Mrs. McGrew

Military Family is this year's catchphrase...

2011-07-08T10:23:00.001-05:00

As you may already know the military family has been a hot topic for the politicos for actually more than a year. Last year there was the good in theory, but poor in execution Year of the Air Force Family or YOAFF that was supposed to provide the military family with... well, all I can remember is getting a discount on signing my child up for baseball.
For our family the concern has turned to education and military children. Part of this comes as my experience as a School Liaison Officer and a larger part comes from being the parent of two military children. This has been a huge cause for First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden. The latter I had the opportunity to see speak at the 2010 Military Child Education Coalition Conference.
Part of their initiative for military families comes because so many students at some point in their educational career will attend a Department of Defense Education Activity School (DoDEA). Now DoDEA is offering parents a way to offer their input on the education of their children. "the Department of Defense has committed to an ambitious military construction program that will build or significantly renovate over 100 DoDEA schools. From now until 2016, this modernization initiative will replace an aging inventory of facilities with state-of-the-art schools to support dependent education for the next 45 years.
School districts across the nation, including DoDEA, are facing major facility challenges due largely to the aging infrastructure and the related costs. Providing a safe, secure and educationally appropriate facility for all military children is a critical responsibility for DoDEA."

Click here to see the more of the Press Release from DoDEA.

2010...2011

2010-12-31T12:28:00.002-06:00

Attention... my focus for 2011. Attention to my health and body, attention to my children, attention to how quickly life goes by.

Crafty Crow Give Away

2010-12-03T09:21:00.000-06:00

The Crafty Crow has a great giveaway from Imagine Childhood for a $75 Gift Certificate!

Soccer Stud!

2010-10-16T18:12:00.002-05:00

The need to record things for posterity

2010-10-16T07:39:00.001-05:00

Sadly, I too, am a little like this. Well, maybe a lot.

Originally found here.

Perhaps in our retirement house??

2010-10-09T18:47:00.001-05:00

Click the image to enlarge

Source: Fixr cost guides

Colorado Trip

2010-09-24T16:02:00.002-05:00

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Why Understanding Copyright Is Important

2010-06-22T09:30:00.003-05:00

I came across the following site today and found it rather amusing. Partly for the product and partly because the National Pork Board probably spent a hefty sum in having the letter drawn up.
ThinkGeek for April Fool's Day posted what I hope is an obviously fictional product to it's web site-- Canned Unicorn Meat. The National Pork Board is concerned that it is a little too close to it's "the other white meat" slogan and has a 12-page cease and desist letter sent to them. The second mistake after paying to have such a letter drafted is in sending such a letter to a site that is going to further ridicule it. And sadly, what the National Pork Board and their lawyers missed, but the ThinkGeek people got right is that they are in fact covered because a) it's not really close to their slogan and b) it's covered by parody. Which, really, makes it all the more humorous.

Make it and love it give away

2010-05-21T19:11:00.000-05:00

Love the pendants! Check it out!

Knob Noster Field Trip - chiannemc - Picasa Web Albums

2010-05-02T22:25:00.000-05:00

Knob Noster Field Trip - chiannemc - Picasa Web Albums
The 5th-8th Grade field trip to Knob Noster State Park. Part of the trip was a photo scavenger hunt- find a purple flower, white flower, square, circle, opposite leaf and even leaf.

Then there was the actual fishing. The student in green, it was his birthday, had a brand new lure. He promptly got it stuck in the weeds twice and in the tree twice ;) it was not a good time for him.

Stock Market Game Awards Dinner

2010-05-02T21:56:00.001-05:00

Team #1 was honored Thursday, April 29th at the Holiday Inn in Columbia, MO for their 1st place finish in our region. They earned over $8000 in a two month period based on the stocks they purchased.

5/6 Grades assignment for Wednesday

2010-04-28T06:49:00.005-05:00

Read all the directions first!

Complete the journal entry here:
Loading...

Then type your superhero/shero story into a WORD document. This needs to be:

12 pt
Times New Roman font
standard 1 inch margins.

Remember it should be at least a page and a half in length!

Save it to the Superhero/shero folder under 5/6 Grade-- Comm Arts-- Superhero folders.

If you finish with that you can play the Garbage Dreams Game. Make sure you click 'learn how to play' first so it will make sense. To do well you will need to be able to recycle at least 80%.

Free Comic Book Day

2010-04-24T15:17:00.002-05:00

To find a store near you click here

MASL Presentation

2010-04-20T19:27:00.002-05:00

If you're visiting from the MASL presentation-- WELCOME! Please leave a comment on how you think it went or what you would like to see done differently or more of!

Use of comics and gn in the lib and class

View more presentations from Anne McGrew.

New Comic Creator

2010-04-20T19:25:00.001-05:00

Found this when I checked my Google Reader-- the video makes it look like a lot of fun.

Bitstrips for Schools from Bitstrips on Vimeo.

Using comics and graphic novels in the library and classroom

2010-04-16T23:40:00.003-05:00

Here are a list of some lesson plan ideas for using comics and graphic novels in the classroom. While I haven't used all of them with my students, I've used several and others are on the list to use when I can find the time to fit them in.

The first is a list of resources for using graphic novels from eMints.

There are several online versions for students to create their own comic strip:

Read Write Think offers several lessons, but for student use would be the planning sheet for students when creating their own comics. This is another activity for using storyboards when teaching.

The Center for Children's Books also has a list of links that would be helpful for using comics and graphic novels in school.

What Comics and Graphic Novels Should I Include in My Library or Classroom?

2010-04-16T23:17:00.005-05:00

My starting place for finding out what comics or graphic novels are interesting are at our local comic book stores. One I started using as I was researching for my EdS thesis was Jugger Nauts Hide Out and Comics on Pine Street in Warrensburg, MO. The owner was incredibly helpful and tolerant of my children while I checked the stacks of books. He was also great at pointing out titles that I wouldn't normally consider, like Owly by Andy Runton. That wordless series turned out to be prefect for my then pre-reader daughter.

It wasn't until later that I discovered another comic shop less than a block away from Jugger Nauts. Thompson Productions LLC has a lot of manga series (which I'm not so much into, but I'm trying) and seems to be geared to an older crowd. They recently opened a kiosk store in the Whiteman Air Force Base shopping center to cater to the young airmen.

Of course, the big-box stores like Hastings, Barnes and Noble, and Borders also carry comics and graphic novels, but I liked being able to walk into the local comic shop and have the owner recognize me and pull something from behind the counter that he set aside knowing I would be interested.

To get an idea of what graphic novels would be good for students there are lots of places to look. Some of my favorite starting points are:

YALSA's list

No Flying No Tights

Sidekick's Graphic Novels review

Diamond Comics web site

Columbia University Libraries Graphic Novels section

Good Comics for Kids via School Library Journal

Missouri Association of School Librarians Presentation - Tuesday, April 20th

2010-04-16T23:09:00.002-05:00

I'm presenting on Tuesday at the MASL conference and I'm quite excited about it. I get to present my research on comics and graphic novels and their use in the library and classroom. Because I've researched it for so long I'm hoping that I'm not completely behind in my presumption that not everyone realizes how great they can be and not just for middle school boys or other reluctant readers. Should be exciting!

Here's the description of my presentation. I'm on page 16, almost all the way at the end. I need to rethink my titles!

Stock Market Game Results

2010-04-16T22:18:00.003-05:00

It wasn't that long ago that I mentioned my class was doing the regional Stock Market Game. The game ended this week and I'm happy to note that my students (made of two teams) did pretty well for the amount of time we were able to put into it. Team #1 made it to 1st place out of 7 teams and Team #2 made it to 5th. I thought that was fantastic!

Apparently there is a regional dinner to honor the 1st and 2nd place teams in Columbia. MO. I think we are going to attend, but it happens to fall on the same day as our big fishing expedition. Should be interesting!

April Showers is offering a blog make-over and goodness knows this one needs it!

2010-04-13T10:32:00.001-05:00

The blog April Showers is giving away a free blog design which I would really, really, really love :) It might even inspire more posts :)

Cross more fingers for me!

Hope's thoughts on pollution

2010-02-20T18:25:00.001-06:00

We created a short cartoon for Hope's pollution homework. See what you think:

http://www.zimmertwins.com/node/936208#comment-202568

More fabulousness :)

2010-02-08T13:11:00.001-06:00

Productive snow day

2010-02-08T12:20:00.000-06:00

And the wheels turn too!

Choreboard

2010-02-08T10:06:00.000-06:00

2010-02-08T10:05:00.001-06:00

Tumbling

2010-02-08T10:04:00.000-06:00

Stock Market Game

2010-02-04T13:08:00.002-06:00

We just started using the Stock Market Game which I asked the school to pay for at the beginning of the year and of course didn't start preparing for until it's start two days ago. The kids are really excited about it and I am too until I realize just how little I know about the stock market myself. Despite that as a family we have mutual funds and some stocks, I don't bother to follow them closely in the market, but check in on them every month or so. I think otherwise I would probably have an ulcer.

Earlier this week I reviewed the Rules of the Game with the kids and we made it through okay, but there are some things that I really need to look up and clarify as we go along. One of them is the short sell. I know I've heard of it, but to be honest, I thought it was kind of a shady thing.

Of course, after I did some research on other sites and spent hours putting a few lessons together did I go back and look that the SMG has lessons already available-- mental head slap!

The kids are in two teams (no fear, I have only six students now) and they both purchased shares for two companies. Though we discussed that not all companies are traded on the market, many have parent companies that are. Team #1 choose to start with Apple and Coca Cola. Team #2 went with Chrysler (they wanted Dodge) and Dreamworks.

Initially the students has a homework assignment that required them to go home and talk to their parents about the stock market and terms like market, IPO, mutual funds, etc. I was surprised how many of my parents (according to the students) told them to watch "the stock market channel." One student however, sat down with his mom and looked stocks up on We Seed which looks like a free version of the game we are using. We only paid $40 for our teams and the site is very involved, but I think the free version could be just as useful.

The game lasts for four months so I'm interested to see how it will work out.

Discussing Adjectives

2010-02-04T12:34:00.002-06:00

I used this video from Steve Jobs' unveiling of the new Apple iPad earlier in the week with my Communication Arts classes. The video itself was interesting because several of the kids had heard about the new iPad, but didn't know exactly what it was. I had the students watch the video and write down each adjective they heard. They quickly realized how difficult this would be because of the way the video is cut. I had them get down as many as they could and at the end we discussed words that were used often.

We choose five-six words (depending on the class) that were used the most to listen for as we watched it again. We divided up the words by table so they could concentrate on their word. Some were used more than a dozen times!

For each time the word was used the students then had to use their own ideas or a thesaurus to come up with other words that would be appropriate. They kids then shared their ideas and we crossed out ones that others had until we had some rather unique, but appropriate choices. It was a lot of fun and a lot different than our usual writing exercises.

Holden Basketball

2010-01-19T20:44:00.001-06:00

Holden Basketball, originally uploaded by Chi Anne McGrew.

At his first basketball game!

Holden Superstar

2010-01-19T19:52:00.001-06:00

My creation, originally uploaded by Chi Anne McGrew.

Playing around with Big Huge Labs and the BB photos from the first game.

Social Studies Project

2010-01-19T16:11:00.001-06:00

John Adams, originally uploaded by Chi Anne McGrew.

Thinking about doing these for the American Revolution. This is an example I made for John Adams. I need a place to give credit. I'm thinking maybe the back. Hmmmm....

Birthday

2010-01-01T23:53:00.001-06:00

Handsome husband at the wedding reception right before he crossed into
the new age bracket. Ge looks so mature in his suit and tie. Nevermind
that we had to Google tying a tie ;)

Sumo Paint

2009-11-29T17:49:00.003-06:00

I just played around with this program which I liken to Tux Paint's big brother. Sumo Paint allows a trial without download which I rather like since I seem to fill up computers rather quickly. There were some neat features I hadn't seen before including a kaleidoscope-like button that, well, works like a kaleidoscope. Their term for it is the Symmetry Tool. Love it!

It also allows you to see other people's work and share your own. The capability to comment on other's work gives a social networking component to the program that others lacked and make it more popular. Give it a try!

Wish you were here!

2009-11-14T12:15:00.000-06:00

Loving Google

2009-11-10T16:19:00.001-06:00

How can you not love Google??

Additionally, I love Google Alerts which I can set up for things I want to research or more importantly for myself. With crafty students out there I like to make sure that my name is not being sullied!

Lovin' Google

2009-11-07T23:00:00.001-06:00

I love Google and I love Sesame Street so I've loved the logo switch they've had all week...

Advertising Programs - Business Solutions - About Google

Aren't these cute?

2009-11-07T08:50:00.001-06:00

Saw this over on Junior Society and thought it was adorable...

While clearly not practical in all situations, Oeuf’s Squeeze Me Mittens are a sweet idea. A pair of adult-sized mittens with a pair of kid-sized mittens sewn on allow you to hold hands with your kiddo, keeping both of your hands warm. Fair trade made in Bolivia of 100% alpaca wool.

Privacy

2009-11-05T13:42:00.002-06:00

So I started a Facebook account for my husband because I think he needs to keep in touch with people better than he does. For him, it's a matter of privacy. To me, he doesn't understand that you control how much information about yourself you put out there and you get a better understanding of what's going on with friends and family.

Today, Google released Google Dashboard that allows you to see how much information Google has about you. I wasn't necessarily surprised by what was there, but I had forgotten some things...

Should we be concerned? Should we be looking for Big Brother over our shoulders? I don't think so... I try to reign myself in on what is out there and really who is all that interested in my life except MAYBE my mother and my sister??

KSU vs. MU Football

2009-11-04T19:00:00.002-06:00

We've been talking for awhile now about going to the KSU vs. MU game on November 14th. They finally posted a time of 11:30 AM which means if we go we could also go to the KSU vs. Iowa State volleyball game that evening! Anybody else wanna join us? I'm thinking Holiday Inn if there's room and the shuttle from Rusty's Last Chance!

Christmas present that is not needed at our house...

2009-11-03T19:50:00.001-06:00

Wii Baby And Me

Posted on Nov 2, 09 03:25 AM PDT

Think we'll pass.
Though we heard this morning on NPR that it is only available in Australia. YIKES!

How common is your last name?

2009-11-02T15:33:00.003-06:00

According to this site I found through PBS (I was looking for the science jobs video clips-- let me know if you find them) McGrew was more popular than I knew:

In 1990, McGrew was ranked #3497.
In 2000, McGrew was ranked #3629.

And of course I favorite last name just to make sure:

In 1990, Smith was ranked #1.
In 2000, Smith was ranked #1.

Cause being a Smith is #1!

Because it's a very cool name...

2009-11-01T18:42:00.000-06:00

Apparently my name is catching on. At Hope's Cheerleading there were
two Chiannes. This is the first I've seen spelled like mine. Kind of a
bummer!

Pumpkin Carving

2009-10-30T14:51:00.002-05:00

One of the best TV shows ever...

2009-10-22T00:16:00.002-05:00

I love this show. It makes my family look NORMAL.

Loving the swine flu!

2009-10-21T11:17:00.003-05:00

We have only sporadically had school this week because of multiple illnesses, but Hopi's teacher has been out all week because her grandma passed away. This morning on the way to school she wanted to make her a card. I found it later folded up in my classroom where it must have fallen out of her pocket. I thought it was sweet.

New toy from grandma

2009-10-14T19:13:00.000-05:00

Forgot to post this with all that's been going on... Grandma bought
Hope a ZhouZhou mechanical hamster that Hope thought was the greatest
thing... Until the little wheels got caught in her hair. We had to cut
it out when we got to Grandpas house.
She still loves the toy, but she doesn't run it over her head anymore;)

Dinner

2009-10-14T19:08:00.000-05:00

Tom needs to get home soon. I'm almost out of rice.

Crafty Crow Give Away

2009-10-12T14:56:00.001-05:00

I love the give away that's being offered on Crafty Crow. Here is the info from their blog:

This giveaway is sponsored by Bigfoot & Pickle Face and one winner will receive a stamp starter kit and a set of tattoo markers! You will be able to choose from three different stamp starter kit themes: farm, circus, or fish.
Each kit comes packaged in a cool plastic case and contains the set of stamps, the clear acrylic bases, and an ink pad - everything your little one will need to get started stamping! You will also receive a set of temporary tattoo markers that everyone will enjoy.

Fantastic Day

2009-10-05T14:56:00.002-05:00

I've had such a fantastic day teaching today! We've accomplished so much! Part of my joy may have been that I didn't wake up with a headache. This is because we've had a gas leak in our neighborhood for a few days and they shut the gas off last night. So, I can't cook with the stove, but my head is not killing me either. No great loss on being without the stove anyway-- I'm not the greatest cook :)

Today we have organized our binders with a binder index. This is an idea that I was introduced to when team teaching with Core students in NJ. It really helps kids keep their papers in order and makes it easier for them to find what they need. I took for granted that middle school students would have some sort of organization system and be able to function. I was so seriously wrong it's ri-dic-u-lous!

We were also able to chat with a high school friend in England via Skype. It was great. And now I know that the SKYPE works so we can use it more often. Thanks so much to TSGT Hodo!

Last but not least, the bathroom fan got fixed so now it is not so scary for the littles to use the restroom at our end of the building and it doesn't give me a headache when I go in there. Woo-hoo! It's the little things people :)!

Lost a tooth

2009-09-25T17:42:00.000-05:00

This is the picture I got of Hope when we got home this afternoon.

Starting class

2009-08-23T20:31:00.001-05:00

Finally, Matthew Needleman of Creating Lifelong Learners has some pointers in starting off the year on his blog. Looks very interesting.

Back to School Toolkit

2009-08-23T20:30:00.002-05:00

Ostatic published an article on Back to School Open Source Apps that are worth looking into. Check it out.

Whoa! This is MIT's new project

2009-08-23T20:25:00.003-05:00

This MIT project searches your name and gives a visual representation of how you are seen on the web.
I can't figure out how to paste mine in here, but it was pretty cool. I highly recommend it!

First day of school

2009-08-20T19:26:00.000-05:00

Junior Society Contest

2009-08-15T12:11:00.001-05:00

Found an online store that has stuff as cute as IKEA! Check it out!

Get your kiddo up and off to school with this swell giveaway hosted by the Junior Society and sponsored by All Children’s Furniture (who carry everything from kids furniture to toys)! Stop by and enter for a chance to win! Hurry, this give-away ends Wednesday, August 19th at midnight PST!

Football

2009-08-13T08:36:00.000-05:00

This is his response when I toldhim to look tough.

More fun sites

2009-08-05T13:59:00.004-05:00

From Sweet Tidings I played a little with the Tartan Maker when I fully need to be continuing the work on my thesis. Here's what I created when I should have been working:

Also, note that there is a Stripe Maker, but I've not had a chance to play with that yet. Guilt is telling me I need to finish already!

Multiple Intelligeces

2009-08-03T13:12:00.002-05:00

Just read about the Multiple Intelligences tool from NJ Tech Teacher. Interestingly it talks about a theme for the year which has been on my list of things to do either school-wide or strictly for my classroom. When I read about the use of Howard Gardner's MI in the classroom it struck a chord because I had done this when teaching with my A-School students and it opened up such a world for both myself as a teacher and my students, to get a better feel for how they learn.

I initially had a pencil and paper version of the test that I would have to a) find and then b) score, so, I was thrilled to find this online version. I took it and came away with similiar results I've gotten in the past.

Profile for user 660802:

Linguistic	41
Mathematics	29
Visual/Spatial	30
Body/Kinesthetic	35
Naturalistic	29
Music	26
Interpersonal	34
Intrapersonal	33

I worked a lot with this when completing my first MS degree in Technology. Now I recall, being very concerned to get my then two-year-old to excel in all areas. He's now eight and I've pretty much forgotten about making him a child prodigy and simply surviving as a mom :) If I had to determine his strengths I would say that they would have to be similar to mine with a heavier influence on the bodily kinesthetic. I wish his first grade teacher had understood that.

As I write it makes me wonder what my husband's would be. I know he knows this, but I often wonder what the heck he is thinking or how he got to a certain conclusion. Click HERE to take the test and let me know how it goes! Scroll down a little to find where it starts.

Create your own YA novel cover :)

2009-07-28T22:06:00.003-05:00

I thought this was too much fun to pass up! Here is what my randomly generated YA novel would look like:

I got the idea from 100 Scope Notes. It's pretty entertaining.

You go here to get the name-- author of the book.

Then you use this for the verb as the title of your book.

Go here and type in the verb you get for the picture. Use the first one!

Then go here to put it all together and post it.

Like I said, easy, and too much fun!

Fabulous Weekend

2009-07-26T23:41:00.004-05:00

It never fails that I don't feel like we've done very much until I look back at the pictures. Saturday, we piddled around the house until about 3 PM when I decided we needed to go off base somewhere and the logical answer was Target where we found Holden's new bag-- a messenger bag rather than a backpack will help him make the transition to the new school-- he says. After searching at Target and Lowes it dawned on me to try Bed Bath and Beyond for the closet rods I wanted for Hope's room. She has recently acquired A LOT of clothes from some friends of ours that have moved and have given her 8 trashbags full of clothes, shoes, movies and toys. Some has been passed on to others, but for the most part it's in her closet and she needed a second rod. I finally found one at BBB after two hours of searching at the other two places with two kids who didn't want to be there in the first place.

At any rate we were nearly late for the Star Extravaganza being held at the Knob Noster State Park--- actually we were late, but no one held it against us. There were several amatuer astronomers who brought their telescopes out to allow others to look through them. I was not prepared for this and had no bug spray or flashlight or lights on my kids like I usually do. Some boy scouts from Holden's baseball team were there and gave us bug spray and we really didn't need a flashlight and Hope was so whiny I knew where she was most of the time. The coolest part was that they had laser pointers and could point out which stars they were talking about. It was pretty cool. The man in charge was very gracious in that he answered EVERY SINGLE ONE of Holden's 9 million questions. The coolest part of the night was when the International Space station went over and you could see it with the naked eye. Apparently it goes over every 40 minutes. If you look up and see something go over one side of the sky to the other it's probably that. Even cooler was there was a smaller spot that was following it and he said it was probably a Russian cargo ship following it to dock. How cool is it that you can see that from here??? The local astronomers also recommended two sites for knowing what to look for http://www.heavens-above.com/ and http://www.spaceweather.com/ will tell you what you can see in your neck of the woods.

Sunday, still riding high from our night time adventure we got out of the house relatively early (1:30 PM) and went to see the Lexington, MO Civil War battlegrounds. It was about an hour's drive that two whiny children didn't appreciate until we got there. Then Holden thought it was pretty cool, but Hope is pretty much too cool for anything.

Papa's House

2009-07-17T13:02:00.005-05:00

Hello, my name is handsome...

Sally and JonBon
Jon Bon hanging out with Papa in his PJs.

Good times with Grandpa D. First one, then the other. Over and over and over and over again :)

All boy picture. All the males enabling poor JonBon's monkey habbit! Must have monkey!
Peace out homies!

JonBon's First Birthday

2009-07-17T08:52:00.006-05:00

We celebrated JonBon's first birthday with his farm party at Grandpa D and Grandma G's farm. After a wonderful lunch the kids went to see the mini donkey's. JonBon was so excited he was climbing the fence.Everyone needed to try out the bow and arrow and bb gun. Holden makes sure these are packed first in the van if he knows we are going to Kansas.

Hope and Grandma G bond over taking care of the animals. Holden is more into shooting things, while Hope wants to play with the critters.
Anthony's turn with the bb gun.
JonBon likes Grandpa's glasses.
Bailey finds someone on his level to lick.
Aunt Chi put JonBon in a tree.
Look at that face Grandpa D is making while Anthony hangs from the tree. I think he's scrunching his glasses back up. :)
Can you find a more adorable face?
Hopi's turn in the tree!
Help from brother blowing out the candles.
Aunt Chi is known for making hideous looking cakes. But they taste good!
Brother AJ gets close with Grandpa D. He needs to be near the action!
His dad gets every moment recorded.
Jon Bon was a little concerned over the cake that Aunt Chi made, but he eventually went at it! We continue the tradition of ugly cakes.

Picture Update

2009-07-17T07:46:00.008-05:00

Our fabulous photographer that moved with us from Jersey came all the way to Kansas to take the yearly photos of the kids. It was the HOTTEST day of the year- 104 not counting the ridiculous humidity! We started with pictures at Peter Pan Park and then went to the farm. The shots below are ones that I took with my fabulous new camera from Tom! They are not even close to the great shots that Christy the photographer got of two very hot, tired, and cranky kiddos though!

This is a shot that I took of him being silly with a feather in his hair. His hair is the longest its ever been!

Pay it Forward

2009-07-12T11:22:00.006-05:00

Paying it forward (from Sweet Tidings)

The rainy Sunday morning found me on my Google Reader and I came across Sweet Tidings Pay it Forward.

I want to participate!

The first three people to post a comment on my blog will receive an educational goody bag just in time for the start of the school year!

I only picked three because my blog sees little traffic and I wanted to keep it within my minimal budget :) I can promise that I love to buy educational stuff and will likely go overboard though I'm not sure of the exact contents of this giveaway just yet.

Comment below on what you've accomplished so far this summer with your kiddos and I'll get information from you about sending on your goodies. The only catch is that you've got to also PAY IT FORWARD on your blog or site!

Speedy!

2009-07-03T13:05:00.001-05:00

69 words

Typing Test

And did I mention that I beat Sally (much younger, thinner and more fit, than I) in a swimming race, TWICE?? Yes, I am 32 years old, but I still needed to tell someone about it :)

Fun new web site to try!

2009-07-02T17:10:00.001-05:00

Zombie Letters from e-zombie.com

Because everyone needs to be able to write their name in Zombie letters :)

New Jib Jab Video for Obama- Funny!

2009-06-20T17:32:00.000-05:00

Holden as Captain Kirk

2009-06-20T17:23:00.001-05:00

Father's Day Present

2009-06-15T19:12:00.000-05:00

This is Tom's Father's Day present. Needless to say, we are not
mailing it to him. We sent pictures to him and he's excited about the
possibilities, especially for ribs!

Recommended areas to avoid after June 19th

2009-06-15T09:43:00.002-05:00

Sally's proposed trek across the country. I recommend avoiding the areas in red :)

Where is Sally driving through for the next month??

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

Where has Chi been?

2009-06-15T09:40:00.000-05:00

Notice the difference in the maps...

Where has Chi been?

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

More Big Huge Labs

2009-06-15T09:37:00.001-05:00

Where Has Tom been?

Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com

Using Big Huge Labs

2009-06-15T09:28:00.002-05:00

Beer Bike

2009-06-12T15:18:00.001-05:00

Saw this on MSNBC and thought it was hilarious. It's a beer bike with 10 people around a bar pedaling and drinking around the bar and bartender. The guys at the front are the DD and steer! A way to stay in shape and drink! Woo Hoo!

Tip Junkie Birthday Ideas

2009-06-12T15:12:00.002-05:00

I've been following this blog for the last couple of weeks for birthday ideas for the BIG first birthday bash for JonBon. In case you haven't heard... I'm in charge!

Birthday Girl

2009-06-04T10:47:00.002-05:00

Holden was helpful during the party. Perhaps, a little too helpful with his "older" knowledge of how things should work. I have no idea where he gets that from?!?!Grandma G was helping out during the fairy games. I've no doubt that Tinkerbelle and friends regularly play with a play parachute and ball.
Fairy wand tag. You're it!
Grandpa D made a friend. They were quite the pair for the party. Lily was his buddy as long as he was feeding her or giving her something to drink.
This was Hope's BIG Tinkerbell party. She's got on her Tink t-shirt she got from Grandma Pie, a headband she swiped from our bathroom, and a tutu I made her for this event. She also had on shoes from her friend Makayla from last year with a heel that she'd been dying to wear.
The afternoon went well with beads for bracelets and necklaces that even the boys got into. Then they played while we tried to make the handprint kits. It took several adults to finally get the hang of it. There was a Tinkerbell cake from Wal Mart for $5 that had her candle and then we had cupcakes with the cupcake stand I felt was totally necessary and would be used all the time. Later they played fairy tag where two kids got wands and had to tag the others. If you got tagged you sat until another fairy could remove the curse. All the kids eventually got wands and they were so excited!

We did presents at the end and I had the kids sit with her in the "Friends" chair while she opened it so I could take their picture and she could tell them Thank You. I let the kids choose items from different dishes for their goody bags. Of course I forgot to put a couple out so I've got trinkets for the whole summer.

I think Holden and Hope both had a good time. After all the kids had gone home I found Hope and Grandma playing with her new toys in her room. Holden had to show Grandpa how the Wii works and they played Boom Blox together for a while. Good times!

Last Day of School

2009-06-04T10:40:00.002-05:00

My pictures are way behind. Here is the kids last day of school. Hope got to celebrate her birthday a little early. I'll post pictures of her party that was the weekend before next. But here she got to celebrate with her classmates. The teacher really wanted me to just drop off the cupcakes or send them in with her. I was having none of it. I've been there for all of Holden's and I will for Hope too.

Checked in on the kiddos for the last lunch as well. Holden was having fun with his buds.
Hope came over and joined us at the 2nd grade table with her friend. That's my everpresent rolling crate. I'm such a teacher!
This is the last morning bus ride. They were a little concerned that Miss Karen, the bus driver will not be busing them over to the new school where I teach. We'll have to make her muffins on the first day of school or something. I know they will miss her. I sure will. She's the only one who understood my paranoia and kept those kids in line!

T-Bones Baseball

2009-06-04T10:33:00.002-05:00

About a week ago we decided to go to the T-bones baseball game. It was a challenge for me to figure out where to park with the kids in my ear telling me how badly they had to go to the bathroom.

The game was good and the players were fantastic. We splurged on tickets right behind the dugout. In retrospect, we could have gotten GA tickets and moved there because the place is hardly packed. Both kids ended up with a ball from the players thrown into their ball gloves which they thought was great.

We had the players sign the ball after and I don't know who enjoyed it more, my kids or the players. The players lined up to sign it for them!
My favorite part was that it didn't cost a mint to eat at the game. Hot dogs were $1 which was good because this was the night they decided to have bottomless pits for bellies!

Very good time!

Baseball- Game 3 vs. The Angels

2009-05-30T13:30:00.004-05:00

Holden got to play 2nd base for the first time. He did a great job but got a little frustrated that some of his teammates would rather run the ball in than toss it to him to get the out. He tried explaining that you can throw faster than you can run, but it didn't always work out. I was proud he didn't completely lose it.

He got a hit each time at bat and had a double with two RBIs. Can you tell I'm a dedicated mama to her baby's stats!

This is him on third waiting to run home. I'm so impressed with how well he's doing this year both in skills and not having a complete melt down when it doesn't go the way he wants.

Each visit to home base needs a slide. Doesn't matter if the ball is in the outfield for some of them! Holden scored three times!

Trip to the Nelson-Atkins Museum

2009-05-30T12:57:00.011-05:00

Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

I almost bought this shirt for Sally since she is so amused by the notion of the Shuttlecocks! But it doesn't sound like she appreciated my cake shirt either so I saved $25 and she just gets a photo close up!

Despite this glum face, we had a great time. The face is because I wouldn't let them chase the chipmunk anymore.

This is Hope's attempt to pose as the Buddha. Holden wanted to see the Asian art and it was one of our last stops before leaving. This is what kept Hope going for our three hours there.

Thomas Hart Benton is my favorite artist (next to the kids) . Holden said that he really liked the picture below. I had to giggle a little because while we were in this section Holden remarked, "Nice chair." When I looked up there was a man in a wheel chair. I wasn't sure what to say, but mortification was a given. The man said, "Thanks. I like it too." Still mortified, I wasn't even sure what to say or how to address it when Holden pointed behind us both and said, "No, I mean that one." He was pointing to an exhibit behind us. Then the man in the wheelchair looked embarassed at his assumption and Holden just walked off to look at the chair. Then he turned around and said, "Yours is nice too." The man just smiled and wheeled away. I was still a little in shock and not sure how or if this needed to be addressed. I just let it go. No one seemed to be phased but me.

My little Thinkers! OF COURSE, it required lots of "I'm thinking, I'm thinking" and "FIREPOWER!" comments.
This Spanish alter was one of the first things we saw. I loved when Holden kept walking around saying, "Wow!" So glad we went.
I think this lamp is really cool.

Our day here was really pretty good. You can tell that Hope started to get over it after about two hours which was pushing it anyway. We had lunch there which was nice, but expensive and of course the kids didn't eat their fancy sandwiches, but only the chips and juice. We used the audio sets which really kept them interested and Holden amazed me as he kept going around saying who the artist of certain works were. His art teacher taught him a lot! I was impressed!

Probably we should avoid the museum store because I really like all the cool stuff and I know that has rubbed off on the kids. They brought their own money and were allowed to spend it and they got some interesting things: Hope found a mushy glitter ball and Holden found a robot pencil sharpener. Both overpriced of course, but very cool.

I found a cool picture mobile I'm going to hang some of the kids cool art work from and two travel games that we can play at dinner. Good times!

Next week we're going to try for the Negro League Baseball Museum. We'll see how that goes and hopefully gas prices will go down.

Better than Susan Boyle

2009-05-25T13:17:00.001-05:00

Ellen gave the commencement speech (or common cement speech) at Tulane and it was wonderful.

Golf Lessons

2009-05-22T23:32:00.006-05:00

Holden's School Program-- Bones

2009-05-22T22:44:00.005-05:00

Holden had his school performance for music on May 4th. This one lasted longer than 10 minutes (that's exactly how long Hope's lasted. Well worth the 30 minutes we sat and waited for it to start-- NOT).
We were way early and got seats right up front. Holden was a part of the bones choir and I'm sure in this case it's exactly how he likes it. The show was cute with 2nd and 3rd grade combined. There is a short video clip below for you to get the idea.

It was also broadcast live during the event over the school's web site. I like that they make accomodations for parents and family that are too far away to view it.

Go Kart Creations

2009-05-22T22:34:00.004-05:00

The neighbors had lots of boxes left over after getting packed up and the kids thought it would be a fabulous idea to create a go kart of sorts. I was quite tickled at how they dressed themselves for protection... yes, that is a swim vest Holden has on. In fact, it's Hope's swim vest.

Fell out of bed

2009-05-22T22:32:00.002-05:00

I went to wake Hope up for school the other day and this is how I found her. It is fuzzy because it was still dark out and I had to use the camera's night setting. I asked her what happened and she said, "I fell out of bed I guess."

Poor kid.

My new favorite show!

2009-05-22T22:29:00.000-05:00

Of course, I'm a sucker for a show that involves teachers...

No longer allergic to eggs!

2009-05-22T22:20:00.002-05:00

We went to the allergist appointment the other day and they retested her egg allergy. I'm happy to report its no longer an issue. Which isn't to say it was in the first place. The kid just didn't eat scrambled eggs... and she doesn't now either. I was surprised when he asked us to go to McDonalds and get an Egg McMuffin and have her eat it in the office. First, Egg McMuffins are awfully expensive for what they are and second, she barely ate a bite. I tried it and it was AWFUL. YUCK! The only thing is now I can't avoid getting the flu shot for her. Bummer.

Hope's Haircut

2009-05-22T22:00:00.005-05:00

Last month we had Hope's hair cut off. She was supposed to do it for the big program they had at school, but Holden got sick and she didn't go in either. We did it later at a little shop where the very young girl kept insisting that it had to be at least 11 inches. Nevermind that I reassured her I had just looked at the Locks of Love web site and it said at least six inches... Whatev...

And then Hope became Ramona Quimby, age 5 and 3/4!

Lots of things going on!

2009-04-29T09:53:00.011-05:00

So much has been going on that it's been a while since we've had a decent post. I can't promise that this will be decent, but it will get us caught up!

Here's a glimpse into our pantry as we conducted the $150 experiment which was to see if we as a family of three now could spend $150 or less on groceries for a month. Typically, when we shop it is every week and a half or so and we spend nearly $200 so it was to be a challenge. We did make it, but we didn't have to buy beef because we were given half a cow for Christmas, we had stockpiled having lived in the same house for over 2.5 years (a pretty long time for us) and I didn't count when we would eat out which was probably about twice a week nor did school hot lunches count. Still to drop our budget from more than $600 a month to $150 was pretty impressive. I was thrilled because it emptied out the fridge and pantry of things that were not being used and the kids really got into it. They helped us add as we walked through the store and decided what we really needed. I should also note to our benefit that it did include purchasing soccer snacks for the whole team for three games. I'm quite proud of us. However, it's been too hectic to focus on it this month so we'll try again next month. Holden suggested that we also limit how much we go out to eat-- ugh! he's killing me!

We attended Disney on Ice last month and we all really enjoyed it. I knew it was going to be a good day when we got free parking because the attendant saw our military sticker on the windshield I have been to lazy to scrape off since we don't need them anymore. Happy day! We saw lots of people we knew there which was fun but the highlight for the kids must have been the $6 popcorn and $8 lemondade. Good thing we didn't have to pay for popcorn cause snacks wiped us out!

We conducted an Egg-speriment after the Military Child Night got the kids all excited about 4-H. Its the test where you put an egg in vinegar and the shell dissolves leaving a rubbery membrane. The kids loved it and then we opened the egg...

Two kids in events from soccer to baseball to 4-H has kept us pretty busy and often eating meals and snacks at the Youth Center.

Science Night!

Holden being put inside a bubble.
Determining if the shape of the bubble wand determines the shape of the bubble.Testing the properties of Oobleck!

Finally, I post this only because I was thrilled she went and got it herself and didn't try to knaw the entire chunk of chicken off the fork-- Hope uses a semi- SHARP KNIFE! It's really the one for kids from Pampered Chef, but I was happy. It's the little things :)

Operation Spirit

2009-04-19T09:05:00.000-05:00

Holden and Hope completed their mock deployment to Afghanistan.

Hope's proud moment

2009-04-15T22:35:00.003-05:00

I'm quite proud of our little reader. She's doing a fantastic job with writing too. She will write anything for Daddy.

It says:

The wolf is in the woods.

The can can see dogs.

I see a red house.

My dog is a big (one-- she said she ran out of room)

The dog wishes... (I forgot what she translated for me) I'll have to get back to you on this one.

Man, I love these kids :)

For those who use powerpoint

2009-03-30T10:43:00.001-05:00

Doctor Don - Powerpoint Therapist

Invention needed

2009-03-25T19:34:00.002-05:00

On my way from work to pick up the kids for soccer practice I had a thought for an invention that is much needed by me and I'm sure millions of others. While I would love for someone to just up and cook all of our meals for us, and with Tom being gone this is not going to happen, I came up with the next best thing.

As a librarian and technology teacher I would like all things to be technology related. I would like the edible contents of my kitchen to be cataloged and stored in a computer. Then I would like the computer to at random, based on our preferences tell me what we have on hand to make and the recipe to make it.

I think someone could do that... Not me, but someone. I can envision being able scan either my grocery receipt when I got home or the actual contents as I unpack them from the store. It would be like the self check out at the store only smaller and less annoying if you don't immediately put the item in the bag after you scan it.

So, any tech wizards out there?? I'm giving you my idea if you will just build it for me.

Actually, the more I think about it the best thing would be like on the Jetson's where you push a button for what you want and out it pops, completely ready to eat.

Holden drew a fabulous robot that I think could help with this.

Been a while-- Children's Literature Festival

2009-03-21T17:45:00.007-05:00

Last week was the Children's Literature Festival at the University of Central Missouri. I was able to go to the CRASL (Central Region Association of School Librarians) meeting in the morning and find out about the new standards which should make life for librarians (the few that are left after budget cuts) a lot easier. After the meeting was the Luncheon where author Patricia Hermes spoke. She is so soft spoken and, well, she's dainty. It's hard to believe that the Emma Dilemma books come from her. I had a wonderful time talking with the librarians from the Knob Noster School District and was thrilled to be seated near so many wonderful authors and illustrators. I stopped in the Book Sale before leaving and was glad I did because I was able to purchase books for our house and for the school.

Monday I was able to take Holden and Hope to the Literature Festival which I had wanted to do since volunteering last year.

We saw :

David L. Harrison (who's from Springfield, MO),

Claudia Mills,

Mary Jane and Herm Auch,

and C.S. Adler

And, because I cannot resist a book sale, we went again. I think I support the Book Sale at UCM :)

On Tuesday I had my best field trip with students ever. Though it started a little rough with a mix up for times for the bus, getting sack lunches ready and making sure I had everyone's phone number I might ever need. The kids (granted I only had 6-- the five 5th graders and one 6th grader) were wonderful. They were excited to be there-- because they were not at school and becuase of the authors. I think not taking the 6th graders (all boys) made them very grateful. The said boys had complained when I initially discussed it and their teacher was concerned because they were awful the previous year. They were very upset when they saw that they really were not going this year. Suck factor for them! I'm betting they will be much better on future trips.

I had the 5th and 6th grades like I said and the other teacher had the 3rd and 4th grades (10 kids). We got to see: Marie Smith (Roland Smith's wife) who was great. Claudia Mills which the kids saw last year, but did not complain about this! Leslie Wyatt is not a great public speaker, but I think she's new at this. She was really losing the kids until she started to read from her book and then they were hooked! I'm going to look for it too since it's about the area of Kentucky where Tom is from. The last one we saw was June Rae Wood who is also from Missouri and the kids had seen her at a school visit, but she did a great job and they were into it. It was a long day but a great one!

I don't have all the authors the other kids got to see, but I know they were excited after seeing Judy Young because they bombarded me with requests for her books.

The week before Roland Smith was doing an appearance in Clinton, MO and I took the whole family. I think that Tom had concerns about it being very boring, but he and Holden were way into it. They even went to talk to him afterward. Holden was apparently impressed with his jokes because he had to tell him his Snailor joke.

Wow! I wish I was smart enough to do this

2009-03-04T12:31:00.000-06:00

Or rather, I wish that I was brave enough to do this. I think I would try it, get stuck, get frustrated, and give up. I would love to have someone be able to help me through things like this.

Read Across America Day

2009-03-02T09:03:00.001-06:00

I found these videos on my Google Reader which I think will be perfect for our Read Across America Day. I know it is really today, but Library day at my school isn't until tomorrow. I think it will be a good hook to getting their attention.

Lots of FUN planned! Hope those 7th and 8th graders like it! :)

School v. the library

2009-03-01T20:52:00.003-06:00

I found this video via the Blue Skunk Blog.

I love this kid. I've had so many like him in my English classes that were frustrated but tolerant of what I had to get through. I would have loved to avoid reading Brave New World and allowed us to each read what we wanted, at least in class. How great would it have been to just turn kids loose in our school library (which was a very nice place) and have them discover all that there was available there? I appreciate that he has some great libraries available to him that are without graffiti and apparently without the random homeless guy that talks loudly to himself, and without bathrooms I will not let my kids go into by themselves, but it's not like that for every kid every where.
The title of this blog is appropriate given my need to finish working on my school law final. I will stop complaining about this after Tuesday evening around 9:45 or 10:30 when I get home. Hopefully, earlier so I have time to dance a jig with Tom :)

When you don't understand technology

2009-02-27T14:36:00.002-06:00

Cool Cat teacher Vicki Davis likens this You Tube video of the cat clearly not understanding the vital importance of the printer to what a lot of teachers and administrators must feel like when we talk about blogs, wikis, or other web 2.0 strategies.

How will students react?

2009-02-23T13:00:00.001-06:00

I plan on using this video clip on Thursday with the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Graders. It will be interesting to see how they respond. I'm wondering if they fall into this category or will they be a different one altogether?

Thanks to Cool Cat Teacher Vicki Davis for the heads up on this!

Holden's State Box Project

2009-02-22T17:56:00.000-06:00

"Holden shared peaches, peanuts and more about the great state of Georgia. I'm to get a bottle of Coca Cola one of these days from his box. Thanks for the great job Holden!"