Merry Christmas!

Christmas will be here in 2 days...are ya ready for it? I don't feel as ready as other years, but it will come nevertheless and it will turn out fine. I know it. Today I do not have to go anywhere or do anything in particular, so I'm not. I've noticed an increase level of laziness without the schedule of grad classes. I need a schedule (or very small children home), otherwise I loaf. I just have to admit it. I just brewed some coffee and I'm about to go and enjoy that. Just thought I'd pop in and say, "MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYONE!"

Snow Forts

Yesterday and today, Allen set about to work on making a snow fort. Here the kids are all enjoying it. The snow is very pretty today. I drove Allen out to a friend's house in Cheshire area. All the trees were laced with snow and the sun was shining brightly. It was just beautiful! I wished that I had my camera with me. It's been a nice day of staying at home. I finally baked some Christmas cookies. Later on, the girls and I will frost and decorate them.

It IS Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

Today at 6:00 in the morning, I got notification that school would be canceled. I looked outside. The sidewalks were still clear, right down to the pavement. I thought, "Wouldn't it serve them right, if it doesn't even snow?" I went around turning off the alarms on the clocks and going back to bed. Later when I had gotten up, I saw that snow was definitely coming down! I had to take Alicia to the eye doctor to pick up her new glasses and then to drop off Allen's swim parka at his swim coach's house. The roads were steadily getting worse! Jamie had asked me to stop by his office and pick up a check to deposit into the account...the roads were really getting crazy! That craziness spread to me because I suggested to the girls that we go to Wal-Mart to finish up their shopping. They each needed to find a gift for their Dad. Luckily I don't live far from the store! The schools were very smart to close for the day!

The Official Christmas Season may now Begin

Winter's here again...and it looks like my birds are going hungry lately. Yesterday was my Birthday, so now the Christmas season has officially started. I wrapped up some presents today. (More wrapping to come) I also did some shoveling...which was not very fun since it rained on top of the freshly fallen snow. This made the snow very heavy and now my back hurts. I am not done with my Christmas shopping. I enjoy giving gifts...but I don't care for shopping. Especially when I am not sure what I'm looking for.
Only one more week to go. If you are done shopping, please refrain from saying so in the comments! LOL!

My Siblings and I

Here we are...the 4 siblings. From Left to right: Me, Tim, Rachel, Martha.

Little Librarian and Little Mother

I've gotten such a kick out of this old photo of my sisters and I that I just had to blog about it. There I am at age 2 looking at a library book. Granted it is upside down, but the enthusiasm is there to be sure! I was known as a child to even read to the cats. (Martha, if you have one of those old photos, send it to me)Of course I need to mention my older sister, at age 4 enthusiastically holding the new baby of the family. Later in her life, as most of you know, she became the mother of seven beautiful children. As for me, I was strategically ignoring the new child who took my spot as youngest. Or maybe I was preparing to read to her, who knows. As for Rachel's destiny...she had no teeth yet and wasn't big enough to check out anyone else's. She looks a little upset about that!
Isn't this picture a hoot?

Excitement in the Air

Audra took this picture of herself. It's not perfect, but somehow I find it appealing. I am done with school work for the semester. So far I have gotten grades for 2 out of 3 classes and did excellent. I am still waiting to know how I did in the other class. I am glad for the break and looking forward to enjoying the holidays. Do you feel the excitement of Christmas in the air? I'm starting to feel it!

Almost time to relax

Ruth says I need to update my blog. She's right. It is rather boring looking at the same thing over and over again. Sometimes there are good reasons for it to remain static...like tons of school work and deadlines. The good news is, I am almost done! All I have left to do is finish a research paper and take an online open book quiz. I already have five pages written for the paper. So it is almost time to relax...just like Sherman here is doing with a coke on a hot summer day.

Actually, my house is a wreck since it has been neglected for so long. The first thing I plan to do after returning home from Long Island (we are leaving to go there Wednesday morning for Thanksgiving), is to clean my house from top to bottom! And of course there will be the whole Christmas holiday to keep me busy. I don't feel mentally ready for that. It does not seem real to me that it is going to be here soon. The other thing I am planning on doing is more reading. Yup! More reading. There were many children's books that I heard about that I wanted to read while taking children's Literature. So many books....but not enough time. I have a list going!

Tagged

I was tagged by Rachel.

So here are the instructions:

* Go to your sixth picture folder in your picture file on your computer, then pick your sixth picture.
* Pray that you remember the details.
* Post it on your blog.
* Tag 5 others, leave a comment to let them know they’ve been tagged.This is the 6th picture in the 6th folder in my picture directory.
I did not take this photo. I think Allen did when he was staying over night at Aunt Rachel's house. I was home. I trusted him with the camera. This is a pretty entertaining picture of my sisters, nephew, and daughter. Everone but Alicia seems pretty mesmerized by the computer. Probably looking at a blog!

I tag Jenny, Jim the 3rd, Josiah, Nixter and Dunja .

Gettin' there

Oh how I wish my camera's flash worked. It really hampers the blogging a bit. I am almost done with this semester! Tomorrow I must visit an Elementary school library and give a thematic storytelling lesson. I have chosen the Iroquois Indians as my theme. I will be telling an Indian Legend to a group of 4th graders since they are studying the Iroquois Indians this year. After I tell it, I will talk to them about Indian Pictographs. I will tell a second story with pictographs using a flannel board.
One more research paper to do, which I haven't started yet.
Sorry to bore you with this.

Still Swinging!

Hi everyone! I know I have virtually disappeared for a while. Things got pretty busy...I got really stressed out and didn't think I was going to make it. However, I've gotten over some major hurdles and things are looking good!

Highlights of my experience: I gave some book talks at Geneva High School on Friday. It was a great experience and I learned a lot. I was pleased with how things went. At another school, I was told by a second grade boy that he thinks that I'll catch on fast and be a good librarian some day.

I've written one research paper this past week. I have another research paper coming up. I am doing it on story telling traditions among Native Americans. I have all my participation activities lined up. I'm pretty excited about all of that. I will be facilitating two book discussion groups at an elementary school, giving a thematic storytelling presentation at another elementary story and helping with some collection development at a middle school. I've already completed the high school requirement...mentioned earlier.

Best of all, I have gotten good grades so far!

Love this picture of Alicia taken this past August!

Another Cool Library

Today I visited another library at an elementary school in another school district nearby. I just loved it there! The librarian there was just so cool! She really makes the library fun. I decided that when I am a librarian some day, I want to be like her. She has her students excited about reading. When the kids came in and she sat them down to do her lesson, she asked them what they had been reading. The kid's hands were flying up everywhere. They all wanted to share what they had read recently. She had all kinds of things for kids to do in the library. They all seemed happy to be there.
She also does really fun activities such as a pumpkin decorating contest. They need to decorate the pumpkin like a character of a book. In the spring she has a storytelling festival. I already volunteered to help with it. It'll be in March. I'm already looking forward to it!
I will definitely be coming back to this library to do other things. She has already invited me to come back and do some hands-on projects. I need to complete 25 hours by December 1st. This will help a lot!

Mmmmm-Lecker!

Jamie and I went to the Rheinblick German Restaurant last night. Very busy and very yummy! We loved every bite. I made sure to order something with the red cabbage on the side because I love red cabbage. My mother makes it...but since it is not a favorite of my husband's, I don't get it often. I don't remember the name of what else I ate, but it was delicious. Jamie ordered the wiener schnitzel. He gave me a bite and I just may have to order that next time. It was a nice evening and we were able to walk to the restaurant because it is not far at all from our home. Good exercise too.
I wish I had a picture to present here...but it was dark and my camera flash does not work.

Field Experience

It has been forever since I have blogged. I have been very busy! Lately I have been visiting and observing school libraries to get a feel for what goes on there. In the past two weeks, I have spent 22 hours doing this. (yes...I am keeping track) It has been enlightening to say the least. Some of the libraries have been fantastic. Unbelievable facilities and librarians who are energetic and really up to date on the latest stuff in school libraries. And then there are "other" libraries and librarians. Thursday I went to a rural high school with an older librarian. Her selection of books were very outdated. Her fiction section looked like it had not been visited in years. I felt very sad for the students, because reading just for the sake of it is not really presented in a positive way here. There were no displays to catch the attention of students to attract them to read. Maybe they have a smaller budget than other schools. They seemed to be very current as far as computers and technology. The librarian told me they are getting a Smart Board...so they have to have some money to work with. I guess it's easy to sit back and be critical. (forgive me) I'm really curious to see another school in this same district so that I can get a feel for whether it is something that can't be helped.
I visited another library where the selection of books was phenomenal, but I thought the librarian was very rigid in how she ran her library. She had very strict rules as to how things are run. This was in an elementary school. I saw a group of 3rd graders come in. They had assigned seats at tables. When they came in, they went to where their assigned seats were and all stood behind the chairs until they were told by the librarian that they could sit. She went over very specific procedures about how things are done in her library. Wow! She has some very specific ways of doing things! She has been a librarian here for over 30 years and I guess this works for her. I know I could not be as regimented though. A few days later, I saw a friend of mine who teaches at the same school. I told her I had been at the library. This teacher told me that some of her students are afraid to go to the library at library time if they have forgotten to bring the book they borrowed back. I was very careful with my words because I don't really want to be catty.
I went to our Middle School Library here in town and I saw Melimouse! (twice) I also saw Sam and Audra...but my own son was no where to be seen. He told me later that he peeked in the window and saw me. That particular library was awesome! I thought the facilities were great and the librarian has some great ideas! I took note of some of them so I can remember. Unfortunately, I cannot do my student teaching under her, because she is a fairly new school librarian, having just graduated from the school I am now attending just three years ago.
Yesterday I went to a high school and a middle school in an urban setting. Beautiful facilites! The two librarians that I shadowed were great and had a lot of suggestions for me. I came away from there with my head spinning with all the knowledge that they were imparting on me! I thought it was really cool to see such a multicultural group. They have a number of Spanish speaking students, so they have a selection of fiction written in Spanish. Interesting to see Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal on the shelf.
Anyway, I am learning so much. Today I haven't gotten much work done and I must make up for it somehow. I decided to go to a friend's house for lunch. I stayed there much longer then planned, getting home just on time for the school bus to arrive.

Those Carefee Days of Summer Are Gone...

I'm beginning to feel the crunch of school and deadlines. I'm wondering how it'll all get done. I am spinning so many plates right now. Many are getting neglected. I'm sure that I could probably organize my time better so that I could spin them all more efficiently. My house is really going downhill fast as far as neatness goes. I have so many memos from the schools of my children tacked up on the bulletin board. There are fees to be to pay and forms to fill out and papers to write and a sign to paint and laundry to do and meetings to attend and books to read and cross country meets to go to and stories to tell and schools to contact and go to....
I think you're getting the picture. Tomorrow I am going to the local public library to return 20 children's books and I am going to check out about 20 more I think. On Friday I went to an elementary school in Geneva to observe in a library. I loved being there. On Tuesday I will go to another elementary school here in my town. On Friday I will go to a middle school. Next week I will go to at least one high school.

Meanwhile...my house is getting messier and messier by the minute. I can't stand it, but don't have the time to devote to really clean it the way it needs to be.

The Pig

The pig is not a nervous beast;
He never worries in the least.
He lives in tranquil life unshaken,
And when he dies brings home the bacon.

(Roland Young)

I know...you are all thinking, "Priscilla, that's sick!" Just thought I'd share one of the many pictures we took of animals at the fair a few weeks ago!

Me I Am!

I have been tagged by Kim.
1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. List 6 random facts about yourself
4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
5. Let each person know they've been tagged by commenting on their blog
6. Let the tagger know the entry is posted on your blog

1. I love poetry....particularly silly rhymes.
2. I'm really enjoying being a graduate student...even though it is a bit stressful.
3. I don't really have time for blogging right now in my life.
4. I am going to bake cookies with Alicia tonight because I love her and said I would do it.
5. Tomorrow I am visiting a school library in the city of Geneva.
6. I am very rebellious and refuse to do numbers 4, 5, and 6.

So there you have it!

Eating

Eating! One of those activities that brings people together. What is it about food that bonds people? Yesterday I had to go to a meeting at the University of Buffalo for a class I am taking. I was in a room full of people I didn't know. We took notes and listened to the instructor, asked questions and jotted down more notes. The meeting ended at noon. Perfect time for lunch. A bunch of us decided to go out to lunch together.

By the end of lunch, we were laughing like old friends and some of us even exchanged phone numbers. It was nice to put a face to the names I have seen on my online courses.

I just love these pictures of Allen and Alicia at the state fair eating BLT sandwiches. We had become separated from Audra and Jamie...so we ate without them. Alicia and I shared a sandwich since they were pretty big.

I think I need to do lunch more often with friends. I've been feeling a bit separated from them lately.

First Day Back

Today is the first day of school here in town. Now I have two middle schoolers.

Everyone seemed excited (but not to have their pictures taken necessarily). I didn't have to drag anyone out of bed this morning. I didn't have to nag everyone to "hurry" or "brush your teeth"...everyone seemed anxious to do that on their own. No worries about leaving on time or missing the bus this morning. *sigh* Some things never last long.
Only one left in the elementary school.

Meadows

I finished one of the signs for a friend's B&B yesterday. She named her two guest rooms: one Meadows and the other Sunrise. I like how it turned out, but this photo does not do it justice. It looks a lot better in "real life".

Allen stayed over night at Sam's house yesterday and the two of them went to "Rheinlick" to get a bite to eat. They were pretty excited to check out Gudl's restaurant. He's still at Sam's so I haven't gotten a report yet. I can't wait to go there too!

The Three Sisters-Authentically American

Here we are...the three sisters. Corn, Squash and Beans. What I am refering to here of course is something everyone who grew up in NY State and studied the Iroquios Indians should know about. The rest of you will be naturally confused...but that's ok. I'll give you a hint. Anyway...we had fun at Martha's house. We saw Jim, who was home from Minnesota and we ate lots of food...and just generally enjoyed one another's company. And even though Rachel's "German Potato Salad" is not really authentically German(see Rachel's post and comments), I like it anyway. I had two helpings. What American Labor Day picnic would be complete without hot dogs and hamburgers....and corn on the cob? Baked beans are always welcome too...and squash. Like Zuchini. Not all of it was there...but it was authentically American. We are American and we like it that way. LOL! I'm just having fun with this post.
I hope all of my friends reading here had a wonderful Labor Day...even if you are not authentically American. Love to you all!

Son of a Future Librarian

It has been a busy week. It was the last full week of summer before school starts for the kids. We took them to the New York State Fair on Thursday. Yesterday was the annual Crosswinds 5k...which we all took part in (ouch, I'm sore!), and last night was the ring of fire around Canandaigua Lake. I have been also busy doing school work. One of the courses I am taking is a Children's Literature course. This week I checked out every Caldecott Award winning book that was possible to check out from our library from the years between 1980 and present day. Caldecott Awards are meant to honor the artists who illustrated a particular book. So I have been reading some great picture books with wonderful illustrations like "Kitten's First Full Moon", "The Polar Express", and "Owl Moon." I must have checked out at least 15 books and put several on reserve. And of course no graduate work is made complete without doing some write up of some sort. Luckily, it is not too bad. I must pick 5 of these books and write a short summary and evaluation of each. I have 3 done already.
That is all for now. I'll end with these words-"Go read a book!!!"

College Chick!

I don't have a picture for today's post. This is a picture that Allen took two weeks ago. I like it. It looks so....serene!
I got to UB in plenty of time for my class. In fact, I had time to spare so I bought a bowl of soup and a roll at the student union. It felt so strange to be there all alone. During my last classes I rode to school with two other women. I missed Libby and Kathy! I didn't know a soul and everyone I saw looked like an undergraduate. I felt a little out of place, but the soup tasted good at least! LOL!
Finally it was time to go to my class, 17 Clemens Hall. (named after Samuel Clemens...or Mark Twain). I couldn't find my room number! I still had about 5 minutes to spare, so I wasn't panicking yet. I found 117 and thought maybe I had made a mistake...so I hung out there a while. No people. Just a dark, empty classroom. Then I saw Libby! She is taking the same class. She couldn't find the class either. I said, "Do you think it might be in the basement?" We went to the elevators and pressed "B"...and sure enough, found our class. I didn't know the place had a basement. I would have expected catecombs and maybe a boiler. Who knew?
Dr. Kimble seemed cool. She seems pretty laid back and has a good sense of humor. I don't think she will be too difficult to get along with. We went over the syllabus. There is a lot of reading and a lot of writing. I will be spinning a lot of plates. (incidently, in the syllabus Dr. Kimble mentioned that she hates the term "a lot"...and doesn't want to see it in a paper...uh oh!!!!!!!) I'm taking 2 other classes as well...so who knows how often I will be here blogging. Anyway, 20 minutes into the class a guy named William came in. He couldn't find the class. Go figure!
After class, Libby and I went to Starbucks to tank up on caffiene for the drive home. She lives in Batavia, so has a shorter drive...but then again, she is pregnant so is tired a lot. (there goes "a lot" again!) We saw Tracy who is another LIS major. He recognized us as LIS students and talked a bit with us. I was wide awake for the drive home. In fact, I was bit wired. An hour and a half later, I was home. Too wired up to go to bed...even though it was after 11. What did I do? Check the blog of course! I also read another syllabus from another class that I will be taking on line.
Thanks for all of your encouraging comments!

First Day Jitters

I will be leaving in about 2 hours for my first class at UB for the fall semester. I don't really have jitters...but I liked the sound for the title. These are the pillars by Lake LaSalle that is on my campus. I'll let ya know how it went tomorrow. I'll be getting home late! It's a good hour and a half drive. I'll be loading up on coffee before the drive home.

Photo by Kathy

More Beautiful Baby Feet

This is Kaidin. He is such a beautiful baby....which doesn't surprise me. When Jamie and I got married, Kaidin's mother, Kelly was just a little girl. I remember thinking that she was beautiful. Kaidin's grandma, Nancy adopted Kelly from Korea. Now Kelly is 21, married, and has a baby of her own.

Nancy was babysitting her grandson while Kelly and Kaidin's Daddy went on a tour of the local wineries. I wanted to take pictures of Kaidin's feet because I think baby feet are just so precious. Kaidin thought I was a little weird, but Nancy didn't.

Old Grafiti

This is a picture of some very old grafiti along the Watkin's Glenn Gorge. Some things like this just entertain me.

On Monday night I start classes again...working towards that Master's Degree in Library Science. Kind of looking forward to it, but also nervous about all the work involved. I started reading two of my textbooks already. Since I am taking on-line courses, I was able to see what I needed to do and start with some basic things. For one of the classes, I can't really start anything until after my first meeting and the start of public schools. I will be doing quite a bit of field work at area schools. Sometimes I wonder what I've gotten myself into, and then all I need to do is clean another toilet or scrub another floor at someone else's house and then I remember. I'm more than ready to move up in the world!

Grad School Quickly Approaching

Summer is really going by fast. It doesn't seem possible that it is drawing to a close so soon. In less than a week, I start grad classes again. I'm just as nervous this time as last time. Can I do this? How will I balance being a mom, wife, homemaker with being a student? Can I spin all the plates?
AAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

You Never Know Who Might Show Up Around Here

Yesterday, we found out that "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" is demolishing and building a new home in Geneva, NY. Today my husband happened to have the day off, so we hopped in the car and traveled the 17 miles to Geneva to check it out. We joined the crowd of onlookers behind the fences across the street. It was kind of fun and interesting. The white house in the back ground will be demolished tomorrow. The family has been sent to Cancun for the week. Today the crew was demolishing a barn on the premises.

Ty and the rest of the Design Team were not on sight. (Just all the people who actually do most of the work.) Today they were emptying the house. I'm sure that Ty will be here on sight tomorow with his bull horn and video camera.

Jamie got a chance to talk with one of the sight managers for the show who told him that quite often the show is working on 2 houses at the same time. Ty is actually on sight down in Arkansas today for another house and will fly in to upstate NY tonight. We also learned that Extreme Makeover does free cosmetic work on surrounding houses just so they all look nice on camera...and also to make it up to them for the inconvenience of crowds of people trampling their lawns, closing down their street, construction workers all night, etc. They will even put a new roof on the neighbor's house if they think it necessary.

From what I understand, this show will focus on a family that helps kids stay off the streets. (Geneva can be a rough town) The man is a guidance counselor at the high school, but also runs a school for boxing. The show is supposed to air some time in November.

Discoveries On My Camera

Here are more fun photos the girls took. Stopping to smell the flowers. Something we all should do.

I don't think I would have thought to take a picture like this.

Reminds me of a clothing catalog.

Young and Carefree

I found some fun photos on my camera that I did not take. Alicia and Audra had a little fun with the camera.
I just love these pictures of Audra. She looks so carefree.

They are growing up so fast!

A Project

Today I decided it was time to do a little project. I decided to paint this lovely bed black. It looked good white...as long as it was going to end up in a girl's room. You know that shabby chic look that's in? But the truth is, this bed wasn't going to work in my 13 year old son's room. Way too girly. So Allen and I went to Lowe's and bought primer and black spray paint.

It's still drying, but here it is so far. We also bought new drawer handles for a little desk that I am also going to paint black for his room. More on that another time!

Hard at Work

There are lots of things I should be doing right now. But I'm not. I'm just sitting here on my butt in front of a computer. Wasting valuable time, accomplishing little. I could be folding laundry, doing dishes, vaccuuming, dusting...picking up clutter. I could be reading my Bible. I could be sorting yard sale items and pricing things. I could be baking cookies or painting. I could be hanging up that picture I've been meaning to hang. Yup. I'm being pretty useless.

This, by the way, is a picture of Mukles (pronounced Moo-klees). He's relaxing with a beer. He deserves to relax because he has been hard at work in his garden, and serving chicken that he grilled himself to a myriad of guests. (Mukles is from the country of Jordan...in case you are wondering about the foreign name)

My washing maching has just indicated that it is done. That is my cue that I should get moving.

S'mores and Sparklers

After we hiked the gorge on Friday, we went over to Jamie's sister's house, had dinner with them and then did a bon fire in their fire pit.

Kevin had some sparklers for the kids. Audra and Allen had fun with them. Alicia thought they were too risky...and refused to take part.

Of course where there is a fire going, there is an abundance of marshmellows, chocolate and graham crackers. Yum!

Amish Tourists

So you think the life of the Amish is all work and no play, huh? Nope. Sometimes they tour waterfalls.

Just before this pic was taken, a group of Amish teens came down with all the typical energy of kids that age...way ahead of the old folks! LOL!

Pretty Girls at Watkins Glen

This sure beats those photo studios where you sit in front of a screen with a picture of a water fall. They were sitting in front of the real thing! My husband took the picture. I think I will get a print and frame it.

Watkins Glen

We went to Watkins Glen State Park on Friday. Just an incredibly beautiful place! Our Lord is the most amazing sculptor. I would highly suggest that anyone visiting NY state go to see this incredible natural wonder!

The hike up the gorge trail is not for the weary as there are many steps to climb. It is well worth it. There were quite a few tourists on the trail. I think I heard about four different languages being spoken.

This is Rainbow Falls. At just the right time of day, when you are hiking down the trail, you can see a perfect rainbow. I saw it on the way down. I had handed the camera to my husband (who was hiking slower a ways up). I trusted that he would certainly get a photo as he passed it. He didn't. (I really have forgiven him of the oversight)

There is just no way to capture the beauty of this place on film. You just have to go there. I hope to go again this fall when the colors of the foliage are amazing. You may join me if you promise not to mind stopping at antique stores on the way down.

Here is a photo taken while standing undernieth Rainbow Falls while looking up.

Are you ready for a trip to NY state yet? It is much more than that big city everyone hears about.

Shiela and Mukles' Garden

We went down and visited Jamie's cousin and her family. She and her husband are hobby gardners. The place is beautiful.

They live close to Taughannock Falls State Park and are blessed to have their own little rocky stream running through their yard.
The picture here is NOT a cement slab. This is natural bedrock that is found here in the Finger Lakes Region. There are many waterfalls in this area. Tomorrow, I will post some.



I think it would be wonderful to have a beautiful garden in my yard. Unfortunately I seem to kill plants. Is there hope for me?

Here is one of my own beautfiul flowers walking on the foot bridge that Mukles built.