Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Up-a-Stairs

Our house has a bonus room above the garage. Cora called it "up-a-stairs" when she was a tiny tot, so the name has stuck. 

Initially we thought it would be for guests mostly. Two twin beds, chenille bedspreads, with a little area for a den in case we ever wanted to hang out up there. Toys and books are up there too, which is why Cora always wanted (wants) to go up-a-stairs when she visits.

Well, do we ever hang out up there. Like in EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. One of us will say something like, "I'm headed upstairs." (That means we've had it, we're done with this day.) Most of the time we watch television and work on our computers. Gab hangs out with us up-a-stairs too. This time of the year she loves it right by the central air vent. By the end of the evening Gab is under one of the twin beds, Vaughn's usually stretched out on the floor, and I'm on the couch covered with the blankie. Zonked.

Gab has the lampshade all cock-eyed, it seems. This happens.

Just this week we had our old couch reupholstered in a neutral fabric and cut down to more like a love seat. (This will help us get it downstairs again if that ever has to happen again. Tight squeeze.) I had fun adding Grandmother's denim throw to the back and then some black gingham arm covers jazzed it up even more. A patchwork pillow topped it all off.

I love Grandmother's red galoshes. They live up-a-stairs these days.
Cozy. Comfortable. Home.



Sunday, August 28, 2011

Have Fun

I finally got to dust and rearrange a bit this weekend. Summer and seashells were all over the entry table and begging for a rest. Once they were tucked neatly upstairs for a few seasons, I put my mind to what I had on hand that would work well with this back-to-school season. It's still summer and over 100 degrees every day, so as much as I wanted to put out the pumpkins and fall decor, I had to hold myself off for a couple more weeks.


So for today, and until I give myself the go-ahead to put out the fall decorations...vintage toys and games. I gathered some from here and some from there (which later forced me to have to go back and fill in all the empty spots in the house).




These items were purchased at flea markets, junk stores and garage sales over the years and usually stuck in bookcases throughout the house. Roller skates, bowling pins, game pieces, Bingo cards, metal dishes...oh, how I love these toys, and I'm sure there are kids all over who hold the stories associated with each one. (The pistol holder in the antique cash drawer has a very sweet VAUGHN written in pen on the back.)







Pumpkins will fit in nicely with some of these vintage items, don't you think?



Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Power Claps

In my classroom we give power claps.


That's two loud, cheerleader style claps...all hands in the classroom at the same time.

You pretty much have done something super remarkable to get power claps.

Maybe you made a 100 on a test.
Or you completed your paper with the most GORGEOUS handwriting.

It could even have been that the whole class earned two power claps for something spectacular we did, like lining up quietly or receiving a compliment from another teacher or adult. In that case we give ourselves power claps, sort of like a pat on the back.

We should recognize effort and applaud it, right?


Sometimes I give myself power claps.

Two power claps for remembering to clock in this morning.
Two power claps for leaving school before 5:00 this evening.
Two power claps for the awesome way I finished that load of laundry.


You deserve some power claps today. Consider your efforts recognized and applauded, Friends.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Junkin' at Gatsby's

Gatsby's in Wewoka, Oklahoma is a favorite junkin' spot.


The store is so beautifully decorated, arranged and categorized, you can feel yourself getting lost in Junk Heaven.




It's a sight for sore eyes, I tell ya.

Go when you're not hungry for junk or you'll come home with way too much. Just sayin'.





Talk about inspiration station. Sometimes I just go there for some junkin' fuel and go home to rearrange what I have.


Today's loot: a vintage cherry potholder and a tablecloth covered with apples that scream back-to-school. I had a 15% off coupon so I was happy with my purchases and the price.





Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Country Mouse


Cora was here this weekend. She starts her 3-year-old class this week at Westminster School in Oklahoma City, so this Gram wanted her to enjoy one last fling before the school routine begins.


We enjoyed working the Moss tournament concession stand Saturday morning. She sat on the counter and told the customers thank you and have a nice day.

We played. And played. And played. "Up-a-stairs", as she called it when younger. In the photo she's loving her favorite junk jar, but we also played "going to the museum", "baby dolls", "puzzles", watched movies and read books.

A favorite Cora book is this one:



If you're not familiar with the story, I'll bring you up to speed.

The main story is about two mice who are friends, one is from the city and the other is from the country. The city mouse invites the country mouse to visit her, and the country mouse invites the city mouse to visit her. Each mouse decides where she lives is the better place for her.

The book we own came from a garage sale and it just looks dreadful. It's been colored on and mistreated for years, apparently.  But it's still the book she has brought to Gram to read time and time again.

So a few months ago I picked her up in the city to come to visit my house. Leaving her Mama and Papa that day was hard. It was later in the afternoon and she was tired. For the first few miles she was a little teary and I was talking her through her feelings. I told her she was like the City Mouse going to visit the Country Mouse. We started watching the city turn into the country and pretty soon, well, after she fell asleep for about an hour, we were at Gram's house, in the "country".

I'm tickled to death to have the new nickname Country Mouse. And I love that Cora loves to visit me here.




  

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

My Junk Classroom

Hallway bulletin board! Didn't cost a dime. Letters and trim were cut from food boxes. Background: an old phone book.






Outside my classroom: names and letters made from paint chips.
Another view of the hallway outside the room.




The tree is made of yard sticks and rulers.
The polka dot dresser is our classroom store. Students are paid on the 1st and 15th.
The grater is for our cheese grater cheer...you're GRATE, you're GRATE, you're GRATE, you're GRATE, you're GRATE.

The theme for my third grade classroom is RE, by the way.

Re-think, re-purpose, re-commit, re-invent...you get the idea. It's easier to just say the classroom is all about JUNK.

If I do say so myself...it was quite genius, actually, this junk revelation I had. Why not create the classroom in the style I live?


My teacher desk follows me wherever I go. It once belonged to an educator (and mentor) so it empowers me. 




Old canisters hold our glue sticks and other school supplies. The orange caddy (everyone had one in the 70's) will be a mailbox for the writing center.


It is.
Robbed this saying from someone on Pinterest this week. Your best is enough. It's for me as much as for the students. Our best ought to be good enough, huh?


It's about rethinking the ordinary and making it extraordinary. A vintage kitchen apron becomes a valance on our classroom window. A small section of an old fence provides a bit more privacy.

My dad's old toolbox, the green thing, holds some teacher manuals where I can grab them quickly.


Chippiness surrounds me in this room and that's just how I like it. This is where the kids will come to work with me (if need be).



A pickle jar and candle stick are now a cool apothecary-style candy jar. Actually this is a motivational tool. Bribery works (and inspires).


There was no closet before Vaughn re-imagined the room. Seeing my worried face fretting over where everything would go, he built two walls and created a corner closet. I love it! It's important to keep a few secrets from the students, like special squishy balls for passing at Morning Meeting or art supplies/snacks they've not seen. An old black, perfectly chippy door we've had became a closet door.  License plate letters and old gasoline numbers junk it up just right. And the mounted drip pan (ordinary) will be a perfect place to work on words of the week (extraordinary). That first word, responsibility, is a doozie, huh? No problem: I have a song to go along with the spelling of that one.

Do you love the vintage Campbell's kids on the closet wall? Mom got those while out junkin' somewhere a long while back. 


The Oklahoma flag is proudly displayed on a hinged croquet mallet.

Me, in third grade. Permanent teeth and all.

Mrs. Johnson
















Monday, August 8, 2011

The Relatives Came

One of my favorite books to read to a class is this one.


In the story all kinds of family come to stay in a modest home, filling it to the brim with people who sleep on pallets, who are enjoying eating and laughing and being together.

A particularly great line says it's hard to sleep with all that new breathing in the house.

Love that part.

This weekend we were blessed to have the relatives come: Vaughn's cousin, Steve Verstrat, his wife, Janis, daughter, Brittney and friend, Paige.

It was a house full, especially since Jake and BrieAnn and Cora and Magnolia were visiting too. But it was how it should be. Family shouldn't stay in a hotel unless it's absolutely necessary. And it wasn't.

We spent most of the day inside since it was around 110 that day, but we laughed and talked and got reacquainted. And that was cool.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Junk Magnets

Okay. You've heard of guys who were CHICK MAGNETS. Hello Richard Gere.



But have you heard of JUNK MAGNETS? I guess I could be considered a junk magnet sometimes. I seem to be attracted to it, that's for sure.

An old watch face, a game piece and a child's toy (slightly chewed on in a previous life).
License plate B and 5 and an old clip earbob. Of course! The tray was 50 cents at a garage sale!

But this time I'm not talking about my desire for more junk. Last week I made magnets with all sorts of junk I had just hanging around. Imagine that.

A Scrabble tile, a game piece and a funky earbob.
 These JUNK MAGNETS will be used in my classroom to display remarkable work, post important papers like the spectacular Moss Elementary menu (I cannot wait to smell...and sample...Cheryl's yummy cinnamon rolls every Friday and other scrumptious food I've heard about), and let's face it, my junk magnets will be used just for plain ol' cuteness sake too.

I'm getting excited.