Undefeated!

Sake' Bombers

This summer Carrie and Mark invited me to be a part of their summer softball team. Of course I took them up on the deal, especially when Carrie let me help design the team shirts. We got to work on the t-shirts and the design just came to us. We found this hilarious sumo wrestler swinging a bat and that is how the name Sake' Bombers came to us. Carrie and I think we are pretty funny.

We've had three games so far and I am happy to report we are undefeated! (I think it is the power of the shirt!)

Here Mark is displaying is inability to pose normally for a picture. That's okay because he's doing a great job pitching. (With the help of his trusty catcher...ME!) He stays cool under pressure even when his pitches constantly hit the plate. Who would have thought that catching was so fun. (I mostly like it because you get to chat with the umpire and the other players.)

Carrie and Mark are off to Alaska this weekend so we will do down to great players the next couple of weeks. Hope we can keep our streak going!

Pancakes!

CHEESE! Oh, wait, PANCAKES!

Since Mary and I finished with face to face classes we, along with her baby Peirce, met for the best pancakes in town, Crackerbarrel! I know, your surprised, but they really are fantastic! It made for a great morning. So if you have a hankering for pancakes Crackerbarrel is the place to be. I think Pierce would agree. Yea for summer!

Celebrate!

To celebrate the end of week long classes I met Carrie and Lisa for a much deserved pedicure. We had a great time chatting while our feet were scrubbed and made beautiful. And of course we all choose bright colors and opted for the extra flower on out toes. Now they look great while sitting at the pool. (Which I plan to do a lot know that I only have my online class to finish)

Thanks girls for the great afternoon!

My First Summer Painting 2010

12x16 inches

Sold to Amy Kipley

Thanks Amy! I hope you enjoy it!

The Brain

I accidentally signed up for a TON of graduate hours this summer. One of the classes I just finished was Teaching with the Brain in Mind. It was a week long class and culminated with a final project to summarize what we learned throughout the entire week. It was a pretty open ended project so I made this...

It's a brain! I made it from clay and wrote words that represented different things we learned during the week. Mary wrote a paper to go along with this brain. Hope we got an A!

Fun Brain facts:

Your brain weighs 3lbs and is the consistency of Jello or tofu (my clay brain weighed much more than 3lbs)

Your frontal lobe doesn't fully develop until you are in your late 20's and maybe 30's. (So when you do something stupid just remember it's not really your fault!)

PS. We received and A in the class!

Things I Wish I Had Accomplished

I once presented this as an idea for our traditional 6th grade verse faculty basketball game staff t-shirts. I thought it was clever and funny. Needless to say it did not get approved.

I also attempted to change our school mascot. I didn't quite understand trailblazer and thought tarantula would be an amazing elementary school mascot. Again, not successful. Thankfully, I like the bird of prey idea. Ravens are pretty cool. I do wonder if I could come up with something similar to Retro Willy the Wildcat. Can't you picture Retro Raven?

My Studio

I've struggled a long time with painting at home. I was so easy in college, but at home it is much harder. I've recently set up my space at home in the yellow bedroom and am really excited about it. Here it is!

The easel was a graduation gift from my parents. And I found that fabulous white metal cabinet at Good Ju Ju. It is working perfectly as a combo storage and paint pallet. I keep my paint brushes in the drawer and other art supplies underneath. The top is white enamel and is perfect for mixing paint with a little wax paper on top as seen below.

The little yellow metal box is similar to one my parents have in their kitchen. I've decided to keep my paints inside.

I think I'm on my way to some beautiful paintings now that my space is set up.

The Best Top 10 List

Top 10 Things I Will Miss MOST About Elementary School

10. Funny pictures like the one above from students

9. Hugs! Although sometime they are awkward, I love getting hugs from my students as they walk in my room as well and when they leave

8. Asking students if they are going to put clothes on the stick figures. "Ah! They're Naked!"

7. Kindergarten art (Who would have thought this one would make it on the best list? My first year this grade level caused me the most tears. But because of that I really worked on my lessons and scaffolding the skills. I really love how the students change from the first day to the last!)

6. Reading children's book with the undivided attention of 20 students listening with their undivided attention.

5. Sending things via student carrier to my friends around school. Some of my favorite items sent were; diet coke, clothes being returned, tampons, candy, and funny pictures of myself.

4. Being three numbers away from friends at school. Calling 261 anytime! That's Sarah the music room, always a good listening ear. Calling 248 anytime! That's Mary in 6th grade. I loved how her students would say, "Mrs. Culross, you BFF is on the phone." Or hearing "Hello art" as Mary picked up the phone because that's who the phone says is calling. Looking down into Carrie's classroom when walking anywhere to see if she could distract me from work for a while. Since Carrie taught second grade her room was less of a calling room and more of a stopping by room. But I do know her number too, 254.

3. Trips to the Nelson! I would take 6th grade in the fall and 3rd grade in the spring.

2. Hearing things like "Wow! You're a really great artist!" and "You look pretty today". Elementary kids are good for the self esteem.

And the thing I will miss most about teaching at the elementary level is.....

1. HALLOWEEN! We did this holiday up right. All afternoon was devoted to getting students into their costumes, parading around the school to Halloween music, and parties. I love that the anticipation of what costume you are going to wear starts shortly into the new year. I love keeping my costume a secret. I love dressing up with Sarah and coordinating costumes. And I love making it onto the Halloween page of the yearbook all four year, even if I have to do it myself!

Bee and Bee Keeper

Ghost and Ghost-buster

(Can I still dress up in high school?)

Mission Pub Crawl 2010

Pub Crawl Commissioner

(As crowned by Kate Gasper in 2009)

During the 2009 Mission Pub Crawl we were all a little worried about the fate of our annual pub crawl due to our fearless planner, Victoria, moving to DC. It was this fear that lead me to be crowned the new Pub Crawl Commissioner. This is a serious job that involves picking a date, inviting everyone, and last but not least, designing the t-shirts. It wasn't an easy job, but I think it was a success. We had a great time starting out at Mission bowl and working our way though the surprisingly many Mission bars. Thanks to all that attended to make a fun night!

Be sure to join us next year for the Fourth Annual Mission Pub Crawl. (date and time TBA)

Jazzoo!

Erica got a hold of two tickets to the very posh fund raiser for the KC zoo, Jazzoo. Since Jon was out of town I got to be Erica's date. So we each went out and bought new dresses the day of for this special night. I think we look pretty cute!

Although we hardly knew anyone there we had a great time sampling food from the 100+ vendors, drinking, and people watching. People wear some pretty crazy things to Jazzoo. Although I don't think I would pay the $150 ticket price myself, I had a great time. Thanks Erica!

The Corner of Bitter and Sweet

My way to say hello to the blogging world is to say goodbye. Recently, I said goodbye to teaching elementary school art. I had been teaching at the same school for four years, but am now moving on to high school art. When people hear of this change, they say, 'Wow! That's going to be a change'. To which I say, 'I can't wait!' But more on that later. Here are a couple of pictures of my old classroom.

Check out the beautiful rug!

All my kindergarten through 3rd grade students would start out art class on the rug. My first year I had an inexpensive K-Mart rug. It was WAY too small. I convinced my principal to spend a bundle on this gem of a rug for me second year. Oh, rug how I will miss you!

On another note, check out the stove. Students often asked, 'Why is there a stove in the art room?' There is no good answer. Stove, I will not miss you and the people you attracted to come and use you while I'm teaching. I will not miss your sweet smell of cookies and I will especially not miss your smell of Dog Gone Bones as my lifeskill friends baked dog bones as a fund raiser.

As with any job, there is plenty that I will miss as I move to a new school and a new age group of students. But like the stove there are things I will not miss and look forward to a change. But every new beginning must start with a goodbye. This blog is the story of me and my transformation from a trailblazer to a raven.

Abbey

P.S. The title of this blog hints at a book I just finished called, The Hotel On The Corner of Bitter and Sweet. It's a fast little read about a Chinese boy in Seattle during World War II. It reminds me of Water For Elephants because of the way the story is told by young and old Henry.