It's true

I'm not going to lie. You'd know I was and I'd know I was, so what's the point? I'm just going to come right out and say it: Yes, teachers have favorites. We try not to, but we do. And now I'm going to show you some of mine.

Here's the first:

Tetris Post It notes! Yes, of course I meant favorite presents. What did you think I meant?  What?? Are you crazy??

Anyway...so maybe I did have each of my ~110 students hand write a letter to Santa for homework on Tuesday telling him just how good I've been, and that I really and truly deserved to get these in my stocking. One must use the resources one has at hand when dealing with that jolly old elf. I knew those post its would be mine--Santa couldn't possibly resist the innocent pleas of 110 fifth graders.  But, I have to say that I am blown away that one of my little darlings went online that very night to find them and deliver them to me today.  Poor Santa, made obsolete by a 10 year old.


Number 2:

Candyland band-aids! These are from Juliet, who isn't technically a student, but I do school her in many things--like what is and is not an acceptable music choice for instance--so it counts. These are so freaking adorable that I kind of want to cut myself just so I can put one on RIGHT NOW before Amaya finds them and commandeers them for her own boo-boos. I don't share well with others. Don't tell Santa. Oh, wait you can. I already got my Post Its.  o










And last, but not least:

A hand drawn card illustrating what I've taught him in Social Studies thus far. I have to be honest again here. I find the county's 5th grade SS curriculum to be drier than 5 day old toast. That's neither here nor there really, just a side note. The point is that the best gifts are always the ones that time and thought have gone into. And the ones that acknowledge all that someone does for you, and that tell you that you deserve a wonderful Christmas break. The ones that make it clear that you matter to someone, that you've made a difference in his life. Those are the ones that make me tear up and the ones I'll save for years. Those are the ones that keep me doing this job when I have days when I think I should do anything but teach. It's more than just paper, it's the gift of purpose--reminding me that I have one, and I need to keep on trying to fulfill it. 

Hammer the Grammar

On our way to our fifth grade Christmas dinner/gift exhange/reason to enjoy an adult beverage, we found ourselves behind this vehicle:

 First, I had to laugh. Because, well, it's so very Christian like to have a snarky bumper sticker. Then I forced Lauren to take a picture because I was in the back seat. Which made me laugh some more at my own ridiculousness. Yes, I force others into partaking in my madness. They call this leadership.

Next, I had a private, chipmunkesque little chuckle over the questionable use of the word close. Inner monologue: "Come on Mr. Bumper Sticker creator. WWJD yo? You need an adverb there dude. Cause you're modifying the verb following? Are you following me here?? Closely? The word you want is closely. Unless of course, you want to get into the whole ambiguous adverb debate, but really who wants to do that? Best to stick with established forms for professional writing. Wouldn't you agree? I bet Jesus would."

Giggles at my own nerd girl ways were quickly followed by a few nervous guffaws to mask my growing concern over the decreased level of my own sanity for having an entire conversation with myself over the grammatical virtue of a red rectangle stuck to a minivan. And all that before I even had a single sip of this...

Mango Margarita. I will be following it quite closely. As it goes in my belly! Religion found. Which probably explains why for the rest of the night my response to every question was: WWJD dude? Whatever it is, I'm following Him thhhhhiiiiiisssss close, Lee. *snort*

So many toys. So many unhappy people.

I did it. I can't believe it. But I did. I survived Toys R Us on a Sunday in December. It was touch and go there for a bit, but I made it. I did have Emily as a wing man (wing woman?) but I am the one who steered the cart the majority of the time and that's where all the real danger lies. She was more of a navigator really. She's the Michael Collins to my Neil Armstrong. Who? Exactly.

TRU Check out dude: Do you have your Rewards Card with you?

Me: No, but I do have a Groupon.

TRU COD: Is there a phone number tied to it?

Me: My groupon? No, an email address? Wait. You mean the Rewards Card. No I don't have one at all.

Different TRU COD: Oh, so no rainbow in your wallet then.

Me: Um no. No rainbow. Two circles though. Master & Card.

Both TRU CODS: (blank stare)

Me: Nevermind.

TRU COD: You must have a Rewards Card. They only give Groupons to people who have a Rewards Card.

Me: Hmmm. Nope. Still no rainbow in there.


At this point I begin to feel the loss of not having a rainbow in my wallet. What kind of wonders would the rainbow bring? Aisles that magically cleared? The toy I want found marked down 85%? A check out line that opened just for me? Valet service? I must get that card! Take me to it Mikey!

Things that made me smile today.

It was a good day.

14 August 2011

13 August 2011

11 August 2011

3 August 2011

2 August 2011

22 July 2011

Two Thoughts Tuesday: What's Really Important

1) Friends. Friends are important. Not only for the human members of the family:

but for the canine ones as well:

And bonus--the harder they play with their friends, the longer they will sleep in the following morning. Everyone wins you see.

2. People who have looked at my photos from the lake comment on how happy I seem there. Not that I'm not happy here, but it's a different kind of happy I guess. A peaceful one. A comfortable one. It feels like home. And I think one thing that brings out that Laura is that I don't feel the need to impress anyone at the lake. I just put on some clothes, pull my hair back and go.

I am thinking that I'd like to bring some of that carefree attitude back to NoVa. Since I can't run around barefoot in my bikini here, the other option is to stick with the natural hair look instead of spending 30+ minutes drying and straightening everyday. But, since I am home in the land of real housewifesque women, and I'll have to go to work, I need it to look a little more 'styled' than it does at the lake. But I need your help as I have never tried to embrace the curly before, so I am not sure the best way to go about it. I do plan to ask Akram when I see him later this week, but I imagine he's going to grump at me a bit because he likes to make my hair paper thin, straight and glossy. Anyway this is what my hair looks like when I just add conditioning lotion, a little mousse and then let it air dry:

Which is ok I guess, but I want it to look a little softer--I don't like the crunchiness that comes from too much mousse. Nor do I like the wet look of gels.  And I don't want to spend oodles of time with a curling iron as that kind of defeats the purpose of embracing the curly. But, I don't want the frizzies to take over either. So--what would y'all suggest? Am I asking for the moon? Maybe I should get a perm? Or should I just be happy with ok?

4 July 2011

25 June 2011

23 June 2011

Two Thoughts Tuesday: On Living

1) I am hard-pressed to think of anything that I love more than welcoming a new wee one into this world. The soft little baby cheeks, the way her mouth moves and curls, the gentle breath...oh can I keep her pretty, pretty please??

 

Amaya is all ready to be the big sister as she's been practicing on bear for quite some time now. See:

Now who's going to be the one to tell her that Mama's sanity really can't survive another child in this house? Anyone??

2) Chase: Breathing is important so you can exercise.

Mama: Well yes. But you also have to breath to live.

Chase: So if you don't breath, you'll die?

Mama: Right.

Chase: I always want to breath. I never want to not breath.

Mama: Well that's good. I kinda like having you around.

I miss this girl

Oh and the blond? Yea I miss her too. I have simply got to make it a priority to get home more often.

Wherefore Art Thou Pixie Dust?

If I were a magical Disney fairy who could grant everyone a single special offering, I would give the gift of a true friend. Someone who loves you and supports you through every choice you make, wrong or right. Someone like my Manders:

We've been BFFs since the day she was born. She wasn't really given a choice in the matter actually. But I hope she's ok with that. She is my rock. My therapist. My co-conspirator. My escape. My grounding. My return to the person I was. My launch pad into the person I will be. She's seen me at my best and at my worst. And she's been there cheering me on for 32 years now. No really, she has. See:

I just wish we lived closer so we could have more Mamas Gone Wild nights. I mean who else would indulge my narcissistic need to have my photo taken every time I get my hair done?

Or think there is nothing wrong with buying something just because you think the bottle is the most adorable thing Ev-vah?

I don't even want to drink it. I just want to look at it. And she understands this. Thinks it's normal even. 

Yes, I do believe everyone needs someone in her life who not only understands her crazy but embraces it.  Now, if I could just find my bucket of pixie dust...

Best Easter Playdate Ever! Part Two: The ABCs of a Good Time

As promised here is part two of our Easter playdate extravaganza. For ease of consumption, I've broken the event down into three simple components. Thoughtful and sweet, am I.


A is for Arts & Crafts

Want to entertain a crowd of pint sized humans? I have two words for you: glitter glue. It's that simple. Really. 

And bonus, you'll end up with lovely pieces of art for your home. Here's an Amaya Original:

And a limited edition ChaseEraser:

B is for Buckets

  Sure, they're great for collecting things,

 but they're even better when they come pre-filled with sugar and toys.

While making these playdate favors, it occurred to me that I was quite selfish in naming my daughter Amaya--that's 3 A's for one tiny person! A's don't grow on trees you know--I specifically know this because I ran out of them. Which is why Chase's bucket had an upside down V with a Z tail for his A, and poor Vivian's bucket was simply labeled Viv. So let that be a warning to you folks--think very carefully about how vowel  greedy you want to be when naming your children. If you fail to heed this advice, it will surely come back to bite you one day when you find yourself having to label 8 Easter buckets.  Or um something.


C is for Chaos...like mad yo

This was some kind of seek and destroy mission involving a giant flyswatter and lots of shrieks and giggles. 

This was a snake hunt. I heard one of the girls saying: Here snakey snakey snakey! I am pretty sure it was Amaya. Which is odd, since that is the last thing her mother would ever do. Actually try to entice a snake to come closer? Insane. 

This was bumper slide with the added element of trying to pull Allie back onto the ramp.
 

It ended like this:

Like I said, mad chaos yo.

Best Easter Playdate Ever! Part One:The Hunt for Ovoids

Midway through the evening, Chase rather exuberantly deemed this little get together the Best Easter Playdate Ever which might be a bit effusive, but it was certainly in the top five. Beautiful weather, happy kids, yummy food, lots of great photo opportunities. So many in fact, that I am dividing the event up into two blog posts which is good for you because it means you get to see more pictures of cute kids. It's also good for me because it means that I don't have to think about what to post later this week. See, everyone is happy here. Best Easter Blog Post EVER.

Up first: It's the Great Egg Hunt Charlie Brown.

On your mark!

Get set!

Go!

One of the main reasons that we chose this house was for the lot, and it's days like this that I'm so thankful that we did. I love our backyard--it's big, but not too big. It's got a bit of grass and a bit of woods. Countless spots in which to hide a brightly colored egg.

The best part though? It has a nice, safe fence encapsulating it all so that I don't have to constantly worry about little ones escaping into the great beyond.

 

This year,  we took some time to actually hide many of the eggs instead of just tossing them willy nilly all over the yard. This is yet another consequence of the children growing older. I thought that perhaps it would make the event last a little longer.

But I forgot to factor in the energy level of the tykes-which under normal circumstances is quite high, 

but add in the excitement of a play date and the promise of sugar, and you get kids on hyper speed.

 Before I knew it, the little Gremlins had found all the eggs and hoarded them off to their secret lair for inspection.

 Luckily, they seemed quite pleased with their haul...

if the evidence left behind is any indication that is.

 Best Easter Playdate Ever! Part II: All Fun & Games coming soon to a MellonBlog near you.