Happy Halloween!

After I uploaded these photos, I realized that I probably already posted them. Well, here they are again.

Happy Sunday and most of all, Happy Halloween!

Random Thursday

I am almost finished with this desk. I should be able to post "after " pictures next week. I wasn't sure if I was liking the outcome too much, but it's growing on me and I still have a few things to do to it that I think will bring it all together.

E went to choir practice tonight...the first one. He was excited about it, but not thrilled that he was the only boy. I told him that when he was 16, he would join chorus just to be the only boy. He looked at me weird.

Even though I only work every other day, I'm glad tomorrow is Friday; I'm exhausted this week, but I can't sleep either. I never was one to have trouble sleeping, but that hasn't been the case lately, especially during the past week.

Little Miss can write the word "MOM" ...for real...it wasn't just a fluke. She drew me a picture of stacking blocks with the word "MOM" clearly spelled out in the left bottom corner. She can also identify her name, her brother's name and "DAD". She is also really into cutting lately. She makes confetti out of paper and spreads it all over the house...I just wait until the end of the day and sweep it up.

Saturday is the annual kids' Halloween Party...should be fun! The kids are excited!

..and today we helped Cousin Chrissy cross something off her "to do" list. She had never carved a pumpkin before today (not that she remembered anyway). Now she can say she has and probably never will again; it is kind of gross!

Blue Lily

As I have already mentioned (what seems like 100 times), we had photographs taken by Tyler of Blue Lily on Monday. I have been so excited about this appointment since finding out they were coming to Boston over a month ago. After seeing their work on NieNie and Whatever, how could I pass up the opportunity? They are famous in the world of bloggers..an unbelievable, creative talent right in our own backyard.

So...it was awesome, even better than I had hoped. Tyler was so gentle and calm and immediately made a connection with the kids..key to having a successful session! Even after E scratched himself pretty bad on his arm, Tyler was able to rein him back in. I learned so much from him as a photographer in the 1 hour he spent with us. Even Victor, the one who secretly dreaded the event, was pleasantly surprised at how well it went.

I can't wait to see the photos...three weeks from now.

PS The kids did so well, Daddy let them pick the restaurant of their choice. We did some fine dining here.

Picture of the Week

Little Miss

We had our photos taken today by Tyler of Blue Lily Photography, which, by the way, was awesome! Anyway, Little Miss kept striking poses, dance poses to be exact. Although she didn't want to dance on stage at her recital, she apparently learned how to master the pose that weekend. Tyler would let her do a dance pose first and then she had to do a real pose....very cute! We went here to have our pictures taken. It was beautiful, and only 45 minutes from home.

I did it!

I finished the Jedi Robe I wrote about in yesterday's post; it pretty much went off without a hitch. It's not perfect, but Mom said it didn't have to be. Thanks Mom!

The sleeves are puckering a bit and I'm going to pull them apart and resew them...something funky happens with this lovely polyester fabric., but other than that, I think it's pretty ok for my first time.

So here they are.....

Luke & Spot

We tried to get E to be a dog bone, fireman or fire hydrant, but he wasn't having it.

The serious, Jedi look!

Random Thursday

E has a Halloween party tomorrow night and I waited until the last minute to put together his Jedi Robe to add to his Luke Skywalker costume. I followed this online tutorial. I haven't really sewed anything in a long time, but I'm always inspired by projects I find on this site. Everything Dana makes is so fun and she just whips things up; I am a bit envious of her sewing creativity and talent. Back to the robe; I will have E try it on in the morning before school and after some measurements, I'll have to get it all hemmed. Hopefully it will be ready long before 5:00 pm tomorrow.

This weekend we are getting family photographs taken by Blue Lilly Photography and I CAN'T WAIT! Wendy and Tyler travel all over the world taking photographs and they are coming to Boston! I'm hoping to learn a thing or two from these talented artists as well.

Autumn is in full swing here in New England. The ride home from work has been really beautiful this week with all the colors of the leaves. Before long, our entire yard will be covered in leaves, glorious leaves!

“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree”

-Emily Bronte

My "Pick" for the Photos of the Week

Yes, today we have more than one.

They were just too good that I couldn't stop at just one.

First up we have Little Miss sitting on the throne with her crown. Crown idea taken from here.

...and this sums up Little Miss' favorite pasttime these days. UGH! I actually thought she was getting better about it, but because she has had a bit of a cold, she's been digging. I'm going to have to blame this lovely habit on her older brother...sorry E, but you have definitely helped your sister to master the art of boogies!

And for the grand finale...

Some good ole "nose picking quotes" to end the post

"You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose."

"You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose, but you can't wipe your friends under the sofa."

"I know he picks his nose. I felt under his furniture."

"If I had a million boogers, I'd still pick you."

"No ones finger fits as comfortably in your nose as your own.”

Random Thursday (a date late)

Yes! This is the new weekly title of my blog post, originally titled Random Thursday. I do realize, there have been more Random Thursday (a date late) posts than those actually posted on the correct day, but hey who really cares?

I needed an adolescent picture of me to bring to work for a guess the teacher photo contest. Mom dug this out of the pile. This is now hanging outside the guidance office. In this picture, I look soooo much younger than the kids I work with.

I think this picture was taken as I walked into a surprise party. Check out those socks and the tucked in shirt...classic!

Here is my little man with his new "do". If you ask me, he looks pretty darn cute in his "faux hawk"! After getting his haircut, he walked by the mirror, took a glance and said, "I look good!" Yes you do handsome!

And this week was a big week at Tae Kwan Do; E got his high green belt and his new (costly) sparring gear...ouch! This picture cracks me up every time I look at it. I hadn't even seen Little Miss in the picture when I took it, but then when I uploaded it, I couldn't stop laughing. Excuse the blur; that's been happening a lot lately.

Happy Weekend to all! The two little cherubs and I will be spending our weekend at dress rehearsal and recital. E will be doing an acrobat number to "I Don't Want to Work" and Little Miss will be tapping to "On the Good Ship, Lollipop."

Pictures coming soon....

"You can dance anywhere, even if only in your heart."

~Unknown

Thank You..

....to Sarah over at Memories on Clover Lane who linked me yesterday. It was exciting to have some company over here. I'm hoping some of you who visited with me will stay around for while. But, if not, thanks for stopping by anyway. It was fun!

"No one can deny the excitement of visiting another world."

-Barney Oliver

DIY Halloween Invites

For the past few years, we have been hosting a Kids' (or is it Kids?...technically, I believe it makes sense either way) Halloween Party, because with all the time and effort that is put into picking out the perfect costume, Halloween lasts a little longer when you have a party to celebrate it.

Here are this year's invitations.

I found these great Martha Stewart Halloween Treat Bags (for less than $2.00 for a bag of 12) at Christmas Tree Shop .

I searched for a vintage Halloween image on Google and put this insert together in less than 10 minutes on Picasa. It's not the greatest thing ever produced, but hey, it's cute, cheap and serves its purpose. The background is a combination of two "papers" I found online.

The kids then put the inserts into the treat bags, exposing only the

"peek a BOO" at the top. Fun, fun!

"Eat, drink and be scary." ~Author Unknown

PS I never liked Halloween, but with kids, it's different. I like it because they like it. It's still such a silly thing to me, but to see them get all excited about it, it's completely worth it.

DIY "Stained Glass" Pumpkins

Supply List:

School Glue
Paint brush
Plastic Plate
Orange Tissue Paper
Black Paper (construction or tissue)
Green Paper (construction or tissue)

1. Tear the orange tissue paper into small pieces (Little Miss insisted on using the scissors; they're still considered a novelty to her.)

2. Spread the glue with the brush onto the circular center of the plastic plate. It is best to put the glue on in sections, as it dries quickly. Place the pieces of tissue paper onto the glued surface and be sure to overlap the pieces. You do not want any of the plate showing through.

3. When the entire circular section is covered with tissue paper, let dry.


4. Unfortunately, I do not have a photo for the next step (oops...some day, I'll get this DIY thing right). After letting it dry completely, you are going to peel the "stained glass" pumpkin off of the plate. This is most easily done if you turn the plate inside out. Usually the kids like this part the best.

5. Make a jack-o-lantern face with paper. In the past I've used tissue paper, but we didn't have any, so the kids cut out pieces of construction paper for faces and stems.

6. Hang in a window. These are not the best photos, especially with the screen door in the background, but, they look really great in a sunny window.

Note: I have used this project in the classroom with 5th and 6th graders to practice expository writing.. I demonstrated the project, they created a pumpkin and then had to write the step-by-step process with how to do it.

You can also do this at Christmastime and make Christmas ornaments.

"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion." ~Henry David Thoreau

Picture of the Week

These are the pictures I usually get, but just don't post all that often. E puts his arm around Little Miss and squeezes her neck too hard, causing her to have a bit of a fit. This picture tells the "real" story.

Trashing My Wall

I think someone has been trashing my wall. It looks like I had some comments, but they're now gone. I'm going to lock them so that I have to approve them before they post. So please, won't you try again and leave me a comment. Here's the link.

Random Thursday (a date late)

E earned his high green belt this week in Tae Kwan Do. He did really well and his yell, I believe, earned him another A+. He still lacks confidence some of the time, but I think that will come. Tae Kwan Do has been such a great experience for E and the instructors are so great! They are firm, set limits, and work the kids hard, but at the same time, they are kind, caring and oh so patient! It's a perfect combo!

This is a preview to the "stain glass" pumpkin craft I will post later this week. I really will get it posted this time from beginning to end.

I photographed these two gorgeous cousins this past weekend. They were both so great! I'm looking forward to taking pictures of another family this weekend.

Happy Friday Everyone!

Random Thursday

Oh dear! It's Random Thursday and I've got nothing. Not even anything random. I'm going to have to postpone random Thursday once again and make it random Friday.

Well, actually, here is one random thought. Can you name this plastic play food? This was our meal served by Little Miss and her favorite cousin at The Children's Museum in Easton this past Tuesday. We were definitely well fed.

Wallwisher

I found a way for all of you "nonbloggers"(mom and Aunt Sue) to leave me comments about my posts. You can click on this link http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/abetterdream and basically leave me a "virtual" sticky note with a comment on it. The assistant principal at my school introduced it to us at a staff meeting today to use as an educational tool. I found another purpose for it too. Go ahead...try it out.

"Everybody needs feedback, and it's a heck of a lot

cheaper than paying a trainer. "

-Doug Lowenstein

Picture of the Week

Enough said!

Happy Monday!

Trash Picking.

I have big plans for this trash find. We took it from the sidewalk at a neighbor's house last weekend. Its new home will be a corner in E's room after it gets a makeover. If you're lucky, you may even see photos by the end of the week.

A moment on my soapbox

I'm having a moment and feel the need to stand on my soapbox. If you're not fond of listening to someone standing on a pulpit, I encourage you to leave now. But, if you do stay, I'll try to make it worth your while.

I have to say that all the recent talk and debate around the subject of education has become quite frustrating to me....as a teacher, as a mother, and as a product of public education. Honestly, I haven't listened to much of the news coverage on this topic during the past week, but I have overheard conversations and snippets here and there on the radio. That was enough for me! There are so many experts out there trying to figure out what is wrong with the state of public education and how we are going to fix it and raise the standards to be able to "compete" with other countries who continue to out perform. Continuously in education the pendulum swings and never seems to stop in the middle. We do one thing for a while and then bam, that's not the right way to do it, so we try something else. Meanwhile, our children are the guinea pigs in this science experiment that never truly seems to pan out. The hypothesis never seems to match the outcome and so we just keep trying, spending billions of dollars attempting to come up with the correct formula. Well, guess what people! Children are not science experiments, nor can they all be grouped into this one domain where what we do with one, we can do with all of them. Each is an individual being that must be guided and directed in the path that best suits them to have a successful life.

How do we do that? We get to know them, we talk with them, we show them we care. Once that is established they become willing participants in their education, an education that should be a partnership, not a dictatorship. If we all put aside the scores and data for just a minute, get to know our kids and work together with them, I truly believe the results will speak for themselves.

As parents, we can talk to our kids and engage them in life. Get them away from the monotony of video games and television and make them active participants in their lives and the lives around them. Talk to them in the car, at the dinner table, in the grocery store. Help them to experience all that they can and again, I believe the results will speak for themselves. In general, I think kids are "neglected" when it comes to social interactions with others, unless you count IMing and FBing...do I even need to go there, OMG!?

Finally, I am a product of public education. Do I think I had the "best" education...probably not. But, my education was not the sole determining factor in my success in life. My parents and upbringing was. Most of what I learned to be successful in life was because of what happened when I wasn't in school.

I do think that now sometimes the roles between parents and teachers is a bit blurred and well, that's another source of the problem.

My children will also be products of the public schools. Am I worried? Yes, I am worried about when they fall and hurt their knees on the playground or pee in their pants because they waited too long to go to the bathroom. I am worried that they will not like school and find it stressful and tiresome. If, in the end, they can't remember the phases of moon or the names of the constellations, they'll be ok! Perhaps, they just won't become astronomers.

For those of you who stayed until the end...thanks for listening.

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school. "

- Albert Einstein (1879-1955)