World Diabetes Day

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening

by Robert Frost


Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.


As you know, we are reading Love That Dog by Sharon Creech.

I shared this recording by Uregelt from youtube. This guy has such an amazing voice.

Everyday before class. We read the poem. Kids complain about how they don't get the poem. We read about Creech's Jack. The kids laugh because he had many of the same reactions they did. And then, they write a poem or a reaction to the poem.

At the beginning, the seventh graders loved loved loved the book from the get go, but the eight graders? They were sort of mad that they were doing the same thing as the seventh graders. And asked "Why do we have to read this dumb book?" Ouch.

Every day... I hear less of that. And I can't wait to get all of their writings on my wall just like Miss Stretchberry did in Love That Dog!

The Red Wheelbarrow

The next two weeks we will be reading "Love That Dog" by Sharon Creech. I love this book. It's so special. I love the way this book takes some of my favorite poetry and introduces it to kids. I love that.

Tomorrow's poem will be William Carlos' Williams "Red Wheelbarrow." The students will be writing poems that start with the phrase "So much depends on..."

I will start mine -

So much depends on a good book -


Now how do I end it?

A Birthday Reminder...

Next week, the beautiful Natalie June will be eleven. Now what to get her for her birthday? I have no idea. It used to be so easy. Barbie dolls. Baby dolls. Lincoln Logs. Now she is just five inches shorter than I. Do we just go to the Gap? Do we go get a manicure together? Do I buy her an ipod dock?

I started mourning her childhood. And then, thank goodness she made her own tree fort. A little girl would do that. A little girl would take all of her dad's tree branches and just use them before he started cutting them into his wood pile for his shop. I don't have to say goodbye to her childhood just yet.

When her birthday approaches, I always remember what it was like to be an expectant mother. I remember the dreams I had. Once I dreamed that I had her at home. I couldn't make it to the hospital on time even though we lived two blocks away from the hospital. I dreamed that I took her in my arms and told Jason, "Look, it's a Natalie June." I had dreamed she how beautiful she was.

A week later, I had my ultrasound. The technician wasn't going to tell me what she was because Jason didn't want to know. I told the technician that Jason wasn't his patient. I was.

Oh.. and in case you didn't know... I was right about Nat being a girl.

My sister was pregnant at the same time. She was convinced that she was having a girl too. I said, "Sorry. I dreamed Natalie was playing with a little boy." And of course, I was right.

One thing the surprised me about being pregnant was how much Natalie moved. I remember taking a bath and watching her kick around. My belly looked like a microwave popcorn bag with all the movements.

I knew people could feel the baby move. I knew moms could feel the baby move. But I was surprised at how you could practically see an elbow move back and forth across my belly.

Halloween...

I will always be creeped out by Halloween. I think it stems back to the Halloween movies. Now, my mom and dad were pretty protective, but for some reason, we had HBO and when mom's rheumatoid acted up any TV channel was free game. So my sister and I watched pretty much whatever we wanted.

Another thing that freaked me out is that Red Lake Falls was a wild town back in the day. I mean WILD. Like kids riding-around-the-back-of-pick-ups-yelling-at-little-kids and-old-ladies wild. Red Lake County was so wild that Brooks teens burned down their school. Red Lake county was so wild that the Oklee School janitor would stand guard Halloween night to protect the school. This is not a hyperbole.

One year, a particular wild group decided to burn down deserted homes. Our house was a century old and at the time pink. Metal siding pink. Our house was very, very ugly before my parents remodeled it. I remember hearing my parents whisper about the arson that night. I must have been about Allie's age. I was so scared that I cried so hard I hyperventilated.

My mom had to sleep with me that night.

Things have calmed down quite a bit in Red Lake Falls. Thank Goodness. I need my sleep.