Student-Led Conferences and the Return of Rushcapades!

"Hello, Mama and Papa. I want to thank you for coming to my conference."

Her first student-led conference, and not surprisingly, Magnolia works through her checklist articulately, sharing her self-assessment, friendship reflection, and samples of her written work and handwriting. She directs us to recognize her growth, asks us for specific support to assist her in further learning, and shares her goal for the remainder of the year. Is this girl really seven?! My mama-eyes swell with pride at her confidence and growth.

At the end of the conference, Magnolia asks if we have a goal for her--we had been instructed to bring one.

We do. But a little background first.

Always an avid reader, Magnolia entered first grade hesitant to write, inhibited by spelling. This year, though, she has blossomed into a passionate writer, empowered by best gess sownd speling. She loves poetry, punctuation, capitalization, onomatopoeia, and especially the writing process.  From memory, she can explain the importance of each stage: prewrite - draft - revise - edit - publish. She loves to find and fix mistakes--like her Papa--and she loves to "add juicy details."

However, for whatever reason, she does NOT like publishing. Maybe rewriting in her neatest handwriting is boring? Maybe staple binding loose leaf paper is frustrating? Or maybe her passion for editing creates a feeling of the work never quite being done?

Whatever the case, to support Magnolia's passion for writing and encourage her to overcome her resistance to publishing, one of our goals is for Magnolia to share a piece of writing on our blog each week.

She loves the idea!

Selfishly, it is kind of a goal for me too -- along with some motivation and accountability!

Blogging is good for my soul, but it has been hard to find time the last few years. Currently, I have over 100 blog drafts in limbo. (Hmm, maybe I do know where she gets her resistance to publishing...) I may never get around to posting them all, but I'm hoping to at least start capturing some of our Rushcapades again.

Please support us by commenting and giving friendly nudges if we fall behind. And forgive any mistakes as we try to let go of worrying about being perfect in order to be published. As Brian likes to say, "Sometimes the perfect is the enemy of the good."

The Real Question

What was this post going to be about?

During this vacation, I've been going through my old drafts finishing them or deleting them. I came upon this one from November 5, 2008.  There was no text, only a title.  I am guessing whatever it was going to be about was trumped when we were surprised to find out we were pregnant with Kaleia.

So here's your chance! Write your version of what the real question is either on your own blog and link to it in the comments or just put your post in the comments if you don't have a blog.

Check out some other posts I was able to finish. I kept their original dates for "scrapbooking" purposes, our primary reason for this blog.

• Double Precious
• Shoes
• Bathing Beauty
• Popcorn: Snack or Entertainment
• Firsts on the First
• Mama Holda You
• Yeaaah!
• Natural Number Sense
• Kaleia @ 1.25
• Where Did All the Steaming Went?
• A Ballerina Goes to the Dentist
• Silent Reading
• Three Questions
• Animal Pile Up Re-Creation - 2 Years Later
• Lion Gets a Haircut

A Year in Unpublished Pictures - 2011: Part 3

Part 3 brings us to Beijing, China, where we are now. This season was probably packed with more fiascos than any other time of my life.  

July in China:

We flew to China on our 9th anniversary. Magnolia did pretty well but Kaleia struggled and therefore Mama was a wreck by the end of the 11 hour flight. We were met at the airport and dropped off at the school dormitory in the middle of the night with little direction. The next few weeks we found ourselves on a steep learning curve while we settled into an apartment and Shannon started the school year. There was much culture shock, especially on the part of Shannon. The girls got used to celebrity status. Brian realized just how tough it was going to be to set up an office in China. Make sure to click read more. 

Magnolia pretending to sleep with her new neck pillow.
Brian getting to know our new, and now good, friend Park. 

10 on 10/10/10

I've always wanted to participate in the 10 on 10 photo project:

Take a photo every hour for ten consecutive hours on the tenth of each month. Document a day of your life and find beauty among the ordinary moments. Then share your beauty with us!

10/10/10 seemed like a must. They are not the best pictures in the world, but they capture our day, even if the posting is almost two weeks late.

8:00 am - Breakfast

9:00 am - Waking Up Papa

10:00 am - Sisters Playing

11:00 am - Greek Orthodox Church

12:00 pm - Lunch!

1:00 pm - Everyone was Napping...so no pictures

2:00 pm - Grading Pre-Calculus Midterms...Blahk!

3:00 pm - Maggie Waking from Her Nap...Why does she bounce like that? 

4:00 pm - Entertaining Maggie While Driving

5:00 pm - Finding a Cricket with Papa

6:00 pm - Blowing Dandilions

8:00 pm - Getting Creamed by Brian for the 9th time...Next Week We are Switching to Cribbage

9:00 pm - At least we are together, right?

10:10 on 10/10/10

Remembering Magnolia's Birth

If you want to read one of Brian's best short stories, click here.

Our Year In Unpublished Pictures

We're back! Blogging got put on the back burner as we dealt with craziness this month: school closure due to flooding, Brian's January session in California, and final exams. I've been working on this post for weeks! I wanted to finish it before I went on to another post, but kept running into road blocks.

Some friends'--the Amundsons--posted their favorite picture from each month of the previous year that didn't make it to their blog. Here is my attempt at the same...

January ~ Well, I can't find any of our January pictures (roadblock). Our friends threw us a great shower, we went up to Mt. Baker for a weekend, and I know we have baby bump and nursery painting pictures somewhere, but I can't find them. This one was taken later, but it can stand in.


February ~ A month of waiting...This picture is from one of many walks on the beach trying to get my labor started.

March ~ Our Family! Our friend Meg Nelson, took this picture (and the one I used in January) as a part of a practice photo shoot.

April ~ I just think this one is funny. "I pity da foo who dudn't like my mohawk!"

May ~ Our friend, Josh took one of my all time favorite pictures of Magnolia.

June ~ It's amazing how quickly she gets over things!

July ~ The girls went to Priest Lake and Everett for some fun with the Gracey family.

Meanwhile, Brian was in California studying...wait a minute, that doesn't look like studying. His "mod" was the cool hang out 'cause he and his roommate held regular Dance! Dance! Revolution and Karaoke parties.

August ~ Magnolia and I spent a lot of time "hiking" with the dogs in the off leash area around Lake Padden.

September ~ We drove to Seattle to meet up with some special college friends that are now all around the world. Jen and Magnolia became good friends.

We also went to LaConner for lunch to celebrate my Grandma Gracey's birthday. "Hmm, do you have any green pea and tofu dishes??"

October ~ The big event in October was Dad Rush's birthday and retirement. We celebrated by getting the entire family to dress like Dad -- Plaid short-sleeved button ups, pens and spiral notepads in shirt pocket, slacks or shorts with belt, and dress socks and leather shoes. He's a trend setter.

Our niece Ella also had the brilliant idea to put red marks on our hands since his hands are always cut from working in his shop. Unfortunately, it was one of the only times Dad Rush didn't wear a short sleeved plaid shirt, but you can see some of the other Clive trademarks below.

November ~ We ended our fall cheering on Brian's volleyball team. Magnolia loved to scream (kinda sounded like a garbage disposal that someone forgot to turn off) along with the crowd while sporting her Raider colors.

The orange liquor box continued to be a favorite toy.

December ~ Bear suit clad (her third suit! Brian swears this is the only outfit she needs)Magnolia in the forest of Christmas trees!

Rushcapades Year in Review, 2008

You may have to humor us here. We realize not everyone is going to click through the gazillion links we've posted but Shannon and I enjoyed looking back on 2008 and wanted to compile some highlights. For your enjoyment--or just ours--some stats and favorites:

Blog Entries Posted in 2008: 155

Continents on which Rushcapades was Viewed: 5. Come on South America, what's your deal?! Actually we don't look at our stats very often. Have any of you visited South America and checked our blog?

Most Page Views in a Day: 500+ on the day Shannon went into labor with Maggie!

The Post that Received the Most Comments: This is with a total of 35 comments!

Our Favorite Inidividual Comment: The two by Mom G in response to Beards over Babies

Our Favorite Sequence of Comments: Nicknames for Magnolia

Shannon's Favorite Post of Her Own: Postpartum, shhh...writing this one was very therapeutic.

Shannon's Favorite Post of Brian's: The Birth Story in all its parts...my favorite post of the bunch is this one.

Brian's Favorite Post of His Own: The birth story was a labor of love but since Shannon already chose it I'll say Conversations from the School Bus. I'll also mention the prequel to the birth story--Introducing...--in which we actually thought we were having Magnolia early!

Brian's Favorite Post of Shannon's: Naked Time. Disgusting and hilarious.

The Post We Had the Most Fun Writing Together: Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow

Some Other Favorites: Debeardification Process, Nana's Time with her Special Little Someone, Five Generations of First Born Daughters, Bath Time Belly Bulges, Rest in Peace, RIP Puppy, Shannon's Dream, Proud Parents of, You're Twelve and You're Buying Shoes, and Hello Again.

Some Recurring Themes: Babies, Birthiversaries, Pregnancy, Beards, and Poop

If you have your own blog, what are your favorite posts? Post links in the comments.

Or if you have favorites from other blogs post those too!