Happy New Decade!

Happy New Year! Happy best wishes from me...the Candadian!

Happy Birthday Mike!

My leeetle nephew Mike! He's the youngest grandson of my parents...number 26. He's my brother Larry's (DaCoacha) son. He's a crazy BASEBALL fan with a wicked fastpitch. Here he is:

GROWING...

GROWING...

GROWING...

(with my daddy)

GROWING...

GROWN!

I LOVE YOU MIKE!

Christmas Family Party Number 1

Our first family Christmas party was held on December 21st. We called it the "What Would Norma Bring?" party. Since my brother Brian and his wife Sarah were in Utah for Christmas, we decided to have a big get together and serve things that my mom would have served.

In attendance were Brian and Sarah; Adrianne (Brian's daughter) and Dan with their children: Kelsey, Rachel, Riley, and Sammy; Brant (Brian's son) and Ariel with their children: Aiden, Ezra, and Gabriel; Jodi (my sister Donna's daughter) and her little daughter Alycia. Then, of course, Terry, me, Melissa, Erika and Tyler.

A full house and I LOVED IT! Here are some pictures of the event.

Talkin'

Can you see Melissa doing Erika's hair??

Erika with my grandpug Oscar.

Adrianne, Alycia, and Jodi (with a little baby inside!)

Brant and Riley looking at Gabriel admiring the lights.

L.to R.: Dan, Brian, Terry, Tyler, Melissa, Sarah, Erika, Adrianne.

Samantha, Dan, Ezra

Riley and Rachel

Erika, Melissa, and their beautiful Aunt Sarah

My kids: Tyler, Erika, and Melissa

Brant, Adrianne, and their papa (my brother) Brian

Gabriel and his mama Ariel

Aiden doing his ninja moves.

Two of my favorite men: Brian and Terry

My boyfriend: Terry!

When your grandchildren make you proud...

Happy Birthday Spencer!

Spencer is my step son. He is also one of the best fathers I have ever known (and I've seen many: 24 years of teaching X 25 (average) number of students per year=600 fathers). Let's change that to THE best father. I've been blessed to be part of the lives of Terry's children. I look at them as my own. Spencer was 18 (?) when I married Terry. I was impressed from day one!

Anyway, as I looked through photos to post here, I couldn't decide. They all showed him as a great daddy, a great husband, and great person. He has energy, love, and compassion for everyone around him. So, if you want to find out more about Spencer (and it is well worth it), go here, and here, and here.

Thank you, Spencer, for your example of excellence in father-hood, son-hood, step-son-hood, husband-hood, and any other "hood" you are a part of. I do love you and am grateful to know you and be a part of your life.

I remember when...

This little girl believed in Santa sooooo much that she saw him flying with his eight tiny reindeer in the sky on the way home from a shopping trip to Lethbridge...at least that's what her Dad told her and he never, ever lied! Sometimes I feel like her this time of year. I love those moments.

My First Born Child

Melissa and Me

Melissa and Erika

I love her laugh

A birthday kiss.

At exactly 6:27 pm on Dec. 3, 1987, I gave birth to Melissa. Now it is 22 years later. Wow! Time flies...it's true. But, I have loved every single minute of that time with her. She is one of those people that you must see to believe. From day one, she was almost perfect. Seriously.

This year, to do something special, Terry (my hub) and I decided to give Melissa 24 envelopes. She was instructed to open one every hour. Inside, she would find 24 reasons why her mom or her dad love her. I also put a random treat inside each envelope.

Let me share a couple with you:

"You tell me in a kind way when my clothes don't match"

-Dad

"Your work ethic. You work and work. Sure you complain sometimes but you always go and give it your all. Remember that Grandpa Leavitt always said that it doesn't matter if you are hired for $1.00 an hour, you still give your employer your all. I know he would be proud of you."

-Mom

"You always offer to go get me lunch and dinner with my credit card!"

-Dad

"You accept me with all of my faults and issues. You support me. You let me know when I need to shape-up...even if I hate that sometimes! Thank you."

-Mom

Plus, 20 more.

I certainly do love this girl. She is amazing. For more about her, go here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA!

ADRIANNNNNNNNNE!!

Happy Birthday to my darling niece Adrianne Tamera Lorainne Tami Leavitt Wood! I love her! I love her! I love her!

10 reasons why:

1. She is an incredible mother of four girls (bless her).

Kelsey

Rachel

Riley

Sammy

2. She knows how to bottle a mean Grandma Ella relish...with cheese!

3. She sews like Betsy Ross! (that's a good thing for all the Canadians reading this)

She made these costumes.

I can't believe what a good sport Dan is.

4. She's still a Canadian. (I think...are you?)

5. She has a great sense of humor.

6. She is a runner. I've tried. I'm not one.

SLC Marathon

7. She leads the Young Women with style and grace.

8. She picked a great husband. (A.K.A. elf...see photo above) Maybe having five brothers helped her in that area.

9. Even when we only see each other about twice a year and live a mere 20 minutes apart, it always seems like yesterday.

10. She is just an all around wonderful person.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

What I get for thinking!

This is a post I've been rolling around in my head for about a week. It has overtaken my every waking moment when I'm in my car, cooking, or just all alone with time to think. I recently finished reading two great books. I read the book Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn:

and also read the book Push by Sapphire.

These books are complete polar opposites as far as story line. Ella Minnow Pea is a book that is absolutely clean and pure. Push is raw, open, crude, R-rated, and contains profanity...AKA cuss words! So, I'll tell you right now, if you can't handle swears (my favorite euphemism for profanity), don't even bother reading Push. I will not be blamed for your shock.

So...you make the choice.

Having made that disclosure, I would like to proceed with my review of these to books. Well, not really a "review" but an interpretation and comparison of the two books. My thoughts. OK? Here we go...

Ella Minnow Pea, takes place in the town of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina. The town is the birth place of Nevin Nollop, the inventor of the pangram "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog". He was a revered citizen who had a monument erected in his honor. The monument contains his famous pangram. The island people pride themselves in their extremely high literacy levels and beautiful use of the English language.

As the townspeople move about their business, random letters begin to fall from Nollop's monument. A decree is set by the government officials that citizens can no longer speak or write that letter. If there is an infraction, the guilty person is first warned, second, flogged, and third, banished from the island. As letters continue to drop from the monument, they also drop from the book. (kind of fun to read) The reader witnesses a complete deterioration of a beautiful language.

For example:

(pg. 5) Sunday, July 23: "How different the world would be today if not for the sentence which the lexically gifted Mr. Nollop issued forth! How we cherish his contribution to the English-speaking world of one short sentence that employs with minimal repetition each of the twenty-six letters of our alphabet!"

THEN

(pg.188) Wetstae, Nogemger 15: "Insitentallee, ewe are propaplee reating mie last letter to ewe. It is now simplee too tiring to write. To sae watt I most sae in langwage one mae onterstant. I am so sorree"

The only salvation for the island is for someone to come up with another pangram containing less than 32 letters. Then the alphabet will be reinstated and the island can return to the literate place it was before the letters began falling from the monument.

In Push, Precious Jones has been "raised" in Harlem with abusive parents. I was shocked to read what a parent could do to a child. Several times I had to put the book down to keep from sobbing. Precious gives birth to two children...both by her own father. She goes to school until she is 16 and pregnant with her second child (she had her first at 12) where she is expelled from school for being pregnant. She was never a troublemaker in school. She sat. She sat and sat in class and because she never made a fuss, she was overlooked. She didn't even know her ABC'S at 16. She had NO literacy or language other than what her horrendous parents yelled at her when she was home.

Upon being expelled from school, Precious is introduced to the program: "Each One Teach One" which is a pre-GED course. Precious joins the program and is able to find assistance with housing and day care. She enters a class that gifts her with language to find her voice. Her teacher, Miss Rain, has the students keep a journal which she responds to in writing each day.

Examples:

(pg. 69) 1/18/88

"Dr Miz Ms Rain sll yr I sit cls I nevr lrn bt I gt babe agn Babe bi my fvr"

(pg. 98) 2/27/89

Ms Rain say more now, much more. She wan more from me. More than 15 minutes an she write back. Say walk wif it. The journal? I say. Yeah she say. Walk wif da journl. Everywhere you go, journl go. You know I go walk with Abdul (her son) etc., take journal, write stuff in journal.

learnin lot: to too two. three different 2 words. Each one is diffrent. Four for fore. Three four words.

Stori

Ms Rain tell me to koncentrate on my story. When I can not spell a word Ms Rain tell me sound out firs lettr c____and draw a lin. Thas concentrate. Latrer she will fill in rite spelling for me.

But my spelling is impruv. Way way improve."

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

So those are the basic plots of the two books. You are probably thinking...how in the world can they have anything in common? Hang on. In my world, they do.

My world is Literacy. Reading. Speaking. Writing. Language Acquisition. It's my job as a first grade teacher to teach children to read and write. It is in my blood. I love it. So, in MY comparison of these novels, I was struck with the notion of the POWER of language whether it be written or spoken or, even, read.

If you are still reading this, you have most likely figured out where I'm going with this book comparison. WORDS!

The citizens of Nollop BEGAN with words and literacy. They were totally empowered with language. There are beautiful descriptions and conversations in the beginning. Then, throughout the book as they lose letters, their very language is taken from them. As a reader, I could feel the helplessness they felt as the book moved forward. They became "lesser citizens" they turned inward.

Push is the opposite. Precious started out helpless. She had no language. She had many, many thoughts and ideas but no outlet for expressing them. As I read the book, I felt the entirely opposite feelings from Ella. As Precious was freed, my mind was freed. Reading her words were difficult in the beginning (even for this experienced reader of first grade spelling)yet, with each page I think I felt a bit like Precious. I was open to her growth. Her power. She gained power as she acquired language and writing.

Ella Minnow Pea wraps up nicely with a lovely happy ending. It is considered a "fable" by those who have reviewed the book. The conclusion of Push?...not so much. There is no resolution in the end. But, there is some hope. She was given wings...Ella's were taken away. All because of the written word...LANGUAGE.

Ella Minnow Pea and Push are the perfect juxtaposation of literacy acquisition. What happens to us with AND without. What happens when we lose it. What happens when we gain it.

In a sense, when we lock ourselves out of literacy, we lock ourselves out of life.

There, I'm done. I feel better. Thanks to those who stuck with me to the end. If it doesn't make sense, that's okay. It's all straight in my mind...especially since I released it here.

Thankful

(thanks Suep)

Why didn't I think of that!

Do you think I'd still have my beloved scissors if I'd had one of these to keep them in?

The Wisdom of Six Year Olds

This is Ethan.

(Not Harry Potter in case any of you were confused!)

And Me.

(Not a fancy hula girl in case any of you were confused!)

He is one of those great precocious, too-smart-for-his-own-good,

charming type of children.

This is Samuel.

(Not a super stealth ninja, in case any of your were confused!)

He's one of those absolutely sweetest of sweet little gentlemen that

any mother would be blessed to receive straight from Heaven.

This is Katja.

(Not a darling fashionable orange witch, in case any of you were confused.)

She is one of those BRILLIANT, girlie-girl girls, with tons of charisma and cuteness.

She makes teaching a breeze. I adore this little girl.

This incident is about these three dear-hearts:

So...last Monday, there was some trouble on the playground.

Ethan and his friend Samuel were viciously attacked

by this little girl.

Okay...

that was a total exaggeration. But, it made the story a little better right?

Well, as it turns out, there was a big chasing game going on at recess.

(this is not allowed at our school because of a previous chasing game where hoards of girls chased hoards of boys all over the playground, then quickly changed to

hoards of boys chasing hoards of girls all over the playground

until neither group wanted to be chased and feelings got hurt...long story)

The little gal did NOT appreciate the boys chasing her (who would??) and

let them know it by hauling off and slugging them both a good one.

So, like teachers do, I sat them on the bench outside of my classroom for the big, serious," we-don't-do-that-at-school" talkin' to.

We were all in agreement and everyone said their "sorrys" and "I forgive yous".

Then, to put the final punctuation mark to our talk, I added:

"And, boys, I want you to remember that you

NEVER, EVER, NEVER hit or hurt a girl."

Immediately Ethan replied:

"That's right! They're the ones that gave us birth!"

I released them to go back in the classroom because I didn't want them to see me

trying to suppress my giggling.

These kinds of talks make me so glad that I'm a teacher.

And so glad to share six hours a day with

children like Katja, Samuel, and Ethan.

They are a blessing.

Overheard at the "Reflections" Assembly

One second grader to another:

"I HATE girls! The only ones I like are my mom. And my other mom."

Step-mothers unite!! (I'm one of them...a wicked step mother. Just ask my kids.)

I Want This!

Isn't there a rich millionaire or millionaire-ess who could spot me $700 to make my wildest dream come true? Please? I'll wash all your windows and empty your dishwasher for a whole month.

(Please, Oprah, please read this blog post!)

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Yup! It's official. After three years of working in retail my body has finally revolted (it isn't "revolting"...yet... just revolted!) I've been thinking about it for some time now. As many of you know, I had a horrendous last year physically. Two major and one minor surgery takes a lot out of a body. Teaching 23 first graders and working 20 hours each week at the mall has finally taken it's toll. Something needed to change. I will miss it terribly.

The top five things I'll miss the most are:

1. Denise (my manager). I do love her. And, she's available!! I am such a matchmaker!

2. McKell! She joined the BBW team the same year as I did and I vowed I would quit when she quit. Guess I had to take the lead. Best part...she has been promoted to my managerial job as CSL. Go McKell.

3. The funny customers.

The ones who got overly irritated when I wouldn't accept coupons that had expired six months earlier. The ones who blamed me for BBW discontinuing Pink Grapefruit lotion. The one who made me clean up her daughter's puke (Honest! Hey!

I can do that at school ma'am!) The ones who called customer service and tell them that they enjoyed their visit to the store, in particular that one employee named "Tami". The ones who smiled and got super excited over the deals. The one who stole product by putting it in their empty 32 oz. drink containers and thought we didn't notice...we did by the way! The ones with all the cute kids of whom I would try to guess the ages of. The loyal customers who came back again and again. The customer who bought a CocoCabana splash perfume and had me wrap it up complete with ribbon and all the trimmings, then turned around and gave it to me since I was wearing my "It's my birthday" button...(I really could go on and on)

(I fell in love with this little cutie customer who was reading to his little baby sister the entire time.)

4. Doing floorsets. I had no idea it was one of my talents. I'm a detail oriented person. Who knew??

5. The delicious, luscious, heavenly scents.

Now, I pass the torch to my son-in-law Tyler

who is now the new co-manager at the University Mall. He is an amazing salesman and will do a fantastic job...not to mention, he gets the benefits that come along with a salaried position... (well, besides the fact that he is married to my darling daughter Erika of Oops! I Craft My Pants {off} which is his best benefit of all...in my humble opinion)

So, I bid adieu to my first (and possibly final) retail job. And FYI, they're hiring!

Oh, and Saturday Night Live had an excellent sketch that reference Bath and Body Works. Very cute. Click here.