Responsiblity plate is managable...right now!

Good morning-afternoon or evening...whatever time it is when you read this post. Currently it happens to be 4:45am on Thursday morning, as I was able to get this ol' body out of bed and on the exercycle for some exercise before the "real" day starts. Today I am going on a field trip with my 4th grade son. They have been studying California history, which always ends with a trip to Sacramento...the capitol, the old city and a few museams & shoppes. Matthew & his class have been prepping to be the "tour guides" for the capital - which is where this field trip will be focusing. I look forward to listening to his presentation about the assembly room and a few other places around the capitol grounds. The bus leaves the school at 8am and returns around 3pm - the bus ride is about 2 hours one way (so I am planning to bring a stitching project to do on the bus). I have my camera, so I will probably bore you with some photos and stories tomorrow of the trip.

Anyway, this has been the week of Teacher Appreciation - which is now totally complete and thus my list of commitments has lessen (yahoo). The Teacher appreciation week, started out on Sunday with the decorating of the door (which was highlighted in the last post). My 4th grade son and I were the only ones to show up, but I had 90% of it prepped and glued on so it didn't take too long (and I have been down this road before so I knew what to expect). Then Monday morning, I informed the teacher that I would bring the kids into the classroom when the morning bell rung and she was suppose to stay in the room to greet the kids. The first child in line brought in a glass vase w/water and all but 2 followed with various flowers for her. The last two brought her special Teacher "thank you" book and the "gift card bouquet". I always let the kids take the gifts to the teacher - for it is them that need to do the thanking :). Since we have a job share situation this year, I decided to repeat this morning "flower/gift" parade for the other teacher on Tuesday. Both enjoyed the shower of flowers and the gifts. I always enjoy organizing it and doing the projects for it...but I also look forward to it being done!

Now...with this major roomparent responsibility complete...and the hockey season done, thus the team manager responsibilities complete (team party is this Saturday, but I delegated the party details to a few other hockey moms)...my plate of volunteer projects is looking very manageable. Right now my only "committed" projects consist of my Friendship RR and several exchanges...which seem very managable (as they are spread throughout the spring/summer and maybe beyond).
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What have I been stitching on...I have been working on:

1. my Prairie Schooler Exchange (which is due out of here no later than June 1)
2. my UFO: Hockey Rivalry - which I promise to take a photo of and post my progress
3. the Friendship RR - I received Willeke's and will work on it over the weekend, making sure that it is in the mail by Friday, May 15 (to keep on schedule)
   

Sorry for rambling today...it feels so good to have all these big commitments done. I enjoy doing them, but by the end of the hockey season/school year, I tend to get worn down and just need some "time off" from them to enjoy some "me" time and "family" time.

So, until next time (with photo of the field trip & stitching projects)...remember:
Live, Love, Laugh....and stitch often! Lisa

Teacher Appreciation - projects completed

Tomorrow starts teacher appreciation week at Matthew's school (and state testing for both boys). While I have already posted photos of the Thank You book covers for both Matthew's teachers - I have TOTALLY finished everything that I set out to do for the teachers & the appreciation week. In addition to the Thank You book, each teacher will get a "gift certificate bouquet". A little over $200 dollars was donated by the classroom families for gifts for the teachers...I purchased gift cards to various of stores (Target, Barnes & Nobel, Michaels and a movie theater) for the teachers for their personal use and to use for classroom supplies. The rest of the money was used for real flowers, which each child will walk in one-by-one and hand the teachers a flower.

The other thing our school does for Teacher Appreciation week is request the classroom door to be decorated. For Matthew's teacher's door, the theme was Shining Stars of Learning...or something like that. Each star had a photo of a student...then I created a full moon using a aluminum pie pan covered in plaster, giving it a crater like texture which I painted gray-ish and outlined some of the larger craters to make it look like it had eyes and a mouth (even rosy cheeks). Below is the earth (with a photo of the school) with the sun rising over it.

There are 2 signs posted:

Twinkle, Twinkle Student Stars
Teaching & Loving will take them far
Mrs. Moylan and Mrs. Krier
Provided fuel for their learning all year.

Mrs. Moylan and Mrs. Krier
You are our sun and our moon
And we are your grateful shining stars!
Thank you!

After the teachers enter the room tomorrow (surprised by the door decor) and the students give them the "gift certificate" bouquet, flowers and thank you book...my roomparent job for the year is basically done (as this is one of the biggest projects - or at least I make it the biggest one).

Well, my weekend was filled with crafting...lots of good things, but I am looking forward to just sitting and stitching! I received the next Friendship Sampler RR in the mail over the weekend (Willeke) - which I am looking forward to stitching on.

It is time to hit the hay! Hope all had a good weekend. Remember...Live, Love, Laugh and Stitch often! Lisa

Finishes for Friday!

I can't believe that it is Friday already...I am glad that it is, but it seems like it went kind of fast. It is the kind of week where I got things done, but I can't really remember what I did do. Have you ever had one of those weeks?

Last week I passed out the Teacher Appreciate packets to Matthew's 4th grade class, instructing them to show them to their parents and accomplish the things I asked for (likea thank you letter for each of their teachers, to paste a picture of a themselves on a paper star and add some $ if they wanted to participate in a class gift) and then bring it back to school on Tuesday 4/28. This week I have been collecting the completed packets - out of the class of 27, I am still missing 9. Next week is teacher appreciate week, so I hope to make contact with the families who haven't responded to make sure that I, at least, get their child's thank you notes to put in the Teacher Appreciation books. This is a project that I have been doing for each of my sons' classes since my oldest was in day-care (so about 13 years). Basically I xstitch a design for a front cover and bind all of the children's notes in a handmade book. The teachers love it, because it is special notes from their students bound beautifully (if I say so myself). So, speaking of these books, I put the finishing touches on the front covers (this year Matthew has 2 teachers who have been "job sharing"). Here is the finished products:


















They are the same Lizzie*Kate design - however the one on the left was stitched on white 28ct evenweave and the one on the right was stitched on 22ct hand-dyed aida.

The other big project we have been dealing with at home is Robert's (7th grader) medi-evil period project. There were several options to choose from and he decided to make a Knight's
Helmet...because no one else was...because it sounded challenging. And it was and still is! Basically, he used a baseball cap (with the brim cut off) and fitted cardboard around it and then used plaster rolls to make it hard...and then painting it metallic silver. It is coming along, but he is upset that it didn't look like the picture he printed off from the computer. Yes, there are probably better ways that we could have done it (like maybe putting the plaster over a balloon to make more of a round top)...but working with a stubborn 13-year old, let's just say that this is the best it is going to be unless we started over. I find it really hard as a mother to know when I cross the line to "take over" a project and when I should sit back and "let go", allowing the child to do it. Anyway, I think given the material he is working with and the guidence to finish it, he will receive a good grade. I can't believe that the teacher would hand out a bad grade because the model doesn't represent the photo "exactally". Well, he/we have to get this finished up over the weekend to turn in on Monday.

Well, I hope everyone is having a good Friday! Remember to live, laugh, love...and keep stitching! Lisa

One "finish" and Two "almost finishes"

Well, I finally finished "Wish, Dream, Hope, Believe" and can celebrate!!!

Time to do the Happy Dance,
Happy Dance, Happy Dance,
Time to do the Happy Dance...
E - I - E - I - O !

Sorry - my happy dance got a little out of hand. But this is the second time I finished this project. The first time I finished it as a pin keep, using straight pins with a ball on the end and attached a fun looking ribbon. But when it was done, it looked stupid...I hated it...it was an embarrassing finish, so I ripped it appart and put the stitched piece in my stitching "catch all" box. This evening, I decided to pull it out again and try something else. I found the foam core square I cut for it and my supply of basic straight pins. I cut some blue fabric for the backing...and attached the stitched piece and the backing to the foam core with the basic straight pins. Then, I remembered my supply of beading stash (another crafting hobby I had "once upon a time"). Using some of the crystal beads, wire, crimping beads and other fun things, I created the hanger. I also found a charm that said "dream" in my stash which I put in the middle of the hanger. I do love the way it turned out...however, I still am not satisfied with the way my corners come out when I do this method of finishing. I have looked at several of the tutorials...but I just cannot make my corners look "professional" (so, if anyone has any good advice, please let me know).

I have 2 more "almost" finishes to show...

Both of these are Lizzie Kate "To My Teacher" designs. One is stitched on 22count aida (which has been hand dyed in red food coloring) and the other is stitched on 28count evenweave. As room parent for my younger son's class, I am organizing the upcoming Teacher Appreciation project/activities. Ever since my older son was in school, I have been organizing Teacher Appreciation "Thank You" books - which the kids write the notes or poems and I make the front cover and then bind it all together. It makes a nice keepsake for the teachers (in addition we al.so collect money and purchase gift cards for the teacher). This year my son has 2 teachers who do a job share, so I am going to make a book for each of them. So, I have the stitched pieces done and will work on making the covers over the weekend. I will post the finished products as soon as I have them completed.

Other news on the stitching front...I received the next Friendship Sampler for the RR (it is Danielle's). I will need to sit down and determine which heart I am going to stitch and what color. Her instructions gives the stitcher the freedom to choose the color of the heart. I don't know if that makes it easier or more challenging to make a decision.

Well...hope your week is going well. Thank you for stopping by and reading. Remember...Live, Love, Laugh and stitch often! Lisa