Molly Plays Ball!

Last night I saw Molly tug on the tag of her blanket and then mouth something else. I wondered if she might be feeling playful, so I got a tennis ball to find out. This breakthrough happened.

So happy to see her relax enough to play a bit!

Farmer's Field = Tundra?

I guess a harvested corn or bean field can seem like tundra, right?

It's flat, and when it's covered with snow and the temperatures are hovering around zero, who can blame this bird for thinking she is home?

That's a female Snowy Owl, not indigenous to Indiana, but several have been spotted in our area recently. My daughter, a birder (like me) and a photographer (unlike me) took these shots a couple of miles from the barn yesterday morning.

The theory as to why the birds are in Indiana is that there is a more abundant food source here this winter and so the birds are flying much further south than they normally would in order to survive. (They've been documented as far south as Indianapolis.) My sister and her husband live near this farm field and had spotted the bird twice, so yesterday Sarah grabbed her camera and we hopped into the truck to see if we could find one. We drove to the area Leslie said she had seen the bird, and there she was, sitting over a kill.

We stayed in the truck, not wanting to disturb the bird, and watched from a distance. (Thank goodness for Sarah's telephoto lens!)  It was pretty amazing to see such a beautiful, rare bird right here in Indiana.

Indoor Horsey Time

 We have five inches of snow on the ground and temperatures that are very, very low right now.

Look at those lows for Sunday, Monday, and Thursday! This cold snap is not going away any time soon. Neither is the snow - in fact, we are supposed to get some more tomorrow and possibly next week.

Between the bone chilling temperatures and the snow, my barn time is not happening for a  few days. To access the old and new barns, I have to drive down two unpaved, unplowed lanes. I also have a lot of hardware in my body (artificial knees and right hip plus a spinal fusion) and the cold really bothers the muscles around my artificial hip. If I get the shivers, it hurts. A lot.

So, any horsey stuff I am doing is happening at home. Like giving Mila her Christmas present of a rocking horse.

 Which, I am thrilled to say, she loves!

The Ghost of Christmas Past - in the Barn!

Merry Christmas from Abby and me!

 It was very sunny outside, and the angle of the sun this time of year coupled with the time I made my visit to the barn...

 ... makes it look like Abby is being visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past. (In Dickens' book, that ghost has a very bright light that comes from its head and when it presents itself to Scrooge, it is so bright that he asks the specter to put its cap on.)

If you have never read the unabridged A Christmas Carol, I suggest you do - it is a beautiful book and much better than the movies about it. I read it aloud to my students this December and they were absolutely riveted. We even had a "Happy New Year, Mr. Scrooge" party to celebrate the reformed Ebenezer Scrooge.

 I played the role of Governess Isenbarger and hosted the party. (That's my student teacher with me.) In keeping with the time period, we ate Christmas cake, sugar plums, gingerbread, and fruits and veggies.

Beverages were a choice between wassail and hot chocolate.

 Mr. Scrooge was played by Tim Schnepp, our Technology teacher who rearranged his schedule to join us.

My students all created characters who had had an encounter with Scrooge prior to his reformation and had come to the party to chat with him and celebrate the new Scrooge.

Two gentlemen, an undertaker, and a coachman. (I love how the students really got into their characters!)

We had some carolers who sang to Mr. Scrooge...

... and the men who had been collecting for charity on Christmas Eve and were thrown out of Scrooge's counting house.

 Three ladies came and invited Mr. Scrooge to their next dinner party...

... and we even had Her Royal Highness, Queen Victoria join us!

So, as you might imagine, I very much had the book on my brain with it being Christmas and having so recently read it as well as having had a big party about it. When I saw the sunlight playing on Sultanna behind Abby, I could not help but think of the book!

I hop you and yours had a wonderful Christmas!

The Power of a Good Book

When I was in fifth grade, my teacher, Mrs. Hayman, read aloud A Wrinkle in Time to our class. I was absolutely riveted, and it is my all-time favorite work of fiction. I thought then that, if I ever became a teacher, I would read it to my students, too.

And I have. Every single class. I love the book for its content; now I also love it for the many, many memories of sharing it with children who also loved it.

Some love it so much so that, even when they are in college, they remember it. Ben Anthony, one of my three year kiddos, texted me last night.

It made me smile to hear from him and know that he remembered the book.

The Number Three

As part of our study of "A Christmas Carol," Kathy Nimmer visited us yesterday and taught us about the literary device of inserting threes into texts.

 I should never underestimate what this woman can do.

She got up and wrote on the board! Here she is drawing the students an image of what the number three looks like in braille.

At one point, she asked me to crack open the book and begin reading any random passage. She told the kids to listen for threes. (Beyond the three ghosts, of course.)

To the kids' amazement and excitement, they were there!

 My student teacher for next semester, Mrs. Schley, and Kathy.

I hope to do an exercise with the class on finding threes in their classics next semester.

Meeting the Family

Molly got to meet some family members on Saturday.

 She passed the "good with grandchildren" test with flying colors. (That was our number one priority.)

Knowing that Molly was new and timid, Ian made sure his sister knew to be quiet by shushing her frequently.

 The two of them helpfully pulled out all of our old dogs toys out of the closet for her to use.

A bewildering array!

Our son who lives in Nashville, Cole, was up for the weekend, and he stretched out with Molly as she napped.

 And Lisa brought Millie over to our home - the meeting between the two dogs went well. That was our other "must" for Molly to pass. (Millie had some minor surgery on her paws last week, hence the cone of shame.

 It was a busy day, but Molly did very well. She ended up camped out under Craig's legs as the family sat around and visited.

Things seem to be working out!

Finding Molly

Molly is our third dog. We tend to have difficulty getting a new dog when a beloved one dies - it took me three years after we lost our English Springer, Duffy, to consider Zeus (a retired Lab who had been a narcotics dog), and then seven years after Zeus' passing to get Molly.  It just hurts too much to lose a dog, and I still cry for both Duffy and Zeus.

But, Craig and I started feeling ready to have a dog in the family a year or so ago and had been casually looking for a while. We were interested in another Lab who had been a service dog.

Zeus and my mother at Thanksgiving, 2010.

What better resource for a service dog that needs a home than my friend, Kathy Nimmer?

Kathy, her dog, Nacho, and me being interviewed by Korean radio station eBUSAN-FM in October.

Sunday, I said something to Craig about sending her an email asking her if she knew of any available dogs, and he had no objections. Neither one of us realized just how fast things were going to go as soon as I sent that email Monday morning.

Hi, Kathy,

Craig and I are looking for a dog to adopt. We are interested in finding one that is several years old (or older)  that needs rehoming, whether it is a service dog that can no longer serve for some reason, or one that is retiring and needs a good home. Craig suggested that I email you and let you know of our interest and ask you that, if you hear of someone needing to rehome a dog, please keep us in mind. Or, if you know of any places that have service animals for adoption, could you please share those with us?

Our beloved Zeus has been gone seven years and so obviously we are in no hurry and can be patient. We also can provide references from our vet and others who know how we care for our animals.

So, if you hear anything, we would appreciate you thinking of us!

Thanks!

I heard back from her that same morning. A Lab had come into a vet's office up in LaGrange, Indiana and might be a good prospect. She put me in touch with Sue Keenan, a woman there who works with rescue animals and had let her know about this dog, and Sue and I exchanged a flurry of emails all day Monday. The vet agreed to hold the dog until Friday when we could come up (and when she would be healed enough from having been spayed in order to travel home with us should we adopt her.)

We headed up to northern Indiana's Amish country Friday morning. (I got a sub for my class.)

We did not have a whole lot of information on the dog - we knew that Molly was from an Amish farm, and that it was not a puppy mill situation. She had just had a litter of eight puppies in September and, for whatever reason, the farmer was giving her away. The rescue person assured us that the vet clinic that had the dog was very picky about the animals they rehomed, and that if Molly were there, she had passed some tests.

 Our first meeting.

We were told that she was timid, and that was true. She did not seem to like to have adults loom over her and was more comfortable if we sat down.

Her tail was tucked the entire time, but her health was good, she was just about to turn four years old, and, despite the timidity, she was not reacting out of fear to anything. She was quiet, and although she shook and shivered at times, she would interact with us.

 Home she came with us!

It was a three hour drive, but she did well - no panting or pacing in the back seat. She curled up and slept quite a bit.

 Checking out her new digs with Craig.

I often wonder what runs through their minds at times like this. I know she had to be unsure of herself, but she was also pretty stoic.

We had two absolute "musts" about Molly's adoption - she had to be good with children (we have fourteen grandchildren) and she had to get along with our daughter, Lisa's, dog, Millie, who visits us several times weekly.

Lisa dropped by after school (she's a teacher like me) to meet our new family member. They got along just fine.

Checking out rooms in the house - nothing like starting where the Christmas gift wrapping chaos is happening!

We did have one demonstration of Molly's Amish background that surprised us (but in retrospect, really should not have.)

Molly had never seen a TV before, and when we switched it on to watch the news, she did not know what to make of it! She would pace around the couch, sit down and watch, go around the couch again...

Finally, she just sat down and watched with us!

She watched TV for nearly half an hour before finally losing interest (or just getting tired - it had been a long day, after all!)

 Craig had bought her a big cushion to sleep on, and so he brought it out for her and they stretched out together for a while as we wound down the day.

Poor girl had to be tired! So many changes so quickly. But I think we are off to a good start and am excited to begin our life together with Molly.

Meet Molly!

Meet Molly, our new Labrador Retriever!

 I will share more about her and how she came to be ours tomorrow.

It is quite a tale and things happened very fast, but I am glad to have her in our home.

Indiana Association for the Gifted Conference

I love it when I get to attend professional conferences, and the Indiana Association for the Gifted's conference is going on today and tomorrow down in Indianapolis.

Steph Rambo, Lisa Oaks, Sarah Williams, me, Terri Fisher, and Kim Deckard.

Sarah Williams and I drove down together - we left at 6:00 AM this morning!

I have heard some excellent presenters and gotten new ideas for improving my teaching. Looking forward to tomorrow's events

Featured in TSC's News

My class was featured today in TSC's article about the Hour of Code. Below is a cut and paste of it.

TSC students join Hour of Code

More than 6,000 students in the Tippecanoe School Corporation will be participating in the global "Hour of Code." The campaign takes place each year during Computer Science Education Week to inspire student interest in computer coding and technology.

TSC Coordinator for Connected Learning Sarah Margeson says some lessons will be plugged in and involve popular apps and games, while others will be unplugged and introduce the algorithms behind computer science. "By participating in Hour of Code, TSC teachers are making a statement that we are committed to teach foundational 21st-century skills," says Margeson. "Along with 100 million students worldwide, students across Tippecanoe County are looking forward to an exciting week and a bright future."

Autumn helps Emma.

Fifth-grade student Gavin Mahlke at Hershey Elementary School enjoys the challenge of programming an online robot to complete different tasks. "This is a good learning experience," says Gavin. "I want to be a video game designer when I grow up. This will be a lot like that with a lot of trial and error."

Gavin