Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Texas Boys Choir Sings at The Modern

My son is a member of the Texas Boys Choir. This past weekend they sang at The Modern Museum of Art.  They are working very hard preparing for a big trip to Argentina in the spring.  Here is a rough video of rehearsing for the program:

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Can Homework Encourage Creativity?

I recently participated in an #elemchat Twitter Chat about homework (here is the transcript). Many teachers give meaningless homework which is nothing more than busy work. My children attend a Fine Arts Academy (charter school) where the approach to learning is a little different. Although they have the usual math problems and book reports, they also have the opportunity to get creative with their homework assignments. The teachers are aware that all students learn differently and so they give options for homework and projects.  For instance, instead of just doing a report, students are given the option to make posters/books/artwork, create songs, cook, use technology, choreograph a dance, or dramatize it with live action, photography, or video. I love that the students are given choices. My son enjoys using technology and makes really good Prezis.

My youngest daughter is very "hands-on" and recently worked with a group to create this magnificent crispy rice relief map of Texas. What I like about these kinds of assignments is the time and effort my kids put in to them. My son is very "techie" but my daughter is more "artsy" so they can choose assignments that work well with their learning style.
  
As a teacher, I want to offer my students options as well. Instead of the usual "write your spelling words 2 times" and "do 50 math problems", I want the students to be able to use Spelling City, make rainbow words by using 2 or 3 crayons to write the words, or create "pyramids" with the words:
P
Py
Pyr
Pyra
Pyram
Pyrami
Pyramid
Pyramids
In math they can use sites like Cool Math, take pictures of patterns in our world, or make cootie catchers to learn math facts:

The possibilities are limitless.SO! As teachers...no matter where we teach...it is our job to tune in to our students and pull the very best out of them! It's easy to get in to a rut and use the same assignments from year to year, but that's not the kind of teacher I want to be. How about you?

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

A Four-Year-Old Blog Post

My husband sent me a link to a blog post I wrote exactly 4 years ago on August 24, 2007.  At the time, my friends and I all had blogs where we would share family photos and write about our lives.  With the advent of Facebook, we eventually abandoned our blogs and joined the millions in Facebookland.  For a while there was a trend where we had to write 100 things about ourselves then tag someone else to do the same thing.  I remember taking a lot of time to come up with the 100 things about myself and I am please to say that after 4 years there have been very few changes.  Below is the original post with the changes and comments in red.  I hope this helps know the Frugal Teacher a little better:

1) My husband Preston makes me completely and incandescently happy. Still true

2) My 3 children bless and amaze me daily. Still true

3) I love orange dreamcicles and mashed potatoes with skins and lumps (not at the same time). Discovered mango salsa this summer.

4) I like to have way too many things to do on my to-do list at work.

5) I like to have nothing on my to-do list at home.

6) My church family is very important to me.

7) I currently attend an online college: Ashford University Graduated 

8) When I first went to college in 1982 Computer Science was a relatively new major.

9) My favorite musicals include Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat with Donny Osmond (aaahhh), Grease, Singing in the Rain, Little Shop of Horrors, Fiddler on the Roof, South Pacific, Chicago, Phantom of the Opera.

10) My first concert was in 1973 at the Portland, ME civic center: The Carpenters

11) My favorite concert was in 1985 in the Venetian Room at the Fairmont Hotel, Dallas, with Preston: Kenny Rankin

12) The first song I knew all the words to: Go Away Little Girl by Donny Osmond (aaahhh).

13) Favorite movie: Dirty Dancing

14) Favorite board game: Scrabble

15) I am crafty but I have at least 5 visible scars on my arms and legs from hot glue burns.

16) I can sew and I love making VBS costumes.

17) I love floating in a swimming pool and getting tan.

18) Fall is my favorite season.

19) I like fall floral arrangements.

20) I would like to own a house on the beach.

21) My favorite flowers are yellow roses.

22) I met Preston at Mama's pizza on Camp Bowie. He still has the paper mustache I gave him

23) He took me to my senior prom.

24) I moved to Ocean City, Maryland the day after I graduated from Southwest High School in 1982.

25) I worked at a Natural Foods Juice Bar

26) I have attended these colleges: North Texas, Salisbury(MD) State, McLennan County Community College, University of Connecticut, Tarrant County College, Ashford University.

27) I re-connected with Preston in 1985 - we went on our first date on 6/30

28) We were married eight months later on 2/21/86

29) Places I have lived in this order: Pennsylvania, Maine, Texas, Maryland, Texas, New York, Texas, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Texas.

30) I like to clean.

31) I like to iron.

32) I have never mowed the lawn.

33) I have been to the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

34) I have been to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York

35) Preston and I used to go to New York City almost every weekend when we lived in Connecticut.

36) I have lived in these types of homes: 2 story federal, 1 1/2 story cape cod, 2 story traditional , room with a bed and a sink, roach infested apartment, basement, bottom floor of a house, 2 bedroom apartment, 2 story house on 2 acres, 2 story house with above ground pool.

37) I would like a one story house with an inground pool.

38) I like to cook, but don't do it very much anymore

39) I have had these jobs: bus girl at Colonial Cafeteria, server at ShowTime Pizza, waitress/cook at a natural foods juice bar, clerk at an insurance company, customer service (insurance), account representative (insurance), insurance agent, daycare provider, pre-school teacher, church custodian, teacher's aid.

40) Preston and I waited 8 years before we had our first child

41) I was blessed to be able to stay at home with my kids for 10 years!

42) Returning to school at age 42 was kind of scary.

43) I would like to have a disco ball in my living room. I have one in my classroom ;-)

44) I can do the Electric Slide, Macarena and Cupid Shuffle.

45) I will break into song at any given moment. The song usually has something to do with the situation.

46) I do not know all of the words to hardly any songs except Go Away Little Girl and Bohemian Rhapsody.

47) I love my parents. My mom is my best friend.

48) I love to go antiquing with my mom.

49) I do not like seeing my parents getting older.

50) My dad is one of the smartest men I know - Preston is the other.

51) I had a happy childhood.

52) I love #2 prencils that are newly sharpened and have a beautiful purple cap eraser.

52) I also like mechanical pencils but won't use the eraser. I use an eraser on a pencil or a pink carnation eraser.

53) I love Sharpies and highlighters.

54) I am left-handed but I iron, throw, and bat right-handed.

55) I do not like white bread.

56) I used to watch the Soprano's but then realized that they were really, really bad people. Same thing happened with Mad Men

57) I think the following couples are similar to Preston and me: Ray and Deborah Romano, Ozzie and Harriet, Bill and Judy Miller (Still Standing), Ozzie and Sharon, George and Wezie (Jefferson).

58) I love Italian Food & Mexican Food

59) I have never watched Survivor

60) I don't like Desperate Housewives (too desperate)

61) I like Grey's Anatomy stopped watching after the 2nd or 3rd season

62) I like the PBS shows where people try to live in another era: Fontier House, 1900 House, Manor House.

63) I like the Sherlock Holmes series with Jeremy Brett. 

64) I used to think Monty Python was funny, now I do not.

65) I used to read a lot when I was a kid. My favorites were the Little House series, Nancy Drew (I have a collection of the older blue-covered versions.

66) My favorites as a grown-up are John Irving, LaVerle Spencer (drippy love stories) and JK Rowling (I would have like her when I was a kid but she wasn't invented yet).

67) I like all kinds of music.

68) Favorite 20th century composers: Stravinsky, Copeland, Gershwin

69) Have been to these concerts: Carpenters, Journey(opening act: The Babies), Rush, Yes, Joe Jackson, Jethro Tull, Dire Straits, Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac,Rolling Stones, Maynard Feruson, Kenny Rankin, Nadia Salerno-Sonnenberg, George Winston, Beatlemania and some I can't remember =) Went to see Rush again last summer - took the kids.

70) Favorite rock concert movie: Woodstock

71) Favorite scary movie: The Shining

72) First Car: 1976 Chevy Monza

73) Favorite bug: Lady

74) Favorite domestic bird:cardinal; Favorite fancy bird:Peacock; Favorite sea bird:Pelican; favorite woodland animal: chipmunk

75) I was in the Big Red Band from Mighty Rebel Land and we would leave the field whistling Dixie

76) Favorite Friday night Family activity in the Fall: Crowley High School Football Games! Go Eagles!

77) I can whistle through my teeth whenever I say the letter ""S".

78) I can burp really loud.

79) I would like to be a vegetarian but I really enjoy juicy steaks.

80) I love working at Sycamore Elementary School and can't wait until the first day.

81) I really hate cold weather, but sometimes I wish it wasn't so hot.

82) I say "whatever" too much

83) I can't stand when people use "like" every other word, but I know I do it sometimes.

84) I want to speak Spanish fluently and practice every day with my co-workers. Not so much

85) I am looking forward to growing old with Preston.

86) My oldest daughter, Bekah, will graduate from high school in 5 years. She is awesome. She is graduating in May '12 and has started the college application process

87) GP is hilarious. He will be in 6th grade this year. Still hilarious. 10th grade

88) Molly is a piece of "woik". She will be in third grade. Still a piece of "woik" 7th grade

89) Right now, all of the closets in my house are organized except the pantry. not really

90) There are at least 5 houses for sale on our street. We have 5 new neighbors

91) I would like to move closer to my parents.

92) I am currently writing a research paper about bilingual education. I currently work in a school with a large percentage of bilingual students

93) I love to take long, hot baths and drink a glass of wine.

94) I love to get pedicures and fake nails.

95) I wish I would have gone to church when I was a kid.

96) LTC is fun

97) Church camp is fun

98) Bunko is fun - I love all my Bunko gal pals.

99) VBS is fun

100) This activity was fun...tomorrow I will do the laundry.


Saturday, July 30, 2011

About One - Family Management at your Fingertips!

I am not the best at keeping track of family pictures, scrapbooking, or recording family memories.  For a while I had a personal blog where I would post pictures and write about family events and milestones, but there really wasn't a way to organize it. I am sure that just like me, many of you tech-savvy folks out there would rather have an online family management system that is easy to use and offers an organized and fun way to record family information and events. 


About One has come up with a great solution! Now you can enter information about your family as it happens! You won't forget a single special event or moment using this online system. It's really easy to set up. Here is a quick video overview:

The "Education" feature interests me because I have 3 teenagers who will be applying for college over the next several years. This section helps record school info, teachers, counselors, GPA's, and SAT/ACT test scores so when it comes time for filling out college applications, the information will be right at your fingertips! You can add documents, pictures, and record important events when they happen - no more racking your brain trying to remember when your daughter went to her first dance...it's right there!
I love this program and cannot wait to spend time exploring it and adding more info.  I believe this is something I will definitely use on a daily basis.  Other features include a family bulletin board, newsletter, medical information, and a place to document important possessions. If you have a busy family or just want to have your life at your fingertips, you really need to check About One out and take advantage of their FREE 30 day trial offer!
*All opinions are my own - A FREE year's subscription was received as compensation for this post.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Be a Great Mom...Capture Memories to Last a Lifetime

I am not a scrapbooker.  I do not have black and white photos of my family displayed in stylish frames around my home.  I take a lot of pictures and post them on Facebook. I have boxes and albums full of photos taken on 35mm film from when my kids were little, but when the digital camera took over, I stopped getting prints. I'm a terrible mom!


Now that my oldest daughter will be a senior next year, I thought we better get some family portraits done before she goes off to college.  Our last family photo was taken at Walmart when she was 8! I'm a terrible mom!


So!  I asked my friend Sarah of Photography SJB to do some family shots.  My husband and I celebrated our 25th anniversary this year and I wanted some special pictures of us before we got too old-looking.  A few days ago she sent us a "sneak peek".  She is still editing the rest, but so far I am VERY happy.  Now, here's the problem:  When I finally get the disk with all of the pictures, I need to do something immediately or it will end up a drawer.  I'm a terrible mom!




But wait!  I have found a solution! CanvasPeople.com is offering a free 8 x 10 or $50 off any size canvas as a special introductory deal!  I can apply this coupon toward a larger size canvas, creative effects, or beautiful frames.  I could also get a 50% off my second canvas and 50% off shipping.  Now there's no reason why I can't get beautiful, high quality portraits to display in my home! I'm a GREAT mom! 
We're jumping for joy over CanvasPeople.com's great deal!

*All opinions are my own.  No compensation was received for this post.
** I will receive a small compensation for each sign up at CanvasPeople.com.



Monday, June 27, 2011

Vegan Blueberry Pie via Paula Deen

Paula Deen's VEGAN Blueberry Pie
Click HERE for recipe
I dragged my kids to Kroger today with my very specific shopping list and coupons all organized in an envelope.  I told them to go look at magazines while I got the things on the list. I was thinking that if they tagged along with me a few "extras" might get thrown in the cart and mess up my well-planned shopping trip.  Suddenly, my 17 year old runs up with Paula Deen's latest magazine opened up to a glorious-looking blueberry pie (we're suckers for blueberry pie at our house).  Surprisingly, there was no butter in the recipe, but it did call for sour cream. My daughter is a vegan, but she wanted to try the recipe using Tofutti Milk-Free Sour Cream.  Who am I to stop my daughter from making one of my favorite desserts?  So she set about gathering up the ingredients...and messing up my 75% savings plan...but all was forgiven after I took my first bite...it was so light and refreshing - not too heavy or sweet...just good! For the recipe click HERE!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Genghis Khan Ticket Giveaway Begins Today!

I am so excited about this giveaway!  I have 4 tickets to the Genghis Khan Exhibit at the Irving Arts Center.
The exhibit runs from June 1 to September 30, 2011, Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. & Sunday from 1-8 p.m. (Last ticket sold at 6:30 p.m.seven days a week)


The exhibit tells the story of Genghis Khan, the conqueror, through more than 200 artifacts including gold jewelry, weaponry, silk robes, currency, tomb treasures, a mummy, and much more.  There are video screens, handicraft and weaponry activity stations, and role-playing kiosks to make learning about this legend a fun and engaging experience for all ages.
The ticket giveaway only lasts a week, so hurry and get your entry in.  You can also get bonus entries by sharing this giveaway with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. 
click here to enter (entry form is located on my Giveaways page)
Deadline for entries:Thursday June 16 at 11:59 pm CST.
The winner will be announced on Friday June 17th.
Good Luck!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

The Invasion Has Begun....

In the next few weeks you will have the opportunity to win 4 tickets to the Genghis Khan exhibit at the Irving Arts Center....Stay tuned....if you dare!

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Aspiring artists - this sounds like fun!

Did you know that you can take a FREE art class at The Modern the first Sunday of each month? How cool is that?


Join us and become acquainted with the Modern’s collection while developing drawing skills by looking and learning with local artists as they lead informal, basic drawing classes in the galleries. Open to adults at all skill levels. Bring a sketchbook and pencils or purchase materials from The Modern Shop. This class is free. Registration is not required, but participants should sign in at the front desk.  www.themodern.org

Monday, May 30, 2011

A Beautiful Day at the Dallas Farmer's Market!

On Sunday, we took a little trip over to Dallas to enjoy the Farmer's Market.  While there, we sampled and purchased lots of FRESH, locally grown produce. Although it wasn't a frugal trip, it was well worth the money spent knowing that we are supporting local farmers.
You have many choices at the Dallas Farmers Market. You can support local farmers, who bring their in-season, super-fresh vegetables and fruit to Shed 1 for sale every day, or you can opt for fresh produce brought in from all over the country. You can buy prepared foods or the ingredients to cook them. You can take classes to learn more about nutritional, healthy food, or you can schedule a special event for your organization or company. dallasfarmersmarket.org
Gorgeous peppers!
The mangoes and tomatoes were delicious!
Fresh Black-eyed peas remind me of my husband's grandmother "BawBaw" - she would buy them fresh in the summer and them freeze them to use all year.
This is our "haul" - fresh beets, mangoes, tomatoes, jicama, black-eyed peas, raspberries, peppers, pears, cabbage, cilantro, limes, garlic, onions, peaches, and corn.  We're gonna have fun cooking this week!








Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Cran-Raspberry-Lime Punch Recipe





Due to budget cuts in education, there are are a record number of teacher retirements this year.  Therefore there are a record number of teacher retirement parties.  After 19 years, one of the best Special Ed teachers in Texas is retiring to spend more time with her family and traveling...good for her!  I was in charge of the punch.  Here is my recipe for a delicious cran-raspberry-lime punch.  It can be doubled, tripled or quadrupled to meet your crowd requirements. Look on my Recipes Page for this awesome recipe!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Check out my mom's potato salad recipe!

When I think of comfort food, the first thing that pops into my head is my MOM'S POTATO SALAD.  It's so simple, but oh so delicious.  It's slightly sweet and a little tangy. As a tribute to my mom for Mother's Day, I am sharing her recipe:Check it out on my "Recipes"page!