2014 in my rear-view Mirror

I am taking a journey of reflecting

over the past year before I leap into

making personal and corporate plans

for 2015.

from Pinterest 

I am inviting you on the journey. 

Lake Loveland, Loveland, CO

I am wanting my life to reflect evaluated experience and

not simply repeat another year without stopping

to really look at my life. 

 Click here to begin the 5-day reflection of 2014--it's from Melani Shock's blog

Melani's 5-day Challenge

May you be blessed as you reflect and

honestly take stock of this past year's accomplishments

for His kingdom!

Live a LATTE in 2015 

all because you've taken great stock of 2014--

it's bumps, challenges, celebrations, blessings and gifts from God--

who is the giver of every good and perfect thing in our lives!  

Life Lessons from Sermons

LA CANN Gardens in Ponca City, OK 

I found this post in my DRAFTS--it's from October 2014 


As I have been processing through many things weighing heavily on my heart, I have come up with a few life lessons. 

At our church, we have Victory U which is a local bible school for the members of our church. This month, one class is entitled: EPIC Sermons of the Century. Sermons are shown via DVD from conferences, camps, other special services, etc. 

One, as I agonize over an apparent lack of life-accomplishments (an apparent obvious mid-life crisis moment, haha) , I realize that as long as myself and my family are saved, that's an accomplishment in itself. Even if my family chooses to go another way and not be saved, I cannot help them, only myself. 

I can't help the people in my life, especially since they continually choose to go their own way in spite of the warnings, teachings, meetings, etc. 

As I thought this over, I re-visited an EPIC sermon yesterday from BOTT (Because of the Times) several years ago: Royce Wilson was the speaker and Prisoner in the Land of Fulfillment, was the title of the message. 

Several take-aways from the message: 

• God will do what He said He will do. Quit worrying about NOT seeing WHERE you're going--sometimes God has to push us backwards into His will as we look to Him--not the situations around us. :) Definitely feel I am going backwards! :) 

• Sometimes, God chooses to NOT answer inferior prayers that are based only on what I've seen and heard before, rather, God will deny ALL inferior requests in order to fulfill my greatest destiny. (What this is...obviously, I have NO idea...haha)

• If Joseph wasn't in position, the world would've starved. God had to put Joseph in prison to keep him in position for the promotion. ARGH--prison--really? Yep, that's what this reality feels like! :) 

Another EPIC message that I heard last week, was from 2013's Campmeeting. 

Robert Tisdale's Mud on Your Face--Faith in Your Heart--a VERY impact-ful message about willingly being spent for the kingdom. 

A few take-aways I learned from his message, or rather, God's message to me: 

• As long as we assign blame to others, we never allow God to move in the realm of the supernatural. 

• God's going to use my brokenness for His glory and no, I don't have to have the right answers. God has a myriad of ways to work--He will bring me out of whenever and How ever He chooses because desperate people don't care how the miracle comes (Namaan, all examples of blind eyes in NT) 

• In John 9, the un-named man doesn't argue. How many miracles have I missed because I opened my mouth? When I get my mouth right, the miracle follows. Lord, forgive me of my criticism, cynicism, defending myself, etc. 

• Sometimes, when we receive a touch from God, our situation grows darker. Sometimes, an authentic touch from God will feel darker than lighter. Sometimes, the purpose of God is to make my situation worse. (Really?) Some are embarrassed by the mud on their faces, when all the while, God is positioning them for a miracle. How can God receive glory in private? 

• Like Paul, I will gladly be spent in bible studies, Sunday school classes with snarky youth, writing endless lessons, teaching classes, etc. Because, sometimes when God spends us it costs us something very dear and great. 

• Stephen was the currency which was used to purchase the majority of the New Testament. Could Paul have been Stephen? 

Here's the super TOUGH question: 

Can I accept where 

I am 

(in life) 

as the purpose 

and the hand 

of the Almighty God? 

Many were spent throughout scripture to purchase something much greater than themselves. 

• Moses--was spent as he allowed himself to lead the millions of Israelites to freedom in Canaan. 

• Jeremiah who was told to buy a field for a generation to come. He ministered to people who despised him...his ministry looked like a lost cause. 

that's my wonderings for this season--summer, fall and winter all inclusive. 

Live a LATTE today & tomorrow! 

Snow flakes from Dec 2013

May your Christmas be

Merry and Bright!  

LATE Update on the Queen Bee's Brunch

What a time that was had by all who attended this wonderful event at VWC! 

Here are some pics as promised--way back in May--it's almost the end of June--yes, late, but nevertheless, posted! :) 

Table all decked out

Kevin and Sam ready to flip pancakes on the mighty-giant grill! 

Rigo serving Miss Jayda a pancake

Smiley Brent serving up a yogurt parfait

A crazy game called "Finish Mommy's Sentence" 

We ended up with over 70 people in attendance--mom's, kidlets, grandma's, etc. The photo booth was a huge hit as well! 

It was the hope of everyone who attended that VWC have a repeat performance in 2015. 

It was a LATTE of fun and laughs! Thanks for stopping back by to look at the pics! :) 

55 Little Known Facts about Human Trafficking

Last week, I spoke to the Hyphen Camp of 20Somethings about social injustices and ways that the church is commanded to love their neighbor as themselves. 

This was an article I found and I wanted to share it with my blog world to bring more light to the plight of our fellow humans across the globe. 

55 Little Known Facts about Human Trafficking

Read it and then ask yourself this question--

Am I following what Micah 6:8 commands me to do? 

What? Oklahoma Repealed Common Core?

In a strange twist of events, the fate of a set of academic standards has been decided by politicians instead of educators. The entire country waited with bated breath to see what Governor Mary Fallin would decide on June 7, 2014. HB 3399 was a bill that immediately removed the Common Core State Standards from classrooms across Oklahoma. On June 5, 2014, the governor of Oklahoma repealed CCSS which has reverted Oklahoma educators back to pre-2010 academic standards which were adopted in 2003. That particular set of standards was called PASS: Priority Academic Student Skills. Also, with the repeal, there is a possibility the federal waiver that was granted to the state will be rescinded and Oklahoma will be back to No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

The main reason I am dismayed by the recent turn of events is the loss of the Common Core writing standards. Writing instruction has long been a neglected piece of mandated curriculum in state-written academic standards and the core moves writing back to its rightful place in a thinking-based curriculum that is stair-stepped from kindergarten through the twelfth grade. In the building I am privileged to work in, we as a staff have worked endlessly on implementation of the standards in the form of decomposing each individual standard in order to write Common Formative Assessments and also involving ourselves in book studies and writing workshops to better learn the CCSS writing standards. Writing in the classroom also involves the listening and speaking standards as well as the informational reading that had been beautifully implemented as Close Reading with annotating and writing concise summaries. While we will not lose everything, my wish is that educators would make the return to PASS in regard to what is best for students, instead of what is easiest for the educator.

Another reason I believe the governor of Oklahoma should have voted to retain the standards is the vast amount of hours and professional development money that educators, curriculum specialists and districts across the state have invested to implement the standards. The thought of moving backwards to the PASS when school begins in August, fills me and thousands of educators and administrators with mind-numbing angst. Our district had implemented new academic vocabulary just this spring which was aligned with the CCSS. Also purchased were many professional materials for teachers to implement units which also aligned with the new standards. While those materials and new word lists can be tweaked to reflect the older set of standards, many are shaking their heads in disbelief at the complete waste of time and resources that has resulted from this turn in state politics.

Opponents of the Core have believed many suppositions ranging from the CCSS being a malevolent form of educational take-over from the federal government in the form of a federally-mandated curriculum to believing that the standards were created by terribly rich non-educators which has resulted in dumbed-down standards that will kill all the young minds across America. The Constitution of the United States of America does not allow for a federal curriculum but yet it seems that thousands of folks feel that the Race to the Top monies offered by the US Department of Education was an incentive to adopt a set of rigorous standards, therefore making the CCSS a federal set of standards. Do those same people realize that a set of standards does not equal a curriculum? The unifying standards would provide a baseline for all students across our great nation while allowing local school districts and the highly trained professionals called teachers to decide what curriculum is best for their students and how best to implement and teach the set of standards.

Another sticky point has been the exemplar text list. While I completely agree that a couple of the titles on the high school portion are completely inappropriate and are too sexually graphic to be in a classroom, I would trust that all educators would utilize their common sense and realize that the exemplars are merely suggested titles—not mandated book lists. One deal-closer happened last week when a state representative read aloud a graphic selection from one of the exemplar texts. He spelled the words too graphic for the floor of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and his point was certainly made that if a text is too graphic to read aloud on the floor of the House, how then could it be appropriate for teens to read in public school classrooms across our state? While I work hard to not censor books for students, I do agree with his premise.

The proponents of HB 3399 state that academic standards should be decided by the state government, instead of ceding control to the federal system. In a twisted ironic way, the repeal of CCSS might result in much more federal control in the form of NCLB and the many aspects of fear mongering by the USDE and possible take-over of low-performing schools by the state department of education. Right now, Oklahoma educators are anxiously awaiting the federal system to decide if Oklahoma should retain or lose its waiver that was signed at the Race to the Top money grab. Accordingly, the Fordham Institute declared the Oklahoma PASS skills “too close to call” when compared to the CCSS back in 2010. If this was the case, why did our state not just retain the PASS skills instead of asking educators to jump through many hurdles with the stress of implementation of new standards over the past four years?

Oklahoma has declared that we as a state will write our own standards now. Before going to the press, the new set of standards will be approved by: the State Regents for Higher Education, the State Board of Career and Technology Education, and the Oklahoma Department of Commerce. These new college and career ready standards are scheduled to be distributed to school districts by 2016. In light of this news flash, I have one word to describe my feelings for this situation: Interesting.

In education, as much as methods change, the overall broken-down philosophy remains. Are we as educators going to do what is best for students or will we succumb to the political rants of our legislators and allow them to decide what we teach in the classroom? Yes, in the fall, as a curriculum specialist, I will help the teachers in my building negotiate the rough and choppy waters of the return to PASS. However, we will continue to teach those standards in a rigorous and child-friendly manner which will of course include holding tightly to our belief that all children can learn to read as well as write. The writing instruction and beliefs that have been implemented over the past few years will not simply vanish into the dark night, but we will continue to push on in hopes for a brighter day in Oklahoma. 

More info here: 

Gov. Mary Fallin's repeal of Common Core standards raises questions in Oklahoma | Oklahoman.com

Gov. Mary Fallin's repeal of Common Core standards raises questions in Oklahoma | Oklahoman.com

This above op-ed was submitted to the Education Week periodical for publication this week. 

I await their comments, rejection or acceptance. It's a scary time! :) 

Please....

I beg you...

for the future...

don't drink the un-informed Kool-Aid of our day! 

Be a reading, informed citizen who makes wise, common-sense types of choices based on what you read and gather information coupled with honest conversations with people who are alike and different than your point of view! It's a possibility to be wrong in our thinking! 

Be strong in your core beliefs which should be based on the 

absolute authority 

in your life...

then read newspapers, articles, periodicals, journals, etc. 

then discuss those current events with people--all people. 

It will MAKE you better & stronger! 

ARGH! 

Go ahead....have an iced coffee! Drink A LATTE! 

It's sure what I needed after the above 1,100+ words! 

Spring & Queen Bee's

Spring has arrived! 

That grand announcement means that...

Side view of my  west side neighbor's beautiful historic home 

Side view of my south neighbor's historic bungalow and my gorgeous tree in bloom

• I can drink coffee on my front porch for my devotional time each morning
• I can drink decaf hot tea on my front porch in the evening as I contemplate the day
• The trees are were simply stunning
• New tall-rectangular planters have been purchased for my front porch steps
• Greenfield's Greenhouse sold my planters some beautiful, colorful salmon geraniums, yellow lantana, dark forest green spikes, airy asparagus ferns, and dual-colored yellow and pink/salmon zinnias. 

Flowers with new planters 

Tomorrow, VWC celebrate's the Queen Bees (mothers) with a Queen Bee's Brunch for Moms and kidlets. The men and young men of VWC have graciously offered to cook & serve this momentous event. Stay tuned as I "intend" to post pics ASAP after the event. 

ARGH....I must get better about my URGENT and IMPORTANT lists in my life. I am so guilty of allowing myself to get stay caught up in the "tyranny of the urgent." 

The Urgent list is usually someone else's bidding for my time. You know them--Please drop everything you're currently doing and get to work solving my problem--or helping me--or can you do this for me?...RANT over. 

The Important list is supposed to be MY MOST important things in life: family, house, short-term goals, long-term goals, hobbies, life dreams and bucket lists, etc. 

I will improve! With God's great help, I surely will! 

But, I digress...

The QBB--will no doubt go down in the history books as a super-fun event at VWC. We are planning a pancake bar with toppings, a yogurt parfait bar with toppings, and a scrambled egg bar with toppings. At each place, there will be a specially-ordered donut with either blue or yellow sprinkles. 

(The back story--we'd intended to make blueberry and peach muffins. But, as the team shopped last evening, we decided--AHHHH--that's just too much money and time! Kids will like donuts better anyway! So, this morning, one of the problem-solvers called our illustrious donut shop entitled TURTLES. Problem solved--we have 84 donuts on order for 8 am tomorrow morning!) 

We have center pieces with the saying, "My mom's the BEE's KNEES!" along with metal art bees and yellow, black, royal blue table covers. oh and yes...bit-o-honey candies!! 

Random tree on my way home from the doctor's office

My dear Mom and I have invited any and everyone at VWC who didn't have kids to bring or didn't have a mom to come with her. Our table will be full of wonderful ladies! 

Also--shhhh....I will be surprising my Dear Mom with a gorgeous purple orchid corsage. I thought she'd enjoy wearing it both to the QBB and to church on Mother's Day Sunday! 

My friend over at Kelley Highway bought this planter for me several years ago!
I just stuck the asparagus in it for a fast pic

One last thing...Sunday is our monthly bake sale for Missions. This month, I am intending to bake muffins in large, stand-on-their-own cups. I will be folding a delicious mix of mixed berries into the muffin mix. Along with sprinkling some decorator's sugar crystals on top! 

My other plan is to try some English Muffin bread. I have already purchased the rapid rise yeast and the bread flour for that very purpose! 

Enjoy your Mother's Day wherever you might be! 

Drink a LATTE coffee...or iced coffee! 

:) Hugs! 

Happenings Lately

The first of 14 INFED infusions in January-March

Another infusion....finally finished!




Dallas Arboretum with 500,000 tulips for Spring




Mom in front of the tulips



One of two giant peacocks at the Arboretum...fashioned with 10,000 pansies

Amtrak Station in Ft. Worth, TX after we'd ridden the rails from OKC!




Roosevelt display board at the Board of Education in Ponca City--
the art teacher and I designed, created and stapled!



 

Read a LATTE...

Travel a LATTE...

Drink a LATTE coffee!

Ode to Diane

ode

noun \ˈōd\

: a poem in which a person expresses

a strong feeling of love

or respect for someone

or something

(Merriam-Webster)

My dearest friend Diane was bestowed an amazing honor last evening. She was selected as the

Ponca City Public School's

2014-2015

Teacher of the Year!!

Dr. Pennington, Superintendent of PCPS; Diane Anderson TOY; Shelley Arrott, Assistant Supt. & Human Resources

 

 

 

Diane is a friend whom I greatly respect; therefore, this ode to Diane...

Diane was voted as TOY (teacher of year) by her East Middle School staff and then moved to one of the top three finalists across Ponca City in the selection process by virtue of her outstanding portfolio.

 

The three finalists were interviewed by a selection committee with the winner chosen by secret ballot. At the banquet, Dr. Pennington was handed a sealed envelope to add to the mystery before he made the announcement to a packed house of teachers and administrators from all over the district, board members, Friends of Education, and Education Foundation members as well as State Senator Eddie Fields.

 

I must admit, I did squeal when I heard the first syllables of her name as he announced the winner!! I was on my feet cheering in a nano second!

 

Here a few of the reasons I was so excited:

 

I have taught with Diane since 1995. Yes, that is NINETEEN years!!

 

First, we taught first grade together. First grade must have been the cement for our friendship which has endured all these years.

 

Walked countless miles together after school in our attempts to stay thin...thinner...and finally to just have an excuse to get together for a prolonged chat.

 

She taught my son for PreK and Kindergarten and deserves an extra gold star for those two years!

 

Then, in the payback of every teacher in the profession, I taught her son as a 5th grader. Nerve-racking but fun to have her as a support at home!

 

We have taught in two different schools together until the district realized they really should keep us separated. So, she teaches at East Middle School and I teach at Roosevelt.

 

I have sat in hospital rooms and waiting rooms with her through several scary moments as well as traveled with her to distant reading conferences.

 

Through it all, I must say that she is so deserving of the honor as she always seems to find the positive in people--even when she's been wrongly judged or treated. She always does what is right for the student, even if it's the hardest yet longest way for her. She is a forever student advocate! I love that about her!

 

Ponca City News, Friday, March 14, 2014

 

 

I have learned from Diane that a person can learn to laugh about just about anything. That's our normal pattern--fuss then laugh.

 

We've counseled each other through medical issues of all sorts, questioned the doctor's judgments and diagnosis and simply been there for each other.

 

We've shared many meals. We have developed a funny little pattern of always pretending it was "my turn" to buy since we really don't keep track of those petty little things.

 

We've loaned books back and forth...some just living in the wrong classroom for years on end.

 

We've sat at each other's dining room tables (not near enough I might add) and chatted some more in our ever-evolving attempt to keep up with each other.

 

We know each other's parents and she was a great support to me as my Dad breathed his last.

 

As a matter of fact, she's the kind of friend who took Blake for the weekend and for trick-or-treating...never knowing that night would be my last with my Dad. She cried when I called her with the news--like I knew she would.

 

Last night, when she started her speech. She cried...a little. I knew she would and I really wanted to help her with her glasses and her paper.

 

 

 

Here are few quotes from her students:

 

"She goes out of her way to help all students. I always learn something new in her class; recently, I learned during the evaporation lab that heat makes water evaporate."

 

"Mrs. Anderson is cool and funny. She always has a photo, and video or an illustration to help us learn a new concept."

 

"Mrs. Anderson does experiments with us. I love the egg drop."

 

"Mrs. Anderson is a wonderful teacher. She always makes sure to explain things that are on a level so that we can understand. She pushes us to our full potential and she can relate to us. I am so happy to have her for my teacher."

 

So, what does the TOY do the day after she's won it all?

Teach...of course!

Build authentic relationships with 8th graders who are tough to love...

Smile at the accolades but...

will realize there's another kid out there

who doesn't quite "get it" yet.

Yes, Diane, my friend, PCPS's Teacher of the Year,

taught today just like all the other days!

If you're interested, you can see her school web site here.

Thanks for reading about my friend! As her friend, I just wanted to make sure the world knew what a great teacher she represents to the community, her students and to her colleagues!