two pieces of my .HEART

they were meant to be brother and sister 

.their puzzle pieces fit right together.

Precious Italian Cargo

One of the other second grade teachers is away this week skiing in Italy.

Yup. That's right.. .

I said it.

Skiing. 

Italy.

She sucks. 

I'm moving on. 

Here's the story of the day. 

One of my boys came to me this afternoon and said that there was another student in the bathroom playing around. 

Apparently something about mountains of soap ending up on the floor. 

 .. .Another gentleman from Italian skier's class was the culprit. 

This young man is infamous for his behavior. 

So I needed to step in and help the sub a bit. 

I asked my student to call him out of the bathroom and let him know I needed to talk to him. 

So out he walks slowly, head down. eyes following his footsteps. 

He stopped. but several feet away. 

That wasn't close enough for me.

I like 'em good and close so they can smell the cafeteria lunch on my breath.  

"Come closer."

He took a few more steps. 

"Nope.. .closer..." 

"Nope. closer yet." 

Eyes still at the floor.

"Look at me."

I didn't even mention anything about the hilltops of foam soap that apparently had been formed on the tile floor. 

All I said was "I wanted to make sure that you have been on your best behavior while Mrs. -- --- is gone. How is it going?" 

"Good, so far." 

"So far? Why do you say it like that?" to which I couldn't help but giggle a little. 

"I don't know. .." he shrugged.

He quickly started sputtering.. . "All I was doing in the bathroom was putting toilet paper on the seat before I went to the bathroom. .." Then continued to trail on and on. 

I was listening but I couldn't help but smile so very big.. . [this is when I start to kinda tear up and wanna just pick them up and 
love on em - what's wrong with me? ]  I asked if he washed his hands real good. 
He answered and then went right back to his classroom.
All while his teacher is up in the mountains of Italy. 

How is it possible that the silliest moments are sometimes the best at giving you a dose of reality?

These soap mongers .. . the ones that call your name a hundred times a day and interrupt incessantly -  seeming sometimes like the loudest possible things on the planet ARE still little babies who are learning to cover toilet seats and tie their shoe laces. 

I can't forget that. 

I mustn't forget that. 

lovely pink yarn

back in february, i met Pearl and the Beard at an Ingrid concert and was blown again. 
They are absolutely talented, FUNKY and overall fun to listen to. 


lovin on this song and video i stumbled upon tonight. 

i haven't even been looking

... . but somehow stumbled upon two lovely blogs that i must share along with you.
i would feel guilty if i didn't.




1.  Sunday Suppers
  you'll have a hard time not staring... be polite, would you?

2. Dash and Bella

adorable. stories about cooking and. kids. 

cooking with kids. 

.love. 

must reads = new words, exploration #3, black and white, sharing

i heart teaching: reason #7

they were all lined up
by the door.
backpacks on, stuffed to the brim.
one of them turned around and asked, "Can we give you a hug?" 

of course??! 
and with that
one piled on,
arms reached around as big as can be, 
stretching
then another.
and another.. 
forming a giant unbreakable ring around me.
i couldn't get out if i wanted to,
nearly toppling over with affection. 
moments into that enormous hug one of my boys,
called out..  .
"I love you."
and then just smiled at me. 

no one responded with a laugh, or even the slightest comment.
it was as if, it was the most normal thing he could have said to his teacher. .. . 

today was, for so many reasons, an extremely hard day.
i opened my eyes,
and dreaded lifting my legs to stand up out of bed.
cried on my way to work.. .
sweat like a beast throughout the day
and, i think, unfortunately, for those around me,
it was not the best day to wear my natural deodorant.

that "I love you " though, was my normal day's special.

i heart teaching: reason #6

i was standing out in the hallway this morning greeting the kids as they came in.. .
one of my boys appeared, said "Good Morning!", walked into the classroom,
unpacked, opened the windows for me [he's my guy]
.... came back out and proceeded to tell me this. .


" I realized something 'psychological' last night.. . "
[yes, these are the words he used]
a.dorable.


" You know how dogs love you even if you are mean to them? 
Or you do something wrong? 
Well it's just like God.. .
Isn’t it funny how their names are just spelled backwards? "


i'm a lucky lady to have these kids in my life. every day.
very lucky.

look what i stumbled upon

i don't even know how i find these sites. one click to another. and i'm bookmarked.

Acoustic Kid

Yozo Craft

A Whole Lotta Love

A Whole Lotta Good Ideas

prepping my students for the test.. . Real Life.

Uncovered this gem while doing some NJ ASK testing review 

with the kids this past week.

.definitely worth sharing out.  

Chinese folktale  

 :The Seed: 

   Long, Long ago in China, there lived a wise emperor whose once dark braid had turned the color of new-fallen snow. He was old, and it was time for him to choose a successor. Although he had many sons and grandsons to choose from, the emperor felt that power and wealth had made his heirs lazy. He wanted to appoint someone outside the family. 

   Loud drums called a gathering of young men to the temple at the top of the mountain. When they arrived, the emperor, seated on a magnificent throne, announced, "It is time to choose the next emperor."

   The shocked townsmen whispered among themselves, "Nothing like this has ever happened before!"

   The emperor continued, "Today, each of you will take a seed. In one year, you will bring your plant to the temple."

   A golden bowl filled with seeds was set before the crowd. Each person took just one seed. A young man named Chun was last in line. He chose his seed carefully. 

   Holding it tightly in his fist, he ran home to tell his mother. She listened to the story and gave him a beautiful blue and white porcelain bowl. 

   Chun carefully watered the seed. He watched. He waited. But nothing happened. the others talked about their plants that were pushing up through the soil. 

   Weeks passed and still nothing. Something's wrong. Chun thought. But he did not give up and kept watering his seed. 

   Other men in the village were transplanted their original plants into bigger containers. Chun thought he must have done something wrong. He prayed at the temple for a miracle. 

   Six months went by, and still nothing grew in his blue and white bowl. Could I have killed my seed with too much water? he wondered. All around the village there were containers filled with wonderful looking plants. But Chun's seed had not yet sprouted. 

   The one-year mark arrived, and it was time to carry the plants up the mountain to the temple. " I'm not taking my empty bowl to the temple," Chun said to his mother. 

   "You must go," she encouraged. "You have done your best and must keep your promise." 

   Although Chun felt sad and a little embarrassed, he carried his empty bowl up the steep stone steps that led to the temple. When he arrived at the top, there were so many plants that it was easy to hide his empty bowl among them. 

   "There are the most beautiful plants I've ever seen!" exclaimed the emperor as he sat on his throne. 

   As he stood up and walked around, he noticed the empty blue and white porcelain bowl behind a big plant. "What's this?" he questioned, holding the bowl in his hands. 

  Chun tried to hide, but those near him laughed and pushed him forward.

   "What's your name?" the emperor asked. 

   "My name is Chun," he whispered without looking up. 

   "Why did you bring me an empty bowl?" he questioned. 

   "My seed didn't grow," Chun replied. "I failed."

   "You did not fail," the emperor said.  "Last year I passed out seeds and told you all to plant them. But the seeds I gave you had been boiled, none of them could have possibly grown."

   He raised his voice and spoke to the crowd. "When you found out that your seeds would not sprout, you substituted other seeds. Only one person had enough honesty and courage to bring me the original seed. That is why Chun will be the next emperor."

copyright SPIDER 2005

lady.bug love

my mom would have been all over this.
if i had kids i would be stocking up as well.

Love. love. loVE it.
Can't seem to embed the video.
So you'll have to head over to Hallmark to watch.
I'll give you the link below.
Click ->HERE<-  Mornings

You may have seen the commercial on TV.
Apparently you can buy the ladybugs @ Walgreen's as well as Hallmark stores.
Here's to sending love all around.
especially those little ones.

a.dorable

Fill in the blank. two

If i could rewind time [for just one day], 

I would choose to be the ____ year old version of myself. 

.. .why?

Would you want more than just one day?

mama!?!?!@?!?

before i started my first job of the summer, I spent a few days out with my sister and her family in Michigan.

her big family of six.
four little ones.
the biggest one, almost as tall as me.
the littlest one.. the fun age of two. I've seen all of them go through it.
With each of their different personalities ... the age of two has morphed them into unknown creatures.
obstinate, unyielding ones at that.


but my sister
.my very patient sister
who is an award winning mother
has raised them so very well. i watch her in awe.

it is not an exaggeration to say that the youngest, A. will walk around the house calling for her, "Maaaama!! Maama!" 
He must have said 'Mama' ten thousand times, in the five days I was there...

He asks incessant questions. even when he knows the answers.
he will not accept the slightest hiccup.
:: needing constant attention, affection and lovin' upon.

in the middle of the night last thursday, he entered allison's bedroom, five times,
'mama, can you put my tiger t.shirt on?'
[his detroit lion shirt]
the next four times it was various other shirts.

99.9 percent of the day my sister can handle this// / along with her other three children scampering around the house.
but at one point when i was there,  he was overwhelmingly out of control.
'Mama! Mama!'
if it wasn't this. it was that! this, that! THIS! that!??
but he wasn't getting her undivided attention, at the very moment he wanted it.
he wasn't getting what he wanted now.

so A. had some time outside with his brother on the patio.
Well this was not gonna do. he wailed. collapsing.

his brother immediately came over and cradled him. hugging him from behind.
wiping his hair from his face. Shhhh.. .it's ok, A.
over and over again. rubbing his back.

just like his mother did to him when he was little.
just like his mother still does to him.
just like his mother has taught him.

and in that moment, i saw 'the two year old' in myself.
how in moments when i'm confused,
or i don't get what i pray for right away, how i can act just like A. did.
even in moments of distress or trouble.

if we're lucky we have people in our lives, who know just how to comfort us,
just how to pray for us... that is until we reach age_ three.

'lil love nuggets

this makes me smile big.
my eyes water.
and uterus ache.. .

waiting on line

i stood in old navy yesterday with my fake uggs boots and headband to purchase. I'm a sucker for cute headbands now. waitin' on line.
waitin' a few people back.
patient as could be.
as long as i have people to watch, i don't mind..

up at the register was a mother and her baby, the little boy who had to be almost a year or so was sitting on the counter. the mother just kissin' his little face all over. every last inch. little tiny kisses here and there, as she gently tucked his hood back up over his tiny head. serious, my insides ached. couldn't take it. stood there just watching and smiling, but aching inside.

anyone who knows me, knows that i desire more than anything else a baby. and as i stood there yesterday, i realized ... . it's not about the being pregnant (although the thought of that makes me grin from each to ear), it's not about cute lil' outfits i will be able to dress him or her up in (even though she or he will be the funkiest dressed baby EvEr!) ...

it's ALL about this endless love that i have for him or her. The kisses and hugs and rocking and lovin' that is in me already to give him or her.

At this point, my poor cat is only recipient of this kissing, hugging love, and as much as he enjoys being carried around my apartment like a baby_ there are times, he just wants to be left alone.

I have spent a lot of time reading Mark lately, learning of Jesus' time with the apostles and his many miracles. > Mark 11.22-24 was one of those verses that highlighted itself as I read one night.

"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."