More Quick Quotes

A good teacher of young children needs to be wiling to be the same kind of learner that she expects each child in her class to be. - Carol Hillman

Best Recipe

It was 75 here today and felt like late spring back home.

Back home there is talk of a blizzard right now. A big 2-day storm.

What different worlds I know.

I wish sometimes that I could just take the best of every bit of the world I have known and mix them together.

A little Texas hospitality and warmth here. A dash of Nebraska pride and helpfulness there. Midwestern scenery sprinkled with tall Texas pines. Add in some Alaskan mountains right there. Oh, some Polish foods there. A splash of coffee shops, summer rooftop and fire escape conversations, and lying on the beach. Friends and family until filled to the brim. Enjoy!

Yeah, that'd be cool.

Quick Quote

The last time you're doing something — knowing you're doing it for the last — makes it even more alive than the first.
-Gloria Naylor, Mama Day

Agree or disagree?

I personally would disagree. I think it brings a certain magic to it, but that magic is tainted with bittersweetness. That's different than the novel magic that comes with the first time you do something. There's something special about the first time, and there's something special about the last time. Both times are very alive, but in different ways.

What do you think?

Why I Love Preschool

The look on the preschool boy's face when I told him I'd never seen a snake hole before. It was a mixture of amazement and horror, like he couldn't tell if I was lying and didn't know how it was possible for somebody to have never witnessed something so cool.

Watching a group of my preschoolers make "the biggest birthday cake ever" out of leaves and pine needles. It was so big that when they told me one of the girls was inside, I believed them and was about to look through it...until I turned around and saw her on the other end of the playground.

Practicing how to write 6s:

Me, after noticing a little boy could use a little more practice: "Would you like to flip over your sheet and show me a few more?"

The little boy, without a hint of sarcasm or joking: "No, ma'am."

[My outer and inner teacher instincts at battle: don't laugh. laugh. let him go play because that was cute. have him practice because it'd help him.]

He practiced anyway.

Children's books are the most fun kind to read out loud.

I've learned that preschoolers are the most fearless group when it comes to hug. No time, location, or person is not suitable for hugging.

We sing fun songs that have silly motions to go with while waiting for their parents, and it's okay to make faces. The more faces, the more they laugh. The more they laugh, the more fun it is.

Spaceships. Moon rocks. Shooting stars. Space adventures to fix satellites. Astronaut-puppies. Imaginations know no bounds.

~"An understanding heart is everything in a teacher." [-Carl G. Jung]~

[Sidenote: I'll be at a conference for the next few days...we'll see how blogging goes while I'm there. No guarantees.]

LoveLyrics

I love the lyrics to this song. They capture so much: optimism, a shared peace, determination to fix the problems and learn from them, enjoying time together...and that love is more than sappy songs make it out to be.

Love is the downs just as much as the ups. Love can be so, so difficult. Love is challenging

...whether it's a romantic kind, a friendship kind, or a family kind.


And love is necessary.

~"And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love." [-1 Cor. 13:13]~

Blessed Days

blessings...

today blowing a terrible yesterday out of the water by being good simply by being routine. bombarding hugs from preschoolers in the middle of a story. friends knowing me well enough to read my mind. words that comfort the heart and mind. the silenced voice that tells me i'm a burden, not good enough.

tears of joy

of realizing how blessed i am.

all of this with an underlying hint of homesickness, Sewardsickness, of thinking of the blessings back home, of the faces and places i miss there. love to all of you wonderful people. :)

but i wouldn't trade where i'm at today.

~"Learning is the best of all wealth; it is easy to carry, thieves cannot steal it, and tyrants cannot seize it; neither fire nor water can destroy it; and far from decreasing, it increases by giving." [=-Naladiyar]~

Love In Action

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. [Romans 12:9-18]

How I wish I could do this...totally, utterly, and completely.