Morning Glory Studio

off to school ...

 

3:30 pm: It is thundering and raining now! Today has been brutally humid -  91°, just perfect for "back to school!" for thousands, millions? of children in the Washington  DC Metro area ~ two I know:

 

8:40 am: Kayla, my grand niece started her senior year! As I have over the years (since she began preK - with the exception of her junior year, last year), I met her and her mom on the first day! Today, she was in high style: wearing a wig - she made!; snazzy eyelashes and makeup; and a top with a message that I imagine she and her contemporaries know/understand. Whatever, one is only  a high school senior once...and this is the beginning of her "big year!" She told me she wanted to make a scrapbook so I  gave her a couple journals and some tips for taking notes, etc throughout the year...and of course, she has the ubiquitous iPhone and knows all about selfies, etc...We shall see what we shall see...

11:15 am: Chris, my great grand nephew started preK! He appeared to be perfectly at ease in his new surroundings and when we left, he was investigating the various stations in the room. I'm not too sure that he was even aware we were leaving...PreK is only 2.5 hours and he's used to being with his Mimi or Great Granny for that, longer times. His mom (Dolly) cried, tho'.

3:56 pm: The rain and thunder have subsided and the air's 78°, a welcome cool-down! I think I'll take a nap; my day began way earlier than usual and tomorrow's schedule is another early rise and out the house!

Cheers~

 

kindergarten and beyond...

 

 

I write often about driving north and south on US Route  1...a significant portion of my drive takes me through the University of Maryland's College Park campus - the "flagship institution of the University System of Maryland." School has resumed and one thing I note as I drive are the kids, er uh, young adults  who, almost to a person are wearing backpacks, jam full of books and computers and water and food and who knows what else. And they -the students- are almost always absorbed with their smart phones...how they walk and read without tripping, baffles me. I obviously cannot do that.  

What amuses me most about the students and their backpacks is the fact that they most likely have been wearing one since kindergarten - if not before. I love to see little preschoolers dressed in their school uniforms and wearing their backpacks - which are usually about as big as they - the kiddles - are. Seeing the college students and thinking about them, kindergarten, this time of year - autumn - brought to mind Robert Fulghum's book/poem  All I Really Need to Know  I Learned in Kindergarten .

Despite the mixed reviews from this nearly twenty years-old book, the poem resonates...at least to me. When I was a child, in kindergarten, we didn't have backpacks... just book bags or satchels. Back in the late '80s/early 90s, when first introduced , my favorite American Girl doll was Mollie who wore plaid dresses and carried a book bag...just like I remember I had. 

These days, I have a  backpack-style purse that I can't figure out how to use - maybe because I didn't have a backpack in kindergarten...and I bought a clear vinyl one to take on my trip. I think I've figured out how it works.

Do you have a backpack among your purse wardrobe? Use it?

Cheers~

school's nearly out...

  

Only days to go before the school year for District of Columbia and neighboring school districts is over.  In DC: Wednesday, June 14 at 12:15 pm.

On my afternoon walk, I found myself at the elementary school several blocks from my house - just as school was letting out. I loved walking behind the little boy whose backpack is almost as big as he is tall...

and seeing  these three little girls, playing some sort of hand-rhyme game... 

Do you remember "school's out, school's out, teachers let the fools out!" and off we'd run, happy that school was out and looking forward to a summer of bliss. No more reading, writing, 'rithmetic.  Just endless days of play;  going to the beach to swim - we lived on Lake Michigan and trips to the beach were always on the agenda.

Travel to Chicago to spend part of  summer vacation with my godmother and her two daughters - in between  my sister and I in age . There, trips to the zoo, museum, planetarium and library. And they would come home to Muskegon with us for a couple weeks too. Some of my fondest childhood memories are wrapped up in summertime.

As I think back, one thing that amuses me the most is that after a few weeks of freedom from school, we were bored with endless summer days...we missed the rhythm of school and some of our friends and would often pass the time playing, yep, you got it, school!

Fun trip down memory lane; for you?

Cheers~

 

back to school...

            Today was "back to school" for our girl Kayla, now a high school sophomore.  At 15 3/4 years old, she is now quite the young lady.  As her mom texted: "Back to reality, back to school! Our baby is no longer a baby!"

It seems like just yesterday Kayla was a bright eyed little girl on her first day of pre-K. No longer! For the past 11 years, I've greeted Kayla on the first day of school. This year, t'was the exception. She, in her wisdom, concluded that back-to-school as a sophomore woudn't be quite the same as in previous years: just (hundreds of)  kids gathering, milling around, reconnecting...

Yep, her mom and I got the picture...just as my mom got it when I, a kindergartner, two months shy of my 5th birthday, announced to her on my third day of school: "It's OK Lilly (that's what I called her); I'm a big girl now. I can walk by myself to school." My mother said her heart sank and yet, she had to let me go... (I suspect she may've discreetly followed at a distance).

I think I know how my mom  felt. 

I do plan to "be there" when Kayla moves into college ... and aren't those shoes too cool?! Not quite one's sensible, sturdy oxfords.

 

Cheers~

back to school...

 

I got up earlier than usual this morning so I could

• a) enjoy MSQT a bit before
• b) I left the house at 7:20 am to meet Kayla on
• c) her first day of school

I can't believe that

• a) she's now in the eighth grade! 
• b) I have been meeting and greeting her since she started preK
• c) ten years ago!

After

• a) the requisite camera shoot, hugs and wishes for a great day and year,
• b) I journeyed to Starbucks, for some more MSQT and then
• c) to the car wash - a long overdue item on my 2Do list that I can now cross off -yay!

Then I went to a shopping mall looking for:

• a) new slippers - found! 
• b) a robe - all cotton; not to be found so
• c) I bought two new mugs, instead. Go figure! Hey, I liked the pattern! And they were black, white and red. What's a person to do?

Tomorrow is Margaret's knee replacement surgery, at 7 am.

• a) So that we won't have to hit the road at 5 am, we are going to spend the night in a hotel .
• b) Right now, I think I could take a nap but I still have to gather my stuff for my time in the waiting room and pack an overnight bag.
• c) Guess I'd better get moving before I fall asleep at the keyboard.ZZZZZZ...

Cheers~

Kayla...

...started sixth grade yesterday. She's going to a new school that serves 6-9 grades, has a diverse population and seems to have a plan for educating students and helping them realize their potential. Ever since Kayla started preschool, at age 3 - she's now 11.5 years old - I 've tagged along to document her start and, truth be told, recall my own first day of school memories. I always loved school, especially those first weeks in September. Unlike modern day's start of the new school year, school in my hey-day always began the day after Labor Day. 

The student body at Kayla's new school wears a uniform (that's pretty much standard in this area, for both public and charter schools)  that includes a tie. Each grade's tie is a different color. This girl was absolutely so excited about her new uniform and wearing a tie that she taught herself, with the help of YouTube, to knot a tie. I think she's a great teacher/student. Even Norman was impressed! All I can say is "You go girl!"

Kayla's excitement and enthusiasm for her new adventure in a new school is palpable. She said "it was all that she expected," maybe even then some, I think.  She also said she has to read 40 books ...I think that's a stretch and maybe she misunderstood but if it is the case, WOW! Guess we'll find out soon.

Cheers~

mov[e]in...

Honoré here: She's [Christian] there! Yesterday, we [her mother, sister and I]  delivered her and all her stuff to Rutgers. We left at 5 am and arrived about 9 am; Christian slept all the way - she'd pulled her first of what I suspect will be many all-nighter's (though she must get her rest!) and so did Kayla - she was just up too early and riding in cars puts her to sleep, almost immediately (wonder when she'll grow out of that?).

Saturday was move in day for freshmen/women and that, in/of itself was a sight to behold. I can't believe the stuff kids take to college-literally everything from soup to nuts. When I went away to school, only fifty years ago, all I recall taking: my clothing, toiletries, school supplies, bedding - including a bedspread I got with  S & H Green stamps my grandmother saved for me. That was it; c'est toute.

This event was extremely well organized. Police and student "Move In" crew members were on hand to facilitate a smooth unloading and delivery of stuff to dorm rooms. Just like at the airport, we were able to park only long enough to discharge the stuff, then off to the student union parking lot to park our cars.

 

And as we were doing that - or guarding the stuff sitting on the sidewalk - "Move In" crew members

appeared with big laundry tubs...

using them  to tote the stuff to the dorm elevator (only big enough to handle two tubs and two crew members at a time) and rooms. Not a long wait and certainly no ordeal, at all. And we were so fortunate that yesterday was nearly a perfect day, weather-wise. Was a treat to be outside.

Students were greeted with these signs on their doors - I thought that was a very welcoming touch...

and this is a picture of  Christian in her room...

This is fun:  each dorm room's window is festooned like this...

 

Kayla was quite intrigued with this wall mural, that greets people on Christian's floor's lounge area, about Paul Robeson...

Welcome to Rutgers, Christian!  Stay well. Get plenty of rest (very few if any more all nighter's). Eat three squares a day, especially breakfast. Study, study, study. Explore thoughts and ideas. Read good books (it's wonderful that the library is only across the street). Make new friends. Take walks. Swim. Stay open to new ideas. Continue to be your creative and interested self. Most of all - have the the best time of your life.

We'll miss you - already do !

Love,

Aunt Honoré

to school...

Honore here: Good news - our girl Chris is definitely on the mend, tho' she had a minor setback, another reaction - a rash -  last week. That was the bad news. The good. Easily reversed with a strong dose of benadryl and a creme to tamp down the itching. etc. I'm sure you can hear our collective sigh of relief.

I took this picture of her and her new MacBook's hot pink cover after the trip to the doctor last Thursday. She's smiling alot because she's reading email from her soon-to-be college roommate. 

Saturday, she goes off to school (fingers, toes, arms, legs crossed xxx)...

Yesterday, Monday, was back to school for Missy Kayla. I've been greeting her on her first day at school since she first started at age four in the Montessori program (I think I need to do a retrospective of those years). This year, she's in the fourth grade. Kayla loves school and is delighted to be back. Can you tell?

I'm happy to report that at 5:25 pm last Saturday (8/21), I finished sewing all 36 blocks of Chris' quilt together. It's big (78" x 86") - too large to quilt on my machine so it's off to the long-arm quilter next week. With luck,Chris will have the quilt mid October. Said quilt top was also too large for my design wall, which is prompting me to add another panel. I'll share how I make a quick and relatively inexpensive design wall panel in my next post. And with that said, I'm off to make the panel.

Cheers~