There's a seal in my house!



photo   © 2009   thisisbossi , Flickr



Bark! Bark!

The deep, bellowing tone is echoing through my home. I mute the TV and listen carefully. I can hear the snores coming from my dog and the gentle purr of my cat snuggled on my lap.

Bark! Bark!

Is there another dog in my house? Outside maybe? A seal? I move the writing assessments aside, gently slide the cat from my lap, and dodge the dog as I make my way towards the stairs.

Bark! Bark! Sniffle!

Concerned mommy has now taken over. I go from a quiet tip-toe to a full out run as I sprint up the stairs to my son's room.

Bark! Bark! Groan.

"Hey baby, what's up." I gently rest the back of my hand onto his forehead. I quickly pull it away and the concern must show on my face because T asks, "Am I really sick mama?" My hand still tingles from the heat that is being generated from my boy. I could easily fry an egg on his forehead. "Yeah buddy, it looks like you've got a pretty bad one. Come with me."

My 50 lb. son wraps his legs around me and scalds me with his forehead as he rests it on my shoulder. His head must feel like a bowling ball because he can't seem to hold it up.

Bark! Bark!

Warm cider is being warmed in the microwave as I gather up Tylenol, ear thermometer, a cool compress, and some Lifesavers. As I gently slide the thermometer into his ear, T lets out a small grown. His ears are tender but he's trying to be tough...102.7. My heart sinks and I run through everything my mom has taught me. Bring the fever down, cool him off, be strong, and pump fluids into him. As I lay the cool compress on to his forehead, he sighs. "Is it too cold?" "No mama, it feels really good but it's getting warm. Can you cool it off again?"

Bark! Bark!

The night continues as the fever begins to break. Lifesavers were sucked on and several cups of cider and Gatorade were drank.

He is feeling better this morning but his deep bark still sounds painful. I am again reminded how hard it is to be a mom. All I want to do is take his pain away....at least I can be here by his side to snuggle and baby him.

A Very Late, Versatile Blogger, Thank You!

Oh my goodness, I am completely honored and humbled by my Versatile Blogger and Blog on Fire nods. I have had a horrible time managing my time since going back to the classroom. I will get into the routine of juggling kids, my classroom, and hopefully become more consistent with my blogging.

    

I am LONG overdue for a thank you to three amazing blogs. Yes, because of my lack of being on the ball, I have gotten 3 nods. Thank you to: Teacherdance, Tammy at Klinger Cafe' and First Grade and Fence Posts (Thank you for the additional Blog on Fire Award), and Deb Frazier at Primary Perspective. I feel so thankful to have stumbled upon this amazing group of bloggers. You have all enrichment my life and made me a better teacher by all the inspiring stories you share.

Ok, so my understanding is that I need to do these three easy steps:

#1 Thank the person (people) who nominated you and provide a link
back to their blog.

#2 Share 7 things about me

#3 Pass this award along to 15 other blogs that you have discovered.

 7 Things about me

 

1. I don't consider myself a writer. I ran into Two Writing Teachers less than a year ago and thought that their March Slice of Life Challenge would be a great way for me to become a better primary writing teacher. So I jumped in with two feet and have become part of a wonderful writing community. March will be my 1 year blogging anniversary.

 

2. This will be my 7th year of teaching. I started off in Kindergarten and have slowly worked my way up to 3rd grade. I love 3rd grade....the independence and the continued love for their teacher. I watched my first group of kindergartners leave for the Junior High this past year....Yes, I cried!

 

3. I love the look of a beautiful garden but have neither discovered my green thumb or the love of working long hours in the yard. The bad part is that I have these amazing, fruit bearing trees, and don't know what to do with them. Better develop that green thumb soon.

 

4. I am over run by men in my home. I have a military husband, two boys, a male cat, and my female dog (who was more manly then her brother). What's a girl to do?

 

5. I am a lover of all genres of music. It is not unusual to find the boys and I rocking out to some kind of music while we clean. I love when my boys join in while driving in the car. It always puts a smile on my face.

 

6. I am horrible with my writing grammar. I apologize ahead of time for the random commas. My mom always called me the comma queen. Thankfully, I teach young children so I won't be teaching them incorrectly.

 

7. I am a sports lover. I love watching a good game of football and hockey. Thankfully my boys will help keep that love going as they bounce from sport to sport.

 

15 Other Blogs to Check Out

 

There are so many amazing blogs out there that I am yet to find. Here are just a sampling of the ones that I'm constantly going to.

 

1. Two Writing Teachers: Where my blog writing started.

2. A Year of Reading: Introduced me to the blogging world and all the professional development that is out there.

3. Runde's Room: I go to her constantly for art ideas and math journal ideas. A wealth of teacher fun.

4. Create*Teach*Share: Another great teacher website full of ways to enrich learning in the classroom. Her Boggle board is my favorite...my kids love it!

5. Mr. Schu at Watch. Connect. Read: An amazing librarian who shares great book trailers and upcoming books. A dedicated lover of books.

6. Deb Day at Coffee with Chloe: Her dedication to the children in her classroom inspires me daily and always puts tears in my eyes (both sad and joyous).

7. The Classroom Bookshelf: Always has connections on how to expand your teaching of a book. Grade level specific ideas, websites.....she's amazing!

8. Anita Silvey's Book A Day Almanac: The down and dirty behind some new and classic books. I learn something new every day on this blog.

9. Mr. Sharp at sharpread: A talented 4th grade teacher who inspires children with his passion for reading. Always a delight to see what's up his sleeve and what he's read recently.

10. TLC = Tech + Library + Classroom: A great site full of tech resources. I wish that I could have a library at our school like this. Incredible!

11. The Reading Zone: Always has something to either make me think or make me want to read.

12. Ruth Ayers Writes: I've never had the urge to write my own book, but I've enjoyed reading Ruth's journey as she continues to share her writing process. She may be bringing me over to the dark side. :)

13. Need math resources, look no further than Open Wide, Look Inside. I am constantly referring back to this site for snappy ideas to up my math time in the classroom.

14. Shannon Whitney Messenger: An upcoming author who gets me excited about her journey to get her first book published. You can't help by get excited with her.

15. Boy Reader: One of the first few blogs to introduce me to the world of book reviews. I enjoy his quick, concise reviews with a little fun. He rates his books with stars...I love that.

 

So many wonderful blogs to choose from. Thank you to everyone who reads my ramblings and those that leave comments. It means the world to me that people enjoy what I write about. Thank you!

 

 

Glass Blowing

Last weekend, we went glass blowing with my mom, sister-in-law, and niece. It was such a fun experience that I just have to share. My youngest son and I both made pumpkins so you get to see his step-by-step pictures. Here we go....

First, I have to confess that we initially went to make Christmas ornaments for the tree. When we got there, the gentleman led us to a display of choices and colors. We were to pick our glass piece and then choose two colors and how we'd like them made (with a swirl design or with dots). They had vases, bowls, ornaments, globes, pumpkins, apples, Easter eggs...the list was endless. Of course none of us chose to do Christmas ornaments. That will be for another trip.

When blowing glass, the handler must heat a regular chunk of glass and then cool the rod.

The next step is to ensure that your customer can blow on the tube to enlarge the sculpture. As you can see, my bulging cheek son has no problems blowing hot air.

 

Next, the handler rolls the regular glass into the colored glass pieces of your choice. To get the swirl design, they alternate sides on the chunk (blue, pink, blue, pink). To get a dot pattern, like my sons, they swirl the regular glass into one color and then dab the other color randomly around.

After that, the glass is heated in a big cement mixer like container. When near it, it is super hot. I imagine that this is probably one of Hades hobbies. I may need to write Rick Riordan and suggest it for his next Percy Jackson book.

Next, you are asked to blow into the tubing to help begin molding your masterpiece. J had so much fun blowing into the tube and watching the glass expand. He was concentrating hard on his job but had to sneak a peak at his handy work.

After some more heating and manipulating, the pumpkin glass is formed. Now it's time to sit back and watch how the stem is made. What a fascinating thing to watch.

Lastly, you admire your art and give the professionals a high-five!

I would have thought that this was the end of the process, but it wasn't. We had to leave the glass to cool in an oven for almost a week. It's very important that the glass cools down slowly so it doesn't break. We just picked up our finished products this weekend and I couldn't wait to share them with you all. Take a peak at the artists in my family.



My boys, mom, and niece. Aren't they special? I'm a lucky girl.

Maybe you can find a glass blowing near you and give it a try. We sure had fun and will be making a trip again soon. Hmm, I wonder if they can make turkeys?

 

       

Hair Tinsel

I am teaching 3rd grade this year and can't help but find humor in the things that come our of their mouths. I have a group of strong personalities which lead to some entertaining discussions and exhausting days. Here is just a glance into an average day.
I have been trying to use picture books to introduce some CAFE strategies in our classroom. This is very successful if I can just get them to stop blurting out their connections mid-story. They have wonderful things to share but I'd like to actually hear them all.

I was in the middle of an engaging page when one of my sweethearts blurts out:

"Mrs. G, do you have tinsel in your hair?"

Now, for those of you who don't know...tinsel is actually put into peoples hair as decoration. It's actually very cute looking...I have been considering getting them for my 4 year old niece.

I was surprised at this outburst but was not surprised by the mouth it came out of.

"No, I don't have tinsel in my hair...WHY?", I asked with true disbelief in my tone.

"Because you have silver glittery stuff in your hair.", she replied without hesitation.

The light bulb began to glow over my head as my cheeks began to turn a bright shade of crimson. This was not happening to me.

"Oh sweetie", I replied in my sweetest teacher voice, "those would be grey hairs. Grown-ups get those when they have kids and in moments like this." I couldn't help but smile and give a slight giggle at this embarrassing moment.

"Well, it's really glittery!", she replied without an ounce of sarcasm or judgement.

How can you not smile a little? At least she thought these glittery hairs were trendy. Am I missing something?

I went to check out these silver, glittery tinsel strands in my hair during recess. The mirror revealed that they needed to be removed....IMMEDIATELY. Dark hair and "silver tinsel" just don't go together. Maybe I need to trend up a bit and add some red tinsel to my hair...something to ponder.

Bump, Crash, Meow!

Scratch.....thump, thump! What in the world is going on?

Since my dog had surgery, I've been holding down the couch at night. She is much better and doesn't really need me there, but I'd hate to missing if she needs me....that, and my couch is super comfy. The downfall is that I hear every creak and crash that occurs in my home. Here's just a taste from last night.

I took Sasha out for her quick potty break before settling in for the night. Blankets are wrapped around my cold tootsies, neck is thoroughly covered up, and eyes are quickly getting heavy. The school year has begun and I've already got the sore throat and headache that seems to follow the start of every year.

CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

Eyes open to find my dog happily grinding her teeth on a rawhide. Eyes close again.

Crunch! Crunch!

Cats turn to chow his food. Eyes close...think happy thoughts of chirping birds and waterfalls.

Scratch! Thump, thump!

Now what? I try to adjust my eyes to the darkness in the room. The dog is softly snoring next to me, all four legs reaching towards the sky, and her front paws twitching. That wasn't the sound. My eyes scan for the cat.....there!

Mow, mow! (think Siamese sounds) SCRATCH!

I slowly ease my body off the couch to get a better look. THWACK! My cat is launching himself at the sliding glass door. Just what I need, a cat with issues. As I get closer, I start to see objects skittering across the glass. Long legged, flying critters are ramming into my sliding glass door. My cat has been trying to attach bugs through the glass like a guard kitty. I am thankful for the bug repellent but wish that he could do his job more like a Navy Seal.

Once again, I settle into my nest on the welcoming couch. Maybe sleep will be in my future...or maybe not.

Tree Diver

It was a beautiful sunny weekend in Washington. The pool was uncovered and warming, the sliding glass door was open and a cool breeze was working its way through the screen. I was busily making lunch when I heard my son start to yell "Mama, mama look!" I quickly whipped my head around. "Mama, it's a squirrel...it's a squirrel!" My eyes never seem to focus fast enough but today they were like the automatic focus on my camera.

My eyes blurred from looking at the big picture of my yard to a crisp focus on the branch of our cherry tree. This was not the petite squirrel that our dog had treed several times in the past. This squirrel has been padding himself in preparation for the winter. As he stiffened his body, I watched the branch flex and spring to life. The plump critter flew a foot from one tree branch to the next. Our plum tree is not as sturdy as our cherry and it gave out under the pressure. The fluffy squirrel touched ground on this landing but quickly scurried to his new resting place further up the tree.

I giggled while I watched our new guest. His grace was lacking in his landing....he may have underestimated the strength of our tree's branch. After grooming himself, he worked his way to the ground. My camera skills were not fast enough but I followed him as he inspected the rest of our yard.

Settling under our apple trees, he took a lunch break. All of that bounding from trees must have worked up an appetite.

It's been a long time since we've been able to see wildlife in our backyard. I guess there are perks to having a recovering dog. I'll enjoy these moments for the next few months and then the critters will get their notices....dog back on duty, time to leave the premises.

You'd Never Know

You'd Never Know

You'd never know that she had surgery a week ago.


You'd never know that she tore two ligaments in her knee.


You'd never know that she has an L shaped plate holding her broken bones together.


You'd never know that the six screws allow her to be bionic.

Why?

Because she smiles like she's the happiest she's ever been.


Because she still snaps at her siblings.


Because she flexes her joints like it's a natural part of her being.


Because she moves with the swiftness of an athlete.

Giveaways...

The patches from the IVs.


The shaved patch from her epidural.


The slight limp after a short stint in the yard.


The shaved leg with the furry paw.

This is my husky-doodle...and I'm so happy she's healing quickly.

Notice the furry tip of her shaved leg...my husky-doodle



Happy as can be with her furry brother.