SNOW

With the first "dusting" of snow on the ground, the excitement was in the air. These are a few of the comments I heard today... "this is tracking snow... are we getting out at 1:05... this is a blizzard... do we need our snow pants?" Man, the site of white stuff sure throws focusing out the window! Someone once told me that the number of the day of the first snow is the number of times it will snow. Will Old Man Winter really give us snow 30 more times?

Happy Thanksgiving

As an assignment today, I instructed my fourth graders to write a paragraph about the one thing they are the most thankful for. We have been working on writing a paragraph for weeks... main idea sentence and supporting details. I tried to give them an example paragraph but I could not settle on only one topic. Most of them chose either family or friends and their paragraphs are finally starting to improve. Maybe tomorrow, I will instruct them to make a list. May we all reflect on giving thanks during this Thanksgiving!



I am thankful for...

my deep roots,

a close family,

2 beautiful, healthy girls,

my husband,

living on a farm,

independence,

our little county church,

fresh air,

education,

small towns,

friends and neighbors,

sunshine,

and most of all... every single day!

Don't sweat the small stuff!

Last week was a time for sharing joys and concerns. I will start with the concerns, first we said goodbye to Red. Most of you know that he was not our pony, we fortunately just borrowed him from our friends for a few years. It was time for Red to travel on to another family. The old, trusted, fat pony has blessed 5 families. He will be greatly missed. A few tears fell, but we must be thankful for all that we have learned from him. I recently received a picture text from Red's new family and I must admit, it assured us that Red needs to be there. The next concern comes from child #2. Gertrude, the chicken that hatched in her Kindergarten class, is no longer with us. We sadly found her feathers in the yard. Once again, things like this happen, and we can hatch more chicks in the spring. Gertrude will remain as a memory. #2 has also had a sore throat and she smashed her finger in a door, but is feeling much better.

Now for the joy! The concerns are only small issues in our lives. When we look at the BIG picture, we must realize how small our daily troubles are and must remember don't sweat the small stuff!

Memories

I remember when I was about 10 years old, my grandma killing a skunk. My brother, sister, and our neighbor kids, who we spent a lot of time with, were playing at Grandma's house in the yard. All the sudden, Grandma instructed us to get to the porch, there was a skunk in the yard. I can still see the images of Grandma slaying the skunk with a hoe. Some things never change. A few days ago, the girls and I watch Grandma from her kitchen window beating a opossum with a broom. The difference, she's 80, I'm a mom, and the girls will be the ones left with memories!

Happy Thursday

Happy Thursday! and boy, am I ready for Friday! Today started rather early with a 7:15 PD meeting at school... that means I leave at 6:45, that means I drove in the complete dark, that means my wonderful husband does hair. The girls got out of school early because this week is parent\teacher conferences for them and no school tomorrow. The conferences were great... but we have a few things to work on, they both have wonderful teachers. The girls went with BL to his job site this afternoon (which happened to be the neighbors and my sister's house.) As soon as I got home, I picked them up. Before we left, they had to show me their hay fort in Adam's barn equipped with its own bathroom. The little pony-tailed, dirtballs were so proud. I love creativity!

I applied for a US Cellular Grant a few months ago. Last week, I got an email congratulating me that I was funded. Today, two boxes of books arrived at my classroom door. Toot, Toot! (that's my own horn honking)

Happy Thursday, and enjoy the weekend!