happy birthday to me

46 good things about being 46:

not afraid to talk in front of a crowd

not afraid to stand up for myself or my daughter or what i believe in

not afraid to be alone

i understand myself and my motivation better

understand motivation of others better

not easily upset by the little stuff that happens anymore (unless i have pms)

i do things because i want to and not because i have to

understand that i have a responsibility to give back (looking for more ways to do this)

don't overly obsess about a clean house

remember to do what's important:  tell leslie i love her everyday, be in the moment with the people that i love

have learned to listen more and talk less (really working on this as i am a chatterbox by nature)

am becoming a better teacher because i'm stepping back and listening more

really trying to be a better daughter and sister by not taking my family for granted

realizing what really matters to me

feeling content

feeling brave

feeling confident that things will work out as they should

making sure i get my 12 hugs a day (leslie and the littles really help here)

taking time for quiet, time to just be and reflect and not be on

trying to make time for creativity

pushing myself to do things i don't necessarily want to do because they are out of my comfort zone

trying not to mindlessly chatter to fill silence

embrace silence

being comfortable in my body and accepting it with all of it's attributes and flaws

knowing my limitations

listening to my body and taking better care of it

trying to be conscious of what i'm putting in my body to nourish it - not eating for comfort

realizing that not everyone is going to like me and realizing that that is okay

discovering how much i like to blog

feeling like i still have time to do something big

loving my relationship with my teenager who is a really lovely human being

feeling strong in my marriage but also realizing that a marriage is only as strong as the work you put into it

remembering to share my memories and stories of my grandparents with leslie so they can be a part of who she is too

learning to forgive

learning to move on

remembering to be kind

trying hard not to be judgemental and to put myself in someone else's shoes

strengthening my relationship with God

taking responsibility for my actions

trying to help and not hurt

trying to learn new things

trying to push myself

trying to put myself out there more 

remembering to be thankful

accepting the fact that i am middle aged! (wow, that was hard)

embracing the fact that i am middle aged (okay, that one is going to take some work . . .)

happy birthday to me.  i think 46 is a nice even number.  

have you ever loved a song so much that it almost hurts to listen to it?  you have to play it over and over and over.  it speaks to you for some reason - you may not even be sure what that reason is.  okay - so then you get a little obsessed.  you have to find out about the band or singer or whatever.  what else do they have out there?  and maybe you buy something else they've done.  but probably whatever it is is not going to measure up to that first thing that really got to you in the first place.  this phenomenon usually happens to you when you're maybe 13 or 14.  the song probably has something to do with guys.  unrequited love.  something like that.  but if you are really lucky and you really love music then maybe this happens to you over and over in your life, no matter how old you are.  my new obsession is called 'light catches your face' and it's by bell x1.  listen to it.  it may not speak to you like it speaks to me.  but maybe it will.  (the song that's playing is not 'light catches your face' - couldn't find it to post - sorry.)

sunday morning: what inspires me today

*design sponge blog - i love that the world is so small when you have the web 

*sunday morning t.v. show- they always have such interesting segments, reminds me of visiting my grandmother for some reason

*fresh simple food- we ate lunch at cafe normandie yesterday & i can't wait to recreate the salad 

*leslie's creativity- she is always up for trying new materials and a new project - we're going to buy some ink and real caligraphy pens and play today

*organization- thinking, thinking, thinking of some new ways to organize all of my children's books

*black ballet flats that i spied in the window of a shop downtown yesterday

*a clean house

*the photos on 3191 miles apart

*nyc, asheville, portland, philadelphia, vancouver . . . lake orion

a little sad

The end of the school year is always a bit bittersweet.  I love, love, love the lazy slow days of summer vacation but it's always hard to say goodbye to another year.  I'm sad that Leslie will no longer be in middle school.  I'm sad that my littles, my mini-friends, will be moving on to the next step in their lives - kindergarten.  Tonight I saw an old little (Anna) at our favorite restaurant.  So sweet to see her and her lovely parents - but again, sad.  She proudly told me that she read 250 books this year and she's so tall and grown up looking.  Just wish I could keep all of my littles with me!  Why does time have to pass so quickly?  

Getting ready for our end of the year program.  It's not too bad.  I don't really have to do anything except hand out diplomas and stand near the stage while the littles sing.  I don't know why, but when kids sing or perform on stage it always makes me want to cry.  I was holding back tears the entire night of Leslie's final performance last week.  Jen wants to do the "goodbye" song from Sound of Music for our program this year.  We just introduced the littles to the song today.  Yikes.  I told Jen that it's going to be her singing (I can't seem to remember the words!) and crying.  But maybe it will be her singing and me crying and the littles just standing there looking cute.  

Team Teaching

I'm loving the team teaching thing.  I forgot how much I love watching other teachers.  And how much I can learn from them.  Jen does a great job reading to the littles - she really gets into the story and they love it.  Today she read Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed complete with monkey props and a doll bed!  

what i'm reading in all of my spare time :)

I have 3 books going right now.  The first is actually from a blog.  Or two.  It's called A Year of Mornings and it's by Maria Alexandra Vettese and Stephanie Congdon Barnes.  It's a collection of photographs taken by these 2 women every morning for one year.  They really only know each other from the internet.  And they live 3191 miles apart.  But their photographs are so simple and beautiful.  I'm hoping it's going to inspire me to take better photos for my blog.

The second book I'm reading is New and Selected Poems by Mary Oliver.  Her poetry is so accessible.  I love this line:  

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

And, last but not least, a little fiction to round things out. Testimony by Anita Shreve.  I loved The Pilot's Wife but never picked up her other stuff for some reason.  

So, hoping to have some time to read soon.  Last summer I read 50 or 60 books.  Really.  (Yes, I did other things, too.)  Seems like during the school year I'm pretty consumed with teaching so I don't make it through too many books.  But summer is all about recharging and relaxing and reading.  For me anyway!

Project Based Learning: Lions, and Tigers, and Bears . . .

Jen & I have been very interested in project based learning and all of the Reggio inspired stuff that's going on.  We decided to jump into it (well, wade in really) for the last few weeks of school.  It's difficult to break away from theme teaching, though.  We've been trying some team teaching this week and we're letting the kids work in both classrooms.  That has been pretty successful, I think.  The other stuff will come.  It's just going to take some time to break old habits.  I think it's so interesting that my philosophy of teaching continues to change.  I could never be a teacher that does the same thing year after year.  That's why this project based learning has me so geeked.