Polka Dot English Tea Rose Ruffle Bum Bloomers!

The shop is open!  The long-term future of the shop is yet to be decided as juggling mom, wife, friend and nerdy history teacher duties have kept me on my toes this fall.  However, after much hemming and hawing I'm going to open the shop for October and November or until I run out of supplies.  I won't be restocking any mini-suitcases, onesies, ribbon or fabrics during this time so once it's gone...it is gone! 

Here is my lastest little creation!  My favorite part is the red and light blue in the English Tea fabric that is accented by the light blue middle eastern geometric print.  Normally, not a geometric print fan this one reminds me of the beautiful Spanish architecture built by the Moors between the 900-1400's.  Also, the white ruffle just gives it that clean and classic element. 

Polka Dot Ruffle Bum Bloomers by PinkyBleu

My Roller Derby Debut...

...oh how I wish that were actually true!  Really, the only sport that I've truly excelled at in life has been roller skating.  Growing up in Southern California, it's just what we did year round.  Extra-wide endless sidewalks were abundant, the weather was pleasant year round, and we could get anywhere we needed to, in particular, the Seven-Eleven where we would indulge in a "suicide" Slurpee and some $.05 Bazooka Joe gum.  It was the 80's and accompanied with my faithful collection of fanny packs in neon colors, we rocked the elementary afterschool scene! 

Sunday night I once again found myself rocking the elementary rollerskating scene at my nephew's 8th birthday party!  The wind from the centrifugal force blowing in my face, rounding corners at death defying angles, and fully utilizing the carpeted rink walls to stop my high speed and possibly wreckless skating.  It's been ten years since roller skates have coddled these feet but it was quite the welcomed reunion.  I felt like a real bad ass out there last night...untill I saw the pictures in which I look totally normal...LAME!  Maybe it was all in my head but RollerTowne has not seen the last of me and as those Roller Derby girls took to the rink I could only mutter and shake my fist in the air while quoting our great Governator, "I'll be back!"

...errr, that must have been my warm-up lap because I felt like I was skating at the speed of light!

My wannabe Roller Derby name is...BabySkin, since I would be the only one without a tattoo marked body.  It only seemed appropriate!

Figs! They're more than a Newton! Yum!

As we traveled to the various California Missions this summer figs were budding and pomegranates were blossoming. Mr. Rogers works with pomegranates so by default my knowledge abounds on pomegranate trees. Fig trees on the other hand are a rather unknown tree to the Rogers Family but their white park and large oak like leaves are rather appealing to me. Other than Fig Newtons I had never had the pleasure of experiencing a fig. Wait, I take that back I did have an old man with long finger nails try to pressure me into eating one a couple years but it just creeped me out and I took a reluctant nibble to get him off my back...hmmm, similar to what Lincoln did when I tried to get him to eat these figs!

While picking up some groceries at Trader Joe's the other day I spied some fresh green California Figs! Honestly, I had to google how to eat them because I had only seen them on trees, dried, in Renaissance paintings or in the hands of that old man. Let me tell you though, I was delightfully surprised at what a wonderful and under appreciated fruit the fig is. It was so easy to eat: wash and consume only leaving the stem behind. So delicious, subtle, sweet, and not messy…just what I like in a piece of fruit. The texture was a little queer but overall I found myself relishing in the experience of eating a fig!

If I had known I would be writing a blog about figs a couple months later I would have taken a better picture of the fig tree.  However, at the time I was just emamored by the bird nibbling on a ripe fig!

The Interactive Student Notebook - for those of you who have endless piles of your children's work laying around!

This is a modified version of a teaching strategy developed by Teachers' Curriculum Institute (TCI) called the Interactive Student Notebook.  It is designed to be a correspondence between students and teachers to engage students in their learning.  However, Jack and Lincoln's Interactive Notebooks will be more of a correspondence between them, myself, and Mr. Rogers.  I would like to send it to school for his teacher to comment on it every once in awhile but we'll see.  The link explains the notebooks in their entirety but I'm only going to discuss how we are going to use them at home.

Since I didn't think about using it until I had a substantial amount of Jack's kindergarten work sitting on the counter, the notebook at this point resembles more of a portfolio.  I've taken his work and together we have glued/stapled his work into the notebook every couple of days.  He LOVES putting his work in and really likes going back and "evaluating" what he has learned.  Mr. Rogers and I have gone through and written our words of encouragement and utilized the stickers I scored for $.24 at Target!  Jack will be beaming from cheek to cheek when we sit down and read them with him. 

So far it has been really fun for us and it will be neat for the kids to flip through their notebooks as they get older and see what they did in preschool and kindergarten or whatever school setting they are a part of.  It also keeps ALL those papers organized...three cheers for organization!

Nail polish note:  Compliments of Jack and Lincoln who felt like their mom needed an orange nailpolish...Jack promptly pointed out that I could wear it both now and for Halloween!  OPI Summer Flutter Collection, Flit A Bit.

A Little Schoolhouse Rock on Constitution Day!

Did you know today that September 17, 1787 is Constitution Day?  Don't feel bad since I only know because I teach American History.  In an attempt to jazz up somewhat boring passages from The Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers things are being spiced up in my classroom today with a little Schoolhouse Rock and some homemade cookies!  Teenagers will do anything for you and pretend they like it for a little food!  Federalist Papers No. 10 and 51 are always best served with Constitution Birthday cookies...I wanted to put stars and stripes on them but I'm going to play the whole three kids card on that one!

So here I am, an hour before my first classs starts and I'm throwing the last batch of cookies into the oven.  Really, I should have baked them last night but I got sucked into the world of Schoolhouse Rock!  (totally going to buy a Schoolhouse Rock DVD for the kids on Amazon)

Although you can watch Schoolhouse Rock and study the Federalist Papers on your own I cannot teleport cookies to you in an attempt to make it more pleasurable but here is the recipe!  Enjoy!

Schoolhouse Rock - The Preamble

Nerdy History Teacher Note:  The first time it goes through the preamble it is in the context of 1787 and then the second time it is in today's context (actually 1976).  My favorite is when the presumably African American hand stamps the Constitution which says "Right On" - obviously before political correctness!

I got the vomit and Mr. Rogers got the ice cream, man!

Maggie threw up all over me this morning .... just moments before I was walking out the door to go to work, of course!  Truly it was the gift that kept giving as she continued to vomit on the two of us while we made our way down the hall and into the bathroom.  Mr. Rogers was able to whisk Jack off to school only to return to a ten foot trail of something that curdled in Maggie's stomach as she slumbered last night.  Being so behind at work and not having a sub or sub plans it was decided that I would go to work and Mr. Rogers would stay home with Maggie.  While at work, and in the middle of grading a six inch pile of papers, I get this picture sent over my phone...wait, let me mention that it was two o'clock and all that had entered my body was a cup of coffee at that point in the day!

All I have to say is that next time Maggie vomits on me I'm staying home!  I'll weigh my odds against Murphy's Law in hopes of a speedy recovery like today so we can be chillin' at the ice cream shop come time to pick Jack up from school!

Labor Day - The Day of the Groupon!

Labor Day was day of the Groupon for us!

GAP Groupon for Boys and Mr. Rogers

(2 pairs of shorts, 4 longsleeve shorts and a pair of khakis for $25...cha-ching!)

+ Lunch Groupon included mouth watering burgers and onion rings

+ Frozen Yogart Groupon was perfect for a warm summer day 

+ Jack's new red sunglasses

(our only non-Groupon transaction of the day but still free thanks to an ULTA coupon!)

= Labor Day Groupon Family Fun!

Back to the Classroom!

It wouldn't be a history classroom without a vintage 1960's wooden desk, a 1980's mustard yellow metal shelf with faux wood laminate, and a Nixon bobblehead....errr, I purposely added the mob of papers for some picture ambiance.

The start of a new school year has left me swamped the past couple weeks. My house is a wreck, my sewing machine is colleting dust, various versions of American History textbooks abound near the kitchen table where I work, morning runs have been cashed in for some valuable “zzzz’s” and blogging is all but a distant memory!

A constant battle is always brewing in my heart between being a stay-at-home mom or a working mom. Fortunately, I kind of have the best of both worlds because I only teach in the mornings but that still leaves me unavailable to volunteer in Jack’s Kindergarten class or be involved in his school to the extent that I really would like to be. One of my friends once told me that a happy mom makes happy children. Perhaps that is what I should focus on because teaching in the mornings makes me very happy. Getting students into college who never thought they could make it, makes me very happy. When the principal tells me that there are juniors who failed every class with the exception of mine, I'm happy. When I can make a call home to a parent who has continually heard negative teacher comments about their child and tell them how awesome their child is in my class, it makes me happy…and a little teary eyed.

It’s so timely that this week I got two notes from former students who are both in college now.  I keep a collection of these periodic notes so that when I feel down about working, or think, “Why am I wasting my time with these kids and not spending it with my own?”, I can pull them out and read them.

This one is from a girl that I taught just about 9 years ago as a then 7th grader:

“….you were my very favorite teacher while in grade school. I just wanted to say thank you for being a wonderful inspiration to me. I also want to thank you for your great knowledge and wisdom. I hope you continue to impact your students like you have done to me…"

And this girl I had in 10th-12th grade, she is currently in her sophomore year of college:

“Your AP class really made me love history….Well, I actually just changed majors and minors. I’m a history major with a math minor now. I’m more passionate about history so I’m putting that first…"

[weep, weep]

I blogged an article at the beginning of the summer, Have You Hugged Your AP Teacher Today, of course, being sarcastic.  Really, though, when was the last time you did write a little thank you note to an old teacher or someone who made a difference in your life?  If I was your teacher right now, I would have you pull out a piece of paper and take 15 minutes to jot down a thoughtful note, address the envelope, and stick it in the mailbox …with a stamp of course!  At the end of the school year I try to sit down and write a little note to every single student I had that year. Wow, that can get difficult but can you believe how much it means to the kids, especially the ones that have made a career of getting "F's".  I know it’s worth it because I will run across students, especially the trouble maker boys, who still have that note stuck in their wallet years later.  A little note goes a long ways…