They always make me smile...

these two. They've been friends for about eight years now, and even though they attend different schools, they are just as close now as they were when they first became reading buddies in third grade. 

Each summer when we come to the beach, we invite S to come with us.

Last year was the first year in a while that she couldn't join us.

We're glad she came back.

It gives me a chance to take even more pictures.

Like this one...

and this one...

Sometimes, I think they've become such good friends over the years

that their hair styles and color are becoming twins.

Maybe their eyes a bit, too?

You can read more about their friendship here.

Blooming...

Just saying...

Maybe it IS your time to bloom!

I just finished reading one of those books that are just perfect for the beach.

You know the kind... Not a heavy read, something a little more fun and frivolous.

But it did get me thinking.... (shouldn't all books do that?).

The book, Jude Deveraux's "The Summerhouse," features three women

who all live different lives.

And then they get to choose a time in their lives to relive

and can even change the choices they made.

Rewind and start over.

We don't get to do that of course, you and I,

and I'm guessing that even if we could, we wouldn't change things.

But maybe, just maybe, we get too caught up in what has to be done each day,

and we forget what really brings us joy.

Our passions.

For art,

writing,

photography,

cooking,

or even moving

our furniture around.

Believe me, I DO make time for a lot of the fun things in life.
But there have been times in my life when I didn't do those things.
I wasn't writing, or drawing, or taking pictures of things that make me smile.

So, words of advice gleaned from Jude Deveraux's summer read:

Don't forget who you are.
Remember to enjoy what makes you, you.
and Bloom!

 

Paper + Paint + Canvas =

Joy! The newest addition to my gallery of "girls."

My daughter and her friend, A, got into the paints the other day, so I couldn't resist.

I didn't have a plan, but after I sifted through my papers, my "vision" began to form.

The colors just came together, and I tried new techniques.

Well, mainly with her hair.

I painted her hair a yellow first, then began layering various shades of brown.

I typed the wording on the computer, which gives it a more finished look.

Then drew in the stitches and "connected" the text pieces together.

I linked up with Mary for Mosaic Monday today.
She's actually sharing some photographs from the Monet exhibit
at the New York Botanical Garden.
Hmmmm. That definitely puts me in good company!

It's Official...

My days of driving my daughter all over town are over. *sigh* Where do the days and weeks and years go? It seems like only yesterday that she was driving all over the yard in her Barbie jeep. Today, she drove herself to church, and tomorrow she will drive... somewhere. You can count on that!

It's nice in a way. I'm not having to figure out what I can do before I need to take her somewhere or pick her up from someplace. She's even gone to the grocery store for me. Now that was nice (even if I do enjoy my trips to the market). But having her in that seat beside me, whether it was the passenger seat or more lately the driver's seat, was a special time for me. For both of us, I hope. But you can't slow down time, nor should we want to. Not really.

So be careful, Peanut! Keep the music low enough to hear the world outside. Stay vigilant! And enjoy the freedom that driving brings. You've earned it!

I'm Dreamin'

of a trip to the beach, with ocean waves crashing onto the shore

of lazy summer mornings and weekends that do not require

essay-grading marathons and lesson planning

of creating and sharing

of spending time with my daughter

before she grows up and leaves the nest

What about you? What are you dreaming about today?

A book's not a book if it's

on a Nook. Seriously. That's what I found out when I told my students we were getting Nooks for the classroom. They were eager (yes, eager) to get their hands on these handy, little electronic devices. And these were some of the same students, mind you, that would equate reading a book with eating a full plate of broccoli.

But they were excited, and I was so glad that I could interest them in reading.

The Nooks didn't arrive completely by magic. But almost. Two angels, so to speak, sprinkled fairy dust in my room and made the Nooks appear. One angel was a community business that awarded a grant that I had applied for. The other angel, Peggy, lives right here in blogland. It was through her foundation that eight more Nooks, with books and covers, made their way into my classroom.

And they couldn't have come at a better time. You see last fall, the books we were reading were literally falling apart at the seams. (Imagine a picture here of a book falling apart at the seams...) My students complained when pages were missing and were always trying to claim the better copies for their own. Yet more than half of the students were still left holding what claimed to be books.... pieces of them anyway.

As you can see, I needed to have my camera set on action shots the way these kids' hands were flying across the touch screens. They had the Nooks figured out in no time.

And this is one quick shout out to one of the angels who made it possible. Thank you, Peggy! Your kindness and generosity mean so much to my students and to me.



Peggy, second from right, has been making the world a brighter place for children for quite a while.
Here she is in Rwanda teaching children how to use digital cameras.
You can read about her journey to Rwanda by clicking this link.
Photo from Middle Age Ramblings.

 

Haven't I heard that before?

It wasn't the exact same song, not even the same song, period. But when I listened to my daughter's new CD, I had that nostalgic twinge we sometimes get when we hear a song from our past. This sound, however, was from a new artist, Ellie Goulding.

But, boy, did she remind me of Edie Brickell and New Bohemians... a group who had their big hit, "What I Am" in 1988.... and I l.o.v.e.d their sound.

I would listen to the tracks on that cassette tape over and over again. Singing along with Edie, windows of my VW Beetle rolled down. I was Edie Brickell and her New Bohemians.

And now, today, my daughter and I have something extra in common. At a time when we're not so keen on the same music... raps are all over her playlist, yet are only sporadically found on mine... we share a new favorite, Ellie Goulding. And I can't help but compare her to Edie. My daughter says they're similar, but she likes Ellie better. I'm just glad she's listening to something I like at the moment. We're music twins. Sort of.

Mother's Day 2012