Common Core is Just a Name

    

Get ready, folks.  It's one of those days where I'm going to jump up on my soapbox and give my opinion about something.  My opinion on a rather "hot" topic among the education world.  What is happening to me this year?

Today's topic of discussion:  The Common Core State Standards.

For anyone that has no idea what those are....they are the new standards that many states (Missouri being one of them) have decided to adopt to begin teaching in schools.  The initiative started a couple of years ago, and have started making their way in to the early grades, and slowly moving up.  

The main focus for Common Core is college and career readiness.  Basically, standards that are designed to encourage deeper thinking rather than wider.  Consolidating some of the standards that were in place before, and allowing more time for in-depth study of a few skills rather than brief knowledge of many.  The whole plan is to better prepare students for life after school.  Meaning better chances for college success and/or immediate job placement.  

This is a K-12 initiative, and each set of standards starting in kindergarten working all the way up are basically the same, yet on a much deeper level as each year passes by.  Adding on to what was learned the year before.  Connecting it to what's been taught before.  And asking for the students for much higher order of thinking.  Rather than just giving them information and having them show us they understood what we told them, they are now asked to "discover" the information on their own with some guidance, and then applying that information to various situations and subjects.

It's all probably a bunch of goobledy goop unless you're in the education world or have spent time looking in to the Common Core standards.

This year was the first year that 4th grade (in my district) was to start implementing Common Core.  It's basically a "transition year".  We are completing our last MAP test, brought on by No Child Left Behind, which is written based on our old standards, and integrating aligned Common Core standards.  Next year, we'll make the complete switch to the Common Core.

When I was in college, Common Core was just getting it's start.  We had spent two years learning the "old" standards, and then found out that the schools would be adopting new standards.  So, the last year two years of college were focused on the new standards.  We learned how the standards were to be implemented, and why.  We learned that the shift would be towards thematic units of study, integrating all subject levels to revolve around a specific set of standards or area of study.  We learned how to create these units.  We learned the types of skills that students were going to need in order to do what was asked of them, and how to best make the transition as easy as possible (because there would be gaps as the new standards were being put in to place).

Having the chance of spending time learning the old AND the new gave me a pretty fresh perspective on what was in store for our education system.

One thing that I KNEW would happen would be the resistance.  Any time there is a major change in anything, there are going to be people that rally together and want to stop it.  Change scares a lot of people.  And, I knew that there would become a battle over keeping the old versus bringing in the new.  There's always a battle about everything.

One side claims there's nothing wrong with the old system, there was just too much pressure placed on a standardized test that measured student progress.  The other side claims Common Core is the fix-all system that will bring our country out of the educational slump it's in.  

One side thinks that the old standards need to stay in place, but get rid of No Child Left Behind.  The other side says give Common Core a chance and let it show what it can do for our kids.

And here's the part where I get to my opinion.

Wanna know what I think?  What side I'm on? 

Neither.

That's right.  Neither.  Not one side or the other...because both sides of the argument have major flaws and are missing one EXTREMELY important part of the equation.

How many of you, when in school, remember the "standards" your teachers were following?  How many of you remember a big test that you had to take at the end of the year?  How many of you, if having an opinion on the subject, begin your sentences with "When I was in school, we didn't have any of this hooky...our teachers taught us how to read and do math.  Period."?

Well, I can't answer those questions for all of you, but I can say that I don't remember what specific standards my teachers had to teach.  That wasn't something they shared with us.  They just told us the skills we were going to learn.  I learned how to add, subtract, multiply and divide.  I learned how to read.  Can I explain to you how I learned to read?  Nope.  I can tell you that by the 4th grade, I was reading chapter books and could answer questions and give you a summary of what I read.  I had started to understand which genres of books I preferred, how to use non-fiction text to find information, and by the 5th and 6th grades could write in-depth reports about the books I had to read.  

I don't remember a big test that I had to take at the end of the year.  I don't remember hearing the words "you need to know this for the Benchmark test".  At the end of the year, our teachers knew if we'd learned what we needed to know, and the teachers we had the next year knew as well.  

And, I have used that very sentence MANY times.  Except I go on to explain that I had teachers that were WONDERFUL and teachers that were not so wonderful.  I can share stories about some of the projects I had, some of the ways that teachers helped us remember what we were learning, and what teachers really inspired me to be who I am today.  I can share stories about some of the teachers I didn't care for, and that's because I hated going in to their classroom, reading a chapter in the text book, and answering the questions at the end.  I couldn't tell you a darned thing I learned in those classes, and I resented the teacher for it.  They were wasting my time.  There was no actual teaching taking place.  The bad left just a big a imprint as the good.

And both sides are what led me to be the teacher that I am, and hope to be.  Definitely helping me know what I'm not and never want to be.

Which is really why I have the opinion I do about Common Core.  

If you take a second to talk to a teacher who has been in the classroom ten, fifteen, twenty years or more, they'll tell you that there has been MANY changes to the educational system over that time.  The changes weren't so public, because the news wasn't plastered all over Facebook and social media.  It was something taken care of in-house.  New standards were adopted, new text books were bought, and the teachers were told what they had to cover in the course of a year.

And then, they took that information and taught what they needed to.  The way they wanted to teach it.  Kids still learned how to add, subtract, multiply and divide.  They still taught kids how to read.  They taught science and social studies.  And it was all done using whatever curriculum was the focus at the time.

They will share with you that they have seen the education system move through the same cycles.  Starting out, they were to rely solely on text books as their main resource to teach.  Then text books were bad.  Then text books were good again.  And now we're back to the mentality of text books being bad.

They will tell you that they were encouraged to teach with common themes, then themes were bad, and then back to themes again.  

But at the end of the day NONE OF THAT MATTERS!!

If a teacher can teach everything he/she needs to teach and relies heavily on a text book is that any different from a teacher that can teach everything he/she needs to teach without ever picking up a text book?  If a teacher can teach everything he/she needs to teach by creating their own cross-curricular units, is that any different from a teacher that uses units that are already prepared by someone else?

And the short answer is NO!! It's no different.  Except for one important factor.  The teacher.

A true teacher can and will teach students everything they need to know regardless of what fancy curriculum has been adopted.  Not just teach, but make sure the student gets what they are teaching and requires proof that the student has an understanding of the skills they need to have.  

I can honestly say I'm not a huge fan of text books.  There's nothing wrong with them, I just like to create my own stuff, use my own materials.  I still use them as a resource and a part of my teaching, though.  But, I work with two teachers that can and do use text books, and their kids excel and learn everything they need to.  Their kids enjoy what they're learning, because it's all about the WAY the teachers teach, not what they're using to do it.

That, my friends, is the side of the argument nobody really seems to chime in on.  At the end of the day, a teacher will teach.  How he/she wants to in order to get the job done.  New set of standards?  OK.  New curriculum focus? OK.  

They will adapt.  They will tweek.  But, the curriculum won't mold the teacher, the teacher molds the curriculum.  They will do what they do to get the job done.

No, benchmark testing is not a valid way to test.  There are too many variables that come in to play.  A one size fits all test will NEVER measure the true learning that's taking place in the schools.

Because, I can say for one, that miracles are performed every single day in my school.  Kids that come from so many backgrounds, so many challenges, so many hardships are able to learn what they need to learn in our classrooms.  Those tests don't show the child that stepped foot in to a fourth grade classroom speaking hardly any English and definitely not reading a word of it, and leaving understanding how to read on a 2nd grade level and carry on a conversation as if they'd been in the country for years.  They don't show the kids that walked in to the classroom not even being able to count, but are now able to add two digits by two digits.  

Those test results are going to show the kids are behind, haven't learned what they need to learn.  It doesn't matter if they've gained two or three years of knowledge in the 8 months they've been in a classroom....the country, even.  If they aren't on point with the test, we're not doing our jobs correctly.

That's just stupid.

But, is Common Core the fix-all?  Absolutely not.  Not if there's a teacher behind it not doing what he/she needs to do.

So, that's my opinion.  Common Core is just another name.  It may change some of the skills our kids need to know, but it's not going to change how they learn them.  The teacher, regardless of what new standards are put in front of him/her, will do what they need to do.  They'll get the job done.  

Have faith.  

So Glad to Be Back!!

                                 

OK, so it was a little harder getting out of bed this morning than it was yesterday.  I apparently was more tired last night than I thought I was.  I've also got this weird pain in the back of my left knee, which I can assume comes from the fact that I spent all day on my feet yesterday.  For the first time in a month.  

Yesterday felt like the first day of school, all over again, except better because I already knew all the kids in my class and didn't have to spend anytime doing "getting to know you" activiites.  

It was weird, because honestly I was a little nervous going back.  I felt a little unprepared, not sure what to expect from my kids, especially with it being the first day of our testing.  I made sure to get to school nice and early, to get my classroom all set up.  I unpacked all the junk I'd acquired over the break, and put away Christmas decorations, and fixed the calendar hanging on the wall.  It felt strange to put up the new calendar and half the month being already gone.

But, the minute I saw those sweet faces coming down the hallway....of my coworkers...all the nerves were gone, and I realized I was right back at my home away from home.

We exchanged hugs and squeals of excitement like it'd been YEARS since we last saw each other.  Reunited...and it felt so good.  I've been missing them the whole time we've been out of school, but I didn't realize how much until I saw their happy faces.

It was a short reunion, because we had to meet in the gym to collect our students, but we had enough time to share what we'd been up to over the break...as if we didn't know.  We've spoken on Facebook several times over the break, but it's not the same than having face-to-face contact.

And then, for the first time in 24 days, I saw the faces of my sweet kiddos.  Once again, realizing how much I'd missed them.

The minute we stepped in to the classroom, it was all hands on deck to get started with the test.  I hated not being able to have a little time with them to discuss their break and catch up on what they'd been doing... but I needed to give them my spill on how important the test was, how much I was counting on them to show what they've really learned so far this year, and how I couldn't wait to chat with them the minute the test was over.

The testing, which took about two hours, was over before I knew it.  The kids worked so hard that the time flew by.  I walked around, monitoring what they were answering, and I will admit that I was pretty shocked by how awesome they were doing.  Not necessarily getting all the questions right, but taking the time to read the questions first, reading the passages, and underlining the answers in the passages.  Something I spent the first half of the year trying to beat in to them (mentally, not physically)...but just never really seeing much proof of them doing it.  

It was great to see that they were finally doing it.  First sign of the maturity thing I discussed the other day?  Maybe.

After the test, we spent some time generally chatting.  I heard about their breaks, I shared mine with them, and we had a few laughs.  Then, we started grading our tests and discussing that...and the rest of the day just seemed to fly by from there.

Before I knew it, I was looking at the clock and seeing that I only had five minutes left of the day.  Even the kids commented about how fast the day had flown by.  They all agreed that it had been a good day, and they were also glad to be back.

I had been on my feet all day (minus my lunch break), but I didn't feel near as exhausted as I expected.  My feet didn't hurt, my back didn't hurt, I wasn't ready to curl up under my desk and sleep for a year.  I  felt fantastic, actually.

That was until I sat down at my desk to get my sub plans written.  That 15-20 minutes of sitting at my desk really did a number on me.  The minute I stood up, I felt all kinds of creaking and groaning going on...and I felt about 40 years older.  

When I got home, I spent the evening relaxing in front of the TV and crocheting.  Each time I stood up, the pain behind my left knee was getting worse.  Like I said, it's a weird kind of pain.  More like a tightness... like similar to a trapped nerve or something.  I don't know what it is, but it was pretty bad this morning when I got out of bed.

I think it's just my body needing to adjust back to the swing of things...and a few hours of walking around should straighten it back out.  Unfortunately, that won't happen today because I have to go to an all day training.  Which means sitting all day.  

Second day back, and already going to be gone from my classroom.  That makes me really sad.  I don't like being gone from work (while everyone else is there) anytime, but it's worse when we have only been back for one day after being gone for so long.

But, we'll get through it and then FINALLY tomorrow, life can back to normal.

OK, time for me to get to getting.  Sorry I'm all over the place and rambling this morning.  Nerves, excitement, sleep deprivation?  Who knows.  But, hopefully tomorrow I'll be a little more "with it" and can write something a little more interesting and witty.

Today, I need to focus on getting my mind into training mode... so that tends to kinda drain all the wittiness from me.

Have a great Tuesday!!

Time for a Second Job?

                      

Well?  What do you think?  And in case you didn't know, the one on the left is a picture of a crochet pattern I bought and the one on the right is my first attempt at making it.  Think I got pretty close?

I think I NAILED it!!

I am so proud of that scarf/cowl.  Probably one of my biggest crocheting accomplishments to date.  And it all came about by one of my friends posting that picture on the left on my Facebook page asking me if I'll make it.

Over the past three weeks, I have been a crocheting machine.  Trying new things, perfecting older things, and even making up my own patterns.  It's all been for fun, but I've had several people ask me to make them stuff and it's really got me thinking that it's time I branch out and start selling my work.

The same friend that requested the scarf also suggested an Etsy store.  Which is something I may look in to, but I'm thinking that to start out, I'm just going to create a Facebook page and see where that goes.

I've definitely weighed all the pros and cons that goes along with something like a side crochet business.  The biggest pro is the fact that I could make a few extra bucks doing something I enjoy doing.  The biggest con is the fact that if orders do start coming in pretty fast, will I be able to find the time to complete them all in a timely manner.

And I think that's what ultimately led me to starting up a Facebook page.  At least I can post how long an order could take, what I'm working on, and sell stuff I've pre-made in the interim.  I also think that just going with a Facebook page to start would limit my workload...because it takes some time before a Facebook business page starts getting some pretty decent hits.  I can start out with sending it to my friends, and then asking them to post it to their friends.  Get going by word of mouth.

I even dabbled with the idea of starting a crocheting blog, but then I thought.. I've already got two blogs that I keep up with, do I really time for a third? And, would I really be able to write some interesting stuff about the crochet projects I'm working on?  And the answer to both was, probably not.

So, I'm just going to start with the Facebook page.  Which I hope to have done sometime this morning or this evening, and then I'll post a link on tomorrow's blog... so everyone that reads this can visit that page and pass it on to all their friends.  HA!

I did manage to complete the other boot I posted the other day.  Here's the completed pair of the first boots I've ever been able to successfully make...

                               

I have decided to try and make a pair using a loop stitch, that would create a fake fur effect.  But, that's when I don't have anything else going on.  I have already received an order for two more of the scarves shown up top, so that will keep me busy for a few days.

I'm kinda kicking myself that I didn't start the Facebook page about three weeks ago, you know, when I had all that time off work.  But, being that I don't have the best history with sticking with my crocheting long term, I really wanted to get a start on making some stuff and seeing how I felt about continuing once I did go back to work.  And, I have to say that for the first time ever, I see me continuing my crocheting well past the winter months.  I see it as something I'll be doing each and every evening when I get home from work and each and every weekend when I'm not busy with other stuff.

Besides, like I said yesterday, I have  feeling that our snow days aren't completely finished.  Being that we've had two weeks of snow days already, and we usually don't start getting our snow until January/February, I think I might have some more snow days to keep myself occupied with. 

But, today is definitely NOT a snow day.  In fact, we are supposed to see temps get up in to the 50s again.  Yesterday, the temps managed to get in to the 60s!!  I was out about about and shorts and a t-shirts.  Which is crazy, because just one week earlier, the wind chills were in the negative numbers and we were dealing with record breaking low temperatures.  

That's how the weather is around here, though.  Forget life being like a box of chocolates.. around here, it's more like the weather is like a box of chocolates.  You just never know what you're going to get.  And, you can't always find out from the weather channel, cause most of the time that app that I use is sometimes WAY off from what actually happens.

Like I shared yesterday, I'm very excited to get back to it.  I got some new clothes for myself over the break, and I'm ready to put them on and get back in to "teacher mode".  Living in sweats for three weeks has made me fatter and lazier.  I need to move.  I need to interact.  I need life outside the confines of my home.  

And today is that day!

So, now, I can get back to blogging about something that might actually be worth reading.  It won't or shouldn't be the same humdrum each and every day.  Being at work ALWAYS gives me stuff to write about... so that's a big bonus for getting back.

Which it's just about time for me start getting ready to do.

Have an awesome Monday, everyone!!

The Last Day of Christmas Break... It's Only a Week Late

This is it.  No really.  Not kidding this time.  We are 100% definitely going back to school tomorrow... only a week later than what we were supposed to go back.  No snow or ice or even frigidly cold temperatures in the forecast for the next week, so it's a GO!

It seems crazy to think that Christmas was three weeks ago, and we're already almost halfway in to January.  I haven't been in my classroom since December 20th...that's 23 days.  Three weeks since I've seen the faces of my sweet students.  It's going to feel like the first day of school all over again.

Christmas break is usually a passage way to some pretty hefty maturing.  The kids mature immensely over the changing from one year to the next (and I mean actual year, not school year).  For the first few months of school, my students are going through the change from being third graders in to being fourth graders.  After New Year, they start the transition from 4th graders in to 5th graders.  

The work gets a lot harder, but they are more prepared for it.  They are introduced to stuff they've never seen before, but have the ability to make connections to content they have learned before in order to get through it.  The bickering and arguing turns in to discussion and compromising. It's almost like getting a brand new set of kids.  The same, sweet, faces I know but the personalities are always different.  Still the same, amazing kiddos, just more mature, less 3rd grader-ish and more 5th grader-ish.

I am very happy that we got to have an extra week of break.  The first week of Christmas break is always hectic because...well...it's Christmas.  Family get-togethers, wrapping, unwrapping, clearing up all the mess, showing the kids how to use the new toys, making sure everything fits and works OK.  The second week of break is always hectic because it's New Year's week.  Clearing away all the Christmas decorations, cleaning the house, celebrating the coming of the New Year.  And, then it's time to go back to school.  Usually.

But, having this extra week off just gave me a week to do nothing except relax.  Take a breather.  Gather my thoughts and my energy.  Mentally and physically prepare myself for the next five months, because once we do go back the time will fly by and we have so much to do and so little time to do it.

For our first week back, we get to jump right in to Mock MAP testing.  Which is the run-through practice for the actual test that will take place some time in April.  The tests were supposed to be given before Christmas break, but we had a week off for snow then, too... so that pushed it out until after break.  So, it has to be done this week.  We don't have anymore time to put it off.     

Thankfully, because break was extended by a week, I don't really have that much to do today in lieu of work.  I need to tweak my lesson plans a bit, write out some sub plans (because we have a training on Tuesday), but other than that, I can just mentally psych myself up for the first day back.

I just know that the next five months are going to fly by.  Now with all the snow, we're not going to have our usual breaks each month... but I'm sure that we'll be so busy trying to make up for lost time, that it won't be that bad.  

I'm officially ready, though.  Ready to get back in to my classroom.  Ready to see my kiddos' faces.  Ready to see my co-workers.  Ready to get back in to the swing of things.

I have an inkling that our snow days are far from over, but this time around enough is enough.  I plan on hitting the ground running, tomorrow.  I need to get my car packed up today, because I've acquired so much stuff to take back with me.  A new printer for my classroom, a whole case of paper (all for myself), candy and goodies for my treasure box, and the stack of work that I brought home with me all graded and ready to be sent home with the kids tomorrow.  

I'm actually really excited.  Just like I felt on the first day of school.  Nervous about how tired I'm going to be, but ready to start filling the minds of my students.. because that's what I do, best.

But, right now?  I have some cleaning and laundry to finish up.

Have an awesome and restful Sunday, everyone!

A Little Shop 'Til We Drop?

                    

Yesterday, it was time to drag our behinds out of the house for a while.  For the entire week, we'd stayed inside because we didn't want to be out in the miserable weather.  Being that we got another snow day, yesterday, but the weather was MUCH nicer than it had been all week so we took that opportunity to get out.  

We were in desperate need of a Sam's run.  We'd been buying little things here and there for our meals and stuff, but I really wanted to get to Sam's and stock up on all that stuff that you have to buy in bulk when you have three kids that go through stuff like it's going out of style.  You know, toilet paper, laundry detergent, FOOD.  

After we made our Sam's run, we weren't ready to go home, so we decided to do a little moseying around at the different shopping centers.  I had a Kohl's gift card that I got for Christmas that was burning a hole in my pocket... so we headed over there.

Now, what I didn't find out until yesterday was that my six year old daughter is a shopping DIVA!  I've taken that girl shopping with me thousands of times in the course of her six years on the planet, yet she's never really been all that interested.  She ends up getting cranky or bored.  But yesterday?  After being in the house all week?  Yeah, she acted like someone had put a batch of fire ants in her pants... and started tearing around the store hunting for some bargains.  She looked through clothing racks, she pulled stuff off to hold it up against herself to see if it would fit, she asked Hubby and my opinion on things she was pulling off.  It was very amusing to watch.  It was like shopping with a teenager!

Then, she came across the coat that you see in the picture. A white fur coat (fake, of course).  The minute she saw it, the look on her face was priceless.  It was like she had finally found "the one", the holy grail of her shopping trip.  She sucked the air in and gasped like I'd never heard before, and swiped that sucker off the hanger as if someone was about to steal it from her fingers.  

She then held it like it was a stuffed animal.  Hugging it, rubbing it on her cheeks, petting it.  And then she asked if she could try it on. Hubby and I, enjoying the entertainment as it was playing out before us, helped her get in to the coat...and then there was another gasp.  She stood in front of the mirror and admired the coat, and the way it looked on her. 

Now, let me share a little something about my Jelly.  The girl is EXTREMELY picky when it comes to clothes.  I am convinced that she has some kind of sensory issue with certain fabrics.  She HATES wearing jeans, khakis, and socks.  HATES it.  Because they make her feel "itchy".  She would (and does most of the time) live in leggings, and dresses, and sweats for the rest of her life and be perfectly content.  And they have to be leggings.  Don't try and give her any tights...that's just asking for trouble. She'll spend the entire time pulling on them, whining about how tight they are, scratching herself, and complaining that they make her legs feel funny.  The girl owns more jeans than everyone in this house COMBINED, yet it's a fight any time I want her to wear a pair.  Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose.  

But, here she is, covered in what can only be described as a coat that's supposed to mimic a polar bear, and the girl acts like she's in pure heaven.  But, then again, I shouldn't be that surprised.  The girl absolutely ADORES her stuffed animals.  They are really the only toys she plays with. She sleeps with them, and is constantly carrying one around, so she's probably quite used to the feeling of fake fur on her face and arms.

She then turned to Hubby and I, with those big blue eyes, and said "Can I have it, Mommy?  Can I?  Please?  I'll pay for it with all my money."

And my heart melted.  I've NEVER seen the girl act that way about anything.  Clothes, toys, ANY-THING.  How could I say no?  

Something happened to her once I agreed to buy the coat for her... which thank all things holy was 80% off marked down from ONE HUNDRED freakin' DOLLARS!!  Whew, dodged a bullet with that....she turned FIERCE. Like diva-fierce.  

And that's when I captured the pictures shown up top.  The first one was when we were walking out of the store.  There was no way her precious coat was going in a bag, she was wearing it!  Then we got in the car, and she made that "I am so amazingly cool, but I'll eat your face off it you cross me" face.  I think she was channeling the inner polar-bear that the coat was feeding in to her.

After our Kohl's trip, we went to a few other stores.  And as she walked around, you could see the attitude pouring out of her.  Not a bad attitude, a proud, everyone look at me, attitude.  Diva.  Of the full-scale variety.  We went in to Ross, and she saw a fuzzy robe....she's been wanting one of those since Christmas.  Thankfully, the one she wanted had been marked down from $20 to $12... gotta love after Christmas sales!  She told me she loved it, but I didn't have to buy it because the coat was enough.  

WHO IS THIS CHILD AND WHERE DID SHE COME FROM?

I've never heard her tell me that I don't have to buy her something.  HA!!  I did buy it for her.  Just because she had been so good all week long, while off school, and because of how gracious she had been in telling me that buying her the coat had been more than enough.  

After Ross, we did some more running around and then made our way to my car dealership to get the oil changed in my car.  By this time, we'd been out for about four hours.  She sat in that car dealership for almost an hour, as good as gold.  Didn't whine that she was bored.  Didn't ask a single time how much longer it was going to be.  Didn't run all over the place like a crazy kid.  She just sat, walked around the little waiting area, and talked.  To me.  About anything and everything.  

It was nice.  No...more than nice.  Amazing.  Having actual conversation with my six year old daughter.

When we were all done, we had one last stop to make and that was to Walmart to pick up all the stuff we don't have to buy in bulk from Sam's.  And that leads us to the last pictures up top.  Once we got in the store, she asked if she could ride in the cart... something that doesn't happen very often.  And, she just laid down and went to sleep.  Wiped out.  She had officially shopped till she dropped.  

She was awoken by a loud rumbling that happened a while in to our shopping... Thunder.  Really loud thunder.  Shake the entire store thunder.  And, that followed by the sound of hard, loud rain.

That poor six year old looked at me with utter panic in her eyes.  Not from the thunder.  Not from the rain.  But because she realized that she may have to take her precious coat outside in the pouring rain, and we had explained earlier in the day that it wasn't the type of coat she could wear in the rain.

We were just finishing up when that loud rain started, so when we saw the rain pouring down outside.. we weren't thrilled about having to go out in it. Hubby, being the chivalrous guy he is, offered to go get the car and pull up in front for us.  But, that didn't appease Jelly any.  She ripped her coat off and asked the checker for a sack to put her coat in.  She wanted it tied up so that her coat wouldn't get wet.  She was fine getting soaked, herself, but no harm was to come to her coat!  And when another checker offered to give her a bigger bag to wrap around herself, she put the bag with her coat in it inside the bigger bag.. extra protection.  Which gave the checkers and myself a good little chuckle.  I've never seen any six year old so concerned about an item of clothing.  

Hubby pulled up, and even brought in Jelly's other coat (her winter coat she had when we left that morning) to put on so she wouldn't get too wet.  We all ran to get in to the car... and wouldn't you know it, it stopped about 30 seconds after we got in the car.  

It was close to 7PM by the time we got home.  Jelly, who I thought would have fallen asleep in the car, talked non-stop all the way home.  When we got home, she was focused on getting her dinner and telling her sister (who had opted to stay home instead of going shopping with us) all about her day and her new coat and the new robe and the purple elephant she'd picked out to give to Peanut.  

Hubby and I decided, in the spur of the moment, that we were going out to eat dinner.  We forget about Peanut being old enough to babysit.  Butter had gone to my mom's for the weekend earlier that morning... and so we just got back in the car and went and had a quiet meal together.

It felt good to sit down in a restaurant, that didn't involve placing our order up at the counter first.  We chatted about the kids, and stuff in general.  Stuff I assume couples who have been together so long chat about over a quiet, kid-free, dinner.  

By the time we got home, Jelly was sound asleep.  Not surprising.  We had picked Peanut up something to thank her for babysitting... and then, I was heading my behind to bed.  

It had been a long day.  With only sleeping a couple of hours the night before, and getting up at the butt crack of dawn to get ready for work, and then finding out I didn't have to go to work, and all the shopping had taken the wind out of me.  I was ready to go to bed, at 10:30PM.  The earliest I'd gone to bed in WEEKS!!

I was up nice and early this morning.  Better get myself back in to work-mode now.  

But, today, now that all of our shopping is done, I'm going to relax and work on a new crocheting project.  And clean.  And do some laundry.  

Have an awesome Saturday, everyone!!

What's Better Than a One Day Work Week?

I guess the answer to that question is a NO day work-week, being that I just found out that school has been cancelled, once again.  

I sat here for 30 minutes writing my post about going back today...then saw the post on Facebook that had to make me change everything I wrote.  

I'm so glad I got up, took a shower, and drank two cups of coffee before finding out.  I need to go back to bed, but kinda wide awake now.

I have to admit, I was kinda sitting on a fence about how I felt regarding going back today.

Half of me was really excited and glad that we were going back on a Friday.  It would have been a great opportunity to get all of the kids' excitement out of their system about the break and the extra days we had off.  It would have given me a chance to review a few things that we did before the break.  It also would have given me a chance to ease myself back in to work mode, cause Lord knows I need to really work on getting back on a work schedule.

And then, the other half of me was thinking: Really?  We're going back for one day?  Why couldn't we have just called it a wash and started over fresh on Monday.

But, I think I was only feeling that last half because I could not, for the life of me, get to sleep last night.

At 1:30AM, despite not feeling the slightest bit tired, I decided I had to try and get some sleep.  At 3AM, when Hubby came home from work early, I was still awake.  Just lying in bed.  I'd been resting, but sleep just wasn't coming.

My brain just didn't want to shut off.  I was thinking about what I was going to do today.  What activities we should do, what content I wanted to review, what the chances were of some kids not making it because roads still being a little dicey, about whether I will assign anything if attendance isn't all that great or if we'll just do some basic activities, and if there was still a chance that I'd get up in a couple of hours and find out that school had been cancelled anyway.

Just non-stop thinking.

I must have dozed off a little after talking to Hubby, because the next thing I knew it was 4:30AM and my alarm was going off.  So, an hour and a half of sleep.  Guess that will have to do... but it's not like I can't make it up over the next two days, right?

So, I get up around 5AM (after a few snooze button hits), jump in the shower, drink a cup of coffee, start writing my blog about having to go back today, drink another cup of coffee...and decide to check Facebook to get other people's thoughts on the situation... and BAM!   There's a post cancelling school for today.

I have to admit that a big part of me felt relieved, and a small part of me was pretty upset.  I mean, I was up, focused on going and then let down.  But, I'm also pretty sleep deprived and probably would have been a little scatter brained had we gone back today.

One big incentive of having another snow day is the fact that there's no more snow on the ground (here) and the temperature is supposed to reach up to almost 50 today!!  That means, I'm getting out of the house for a while.

Something miraculous happened this past week.  I started receiving child support again!!  It's only been, oh, I don't know... eight years since I got my last child support check.  But it really couldn't have come at a better time.  We can get some bills paid and take care of a few things that need to be taken care of.  

For the past eight years, I had completely given up the hope of ever receiving a penny in child support. The back child support had surpassed the $18,000 mark!!  No matter how many letters I got explaining that warrants had been issued, his driver's license being flagged, taxes flagged... he somehow managed to stay under the radar for all that time.  And I guess, they finally found him.

How long it will last?  Who knows.  But, they did manage to get ahold of a bank account and freeze it, and found out he was working and put a wage garnishment in.  So, I've received some money.  Something is better than nothing.  I'm not holding my breath that it will last very long, being that he tends to disappear the minute they find him, but I'm not going to complain.  I've managed to go this long without it, not really that big a deal either way.  But, I will enjoy it while it lasts.

For a split second, I actually felt bad when I found out that they had seized his bank account and sent me the money from it.  But then, the feeling passed when I thought about the fact that he had that money in a bank account yet still dodged his obligation, and has done so for eight years.  Actually, he's dodged it for more like 11 1/2 years, because eight years ago I received a few small payments before it stopped again.  Had he just paid his minimal obligation in the first place, he wouldn't be missing that money from his bank account now.

Of course, $18,000 isn't a minimal amount.. but divide that up over 11 1/2 years and you'll find that his obligation was nothing compared to the actual cost of raising a child.  And, I'm quite sure that my kids will be grown with kids of their own before he ever catches up (if that ever happens).  I may have received a payment, but it's only a minuet portion of the amount he owes.

But, enough about that.  Now it's time to start planning out my day.  

Hopefully everyone has a great Friday!!  I know I will.  :)

Something Productive Came Out of My Time Off

                               

That, my friends, is a (not very good) picture of a crocheted baby boot that I made last night.  I haven't started the other one yet, plan to today being that we are on Day 4 of our Christmas break extension.  But, this one boot is an EXTREMELY big deal to me.

I started crocheting about 12 years ago. I know it wasn't long after Butter was born.  I was living in Texas with my ex's dad and step-mother.  She was a crocheter, and the person that got me first started.  She tried really hard to teach me, but being that I'm left handed and she was right handed, it didn't go so well.  So, instead, I bought a beginner's crocheting book and taught myself.  I started off with basic squares, just getting the stitches all down, and then started spreading my wings in to the crocheting world.

Over the past twelve years, I've made countless afghans, baby blankets, hats, scarves, headbands, fingerless gloves, baby mittens, and even beard-like face warmers.  I've very rarely encountered a pattern I couldn't make.

Except one.

And that would be boots.  

I have made one pair of boots in the past twelve years... and I really shouldn't call them that.  They were "bootish".  They most definitely didn't match.  They didn't stand up.  And I would say they were socks...uneven, badly made socks... at best.

I know the reason I've had so much trouble with making baby boots.  And that's because they have to be made with extreme precision and perfection.  One too many stitches, one stitch missing, one minor miscount and the whole thing will collapse. Plus, the stitches are all so tightly made, it's really hard to count the stitches or notice any mistakes until you're halfway in and then have to undo the whole thing because you have no idea where the mistake was.  

The past few days, I've been a crocheting machine.  I've made several hats and several headbands.  Last night, I even made a beard for a guy to wear over their face to keep their face warm.  I was honestly getting a little tired of making the same old stuff.  So, I decided to have another crack at the dreaded, adorable boot pattern I've been saving and dying to master.

And, after about an hour... and only having to take a few stitches apart here and there... I had this tiny, adorable gem in my hand.  

It's absolutely perfect.  From the faux heel, to the foot covering, to the boot top... perfection.  Absolutely matching the picture I had to compare it to.  

I could have cried.  All those years of trying more times than I can even remember to make one, tiny little thing like a pair of boots, and I'm 50% of the way there.  Which is 49% further than I've gotten in all those years.

Today, I will make the match.  And once I've got that out of the way, there will be no stopping me.  I'll be opening my own Crochet Payless before you know it.  Baby boots, toddler boots, adult boots (slippers that look like boots anyway), Mary-Jane look-a-likes, Croc look-a-likes, cowgirl boots, tennis shoe look-a-likes...the shoe look-a-like business will be mine for the taking.

Because, I know that the boot is the hardest of them all.  Master the boot, and the rest are easy. Or should be.  

I have a couple of babies that I know are going to be born this upcoming year, so I really want to make full sets to give to them:  Hat, mittens, boots, and blankets that all match.  Ugg-style boots for girls, tennis shoe style for boys.  I just have to wait and see what style I'll need.  But, the whole set will be the perfect baby shower gift.  

And now, I can actually do it.  

Before trying the boot, I knocked these out yesterday...

                               

                             

I've made so many hats, I can knock them out in no time.  And, I'm coming up with my own patterns for them.  The same way with scarves.  But, now that I'm on to the boots... I'm sure they'll be my focus moving forward for a while.

I'm betting that this will be the last snow day we get.  It's just supposed to be rainy and miserable today, but the temps are supposed to be high enough to do some serious melting.  Then, I'll get to go back for one day and get the weekend off.

I have no idea what I'm supposed to make the kids do for one day.  Not really worth starting brand new units on a Friday.  I guess it will give me a day to hear all about their Christmas breaks, have them do some writing about it, maybe.  Plus, I'll have the chance to review some of the stuff we covered before the break.  So, it won't be too bad, I suppose.

But, right now, I've got to get back to my crocheting.  I'm bound and determined to finish up this pair of boots.  My first pair of boots.  And then let the fun of new creations start coming forth!

Have an awesome Thursday, everyone!!!