Winter "break"

We are on winter break. It is a break from school, but a foray into extra housework! :) We worked on both girls' rooms on Wednesday, purging, reorganizing, cleaning and rearranging. On Wednesday I also cleaned out my "junk drawer" and three cupboards. Then, on Thursday, I finished putting away all the Christmas decorations (as well as the husband removing the tree) and I got out my collection of snowmen. They relieve the sadness of removing Christmas decorations. I also rearranged the living room furniture. My goal of achieving things around home before I begin the longterm substitute position has been met thus far!
So far, today, I have cleaned out the pots and pans cupboard and am moving onto a fun task: reorganizing my scrapbook supplies, having gotten some for gifts for Christmas. I also need to decide what album to begin next, and assemble the supplies I will use for it. Over the last two months I was busy making gift albums for my in laws and parents, so I need to put that stuff away, as well.
I did get my cards written and out in the mailbox five minutes before the mail truck came on Friday-the last day to mail local cards! I wrote a note in almost all of them, running out of time required a typed note in a few! I have a few "Happy New Year" notes to people who sent me cards that I received on the 24th or 26th.
We have had some fun visits with family in the last two weeks. We went to my hometown to see my family last weekend and enjoyed getting to see them. We got to see some family I hadn't gotten to spend quality time with, too, which was great! Then we had my husband's parents, grandmother and sister here for Christmas eve. They attended our church service with us and then we had dinner at our house. We made turkey, avocado, bacon, and spinach wraps, sweet potato fries (yes, homemade), and cantaloupe with creme brulee for dessert. We also tried something new for adults: butterscotch martinis, which those who tried them enjoyed!
Then, on Christmas day, we woke up early to our daughters' voices. They had woken up at 5:45am, but knew our earliest limit was 6. They say they tried to go back to sleep but couldn't. :) They came in at 6, and we were done with gifts, breakfast and clean-up by 7:30. Santa was good to them, but the gifts that were exchanged among the four of us were very thought out and thoughtful, as well! Next, we went to the husband's parents', with his sister and brother's family. We had such a nice time, with family, which is what the season is all about!
I also had a mole removed on the 19th, not fun, still having four stitches, but they come out on the second. Hopefully the tests on it come back fine.
I ended up teaching my youngest daughter's class for five days instead of one, due to her teacher's leg injury that required surgery. I have my long term assignment coming up on the 3rd and lasting until at least the 15th of Feb. It will be nice to be in the same place everyday and spending consistent time with the kids. The changes around here should be interesting. :)
My busier schedule has wreaked havoc on my running schedule. I took more time off, and I really noticed it even on my short five miler yesterday. My goal is to get a regular time in my schedule to have time for running! But, we'll see, work and family come first...
That's all the rambling I have for you right now. I hope you all are well, holidays have gone smoothly, and the new year comes in positively for you!

Loved this

Saw this on someone else's blog and loved it. Here's to the crazy ones!

December

We have had a busy December, thus far! On the 1st, we went and cut our tree. Our yearly tradition is to start the day at Tim Horton's with my husband's parents. Then the six of us take the looooong drive to the tree farm, wander about looking for that "perfect" tree, and we choose the one we want. Then we cut it down, drag it back, pay and head into town. This is where we have lunch at a little "mom and pop", old fashioned restaurant. After lunch is the long drive home, the husband sets up the tree, puts the lights and angel on and then the girls and I decorate.
Since then we have gone shopping, for family, friends, and the church's giving tree, played some family games, made ornaments, my husband and younger daughter had a "Y-Tribe, Indian Princess" meeting here at our house where they decorated small gingerbread houses, and got together with my husband's brother's family. We still have much to do. The girls' school break starts on the 20th, I think. We will head up to my parents' home state that weekend and celebrate before Christmas with them this year, which is unusual, but should be fun... barring no more family disputes...
Then, it will be Christmas, and afterwards, I will be cooking and freezing food because when school starts again (Jan 3) I will have a long-term substitute position. I will be teaching first grade until Feb. 15th. Should be very nice to be in the same classroom everyday and know all the children well. I look forward to the opportunity and hope all goes well.
I finished the first scrapbook gift I was making and am in the process of the second. I hope to get it all done! :) It's been fun to work on something for someone else. Makes me try new things to make it nicer for them.
I am back to a regular schedule in running, as well. I took a break for a while, due to a tired body. My runs were leaving me feeling like lead. So, after a break, I ran 10 miles on the first, 8 last week (on the ice was not fun... I repeat NOT fun), and am back to a 5 mile per day schedule, for now, also.
One more thing. A friend of mine told me she has a "prayer basket": when someone is on her heart or mind to pray for, she puts their name and her prayer for them on a piece of paper into the basket. Then, when she has her prayer time with God each morning or before a long drive when she can pray, she takes a few of these slips of paper and prays for/over them. If there is a resolution, she removes them. I thought this was a great idea... only I didn't find any baskets I liked yesterday, when I thought of it. So, I bought a four dollar tin, two pieces of scrapbook paper and one sheet of plastic stickers (Faith themed). I went home, spent about half an hour-including writing my current prayer concerns-and finished with this:I am happy with it and have prayed over some slips already. The box sits at my office desk and is within reach, as well as easily noticeable, so it won't be forgotten.
I'd love to type more, as I am overdue, but I must go write several Christmas cards. Happy holidays to you and yours!

More school ideas

Our daughters' conferences a few weeks ago and I received some good information from their teachers. I previously posted some writing tips, now here are a few more I found in another information packet.

This packet was for parents of middle schoolers:

• The article pointed out that middle school students have to juggle multiple classes and multiple chunks of homework. However, they are still learning time management and time past the "present tense". They suggested, to "sharpen those skills" by asking the child to "estimate how long it will take to run an errand and get home."
  
• One paragraph stated that "bouncing quickly from one subject to the next" can be difficult for some students, especially if multiple classes give homework on vocabulary. It suggested that the student may "run out of linguistic gas". For this the article instructed parents to (when the student isn't swamped with homework) have him/her review their notes. Then, using different color index cards for each subject, jot down the different terms used in each class. This way, during homework dealing with these words, the correct cards will be at hand.
• One of my favorite suggestions, to help students to be "better wordsmiths", to write the numbers 1 to 10 on separate slips of paper and drop them in a hat. Have the child write ten sentences about a favorite thing (ie sports team, or band). But before they write, they must pull from the hat. If the number nine was drawn first, then the sentence must be nine words long; if the number three is picked, the sentence must be three words long. "It only takes a few of those exercises until they don't need them anymore."
• The article also says that most middle schoolers have given up the minute-to-minute "what I did at school today" conversations in lieu of "nothing". They say, instead of asking the child as soon as they walk in the door what they did at school, ask them 20 minutes before bedtime, and a sleepy middle schooler is more likely to chat. :) My oldest used to tell me all about her day, the whole 10-15 min. walk from school was her talking... not anymore. Not a word. I've even tried more than "What did you do at school today?" I have tried: "Anything weird happen today?" "Did anything cool happen today?" "Did anyone unusual get in trouble today?" "Who did you eat lunch with today?" Nada, zip... Scary how the doors of communication close... This is not good for a worrier like me.
  

In another packet, we received some tips on encouraging math and the enjoyment of it:

• Make math hands on; have kids make their own games and puzzles.
• Take math outside; walk around outdoors and study patters of seashells, pine cones, spiderwebs, etc.
• Take math on vacation; enjoy shapes and patterns of landscapes.
• Encourage kids to keep a sketchbook and observation notebook to write or sketch about what they see.
• Make charts and graphs with your children, such as rates of growth, weather, school sports, household task completion or donations to charities.
• Encourage interest in architecture such as drawing plans for rooms, houses or gardens.
• Keep sport stats.
• Play with codes, such as sending an affectionate message in code or have them write you a note in code.
• Take math into the kitchen, dividing recipes, measuring, cutting apples, etc.
• Make math a holiday event; make a mobile or mosaic or cut our stars or snowflakes. Talk about balance, symmetry and measurement.
• Throw a math party; map a treasure hunt or shape a cake into numbers.
• Encourage math activities, without necessarily using the word math. This makes some kids nervous.
• Encourage students with verbal ability to see the connections to math; ie poetic meter, or palindromes.
• Don't rush in. Don't solve the problems for the children, let them work at it.
• Don't be reluctant to expose children to difficult concepts.
  

Thankful Feather Turkey

I have mentioned in the past that we do Thankful Feathers to celebrate Thanksgiving: We send out "thankful feathers" to our close friends and family with a letter reminding them how thankful we are for them, and a few specific things each family member is thankful for. We send them out in the first week of November, and hope for them to be returned by Thanksgiving. As these feathers come to us, we read them as a family and remember all we have to be thankful for. Sometimes we get caught up in the busy-ness of the holidays and skip right over the Thanksgiving to get to Christmas. At our house, those feathers coming in the month of November helps. We have had paper mache turkeys, white board turkeys, and paper turkeys (as well as others I can't remember) to display these feathers. We've been doing this since 1998 so, we've had quite a variety. Well, I saw a model magic (fast drying clay by crayola) turkey on the crayola site, I think, so I planned on trying one to hold the feathers this year. Our local store was out of the clay, so I thought I'd try a gourd that my dad had grown, but had been dried last year. I sanded it, painted it, sculpted a bit of model magic (we had a tiny pack) into a waddle and feet. Here's the finished product.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! (If you celebrate. :))