Love this book, one of my favorite memories is hearing my Dad recite it. Forever on, when we didn’t like something or didn’t want to do something, we would say, “But I don’t like it, Sam-I-Am!”
Tonight, we had green eggs for supper….making memories with my grandbabies….
I can hear my dad saying this to me in my head. Happy Turkey Day, everyone. Miss you lots, Dad.
I am thankful for America and being lucky enough to be born here. I am thankful for God and my salvation. I am thankful for my Kaleigh, my granddaughter and Hayden, my grandson. They bring such joy and wonderment to my life. Only the other grandparents out there will truly understand. I am thankful that I get to see them as often as I do, time truly is precious. I am thankful for my children, each special in their own way.
to be continued..
I love being a teacher. It is what I wanted to be my whole life. I love seeing the understanding dawn on a child’s face. I love watching them begin to read and then the look on their face as they realize that they are reading. I love helping them become writers and interpreting their journals. I know that God made me a teacher. I am blessed. Sure there are days when it is not fun and when I forget why I am there. Every job has times like that. But the neat thing is that those times don’t usually last. And I get to start fresh each year. Start a new batch. That is always cool.
Teachers love the beginning of summer as much or more than the students. The end of school is full of paperwork and packing and testing and tough decisions sometimes and kids who are full of school and ready for a break. And the teachers do a happy dance when the last student leaves on the last day of school. The beginning of school is planning and unpacking and planning and setting up and routines and routines and goals and more. I can hardly sleep when school begins in August.
Today two of my fellow teachers retired. They won’t miss the routines and the students and us until September when we are back in session. But we will miss them. Our small community school will miss them for they were a blessing to all of us. I wish them well but am sad for I will miss their wisdom, their humor, their support and understanding.
This year was the first in a very long time that all our children were present on Christmas morning. We woke to the sound of Brittany cooking and had to wait on Shelley to arrive before opening gifts. Hayden and Kaleigh were precious. Hayden, almost two, tore the wrapping paper off with precision and loved his “bulldozer”. It was a good day.
Every year in the month of November, I have my students write in their journals a list of “I am thankful for ________________ because____________________.”
Their lists are always interesting reading. It is the “because” part of it that moms and dads and teachers love.
Mindful of how hard this assignment is to first graders, here are my “I am thankfuls”
*I am thankful for my Savior, without whom I would have no hope.
*I am thankful for my family:
my husband, because he loves me and shows me so everyday
my daughters, because of who they are, different and wonderful
Danielle, because she is a great mom to my precious grandbabies, I hope I have shaped that some.
Brittany, because of her creativity and intelligence and heart for God and others
Shelley, because of her tenderheart
Joshua, because of the strengths he has
My Granddaughter, Kaleigh, who reminds me everyday of how fleeting time is. I am thankful for her intelligence and the laughter she brings to our home.
My Grandson, Hayden, who is laughter and joy and curiousity and love all rolled into a cuddly boy who loves anything with wheels and fur. (and who loves his Pa more than it seems possible)
*I am thankful for my parents, my dad, who was laughter and fun and hard work. My mom, who is so much, all that a Mom is and should be.
*I am thankful for my friends. I am blessed with such good friends. The ones who are gold and the ones who are silver.
“Make new friends, but keep the old,
One is silver, the other gold.”
*I am thankful for my home and stuff because it makes my life often easier than I deserve and I know that I have far more than I need or should want. In that note, God help me manage all of it without becoming ingrained with it.
*I am thankful for my job. It is an answered prayer from long ago. I am blessed to be doing something that I love, at a place I love, with co-workers who are family.
*I am thankful for health and freedom and church and the list could go on forever……
So, in this season of Thanksgiving, what are your “I am thankfuls…”
I think that public education took a major hit today at the polls. It makes me sad to wonder about what it all will mean to teachers.
Today I went to my Mom’s to cut her toenails. She can’t bend due to her surgery and it was something she hated to ask me to do but it needed to be done. As I was sitting at her feet on the front porch trimming her toenails, I couldn’t help but be thinking of my Grandmother, her mother, whom we called Little Granny. She was not able to cut her fingernails because she didn’t have any strength in her hands. I sat on her front porch cutting her fingernails long ago during one of my lunch breaks from work. Her fingers were so thin and fragile, I ended up cutting her finger. She asked for alcohol to pour on it, which we did. With tears in my eyes, I was so sorry, I told her she could cut me, and we both knew she couldn’t, which was why I was cutting her nails in the first place. Then I told her just bite me then. She and I both started laughing because she rarely had her teeth in and that day was no exception. So she couldn’t bite me either, not that she would have anyway. Little Granny was such a sweet soul, I still miss her. I was heartbroken when she died even thought I know that I will see her again on the other side. I recounted this memory to my mom as I finished her toes. Mom said she had been thinking of Granny a lot during this past week. It seems that no matter how old we get, when we are sick and afraid, we still want our mothers.
What is one special memory of your mother?
Memories are the glue that hold families together and help them endure the tough times and look forward to the hopes on the horizon.
