Happy Birthday Dad!

I wonder who will join you at your table today
on your birthday up in heaven?
And do you get to choose
your birthday feast?
I bet I know just what you'd choose!
A hamburger grilled dark over a campfire,
a side of potato salad, or chips, or corn on the cob.
A root beer in your hand
or maybe an un-root beer?
And do you get to pick your treat?
It hits me now I'm not so sure
what you would desire.
A strawberry shake? A vanilla cone?
A chocolate cake?
Anyway, I'm sure it will be delicious.
And are there lots of sunshine streamers
with puffy cloud balloons?
I bet there are angels singing
a birthday tune for you.
If I was there, I would.
I'd even go easy on your candle count,
though not on the getting old jokes.
I'm sure those who join your table today
will take up my slack
as I won't be there to celebrate with you.
But in my heart
please know I'm singing
Happy Birthday to you today Dad
from this side of heaven.


I composed this several times in my head before my fingers found the keys.  It had to be just right today.  It couldn't be rushed.  I knew it would come in it's own time and it did.  And, if I wish it up to heaven, maybe it will even find it's way to him.

I found the balloon picture on Pinterest.  I don't know who to give credit to but it was too perfect not to use.  If you know where it came from, let me know.  I'd like to give credit if I could.

Lucy

Last year, after much debate, nudging, and back and forth wavering, my husband and I decided it was time to add to our family.  Our youngest was almost 3 and was quickly moving from baby to big girl.  We were feeling the pull of a new baby.  The warm cuddles.  The sweet little noises.  The special bed and toys just for the baby.  It was time.  We knew we had a special place in our hearts for one last sweet baby.

She came into this world in late February, but it wasn't until April that she finally came home with us.  She's just been the sweetest blessing.  We couldn't have asked for more.  Her older siblings have been such a great help with feeding and taking care of her.  They love spending time with her, playing with her, cuddling with her and even helping to clean up after her.  They love her so much they even want to sleep with her at night.  I often hear, "Mom, can Lucy sleep with me tonight?"  It's hard to say no to that!

So, without further ado:

Meet Lucy!  Our sweet...puppy!

And the other one with the dolls is pretty sweet too!  ;)

Broken

I enjoyed reading Betsy's post on turning quick writes into poems today.  I fully intended to give this technique a try for my slice today.  But, as often happens, life got in my face and demanded that I write a different kind of slice.  It's still a poetry slice but it stems from a lunch table conversation instead of a quick write. 

once happy
often light-hearted
frustration floats
heaviness in the air
broken
the mood has shifted
tolerating the untolerable
feet dragging
excuse making
broken
changes needed
follow through lost
ignoring lets it linger
broken

My Wheels are Turning!

I had the opportunity to visit an early childhood special needs classroom this afternoon to visit a student that will be in my classroom in the fall.  It was fun to see this different environment and to meet her in her surroundings.

The wheels in my head are spinning out of control as I begin to process the adaptations, accommodations, preparations, all kinds of -ations, that I have ahead of me.  I heard today about ipad apps that will help her become a writer when her hands cannot, technology and accommodations for reading, environmental adaptions to prepare the classroom for her convenience and growth. 

I am so excited to begin this new journey with her next year.  I know this sweet smiling face is going to teach me in so many amazing ways and I can't wait!

How To. Who knew?

 Today was my observation day.  It isn't something that worries me or makes me nervous.  My principal knows me pretty well at this point.  I know a lot of people who put on a "dog and pony" show when they are observed.  Not me.  I do what I would normally do and he comes in to watch.  No big deal.

This time, he chose to come on a day that just happened to be the change-over from one writing genre to another.  Typically, I take a day or two of writer's workshop and immerse my students in reading and studying the new genre.  But, I wondered, is this the type of writing lesson he would expect to see?  Probably not. 

Was I going to do something else instead?  Nope.  I grabbed two mentor texts and away we went.  I explained that since yesterday we finished our opinion unit and published our final piece, today we were going to start learning about the next writing genre!  The kids were pretty excited as I read the two short examples and we talked about the transition words used in each to show the procedures being explained in the books. 

For our writing today I let the kids decide what genre they wanted to write in.  They could pick opinion or narrative.  Many picked opinion because we had just finished it and they enjoyed it.  Some chose to write a narrative story since it had been a few weeks since their last one.  But there was a handful that surprised me!  They insisted on trying a How To piece!  After reading two examples, they were ready and confident enough to jump on it!  Check it out - I am completely blown away by these amazing kindergarten kiddos!

How To Make a Snowman With Paint
By Conner

Step 1
Use paint to paint the snowman.






Step 2
Let them dry.

Step 3
Decorate them.







How To Make a Rainbow Craft
By Meredith

Step 1
Draw a rainbow.

Step 2
Cut it out.

Step 3
Cut strips of tissue paper.

Step 4
Glue or tape the tissue paper on the rainbow.







Are these fantastic or what?  I am so excited to dive into this genre.  I know my students will love it and I already have some great student models to teach from!  Bonus!

Enjoy the Moment

Sometimes you just have to enjoy the moment.

My daughter went to school with me this morning and her sitter picked her up there.  This happens a few days per week.  With all the snow we have had she has been enjoying a few minutes of playing in the snow each morning while the sitter and I chat. 

She ends up being a snowy mess when it's time for her to go.  While the sitter doesn't mind, I feel bad for adding all the snow to her van!  This morning, I made a silent vow to keep this from happening.

It didn't work.  My daughter had other plans.

As we were walking out of the school, hand in hand, she scooted us over to the edge of the sidewalk.  She is a bright, slightly mischievous little thing.  She knows I'm not going to walk in the snow, so she moved us over just enough that she could scuff her little feet through the snow while mine stayed on the dry sidewalk.

She laughed with joy as she shuffled her feet this way and that way through the newly fallen inch of snow.  The light fluff coated her pink boots and she giggled out loud.  She checked over her shoulder every few steps to see the footprints she left behind.  She had such a look of joy on her face!  Just a simple walk through the snow brought a satisfied smile to her face.

And to think I almost didn't let that happen today.

Day 1 - My Journey

 

Slice of Life Challenge - Day 1

My Journey

I'm so thankful for my journey.  My writing journey started long ago when I used to write in notebooks and hide them away.  Those words and notebooks are long since gone and forgotten but I still remember writing letters and poems and stories and the feeling of freedom that waited for me on each new, blank page.  I had no idea what I was doing then, but now I know I was trying to find meaning in my everyday life.  I was writing to understand life.  I was writing to create, to see my thoughts spread out in front of me, even when I didn't know what those thoughts were yet.

There are long stretches in my life when I didn't write a bit.  Not a word or sentence for any purpose beyond school assignments.  But even then, I was filling my writing tank.  I was tucking away little pieces of memories.  I was unconsciously gathering gems for later use.

As an adult, I didn't think of myself as a writer at all.  Deep down I wanted to be but I didn't feel like I had anything to say and even if I did, who would want to read it anyway?  That all changed when I had the opportunity to work with Geri, who I now think of as my writing guru.  She's my friend, my mentor and my first real encourager of writing.  She planted a seed (or two or three hundred) and it slowly began to grow within me.  She said that a teacher of writing should be a writer herself.  A teacher can not fully appreciate what she is asking of her students unless she is taking part in the act of writing herself.  I knew this must be true and I wanted to become this teacher who writes but it took me a while to mess around in private before I finally worked up the courage to think beyond my notebook.  It wasn't until a friend introduced me to the idea of joining the Slice of Life Challenge that I began to think of myself as someone who could write and be involved in a community of writers.

I joined the challenge for the first time in 2012 and felt relatively safe in doing so because I didn't figure anyone would read my blog anyway.  I was wrong and I am so glad I was!  I met some of the sweetest ladies, the most caring people began to stop by to leave some comment love.  This early encouragement did an amazing job of feeding my writing soul and I've been so lucky to meet some of these same wonderful people in real life in the last couple of years.  I never would have guessed where this blogging journey would take me.

Now as I look March in the eye again I am so excited to know that I might be able to share some bits of encouragement to feed someone else's writing soul.  I can't wait to see all the new bloggers take wing and settle into this year's challenge.  I also can't wait to see old friends and hear 31 new stories of their lives.  

I chose STORY as my OLW this year.  I am ready to share mine!  I'm ready to read yours.