Tag Archives: children

Thanksgiving – being thankful

Thursday, November 27, 2014, @ 9:55 amCooking, Family, growing up, history, Learning, Reading, Science, teaching, Teaching and Learning, Writingbeing thankful, children, Family, great days, making the days count, Thanksgiving, weatherClay

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you are enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with family, friends, and memories – past, present, and future.

We are supposed to wake up in Ohio this morning, but we’re did not. Instead of travelling to visit B’s mom, we decided to stay home. It was a tough decision, but the right one. B and O are sick, or were sick, or in the process of getting better, or somewhere on the continuum and it’s just not worth spreading our germs to grandma or anyone else. So, we stayed home.

The turkey is in the oven, the sweet potatoes are cooked and cooling on the side burner waiting for B to turn them into sweet potato casserole. I need to clean the beans and the table, but, first, I need to say thanks. It smells like Thanksgiving in our home.

I am incredibly thankful. I have so much for which to be thankful. After getting the turkey in the oven, I sat down with a cup of coffee to read the newspaper. Ivy snuggled up beside me, resting her head on my thigh warming my legs. I read about Ferguson, Iraq and Afghanistan, Washington, the Nor’easter hammering the northeast, the Bears and today’s football games, and a guy named Steve who runs an incredible hobby shop. I read my horoscope and the weather where I learned that this Thanksgiving will be the coldest in Chicagoland in 58 years. Yikes. Then, I called my mom in Texas to wish her a Happy Thanksgiving, then my step-mom in Mississippi, and texted my brothers, too. Then, I sat down to write a short post.

It’s hard to believe, but I’ve been blogging @MakingDaysCount for over four years and this will be my fifth post. I went back to read all four, they are below.

It’s amusing how time blurs lines and memories. I enjoyed re-reading each post. I smiled, laughed, shed a tear, and watched the rocket videos, boy that was fun. I remember writing each post and where I was. Interesting. Every year, I wrote a list of why I was thankful and I don’t believe I could have written a better list of why I am thankful, so I won’t. You are welcome to go back in time as I did and re-read, but please take time to be thankful in your world.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, Make Your Thanksgiving Day Count, make the next day a million and six times better than the day before it and pay it forward. Light the world with your smile. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, saying thanks and praying for wonderful day with many more to come.

Thank you.

It’s a Girl! Throwback Thursday Edition

Thursday, October 23, 2014, @ 8:35 amFamily, growing up, history, Life in General, Reading, Science, teaching, Teaching and Learning, Writingbirthdays, children, fall leaves, Family, great days, making the days count, seventh grade, sixth grade, teaching, Throwback Thursday, writingClay

It snuck up on me, I don’t know how it did, but it did. Today is O’s birthday. She’s 12 and it doesn’t seem possible. I remember the morning we went to the hospital. The delivery was scheduled and B’s parents were here from Ohio to keep an eye on W and help where they could. When we came home with O – she didn’t have an official name, yet – we would decide between two choices: O and Hannah. We stuck with O and I’m glad.

October 23, 2002 - "It's a Girl" fly from the mailbox and leaves litter the ground. It's fall. — October 23, 2002 – “It’s a Girl” fly from the mailbox and leaves litter the ground. It’s fall.

So much has happened between then and now – O’s growing up and is now in sixth grade. Sometimes, she’s sassy, but most of the time she’s my O.

Today’s her birthday; and there will be more birthdays to come. There will be more growing and probably a lot more sass, definitely a lot more sass; but she’ll still be my O, and B’s too, but I write this blog, so she’s mine for now.

Last night we looked through the photos of her first day and we snuggled, laughed, and cried. It was a special day twelve years ago and I captured it with our first digital camera. The photos look grainy but we don’t have similar photos of W – he’s pre-digital and I didn’t think to bring a camera into the delivery room when he was born.

O and I - less than an hour old all swaddled and warm... — O and I – she’s less than an hour old and all swaddled and warm…

Since that first camera, we’ve had five more – including the two we are using now. And, we have loads of photos, more than I can process. I am not including our phones, which happen to have better cameras than that first digital camera from 2002.

O came into the world about 8:35 AM on a Wednesday morning. I had a sub in my classroom and my students were researching in the library. I don’t have a sub this morning, but I’ll share the photo and a memory. Later this morning, my science students will be researching in the library – just twelve years later; my how some things change and some things simply stay the same.

B's parents welcome O - grandpa passed away this summer - we miss him dearly - glad we had the memories of his laugh and the twinkle in his eye... — B’s parents welcome O – grandpa passed away this past summer – we miss him dearly – glad we had the memories of his laugh and the twinkle in his eye…

Tonight, will have dinner and a cake – a delicious Italian Cream Cake. It’s our birthday cake, homemade with real buttermilk and frosted with cream cheese frosting. You can’t beat it. A birthday in our home isn’t the same without it. But for now, I’d better get moving. It’s gonna be a great day. I know it and I can feel it, so I had better jump up, jump in and seize the day. Making the days Count, one day at a time, one memory, and one birthday at a time.

Have you ever come close to forgetting a birthday? Or, let one sneak up on you?

Weekly Photo Challenge – Dreamy

dawnsearlylight — the two maples work in concert to brighten our front yard – dreamy

Trees are ablaze around us. It’s fall. We have two trees, which appear as if they are afire; yesterday the sun’s light reflected into the bedroom and illuminated it in an orange glow. Soon the leaves will be falling to the ground and covering the lawn. Soon, my weekend activities will shift from dreaming to working on the lawn clearing leaves. That’s okay, that’s is what happens at this time of the year; the days get shorter and the dreams become stronger.

The dream of the lake, the pull of the lake.

I long to see the sun rise over the lake and watch the sun’s rays slowly bring the hills and trees to life. It’s quiet at the lake at this time of the year only a few people visit in the late fall. I’ll be there soon enough, I have a few chores to do before winter sets in. Last year I went alone, this year it’ll be a family affair and all of us will venture north for a short weekend of working the yard and getting the cottage ready for winter. It’ll be all hands on deck and then we’ll get to rest and relax Saturday night and dream.

dreamymorning2013 — the lake on early summer morning, mist rising off the still lake and the sun slowly bringing the hills to life on the opposite shore – dreamy

In the meantime, my dream is to finish grading lab reports and articles of the week today. It’s going to be a great day, the weather is cool, misty and the forecast calls for rain. Perfect weather for sitting down and working. My dreams will have to sustain for another day. Making the days Count, one day at a time, one trip back in time, one dream to keep me going.

What dreamy place gives you a ‘gentle push’ when you need it?

sparks_fly — campfire and the moon when the sun sets – dreamy

Today’s post is in response to the Daily Post’s Weekly Photo Challenge – prompt – at Word Press. The week’s prompt is “Dreamy.” This week, we’d like to see an image that looks dreamy to you. A photo of a place you often visit in dreams. A snapshot of your dreamy boy- or girlfriend. A scene that looks a bit out-of-this world. Take us on a flight of fancy!

Think PINK – Freedom Rock

Sunday, October 12, 2014, @ 7:26 amFamily, growing up, Life in General, Reading, Science, sports, teaching, Teaching and Learning, WritingA Crucial Catch, Breast Cancer Awareness, children, eighth grade, Family, football, hard work, making the days count, reading, seventh grade, teaching, writingClay

I have been to two funerals as a teacher. I do not want to go to another funeral again. Ever.

Both funerals I attended were in my first two years as a teacher. Actually, the first funeral was in the summer of between my first and second years of teaching. It was awful. The second was less than a year later. It was just as awful. I have not been to another funeral since though one of students lost their dad last spring. The teachers were not invited and I wanted to go, but I couldn’t; I had my own family funeral to attend to last spring.

one of my favorite teacher gifts ever. Cherished.

At the time, there were not words in my vocabulary to express the feeling of awfulness I had when I looked into the eyes of my twelve year-old student and told him and her that I was sorry that their mother had passed away. I think I fumbled with some words like “I am so sorry for your loss.” Or maybe I said, “I have been praying for you and your family, please let me know what I can do to help you.” No matter what I said, it didn’t take away the pain of losing their mother. Or the uncertainty of what the future held for them. Those kids – Melinda and Jeremiah – are now in their twenties and out of college and have jobs like me. Occasionally, I get to visit the high school and I ran into Melinda on my way in one time, we had a nice conversation and then we parted. I had Jeremiah’s sister two years after their mom passed away and she wrote an amazing essay about how her mother’s passing was an important event in her life. I remember the essay well, it was good, thoughtful, well written; it was head and shoulders above her peer’s papers. I followed them along in high school occasionally asking high school teachers or counselors whom I knew how they were doing and then they graduated high school and I lost touch. They’re grown now, or as grown as someone is when they are in the second half of their twenties.

Fourteen years later, I still don’t believe I have the right words. Continue reading Think PINK – Freedom Rock →

Death of a Tree – the FINAL CHAPTER

Thursday, October 2, 2014, @ 5:04 amcountry, Family, history, Life in General, Reading, Science, teaching, Teaching and Learning, Writingchildren, eighth grade, fall leaves, hard work, making the days count, reading, remembrance, Science, weather, writing, WWIClay

I did not feel well yesterday, and when a teacher does not feel well, that’s not good. I came home and went to bed. I took two Motrin, crawled under the covers, and fell fast asleep. I could have slept much longer had it not been for the stump grinder coming to finish off the tree. We lost that tree this past June, a week after the arborists came for that tree, B’s dad passed away. He was a sturdy as a tree and he’s been on my mind ever since. The stump grinder coming to finish it off was just another step in the circle of life.

I have been thinking about that tree and all of the trees we’ve lost to Emerald Ash Borer. But, I’ve had more on my mind that just trees, I’ve been thinking of the poem, “Trees,” and its poet – Joyce Kilmer. Sgt. Kilmer was killed in the Second Battle of the Marne on July 30, 1918 and is buried at Oise-Aisne American Cemetery in northern France. Continue reading Death of a Tree – the FINAL CHAPTER →

Big Rocks

Friday, September 26, 2014, @ 4:56 amFamily, history, Life in General, Reading, Science, Teaching and Learning, Writing7 Habits, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Big Rocks, children, education, Family, hard work, making the days count, Science, teachingClay

Big Rock, Illinois – it is not far from my here. It’s a small town just west of Wheaton, a tiny farming community on US 30 West. If you blink, you could miss it. And, even though it’s a small town, I notice it every time I drive west. A smile comes across my face when I see the sign for the Big Rock Schools and their buses.

Big Rocks. I’ve been busy – it’s been more than two weeks since my last post. Fall began a couple of days ago and where I live – 42 N we’ve lost eight minutes of daylight since Tuesday and our daylight will be a hair under 12 hours – 11H 59M. I forget what I wore for my school pictures but I’ll know soon enough when I get my new school ID next week. I think it was a blue shirt, but I am not certain about the tie. It’s not important it’s a pebble.

Lately, I’ve been overwhelmed by Big Rocks. I filled my jar of life full of smaller rocks and have had a difficult time fitting all of what I need to do, have to do, and want to do into the jar. So, a couple of weeks ago I started all over, hence my absence. Continue reading Big Rocks →

Weekly Photo Challenge – Adventure

Sunday, September 7, 2014, @ 10:59 amadventure, Challenges, country, Family, Life in General, postaday, Reading, Science, teaching, Weekly Photo Challenges, Writingchildren, country fairs, county fairs, education, Family, great days, making the days count, Sandwich Fair, writingClay

I am a city boy, a suburbanite. B is a country girl. Sometimes we clash, but most of the time we don’t. I met her 30 years ago this past summer. It seems like the other day and I suppose it was.

ADVENTURE – the open road, a barn, and an endless blue sky

It sounds sort of harsh – suburbanite conjures up visions of “Real Housewives of ……” or some other recent popular television show. Several years ago, I read a book, Death By Suburb: How to Keep the Suburbs from Killing Your Soul, a writer’s view of living in the suburbs and the author poked fun at suburban culture and offered advice. Regardless, I am a suburbanite.

I’ve always lived in a city or near a city – in the suburbs. The jobs I had out of college meant I had to live in or near a city. When I went back to school to learn how to teach, I dreamt of moving to the country, we dreamed together. Nevertheless, we never did. Instead, we became more firmly entrenched in the suburban life. We had kids, our kids grew, went to school, played sports, joined clubs, and the dream of moving to the country faded. But, I still dream of moving to a place where a five-mile commute includes driving through fields of corn, soybeans, wheat and pastures. Where a drive to the grocery store is a once a week adventure to the city or a snowstorm means we stay home inside and I plow the driveway with my truck or better, a tractor.

Dreams are what keeps us moving. Continue reading Weekly Photo Challenge – Adventure →

Weekly Photo Challenge – Dialogue

Sunday, August 31, 2014, @ 8:03 amChallenges, Family, growing up, history, Life in General, postaday, sports, teachingchildren, Class of 1980, Class of 2016, Dulles High School, hard work, high school football, making the days count, persistence, teaching, tenacity, writingClay

I’ll admit it, I enjoy high school football. I grew up watching high school football in Texas on Friday Nights. Friday Night Lights is a true story in just about every community across America. I never missed a home game and when I was a high school senior, I attended all ten games – home and away. B grew up much the same – except on a smaller scale and was in the marching band throughout high school. It was the same high school where her dad and her older brother played football, too. And a couple of decades later, our nephew.

Then I went to college – Texas A&M – never missed a home game and was part of the 12^th Man. Never sat down as an Aggie, unless the opposing band was marching.

I played football, but I wasn’t very good. I didn’t have much talent, and didn’t work hard enough at it. I played a couple of years, but quit playing. It’s the story of my early life and it’s one of my life’s regrets – not finishing, not playing through. That’s why I admire W, my son. He’s not any more talented than me, but he’s far more persistent. He’s tenacious and he works his rear end off. It’s not just sports but scouting and school, too and just about all he does. He pushes himself to better at just about everything he does. I admire him, because I would have given up when I was his age, in fact I did.

Then adulthood set in, we went off to college, got jobs, got married, had kids, and began spending Friday nights watching the local high school – the Wheaton Warrenville South High School Tigers. At first, we took W in a stroller and then, when he could walk; we’d stand along the fence in the end zone and watch. Then O came along, same story. Time passed, W grew, and O grew, too. W played youth football for a few years and took a couple of years off in middle school to focus on scouting and run cross-country. Something I never did, I admire him. Then it was time for high school and joined the football team, and wrestled and played lacrosse – three seasons – three sports. We stayed along the fence watching until last year when we moved to the grandstand. As a sophomore, his team played at 5:00 PM Friday afternoon then the varsity would play at 7:30 – under the lights. We’d stay and watch. This year, he’s on the varsity and he’s on the team. We’ll watch we’ll be in the stands. Most juniors do not play, seniors play and juniors watch, honing their skills waiting for their senior year and their chance to play Friday night. Juniors get their chance to play the next morning. Then on Monday after school, they’ll be back practicing, working hard, focusing on getting better, stronger, and faster – waiting for the next year.

August 1977 – me

August 2014 – W

But, there is more to life than football, more to life than sports. Continue reading Weekly Photo Challenge – Dialogue →

Let’s Go!

Saturday, August 30, 2014, @ 10:18 amFamily, Life in General, Music, Science, sports, teaching, Writingchildren, eighth grade, first day of school, high school football, making the days count, music, weatherClay

It’s not about what you’ve done
It’s about what you doing
It’s all about where you going
No matter where you’ve been
Let’s go!

The first day has come and gone. I now have four days as an eighth grade science teacher under my belt. The first four days of school were amazing and I have 116 energetic eighth graders who are excited about learning, or at least they seem so. I’ve a lot of work ahead of me and I need to work on remembering ALL of their names, because after four days, I can get about only 60% of their names correct on sight – in the hallways, at lunch, or just sitting in class.

I also have a three-day weekend to sort through the coming days and weeks. I’ve got a lot to learn and a lot to do.

I am past my first day jitters. It rained that first day and the next – we got close to 6” of rain in two days. Last weekend was wet and muggy and then the August warmth rolled in just in time for the first day of school.

I love the first day of school. It’s a chance to learn, grow, and make the difference in a new set of adolescents. That’s WHY I became a teacher. Because, it’s not how much you know that matters to kids, it’s how much you care. That is why I do it, that’s why when I drive to school; I drive to school, and not to work. Yeah, there are days when it feels like work, but most of the time it feels like learning and learning NEVER ENDS.

the first day, first morning, new principal address the student body - 'make difference in our school... make it better... make it happen' — the first day, first morning, new principal address the student body – ‘make a difference in our school… make it better… make it happen’

The week before last when O was getting ready for school, she and I took some time together and distracted ourselves. We had all sorts of diversions – movies, airplane watching, and just plain ignoring the fact that school was about to begin. Continue reading Let’s Go! →

first day jitters

Thursday, August 21, 2014, @ 5:20 amadventure, Family, growing up, history, Science, teaching, Weather, Writingchildren, education, Family, first day of school, great days, high school, making the days count, middle school, teachingClay

dog_homework

BOOM, CRACK, boom, BOOM, crackle, zap; that was a couple of hours ago. Ivy came running into our room And jumped into our bed – startled and out of sorts. A line of thunderstorms was moving through and it upset her. It woke us up, too.

She curled up at the bottom of the bed – B never lets her sleep there – and snuggled up to my leg closely in a tight ball. I was able to get back to sleep, sort of, but my alarm woke me less than hour later. I am not sure if B was too sleepy to care about Ivy, or understood. We’re all kind of jittery today.

I am up now and Ivy is, too. The storms moved through and she’s snuggled up in a chair beside my desk downstairs sleeping fitfully. I can’t go back to sleep. It’s the first day of the new school year. It’s the kids first day, too. I’ll get kids next Tuesday and I’ll be jittery, again.

W is going to be a junior and O is off to middle school. How did that happen? It seems everyone is getting older and I am just getting wiser. B and Ivy get their house back today and have it all the way until early June. She’ll miss us and then get back to her routine; we will, too. Ivy will miss us, too. I love coming home and having Ivy meet me at the door or in the yard. It’s the best.

Last night I packed lunches, made breakfast sandwiches so we would have something to eat for breakfast this week, I’d spent the day on last minute details – there is always something which lies unfinished at the end of each summer. I have a longer list of unfinished projects this year, but it is understandable. Those jobs will get done, eventually.

Today is our first day back to school. I’ve got a new lunch box and it’s ready for my lunch. O’s got her backpack packed and W’s is, too. It’s gonna be a great day and tomorrow could be a million and six times better, but this could possibly the best day ever, so I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, one first day over and over every year.

Do you have first day back to school memories? Do share, thank you.