Annie update - SOLS 6

I've tried two other post and get part way through and decide I don't like the flow and I let go.  However, I wonder if anyone who is following along had the same wonder I did today.  How is Annie the dog who ate 3 boxes for Girl Scout cookies?  She did have good taste in cookies, two boxes of Tagalongs and one box of Samoa.  She made great choices in our book!  I worried about her in her crate all day but knew the cookies were safe.  I worried if she was sick and having to sit in it.  I was worried she couldn't play with Cooper or do whatever they do all day when there are not Girl Scout cookies in our house.  I worried she would be sick tonight.  I worried about her like one of my own daughters.  The good news is Annie appears to be handling an overdose of Girl Scout cookies pretty well and we are taking steps to help her.  She's drinking lots of water and has successful bathroom breaks.  We delivered a bunch of cookies to school today and some to the neighbors after school.  Mantra - cookies out to keep Annie safe!  

Not one, or two but three! - SOLS 5

It's Girl Scout cookie time.  Yesterday A picked up her order.  She sorted them into nice neat little stacks labeled with post it notes.  Just out of the general path of life on our dining room table.  Our evening went on as normal and so did our morning getting out the door for everyone.  I even had bacon, waffles and strawberries to start their day.  It's lovely Terra Nova testing week for two of the three girls and OGT for my oldest.  Yes, the waffles were homemade but made yesterday in anticipation for today.  I taught all day and at the end of the day got more Girl Scout cookies by picking up B's order.  

As I walked in with more cases of cookies I was greeted by A, in the dining room, with a somewhat gloom face.  I knew instantly what was wrong.  Our dog Annie ate a box of cookies today.  However, I learned quickly not just one or two boxes but THREE boxes of Girl Scout cookies.  She was smart, they came from three different orders. 

We have another dog we rescued this past spring name Cooper.  So, maybe Annie had help but he would not have taken it off the table.  She would in a heartbeat!  She earned crate free days when Cooper came because he didn't need a crate but we have to have everything put up and away.  Where will Annie be tomorrow?  You got it, IN HER CRATE.  We have to save the cookies and deliver them to happy customers.

The Sun Will Come Out -SOLS 4

I grew up in a small town of 5,000 in Upstate New York.  In a town where everyone knows your name and there wasn't a movie theater there when I was growing up.  When I was in elementary school our PTO would rent movies and play them in our high school auditorium once in awhile.  This was just fine with me, I knew nothing else.  The closest movie theater was in the next town over.  I discovered movie theaters in seventh grade when my Mom took my friend and I to see Annie.  It was such a treat to go in the evening and do something with just my Mom.  I remember singing Annie songs lots after this adventure, loud and clear for all to hear.  Who couldn't feel better after belting out, "the sun will come out tomorrow...."?  This weekend I revisited Annie while viewing a local production with my husband and two daughters.  We've seen the movie several times at home but seeing it live and in the front row was fantastic.  As I sat watching the girls smile, giggle, full belly laugh and enjoy drama I wonder if either of them will take this path in life.  One is in middle school choir.  One sings every car ride with headsets on at the top of her lungs.  Both love to dance.  I had another wondering about my own movie viewing life.  Was Annie the movie that started my preference for movies when an underdog comes out on top?  It might just might have been.

Cranberry Red - SOLS 3

Cranberry Red 

is the perfect shade

It's not too bold 

or shocking

or screaming, 

Hey look at me! 

 

It's rich and elegant.

  

It's warm and inviting. 

 

It's crispy

like the skin of an apple. 

It's the perfect shade

for a 

Winter Formal dress, 

my precious girl.

Enjoy.

Why I've Joined - SOLS 2

It's March 2nd or as of March 3rd we are pretending it's March 2nd.  On March 2nd I contemplated joining SOLS with more thoughts.  It was the second day and the whole idea of writing about little tidbits kept creeping into my thinking.  I first mentioned my grandmother as a writer this summer when I shared a poem she wrote, A Tribute.  I mention her leaving a collection of her writing.  Grandma showed me this collection two years ago as we were walking though her home.  She pulled out a clear bag with a stack of notepads and asked me, "Would you like Alleen's sickness diary?"  Alleen is my mother and I replied yes as I watched her pack the stack of notepads away and said in time.


Those notepads came home with me this past summer.  While I was excited to have these, I wasn't anxious to read them.  I left them in the trunk of my minivan for some time.  Then didn't want them to get ruined so I moved them to the inside of the front door.  I just wasn't ready to bring them in the house.  I finally brought them in and started reading them near the end of the summer from the beginning.  I read about half way through and have let them sit in my closet for months.  I just picked them up this week and find at times I can't put them down.  


I've learned these things about writing from my Grandma.  If it's personal and for you, go ahead and use initials for family members.  I'm an M, my sister is C, DS is my Dad because Di is my aunt.  F is my grandfather Fred and she even refers to herself as G for Gerry.  My grandparents owned a lumber yard and suppliers would give notepads to them that was made out of graph paper.  She used those to record her thoughts.  Next to each date she writes the day of the week.  This is a different kind of "container" for her writing.  She was faithful in using the same daily diary every day, year after year.  She really focused on how my mom was doing daily.  A daily record of medical treatments, emotional journey, visits, and a little bit about day to day life.  However, if a day went by she didn't hear from either of my parents she recorded the date and wrote, no news.


This personal narrative is a gift.  I've learned about things I lived but have forgotten.  My parents had incredible strength.  My extended family was so supportive even when I thought some weren't.  If I read carefully there is some wise advice.  I'm interested in continuing my reading even when I know the ending will be tough.  I'm thankful for this gift of writing.  Unless we write down our tidbits, we will lose them with time.   Maybe my grandma was/is trying to give me back something I've lost so I could move on and knew I would want to remember.

Stopped at a Train - SLOS #1

It's March 1st or as of March 3rd we are pretending it's March 1st.  My middle daughter just finished dance class, we dropped off a book at the public library, decided to stop at Jeni's for ice cream while we wait to pick up the oldest daughter from a meeting at work when the flashing red lights are lowering at the train tracks.  We stop for trains all the time in my suburban hub but tonight was different.  I had a flashback to my reading life growing up.  I remembered the Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner.  I then wanted to tell my daughter all about the book, series, and my thoughts as a reader.  She quickly said, "Mom, I read the first one.  You had us read it as a Girl Scout project."  Yes, I did.  We were going to see the play and you all know the book is always better.  She wasn't as interested in my thoughts as a reader even though I tried to tell her more.

I loved the Boxcar Children!  I was so intrigued by the Alden children.  The idea of children living on their own was an quite the adventure in my mind.  How they solved what would be called now little issues in life with independence was something I was drawn to.  They relied on each other and the message of sticking together is an important one for all of us to read about.  They met their grandfather when help was needed for Violet and my own grandparents were a huge part of my daily life growing up.  Of course, the story had a happy ending and I followed them on more adventures.   I left that train stop wondering why I never viewed the trains as boxcars before.  Probably because I see them as an interruption and increasing my travel time in my day to day routines.  I'm grateful for those few minutes.

Supersister

I was thrilled to find Supersister by Beth Cadena in the super hero collection in our local library as I was thinking about connecting Super Reader Tools to superheros.  Supersister is a great companion text for Super Sam!.   I love this book's main character is a girl.  I also love her superhero tool is a mask, different than Super Sam's blanket.  Supersister begins her day with superhero behaviors;  bounds, dashes, whistling, rescues, and races.  She does all these things while getting ready for school.  She's headed out the door for school and returns for a kiss and to tie her mother's shoes.  Hmm, why would Supersister return to tie mom's shoes?  Supersister continues with various super behaviors while at school that kindergarten students found very funny when read with the just right superhero inflection.  I was really excited when one of my students pointed out this sentence, "Supersister is a super reader."  The ending of the story explains why mom needed her shoes tied and why the main character is called Supersister.