Snow Globes and Adjectives

Christmas break is over.

 It's a new year and the 2nd semester at school.

The first few weeks back are always tough.  Trying to get back in the swing of things in the middle of winter don't really mesh well for me.  But....get back in that saddle I must.

Here are some things Class 202 have been working on during the first weeks of 2014.

A few years back (before Pinterest) I was searching winter writing ideas/activities and came across, "If I Lived Inside a Snow-globe".  I loved the idea and now we do about this time each year.

I start out by reading a couple of books.  I can't remember which books I've used in the past because this year I found this book on Amazon.  It is PERFECT!

And also this cute book.  It's not about living in a snow-globe, but about a little boy who is obsessed with making a snowman. Except where he lives hardly ever gets snow.  It's very cute.
We can SO relate!  We have been experiencing bitter cold temps lately, but NO SNOW!  That's just not right.

I found several craftivities that go along with it that have the students making their snow-globe out of paper plates.  Again, super cute and right up my alley!

Although, one variation of it was to use a ziploc and actually add water and glitter and staple between the paper plates.  I haven't gotten quite THAT brave yet.

Last year, I had the students just do the whole glue and glitter thing.  This year, we used foam plates because I like the way their markers look pastel and winter-y.

In Grammar, we're on adjectives.

I don't know why, but every year, every class has a difficult time understanding adjectives.  They always want to use or choose a verb instead.

We always talk about how verbs show action and they're what you can do and adjectives are describing words.
Adjectives tell you more about how something looks, feels, the size, shape, smell, etc.  Maybe in their little 2nd grade brains, it's just having to change their thinking and trying to recognize each part of speech in one sentence.

But adjective activities can be fun.  Here is one of the first ones we've done.
Of course, I sought out my fav blogger, Amy Lemons.  I can't remember where I got the cut outs, but here's a link to her page for ideas.
http://stepintosecondgrade.blogspot.com/2011/10/adjective-activities.html

I know I went a little overboard with posting pictures of this one, but they really got into drawing themselves and I have to say, they did a great job.  I can look at most of these without looking at the names and know which student it belongs to.  They turned out so cute!

I LOVE how he drew a TMNT on his shirt.

His adjectives describe him perfectly!

This little boy is definitely silly and wild! ha

She drew a perfect version of her hair. And smile!

She totally captured her own likeness!

Class 202 is intelligent, fun, beautiful, handsome and creative!

Major and Breakthrough

I don't know what it is about working those 1,000 (or more) piece jigsaw puzzles.
I LOVE it.
We're talking, I get obsessed once I start one.
 But obsession aside, it's very soothing to me.

I guess it's also the fact that you have to put your hands on every single piece and slowly but surely you begin to see the picture form.
And finally, you place that very last piece, stand back and compare your work of art to the picture on the top of the box.

Maybe it's the slow, methodical pace in which I must work.  It forces my always working brain to slow down.

Maybe it just reminds me of my childhood.

My mom and dad both worked them with us.  And it always seemed we worked them in the winter, on the floor in front of the fireplace.  I just have some warm, fuzzy memories.
 We would lay out a giant piece of cardboard and start on it.  All through the week, family members would pass by and spend a little time here and there working on it.

My best memory is when someone would find the one piece that would connect the part they were working on with my dad's and he'd yell in triumph, "Major Breakthrough!"
It's a tradition that I proudly carry on in his place to this day.

Last Christmas break, I picked up my puzzle working after years of not working one.  I don't understand why I ever stopped.  I think I ended up working 5 last winter.
Also, I have the BEST kitchen table for working them.

So today, my mom and I went shopping to spend our gift cards we got for Christmas, (we did good!) and she brought me a new puzzle when she got to my house.

 I got real excited!  I started it after Stewart and I ate supper tonight.
I pushed my plate aside and took the top off the box (I may or may not have smelled the pieces as well) and pretty much zoned out and started.
 My hubby loves and understands me. He just got up, did the dishes, kissed me on the cheek and said, "have fun".  I have no idea where he went or what he was doing.  It had begun.

As I was working, my thoughts begin to drift.  I started thinking about how our life can seem like a puzzle at times.  All the pieces are mixed up in the box and we have no idea where they go or how they fit together. Or even if they DO fit together.

Just taking the top off and peering in the box at the jumbled mess can seem overwhelming and stressful.  Suddenly, I  see some end pieces and think, "oh, I can do this part".

 

Then I see some words or part of a dog or house and
immediately get those attached.

But then there are the sky, water, sunset or dirt pieces.  None of those have any defining characteristics so I either put them back in the box or in a pile all by themselves.
I hope that somehow I'll figure out that part at some point.  I bypass it because it's too hard.  Those are the parts that are usually the most beautiful and what brings the whole thing together.

Then there are the pieces I grab and say, "A HA! you little sucker! I know EXACTLY where you go!" But it doesn't go.  No matter how much I try to make it fit, even flipping the pieces over to see if they connect.  After a sigh of frustration, I'm forced to throw it back in the box only to pick it up later and place it never even remembering that was the piece that gave me so much trouble.

I started thinking how my life seems like a puzzle sometimes.
Especially right now.
Trying to make everything I want to do and wish for fit and make sense.
One day, I have faith that all the pieces are going to fit together.
Those undefined, weird pieces that I can't place will be placed by my Father.

After all, those are the most beautiful parts and bring the whole thing together.

Goodies and Pinterest

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is cooking and baking Christmas goodies with my mom.  It's a LOT of fun. We turn on Christmas music, giggle, do a lot of taste testing and enjoy each others company.

This year, we decided to try a Pinterest idea.  Here's what happened.
We decided to try this pretzel Hershey Kiss thing...looked easy enough right?

At the grocery store we couldn't find the striped kisses. I think they're called Hugs.  We finally found one bag. Then we just decided to get a bag of the regular kisses and another of the yummy caramel.  We found the red and green M&M's easily.

On our way back to my house, we took a little detour and drove by some houses decked out with some pretty fantastic lights in my neighborhood.

Back to the chocolate.....The directions were fairly easy. Place a Kiss on the pretzel then melt in the oven. For the final touch, press an M&M on top.

For some reason, I thought using this pizza pan would be a good idea.  We discovered some kisses melted better than others.  The Hugs did better and the milk chocolate pretty much kept their shape until you pressed the m&m into it.  As did the caramel ones.  But those cracked and were not pretty at all.  I like the way the Hugs look with the stripes best.

 

Here's why the pizza pan with HOLES wasn't a good idea! The chocolate melted through the holes and made the pretzels stick to the pan. Scraping them off wasn't fun and it broke them.  In my defense, I think we were just trying to be efficient and get a pan ready while another was already in the oven.  I finally got smart and used a cake pan with aluminum foil.  The foil also came in handy when we decided to put them in the fridge to cool and and allowed us to sort of peel them off.

 

Here's a batch of the caramel kisses.  They didn't turn out very pretty, but man! They sure did taste GOOD!

FINALLY!  We mastered it..sort of...and got a decent batch.  Good grief Charlie Brown! Who thought something so simple could cause so much problems!!  Mom and I just laughed and ate the ones that didn't turn out.  And let me tell you, they tasted every bit as good as the ones that did.

The finished product.  They were so yummy. But dangerous!  Small little, tasty goodies like this always are.

 

This is an easy one mom  taught me.  She just poured out a bag of chocolate chips, melted them in

the oven, the sprinkled chopped pecans over it. 

After you cool it in the fridge, just break it up into pieces.

Mom even got jazzy and used mint chips. The possibilities are pretty endless, it's super easy, goof proof and delicious!

Happiness and Wanting

Lately, I find myself living somewhere between being content and finding all kinds of happiness in what I have in my life and longing with my heart of my hearts for it to be different. I wish for something more.

My teaching career is on and popping.
Except for all the education reform attempting to take place and for all the stress that brings.
 I love the kids and I love teaching them new things.  I love seeing their light of understanding suddenly TURN ON. I love seeing them beginning to take charge of their own thinking and taking their own learning to a new level. 
I love teaching and I love watching and helping them learn.

My husband just finished his first semester of art school and I couldn't be prouder of him! He is on his way to achieving something he has wanted for quite some time.  We are POOR and are scraping by.  But we are also learning some big lessons about living on less that I hope we can continue poor or not poor.

Maude and Wyatt are the most wonderful fur babies anyone could ask for.  I love them to pieces.  They make me so happy.  Wyatt always runs up to me and is overjoyed when I come home.  Maude quietly snuggles up to me on the couch and while I'm sleeping.  She is my little heater. And I suspect I am hers as well.  She is getting old.  Probably about 13 or 14.  She is our little grey lady and I want her to be with us forever.

With every Christmas card we get with our friends and families children on them, Stewart and I can't help but feel that pang of sadness pulling on our hearts.

We are in a bit of a conundrum.  Stewart went back to school.  To be an artist.  We are poor.  This is no time to be getting knocked up. But we're old.  Maybe our time is even past.  We're afraid to even try because that's when you always get what you've been wanting.  When you're not trying or when you think it's not the right time.

Then I read this blog.  http://stepintosecondgrade.blogspot.com/2013/12/christmas-with-lemons.html
I have loved following their adoption story. I love seeing this happy little family that was just meant to be.  I think how that could be me and Stewart.
I love how she wrapped 25 books and numbered each one.  Each night their little girl gets to open the next one and they read it together.  That is something I would SO do if we had a child.
So, I just exhale, file that idea away in my head. Maybe I'll get to use it one day.

Yet, I'm happy.
As a single girl, I was really beginning to think I might never get married.   So meeting, dating, falling in love with and marrying Stewart is such a wonderful blessing.  I love him with all my heart and sometimes I still can't believe I finally found someone who loves and puts up with me.

I don't know the end of the story. Shoot, right now, Stewart and I are just trying to survive on smaller income.  Right now, I'm happy...but I'm also wanting more....

Loss and Love

Ten years ago tonight, my dad unexpectedly died and went to Heaven.

Wow.  Ten years.  It doesn't seem possible.

It's still strange.  He was here. He lived. Now he's gone.  Sometimes it just rattles my head too much and I have to think about something else.

He was young.  Just 57.  He and my mom had just celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary on December 12.  When we came back to my mom's house from the hospital that night, the beautiful bouquet of flowers he had sent her at school was still on the table.  The card simply said, "I will love you forever".

I miss him a lot these days.  We butted heads when I was younger and often had a rough relationship.  As he realized I was actually a young woman out on my own I think he started to understand me a little better. We were both making better efforts. But I ALWAYS knew he loved me. Maybe sometimes it was a bit suffocating, but now I'm so glad.  I also realize that the butting of heads was because we were EXACTLY alike.  Hardheaded, independent, and determined WE were right and everyone else was wrong!  :)

I hate he is missing so much. My marriage, meeting Stewart, buying our house, playing with Maude and Wyatt, growing old with my mom and aggravating those he loved.  I hate he missed the Johnny Cash movie, Walk the Line, a few years back.  I hate he's missing deer season.  But then there are things I'm glad he never had to see or deal with.

My little brother Will walked me down the aisle.  This tiny picture frame was so special on that day.

I have no idea how he would react or how he would feel about my infertility.
But I DO know his legacy has helped me deal with it.
His Faith and love for the Lord was important to him and he wasn't afraid to tell anyone about it.
Growing up in what I call the "Baptist Bubble", I watched he and my mom make commitments to God and our church and our upbringing that simply cannot be denied.  It was real and he was serious about it.  My dad was far from perfect but he accepted the Forgiveness that was offered and tried his best to live out his life in that manner.

So because of that, I have my own Faith, Forgiveness and Grace.  And because of that, I am able to attempt to live my life in the same fashion.  Because of God, I am able to live with infertility. I give it to Him (most days) and try my best to leave it there and just trust and have faith.

Dad taught me many things. I learned to drive in a horse pasture in a baby blue beat up Ford truck. He taught me to drive defensively in this crazy Memphis traffic (and I am forever thankful). He taught me to read people.  His sense about people was uncanny.  He taught me to laugh at a lot of inappropriate things and to be silly.  He taught me about dogs and horses.  He even taught me about deer hunting and I went out in the woods and climbed into a deer stand him a few times.  But it just didn't take.  I'm NOT a morning person and I can't stand the cold.  He taught me how to stand up for myself, to be independent...but above all of this, he taught me to love.  My family and God.

One of our many trail rides.

May 2003. My college graduation.

Dolphins, and Whales, and Sea Turtles, oh my!

I don't know about other 2nd grade teachers, but I'm so busy trying to teach Math and Reading skills, I often find myself struggling to fit in Science and Social Studies.  (which I LOVE teaching by the way)

Recently, I found this wonderful freebie on Teachers Pay Teachers.  It's an ocean animal fact book.  This 9 weeks, one of the skills we are supposed to be working on is habitats.  So I downloaded this, printed it off, had the students color it and got them stapled together.  Right before our Snow (ice) day last Thursday, we started watching videos on you tube about dolphins.  I  wrote down their favorite facts on the board, then let them choose 3 to write on their dolphin page.

 Here's the link:
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Ocean-Animal-Fact-Book-Blank-735958

Then, I did a Google image search and found a picture of a dolphin with its parts labeled and had the students draw it in their journal.  I have some really great little artists this year.

 Next was sea turtles.  I also found a Google image of a sea turtle life cycle.  Guess we'll have to go back and find one for the dolphin.
The shark is next.  They are really excited about that one!

This turtle was not traced.  I think I have an artist on my hands. 

I am really getting into using Journals in my classroom.  I have always used a Writing Journal but over the last few years, I've begun to expand.  This year, my students have a Writing, Reading Skills, Math,  and Science/Social Studies Journal.  My students are LOVING their journals.  One day, after gluing a completed Math poster/activity, one of my students said, "Mrs. Thompson, I love our Math Journals. It's like a learning tool. And I'm learning a lot!"  HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY!!!

And I'm LOVING the teachers pay teachers site.  There are so many free items available.  (the ocean fact book is FREE)  One of my 2nd grade coworkers and I seem to share a brain when it comes to ideas and often anytime we do buy something on TPT, we share it with each other.  Earlier this year, she bought and shared an interactive Reading Notebook. Here's the link.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/2nd-Grade-Reading-Interactive-Notebook-aligned-with-the-Common-Core-765272

Ice and Sound of Music

SNOW DAY!!!

Well, actually, nasty weather, sleet and ice day, but we got the same result...NO SCHOOL! Yippee!

I went to the grocery store this morning, not becaue of the storm, but because we were completly out of groceries.  At first, I thought maybe we could chance it in case we did get iced in, but then I realized we were out of dog food and toliet paper. Those 2 items were enough to get me moving!

This gathering of groceries had me giggling.
 I don't know what it is about snow days or holidays,
 one should always have cinnamon rolls on hand.

All the trees are icy and up until a little while ago, the rain and sleet was coming down continually.  But I think it's stopped now.  The streets even look fairly dry. It's supposed to get even colder tonight and then start all over again this weekend.  Our power blinked once earlier today but so far so good.  On facebook, a couple of friends have reported their power is out.  I already texted my mom and told her if ours goes out, we're packing up and heading her way with some firewood.  She has a nice, brick, REAL fireplace.  All we have is a gas fireplace that has never worked and we've never had anyone try to repair it.

After my grocery run, putting food away, semi-organizing the pantry and coking up some ground beef to freeze, I've been useless.  I've been bundled up on the couch playing on facebook, texting with my mom and watching The Sound of Music with Carrie Underwood and Steven Moyer.  I've been loving seeing vampire Bill sing and dance!

Carrie and Steven in Sound of Music

Steven and Anna as Bill and Sookie in True Blood.
They're married in real life.

I think it stinks that they're giving Carrie all these bad reviews.  I mean, come on people!  She's not an actress!  I think she did pretty well. Yeah, she was a little wooden at times and her chemistry with the Captain was, well, not there, but it was live tv and I guess this was her first time doing something like this.  I watched and was entertained.  I especially loved seeing Audra McDonald play the Abbess.  Her rendition of Climb Every Mountain had me in tears!  I also like the guy that was in Smash.  And the Von Trapp children were oh so talented!  When I told my mom who Steven Moyer was, she said, "Well, the vampire can sing and dance!" haha (and fyi, my maiden name is Compton)

So there you have it...my very own review of the Sound of Music. 

Bundled up on the couch with my book
and a cozy, sweet Maude. We kept one another warm.

We still haven't put up our Christmas tree or any decorations.  Poor Stewart is frantically working, trying to finish the last of his assignments for this semester.  For his 3D Design class, he had to build a glider.  It has to fly a certain distance.  We just practiced with it and it worked alright.  Then he strapped a Star Wars action figure to the front and it did even better!

The ice is supposed to come back this weekend...I SO wouldn't mind if we were out Monday too! Guess we'll have to wait and see.