Merry Christmas

Family, Presents, Trees, Lights, Cookies, Christmas Vacation, Movies, The Final Door in the Advent Calendar, Silent Night by Candlelight...

This time of year is filled with many spectacular things.  I hope you are surrounded by whichever one means the most to you this Christmas!

Here are a few of my favorite movie quotes that also capture what I believe are the true meanings of Christmas...Enjoy!

"All right, you guys, just permit me one sentimental moment here, will you? I have something to say. Christmas: it's not the giving, it's not the getting, it's the loving. There, I said it. Now get outta here."  ---Garfield

"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."--Linus  

From our house to yours....Merry Christmas! 

May the reason for this season bless you now and throughout the new year.

Play Time

Spike spent the last couple of days going through a quilling stage.  He's been grumpy and sleepy.  Tonight, when we got home from work, he woke up really easy and seemed very playful.  We were able to play with him for about an hour and a half.  We even got some video.  Enjoy!!

Man, our little guy's got wheels!

Spike really wants to make it from the floor to the carpet but he isn't quite big enough yet.  As you can see he works hard and doesn't give up...clearly one of us.  Stubborn little fella!

After all his running, he sure was thirsty.  He even let us hold him while he drank.  So fun!

Spike Updates

We are having so much fun with our little guy.  Still figuring out all his preferences.  He doesn't seem to like any treats but is loving his wheel.  He was happier with the heating pad more than the heated stone.  He figured out his ball and is enjoying running all over the place.

Exploring the wheel

Off and Running with his new wheel and large cage

He curled up in my hand and went to sleep...so freakin' cute!

Meet Spike

Meet our new friend Spike the Hedgehog!

Spikes New Home

Spike Transfering himself from his carrier box to his cage

Taking his time and exploring

Exploring Matt's Lap (which had a hot water bottle underneath)

Nuzzeling in

More Exploring

Walking from Matt to me

This little Guy is wiggly

Play time in the ball


Little Spike wore out fast tonight as he got used to his new surroundings. 

More photos to come!

Christmas Decorations are up!

**It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas**

I love this time of year; the lights, songs, decorations, scents and smiles you can see most everywhere (note: smiles may not always be seen while shopping)

Year 2 of our tree...weird to not put up the garland, but love the look of our tree

And the stockings where hung by the penguins with care

Stocking Decorations

Grandma's Nativity Scene....Love!

Love the Christmas Plush (and football on T.V.)

I hope everyone's Christmas Season is off to a great start.  I am so excited to celebrate with so many people of the next month.  Remember to take time to relax, enjoy family and friends, make memories for a life time and the true meaning of the season!

Let Whatever you do today be enough

I think I found my new mantra! (Thanks Jen for that advice...you have no idea how much you helped)!I love being productive.  Some days it happens naturally, some days it seems as though things just get in the way that we have no control over. 

I typically try to have my report cards about 80% finished before report card day so I can spend that day organizing, planning and prepping in my classroom.  This year, for numerous reasons, that wasn't the case.  I felt stressed on Thursday night so I came home with a big stack of papers to grade and work to do.  I then did what everyone does when they want to be productive; I logged on to Facebook only to find a post that simply said, "Let whatever you do today be enough".  At that point, I made homemade strawberry/orange crepes for the first time ever and relaxed.

Amazingly enough, by 2:30 on Friday,  I was finished with my progress reports and working in my room like normal. 

I hope that in the middle of this Christmas Season, you are able to "Let whatever you do today be enough." and enjoy some time for yourself!

Thanksgiving

I have had a 24 days this month to pause, reflect and be thankful.  I have saved the most important thing to be thankful for today!  Today I am thankful for YOU, my friends and family!!  Each and every one of you who take time out of your day to read my blog to follow what's going on in my life.  I pray that everyone has a fantastic Thanksgiving enjoying old traditions and/or starting new traditions with those you love!  Rest, Relax, Laugh, Eat and Enjoy your day.   Happy Thanksgiving!!!

If you have 45 seconds...this song says it all and reminds us of the simplest form of Thanksgiving

Garfield Thanksgiving

Birthday Fun

I had a great time this year celebrating my 31st birthday.  I was blessed many friends who joined me at Thirsty Lion for a drink on my actual birthday.  Then, the following day, I enjoyed fun at Incredible John's Pizza Company with the family. 

Enjoy a picture recap!

Dinner with friends

FOOTBALL

FOOTBALL

BASKETBALL

BASKETBALL

Horsey Race

This game just seemed perfect for dad =)

Air Hockey

Air Hockey

Mom scored with tickets on this machine

Typhoon Ride

Typhoon

Shootin' up the water

Lovely Birthday Gift: Appletini Kit  ;) Yum!



Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate; I had a great time. 

I am looking forward to many more lovely birthdays!

Religious Experiences

For Matt's Social Justice Class we went to a Jewish Service last night in Lake Oswego.  It was so interesting. It filled a void in me and reminded me how much I enjoy going to church.  The feeling of God was apparent and the friendliness of everyone was so welcoming.  They were all so willing to share their faith with us and answer questions.  Luckily, we were at a children's service, so everything was done more in laymans terms, so we were able to understand much of the main ideas they were sharing.  There were so similaritys to Christian services but also some very different aspects such as hebrew and moving backwards through the prayer book.  Thank you to http://beithav.org/ for being so open and friendly. 

Does anyone have a local/semi local church that they LOVE?  Matt and I would love to find one to call home.  We are interested in the Newberg, Lake Oswego, Tualatin, Wilsonville, Tigard, Sherwood area.  We would like a Christian Based church that is more old school in style, such as hymns verses praise band.  Any suggestions would be great!

Thanks,
Alyson

Vince Gill

A couple of weeks ago, the family and I got to escape to the beach for the weekend to enjoy a Vince Gill Concert at Chinook Winds.  Matt and I went down the first night and then mom, dad and Jer joined in for Saturday night.  We enjoyed some great weather in Lincoln City, got to walk on the beach and ended up with some great seats for the show.  All in all, it was a very relaxing weekend.  Enjoy a few photos from the weekend!

Statesman Dinner

I was invited to attend the Oregon Statesman Awards Dinner with the Chalkboard Foundation earlier this month.  What a night!  It was pretty wild to attend a formal dinner like that; cocktails and hors de' orves to begin with then a full 3 course catered dinner.  The evenings keynote speaker was Arnie Duncan and he had a very powerful message.  The Chalkboard Foundation was given an award and I was asked to be one of the 8 people to go on stage to accept it.  It felt very 'adult' and I really enjoyed the whole experience.  A little blurb about the dinner can be found at http://www.oba-online.org/oba-news/statesman-dinner/.  I haven't been able to find pictures or anything yet, but, trust me, it was fancy.  =)

Playtime

I found this article very enlightening.  Kids do need more time to play!  I wish our school day was longer so I could include more time to "play".  As great as organized sports and activities are for kids, we must not allow them to replace the idea of free play, they should only enhance a child's life, not clutter it so much that they miss out on these opportunities.

After 7 years of teaching, one very interesting thing I have found is how little kids want to do at class parties (such as Harvest, Holiday and Valentines Day).  We have a few snacks, a movie in the background and then free time.  Most kids just enjoy the down time with their friends, visit, play and snack.  It is a wonderful moment to see them as the kdis they really are. 

Here is the article, if you are interested in reading it:

http://www.theatlantic.com/life/archive/2011/10/all-work-and-no-play-why-your-kids-are-more-anxious-depressed/246422/#.TpjGvtahg61.facebook

Ok...Now, go play!  =)

IKEA

Tonight Matt and I lost our IKEA Virginity with Alex.  We had a great time!  After a 3 hour "tour" we left with full tummy's from the food court, wooden hangers, book boxes, and 1 new chair for my classroom (from the 'as is' section, none the less, so 1/2 off...which I love). 

Thanks, Alex, for a fun night! I always enjoy our time together

Turn your head sideways for a view of my new Read Aloud chair  =)

Classroom Theme

This year I knew what my theme would be by last Christmas, thanks to a dad who adores Charlie Brown.  I projected up the Peanuts gang and traced them onto a piece of white butcher paper.  Then colored it.  The slogan is "The Gang's All Here".  Matt found a Peanuts Poster set at the Learning Palace, so I knew it was meant to be. 

Here's to a great school year...so far at least  =)
 

Lion King, Racist???

Hakuna Matata Friends,

As most of you know; Matt is currently in grad school for school counseling.  One of his classes this term is "Social Justice".  His first reading assignment is from a book called "Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" by Beverly Daniel Tatum.  This book has a lot of controversial and interesting topics that Matt and I have been discussing.

Did you know the Lion King is a racist movie? 

APPARENTLY: "The film uses very ethnically identifiable voices to characterize the hyenas, the clearly the undesirables in the movie. The Spanish Accented voice of Cheech Marin and the Black slang of Whoopi Goldberg clearly marked the hyenas racially. Simba is warned to never go where the hyenas are as that is 'bad land' or to where the evil lion 'Scar' lives."  The evil lion is also a darker shade than the others and when given or gained power Scar and the Hyenas ruin the kingdom (such as the "there goes the neighborhood" stereotype).  

The author admits that she has been challenged about the fact that James Earl Jones(A black man)s' voice as Mufasa, who is a good character so therefore these points are not valid.  Her counter is that "the target audience is small children and they won't notice his voice as a voice of color but the others are more obvious". 

Matt and I did some more research about this just for grins and found someone else's research project.  http://www.newint.org/easier-english/Disney/diswomen.html.  Check it out if you are interested.

WTF....I love the LION KING!!! 

I feel like there isn't a problem until someone looks so far into a situation and in turn creates the problem.  How many people even noticed these things before this blog? 
The Lion King, Racist?  Really? 



Final Week of Summer

We tried to make the most of our last week of summer. We spent a day at the zoo, a day at the beach and a weekend at Detroit Lake. So much fun!

We managed to time it right for Penguin Feeding ;)

Painted Dog

Meerkat Timon

Pumba

Playing or Fighting, You decide?

We had a great time at the zoo.  It was warm but the animals were still out and active.  We also made a trip to the Oregon Coast where we did a little shopping in Lincoln City followed by some cheese in Tillamook.  Very fun day!

Cold and refreshing

Sunset from the view point outside of Tillamook

Our final excursion was camping. We had a great time relaxing, playing games and paddle boating.