Education

I found this speech in the place where most people house their best literature....the bathroom, it was one of the most interesting pieces on education that I've read in a while and I thought I should share it here. It's six pages long, but makes some insightful, thoughtful, and direct points about the institution of education, our nation, and families.....and it was written 18 years ago... I sure wish he would have been one of my teaching mentors.

A Lost tooth, a ballerina, and a bucking seesaw???

These first few weeks of school have been filled with so many exciting new things for our family. Today while eating an apple Ben lost his first baby tooth!!!! Then while eating some Papa Murphy's pizza he lost his other bottom front tooth! We set one down and it got lost, those suckers are TINY, but we put the other one in a special treasure box and wrote a note to the tooth fairy asking her and I quote, "Could you please leave some money, it really doesn't matter how much." Hopefully she'll remember to visit tonight and just in time..... there is a new Waldorf inspired wooden toy store in town with some VERY cool items I know the kids will love. Zoe already got to check it out one day and made out her very LONG wish list for her upcoming birthday.


Zoe has been asking to take dance lessons, so we enrolled her in ballet and tap class at Mo Holland's Dance Studio. Of course she just had to have the purple dance outfit and mama even fixed her hair...daddy says the only time she gets if fixed is when Donna visits. Donna can actually fix it MUCH better than I can. Zoe just LOVED her first day following the teacher's lead and trying out new steps, taps, and shuffles,

along with some tumbling at the end followed with a stamp for a job well done!


Jake....well I guess he's just getting some energy out after getting adjusted to long days in the classroom,



and he was very happy to have some time to spend with his buddy Blake. As soon as Jake got in the truck, Blake's face just lit up and he started giggling.


And as for the mama, well mama got a job. A few weeks ago I went for my first interview in 13 years. Yes, you read that right. Although I worked off and on for Bering Strait, I never had to interview with them....they just gave me a job, so I haven't done any interviews since I got my first teaching job in 1997! I must have done something right, 'cause I'll be working a couple nights a week and some on the weekend at Barnes and Noble! Yep, I'm going to be a bookseller and a mama. Hope I can remember how to manage both.

As for the daddy, well he just wants to know if he can buy a boat now. We'll have to see about that one. His year is going pretty well. The school district has adopted something called the Fish Philosophy, based on the Seattle fish market. It seems to be boosting moral and encouraging positive thinking!

Fall Foliage Drive

Sunday was just what a weekend should be there were donuts, kids happy shouts from the trampoline heard from the deck where we sat sipping coffee, visiting with friends, no hurrying around, just taking the day as it came which included a breath taking drive to the Lower Chatanikia River late in the afternoon. Just as we were headed down our driveway a glowing rainbow greeted us, as if Mother Nature was saying, " Get out and enjoy this fine weather" ......and that is just what we did!

We found a cool little place to go camping, hopefully next weekend, with plenty of tall grass for the kids to play hide and seek. A fallen tree was a favorite for the kids to climb. Which is the kind you must have around here, 'cause Aspen, Birch, and Spruce are a little tricky to scamper up. While a local camper was packing things up for the weekend, he told us that early that morning he had spotted a bull moose, but was unable to get a shot off. YUM, I would LOVE the opportunity to fill the freezer with meat for the winter, and since we live in town we can take it to get processed and not have to do it ourselves! Now that's what I'm talking about....oh wait, I guess we better get a moose first.

The colors on the trees were brilliant along the winding path down to the river bank, reminding me of my favorite Robert Frost poem, The Road Not Taken, I don't know why but for some reason I think he wrote this poem with reference to fall time..maybe the first line "two roads diverged in a yellow wood" or maybe "in leaves no step had trodden black" making me think that no one had walked there yet and the new fallen leaves were still golden.



Yes, fall is definitely one of my favorite times of the year. There are so many wonders for the senses to inhale..... pumpkins (ours are actually still trying to grow, but I think the frost might get 'em), the last of the high bush cranberries, their leaves scarlet with color shouting pick me, pick me, burnt orange and golden yellow leaves lazily drifting down to the ground, mesmerizing bonfires, weenie roasts, messy smores smeared over smiling faces, camping trips with chilly mornings. It's one of my favorite times of the year. Hope you're able to take a few hours to celebrate fall!