Friday Faves

* Great Read: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

* Make Something: lots of tutorials from Emily

* Learn Something: an amazing, slightly scary TED Talk

* Cry a Little: My Beautiful Woman (link from my friend Suz) 

* Images of the Week: Tulips and vintage postcards by Claire Brocato

* Anticipating: getting a lot of school work done today - if I ever stop blogging

* A Song: "Every Ship Must Sail Away" by Blue Merle

* Quote of the Week: "If I had a flower for every time I thought of you,

I could walk in my garden forever." ~ Alfred Lord Tennyson

* PINspiration: Beautiful Abandoned, curated by Laura Fink-Klein

* Film Fancies: Sand art 

* To Make You Laugh: watch this banned commercial (PG13)

* BLOGspiration: Lisa Gordon 

* In Case You Missed It: A Happy House

Happy weekend, friends.

tell me something...

painting by artist, Paula Rubino

Do you ever feel as though your mind contains a swarm of angry bees?

Do you ever feel as if your life is spinning too fast

and you are about to fly out of orbit?

Do you ever look at your to do list and just laugh?

Do you ever sniff a shirt to see if it stinks

because you don't have the energy to iron a fresh one?

Has your child ever told you, "Mom, I'm down to my last pair of underwear."

Has your husband ever asked you to come to bed with him, and you

barely grunted an answer because you were too tired to talk?

Of course you have. 

Of course I have.

We live in a hurry-up-need-it-yesterday sort of world.

And so I wonder,

How do you put the world on pause for an hour?

 Do you read a book or a pile of magazines?

 Do you bake a pie or eat a cupcake?

 Do you arrange a dinner date with a girlfriend?

 Do you pay someone else to do that chore you've been dreading?

 Do you turn up the music and just dance?

Do you drive and drive and drive?

I do. 

I do all those things - and more. 

And they help.

What do you do?

How do you put the world on pause for an hour?

this moment

A Wednesday ritual. 

A single photo capturing a simple moment.  

A reminder to slow down our always busy lives and to savor this moment. 

Meet Hattie

Hattie Big Sky by Kirby Larson

 I absolutely love this book. It is wonderful, fantastic, terrific! In fact, since it came out, I have read or listened to it about thirteen times. This book is considered a teen novel, but I can't think of an adult who would be disappointed by this adventure story.

Hattie is a 16 year old orphan who is suddenly given the opportunity to prove up on her deceased uncle's claim in Montana. This is a pioneer adventure with a twist. Instead of Laura Ingall's time, Hattie is homesteading in Montana during World War I. The best part of all is that the story is based on Kirby Larson's great aunt's real life. Wonderful, wonderful!

Sunday Morning Poetry

Sky Wish

I wrote my wish
upon  a kite;
closed my eyes,
grabbed its string --

through wind
I ran,
let it fly...
my wish came true.

It flew into
that wide, wide, map
of sky.
~ Rebecca Kai Dotlich
from Climb Inside a Poem

Friday Faves

* To Make You Think:  selfies

* Great Read: Cooking for Mr. Latte by Amanda Hesser

* Something to Make: a bendable ice pack

* Terrific Tips: 12 Tips for Staying Inspired

* Image of the Week: Sunset over the Thames by Caramas

* Anticipating: a spring break trip to Savannah to visit my new niece

* A Song: "Mony Mony" by Billy Idol

* Quote of the Week: "Until God opens the next door, praise Him in the hallway." ~ Ann Voskamp

* PINspiration: Design: Interesting Displays curated by me

* Film Fancies: "Art" by Andrea Dorfman

* BLOGspiration: Jennifer at Ripplespeak

* In Case You Missed It: If I Were In Charge of the World

this moment

A Wednesday ritual. 

A single photo capturing a simple moment.  

A reminder to slow down our always busy lives and to savor this moment. 

Sunday Morning Poetry

 

The Trouble with Poetry

The trouble with poetry, I realized
as I walked along a beach one night --
cold Florida sand under my bare feet,
a show of stars in the sky --

the trouble with poetry is
that it encourages the writing of more poetry,
more guppies crowding the fish tank,
more baby rabbits
hopping out of their mothers into the dewy grass.

And how will it ever end?
unless the day finally arrives
when we have compared everything in the world
to everything else in the world,

and there is nothing left to do
but quietly close our notebooks
and sit with our hands folded on our desks.

Poetry fills me with joy
and I rise like a feather in the wind.
Poetry fills me with sorrow
and I sink like a chain flung from a bridge.

But mostly poetry fills me
with the urge to write poetry,
to sit in the dark and wait for a little flame
to appear at the tip of my pencil.

And along with that, the longing to steal,
to break into the poems of others
with a flashlight and a ski mask.

And what an unmerry band of thieves we are,
cut-purses, common shoplifters,
I thought to myself
as a cold wave swirled around my feet
and the lighthouse moved its megaphone over the sea,
which is an image I stole directly
from Lawrence Ferlinghetti --
to be perfectly honest for a moment --

the bicycling poet of San Francisco
whose little amusement park of a book
I carried in a side pocket of my uniform
up and down the treacherous halls of high school.
~ Billy Collins

Friday Faves

* Word NERDiness:  more ways to say "I love you." 

* Image of the Week: "A Good Day to Fly" by Stefano Corso

* A Song: Emmy Rossum, "These Foolish Things"

* Great Read:  Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers  (this is the most perfect love story)

* Quote of the Week:  "The future has an ancient heart." ~ Carlo Levi

* BLOGspiration: Tyler Knott Gregson, for the best words

* Film Fancies: Blue Umbrella (my favorite short)

* Good Advice:  loving actions...

* Terrific Tip: on marriage...

* PINspiration: : love by Yuko Lulu

* In Case You Missed It:  A Love Letter

I ran a little kiss cam at our last small group party.  I love this one of our good friends Randy and Robin. 

Valentine's Day

I get as excited as any kid about Valentine's Day.  I love the hearts, the glitter, the glue, the mess.  I love pink and red, and "Do you think he likes me?".  I love making Valentines every year with Sloane, and the way that she always wants to do something special for her best friends.  I love the full-of-wiggles excitement my students get just thinking about the parties and plans.  I love the daily updates on how their mailboxes are coming along.  I love the Valentine Mailbox competition in my class, and I love that Sloane won 2nd place in hers last year.  (She was beat out by a robot.  Go figure.)

I just love this day.  I love that we set aside a day to say, "I love you.  I like you.  I think you're great!  Thanks for loving me back."  I hope you are excited about tomorrow, too.  I hope that you remember all the people and all the ways you are loved.  I hope that couple-hood is not the only love you celebrate tomorrow.  I hope you buy your dog a special treat.  I hope you leave her favorite candy bar in your bestfriends purse.  I hope you offer a hug to a friend and a big smile to a stranger.  I hope you write  a real letter to your grandparents.  I hope you call your parents and tell them how much you love them.  Be sure to wish them a Happy Valentine's Day.  Maybe even give them a "Happy Valentine's Day" from me.  And keep one for yourself.

See you tomorrow with lots of loving-good links. 
Sending you lots of love!

Don't you just love the card left on my desk today during inside recess?  I tell you, it made my day.

sledding

A Wednesday ritual. 

A single photo capturing a simple moment.  

A reminder to slow down our always busy lives and to savor this moment. 

Meet Vida Winter

I love books. I mean, I love books. At last count our home library had 4,000 volumes. My third grade classroom library has another 900, and my husband is a high school librarian. Each Monday you can join me here to see what I've been reading and loving. You'll find a little bit of everything and a whole lot of children's books. Welcome to some of my favorite flax golden tales.

 

The Thirteenth Tale is magical.  It's a gothic tale, a ghost story, a mystery, and a love story to books and readers and those beloved beings who write them for us.  I've added Woman in White and the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to my library queue. How can I not when they are mentioned again and again in this magical book? I don't know what to say here as I don't want to give anything away. I guess all I can really tell you is that this is a story and these are characters who will stay with you for a long, long time.

Sunday Morning Poetry

This is not a love poem

my poems are made of things
the exact symmetry of your grin
a color you can not describe
the way you hold me like a disaster
an ill-fitting coat when it's cold
sounds from a car
the verge of tears
hands on a face
right before I wake up
I miss you
~ Amy Turn Sharp

Amy Sharp is a wonderful poet and a generous soul.  This poem is used with permission.  You can find many, many more right here. 

Friday Faves

* Quote of the Week: "The first hour is the rudder of the day."  ~ Henry Ward Beecher

* Something to Buy: just in time for Valentine's Day

* Some Thing to Make: turn your favorite quotes into art

* A Song: Splendor in the Grass by Pink Martini

* Images of the Week: wildlife photos from National Geographic's photo contest

* To Make You Think: "Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls" by the Militant Baker

* Great Read: How to Quiona by Tiffany Beveridge

* Terrific Tip: no more slipping cheese on your take out pizza

* Because I'm a Word Nerd: Untranslatable Words

* Film Fancies: "Clocktower" by Arenyth

* Anticipating: The Olympics!  We're having an Opening Ceremonies Party tonight.  YAY! 

* PINspiration: what makes life beautiful curated by Michaela Ferrar

  * In Case You Missed It: Smooching

* Some Things I Love: medaling ceremonies at the Olympics, lessons that go really well, Chris Van Allsburg, the look on a child's face when they realized they've mastered a new skill, Beethoven, displays at Anthropologie stores, changing out the pillows and tablecloths seasonally, gorgeous sunrise skies, getting home and shedding shoes and jewelry and cramming my hair up into a barrette, knowing what's for dinner and looking forward to it all day

Happy weekend, friends.  

tulips

A Wednesday ritual. 

A single photo capturing a simple moment.  

A reminder to slow down our always busy lives and to savor this moment. 

Meet Billy Twitters

Welcome to the inaugural Book of the Week post.  I love books.  I mean, I love books.  At last count our home library had 4,000 volumes.  My third grade classroom library has another 900, and my husband is a high school librarian.  Each Monday you can join me here to see what I've been reading and loving.  You'll find a little bit of everything and a whole lot of children's books.  Welcome to some of my favorite flax golden tales. 

Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem by Mac Barnett

If you are a teacher who wants to get your students to read every part of the book - even the author's note - this book is for you.  Just look at the end papers.

If you are a parent who has a crazy, kooky, dreamy kid (and who doesn't?), this book will make you a hero at bed time.

If you are a parent who has a child who likes to laugh, this book will have you all in stitches.

If you are a tired, slightly grumpy adult who needs a minute to remember the fun of childhood, this book fits the bill.

If you are an illustrator, you would really benefit from using Adam Rex as your unofficial teacher.

If you are a reader who has ever been a kid, I just know you will love this book.

And if you are a kid... oh, have I got a treat for you!