Starting the School Year With PKU

Friday was Colby's first day of First Grade! I know he was super excited to hang out with his friends again, go to recess recess and eat lunch with his cool new Spiderman lunch box. But as a mom, I'm much more concerned about what he's going to learn. In order for him to learn I have to manage his PKU. Here's a few basic steps I've learned I must do at the beginning of the school year:

1. Meet with the teacher. The teacher has to be made aware of his food restrictions. They also need to be made aware of how it works in a basic sense - no he's not going to throw up, go into anaphelatactic shock, or get a rash if he eats something he's not supposed to eat, but if he eats something he's not supposed to eat, I need to know so that I can adjust his protein intake later in the day. It's not a big deal if he eats something he's not supposed to eat once in a blue moon, but it is a problem if it happens every day.

2. Contact the cafeteria manager. Colby brings his lunch, but he can eat breakfast at school if he wants to. He's allowed to have cereal or graham crackers and fruit. If the cafeteria manager doesn't know this, then they might make him take something he's not supposed to have. In his school, a note will pop up on the computer screen when he checks out and they'll make sure he takes what he's allowed to have.

3. Send an emergency stash. Things pop up that are way beyond my control. A student might bring cupcakes for their birthday unannounced or something unexpected might pop up. It's important for Colby to have something he can eat in that event. I usually send a box of rice krispie treats for the teacher to keep in the classroom for these unforeseen happenings.

4. Don't forget about after school programs. Colby's after school program gives snacks every day. They need to be made aware of his dietary restrictions as well. Usually I suggest snacks that will work and they usually go with it. It's just a snack after all!

5. Don't be afraid to speak up. If an issue arises, then speak up. Thankfully I haven't had any major issues, but rest assured that if one pops up, I will speak up. Nobody else is going to advocate for him and his PKU, so I'm the one who must.

Sneak Peak Into How Teachers Spend Their Workdays

At the end of last school year, I decided that I was tired of looking at my walls and I decided to paint them. You see, our school, like many others, was built during this horrid phase of our education system called "open classrooms". Our school is celebrating it's 40th anniversary, so that would have been in the seventies. Picture this: a huge open areas in the shape of a circle, no walls, no windows. As you can imagine, that setup didn't work out so well so they spent the money to put up walls. Now there's a large open area in the middle and classrooms around the perimeter, but still no windows. And someone decided that they were going to put up walls that could double as chalkboards so they are magnetic (which is actually pretty great) and large portions of them were chalk-board green. That was probably not a bad decision back in the seventies when chalkboards were used extensively. I could even see writing on my green wall about two feet from the ceiling so obviously they were used. Over the years my room acquired an actual chalk board and then over that a white board. Technology has also lessened the need for chalk boards with the advent of overhead projectors and eventually LCD projectors. I can honestly tell you that I have never written on my walls. So at the end of last school year I got tired of looking at the green. Lets face it, it's ugly and since I have no windows, it made my room look like a cave. After my grades were turned in and my stuff put away, I painted my back wall light blue and my front wall coral to match my tropical poster fetish. It looks great! So the last two days, I've been putting my room together. I've decided to go pretty minimalist in my room and got rid of a table and a bookshelf and decided to store my teacher resources in an empty filing cabinet out in the pod (the circular area in the middle of the classrooms). My students will not be allowed to keep their binders in my room like they were able to in previous years, so now I have a bunch of empty crates to store somewhere (anybody need some crates to borrow?). Now I say I'm going minimalist this year and it sounds like I'm just doing it because I'm both stylish (ha!)and tired of clutter. But the real reason is because I have to house 35 kids in my room for one period. Right now I have 24 desks in my room. I know I can fit 8 more desks comfortably, I'm not sure where the other three will go...we'll see when I start actually putting desks in. I've never had a class this big, so it will be an adventure I'm sure! Oooooh! Maybe I can talk them into mounting my LCD projector on the ceiling instead of a cart so I can have more space for desks! Wishful thinking I'm sure, but who knows!

What's that? Oh, you want to know if I did anything related to actual teaching? Well, I've been talking, brainstorming and searching Google when I need a break from decorating. I have lots of ideas about what and how I want to teach this coming school year, but since not everyone was here these past two days I have decided to hold off on doing a lot of teaching/curriculum stuff until next week when the best brains in southwest Virginia will meet to help shape the lives and minds of young people. My theory is - if I can get my room straight this week, I can throw myself into planning next week! If you were thinking "Sheesh my tax dollars are going into the school system so she can decorate her room", don't fret! The real work is coming!!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

Today is my grandma's birthday...Happy Birthday Grandma!! On this momentous occasion I was thinking about how I'm SOOOOOO blessed to have known three grandparents and one step-grandparent for such a long amount of time. I even have vivid memories of three of my great-grandmothers! My grandparents were such a blessing when I was growing up. They looked out for me, supported me, loved me unconditionally, and were always very clear about how proud they were of me.

So now on grandma's birthday, here's some of my favorite memories of this very special woman:

Spending the summer at her house eating grilled cheeses (a smushed one for Michele) and playing outside.

Going to see new Disney movies in the theater including Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and the Lion King.

Grandma helped with snacks at Bible School and when I was too old for Bible School, I helped Grandma!

Grandma singing in the choir at church.

Seeing Grandma sitting in the stands watching softball games, though I'm sure it was boring at times.

Sitting with Grandma at Great-Grandma's house while we visited.

Grandma meticulously handing out Christmas presents to make sure all the kids opened one at the same time and all the adults opened one at the same time.

Watching Grandma cook in the kitchen during Thanskgiving and other family holidays.

I hope you had a wonderful day Grandma!!

Showing Our Creative Sides

So I don't really get to do very much crafting at my house or creative planning, so I have to wait until someone has a baby or gets married to try out ideas I see on the internet. Well, my husband's cousin's wife is having a baby girl and I got to be creative. One thing I saw on the internet was an alternate way to hang paper lanterns - tree branches in vases. My neighbor cut down some trees for us and there's a huge pile of branches that I pulled these beauties out of. My mother-in-law bought the lanterns and such and I think they turned out pretty good!

Another thing I wanted to try was making hair bows instead of doing a game. I mean she is having a girl after all! So here's my bow making station. I think it turned out well, but I discovered that lots of people are really timid about crafting. Don't be timid people! It's just felt and glue, you can't really mess it up, but you can burn yourself so be careful!

Brandon also got to get his creative side out by making a "fruit baby"! Here's how it turned out. I know, cute right! I was a hit at the shower, but people were afraid to actually eat the fruit because it looked so cute! More for us to eat I guess!

All in all it was a good time. Thanks for all others involved for letting me use up some of my creative energy and indulging my whims without knowing how it would turn out. If anyone wants some help or tips on how to do a bow making station let me know! I learned a lot putting that together! Have a good day y'all!