Miss Bee

December 4 and 5

2010-12-07T20:46:00.000-07:00

Is there anything better than the weekend? Not for teachers! Mr. S. and I had such a wonderful weekend. On Saturday night we went with my mentor teacher and her husband to the Luminarias at the Desert Botanical Gardens. Wasn't really our scene seeing as we don't LOVE Christmas music the way a lot of people seem to but it was a perfect night and the Gardens are always pleasant to walk around. And as a side note to all you Des Moines people who go see the lumos on Waterbury - they had plastic candleholders instead of bags!

Later that night we tried to watch The Informant, but unfortunately not all Netflix users are as conscientious as we are and the disc was scratched. The first 3 minutes were great though.

Sunday we grocery shopped and had a picnic in the park! It was just delightful.

Don't you love the bottom picture of us Phoenicians covered from head to toe to keep out the 65 degree chill?

December 1 - 3

2010-12-07T20:37:00.001-07:00

Have you seen this man? He was sighted all over the Balsz campus with kindergarten right on his trail. Haha. It is Gingerbread Man season here and he has moved into the 21st century. Every other day he sends us an email that includes a picture of him somewhere on school grounds and an activity for us to do. I have to admit, I am super surprised at how much that want to believe that he is real. It is cute and very funny.

Yes that is a BMX biker jumping over one of our 5th grade teachers. And don't you love the look on Mr. Baron's face!? He truly is a kid at heart. Oh, and the bikers were there to celebrate the end of the fundraiser and to pump kids up about using their natural energy to do positive things! So cool!

This is povitica. Brought to Mr. S. and I by some Croatians at Costco. It is not often that I get to experience something from my motherland and let me just say, those Eastern Europeans know how to make some delicious bread. It is walnuty, brown sugary scrumptiousness! And we have a poppy seed one waiting for us in the fridge.

November 30, 2010

2010-11-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

As I was eating this pear, I was really contemplating it. It is magazine quality fruit. Don't you agree? The color was so georgous - green and rosy pink. And it was no imposter of deliciousness. It tasted as good as it looked. I always worry with pears, especially down here where all soft fruit is risky. The second one I have waiting on the counter will probably be a disappointment.

November 29

2010-11-29T16:45:00.000-07:00

I am not one of those organized internet readers the way Mr. S. is so when I come across something I LOVE it is usually completely by accident after falling down an internet black hole for 3 hours. I have tried using Google reader to keep track of blogs I like but I usually get tired of what's on there and it just gets really backed up with old posts. I do however subscribe to a few newsletters that keep interesting things coming my way and today one of them was a jackpot. I discovered this blog which perfectly combines little things with photography. It was so cool I had to try it out on my own and thus created the "watering hole" you see below.

And yes, we have tons of leftover mich ultra so if anyone's parents want to come over...give us a call!

November 25-28

2010-11-28T20:38:00.000-07:00

We had a perfect Thanksgiving day. My parents came to town and my whole family celebrated together for the first time in 7 years. We had an easy meal of mac and cheese, tabbouleh salad, mashed potatoes and apple crisp. Everything was delicious and the leftovers were even better. One of my favorite things to do with Thanksgiving food is to eat it for breakfast. Does anyone else do this?

Friday night we went to my friend Alex's mom's house for another round of wonderful food and relaxing over a bonfire while sipping Bailey's and coffee. Alex's mom really took care of all of us transplants who came to Phoenix for college so it was really neat that she finally got to meet my own mom. And it is always great to see Alex. I really miss just being around him and how he always likes to stay up late.

Family picture in the windows of the antique mall where we were hunting for nothing in particular.

And we have put up our Christmas tree! All 4 inches of it.

Today we are in recovery mode. Especially Chrysanthemum who has not moved except to eat or go to the bathroom. All this company really wore her out! Back to school tomorrow for the three week stretch before Christmas break. My bones already have a chill just thinking about the Iowa winter we will be experiencing so soon. Good thing we will have so many warm hugs waiting for us!

November 24

2010-11-28T20:18:00.001-07:00

Something about the Waka Waka really speaks to our kids. We had our Balsz Gives Thanks assembly on Wednesday and we played that song about 100 times and they danced for every single one of them.

For those of you who don't work with kids and can't remember all the way back to the World Cup...here is the original video so that you too can dance the Waka Waka. I really recommend actually doing the dance but if it seems like too much, you could try youtubing one of the many instructional videos that are also available:)

November 20-23

2010-11-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

Wow, is it possible Thanksgiving has already come and gone? Last weekend we started our festivities with a friends Thanksgiving party. Mr. S and I saw a turkey fry for the first time and were quite impressed. Here are Ethan and Trevor taking Chrys for a walk.

On Sunday, we went to see Harry Potter with my sister. I love going to the movies but it takes a major blockbuster and an out of town visitor to convice Mr. S. to go. The movie was so great and I have been having Harry Potter dreams ever since!

We took Nat to our favorite Mexican place and took the obligatory picture by the Burro. Isn't N cute?

Chrysanthemum with her favorite aunt. The sunset was so pretty but someone couldn't get their shoes on fast enough and we missed it. It is still a cute picture with Chrys at attention. Someone has to guart this place..

November 18 and 19

2010-11-19T21:26:00.000-07:00

Last night at photog. class we talked about interesting ways to frame a shot. Tomorrow the class is going to the Japanese Friendship Garden to practice but unfortunately I can't go. However, I was able to practice last night. When I got home, I discovered Mr. S. had hung this cool light in our living room and there was Chrys., sitting in the perfect spot. It actually isn't a great picture because it is exposed all wrong but it is framed nicely.

Today, we had a classroom birthday party for Chrysanthemum - yes you are reading this correctly, we had a party for our dog. We made her a cake of a glob of peanut butter with a carrot for a candle and she was licking her lips like crazy after that. She was getting her whole body into it, hence the ear flying to the side. After we sang and had cake and cookies, we watched the movie of Chrysanthemum. I hadn't read it to my class yet this year and they thought it was so cute. When the other students were laughing at poor little Chrysanthemum, Malik says, "Oh, they are just jeaaaaalllllous."

November 16 and 17

2010-11-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

Two more Chrysanthemums! The top one is her with her new adult food. She is looking up to see how I will react when she sticks her face right into the bag - which is what she did 2 seconds later!

November 14 and 15

2010-11-15T21:23:00.000-07:00

Do you love garlic? I do. And I want to eat it straight out of the jar that is how delicious this garlic is. We got this at Costco on Sunday and used it Monday morning to make our breakfasta pitas. I could not stop thinking about how amazing it was all day. Perfectly sweet and garlicky.

What a pretty dog. It is her birthday week. She turns 1 on Saturday!!!

November 10-13

2010-11-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

The holidays sneak up on you when you live in Phoenix. When the leaves don't change color and it is only just beginning to cool down it is hard to imagine that next week is really Thanksgiving. The mornings are cold to me and luxurious to Mr. S. We wear sweaters and crazy people like me wear scarves, gloves and hats as well. While I know both of our moms would never dream of turning the heat on for 50 most people here do. Not us, but we have dug out our warm clothes.

Chrysanthemum is seeking out warmth wherever her pea brain can find it - fresh laundry, buried under nine blankets...

This picture turned out incredibly well considering that before I could take any more a couple sat down at this table and ruined my fun. Mr. S. and I went to what is decidedly the coolest place to get a drink in Phoenix, The Roosevelt. It is in an old house, in the historic district, right smack in the middle of where they do First Friday...need I say more about how hip it is? To its credit, it also has great beer and a cheese plate that is making my mouth water as I write this.

On Saturday, we went back to the Botanical Gardens - we are members after all - to say goodbye to the butterflies and to feast on free chocolate at the chili and chocolate festival.

Aziz

2010-11-13T20:00:00.001-07:00

Mr. S and I watched Aziz Ansari - Intimate Moments for a Sensual Evening last night. I don't know if it is just me but I find him hilarious. Especially this bit he ends with about R. Kelly. I will warn you, it is a bit explicit and long but the final 1 minute is killer!

November 8 and 9

2010-11-09T20:39:00.000-07:00

This picture is meant to be reminiscent of the Chinese Cultural Center bean curd picture. I don't know which shelf I find more mistifying - hair products or random Asian foods. Anyway, I went to Ulta, a very scary place that sells more beauty products than I have ever seen, to find dry shampoo. If you haven't tried this wonderful invention, you must. I usually have to wash my hair everyday or every other day because it gets greasy at the roots. One spray of the dry shampoo and I can wait another day. I will add that this horrifies my friend Jasmine which only makes it even more fabulous.

Have I mentioned this week that I love kindergarten? Here my little ones are reading so carefully. They are getting so smart! And here is a fabulous kinder story. Of course five year olds are known for saying whatever pops into their little brains. Usually this means they comment on hating your haircut or your new shoes. Today, Anthony raised his hand during calender and delivered this classic line, "If I drink water at night, I pee in the bed. If I don't, I don't pee in the bed." Thanks for sharing!

November 4-7

2010-11-09T20:29:00.000-07:00

Celebrating the release of Mr. S. from the hospital with some frozen yogurt. Thank goodness he did not have appendicitis, only a pulled muscle. That's what he gets for lifting weights...This picture was taken outside at night! Can you even tell??

Friday was Skateland Night. I like this picture because with the slow shutter speed because everyone is a blur except for Farhiyo who is falling on the ground.

Once again, we are at our favorite place on a Saturday night. I think we need a new place because I am running out of things to take pictures of..

Sunday we picked the Muniz family up from the airport. I couldn't remember what time so we ended up camped at Starbucks for about 40 minutes. Good thing they have the best donuts! Seriously, you must try one.

November 3

2010-11-03T19:48:00.000-07:00

I have been sick. Not really sick but sick enough to make me want to stay in bed. That is what I get for working with five year olds. My usual response to illness is to drink fluids and let it run its course but with a job that requires my full attention the way Kindergarten does, that isn't really an option. Getting a sub isn't either so...cold medicine! That stuff really works. The kinder had no idea I wasn't feeling 100%.

November 1 and 2

2010-11-03T17:28:00.002-07:00

Mr. S. and I have major grocery store issues. We like Whole Foods the best but it is, gasp, all the way in Tempe and some Sundays we just can't make the drive. We also like Trader Joe's and it is kindof on the way to yoga so sometimes we go there. But...it doesn't have the selection of leafy greens we are used to from Whole Foods. The grocery store a block from our house is known for having rows of empty shelves and the produce department prominently features flies. So sometimes, like this week, we end up being lazy and going to the Safeway. Sometimes it works out but sometimes they don't have tofu. So we were missing that for one meal, we forgot to soak the beans for the chili, and we didn't have the wild mushrooms for the fritatta. Thanks to this perfect storm, we ended up walking to what I consider to be one of the biggest attractions in Phoenix - THE CHINESE CULTURAL CENTER!!! It is really just an extremely weird shopping center with an Asian theme and an even weirder grocery store but it is here that you can find the largest selection of bean curd, read tofu, in the city...if you can only figure out what you are buying. I think this picture says it all.

And here my class is making hearts with their shadows. Aren't they just adorable? I feel like I could teach kindergarten forever. Their little hands express my feelings exactly.

October 30-31

2010-10-31T20:06:00.000-07:00

October 26-29

2010-10-31T20:04:00.001-07:00

Chrys trying to escape the porch.

The cute family who let us do a practice photo shoot with them.

Little hands working through the pumpkin seeds.

Chrys getting a very close look at our class pumpkin.

Bad Blogger!

2010-10-31T19:52:00.003-07:00

Please allow me to explain myself before I catch up on my posts. For some reason, red ribbon week, family movie night, family portrait night, the drug free dance, and Halloween are all the same week. That is why I have not had an inch of time to post any pictures. I am so overwhelmed with all the pictures I have taken I have not even wanted to connect my camera to my computer and start going through them. But I am glad I finally did. I got some really great pictures of carving the pumpkin with my class and of our Halloween monster march and party. I must print some to share with the wonderful parents who came to help out. As much of a pain as parties are, I always enjoy getting to do something fun with the kids and their families. For our party, each parent had a bag of candy and the kids went and "trick or treated." Then we had pizza and cupcakes until we were sick. And finally, my favorite part, sharing our Halloween poems with our parents. Giving parents a chance to see how smart their kids are is one of the best parts of my job. I just love how proud everyone feels in that moment. I also got some great pictures of families who came for movie/family picture night. It was so fun trying to get all the kids to smile at once! It was a relief when Saturday rolled around and Mr. S. and I got to sleep in and finally enjoy some time together. We went to one of our favorite places where I had some fun taking pictures of the candle behind the water glass. Then today, Chrysanthemum decided to eat a bee which, of course, stung her on her lip. We had to hold her down and pull the stinger out with tweezers which she just loved. Then we had to hold her down again to get her to take some benadryl. She has made a full recovery and is thankfully not allergic. She only suffers from a very small brain.

October 24 and 25

2010-10-25T23:07:00.001-06:00

For some reason Face the Nation was on at the bar Sunday. The really sad thing is I preferred it to the usual sports. Which leads me to this article published in the Sunday Times. At first I was disappointed to see football on the front of the Week in Review - isn't one sports section enough - but I ended up LOVING it. Yes, football is barbaric and yes, you should be disgusted with yourself for watching it...Can't wait to discuss that at family Christmas, right Penny???

And here is our spoiled puppy. She thinks she should drink out of a human cup.

October 23

2010-10-25T22:54:00.000-06:00

On Saturday we did something so cool! The Desert Botanical Garden, just 10 minutes from our house, had thousands of little guests. The monarchs stopping off on their way to Mexico for the Winter. It was so incredibly awesome. I have always, since I was little and someone gave me this really old National Geographic on the topic, wanted to see the monarchs. (Sorry, it is the only picture I could find. For some reason you can't search their archives.) It was as great as I thought it would be. They were everywhere and they were so photogenic. And, as crazy as this seems, this months Nat. Geo. is all about great migrations. Check it out here.

Not only was it so cool to see the monarchs, but we were lucky enough to go with this little girl. My friend Stephanie's daughter and I have a special bond and she is quite the entomologist - she loves all bugs, even the disgusting ones. She was the perfect person to experience this with. She could not keep herself from touching them even though it was against the rules.

An added bonus of the day is that Mr. S. and I became members of the Gardens. Now we are officially old...

October 20-22

2010-10-23T11:05:00.003-06:00

The Arizona State Fair was not at all what I imagined. If it is possible to be fair spoiled, that is what we are in Iowa. Growing up you went to the fair. Even if your parents hated it, they took you because it is the only way to grow up a true Iowan. Or maybe because there is nothing else to do...either way it was a family destination. I would not say that of the AZ version. Our friend said that when she was a kid, they never went to the fair. Plus, it was so small. Like Mr. S. said, it was more like a county fair. The food was there but not in the multitudes that it is in the Midwest. And well, the rides are rides. I don't know what scared me more, the thought of riding them or interacting with the people operating them. The animals were, of course, very cute but there weren't very many of them. There were llamas but no horses or cows. At least not when we were there. So, don't worry Iowa State Fair, my heart is still yours.

Friday breakfast is something of a tradition at our school. Everyone knows that Kindergarten and sixth grade do the best job and all the grades in between put in half an effort. First grade is notoriously the worst with fifth grade only slightly better. So, I have moved from the worst team to one of the best. The first step to putting on a good breakfast is coming up with a theme. Since it is Vegetarian Awareness Month, I suggest a veg theme. My teammates went for it and we decorated the lounge with big cut out vegetables, vegetarian posters, and cookbooks. I thought it was cute and since breakfast is usually a vegetarian event anyway I thought everyone would agree with me. Well, we arrived at school Friday morning to see that people had ruined our decorations by gluing meat pictures all over them. And I heard reports that people were commenting about how I was pushing my beliefs on other people. How annoying! It was just a theme, it wasn't a political statement. I thought people knew me well enough to know my vegetarianism is not at all politically charged, it is just something I enjoy and wanted to share. Going back to my post on gratitude, this is exactly what I am talking about. It is so hard to be positive and remember why I teach when we work with such unreasonable and negative people.

Anyway, I made monkey bread. As I was making it, I became worried that the name was in some way racial so I looked it up on wikipedia. Thank goodness, it is not. I guess it resembles the monkey tree; a giant fir tree that is also the national tree of Chili.

In other news, Mr. S. and I are no longer yoga homeless! We have returned to a studio I used to go to but stopped because the teachers kept quitting and not showing up. Turns out, they now have a really solid staff of extremely knowledgeable teachers. I have liked every class I have taken so far. Plus they have a really fun boutique of interesting jewelry and clothing that is fun to browse after class. Nothing says Ms. Bee like shopping and yoga!

October 16-20

2010-10-19T22:45:00.002-06:00

A Moment for Gratitude

There are times in life when I complain too much. Our job is hard. We work in an area where education is valued in a very different way than we grew up with. The people who make the rules of education have no conception of what teaching is like in underserved communities and that adds to the stress. The requirements for teachers and students are absurd and frustrating and it feels like every time we turn around someone new is breathing down our neck. What I need to remind myself is that I asked for all of this. My dream when I was a naive college student was to live in the poor neighborhood where I work. I wanted more than anything to work with these kids and their families. This is what I set out to do. So yes, despite my complaints, I am thankful for my job and for the important work that we do everyday. I am thankful that I get to work with Mr. S. and I really think we are making a difference - not in the grand way my college me thought - but in the little ways that are just as significant. I am, of course, very thankful for weekends, vacations and all the wonderful time we spend as a family in between going to work.

That brings me to this weekend and the Second Annual Student Council Car Wash with Swap Meet. It should go without saying that I did NOT want to go to school at 6:30 on a Saturday morning and wash cars for 4 hours. But, since this is a moment for gratitude, I was happy to teach some awesome kids about serving their school and their community. Plus, look at their faces...they had a GREAT time!

After Saturday, I was extremely grateful for morning yoga with Mr. S. followed by an afternoon enjoying a few select beverages and dreaming about what our future will hold...

And it is pumpkin season in Kindergarten. Our hallways are full of smiling jack - o - lanterns!

Next Thursday, my friend Emily and I are taking family portraits for the Balsz community. We are so excited to be able to offer this for our families. Here we are scouting some locations around school with our handsome models. Go Em trying out some cool techniques from class!

Tomorrow night we are off to the fair!

October 14 and 15

2010-10-15T23:53:00.000-06:00

When my mom was visiting, she put a cute colander filled with apples on our new kitchen table. When the apples were gone, we decided to replace them with potatoes of course. A little unorthodox but equally cute, don't you agree?

At the newly returned to glory Tempe Town Lake. After a much to filling dinner with friends, we went to the lake to walk it off and play with the Muniz family. Can you believe the night time pictures this camera can take? I feel like I look at the LCD screen in amazement after every shot!

Octover 12 and 13

2010-10-14T17:55:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite evening activites is playing with Chrysanthemum. Tonight was especially awesome because we were blaring ABBA the whole time!

My first assignment for my photography class was to photograph the alphabet. Being the stubborn person that I am...I decided to just do the letters of my name. The collage cropped the pictures a little bit but I think you get the point.

October 10 and 11

2010-10-11T19:16:00.001-06:00

In honor of vegetarian month we are cooking a meatless meal every night of October. Haha...get it...we always cook vegetarian meals. Anyway, bad jokes aside, we have had two AWESOME meals this week and it is only Monday. Last night we had paella with wild rice which to Seinfeld fans should conjure up memories of Mrs. Costanza (What am I gonna do with all this paella?). Tonight we had one of my favorite things, fritatta. Mmm I love it! It all started with a Veggie Times recipe with grape tomatoes and potatoes and from there I was hooked. It is good cold or hot, right off the skillet or the next day for lunch. This one was really tasty because it had crispy red onions and quinoa which ended up getting toasted while the eggs cooked. If you haven't made fritatta before, you must start. It will change your life. The only important thing is making sure you have enough courage to get the thing flipped. I recommend putting a plate on top of your frying pan and then turning the whole thing over before sliding it back in to brown the other side.

October 9

2010-10-11T19:07:00.000-06:00

Saturday night we went to watch ASU football with some friends. As you all know, this is something I care deeply about. I meant to take more pictures of Chrys with her best doggie friends but I had a pounding headache and just slept on the couch. For the last few days I have been getting some terrible headaches and I have been attributing them vaguely to my eyes. Well, I think I need to come clean - the real cause is I have been working my way through a bag of M&M's leftover from our trip. I think the sugar is what is doing it to me.

October 8

2010-10-08T20:57:00.001-06:00

There is a man who takes long exposure pictures of facebook albums to create composites of ALL the pictures in the album. Pretty cool idea...especially when mixed with one of my other favorite things, SVU. Season 11 is out on Netflix watch instantly and watch we have been doing. I won't admit to how many we have watched in the 2 days we have been home but I will entertain your guesses.

Other good news...I found what I am getting Mr. S. for Christmas. Perfect for the super organized gadget lover in your life...

October 7

2010-10-08T16:35:00.000-06:00

One of the things photographers like to argue about is whether a photoshopped, edited photograph is cheating or if it is all part of the art form. Obviously it depends on what you are trying to do and I don't think you should ever substitute a quality photo for one that has been fixed in an editing program but I think changing photographs is fun so I gave it a try with this picture. We went to eat at our favorite place and Mr. S. put Chrys on top of the car for a minute. I tried to make it look cool and vintage, something that is all the rage on some photography blogs I read. I am happy with the result, especially how the power lines look behind the sign.

October 6

2010-10-08T16:25:00.000-06:00

After 9 hours in the car, we finally made it safely back to Phoenix. Chrysanthemum appeared extremely relieved to be back on her own turf. She sniffed every room in the house and gave her favorite chair a good sniff and a roll.

On a side note - while we were gone, we missed the most extreme non heat related weather Arizona has seen in a long time. Tornadoes, hail, trees falling through houses...check it out here.

October 2-5

2010-10-08T10:24:00.000-06:00

When we first arrived in Albequerque we accidentally parked in the handicapped lot and were snuck into the balloon festival by a lively septuagenarian who loudly proclaimed that they "aren't even checkin'" for handicapped tags in the lot. After all this, we discovered that the balloon glow was cancelled due to wind and that Chrysanthemum is as unimpressed as we are by fireworks and ended up just leaving.

The Mass Ascension of balloons was just that - a massive amount of balloons rising up into the air. Over 700 of them continuously inflating and taking off for over two hours. It was such a festive environment and Mr. S. and I were both grinning the whole time. The world needs more hot air balloons. They make people really happy.

We found this hike in a book titled "Great Hikes to do with Children." IF THIS BOOK EXISTS FOR OTHER STATES I WANT IT!!! I'm not sure which member of our family counts as a child but all the hikes in this book were perfect for us. Short enough for Mr. S. not to get grumpy from being away from the internet for too long and easy to moderate enough for the short legs of Chrysanthemum and I. That being said, I would not want to do this hike with an actual child. After an unnerving drive up an unpaved, unmarked road, a steep climb to get to the trail head and a challenging for us higher altitude, we arrived at Williams Lake. It was beautiful and the cool air was so refreshing. Unfortunately my pictures turned out HORRIBLE! I am going to try to stitch together a panoramic of the best ones but most of them look like the child that was supposed to come along on this hike took them.

The next day we hiked down to the Rio Grande. The drive to reach this hike was much safer than the previous day and we really felt like we were in unclaimed wilderness. A unique and pleasant experience for three city folks. The really cool thing about this hike is that it features petroglyphs from around 800 years ago. Since I was a kid I have had a fascination with Native Americans that I believe began with watching Peter Pan on repeat. An auspicious beginning considering that they refer to them as red men...but anyway, I used to write poetry about cliff dwellers, drag my parents to museums featuring their art and even convinced my mom to decorate my bathroom with a Native American theme. The chance to see this was a very special treat. My mind was spinning thinking about how old 800 years is but also how young that is in comparison to the gouged out landscape around us. After a few minutes with the petroglyphs and some time spent playing in the water, it was time for the portion of the hike that was very much not a treat - hiking out. Even though it was less than two miles, it was a steep less than two miles. It was at this point it became clear which family member was the child that day..

October 1, 2010

2010-10-08T09:39:00.000-06:00

We were so happy to have Penny and Lori come see us! I am actually in this picture but since my legs are half the size of theirs I didn't show up...just kidding. After this was taken, Penny did her best to tame our wild, damaged hair. Next time I will have to take a picture of the wreckage.

September 30

2010-09-30T21:22:00.001-06:00

This could be my favorite picture of the month! How cute is that girl???? She has only recently started to like putting her head out the window and only at slow speeds...which is pretty much never here in Phoenix.

I am one month in to my year of photos! Thanks to everyone who actually looks at my pictures and comments. It makes it that much more fun. 11 more months to go! Who knows what they will hold...

September 29

2010-09-29T20:34:00.002-06:00

I had an idea to take a picture of Chrys sitting under a streetlight in our apartment complex. There were several that came out great and some really good ones with Mr. S. but this one was closest to my original vision for the shot.

September 27 and 28

2010-09-28T20:26:00.001-06:00

Beautiful Apples on our Beautiful Table.

Our Plants - to the left and right you can see the chives and curled parsley peeking over the top of their pots. The basil was being the most photogenic so it got the coveted blot spot.

September 24-26

2010-09-26T23:36:00.000-06:00

Pictures: September 22-23

2010-09-23T22:36:00.000-06:00

Pictures; September 20 and 21

2010-09-21T21:21:00.000-06:00

Picture of the Day: September 19, 2010

2010-09-19T20:51:00.000-06:00

Pictures: September 15-18 2010

2010-09-19T20:50:00.000-06:00

September 14

2010-09-14T19:39:00.000-06:00

And that brings me to today...Still Life with Purses and a Dog. Just off camera Mr. S is eating and she is certain he should be sharing. And with a face like that, don't you agree???

September 13

2010-09-14T19:37:00.000-06:00

Pictures - September 9-12

2010-09-14T19:36:00.000-06:00

Pictures - September 5-8

2010-09-14T19:34:00.001-06:00

Pictures of the Day!

2010-09-14T19:20:00.003-06:00

Hello World! I have a new project. I am trying to take a picture a day for a year. A big task, I know, but I have been inspired. Mr. S's Aunt Lynn did this same project and it turned out so cool. Plus she documented a year that her family moved and who knows...this could be our year to do the same.

Now, I know what you are thinking...Miss Bee...it is September. This is an odd time to start this project. I agree. And I don't care. It will turn out great no matter when it starts.

And did I mention I have a new camera?

Brown Dog and Purple Kale

2010-02-10T19:24:00.000-07:00

I used this beautiful purple kale to make a "heart healthy" soup with wheat berries, shitake mushrooms and lots of garlic. It looked really nice but took forever to make. As Mr. S. put it, "how much more soupin' does that soup have to do?"

Chrysanthemum loves her chair.

More pictures

2010-02-09T18:16:00.000-07:00

Chrysanthemum is very proud that she can now jump into the yellow chair. We don't have to tell her that the only reason she can do it is because the legs broke off and it is 5 inches from the floor.

Sigh...is there anything better than a little hound dog on your lap?

This is Chrysanthemum going to check that all of her toys are in her box. If they are, she wants to take them all out. I kept trying to get one of her with her front paws and head in the box but every time she heard the camera she would look up and run to me!

Chrysanthemum-from stink to pink

2010-02-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

Chrysanthemum got her first bath this past weekend. As expected, she hated it. She is so tiny that I just washed her in the bathroom sink. When she was all dry and clean, I put a pretty pink ribbon around her neck. She didn't like that much either...

2010-02-03T22:07:00.003-07:00

After school today, Mr. S., Chrysanthemum, and I went to the park...on our bikes! Check out these adorable pictures of The Girl riding in her new bike basket. She loved it and so did we! She played so hard that she fell asleep for the ride home.

The little cuddle

2010-02-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

She is just the sweetest girl. And she fits right in the crook of my arm. The perfect addition to my collection of little things...

2010-01-24T20:08:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to get a picture of Chrysanthemum's adorable wet paw prints and I finally remembered to bring the camera out with me. She hates the wet ground but her little feet are pretty irresistable, don't you agree???

Desert Botanical Gardens

2010-01-24T20:04:00.000-07:00

Today Grandma Betty and I went to the desert botanical gardens. It was the absolute perfect day to go! The sun was shining and all the plants were in top form from all of the wonderful rain we have been getting. I think this was my favorite trip to the gardens yet!

Barrel Cactus

A bird on top of a really tall plant.

Purple Succulents!

More succulents!

Look At Me!

2010-01-22T21:08:00.000-07:00

One of the training exercises Chrysanthemum and I are working on is called Look At Me! The point is, obviously, to encourage eye contact between you and your puppy. While we were working tonight I snapped some pictures of her. Seriously, does it get any better than this????

Oh, and scroll all the way down to the bottom to see my new how old is Chrysanthemum ticker.

Mine-stormy?

2010-01-22T19:16:00.000-07:00

Sorry, terrible pun on tonight's dinner. But we did have Minestrone and it is stormy so who could resist?

Minestrone is a real empty the pantry kind of meal. Ours had white beans, carrots, sun-dried, tomatoes, spinach, celery, onion, and garlic. LOTS of garlic. On the side we had chedder thyme biscotti that I really wanted to be a surprise for Mr. S. but he INSISTED that I tell him what they were. I think he might have even googled the ingredients to try and figure out what I was making. Even though the surprise was ruined, they were still absolutely delicious.

Cheddar Thyme Biscotti from Moosewood restaurant New Classics

1/2 cup butter melted

3 eggs

2 Tbsp garlic

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 tsp. thyme

2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly oil a baking sheet. Whisk together eggs and melted butter. Mix in the thyme, garlic, and cheddar cheese. Mix the dry ingredients right into the wet; I used my fingers for this step. Mold the dough into a 12 inch by 3 inch log. Flatten the log until it is about 14 inches by 4 inches and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and place on cutting board. When cool enough to handle cut into 1 inch diagonal pieces. Arrange on cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes more on each side.

Easy dinner and Miss Mum

2010-01-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

This dinner was in the January or February veggie times. It was so easy!

Vegetables Korma
1/2 small white onion
1 can tomatoes, drained.
shake or two powdered ginger
olive oil
1/2 tsp. garam masala
1/4 tsp. plus 1/8 tsp. cardamom
1 bag mixed frozen veggies - ours had cauliflower, peas, broccoli, carrots, etc.
1 can chickpeas
3 Tbsp. coconut milk

Puree onion, tomatoes, and ginger in blender to make a paste. Heat oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add garam masala and cardamom and cook one minute stirring constantly. Add tomato mixture and simmer until it thickens. Stir in vegetables, chickpeas, and coconut milk. Cook until vegetables are heated through. Serve with rice.

Here is The Girl sleeping with her dad after school. Mr. S. will sleep through EVERYTHING but when he hears that girl crying in the night he is out of bed in a flash...

And here she is in her new sweater. A gift from my mentor teacher. Isn't she pretty in pink???

Chrysanthemum is NAUGHTY!!!

2010-01-20T18:08:00.003-07:00

Today I came home at lunch to get Chrysanthemum. I put my key in the door and listened to see if she would do anything. Nothing. So I went inside and I'm talking to her her and still...nothing. So I bend down and open her crate door and she is GONE! So I am so worried calling her and here some comes out of the bathroom like, "Oh, sorry. I didn't hear you come in..." She is naughty.

Here are some photos of playing after school. She is sneaking up...

It's raining, it's pouring, Chrysanthemum is snoring!

2010-01-19T18:24:00.002-07:00

Rain is in the forecast for the whole week! Looks like Mr. S and his grandpa will be playing some soggy rounds of golf this weekend.

Vegetarian Meatballs
1 package gimme lean soy sausage
1 cup bread crumbs
4 Tbsp. parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. parsley
2 Tbsp. basil
2-4 cloves of garlic to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl with fingers. Coat a skillet with olive oil and heat over medium high heat. Roll soy sausage mixture into balls using about 2 Tbsp. each. Cook in skillet until evenly browned. Enjoy with your favorite sauce/noodle combination.

Sorry no picture of our dinner. Mr. S had it all packed away before I had time to take one!

Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum, Chrysanthemum

2010-01-18T17:36:00.001-07:00

As I was typing the title of this post I was thinking, "WOW! I can't believe I really, truly have a little girl dog named Chrysanthemum." But it is true. Mr. S. and I are the luckiest dog parents in the world because she is absolutely perfect. And precious and priceless and fascinating and winsome.

Chrysanthemum or The Girl or Ms. Mum or Chrys is so much fun. Here are my favorite things about her so far...

When we walk with her I can't help but look in the windows of the apartments we pass and admire our little family. Her legs move so fast to keep up with us. Most of the time we walk her without a leash but she is getting pretty good at walking with the leash too. She knows right where our apartment is and likes to run the last little bit.

It is also fun to play with her mini-tennis ball with her. She gets going so fast on our wood floor and her little feet just slide out from under her. And she brings it back everytime!

I love when she sleeps with her tummy up.

I really love when she chews on the right things and not the wrong things.

She already knows how come when she is called and she comes right to between my feet.

When she gets scared she comes and stands by us.

I love how when she is crying in her crate at night I can comfort her with my iPhone light and my voice.

I am so excited to get my puppy training book and start working on things. We are going to have so much fun!

This list could go on and on but the thing that I love the most about Chrysanthemum is that she loves us and wants to be right by us all the time. When we are in the kitchen she is there. When we sit on the couch she is right there wanting to get up on the couch - we make her sit first. When I go into the bathroom she follows me there. When she hears Bret's voice when he is still in bed she goes and checks on him. She just loves to be right by us all the time and it is so sweet. Just today we went to the park and played and played and she passed out exhausted on her orange blanket when we got back. When Mr. S and I went to sit on the couch she was still sleeping, but a few minutes later, she woke up and came over to get up by us.

More Squash!

2009-11-17T17:43:00.001-07:00

Tonight we had spaghetti squash with breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley, and Parmesan. It was quick, easy and quite delicious. But mostly really easy. Here is an extreme close-up of the squash.

Here is the pan we mixed everything up in.

And here is me! Taking a much needed final taste before I packed it up for lunch tomorrow.

How to:

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash

2 pieces of bread

8 cloves of garlic...I know seems like a lot but trust me.

parsley

Parmesan cheese

1. Cook the squash however you want. We just cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, and microwave it for 8 minutes. Once cooked scoop it out of the shell.

2. Toast the bread. Put both pieces in the food processor with the garlic and chop it up. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Heat oil in a large skillet. Throw in the breadcrumbs and garlic and bake until popping. Add the squash, parsley, and cheese.

Today was not the best day of first grade. As one of my kids put it today, it was "awful, just terrible." I called three parents - two for cheating and one just because he was being a little turkey all day and I was sick of it. At the end of the day we were talking about being thankful for things and I said I was thankful for first graders (sort of) and they all looked at me like what??? You are thankful for us??? But we have been awful, just terrible all day!

Butternut squash and potato gratin

2009-11-16T20:32:00.000-07:00

We got these adorable fingerling potatoes from the Costco. The purple ones that are hidden among the plain ones are the real gems!

Mr. S and I turned them into this delicious dinner from the Times recipes for Health section. It is amazing how sweet the butternut squash was after cooking for an hour and half. I put a generous amount of pepper on it before I cooked it and the taste reminded me of the sweet potato hash browns we made a few weeks ago.

And on the plate ready to eat.

This meal combined with the brisk Phoenix day we had made it feel like Fall is finally here - even though the rest of the country is starting to feel winter is here. It is hard to believe that next week is Thanksgiving! The holidays really do sneak up on you when you don't experience the rudeness of winter. In first grade, we have been doing many fall/Thanksgiving poems. Last year I did a poem called Turkey in the Barnyard. It went like this-

Turkey in the barnyard, what does he say?

"Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble all day."

Turkey on the table, what do I say?

"Yummy, yummy, yummy, yummy, yummy all day."

Turkey in my tummy, what do I say?

"I ate to much on Thanksgiving Day!"

So this year I was thinking, I don't want to read that stupid poem about eating turkey all week. So I changed it to-

Turkey in the barnyard, what does he say?

"Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, all day."

Turkey in the field, what does he say?

"Yippee, yippee, yippee, yippee, yippee all day."

Turkey on Thanksgiving what does he say?

"Please don't eat me on Thanksgiving Day!"

Yes, every year I try to convert my kids to vegetarianism. Alas, it never works. They are way too irrational to understand that the beautiful pictures of turkeys that I show them have anything to do with the turkey they are eating at Thanksgiving.

The Wolfpack and more cranberries!!

2009-11-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

Mr. S and I have a breakfast place we frequent called Over Easy. It was actually on that food network show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives with that disgusting guy that eats way to much. Anyway, it is absolutely delicious and it is the place to be seen on Satuday morning...I think that is why we like it..Their speciality is called the Wolfpack and it consists of two eggs any way you want, choice of cheese, spinach for Mr. S and I - meat eaters have bacon - all between two layers of hashbrowns. Amazing, right? Instead of waiting two hours for this treat, we decided to make our own this Sunday. While it wasn't as huge as the Over Easy wolfpack, I would say it was as good. Here is a picture!

I also decided to make oatmeal cranberry cookies today in the never ending quest to use the cranberries. A friend of ours was saying how his favorite cookie is plain old oatmeal with cranberries and he had some, but left them at work. I didn't want him to go with out so I wrapped them up in a shoe box as a surprise. There is a picture down below. I must say they turned out great. The perfect combination of sweet and cakey. As you can see, Mr. S. enjoyed them too. When I was wrapping them up to take to our friend, he said, "are you really giving them all of those?"

How To:

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 cup oats

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

2 cups fresh cranberries chopped in a food processor

Preheat oven to 375.

1. Beat together room temperature butter with the sugar until creamy. I once read you should do this atleast one full minute to let lots of air into the fat. This helps the texture.

2. Add the eggs and continue to beat.

3. Add all the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until combined.

4. Add the cranberries.

5. Drop by the loaded teaspoonfull onto a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

Moosewood Muffins-cranberry apple style.

2009-11-11T10:58:00.001-07:00

Mr. S is a serious impulse buyer. The man once bought 72 forever stamps. His latest purchase...a 3 pound bag of fresh cranberries from The Costco.

Expect more cranberry creations to come but here is the first. MUFFINS! Here they are fresh from the oven.

And one waiting to be eaten.

Mr. S., I hope these cranberries are as good as you were expecting.

Moosewood Muffins How to:

Ingredients
Streusel:
1/3 cup flour
1 1/2 tablespoon cold butter
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of salt

Wet Ingredients:
6 tablespoons butter at room temp.
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk, I used soy.
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 apple peeled and cored
1/2 cup FRESH cranberries that will make only a small dent in your 3 lbs. bag :)

Dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 and prepare muffin tins.

2. Mix together struesel topping ingredients in food processor. Much, much easier than the suggested mixing with a fork. Set aside.

3. Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the egg, then milk and vanilla. In food processor, chop apple and cranberries. Fold into wet ingredients with a spatula.

4. Add the dry ingredients and mix with the spatula.

5. Spoon about 1/3 cup of batter into each muffin cup. Dust with struesel topping.

6. Bake 25 minutes.

And please check out this amazing website. I linked you to the cutest thing I found on there. I know what I want for Christmas...

Farm Fresh Frittata

2009-11-10T18:16:00.000-07:00

My friend Katie's mom raises chickens at her house in Boulder Creek, California. While she was visiting last week I gave her an earful, as I have been known to do, about how I dream of someday having my own coop full of beautiful chickens delivering wonderful eggs to me each day. Lucky for Mr. S and me, she sent her husband with some this week! The result...

Potatoes, onion and bell pepper.

Delicious mustard from Whole foods

The crown jewel...the eggs!

And the glorious, delicious finished product. (I'm glad I photographed it before I flipped it over to brown the other side because it fell apart)

This recipe is from one of the summer Vegetarian Times issues:

How to:

Ingredients

4 red potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes

1/2 medium onion, diced.

1 red bell pepper diced.

4 cloves of garlic

2 cups basil leaves or in my case much much more.

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

6 eggs

3 egg whites

3/4 grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat oil over medium heat. Saute potatoes, onion, and bell pepper until potatoes start to brown. About 15 minutes.

2. While that is going on, put garlic and basil into a food processor and pulse until chopped. Add flour and mustard and pulse to combine. Add eggs, egg whites, and cheese and blend until frothy.

3. Combine with potato mixture in a large bowl.

4. Heat more oil over medium low heat and pour mixture in. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes.

5. After ten minutes lift edges slightly and allow uncooked egg to get to the bottom of the pan. Cover and continue to cook about 10 more minutes.

6. Now the tricky part. Run a spatula around the edges and underneath to get it nice and loose. Flip the frittata onto a large plate. If this is successful, slide it back into the pan to brown the second side. If unsuccessful, just throw the pieces back in and continue to brown. Both ways are delicious!

What is this???

2008-11-03T16:48:00.002-07:00

Just try to guess what this is...I'll give you a hint- I had nothing to do with the making and we are BOTH really glad we didn't have to eat it.

Love,
Miss Bee

Trip to Des Moines Pictures.

2008-11-02T11:03:00.001-07:00

Check 'em out!

Trip to Des Moines October 2008

Love,
Miss Bee

Happy Halloween and logical consequences.

2008-11-01T15:59:00.004-07:00

The class and I celebrated Halloween by making masks, putting on costumes and being in a monster march, eating healthy food, and playing duck, duck, goose together on the playground. It was a great day!

We were the only class with a dog marching with it! This is Princess. She belongs to Oscar's sister.

Here is Oscar as the Incredible Hulk!

The whole gang.

Princess Valeria.

Us waiting for the march to start.

I have one student who has been getting in the habit of calling people names and yesterday, he told one little girl that her stomach was going to explode. So, I put him in time out while I finished what I was doing with the class. While they were working on something, I got him out of time out and we sat down together and made a list of nice things to say to people. We made a whole long list and then I had him pick one to go and say to the little girl. I'm not kidding, he had tears in his eyes walking over there to compliment her. After he did that, I asked him how it felt to do that and he said good. For the rest of the day he was giving compliments to kids on their costumes and masks. It was a perfect example of the way logical consequences can make all the difference in the world.

In memory of the good old days...

And here is our new class pen pal, Ms. Belle Early. Isn't she pretty??

Love,
Miss Bee

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-30T19:45:00.003-07:00

Here we are saying our poem of the week. I told them about how my mom made me dress up as a pumpkin and go around to the houses saying Five Little Pumpkins for all the neighbors. They loved it.

Maybe I'll start posting again. Sorry no survey of your interests here...

Love,
Ms. Bee

The New Group, finally!

2008-08-05T18:41:00.004-06:00

Hello Everyone! I finally took some picture of my new class. Today during math, we made a huge mess, had lots of fun, and practiced counting by making some number posters. Each partner had a poster and a number and they had to glue objects on in their number amount. The objects included sparkles, feather, pieces of string, they could punch holes, cut out shapes, or draw with crayon. They turned out wonderful and it was fun to make a good old fashioned mess with the new kids.

Anthony asked me if we were going to go fly our kites after this...I think he got a little mixed up.
Hard at work! Those two worked so slow they didn't get much more done than what you see there.
These two did great. Ubaldo actually cut out 11 circles(!) to glue on to his poster.
An almost final product. They added one more thing that was just adorable, a house with 12 windows.
Another almost finished product. These two made such a cute team, one boy held the glue and the other stuck things on the poster.
Working, not a very good picture.
Another not so great picture.
Erubiel is a good little worker. Very meticulous and a little strange. But he loves art!
This is the good little team mates, Juan on the left and Ramon on the right.
Jose is just too cute.

So that is what we are up to in room 501. I should have taken a picture of the final ones but I have the back to school runny nose and head floating away feeling so I just didn't want to.

Love,
Miss Bee

Open School

2008-08-03T19:32:00.005-06:00

Open School

Close the pool
Close the park
No more staying up after dark.

Put away your bike
Put away your ball
Have you grown? Are you getting tall?

First grade is here
For you and your friends
Summer vacation has come to an end.

It's time to open school!

My friend, Mrs. Morris, and I wrote this for our kids and the first week of school. They loved it!

Here is Mr. S and I on the first day.

Love,
Miss Bee.

PS I love my new class!!!!!!

Welcome, Readers, to Alanza Place

2008-08-03T19:11:00.003-06:00

This is the view from the entry way. Doesn't the shawl my mom made look beautiful on the couch?
A shot of the China corner. My first issue of National Geographic came with a map of China and we both brought various asian decorations to the relationship.
More of the China corner and our built-in which houses our collection of little things.
Mr. S did a beautiful job arranging the bookshelf.
Here is the view from my couch.

I spared you guys a photo of the spider bite on my left breast. It was nice of them to welcome us and all...but I would have preferred a jello mold. I'm still not sold on the new place. They haven't addressed any of the work orders we have placed, it smells like smoke, the tile and carpet are a little bit disgusting and it just isn't home yet. I love being able to walk to school but I miss our old home still.

Enjoy the photos and go see Mamma Mia! It is fabulous!

Love,
Miss Bee

Miss Bee's Not Ready for Prime Time Players

2008-07-08T22:12:00.003-06:00

Anthony Barrellez
Stephanie Barrios
Alicia Cabello
Felix Cuevas
Juan Encarnaicion-Rodriguez
Melissa Guerrero
Angel Hernandez
Julia Lopez
Luis Gerardo Martinez
Ramon Martinez
Evelyn Nava Juarez
Erubiel Orozco
Jose Plascencia Guzman
Frida Sotelo
Ubaldo Soto
Edgar Varela Fuentes
Valeria Zarate
Xavier Axel Zarco Hernandez
Jose Zarinaza

I can't wait to meet them. I have one sibling from my class last year. Alexus was a handful and Alicia looks and acts like a terror with her mohawk and screeching voice. I hope they know how hard I am working to get ready for them. I spent three-ish days organizing books for the classroom library. All that is missing are the bookshelves. Haven't had any luck at the thrift stores. I have one bulletin board up and am planning to do another one tomorrow. Bulletin boards are one of my hate jobs. I just don't like spending so much time stapling fabric and boards on to the wall when I could be...I don't know...planning. I worked out my daily schedule last night and I am pretty happy with it. We are planning a trip to Staples to buy crayons, glue, and notebooks for a penny. It is hard to believe that school starts July 28! I am already a little bit nervous.

Love,
Miss Bee

Get me to Canada!

2008-07-08T15:09:00.003-06:00

PETA and KFC have struck up a deal. In exchange for PETA calling off their campaign against KFC's slaughtering practices, KFC will now sell vegan chicken. Only in Canada. PETA will continue fighting with KFC's in the States until they also agree to sell chick'n.

Rainforest Beef

2008-07-07T13:57:00.005-06:00

I recently finished the book "Altruistic Armadillos, Zenlike Zebras" by Jeffrey Mason. Great book and I stubbled upon this little bit of information, "it takes 16 pounds of soy and grain not to mention 400 gallons of water to raise one pound of beef and 55 square feet of rainforest are destroyed for that same pound of meat." It brought me back to why I originally became a vegetarian. I did a report on the rainforest in 5th grade and when I heard about "rainforest beef" and the deforestation to produce said beef I said no more. I had never liked meat and I can remember many painful meals that included the line "you are going to sit here until you eat 1 piece of that meat." Shudder. (no offense mom and dad, I see where you were coming from now.)
If you want to find out more about deforestation and the impact of the meat industry on third world countries there is a movie called "Hamburger: Jungleburger," I think. It is a very in depth look at the meat industry in Costa Rica. Check it out.

Here is a picture of the rainforest in French Guiana, just so we all remember what is at stake.

Love,
Miss Bee

Car Cup Update

2008-07-02T15:01:00.002-06:00

I used my car cup for the first time today. Mr. S and I are dog sitting and have found ourselves in a situation where we have no food at our house or the house we are staying at so...we went to Chipotle. The cup was a great success-no cup waste was created. Now I wonder if they will let me bring my own bowl...

Love,
Miss Bee

DIY L&O SVU 26.2

2008-06-29T21:46:00.002-06:00

That's "Do It Yourself Law and Order Special Victims Unit Marathon." I did it and so can you by clicking right here.

Green Toe

2008-06-28T23:50:00.004-06:00

Well, I finally bought some Simple Shoes. They are wonderful and they are made from post-consumer products like old tires, recycled plastic and recycled paper. They are so cool I want them in every color...size 5.5.

I will also take this time to show off the green present wrapping I did for a baby shower...
When Heather is done opening the present, she can wear the bow in her hair and read the NYTimes house and home section.

Love,
Miss Bee

WWWWWWAAAALLLLLL-EEEEEE

2008-06-28T14:44:00.003-06:00

Mr. S and I saw Wall-E yesterday. It was really excellent. My only wish is that it was a little less adorable so people would be less inclined to walk away thinking it was just a "cute story". In truth, there is nothing cute about an Earth so disgusting that we have to leave it completely and live in a space ship while robots clean our trash. But Wall-E is completely lovable and he reminded me of all of the trash collecting and sorting people in my life. I also enjoyed that the film had very little actual dialogue, mostly beeps and zooms.

Speaking of keeping Earth nice and clean, I have been brainstorming ways to use less plastic. A few of my ideas include,
being aware of whether or not hair/beauty products come in recycled or recyclable containers. I don't buy a lot of these but when I do, why not make it count?
saving plastic bags that I put produce in at the store. This is a big source of waste in my opinion so from now on, instead of throwing them away when the produce is gone I am going to put them into our reusable grocery bag so that they too can be reused. You really only need them for such a short time it doesn't make sense to get a new one each time.
Washing out ziplock bags and reusing them. We have been doing this for a while. Yes it can be a pain and they don't get as crystal clear as when they were new but hey...less waste.
Re-using plastic bottles. I HATE PLASTIC BOTTLES! I can't part with them yet I despise using them over and over again because I think it is bad for your health or something. Haven't thought of a permanent solution for this one.
I now have a "car cup." I haven't had an opportunity to use it yet but my thinking was anytime I went somewhere like Chipotle or similar restaurant instead of getting a cup for water I could just refill my own.
Obviously we re-use any plastic containers of yogurt/cottage cheese/etc. We have a plethora of these spinach clamshells that we can't seem to think of a solution for. Any suggestions? They must have a classroom use out there. They are pretty flimsy so they can't hold anything to heavy. And they melt if given the slightest opportunity we have discovered a couple of times.

Those are my ideas. I would love to hear other peoples, it might be comforting. Sometimes I get a little depressed because I am not sure I can make a difference or that all my washing, reusing and recycling can really turn the tide for our neglected Earth.

Love,
Miss Bee

Poppa Bee

2008-06-27T14:15:00.005-06:00

Recently my dad went on tour with the Matins to Boston. It was there that he tried something new...fresh lobster. It was caught, prepared, and served all on the same day. Unbelievable. I still can't believe he did it-although he did admit that right before they went to dinner, he tried to switch dinners with anyone that would..That fact aside, I'm proud of you for trying it.

I forget what you said you named it, Dad.

Giant Pandas Evacuated in China

2008-06-25T20:26:00.002-06:00

Earthquakes. One more thing endangering the lives of these beautiful animals. I saw one once in a zoo. She had two adorable babies too. It was awesome. Unfortunately it was in the days before digital cameras so I can't share my pictures of the giant panda. Maybe someday I will see one again.

Now might be a good time to mention that I love my National Geographic subscription. Mr. S. got it for me for my birthday. This month's issue is all about gorillas in Virunga Nat'l Park, Africa. These poor creatures are caught in the middle of humans hating humans and deforestation of their habitat for the illegal charcoal trade. The poor rangers who try to protect them are murdered and now, so are the gorillas. To see pictures of the gorillas click here. (And by here I mean where it says here the first time. I am paranoid that people don't see my links so if you are out there and you see them, let me know.) If you would like to read about them, click here. That article is a wee bit long but it is interesting and it will probably make you want to quit your job and do something to help animals instead.

One more day of 4 year olds.
Love,
Miss Bee

Jump Start

2008-06-23T21:36:00.005-06:00

Here are some pictures of the kids in my Jump Start class. For those of you that don't know what that means, Jump Start is basically pre-kindergarten. It is two weeks where the kids come and begin to get into the routine of school and get to know their potential teacher. It is also a hint for the mothers to cut the umbilical cord and let their "baby" grow up. I am working with a kindergarten teacher who pretty much does all the work I just remind the kids of how to act, sing along, read to them, and herd them around. It is fun and hilarious. They don't say a lot of funny things because they speak mostly Spanish but the things they do are so awesome. The first day we went to the computer lab was just astounding. I actually watched a kid push the mouse around with his thumb and once he got it to where we wanted it, he would dive-bomb the button with his pointer finger. Geez.

Anyway, here are the pictures. They are very cute and little.

Here are some boys reading some books. Close-up on the boy with the mohawk later...

These two kids are very deliberate children. They are easily the last ones done no matter what project we are doing.

Alexandria is a little doll. She had some trouble letting her mom go the first few days but she has adjusted nicely. She can be heard saying good-morning to each of her table mates and saying things like "why thank you, Maria." She also responded to someone saying thank you to her with a "of course."

Jose's sister was in my class last year.

More reading.

There's that mohawk. Who cuts their kids hair like that?????? Maybe you can shine some light on this Penny..

Here is Elena. She looks cute but don't be fooled she has clearly been babied extensively and refuses to follow directions.

Emily made a beautiful castle during math time today.

This group is working on some patterns.

I stumbled upon a very interesting blog today. Check it out here. If you love animal stories they way I do...this one's for you.

Love,
Miss Bee

Plastic Ocean

2008-06-22T14:14:00.002-06:00

I have been reading a lot about the trash accumulating in our oceans. You can too. I'm warning you, it is not light reading. It made me really sad. Did you know that all of the plastic that has been created in the last 50ish years is still out there in the environment somewhere? Plastic is actually the most prolific thing found in the oceans. Plus it kills all of the beautiful things that were there before it by absorbing chemicals like DDT and poisoning marine life when plastic particles are mistaken for food. We all need to brainstorm ways to use less plastic.

This is cute.

2008-06-14T11:27:00.001-06:00

Almost there!

2008-05-20T22:00:00.003-06:00

Not much to blog lately...just a question. Am I going to make it to the end of the year?

The answer of course is yes, but I feel lazy. This week we are doing all sorts of activities using the book The Teacher from the Black Lagoon. The kids love it. Here are some pictures of my boys. Yes, they are actually reading!

If you look closely in this first picture, on the right side you can see Daisy trying to quickly duck out of the picture. Ella es muy, muy timid! When she sees me before school she covers her face with her arm and mumbles hello. It is so cute.

I can't help but feel some sense of pride about seeing two groups of two boys working really well together. Those kids can be a handful.

That's the news. Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.
Love,
Miss Bee

I've been walking in the rain forest...

2008-05-14T17:25:00.004-06:00

Here are some pictures of the rain forest project that my class just completed. Each group made a layer and then each child made an animal and wrote a little report about it. They did a great job! They are really proud of it too. Last week we had an event where parents came up to school and the kids were so excited to teach about the animals and plants.

Just the forest, over the door that I used to share with Mr. S.

The Class!

Of course a silly one.

Monkey comes for a visit.

2008-05-13T17:21:00.003-06:00

We have been studying and writing poetry for the last few weeks. I invited the class to bring in special objects to write poetry about and brought in my own special favorite as a model. Above is the poem the class helped me write after I told them a little bit about Monkey. Pretty cute!

Love,
Miss Bee

P.S.

2008-05-12T18:45:00.000-06:00

Mr. S. passed his AEPA!!!!!!! He's a GENIUS!!!!!!!!

The Teacher on the bus goes cra-a-zy...

2008-05-12T18:32:00.003-06:00

Today we did a bus evacuation drill that involved, through some brilliant organizational skills, my class sitting in a unairconditioned bus for 30 minutes while we waited for a second class to join us. We were all squished in the back; three to a seat. I just pretended I wasn't aware of my class while they went berserk. And then, when it came time to actually hear the bus safety information, they didn't listen because they had spent so much time sitting there already. It was a fun way to kick of the week anyway...

So as some people who read this blog may know, Balsz teachers are currently frozen on the salary scale which means that we aren't getting a raise for coming back next year. On top of our salary we get money from Arizona sales tax called 301 money. The point of the money is to increase teacher salaries, reward high performing teachers, etc. So, of course, since this was passed 8 years ago, they want to start reducing the amount of 301 money that is given out. Tomorrow night there is a board meeting to discuss this decrease and hopefully the result is that we won't be getting a pay CUT next year.

Oh this was perfect today. I taught a lesson on why the moon seems to change and we made a little wheel they could use to figure out what kind of moon was out each night. One of the things we talked about was how you can see the new quarter moon when it is daylight and when we left the classroom to go home...what did we see!! THE NEW QUARTER MOON! It was great how all of the kids consulted their little wheel and then could actually read it and they did it all in front of the moms that sit there every day.

Remember...it really pays to be an educator. Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow.
Love,
Miss Bee

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-12T07:49:00.003-06:00

Hooray for Mr. S.

2008-05-08T22:33:00.002-06:00

Tonight, Orangedale principal Ralph Snyder told Mr. S. that he was enthusiastic and excited and thrilled and pumped and happy that Mr. S. is interested in a job there! That's because Mr. S. is the greatest substitute teacher around! He is great.

Love,
Miss Bee

Field Day!

2008-05-07T20:13:00.002-06:00

Today was a field day unlike any that I ever attended in elementary or middle school. First of all, if you weren't getting completely soaking wet you were doing something wrong. Second, there was rap music being pumped through loud speakers the whole time and one of the stations was for dancing and getting fake tattoos.

Despite these differences (because of these differences?), it was amazingly fun! Our first station was a game called duck, duck sponge. In this game the person who is "It" ducks, ducks, ducks, ducks and instead of goosing, they squeeze a soaking sponge onto the person. So awesome. The second was a water slide that I couldn't resist. Then water races, then tattoos, then jumping things and finally, the playground. The kids had such a blast and I am so proud of their behavior.

One of the highlights for me was that the class of young kids with autism came with our class and not only was it really fun to see them playing but it was amazing to see my kids playing with the kids in that class. We briefly talked about it before hand and my class just included them so appropriately, helped out, and were just so gracious and wonderful. I am so glad that they came with us and that my class got to be a part of their field day. During duck, duck, sponge, my kids would put the sponge on their heads when they passed so they could get wet without having to run around, they helped them out on the water slide. It was so wonderful. What a great day.

That's the news. Goodnight and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Love,
Miss Bee

An Idea...

2008-05-05T18:44:00.002-06:00

Field day is coming up this wednesday and it is really an effective motivator for the kids to behave. They know if they don't follow directions I am not going to take them out to field day.

So that made me have the idea to have a monthly celebration that as a class we would schedule each month at the end of the month. At this celebration we could have lunch together, students could share some writing they have done, they could share a book they have been practicing; things like that. I think it would be a fun, interesting way for the kids to share what they have been up to with their classmates and also help them monitor their behavior. If they are behaving poorly, they can't come to the celebration. I think it is worth pursuing. We could invite parents to come and that would help them feel connected.

Today was pretty low key. We are studying space and their questions are too funny. Erick wanted to know why when you are at the bottom of the Earth you don't fall off. I pretty distinctly remember asking my dad the same question. I tried to repeat his answer word for word... I started my lesson on day and night by asking them what causes night to come...why does it get dark outside? From their responses, I assure you Copernicus Jr. is not hiding in my classroom. They thought all sorts of things from the Sun hides behind the mountains, the moon gets between the Earth and the Sun, there is a switch that turns off the Sun and, my personal favorite, every night the Sun gets covered with black rocks and dust to hide it. I did my best to straighten them out today. They should all now know that the Sun doesn't go anywhere, the Earth moves in a circle and it goes around the Sun.

That's the news. Goodnight and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Love,
Miss Bee

After Recess..

2008-05-01T16:59:00.003-06:00

Erick: Miss Bee, where do babies come from?
Me: Ask your mom.
Erick: Why? You don't know?

(silence)

Erick: Well, I just want to know, do they come from your stomach or your butt?
Me: They don't come from your butt.
Erick, to rest of class: I told you they come from the stomach!

At least I killed one misconception...

Code Red

2008-04-30T20:58:00.002-06:00

Today was, as one of Mr. S.'s kindergartner's said, a terrible horrible no good very bad day.

To start off, we had grade level meetings this morning to discuss how we were going to address a state department requirement that we use our curriculum with fidelity. What that means is that as a grade level we had to commit to teaching certain things at the same time and assessing them in the same way. Well, my team is interesting b.c we are a group divided. Two vs. three where two is a majority and three is something very useless like your discarded toe nails. The two of them should just meet, forge our signatures on things, and let us have our morning prep. Anyway, we met, they were really bossy and had really obviously already discussed what they wanted done and had all but filled the paperwork out. They had even cleared it with the principal. I guess they don't realize that they have to walk past our classrooms to get to the office and easily could have talked with us about it too. Is that normal? Should two teachers really have that much control and be that rude to the other younger teachers?

I was so frustrated this morning especially because I had been really trying to make friends with these teachers to unite our team a little bit. It was kind of a slap in the face but at the same time..who was I kidding. No one who asks me every time I approach her if I "need her for something" is ever going to really be my friend.

Then at about 11:25, five minutes before our lunch the asst. principal gets on the announcements to call a code red which she then explained meant full lockdown. Fun. Apparently someone had shot someone in front of school and little kids had seen it go down and who knew what was coming next. So we hung out in our room, cleaned our desks, tried not to need the white pee bucket... We had lunch late and then had an extended indoor recess involving movies and the three toe nails discussing our revenge after today's horrible morning meeting.

That's it for the news...
Goodnight and have a pleasant tomorrow.

Love,
Miss Bee.

The Future!

2008-04-29T18:33:00.003-06:00

I was watching my class today and just reflecting on how far they have come. A week or so after winter break, I tore down the poster I was using to keep track of the "points." My heart just wasn't in it anymore. I didn't feel like my consequences were logical, I couldn't be consistent enough in the way I took points, and I just didn't think the kids were improving their behavior and I think it was mostly my fault. So now when kids do things we talk about it; either as a class or one on one. When a group of students isn't listening when we are having a class discussion or a read aloud, I stop and address it kind of like this- "Wow, I'm sure you boys weren't being rude on purpose but talking while someone else is trying to is not very polite. Why don't we do that class?" Discussion ensues. And I am not kidding it works. I see the kids improving their behavior and encouraging their classmates to do so as well. I actually hear kids say to each other, "will you please be quiet?" That is the kind of behavior I want to see, not kids trying to be good so they can get a cheesy prize on Friday. All that being said, there are days I pull my hair out but I try to just stay patient.

Seeing the way that kids responded to that kind of teaching had a big impression on me. Obviously I didn't think this up on my own. I am reading a wonderful book right now called Reading for Meaning by Debbie Miller. Wow, she is an amazing teacher. I highly, highly recommend it to any primary teacher.

Remember, teachers, keep on smiling!
Love,
Miss Bee

Is anyone out there?

2008-04-26T18:30:00.001-06:00

Hello.

Rainy Day Schedule

2008-01-07T18:05:00.000-07:00

"If it keeps raining, we are going to have a swimming pool on our hands." -Alexis Cabello

Why not have rainy day schedule on the first day back? The kids were a little too sleepy and that indoor recess fired them right up.

Played a fun game in math today. We are working on putting numbers in order. I numbered index cards from 1-16 and gave one to each kid. Then I timed them while they tried to put themselves in the correct order. We did it three times, each time trying to get a faster time. Then, I put them in groups of four and they did pretty much the same thing except the numbers were 30-33 or something instead of 1-16. So, the groups raced each other. They were super engaged and it was super entertaining to watch them do it.

The alarm was terrible this morning but today wasn't as bad as I thought it was. Basically, there was no reason to feel like I wanted to quit my job instead of go back to work. Today was fun!

Love,
Ms. Bee

Starlight

2008-01-06T10:39:00.000-07:00

This one is me playing around with our new camera. You can cancel all of the color except one that you choose.
Here is the real deal. It is so pretty and really goes well with the eggplant and gold color scheme I dreamed up.
And here is how it looks in our room. You can also get a taste of the way we re-arranged the furniture with the addition of our second couch.

Kitchen Explosion

2008-01-04T19:13:00.000-07:00

Check out our new dishes!!!!! Not bad for a couple of teachers. Thank you families!

I spy with my little eye...a child that has no idea how to play this game

2007-11-07T18:08:00.000-07:00

So I taught my class a new version of this game where you say I spy something that ends with the sound /d/ instead of a color. I thought it would be a fun way to practice end sounds that are for quite difficult for them. So we played yesterday and today and they were good at it so I had one of them come up to lead. Well, Saul spied something that ended with the sound /d/ and the kids guessed and guessed until finally I asked him to just tell us and he goes "I don't know." Nice.

Things that are working-
Having one of the kids come to the front and dismiss the kids to line up or get their backpacks.
Playing this game with the sight words where they sit in two lines and the kids at the front of the line race to say the word correctly first.
My reading groups! Wow, some kids are really making some wonderful progress.
Reading the basal story went well this week. I had them sit at their desks and was really clear about what I wanted them to get out of the reading. Today we "re-read for fluency" and made some character charts and it was a success.

***Profanity beyond this line***
Some of the kids have been using that age old line "your not my friend anymore." So I did a little lesson on friendship and how to be a good friend. To start it we made a list of smiley face things and unhappy face things. On the unhappy face side we had quite the discussion about swear words and mean names and the kids really debated which finger was indeed the middle finger. Then when I thought we had moved on, one kid raises his hand and suggests that we should not call our friends motherfuckers. Whoa......that was a good one. I tried to play it down and say yes, Efrain, you are right we should absolutely never say those words in class...anway, the lesson ended well. I played some music and when it stopped the kids found a partner and gave each other compliments. So cute.

I love having Bret sub at Balsz!!!!

Love,
Miss Bee

A GREAT Idea!!!

2007-10-29T19:34:00.000-07:00

So obviously tattling is a huge problem when you teach 21 six year olds. So I came up with this amazing solution today to cure them of one of the major things they tattle for. That thing is shortcutting which, in case you are unaware of this horrible crime, is when someone tries to get in front of you in line when they clearly should not. So from now on if one of my students tells me that someone is committing this heinous act, they will go to the end of the line for being a tattle tale.

Because, as we all know, when you tattle on someone you are really just tattling on yourself for being a tattle tale...

Love,
Ms. Bee