My PROJECT

The Nutrition Curriculum Project 

I'm working on for the class I took this summer 

must be postmarked by October 28th.  

It's my "due date!."

I have been thinking about little else for the past few weeks!

It has been an interesting journey and I've learned SO MUCH!

 But I'm anxious for the weight of  it to be lifted.  

I just can't wait for "this baby" to be done and delivered!

IN THE GARDEN...

I'm teaching at our very first Summer Garden Club this week at school.
  

Yesterday the kids were having a wonderful time weeding and making discoveries

until one of them discovered a bee's nest!  

Four out of five of our kids got stung, some several times!

Praying that today they all come back...

and that there's no more painful encounters with nature!

taking off...

I'm off to South Carolina to take a class with my BFF who happens to be my boss.

See you in a few days!

Blessings!

catching up

Since the last time I posted,

I have enjoyed several dinners and lunches

with family and friends to celebrate my birthday. {thank you!}

I’ve dressed to be filmed for a school promotional video

(told I must wear any color except green (against a green screen)),

and the next day wore green to celebrate the bit o’ Irish in me on St. Patty’s day!

I’ve baked oatmeal cookies with the afterschool program kids, known as

“The Producers” of what will become “HCA Gourmet,

or, the local cable network’s best film of kids cooking for kids!

I’ve scrubbed and polished ‘til my house needed it again,

and painted and decorated the guest room.

(more on that another time)

I’ve welcomed my brother for a visit,

delighted in the first day of Spring,

scraped the snow off my car on the second day of Spring,

led our Kindergarteners and First Graders on “The Lewis & Clark Expedition,”

and met with our lawyer to determine the next steps in settling my Dad’s estate and

caring for my Mom’s interests as she is in a nursing home.

I've enjoyed spending time with my brother,

pictured with my daughter, Crystal.

He leaves tomorrow.

It has been a really nice visit and I'll miss him.

{Love you, Bri.}

Now I must concentrate on The American Adventure Banquet,

(the theme changes every year) our annual school fund-raiser dinner.

There is a great deal to be done before next Thursday.

I must also “read up” on incubating duck eggs.

Our new incubator arrived last Thursday

and the duck eggs have arrived!
BUSY...
but never bored!
Blessings!

beginnings and endings

Today is the official last day of school for the year.

:)

Before the year ended, however,

There was something we were just beginning...

*

Holden Christian Academy

received a sizable grant

to plant a garden with our students

and to start a gardening/botany,

food, nutrition, and fitness program.

*

*

We spent one Saturday with

a carpenter, volunteer parents, and staff,

building the raised beds

after many hours of planning.

*

*

The following Monday soil was delivered

and students began the work of filling the beds.

*

During Fine Arts Day

one of our projects was to make a

mosaic stepping stone

for the garden.

Each of eight mixed~grade groups

(the whole school participated)

was given a piece of fruit

and a bagful of broken dishes

as

iNsPiRaTiOn.

*

*

I was quite pleased

with the way ours turned out.

*

Use your imagination now.
Do see the sun, moon, palm tree on an island, sailing ship, ocean and sky?

Each grade was assigned a certain type of seed/s to plant.
First and second graders (my class) planted
sunflowers
&
carrots.
(after we read The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss together.)

*

This week we've seen "little visitors"

a couple of sly foxes...

leaving footprints on the bridges

and eating strawberries.

The next plan of action is fencing!

:)

We have staff and families signed up to

weed, water and harvest

during the summer months.

SO...

These may be considered our

"before" pics...

Stay tuned for the "afters!"

HAPPY SUMMER!

woohoo!

project learning tree

I spent the day today at Tower Hill Botanic Gardens

enrolled in a Project Learning Tree workshop. 

The weather could not have been more perfect. 

A brisk, delightfully sunny November day.

We learned different strategies for
teaching about tree identification,

and other aspects of environmental education
for kids grades K-8.
  I had never noticed a Witch Hazel Tree,

nor had I known about the blight of the American Chestnut.

I learned ways to identify trees in winter
by examining twigs and buds. 

And,
did you know?...

 A white pine has needles in clusters of five (W-H-I-T-E)

red pine needles in clusters of two,

(two ways to say "red," the color, and read (as in a book)) 

and pitch pine needles in clusters of three.

(The PITCH... then, 1-2-3 strikes you're out!)

We also participated in a Poet-TREE lesson.
 I learned a new type of poem...
A
~ windspark ~
has 5 lines with this pattern:
I dreamed
I was...(something or someone)
where
an action
and how 
...and I wrote one of my own.

 I dreamed

I was a flowering maple

In a tidy, manicured garden

Tossing crimson leaves into the air

Like a child.

Are you inspired
to take a

nature walk
or to
 write a poem

of

 your

 own?

It's "Pandamonium!"

I thought I 'd post a few pics showing what we've been up to at school lately.

I teach first and second grade. 

We're studying different world "cultures" this year.

This first term we've been learning about China.

Of course, any study of China

would be incomplete without

featuring the panda.

"Pandamonium"

was a wonderful day of

fun and learning

about a unique creation of God. 

In math,

we weighed and measured to

determine how many kids it would take

 to equal the size of a Giant Panda,

and figured out how many hours a

panda had left to play and sleep

if they eat for 14 hours/day.
We made panda masks and

dioramas of pandas in their habitats,

  read books about pandas, sang panda songs,
decorated a panda snack,

 {Frosted sugar cookies w/ thin mint ears, junior mint eyes,

raisinette nose and tube frosting eye dots and mouth}

and had a panda scavenger hunt. 

(Panda babies know their moms by their scent.) 

Teams followed a specific scent as they looked for clues.

A prize was given when the mama panda was found!

The day wound down with a

panda movie and panda popcorn

(popcorn with gummie bears).

       Here's a pic of all the children

dressed in black and white

wearing the masks they made.

 

 Funny isn't it

how the faces all have different personalities

 even though

 all the parts

were

exactly

the

 same

  ?  

homecoming, harvesting, and happily ever aftering

Dad is home now and was recovering as expected

until he took a fall this morning. 

Thank goodness my brother was there.
My big strong, independent dad is still
experiencing a great deal of pain. 
It is difficult to see him looking so weak and pale,
but the nurses asure us he is doing well. 
 Any prayers offered on his behalf are so appreciated.

My husband and I
attended
the wedding of
my best friend's
son
on
Friday
evening.

The church was extraordinarily beautiful.

The reception was held in a lovely New England Inn.

I had fun playing with pics of

the Bride and Groom...

My friend looked amazing in her

mother of the groom gown,

and her grandsons were adorable in their tuxedoes. :)

Each of the bridemaids chose their favorite style dress

 in cranberry (I think, or wine?)

The bride carried this bouquet.

This is one of the bridemaid's bouquets.

I loved the hypericum berries in the centerpieces.

And you dog lovers will love this...

Fun, huh?  I liked this idea.

All of this took place after I took my class on a field trip

to the apple orchard.

 
The weather was blissfully sunny and cool.
 

...a pretty full day,

don't

you

agree?

back to school surprise

Last year, one of the second grade boys at school brought in his lizard to show his classmates.  We often have pets visit.  Unfortunately, however, around snack time, S. discovered that his lizard was missing!   We, literally, searched high and low for that creature!  The kids posted MISSING signs, and we sought the advice of anyone who we thought knew anything about lizards. All to no avail...Well, imagine my surprise (understatement) when I'm sitting at my desk preparing for Meet Your Teacher Day today, and I look down to see THE CREATURE right beside my chair!  Needless to say I jumped up, called for anyone within earshot, and even had the Principal paged to come ASAP!  What would you do? 

Anyway, we reminisced about the search, were indeed impressed that this lizard made it through the ice storm of '08, and scooped it up and put it in a terrarium.  On the way home I stopped to buy crickets. 

                                                     They kinda creep me out.

I'm thinking, in addition to How I Spent my Summer Vacation ,

this year we'll be writing about The Imagined Adventures of The CREATURE Lizard! 

Oh Yeah...the kids are going to be SO excited!

highs & lows & back to school

I have been teaching at Holden Christian Academy   for going on 16 years. It is a wonderful school with a family atmosphere where I have the pleasure of working with a fantastic group of people who love the Lord and make the hard work a joy. For the last few days I’ve been getting my room ready, but today was our first mandatory staff meeting. To start things off, the Principal, who happens to be one of my best friends in the world, (How many people can say that about their “boss?”) asked us to share one high and one low of the summer.

That was easy.

My Dad had a cystoscopy and a procedure called a “TURBT” to remove a tumor in his bladder at the very end of the school year in June. After the biopsy, the testing revealed that he had transitional cell carcinoma, that is, stage 2 grade 3 bladder cancer. You would never know to look at him that he is battling such a grave disease.
He looks like the picture of health. But looks can be deceiving. I have been accompanying him on his doctor visits as he seeks advice from the experts between St. Vincent’s in Worcester and Dana Farber in Boston to determine the best course of action for treating this type of cancer.

My Mom is fighting her own ongoing battle with Parkinson’s disease. {With Parkinson’s, the loss of dopamine production in the brain primarily causes tremor, slowness of movement, rigidity, and difficulty with balance and depression.} It is a cruel disease. She is so worried about my Dad and doesn’t know how she could manage without him. They’ve been married for 55 years!

I have been forced to come to grips with the fact that my parents will not always be right next door. It’s hard. I never want to be an orphan.  (I don’t care how old I am!) I just love my mom and dad so much. And my kids just love their grandparents… And my grandkids just love GG and Dad-Dad…

Nevertheless, God is good…All the time! He will give my M & D the strength to bear whatever comes their way and He will do the same for me and mine!

So…as I blink away the tears, you may be surprised (or not) to know that the highlight was actually starting this blog! It is satisfying and cathartic to put words on paper (even if it’s virtual paper!) and reflect on moments of life, big and small.

I know this post is rather long, but even with tears in my eyes it feels good to write these things down. Thanks, Sue (“Suuusan”) for giving us the opportunity to reflect (even if it was for only thirty seconds!)

To those who read, and listen, and comment…

It means so much.

Thanks, Teresa, for calling to say you were checking in! Your timing was perfect!
I’m hoping I’ll have enough time to post when I’m back to school and things are in full swing!

Until next time…

Blessings!