Bathtubs and Squished Flowers

Last night I was giving Levi a bath. I put him in a baby bath tub in big bathtub. He has enjoyed splashing around in his tub, exploring the toys I put in there for him. But last night he decided to expand his exploration to the walls of the tub.

First he touched the far side of the tub. Scratched it to feel the texture. 

You could see him thinking: Huh? Smooth. Very interesting.

Then he reached over to the opposite side of the tub. Scratched it to feel the texture.

Expression: Utter Shock and awe! Mouth forms a perfect ohhh shape.

See him thinking: WOW! They look the same AND feel the same!!!

Hear him giggling with joy and excitement at his new discovery.

I don't know why that discovery was so exciting, but it made me happy to see.

How wonderful it must be to: 

1) make discoveries for themselves, rather than have to study about it in a book or be told about it

2) discover new things every single day, and rejoice in it

3) uninhibited by what people think about you. ( how you react, how simple the discovery)

It makes me think of my students. So many of them, by the time they are in middle school, are beat down. Some of them are so beat down that they have given up on themselves. They no longer seek new discoveries, because they believe they will only fail in the attempt. They have been mocked by their peers so they become afraid to go "out on a limb" to discover new things.  It is safer to hide behind certain undesirable behaviors.

On the bright side, sometimes their other teachers and I am able to reach a student. We can encourage them and help them build self confidence.  Too often we do not see this come to fruition. We just plant seeds, that later bloom fully or, sadly, get squashed again. But it is the hope that I can help a student bloom that keeps me going back to work every day. 

I recently heard about a student that I didn't have a big hand in helping but did a little. We helped her bloom again. She moved away. She is continuing to bloom despite circumstances working against her. I am so very proud of her. And that is why I teach middle school...to help the squished flowers.

Now will someone help me figure out how I got from the bathtub to squished flowers?

Stockings

Christmas Letter 2011

Friends and Family,     

                                                                                            

Merry Christmas! We hope you are well. 

This year has been an exciting one for us. From January to June was a blur of worry about our jobs. We weathered that with our jobs intact in the end, although Jesse’s job was altered so that he works at 2 schools now instead of one.

 

Our miracle arrived on June 30^th, 2011 at 11:08 PM. Levi William Herrera was born! The first few weeks were filled with diapers, feedings, sleeplessness and crying, lots of crying. Then he was diagnosed with GERD, essentially baby version of acid reflux. This was not surprising given my family history. Once the medicine kicked in Levi became an incredibly happy baby! 

 

Levi has the cutest most expressive eyebrows! He is a social baby. Jesse and I went back to work after 6 weeks, when school began. My mom takes care of Levi for us during the week and Jesse’s mom does it some days when my mom takes quilting classes. Mom takes Levi with her when she volunteers up at church. Levi is passed around among the other ladies at church.

 

We went to the Dallas Arboretum with a photographer friend to take pictures in October with all the pumpkin displays. Levi did beautifully. He posed and smiled for the pictures. Then at the end when we put him in the car seat he konked out for a few hours.

On October 2^nd Jesse and I celebrated our 7^th anniversary and Levi was baptized. I prayed long and hard that Levi would not cry for the baptism. He did great. He smiled and jabbered at Pastor Gary.

 

For Halloween Levi dressed up as Tigger! That night he started to jabber in a way that sounded like a roar. 

Levi is getting really good at sitting unassisted. However he does not yet roll over, at least not on purpose. He loves to eat all kinds of baby foods. I have yet to find one that he doesn’t like. He drools like the Niarga Falls but no teeth yet. He plays in his activity bouncer or sitting on the floor independantly for longer and longer periods of time. He is learning to pretend his over-reach to face-plant was done on purpose. He does a very nice push up and scoots backwards on his belly. When his feet meet resistance he pushes up on hands and knees and rocks forward and back, trying so hard to move forward!

Levi met Santa (aka Earl Amox) this year. He was not afraid of him. In fact to prove it, Levi pulled on Santa's beard! Santa handled it with grace, as you can see. 

The picture shows Levi "baby Jesus" with "Gabriel" or rather "Gabriella". This year Levi was asked to be the baby Jesus for our Christmas eve service at 3:00. I wonder how he will do; he wiggles a lot.

    

We hope you all have a blessed year!

Mary, Jesse and Levi

2 Months

Two Months
I can't believe Levi is now 2 months old.

Milestones
He will frequently smile in response to our silly antics. When we talk to him in vowel sounds now. ah, ih,eh, oh, and uh. Sometime he even humors us and will respond with his own vowel sound. Or if he is in a particularly good mood then he will say, "guh!" Then Jesse and I get all excited!  It is the little things in life...ya know?
Well, my little genius child also does a kind of little belly laugh at times. It used to be that he would do that in his sleep in between his Joker style smile. A couple times he has done it in response to something he deems particularly funny.

We now have a baby workout center in our living room! When he tires of being held, we put him in the swing for a while. Then he likes to lay on the floor and swing with his hands and feet at the things hanging down from the 2 arches. Finally he likes to finish his workout with some time in the vibrating chair. 

Sleep...if you saw my previous post you know that sleep is still somewhat of a rare commodity still. He still averages 3 hour chunks of sleep at a time. Some nights he is awake every 1-2 hours but mostly it is every 3 hours. On rare occasion Levi will sleep for a 4-5 hour chunk of time.  I thought about trying to do one of the sleep schedule things that say he will be sleeping through the night by 8 weeks. I just don't have the discipline or the heart to do that kind of thing. I will let nature take its course for now.




 Oh and we received our first family portraits in the mail! The people scheduled to come right before us didn't show up. So the photographers spent over an hour with us. They got some great pictures!


 








The Dr Visits this Month

When he was about 4 or 5 weeks old we took Levi to Dr. H for his weight check. He was born 7lbs 2oz and dropped to 6lb 5oz (11% body weight). He had lost more weight than doctors like them to lose. Well while he was there being weighed he was crying and crying and wouldn't stop.  Finally Jesse put him on his shoulder like when we burp him. We told Dr. H that he liked that position, it calmed him down frequently. Sometime that is the only way we could get him to sleep. She noticed that he was calm while upright, fussy when we laid him down. She gave us a prescription for acid reflux. That night we noticed a difference. Over the next week Levi became a whole new baby! He didn't cry every waking moment. He slept more. He was happy and alert when he was awake. We couldn't believe how wonderful parenting could be when the baby wasn't crying 24/7!!
Today, I took Levi to his 2 month check up. He weighs 12lbs 3oz which is in the 50th percentile range. He is 23 inches long which is between the 25 and 50th percentile range. His head circumference is also in the 50th percentile range. Yea! All normal and average!
He had 4 vaccines. Yes, he screamed and screamed. All the way to the car, he screamed. Then I put him in the car and drove. He fell asleep in 60 seconds flat!

Week 38- nearly there!

The waiting game continues. I did, however, survive the stomach flu on Saturday and Sunday. At first I thought I was suffering from self induced nausea from nervous waiting. Then I thought I might be going into labor because I had read somewhere that some women get sick right before labor and my warm up contractions were getting to the point of painful. I slept very uneasy Saturday night waiting for the contractions to become more regular. But no... they were 30 min, 5, 8, 18, 45, 10...you get my drift. I woke up sorely disappointed and feeling only marginally less ill.  I decided that the contractions must have been more intense due to dehydration.

By Sunday evening I was feeling as good as I could while being 38 weeks pregnant. DH...not so much.

Monday- I actually got up off my bum and did a little organizing in our front room. This is the room that is normally presentable but is currently not.  When school was out I dumped all my school stuff in there that I needed to sort through.
10pm-3am Levi was trying to find an escape route! He would not go to sleep, nor would he let me sleep either! Jesse and I were amazed at how far my belly pushed out! I have never read anywhere that you should worry about a baby moving about too much, but i was starting to worry that he was under some kind of stress causing all the movement. Maybe he is claustrophobic like his momma?
Finally he settled down and I was dozing off, when the thunderstorm rolled in! Oh well, more preparation for sleepless nights!

Tuesday- Dr. Apt. Good News! I am 1 cm dilated. And according to the fetal monitor, having little bitty contractions 4 minutes apart. I am feeling them 15-30 minutes apart right now. The others are generally too minimal for me to notice. He is not yet fully engaged in the pelvis though. The doctor said to make an appointment for next week but she doesn't think we will have to wait that long! I am so excited to finally see Levi in person!

Lord, I hope she is right. I pray for patience and trust in Your timing. And I pray for inner calm.

I think I can...

Well I'm finally showing signs that I will one day have this baby! Praise God!!
At the OB appointment, while hooked up to the fetal monitor (aka old lady monitor), the dr asked me if I felt anything.
I said, "He moved." in a tone that respectfully said, Duh that happens frequently.
She shook her head and said, "You just had a contraction about a minute ago. We'll watch to see how far apart they are for the next 20 min." Sadly, I only had the one during the 20 minutes so I am not in real labor...yet.

She reminded me that Levi only has 4 days until he is considered full term! Dr. Hsu said that most women are anxious for the baby to come once they are full term.
I raised my hand and said, "I'm there!"
She also reminded me that since this is my first, I will most likely go all the way to 39 or 40 weeks. At least she didn't say 41 weeks.

My prayer tonight is to ask God for patience. I have never been good at waiting or not being able to plan anything with certainty.

One Month to go!

It is exactly one month to the day until my due date! I'm huge and my feet look like balloons each evening when I finally get to put them up. Tonight was worse than usual though. I did a lot of waddling around school today. I'm determined to stay off my feet more tomorrow though. Ha! With only 2 days of school left, that will be hard to do.
I have noticed, and I wonder if I am alone in this or not. For 2-3 days in a row I am ravenously hungry, to the point where I wake up 1 or even 2 times during the night and have to eat something in order to go back to sleep. During those days...and nights...Levi is very active with big movements. Then for the next 2-3 days after that, I'm not as hungry and Levi still moves but the movements are smaller and less frequent.
I wonder if it is a growth spurt thing. Then when he grows he has no room to move until he stretches my belly out even more. Then he has more room to grow and the cycle continues...
My sister said I was very "intuitive" (I think) that I noticed this pattern. I think it is just obsessive compulsive paranoia that causes me to notice. 

35 weeks- possible TMI alert

5 weeks remaining. Even though my gut tells me that I will deliver early, I asked the doctor how long past my due date she will let me go. I know most women tend to go past their due date for their first child. She answered 7 days. So Levi will be here by July 9th!
The nursery is pretty much ready. We got our changing pad this past week. That was the last missing piece that we needed to be ready. There always seems to be more to organize in the nursery though. I think it is more excitement that he will be here soon than any real need to move and organize the diapers yet again.
I have moved into a new phase of pregnancy now. While I am still anxious about how well I will cope with the pain of labor, I am beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable as the days go on. And I think perhaps labor won't be so bad if it means Levi will be here in a matter of hours instead of weeks. I am in daily pain from Levi putting his foot/feet on my ribs and stretching, thus pushing ribs in a direction they were never meant to go. There are times when I am ready to sit down and weep because that pain comes day after day, while not constant it is frequent and searing. If I lay on my right side, I am guaranteed to wake in a few minutes, with that searing pain in my ribs. So now I can only sleep on my left side or my back, when my left side gets sore. I know you are not supposed to lay on your back but I am propped up on a wedge to near sitting position. I had done that for heartburn, which is much better now that my dr. gave me an acid blocker medicine. I am learning to use pillows as lumbar support for my back. I am also learning that chairs with no cushion are murder on my back.
I suspect that Levi has "dropped" now. I used to have a belly shelf and now my belly is a little more sloping. I can no longer cross my legs because my belly is down too low. Over the weekend I have again felt muscles and tendons pulling, stretching and cramping because of the shift. I have felt perineal cramping and worried that I was in the super early stages of labor. Now I think he was just dropping into the pelvic area.
I often think of a friend who was pregnant as a teenager. She hid it from everyone and didn't have prenatal care. This was also before the days of internet. I wonder how did she cope with all these strange feelings and almost no one to talk to or ask questions? (The father was out of the picture.)
People have asked me, "Oh don't you just LOVE being pregnant!" While I am so very thankful that God has blessed us with a baby of our own, I do not love being pregnant. I feel like I have no control over my own body. I worry at every little twinge. Should I call the doctor? Should I mention it to her? Is this normal? Am I over reacting? What if I am under reacting and something is wrong? something I could prevent if only I told the doctor?
Now I am beginning to hear stories of women who have delivered with 5 weeks to go. In the last week I have heard about 5 stories like this...I tell them I have 5 weeks left and they tell me "Oh I knew a lady who delivered that early and the baby was in the NICU for X number of weeks for this problem and that." Oh God! Not another thing to worry about, PLEASE! I am trying to keep Matthew 6 in mind. Paraphrase: Who by worrying can add a single day to their lives? With God's help I will get through this.
I feel like a wretched, ungrateful person for complaining so much. However, the alternative is to smile and pretend, I am not scared, in pain, worried. I can pretend that I know what I am doing and understand all these strange feelings. All that would be a lie.
Truthfully, I lack a blind trust in God that all will be well. My life has taught me that God is always with me, even when I stray from Him. However, I also know that God has never promised me a perfect life, a life without struggles. I, like many, fear the unknown. God please give me courage.

The good thing is that so far all the sonograms have shown a healthy baby boy. Normal weight and size. He continues to move frequently. With the exception of his feet in my ribs, he is a very gentle boy. He doesn't kick so much as stretch. Last night I think I felt his elbow. I am more frequently able to tell which way he is laying. Although I have a hard time figuring out which end is his head and which is his bum!

First Mother's Day?

 This week I will celebrate my first Mother's Day as an expectant mother. First I want to know: Does that really count? I haven't gone through the rites of passage (labor) yet, but in a mere 8 weeks I will. I can't believe one, there are only 4 weeks of school left and two, I only have 8 weeks (give or take a few weeks) until our son will be here. That sound so strange, OUR SON! I can't begin to express how excited I feel on the inside. I have bottled up most of my excitement for many months because I was afraid that something would happen. I was afraid that this miracle was too good to be true and it would be taken from me. Now, even if I go into early labor, he has a 90% chance of survival at this point. I feel safer letting myself get excited about it all.
I sense more personality in his kicks. He is a gentle boy for the most part, except when he props his feet up on my ribs and leaves them there all afternoon. He gets his stubbornness from his momma. : )  I am so very thankful that for the most part he sleeps well at night. At the baby classes they say that his sleep patterns in the womb tend to continue after they are born. That is encouraging. Maybe he will be like my sister's 2 children that always sleep well at night.

I feel old! Today at work we were trying to figure out a student's behavior difference towards me versus another teacher. We decided that I am older and that was the difference in the student's mind. Ugh!
Speaking of students, the girls in my class are fascinated with Levi. Some of them touched my belly at one point to try and feel him move. He has been more responsive to touch lately. Well, he danced a jig for them! They squealed with excitement. Fun times!

Struggling with Forgiveness

In Matthew 6 it says that we must forgive in order to be forgiven. I can usually do that somewhat easily with people who have wronged me. (Given enough time of course)
Osama Bin Laden never wronged me personally, but I have a hard time forgiving him for what he did to so many people. I didn't lose anyone that I know on 9/11 but I know that I can't imagine how much pain he caused people who did lose a loved one. I can't help being glad that Bin Laden can never hurt another person or family again. I am not sorry he is dead. Yet I am not throwing a party either.
I saw a post on Facebook that posed an interesting thought. How does God feel about all this. I certainly don't think He is celebrating. I imagine that He is sad that another soul has been lost.
Other people are talking about justice. I think true justice for someone like him would have been less merciful than a bullet through the head. That is why I am glad to leave it to God to do the judging, punishing and rewarding. I just pray that God is more merciful with me and my hard, unforgiving heart, than I am towards people who destroy the lives of so many.

I must also say that I am so very proud of all our military men and women who risk their lives to make my life better. They are better, braver people than I ever will be! May God bless them and keep them safe!

A friend of mine posted this quote, which sums up my feelings pretty well.
"It is God who avenges me. He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up against those who rise against me; You have delivered me from a violent man. Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing praises to Your name." Psalm 18:47-50

26 1/2 Weeks

Here is my little boy! In this picture he has one hand up by his forehead and one on his chest. 

We have decided to name him Levi William Herrera. The sonographer says that he weighs about 2 pounds now. All his measurements are in the normal range. The sonographer tried to get a good view of his boy parts but he was being shy yesterday. She saw enough that she could confirm again that he is a boy, but it was too brief for Jesse and I to see for ourselves. 

Levi's room is coming along now. We got the rocking chair moved into his nursery tonight. It may not be the chair we ordered though. I thought the back was high enough to lay my head back on the one we ordered. This one is not that tall though. I don't want to have to move it out of the room though so we'll have to see. The room was painted, by Jesse, a few weeks ago. We have the dresser put together and loaded with Benjamin's hand-me-down clothes. Yep, Levi will not go naked! 

I just ate a cantaloupe for the first time while pregnant with Levi. I don't know if he loves it or hates it but he is wiggling around like you wouldn't believe!

On Mourning and Stepping out of the Boat

This has been quite the stressful week. In Texas education this week, we have been faced with the consequences of the state's budget cuts. The number of teachers and staff in my district have been laid off in the hundreds. Most of us are mourning the loss of their job or mourning for a friend who has lost their job. Many are dreading the increased workload we face next year and our inability to give each child the attention they deserve. So far, my job is safe. But I grieve the fact that I will miss my coworkers who have been laid off. I grieve the fact that so many wonderful, hard working people are now looking for employment elsewhere. (I am angry when I hear about the role that politics played in the decision making, but that is a topic for another day...and not for this venue.)

So my pregnancy hormones kick in on top of all that, and I have become a blubbering mess. I was talking to some friends. Talking, crying and journaling are how I work through my emotions, although not always in that order and not all at the same time. Anyhow, my friends, in attempt to console me, very kindly remind me that God has a plan for everyone and He will take care of them.  I know this is true, because I have experienced it myself.

Last year, I perceived that God was wrenching me away from my work family and dropping me into the unknown...a different school. "How awful," I bemoaned. I wept and wept about it. Come to find out, God had placed me in a new place, more wonderful than I had imagined!

So you can see, I know this in my heart that God will care for us. It may not always be in ways we expect. God never promised it would be painless or that we would not cry over those painful parts.
Matthew 26:37-38 says, "[Jesus] took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled."
And in John 11:35 it says, "Jesus wept." When Mary told Him about Lazarus' death and how if Jesus had been there he could have prevented his death.

If Jesus can weep for His friend's anguish, then so can I! It reminds me that mourning something is not the same as lacking faith in and trust in God.

Not that I have a great deal of faith in comparison to others. I truly wish that I could face the unknown (such as layoffs) like Peter stepping out of the boat onto water. And he was said to have little faith. What does that say about me? I need God's help. God tells us many places in the Bible not to worry and not to be afraid.

I have been a Christian all my life and the faith some people have (that brave lack of worry) seems beyond my reach. They say, "I am not worried about the layoffs because I know God will care for me no matter what."
I wonder, "How did they find that kind of faith?"
I also wonder, "Is it a mask they wear to hide their doubt?" If I have been a Christian for thirty something years and I have these questions, what must an outsider or new Christian think? Part of me knows, has be taught, that the goal of showing this kind of faith is to make people wonder and desire the source of that faith, God. But the cynical side of me says that if I doubt the authenticity or attainability of the worry-free or fear-free life, how much more so would a non-believer doubt it and be turned off by this seemingly unattainable life? Perhaps this is just my selfish jealousy dismissing a challenging goal that I should strive for. I do wish desperately for it, but I am not sure how I can get from the where I am now, to where my worry-free friends are standing. Emotions like worry can't just be dismissed in the blink of an eye. I can't even seem to command them to go away. How does one go about doing that? Prayer for God's help, I suppose? I just don't know what else to do about it except, go to God in prayer.

Well, I think I have ranted enough for today. (I think I need to give myself a writing lesson on focus.)

What if...

Each day that passes, I feel Jr. more strongly. I haven't felt him jab me in the ribs yet. I have felt him shift and sit on my bladder though and suddenly I don't know if I am going to make it to the restroom on time! If I have my hand on my belly when he moves I can see him push my hand out. It is so cool, yet so weird and alien to me. Every day it becomes more and more real; Jesse and I are going to be parents! UGH! I feel old.

If you know me, you know that I like to plan and I am a worrier. (Thanks Nana for the worrying gene!) During the week I feel ok. I go to work. I teach the best I can. I go home. Think about how to solve work problems or just veg in front of the TV, too tired to think of anything. Then Saturday comes. There is so much to do before Jr. comes to get ready for him and projects I want to get done, knowing I won't have much time after he comes. So on Saturdays we do what we can to get ready for Jr. like buy paint for the nursery. (no VOC! yea!) I also do a lot of sating my appetite for things like crepes, that I don't have time for during the week. But worst of all...I have time to think. I hate it when I have time to think.
What if I am put on bed-rest before school is out?
What if we are not ready?
What if something goes wrong during delivery day?
What if my RLS symptoms don't go back to a tolerable level after Jr comes?
Which I wonder if this is the cause of my anxiousness today, RLS? My legs feel crawly and I feel anxious beyond my normal worrying. I wonder what the neurologist will say about that when I see him in a couple weeks to be officially diagnosed. Probably that I am a nut case, and I need to see a different kind of head doctor! : )

Anyhow, I know I need to quit worrying and listen to my own advise. My students at the beginning of the year, usually try to get me off topic by asking "What if" questions.
Now they were not questions like, "What if I arranged the sentence thusly?" (Creative, exploring What ifs are things to celebrate in my room!)

No, they were questions like, "What if there was a fire and our homework burned up? Would we still get a 0?" "What if we leave the last 3 lines of the page blank? Is that enough?" (Testing limits) If I let them, they would ask them till the cows come home! So a few years ago, I made a rule, "No what if questions." The kids know it so well that I don't even have to say the rule anymore. Because I teach ESL, sometimes I have some of the same kids 2 years in a row. So the ones that had me the previous year will tell the student that asked the what if question. "NO WHAT IF QUESTIONS! She doesn't like them." They try to rephrase the question without the words what if but I just say that it is a what if question in disguise. It sounds very un-teacher-ish of me to limit a question, but those types of what if questions don't serve much purpose. So...I need to take my own advise..."NO WHAT IF QUESTIONS!"

To bad it is easier said than done.

Wiggle Worm!

I have been feeling "Jr" moving a lot now. It used to be only when I lay down, very still and concentrate. Now anytime I am still I can usually feel little flutterings. They get stronger and stronger by the day. I haven't felt too many kicks yet. Sometimes now, even when I am not paying attention I feel strong movements though.  It is so comforting to feel him and be constantly reassured that he is doing ok. 

A pregnant friend of mine swears that she is going to give birth to the next karate kid. She is about a month ahead of me.I know in another month or so I will be writing about how he keeps kicking me in the ribs and such. Until then I will enjoy the gentle flutters. 


Last night I guess I had eaten something sugary because he was moving quite a bit. I put Jesse's hand on my belly in case Jr decided to make a strong movement. Sure enough he did! He gave several hard flutters. 
Jesse said with amazement, "He is moving a lot!" 
"Yeees, he does!" I replied. He is very active, like his daddy!

Finally

Finally my blog "quilter-reader" represents fully what I intended it to be. I learned how to add stand alone pages to my blog. There is now a tab for my Young Adult Book reviews. Check it out!

Snow Day 4

Cabin Fever is setting in now. How do people up north do this all the time?
Today we got actual snow, not just ice. So of course I have pictures to share! Last year you saw, Isis and Emma. For the most part those 2 stayed inside as much as possible. We have a new dog that we rescued in July. She is a white German Shepherd named Freyja.

 Freyja spent most of the day outside, guarding our fence perimeter. She also spent a great deal of time rooting in the snow like a pig. In the picture below, you can see the snow on her nose from doing just that. You can also see a pink towel behind her. It was an old towel we kept by the back door to wipe mud off the feet. (Weather of any kind does not seem to bother Freyja in the least.) Well one day Freyja decided that the towel would be her favorite blanky. She drags the towel in the doggie door and out the doggie door, just like a child with a favorite blanky. Sadly, now the towel has frozen solid and shattered into a million pieces, all over the yard.

After watching Freyja frolic in the snow for awhile, we made puzzle bread (or Monkey bread). We added a twist though, apples. ...to make it healthier you know...

It was yummy!
Then a nap was in order.
We also did laundry.  : (














Finally I finished binding my signature quilt. I had my students from my former school sign it before I left. The white spots you see on the block closeups are where I erased the student's names.

Emma and Freyja helped me as always!

"Party like a Rockstar"

"I will miss you" and "I am Indian"

My students are proud of their ethnicity, as they should be. I will now take the quilt to school and let the kids use it during reading time or wrap up in it when the A/C is set on 60'. (I don't have thermostat control, or it would be 75' year round)

All in all a pretty good day. 

Snow Day 2011

Yea! A snow day in TX! This past weekend it was 72 degrees, and today the high was 30 something at 1am I think. Crazy TX weather for you.
Thankfully, I got interfacing for a T-Shirt quilt, that I am making for a friend, just in case we had a free day. So that is all ironed on now. I made the first cut on each shirt. Now I am debating on waiting to cut the other 3 sides now with a straight ruler and hoping they come out square or waiting till I can buy a 14" ruler.
While I decide, I can work on another project. Which one shall I work on?
Hand quilt more of my Asian style quilt.
Bind my classroom signature quit.
Bind antique looking quilt.
Bind cheater cloth Easter quilt.
Bind the quilt in my library room.
Assemble Pooh cheater cloth quilt.
Decide to hand quilt or machine quilt Pooh quilt.
Cut out pieces for Jr's star quilt.
Pay bills.
Nap.
?????
Definitely not bills. I think nap wins for now. Then perhaps I'll bind the classroom quilt and mark it off as done.
Given my list, one would think that I don't really care for binding quilts. ...and they would be right.

Preparations

Two days until school starts. I am ready for the most part, just finishing my introductory power-point. That helps me stay on track so I don't forget to tell the students anything. I look forward to getting back to teaching. Summer is great, but when school starts you know cooler weather is not far behind. 

 Plus there is something to be said for making a difference in a student's life. I love to see how much progress the students make, in spite of me. I love to see a student at the beginning of the year say on their  Reading survey, "I don't like to read." I beg them to read books in the beginning. 

Then by the end of the year I have to fuss at the student by saying, "Put the book away, please." I find it curious that at the end of the year they still say, "I don't like to read." That is the cool thing to put down, I suppose. So I have created a closet reader. I'm OK with that. 
I'm ready to make a difference again, even a small one.

Writing

I haven't written much so I thought I might practice what I preach. Write, write, write!
1st draft, not polished in any way.
 
Back to School
New school,
new principal,
new coworkers,
new kids,
new friends,
new experiences,
new joys...


Shiny floors,
fresh paint,
grand entrance,
bright halls,
softly lit rooms,
bold posters,
smiling faces...
This is what I see as the new school year begins.


Trepidation,
anticipation,
excitement...
This is what I feel as the new school year begins.

"I will fail them."
"I will teach them incorrectly."
"I will make a difference in their lives, for good or for bad."
"I am trained for this."
"I can do this."
"I can help make their lives better."
"I can help them feel the joy in reading and writing that I do."
These are my thoughts as the year begins.

Help me.
help the kids.
guide me.
guide the kids.
help me reach them.
help them reach me.
help me teach them.
help them teach me.
This is what I pray as the year begins.

Gardening and Sickness

 We have been doing some gardening lately. My Balloon Flower Plant bloomed, then promptly died. 

Three Weeks ago: We have been filling in our new slightly larger flowerbeds that was created when he had the stone border put in. Here are some things that we planted.

 We have several types of Lavender. I forget which is which. One is French, one is Spanish and I don't remember the rest.

This is called a Fernleaf Lavender, a variety I had not seen previously. I have a passion for Lavender so I collect every variety I can. We planted all 5 lavender plants along the walkway to the front door. That way when they attain full size they will hang over the sidewalk a little. People will brush up against it and admire how lovely it smells.

We have a Wave Petunia, which is supposed to be very heat tolerant. So far it seems to be thriving in the spring heat.

I thought this Dianthis looked neat.

 I call this the Fuchsia dot plant because I don't have the foggiest idea what it is really called. 

 This is a Penta Flower.

This is our rose hedge under our front window. I love English styles gardens, and roses under the window are an English tradition. I love the English style because of its relaxed feeling. Not stuffy French manicured style. I am not good at sticking to a plan. Once I get to the flower shop, I throw that out the window.

On the other hand, I like Japanese style gardens. It seems like a contradiction and it is. I have never tried to create a Japanese garden in my yard.

Back to my front Garden. We bought 5 rosebushes. The 3 in the middle are actually rose "carpets", a low growing variety. The 2 on the ends are a more traditions Hybrid Tea Rose bush. However day by day, the one closest to the camera is dying. The leaves are turning yellow, the flowers are wilty and don't bloom. We turn on the soaker hoses daily. We put special soil in the hole that the nursery recommended but I fear that is not enough. This rose bush was a red and white striped flower. All the other bushes are red or white flowers.

This is called a Torch Plant. It has a most intriguing bloom.

White Salvia (Sage) is on the left side of the garden. We thought it would look good with the white stonework.

No Texas garden would be complete without Zinnias. Ours have done something strange though. The pink is leaching out, so now it looks like pink and white striped flower. It is still pretty though so I am happy. I suspect that it has something to do with the acidity or lack of acidity. 

We also have Verbena. 

The Red Verbena is NOT next to the pink Zinnias.

Lastly, why have I not posted lately? 1- This garden was a lot of work and took time. 2- The school year is winding down and very busy. In Texas we had TAKS testing to drive us crazy. 3- I have been sick... twice...kind of... I had a really high fever 2 weeks ago. I was out sick from work for several days. I didn't go to the dr. because I hate them. They torture with sticks down throat. I got better w/o dr.
Then this past Tuesday, I got a rash on my arms. I thought it was an allergic reaction to perfume. (Middle school kids discover it this time a year and bathe in it!)  Wednesday the rash spread. Thursday ALL my joints began to ache... agony! It hurt to write. That is not good when you are a teacher!
I went to the dr. They tested my blood for everything. Friday, joints still hurt, rash going away. Dr. says it is a reactionary virus. Reaction to being sick 2-3 weeks ago. I told her I had been sick 2 weeks ago. She gave me medication. Starting to feel well enough to type now. I do not look forward to getting old and arthritic!