Spring Break Sewing March 30, 2013

Spring Break has come and gone and I have been back to the grind. No time to post just time to sleep these days.

I wanted to post about the baby bibs I sewed while on Spring Break. I am a newbie when it comes to sewing, but thanks to my encouraging friends I am slowly learning and loving every minute of it. I was so happy to make my baby some bibs and burp cloths. I have a friend who has a little girl that is 2 months older than Spencer so I made her some too. I told my friend that since I don’t have a girl then I will just sewing pretty girl things for her baby girl. I need to sew something for her older daughter because I don’t want her to feel left out. I think I am going to recycle my boys’ torn up jeans into a jean skirt for her oldest. That will be a project soon. I will use my friend Michelle’s blog tutorial on www.letitshineblog.com.

Now back to my bibs. I went to WalMart and picked up some flannel fat quarters. I used this pattern found on pinterest. I did not follow the tutorial exactly, but I did use the pattern. For the backing I used a t-shirt. I found a cheap clearanced white shirt at WalMart and cut it up for the backing, but then I found some old shirts of mine and recycled or upcycled them. For the burp cloths, I just cut out rectangles and sewed the jersey on the back of the flannel and Wa-Lah we have burp cloths. During the week, I made 5 bibs and 5 burp cloths for Spencer and 5 bibs and 5 burp cloths for McKenna. I mailed hers off on Saturday and by Monday her mom texted me a pic of McKenna in her bib with a great big smile of thanks. I love it! I bought 2 sets of fat quarters for about 8 bucks each and I made 10 bibs and 10 burp cloths. Pretty thrifty if  you ask me. I was pleased with myself. I want to thank my encouraging friends for allowing me to blow up their phone with text messages and pictures. I love them!

Here are the pictures of the bibs and matching burp cloths.

 

McKenna’s Bibs and Burp Cloths

 

 

Spencer’s Bibs and Burp Cloths

Rodeo Time! March 15, 2013

Howdy Ya’ll!! It’s Rodeo time here in Houston. The boys and I went on Wednesday for Scout day. Let’s just say it was a tiny wee bit crowded! (Insert Sarcasm here!) For reals ya’ll it was a MAD HOUSE! Spring Break and the Rodeo at the same time is CRAZINESS! Nonetheless I took my sweet children to participate in the Scout Program to earn their Horseback Riding Belt loop.  I paid a ridiculous amount to park, but I wanted to be safe and make sure I could get there with the stroller so we took the Train.   Once we got off the train I had to navigate the stroller and two kids through the mob of people to other side of the complex. I ran over a few people as I went at least I said “sorry”. The boys never hold onto anything when we are at Walmart shopping even though I plead with them to stay close to the buggy. (Yes I did just say buggy–that’s what I call them too Michelle E. )  This time being that there was a mass of people–the boys were scared too. They each grabbed a side of the stroller with a grip that would not come loose and away we went. We walked so fast and finally made–just in time–for the presentation! Whew! Thank God! They had a great time learning about horses and then we met up with some other scouts and parents and hung out with them. The boys had fun pretending to farm and they saw tons of livestock! They had fun, but were exhausted from walking around everywhere. We finally got back on the train and started back to the parking lot. A couple that had a little girl in a stroller asked if I came by myself with 3 kids. I said yes, but I met up with others here. The dad looked at me and said “Wow! You are my Hero! I couldn’t do that with 3 kids!” I told him that if it weren’t for meeting up with the other parents then I surely would have left after that presentation! I thought of my mom when he said that. She always did everything with 3 kids. She has driven us from Florida to Louisiana to New York and Rhode Island to Tennessee….all by herself. Dad (love him dearly) does not like to go like she does. The man’s comment made me nostalgic for home so I called home to share my story.  Enjoy some pics from our Rodeo trip.

My three Sons

Horse Presentation

House Guest March 13, 2013

We have a new house guest for the time being.

Oh Where Oh Where has that little dog gone?

This little guy showed up in the neighborhood and my sweet boy Philip brought him home. Daddy didn’t want him to freeze over night so we took him in. Meanwhile, our 2 lapdogs aren’t really happy about this new guy. I took him to the vet yesterday to see if he was microchipped. No such luck for me. I made a poster and hopefully we can find his owners.

Andrew and the Hydroponic system

 

Meanwhile Andrew has started his Science Fair project and we hope the plants don’t die. He is going to use Daddy’s Hydroponics system to test if his squash plant grows better in hydroponics in gravel versus in soil.

 

 

 

 

 

Today is Rodeo day for Scouts so we are headed to Houston today! Woohoo! I will post more tomorrow.

Four Months March 11, 2013

Four months already? How can this be? Where did my little itty baby go? Spencer is now 4 months old and weighing 14 lbs and he is 24 3/4 in long. Can you believe it? I can–his carrier is getting heavier that’s for sure! I have been incredibly busy with school and life in general and I apologize for only blogging once during February.  Hubby got sick and then I got sick for 2 weeks. Try teaching with no voice. Some students had sympathy while others took advantage of it. The only thing I could do was to turn the lights out to signal for them to be quiet and I guess they forgot that it means to be quiet–it’s been a long time since they were in elementary school I guess. Oh well. I made it.

Spring Break has arrived. Thank God! Those teacher moments have been few and far between in the last 2 weeks. The students mentally checked out and I became a zookeeper. I kept on teaching on the body systems and you should hear the questions that they have. It is unbelievable what they think and have preconceived ideas on their body. Hopefully when we return they will be ready to learn and not so anxious to get off topic. One of the best compliments I received was on Friday. A student says “Mrs. Canada, do you really like Science? Because we you are teaching your face lights up and you look like you really like it.”  I told her “Of course, doesn’t everyone love this?” And well her answer was not was I was expecting. She said “No, Science stinks (she inserted another word there)!” I was appalled! No not really–most of my students hate Science. In fact, most hate school and don’t know why they need to learn this stuff. Ha! Oh the joys of middle school! At least they can tell I really love my job–teaching that is–not zookeeping. LOL

Hopefully I will post more this week since I will be off. I have a few projects that I want to get started. Look for those soon.

Lots of things planned this week with my boys. Rodeo on Wednesday! They think just because we aren’t going to Florida that it will be a boring Spring Break. I told them “I am not a boring Mama!” We went to Lowe’s Build and Grow on Saturday to build Monster Mutts and then to the library where they checked out several books and played on the computer. I thought that was a pretty good start to the break.

So I found a picture of  my oldest son and put it side beside with Spencer’s. It’s amazing how much they look alike.

Philip at 3 mos and Spencer at 3 mos

Spencer Louis 4 months

 

Philip and Andrew

I can’t leave out the big brothers. They are all growing WAY too fast! I love my boys!

Teacher moments February 10, 2013

Going through college I never thought that I would be teaching middle school. I had a few friends who were Education majors and I thought they were crazy for wanting to teach. Now I am the teacher. I often wonder what on Earth did I get myself into? Long hours of grading, no weekends to myself, long days of teaching and helping other people’s children.  Then you realize that teaching is a calling–a ministry. That is how I look at it. It is a God-given ministry to teach and nurture children–be it from Daycare age to high school age. Teaching is the most difficult career I have had. You spend countless hours exhausting yourself mentally and physically and still have work to do when you get home, but nothing can compare to feeling you get when you finally reach a student. This week has been a week of teacher moments for me. You don’t get these often, but when you get them you treasure them all of your days. So I would like to share with you why I love being a teacher and let you see the other side of the classroom–not the zoo (at times it feels as if it is a zoo).

I have one student that will not work while he is in my class. He has an aide that works with him and he is on my Special Ed list. He has several problems, but somehow someone has to reach him. He has no support at home and he thinks that everyday is a bad day. So last week we were doing a virtual salmon dissection on the computer. He came in and saw the salmon and said (in his country voice) “Oh Mrs. Canada did you do this for me today?” I said yes I did. He loves hunting and fishing and could care less about school. This was right up his alley. He completed the dissection and did it several times over. As the class went on with the lesson, he sat at the computer and finished his paper and handed it to me at the end of class. “Mrs. Canada I made you a speckled trout!” He had to draw the fish and write the steps. It was the most beautiful paper I had received from him. I decided that I would make a light copy of it so I could use it for him to write other assignments on. He loved it. He put the paper on my whiteboard and it is still there since last Monday. He came in for tutorials after school and worked on his flower dissection on his trout paper. He worked the whole time on his work that day after school. I was so proud of him. He was working so hard and enjoying it. On Friday he told me it was going to be a bad day and he wouldn’t work. We were in groups and he wasn’t allowing the others to work so I called him over to my desk and allowed him work on my computer on a Cells website putting cell puzzles together. He was quiet the entire time and worked through 2 puzzles while the class worked in groups. I was so happy and he loved it. I finally found a common ground between us and he was doing his best to please the teacher. This one moment is special to me.

This next moment occurred on Thursday during a block period. I have another student who has some emotional disorders and was upset that day in class. He had recently gotten a haircut and I had commented on it. He said that everyone was saying something about his haircut. Once I dismissed the class to their groups, this student stayed in his seat with his head down. It took some time to get him up and in his group. He came over to me and said “I quit!”.  I thought to myself “ok, do you want to work with someone else?” He then proceeded to explain to me that he hates this school and the students in it. He used several foul words, but I just listened to him. He was very upset that some kids were flicking on the back of the head and saying “freshcut”. He said that no one ever sees them and they do it all the time. They also call other students names. He started crying. This is a student who wears a black trench coat to school and often reminds me of Columbine. I asked him if he wanted to see the counselors but he refused. I assured him that I would take care of this. I just listened and cared. The ministry of a teacher–reaching out to students who need to know they have a friend in you. I asked him what he wanted to do. He was wiping his face and simply said “You are the only teacher that actually cared and listened to me. The other teachers just blow me off.”  I thought this is the greatest compliment for a teacher. I told the counselors about it and they checked on him later. He was fine when they checked on him. I guess he needed someone to listen to him.

These moments like this are the ones that I love. I am so blessed to be called of God to minister to the lives of children.

Sleeping? January 26, 2013

Ok so when I said that Spencer is sleeping through the night I apparently jinxed myself. Ha! The little stinker woke up this morning at 1 a.m. and then again at 6 a.m.  No sleeping in for this  mommy today. Boo Oh well. I just love to hold him and listen to him coo and laugh. He is such a happy baby unless it is around 4 p.m. and then his crying starts. He has a late afternoon crying spell every day. His daycare tells me that he cries every day at the same time. He just knows that it’s time for mommy to get there. My sweet baby. I love him so much!

I just wanted to blog about this just because I found humor in this.

Oh  yeah, I have to give a humongous shout out to my wonderful Husband! On Thursday I have a long day with no break except lunch. When I got to school and pulled out my cart I realized that I had forgotten my coffee! Oh Man! I texted hubby when I got to work “Forgot my coffee….this is going to be a long day!” His text back simply says “I’ll be praying for you”.  I went on with my day. And hour into first period (we are on block schedule on Wed/Thur) and the office aide knocks on my door. He is holding a large cup of coffee and says “This is from your husband.” I gladly took and just smiled the rest of the day. I get a text from my sweetheart that says “I love Amanda! I hope you have a great day!” Isn’t he just the bomb?!!  I bragged on him and still brag that my hubby Rocks!  I love him!! I have THE BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD!  Just saying!

Where does the time go? January 25, 2013

I am long overdue in writing so please forgive me. It seems that is usually my intro statement each time I blog these days. Oh well!

Let’s see…what has happened in the last few weeks. I had a wonderful time seeing family and friends while in Florida. We were sad to have to go back to school. I had to give a presentation with a fellow teacher on Effective Grading for our in-service day on the Monday we returned to school. Although I helped present about grading, I still have tons to learn. I really need to take my own advice on this subject. I have been overloaded with grades and life in general around the Canada house since school started back. I come home exhausted each day and ready for bed. It’s not even the baby that is causing this–he is sleeping through the night on most occasions. It is just everyday living. On MLK day I graded all day….what a nice day off plus I talked to a grandma of a student who called me back. School has been a tad bit crazy. The kids are in need of Spring Break already or at least I know I am! You just can’t imagine the antics that go on in my classroom. It is madness! There are days that I really feel like I am teaching and other days where I feel as if I am outside looking in on this craziness! I love teaching these darlings, but some days are just out there!

Pinewood Derby came and went last weekend. The boys had a blast. Andrew won 1st place in his den and overall the pack. Philip didn’t place this year, but he showed tremendous spirit throughout the whole thing. He is such a sweet boy. He really learned a lot about what it is all about. I am proud of him. I love my boys.

Spencer turned 3 months on Tuesday. I can’t believe he is growing so fast! He went from being “oh he is such a tiny little baby” to now “oh my, he is a big boy!”  These are the comments as of late. He had two appointments to figure out his issues and we found that he has a “floppy voice box”.  The flap is larger than normal and he always sounds like he is congested and makes gurgling sounds. He will outgrow this by 12-18 mos. The urologist originally said that he didn’t have an inguinal hernia but that it was probably a hydrocele (water filled cyst), but now he called me back and wants to see him again in 3 months to check on him. I will call to make that appointment when I have time.

I am itching to do some sewing projects but I might have to wait until Spring Break for that one. I am downloading all kinds of books on my Kindle Fire but haven’t had time to sit down and read them. Boo! I am going to try to make some time this weekend after I grade some more papers. LOL

Well I guess I have rambled on enough for now.

My Three Sons