let's go to the movies

I've been waiting for this day for 3 1/2 years, (and we threw an extra day in there for good measure)...the day that I would take Elijah to the theatre for the first time.
It's no secret that both Jonathan and I love the movies. Going to the theatre is a real treat. I still remember the first movie I saw in the theatre when I was little. My Dad took me to the Muppet Movie and I was enchanted.
Yesterday was supposed to be the day we went. We got to the theatre, I prepped him on what we were doing and what it would be like (very important when you have a highly sensitive pre-schooler)...he was excited, he was ready, his eyes lit up when he saw the poster on the board outside and then the news I was not expecting...the show was sold out. You try to gently explain that to Elijah with better success than I did. Big Tears. "Don't make my movie be sold out"...I managed to calm him down and then we got home...more big tears as soon as he saw his dad..."Daddy, my movie was sold out"...fortunately, we have a plethora of DVD's...one of which saved the day.
So today, I managed to successfully pry him away from the church (no small feat in itself, by the way) with plenty of time to spare for the earlier matinee than we shot for yesterday (I figured, if the 1:30 show was sold out, we could get tickets then and there for the 4:00 one), this time, I was able to give Jonathan the thumbs up signal as he waited in the parking lot just in case...and Elijah and I were off to see The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything, A Veggie Tales Movie.
We got our popcorn and orange pop (usually I go for a diet coke, but it was for Elijah), gave the ticket taker our tickets and headed into cinema 3...Elijah took one look inside and almost did a 180 back out again. "I'm scared...I don't want to go to a movie" (I had anticipated this might happen) We found a seat and started to talk about why he was scared and I began to explain all about going to the movies. We went back out to the entrance and found a booster seat that velcroed to the seat (great idea by the way)...when we went back into cinema 3 I let Elijah do a little exploring. He found us new seats (at the top of the stairs very last row...also a great idea, because you don't bother anyone if you have to get up). I showed him where the projection window was and peaked at the machine, explaining how it worked.
He was still a little nervous, right up until the movie started...in fact he spent a good deal of the time waiting with his head burried in my shoulder. Once he saw the picture on screen he was riveted and smilling. Elijah opted to keep his hat on for the duration of the movie (the ear flaps dulled the noise a bit for him) and chatted a little bit...but as I quickly found out, going to a kid's show matinee is not the quietest bit of cinema there is. I especially loved his repeated comment every time something bad happened, "that's not very good". He spent the last part of the movie sitting in my lap, which was nice...since we had Jeremy last year, I don't get to spend an awful lot of alone time with Elijah, so I'm glad we had something special for just the two of us. I know Jonathan wanted to take him to his first movie too, but he did get to take him to his first hockey game...this kind of evens it out a bit.
Overall, I think he liked it. When I asked him to tell Daddy about the movie, he said, "It's a secret, if you want to know, you have to go see it yourself"...I don't know if that's a hint, he'd like to see it again, or not, it's pretty cute either way.

For Jill

Ahh my friend Jill...apparently my only faithful reader who misses my blog. I've been going through the cycle of blog guilt and didn't want to write another "I'm sorry for not writing in my blog kind of entry"...Yes, my blog has suffered as many other blogs have suffered by the online allure of Facebook...hooked on Scrabulous (please don't shut it down Hasbro, I haven't beaten Brad yet!), and reconnecting with friends of the past that's where I've been...always with my blog lingering in the back of my mind.
For inspiration I visited month one of Blog the First, re-reading the entries that started it all (Sept. 2005), enjoying my random musings on marriage, motherhood and teaching. So, perhaps I will take a few minutes away from Facebook to blog again...we'll see.

2 by 2

I was cleaning out my email today and found this forward Taryn sent me months back...I always meant to return it

You know the deal....copy it, answer it, and send it to your friends :-)

* Two names you go by:
1. Mama
2. Mrs. Springthorpe

* Two things you are wearing right now:
1. sweater
2. jeans


* Two things you would want (or have) in a relationship:
1. love
2. Trust

* Two of your favorite things to do:
1. Read
2. play with my kids

* Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. for a snow day from work tomorrow
2. for the boys to sleep most of the way on the plane to BC

* Two pets you’ve had:
1. Skippy (cat)
2. Duffy (dog)

* Two things you did last night:
1. Went to Jaclyn's Christmas Party
2. cooked tortellini

* Two last things you ate:
1. cheeseburger
2. fries

* Two people you last talked to:
1. Jonathan
2. Elijah

* Two things you’re going to do today:
1. battle laundry mountain
2. pack Christmas gifts

* Two longest car rides:
1. cross Canada - 8 hour days for 8 days straight
2. BC to California

* Two favorite holidays:
1. Christmas
2. Easter

* Two favorite beverages:
1. Empress Afternoon Tea
2. Chai Tea Latte

A Compliment...I think

Last week one of my grade 7 students told me that I was a mean teacher, but that it was a good thing because I'm mean the way teachers are supposed to be mean. HMMMM...I wonder what that means.

just when you have had enough...

...they go and do something really sweet (3 year olds that is). It was just one of those days with Elijah...I don't know if it was the houseboundness of a snowday or what but bedtime couldn't come fast enough tonight. So of course he's up again an hour past when he was originally put to bed (as I said, just one of those days) and I tuck him in again and prepare to leave, he asks if he can pray for me. So he prays his usual prayer, "Dear Jesus, thank you for blessing my mommy, Amen, Bye-bye" he looks at me and asks, "Mommy, are you still sick?" (I've been battling off ear/throat infections for a month now)...so I told him I was mostly better, but still had a sore throat (2 rounds of anti-biotics and I'm heading back to the doctor), so Elijah puts his hands on my head and starts to pray again this time: "Dear Lord Jesus, please make my mommy all better so she's not sick any more, Amen, Bye-bye"...then he gives me a kiss and rolls over to go to sleep.

Blog, oh blog...do you still love me?

Not that I've had anything else to do during the past 2 months besides teaching at 2 schools (21 classes), being a mom to 2 little lads, being a wife (to 1 man), co-running a household, volunteering with church stuff, directing choir, planning assemblies and musical gathering school stuff, battling off illnesses (more on that later)...you know just life stuff...

how else am I blogging?

One of my goals this year in teaching (yes, we have official growth plans) is to use more technology in my teaching. Actually, I've gotten that "I'm such a cool teacher" feeling as a result of this...yes, I laugh at myself over that too. The first time I got that feeling this year was with my grade 7s. I'd designed a unit on Elvis Presley and I was trying to figure out a way to show him as the performer he was. Thanks to YouTube, Blogger and and LCD projector, I did. I gathered up a few of his performances, starting with his first appearance on Ed Sullivan and ending with his last performance 3 weeks before his death in 1977 and posted them on a site. The kids loved it! I actually had a table of boys so enthralled that I caught them trying to style their hair like Elvis.
The current unit I'm teaching the 7's (yes, it is currently the grade 7's I'm trying to impress, 5 years of grade 7 music, maybe I'm starting to get it right) is Music Around the World. I was inspired to play Name that Tune by Country as our introductory lesson. Again, thanks to YouTube and Blogger and some help from Wikipedia, I was able to. I found 15 different music videos that represented 15 different countries and played them for the kids. They had to try to name the song, artist and country...I actually haven't shown them the videos yet, I just played the music on my laptop with the screen away from them. Again, they were captivated. The noisier and more difficult to impress class were so quiet you could have heard a pin drop, I couldn't believe it. There were some students who came late and the other kids were like "quiet, we're playing a game"...if you knew who the students were that said that, you'd be even more impressed.
If you'd like to check out my sites they are: http://elvispresleyvideolessons.blogspot.com/
and
http://aroundtheworldmusic.blogspot.com/
try your hand at name that tune (okay, some of them are labeled, some of them are not, but I'll let you know how you did)