The Magically Refreshing Present

It was the best thing, to wake up on Friday morning

to this magically refreshing blanket of snow.

In south Texas. Weird, right?

That's what made it so incredible.

Just before bed, Joshua had sent this picture of the bikes outside of his dorm along with the news that it was snowing in College Station. In fact, they had several inches already and it was still falling.

Shortly after Joshua texted, Jacob called.

Giddy with delight, like a little kid in a big candy store, 

he was headed home to build a snowman.

It made this mama's heart so happy

to experience the college boys' child-like excitement

over something as simple as snow.

I fell asleep wishing we would get some snow too, but knowing full well that it wasn't likely since we only had a 20% of the white stuff falling this far south. 

But when my alarm went off, I went out back to find this:

Each snowflake unique,

clinging to each other, 

hanging on for dear life,

 and blanketing every branch so beautifully.

The wet, white wonder 

covering every blade of grass,

turning the drab into dreamy

and the ho-hum into heavenly.

Yep, 2017 has been kind of crazy for HoUSton!

The kids came in to school all bundled up, uplifted by the

fascination,

energy,

and joy

of nature's surprise holiday gift,

the magically refreshing present.

What an incredible feeling, the beauty of that miraculous moment,

proof positive that the best things in life aren't things at all.

In other news, The Corner on Character was chosen 

a Top 60 School Counselor Blog last week. 

Click {here} to read all about the distinction, to follow these amazing school counselors, and to add some new resources to your arsenal. 

I'm so grateful to be aligned with these passionate professionals.

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Currently In My Corner

Today I'm trying something new and joining Megan Farley's Currently to answer a few reflection questions. It involved a tutorial {thank you, Kim & Amy} and lots of techno-courage ... drum roll please ... here it is ... ta da!

Basically, it's a monthly thing, that's been going on forever for a very long time. True confession: I've been a stalker, a lurker, a secret admirer of Farley's Currently since it started. So today, I'm linking up. The beautiful templates that Megan creates make the information pretty self-explanatory; here's how it works.

We fill in the blanks -- it was great fun it was to font-match!

Then we link up with other bloggers. 

To check in. To connect. 

It's a way to eggsplain what's going on in our corner of the world. 

Eggscellent idea, right?

Here goes. Currently, I'm listening to Jacob's games. It's kind of fun, in a gaming sort of way. There must be a little merit in this genre; the Houston Symphony performs a whole concert of Zelda music.

I'm loving my long weekend off. Got lots of weeds pulled yesterday and soaked in some vitamin D. That gave me lots of think time ... 

and I concluded that, right now, life is good. 

I want time to slow down, especially as the college years fly by.

I find this answer entertaining, in a play-on-words double-entendre way.

 As I work on giving and receiving grace, the more intentional I am, the more I appreciate how much I need it. Every day!

And my blog's name: I wrote a post explaining how it came about back in 2011 at Erin Klein's Kleinspiration blog {here}. 

So excited that I get to meet Erin in person when she comes to Friendswood in August. 

Basically, I wanted to see if surrounding myself by uplifting, inspirational stuff would help to uplift and inspire me. So I decided to choose stories and strategies that corner the market on character and give it a shot. I wrote every day for a year and, sure enough, I felt more inspired than ever. Yay!

So, like these bluebonnets and paintbrushes found growing wild alongside the highway, we must bloom where we're planted

and always be willing to change and grow.

Thank you, as always, for journeying through the new with me.

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Loving Compassion, 1000 Voices Strong

I know, I know, I'm supposed to be unplugged digitally and plugged in to the great outdoors. It's what I said I was going to do for a few weeks, take a break from blogging. And I promise I resisted joining #1000speak ALL day yesterday, but I just couldn't ignore that one final plea to collaborate with these 
amazingly-compassionate cyberspace colleagues.
To make the world better. 

So today while John's out with friends and Joshua's competing at Science Fair, I'm delighted to be linking up to bring some thoughts about compassion your way. Click the graphic to read what others know, feel, and are doing to create compassion ripples in their respective corners of the world.

So what do I know about compassion? The way I see it, compassion nicely parallels the affective domain of character:

First, we must know the good, and that starts with an understanding which, to me, parallels that glorious virtue of empathy. If we can know what one another is going through, know what they need, know how they want to be treated, or know how certain values look, sound, and feel, then we're well on our way to cognitively getting character.

Compassion is the piece that allows us to move from the brain to the heart, to embrace what we understand and know. It allows us to feel the good. An online definition that I found says that compassion is concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others; a second source added that this concern is accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. That's where love comes in, it's that strong desire to take away the pain, to share the burden, to make things better.

And when we love or embrace something, we want more of it. So we intentionally seek it out. From the affective, then, we move forward then to the behavioral so compassion becomes more than just a feeling, it becomes an action, one that we call kindness.

And when kindness ripples ... prepare to get wet!

That's what the #1000speak campaign is all about, that ripple effect. A combined effort, 1000-plus bloggers strong. Writers who are passionate about changing the world, working together to make it happen, one drop at a time. To create an awareness that will ripple goodness out and make life better, 

for today and for all of our tomorrows. 

This Steven Caldwell compassion clip really spoke to me:

Source: You Tube

Lean on me, when you're not strong.

I like that.

Because together is better.

If you want more info on being intentional about compassion, check out Making Compassion A Verb. Read about how compassion helps healing in Mogie: The Heart of the House {here}. Watch Knit One, Save One and experience my third-grade knitters sharing compassion one stitch at a time as they craft to help reduce the infant mortality rate. Check out the Foundation For A Better Life's Pinterest page. And take care to always avoid Compassion Fatigue by being kind to yourself, too.

Imagine if you can a life of compassionate connections ...

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Write Your Own Story

Happy Friday!

Besides making it through my first week back, today I'm excited about 

these three things.

1. These fun little pick-me-ups that I put in each teacher's box. I was going to type them out in a fun font but it turns out our printers are still on summer break, so I wrote them all out in my own handwriting font. 

I'd love to say this was totally my idea, but I actually piggybacked off of something I saw on another counselor's blog. Since I read so many, I can't recall exactly where I found it, so please do let me know if it was your idea so that I can give you credit.

2. I'm happy that Laura Candler of Corkboard Connections has asked me to collaborate on her Caring Classrooms Pinterest Board. Maybe it's just the counselor in me, but I firmly believe that we can never have enough 
warm fuzzies and cardiac connectors in our toolbox. 
Click {here} for innovative ideas to enrich the culture and climate in your 
character building.

Our district gave us these cool flashlight pens!

3. I'm tickled about my new purple pen.

And it got me to thinking. As we head in to another year, 
how might your story be different if you ask yourself this before you even start:

How will I spend The Dash between the years 2013-2014?

What do I want less of?

What do I want more of?

Start at the end; what do you want those Teacher Appreciation Week notes to say about you and your class? Decide, then celebrate, because you get to write your own story while you co-star in a whole lot of other stories, those of your immediate family, those of your school family, stories in your community. 
Every. single. day! 

You're the author, so don't forget to intentionally focus on what you want more of and to write positivity, kindness, and empathy into your script. 
Every day. 

Then watch it come back. A hundred fold. 

Trust me; it will!

Happy new year.

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Let's Play Who's That Blogger?

Just for fun, I'm trying something different at the Corner today - a cool collaboration with lots of other teacher bloggers. Thanks to the talented Michelle (The 3 am Teacher!) for coordinating this great guessing game.

I wonder if you can pick a 2nd-grade me out of the line-up. 
Feel free to leave me your guess in the comments section or on my FB page, even if you don't play along.

Welcome Everyone!!

         Are you ready to have some fun?
        
                                              ....Play a game?
           
                                                              .....Win  prizes and cash?

I have teamed up with 65 AmAzInG blogging buddies to put together the ultimate Back to School Linky/Giveaway!

Each one of my blogger buddies submitted a cute childhood photo & generously donated something special from their online TpT shops for this occasion! We have included a fun game for you to play for a chance to win over $300.00 in prizes and a BONUS  CASH-PRIZE raffle you can enter at the end of this post!! 

CHA-CHING!!

The game is easy to play....

Your job will be to try and match each blogger with his/her childhood photo. With over 60 childhood photos and bloggers to match up, this might get tricky! As I mentioned above, each blogger has generously donated one awesome prize from their TpT store. Successfully match a blogger and childhood photo, and you win the prize offered from that blogger. The more matches you make, the more prizes you win. 

Check out some of the prizes:

But wait....

that's not all....

ONE lucky follower will win a $125 Amazon Gift Card! Scroll to the bottom & follow the directions in the Rafflecopter for a chance to win $$$.

The link below will open a form that will allow you to submit your answers for the match up. 

Use the blogger links and numbered images to help you along the way! Each childhood photo has been assigned a specific number. 

Once you open the form, use the drop-down menu beneath each blog button and select a number that corresponds to a childhood photo. 

Results from the form will be collected throughout the week. At the end of the week, each submission will be "graded" and you will receive a prize for each blogger and photo you successfully matched.

The game closes on Friday, August 23rd at midnight (Arizona Mountain Time). Answers will be announced on Saturday, August 24th. Winners will be notified through email throughout the week. 

Use the blog links below the photos to search for clues. 

Awwww!!! PuFfy HeArT SWEETNESS!!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Click HERE to Play the Matching Game!!

Follow the directions in the Rafflecopter for a chance to win a $125 Amazon gift card!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you so much for participating! Good Luck!

If you would like to post about this linky/giveaway, grab the special image below to display in your post and link up below! Make sure to use the link to the actual post.

An InLinkz Link-up

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Measured In Smiles

Today I'm excited 'cause I've got nothing to do 

and all day to get it done! 

So as I continue down the road to recovery, restoration and rest, 

here are some reflections on my heart and mind.

One of my favorite most-recent things to do is to meet up with other bloggers from around the country, sit for a spell, and connect.

 You know, enjoy a good, old-fashioned coffee chat.

Just talk. 

And talk. 

And talk some more.

I spent an hour yesterday with Patty from 2nd in Line.

Both Midwestern farmer's daughters, we had so much in common.

 So we visited about 

blogging . . . and life, 

children . . . and life, 

teaching . . . and life,

family . . . and life.

We were in Scooters, this adorable little coffee and yogurt shop 

{in Pearland, TX} and the backdrop for our picture 

caught our eye and grabbed our attention.

What if, I wondered, every classroom had this vision:

Devoted To Craft. Rooted In Quality.

We hire nice people.

Our work is fun.

Forget state testing; let's measure our school success ...

in smiles!

Is your school staff smiling?

Are your students smiling?

Are their parents smiling?

Is your administration smiling?

Is your community smiling?

I will tell you that I haven't stopped smiling since I've gotten to

 personally connect with my new blogger friends like

Kim, Lisa, Pam, Laurel and Patty 

this past year, so if collaboration is measured in smiles, 

my riches are off the charts.

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My Whirlwind Blog Tour

Today I'm excited because I've been on this whirlwind tour of

 connections,  

character, 

and cheerfulness this week.

It started in St. Louis where I met up with the amazing

Julia Cook. 

Is she not the most adorable thing? She did a phenomenal job on her keynote about motivating the underachiever, but her sidekick tried to steal the show 

in his cute little tux!

If you don't have any of Julia's books, you're missing out big time. My favorite is probably the one about feelings and horse sense, 

Straight From The Horse's Mouth. 

I went off site for lunch on day two to meet up with Pam Dyson from the St. Louis Center for Play Therapy. I met Pam online when she guest posted for me {here} and it was so delightful to meet her in person. Turns out we both grew up on a farm, so being farmer's daughters connected us and made us feel like we'd known one another forever. In the end when I thanked her for driving a half an hour to take me to lunch, she told me that she'd have driven sixty minutes. 

Isn't that just the kindest thing to say?

That night I flew to Milwaukee and my brother Mark shared his second-row concert seats to hear Jewel rock the acoustics on stage.  

I had heard of few of her songs, but hadn't really known much about this artist, whose velvety voice was soulfully smooth as silk. Did you know that for a time before she was discovered, she was homeless and living out of her car? Her songs tell her life's stories. They were so meaningful because she shared a bit of history before each one; she gave them authenticity and sprinkled in a huge helping of humor. She's a new mom, too, and she spoke so endearingly about her toddler. We were so lucky to get in on this epic performance, which ended with Jewel's yodeling encore. 

Such a talented beauty. 

Jewel's warm-up singer was Tori Kelly. Her song Fill A Heart was written to help in the fight against hunger. 

Talk about a treasure!

I've heard it said that good things come in threes, but I actually had a fourth outstanding outing when I met up with Lisa from Growing Firsties in downtown Wauwatosa for lunch on Thursday. I don't think we stopped talking for two solid hours. Though we're a decade apart in age, we had so much in common, starting with being Badgers and UW-Madison School of Education alumni. 
Teachers, bloggers, moms, wives, daughters, friends. 
We discussed all sorts of things and I left there 

feeling pure joy in my heart.

It's been an exhausting whirlwind few days, but I am energized and so encouraged by the compassionate and courageous collaborators who share my passion for character and kids.

10

Debbie Clement - Energy Extraordinaire

Students in preK through second got a booster shot of energy and enthusiasm when the talented author-illustrator-musician 

Debbie Clement came to entertain us today. WoWzA!

Click {here} for more pictures.

As you may know, I've been out of the office recovering from an automobile accident and this was just what the doctor ordered! I stopped by long enough to see how incredibly engaged our kiddos were as Debbie sang and danced her way into their hearts ... and mine! She had my firsties sing and sign her book - You're Wonderful - to me while I held the book and turned the beautifully-quilted, color-burst pages. 

Words can't adequately explain how emotional that was!

I had to leave after her morning performances for a doctor appointment and then a nap, but if I were a gambling girl, my money would be on those afternoon performances being every bit as 
authentically AmAzInG as the morning ones were!

Debbie was right at home cradling Papa Crow so Pillar and I posed for a picture with them in my office. And though I was meeting her for the very first time, I had the feeling I'd known Debbie for a very long time and that we'd been friends forever. 

Kind of weird to see myself wearing a Visitor tag.

You can experience the inspiration that is Debbie Clement at her blog - RainbowsWithinReach - or at her collaborative blog PreKandKSharing.  When you get the chance, you simply must see for yourself 
what her magic is all about.
Thank you, Debbie (and hubs Allen) 
for coming to visit us in Friendswood!

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