was meaning board game...but they gave me Wii Fit games! lol!)
Sarah - running
Jacob - marching


I'd be glad to do a round 2 of questions (I'm sure they'd love it, too...) but need some more ideas of questions...so let me know what you'd like me to ask them and I'll post again next week!

Weekend highlights

We spent Saturday with my family celebrating yet another kiddo’s birthday. This time was my nephew, Luke who turned 2 this past week. Our family now has one 1 year old, one 2 year old, two 3 year olds and one 9 year old! It was a nice day and once again, I have to say how much fun it is to watch all of our kids play together. Even Adam is getting into the mix now although Jacob and Sarah still seem to dominate poor Luke, even in his own home! (poor kid doesn’t stand a chance…they just make themselves at home!)

It was a really nice day and our long trip there and back was quiet and smooth. We got to see my sister and brother-in-law’s new (old) home they are renovating, had some delicious cake and a nice visit with my family. Here are just a few highlights:

My daughter’s beautiful, golden curls

My silly little boy who entertained himself with this bucket

How all 3 of mine love their blankies

(future post to come on)

My adorable 2 year old nephew

What did you want to be?

So the other day, I ventured into the world of politics with my post (thanks to everyone for their objective views and not for being too harsh...I was just about yelling at our newspaper today as I read people's comments against the district I work for...). As I thought about it all, I laughed because when I was younger, I thought I wanted to be a lawyer. I thought it looked like a cool career - exciting - intelligent - challenging....

And then I realize how much politics was involved and I went into career counseling.

Not really...I don't think they did that yet at age 12...but it didn't take me long to realize that I wanted to work with kids and I definitely think I have found a good niche for me. Sure..there are other jobs/careers I might be good at or enjoy...but I 'get' teaching.

Its not for everyone (neither is firefighting but my brother and sister-in-law love the rush and are great at their jobs) but teaching is not just a 'job' - its a commitment and one I take seriously.

Get me talking about the politics behind education and I'll probably putter out and have trouble maintaining an intelligent conversation, but ask me about teaching strategies and intelligences and learning styles and WHY I do what I do in my classroom...and I can justify it all.

So...I was just curious...what did you think you wanted to be when you grew up? Is it what you're doing today or something totally different, like me?

Share.

Who's responsible?

I'm stepping out of my comfort zone a bit tonight and talking about politics and education a bit. Ok...education isn't out of my comfort zone...but politics is (as I write this, I think the State of the Union address is on and about the most I'll get out of it is what I read that comes across Facebook and Twitter tonight...politics is jut not my thing...).

Anyways...I was in a staff meeting last week and our Superintendent was reviewing some of the highlights in our school district in the past year. I was pretty proud of some of the things our district has accomplished - we're a regional service agency and provide a lot of amazing things to many local districts in our county and across the state. He also commended our union and administration on coming to a mutually agreeable contract last month in the midst of some tough economic times. He said he also breated a sigh of relief that the contract was ratified when it was...because if it hadn't been done before 2009 closed out, we'd have been facing some new, unchartered legislation that would have seriously complicated our contract and compensation.

I don't know what other states are like these days but in Michigan, its all about test scores and accountability. Now, I'm not saying accountability is a bad thing - it has its purpose, but the focus on test scores is out of control. That alone is an entirely different topic for a different day, but the latest thing to be laid down in this new legislative act is that from here on out, teachers must be evaluated annually and a significant part of their pay must be a direct reflection upon student success. In other words....if your students pass the state test.

Now I could go on and on about how this isn't fair or how the tests aren't an accurate reflection of student achievement. and that there are so many other factors not considered...yada yada yada...but seriously - it ISN'T fair! Standardized tests AREN'T an accurate reflection of student achievement! And there are sooooo many factors, out of a teacher's control, that are not considered when looking at those scores.

General education teachers and Special education teachers face many of the same frustrations...curriculum demands, growing class sizes, lack of resources, uninvolved parents, unsupportive communities... The list could go on and on...but my biggest beef at this point in time is student attendance.

Who's responsibility is it to make sure (elementary) students attend school?  The teacher?

How can a teacher teach a child when the student only attends school less than 40% of the time?

How can a teacher teach a child when a parent never even reads a single note or looks over any work that goes home with the child?

How can a teacher teach a child when no one reads to the child, engages with the child, and lets the child learn from experience and independence outside of school?

Does anyone value education anymore?


Sometimes I really wonder.



I read the Letters to the Editor in our local paper and people are defending automotive workers' pay (workers who did not get a Masters degree nor have to continue their education or provide their own work supplies, etc) yet complain that teachers get paid too much and shouldn't have quality health care.

I read articles about the community being outraged that our district chose a lower bid from a non-union company to do work - despite the fact that the district was trying to save money so we could focus on educating our students not keeping everyone else happy.

I see and hear parents arguing with teachers, disrespecting administrators, bringing a child into school late every day, not following through with homework, not talking about the importance of school...


Its truly disheartening some days.


And yet? We go back.  Every. day. Hoping to make a difference.

Hoping that you see that child's face today.

Hoping to impact at least one child's life.

Hoping to help one parent see what we're doing.

Hoping to find an administrator standing behind us when we are challenged.

Hoping that someone sees what we're doing, how hard we're working, and understands all the obstacles we face...and that in the middle of all that - we're still able to help students learn, mature and succeed....

Isn't that worth something?



*side note...I do have a lot of really supportive parents and great students...there are very few in my teaching career that fall in this category...*

Happy Birthday Luke!

Adam and his cousin Luke are just 2 weeks shy of being exactly one year apart in age and today is celebrating Luke his 2nd birthday! My sister and I live over 2 hours away from each other and I clearly remember trying so hard to get to them before Luke was born that day…I didn’t make it in time but I did get to see them before having to turn around and head back home to my own ‘babies’ that day (Jacob and Sarah were only about 14 months old then).

Being that my sister and I are 8 years apart in age, its been so fun to raise our children together so close in age. We’ve shared baby gear, clothes and lots of advice and tears over the past few years and I look forward to lots more memories being made as our children grow.

But today, we want to wish Luke a Very Happy 2nd Birthday! We Love you and can’t wait to see you again this weekend!

   Almost 2 years old

Playing along with Way Back When-esday at Twinfatuation.