A Lifetime of Love

Mother’s Day began SDW9. I woke up to Titus standing next to my bed with a Christmas-themed gift bag full of stuff. He begged me to get up and as I did, I could hear the other kids upstairs with TJ. When they saw Titus downstairs and me following up behind him, they started scolding him for waking me because they weren’t “ready” for me to come up. When I walked upstairs I immediately noticed signs covering quite a bit of wall and furniture space, as well as the counters and doors. They were all uniquely different expressions of basically “Happy Mother’s Day.” Some were written as acrostics, some drawings, and some distinctly bore the words “Happy Mother’s Day.” I had to chuckle because my kids really know me- a lot of the signs made mention of my love of teaching and reading.           My older boys redid a flower bed for me. It had been ripped up years ago to get rid of the scraggly bushes that were trying to grow, but we had never replanted anything in ...

So I shared in my last post that I went back to paid teaching 2 years ago. I am teaching 4K at a local preschool and LOVE it! I wasn't sure what to expect with that age group, but I teach academics along with social and behavioral skills and it is a perfect match for me. I applied for a grant last November to fund a project I wanted to implement in my classroom. I want an indoor tower garden that grows plants hydroponically so we, as a class, can grow our own fruits and veggies. There are so many learning opportunities in this project including nutrition, biology, literacy, and communication skills, among others. Each of these learning opportunities imbed academic, social, and behavioral skills and definitely fits into the overall goal of my classroom environment. I am thrilled to say my project was fully funded, and hopefully by the end of March we will have everything in place and can at least explore the science behind the way it works. We will not be planting anything this ...

I haven't had a chance to update lately because I've been busy with family visiting from out of town, spending time with my own family, and embarking on a new (for me) hobby- canning our fresh produce. We have a garden and that means blessings from God in the form of fresh veggies. We've  canned stewed tomatoes in the past, but never really ventured past that. This year, however, I wanted to do something with my cucumbers. I tried my hand at pickling and I must say, they came out better than I expected. I've had homemade pickles in the past and honestly I didn't like them. I preferred store-bought mostly because that's what I was used to eating. Well, this recipe I found is great, and the pickles look like the ones you buy in the store but they taste way fresher! =) I also attempted to make homemade salsa and it turned out great! It's spicy and chunky and reminds me of a salsa TJ & I used to get at a local Mexican restaurant we frequented in Californ...