Chuckie Cheese at 10 AM

I have five very cute grandkids.  They were all at Hudson's birthday party at Chuckie Cheese.  Everyone had a great time for 2 1/2 hours.  Hudson was one big grin, with a mohawk.  I was impressed with the event organizers there.  It was a perfect party for a 5 going on 6 year old.  Pizza, balloons, games, rides, cake, giant furry cartoon characters, prizes, a crown, gifts of Legos, guns, and trucks.  Who could ask for anything more?  

Huds and Tanner don't look like little kindergarteners anymore.  They're just kids.  It sure happens fast.

I had never been there before.  I must not have been a very good mother.  Thank goodness "the village" helped me raise Ty and he wasn't video game/arcade game deprived.

 

Just Have to Share

It's probably funnier since I know this animal loving art teacher, but she wrote this in an e-mail:


How to make your own Jackson Pollock - by Murray
When you are home alone and feeling creative try this fun activity:
In the kitchen find the drawer with cat treats. In the front of the drawer are heavy cans of food to keep dogs from getting to the treats. You will use these cans for your painting. First, chew on the drawer a little while you pry it open. If you'd like, it might be helpful to use the drawer hardware below for leverage. If you break it, don't worry, anyone with thumbs can buy a new one at home depot.

When you get the drawer open, carefully chew on the side of the can until you puncture it. You will need at least three cans in contrasting colors so choose wisely. In my drawer, I chose green enchilada sauce, petite diced tomatoes and a can of black beans. Also, i find it works best with two to three puncture holes, but one will work if you have a small canvas/kitchen floor. Remove the punctured cans one at a time and drop on the floor. You will want to drop them hard so they roll and create a splatter. Be sure your splatters of color overlap in a fractal pattern, just like a real Jackson Pollock. Continue dropping and rolling until you are happy with your work - or until your dog brain gets tired.

Then, step back and enjoy the masterpiece you have created. Lastly, reward yourself by eating the cat treats tucked away in the back of the drawer. Eat as many bags as you want want, you've earned it!

I haven't ever met Murray, but I think that's a great name for a dog.

New Math

I remember the "new math" of the sixties and early seventies.  Actually, all I remember is using [sets] and input/output functions.  We're doing new math again.  I spent Wednesday at a workshop, which was really good, but I'm still concerned about being ready to teach this stuff next year.  I'd just like to let parents of students, K-8th, to know a couple things.  First, a vocabulary lesson.  We will not be adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.  Instead we will be composing, decomposing, iterating, and partitioning.  Second, instead of taking ISATs next year, we will be attempting a crazy experiment.  I predict a mess of mathematical meltdowns.

Former Students

I've been teaching long enough, and I'm getting old enough, that former students turn up in strange situations.  One of my friends was diagnosed with breast cancer last fall and had a mastectomy.  Her oncologist's intern was a former student.  Another friend went to her son's engagement party and met the identical twin of her soon-to-be daughter-in-law's mother.  (That's a lot of hyphens...and confusing.)  Anyway, my friend was her sixth grade teacher.  The mother of the bride was in the other class and hated her teacher.  I haven't run into former students yet (except finding them in arrest records in the paper), but it's just a matter of time.

The Value of Vintage Toys

My friend Mary and her family had an estate sale in the North End.  They were clearing out the family home that her mother had been in for probably 50 + years.  It was a big sale and her family are not experienced garage salers.  They tried really hard, but in the end, the one thing that wasn't marked with a price sticker were three naked GI Joes from the sixties.  They had looked the value up on the internet and they could go for 40-100 dollars each.  They had decided to go high, because if they didn't get a buyer, they would be light and easy to send cross country if they sold them on e-bay.  For some reason, after their research and discussion, they just hadn't marked them.  Mary's family members were each assigned a room or area to be in charge of that day.  The first guy through the door made a beeline for the vintage toys.  He asked the nephew how much the GI Joes were and he had said "a quarter".  So before they had been open for 2 minutes, they sold all three for 75 cents, and lost about $300.  Pretty funny. 

Conference Weekend

I love Conference weekend.  I love no meetings, church on TV, church in your pajamas, church with food served.  I'm always anxious to listen to hear the prophet, hear news, be inspired, receive direction.  I had the whole weekend cleared of all activities.  I watched all four sessions, but I was either ironing, cooking, or I was sitting with my laptop turned on, so I didn't really focus.  I'll need to watch/listen/read the whole thing over again.  It was still good.  The whole weekend was good.  I should have gotten a lot more out of it, but I got a bit, and a lot of wash and ironing done, dinner made, cookies baked....and a little bit of Pinterest.  I'll have to wait and post my favorite parts of conference after I've reviewed it all again.

Funeral Revelation

Between sessions of conference on Saturday, I attended a funeral for 93 year old man in our ward.  He use to be our home teacher.  He hardly ever said anything.  His wife had a lot to say.  My only memory of him that stands out was when he volunteered to drive the teenagers to girls camp one year.  He was in his eighties.  Who has a van, wants to drive a few hours in the mountains, with teenager girls in the car, when you're 80 something?!!  Why would you volunteer to do that?

I found out at his funeral.  He was an amazing family man.  His grandkids, all young adults now, love, love, love him.  They have amazing memories.  He was patient, fun, fun, fun, and always concerned and interested in others.  He was hard working, devoted, and a master mechanic.

He hardly said anything!  I knew him for 14 years, and never knew him at all.  A couple years ago there was another elderly man that I knew from church, who hardly said anything, but I found out that he was a nuclear physicist and WWII hero.  This funeral brought it home to me that we don't value, appreciate, or respect elders in our culture, like they do in others.  I knew these men, but never asked them anything, never asked about them, never listened, never got to know them.  My lack of effort and appreciation probably wasn't much to them, but a great loss for me.  I don't want it to happen ever again.

Back to Mutual

I love being back in Young Women.  They are so fun to be around - full of energy and crazy stuff - and I love their leaders.  The best thing is that I'm only committed to the first Wednesday of each month.  I'm back in YW, but without the huge time commitment.

I'm mentoring a girl with her personal progress.  I started in February.  I decided to do the experiences along with her.  I thought it would be good for both of us.  We could motivate each other.  At the meeting last night neither of us had finished anything - even with a week off at Spring Break.  I'm loving it, but we really need to get going! 

Not an April Fool

This was the first day back from Spring Break.  A Monday.  I spent it with sixth graders.  Not one person mentioned a prank.  Not one.  Not all day.  I wonder if this holiday is fading away.  Pretty soon it will be like May Day.  When I was young, some people left little bunches of flowers on doorsteps.  I even danced around a Maypole once, with ribbons that braided a pattern around the pole.  Not any more.  Not in a long time.