Gone Buggy!

This weekend, I had a gentle reminder of just how amazing it is to see your children's eyes light up at what may be the smallest of things to you, but something much greater to them.

From the beginning....Uncle Shannon bought Ethan a ladybug habitat for Christmas and he was so thrilled that he asked practically every other day, "Mama, when are the ladybugs coming in the mail?" Papa and I had to explain that the eggs wouldn't be laid until the Spring and it would be awhile. Well, lo and behold, the first day of Spring arrived this March and again he asked (more confidently this time), "Mama, it's Spring and you said the ladybug eggs would be ready now, so where are they?" I told him that I ordered them and we just had to be patient and wait for the postman to deliver them...I thought he'd hound the postman every time we checked the mail, but luckily he didn't.

In the meantime, we'd been reading books from Mama's library about ladybugs and their life cycle. He thoroughly enjoyed learning about the stages of life and how ladybugs helped our gardens. He drew ladybugs on scratch paper and even pretended his bunny was a ladybug (he obviously couldn't wait!).

Finally. about two weeks ago....they made their debut in Ethan's ladybug habitat. Nine glorious eggs arrived and he and Papa quickly opened the live specimen package and emptied them into their temporary home. They read all the instructions, twice (Ethan wanted to be sure Papa didn't leave anything out!) Each day. we talked about how the ladybugs would grow and change and that we would have to release them at some point. As they sat upon the bar on the counter in the kitchen, Ethan patiently observed their every move (every 10 minutes for the first wk!) He gave us updates on their status and instructed us as to which stage of the life cycle they were in each time it changed. (I was proud of him for remembering everything that we read.)

Well, the day came this weekend to release them into the world to do their job and eat all those dreaded aphids. See the photos below.

Ethan wasn't the least bit sad to let his newfound friends go, instead his face was full of wonder and his heart swelled with pride that he'd raised something that would in turn do something good for our environment. Something so small to us, was something monumental to my 4 1/2 yr. old....a gentle reminder that life is full of little things that can make a world of difference and we need to take the time to appreciate each and every one of them.

PS: Ethan can't wait to raise another critter or two in his new little insect habitat!

Honored

So lately I've been feeling a bit dissatisfied with the lack of cool programming, TEKS specific lessons, innovative tekkie projects, amongst other things (mostly work related) not going on in my library... Feeling overwhelmed with opening a new school (like I can never get caught up), worried that I'm just not doing everything I set out to do this school year....everything that I know my superiors were hoping for (based on my interviews)...

For example, it's National Library Week and did I plan anything? Not one measily little thing...I always had HUGE events during this special week in the past...so what's the deal now? TAKS testing is coming around again and I really had planned on getting the kids into the library for some FUN TAKS review...have I gotten to it? NOPE. And it's not like I've not been doing anything, I've been super busy, just not doing some of the great things I had planned.

So...why does my blog title read "Honored?" Well, much to my surprise.....today at our staff meeting, all of these feelings (all on the surface) suddenly went "POOF" when my principal announced that my staff selected me as a C-FB ISD V.I.P. ! (I guess they really do like what I'm doing, even though it's not enough in my mind.) What an honor! (And our acting superintendent was there to hear about it!) So, what does that mean exactly? I get recognized at a school board meeting with my peers present, have dinner with the big guys, get a cool plaque, and even get honored at a Texas Rangers Game....way cool! There is nothing more rewarding than being honored by your peers..your colleagues, especially when they are the ones you feel like you've been neglecting!

**Something off topic, but related to the library...one of my fifth grade classes came in today for a mini-lesson and project idea session on their upcoming book project using a historical fiction novel. I threw together a quick guide describing the genre and several booktalks via PPT, with the hopes of convincing them that learning about history through fiction could be really interesting. Well, as soon as I explained their project and told them the genre they'd be working with, I had several grunts, moans, and frowning faces. One in particular caught my eye...Paul (I adore Paul!) He had this look on his face that said, "Seriously, Mrs. Snead? You've got to be joking! I do not read about history, it's B-O-R-I-N-G" with an extra "awwwwwwww" thrown in to boot! It stopped me in the middle of my lesson...and right at that moment, I guaranteed Paul that he would find at least one book in my booktalks that would surely change his mind about historical fiction. (Doubtful, he shook his head "No" and I set out to prove my point.) I continued with my presentation and went quickly through about 15 novels, listening to "oooo's and ahhhh's" (excited ones!) and watched them make mental notes in their heads as to which ones they were going to grab from the shelves, but I paid special attention to Paul's reactions...and sure enough after hearing the synopisis for The Notorious Izzy Fink by Don Brown, I knew I'd had him, HOOK< LINE< and SINKER! He was the first out of his chair and bolted to the shelves to get his hands on that book. Will he be a satisfied reader? Who knows, but I do know that I made him stop and think about it long enough to capture his curiosity...we'll just have to wait and see! I've got my eye on you, Paul!**

Stuff like that.....that's what makes being a librarian meaningful!

Thank you to my colleagues for believing in what I do and stepping up to the plate every time I want to experiment with a new project!

Motherhood

You know how being away from your loved ones sometimes brings you closer to them? Last week I was away at TLA in Houston for the week while Jerry was the Mama...Although I talked to my babies every night before they went to bed (I have to talk to Ethan about his day, it's our special daily ritual), I longed to see them and hold them and I really missed our special bedtime rituals. I swear that Carson grew an inch or two while I was away and all of the sudden what used to be "his" word for "airplane" suddenly became "airplane", plain and clear. I missed listening to him describe the sky in "his" words. I missed him pointing to each of us and saying our names, "Mama," "Papa,", "Bruba (brother)," and "Jucha (Rusha)." I missed Ethan asking me about my day and about my kids at school. I missed looking at them in their eyes and telling them to have sweet dreams and that I would see them in the morning. I just plain missed them!

Being away from them made me realize how important the simple everyday rituals are to me...how much motherhood really means to me. Sometimes, I take for granted that they are children and will grow up so quickly. I do so by spending too much time working and worrying about getting everything "just so"...it's time to live my life for them and not for work. (Thanks, Kelli...)

Never regret a run....

So, I've been in a training class for a half marathon for about two months and although I haven't seen a lot of weight loss, a big thing I was hoping for, I've seen a difference in my endurance and strength...take for example, my first 5K of the year in February...my time was 34:47...not bad, but not that great either. Then I did the Dash Down Greenville a few weeks into my training program with friends, MaryAnn and Ashley in 37ºF with light drizzle (but it was fun!) and my time was 33:23...getting better, right? Well, this morning...I managed to pull myself from my very rested state of sleep to do the Kacie's Run with several other team members from both schools....weather was like 33ºF and snow flurries...we were freezing before the race even began! I had to go back to the car to get another fleece pullover, Esperanza had to call her husband for extra gear, Ashley borrowed a cozy hat from a friend, and a few of our team members bailed because it was just plain FREEZING...but those of us that braved the cold, ran or walked and it was GREAT! I just checked my time...32:38 and 9th in my age division! That feels really GOOD! So the moral of my story....it's not all about the weight loss...don't be bitter...just be BETTER!

Way to go Katie & Baby Parker, Diane & nephews, Tracy (finished 2nd in her division!), Aubree (finished 1st overall for women!), Ashley, Keli, Jenny, Esperanza, Robin, and Marcia! You guys rock! Can't wait to do it again!

Ice Day

Last night I told my husband, "I really don't think we need to worry about an ice storm" as the temperature was only in the low 30's and there wasn't a drop of precipitation falling from the sky....then around 10 PM it started....not a monsoon or anything, but serious rainfall. Needless to say, as my husband trekked across the parking lot from his office (which is only a few hundred feet from our crummy apartment) winter wonders made him lose his balance a bit...slipping and sliding! Hmmm....maybe we won't have school tomorrow, at least that's what I hoped for. I'd say around 5 AM I got the call....one that made me jump out of bed for fear that it was a family emergency or something, but much to my relief (as you NEVER want to wake up to one of those calls), it was our automated voice messaging system informing me that I could sleep in a little longer than normal and lounge in my jammies all day if I so choose....And here I am, not still in my jammies, but definitely lounging! I thought about working a bit, but then I reminded myself that the days of having no schedule and being able to enjoy free time with my beautiful kids is a rarity, so I skipped the work for today. So, what have we done today? We woke up later than normal (including my husband), had a bite for breakfast, gloated that the kids and I got to stay home while Jerry still had to work (was that mean?), Ethan and I worked on a beautiful picture (one of those old color by number ones), we all laid in my bed and read stories, checked the email, worked on the new blog, had lunch, took cat naps, caught up with my parents via the phone, and now we are about to watch "Hook" (for the bizillionth time!)....so who wouldn't be envious of us (besides Jerry)?

Thank God for ice days!

Okay, Kelli....I am officially a blogger! ;)