1st Grade Musings

Thursday night was open house at my daughter's school -- one of our favorite things every year. Skylar was so excited for us to go, she couldn't stop skippng and leaping around the house before we left. The school was buzzing with people everywhere, and was bursting with artwork and projects lining the halls.

I love open house every year because you can feel the creativity oozing from the pages hanging on the walls and the clay models resting in display cabinets and you can see that everyone around you is amazed and, yes, inspired. If only we could stay as open, free and optimistic as we were as children as we grow up. I snapped some pics of some of Skye's work, because you can't help but stop in your tracks when you see what's in a first grader's mind...and what I wish was in mine.

Here she says: I am proud of reading, writing, learning, I love school because you learn, you get to ride the bus.


Here, an anagram of her name: Sweet pumpkin pie, Kind to everyone, Yes I am cute, Likes to [play] baseball, Animals are special to me, Relly likes school.


Miss Cally made the family portrait, and fortunately, I did not get an orange, high-top ponytail.


This is my favorite, because where most of us would consider happy to be something fleeting, my first grader sees it all around her. Skylar's "Happy Poem" reads: Happy is smiling, Happy looks like family smiling, Happy sounds like my cat meowing, Happy tastes like ice cream, Happy smells like nuts (!), Happy feels like the sun warming me up, Happy is smiling.

Bless You, Curse You

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, my favorite Irish blessing for you:

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

And my favorite Irish curse:

May those who love us love us.
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May he turn their ankles,
So we'll know them by their limping.

Daily Lesson

Check out a beautifully written post, carrying a great life lesson, from one of my favorite fellow bloggers, Mike.

Quotable

Today at church I was reminded of something I've heard before that I think is great and worth sharing, as it relates to all aspects of our lives, as parents, spouses, professionals and people:

"Our greatest fear should not be failure, rather succeeding at something that doesn't really matter."

I don't know who said it first, but he or she was a smart cookie.