Welcome, Spring! ???

The calendar tells us that today, March 20th, is the 1st day of Spring. It may be more apparent in different parts of the country, but here in the high desert of Oregon it most certainly is not. A few inches of heavy snow greeted me as I opened the back door to let the dogs out this morning. I called in to the school closure hotline prior to waking Amy just to be sure - alas school was still on... Dan shoveled to reach the newspaper and on we went with the day.

It just so happens that my lovely and talented niece, Nancy Barnes, just sent us copies of photos she took back in January when visiting with her handsome husband, Jason. The photos where taken at the studio of Amy's ballet teacher, Joy Victor, during class barre work. Even though it is blustery outside and not at all spring like, these pictures remind me of a spring yet to come.

Here are the lovely pictures - Enjoy!

And, Welcome, Spring!

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Music by Antonio Vivaldi - The Four Seasons Spring

my SMART readers

This is my 3rd year participating in the SMART (start making a reader today) program at our local elementary school. The first 2 years brought me in contact with some very sweet, talented and lively 1st and 2nd grade girls. I currently meet and read with 2 second graders every Wednesday. I was pleased to be assigned a boy and a girl this year.

Cristina is simply delightful. She is a bit chubby with deep dimples, long brown hair, wears very fashionable clothes and recently had a second piercing in each ear. She very proudly showed me as soon as we sat down. It was one of her birthday gifts from her mother.
Cristina is the queen of conniving her way out of reading. Her best scheme is to convince me to read every other page, which I am very willing to do - anything to get her reading. Along with reading comes the chitter chatter that is common to girls her age. Keeping her on task is not always easy. But I have found that sometimes just taking some time to chat is just as important as reading together. She has opened up to me about her family life and it is not pretty. She lives with her Grandma. Mom has a boyfriend with other kids living in that home. Dad has a girlfriend and other kids living in his home. Ugh!
I am hoping that my time with Cristina is helpful to her. She certainly makes me smile!

Zerikai - great name, right? - is a sweetheart. He is frequently tired, dirty, and disheveled. I just want to hug him. He really struggles to read but is eager and works hard for each word. Again, we stop to talk and sometimes the subject of our book will remind him of a story that he just has to tell me. Earlier in the year he told me about trips with his father digging for dinosaur bones and traveling into space to other plants. All told with complete seriousness. Lately he has shared with me his dread of going to his dad's house because his stepmother doesn't like him. My heart hurts for this sweet boy.

So, I do what I can - which does not seem like much - to bring a little sunshine into each of these kids lives. They certainly make my day brighter!