Wonderful, Thankful

It's Thanksgiving! We didn't eat turkey today but we will on Saturday! I took the opportunity to take Cecelia and Coletyn to see the movie Wonder that was just released! Since we weren't hustling and bustling today for the holiday, it was nice to take a step back and see what I am Thankful for!

Since summer, the kids and I have started reading chapter books at night. Before that, Cecelia may read a library book and Coletyn would pick a picture book. This teacher momma didn't really enjoy reading before bed. Gasp! But we of course did it anyways. I think I was just sick of reading the SAME books for almost 9 years. I got bored. When I realized that Coletyn was ready to listen to chapter books, I jumped on it and changed our nightly routine. Now every night, we get a good 30-40 minutes of a read aloud in. See what else we've read here! I love it. The kids love it too! I think I'd have to say it's my favorite part of the day! Getting lost in the setting of the book and learning the lessons together makes this teacher momma's heart burst. Some of life's greatest lessons can be taught through the pages of a great book.

Knowing the movie was coming out and also knowing that Cecelia hadn't read it yet, this teacher momma took the opportunity to cycle Wonder by R.J. Palacio it into our nightly read aloud. At the same time, the teachers in my school decided to capitalize on the movie coming out- teachers are good about jumping on stuff like that! Classrooms are reading the books and I put a t-shirt order together for the staff and students as we are going on a field trip to see the movie. I took advantage of that t-shirt order and got some swag for Cecelia and Coletyn as well!!

We finished the book a week ago and the kids have been chomping at the bit to see the movie. On Tuesday I told the kids I got tickets. They danced in their seats. My heart tickled yesterday when they watched the same 10 minutes Youtube video of the movie trailers for over an hour. Well, today we went!

She's getting better at her selfie skills!

It was what we expected. Wonderful!  We cried. We laughed. We just felt good! It was a highlight mom moment. After the meals are made, the kitchen is clean and the butts are wiped, there aren't a whole lot of "fun" parts of motherhood. THIS WAS ONE! An amazing one. This will fuel my momma tank for a while! When we got home, Cecelia went right to her classroom (corner of my kitchen with her chalkboard) where she had her students make precepts and create an art project. The rest of the night the kids compared the movie to the book and we discussed why the movie couldn't include all the other parts we loved from the book while Cecelia wore her astronaut helmet just like August!

I definitely had time today to stop and smell the roses and be thankful for moments like this.

Thank a Teacher.

An article passed my Facebook last week about compassion fatigue and secondary trauma in teachers. It mentioned how teachers can show symptoms of stress and anxiety as a result of hearing about the trauma their student's experienced. In the last 13 years as a teacher, I can attest to this. Hearing about my student's trauma and watching them navigate it without much you can do about it, leaves it mark. Short of bringing some of these kiddos home with me, all I can do is feel their trauma with them.

Ways I cope....

• I honestly try to leave work at work. This doesn't always work but this is why if you know me closely you'll rarely hear me talking about school. I try to leave it there as a way to cope.
• If you work with me, that's another story. I think a way educators cope together is to share their (student's) stories with those who may offer suggestions or just empathy.
• Stress relief... it may come in a beverage form. Or a suggary form. Or a "let's take our kids somewhere fabulous" adventure. (Maybe I should reverse the order on those!)
• Celebrate and cherish the events that seem to happen to far apart.... those listed below. (I may need to come back and reread these sometimes. So I wanted to publish them somewhere!)

This week I was visited by two different individuals.

First a former student came in. He has since passed onto the middle school but we spent 4 years together. The last year together, we went toe to toe quite a few times. And the stickler I am, I never let him not meet my expectation (apologies for my double negative). My goal for him all along was to make him a functional independent student and hopefully a good boyfriend/husband/father one day. There were many hard lessons. Some taught in a tender way. Others through a school of hard knocks. I was always well aware of not wanting to induce more trauma but I knew we had a well established relationship as I had known him since he was a younger sibling of a former student as well. Well, going toe to toe that last year meant there was friction. I was bound and determined to continue to teach him what I could until that 3:35 bell rang that last day in June. This was a kiddo with a HARD exterior who would never really give you much back. I am used to it. That's what I deal with as a special education teacher, but it doesn't make it easy.

Well, this week, this kiddo was at my classroom door at dismissal. I saw him and my face lit up. The moment my face lit up, his broke down. He ran into my arms sobbing and wouldn't let go. After he calmed down, he shared how different everything is and thanked me for everything I had ever done for him and mentioned over and over how I was always right. There it was. The "payback" I had never gotten but needed to hear to know that I had done something right for this child over the years. He caught me up on what the family was up to and I reassured him that he would always know where to find me.

Second, a grandmother of a former student dropped of goodies and a card for the teachers at my school as a thank you for her grandson who was now doing well at the middle school. Due to a tragic event, she found herself guardians to her grandchildren and had to make the hard decision to pull them out of their school and move them to where she lived. This is where we met this young man with a pretty significant disability two years ago. He thrived at our school and passed onto middle school like the other 45 kiddos in his grade level. When chatting with her in the hall this week, she also shared a sobbing hug with me and expressed her gratitude for everything we had done and shared how well her grandson was doing thanks to us.

Third, I shared this post last spring. This was that kiddo. That kid in the last 5 years that I so wish I could bring home with me. This is a kiddo who could be college bound, get a degree and be a master computer programmer one day. I truly hope this is his destiny but I worry that if his disability doesn't hold him back, his life will. But this day below, after I move heaven and earth on a daily basis to make sure he can access continued learning through his disability, he brought ME the roses.

Those roses stayed bloomed in my classroom for almost 4 weeks and I finally had to toss them while closing up my classroom in June.

These were three events that I will take with me moving forward. Honestly, those two visit this week were enough to reenergize me. For how long it will last, I don't know. But I am hoping a while because I don't know the next time something like any of these events will happen again. But apparently, all the effort physically, mentally and emotionally IS making a difference. So, tomorrow starts another week at school. I'll keep doing what I do best (after mother) teach.

If you haven't lately, thank a teacher. Not because you haven't lately, but because another family doesn't have the ability to as they have their own traumas to worry about. It takes a village. Support your village as they help hold up others.

Summer of Firsts!-- 2016

If you've followed me for a while, I am sure you can assume how we spent our summer.

• Crossing off our bucket list
• Eiting summer school
• 4th of July Festivities
• being just a mom!

We did have quite a summer of firsts however!

Pop Rocks

Bubble Blowing

New Bike

Independent Swimmer

Smoking Ribs

T-Ball

Bread

Signs

Science Projects

Shoes

Pony Tails

Airplane Rides

Names

Standing (finally!)

Splash Pad

Monkeys

Wagon Rides

3D Movie

Art

Chapter Books

first library books on own card!

#GirlScouts Cookies... Knee Deep

Raise your hand if you are knee deep in Girl Scouts.... Yep, apparently I am.

Below is my project from last weekend. Cookie costumes for the girls to wear at cookie booths. Four costumes for $15.00  YEP!

I started by searching Pinterest. Surprisingly, I didn't like anything I saw. Either too ugly, too complicated, too simple... Nothing I went, yeah, that's it. So, I took components of some and came up with the other ideas myself. 

I started with some sketches. I knew if I was making one, I was making a bunch as they would be easiest doing all at one time instead of over the course of time. So, I planned for three. A thin mint, thanks-a-lot, and caramel delites!

Supplies needed:

two rolls of 9 feet green satin ribbon

white puffy paint

1.5 yard fusible two sided interfacing- heavy duty

20 inches cream felt (from a bolt)*

20 inches tan felt (from a bolt)*

36 inches of dark brown felt (from a bolt)*

8 inches red felt (from a bolt)*

8 inches of black felt (from a bolt)*

8 inches of white felt (from a bolt)*

brown thread

JoAnn coupons!

*felt was on sale for $2.99/yard

Items not at the store:

pins

sewing machine

iron

towel

scissors- good fabric scissors

hot glue

rando piece of cardboard

My cart. I was dropping bolts everywhere!

One of the things I dislike most on the costumes on Pinterest were the size or structure. They were either too big- who the hell wants to store that. Or too flimsy- oh look, that little girl is wearing a poop costume. Yuck. I decided that 16 inch diameter circles with a backing and ribbons to hang around necks (like a giant necklace) would be easy, not too big to store, and hold their structure while the girls wear them and still sling cookie boxes.

My patterns below. Patterns needed:

16 inch diameter circle

18 inch diameter circle

eyes

pupils/thanks-a-lot circles

lips

Nothing special. Just hand drawn pieces. Eyelashes* were a must.

*Note if using fusible webbing. Make sure you fuse right sides of eyelashes. They are the only pieces not symmetrical so it matters which side you use the fusible on. You need a pair of lashes not all the same way.

Once the patterns were made I started cutting felt. The 16 inch circles are for the backs and the interfacing. The 18 inch circles are for the fronts. The faces are self explanatory. I cut an extra 16 inch dark circle for the front of the caramel delites to made the squiggles. Also, I used 14 pupil circles for the circles for the Thanks-a-Lot. I cut everything I needed. I ended up having enough felt for a fourth cookie. Welcome, Mrs. Peanut Butter Patties!

*specific parts for each cookie listed at bottom of post.

Here's where I took a left turn. I had so much interfacing left that I decided to abort my original plan to sew on all the felt pieces and used the interfacing instead. Had this been my original plan, I would have bought the applique type of interfacing for this. All I had was the heavy-duty. It worked fine but it is thick. Seeing a bit of the white under the face pieces wasn't enough for me to make another run to the store! 

 So, I used the interfacing to get all the faces onto the 18 inch circles. I ironed the pieces onto the fusible then cut them out. 

Next, I moved onto the ribbons. Everything I saw on Pinterest had cut out felt letters. Who has time for that? #threekidproblems I opted for puffy paint. I cut the ribbons with two inches on each side when I like where they were placed. I like uniformity, so all the ribbons went in the same place on each cookie. That's how I roll! Then I wrote the cookies' names on each ribbon in the puffy paint. I free handed it with different fonts for each cookie type.  Then I let the ribbons dry over night.

As they dried, I put the cookies together. I made sandwiches. The 18 inch circle was the face, interfacing centered inside face and then 16 inch felt on back. The finishing is coming. I promise.

Day Two- After the puffy paint is dry!

I used hot glue to adhere the ribbons onto the fronts. I glued in a zig zag hoping it be harder for the girls to pick at. I scrounged up a piece of cardboard for the fourth unplanned Peanut Butter Patty. It would totally work with just cardboard on the inside and not the fusible webbing but I doubt they would last many years...

Next came sewing them together. Using a technique for sewing a circles including notching every twoish inches out a triangle of fabric, I sewed the two inch lip that is left from the 18 inch circle around to the back. Felt doesn't fray so you don't have to worry about hemming. I did hem the ribbon ends and then tuck up under the felt on the back side. I like using the dark brown thread. Even on the lighter cookies. The accent color didn't bother me and I HATE replacing the bobbin thread! (The cardboard cookie got hot glued.. it won't last long but looks good for now!)

Last step is the shoulder straps (ribbon). I simply took the ribbon I had left and cut into 8 same size pieces. I used a lighter to quickly melt the ends to help stop them from fraying. If any piece of the costume is going to fail, it will be these ribbons. They may fall off if a girl snags the cookie or is rough on it. Or the ends may fray or get dirty looking. Knowing this, I purposely put them on last as they would be really easy to seam rip off and replace. I just put them at about 10:00 and 2:00 on the back of the cookie facing straight up (parallel). I sewed through them following the seam I just used to close the cookie but I left about 3 inches out in the direction towards the center of the cookies. I hot glued these pieces down to give a bit more support. 

That was it. The girls will just tie them around their necks and be done!

My favorite Girl Scout!

*Specific parts for each cookie listed below:

Caramel Delites:

1 tan 18 inch diameter felt circle

1 tan 16 inch diameter felt circle

1 dark brown 16 inch diameter felt circle

1 16 inch circle double sided fusible stabilizer

5 feet green ribbon

1 mouth

two eyes

two eyelashes

two pupils

fusible webbing for all felt parts

Thin Mint:

1 dark brown 18 inch diameter felt circle

1 dark brown 16 inch diameter felt circle

1 16 inch circle double sided fusible stabilizer

5 feet green ribbon

1 mouth

two eyes

two eyelashes

two pupils

fusible webbing for all felt parts

Thank-a-Lot:

1 cream 18 inch diameter felt circle

1 cream 16 inch diameter felt circle

1 16 inch circle double sided fusible stabilizer

5 feet green ribbon

1 mouth

two eyes

two eyelashes

two pupils

14 tan pupil size circles

fusible webbing for all felt parts

Peanut Butter Patties:

1 dark brown 18 inch diameter felt circle

1 tan 16 inch diameter felt circle (I ran out of dark brown. It's only for the back. No one will notice!)

1 10x10 inch piece of tan for bite of peanutbutter

1 16 inch circle double sided fusible stabilizer 

(or 16 inch cardboard circle!)

5 feet green ribbon

1 mouth

two eyes

two eyelashes

two pupils

fusible webbing for all felt parts

Happy cookie slinging!

See more mommy sewing projects:

Thanks Santa- Baby Alive Diapers here!