and i couldn’t be happier.
part of my family lives down under.
and soon
they will be up top with us for a while.
and i will have my dream
of all of the daughters
and all of the sons in law
and all of the grand babies
in one place at one time.
and it is sure to be an adventure.
—
Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present, and future.
Gail Lumet Buckley
and so we went to find art.
and after we ran so far,
and climbed so many stairs,
we could see the sky.
and there we found
a beautiful stone lion waiting for us.
we must have climbed to the top of the world.
and we were in the clouds.
Art is the only way to run away without leaving home. ~Twyla Tharp
it was camping day.
we went outside
and hiked
and looked at lots of stuff
and touched it
and found all sorts of things.
we tried to catch a frog to see him up close.
and if we did we promised we would put him back in his home after.
and we got in the mud.
even those of us who usually don’t like to get dirty.
and we learned so much stuff.
—
Must we always teach our children with books? Let them look at the stars and the mountains above. Let them look at the waters and the trees and flowers on Earth. Then they will begin to think, and to think is the beginning of a real education. – David Polis
we learned about artist frida kahlo and how she created images of herself,
with things that had meaning to her placed all around.
here, h shares her collage with our class,
and it shows us
that she loves flowers, animals, sweets, and celebrations of all kinds.
no words are needed to tell her story.
—
http://www.frida-kahlo-foundation.org
and even when your special chocolate cupcake melts in the car,
you just stick the candles in sideways,
light them up,
and blow them out.
and you sing in celebration.
and you rename it a molten hot lava cupcake.
and you can then eat that volcanic overflow with a spoon and a smile.
and on this mother’s day,
i am reminded of when my girls were young and we had no money,
but we had each other,.
and they went to the neighbor’s garden to pick flowers for me,
as a very special mother’s day gift.
they knew i loved flowers.
and they did so fearlessly.
and they didn’t worry about getting in trouble.
and they hoped i wouldn’t be mad.
and when they told me,
i hoped the neighbors, if they saw them picking,
understood why, and wouldn’t be mad.
these flowers meant the world to me.
and they were dirty and smiling and proud to have a gift.
and i hugged them and was so happy to be their mother.
to all of the mothers and children out there,
this day is for you.
and to all of their neighbors.
if you see a child picking flowers in your garden today,
please understand and smile,
and wish them a happy mother’s day.
out on a hike around the lake with the kinders,
and a is walking back with c, close by her side.
a tells me, ‘he says he wants to marry me.’
i ask, ‘do you want to marry him?’
a says, ‘yes.’
then a says to c,
‘and i will always sleep when you sleep.
and we could go to the park together.
and we can get ice cream.’
c says, ‘okay.’
as we all walk on, i think about how wise a is with regard to marriage.
if we always sleep when the other sleeps, go to the park together, and get ice cream,
we might have many happy marriages.
===
what a great day at the farm, where we met farmer chris, who taught us many things.
we learned that eggs come in all colors, and shapes, and sizes.
we learned that the littlest of baby goats will follow us, just to be part of a group.
we learned that even a strong-looking pony, needs to be gently cared for.
we learned that it was nice to have someone waiting there to greet us when we returned back to the barn.
and when the farmer on a tractor gave us a bumpy ride on a wagon,
we learned the world is even bigger than we thought,
and filled with many more wonders ahead,
yet to discover.
—
“Children are born naturalists. They explore the world with all of their senses, experiment in the environment,
and communicate their discoveries to those around them.”
The Audubon Nature Preschool
after more than a decade spent in kindergarten, i now am proud to say i have developed and maintained a strong kinder-level mastery of the spanish language. thank you so much señora olga, for your infinite patience and humor as you try endlessly to teach me, along with my little friends, and as i do my dances, sing enthusiastically with phonetically sounded out words, pummel the piñata, cha-cha step on the colorful foot-shaped cut-outs, use a fly swatter to identify animals, and try out my spanglish on you. you have taught me well. i know there are times you would like nothing better than to say to me, the following phrase, (below), but you have not, as of yet. (at least as far as i know). and for this, i dedicate this cinco de mayo to you, and i look forward to the piñata frenzy later this morning.
‘Pocas mujeres admiten su camisa de once’
You’ve put on a shirt made of eleven sticks;
meaning:
You’ve bitten off more than you can chew
“A different language is a different vision of life.”
-Federico Fellini
“Americans who travel abroad for the first time are often shocked to discover that, despite all the progress that has been made in the last 30 years, many foreign people still speak in foreign languages.” ‒ Dave Barry
part of my life as a full-day kindergarten teacher is having lunch with the kids 3 days a week. it’s especially fun because the pre-kindergartneners also share our table, and while we might not get much time to eat, it never fails to be exciting and i am endlessly fascinated by their take on the food.
here are some chickeny stripnuggetstick things
here are some fishy stripnuggetstick things
they are never quite sure what to ask for, or what we’re having, when wanting more.
every year, someone declares themselves to suddenly be a ‘bege-tarian’,
because they like animals.
and they stop eating any meat,
but somehow they don’t identify our nuggetstickstrip items as meat,
and i understand completely.
and i loved the day when one of them asked for syrup to go on their foodstripnuggety item.
why do you want syrup, i asked?
aren’t these french toast strips?, they answered.
i’m not really sure, but let’s go with that.
—
Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.
Mark Twain
I didn't have my glasses on.... 