Source: heyawesome.tumblr.com via Arcelia on Pinterest

Being that I cried on the fourth day of school, this made me realize it's all good. Passionate people cause trouble. It's what we do. I'd rather be excited or mad or happy or sad rather than indifferent. So if that means, I have to pay the price for being interesting and passionate, so be it.

Winter White

Source: aoisos.com via Breezie on Pinterest

oh my goodness cuteness. i don't know this site/brand, but i want to.

Bathroom Break

This is Sharpie. This is my Charley. This is the work of her loving sister Hadley. This is what happens when I run to the bathroom for 2 minutes. This did not come off her back. This is work that Hadley was very proud of.

"Mama, I colored ALL OVER Charley. With marker!"

Weekend Review

My warrior in so many ways. Like getting us in the house after  dumb thing number #2.

Things I did that were dumb:
1. left the Foreman grill on all night
2. locked us out of the house
3. did not use enough anti-chaffing cream as needed

Things I did that were awesome:
1. watched John do the Warrior Dash
2. ran 17 miles John Galloway style with my friend Charley
3. shopped with my little girls and then we took naps

Amen. 20-40/day/everyday.
image from pinterest

Today was a 17-miler kind of morning. I tried a new style, the John Galloway. You run for four minutes and walk for one. I finished in just under three hours. Almost the exact time it took me to run 16 two weeks ago. I ran with my friend Charley who inspires me greatly not only with her running but for many reasons that are far beyond the scope of this breezy blog. It was a great morning. I feel so much better today than I did after the 16 miler two weeks ago. I also found that running with a group makes the time go by so much faster. I ran the four minutes segments much faster (at least 30 seconds) than I run alone. I never imagined I could run more than a 5k, much less a half...and now to be able to knock out 17 and not keel over is simply amazing. I'm proud of me. Now for some pretty new fall running clothes!
image from pinterest

Fall Fashion Extravaganza

My favorite magazine of the year arrived today, but I have a stack of 75 mini essays to read instead. :(

Why I Teach

Teaching, in my unbiased opinion, is the noblest of professions. Still. No matter what. It is emotionally, physically, and mentally taxing each and every day. The pay is a shame. The bar is raised and we are asked to do more and more each year but with less and less. Students don't appreciate you until they in college or dealing with their own children in school. All this though is nothing in comparison to what teaching can be when embraced with passion and conviction. The money I make is barely enough to cover daycare expenses and there are days when I think it might not be worth it, but most days when I turn in for the night, I know I've put in a hard day's work and done something truly good and worthy with my day. My hope is that most people feel that good about what they do. Life is just too short (cliche #54 b/c it's true) to be doing anything other than something that evokes this sense of content.

Why I love teaching:

• June, July, August
• the cyclic nature
• a fresh start in Aug.
• kids that make me laugh
• kids that make me cry
• creative outlet
• my room is 1,005 times bigger than most people's cubes
• fellow teachers
• summers with my kiddos
• winter break
• being the center of attention (for like 5 mins)
• making kids think
• inspiring kids to read
• Friday night football
• seeing kids grow
• new school supplies
• bulletin boards
• afternoons with my kiddos
• schedule
• pushing kids
• getting thank you cards
• health insurance
• being a part of someone's memories from "time of your life" era
• feeling successful
• doing something I feel like I was born to do
• jeans Friday
• happy hour with my homies
• always, always learning
• never, ever settling

Oh What A Night

At 12:30 am, Hadley woke up in tears and yelps. She was itchy, achy, and just plain aggravated. We spent the better of two hours lying awake in her bed. The moment she fell asleep there was a peace that palpably descended upon the room. I felt my body release and enjoyed the few minutes I lay beside her as she slept. THEN...the smoke alarm began to chirp downstairs. THEN....the smoke alarm upstairs began to yell at us...literally. Our alarm was saying "low battery". Worst night of sleep I've had since Charley was an infantino. Alarm goes off. No coffee filters. Drop baby girls off at daycare. Chocolate milk all over my white shirt. Needless to say, not a great start.

BUT

This evening I got to spend a back to school date night with Mason. He declared that he was ready to try on skinny jeans! So we set out to find a perfect middle school pair. Success! We also went to open house. We met his teachers and felt the excitement of the middle years set in. Currently he's signed up for band. I made my first request for a schedule change. He's really not the band type. We'll see how that goes. You know your son is growing up when a good night together includes shopping and dinner. Bittersweet. I know it's cliche, but true. Best luck my funny boy.

Pants Envy

Really, really wanted these...
BUT
ordered these

a compromise. That's cool, right?

Love at First Kick

These make my heart flutter and my wallet shudder. Damn.

These Four Walls

I had the privilege of attending a workshop today given by the fabulously smart and teacher-friendly Kylene Beers. I've read her book When Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do. I've practiced many of the strategies she suggests and have loved them all. She was engaging, thoughtful, sensitive to  teachers and students. She made me feel appreciated and honored to do what I do. She also reminded me of the humor that you can find in teaching and in students. The quote of the day by Dr. Beers, "Close the door and teach your students." This is similar to something that my dear friend Marcia said to me last yeSar regarding teaching during Pay for Performance and other legalese inspired educational policies. Marcia said, "I'm doing everything I can for the kids within my four walls. I'm teaching the kids in front of me right now." It is so easy to get caught up in the latest and greatest (or not so great) edu-hype, but really if you are doing what is truly best for your students (and not just saying it), then how can you not feel good about yourself and your students when you bid them bye at the bell?

Inhale. Exhale.

I'm totally overwhelmed today. Lesson plans, new schedules, middle school-er, teething baby, runny-nosed toddler, feeling fattish, missing my hubs....But these things made me hopeful and happy!

Okay. Maybe not silently, but I am correcting you.



Okay, maybe not yet, but maybe one day.



Peace. Nothing is better. Nothing.

Check. Check. Check.

I like big butts, and I can not lie.



Been there. Done that.

Thank you to www.pinterest.com for the smiles.

BBQ and Bubbly

A few moments ago I was lounging in our super cozy chenille rocker having a glass of presseco and flipping through the newest edition of my beloved Southern Living. My husband was sprawled out on the couch happily flipping through guy TV (you know-shows about guns, animals, meat, history, science and sports). It was about 6:30. We'd already eaten dinner (bubbly and bbq-hecks to the yeah). The kids were playing/fighting at various corners of the house. Our big plan was to wait until they went to bed and then head up to watch a movie. I said to him (in song form), "Who would've thought this would be our ideal Saturday night?" He burst out laughing. Not because it was an especially funny or witty question, but just because it is funny how fast the definition of a  perfect night can change. Five years ago, dinner, dancing, and early hours of the morning would have been the way to go. I'm thankful time changes things.

What I Should Have Done...

Mason and Mama Tara circa '05ish

I should have been keeping a journal of all the amazing things you've done and of all the emotions I felt as you did them, but I didn't. But what I can do is retro activate some memories as they surface. Let's begin. When you were about one (you started walking at 9.5 months) you went in to my tiny office, overturned a trash can, climbed onto my desk to get markers. I thought you were a genius. Your first words were "dada" and "ball". You were a such an enjoyable baby (after 6 weeks-before that, not so much). You were a terribly behaved three year old. You loved Maisy books. I read "Maisy Goes to the Farm" about 1,453 times. I read to you while you were still an infant Charlotte's Web until I remembered what happens at the end. We stopped with a few chapters to go. One of my favorite things about you is that you always loved to read and still do.  Amen. Quotes that I adore: hotter than a chicken in a fire and life is good for the good. In kindergarten, your art work was chosen for a show downtown. I was so proud. This followed a very alarming performance in your kindergarten musical. You did not sing one word. You did a lot of looking around. You loved a pillow from the couch. It was covered in denim. You slept with it for years and years. You also scratched your little fingers against the material as you fell asleep...for years and years. You really loved Buzz Lightyear. You asked Santa for one (like two days before Christmas) and Santa hadn't gotten you one yet, but he managed with some help from Mawmaw. There's more where this came from. Love.

The Middle

Last year when we had to move your school yet once again, you said: "It's fine. I'm a pro at making new friends. I could write a book on being popular." Okay. Great. John proceeded to ask you what it is that you would include in said book. Your response: "Chapter One: Just be yourself. Chapter Two: If you suck, just be me." Honestly I did not not approve of you word choice or the message all that much; however, it does give me hope that you do understand the role that confidence plays in feeling comfortable in your own skin and in situations involving other folks. You had a great fifth grade year, socially if nothing else. So,thankfully moving schools did not affect you in a negative manner; thus, if you try and use this as an excuse later on in life, let the record stand that you were in fact just fine.
This year you move to middle school. There is literally nothing more frightening to me than this. What I know for sure: You are a very, very, very smart youngster. The academics themselves will not be too much for you. There are so many other aspects of middle school though that may try and get in the way of your delight. Here are my top tips gathered from my own experience as a former middle school-er, a teacher, a regular old person, and from asking my friends for their input.

1. Treat others the way you wish to be treated. Seriously.
2. Make confidence look authentic and not demeaning.
3. Treat your teachers the way you would want my students to treat me.
4. Make people laugh in a way that doesn't hurt anyone's feelings.
5. Include others even if you don't know them.
6. When in doubt, say hi first.
7. You can be smart and cool at the same time.
8. Stick up for others.
9. Try new things.
10. Learn from your mistakes.
11. Play football with all your heart.
12. Wear what you like.
13. Make choices that are healthy for your mind, body, and spirit.
14. Pray when you need a hand.
15. Don't wait until the last minute...for anything
16. Be a leader.
17. Get your homework done asap.
18. Plan ahead. Write stuff down. Make to do lists.
19. Say hello to all school related adults (and thank you and please).
20. Get involved with different groups, clubs, activities, and people.

I love you. I'm proud of you. I want you to have amazing experiences that make you a better and brighter person.

Mason's 5th Grade Graduation

Bottoms Up

First day back. Just a workday. No students yet. I had to give a presentation to the staff. I ended up talking about my bottom. This is a real problem. Who does that? I was trying to make the staff feel better by reminding them that instead of sitting through a four day training, they were only going to have to bear about an hour. I said,  "After four days from 8-3 sitting on a cafeteria stool, my bottom really hurt. Oh wait, I just talked about my bottom in front of the whole staff. " And thus began the beginning of a lifetime of references to this particular public humiliation. Here's to 2011-2012! 

Shake and Bake

Today was a last summer culinary hurrah. One of my goals for the school year is to eat breakfast; however, there are few things that sound good to me at 6:00 am when I'm walking out the door. I do love a good strong carb and coffee combo though.Today we made muffins to stock the freezer with. Two kinds. Banana flax seed and carrot cake. The latter is a misnomer.

The recipe was from the New York Times healthy section and it was just a lil' too good for you to be good to you. They are not sweet enough. Charley ate two, but she also eats trash;  her opinion is not highly valued. My biggest critic, Mason, said, "What are these supposed to be?" I think they can be salvaged with a cream cheese dollop, but they are not the number one muffin by any means. Note to self: do not double the recipe for something you've never tried. I now have about 40 wabi sabi muffins.

The banana flax seed though are delicious breakfast fare. I'm trying to find ways to incorporate flax seeds into our daily diet as they are a super food with cancer fighting properties. I'm going to try them over yogurt with my lunches this year. You are supposed to grind them to reap the most benefits. They don't grind well in a food processor; use the coffee bean grinder for almost a minute.

We ended this spectacle with a tomato pesto pie and a white cake with coco frosting. The cake was a little dry despite the Crisco (yeah for The Help!) John loved the pesto goodness.

Summer Lovin'

Heading back to school/work in a few days is overwhelming to say the least. Though staying at home with four kids all summer has moments of lost tempers and grated nerves, it also tempts me to try staying/working at home full time. It is a conundrum for so many mothers. I am thankful I am able to make a choice about this matter. It is very empowering to be able to decide. One wonderful aspect of teaching is that it does give me a taste of both worlds. I am so grateful that I get months to be a stay at home mom and months to be the teacher I know I was born to be.

This summer has been one of the best. Last summer I was super pregnant and then Charley was born. I was also teaching online summer school and working as an event planner. I took my computer to the hospital with me to finish up some things! It was not overly relaxing; well, it was not relaxing at all. Not one minute, really. This summer, however, was an opportunity to really enjoy spending time with the kids and John. Last night I said to him, "Bye, honey. I'll see you next June." He is working like a mad man (thank you, Honey) and it has been nice to stay up late together and to actually see each other in the morning. I will really miss that!
I really like schedules and routine, so I started off the summer with a strict schedule and lots of activities: I ended the summer with daily naps, frozen yogurt, and reruns of "Will and Grace". This combo you'll see in the favorite things of the summer list below.

Things I loved about this summer:

• meeting my culinary agenda: pesto and tomato sauce from scratch(ish) and cooking a whole chicken
• witnessing Mason's goal at LAX tourney!
• early morning jogs= solitude and a more flexible caloric budget
• Sunday afternoons at the lake with mom and dad and the fam
• being able to drink my coffee in a cute mug not a travel mug and have time to finish the whole thing
• time with my Kindle though there is never enough time for all the things I on my Read Me Now list
• Ikea
• watching Charley go from taking a few steps to running after the big kids
• taking Avery to MegArt and watching her create
• snuggling with Hadley
• daily nap time (for all)
• Will and Grace reruns-thank you Lifetime
• frozen yogurt-God bless TCBY and Ben & Jerry
• watching Millionaire Matchmaker with John...a lot
• Rachel and Mike's wedding
• The Help and Eez with the ladies
• devouring issues of "Runner's World"
• my peekaboo highlights
• The Landing/boat/cocktails date night with John
• Dana's crab cake dinner party
• Charley's Have a Ball First Birthday shenanigan
• presseco and Popsicles
• 4th of July with my homies
• dinner with Suz and finding out we're getting a Lucy girl
• spending time with my Butler ladies (not the workshops, the lunches)

Walk in the Park

After a long day of shopping with the kiddos (Ikea for me, mall for Mase), I decided the girls needed some outside time. Before I go on, let's recall what goes into a shopping day with this crew: 2 chocolate milks, 1 juice box, a coffee, a cinnamon roll, 2 Ikea kids meals and a wrap (don't recommend it), Dippin' Dots, Cheerios, fruit snacks,  approximately 17 trips in and out of car seats and double stroller, and three trips to the bathroom (which is actually pretty decent for a two year old!). Anyways, we earned a trip to the park. After dropping Mason off at football practice (hurrah!) we walked over to the playground. The first part of this story is adorable: the second, not so much.

Part One:
Hadley met a gorgeous little girl about her age. They did not speak the same language, but played together the whole time we were there. They held hands, went down the slide, swung, and "talked". The only moment of clarity is when Hadley pointed at the little girl's shirt and said, "Ariel!". When it was time to leave they were blowing kisses. Sweet as pie. I loved it.
Part Two:
Charley picked up a condom.

Wishful Thinking

Charley: pre-cake

I taught her that

On July 17th my baby, (most likely, very strong chance, for sure, probably, maybe) my last baby, turned one. Sigh. Her party was held on a cold day in July...in the South. I'm not sure what kind of sign that is. We'd planned on swimming and water play to keep cool but totally not necessary. Looming rain and cloud cover provided plenty of respite from normal July temperatures. The theme was "Having a Ball" and I did have one planning it. One of the things I did was order beach balls. I thought they were going to have colored panels, but they were solid white. Lesson: read the product description very carefully and do not just look at pictures. I ended up having to decorate them. My mom suggested using a Bingo marker to make polka dots which was a great thought, but I didn't know where to get one. I ended up writing messages on many of the beach balls. 

My wishes for her:

• authentic happiness
• healthy body and mind
• longevity
• true love
• forever friends
• confidence
• ideas and opinions
• compassion
• thoughtful faith
• unconditional sister-love
• curiosity
• passions
• fulfillment
• talent
• wisdom 
• humor

Honestly, I want her to have it all and to have a ball!

The Goonies...Sort Of

A Visit From the Goon Squad is worth the read. It is written vignette style through various points of view. The pieces don't come together quite as tightly as I'd hoped, but it leaves room for thinking about the characters and making connections between their lives. A time marches on kind of story. Great vocabulary. The writing style is intriguing. I read it in two days. Though on one of these days I: ate a pie, a whole tub of crab dip, wore no make up, and stayed in my pajamas.

How Old Are You?

Me: How old are you?
Hadley: Two.
Me: How old do you act?
Hadley: Four


I taught her this. I'm still wondering if it was a mistake. Do I really want her to act older than she is? Not so much. My Hadley is her own being. At the end of her 2.5 year check up, her doctor said, "She is a four year old." Though flattering, it is alarming. I really just want her to enjoy her childhood and have it last as long as possible. There are signs though that this will be hard for me to foster in her. Here is a list of her most used words to date: actually, because, impressed, revolting, disgusting, and repulsive. She also asked for a "freakin' snack" the other day which is totally my bad/influence. :( In the past week she has threatened to run away three times. So far she's only gone to another room. Things that she does do that are totally age appropriate: throw ear piercing tantrums, sleep with her blankie (the cream side has to be down, green side up), antagonize her brother and sisters, drink juice boxes like it's nobody's business, idolize Dora, and occasionally pee in places other than the potty.