No Excuses

A l.o.n.g. time ago, a friend of mine named Julie stated that the most annoying sound on the face of the earth was that of a whining child. I laughed like crazy. My sons were 2 and 6 so I could relate with her feelings even if I didn't totally agree. As the years have gone by and I have taught school in elementary, junior high, and high school, I would say that the most irritating sound is a kid with a million and one excuses for not doing his part, whatever that is. When I taught junior high, I read the book Do Hard Things to my 7th graders. One phrase in the book "Pursue Excellence, Not Excuses" stuck with me. I wrote it at the top of my white board and any time a student began to give me an excuse for his situation, I would instruct him to read the top of the board. When I moved to the high school, I realized I would have many of my former junior highers again. That's when I decided to make the motto a permanent part of my classroom. I bought one of those rub-on letter thingys, cost a fortune, but it's going on three years old and still well-stuck in place. As I set up my classroom for the coming school year, I looked at those words and realized that they were just as important to me as a teacher as they were to students trying to escape responsibility. I want to do the best I can to prepare students to live well, to be honest and caring, to make a difference in the world. There are no excuses for doing less than my best.

I love the wall of windows and the constant reminder to do my best.

I use the chalkboard wall as a gallery of sorts. Never have cared for chalk!

But I do love books! My loaners.

My Locals

Last week I stayed at our son's house while he took his lovely wife off to a b-n-b for three days. T had to work so he only came out for dinner and bedtime tuck-ins. The three grands and I had such a great time together!

At the Wolf Haven, the kids climbed the Grandfather Tree. It was huge!

The girls enjoyed the craft room. In fact, Kayla spent over an hour here.

As a last activity, my three symmetrically-oriented kiddos tried to arrange the water table.

40 Years

My hubby and I have been married 40 years. We married young and had children right away. I tend to think of my life in decades. The first two decades of my life were all about me. And then I married and everything changed. The next two decades were about our sons. We had two boys because we didn't want three boys. My family and my husband's family are boy-heavy. If a girl isn't the first born, it will be all boys. At least that's the historical record. The fifth decade brought grandchildren. Because we started so young, we have been young(er) grandparents. I highly recommend it! We have always been able to play hard with the kids and that's a joy! I have just begun the sixth decade, have six grands (incredible), and have thoroughly enjoyed this life with my man. There have been some really difficult moments with health and hardship, but the blessings far outweigh the trials. Oh how I love him!

Rocking on - Grandpa's foot makes it go faster!

A great reader makes E happy

Hairstyling with Grace

The man - 40 years mine!