Water the Yard... and It Rains

It hasn't rain since school let out. We went from 40 days and 40 nights of NOTHING BUT RAIN to zero rain. No rain. At. All. 

I was so sick of rain!  Now, now I'm kind of missing the rain (shhhhhh, don't tell anyone I said that!). 

So the hubs decided to water the yard the other day. Reagan and I came out to ride her "new" bike and play with Maggie. 

Maggie LOVES water. Ponds, lakes, pools, sprinklers, it doesn't matter, she just loves the water!

After watering the front we went to the back. After about 20 minutes it started to thunder. THUNDER!  Within the hour it was raining. A good "soak your grass" rain. I told Jay we should of washed the cars so it would of rained longer! 

"New" Bike

My 80 something year old grandma decided that she shouldn't be riding her bike anymore. An excellent decision if I do say so myself! So she gave it to Reagan. 

My dad took the basket and horn off cuz those just aren't cool. Really it's still not a very cool bike with or without the basket and horn but a bike is a bike. Right?

It's ancient. Grandma got it from JC Penney's many moons ago. See? It still has the Penney's sticker. Now that's a quality sticker!

Reagan's having a hard time riding it. It's a little bit to big. Which is funny since 5 foot Reagan is now taller than Grandma. 

So I rode it. I haven't ridden a bike since, I don't know when. College or high school maybe?  I rode it in a little circle first just to get my bearings. Then took off up the street, around the culdisac, to the stop sign and back to the house. 

I rode for maybe 3 minutes. And my rear end hurts! How pathetic is that? 

I think I might take up biking. If my rear end can take it....

Wish List

The librarians (and me too!) in my district met with the public librarians and the school districts Volenteer Service Coordinator to throw some ideas around on ways we can collaborate. Our goal is to unite the community through reading. 

As I've said in previous posts this will be my 3rd year as a librarian. As I was listening in the meeting it sounded like the public librarians and the school librarians use to collaborate more in previous years. With budgets cuts and such the collaboration kind of fell to the wayside. So we are trying to get collaboration back up and running. 

We threw around a lot of ideas that I'm very excited about. Here are some things we talked about. 

*Texas Reads One Book

*Open House (at school)-how can volunteers help us?

*Literacy Night-invite community readers to campus 

*National Read Along Day-how can volunteers help us?

*Create a hashtag that community & school people can post pictures of readers reading-#nacreads

Our Volunteer Service Coorododinator also told us to create a wish list. Here's what I have so far.  

Wish list-

*Duct tape for a makers space

*Dry erase paint for the back of a shelf that I'm having to move. Students will be able draw all over it. 

*500+ piece puzzles

I'm keeping my wish list close so when I have an idea I can write it down immediately. I have a terrible memory. There's nothing worse than having a brilliant idea and forgetting it moments later! 

Do you have any ideas for my wish list?

Snow Cones!

We got our first snow cones of the summer... July 30. I'm a bad mom. Ha! 

Book Check Out

I'm an elementary school library. I'll be starting my third year this school year. I feel more confident in my skills though I still feel that I need the other librarians in my district. Most (if not all) of them have more experience than I do in the library. They are a wealth of information and knowledge! Each brings a special skill set to the table. 

Book check out. So many options! Last year I started the year letting each grade level check out the same number of books as their grade. So 2nd grade got 2 books, 3rd got 3, etc. Pre-k did not check out book until December and Kindergarden got 1. 

Then I read a blog post (man, I REALLY wish I could remember the blog!). The librarian asked why we limit the amount of books students can check out. Is because we don't want to shelve so many books? Is it because our budgets have been cut so drastically and we're afraid of so many lost books? Basically is it because we are librarian centered and not student centered? She suggested we stop limiting the amount of books we check out. Or if that send us into full blown panic attack then to let students check out 5 books at a time. 

So I bit the bullet. Squashed my anxieties and went for it. Well, I didn't go for it all the way. Baby steps here, baby step. 

I decided to start with 5 books each. I started this in March or April. 2nd -5th graders got 5 books each. 1st grade got 2 books. Kindergarten (bless their little hearts) still got 1 book. Pre-K started checking out 1 book in December. 

The students LOVED it! So many books!

The teachers were all over the place about it. Some loved that their students were able to have so many books. So many opportunities to read. So many options. 

Some fussed that the students would/could never read so many books in a week. And what if they lost them? It's so expensive to replace them. 

I only had one teacher "complain" that students were still limited. She told me multiple times that they should be able to have as many books as they wanted. There should be no limits. 

I'm trying to get to that point! But for now I'm going to start the school year the way I ended it last year. I'm debating letting 1st grade have 5 books too. Maybe I'll start that in December... ease myself into it.  

Shelving so many books is a pain but some of my teachers help me shelve when they bring their classes.  My goal is to develop a love of reading and to do that, students much be able to check a lot of books. 

Houston Girls' Weekend

I had another soul healing weekend. This weekend I spent time with my Houston Girl. 

We flew Amy in from Midland. I drove in from Nacogdoches.  Emily and Brandi still live in Houston. We all stayed at Brandi's house. 

We kicked our children to the curb and sent our husbands packing. 

Girl Time!

After lunch Saturday we decided to run to the Dollar Store then to Hobby Lobby because Brandi bought a Cricut. We cricutted (is that the verb for using a cricut?) like crazy!!

The Dollar Store was right next to Coffee Icon. All they sell are k-cups for the Keurig! I was so excited because I've always wanted to go to this kind of store! We sampled our way through the store. Coffee, hot chocolate & teas. Yummy!

Sunday we went to church then ate at my new favorite restaurant, Jus' Mac. The only thing they serve is macaroni & cheese! What's not to love?!

Monday Reagan & I drove Amy back to the airport. Tears! First we ate lunch at Dole's, a delicious mom & pop Italian restaurant. 

All good things must come to an end. We look forward to doing it again next summer!

Don't cry that it's over, smile because it happened. - Dr. Seuss

Podcasts

I love listening to podcasts! I listen to them every work day morning while I get ready for school. I like them because I can find a podcast that covers my interests. Also because I can just listen. I don't have to be stuck to a screen watching a (YouTube) video. 

Here's a screen shot of my favorites. 

These are my entertainment/personal podcasts. 

My very favorite podcasts isn't casting anymore. I found the Manic Mommies podcast when my daughter was little. This podcast was done by two working moms and covered the joys and pains of raising children, working full time, being a wife and a friend and all topics mommy related. I related so much to these women. I was so sad when I listened to their last podcast. It felt like I was loosing close friends. 

MuggleCast is another favorite. I started listening to this podcast shortly after Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was published. I love the in depth discussion of all things Harry Potter. They stopped podcasting weekly about a year after Deathly Hallow Part Two was released in theaters. But now that the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movies are coming out they put out a new show once a month. The hosts started the podcast when they were teenagers. They are now in their 20s. I've enjoyed listening to these kids grow up. 

My husband introduced me to Serial. Serial investigated a true story of a teenage girl's murder. It goes step by step through the case. The host interviews a multitude of people involved in the case like the accused parents, police officers, lawyers, etc. There are so many twists and turns! There hasn't been a new story since Dec 2014 but I keep hoping they'll do another one. 

I also listen to podcasts for professional development. 

EduAllStars is a favorite of mine. The hosts, an elementary principal and a classroom teacher, interview makers in the education field. I've gotten so many awesome ideas for my library from listening to this podcast. 

Publishers Weekly PW KidsCast is another favorite. The host, a reviews editor, interviews children & YA authors. I LOVE authors. I love hearing how they develope their stories, where they get their ideas, their process, etc. I could listen to authors talk for hours!

The last of my favorites is both professional and personal. I just found The New York Public Library Podcast. The hosts interview writers, artists and thinkers. The podcasts are both entertaining and educational. 

As I've reread this post I realize I've used the word 'favorite' a lot. I thought about going back and using my theasarious for 'favorite' but I decided 'favorite' is more me and I'm just going to use it till the cows come home (and there's my southernness coming out). 

What podcasts do you listen too? Are there any I need to add to my listening repertoire?

New Library Books

I've gone into work twice this month. Getting the library ready for next school year. Processing books. Calling venders and changing barcode ranges. Making new labels. Thinking of how I'm going to rearrange some shelves. Making some new displays. Etc, etc, etc. 

I'm real excited about the new books I've gotten. They were ordered last school year but just came in this summer. I was disappointed that I didn't get them last school year but now I'm kind of excited we get to start school with so many new books!

I had a teacher and our curriculum facilitator last year request we purchase more math books. Boy, did I purchase more math books! Unfortunately both of those educators moved on to different schools for next year but I know our math teachers will LOVE these books!

Here are just a few of the series we have now. 

Family Time

My aunt had a double lung transplant about 4 years ago. She has been doing great until recently. From April to now she has fallen 3 times. She's broken her wrist, ankle, & elbow. The most recent fall severely tore some ligaments in her left knee. 

I got to thinking that now that my Granny's in her 80s she can't go visit her own daughter in another city and my aunt can't go visit her own mother since she's falling so much. I would HATE not to be able to see my daughter or my mom. So my mom and I planned a day trip. My mom, Reagan, and I picked up my granny one morning and headed to Austin to see my aunt. 

We took my granny's Lincoln. That's a pretty sweet ride!

Four generations of women! We are a little scary when we all get together. Ha!

We had a great visit. We lifted my aunt's (and uncle's) spirit. We feed them, laughted with them, prayed with them, and almost cried with them. 

My aunt has to wear a medical bracelet with all her info on it. She wants to be able to change the bracelet to match her outfit. So I made her these. 

She wore the blue and pink one first (my least favorite). She thought about wearing the black & white one first but my granny said she didn't think wearing black in a hospital was the best idea. Ha!

I'm so glad we got to take my granny to see my aunt! It did them both some good. Everyone feels a bit better after seeing each other. 

MahJonng

My friends and I love to play MahJongg. When I moved to Nac they taught me to play. There are many reasons why I like playing but my favorite thing is that it supports Alzheimers research. Every year you buy a new card the money goes to support research. My grandfather died with Alzheimers so this game is dear to my heart.

Every July my friends and I play in a tournament in Tyler. The money you pay to buy your table goes to research. 

Here we are! 

This year we decided to get a hotel and spend the night and do a bit... ok, a lot of shopping. 

My family and I eat early. My friends do not. I had to buy a Kind bar in Old Navy to tide me over till they were ready to eat. 

The next morning everyone got dress. Everyone matched but me. I did not get the memo! 

We had a GREAT time. This time with my besties soothed my soul! We are already planning next year's trip!

Nephew

My hubby, daughter and I are watching my nephew for 3 days this week. Yes, it takes all 3 of us to watch a 3 year old! Ha! He's a cute ball of energy. 

He melted my heart yesterday. 

Ryan: Aunt Linsey?

Me: What?

Ryan: I love you. 

Me: I love you too 

Ryan: Ok

Such a sweet sound!

What I Want For My Blog

Last summer I joined the #EduLS community and learned so much! I grew as an educator and person. I was exposed to new educational websites, communities, activities, etc. I "met" new educators to follow on Twitter and found new blogs to read. It was a wonderful experience that I continue today.

This summer I decided to add to my plate and join Teachers Write. I don't feel like a writer but I found that creating my own blog that I do enjoy writing. One of the other fabulous librarians in my district participates (she is a writer) so I thought I'd give it a try. 

So today I'm going to list what I want for this blog. 

I want a place to:

Write my memories

Journal

Share ideas for the library

Share family fun

Share what I value

Share what I'm reading

I find it interesting that most of my "wants" begin with the word share. I'm an only child... I don't share well.