Tekakwitha Woods wildlife encounter

I took the kids to Tekakwitha Woods in St. Charles on Monday. This is a smaller-ish forest preserve with a very nice nature center to explore. In the past, I've taken students there on field trips and the staff there is always so helpful and willing to help answer any questions about the animals or plants we come across. Today was no exception. Adam and Lucy and I prepared for walking in the woods by packing way too many snacks. Adam, as always, felt the need to dress the part by putting on a camo hat, bandana, walking stick, and we had to stop for rubber boots that could get muddy. Lucy was just happy to be outside with us. We park the car and head on the path that goes through the woods, to a wooden footbridge, across a "ravine" and on to the nature center. There are a few sidepaths to walk on to go to different areas of the forest preserve, this just happened to be our first destination. We hadn't gone too far into the woods when I saw a shadow of what I thought was a hawk. "Quick kids, that hawk has to be HUGE, it's shadow is so big! look up!" As soon as I saw it, I instinctively grabbed Lucy (who was closer to me, Adam was running on ahead) because this was no hawk.
It was a turkey vulture. And it was soon joined by a second one. They were just off the path between where we were and the 2nd sidepath, not even 1/2 way to the footbridge The two of them flapped their wingspans at us and generally just perched on the top of a lightning-struck tree to look tough. It was VERY cool, but a bit intimidating with their size. The forest ranger seemed surprised to know we had seen not just one, but two of them, and so close to the path. I showed my pictures to confirm what we had seen and she disappeared for a bit. A few minutes later, out came her birding books and ranger reference materials. :) She was excited to share our siting with the others she works with and although we thought maybe they were nesting in that tree, it seems that turkey vultures aren't that bright. The randomly lay their eggs on the ground and hope for the best. I started thinking that although I certainly prepared a much better "nest" for MY babies, I'm not too far off in the parenting department. No matter how well you think you are protecting, preparing, teaching and guiding your chicks, sometimes you just have to put them out there and hope for the best. Today....I think we did pretty well. They are smiling and enjoying each other! Happy Turkey (vulture) day!

Spring Break

It's finally here! Spring Break for my school district has officially begun! It's been a very rough school year, and having this long week off with my family will be just what I've needed. I am looking forward to doing doing and everything. Reading, napping, visiting with friends for play dates,baking, preparing for Easter invasion (aka Family Dinner), more reading, taking walks, a movie? a date? the possibilities are endless. A co-worker of mine said this week " I always plan to do too much over school breaks, then I'm disappointed that I don't get anything done. This week, I've chosen 3 things to accomplish, I can manage 3 things." I think that is a great plan! So...to accomplish this week: 1. Take all baby gear that I've packed up already to the Salvation Army 2. Take my kids to somewhere THEY pick 3. Clean out the hall closet which is full of pictures, sort them into new albums. (hmmm...that seems like 2 projects....) Good to have a goal, but good that 1 of those goals is something THEY want to do. Spring Break....break from doing what everyone else wants us to do, to doing something WE want to do.

Book Nerd

Gwen, me, Laura, Maz and Courtney: IRC confernce in Springfield, at the Andrew Clements luncheon...Amazing!

My name is Jenny Wold and I have an addiction to books. Hello Jenny....while many of my friends and family may find it exciting to camp out in sleeping bags to get the best tickets to their favorite concert, or stand in line at midnight to pick up the very first of that newest video game on the market, I take 2 days off from my job to attend a reading conference. I had three goals in mind as I planned for this trip. 1. Get exciting new teaching strategies for reading and writing 2. Meet some of my very favorite authors/illustrators 3. Enjoy this time with a few coworkers/friends who are equally nerdy. I accomplished all three of these goals and came home giddy with excitement over meeting some all-time favorite children's authors, and jazzed up over a few NEW favs as well. Never more have I been more excited over really, truly working on my own writing, and getting my students excited about books, trying to pinpoint the little things that will help my students write with honesty and vivid description, and possibly becoming a stalker over a few absolutely amazing authors who, through their sharing of stories, made me see them with new eyes, which I suppose is what being an author is all about.
Authors Readers Theater featuring: Avi, Sarah Weeks, Pam Munoz Ryan, and the unbelievable Brian Selznik (is my author crush showing?)

Andrew Clements (Frindle!) signing my books... so fun!!

Happy Birthday Song

She's 3!!

Our little girl turned 3 years old on Sunday. It was a bit strange thinking a short 3 years ago we were walking around wondering if we were having another boy...or if some strange fluke of nature would occur and Mark would actually have a daughter. So when the doctor tells us "It's a girl!" Mark naturally had to have this repeated several times between his laughter and tears in order to really believe that PINK was going to be a solid part of our future for years to come. And so it has. Although I've had lots of fun buying cute orange dresses, blue shoes, purple coats etc.; starting from our first week home when Mark and Adam entered the door with 3 enormous Carter's bags full of a sea of pink baby items, Lucy's wardrobe and favorite color has remained pink. So when it came time to plan a little party, she very definitely wanted this as a theme. I asked "Lucy, would you like cake or cupcakes?" I want pink cupcakes Mama! "ok! what kind do you want?" The yummy kind! So I set out to make pink, yummy cupcakes...
We decided to have a pajama party for 3 reasons. 1. It's super comfy. 2. It's Sunday night and the next day is a school day...party over-straight to bed. 3. It's just really fun to hang out in your pjs! She started the day by opening presents from her brother and Mom and Dad. Adam gave her a baby doll she had played with at the store. She loves him!
In the afternoon our family came over for pajama party food and fun! She really enjoyed having everyone there to share the day with her, she remembered to say thank you for each of her perfect gifts (lots of pink!) and she even blew out all her candles. It was a great day, and we are so blessed that God gave her to us to learn from and raise up. Thank you for each of our blessings! It was a very happy 3rd birthday!

if I ever see another noodle....

This week put an end to my school's 4th Grade Engineering Unit. My students spent 2 days designing a "to scale" plan for a pasta car. The goal? Creating a car that will race the furthest distance of a ramp, against other student's pasta cars. They were each given a blank "blue print" page, a engineering code of specs and requirements, a rubric they would be assessed with, and a specified number of dried pasta in various shapes and sizes. 2 lasagna noodles (no more) and any number of bucatini, rotelle, penne, ditalini, and ziti. The kids were able to assemble their visions using a hot glue gun. After they built their cars there was a series of tests, analysis, and rebuilds.

The following week, students worked in teams to construct pasta BRIDGES using the same ideas and requirements as with the cars. The goal being to build a strong bridge that would hold the most weight before breaking. A bucket is tied to a string, hung from a paint stick, suspended from the bridge, sets of 10 metal washers are thrown into the bucket at a time until the bridge ultimately breaks. Finally, this week, we spent the mornings of our ISAT testing putting our engineering skills to the test. All 4th grade classes raced their cars on Monday, 1 class a day for the rest of the week broke their bridges. The most a bridge held in my classroom was 249 washers! That was comparable to most other high weights in the other classes with the exception of 1 bridge, the big winner, that held over 500 washers! WAY more than anyone else's! The kids had a great time, learned alot, and I even overheard some say they wanted to try it again at home now that they learned some techniques to make a stronger bridge (triangles!!) and faster car (less glue, better axles!).

As a result of the past 2 weeks' construction events, my classroom has been covered in sticky clumps of dried hot glue, wayward "spiderwebs" of glue gun mess, and pounds of broken bits of dried pasta noodles. I have been discovering them in the strangest places: bookshelves, desks, behind chairs, in the computer printer, on the white board ledges...even after severals days of vacuuming, cleaning and wiping down. So...like the kids...I had a great time, but...if I ever see another noodle...it will be TOO SOON.

tests

This has been a week filled with tests for me. At work, my students are in the midst of taking our state standardized tests. This is a hard week for them, and for the teachers who have worked all year long to teach them and guide them. In the months leading up to THE TEST, teachers prep students for this type of test, the type they are not used to. Grownups remember them...fill in the bubble, erase your answer completely if you wish to change it, use a #2 pencil. The kids have been stressed, but we do plan fun stress-relievers to help them get through the hours of quiet and silent sitting and my "fake teacher voice" as I read the state-issued script. Real life doesn't offer too many clear directions as the ISAT tests do. I have not found any script for how to answer my son's questions about why his teacher hasn't chosen him as Star Student yet, or why yet another fish has died in his aquarium. I see no ability to "erase completely" when I catch myself participating in gossip sessions that may not end up harmless or snapping at my 3 year old when I'm crabby. These are daily tests for me: Patience, and obedience. My DH has been tested quite a bit this past few months trying to balance home time, work challenges, his brother's needs and all that we're doing to get mom's house ready to sell. Another test. Another balancing act. However, despite all our daily tests and stresses, we really have so little to complain about. We have our jobs, but many of my friends are losing theirs next week. We have our house, so many around our town have had to sell theirs. We have good friends and this weekend we celebrate our baby's 3rd birthday. (that's another blog!) So for tonight, I won't worry about how to prep for my next test, but I'll be taking comfort in knowing that I can pray, ask God to help me, kiss my husband and babies good night, get a good night's sleep, and start over tomorrow with my #2 pencil and a new answer sheet. :)