On Roots & Wings

My heart and my wings scream city skylines, subways, rowhouses, inner city teacher, & urban nomad of the downtown fast~paced & gentrified.  Yet, there is no doubting the bit of mountain & farm country blood that flows through my veins, diluted by time & experience.

At my mom's mother's home, she sees me open my red paisley messenger bag & remove my lap top, set up my materials & settle in with my companion through many nights of tireless work~ a companion monitor~faced and garbed with keyboard & touch pad.  

"You gonna study?  I guess you probably want online, don't you?"

"You all don't have online?" I ask, already knowing, eyes round in mock shock.

"No, the only line we have is the clothes line out back.  And it's in full service." 

Some Tiny Talk Soundbytes

 Earlier this month with one of my four year~old Pre~Ks

Three year~old Cheerleader half runs, half waddles down the playground sidewalk.

"Cheerleader, is your ankle okay?  You're limping a little bit."

"Yeah, I was just....*gets distracted*...umm, what was I talking about?"

"You were telling me what happened to your ankle."

"Yeah, I just hurt it at home when I fell off the jumpoline." 

::  ::  ::  ::  ::  ::

While enjoying free play in the pretend kitchen area of the classroom, two year~old Santa's Helper puts a tiny pretend piece of bread on the floor & exclaims, "Look!!  It's MANNA!!"

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

I give my two year~old cousin a Melissa & Doug Cupcake Set so that she can pretend to bake & decorate cupcakes.  We play this together at the kitchen table.
After Elizabeth finishes decorating a cupcake, she says, "Here, let me put its pants on," as she slips a paper liner on the cupcake's bottom.

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::





Tiny Talk to share?  Head over to Not Before 7!

The ABC's of Thanks

:a:  all of us; humans & all creation~ shalom
:b:  break~through moments
:c:  chocolate
:d:  dreams
:e:  education
:f:  field experiences in the early learning center & elementary schools
:g:  gatherings of family & friends
:h:  hearts ♥ ♥
:i:  intentionally serving
:j:  Jesus
:k:  kisses  xxx
:l:  little ones; namely, MY little ones {you knew that one was coming}
:m:  mocha java cooler crunch coffees {you also knew THAT one was coming}
:n:  new beginnings
:o:  open minds, eyes, ears. . .doors
:p:  Philadelphia
:q:  quaint coffeeshops
:r:  resiliency
:s:  Stacy, a friend like none other
:t:  teaching
:u:  urban culture & urban education
:v:  violin; though I haven't played recently, the ability to play & know music has been a gift
:w:  words & The Word who was & is God
:y:  youth {my K sisters & my "ia" triplets}
:z:  zzzzzzzzzz's ...aka, rest

The Girl on the Piano Bench

♫ I have been taken before.

You're not the first to rob me of my peace & sanity.

You run over my heart, 

and then ask for it back.

But you're not even human.

You're just the lovely idea

of one who I accidentally loved

and gave everything~

to become the girl on the piano bench,

singing all of her tears away.♫

Lyrics excerpts from "Not Even Human" by Angel Taylor

Allow Me to Be Petty For Just A Moment. . .

. . .
while I take a break
from the not~so~petty pre~Thanksgiving
crunch time that has left me up to my ears
in practicum observation reports
& online quizzes
& lesson plans
& pointillism for two year~olds
&. . .


Some of my blogging pet peeves:


:: using word stubs like "delish", "presh", "maybs" & "hubs"...I've maybe done this in a comment or two before, but the problem is that my brain repeats what it hears & sees.  I annoy myself.  It's true.


:: syrupy sweetness.  Now, if this is the blogger's true style, the posts can be really quite homey & cute!  However, I have a very sensitive BS detector with an alarm that goes off if it senses...well...BS.


:: pre~packaged comments like, "Thanks for sharing!"  You may as well have said, "I'm just popping my head in here to invite you to click over to my blog, comment, & follow." 


:: when people get mad at their followers for not contributing enough $ to whatever cause they are currently championing.  I LOVE when bloggers use their blog as a platform for supporting altruistic organizations, but when it doesn't turn out as the host blogger had envisioned, reading a huge guilt trip rant does no one any good.


::  punctuating! the! end! of! every! sentence! with! an! exclamation! point!  Is! it! really! that! exciting!???  Well! then! carry! on!!!!!


:: excessive complaining in general {this post might qualify, huh? ;-)}.  But seriously, can you tell  that it makes me want to pull my hair out when people don't realize that there's life outside of blogging & people that exist outside of themselves?


/pettiness.  Back to the daily grind. : )

When I'm a Mommy. . .

How will I guide my children in the way they should go,

when I am still myself figuring all this out?

How will I teach them to value & respect their bodies,

while avoiding the obsessive modesty standards that seems to say, "I am what I wear."?

How will I teach them that certain behaviors are unacceptable,

while encouraging kind & nonjudgmental hearts towards those who make different choices?

How can I justify primping in the mirror every morning,

while insisting that character trumps outward appearance?

How will I protect them from the dangers "out there" in the world,

while allowing them to hurt as God hurts when He sees suffering & injustice?

How will I teach them HOW to think,

 without attempting to teach them WHAT to think? 

How will I teach them the importance of being grounded & stable,

while encouraging them to live the questions, be inquisitive, always ready to learn something new?

How will I tell them that I am their support & advocate, that I'll always have their back,

when I know that I will fail them?

How will I teach them what I believe & pour my heart into forming them into adults,

yet gracefully accept when they come to believe differently than Mommy believes?

How will I give them roots

. . . and wings?
 

Miscellany Monday

{1}  recent coffeeshop digs.

It's no secret that I love coffeeshops & that I frequent Organic Grounds, a local coffeehouse.  However,  recently I've begun stopping by our on~campus coffeeshop.  Here are a few pictures {excuse the quality;  taken from my phone}:

Now, this may not look like much, but this space is very sleek & suave for our small, Christian liberal arts university.  I love the contemporary Manhattan loft feel of the space!

Below is another camera phone shot, this one taken at Barnes & Noble:

That's a Mocha Toffee Frappuccino.  Note the tiny plastic Starbucks shot glasses provided for water. 
Too cute!
Or maybe I'm just strange.

{2}  fear forest.

This is where I toured last Saturday night.  I've never been to a haunted house {or forest, as it were}, so this was certainly a new experience.  To be honest, it wasn't that bad!  The goblins that jumped out mostly targeted the squealy girls {you know the ones}, so I was careful to keep my cool. 
I wasn't scared at all!~  BUT... I must admit, the claw marks in poor Cory's hand and arm tell a different story.  ;-)

{3} home is where I'm with you.

I've substituted at the daycare center 3 afternoons in the past week.  I was so happy to see the kids again because I've been sadly MIA since my school year has begun.

Clearly, they love this spinner. 

Would you believe me if I told you that I wedge myself down

into that seat & spin with them, which promptly sends hoards of more children

over to us squealing & laughing & demanding room be made for them, too?

That would never happen.  I am far too dignified.

{5}  how can I.. 

..change the color of my Feed-jit?  I can't figure out how to  customize the color without having to download this & sign up for that.  Please help me if you have any ideas!  Additionally, I want to design a new header for Musings Aloud, so if you have any pointers on that, I would be so thankful!

Link up your miscellany with Carissa at lowercase letters!