Slice of Life- Day 2

Yesterday, my family and I went to the Home and Garden Show in Columbus. I love this event! I would love it even more if I could afford most of the things I saw! 

 

The patios they had with the landscaping were just beautiful! I would have taken any of them. I also loved all the outdoor kitchens.  I must have one of those when we redo our patio sometime in the future. Below is a picture of some landscaping. 

 

 

My husband, Nate, has been wanting to get a new shed and there were several companies there with some sheds on display.  Nate enjoyed walking through the sheds envisioning where he could put everything and if there would be enough room to walk around when everything was in its place. 

Dr. Insecta was also there for the kids. Below is a picture of Jacob with him. And yes, those tarantulas are real. Jacob, my budding entomologist, was thrilled to get to hold one of those tarantulas later.  Better him than me!



And now as I look out the window it is snowing. After seeing all the green and bright flowers yesterday, I am even more ready for spring. Ready to get my fingers in the dirt and feel a warm breeze on my face. 

Enjoy your Sunday!

Slice of Life- Day 1

One of my resolutions this year was to run 500 miles in 2014.  I joined the #500in2014 group on Twitter.  I even enlisted two friends to help keep me on track and focused during this journey. January went well.  I ran a little more than I needed to average for the month.  Then February hit.  I developed a stress fracture in my tibia.  Talk about disappointment.  6 weeks minimum of no running.  I was told I could bike and swim.  I'm not a swimmer so that was out.  I have biked, but because I was bummed about not being able to run, I didn't bike either.  I think I was in a little bit of a work-out depression.  Maybe I was just being stubborn because I couldn't do what I really wanted to be doing.

But today is a new month.  I have decided that I am going to get out of that rut.  I went to the gym this morning and biked for 35 minutes. 

I am also going to participate in the Ultimate Upper Body 30 Day Challenge.  I am not an upper body person.  In fact, I hate upper body workouts because I know I am weak in that area.  However, I did complete the first day of the challenge after biking this morning and I survived. 

So while February was not a good fitness month for me, I will not let March become a fitness flop.  I am going in like a lion and I intend to end like a lion!

Celebrate! 1/4/14

Thanks to Ruth Ayres at DiscoverPlayBuild for this Saturday tradition.

I am really beginning to enjoy looking back through the week at the different things to celebrate in my life!

1. Once again I made some New Year's resolutions which you can view here.  A few people commented how they use one little word as a resolution.  I really liked that idea and after much thought decided I would choose healthy as my word.  I feel this will still cover my original resolutions and then some.

2. I committed to be part of the #500in2014 group!  So far I have either hit the road, treadmill, or inside track 4 times this week!  My legs can feel it today!

3. I am on Day 10 of the plank-a-day challenge.  I am up to 1 minute of planks and I can feel it!  Looking forward to the day of rest in a few days!  By the end of the 30 days I should be able to plank for 5 minutes!  Yikes!

4. One of the things I love about break is having the time to read!  I feel as if I have been in a slump lately and being able to actually have time to read has helped.  I even had one of those nights where I couldn't put down a book and stayed up until 1 a.m. to finish it. I haven't had one of those nights in awhile!  Good thing it came over break so I didn't pay for it the next day!

 

5.  Even though my beloved Buckeyes lost in the Orange Bowl last night, I certainly can't complain about our 12-2 season.  It was a great season!

 

Resolutions

I'm sure I am doing what many others are currently doing- building resolutions for 2014.  Every year I do this, every year I start off great, and every year I end up falling off the boat.  So why do I keep doing these resolutions?  I guess I would rather have a goal and fail than have none at all.  At least with a goal I know I have aspirations.  And usually during the year I will get back on the boat and work towards them a little more.  My problem is with consistency. The only goal that I actually met this year was my Goodreads goal of reading 250 books. 

For 2014 I am going to make professional and personal goals.  I am hoping that putting them out there for everyone to see will help me become more accountable.

PERSONAL GOALS
1. Complete the #500in2014 challenge.  I am joining a group on Twitter who have made it a goal to run 500 miles this year.  That's about 1 1/3 miles per day.  We are using the Nike+ Running app to track our progress.  I have also enlisted a couple of friends to do the challenge with me.  I am feeling pretty confident that with my online support group and my personal support group I can meet this goal. 
2.  Eat healthier.  My husband got me a juicer for Christmas and I am loving it so far!  I would like to have some sort of juice every day in this new year.  I would also like to cut some foods out of my diet.  I'm usually not too bad but there is room for improvement. 

PROFESSIONAL GOALS
1.  Read 300 books in 2014.  In 2013 I met my goal of 250 books.  I want to up my goal to 300 this year since I was successful with the 250. (Hmmm...  I think this could also be considered a personal goal since I read for enjoyment.)
2.  Read more professional books.  When looking through the books I read in 2013, I did notice I have a huge book gap in this category.  I am going to commit myself to reading 1 professional book a month.  I am good a starting them but not finishing.  I think the problem I have right now is that I have too many started! 
3.  Blog at least once a week.  I would like to participate in It's Monday What Are You Reading, Slice of Life, Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday, Poetry Friday, and Celebrate!  I would love to do all of these every week.  However, I know me.  If I miss doing one, I will fall off the boat because I have the "all or nothing" mentality.  So I am going to participate in one of these each week.  If I am able to do more than one, then that is a bonus.

So there you go, 5 resolutions for myself.  Wow, that seems like a lot!  I think I will need to periodically check back with these resolutions and measure how I am doing with them. 

Happy New Year!

Celebrate!

A few things to celebrate this week:

1.  Our high school musical Shrek!  The students did a fabulous job!  My 9 year-old was engaged for the entire two-and-a-half hours.  I also enjoyed seeing both of my nieces on stage.

 

2.  I am celebrating finally getting a copy of Little Red Writing by Joan Holub!  I have been waiting and waiting for it to come in.  I LOVE this book.  So many writing mini-lessons sprouting!

 

 

3.  This week my elementary joined Twitter.  Our twitter handle is @GWElementary.  I am hoping this becomes a way to celebrate all the wonderful things happening at George Washington Elementary!

 

4.  Today I get to celebrate my niece's birthday.  Love that girl!

 

5.  Lastly, I just want to celebrate me posting on my blog.  I haven't written anything for over 2 months.  It's always in the back of my mind, but it just doesn't seem to happen.  I need to make this higher on my priority list.

 

What are you celebrating this week?

 

Poetry Friday

I am very excited that J. Patrick Lewis will be coming to Fundamentals, a local independent bookstore, next Friday!  Because of this excitement I will be highlighting a poem from his book Face Bug. 

Goodreads Summary:  In this ingenious picture book, Children's Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis invites you to visit the Face Bug Museum. There, readers can meet fourteen bugs in Lewis's sly, humorous poems; gaze upon giant close-ups of the creatures' faces in Siskind's photographs; and follow the antics of two beetle friends in Kelly Murphy's artwork. This is a trip to a museum--built by bugs, "fo"r bugs--unlike any other. It is also a poetry collection, macro-photography book, and illustrated story--all in one. Includes end notes with photographs of the entire bugs and further information about these creatures.

What I Think:  My son is a budding entomologist and loves to read anything about insects.  Most of the books he reads about insects are, of course, nonfiction.  With this book, budding entomologists can read about bugs in the form of poetry, which is refreshing to me.  I love the fact that my son reads nonfiction, but I also want him reading a variety of text and this book is the best of both worlds!  Plus, I do love the humorous poetry of J. Patrick Lewis!  And the photographs by Siskind are wonderful, if not a little creepy for those of us who are not bug lovers!

Since I have been hearing so many cicadas lately I will share a poem about them from this book!

Dogday Harvestfly Cicada
     Tibicen canicularis

Bug's one ugly
Nut to crack.
Is that Bugly's
Front or back?

What?! Two faces
On this mutt?
Creepy. Never
Mind his butt.

Front or top view,
What the heck?
He's a head-on
Insect wreck.

Go on, touch him-
All he does
Is ask, "Who's there?"
In wonder-buzz.


Tara has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at A Teaching Life.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? --From Picture Books to YA--is a weekly meme hosted by Jen  at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers.  Visit Jen, Kellee, and Ricki to see more amazing books!

This week I was only able to get two chapter book read, but they were looong (and good!) chapter books!  I was able to get a professional book read and a good amount of picture books.  So all-in-all I would say it was a good reading week!

Professional Book:

Choice Words by Peter H. Johnston

This was a wonderful book. It really made me think about how I address and question students in the classroom. This will certainly be a book that I reference often!                  

 

 

Chapter Books:

Fable Haven #3 and #4 by Brandon Mull

I am a big fan of Brandon Mull.  This is one of my favorite series.  He is so good at plot twists and ending the books making you eager to read the next in this series.  I am looking forward to reading the 5th and final book in the series.

 

 

Picture Books (fiction):

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

I absolutely love how the story is told through letters from the crayons to the boy who owned them. Great for showing point of view.  After reading this with my son, I caught him using all the colors of his markers in a new set of his.  He said he wanted to be sure none of the colors quit! That Is Not a Good Idea! by Mo Willems The way the story is told reminds you of watching a silent film. This was a great book with a wonderful little twist that kids (and adults) will really enjoy. Crankee Doodle by Tom Angleberger This is a cute parody to Yankee Doodle that will leave you giggling! The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf by Mark Teague A variation of the Three Little Pigs that is close to the original. I enjoyed some of the modern-day language that Mark Teague used. Picture Books (nonfiction):



Emi: Saving Her Rhino Species  by Leia Tait

This book is about Emi an endangered Sumatran Rhino who lives at the Cincinnati Zoo. The book tells the story of how Emi was captured in the wild (an orphan caught in a snare) and ended up at this zoo. She has had 3 babies and scientists are hoping to use this knowledge to help Sumatran Rhinos in the wild reproduce. I liked this book, especially for young readers, because of the simple text and the photographs. There are also questions posed in the book that help the reader make connections between themselves and Emi. Young readers will walk away from this book with a beginning understanding of the importance of Emi and the fight to save Sumatran Rhinos. And if they are like me, they will also want to take a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo to see Emi in person!

 

 

Pakistan by Ann Heinrichs

This is a good introductory book on Pakistan. The reader learns about the history of Pakistan as well as the current events. Many colorful pictures compliment the text.

 



 

Mrs. Harkness and the Panda by Alicia Potter

Beautiful story about how the first panda came to the United States. I had some conflicted feelings about how the panda was acquired so I appreciated reading the author's note at the end. I loved the illustrations in this book.                  

 

 

The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau by Michelle Markel

	This is another wonderful picture book biography of an artist. I learned much about Henri Rousseau. It has a great theme of persistence and following your dream.

Miss Moore Thought Otherwise by Jan Pinborough

Another picture book biography. This tells the story of Annie Moore and her dedication to libraries creating spaces for children to read and check out books.

 

 

The Librarian of Basra by Jeanette Winter

A heartwarming story about how war effects the common people. A librarian in Basra enlisted the help of friends and neighbors to save the books of the library so they would not be destroyed in the war.



 

An Illustrated Timeline of U.S. States by Patricia Wooster

I liked how different major events and interesting facts in American history were woven into the timeline with the forming of the states. I was a little disappointed that major events from the 20th century were missing such as both World Wars. Overall, an interesting and enjoyable book.

 

 This Week:

This week we will be going away for a few days so I know I won't get as much reading done as I would like.  But it will be well worth it to relax and spend some great time with my family!  I do hope to read the fifth and last book in the Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull.  I also would like to finish a professional book I have started about assessments, Assessment in Perspective by Clare Landrigan and Tammy Mulligan.

 

What did you read this week?