Poem: Revolution for the Tested

My mom forwarded this poem to me today and it seemed like a good thing to keep handy for future reference. 

To my kids, someday you will understand this..

Revolution for the Tested
by Kate Messner (Copyright 2010)

Write.

But don’t write what they tell you to.
Don’t write formulaic paragraphs
Counting sentences as you go
Three-four-five-Done.
Put your pencil down.

Don’t write to fill in lines.
For a weary scorer earning minimum wage
Handing out points for main ideas
Supported by examples
From the carefully selected text.

Write for yourself.
Write because until you do,
You will never understand
What it is you mean to say
Or who you want to be.
Write because it makes you whole.

And write for the world.
Because your voice is important.
Write because people are hurting
Because animals are dying
Because there is injustice
That will never change if you don’t.
Write because it matters.

And know this.
They’ll tell you it won’t make a difference,
Not to trouble over grownup things,
Just fill in the lines
And leave it at that.
Tell them you know the truth.
That writing is powerful.
Just one voice on the page
Speaks loudly.
And not only can a chorus of those united change the world.
It is the only thing that ever has.


Read.

But don’t read what they tell you to.
Don’t read excerpts, half-poems,
Carefully selected for lexile content,
Or articles written for the sole purpose
Of testing your comprehension.

Don’t read for trinkets,
For pencils or fast food coupons.
Don’t even read for M&M’s.
And don’t read for points.

Read for yourself.
Read because it will show you who you are,
Who you want to be some day,
And who you need to understand.
Read because it will open doors
To college and opportunity, yes,
And better places still…
Doors to barns where pigs and spiders speak,
To lands where anything is possible.
To Hogwarts and Teribithia,
To Narnia and to Hope.

Read for the world.
Read to solve its problems.
Read to separate reality from ranting,
Possibility from false promise.
And leaders from snake oil peddlers.
Read so you can tell the difference.
Because an educated person is so much harder
To enslave.

And know this.
They’ll say they want what’s best for you,
That data doesn’t lie.
Tell them you know the truth.
Ideas can’t be trapped in tiny bubbles.
It’s not about points
On a chart or a test or points anywhere.
And it never will be.

Copyright 2010 ~ Kate Messner

Liam's Grocery List

I found Liam perusing the weekly sales flyer with a pen in hand. He had circled all of the things he thought we needed to buy...

Most of his choices were what you'd expect from a five year old: oranges, ice cream, bread, oatmeal bars, and lots of cookies.
.
But why on earth did he circle a MAN???

Liam: Improvising at the Piano

This video is from earlier in the month, when I heard Liam playing the same sequence over and over. It's fun to see him experimenting with different sounds and pedal.

Snow Days..

This was the third Snow Day in a row.  I tried to make today different from the other two days.

We set up a puzzle table in one room.  In another area of that room, I set up a board game table.  The kitchen table was the arts/crafts station. 

As it turns out, the kids spent so much time painting and drawing that they never really bothered with the other things I set up. 

The weather was fairly warm (well, 30*, but the sun was out so it felt warmer) so we spent a bit of time outside. I shoveled while they dug more tunnels and made a "snow slide" in one of the larger snow banks.  Then we tried to forge our way through the knee deep snow in the backyard to make a maze.  It wasn't long before our thighs were aching from trying to walk through that heavy stuff. 

Then the kids found 'dinosaur bones' by the swingset.  It looked to be the wing of a bird, but Liam guessed maybe a Triceratops.

No word yet about whether or not they're headed back to school tomorrow, but my guess is that there will be.  Although the sidewalks are still not cleared, the snowbanks at intersections are dangerously high and hazardous, and some roads suddenly turn from two lanes to one.  I'm not sure how a school bus will maneuver through some of those tighter sections.

More snow is coming tomorrow, but only 1-3". 

Castle blocks

Reading

Someone discovered The Hardy Boys audio CD's!

Playing trains

 

 

Marshfield on the national news

I received messages from my non-New England friends, saying that Marshfield was on national TV networks.  I missed all of this, but now they're showing up on Facebook and YouTube. 

Here's a collection of the coverage of our blizzard, aka Winter Storm Juno.

CNN Report:
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/28/us/weather-storm/index.html


NBC Nightly News Report:
http://www.nbcnews.com/watch/nightly-news/ice-coats-massachusetts-town-after-storm-batters-region-390454339887


On ABC News: (at 1:42)
 


CBS:
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/frozen-new-england-begins-to-recover/

WCVB report:

http://www.wcvb.com/weather/storm-surge-floods-coastal-areas-crashing-wave-breaks-mans-nose/30959236


Patriot Ledger article:
http://www.patriotledger.com/article/20150127/NEWS/301289997

Digging Out

The snow accumulation totals are in, and we got about 24-26" of snow between Monday night and early Wednesday morning.
 

The driving ban was lifted at midnight last night, and most stores and restaurants were open for business. The gas stations around town, however, are still out of gas....since Monday night! This has made it difficult for the snowplowing guys.

The kids were happy to see the sun today, and spent a few hours playing in the snow and digging tunnels.

A narrow path to our door

 

King of the Mountain

Uncle Jason, Auntie Angelina, Nick, Aubrey and Omi went back home after lunch today. Slowly things are getting back to normal. Unfortunately a part on the propane stove broke, so until a new one arrives, we are still without heat in the family room.

The kids have another Snow Day tomorrow, their third one. 

Snow fun with cousins

The kids got a chance to play in the snow and tunnels when the wind eased up temporarily.  I stayed inside where it was warm. Angelina took these photos.

Tuesday morning

I barely slept last night. The sound of the wind howling was like the rumble of the ocean, multiplied by 10. The house shook and doors rattled all night long, sounding like an intruder was trying to get in. The weather vane screeched, the sound of the metal as it rotated around and around.

Here's the view from our front door. It's hard to see here but the snow drift goes to the top of the fence.

Around 5:00 this morning, I heard and felt two bangs. It turned out to be the cupola that Dave worked so hard on. It blew off the roof, hit the roof of the sunroom and tumbled into the snowbank. Then around 6:30, another bang. It was the large piece of plexiglass that Dave had installed outside over one of the dining room windows. 

Dave's mom and his brother's family spent the night here, and came with suitcases, blankets and food. Overnight the pilot went out on the propane stove, so we'll have to come up with alternate sleeping arrangements tonight. 

All of that is minor because we still have power and heat. I got to have a hot shower and a hot cup of coffee this morning. We still have Internet and TV, and the ability to cook. 

Overnight I heard that the worst of the storm is on the South Shore (us) and the Cape and islands. Visibility overnight was reported to be zero. Wind gusts on Nantucket reached 80 mph. Here in Marshfield, the esplanade in Brant Rock was underwater as of high tide at 4:30 am. One home video showed water coming in under someone's door. 

The heaviest of the snow is supposed to come today and taper off by evening. 

That's it for now.

Our first Blizzard of 2015

We are just a few hours away from the predicted blizzard.  Right now, it is the calm before the storm...with an eerie quiet feeling.  Except if you are at the grocery store or gas station!  When I dropped Liam off at Preschool this morning, every gas station in town had a line of 5-6 cars at each pump.  It feels oddly like Christmas Eve, when everyone is bustling about trying to take care of last minute things.

The bulls-eye of the storm seems to be right over Marshfield.  Our snowfall predictions are in the 20-30" range...although some reports have it as high as 36".  Wind gusts are expected to reach 75 mph at times.  We are being told to expect 'long lasting power outages.'  All of the stores are sold out of snow blowers and generators.

Boston Blizzard Forecast

All of this wouldn't be quite so troubling, except for the fact that our generator is not working!  Dave is trying hard to troubleshoot and fix it.  If we lose power and he can't get the generator working, we will be camping out in the family room just like we did in the last blizzard. The propane stove will keep us warm, and we have air mattresses to sleep on.

As you can guess, the kids are very excited about all of this.  Evidently they forgot that it got old REALLY when this happened two years ago.  Last time we bailed after a few days - as soon as we could get out of our driveway, that is - and ended up at our friends' house for two days.  I really hope not to do that this time.

I prepared an emergency kit with flashlights, batteries, a radio, an 'old fashioned' telephone that doesn't require power.... and Oreo's.  I spent a lot of time in the kitchen yesterday, and froze several plastic water bottles in case the fridge/freezer go out.  If we lose the ability to cook meals, we'll be eating rice pudding, hard boiled eggs, rotisserie chicken, cooked bacon, caramel corn...and lots of sandwiches and fruit/veggies.  And of course, I made a big pot of coffee so at least I can start my morning off right. 

I also went to the library this morning and stocked up on books for everyone.  The laundry is done, so everyone should have plenty of clean clothes to wear. I need to make sure all of our cell phones, iPads and Kindle/Nook are charged up and ready to go.  If we lose power, obviously that means no internet, so I won't be able to update the blog.  I hope I didn't forget anything...

Wish us luck!

UPDATE: Dave fixed the generator!  It sure pays to have a handy husband. We did a practice run this afternoon, a 'fire drill' as Dave called it.  Hopefully all will go smoothly.

My hand-painted vases

This year I made several hand-painted glass votives and vases.  Here are a few of them.

Works in progress...

 I made about 4 of these, each with slight variations.

 

This is another of my favorites, which I made for my studio.

I made this one for Nana, and it was one of my favorites.  Also, the most work! Cutting a CD into small pieces and glueing them on was tedious.

 

Josh and Torri's wedding gift

When the kids get my digital camera....

....this is what I find on my camera roll!

  

Clearly a dance party was going on...

But this?

I'm afraid to ask.

Finally - - SNOW!

We woke up to a beautiful winter wonderland this morning.  I asked Liam if he his birthday wish was for snow!

Our first significant snowfall this winter: January 24, 2015

After breakfast, Dave took the kids sledding at Coast Guard Hill.  They weren't gone very long before the snow turned to rain... 

Amanda, Eva and Liam at Coast Guard Hill

But at least the sleds got a little bit of use.  It sounds like they will get even more use early next week.  They are predicting a "blockbuster" blizzard on Monday night, with 18-24" of snow for our area...hurricance force winds, and probably power outages.

Liam's 5th Birthday

 All throughout the day, Liam kept repeating that it was his "best birthday ever!"

First, he went to Preschool...where it was his Special Day.  That meant he got to wear a crown and bring in a treat.  His treat?  Birthday Wands and chocolate milk.  What are birthday wands?  Pretzel rods dipped in melted chocolate, and then covered with both rainbow and dinosaur sprinkles.

Then, the class went on a fieldtrip to the library, along with all of the chaperoning parents.

I made a birthday lunch, built around a pepperoni and cracker number 5.

For dinner, we had a "Make Your Own Pizza" party, along with Omi and Uncle Jason's family. It was a lot of fun!

Pizza - with Nick, Aubrey and Auntie Angelina

Liam and Nick

Amanda and Eva made some REALLY cool cards for Liam.  Some day he will appreciate the effort and creativity that went into them.  Amanda saved some aluminum foil from her school lunch, and made this card in the afternoon.  (Can you see Spiderman riding through outer space?  Click to make the pictures bigger.)

Eva took a different approach, and cut out all sorts of pictures from the grocery store flyer.  Looks pretty yummy.

 

Let's hear it for Oatmeal Squares. (??)

 

 

 

 

 

Liam chose a frozen chocolate creme pie as his cake.

 After cake, it was finally time to open presents.  Liam received lots of really neat birthday gifts: a Hot Wheels expansion kit, knights and horses, a set of wooden castle blocks, a stuffed Simba lion cub and book, clothes, a dragon puzzle, and a PlayMobile set...just to name a few!  The kids spent the evening trying out all of the different toys.

Liam loved his stuffed Simba lion from Auntie Pam, Uncle Jared and family.

Hot Wheels and castle blocks

Bathtime is way more fun with BLUE WATER from the dragon bath fizzies.

Thanks to everyone who made Liam's 5th birthday a memorable one!