Tuesday

Something's coming over the mountains today:







I'm glad to have something idea-inspiring to read when the dust kicks up, wind starts howling, and tumbleweeds go whizzing past my windows:



Hearing so much about Somerset from the crafty bloggers I read each day made me take the fifteen-dollar-plunge at B&N this past weekend. Guess what? I'll be subscribing.

Talking with my husband last night, I introduced the idea that once our new duty station comes through and we have floorplans for our future housing, I'd like to figure out a way to have my own craft/sewing workstation, perhaps sharing a study with him. Ideally, I'd love to have my own space, free of children, toys, seasonal clothes in storage tubs, and frankly, my husband's stuff. Hunting gear, guns, military awards, and Harley logos are not what get my creative juices flowing...his support of testing gravity by letting all magazines, papers, catalogs, receipts, brochures, business cards, etc. live on the floor of his study is also a major obstacle to overcome before we could seriously share a space. I think I'm talking myself out of it here!

How do we share space in the rest of the house? I'm the boss, that's how. You see, my husband's job requires that we move regularly. MORE than regularly in fact. We've moved four times in the past five years, with another move coming up this summer. The kids and I don't get a say in where we move to, what jobs or friends we have to leave behind, nor how long we'll stay or how quickly we'll have to leave again. So the public parts of the house are decorated the way I want them to be with my husband and kids having their own spaces reflecting their personalities and tastes. Yes, I make sure my husband has his man-cave, and the garage is always his. But because we have no say in the move-us-cross-country-or-even-OUT-of-country decisions, I lay down the law when it comes to home decor, storage, and household chores. We may not get to choose where we're going to have to live, but I *will* have my family living in a clean, comfortable, soothing, and inviting home, dadgummit!

Once I get an idea of what kind of housing we'll be in, I need to figure out a way to effectively create my own space, keep other family members (and the required military/social visitors) from encroaching upon it, and scheduling time for myself to spend in it, seeing creative ideas come to fruition. Until then, I'll continue to explore, collect ideas and a few bits and bobs and inevitably, see what happens after this Bordertown's windy season.

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Here are some blogs I've recently been enjoying:

Sally Jean: I love her charms- so sweet!

Cari Kraft's What Should We Make Today: Creative banners appeal to the teacher AND mom in me...

And if you need a good laugh or a "saucy" story, get your fix over at Bloggedy-Blog-Blog.

Don't forget our soldiers this Valentine's Day (or ever!)- An Army Wife's Life has posted links and ideas about cards and care packages for soldiers and veterans. Even if you miss Valentine's Day, remember it's never "too late" to show our soldiers how much you care- even plain ol' Tuesday is a holiday when an unexpected care package with goodies and treats or a "thinking about you" card or letter is received.

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Please vote. Before you do, please think. Think about something deeper and more relevant than gender or race. Thanks.

My Most Recent Three...

With a toddler running loose, time is of course, limited. Losing a toenail twenty-four hours ago (how I, a woman who has birthed three children, can be couch-ridden and crying over a TOENAIL is beyond me) has limited my mobility more than I expected it would. Yes, it was the BIG toenail. No, there is no glorious story behind the injury. Suffice it to say that the construction of military housing here on post includes purchases of less-than-good-quality doors, door jambs, and sliding door tracks. My reaction to the injury did cause my toddler to pause in his planning for world domination just long enough to ask "'kay Mommy? 'Kay?" Knowing my youngest child is capable of sympathy has indeed softened the throb coming from my ghost nail.

With abbreviated time and mobility in mind, here are my "most recent three:"

Movies seen:

Theater: "Resident Evil, Extinction." On date nights with my husband, we like GORE. Not surprisingly, the movie was full of it. Not the best effects. Not the best story line. Would have loved to have seen some Alaska footage though!

Home DVD purchase: "Wild Hogs." A purchase for my Harley Tech's last birthday, a la midlife crisis, and I have to say, thank goodness the kids and I got him a Seiko for his promotion because we OWED HIM BIG TIME after that movie flop!

Movie discovered after channel surfing: "Stranger than Fiction." Starring Emma Thompson, Will Ferrell, and Dustin Hoffman. The only movie I've ever liked Will Ferrell in was "Curious George" and that's only because he was animated and not having to perform guy-humor schtick. This is a movie I'll be buying, for future slow Sundays, when I'm wearing jammies, the kids are sleeping in, the house is quiet, and I'm baking bread.



Web Discoveries:

Faking Good Breeding is a fun site for women who enjoy the girlie-girl things like cosmetics, fashion, and eating out! Her rant about mascara (I disagree with her, I LOVE Great Lash!) had me rolling, and appreciative that someone out there was playing with affordable girlie *FUN* and giving us the inside scoop!

A Rethinking Schools Online article that plays the devil's advocate to Ruby Payne's work regarding socioeconomic equality in education (wow, a little heavy after the girlie-girl stuff eh?).

And the hairstyle I'd like, sans roses, for this Friday's Sergeant Majors' Ball. I suppose I should be more concerned with my choice of footwear than hairstyles at this point...


Formal dress choices:







(What's your vote?)


And finally, the three most recent funnies I've received via email:

Mom Quotes:



Alaskan Wives:
Three men were sitting together bragging about how they had given their new wives household chores.

The first man had married a woman from Indiana and had told her that she was going to do the dishes and house cleaning. It took a couple days, but on the third day he came home to a clean house and dishes washed and put away.

The second man had married a woman from Michigan. He had given his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes, and the cooking. The first day he didn't see any results, but the next day he saw it was better. By the third day, his could see that his house was clean, the dishes were done, and there was a huge dinner on the table.

The third man had married a girl from Alaska . He told her that her duties were to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed, and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything, but by the third day some of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye, just enough to fix himself a bite to eat and load the dishwasher.


Halloween School Joke:

What do dunce ghosts wear on Test Day?

Cheat Sheets.



I'm off to my closet, hobble hobble hobble... to find some open-toed shoes!

Happy Wednesday!

Home Decor sites...some of these treasures could end up in my classroom!

Have I mentioned I love home decor? I've been treasure hunting, and I've found some awesome items and inspiration for my home and classroom at the following sites:

Designers Block - THIS is a woman I'd enjoy exploring with! Check out the funky grass rings!

Decor8 - for the color-craving-creature in all of us!

Absolutely Beautiful Things - with tons of inspiration photos for making one's home a sanctuary and escape from the maddening world.

and finally, Hostess with the Mostess - a site, I admit, I only visited because of the title (which my mother bestowed upon Shannon a few years back- only being a teacher, it was "Hostess with the Mostest!").

These sites are sure to take your mind off of your worries this week, enjoy!

I've been exploring...

...and here's what I found:

Bill Lucas' Studying the Creation of Kindergarten

Kindergarten Skills by Shallowford Falls (I'm sending this one to my sister since she's homeschooling my nephew now)

Internet for Classrooms (just some more help as our technology in early childhood education/teaching practices continues to evolve along with everything else!)

The Special K Kindergarten Page

And finally, for Jan Brett fans everywhere (check out her new calendar!)

It's time for another cup of coffee.

In Practice Blog Site

Check out the new blog, "In Practice." It's linked on the right of this page!