Tucker's Countryside

The rain, pushed by the wind's hand, swayed forward and back, like a curtain of silver.

Anne of Green Gables

There's such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting.

Stay, Stay at Home

Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest;

Home-keeping hearts are happiest,

For those that wander they know not where

Are full of trouble and full of care;

        To stay at home is best. 

Weary and homesick and distressed,

They wander east, they wander west,

And are baffled and beaten and blown about

By the winds of the wilderness of doubt;

        To stay at home is best.

Then stay at home, my heart, and rest;

The bird is safest in its nest;

O'er all that flutter their wings and fly

A hawk is hovering in the sky;

        To stay at home is best. 

Delights of the Day

Yesterday
*Sitting on the porch when the rainstorm went through

Today
*Swinging on the porch in the cooler weather

When Calls the Heart

I am really loving the Hallmark show When Calls the Heart. I just found it on Netflix, and it has become my new favorite show! I especially love watching Elizabeth teach and interact with her students. They are even using McGuffey Readers! I have a box of those readers upstairs. :) I got teary-eyed when her class wrote her a poem and made her cards and pictures so she wouldn't take a teaching position at a different school. I have a box of my own cards and pictures from my former students in the basement. I miss inspiring kids and hearing their stories and trying to find ways to light a fire under them. 

Emily Climbs

"The trouble is, Aunt Elizabeth and I have different Gods, that is all. Everybody has a different God, I think. Aunt Ruth's, for instance, is one that punishes her enemies--sends 'judgments' on them. That seems to me to be about all the use He really is to her. Jim Cosgrain uses his to swear by. But Aunt Janey Milburn walks in the light of her God's countenance, every day, and shines with it."

Last Sunday, our pastor was talking about how people create their own version of God that suits them best. Gracie had just read the above passage in Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery and made a connection with what he was saying. I thought it was very fitting!

God has many attributes, and one cannot be taken without the other. He is loving, but he is also just. He is patient, merciful, and gracious. But He is also wrathful, righteous, and holy and cannot tolerate sin. There are so many other attributes of God that I have not mentioned. We cannot love a God we don't know. God wants us to get to know Him and ALL of his attributes and not fit Him into a box that benefits us. We find out who God is when we read the Bible and spend time with Him. When we do that, He is faithful to reveal himself to us!

Pat of Silver Bush

Pat loved the sound of "a day to spend." It sounded so gloriously lavish to "spend" a whole day, letting its moments slip one by one through your fingers like beads of gold.

Anne of Green Gables

"And what does make the roads red?"
"Well now, I dunno," said Matthew.
"Well, that is one of the things to find out sometime. Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we knew all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for the imagination then, would there?"

Martha Washington

We read a passage about Martha Washington today for history. We learned how she cared for and nursed soldiers during the second year of the Revolutionary War. The article highlighted how her feminine touch brought back so much life to the hurting soldiers. God created women and men differently and with specific roles in mind. Our society is forgetting that truth and blurring the lines about what it means to be a woman. It was refreshing to read something that reminded my girls that being a woman means that we are called to bring truth and beauty to our world wherever God has planted us.

Just Playing

*catching butterflies
*playing LeapPad

*watching Aubrey lay on her stomach and kick her little legs while she played the LeapPad
*watching Aubrey color with markers--she always has to be naughty and color on something she shouldn't!
*hearing Aubrey say, "Thank you!"
*seeing all the creations Gracie and Madelyn make on the Rainbow Loom
*going to the Book Fair!
*going through all the artwork and schoolwork
*the girls flying through homework and baths so we actually had time to read Madelyn's fairy chapter book

Favorite Moments With...

Aubrey
*all the hugs she has been giving me
*watching her learn to string beads. She was very patient.
*taking walks with her
*the way she says, "Play with me."
*watching her climb the ladder of the play set and slide down on her own
*watching her blow bubbles. She is very intent and does it for a long time.

Gracie
*watching her read chapter books on her own. I love having an independent reader!
*the fact that she offered to help Madelyn with her homework, and that Madelyn actually listened to her and finished it!
*how she loves to chase butterflies
*her creative idea to build a swing for her peep

Madelyn
*so thankful she is sleeping through the night and waking up early!
*how she is blossoming at the end of her K year. Her handwriting is so much better and she is reading at grade level!
*the way she loves to role-play everything. Will she be a future actress on stage?
*her imagination

Jim
*laughing while watching Jimmy Fallon together
*deciding on house things together
*spending time outside with him and the girls

*planting a tree on our land
*hearing Gracie and Aubrey sing O Glorious Day and Jesus Paid It All
*Aubrey calling me "mom" instead of mommy or mama
*Madelyn sleeping better and not yawning (I hope it continues!)
*starting to watch Heidi with the girls
*Cadbury mini eggs and crème eggs
*chocolate milk
*laughing while watching Jimmy Fallon
*my Luke Bryan CD
*the girls finding a little boy on our land befriending him
*we are getting so close to breaking ground!
*finally updating this blog!

*listening to Aubrey sing Let It Go and the Happy song
*watching her dance (jump on both feet)
*the warmer weather!
*watching the girls all ride their bikes
*watching Gracie jump rope
*Madelyn's "I love you's" that she wrote in her notebook on her own
*

*the girls all drawing together at the table
*watching Wheel of Fortune with the girls
*new chapstick and notecards
*finding an enchanted forest classroom theme
*doing schoolwork with Madelyn today
*listening to Aubrey say her letters
*getting supper ready before lunch so I didn't have to worry with it tonight
*dancing to the Happy song

*watching Aubrey wear a backpack and pretend to go to school
*watching Aubrey try to learn to tie a bow
*spending time with Gracie's class during library time
*watching Madelyn play Top-It with Jim
*counting my blessings and trying to forget all the stress that is currently in my life

The Reason I Love (and Miss) Teaching

One of my favorite moments from today happened while another mom and I were presenting an artist and art project to Gracie's second grade class. Andy Warhol was the artist. The kids were to use oil pastels and create color patterns in four separate blocks on a piece of paper. Then, they chose a black stamp that went over top of the pattern. After one boy finished his art project, he looked at the other kids' projects and said he didn't like his. I told him that no one else had a paper that looked just like his and assured him that his was a Dhylan original, never made before and could only be created by him. He looked at his paper for a minute and then I saw a slight smile on his face. It was a very simple and brief encounter with him, and yet, it really lifted my spirits.

One of my all-time favorite moments as a teacher was helping a sixth grade boy realize that he could be a poet. I had given them an assignment to write a poem and publish it in a creative way. One of my students came up to me and said he didn't like the assignment and had no idea how to write poetry. I knew this boy loved skateboarding. When I told him he could write a poem about skateboarding and then publish the poem on a skateboard he designed himself, his face lit up. He went on to create a very cool blue skateboard with his poem written in the middle of it, complete with skateboarding terms. He was very proud of that skateboard.


That is what I love about teaching. Helping a child believe in himself and giving him a moment to feel special. So many good teachers and parents are leaving schools because of Common Core. I tried to leave, too. But our schools need teachers and volunteers who know that school isn't just about Common Core. It isn't just about conquering a twenty step math problem. It isn't just about fiction and nonfiction. It's about caring adults helping children look beyond what they think about themselves, how they see themselves, and the boxes in which they have put themselves. It is about encouraging them to see things in a different way. To spark creativity they didn't know they had. To help them make connections. To give them someone to talk to because no one at home is listening. It is about these things, and so much more!

I'm thankful that even though I am not currently teaching that I am still allowed opportunities to be in the classroom. I really hope Dhylan's art project is hanging on his refrigerator.

Birthday Favorites

*teaching little ones in church today
*going to Cracker Barrel with Jim, the girls, and my parents and having breakfast for lunch. I love their biscuits and gravy, but Jim's homemade is even better.
*presents--butterfly mug, nail file, flashlight, Palace of Stone and The Vow, and birthday money (for more books) :)
*coloring with the girls in the office
*reading to Madelyn
*watching The Pioneer Woman during supper
*Jim made lunches for tomorrow so I could have a break from doing it
*giving the girls lots of hugs

*Aubrey's pretty curls
*getting the sheets washed. I love fresh sheets.
*helping Madelyn with her homework
*celebrating Jim's birthday yesterday
*the way Aubrey kept telling me this morning how Jim comforted her when she was scared during the thunderstorm
*I'm thankful that Gracie got to draw and color this afternoon
*realizing that baths and homework before supper just do not work
*the way Aubrey wants to stay at school with her sisters when we drop them off. I want to stay too!
*I'm thankful there were no tornadoes here today

*giving the girls surprises on Valentine's Day--I gave them new dresses to wear to school. Aubrey got pink play-doh. They all got mini Etch-a-Sketches. Jim and I both wrote notes to them.
*taking Aubrey with me to the Gracie and Madelyn's parties at school. She thinks she is ready for school! She sat like such a big girl at Gracie's table.
*watching The Vow with Jim
*my present from Jim--Luke Bryan CD!
*watching Jim Gaffigan, Mr. Universe--my present to Jim and very funny!
*date night (especially loved getting a Reese's peanut butter cup blizzard)
*Sleepytime tea
*listening to a sermon on the computer
*learning more about evangelism (something I'm just not very good at)
*seeing the girls' creations on the Etch-a-Sketch
*the way Aubrey is starting to form complete sentences