Record Breaking

We are having an almost record breaking year of snow.  We are up to over 600 inches and it does not appear to be anywhere close to stopping.  We are about out of space to put the snow from our driveway, and I am worried that our usual Memorial Day planting of our veggies will be postponed this year.

It has allowed for some extreme sledding with the little guy and his friends.  I think we might be wearing a helmet for the next run.

Aside from digging out the woodpile, shoveling the driveway, and dusting off the car life continues to be busy.

This Moment

(This moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. An idea from Soulmama.

Busy Bees

Life is so very busy right now.  Just popping up for some fresh air.  It has been snowing, raining, snaining, and I have been in a crazy period of meetings galore.  This is just a quick post.

We have been working with collage with the 4-8th graders.  This was a really fun project involving magazines and parts of bodies.  Nothing makes a middle schooler giggle more than  creating strange bodies and faces.

 Umm.... that is Sarah Palin's body.  He, he....

And just to show you how challenging getting to and from my car has been in the town where I teach.  This is the little guy ready to leave and get in the car. Mind you it is only about 100 feet from my car to the door, but the wind can blow up to 80mph with ice sandblasting your face.  So crazy.

Goggles... check√

Knitting Doll

We just got another 18" of snow last night.  I am amazed at the amount of snow that we are being gifted this year.

I had a moment of synchronicity today.  I was just introduced to knitting dolls through a blog I was reading and I thought to myself "I have to have one".  I had never heard of a knitting doll.  I went over a friends house for dinner tonight and she said that she had something for me.  It was a knitting doll from another friend.  How do moments like this happen?  You go from, what is that, to I must have one, to hey how did the univerise make this happen.


I can't wait to learn how it works so I can find some more and bring it to my classroom.

This Moment- Eggs

(This moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. An idea from Soulmama.

I love my hipstamatic app.

Yarn A Long

I "got it" yesterday.  The high that I could not understand from knitting.  I equated it to a runner who reaches the positive addiction stage.  If you are a non-runner you can't just go out and run a mile and be hooked.  You have to practice and eventually you take a run that feels different and you are in the zone.  I feel the same way about my knitting experience.  I did not get it at all until yesterday when I knit away with a different feeling.

I am still knitting the same sweater for my son which will hopefully be done before he grows anymore.  Working full time and mommying leaves me about 1 hour a day to knit.  I am loving the Rick Bass book The Lives of Rocks. It is a series of very moving short storries, and I am browsing A Rainbow of Stitches to find my next embroidery project.  What are you reading?

3 Sides of Life (oh I mean 4)

This year has left me a bit scattered.  I have 3 jobs combined into 1, classroom teacher, homeschool coordinator and working with our pre-k teachers.  Then there is family.  This blog kind of represents that scattered feeling. One day I write about knitting, the next about teaching art in the classroom.  Who am I today.

Today we are hunkering indoors as the little guy tries life without a diaper.  I have a late potty trainer, which is no surprise to me since he spent the first 18 months of his life lying on his back in an orphanage.  He is very excited about the big boy underwear he is wearing today.  I am using a timer to remind me to check in and have him sit on the potty.

I am also planning for next week in the classroom.  We do have school on Monday which is Martin Luther King Day.  It allows me the opportunity to do a one day mini theme on this amazing man.  I recently discovered Teachers Pay Teachers.  It is a great place for both teachers and homeschool moms to find mini units.  I am going to use the ideas from this Martin Luther King Activity Packet tomorrow.  Many of the resources have fees, but for me, as a classroom teacher, I can use this for years to come.  I will post some photos of the results.  I have an amazing K-2 this year filled with peace makers.

My art class is moving forward with the book Drawing With Children.  Art was put on the back burner as we prepared for the holiday program so we are back at it once again.  This is another lesson on using different types of lines, circles, and dots in drawing.  I am finding the 3-5th far more confident than the highschoolers.  I did not expect that.