Fine Arts Fair

The girls had the Fine Arts Fair at their school today.   Naiya has been home sick all week, but a little birdie told us she was winning a special award, so she came just for the award presentation at the end of the day.  It was a fun afternoon and both of the girls had special honors to be happy about.    Naiya received a literary award (and a check for $5) for a poem that she wrote.  She also received a first place ribbon for one of her pieces of art.   Eva received a "Judges Choice" award as the stand-out artist in her class and she got two 1st place ribbons on other pieces.

Here are some picture of the girls with their works of art (sorry for the phone quality photos!):

         

   
                                                     
                   

And Naiya's winning poem (a narrative poem): 

Humpty Dumpty
by: Naiya Chamberlain 

There was an egg named Humpty.
He liked to sit on a wall, 
But he was not very careful, 
And he would always fall.

He cracked his neck and forehead, 
He cracked his chin and head, 
He cracked just about everything, 
But he was still not dead.

There came some men and horses
To try to help him out, 
To put him back together, 
But all they could do is shout.

Then, finally Mrs. Humpty came, 
And she knew what to do.
With lots or wraps and bandaids, 
She fixed him good as new.  


It is fun to see the girls honored for all of their hard work.  Makes those looooong nights of homework almost worth it... almost. ;)

Chocolate-Covered Anxiety

It is no secret that I suffer from anxiety from time to time.  (Wait... maybe that was a secret.)  Well, I do.  It's primarily work-related and primarily self-inflicted.  I have pretty super-duper high standards for myself, and I work in a place that has high standards for it's employees (as they should).  90% of the time it is manageable and fine.   I have ways to cope with anxiety.  A bubble bath.  A cup of tea.  Boycotting housework and laundry in exchange for eating a 1/2 gallon of ice cream. (What?  It was "double churned."  That makes it more like 1/4 gallon... or so I tell myself.)   

Cutting back hours at work has been a big huge help.  More time to feel organized and on top of things = less anxiety.  And yet....   Sometimes that "busyness" I spoke of  creeps into the picture, and I slowly fall behind.  This month has been full of substituting, field trips, extra art lessons, planning parties, typing poetry for our school poetry anthology, preparing for our big Open House/Expo...  you get the picture.   Afternoons have quickly filled with stuff.   Each day, I have made time to prep for the following days lessons, but have fallen behind on the extras like paperwork/filing/and such. 

Last week, I feel like I saw the light at the end of the tunnel.  Art lessons are finished, Open House is over, Valentine's parties would soon be a thing of the past... I was excited for a reprieve.   

Then we had faculty meeting.  

The director announced that she would be doing surprise observations in each of our classrooms for a day.  She  would  be checking to see that we stay on schedule and on script. She would be checking our students' work and giving some students comprehension tests and spelling tests. 

Now, I know that this comes with the territory.  Teachers need evaluations.  We have them every year.  It is a part of teaching.  Usually it's an hour here 30 minutes there.   The thought of having the principal in my room for 4 straight hours is terrifying.  She is a brilliant educator, but to be perfectly honest you never know what you're gonna get.   Some days she can nit-pick down to the smallest detail (you didn't hand out papers as efficiently as you could have) and make you feel like you are 2 inches tall.  Other days the same thing gets no response.   She is not huge on praise... which is fine.  Some people are like that, but man, it can be a little (insanely)  intimidating. 

Needless to say, after the faculty meeting anxiety kicked in to high gear. I even had nightmares about all the possible things that could go wrong in my classroom during the observation.  We didn't know when she would start observations or which class she would start in.  Everyone was a little on edge, but she never came.  I think we all secretly hoped that maybe she forgot. (She is 86 after all!)  No such luck.   Today we got a schedule for her visitations.  They start tomorrow.   Guess who is up first.  Cue anxiety overload.

I was subbing this afternoon, so I ended up staying late preparing every last detail for tomorrow.  By the time I got home I had a full-blown migraine and a pretty severe case of miss cranky pants.  Still, I'm the mom, there is dinner and homework and stuff to be done.  In the midst of it all I remembered that I needed to e-mail my class a reminder about uniforms for tomorrow.  I logged into my account and found a quick e-mail that said this:

"By the way...  We absolutely love you and the great job you do with our children."

Just a quick note, it probably took the dad a minute to compose and send, but let me tell you....  It made my night! It really helped me to put things into perspective.   Now... I  still may get off schedule a little tomorrow.   I may not stick right to the script on my comprehension lesson.   I may not hand out papers the most time efficient way.  I may completely forget everything I have prepped for, BUT I know that I am loved and appreciated. I can only do what I can do. and guess what... it is enough. 

Life is like a box of chocolates.  You never know what you are gonna get.   Here's hoping that tomorrow is a yummy chocolate covered caramel instead of one of those gross orange cream filled chocolates! 
Cross you fingers... or as the Czechs say, hold your thumbs.

I've Gotta Brag a Little

The past week has been such a fun week for my girls.   It has been filled with accomplishments and excitement.  
Last Thursday, they participated in the school talent show.   They got together with some friends and everyone wore puppy costumes while doing tumbling tricks to "Who Let the Dogs Out."  They were both nervous about getting up in front of the school, but I think being in a group really helped.  They had such a great time and both of them felt very proud and accomplished afterward.  It really was adorable.   I was helping back stage and didn't get a picture, but I will get one of the other moms to send me a copy and will post it when I get a chance.  
On Monday, Naiya was named Student of the Month.  She has been wanting to been hoping for it all year, and we are all thrilled that her hard work and efforts have not gone unnoticed.  She really deserves it!

On Tuesday, Eva brought home a certificate fore reading the most pages out of all of the kids in her reading class for the month of January.  This is quite the accomplishment considering that Eva is the youngest in her class (it is a combined class with ages 6-9).   She read a total of 1,673 pages including books like Ramona Forever and Matilda.  I knew when she was a baby that this girls would LOVE to read, and boy, does she ever!

Today, Naiya's class had their County Fair.   She has been working hard on her report and board for the last 2 months.   She had a lot of fun painting and designing the board, and she did a marvelous job presenting it for visitors from all of the classes in the school today.    She decided last night to dress up like a hiker since Grand County is a great place to recreate.  (Such a cute little hiker, if I do say so myself.) 

Some days I have a hard time believing that my girls are old enough to have accomplishments like this under their belts.  They truly amaze me with their abilities and creativity ever day.  I love my little ladies and am proud to be their mom. 

Busyness

Isn’t it true that we often get so busy? And, sad to say, we even wear our busyness as a badge of honor, as though being busy, by itself, was an accomplishment or sign of a superior life.
Is it?
--Dieter F. Uchtdorf  
A friend of mine posted this on facebook last week. It really spoke to me (as in it stopped me in the middle of my busy tracks to really ponder life kinda spoke). I know I am frequently guilty of this.  I know I need to slow down life for myself and for the girls.  I don't want this time of their lives to be a whirlwind.     I cut back hours at work so that life would be less stressful.   Some how that time quickly got filled with tutoring, volunteering in the girls classrooms, extra assignments at work and such.  I work just as much as ever.   I just get paid half as much.   Some thing's gotta give.  I'm not yet quite sure what... but something. 
Am I searching for the Holy Grail? Maybe.  I'll let you know if I find it.

Eva's 12

It's Eva's turn to share her 12.

1.  I like the color green.
2.  My favorite food is miso soup.
3.  I didn't like going on water slides before, but I like it now.
4.  I like being fancy.
5.  I love to read.
6.  My best friend at school is Reagan.
7.  My best friend from school last year was Sophia.
8.  I love art.
9.  I like playing board games  and hide-and-seek.
10.  I don't like boring stuff.
11.  I'm a really good skier. I can go on steep hills without the harness. 
12. My number one 1 Christmas wish list item is Unicorn Stompeez. 


I had add the last one, just in case I was surprised like I was with Naiya's... I wasn't.  I knew about the Stompeez.  Not sure what they are?  Google them.  A total necessity for a fancy girl. :)

Naiya's 12

Today I'm letting Naiya take the reigns and share 12 things about herself that you all may not know.

1.  My favorite food is mac n' cheese.
2.  I love my pet cat, Lola.
3.  I also love my 2 guinea pigs (Milo and Otis) and my hermit crab (Hermie).
4.  I'm a good runner.
5.  I ran a 5k race, and I'm only 7.
6.  I love to write in notebooks.
7.  I like to draw too.
8.   I like going fun places.
9. .  My favorite vacation is going to the Ranch in Idaho with all of my cousins.
10.  I don't like doing my math homework.
11.  My favorite game is playing Jenga.
12. For Christmas, my biggest wish is to get a boy cat for Lola, but my mom said I can't have kittens, so instead I would like a blue bag with a lock and a key. 



Well... Mom just learned something new about Naiya.... looks like I need to make a few emergency phone calls to the North Pole. 

We might just make it...

We may just survive to see another day... but the day ain't over yet.  So here's another  random 12:

1.  My favorite foods are pizza and sushi. Not at the same time... wait.  Maybe at the same time.  No. Too weird.  Same day though.  That would be awesome.  Pizza cause to satiate the 8 year old that lives in my core... and sushi for my grown-up outer layer.

2. I want a hedge hog.  (Don't you?!)

3.  I need a ukulele. See... Pretty, right?!

4.  I think I could use a Roomba vacuum cleaning robot.   I strongly dislike sweeping. Very strongly.

5.  I wish on stars.  Still.  Like I just did a few minutes ago.

6.  I sleep with a stuffed animal.  Eva adopted my childhood snuggle, "monkey George."  Last year, a friend sent me Neo.  I sleep with him every night... unless one of the girls sneaks in and kidnaps him.  Don't judge.  He's snuggly.

7.  There are at least 5 children's books that I can't read out loud.  Cause I bawl. From the first word.  Can't help it.  Tried to read one to the girls tonight.  It was a mess.

8.  I like to iron.  Really really really.  Lately the dryer is my iron.  I never have time, but, I LOVE watching the wrinkles slowly release from something.  I use to iron my girls baby clothes when I was preparing for them to come. 

9.  I do not own an i anything.   I had an iPod, but I never used it.  Ever.  A friend of mine had her car broken into and her iPod was stolen.  I gave her mine.  It was full of songs Martin had loaded for me 2 years ago... that I think I listened to once.  Not even all the way through.  I am iLess.

10.  I'm a little afraid of technology.  A little, a lot.   I'm okay if I get a good crash course by someone who knows what they are doing, but if I get something as a gift that I have to set up myself, forgetaboutit.    I can put together furniture like nobodies business, but set up a Kindle by myself?  Not happening.

11.  I frequently get an overwhelming urge to pack up the kiddos and drive to an unknown destination.  I think it would be a fun adventure.  One summer in high school, Dawn's gas light came on so we decided just to keep driving north until we completely ran out of gas and then we could make an adventure of getting gas. We made it to Ogden... and then we just got gas because it was taking too long.  (We were teens and our attention span for such things had reached its limit.)  I'd love to go on a spontaneous road trip with the girls... and with adequate fuel.  Maybe this summer.

12. One of my favorite sights in the whole-wide world is the mountains covered in snow with the blue sky in the background.  I love that I drive towards the mountains to get to my house.  That scene frequently overwhelms my heart with joy.  I love the mountains. 


Well, it's 10:00pm and nothing crazy has happened.  Maybe the end of the Mayan calendar isn't the end of the world.  Maybe it's the beginning. The beginning of a whole new way of life. The kind of life we hear about in songs.  No war or violence, only kindness...   As long as we're dreaming let's make it the kind of life where I can eat all the ice cream I want... without having to run up and down a 1/2 mile hill 6 times or suffer from lactose intolerance.  That's what I'm hoping to wake up to tomorrow... No war, no violence, loads of kindness and  ice cream.  Who's with me?