Category Archives: Family

Early Bird – Weekly Photo Challenge

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Ivy’s head rests on my knee and she gazes through the window, watching the shadows in the yard searching for movement protecting her home. Her warmth and the coffee help bring the day to life for me.

earlybird

I enjoy getting up early, sipping coffee, and catching the day’s first lights as it creeps across the yard and illuminate the trees. It is quiet in the family room, at least on Sunday morning. Usually, on weekdays, W and I are out the door on our way to school and O is just rising readying for school. However, Sunday morning is different – the day begins much slower and quieter. It is just Ivy and I, peaceful and serene.

There is irony, too. Continue reading Early Bird – Weekly Photo Challenge →

Afloat – Weekly Photo Challenge

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I have been trying to stay afloat all year. This year’s trek began almost a year ago when I learned about my move to science from English Language Arts. There have been days when I have felt like a turtle with its nose just barely above the surface gasping for air. Then, there are the days, like yesterday when I felt I was floating in the air; and the day before when I could have been tumbling through air.

IMG_0979
the sun sets through the trees – soon, leaves will appear – spring is here

Change is never easy, especially when it is not of your choice, and as the school year winds down, I look back and reflect on the successes of the past year as well as the many opportunities for the coming year. At present, I do not know next year’s teaching assignment, so change could be in the air or not, I just don’t know. However, what I do know is that the coming year will be full of chances to teach my students life lessons, regardless of the content area. I teach kids, that’s what I do. I’ll focus on what I know and what I can do for now and float.

When I came home last night, the air was crisp cool and clear and I wanted to walk. Continue reading Afloat – Weekly Photo Challenge →

Ephemeral: The Wall – 03/26/1967

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washmonWe are in DC, as you can see. It is Spring Break and we needed a getaway place. There other reasons we are here, but for now, we are here to take in the sights, sounds, and the tastes of our nation’s capital. I have been here before and so has B, but this is the first trip to DC for our kids. By the time, I was W’s age, I had visited several capital cities across the globe, but never had been to DC.

Ephemeral – \i-ˈfem-rəl, -ˈfēm-; -ˈfe-mə-, -ˈfē-\ – lasting a very short time

That’s how life is. You blink and it’s gone. Life is about being in the right place at the right time. Sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s not good. It depends, and my good might be your not good and vice versa, it’s perspective.

There is a lot to see in DC and if you blink it will be gone, but I always try to visit The Wall. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I visited it for the first time in 1995, and again in ‘08, and again yesterday. Visiting The Wall never gets old. I always look for the same name, Douglas E. Dickey. 17E 50. Continue reading Ephemeral: The Wall – 03/26/1967 →

The state bee

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Today is gonna be a great day. I usually end my posts with this, but today I’ll start AND end with the quote. The quate is aline is from a song, aptly named “Today is gonna be a great day” and it was in part, part of the inspiration for Making the Days Count almost five years ago.

This could possibly be the best day ever
And the forecast says that tomorrow will likely be
A million and six times better

So make every minute count
Jump up, jump in and seize the day
And let’s make sure that in every single possible way
Today is gonna to be a great day

It is gonna be a great day, because today is the National Geography Society’s state Geography Bee and my student qualified for it. Actually, he really isn’t my student he’s a sixth grader and he goes to my school. I just happen to be the Geo Bee coordinator and very passionate about geography. I’ve been helping him prepare, first for the state qualifying test and then for the state competition. We’ve had two study sessions where I’ve helped him and guided him by asking questions from past geography bees, but he really knows his stuff. Today will be the big test and he’ll be up against 100 other kids from across Illinois from grades 4 to 8 or ages 9-14. Most of them will be boys, about 80-90% and I wish him the best.

The best part is that I get to go and watch. Continue reading The state bee →

Life in the balance

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crocusthumbIn a perfect world everything would be in balance, lately though it seems the world – my world – has been out of balance. Much of the imbalance comes back to teaching and having a family. In reality, I am no different from anyone else – I have a job and life – everyone does; I just have a blog and I am writing about it. Nevertheless, I do not want to sound like I am whining and if I am, please sound off in the comments section. If you have followed Making the Days Count, you already know I share the lessons I learn from my students often and share what I learn from what I teach. It’s a delicate balance – the balance between school and my blog and between school and home.

Lately school has been winning; I have too much to learn, too much to do, and not enough time to do it in. So, I have not written as much as I would have liked. I am trying to put first things first.

It’s been a tumultuous year for us – we’ve lost two family members in the last year – both on my wife’s side of the family and in the past two weeks B’s family suffered the loss of two close family friends a husband and wife whom B has known her entire life, a virtual second set of parents. The loss has hit her hard and thrown her for a loop. Sadly, no amount of comfort I offer seems to ease the pain. I listen, hug, and stay calm. I cook dinner when I can and help as much as my work schedule allows. Still, I feel as if I come up short in every role – husband, father, teacher, and student.

Even at my age, I am a student as much as I am a teacher – because I am always learning and always asking the question of why? When we stop asking why, we begin asking the question when and it is not up to me when, so I keep asking why and trying to learn as much as I am able. Continue reading Life in the balance →

Chocolate bunnies

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photo courtesy of Fannie May
photo courtesy of Fannie May

A month ago, our area got its heaviest snow of the season, 19 inches, and this winter rivals last winter for being cold. According to our local weatherman, this February tied the record for being the coldest on record. We have had snow cover since that early February snowstorm and the snow has thawed, frozen, thawed, and refrozen leaving the backyard a crust of frozen icy snow. I don’t venture out into the yard often, just occasionally to quiet a barking Ivy, our Brittany Spaniel, or to toss Ivy a ball, or clean up after her. It is rather perilous tramping through the frozen yard. It doesn’t seem to bother Ivy – she has smaller paws and is much lighter than I am, so she can walk across the yard without sinking in as I do. Last Wednesday night we got another three or four inches of snow and the driveway was covered Thursday morning. I cleaned it off and the bright sunshine finished what I didn’t clean or clear; it’s evident spring is on its way and the days are getting longer again. Continue reading Chocolate bunnies →

Not my problem

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It’s Super Bowl Sunday and for the last four Super Bowls, I’ve made a prediction and every year my prediction has been a fail. Epic fail. Last year’s prediction was the worst ever. So this year, I won’t predict, I won’t share which team I am rooting for, I won’t tip my hand in any way. I just want to see a good game that keeps my interest until the very end, and of course I want to see some good commercials.

Last night I went to bed and the snow was beginning to fall. The weather guys began predicting a major snowstorm on Wednesday or Thursday and the hype has been building since. When I flipped on the radio yesterday, it was all I could hear – major snowstorm, blizzard warning, yada yada yada! The grocery stores were nuts yesterday as folks were out getting bread, milk, and eggs – in case we were snowed in. This morning when I peered out the window, the trees were coated and it was lovely. The snowplow had yet to clean the street and everywhere I could see was covered with a think velvety blanket of fresh snow.

my view this morning.....
my view this morning…..

Then, the snowplow came through. Continue reading Not my problem →

Word Press Challenge – Shadowed

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It’s Sunday morning and I’ve had a good start to the day – I’ve read the paper, caught up on news, and finished watching CBS Sunday Morning’s weekly broadcast. I am full of ideas for the day, and the coming week – which usually stares me down at this time in the weekend. Tomorrow is martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday holiday and I have an extra day to prepare for the coming week. Friday was a planned teacher workday – school without kids and NO MEETINGS and I spent several hours yesterday working on school work.

animal tracks leading into the shadows of the woods and vegetation and safety
animal tracks leading into the shadows of the woods and vegetation and safety

I took these photos last week at a Forest Preserve I pass on my way to and from school. A narrow shallow rock-bottomed river runs beside the road and the cold weather has iced over much of it, except for the space where it trickles over a natural dam and opens up before running downstream. I visited the preserve last weekend. The sun was shining and the world was full of shadows. I found tracks in the fresh snow which I could only see because of the shadows and I startled a Canadian goose. I took my shots, captured the shadows and retreated home to where it was warm.

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It’s been cold here – we have had two days of no school due to the frigid temperatures, and even more frightful wind chills, the week before last. Continue reading Word Press Challenge – Shadowed →

Weekly Photo Challenge – New

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It’s a new year, with the some of the same responsibilities. Perhaps, I need a new outlook?

ivythesnowdog
new fallen snow and Ivy the Dog – the wonder dog

 

Normally, January 1st is not the day I choose for resolutions, usually my resolutions fall in early June when school lets out for summer and I have more time to reflect, rest, reset, and restore. But, that is summer or rather ‘some ‘er’ which sounds like summer but means some are – as in some are and some aren’t. Some summers I am more successful with the ‘reflect and reset’ than others. This past summer was one of those in which the reset was not complete. Now, I find myself in the beginning of winter and new fallen snow is beginning to cover the landscape. It brings a new outlook to the world; it’s fresh, clean, pure, and powdery. Ivy tested it earlier and came inside, curled up on the hassock, and went back to sleep. It’s a new beginning, sort of.

new snow – looking north, sort of
new snow, looking south

Continue reading Weekly Photo Challenge – New →

Stille Nacht

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It’s Christmas morning and we are all in Ohio. We are at grandma’s house and it’s quiet, very quiet. The kids are still sleeping, Ivy is curled on her pad, and B is visiting her mother – grandma – at the care center on the other side of town. She’s been at the care center since late September after a very nasty fall.

We arrived late Tuesday evening and visited with grandma. It was good to see her and laugh and tease – I hadn’t seen her since mid-July when I last visited Ohio. She’s my favorite mother-in-law and she still has her wicked sense of humor and a great smile. It was good to see both in action again. B’s been home a couple of times to check in on her mom and square up the house as best she could. It’s been a tough year for B and her mother – first B’s older sister passed away and then her dad passed away two months later. Truth be told, it’s been difficult for all of us.

We are staying in grandma’s house – but she’s away and it seems a bit odd. There is no one to sip coffee with in the morning and it’s even quieter than normal – even with two noisy kids and a dog. Yesterday, I visited with grandma in the morning and again in the evening. She was restless and had a difficult time settling down after dinner. I had taken a book to read to her – a children’s book – Shooting at the Stars: The Christmas Truce of 1914. Based on the true story of the truce on Christmas Day in 1914 when the British and German soldiers took the day to stop fighting and share the meaning of Christmas with one another. This being the centenary anniversary of the beginning of the war several books have been published as well as a British supermarket chain, Sainsbury, produced a controversial video advertisement about the truce. Continue reading Stille Nacht →