a valentine's project

Several weeks ago I saw these candlestick mailboxes on another blog. I thought I knew which one - and I have spent most of the night trying to find the post. I fully intended to link back to the original post, but I. Just. Can't. Find. It. (If it was your blog, or you know the blog please let me know so that I can give credit where credit is due.) But these are just too cute to not share.

Last year we made these great table runners. We bought red Christmas lights on clearance, picked up a variety of ribbon, and some Valentiney fabrics. We cut the ribbons and fabrics into strips. stretched the lights along a table top, and tied the ribbon/fabric strips around the string of lights. This was a great project for the youth kids to do. There is no right or wrong with the strips - no pattern at all. Then we just stretched them along the tables, running extension cords under the tables to plug them in.

The table along the right side and the back tables on the left have the lights plugged in.

I love the table runners. I borrowed them last weekend for our Valentine's dance at school. And when I saw the candlestick mailboxes, I knew they would look great with these table runners. So I went to the Goodwill store and bought 10 brass candlesticks in varying sizes and shapes. I got them all for $8.25. Then I found the mailboxes at Michael's.

They were a little bent out of shape so I got a 10% discount on each, knocking them down to $3.49 each. I spray painted the candlesticks with some black paint left over from another project and glued a mailbox to the top of each.

They've been sitting around on my mantle and several tables for the last few weeks - I think I'm going to miss them.

Half of the mailboxes are a light purple and half are red. Some of the candlesticks are tall. Some are short. Some are skinny. Some are fat. All are cute.

It was such an easy project and a useful addition to our decorations. Our mission project for this month is collecting change for Arkansas Children's Hospital. There will be envelopes in the mailboxes for everyone at the banquet to place his/her change.

like herding cats

Ever hear the phrase?

Sounds like a tiring task doesn't it? I imagine that cats would be difficult to herd. For people anyway - Lucy Mercer, famous American cat wrangler, is pretty good at it. Although when she runs into a herd, the cats scatter, and never have I seen more than a few at a time bayed up or treed.

Today, I took my seventh graders to the computer lab to type poems and then to log in to a new study program that we are just starting. And I swear to you, tonight I feel as if I've been beaten with a stick, tied behind a truck and drug through a pasture full of cow paddies. I'm tired!

I love, love, love my job. So many of the blogs I read are written by homeschooling moms - so much so, that sometimes I questions whether I am a horrible mom because I didn't homeschool my own kids. But then I remember that for at least part of their school years, I did homeschool them - along with about 50-60 of their closest friends and not at my house. But I read some of the great posts of homeschooling moms, and I think "How lucky am I that I get to experience that same thing with my students. I wish she could come to my classroom for a day."

But on days that involve computers and new tasks and 50 kids spread over 3 class periods - well, I have to really look for a reminder of why I love it. And I must clarify, it's not the kids that give me the headache; it is the technology issues that we face. Forgotten passwords that require an administrator to reset (I'm not an administrator and neither is anyone near the computer lab). Computers that don't work. Computers that work fine but are missing the needed program for today's task. Desktop screens that don't look the same and require individual instructions. Printer settings that don't send anything to the actual printer in the room. See how those cats scatter? And just when I'd get one bayed; another would break loose from the pack.

And tonight I don't want to read any posts by homeschoolers that had a perfect day. Please only post stories of tremendous failures, gigantic messes, and field trips gone wrong.

Or I might just quit my job and beginning homeschooling - my boys have diplomas already, so I think it would be a pretty easy job.