Jonathan's new kindergarten class put together a Thanksgiving cookbook. They told the teacher how to cook their favorite dishes, and she wrote them down. Here is a selection.
Apple pie (as told by Jonathan)
First you make the crust. Then you get some apples and sugar and mix it up. Put it in the oven 70 degrees for 20 minutes. Put on the white kind of ice cream.
Thanksgiving turkey (by Caleb)
First add chicken. Cut the chicken. Cook in the oven, really hot for 15 hours. Put green bean sauce on it and apple sauce.
Cranberry sauce (by Caleb)
Add some pumpkin and then some seeds and then you add some corn which is Indian. Then you add some red food coloring. We just put it in the oven and add some shells and cheese. Then you add some fruit which is not very healthy and then you put it on the oven for 3 hours. Add some water and cranberries and cut it up.
Green bean casserole (by Courtney)
I think you take some bread and green beans. Add salt and pepper and onions and green bean sauce. Put in marshmallows on top. Put in oven until the marshmallows melt. Then let it dry for one hour. Then you can eat it.
Rolls (by Sasha)
Take some flour and a little bit of sugar and some brown flour and protein and we can put in a little bit of pepper. Bake it in the oven for 5 minutes. The oven should be 60 degrees. Eat them.
Corn (by Sasha)
Put hot water in the pot and then boil it in the pot and put it in the oven. Make it for 5 degrees and then you want to warm the oven to 6 degrees and put in a bit of salt. If you want to save it for lunch you can put it in the freezer. You can put on butter and sparkles.
Pumpkin pie (by Sasha)
I think you put a little flour and then some eggs and I think just a little bit of pumpkin stuff. You can put in cinnamon. Bake at 6 degrees for I think 7 hours. You can put on some decorations like flowers or stars or a face. You can use candles.
So there you go. The reason why kindergarteners don't make the Thanksgiving dinner. Happy Thanksgiving to you.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
It's called a toilet
Lena came over Friday evening and we reminisced about living in England. One topic that came up was word usage. All over the world, every single day, people use toilets. In England, they call them toilets. If you are looking for a toilet, you find a sign that has an arrow pointing you to Toilets.
In America, people are afraid of the word "toilet". If you need to use a toilet here, you look for a sign that says "restroom". You tell your friends you are off to "powder your nose."
If you would like to buy a house, you do not inquire about the number of toilets. You inquire about the number of bathrooms. Two and a half baths means there are three toilets. If you bathe in the bathroom, what is a half bathroom? Do you take half a bath there? This is a room with just a toilet and a sink. Which one do you use for your half bath? Or what half of your body are you bathing? These are questions you have to ask in America.
In America, people are afraid of the word "toilet". If you need to use a toilet here, you look for a sign that says "restroom". You tell your friends you are off to "powder your nose."
If you would like to buy a house, you do not inquire about the number of toilets. You inquire about the number of bathrooms. Two and a half baths means there are three toilets. If you bathe in the bathroom, what is a half bathroom? Do you take half a bath there? This is a room with just a toilet and a sink. Which one do you use for your half bath? Or what half of your body are you bathing? These are questions you have to ask in America.
A Jonathan post
So we've had one week in the new kindergarten/daycare, and we are all very happy. Monday through Thursday Jonathan went to the quiet blue school across the valley, then was picked up after lunch and driven back to the preschool where I work, where he has been going afternoons. Friday Jonathan stayed all afternoon at the new school, and went to kindergarten there with the older children. I asked him afterwords how it went. He said he "really really liked it." That's two really's. What a huge relief. I actually don't know if I am allowed to be relieved yet or if I need to give it a few more weeks and still ask about really really's. But I am still optimistic that all will be well.
Now that we know Jonathan is a reader, we've tried to do more to encourage that. We picked out some library books yesterday from the "early reader" section. The books were color coded to indicate reading level. Red was early beginning, purple medium, and yellow more advanced. Well in my own oh-so-humble opinion, the red books were really boring. We got a couple purple, but I found the books I liked had yellow stickers. Books like "Frog and Toad are Friends", and "Green Eggs and Ham", and "The Giving Tree." So those are the books we checked out.
Last night Jonathan started reading "The Giving Tree" to me, and he was getting most of the words -- until about the middle of the book when there is a whole page of words. Then Jonathan got tired and asked me to finish it. Even so, while he read I kept stopping and flipping the book over and saying "Wait a second -- this is a YELLOW book! You are not supposed to be able to read this!" Jonathan would laugh and keep reading more.
Daddy was away watching football (more on that later). First thing this morning Jonathan wanted to show Daddy how he could read the yellow book. This time he read "The Giving Tree" from start to end.
We are very proud of our little reader. While he likes reading, and is excited about it, we'll keep him reading.
So summary: very happy with the new school. Very happy Jonathan is in kindergarten at the new school. He is tall enough to be in kindergarten, and he is apparently reading at least at a kindergarten level. I don't know how much progress we've made socially in the last week, but the new teacher is aware of our concerns and believes he will become good friends with the other children. You have my permission to feel relieved, at least until I tell you otherwise.
Now that we know Jonathan is a reader, we've tried to do more to encourage that. We picked out some library books yesterday from the "early reader" section. The books were color coded to indicate reading level. Red was early beginning, purple medium, and yellow more advanced. Well in my own oh-so-humble opinion, the red books were really boring. We got a couple purple, but I found the books I liked had yellow stickers. Books like "Frog and Toad are Friends", and "Green Eggs and Ham", and "The Giving Tree." So those are the books we checked out.
Last night Jonathan started reading "The Giving Tree" to me, and he was getting most of the words -- until about the middle of the book when there is a whole page of words. Then Jonathan got tired and asked me to finish it. Even so, while he read I kept stopping and flipping the book over and saying "Wait a second -- this is a YELLOW book! You are not supposed to be able to read this!" Jonathan would laugh and keep reading more.
Daddy was away watching football (more on that later). First thing this morning Jonathan wanted to show Daddy how he could read the yellow book. This time he read "The Giving Tree" from start to end.
We are very proud of our little reader. While he likes reading, and is excited about it, we'll keep him reading.
So summary: very happy with the new school. Very happy Jonathan is in kindergarten at the new school. He is tall enough to be in kindergarten, and he is apparently reading at least at a kindergarten level. I don't know how much progress we've made socially in the last week, but the new teacher is aware of our concerns and believes he will become good friends with the other children. You have my permission to feel relieved, at least until I tell you otherwise.
Friday, November 21, 2008
This week's crisis
Cheating on an exam. A question was leaked, which means by Monday morning it was all over the floor and an army of professors and TA's had to come in with mops and buckets and clean up.
So that fact and this fact probably provide sufficient explanation for this post (since you asked, Emily).
Wonder what's up for next week?
So that fact and this fact probably provide sufficient explanation for this post (since you asked, Emily).
Wonder what's up for next week?
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Last week's crisis
So a week and a half ago, on Friday, things came to a head, and Tim and I realized we needed to let our nanny go and get Jonathan into something new and stimulating as soon as possible. I started searching, placed an ad, and lined up a visit to a full time kindergarten / daycare on the other side of the valley that weekend. Things happened very quickly. By Sunday night we had visited the new school, checked references, and come away extremely feeling positive about the program, the teachers, and the home cooked meals provided at this school. So we signed Jonathan up. Yeah! No more lunch planning duties for me!
The following Monday, we had planned to sit down with the nanny and tell her that things weren't working and give her three weeks notice. Actually, we were debating into the wee hours the night before whether we should just pay her up front for three weeks and send her away and not have to deal with her again, or whether we should make her come over to earn the money. One major problem was that Jonathan couldn't start at the new school for another week. Since we were paying for childcare, shouldn't we get it? On the other hand, bad news of this sort would sour both parties toward the idea of seeing each other at all. Very bad idea for child care.
Anyhow, Monday morning before 7am, we got a call from the nanny. She was too sick to work. So I gave her the news over the phone. She sent me a polite email later that night stating that she wouldn't be coming in for the remaining three weeks. She wanted to spend her three weeks job hunting. So that problem was solved in the most financially easy way possible for Tim and me.
The bad news was that we had a week without child care. I took the afternoons, Tim took the mornings, plus a day off work on Thursday, and we made it work for that short time.
Yesterday morning, Jonathan started his first day at the new school. He really liked it. I asked him today which he liked better, the new school or the nanny? His response was immediate. The new school. Hands down. I am very very happy with the way things have worked out. This new school will be very good for Jonathan. It is small enough that he'll be getting the individual attention we were hoping for from a nanny, but with other playmates and a very experienced teacher and a licensed facility and home cooked meals! Did I mention the meals? I'm very happy about the meals.
The only problems: For now, we're keeping Jonathan in his old afternoon preschool, for a little continuity in his life. Plus, he's just starting to make friends there. Unfortunately, that means I have to drive around during the lunch hour playing shuttle. Since the new school is on the other side of the valley, I've had to convert my one hour walking time into one hour of driving back and forth and back and forth. I need to find a way to fill that time so it isn't completely dead. Any suggestions for books on tape?
The following Monday, we had planned to sit down with the nanny and tell her that things weren't working and give her three weeks notice. Actually, we were debating into the wee hours the night before whether we should just pay her up front for three weeks and send her away and not have to deal with her again, or whether we should make her come over to earn the money. One major problem was that Jonathan couldn't start at the new school for another week. Since we were paying for childcare, shouldn't we get it? On the other hand, bad news of this sort would sour both parties toward the idea of seeing each other at all. Very bad idea for child care.
Anyhow, Monday morning before 7am, we got a call from the nanny. She was too sick to work. So I gave her the news over the phone. She sent me a polite email later that night stating that she wouldn't be coming in for the remaining three weeks. She wanted to spend her three weeks job hunting. So that problem was solved in the most financially easy way possible for Tim and me.
The bad news was that we had a week without child care. I took the afternoons, Tim took the mornings, plus a day off work on Thursday, and we made it work for that short time.
Yesterday morning, Jonathan started his first day at the new school. He really liked it. I asked him today which he liked better, the new school or the nanny? His response was immediate. The new school. Hands down. I am very very happy with the way things have worked out. This new school will be very good for Jonathan. It is small enough that he'll be getting the individual attention we were hoping for from a nanny, but with other playmates and a very experienced teacher and a licensed facility and home cooked meals! Did I mention the meals? I'm very happy about the meals.
The only problems: For now, we're keeping Jonathan in his old afternoon preschool, for a little continuity in his life. Plus, he's just starting to make friends there. Unfortunately, that means I have to drive around during the lunch hour playing shuttle. Since the new school is on the other side of the valley, I've had to convert my one hour walking time into one hour of driving back and forth and back and forth. I need to find a way to fill that time so it isn't completely dead. Any suggestions for books on tape?
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
On work
I really like my job. I have bad days, but generally I really like it. I think about my job as I walk to work in the morning. I plan out ways to improve my teaching and try to organize bits of research papers in my head. I think I'm generally pretty good at my work, and I do believe I am improving as time goes by. I honestly believe my little corner of the world is a better place because of the work that I do, and I like it.
I wish the people I hired to work for me all liked their job as much as I like mine. I wish they thought ways to improve and organize their work while they're at home in the evenings. I wish they understood that by doing the job well, they were making the world a better place. I wish I could find those people and hire them. It would be easier to get things done right.
Anyway, I have a few deadlines coming up at work. They are mostly self-imposed, but they shouldn't slide any more than they've already been sliding. I think I may be cutting back here at the Clown and Poker to spend more evenings finishing those projects. I will have to write shorter, smarter posts for my seven consistent readers. Or maybe I'll call you. That would be novel.
I wish the people I hired to work for me all liked their job as much as I like mine. I wish they thought ways to improve and organize their work while they're at home in the evenings. I wish they understood that by doing the job well, they were making the world a better place. I wish I could find those people and hire them. It would be easier to get things done right.
Anyway, I have a few deadlines coming up at work. They are mostly self-imposed, but they shouldn't slide any more than they've already been sliding. I think I may be cutting back here at the Clown and Poker to spend more evenings finishing those projects. I will have to write shorter, smarter posts for my seven consistent readers. Or maybe I'll call you. That would be novel.
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