That's right! You can order your favorite Girl Scout Cookies from me online, all while helping my troop and I do great things in our community and beyond! Check it out.
I don't know where you stand, but for me, I only have 9 more teaching days left! This happens to be a bittersweet moment for me. I LOVE teac...
Hey friends! I got back from the amazing Simon Says Stamp Create and had a package waiting for me! I can't wai
Hey Everyone – Yup, it’s that time of year again!! I always like to begin each school year with a “Getting to Know You” Questionnaire. Here’s one I have created that you may enjoy using with your own kiddos. It has all of the usual questions on it, but then it asks students a few ... Read More about All About Me
An Eagle Project can be incredibly rewarding, but also pretty stressful for both the parents and the Scouts. You'll get through it #scouting #eagleproject
Fall in Luxembourg is one of the best in Europe and it makes a great quick side trip if you're already traveling around in Europe. Let me show you how to spend the perfect 24 hours here, and let's see if you're convinced!
How much do you trust me? Most people think I’m crazy. “You want to take pictures here?” Maybe there is a fence in the background. A car. An ugly barn. A round pen. A trashy mess. We can look at the same thing but see it differently. First and foremost, I am scouting light over the
~REFLECTIONS~ I live by a principle, a thought, that evereything that you reflect to the world will be reflected back to you. That's why you can expect that the world will reflect back only what you have reflected into the world. I hope that my reflection is enjoyable.
Leave it to me to put off blogging until I'm practically finished with my chemo regimen. But do you hear that, friends?? It's true—we are reaching the end of phase 1 for Liz! Just two more weeks of Taxol (the friendlier of chemo chums) and I am done! When I scheduled my last two infusions, the receptionist asked if I would be throwing a party. To which I, in a Benedryl/Zofran/Steroid/Chemo haze, most enthusiastically replied: "ALL OF JULY is going to be one non-stop party!!!" It's true, to a point. As my neurotic super-organized planner reveals, next month is filled to the rafters with celebratory good times. I feel a little bit braggy when people ask me how I'm feeling. Most of the time, I feel good. So much so, that I literally forget I'm sick. I'm still working (very part-time) and I still do normal mom things. Like forgetting to take chicken out of the freezer. To that end, I really have our extended network of support to thank. If it weren't for such selfless, loving people lifting our family up every single day, I wouldn't have the time or energy to keep up with so many things. I certainly wouldn't be writing. (Sorry if that one bums you out.) Life happens very quickly when you're going by the cancer clock—especially when it's multiplied by two (so many appointments, so much paperwork, a toddler who's still in diapers). It's easy to get swept up in the chaos and forget to send out the trillion thank-you notes to the trillion people who are, in the end, really holding you together. So. Today is about thanks. Because gratitude changes everything. First, I'm not going to tell you that I'm grateful I got cancer. Or that my husband's Mesothelioma has been a "blessing in disguise" because it brought our family closer together or helped us appreciate the small things. Give me a break. People say they're "grateful" they were diagnosed with cancer for a number of reasons, and I sort of get what they're saying...but I also think they're muy loco, and I strongly disagree. Cancer is not a fun part of my life. You can leave the "journey" metaphor at the door, too. I get it, but no. If calling this disease a blessing or a journey makes you feel better about things, that's terrific. But I won't be using those terms because they grossly oversimplify the savage reality of cancer. They also imply I should be Sister Mary Sunshine all of the time. I'm very much not. With that stirring preface out of the way, let's bring the happy back into this post, shall we? I'm not grateful for cancer, we've covered that much. What I am grateful for is pretty much everything else in my life. Sorry for being a cheeseball, but it's true! Sometimes it's way too easy for me to forget how impossibly beautiful my life is, and shame on me for that. I ought to keep a running list of things that, ohmygoodness, set my heart on fire with gratitude. Like: 1. My freezer is jam-packed with homemade, heat-and-eat meals from some of the most gracious, wonderful souls on the planet. Some of these people are complete strangers to me, but they have such selfless hearts that they want to feed my little family when I just can't. What a gift. 2. I still have health insurance! My diagnosis landed about 10 days before my husband's short-term disability was supposed to run dry. Stress like you wouldn't believe. I scrambled to get on Medicaid, but I haven't even needed to use it because Paul's job is still covering us, 8 months after he became disabled. Another hard-learned lesson for me to just chillax. 3. My daughter has reached the age where she goes to bed minus all the theatrics and tears of a few months ago. This is big. This makes me more grateful than a lot of amazing things. I'm a simple gal. 4. Astoundingly, we have enough money every month to keep the lights on and our hot water flowing. Magic. 5. I'm grateful for: our cozy little house on our cozy dead-end street that is in a (strangely) cozy part of the city. 6. I'm grateful for my dad who comes out and cuts my lawn every week. For my mother who listens while I grumble for 2+ hours. For my stepmom who watches Ingrid while I nap after chemo infusions. For my unbelievably generous in-laws who flew us to Alabama for a sun-filled vacation between treatments. I'm grateful for my next-door neighbor who snow-blowed our driveway. For my sisters who drive my drugged-up butt to and from chemotherapy. (Ohhh boy, I'm literally choking up as I write this. Get a grip!) For my sweet Aunt, my stepsisters, my brothers and sisters-in-law, my friends, kind strangers, my nurses and doctors...I'm so thankful for every single text, every Facebook message, every card, every prayer...I'm rambling now because my brain is zipping over all the ways God has made my life a complete joy. My heart could burst with gratitude for all the ways people have, to put it simply, kept us going. Kept us alive, really. That is a big deal. 7. My dear husband. He needs to be on this list. How can he not? It sucks, yeah, that we both have cancer. Sometimes I still can't believe it. But if I'm going to share this dumb disease with someone, I couldn't possibly ask for a better companion. I mean, he's been there done that, so he gets it (which makes it harder to play the cancer card on him, but I still try. Shamelessly.) He massages my bald head. He keeps me grounded by teasing me when I say dumb things on chemo. He lets me pick our nightly Netflix show (Better Call Saul, atm). He is the calm in my crazy. He kisses my forehead. Maybe quotes are lazy, but I'm plunking this one here: "Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." - Melody Beattie I apologize if this is sappy. I'm not always like this. I still have days where sadness makes my heart so heavy I feel like collapsing on my bed like a Disney princess. I do have side effects I'd rather not be dealing with. But I'll save those for a sad-day post. One where I'm extra salty. (You've been warned.) But today is a happy one. The sun is brilliant (after a hailstorm this morning. Buffalo.) I'm enjoying a latte, and Ingrid is occupied for 5 quiet minutes with play-doh. Gratitude makes sense.
Copycat Girl Scout Tagalong Cookies - Made with a butter cookie base, peanut butter center and covered in milk chocolate, they're better than the originals.
A few field-expedient tricks that scouts have used for centuries to estimate the height and width of objects using nothing but sticks and a bit of geometry.
Germany Unit Study: This unit study was made to help my students learn about the customs and traditions of Germany. This is in a WebQuest format that includes suggested website links directly in the assignment. This product was created for use in middle school but it can easily be adapted for use in upper elementary or even high school. Included in this packet are map activities and research activities that ignite the students' desire to learn more and the customs and traditions of Germany! Students will also learn about the national symbols of Germany as well. Included in this Product: Map Activity Research Template (National Symbols, Facts, Customs, and Tradition) Teacher Notes This is a pdf download for printing but you might also like: Germany Unit Study - Google Drive version perfect for distance learning: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Germany-Unit-Study-Distance-Learning-Google-Drive-5856581 Spain Unit Study (pdf download): https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spain-Unit-Study-Facts-Customs-and-Traditions-1980582 Spain Unit Study- Google Drive download: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spain-Unit-Study-Distance-Learning-Google-Drive-5856386 More resources you may like: All About Ukraine Research Project FREEBIE! Famous Artist Research Project Famous Composer Research Project Introduction to Esperanza Rising - A Pre-Reading Research Project Please consider following me. If you purchase this product, I would appreciate a 5-star rating on this product so other teachers will know the quality of my work. In return, you will earn rewards toward future TPT purchases from any seller! I ❤️ my followers! Thank you for helping to grow my store! Connect with me: Instagram - Follow Me: @devotedteacher Pinterest - Follow Me: @devotedteacher
My husband grew up doing Boy Scouts with a group of a dozen or more boys in his neighborhood. The momentum of that many squirrelly but focused boys pursuing scouting (not to mention the longsuffering and encouraging moms who nudged them along) meant that just about every last one became an
