Vacation

Since we get to live on Mackinac Island, sometimes a vacation for us means leaving the place so many people choose to visit when they get a vacation. This week, the kids and I (and a friend) have been staying at my parent's house in Petoskey. The kids have spent the week immersed in:

art classes here,

(photo via)

throwing rocks in the water here,

exploring the natural world with these kind folks,

and of course what extended trip to the mainland would

be complete without going to the movies?

(photo via)

It was cute - and sit through the credits.

There's a wee bit more at the end.

Tomorrow we all head up to a cabin for a nice quiet

and relaxing weekend here... 

So tell me, what have you been up to lately?

A Grand Afternoon

Grandma treated the kids and I to a lovely afternoon at Grand Hotel the other day. It was delightful! We enjoyed the buffet lunch (especially the desert table) and then spent a few hours enjoying the hotel grounds.

Shyness is not something my two suffer from, in fact it is quite the opposite. S and K seem to make friends wherever we are. Today it was Max and his dad - visiting from Lansing, MI.  The three of them had a grand time playing croquet, bocce ball and chasing butterflies.

I probably shouldn't admit to this, but probably the kids' favorite part of the afternoon (after filling their plates with a mountain of deserts) was using Max's bug net to fish coins out of the fountain down in the Tea Garden. The three of them were a hoot to watch. Each penny was a valuable treasure - you would have thought they were gold doubloons as excited as the kids got each time they found one...

Counting Again...

I found this while walking by the construction site

on Main Street,

and the five is from the fire hydrant near our house...

Perfect

 

 We spent the morning at British Landing:

looking for fossils, skipping rocks, and wading

in the cool water of Lake Huron.

Days don't get much better...

Fishing Birthday Shirt

I love how my daughter's birthday shirt turned out this year! (Can you tell I took the photo back in April - there isn't a leaf to be seen in that picture.)

I wasn't quite sure how I was going to do a fishing shirt. My husband showed me a few ideas he found, but they were all more complicated that I wanted to get into. At first I thought about appliqueing the six onto the fish's body like I did with my son's Lego shirt,  but when I was looking at the number six in different fonts, the idea of making the six into a worm jumped out at me. At first I was worried it wasn't "wormy" enough, but my daughter knew, she took one look at it and started giggling, "Mama you made my number a WORM!"

 Except for the T-shirt, I had all the fabric on hand. The fish's body even matches the napkins we used on the table for the party. (Translate that to: Liz bought too much fabric was was thrilled not to waste it!) The fish is so big that he wraps around to the back of the shirt. Too cute.

She loved the shirt so much she wore it when we went out to lunch the day of her party. Unfortunately she dumped an entire glass of Shirley Temple (A.K.A. a kiddie cocktail) down her front! Fortunately, my homemade laundry detergent worked beautifully and got all that grenadine out in the very first wash - but that is a post for another day...

Mackinac in Paint

Did you know Mackinac had a paint color? It is the aqua color in the dresser.  I discovered it here, and now I'm having visions of Grand Hotel Mackinac Blue on the walls in my laundry room... 

Making Me Smile

We saw our first lady slipper while we were out for a bike ride the other day. Now that we've had a few good rains they are out in all their usual spots and even a few new ones. They're like little bursts of sunshine out in the woods  - just waiting to brighten someone's day...

Mackinac Moment

Mackinac was beautiful yesterday morning:

calm, quiet and

shrouded in mist.

Mackinac Moment

I love Mackinac in the morning - 

so quiet and peaceful

before the hustle and bustle

of life begins...

It's the Little Things

Hi there. Yes, it's me. I can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted last.  Spring is here, the school year is winding down, (eight days left - but who's counting,) so I should have a bit more free time to update this space. I miss it...

 

I titled this post about "little things", but that one on

the right really isn't really a little thing...

If you were to ask my seven year-old son why he likes living on Mackinac Island, I'm certain snake catching would be one of his top reasons. He loves to go out into the woods searching for them. Old Burners, the site of the island's old trash incinerator, is, by far, his favorite snake catching spot. (The snakes like to hide under the pieces of scrap metal that are still there.) Usually we come home with four or five snakes, but on this particular day they stopped counting at 10.

This little guy (or girl - I'm not sure how to tell on a snake) was my son's pride and joy; his first ring neck - ever. Apparently they are nocturnal so that's probably why we've never seen one before.  I'm always amazed at how quickly my son can move his hands and grab their little necks. And that he has no fear. None. I try to get them too, but I won't even try it without a pair of gloves. 

Just so you know, we always let the snakes go afterwards - usually in one of my gardens. I encourage them to hang out for a while and have a few slugs for dinner...

Fishing for a Party

My daughter loves fishing and she decided fairly early on that she wanted a fishing themed birthday party this year. So far in our house, all the birthday parties we've had have been small family affairs revolving around a family dinner. Since I don't have to plan big parties with games and activities, I have lots of fun decorating the dining room.

For me, on of the best parts of the day happens first thing in the morning. We don't start decorating for the party until the kids go to bed the night before, so when they wake up and go downstairs they discover the dining room has been transformed for the party. I adore watching as they walk into the room and then stop to take it all in. My daughter was a hoot this year. She walked around the room nodding in approval and commenting on each item as she noticed it...

 She liked the fish pom-pons hung from the ceiling,

and  how we draped the china cabinet with netting

and bobbers. I'm not sure why, but it surprised
me that she knew it was supposed
to be a fishing net.

 

 She nibbled on the bait (gold fish, gummy worms &

gummy fish) and played with the bobbers on the table,

  but she loved the fish napkins.

(I'm so glad I found this folding tutorial - they each
only took a minute or two.)

The fish shaped ice cubes (from IKEA)
didn't come out until dinner time and were just icing on
the cake. Oh, I almost forgot the cake...

  K loved it! Our friend, Miranda, made it complete with a
little gum paste boat on the top. I really like how she
reused  the glass beads to decorate
around the edge of the plate.

Such a fun day, and not particularly expensive.  The bobbers, the confetti poppers and the net came from the dollar store, the ice cube molds were $0.99 each, and the napkin fabric was about $12.00; everything else, well except the green paper plates, I already had on hand.

My son's party isn't until fall, but he has already started thinking about what theme he wants. Hopefully he changes his mind because there is no way I am throwing an eight year-old a zombie party! Hopefully he was just teasing me. Just thinking about zombies keeps me up at night. Whenever I watch anything with zombies on TV I can't sleep; I toss and turn because I get caught up thinking about how I'll keep the kids alive. Silly, I know. Especially given the absolute zero percent chance of zombies ever appearing at my front door on any night other than Halloween. Although the Centers for Disease Control has entertained the idea...

A Blue Bridge

The Mackinac Bridge is looking a wee bit different these days. The normal red and green lights have been swapped out for blue ones for the month of April for autism awareness. I've worked with several kids in the past with an Autism Spectrum Disorder, but I had no idea that Michigan had 15,000 kids with an A. S. D. That makes us fourth in the nation in terms of cases despite the fact that we're only the eighth most populated state. (Right behind CA, TX, NY, FL, IL, PA, and OH.)    

photo via

The blue lights aren't nearly as bright as the normal ones so they aren't really visible from the island, but I love the the idea of increasing awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorders. I love that the Mackinac Bridge Authority agreed to participate in this project.

Counting: Mackinac Style

Alex over at Moonstitches has inspired me. As she roams the streets of Yokohama, Japan, she manages to capture images of numbers. She hadn't posted since the tsunami hit last year and she and her family relocated, but she's back home and blogging again. Thank goodness.

I thought it might be fun to see what I could find here on Mackinac Island. I probably won't find nearly as many as she does given the size of my town, but I still thought it might be fun. I actually took these pictures last spring, but after Alex quit posting due to the disaster, the idea of posting them just didn't seem right. Now that she's home, it's time to share...

You can take a look at one of Alex's counting series here.

More island counting to come...

Looking Back

This was the sight outside my classroom window back in February. This freighter was stuck in the ice and patiently waiting for the Coast Guard cutter to come break her free. I don't know what time she got stuck, but our custodian arrived at school at 4:15 am and watched the crew use the search light to try to find a path through the ice. I snapped this picture at about 7:20 - after it was light enough to get a decent shot. By about 10:00 she was free and back on her way.

In a month we've gone from stuck freighters to almost 60 degree (about 15 C) days. I'm still in awe of this winter's weather; talk about crazy! To go from a day like the one pictured above to this weekend with almost 60 degree (about 15 C) days. I never would have imagined that we would be out in short sleeves on Mackinac Island in mid-March!

I might not have imagined it, but I am enjoying it...

Toasty

My first pair of fingerless gloves...

I made them out of a felted sweater that just didn't get very thick after it felted. I suppose I could have thrown it in the washer again, but then you risk over felting it. I thought about tossing it into the scrap bin, but it was such a pretty blue - and I just loved the detail at the hem - I couldn't bear not to do something with it.

We'll see how much use I'll get out of them. My winter coat has a pair built right into the sleeves, so I certainly won't use them every day. But I did take them along to Sault Ste. Marie last week to see how I liked them for driving this time of year. This time of year during most years anyway, it's been so warm this year. Warm and weird - it was three degrees one day last week (about -16 C) and then it hit 50 the next day (about 10 C.)

I was heading up to the Soo to go to the ISD (EUPISD) for the last session of MMPI (Michigan Mathematics Program Improvement.) I've really enjoyed it. The whole idea has been to look at standardized test (MEAP) questions that Michigan 3rd - 8th graders consistently get wrong and then look at different ways to teach those concepts, so that hopefully, we can achieve better student understanding.

The best part is all of the PowerPoints and black line masters have been posted on line. If you're a teacher or you home school take a look here; there's some really good stuff! Some of it will make no sense because you weren't at the training, but you're bound to find something useful - everything is hands on and uses manipulatives. But I digress...

Anyway, driving with the fingerless gloves was great. I usually try to keep the car on the cool side (so I don't get drowsy) and my hands get cold. Driving with my mittens on is just cumbersome, but the fingerless gloves were perfect. My hands were warm enough and I could move my fingers to operate everything so I could drive safely. They worked so well, I just left them in the car...

Hallelujah!

This morning Mackinac Island woke up to inches and inches of beautiful white snow.

The front yard looked great,

 but it wasn't until I looked into the back yard that I

realized just how much snow we'd gotten.

Thank you Mother Nature!

Now if you'll excuse me, the kids and I

are heading out for a snowmobile ride,

some sledding, a snowball fight, and perhaps even

a snow angel or two.

We've got to enjoy the snow while it lasts...

And the Winners Are...

#12:  Kate of A Lotta Yadda
#17:  Suzanne of Minou's Minute
#1:  Redfinch

Congratulations to all three of you and thanks to everyone who took the time to leave a comment.

Redfinch, I don't have an email address for you, so please email me with your mailing address.

I'll be back soon with some crafty goodness to share...

Giveaway

Finally it's giveaway time...

I've played with the idea of celebrating my blogging anniversary, but always felt weird about it, although I'm not sure exactly why. This year I decided to bite the bullet and just do it! So, leave a comment with your email address and let me know which one of these fabulous prizes you'd like me to send your way. 

If you've been lurking out there and haven't left a comment before, this would be the perfect opportunity. I'd love to know just how many readers I've got, and who knows, you just might win.

You could choose this 2012 Seasons of Mackinac calendar,

or one of these two hand-appliqued pillow covers.

 

The navy one is 18 X 18 (about 45.75 cm X 45.75 cm,) the red and green one is a touch smaller at 17 1/4 inches by 17 1/4 inches (about 44 X 44 cm.) Both have a zipper on the back so you can insert a pillow form. I bought them when I was in Egypt, visiting my mom, back in 2010, and had intended to give them away right after I got back, but somehow I never got around to it.  I am willing to ship internationally and will be just as happy if a first time commenter or someone I've known for ages wins. So go ahead and comment - even if you never have before.

Next week, say on Wednesday evening, I'll draw three names and email the winners. Good luck!

On a completely different note, I hear that Arnold Line will begin running again on Tuesday. Wahoo!!  Such good news. Usually this time of year the Straits of Mackinac look like this:

 It's been such an odd winter - we don't really have any ice at all this year. Sure ice chunks blow in and out every few days but there is a lot of open water...

I'm Still Here, Really

I didn't forget about the giveaway - really I didn't. Life just kind of got in the way. I have been so crazy busy this school year that I just haven't had much time to post. I know I have alluded to it before, but I have never really said exactly what has me so darn busy this year. 

Financially, Michigan is in a bit of trouble, and of of the ways our governor tried to save money was by cutting the funding for K-12 schools. So, for our little school to make ends meet, we had to make some pretty drastic cuts.

One of those cuts was a teacher. Thankfully she retired and no one was let go. But either way we were one staff member short and the school board decided that the best solution was to rearrange our elementary students.  Since we are a K-12 school with only about 85 kids, we have always had combined grades: a K-1 split, a 2-3, a 4-5, and a 6-7; the high school students move from class to class just like in other high schools.

Given the numbers of students in each grade it was decided to combine the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th grades into one group. (Keep in mind that those four grades contained a total of 15 students.) I'm not saying it was a good solution to the problem, or a bad solution to the problem. It was just the solution. The plan was to keep the four grades together for two years - until the number of students in the group would be too large keep in one classroom. Oh yes, and our special education teacher was cut to half time.

So, as you can imagine I've been busy - teaching 4th - 7th grade math as well as science to the 4th and 5th graders in the morning, and then teaching math, science and social studies to the 2nd and 3rd graders in the afternoon.   I'm trying my best to cover all the material, give each student the individual attention they need, plan meaningful lessons and activities, and grade and return work in a timely manner - not to mention have a life outside of work.

 

You can imagine how I felt when, earlier this week, the superintendent told us the that the school would most likely be able to separate the 4th - 7th grade group next year and that our special ed. teacher would be able to come back full time. We'll still be down a teacher, and I'm sure things won't be back to "normal," but it's a step back toward "normal," and that will be a good thing...

Four

Today The Quilted Turtle turns four.

Four years,

471 posts,

160 followers

and more new friends than I can count.

Starting a blog was actually my husband's idea. Back in 2008, for Valentine's Day, he bought me my DSLR camera. So with camera in hand and support from my good friend, Maggie, off I went into the blogosphere. The rest, as they say, is history.

I've really enjoyed this space. Though sometimes I think I must bore people. My life isn't that exciting - just kids, crafts and a dash of Mackinac; not much drama. But that's just the way I like it.

As a way to celebrate my little anniversary, and show you all how much I appreciate your comments and kind words, I am having a give away.  Check back in a day or two to see what I've got to share...