Our Arkansas Pumpkin

Four days later and this is what our pumpkin looks like- a true Arkansan. All it needs is a pick up truck, a gun rack, a confederate flag, and a cousin named Bubba.

And, no, that is not "blood" dripping off of his teeth. It's actually candle wax. (I figured Allison would point that out) Arkansans may not be known for their impeccable dental hygiene, but they're certainly not vampires. :)

How We Spent Our Weekend

If this post really lived up to its title, I would have nothing but pictures of the four of us in our pajamas watching television. It really was quite unproductive and lazy. Those are the best kinds of weekends. However, Fernando got a burst of energy and motivation and decided to help Daniel carve our Halloween pumpkin- his first one, ever. Of course, the words "help Daniel carve" means, quite literally, doing the entire job himself while Daniel plays with the pumpkin guts, throws seeds everywhere, and sings the theme song to the Imagination Movers. Alas, here are the fruits of Fernando's labor...(no pun intended) Or is a pumpkin a vegetable?

Things to be Thankful For on Thursday

• a baby girl who sleeps through the night
• a nip in the air that means Fall is officially here
• a chance to get outdoors and enjoy the beautiful weather
• Pumpkin Spice Lattes while shopping at Target
• great deals on Christmas presents
• gas for $2.45 a gallon (sad, but true)
• drives along tree lined streets
• leaves that change
• laughter that comes with being told by your son that you look like Mr. Noodle (or should I be offended?)
• knowing my husband will be home tomorrow
• good friends back home who are praying for us
• lunch and a movie on Saturday with the girls
• Mallowmars- the worlds BEST cookie
• text messages that allow me to talk to my sister-in-law at 11:30 at night- love you, Jule!

Why Kids Can't Read

Of all the issues that are concerns in this next election, education ranks at the top of the list in my book. I am notably disturbed by the lack of importance that has been placed on education during this campaign season. It has been overshadowed by the economy and the war in Iraq. Somehow, it always seems to fall short in the list of governmental priorities- although it is fundamental to maintaining the economy and our national security. The final presidential debate focused on the issue of education briefly, as it would be improper to ignore it completely, but neither candidate had an acceptable answer or platform for the failing education system in our country. I marginally agree with each candidate and, at the same time, scorn the idiocy of our politicians. McCain claims that choice and competition are the answer. I agree wholeheartedly with this. If there is no competition, there is no motivation. Any business owner in the country will tell you that. The FCC, in fact, does everything in it's power to eliminate the possibility for corporations to create monopolies. Why? Because monopolies foster abuse- costs go up and quality goes down. Hold the public schools accountable by creating some healthy competition and let parents choose where their kids go to school by offering vouchers of some sort.

Obama's cure is to give teachers further training, hold them accountable, and throw more money at the problem. Teachers are already required to take additional classes in professional development yearly, simply to keep their certification- a task that is increasingly difficult when one is trying to balance work and family. Bear in mind that teaching is one of the few professions, if not the only one, where the cost of continuing one's education comes directly out of his/her own meagerly filled pocket. Ironically, many of the same politicians who use the phrase "hold teachers accountable" wonder why teachers spend an entire year teaching towards tests and why, at the end of the year, students have actually retained very little information. Case in point- the AIMS test in Arizona. Don't even get me started on the oxymoron that is politicians preaching professional accountability. That's a blog for a different day. I do agree, however, that education is shamefully under-funded, and teachers are shamefully underpaid.
Although, ironically, the United States pours more money into education than any other nation. Apparently it costs a fortune to raise generations of children lacking basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skills. The problem is that more money, if not allocated correctly will do nothing more than drain the federal budget. Some of the poorest performing schools in the nation receive the most funding. Has anyone tried to determine why this is?

Journey with me into a typical American classroom. Let's propose that a teacher has 24 kids in her class (an average amount-and very low for some schools). Just for the sake of argument, those 24 kids are divided evenly into three different groups of learners- kinesthetic, auditory, and visual. Eight students learn by doing, eight learn by hearing, and eight learn by seeing. The task at hand: teach the class that 2+2=4. In a 30 minute period, the concept needs to be introduced, demonstrated, practiced, reviewed, and assessed using 3 different methods. Now consider that two of those students have been diagnosed with a learning disability and have an individualized education plan (IEP). This adds two new methods of instruction (a total of 5 different ways to teach that 2+2=4). Three of the students have been diagnosed with ADHD. One of whom is so heavily medicated that he is listless and half asleep on his desk. Across the room another student, whose parents are going through a divorce is gazing out the window unaware that instruction is even taking place. A gifted child is so bored that she's acting out, two other students are Spanish speakers, and a visually impaired student is having trouble keeping track in his braille textbook. In the meantime, two kids are in a fight in the back of the room that started on the playground over a ball, a child with an emotional disorder needs to go to the nurse for her daily dose of antidepressant, and the gifted student has now managed to disrupt the entire room by throwing eraser bits at her classmates in an attempt to entertain herself. As the teacher heads to the back to break up the argument, a screeching alarm goes off and she is suddenly reminded that it's fire drill day. At the end of the day, the teacher is exhausted and heads home to grade countless papers, finish her lesson plans for the week, and do homework for her continuing education class. Twenty-four kids go home to play video games and watch television- none of whom know that 2+2=4.

Does anyone care that this teacher graduated at the top of her class? Does anyone care that she passed her education exams with flying colors? Does anyone care that she spends 4-5 hours an evening focused on her classroom? Not at all. Because when it all comes down to it, her school district will reprimand and/or fire her for her classroom's lack of achievement and she will inevitably be visited at some point during the year by 24 sets of parents all telling her how to do her job.

Competition? Money? Teacher training? Accountability? Are these really the answers our education system needs to recruit and retain quality teachers? Will our students really be better off? Inevitably these are the "miracle cures" that our government will throw at education in vain. We couldn't possibly group students according to ability, that wouldn't be fair. Some kids would grow up thinking that they struggle academically and we couldn't possibly damage their psyche. I suppose it's better that they just don't learn at all.

In addition, parents cannot possibly be responsible for the character education of their own children. Isn't it the public school's job to teach kids about respect, kindness, sharing, and self-esteem? And let's not forget about sex education, drug awareness, nutrition, and basic hygiene. We have to make room in our curriculum for these vital life lessons.

Is it any wonder our kids can't read?

To the Pumpkin Patch We Go

One of the great things about living in Little Rock, is all of the family activities that go on here and how accessible they are. We are literally minutes from lakes, hiking trails, parks, and farms that host myriads of events for kids. Last Fall, as we watched the leaves begin to turn, I wanted so badly to take Daniel to the pumpkin patch. As a scrapbooker, I had a pumpkin themed layout already planned in my head and was determined to capture the most adorable pictures of my son amidst a countless array of pumpkins. My in-laws had planned a visit for the end of October and I hoped they would join us for our pumpkin patch extravaganza. Weeks and weeks went by but I was determined to make this a memory for all of us, so we postponed our trip to the pumpkin patch until Nana and Tata arrived. The weekend they were with us, we loaded up the car and drove out to the pumpkin patch only to find that the rain we'd had the previous week had flooded the entire farm and the pumpkin patch was closed. Gritting my teeth, I got back in the car and we turned around to head home- no pumpkin patch, no pictures, no memories...

This year, I was not about to let the same thing happen. So, this morning, we made another attempt to go to the pumpkin patch. Scrapbooking page still in mind, I grabbed the camera, made sure the memory card was cleared, and out the door we went. Anyone, however, who knows our son, knows that when we get him to a public place like that-especially one geared towards kids his age- he becomes completely schizophrenic. We could not get him to sit still or look directly at the camera to save our lives. We spent the entire visit saying, "Daniel, stop." Daniel, look." "Daniel, smile!". But, alas, Daniel found the dirt, rocks, and sticks lying on the ground decidedly more interesting than the pumpkins themselves. The only consolation was that we heard similar phrases from the mouths of EVERY other parent there. There were a lot of frustrated scrapbookers at the pumpkin patch today.

All in all, we did have a really great time. Daniel loved the hayride, the petting zoo, the pig races, and picking out his very own pumpkin, which I'm fairly certain outweighs him by about 15 lbs. Daniel especially loved being outdoors and we certainly didn't mind spending some time out on a day like today- sunny and 70 degrees (we know all of our friends and family back home are jealous...isn't it supposed to drop down into the mid-nineties for you this week?). It was a great day...and we even managed to get a few pictures.

Happy Birthday

Our little Sofia is five months old today! It still seems like we just brought her back from the hospital days ago- the time has gone by so fast. She continues to grow and change each day,though, and we are amazed at how much she has blossomed over the last few weeks. These days, Sofia loves rolling over on her belly, eating peas, and blowing rasberries. Happy birthday little one!

Fun Friday

Our weather is definitely cooling off and it's beginning to feel more like Fall. That means more outside time for all of us- hallelujah! Today we took advantage of the 75 degree temperature and headed outdoors for what Daniel calls "exporing". He loved playing in the dirt, poking the ants, blowing bubbles, and drawing with sidewalk chalk. Here are some shots of our super fun Friday.

You Know It's Gonna Be a Bad Day When...

Your breakfast turns out like this...

In my defense, I was not making the eggs and I am not at liberty to tell you who was. Although, contrary to popular belief, it was not Daniel. Maybe tomorrow will be better, or maybe we'll just have cold cereal for breakfast.

Mom's Tagged List

Writing out six random thoughts about yourself doesn't sound like such a difficult thing to do, but I'm finding it very challenging. Maybe its trying to condense the randomness of the last half-century or so down to 6 things that's most challenging. So. . . .here you go!

Some of my fondest memories growing up was my dad playing his guitar while we cleaned up the dishes after dinner, or on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Our house was always filled with music and singing (and the wonderful smell of great Italian food!).

I have an awesome family and I especially love being "grandma". Just looking at my grandkids' pictures makes me smile from the inside out.

My favorite time of day is my early morning quiet time with my Bible, a good cup of coffee, and a great smelling candle (I like the spicy, fruity ones the best).

I love the smell of pine trees and the sound of the wind whistling through their branches.

Would love to get the whole Reckard clan together in one place for a "family reunion".

I love to travel. Always wanted to be a flight attendant, but it never happened. I love seeing new places and experiencing new things. I was even one of those crazy kids who enjoyed moving. It was fun to me to wake up in a new room, in a new house.

That's about as random as it gets.

Thanks for doing this, Mom. I love learning these little things about you. Love you lots!

Tagged

I got tagged by my wonderful cousin-in-law, Anna. :) Thanks for giving me something else to think about besides what's on the news! I needed that!


The rules are:
~Post the rules on your blog
~Write 6 random things about yourself
~Tag 6 people at the end of your post~If you are tagged, just do it, and pass the tag along!


Okay, random things about me… (this could be more difficult than I thought)

1) I love this time of year, the onset of Fall, because of the cooler temperatures and the changing leaves. It means that change is coming and the holidays are right around the corner. I live for them all year long.

2) I love old music, and I mean OLD, like Ain't She Sweet and Let Me Call You Sweetheart, because it reminds me of my precious grandpa whom I miss so much!

3) My oldest memory is of the nursery at First Baptist Church of Metuchin. I remember the cribs and the Fisher Price activity boards hanging on them. I had to be less than 2 years old.

4) I am a travel junkie and love planning trips for us to take (truth be told, I love planning anything). The trip I'm most looking forward to is going to New York during the holidays. I can't wait to see the tree at Rockafeller Center, the Rockettes at Radio City, shop at Macy's, ice skate in Central Park, and have afternoon tea at the Waldorf Astoria.

5) I'm a sucker for romance. I love Pride and Prejudice, Anne of Green Gables, misty bridges, and kisses in the rain.

6) When I was young, I hated Mexican food. It ranked just under liver and onions in my book. Now, not only did I marry a Mexican :), but I can't get enough of it. I crave things like chorizo, carne asada, mole, green chile, enchiladas, and Julie's chicken tacos!

My turn to tag. Do I have to stick to 6? Hmmmm. I tag-
Mom
Lisa
Allison
Stephanie
Kimbasa
Shannon

Mom and Lis- email me your list and I'll post it here. :) Hugs to you all!