WEBSITE WEDNESDAY--Wordle

http://www.wordle.net/

When I first discovered this site, I spent WAY too much time there playin' around. It is addicting.

The way it works: type in words about whatever you want. Here, I was selfish and chose the topic of me. Words that you want to appear bigger, you type it into the box multiple times. Then, you click on the GO button, and it creates a "word cloud." An artistic collage that you can scramble to format differently or change the colors.

Here's one to represent Andrew and I and our little life. {tilt your head--it's sideways}

I made one to represent our courtship months. It is kind of busy looking, but I like how it includes all the people, places, and things to tell the story of that time period. {also sideways}

You can create word clouds about anything. Here I made one using my favorite lines from my favorite Shakespeare play, Much Ado About Nothing.

Using the same words, I just re-scrambled it and changed the colors to give it a completely new look.

I love this one.

This is an outdated creation {Brad, Nicole, Whitney, and Alex need to be added} representing the family {also sideways}.

I have this idea to form word clouds to print, frame, and hang as part of collage of pictures in my house. I think they look cool. And the possibilities are endless.

Go check it out! Have fun!

WE TOOK A DRIVE.

Andrew and I were feeling a little stir-crazy after a weekend indoors. So we got in the car and drove several hours to the north...just to take a walk.

Everything had that golden autumn glow.

The sun was warm and low in the sky.

And the leaves were shimmering with color. 

We found a quiet dirt road,

That eventually led to a bridge,

Where we watched the water float lazily by...

And took mushy, romantic pictures.

As the setting sun sank even lower in the sky,

we returned to our car huddled together...the final rays leaving behind a chill in the air. 

Fall is fast flyin' by, my friends. 

My favorite pretty pictures from this adventure are found HERE on my photo blog. Check 'em out!

ANDREW'S COFFIN

Andrew works for a general contractor that builds mostly luxury homes with fancy woodwork. Neither of us expected he would ever asked to help build a CASKET!
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These pictures are from his cell phone. I can't believe how much detail and work and expense go into the building of these things...only to get lowered into the ground and never seen again. Just bury me in a pine box. That's what I say.
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But when the local mortuary saw it, they put an order in for ten more!

Andrew was pretty proud. He came home and told me he was going to build himself one for later and store it in our cold storage room. I laughed, because I assumed he was kidding. On second thought...
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I should probably double check on that. Anyway...




Happy Halloween, Internet folks!

SNAPSHOT SATURDAY--All you need is love

So, this picture is from an expedition we took a few weeks ago. We drove 2 hours to nowhere in particular, got out of the car, and took a walk with camera in hand. It was lovely. 

I wanted a picture with both of us, but there wasn't anyone on hand to help out. Instead, I took one of each us on this fence and used GIMP on my computer to combine the two pictures into one. Wa-lah! We're BOTH on the fence! 

It's was my first time attempting such a feat, and pretty pleased with myself...until I noticed a few important body parts that had completely disappeared in the process. Ha! Oh well. You wouldn't have noticed unless I told you, right? And who needs hands and feet as long as you get to be with the one you love?

Halloween--FOCAL POINT FRIDAY

BEST:

Halloween. We carved pumpkins with friends yesterday. This is the back of Andrew's. 

Andrew's black widow and my gnarled old tree. 

My Halloween costume at the school's festivities. Throughout the day, my kiddos called me a gangsta, a boy, and a rapper. But I was supposed to be a student. See the backpack?

 ...the wildly popular, silly-shaped bracelets?

...and this T-shirt I found at the Deseret Industries Thrift Store last night?

I was a STUDENT...modeled privately after the large handful of rowdy boys I have been blessed with this year. *ahem*

I do so adore dressing up for Halloween. (You might remember last year's costume from THIS POST.) But I have come to the conclusion that guy's baggy styles far outweigh the heels and skirts of the fairer sex. It was like wearing pajamas all day long, I tell you!





WORST:

I was looking for something to watch on Netflix while I graded a mountain of tests, and chose a documentary on stress. Why I chose such a topic, I'm not sure. Maybe it's because it is my normal, constant state of being. The emotion feels comfortable. Homelike. Oddly enough, stressed is the only way I feel content. When I'm not stressed, I begin to get stressed that there's something I should be stressing about.

But  after watching this documentary and seeing what stress does to the human body (clogged arteries, weakened heart, weight gain, a haywire reproductive system, ulcers, headaches, lack of self control, depression, weakened immune system, dead brain cells, loss of memory, and loss of ability to learn new concepts), I concluded that I will probably die in the next 10-20 years. It was stressful just learning about stress!

And I'm sure it didn't help that I spent the week very conscious of my stress level and imagining its effects on my quickly deteriorating body. 

THANKFUL THURSDAY--Home Girl

My Beckster. There's nothing quite like having a sister--a girlfriend to talk and sing and joke with that I am 100% comfortable around. And I ADORE the fact that she is currently living in Rexburg to go to school.

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We both lead very busy lives, but when we do find time to get together, it's the best. For example, one night, she was kind enough to come with me to my classroom to help get some stuff done. We worked hard for about ten minutes...before getting distracted...and just sitting there...talking and laughing ...for the next two hours. We got nothing accomplished, but it was a night to remember. I am thankful for Becca.

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P.S. That is my tough gangsta' face. Fer shizzle.

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This has been another installment of...

TO ALL PARENTS

I realize I don't know my students like their parents do, but I do think that spending six hours a day with the little squirts counts for something. And I really do have their best interest at heart. Here are a few things I wish I could tell all parents...from the desk of Mrs. Ashmore.


1. READ, READ, READ and READ SOME MORE with your child! Take them to libraries, talk excitedly about books, read them your favorite books, use books and reading times as rewards, have them read books to you...even have them write their own books. I can't tell you what a difference it makes on their academic performance. Parents always want me to give them a secret magical formula for success. And this is it. It is so simple, and yet has an insanely huge impact.

2. Throw the video games away. Every year, the kids with the worst ADHD....the ones with violent tendencies when things aren't going their way...the ones who drive me absolutely bonkers....are the ones who talk incessantly of video games. This may sound a bit dramatic...but video games will rot your child's brain.

3. Your kids are so capable. It's amazing what they can accomplish with some responsibility, direction, and trust. Stop doing everything for them and give them a chance to step up.

4. Talk to your child. This is the single most effective way to build their vocabularies. Low numbers of vocabulary words in a child's knowledge base will greatly inhibit their reading acquisition. Those entering school with lower vocabularies will almost never catch up to their peers. Talking with your children will give them practice with language, grammar, and interacting with others...all necessary skills. And it just makes them feel good to have you listen. =)

5. Missing school IS a big deal. Those two days that your child was absent in order to babysit her younger siblings, she missed our lessons on nouns, breaking syllables, using guide words in a dictionary, explanation of the weekly vocabulary words, the spelling list phonics pattern, and multiplying by sevens facts. I simply do not have the time to re-teach those entire lessons just for your child! And everything they learn tends to build on the previous lessons. The big hole in their education stemming from those two days can haunt them for years.

6. Birthday invitations. I know it's convenient for you just to send them to school with your child to pass out to their friends...but you don't see the look on the kid's faces who aren't invited. It crushes their little hearts...and mine. Invite everyone, or send them in the mail.

7. Don't be a helicopter parent. Hovering protectively nearby to swoop in and save your child from consequence or discomfort, robs them of learning any lessons from those oh-so-important learning experiences (See # 3 above). Let me also mention, this type of parenting creates wussy crybabies. And they have to learn real fast that crying does not prompt me to swoop in and fix every little situation for them like would happen at home.

8. I know everything about you by the end of the school year...whether I want to or not. I know your level of education, the state of your marriage, your economic status, your religion, your values, your manners, whether you like me or not, your parenting skills, your top priorities, and even occasionally, your sex life. Kid's talk. Watch what you say.

9. Your child may be the center of your universe, but I have to share mine with 25 others. I saw this statement as part of a list found in the Reader's Digest a year or so ago. I love it. LOVE. IT. Often times, parents don't understand that I am working myself to the bone for their child...but I am spread rather thin.There is only so much I can do as a single person. Be nice to and understanding with your child's teacher!

10. I really do know what I'm talking about. I may look young, but I am a trained professional. I spent 4+ years learning how to educate your child, and I have several additional years of practical experience in this art. Don't discount my ideas because I can't possibly know what's best for your child. You may disagree. But do so politely, please.

11. Don't label your child in front of them. I have had so many parents inform me, with their child standing right there: "Suzy is so smart in math but will need a lot of help with reading." or "Steven is shy, so he may struggle making friends." "Billy is smart, he's just really lazy." People! Do you not understand what your words are doing?? Children will, rise up to meet your expectations. If you tell them they are a poor reader, shy, or lazy...they will become and always be, a poor reader, shy, or lazy. Those stereotypes are nearly impossible to break through.

12. I really do care about your kid. A lot. Please don't assume that I am "out to get him" if I need to share some academic or behavioral struggles with you. We are on the same team.