things i've had to relearn since moving back to OK

We moved to OKC in August last year after having lived in Memphis, TN and Waco, TX for 6 years. Since moving back I've had to relearn some important lessons about OK.

1) the wind really does come sweeping down the plains
2) don't sit your drink on top of the car because it will get knocked off
3) I like cowboy boots
4) you have to check the weather before you travel in April due to tornado season
5) storm chasing is a legitimate occupation
6) you will eventually be on a first name basis with the meteorologist
7) did I mention the wind?
8) dirt is red
9) Will Rogers knew what he was talking about
10) before Sept. 11th there was April 19th
11) real Okies send their little kids running out into fields to stake claims on April 22nd
12) it really is home

repurposing

We've been trying to cut down on expenses so we're getting rid of our storage unit. Part of this process is purging a lot of stuff. This has made me realize you should take into consideration how much it will cost you to get rid of something before you get it. Anyway, I have a suitcase that my dad gave me that was my great-grandmother's, but it's been in storage because I didn't have something to use it for. But since it has to come out of storage it needs to be useful. So it is has been turned into Elle's "dress-up" case. It's now full of old costumes and other goodies and fits nicely under her bed.

media literacy monday: environmental print and ml

Since media literacy is a newer topic for schools there aren't a lot of scope and sequences available, which makes it difficult to incorporate in younger grades because the it is still relatively unclear what skills preschoolers should master. For example, one popular lesson with students is to discuss toy commercials and point out what is real or not. However, this is difficult for some preschoolers because to them Elmo is real. They may not understand that Elmo can't come to class or to their house because he's real on TV. One easy way to address ML with younger students is to think about what you already do. In preschool and Kindergarten pre-reading activities include environmental print. This is showing students logos from popular places and household items and having them practice identifying them. Logos are meant to be instantly recognized and were developed when most of the population was illiterate as a way for people to recognize brands they could trust.

You can make easy flashcards by using gift cards.

Here's a few logos to practice with:







The Hobby Lobby logo is for my nephew who always pretends that's where he's going shopping. (Can you guess where his mom shops?) Elle recognized "Mickey Mouse", she said "french fries" for McDonalds, she got "cheers" for Cheerios, and said "Elmo" for Sesame Street.

update!

Elle's 2nd birthday
Elle turned 2 on Tuesday! She's filled our lives with so much joy and we are so blessed to have so many people love her too. We had a Mickey & Minnie/Tutus & Ties party on Saturday. We had some of the ballet girls perform to "The Hot Dog" song and the pinata was a huge success, even for the big kids. Here's a link to our shutterfly account and you can see more pics of her party in "march 2011". Click here.



I went for a consultation on my hip with an orthopedic specialist (not the one they wanted to send me to, but he still seems good). I have a piece of bone that sticks up on my hip joint, which when i make certain movements rubs on my hip socket and has torn the cartilage. If I don't have it repaired it will develop arthritis. So I'm going to have surgery as soon as the insurance gets everything authorized. They will do laparoscopic outpatient surgery (probably 3 incisions, but he won't know until he gets in there). Here's the scary part: There's no room in the hip so they are going to put me to sleep, paralyze me, and dislocate my hip! Then I'll be on crutches for 3 weeks and then have some therapy. Good part: I'll be able to do whatever I want after that!

media literacy monday: so what?

Why do I care about media litearcy?

*We're bombarded by media images everyday from all kinds of sources TV, movies, magazines, billboards, score boards, radio, t-shirts, etc.
*I don't want my children, or anyone else, getting wrong information from one of these sources.
*It's important to be able to think critically about messages that you hear and see. You should be able to read between the lines.
*I don't want someone else telling me what's pretty, cool, good, healthy, right, Christian, etc.
*I want to have skills to succeed in the 21st century.
*I want students and my children to have the skills to succeed in the 21st century.
*I want people to quit sending me email forwards because they believe everything they say.

Here's a quiz to find out how media literate you are:

http://clpmag.org/quiz.php

I got a 70%, which I think is because I don't follow any news source most of the time. I hear the major stuff, but don't follow the rest of the story and do my own research enough sometimes to make an educated opinion. Need to work on that. Would love to hear how you do!

hip momma

Some of you may know about my hip troubles, but this week more has been going on. And for those who don't know this will explain why Elle keeps randomly saying "momma's leg hurts." In 2004, right about the time Chris and I got married, I noticed my left hip hurting occasionally. Then it seemed to steadily get worse and it got to the point where I couldn't walk or stand for more than 30 minutes, and doing activities like swinging my leg into the car caused major pain. I eventually went to the doctor and they diagnosed me with a ganglion cyst on my hip joint. I got my first cortisone shot in 2005 {I vividly remember this because it was the day after Hurricane Katrina went through Memphis and half the hospital didn't have power.} and that helped for about a year. Then the pain came back so they tried another shot and this time it didn't work. They referred me to physical therapy. I had an outstanding physical therapist who relieved all of my pain. Well, then we moved to Waco and the pain would flare up and then go away based on how active I was. Lately though the pain has been pretty constant and for several weeks I couldn't get relief from pain meds or even sleeping. So I headed to the doctor again. Wednesday I had an arthrogram to put dye into my hip so that I could have an MRI to see what's going on. The worst part of that was getting stabbed in the hip, which has left me pretty sore, as if I needed help with that. Today I had my follow-up and they said I have a labrum tear. No word on the cyst, because I ended up having to see the physicians assistant who can't read a hip MRI. But, they're referring me to a specialist who will do a hip scope to repair the tear and the PA said they would be able to see a cyst if there is one.

No telling what the origin of the problem is. When I was born the same hip had problems and almost got me a full body cast at the age of 1. Thankfully, for my mother's sake, they didn't have to do that because my hip developed fine on its own. But, no one has really hinted that this could be related. I don't know if it's too many cheerleading kicks or what, but I just want to get it resolved so I can walk around the zoo with my daughter without being in pain.

I would like prayers for two things specifically:
1) the specialist doesn't take our insurance so there's going to be a fight to get me in--this may mean a lot of time could go by while the insurance drags their feet; and
2) they said I may be non-weight bearing for 4-12 weeks after the scope. This doesn't work for me trying to take care of a toddler.

our weekend at the farm

Over the weekend we went to the Waugh farm. Probably the sweetest people on earth live there. It's a wonderful place filled with critters, wheat, fond memories, wind, new adventures, red dirt and plenty of poop! Here's a video summarizing what Elle did on our visit.