Wednesday Night Update

First of all, the good news....it seems that we may not have total loss on the hard drive. Today "computer man" did something different when DH's Dad was down there. Things started working sort of and now he's extracting files...he's just not sure what they are...YET. The fact that he can get to anything gives us hope that we'll be able to recover data.

FYI, I talked to the folks at Canon today and the guy told me that it is true that they can occasionally recover a few files that you "think" you have deleted from your digital camera's memory card. Something about "layering". Thanks, LeighAnn for the heads up on this one!

And now, I'll leave you with a glimpse of our evening:

I Can't be Wordless THIS Wednesday...

Cause I want to SCREAM!

The computer that used to be our desktop, but went to one of the boys housed all of my old picture files on it. You know, the ones that I thought over and over again this summer, "I need to get those uploaded to Walgreens or Shutterfly." OR right after I bought the CD's for them, "I really need to save those to a CD to back them up."

ONE WEEK, ONE MEASLY week after I started to upload all the files that I had not yet printed out or saved elsewhere the computer went down.

It finally went to the shop and yesterday we got the news: "Hard drive data unable to be saved."

I am SICK. There are HUNDREDS of photos on there that I have saved no where else. There IS one other alternative, to send it on to a data recovery specialist where it will cost $5 per meg (or something like that) to recover. DH said, "I really don't know how much we want to spend." In my head I said, "Whatever it takes."

Soooooo, is it wrong to ask for prayer that at the very least my photos can be recovered off that old hard drive????? Cause if we can't find it, I think I'll cry.

Then and Now

Yesterday I shared with you my new "project" at school. First I want to share a little history. Here's a picture of Ms. Ineeda Word (Me) in our "Jungle" several years ago. She's on the right side pictured with Professor Sayit Clearly (a 4th Grade Colleague) and Granny Write (My Assistant Principal). {An aside: I could have used this photo for "Pink" the other day. The kids never could remember my name so they just called me Pink Lady.} Here are Ms. Ineeda Word and the Professor with Captain Wanna Write (Our Math Coach--in camo) and Captain Hook (my Principal). We are looking at good "Hooks" in student writing.
We had a great time each week talking about what good writers do. But like every good show, that one ran it's course. We were on for two years here at my school and figured it was time for a new "gimmick".

Our Jungle morphed into our school's Jungle Book set for last year's school-wide play:

Sooooo...as I told you in my last post, today we introduced the "Fab Five Farm" based on the "Fab Five Elements" of good Reading instruction: Phonics, Phonemic Awareness, Vocabulary, Fluency and Comprehension.

And HEEEERE are the first two characters on the Farm:Reada Reada Pumpkin Reader (Me) and Ms. Sadie the Cowgirl from Tennessee (My Friend D). We talked about how to choose a book that is just right. The kids and teachers loved it. Now we hear that Pa Pumpkin and Ma Pumpkin and possibly Ms. Reada's little brother "Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater" might be on...

It's all for the cause...So, I'll leave you with Mrs. Reada's poem:
Reada Reada Pumpkin Reader Had a book that wouldn't teach her She learned to pick a book just right And now she reads both day and night!

You MIGHT be a TEACHER If....

This week I have to do our TV News at school. A few years ago, we created a "Jungle" set and had several wacky characters do a little "improv" about good reading and writing practices for elementary kids. The kids loved it, and I must confess, so did the adults. I will post a picture as soon as I can find one or scan one in. But I digress.

Back to THIS week....now we'll be on a FARM. I have a Pumpkin Wig and yesterday I bought a costume for this new character, "Reda, Reda, Pumpkin Reader". Some of the things I bought include: orange shirt, green "over shirt", black pants, orange and black striped socks, green mittens, orange earrings, and black "pumpkin shoes".

This week Reda Pumpkin will be teaching the whole school a lesson on how to select books. Sooooo I decided she needed books with pumpkins on them.


First I found this little board book to demonstrate a book that is TOO EASY.




Then I found these two to demonstrate a book that is JUST RIGHT. I got them both, knowing that I can use them in my classroom lessons. The Ugly Pumpkin is actually a Thanksgiving Story.

After these two finds, I found myself at the "help desk" asking the nice young man if he could do a subject search. When I told him I wanted him to search "Pumpkins", he looked at me like I have two heads. Trust me, I'm an Elementary School Teacher who has seen this look in stores before. Then I added to my "search" with these words, "I need you to find me the most difficult book you have in the store about pumpkins." Again, that familiar quizzical look.

He took me to the first prospect and it turned out to be a children's book that was shelved in the adult section. I thanked him and told him I'd wander in the "seasonal" section myself. Pretty soon he hurries back up to me with two books in his hands, both recipe books.

Let me just say that a recipe book is a perfect example of a book that is TOO HARD (especially for me)! So, in the absence of a better choice, and not wanting to walk every aisle at Barnes and Noble hoping to spot a pumpkin on the cover of a book, I took it.

After that, I headed to another of my favorite stores, Target. And, just on a whim I walked the book section. There, almost calling my name was Gregory Maguire's book, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister with a beautiful "Pumpkin Coach" on the front cover!

I think I saw the bright light and heard the Great Pumpkin singing because this is a MORE PERFECT example of a book that would be "too hard" for most kids. I mean there are no pictures to speak of and they'll see it as a "big book full of words".

Today I walked into school with my harvest of pumpkin books and my cute little pumpkin costume and I'm ready for this assignment. Hopefully I can get someone to take a picture of our costumes and set tomorrow.

And when I was talking to a friend (a non-educator) about it, she said, "WHY would you do all that for ONE lesson?" And again, I realized that some people just don't get it. But, if you are a teacher, or you know one personally, then you just might.

Sunday Seven

This week has been a bit busy, but there's so much for which to be thankful.

1. I have loved reading The Blogging Babe's follow-up reports of our time in Savannah. You can read some of them at Jen's, Baba's, Melli's, Daisy, or Sandy's. It will remain one of my October 2007 highlights.

2. I reported earlier that my new "Alice" quit this week.. Well by Friday she talked to DH and asked to stay. I AM SO HAPPY! I just didn't want to go through the hassle of finding someone again so soon.

3. I work in a place that I love. Last night was our Halloween Party. This is a picture of my costume and some of the people that I work with. I am very blessed to have such a great group of people who help me live out my passion for teaching reading every single day.

4. I had a great time with DS 4 and the Princess at the farm yesterday despite the fact that my body was still reeling from my workout on Thursday! I love Fall...even when it's "Florida Style".

5. DS 2 found out that he won't need surgery for his injury from soccer this week. That is a good thing. He will need to be careful as he let's his foot heal.

6. DS 1 is away at a drill weekend for the National Guard this weekend. He has his surgery scheduled for Tuesday. I am thankful that the Army has decided that he will still be able to go with them rather than medically discharging him (which was a distinct possibility).

7. Today we are cooking for a family from church with a new baby. Next week we are having several single Mothers in for a day of "love" and "support". I am looking forward to both of these events. I love the fact that our church is constantly looking for ways to reach out and be actively involved in our community.

Fall Fun at the Farm...

I spent the day at a local farm's Pumpkin Festival with DS 4 and one of my nieces (Princess Piggie). She's visiting from Orlando this weekend and so we stoleOK, borrowed her for the day. Here are some of the pics showing the fun we had.

DS 2 was more than happy to pose as a scarecrow...the Princess doesn't "do scarecrows". Sooo...she sat this picture out. PLUS she had the map in hand and was focused on one thing, finding the petting area and thus...

PIGGIES! She absolutely adores pigs and has built quite a collection of her own. I'm fairly certain she'd have been a bit more excited if they were the cute "pink" variety, but the pot-bellied pigs seemed to make her happy as well. She and DS 4 enjoyed feeding the other animals in this area including goats, deer, llama, and donkeys!

After petting the animals and cleaning our hands, we went over to the games. These games were set up by local charitable organizations. The proceeds went to serve each charity. The kids won tickets then redeemed them later on (a la Chuck E. Cheese).

After we played games, there were rock climbing walls and bungee jumps to tackle! Since the Princess recently had rock climbing fun at her older sister's birthday party, she opted for the bungee which she told me after the fact was a "bit high".

Then it was time for the Cornfield Maze. This is an overhead view of last year's maze...trust me, it was just as detailed this year. They showed us a picture before we went in...but it didn't help. Princess decided they really should have given us a map to follow while were lost in the see of maize. I had to bribe the Princess to pose for my "Which Way do We Go?" picture below (just don't ask, Heather). After all, I think the bribe was worth it...don't they look cute? There were many other activities from our day on the farm...but two of my favorite were the butterfly encounter:

And who could NOT love sitting and posing in the "Pumpkin Patch?" And so I'll let these two photos one taken by DS 4 and the other by the Princess of us playing in the pumpkins:

Happy Fall, Ya'll!

Saturday Photo Hunters: Pink

Here's the code to get the blogroll and play along: PhotoHunt

We discovered these pink flowers in and around Savannah on our Blogging Babes Tour!

Step into my world....

Things have been crazy around here. Of course that's not so far out of the norm, but it has made for an interesting week for certain.

DS 1 was supposed to ship out the 24th for basic training for the Army National Guard. He sustained a knee injury that is going to require surgery a couple of weeks ago. As a result, he had to get a letter from the surgeon and take it to the Guard. They have changed his "ship date" to April 28th.

DS 1 will have his surgery on the 30th of October. They are telling him it will be four weeks to recover.

DS 2 was injured in soccer practice this week and went to the doctor (same doc--we're certainly keeping him in business right now). He is on crutches. We are waiting to results from an MRI.

DS 4 has had strep throat this week and just went back to school today after two days on the antibiotic.

Thank goodness DH has been home to play "Mr. Mom". He does this with great finesse anyway even when everyone is "normal."

My new "Alice" quit this week. She's only been working here for two weeks. I knew it could be overwhelming, but didn't expect this. However, today she talked with DH and told him that she wanted to reconsider her decision. She was in an emotional state when she quit and told him that. Soooo...tomorrow he's going to tell her that we'd love to have her stay on. Believe me, I am doing the happy dance over this one!!

DS 3 went to work out with me tonight. My friend D had a stress test today and didn't do so well. With DS 2 out of commission, I had to find a new "backup partner". DS 3 did a great job as we worked chest and shoulders.

My niece is visiting from Orlando this weekend. She's staying at her Grandparents' house. She's going to go with DS 4 and me to a local pumpkin festival. I'm so excited to take them as they have a corn maze that should be great fun...and make for great photos.

Trust me, there's never a dull moment in this family!

Wordless Wednesday: Sunset at the Beach

10-20-30

Stacy over at Vader's Mom did this meme yesterday. I liked it and decided to play along today:

10 years ago—I had just switched jobs and went to work in an inner city school in Tampa that was considered "failing" by our state. I had three of the four boys. They were 9, 8, and 3. It was hard because it was the first time in a long time that I was away from them during the day. Up to that point, they had always been in, or very near, the school where I was working. DH was pastoring full time and the boys were active in soccer and church activities.

20 years ago—I was a newlywed who found out she was pregnant in October after being married in August! We were living in Kentucky and DH was in seminary. I was teaching Kindergarten at a private school. DH was working part time at IBM while he went to school. We attended an Assembly of God church at the time. We loved going to the festivals around KY on the weekends. Some of the festivals I remember: Country Days, Court Days, The Apple Festival, The Country Ham Festival, etc. The other thing we loved to do was go to auctions. It was fun to see what we could "win" there...:-)

30 years ago—I was 13 years old and in the 8th grade. We were the "Cubs". I sang in the chorus and enjoyed hanging out with friends. I was very active in our church youth group as well. That year, we went to school from noon until five-thirty, so I used to help with Mother's Morning Out at our church. I loved sitting and rocking the babies while Mothers got out and took some time for themselves.

Do you want to play? Tell the blogosphere where you were 10-20-30 years ago!! If you play, leave me a comment so I can come read your answers.

Monday Musings...

In honor of the Halloween season, here is a button/award for everyone to give to their favorite readers. I received this, along with all the other Blogging Babes, from Linda at This and That . She happens to live in one of my favorite states to visit. It turns out that Linda was also supposed to join us on our trip, but was unable to do so. I hope she gets to come next year...shoot, I hope I get to come next year! :-)

This award originated with Trista over at The Pumpkin Patch. You can read more about it at her blog. Here's how it works:

1. Once you've been awarded the Sweet Treat Award, make a post and award it to bloggers who you deem "One Sweet Treat to Read" everyday.

2. Make sure you inform those who you awarded that they have won!

3. Grab the button and proudly display it in your sidebar for all your old/new readers to see!

I know some of you don't "do" Halloween, but I want to pass this award along to some sweet bloggers I read regularly that I deem "Sweet Treats". If you want to pass it along, great. If not, simply know that I think you're SWEET:

Guinevere is most definitely a sweet blogger. I am hoping to meet with her next week. She is the Mommy to Lance and she loves to dote on her precious son. I am loving watching him grow through her blog. I also appreciate the fact that she shares her thoughts on life rather regularly.
Ladybug is also a sweet blogger. I've been visiting her place almost since I started blogging. She is amazing as she is a busy busy busy wife and Mother. I love that she shares the laughter that is part of her life.
Stacy who is Vader's Mom is such a "sweet read" for me. She loves her dog, Vader and shares a lot about her travels, work, and life at home.

Now, these are not the only sweet people I know...but they do stand out for me.

I also received an award that I've been watching travel the blogosphere this week. I have been given the "Blog Friend Forever" award from my sweet friend, Barb over at Baba's Blog. She most certainly IS a Night Owl...but was so sweet to open her home to me last week to save me a hotel stay. It was a joy to spend time with Barb and her husband, Fred.

Of course, I feel like I need to give this to all the Blogging Babes as well, but since they've all received it, I decided to go a different route.

I decided that I'd pass this along to blog friends I have met in real life (besides the Blogging Babes--who received it already). My criteria is people I didn't know BEFORE I started blogging...and here they are:

Mary at For An Audience of One was one of the first bloggers I met in person. She and I met last October and it was as if we'd known each other forever. I am so glad that she took the time to come have lunch with me when I was in her area! I feel blessed each time I read her blog which regularly chronicles her faith journey and her family life.

Danielle and I met in July. She is someone who has gone through some blogging changes, but I adore reading her posts. She is so "real" with all who visit her. And she is a joy to meet in person as well. We talked for a long time and to be honest, I could have visited all day.

Jane at Cozy Reader is in Venezuela right now. She certainly is someone I consider to be a BFF. I'm so glad I "met" her through blogging and then in real life this Summer. She's a fellow Minister's Mate who loves the ministry.

It's so hard to narrow down any award. I mean each person who is on my blogroll is there because I value them as a blogger. Thank you ALL for the many ways you bless me each and every day.

Raw and Uncut

It pains me to admit that my linen closet looked this way ever...but you all know how much I wanted to get it straightened up with the new Folding technique. Soooo...here are the before and after photos. I think the boys and DH thought I was crazy when I threw everything from the closet on the floor!


In the end, it was definitely worth it. In all fairness, I did give one sheet set and about three towels to Goodwill...BUT I added six games to the game storage!


Now, I PROMISE I'm done talking about sheets and folding for a while.

Sunday Seven

Do you ever just NOT feel like being thankful and even DOING a Sunday Seven (or something similar)? I am in that place today. And this morning when I woke up, I thought this is EXACTLY the time you NEED to do a SS. I mean when we stop to "count our blessings" and "give thanks" is when we realize just how loved we are, isn't it? This week while I was driving, I did what I love to do when I drive, I listened to music...lots of it in lots of genres. Each time I listened to the praise music, I found myself picturing God. They weren't "new" pictures for me...but they were so vivid and I found myself that we have this type of music to put these pictures in our minds.



So, here's my Sunday Seven...seven pictures I had of God this week:



1. "You make everything glorious, yes you make everything glorious, and I am yours...what does that make me?" {Thanks to David Crowder * Band for this...HE finds us all glorious! Can't you picture that approving smile and laughter over His creation?}



2. "Oh no you never let go through the calm and through the storm....On no, you never let go, every high and every low...Lord you never let go of me." {Thanks to Matt Redman...I could picture the great Hand of God holding me firmly in His grip...even when I wiggle and squirm.}



3. "And we can see that God you're moving...A mighty river through the nations...And young and old will turn to Jesus...Fling wide your heavenly gates...Prepare the way of the risen Lord" {Thanks to Sonic Flood for this one. As I think about those who turn their back on faith...and in some cases, run away completely, I am convinced that the times we are living in WILL draw people back to a deeper more meaningful faith. The picture? People, by the millions, turning back to faith.



I think so many people are living an obligatory faith these days...you know, I believe because my parents believed. I go to church because it's "what you do". And while I believe that we have to train up the following generations by setting an example, I am convinced that my children and my children's children will be forced to have a more radical faith than I do or those before me did."}



4. "Jesus, Lover of my soul, Jesus, I will never let you go You’ve taken me from the miry clay You've set my feet upon the Rock, and now i knowI love you, I need you, Though my world may fall, I’ll never let you go." {Thanks to Hillsong for this song. It's not just little messes we get ourselves in. No, we get into MIRY CLAY...and everytime he scoops us up and takes us out of the unsettled and messy state and puts us back on the rock. I'm so thankful for His patience with me even when I make a mess of things.}



5. "Why should we tary when Jesus is pleading, pleading for you and for me? Why should we linger and heed not his mercies, mercies for you and for me?" {From Alan Jackson's Precious Memories CD. I picture all those that I know who are just wandering away from God and those times when I wander (even momentarily)...and I love that picture of Jesus pleading to give us His mercies and calling us to "Come Home."



6. "Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come? Why should my heart feel lonely? And long for heaven and home When Jesus is my portion A constant friend is He His eye is on the sparrow And I know He watches me.." {Compliments of Selah's Greatest Hymns CD. The sparrow is such a little bird. He cares about everything...everything...and I know He watches me.}

7. "When I think I'm going under, part the waters, Lord When I feel the waves around me, calm the sea When I cry for help, oh, hear me Lord and hold out Your hand Touch my life Still the raging storm in me" {Also from Selah's CD...I love that picture of God parting the waters for us when we think we are facing the huge sea...}

I hope that all of you will look and listen for things in your world that give you pictures (glimpses) of God and His precious love. Have a GREAT week!

Photo Hunt: Practical

Here's the code to get the blogroll and play along: PhotoHunt

TRUST ME...when you can fold a queen size sheet set including flat sheet, fitted sheet and two pillow cases into this flat square....IT'S PRACTICAL! Check out this post to see how I learned. You can also check out Sandy's Picture Directions or her Written Directions for more information and How To's. OR you can do like I did and drive yourself to Savannah to meet Tootsie (the Sheet-Folding Diva)!

(I'm so mad because I DID redo my Linen Closet and took before and after pictures that I wanted to post, but it seems that perhaps THAT'S the cord I left in GA. As soon as I get a new one, I'll upload the pics to show you just HOW practical this techinque is!)

Friday's Feast

Appetizer If you were a dog, what breed would you be, and why?
I'd be a Golden Retriever because they are so loyal and friendly.

Soup What does the color purple make you think of?
Because I want to put the first answer that comes to mind, I have to say: the book, the movie, and the play. I LOVED this story by Alice Walker and when I read this question, that is what came to mind.

Salad Approximately how long does it take you to get ready each morning?
Thirty minutes, max. The hour-long people blow me away...as I just don't get it!

Main Course How many cousins do you have, and are you close to them?
Eighteen first cousins. Some yes, and some not so much. I DO know that whenever I am with my extended family it's almost as if we are never apart. It's just that some I communicate with more regularly than others.

Dessert Take your initials (first, middle, last) and come up with something else those letters could stand for. (Example: SFO = Sweet Funny Otter)

SMN: Simply Make NOISE!

Thursday Thirteen--Savannah Style

I thought I'd do a different TT today. Here are thirteen photos from our trip this week: