Meet MAISIE Daisy!!!!

OK. What's up with this sign?? Does that mean we are slow as grandparents? Does that mean that we savor playing with our blessed bundles -- just on a different speed? Does that recognize that the wee wonders run circles around us? Maybe it refers to the fact that they have us twisted around their teeny pinkies?? All I know for sure is that there is a certain truth beyond the first giggle of this cautionary sign.

Here we are earlier in the week -- out in Colorado. This is our 7th grandchild. She weighed in at 7 pounds and 7 ounces and we consider ourselves to be the 'lucky' ones!!!! Her name is Maisie, which rhymes with Daisy!!!! I have been given permission from da mama to call her Maisie-daisy. Her big brothers also condone my moniker.

[For new readers here I have an absolute LUV affinity for daisies.... and while I haven't posted the several hundred daisy photos from this summer, I have plenty from seasons past. Even a five minute movie I made from a gazillion stills. Click here for the movie when you need a break for tranquility!! That's our daughter Noelle playing the amazing oboe music behind the daisies..... just tonight, she called moments ago to tell us that she's 'passed-the-comps' for her doctoral program!!!! We have SO much to be thrilled over. We are indeed blessed to be participating in these milestones. Sigh.]

Grand-dad adores his grand-daughter. He seems to have an extra 'soft' spot in his heart for his grand-girlies! Our count now is 5 boys and 2 girls.... with one girl per family: 3 boys + 1 girl in Denver plus 2 boys + 1 girl in Columbus =
BLESSED!!

Do you ADORE this capture as much as I do??? Seriously in this photo she's a few days short of 3 weeks, but already hamming for the camera!! Gotta smile over this one. 

There were amazing things being uttered between the two of them at this particular moment. It was fun being a fly on the wall. Here's the only 'evidence' that I was ever allowed to hold our precious pip. Guess who picked her outfit to debut for her adoring crowd? A baby in polka dots is just something to savor. Can you smell that new-baby smell?

RADIO! Chatting w Charity

Farewell CO. Hello, OH!! Readers know that this has been the summer of my efforts to "reach out" and get my blog connected to the wider world. Whooohoooo. It's working. As a result of my searching for Twitter insight I 'found' a power-house of a person in Charity Preston. Charity is the brains and brawn behind The Organized Classroom Blog. As a result of her amazing prowess and capability around social media she was prompted to open the Teaching Blog Training School and that's where we met.

Turns out that Charity lives in Ohio. Of all the 50 states she could have chosen, she resides in OHIO!!! Do you LUV how this story is unfolding?

Charity is a writer for Teaching Blog Addict. Turns out that TBA is launching TBA Today, a radio station for educators. (Are you following these hints?) Turns out that Charity's going to have a weekly radio show called, "Chatting with Charity" on TBA Today. Turns out that Charity needs a first-ever guest to interview for her first-ever radio program. Can you guess where this is leading??

I GOT TO BE INTERVIEWED FOR Charity's radio launch!!!!!!!!!!!

I won't attempt to impress you with all sorts of technical details of how we were able to use technology to capture 25 minutes of our conversation. I won't tell you the hour when we were able to get it finished and I certainly won't tell you the even later hour when it was all edited together. Let us just say that it was past my curfew and that there were goooey-ooey brownies involved. (I'm known as the brownie-queen around TBTS secret training room's kitchen.)

My understanding is that our radio conversation will be live forever in the podcast cloud. When you have 24 minutes and 53 seconds come on over.

P.S. The very latest of Charity's brainstorms is to launch a new blog called, "Teacher's Freebies." I will be one of her contributing authors at this newest site where every post from dozens & dozens of educator-authors will include a freebie suitable for teachers.

Just a reminder.
The month of September is winding down.
You have a couple more days to use the promo-code: RWB911
at my website,
to receive 20% off of my nationally winning,
INDIE Award of Excellence picture book,
"Red, White and Blue."

Blue Heron Hallways

I LUV visiting new schools wearing my author/illustrator hat -- sharing my picture books & songs as I travel. Now that I have gone 'wild' over at Pinterest, I will be working more diligently to document as many bits & pieces of the work I observe through out the various building hallways of my travels. That way you can be a little friend perched on my shoulder as I travel about the country-side. Everyone can improve from sharing the ideas we all create on behalf of children!! Here's a classroom door with a combination of children's self-portraits and their photographs mixed together. I like the sentiment.

We popped back into Miss Cain's second grade classroom, where our Ewan spends his days and I spotted another writing prompt, as we left him a surprise-note in his journal. 

                                  Outer space alien invasion theme for the school wide book fair!!

                                                      The bulletin board outside the art room door!!!

                                                  The art room door's permanent mural:

The high hallway ceilings were adorned with 'alphabet' art in a wide variety of styles. Here's the letter "N" for New York Harbor. Twill be pinning to my 'Red, White and Blue' collection over at Pinterest.

                                                         Classroom door of buzzy bee welcome.

I was absolutely ecstatic to see these first grade pictures, complete with invented spelling.

How totally AMAZING is the school's library collection of 'plush' characters to support the themes of a variety of authors and illustrators?!?! How many books do you recognize from their plush, stuffed animal, alter-ego? LUV LUV LUV this support for early readers!! I wonder if you can check out the fuzzies??

As an author/illustrator, the all time thrill-on-earth that I can imagine would be to have my work in new and different formats. I LUV board books and big books. How about an e-book? I will learn how to do cartwheels -- if one day my books merit a character, that could join such a parade on a library shelf!!!! Something to aspire toward: growing & new horizons.

RAINBOW: Special Guest!!

It's always a welcome treat to enter the classroom to find original rainbows drying on the drying rack from open-ended art explorations. After I had so much fun yesterday with the second graders, it only seemed fitting to get myself invited back to the preschool for Finn's crew and buddies. We planned just a tad further ahead and so my visit got to be incorporated into the "Message of the Day." Special guest indeed!!

There will be so favoritism shown by the morning's photographer. Absolutely none. If there are 'extra' pictures of a little boy in an orange t-shirt, that is merely a co-incidence. If he happens to look a lot like our grandson, Finn, that is just a small world serendipity!!

In thinking through what I could do with the two classrooms worth of young-preschoolers without my prop box of goodies, I decided it would be a lot of fun to start with some guitar led favorites.  I appropriated my stepson Brian's guitar for the opening numbers which worked perfectly. Here we are showing our happy-face smiles for all of our assembled audience to appreciate.

                                             Get those wheels going around!!

                                                    The door goes open + shut!!

Here we are gathered in my first ever of "Debbie's Ditties.' The combined classes are cavorting on "Goldie's Goldfish." This is the part where we just about begin to s-h-a-k-e!!!!

Now's the time to launch into the 'author/illustrator' portion of our time together. Mrs. Nelson joins me up on stage in the spot-light and leads the children in their favorite, to the tune of the 'Farmer in the Dell.'

• The author writes the words.

• The author writes the words.

• Hey, ho! Did you know?

• The author writes the words!!!

• The illustrator makes the pictures.
• The illustrator makes the pictures.
• Hey, ho! Did you know? 
• The illustrator makes the pictures.  

"I think you're wonderful. I think you're marvelous.
I think you're beautiful and magical and filled with curiosity....
... and dreams." {Click here for a YouTube video of the tune.}

Now it's time to share, "Tall Giraffe" and the sign language for its rhymes.

Everyone's favorite part: "Happy lappy, tongue so slappy." Today Megan is wise to my antics and gets a close-up, while everyone chuckles together.

And one final grand finale, group participation, up and moving, ever watchful, focused, sing-a-long, jump-a-long, freeze-a-long jamboree of delight and amazement.

Can you believe the staff says that I'm welcome back? Chances are good for a return as we have young Duncan in the wings, to be followed eventually with Missy Maisie-Daisy.

Thanks for the invite to visit...... I'll look forward to my next colossal Colorado chorale!