About Hi, I’m Abbie, and M is for Mama is an unapologetic ode to messy, maddening, miraculous motherhood. It’s also where I share my favorite non-M-related passions–like thrifting, endless furniture and knickknack rearranging, exercising, baking yummy treats, putting together ridiculously cheap outfits, hot-glue crafting, and typing out my deep (and not-so-deep) thoughts…almost always with one of my 5 children on or near me. I love Jesus, good grammar, and ho-cho (which I don’t get to drink nearly as often as I’d like in the muggy, pine tree forests of East Texas). See that expression on my face? So, who am I? I love icing. I also love to travel, which doesn’t seem like it would work with the aforementioned brood of ankle-biters. I’m a former high school/college tutor, turned high school Spanish/ESL/English teacher, turned fitness instructor, turned homeschool mama. On my good days, homeschooling seems like one of the most fulfilling things ever. So, in October 2013, M is for Mama was born.
Manic Mrs. Stone Printable Spelling Dictionary for Kids If you’ve been following my blog, you’ve seen a lot of Letter of the Week crafts, reading lists, fine motor activities, and math connections. I’ve also shared a few resources I’ve created to help my 4 1/2-year-old learn to read. This week I’m beginning a new venture — teaching my children to love writing. I look forward to sitting down to have regular writing time with my Four and Six — and showing you just what that looks like. As a classroom teacher, I made Writing Workshop a regular part of my schedule – whether I taught grades 3-5 (as I did for three years), or grades 1-2 (as I did for five years). I found that the more time and instruction I gave, the greater the likelihood that my students would love to write. I want so much to foster that same love of writing in my own children. One thing all writers love is words. My daughter, just finishing kindergarten, turned six last week. 2) It is a recording space for children to write the spellings of words they want to use in their writing.
Our Haven on Earth: My Mean Mother...a poem for Mother's Day Several years ago, on my first Mother's Day, my Mom gave me this poem inside the card she made for me. I'm not sure of the author, but I thought I would share it, as I'm sure many of you out there also had a "Mean Mother" and are now (or planning to be) "mean mothers" yourselves. My Mean Mother... Someday when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a parent, I will tell them, as my Mean Mom told me: I loved you enough to ask where you were going, with whom, and what time you would be home. I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover that your new best friend was a creep. I loved you enough to make you go pay for the bubble gum you had taken and tell the clerk, "I stole this yesterday and want to pay for it." I loved you enough to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your room, a job that should have taken 15 minutes. I loved you enough to let you see anger, disappointment, and tears in my eyes. Those were the most difficult battles of all.
About the Green Dragonfly Hi, Im Janette… The purpose of this blog is to journal THREE things; crafts, creativity and my kids. We live in Hamilton, New Zealand. When I tried to think about how I could best explain myself I couldn’t settle on the description, so (among many other things) I’m a… Mama. If you would like to get in touch please email me at: janettewise (at) me (dot) com All words and images are Copyright Janette Williams 2011. Like this: Like Loading... ABC's Four Corners and the messy truth of autism Autism is a “messy” truth. It doesn’t have the high blood sugar of diabetes, the uncontrolled cell division of cancer, nor the clear brain degeneration of Alzheimer’s disease. Autism is a condition (or, more accurately, a number of conditions) with as yet, no clear biological markers, and with behaviours as different as any two humans might have on this earth. This is confusing for parents, puzzling for researchers, and a mighty inconvenience for documentary film-makers. Autism Enigma The Canadian documentary The Autism Enigma, which the ABC broadcast last night on Four Corners, presented one theory on the cause of autism. The documentary left me with a sense of unease. I do not question the quality of the science on which this theory is based. Kerry O’Brien and the Four Corners producers did an excellent job at drawing the attention of the viewers to this fact. The media and autism We now know that there is unlikely to be one cause for all of the autisms. The business of autism
dash and bella blue milk Ain't No Mom Jeans Blog | Ruby Press | When we find something we love, we want to tell everyone! Hello friends! We’re sorry to say that for now we must take a hiatus from the Ruby Press blog. We started this blog back in 2008 and it has been instrumental in the meeting of many dear friends and making of many wonderful connections. To our loyal readers and contributors…thank you!! xxMelissa and the Ruby Press staff {Image from here} I took a trip to visit my grandmother over the weekend, and came home with bags of kumquats from her tree. (image via here) (image via here) For her Spring 2014 collection, Visible, Karen Walker made the Kenyan artisans behind the season’s inspiration visible in the most fantastic way- She cast them as the stars of the campaign! {image from here} We are looking for one more intern right now at Ruby Press- it’s a 6 month internship (2- 3 days a week) and it’s a great way to get your foot in the PR door. We are still working on the book, which we are self-publishing, and just launched the Kickstarter campaign! Just got back from a lovely trip to Michigan!