Won't you be my neighbor

I love that I get to live next to wonderful people. I was in the process of opening my classroom door this morning when my phone rang. It was my neighbor calling to find out if I meant to leave my garage door open. Of course I hadn't and she said she would run over and close it for me. This is the kind of thing that happens when I get super busy or stressed, so I'm glad to know I've got people watching my back.

Besides that, it's an opportunity to remember a great American who made a difference in my childhood. Thanks Mr. Rodgers for reminding us to be good neighbors!

Pictastory: In which I almost get kicked out of a museum

This actually isn't exactly a good Pictastory entry as I don't have a picture to go with the main idea. But that's precisely the point.

Back in nineteen ninety something my family took a trip out east and stopped in Washington, DC. My mom, sister and I spent part of the time in the National Gallery of Art. I remember gazing with reverence at paintings that I had studied in my college Humanities class. I wanted to document the experience by taking pictures. A near-by guard kindly explained that I was welcome to take pictures as long as the flash was off. He helpfully suggested that if I stood at an angle to the picture, I would likely not have a glare when I had them developed. (Yes, this was before digital cameras. Call me ancient!) I have a number of pictures of paintings I had either studied or just liked.

Fast forward almost ten years and I'm in the British National Gallery of Art. Based on my previous experience I have my digital camera ready to go and excited that I would be able to document the paintings I would see. Being the upstanding citizen that I am, I approached a museum employee/volunteer to verify that I could take pictures.

I still remember the look of absolute horror on her face. It was like I had offered her a plate of fried eyeballs--curry or sweet and sour? I slunk away completely embarrassed. How was I to know the British considered taking pictures of paintings akin to treason? Sheesh!

It hadn't helped that when we had visited the British Museum the day before I could take pictures of whatever I wanted. Like this copy of the Discus Thrower:

Or the Rosetta Stone (focus isn't that great):

Or how about sections of the Parthenon:


Feel free to takes pictures of any and all. Just don't point anything at a painting.

Story of a 7th grader

I don't know how many of my readers have ever been to the principal's office, but imagine this:

You are blissfully sitting in your 5th period class when you get called out of class and down to the main office. There are a number of other boys there, all 8th graders. You don't really know any of them, but they all seem to know each other. Some of them seem like the kind of kid your mother expressly warned you to keep away from. As each boy is called into and leaves the principal's office, some seem subdued and a little contrite. Others seem ready for vengeance. Then it's your turn.

The principal asks you why you have been bothering a particular teacher on your way to your 4th period class. You really don't know what to say. Half your brain is telling you to say it wasn't me and the other half is telling you he'll never believe you if you do. You manage to stammer out something about how you don't walk by that teacher's room to get to 4th period. The principal looks at you and asks if you're in 8th grade. You vigorously shake your head no. He asks you if you know the teacher. You say that you are in her first period. Sitting back, the principal cocks one eyebrow and says there must have been a mix up and lets you go. As you walk back to class, you wonder how your name appeared on this teacher's apparent "hit list."

Later that day, you ask this teacher if she has anyone else with your name in her classes. She looks at you quizzically and then claps her hand over her mouth. "Oh dear! You didn't get called down to the principal's office did you?" You nod in the affirmative. "Oh, I'm so embarrassed. There is another student with your name, but not in my class and not a 7th grader. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear." With her hands on both sides of her face and an anguished look in her eye she promises to clear up the misunderstanding with the principal.

When you get home, you tell your mom what happened and she begins to wonder about the sanity of this supposed teacher. About an hour after school the phone rings. It's the teacher expressing her concern and letting you know that the principal does now understand what happened. You wonder what the next day will have in store for you.

I'm guessing on a lot of details here, but if it didn't happen exactly like that, it's probably not too far off. You can probably guess which end of the story is actually mine.

Astounding Majesty

This last weekend I attended a religious conference in Astoria. A lot of things happened--interesting, fun, and sometimes sad events that made the weekend memorable. Rather than go into a lot of unimportant details, I wanted to focus on Saturday night.

That evening we had bonfires on the beach. The weather was perfect. Hardly a cloud in the sky to obscure the thousands of stars. Not even the fires could hide their numbers. It was clearly a blessing as the forecast had been for rain. Someone had brought a mini scope and I got to see Jupiter with it's moons. The Milky Way was a band across the sky and someone finally explained how to locate the North Star in a way I could understand. As I stood there looking up at the starry, starry night, I clearly felt that God was in his Heaven's and that He could see me down there on that beach. I could feel His love for me and was astounded at the way he was showing it. I'm grateful for that feeling. I'm glad He has shown us His love in so many ways; we just need to stop and recognize them.

Photo from http://www.compadre.org/informal/index.cfm?Issue=40 Credited to NASA.

Pictastory: Happy Birthday Munchkin!

I have the pleasure of living close enough to my sister and her family to see them fairly often. The result is that I have lots of pictures and videos of the kiddos. Since today is my niece's birthday, I thought I would post some of my favorite pics and movies beginning with the earliest. Enjoy!


Three Months: Baths are great!



Six Months: Roll over, Baby!




Six Months: Yep, you'll get lots of nutrients from that!


Six Months: Chug that rice cereal!


Six Months: Mom, is this what I'll look like when I grow up?


Eleven Months: Yeah, I can walk, sort of.





One Year: My First Cake


One Year: Grandpa, I love this slide thing.



One Year and Three Weeks: I love to accessorize!



Twenty-Two Months: Gotta get this cleaned up for Daddy's birthday!



Twenty-Two Months: Now lets see, yesterday I watered the tomatoes . . .


Twenty-Three Months: I love to help!



Twenty-Three Months: Leaf anyone?




Twenty-Three Months: Oma, that thing's kinda big.



Two years and Eight Months: Got Sand? I'll take it!


Two Years and Eight Months: Look Dad--the rock splashed!


Two Years and Eight Months: If I do it just right, maybe it will go in.



Two Years and Nine Months: Just chillin'


Two Years and Nine Months: Posing with Great-Grandma



Two Years and Nine Months: Daddy's lap is the best!


Two Years and Nine Months: Impromptu Swim in Zion



Two Years and Nine Months: Clue to what's happening here-- "I don't think we should keep daisies in the garden. They really are drab little flowers."


Two Years, Eleven Months: Pure Happiness!

I love you sweetie!

Adventures in Quilting: My Niece's Quilt

My sister had been talking about making a quilt for my niece for almost a year. I started looking for patters and sending her links to check out. Finally, we decided to design our own using a Spinning Star block. We picked out fabric last Christmas and I took it home to cut the pieces. My sister started sewing it together, but as I am more fastidious, I took over to make sure the points all matched. As it was, this turned out to be a lot harder than I expected. The orange diagonal lines were killer hard, especially since we don't have a walking foot. In other words, don't look closely at all. I had it on the frame for about a month, and finished the last stitching around the border the week my sister was down visiting--the last time I would see her before my niece's birthday. So here it is:

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Objects in Mirror are Closer Than They Appear

The beginning of the school year came rather suddenly this time around. I had more than a week of paid school time before the kids arrived, but it still felt very sudden when the little guys showed up last Wednesday. But I've made it through the first three days of school, though I'm tired and slightly overwhelmed. There are still a lot of changes to be made in student schedules since they're condensing my three Language Arts Enhancement classes into two and spreading out my three Language Arts classes into four. And I still don't have my disclosure document/syllabus done--in fact I haven't even opened it yet. But my room is mostly finished.

After making such a big deal about my quick classroom paint job, I figured I better show it off. Here is my classroom as of Friday after school. There are a few more things I want to do (like put up the fabric that caused me to paint), but otherwise, it's set.


Don't be fooled by the spacious feel, however. It's not as big as it appears. In fact, the desks are rather crowded. Just like the last two years, I have them in groups of four with a couple groups of five. Unlike the last two years, I have all the desks facing foward rather than have the front two of each group facing each other. In many ways I like it better this way. My students, on the other hand, aren't always so fond of it. Who ever sits in the front left desk (from the teacher perspective) is literally boxed in. They have to physically move the desk to be able to sit down. I've just been telling the kids it's good exercise. Whatever Ms. B.