Chicken Wrangler Sara Archives - Page 2 of 39

1 12, 2023

Thankful for Parks

By judythemorgan|2023-11-30T08:25:09-06:00December 1st, 2023|Uncategorized|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Our grandsons brought their mother to see us the week of Thanksgiving.

They arrived on Monday evening. Tuesday, we drove to see their great-grandfather. It was quite an adventure.

The boys are now three and a half and eighteen months old. And they are boys – in constant motion. Opa had some fire trucks and a monster truck to add to the collection of toys Mom packed for them. They still needed room to run so we went to the neighborhood park tucked away behind all the houses.

There was no path to it so we traipsed through the grass. It was well worth the effort. The park had a marsh theme with structures, unlike any park we visited. There was a dragonfly whose wings made a seesaw.

There was also a puzzle that had frogs to put into the slots on lily pads and move around the pond. Alex really liked that.

Theo was unsure, however, about the lily pads connecting the parts of the playground. Maybe next year.

Back at Grandma and Pawpaw’s, we visited another park designed for people of all ages and abilities.

It is completely fenced in with double gates so we were comfortable letting the boys loose to run.

Their favorite part was the conveyor belt-like apparatus that allowed them to run, or crawl, in place.

Alex also enjoyed the train. Theo just liked running around. We had such a wonderful time.

I am very thankful for parks!

23 11, 2023

By judythemorgan|2023-11-19T13:58:30-06:00November 23rd, 2023|Author Interview, Holidays|0 Comments

Today I want to tell you how thankful I am that you read books, engage with me on social media, and let me know when you enjoy what I’ve written both books and blogs. Your emails and comments are a blessing to Chicken Wrangler Sara and me.

We offer this Old Irish Blessing for you and yours this Thanksgiving Day.

May love and laughter light your days,
and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours,
wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world
with joy that long endures.
May all life’s passing seasons
bring the best to you and yours!

10 11, 2023

Flexibility

By judythemorgan|2023-11-09T08:56:06-06:00November 10th, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Honor likes to sleep on my lap when I am sitting at my desk. At first, she could curl up and fit easily. As she has grown, it has become more of a challenge.

Last week, I looked down and she had put her back leg over her nose to make herself into a smaller ball. I was impressed with her flexibility.

We have a Veterans Day program at school this week and then we start work on Christmas music. Between now and the end of the semester, things are pretty chaotic.

I think I need to print out this picture of honor and post it in my room to remind me to be flexible.

27 10, 2023

Trash or Treasure

By judythemorgan|2023-10-25T16:58:23-05:00October 27th, 2023|Uncategorized|2 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

I have a friend who is an art teacher. We worked together at a small private school for many years. When the school closed abruptly, we started to meet with other teachers every week at the local Dairy Queen to grieve together. Over time, we each moved on but we continued to meet and talk about life.

I’ve learned much from my friend. She has a unique way of looking at things and I find myself seeing the things around me with new eyes. She sees potential in many things, students included which is what makes her a great teacher. It also makes her a great friend.

An ordinary leaf becomes a dancer or a bottle cap becomes an earring. I started taking her things to use in her creations. Most recently, I took a piece of cardboard that had been part of the packaging for something.

It was too interesting to simply recycle. I thought it looked like a spine – perhaps because we have been learning the rhythms of the poem Skeleton Parade by Jack Prelutsky.

I took it to our Dairy Queen meeting and we set it on the table. We sat and discussed the cardboard, turning it in all directions, for 15 minutes or more.

My friend saw a building and the other friend saw a set of jaws.

At one point, the manager, who we know from our regular visits, came out to see what we were looking at.

He thought we were playing a game like Jenga.

This is what I love about my friend. She has taught me to be inspired by a piece of cardboard.

My friend and her husband recently bought a house in a nearby town. It turns out to be the house she grew up in. But that’s another story for another time.

Eventually, they will move. I will miss our weekly meetings. I may have to take road trips periodically to see her.

And, of course, take her interesting treasures to sit and discuss.

20 10, 2023

New Puzzle Challenge

By judythemorgan|2023-10-19T09:26:16-05:00October 20th, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

I have always enjoyed jigsaw puzzles. I cannot set one up during the school year because I will work on it to the exclusion of everything else.

I am actually pretty good at them, and I enjoy puzzles of all kinds. When I was visiting our grandsons this weekend, I encountered a new type of puzzle that was most challenging.

Alex loves trains. He has a set of tracks which he loves to put together. These tracks came in a box with a picture. While I was there, Alex decided he wanted the train tracks put together like the picture.

No problem, I thought as I got down on the floor and began to work.

I’m not sure whether it was my old eyes or my lack of spatial awareness but I could not make the train tracks look like the picture on the box.

The curves were going the wrong way and there were gaps in the track that did not match any available pieces. My daughter came to the rescue. She had watched her husband put the track together for Alex recently so she had an advantage. We finally got it all together and Alex enjoyed running the trains around the tracks.

When Alex tired of playing trains, Theo took over.

It was worth the team effort to make the track look like the picture.

13 10, 2023

Peace

By judythemorgan|2023-10-12T14:44:33-05:00October 13th, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

As I met with friends on Zoom to pray this morning, Honor curled up on my lap asleep,

She is blissfully unaware of all that is going on in the world.

Furthermore, she trusts that I will take care of her regardless.

I want to be more like Honor.

I want to rest completely in God who cares for me and has the world in His control.

6 10, 2023

Really Good Day

By judythemorgan|2023-10-05T20:22:40-05:00October 6th, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Because I teach many different grade levels, I have several different systems of positive reinforcement for student behavior. For the youngest students, ages 3-4, I have found stamping their hands to be most effective. I have a paw print stamp which works perfectly since we are the Panthers. It becomes part of their lining up routine. They put their hand on their head and if they have done a good job in music, they get a stamp.

The Kindergarten through sixth grade classes each have a sticker chart. When the class is doing well, I put up a sticker. When the chart is full (35 stickers) the class gets a free day. They choose what they want to do. Usually, they go outside. This process usually takes about 6 weeks and they really enjoy it.

I also have individual rewards – happy notes – that I give to students who are especially cooperative and helpful. I am surprised at how much these happy notes mean to them.

One day I looked down and noticed I had inadvertently stamped my pants.

Then I realized I had a sticker on my palm.

I must have been behaving very well so I wrote myself a happy note. It was a really good day!

29 09, 2023

When the Teacher is Wrong

By judythemorgan|2023-09-28T06:55:17-05:00September 29th, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|0 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Although the majority of music class is making or listening to music, we do write music as well. I have a can of random pencils available along with various kinds of paper, i.e. notebook, blank, staff.

Most of my pencils are well-used so have no erasers. They still sharpen fine so I hate to throw them away. I just keep separate erasers for students who need them.

This is very disconcerting to the students and the first thing they say when I give them a pencil is “My pencil doesn’t have an eraser.”

I tell them they don’t need an eraser until they have actually written something and when they have something to erase, I will give them an eraser. They are still not happy but they use the pencils anyway.

Last week I decided to buy new pencils. I got a box of sharpened pencils with nice erasers. As I passed them out, I explained how they were brand new pencils so every one of them had a point and an eraser.

One student told me that his pencil didn’t have a point. I confess I was frustrated as I said, “Yes it does. They are new pencils and you are the first people to use them.”

Then he brought me his pencil.

Sure enough, the lead was put in the pencil off-center so it was not sharpened. I tried several times to sharpen it to no avail.

It is the first time I have ever seen a pencil like this.

I wish I could say it was the first time I was proven wrong. Or that it would be the last.

22 09, 2023

Puppy Love

By judythemorgan|2023-09-20T16:14:47-05:00September 22nd, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|1 Comment

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

It has been 8 years since we had a puppy in the house and at that time, we had both Max and Penelope who would entertain each other.

Honor has no siblings in the house so when I get up with her in the morning, I become one big chew toy.

I have been trying to start my day with some stretching exercises and am usually successful until I get down on the floor on my mat. The extra weight on my back as I do planks is fine. But the mess she makes of my hair – not so fine.

I’ve thought about introducing a new hairstyle “Teased by Honor” but I’m not sure anyone else would like it. There is also the fact that she gets stuck in my hair and is no fun to extract.

This week her antics inspired a poem:

Honor’s Toys

My hand’s not a chew toy

Nor is the chair.

Don’t chew on the rug

Or play in my hair.

So many things

Are not to be chewed.

Only your toys

And always your food.

Your bone, not the cords

Not the box but your keys

You have lots of options

Choose one of them, please!

Thank you!

Because she is so cute, I don’t stay frustrated for long!

15 09, 2023

Unwelcome Visitor

By judythemorgan|2023-09-14T20:43:23-05:00September 15th, 2023|Friday on the Miller Farm, Miller Farm Friday|2 Comments

A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara

Our neighbors recently told us that something had gotten into their chickens and killed three of them and a rooster. Based on the damage (headless chickens) they believe it was a raccoon.

I have heard tales of raccoons and their persistence and tendency to destruction. I was not happy.

We discovered one of our chickens had been a victim and had not survived. A rooster escaped to a neighbor’s yard, and there were a few more ducks in our yard that I imagine fled the attack. One of them has an injured leg,

We have set live traps and so have our neighbors to try to catch and relocate the villain.

So far, we have had no success.

My neighbor sent me a picture the other morning. Their oldest daughter is home from college for a visit and fearlessly chased off the raccoon one night. It hasn’t been seen since.

I’ll crown her Raccoon Wrangler. I’m not interested in that title.