here's why

Have been laughing out loud all day at finding this in one of the practice rooms~part of the 7th graders attempt at song writing.

how we tell our stories

"You may do this, I tell you, it is permitted. Begin again the story of your life.” 

~Jane Hirschfield

stills from the first part of the weekend

Sweet Livy (whom you've met via Thanksgiving photos)~my pal for the weekend.

The purple is oh-so-subtle; going back next week to kick it up a notch.

Bittersweet

The hardest part of being a teacher is watching students leave.  Of course, we're ultra-proud and love to hear how their lives unfold.  But~at that liminal moment when they walk out of our classrooms?  It's sniffle time.  

wheeee

Well.  Tomorrow is technically the last day, but it's only the graduation ceremony and a reception; so, I think that this fully counts!

glitter!!!

One of my favourite teaching days of the year~glitter and glue and feathers and candies and excited chatter. 

I can't even.  We covered Magic Flute, Carmen,  and Hansel and Gretel~so where the turquoise nostril threads came from, I've NO idea.

from the humid rains of the last week of school, good Lord, deliver us

Amazingly, after I let them lie on the floor with their shoes off?  My boys' choir had a great rehearsal.

It's a week of high sentimentality. 

Charlie (from the musical) makes a masque in 5th grade history class.

Some smile and enjoy the process, others don't care for plaster water running down their necks and/or into their ears.  What can I say~when you're dealing with 10 year-old artisans, you pretty much take what you get. 

I've been blasting the a/c, trying to counteract the heavy humidity of the week, so that these are dry today for the fun of decorating.  I love (sincerely love) having my classroom covered in glitter.

A sweet and rather honest note given after yesterday's small recital.  My teacher heart is happy.

cookin' in a storm, not up

Oddly, felt the urge to make hot and sour soup today~turned out deliciously!

pretty much

And the continuing stormy weather is perfect for nap taking! 

Medea says it well.  Although, it's really two weeks left~with work week coming at us.

Cinderella

may not be completely right that a great pair of shoes can transform one's life, but they certainly can lift a day or week!  Classes are finished on Monday, then it's the whirl of exams, picnics, awards, farewells, many ceremonial events~culminating on graduation on Friday.   It's a lot to ask of a pair of shoes, but I think these will live up to it.

we write our lives

A friend sent this gorgeous poem earlier this week~wanted to share it with all y'all.

Performance Art

We write our lives
in the small things we do:
bare feet on the cold floor,
the bed made, sheet and quilt
pulled up just so;
hands dipped into a basin,
the still-damp towel
hung to dry. Your smile
warms me when I enter the kitchen
after the cold night.
We write our lives
in the things we do.
Our penmanship grows
better with practice.

– Steve Peterson

(One of my best childhood memories is my parents buying me a handwriting workbook at some teacher supply store~I think I finished it within the week.)

some days you feel like a nut

Or maybe just peanut butter cereal.  I can't explain myself lately~I don't even eat cereal, but my Littles have gotten me hooked on this.  And I am about to dye my hair lavender...maybe it's simply a turn of the page into summer!

snuggles & smiles

Dropped by to see my Lower School colleague and her charming 3-month old this afternoon.  Max was full of smiles & grins (don't ask what is going on with my hair.  It was the end of a day and almost the end of a school year.)

weekend self-care

some days,

it is good to be an adult because you get to choose to have ice cream for breakfast!  This was one of my souvenirs from my visit to the Air & Space Museum last month and it?  Was delicious.

Maybe it's because it brings back early memories of living in Alaska and tasting freeze dried food from the Elmendorf Air Force Base or from a camping/wilderness survival store, or maybe it's from my fascination with Wonka's meal-in-a-piece-of-gum~whatever the reason, it is fun in a foil wrapped package.  (I've yet to try the new foodie rage of foam as food.)

painting on silence

I saw the beginnings of this mural during spring break~am going to go back when the light is better to get some photos.

"A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence."

~Leopold Stanislaus Stokowski 

hey baby, what's your sign?

wordless

Plagiarizing

I just stole these photos from my sister's blog.

Scenes from last Sunday.

Love this little bug

Sheer JOY

Cracking ourselves up

The bliss of a moment

fyi

Seasons of Love

A most hysterical math rap done over Theatre vignettes

Just finished with the Trinity Voices Showcase~it's only my second year in teaching/creating this class and it's different every time.  The basic premise is to showcase all the creative electives that we offer~from bells to robotics to Model UN to Creative Writing, as well as all the musical and theatrical choices.  

Am not at all ashamed to admit that I buy the love of students

The anchors' desk

The opening slide

Pre-show calm

Blurred 6th grade poets

And now?  For the first time in six weeks, I get to be Laurie and just breathe for the weekend! (The blog title comes from what is now becoming the traditional end of the show~the choir (or whomever wants to sing with us) belting out Seasons of Love.