The Very Quiet Cricket

Today we read Eric Carle's " The Very Quiet Cricket ." Each time the tiny cricket meets someone he wants to say hello so he rubs his legs together but... " not a sound." The kids love predictive text. When it comes to words that are repeated on each page I usually stop and let them complete the sentence for me. Reading this book gave us the opportunity to talk about the letter Q and it's sound. We dont come across it very often. We also talked about things that were loud and soft and other animals that love the night . It was Quite a great day !

These are some pictures that were taken the past two days when I was out.

Today is Friday. It has been a long week. The longest ever... Yesterday my mom was placed on Hospice Home Care. She is quite spunky. She told the hospice doctor " I am not ready for that. I am not interested. No Thank you. " :) That made my day tougher. Try figuring out in your head how to convince your mother that we need to take her home to die. She is home now. I spent her first night there with her last night. ( most nights I will...) Being a preschool teacher has somewhat prepared me for this. It is like helping a 3 year old. Her mind is pretty much gone. IN TWO DAYS. It so sad . They told us it will be a few weeks but after researching on the computer last night and reading a book hospice gave me, I doubt it will be a week. Today - she has not eaten all day. That falls in the 2-5 day range. I am ok. I am ok. I am ok. I am convincing myself, you see.

Parents - here is the plan. Mrs. Beth is on call for me. If I am needed there and she is working somewhere I will call Devin or Jody or BOTH to come play. If I have to be gone all day ( calling in family or I just feel like I have to be there) Mrs. Beth will take over. We are meeting Sunday afternoon to make the next three weeks lesson plans, menus and plan the end of the year celebration. My goal is to keep the kids life normal . School is out on May 21 ( program date ) so we can work together and make it three weeks... surely. This seems like a nightmare as we are still grieving the loss of my dad in December, but I cling to the fact that God is in control and has a plan. My mom has been ready for Heaven for years - we are the sad ones. My dad has had just enough time to get used to it and will be able to show her around when she arrives . I covet your prayers and your concerns.

Flashlight fun!

Today was another fun day with Mrs. Beth and Mr. Randy.
The sun was shining and the wind was blowing (hard!) and we had a fun day playing and learning at school!
Today we read yet another Eric Carle story entitled The Very Lonely Firefly. It was a story of a firefly lighting his light to search for a friend. As he flies all around lighting his light and looking for firefly friends he comes across all sorts of lights that are not fireflies. (Lightbulbs, lanterns, flashlights, etc.) He finally comes to find a group of friends...fellow fireflies! We read the story once and the children loved the surprise at the end. The book lights up! The page twinkled as all the fireflies light up. ("I did not know a book could have batteries!" one child exclaimed). Then we each got a flashlight and as we re-read the story we turned our flashlights on every time we heard the word "light". Then we would turn them off and listen some more. The children loved this, and better yet, the flashlight is theirs to keep!
We had a great day today. Mrs. Debbie is planning on being back again tomorrow!

The Very Busy Preschool

Today Mrs. Debbie was tending to her sweet mom and left me (Mrs. Beth) and Mr. Randy here to play! About halfway through the morning, Mr. Randy felt led to go be with Mrs. Debbie and her mom, so Ms. Devin came to play! I am amazed how another group of children might be thrown of track with changes to their teachers in the middle of the day, but not this group. We are one big family, so to them it is exciting and fun to have Audrey's mommy come play. I also love to see how much Devin enjoys being here. She dropped what she was doing in an instant to come be with us, and we appreciate it!

Today we focused on "The Very Busy Spider", the Eric Carle story of a spider too busy spinning her web to play with her animal friends. We talked about characteristics of a spider web and what purpose they serve (sticky, transparent, provides a home and a place for the spider to catch food, etc.) When in the story a fly gets stuck in the web, I paused to ask the group "What do you think the spider does when a fly gets caught in her web?" Geneviette immediately answered "she helps it get unstuck!" That tickled me. If only the animal kingdom had her type of compassion!
After I read the story to the children, we got out our animal puppets and took turns acting like the animals as we retold the story. They were excited to have a turn making the animal sounds that belonged to their puppet.
I also worked with the children in small groups and played a bingo game that went with the story, and we added antennas to the ladybugs we painted yesterday.
Some of us also had a couple rounds of Hokey Pokey...it was fun. ("That's what it's all about!")
Mr. Randy was quick to put on his magic act this morning, pulling
bouncy balls out of our ears. He is such an entertainer. The kids adore him.
We were busy, busy, busy today- just like that spider!

Long Day

It's 10:28 and I just got home. I have started a new routine of going to my moms in the morning and waking her up and making sure she gets breakfast and her meds. Pam, my sister in law goes at noon, and I go back after school and in the evening. We just started this this week. Good thing.. this morning I went in and some time in the night she had fallen and couldnt get up. She is so confused and weak. It is sad to see my mom like this. My mom has always been such a strong woman. I think she is tired of fighting - and rightly so. Since dad passed in December she has gotten progressively worse. I spent the day in the doctors office and then on to the hospital. My brother is staying with her tonight and I will return in the morning. I also have an appointment with her doctor in the morning to talk about what our future with mom looks like. I hope I am ready for his answers.

When I found mom on the floor Randy was already out of town at an all day dentist appointment. I didnt even call him . I didnt want him to turn around - he has waited a long time for htis.

Devin came in at the last minute to help Ms Beth. Since things have been such chaos today, I have talked to Beth but not specifically about the activities the kids did. I can tell you what was planned though.

Today the children enjoyed " The Grouchy Lady Bug " . In circle time they talked about " what makes YOU grouchy?" They also made a lady bug from a paper plate. I am sure they enjoyed many other fun things with Beth and Devin . I wish I could elaborate more.. but I cant. I do know they had fun learning and were safe... as they always are when we leave - or.. we wouldnt leave.

QA? No, they havent come yet . Ms Beth is scared to death they will show up tomorrow. I had a little talk with myself this afternoon. My mom needs me now. I can't stress out every day , especially in this type of situation, worrying that they will come and I wont have that high score I normally do. So what if it isnt perfect? One day when I am gone is not a reflection of the absolute passion I have for my job. If you are thinking , Debbie, are you NUTS and think you can't be replaced? No... but if you knew the mental checklist I have to go through EVERY DAY to make sure I am meeting all the requirements, you would understand. First, the environment is set up - easy one.. as long as it stays that way. :) No, it isnt just making sure they have enough. There has to be 32 soft toys - 2 per child. Two sets of blocks , art materials from 4 different groups... the list goes on and on. Then there are the provider issues - like help 2 children solve a social dispute, comment on a child's art work that is displayed, use music at some time other than group time, etc.... See my pain. It isnt as easy as saying be nice to the kids and keep them safe and oh yeah..read this book. I have every faith that Ms Beth and Randy will do their best job and I have to be satisfied with that. Looking back - I know I wont regret it.

When you say your prayers - throw in a little extra one for my mom - and me if you have time.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Whew ! What a busy day ! I planned TOO MUCH today. This week we are doing an Eric Carle unit. Here are some of the activities we have out today.

We used tissue paper to make these beautiful caterpillars !

Egg Carton Caterpillars -
And handprint Butterflies.

A lot of busy going on today. I need a nap. :)

We enjoyed this little you tube video of " The Very Hungry Caterpillar " today. Isnt technology amazing !

B is for Bug

More fun today as Mrs. Beth joins us . Randy had a dentist appointment so she came to play.

She enjoyed the camera and I loved the shots she took of some of the kiddos close up . Before leaving Randy made a worm farm with the kids. Enjoy the pictures from today !