Ben's comments about being 10!

I just asked Ben about what was cool about finally being 10.  His answers:

1.  I am finally in double digits

2.  I get to go to bed later

3.  I am more mature and that is the last reason it is cool being 10.

Well put little man!

My question:

How could 10 years have gone by so quickly?  It just seems like yesterday when I held my newborn baby in my arms for the first time. 

 Enjoy Ten Ben or should i say Ben10?

Everybody's Waiting

Dear President Obama:

It's here!  What everyone has been waiting for you, the commencement of your presidency.  Tomorrow we will watch you take the oath of office and history will have been made.  My school is actually dedicating the day to you and all curriculum will be suspended to celebrate.  There is excitement and anticipation in the air.  You are being compared to the likenesses of other African-American heroes such as the late Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.  These people impacted this community in a very positive way.  You can too!

Please do us proud, Mr. President.  I, personally, am not expecting a miracle.  This country has so many problems that they surely can not be solved in a year or two.  Look within our boundaries and especially in Michigan where jobs and people are lost.  Help us help each other.  That is what America really needs.

President Obama, make history, good history.  Make good choices and make good decisions>  Keep your promises and when you do make new ones.  Follow thru on everything.  We need answers even if they are not always what we want to hear.  

 We are all waiting with hope and awe and we all support you. 

Sincerely,

A Concerned Citizen

The Winter Blues

I am seriously so down in the dumps right now. It is dangerously cold outside. Snow is piled up everywhere. I would guess it to be around a foot give or take. The sun makes random guest appearances in the sky, but not enough to melt the snow or warm a soul.

In the classroom, the little ones are restless and downright ugly to each other. They are forever trying to get each other in trouble. I think they have the winter blues as well.

Looking at the calendar doesn't help-It is only January 14th. That means over 2 months left of winter-not a robin in sight. I seriously need a band-aid for my mental well-being!!! Help me fellow bloggers and friends!!

TGIF

Is it just me or has this week seemed endless. Hope everyone's weekends are full of fun. Try not to be like me and have that eternal need to get everything done in 2 very short days. And go play in the snow. Make a snowball fight and make snow angels. I, personally, plan on going down our sled hill several times. See ya!

Out of the mouths of babes...

Kindergarten children.  It takes a special person to teach such youngsters.  They are needy, clingy, loving, touching, and most of all entertaining.  This is my favorite time of year-the children have become less ego-centric and are starting to interact and share ideas, even the shy ones.  

I had some interesting responses from my students today.  We were talking about the new year and the inauguration of our 44th president, Barack Obama.  This led into our writing topic of wishes of things that Barack Obama can do to help us.  Here are some of my favorite responses-

Amajhia said, "I wish to President Obama to plant beautiful flowers everywhere so I can smell them every day when I get up.

LiJay stated that, "Barack can help all the old people so they don't fall as much!"

Vincente said, "I wish for everyone to have lots of good food to eat like ribs, steak and nuggets-my favorite.  And corn.  And vegetables, even broccoli.

Keiontay said, "Keep the world safe and come walk with me to my school and meet my teacher.  She is a good teacher.  Be good to my mom so she doesn't get sad and make sure that people don't hurt each other.

Peace, democracy, fairness-even in the minds of today's youth, they got those concepts already.  It was an amazing conversation I had with them.  Rock the planet little people and I will give you the tools that you need in order to do so!

A new member of our family

Jay, Ben and I have talked and talked about getting a new dog.  We even found a very cute puppy online and contemplating adding this little gal to our family.  Timing did not work out right plus the fact that she had some weird disease called the "strangles".  So with a heavy heart we decided to put off our search for a new canine friend till the summer.

Enter the Wild's and their doggy dilemma.  This poor family has been across the universe and back with their recent life changes-selling their old house, finding and moving into a new house, pregnancy and birth of Brooke, toddler days of  Maddie, the juggling of Zach's schedule, and of course their dogs trying to adapt to all  these changes.  They made an extremely difficult decision to find new homes for their canine friends.

I have always loved Coco from the minute I heard her tale-Dave rescuing her in Mexico.  When Jay and I found out that Coco was looking for a new home, we opened our doors to her for a trial run.  Mickey was the final vote.  He had to be able to deal with this new member of the family as well.  

It went well, and now Coco is the newest member of the Weiss Family!  Thank you Dave and Heather-she is the greatest gift and we promise to take wonderful care of her.  Come over any time and we will take you up on dog-sitting!

2009

Here I am again, looking ahead at the commencement of a fresh new year.  This is the time of resolutions, most of which we don't keep.  I resolving not to take part in this, for I am the broken resolution queen.

This year is going to be about me, my family and others that I impact.  I plan to live my life to the fullest, enjoy every moment that I can, and embrace times of challenge when needed.  I would love, laugh and cry, work, play and relax when needed.  I will take care of myself, my family, and my friends.  I will stay true to who I am.  A good spiritual leader of mine once said life is about "living the dash", the years between your birth and death.  I plan to live my dash by embracing as many moments of it that I can.  

2009 is going to be an exceptional year!  I can feel it!