Creature of Habit

I am a creature of habit.

I had Monday off for Martin Luther King, Jr., day and Tuesday off for snow/ice.

I had last Wednesday and Thursday off for Winter Storm Benedict (my new BFF).

And now I am spoiled rotten.

Last Friday at school? Well, it was a day away from the weekend. It was a cake walk.

And today? Well, it was almost like the first day of school.

In August.

Ice. Ice. Baby.

We remembered how to read :) but had forgotten how to borrow when subtracting.


We remembered how to DO science, but forgot how to walk quietly in the hallway. It's not that I expect us to be silent in the hall. I mean, really.

It's just that I don't want to be the teacher who lets her kids YELL AT EACH OTHER when they go to music class.

It's a tightrope, I tell you.


But at the end of the day, when all the youngins were safe and sound with their people, it was NICE.

NICE.

I looked at our room, where we live and breathe and yell together. And I was happy. This is where God wants me to be from 7:25 till 3:15. In all honesty, I'm there till later on a typical day. But I'm OK with that. I'm doing the Lord's work. And I'm OK with that.

"I thank God for this most amazing day;

for the leaping greenly spirits of trees

and a blue true dream of sky;

and for everything which is natural,

which is infinite,

which is yes."

{ee cummings}

Gratitudes:

71: No ice on the roads this morning as we drove to school

72: Two youngins got their black belts at Greensburg ATA tonight. :) (Congrats Mason and Matthew!)

73: Benjy's cheeks are so kissable!

74: I helped out with the Chamber of Commerce event at school tonight. I loved talking to other teachers about stuff that was not about teaching. Daddy was a past-president of the Wise County COC, and I know he'd have been proud to have shown up at a small Christian school in Connecticut tonight. God hands us things to do that serve both his kingdom as well as our happy memories. This was one of them. :)

75: I had yummy snacks at the COC event tonight. Enough to call it dinner.

76: I have a warm place to sleep tonight.

77: My children are sleeping like rocks.

78: It is supposed to snow A LOT on Friday!!!!

79: All of my 2nd graders can subtract with and without regrouping. :)

80: I have a Bible to read tonight before I go to bed. It is heart-breaking and mind-boggling that some people don't have that. I should NEVER take this privilege for granted.

Lessons from God

There's something soothing about settling down on the couch by a roaring fire with my lazy Snoop Dog Lima Bean and my trusty MacBook Pro. It's the new Waltons, I feel sure. Once behind my Apple, after I've checked emails and posted a status update on Facebook, I check on my blogs. Not my personal blog where I am now, but the other people's blogs. I have favorites, and I've bookmarked them into four categories.

Craftiness
Hominess
Blogginess
Teaching ~ I'd call that one teachingness, but it's just too mouthy.
Teachers don't like mouthiness.

Most of my favorites are updated daily, and the favorites of these are found under blogginess. Since Christmas, I've noticed an interesting pattern in the blogs I've read - the ones I simply must check on day after day point me straight to God's grace and love. I think my Father is using them to teach me something.

From Kayla Aimee

I've learned to pray harder. Kayla Aimee gave birth 15 weeks early to her baby Scarlette. Now Scarlette is two months old and nearly 3 pounds. I don't know Kayla Aimee or her precious child, but I do know that she needs prayer. God is using me and thousands of other readers to lift this child to him. And so I pray with more intention, with a greater desire to stay awake during my nighttime prayers, with a knowledge that God will hear our collective prayers and answer them. I am learning to pray.

From Edie

I've learned to count my blessings. Edie has written such a beautiful blog for a few years now about her family, homeschooling, decorating, and cooking. Her photos are inspiring and beautiful. Her obvious love for God is a shot in the arm on a dreary day. A few days before Christmas, Edie's house burned to the ground. Nothing survived the fire except her entire family. And she found grace in God's gift of saving her family right from the start. Yes, she writes about the grief of losing her entire home and everything that surrounded her for years, but she is a role model for keeping the faith and knowing when to count your blessings.

From Pioneer Woman


I've learned to pay more attention to my family. Pioneer Woman taught me how to cook when I was convinced I could only whip up a batch of snow cream and a cup of hot cocoa. What's a mom to cook in the summertime, huh? Pioneer Woman's Ree writes about her family life on a ranch on Oklahoma, cooking with step-by-step instructions and pictures for the cooking impaired, photography (she's an amazing photographer), homeschooling, and even the love story of meeting her husband. From Ree, I think God wants me to see glimpses of Him in the lives of my children, my husband, my pets, my own back yard, and even the meals I manage to plate for my family.

I confess that I probably spend too much time checking out the blogs. Sometimes I'm known to blog hop from the favorites of other blogs. I know I need to spend better quality time being with my family and not just alongside them, reading from my laptop. I want so much to be the wife and mother God created me to be.

But I can't get over the idea that I have something to learn from at least a handful of the blogs I like to read. So, I'm going to put this out there, in hopes that you will keep me accountable: I will check my craftiness, hominess, blogginess, and teaching blogs no more than three times a week instead of every dingdang day. And when I'm not reading my blogs, I will be with my people. I will take pictures of them, play with them, talk to them, check homework, cook, clean, and, of course, keep up this blog so that I will remember all this family time when I'm 90. God is so good to show all this to me, even through strangers who have become virtual friends.

Pistachio was in the mood for mixing tonight, so I scrambled around for ingredients to make orange brownies. And, no, they don't have chocolate in them. Although this initially disappointed me, I pressed on. And when I ate this orangey confection, I was satisfied that I didn't need chocolate any more. (tonight)


Here's the recipe copied and pasted from the Food Network:

Orange Brownies

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure orange extract
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Glaze:

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan and set aside. In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, and salt. Add butter, eggs, orange extract, and orange zest and beat with a handheld electric mixer until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until light golden brown and set. Remove from oven and pierce top of entire cake with a fork.

• Glaze

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, stirring until smooth. Pour glaze over cake. Cool cake and cut into squares.

In other news, I uploaded some pictures from the good camera today. The one with the super zoom lens. Imagine my joy when I found these shots of Camden and Benjy and Benedict on Wednesday. Have I told you my new BFF is Benedict? And my two favorite words in the English language are "classic nor'easter"? I think I may have mentioned this before, but it's worthy of repeating.

Digging a fort. Yes, both boys are inside that fort under the snow. And the plow was far, far away at that point, so they were relatively safe.

Care to sit for a spell?
(Do you think I was supposed to bring those cushions in before winter?)

Happy birthday, Camden! His birthday was on a snow day.
I think he planned it that way.

The mail did not run on this day.
Or at least we didn't get any.

Until next time, Classic Nor'Easters.

Gratitudes:

61: Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. Galatians 1:10

62: The enemy tried to tempt me to stay home this morning, and it would have been so, so easy. But God wouldn't let him win. And I chose to listen to HIM. We went to church, and we were blessed.

63: I ate oranges, grapefruit, grapes, and a banana today. I ate more stuff, too, but I was really proud of the fruit part.

64: Licking the orange brownie batter bowl - Proud? Not so much.

65: Curt, the boys, and I are off tomorrow!

66: It might snow this week!

67: I made dinner. All of it. By myself.

68: Watching Curt read The Hobbit to Benjy

69: Camden spent today retrofitting his Nerf guns. As much as I don't get it, he is proud of his work, and I'm proud of his diligence. This took him all afternoon. And the guns still work - with Nerf bullets only.

70: I didn't spend one thin dime today. It's good when I can accept budget lockdown mode and work within its limitations.

Gratitudes:

51: Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)

52: Sleeping till 8:45 and being dressed and ready for the day by 9:00

53: Making breakfast for Camden and his friends

54: Eating the 2nd batch of snow cream with a 3rd batch still in the freezer

55: Remembering how Daddy always made our winters perfect with snow cream


56: Redecorating the dining room using only stuff I already owned

57: Martin Luther King Jr.

58: Time to pray

59: The Steelers are going to the Super Bowl play-offs!


60: Big Ben does the Steeler dance:

We had our first classic nor'easter on Wednesday. It was so powerful that it was named Winter Storm Benedict. Let me tell you, Benedict is my new BFF for true. (heart) How could I not love such a man as this?


The snow - all 24 inches - was so fluffy and light. Don't be fooled by the picture; that is the spray from the plow, not to mention the remnants of two boys digging tunnels down by the road. We had to warn them to dig closer to the house for fear that the snow plows would flatten not only their snow castles but their young bodies as well. In the parts of the yard they didn't trample, the snow is smooth and unspoiled. There just aren't very many of these parts, so I just look next door to Mr. Mike's house where they didn't even think to tread. Ahhhhh, that sweet snow blanket warms the cockles of my heart.


I don't think I ever shared with you that when Mr. and I were house hunting here, we actually looked at a house on Pigeon Hill Road. Yeah, I know! Pigeon!


And finally, to conclude this rambling post about snow, here's some video of Emma Lemma Snoop Dog Lima Bean leaping and frolicking about in Benedict's remains.

Gratitudes:
41: 2 snow days in a row

42: Camden and his friends having a Nerf war tonight - all the noise, all the bullets, all the giggles - happiness

43: Camden sound asleep now

44: Back at school today with a lot to do - CHECK!

45: Chef salad for lunch

46: a goodnight call from Benjy who's staying the night with his friend

47: a picture of Benjy and his friend in the hot tub texted to me - pure joy

48: wood stove warming the living room

49: Curt bringing home Chips Ahoy cookies just for me

50: most of the Nerf bullets are picked up and sitting in a box... waiting....

Dear Camden,

Who knew you'd rock my world 11 years ago and never stop?

4 years old

That you'd skip and jump and stomp and yell right into my heart and tie it up in a knot forever.

5 years old

That your smile would infect every inch of our home and I'd seek it like the sunshine every morning.

6 years old

That even at your worst, I'd love you more than myself.

7 years old

Your strength holds me up, Camden, when I'm too tired to move.

8 years old

When I'm too grieved to smile, I find hope in your living.

9 years old

How did I ever live without those blue eyes that sparkle even when they cry? They actually twinkle, did you know that?

10 years old

Do you remember the game we used to play? How you'd say, "I love you," and I'd say, "I love you to the moon and back," and you'd say, "I love you to infinity," and I'd say, "I love you to infinity and back," and you'd say, "I love you more than that," and I'd say, "You win." But really, I was the winner because I had you.

11 years old

I love you, Camden. I love your Godly spirit, your wit, your zest and your spark. Your creativity and your drive. Your determination and your wonder. Your innocence. Your dimples. Your heart. I love you and everything you are.

Love you more than that,
Mom

And now a word from our sponsor, Geico.





I've almost completely forgotten my gratitudes!!!

31: Camden's 11th birthday

32: Snow day today!

33: Snow day tomorrow!

34: Somewhere around 24 inches of snow!

35: the absolute quiet of a snowy day

36: talking to a friend for a minute today (Hi, Francie!)

37: talking to a friend for a few minutes last night (Hi Leslie!)

38: listening to Benjy read me a story

39: helping Camden clean his room just to be nice

40: Going for a four-wheel drive with Curt and the boys just because we could

I came across this tonight on facebook. It's a New York Times article on a fascinating little experiment going on in an inner city public school in New York. It's called ...

60 First Graders,

4 Teachers,

One Loud New Way to Learn

Oh.



My.



Gosh.

I can't even think right now!

I teach 13 second graders in a private Christian school in almost-a-suburb Windsor. And I still have days when the loudness drives me to pop three Aleve with my bitter coffee that I didn't get a chance to drink by noon.

But at least I can TEACH them. And they can LEARN in relative peace even when the classical tunes are cranking and the buzz of 13 voices reading different books fills the room.

They can learn how to subtract with regrouping even when their base ten blocks are clacking on their desks and two-thirds of them are groaning for help. I can actually make it around to see each one of them before lunch even.

They can write books. WHOLE ENTIRE BOOKS with dedications and covers, capitals and periods, crafty beginnings and interesting endings about anything they are interested in. And I can meet with each and every one when they sign up for a conference.

Interruptions, you wonder? Well, yes. A couple of kids will come up to me and make a giant B with their hands. This means they want to go to the bathroom. And I trust them, so I let them go. Someone needs a pencil so they get up, go to the SHARP box, and take one. Two kids are talking about playing Bey Blades later. I make the cut motion with my hand, give them the I've-got-my-eye-on-you look, and they go back to work.

Interruptions in a 60-kid 2000-square foot space? I can't even imagine it. I go nuts when the flourescent bulbs start to buzz. Can you just hear the noise now? Even with four teachers and a 15:1 ratio, I don't think I'd ever find my sanity after a day of this madness. The sheer noise of 60 kids with sniffles in January would drive me into the quarry.

Worse, these kids are among the neediest. There are apparent issues in this class. I've taught in the inner city before. There's STUFF going on for the 18 hours these kids are not in school. Murders, drugs, homelessness, no coat, no food, no pencil for homework. School is quite possibly the only safe zone these kids have. The kids I teach now are millionaires by comparison. These 60 children represent a whole other slice of America. And as one blogger put it, they don't have a year of learning to sacrifice in an experiment.

Madness.

That's what it is. Pure madness. And it's modeled after an EXCLUSIVE PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOL. Yeah. Night and day, I tell you. Would you EVER in a million years see this happening in your rich happy school districts? I doubt it. Status quo there. If they're passing the test, then don't change a thing. (Not that I agree with the test thing. But that's a whole different pie.)

I'm still fuming mad. When I think back to the article, I see these teachers running around like chickens with no heads. I see them literally falling off their chairs, smoothing out their skirts, and spending a good five minutes refocusing the kids who weren't focused to begin with. I see kids who know they're doing math, but have not a clue WHAT they're learning. I see 6-year-olds who don't know their ABCs, how to spell their names, how to read on even a kindergarten level. Who's going to find time to spend with them on their level without having to put out a fire across the room? And it's NOT the teachers' fault, though it certainly becomes their problem. THEY didn't create it. Nooooo siree. Some man who used to be a principal and knows about a preppy private school is the god of this universe. Would anybody with a choice be willing to put their children in this room? I would run screaming to Alaska, where I could see Russia, incidentally.

It's Not All Flowers And Sausages pretty much tells it like it is. In fact, there's not a word I disagree with. (Just a few choice words I try not to say. ptptptptpt) This is truly an innovation evolved into pure insanity.

Gratitudes for today ~

21: Sunny blue skies - had to wear my shades to church this morning

22: An afternoon date with my favorite 7-year-old













23: Hot cocoa with caramel and whipped cream at the Barnes and Noble cafe - with my favorite 7-year-old

24: A nice long winter's day nap this afternoon

25: Safe driving on slushy roads

26: Vintage Valentines

27: Hope for snow on Wednesday

28: Lesson plans have been done since I left school on Friday!

29: Hearing such good things about Camden who helped with the set-up at church today.

30: Your God is present among you,
a strong Warrior there to save you.
Happy to have you back, he'll calm you with his love
and delight you with his songs.
Zephaniah 3:17 The Message

Gratitudes for today













11: 4 inches of snow

12: 3 tubs of snow cream

13: 2 loads of laundry folded

14: the snow cream was delicious

15: I finished the banner that I started last week.













16: Curt made the best cube steak and gravy tonight.
We call it Salisbury steak; Camden accidentally called it Rawlsbury steak.
We're keeping his word.

17: The lion and the lamb lay down together.












18: Watching Nerf battle videos on YouTube with Camden

19: Kissing Benjy's cheeks

20: The boys are sound asleep

I was uploading the photo editor Picaso tonight when I discovered that it pulled all the pix from my blog - ever - and put them in one spot. Wow, what a walk down memory lane. I've pulled a few of my favorite shots from the past couple of years into one post. Just because they make me smile.

This is a collage I made for Michelle in 2008. It's her, her husband, and their animals. :) I made the mistake of making it, emailing her a picture of it, and not mailing it in time. She died before she ever held it in her hands.










And this darling is vintage 1970-something. Early '70s, to be sure. That giant mouse thing is from a parade float that my uncle toted home to Grandmomma's. Shell and I were so proud. I do not recall picking my nose, but clearly, I did.













And here I am with the love of my life on Father's Day in Pa.


















My boys are and forever will be enamored with Legos. Benjy used to have a thing for lining them up. Everywhere. Here they stand sentry over the living room.










I remember when I used to do this.
And it was so much fun.
Daggone, I miss it.











Battling with long sticks was the best.













The Emma Louise Dawn Snoop Dog Lima Bean doing what she does best.
















The Lima Bean decorated for Valentine's Day.













Here's an oldie - Ellie once tolerated Camden dressing her up and didn't even bite his arm off. This is from around 2005 or so.












My favorite flower.













My favorite boys.











My favorite now-black belt.

















My favorite black belt is such a goober.













Thing One and Thing Two













Camden once spent an entire summer wearing these yellow rubber boots with sweat pants, a turtle neck, and a sweater. And I let him because I'm cool like that.








He also spent one Memorial Day walking around a Pennsylvania cemetery putting flags on veterans' graves. He chose veterans who had no flags, the ones nobody had come to remember.














Remember how much I said I loved taekwondo? Well, I loved it so much I broke my ankle for it. Ouch.









Benjy still loves Blue Doggie.










But he's finally given up the thumb in the daylight.













He once picked all my daffodil petals and presented them to me. How could I resist that face?











Beach feet = happiness












Gratitudes for today. Because I feel a need to start ending my posts with at least 10.
1. Finding these old pictures
2. Dominoes bread sticks with marinara
3. Early dismissal from school
4. Hope for snow
5. Camden and Benjy having a Nerf battle in the backyard this afternoon
6. Finding old candles to put on my cake stand to top off the dining room sideboard
7. A new book to read - Widow for One Year by John Irving
8. Talking to Mom tonight
9. My family is home safe and sound.
10. Emma is snoozing in her own space, not mine.

I sing because I'm happy
I sing because I'm free
His eye is on the sparrow
and I know He watches me
He watches me
His eye is on the sparrow
and I know He watches
I know He watches,
I know He watches me.

Are not five sparrows sold for two cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. Luke 12:6-7 NASB

Blessings, ya'll.