A Wonderful, Blessed Weekend

Saturday and Sunday were a culmination of a circle - from sadness and sorrow in two families to joy and happiness for them. Plus, those two families came together in celebration, completing that circle. My heart is full and I feel very, very content.

Sarah's birth son, Isaac, visited this weekend with his family so Craig could give him his patriarchal blessing.  His family stayed with us, Sarah and her family were invited to come, and Curt, Vanessa, Cole, and Emily were here for parts of the weekend, too, as were Isaac's grandparents and my mother.

And not only did Craig give Isaac his patriarchal blessing, but he was asked to help ordain him a priest in the Aaronic priesthood. On the more secular side, we celebrated Isaac's 16th birthday and Trinity's 8th birthday.

 Isaac, Heather, Harvey, and Hannah.

Craig, Isaac, Sarah, and me.

A few notes about those for whom I feel especially tender:

Sarah is my hero. I witnessed what she went through sixteen years ago, and I was proud of her then and even more so now. She is a blessing to many, many people. I love her more than words can express.

Heather and Harvey whose generosity, caring and kindness humbles me and blesses me. I am deeply grateful for their love for Sarah, and for including us in their lives. These two people have brought me much peace and healing.

Larrie has become a dear friend over the past eight years. I had told her I wanted everything "perfect" for her family this weekend, and she calmed my anxiety with her wisdom.

Craig is my rock and is always there for me and for his family.

My mother loves her family unconditionally.

Isaac has grown into a fine young man. Methinks I see an almost-missionary as I look at the photos of him!

This weekend was not one I ever envisioned would happen. But the Lord in His wisdom has a way to make things turn out and takes away the pain and sadness.

What a wonderful, blessed weekend it was.

Stencil Hanging

For our anniversary in November, Lisa gave us a wall stencil that we planned to hang in the kitchen during the Thanksgiving holiday. Because of my knee replacement surgery, it didn't happen. Lisa hurt her back over Christmas, so it didn't happen then, either. Sarah was here this weekend, and she helped me get it hung (with some help from her Pops.)

"Don't worry, Mom, I stand on the counter all the time at home!" 

(Really??)

Sarah works on placement - once the stencil is up, it stays up. If you remove it, it is destroyed. 

(Er, the stencil, not the wall... at least, that's what I've been told.)

I asked Craig to spot her for safety.
Funny guy, hm?

Pops watches the final step - rubbing with a credit card to ensure the stencil is affixed to the wall.

 "Ta da!! What do you think, Mom?"

(Sarah, I think you are wonderful regardless of how well you hang my stencil!)

The final product. I love it!

Thanks, Lisa, for the gift, and Sarah for hanging it for me!

Stooleyhead!

When our children were little, a "bad" name they would occasionally call each other was "stooleyhead." Well, tonight I received a photo from Kyle captioned "Braden is a Stooleyhead."

I guess Braden really is!

That's My Boy!

Curt has a super sense of humor and is talented in art. Vanessa is a wonderful match for him, being funny and artistic herself. Together they come up with some HILARIOUS ideas.

Case in point - this photo Vanessa took and posted on her blog:

What I think is really interesting, though, is what the picture says about Curt and Vanessa. Most of us would see this painting and maybe wonder vaguely what the men are looking at. (Or "elder statesmen" as Cole called them when he saw this picture.)

I think it takes someone with an artistic bent or a clever mind to actually make him- or herself a part of the artwork as you see here.

Nicely done, Curt and Vanessa!

The New Pippi Longstocking

Friday is our favorite day of the week in my classroom, and not because the weekend is looming. It's because it is the day two kids present their classic book reports and projects. I NEVER know what might happen - these kids are so creative when it come to projects. And some are prolific writers - two weeks ago, Audrey presented her 25 page paper about Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne! (It was excellent writing!)

Last Friday, Erin, a 4th grader, presented about Pippi Longstocking. Fourth grade reports and projects are often a bit more understated than those of their 5th grade classmates who are far more confident and willing to risk trying something when doing this project.

Erin NAILED it. She read an excellent report, all while dressed as Pippi herself. And for the project? Erin taught us "Etiquette According to Pippi" and recreated the birthday party in the last chapter.

 We gathered around my teaching cart as Erin set up Pippi's party.

 Girl Scout cookies, chocolate milk, sugar cubes, and a strawberry cream pie which "Pippi" topped with whipped cream and a peppermint. Everyone was drooling at this point, anticipating that we would share in the treat, when..

Face plant! "Pippi" did what she does best and surprised her friends by diving into the pie face first in order to enjoy it to the utmost! (I love how Sarah is so surprised she covered her face with her hands!)

Never would I have expected sweet little Erin, who is rather shy herself, to dive into a pie like that! It was hilarious and very, very "Pippi."  And all the better to see Erin bloom and blossom, even if it involved having pie and whipped cream all over her face.

On Top of the World!

For the first time since I fell November 15...

... I made it up the stairs!!

I actually practiced at physical therapy last week, but going up and down three steps is a whole lot different than tackling FIFTEEN. And, I admit I was a little scared of falling again.

But I did it, and was grateful to find that my family left the rooms up there in great shape after the holidays, so I have very little cleaning or straightening up to do. There are a few dust bunnies to whisk away, but that's about it.

It is nice to be able to freely move about my ENTIRE home.

Chocolate Soda

I love my mom. Nice, gentle woman. Sort of quiet. HIGHLY intelligent with a delightful sense of humor. Today, for her "Twelve Months of Christmas" gift, I took her to the historic McCords Candy Shop on 6th and Main in downtown Lafayette. She has been coming to this sweet shop since she was a child - it was owned by the family of her childhood friend, Kenny McCord.

First, we looked at the menu.

We did the obligatory perusal of what was available, but the REAL decision came down to whether we should choose sundaes or sodas! Since you can get sundaes all over town, we went for real, old-fashioned, chocolate sodas. Large sized, of course!

This is how she looked like as we got started on our chocolate sodas. Calm, cool, and serene. Ready for a leisurely sip of her soda.

And now we see the REAL Fern Martin. Not only is she sipping from the straw, she's dipping out spoonfuls of the ice cream, too!

(Okay, that last photo was staged. She really did eat in an acceptable manner!)

After our sodas, we went bald eagle watching by driving over several local bridges that span the Wabash River. Despite going over the Highway 26 bridge twice (where 10 eagles have been seen recently), the 231 bridge, the Harrison Street bridge, the 9th Street bridge, and the 225 bridge (twice), we didn't see any bald eagles. We did spy a hawk and a llama as we drove along, though!

Valentine's Day Surprise

Craig has unintentionally started a Valentine tradition - he sends the Tippecanotes, a local barbershop group, to Hershey to deliver a singing Valentine to me! This is the third year he's sent them. The song he always chooses? "Let Me Call You Sweetheart." They come into the classroom, hand me a rose, and break into song. I love it!

 I love how the singer on the left is belting it out!

Shooting at MTSU

School shootings are becoming more and more commonplace. What are people thinking? My heart just about stopped when I heard there was one yesterday at Middle Tennessee State University, the university Cole is attending.

Fortunately it turned out to be a dispute between two students and not a random, kill-anyone-you-see type. The students have been arrested and taken into custody. The news article is below.

As for Cole, he is okay but was in the next building. He wrote on Facebook, "  I was in the next building over...kind of freaky because we didn't know what was going on but just got texts that there was shooting and to stay in your classrooms. it's all good now though."

MURFREESBORO — For 41 minutes Monday afternoon, students across the Middle Tennessee State University campus knew only that there was a shooter on the loose.

In Jared Ongie's speech class, he and five other guys in the back of the room talked quietly, but seriously, about a plan to rush the shooter if he somehow broke through the classroom's locked door. Some joked. Some cried. Some called their moms.

Students and professors were warned of the shooter via text message. Soon, Twitter and Facebook lit up.

From 12:19 p.m. to 1 p.m. on a sunny Valentine's Day, students and professors at MTSU had no idea what was going on around them, and so they couldn't help but expect the worst.

Turns out, police said, a 20-year-old MTSU junior, Justin Macklin, had pulled out a revolver during a dispute with former student Austin Morrow, also 20, and shot at the ground. The bullet ricocheted off the concrete outside the Keathley University Center and struck Morrow on his thumb, MTSU Police Chief Buddy Peaster said.

After being shot, Morrow chased Macklin into the Business and Aerospace Building, and a police search soon got under way.

Corinne Neal, 19, a business and finance major, was working with a communications professor in her office when other professors ran down the hallway telling people to close and lock their doors. There was a shooter on campus.

Neal and her professor locked the door to the small office and turned out the lights to make it look as if no one was inside.

Then they held hands and prayed.

"I was thinking, 'Oh my God. Virginia Tech,' " she said of the April 2007 campus shooting that killed 32 people and injured many others.

After the shooting, police say, Macklin tried to hide in a classroom building, but police surrounded the building and arrested him when he tried to leave. Peaster said the weapon, a .32-caliber revolver, and two bags of marijuana were found in the building.

Police were questioning Macklin and Morrow late Monday. No one had been charged.

After those paralyzing 41 minutes, the school sent out an "all clear" text message.

"Now we know it was an isolated argument," said Ongie, 23, a mass communications major. "But when you're in the moment, it's pretty terrifying."

Earlier in the day, Neal had looked forward to a Valentine's Day dinner out.

After 1 p.m., she craved a quiet night at home.

Valentine Party

Tonight we hosted our dinner group, and we had a Valentine party as part of the fun. Everyone dressed in red, and we served Chateaubriand, red potatoes, spinach strawberry salad, fresh pineapple, rolls and butter, and raspberry white chocolate cheesecake for dinner. Eric and Bryn Seymour brought Godiva chocolates for an apertif, too. Yum!

 Usually I don't decorate much for Valentine's Day, but since we had company coming, I decided it would be a nice touch. I think the entrance to our home looks pretty festive.

 I have saved all the heart-shaped boxes and tins of chocolates I've received from Craig and the kids over the years (er, of course I ATE the chocolate in them!!), and I put those on the park bench, in the wreath on the door, and propped one up against the stoop. Then I added some heart lights that were donated to my class a few years ago. Because of budget cuts, we can no longer have mini lights in our classrooms, so I brought them home. They look lovely at night glowing in the dark.

 The 5th grade Valentine Dance was Thursday (the kids bring a "sweetheart" over 18 - a parent, grandparent, older sibling, etc.) and I saved some of the decorations from that to use for tonight. I made the tablecloth a few years ago - it is one of my favorites.

After dinner we played a concentration game using Valentines as the cards. Everyone sent me three facts about themselves, and I made name cards for everyone to match the facts with, taping them onto a sheet of paper which was then draped over the TV.

For example, a matched pair for me would be a Valentine that said, "Lynn" when you flipped it over, and a second one that said, "Saves worms on the pavement after rain." For Craig, one of the pairs was "Craig" and "Won a turtle in a reading contest." We learned a lot about each other, including some surprising facts that made us laugh.

Unfortunately, I forgot to get a group picture of us.

Skyping Braden

This evening we skyped with Kyle and Ashley. Braden and Adelaide were in and out of the picture, trading seats, singing to us (and with us), and having fun.

I asked Braden to show me the Cars toys I had sent him a week or so ago, and off he trotted to get them. But he came right back again.

"Grammy?" he queried. "Will you turn on the light for me?"

(Ashley and I laughed and said we'd have a race to blog the comment. I think I have won!!)

Frost Quake!

Wednesday evening it was super cold here with temperatures below zero. I was home alone grading papers, and I heard several loud cracks and pops outside the bedroom window in the back yard. I vaguely wondered about them, but did not pay too much attention to them.

Until I read this entry posted on the blog of Channel 18's weatherman, Chad Evans:


A very rare phenomenon occurred in the area this morning known as cryoseisms or frost quakes.
They occur as extremely cold air causes sudden expansion of moisture (quick freezing) in saturated soil, or sleet/snow that had been melted or hardened during the day that expands at night as if re-freezes very fast.  The key to this is the rapidity at which is moisture re-freezes & expands.


The temperatures were falling extremely fast lastnight & readings as low as -23 were recorded.  However, most of the thermometers we have were -17 to -9.  In last night’s case, it was such a cold night that any melting the day prior (due to the increasing February sun angle) suddenly froze very quickly & any moisture deep in the soil expanded as it froze incredibly fast, which created cracking, rolling rumbles, even minor shaking.

I was hearing frost quakes!

Response to the State Rally

Yesterday Indiana teachers, parents, and other concerned people went to the State House to show support for education and express concerns about the many changes being pushed through the legislation. All three floors of the building were full, and people even spilled onto the stairways.

Our governor released this statement afterward:

"As always, the union's demand is more money, no change. Their priority is their organization, not the young people of Indiana. Their special interest domination of education policy from the local level to the State House has hurt Indiana children for too long and this year, change must finally come."     - (R) Gov. Mitch Daniels


Um, it wasn't just union folk, there, sir! And did you know I have been working without a contract for almost a year? If it were about money, I would not still be teaching.


I don't know ONE teacher (and I know a LOT of teachers) for whom this is about money. We care about the KIDS. As for change? I welcome it IF it has been thought through, well considered, and DOES NOT HURT THE CHILDREN'S EDUCATION.


His broad assumption that all in attendance were union and that the priority is money takes my breath away and makes me sad. 

A Principal's Perspective on Being Highly Qualified

This morning I went in to work very early so I could get some work done. My principal, Linda, was already there (she arrives around 6 AM daily!), and as I stopped in the office to pick up my mail, she called me into her office.

"I have your evaluation from last week here," she said. "Is this a good time to discuss it?" And then she began saying really nice things about my teaching skills, and how much she had enjoyed spending time in my class and watching me teach.

I couldn't help it; tears welled up in my eyes and spilled over. Linda got a surprised look on her face, and I explained, "I am glad to hear that. After yesterday's letter, I have been feeling pretty low and as though the state does not value me or what I do in the classroom. It truly was the straw that broke the camel's back. I am just so tired of being told how awful teachers and public education are."

I love Linda - she always has her teachers' backs. She then proceeded to talk to me for nearly half an hour about her thoughts on what the state is doing, how it will affect me as well as my colleagues, and her personal opinion of me as a teacher.

"You know, there is so much coming at us, so many changes, and much of it does undervalue teachers. But we will weather this; we are a great faculty and we will get through this," she said as she gave me a hug.

While I still have to figure out how to make sure I am back to highly qualified status, I left Linda's office feeling a bit better and VERY grateful that she is my principal.

Just What Do I Need to Be Highly Qualified??

Without going on a political rant and explaining why, I (like most teachers) have been unhappy with Indiana's governor and his head of the Department of Education for well over a year. From slashing budgets (resulting in 150 teachers fired in our corporation, seven alone at Hershey!) to huge class sizes (31, the most I have ever had), Mitch Daniels and Tony Bennett are, in my opinion, doing serious damage to education.

Today my principal handed me a letter. "I am so sorry," she said. "You're not alone in this."

What did it say? Well, according to the state of Indiana, I may no longer be highly qualified as a teacher (you have to be highly qualified to be in the classroom in Indiana.) The fact that I have a Bachelors in Elementary Education, a Masters in Elementary Education, and 15 hours beyond the Masters in Gifted Education, plus having passed the Basic Skills test and the Elementary Teachers' Licensure tests, I may not be educated enough to teach. My thirteen years of experience don't seem to count, either, or the good annual reviews I get from the principals for whom I've taught.

At least according to our governor and the head of IDOE.

Thanks, Mitch and Tony. I don't suppose you will be paying for the coursework I am going to have to take, are you? Will you be giving me time off from school to take those courses?

What on earth more can I do to be qualified to be a teacher??

Super Bowl Sisters (Third Post of the Day)

This afternoon Madeline sent me this picture of herself holding a Green Bay Packers cake and her sister, Meredith, with a Pittsburgh Steelers one. I am sure they baked the cakes themselves for today's Super Bowl.

These two were in my first Hershey class when I taught the 2/3 gifted class (and then I had them both for two years in the 4th/5th class). Madeline was a 3rd grader and Meredith in 2nd grade when I first met them. I still remember Meredith, who was one of the cutest 2nd graders I have ever seen,  telling me she could be very grumpy. "Oh, surely not!" I responded. Madeline looked at me solemnly, raised her eyebrows, and nodded assent that, yes, Merry COULD be a grump. That memory still makes me smile.

Head Count?? (Second Post of the Day)

Every day when my students come in from recess, I do a head count to make sure they are all back, safe and sound. Friday when I asked them to sit down quickly so I could do the head count, a muffled voice piped up, "Are you sure that all 31 heads are here?"

And this is what I saw:

Oh, my!! We laughed until we all were almost crying. (That's Lexie, our class "headless horseman.")

How Much Snow Have We Had?

Indiana is having one of its snowiest winters on record. We are up to around 3 feet of snow thus far! So, I decided to document the weather to remember just how it was. Braggin' rights for when I am elderly!

I took these pictures Friday after school at Hershey. Yeesh!! And we got 3.5 more inches on Saturday with 1-3 expected this afternoon. Will winter never end?

A bank of plowed snow in the south teachers' parking lot. The custodians worked from 7AM to 3:30 PM the day before to clear the ice and snow from our lot. I arrived expecting a dicey walk into the building only to find clear, dry pavement. Thanks, Angie and crew! In the background you can see Martins' Woods (available to teachers for study trips) which surrounds one of the forks of the Wildcat River.

 On the east end of our parking lot, the snow is nearly piled higher than the cars.

The north parking lot where the buses arrive and where we hold recess. That's playground equipment you can see behind the snow! The yellow markings are for the 18 buses that come twice daily. (That doesn't count the smaller buses which transport the special needs kiddos.) Each bus has its own parking slot for loading and unloading. Seeing 18 buses disgorging 800 children is quite a sight!

Sorry, kids, no basketball for a while. Swings, either!

 The second set of hoops is also not useable. That's East Tipp Middle School, the other school in our complex out in the middle of nowhere, in the background.

 Driving home over the bridge on 500 east. The line of trees is the Wabash River.

 A farm field near Hershey. Since there is so little to stop the wind, the snow blows away, piling up near woods, bridges, and any buildings. Like Hershey and its parking lots.

The frozen Wabash River from the 52 bridge. (Yes, I was taking pictures as I drove!) Looking north towards my mother's home. If you look at just the right moment as you speed over the bridge, you can see her beach.

Home! And a shot of our mailbox, fast disappearing as we receive snowfall upon snowfall.

Happy Birthday, Vanessa!

Despite the snowstorm, we were able to visit with Vanessa and Curt on the actual day of her birthday. They came over in the evening and she opened gifts then watched basketball with Grandma and me while Curt and Craig shoveled the snow the snowplows pushed into our driveway.

Happy 20th Birthday!

"Two decades and proud of it!"

(Photo taken from last summer's bridal shower.)

Walloped by a Winter Storm

Monday afternoon through this afternoon we have had a winter storm that was so large, it covered a third of the USA. School was closed on Tuesday and today (and it was just announced that it will be closed tomorrow.)

It was snowing Monday late afternoon and through the evening, putting down two inches of fresh snow (we already had snow on the ground.) There was a brief break in the weather Tuesday morning, and then in the afternoon around 4:00 PM it began sleeting heavily. We could hear the sleet smashing into the windows (usually sleet just clicks, but this was furiously coming down in sheets) and then occasionally there would be a loud "shushhhhhhhh" as great piles of it slid off the roof and windowsills. Never have I heard anything like that.

It sleeted until well after midnight, and we got 4 inches of it! It was like a giant sno-cone had been dumped over the area. Something else I have never seen. I didn't walk on it, but folks who did said it rolled underfoot and was difficult to negotiate.

Then on top of that, we got several more inches of snow the rest of the night and until noon today. The winds kicked up and blew up to 45 miles per hour, drifting roads shut and making them impassable, especially outside of town. Our snow blower could not work on the mix of snow on top of sleet on top of snow, and Craig had to break up the white stuff with the shovel and then scoop it all out by hand.

No snow plow has been by since Tuesday morning when two working in tandem came by. Thirty two hours later, we saw the plows in another part of the subdivision. As I write, they are coming by. Wow, it must really be bad, the plows made eight passes in front of our home before the street was cleared sufficiently!

 Looking out our kitchen door across the back yard and to our neighbor's home. You can see some of the drifts around Tony's home.

 Tunbridge, the street to the north of us, is seen between Tony's home and Kristina's house.

Looking out our front door. You can see how the snow had to be broken into chunks and wedges.

 Another view out the front door. Look how my wind chime has become tangled in the blustery winds.

 I was trying to get pictures of some of the drifting, but it doesn't show very well. Still, you can see some of it, especially when you look at our mailbox. (We had not been plowed at this point.)

 Looking northeast towards the woods. The skies had begun clearing and we were having a pink sunset. The woods were reflecting the pink color. It was gorgeous!

A Personal Perspective on a Parable

I have a flock of goldfinches wintering in the bush near my front door. It's in a sheltered corner, away from the prevailing winds, and the birds are in and out all day, sometimes even calling to each other or singing. (An earlier entry showed a picture of a hawk perched on the shepherd's crook by the bush; he, or maybe she, had also discovered their wintering place.)

On the opposite side of the house, I have several feeders set up for the goldfinches. They are joined by house finches, juncos, and mourning doves. Bob and Nancy Walz, our next door neighbors, have a similar feeding set-up, and the birds split up among the feeders and have had plenty of food all day long.

Until last week.

I had filled the feeders before leaving for work, and was dismayed to return home and find them completely empty. Nothing was left. It looked like marauding Huns had come through! And that means I had unwelcome birds - starlings.

Ugly, speckled, stout birds who bully other birds (and each other), squabble and fight over food, raise a ruckus, and eat everything in sight. It had to be them.

I refilled the feeders and the next day caught them in the act. A huge flock swooped in and began eating and fighting over the food, chasing off the poor goldfinches and other birds already eating at my feeders. They were ravenous. And I was mad.

That food was for my pretty goldfinches. I was not interested in spending money to feed ugly, rough birds like starlings.

I stood by the kitchen window and steamed, muttering under my breath about those starlings as I watched them. One in particular caught my eye. It was on the tube feeder, and was too big for the perch, so it was awkwardly trying to keep its balance as it fed. But it wasn't simply eating - it was gobbling, eating as fast as it could with no pauses in between mouthfuls. Bite, gulp, bite, gulp, bite gulp over and over again.

I realized the bird was truly hungry, perhaps even starving. And then I started feeling badly, and my heart softened. Yes, the birds are ugly, and their behavior rough. But they are living creatures, and in the face of the true hunger of this one starling, I realized that my behavior towards them had been pretty unkind (I've been known to go out and shoo them off.)

God loves all living things, and doesn't pick and choose who He feeds and succors. Any who come unto Him receives. Tenfold.

The parable of the Good Samaritan came to mind as I watched the starlings clean out my feeders. I remembered how the priest and the Levite went past the beaten Jew lying in the road, leaving him to die. He wasn't worthy of their attention. It was a Samaritan, an enemy of the Jew, who came to the rescue. I started to see a real parallel between my own actions towards the starlings and that of the priest and the Levite.

While I am not the Savior, I do have the power to feed and succor those birds. And I think I should. (I've also discovered that starlings who are fed regularly are not such bullies, and that when they are done, there is plenty left for the goldfinches, juncos, and mouring doves!)