Life is Good-so Good

What an exciting season on the yearly calendar. Fall is just my favorite time of year, what can I say! "Life is Good" really good for many reasons. Our geological region has just experienced the worst heat for as many days in a row as I can remember. Oh, fall! That means children are leaving their comfort zones and headed into another school year. For some little kindergartners' heading off to school, away from their comfortable surroundings, it is often times a little scary. For other kids there is positive energy and they are anxious and ready for their independence. We are all different in many ways and that is a very good thing. Those differences are what makes life happen and makes the world go around.

Here in the Essdack office the staff is bustling around like Christmas is around the corner. Our specialists are so very busy with in service training for districts in our area and outside the state of Kansas. I continue to be amazed at their ability to "wow" teacher audiences with their knowledge and experience. By sharing their knowledge they broaden the thinking of educators and give tools and information that helps to make learning fun and interesting for kids.

My hats go off to teachers. Their challenges are different every year they teach. Each classroom of kids has a different set of circumstances. Educators have a huge responsibility in meeting the needs of every child. We are richly blessed in Kansas to have wonderful devoted educators that keep on going each and every year to enrich the lives of their kiddos! "Life is Good" for many reasons and this time of year it is good because we have classrooms full of life-long learning.

We have parents who have released their children into classrooms with great expectations for learning and excitement for their child or children. Parents please remember "my kids turn" is available with wonderful learning tools to help your children at home. The activities are very fun and interactive. Check it out!

Summertime and the Living is Easy

I remember as a kid growing up it did seem to me that the slogan "summertime and the living is easy" really worked in my youth. The older I get the quicker time passes me by, and time will never stand still. It has been a long summer for most of us, with the temperature in the triple digits. Our move happened in May and the rest has been a blur! For all of my friends out there you all know that fall and winter are my favorite seasons of the calendar. Oh my, how fall seems like a distant dream in my head and with it comes cooler weather, beautiful leaves and the awesome color that inspires my thinking. I am so looking forward to getting the fall box out of storage and begin to adorn my home with the colors that make me happy. I am so anxious to enjoy the outdoors when I can take a walk or sit in my backyard and enjoy the cooler breeze that the change of season brings.
With the change of season also comes the start of another school year for kids, teachers and all staff associated with learning. It is such an exciting time in the Essdack office to be looking forward to another amazing year. Our educational specialists are very busy with requests from school districts to present in their field of expertise to their staff. They are amazing folks that work hours and hours in preparation to continually present the most current information. Once again, "life long learning" is happening and it is awesome to be a part of it.
Parents please remember to check out "My Kids Turn" where you will find activities that you can do at home to extend learning for your children. There are games and tips on each link that are so fun for you and your children and it really makes learning fun too!

Facebook the Never Never Word for Me

Another blog post on continuing the learning stream for the way the world is going. Not long ago my famous last words were "me, I will never do Facebook". If you think for one minute I am going to put myself out there, you are crazy. Well, I ate my famous last words and now have a Facebook page and actually enjoy looking at the daily posts. Sometimes I even feel that it is safe to make a comment. I know that once the post is out there all my Facebook friends will have access to my comment. It is fun and exciting to read what others are doing in their lives. Getting to see pictures of family, grandchildren and other events important to that individual is what makes the Facebook connection of value to me.

Facebook is also a great marketing tool for your employer, in my case it is Essdack. When using Facebook I can mention great learning opportunities going on at Essdack. Things like "My Kids Turn" "Podstock" just to name a couple of things. With having my friends on Facebook, I hope those buzz words spur curiosity for my readers on Facebook. My hope is that they wonder as to what those things really are and how it effects kids, teachers and parents of today!
The world we live in today is a very diverse connected place. We can be connected at all times if we desire. I believe that all the tools available today can be a very productive way to promote business and also connect to friends all over the world.

Life Long Learning Keeps Us Young

As I think of what is happening in today's world many things come to mind for me. We live in a constant changing world with everything related to technology. Oh my, just think of even last year and where things were and then think of the present. We have twitter, facebook, texting, emailing, internet, ipods, ipads and cell phones with unimaginable uses, just to name a few. Who would ever have thought that we would go from big huge cell phones to what we have today.

I was recently in the store where I do business for my cellular phone. I had hoped that I would be ready to upgrade for a reasonable price. I found out that I have a few months before I will upgrade the phone. However, I did change my plan. Texting was something that I just knew 18 months ago that I could do without so I didn't have it on my phone. Things have changed rapidly for me, that is for sure. My kids both text me all the time and many of my friends. Instead of telling them that I don't do that on my phone. I just played along and understood that it would just add to the bill from my provider. After this month realizing just how much texting was happening for me I knew my plan must change. "Essdack" my employer has an office full of life long learners, and also this "Grammy" refuses to not learn new things. So effective July 13th my cell service will have internet, and unlimited texting capabilities. I must admit that texting is another tool to communicate electronically without to much interruption in our lives. My favorite way to have conversation with friends and family is still the most personal way and that is to converse one on one. However, to learn and grow as a person I think it is necessary to join the learning curve and hope on board. I can not even imagine where the young children of today will be twenty years from now with tools of communication.

For now I will anticipate what is just around the corner so that I keep learning! It is exciting.

Our Move is Over and now "My Kids Turn"

Our move is over and I am beginning to feel more settled. For the first 2 weeks I was feeling like I was in a beautiful hotel and I was the maid. We are still working on little things, well I really mean big things in some cases. Our backyard is as large as a small city park. We have many trees and with that comes trimming. Tim has trimmed and hauled brush to the city landfill once and now we are good until fall. The work left to do is pretty much that which will be on going during the summer growing season.

It feels really good to have it all behind us so that I can concentrate on enjoying our home and the other parts of my life.

In the office at Essdack, we are kicking off a busy summer. Jane Seward and Jodi Case are presenting a 2 day "Spaces and Places" where teachers of the young child are learning tips on creating interesting learning spaces. They are having fun creating colorful places for children to learn.

Michelle Flaming and Renee' Smith have been working hard this week planning for a 2 week "Increasing Mathematical Understanding" grant facilitation training. It will be fun to see the same teachers for 2 weeks in the office learning and having fun.

Jane Seward has 5 days of "Pathways to Reading" beginning next week. The calls are rolling in to sign up!

I have mentioned in a previous blog that I am so fortunate to work where learning is always happening. There are always new buzz words related to learning or education which means there might be something new coming down the pike.

A very exciting thing happening at Essdack are "you tube videos" on mykidsturn.com

"My Kids Turn" is a website really designed to help a parent with their child's learning at home. It is a great website that addresses many of the things that children struggle with in school. Here is a list of the topics to check out:

Just Desserts
Learn Grow and Bloom
Raising Digital Kids
Art Snacks
By the Numbers
Magic Spell
Great Games Better Brains

As I have had the opportunity to check out what the staff here at Essdack has done with this learning opportunity, I have certainly learned a lot of new things that I can enjoy with my grandchildren. Our staff has shared tools and tips to help children at home continue learning and also have fun doing it. We believe that learning should be fun!

Enjoy learning something new everyday.

Traveling Down Memory Lane

The preparation for the move to our new home is in full swing. The garage sale is over and it was certainly prosperous for all of us involved. I met my financial rewards with what I had hoped to earn. What a wonderful, gratifying feeling to have that behind me. Preparing our move has certainly been "a trip down memory lane." As I have taken the time to look into every box it has brought with it a lot of emotions that go clear back to my childhood. That is a lot of years, folks! Some things were more easily thrown out or sold than one item in imperticualr

My Dad always enjoyed making things for me anytime of the year. It did not have to be Christmas or some other special day on the calendar. However, one year probably as far back as fifteen years he made my sister and I an outdoor two-wheeled cart. He used old lumber that he always had lying around from some other project. The cool thing about the cart was that he used old antique wheels given to him by a really good friend of his. That made it even better for him to make something for us. Every spring since that time I have always enjoyed it in my yard with flowers. The wood on the cart suffers damage every year from the weather. Tim has spent time keeping it together by replacing some of the original wood. I have given it a fresh coat of paint every spring so that it may continue to be a bright spot in our yard. Needless to say, I truly hope that the cart will stay with me or my children and their families for a very long time. I am looking forward to moving the flower cart with us to our new home, so that I and others that visit us will also enjoy a true labor of love from my precious Dad. Enjoying the out of doors was his favorite thing in the whole world. That is why keeping something made by him that can be enjoyed outdoors is so special to me.
Traveling down memory lane has been fun and also comforting. There are simply certain special things in our lives that will always connect us to someone close to our heart.

The Dawn of a New Day

Here it is "the dawn of a new day". On my last post I blogged on moving from my home of 22 plus years to a newer ranch home. Our home has been on the MLS listing for 17 days and has shown all but 2 days of that time. We have had 2 potential buyers back for the second time and tonight we have the 3rd second time potential buyers coming back to take another look. In my mind I have moved on to our new home. I am thinking about how to decorate, what colors for the walls, and where I will actually store all of our things. Last weekend was the big basement purge! I and a co-worker are having a huge garage sale soon. Tim and I have moved items from the basement to the garage for lack of a better place to go. Sadly, it is very gratifying to be pitching things that at one time I couldn't even begin to part with. Old things of my adult children. I know when I decided to keep it 25 plus years ago in my mind I jut knew that my children would certainly want the valuables of their childhood. Wrong!

We really do live in a very disposable world. What once meant the world to us doesn't mean a thing months or years down the road. The majority in the present generation of young adults do not have the sentiments that some of us have on items that were made by grandma, grandpa or even the generation of "greats". My generation has a better understanding of the labor of love that went in to homemade items. Now that a move is in store for Tim and Jenny it is time to clear our lives and become free of stuff taking up space.
The "dawn of a new day" brings a chance to make memories, reminisce, cherish valuable moments no matter what we are doing. The stuff in our lives, is just stuff! What is the most meaningful are relationships of all those at home, work, and wherever else we hang out.

My new uncluttered existence is feeling really good.