I don’t get it about boys. Especially Russell and Tom and Otto. Miss VanDuyne always has to call them down and make them stop talking in class. How can they just blurt out stuff like that all the time? I would be too scared to say anything without raising my hand first. Sure, I get checks on my report card for “Whispers too much,” but to talk out loud like that is strange.

That’s what I was thinking when I thought of my experiment. I was going to try to say something out loud when I wasn’t supposed to be talking. But I couldn’t think of anything to say. Then I remembered a joke my daddy told me. Yes! I would do it. I would tell my joke.

I waited for a good time to take the chance. When Miss VanDuyne had to step out of the room for a few minutes I knew it was time, but the boys were already talking. But it was now or never, so I mustered up all my courage and looked at everybody.

“Did you know you have seven holes in your head?” I began. Then I explained, “You have two eyes, two ears, two holes in your nose, and one for your mouth!”

Whew! I did it! My heart was beating fast.

Soon Miss VanDuyne came back to the classroom. “Janice was talking,” one of the students said.

“No I wasn’t,” I quickly replied. Miss VanDuyne didn’t say anything so I didn’t get into trouble. But I decided it wasn’t a good idea after all. It was too hard.

There is always something about a new year in school. It’s like getting a fresh start – a new teacher and a chance to make new friends. When we moved I was the new girl in my class. My first new friend was Shirley because our desks were side by side and touching each other. I pulled one of my hairs from out of my head and tickled her hand with it. Shirley would just grin. She was a good friend. A boy wearing blue sneakers liked to chase me around the playground. Sometimes he would sneak up and surprise me. That was fun too.

I learned one lesson early, but not soon enough. My classmates were playing a game where the girls would capture all the boys and put them in “jail” (until a boy tagged the boys in jail and set them free again). When all the boys were in jail it was time for them to capture all the girls. It was a fun game. I wanted to be the best so I thought of a plan. When a boy caught me I would struggle to get away before he put me in jail. Others started doing the same thing. The problem with my plan was that sometimes our clothing got ripped. The teacher told us there was a new rule. We couldn’t try to break away any more. I was sorry I started that idea of breaking away. I was sorry we tore our clothes.

I had a best friend for a while and we played together every recess. But one day for a reason I never knew, she stopped playing with me. After that I was lonely in school. I played with the “left-over” kids because I felt left out. One day I thought of a good thing that was a bad thing at the same time. The good thing was that I was going to think really hard about who would be a good friend for me. I thought of all the girls in my class and decided to try to be friends with two really nice girls who didn’t seem to already have best friends. That was a good idea because we really did become best friends and did a lot of things together for a long time. I am glad I decided to choose good friends for myself.

But the not so good thing about it was that I stopped being friends with the “left-over” kids. That wasn’t right. I should have remembered how lonely I felt before I found my new best friends. I wish I was nicer to my old friends. I have felt sad about that for a long time.

School starts in a few days. I wonder what new friends I will have this year.

Copyright © 2008 by Janice Green

I used to be a snotty-nose kid, but that was before we moved. Now I just pick my nose when nobody is looking.

My nose used to run so bad that one day my mom gave me a whole box of Kleenexes to take to school and keep in my desk. When I used them all up, I kept the empty box to put used tissues in until I could throw them away. Besides, I might have to use them again once they dried out a little bit. My teacher must have given me more tissues to use when I ran out, I don’t remember now. Maybe she gave me Kleenexes when she caught me licking the buggers off my lip. One day a boy in my class grabbed the box out of my desk and when I tried to get it back it ripped in half and I had to throw it away. I was so mad. I guess he thought it was a big joke.

After we moved to another town, I was thinking about how I used to eat the buggers. But a funny thing about it was that I wasn’t sure I was remembering it right. I remembered eating something, but wondered if it was buggers or earwax. I tried to remember what it tasted like. Since I didn’t have a runny nose that day, and hadn’t had one for a while, I decided to taste my earwax. Nope! That couldn’t have been it, must have been the buggers!

Copyright © 2008 by Janice Green

I was watching some bluebirds around the new bluebird nest we put up when I thought I saw our dandelions jumping up and down like popcorn in a hot pan. So I watched them for a few minutes and guess what it was. Some American Goldfinch birds were in the grass getting the seeds from the dandelions. They were so pretty and so fun to watch as they would jump from one spot in the grass to another.

I think Goldfinches are my favorite bird. They have bright yellow feathers with black wings and a black patch on their heads. The females aren’t quite as bright and don’t have the black cap. I wanted to get a picture of them in the dandelions, but I think I scared them away. So I went around the house with my camera to see if they were on the bird feeders. There were bunches of them there too. Here are a couple of pictures I took.

When I went out the door this morning there were tiny white flowers scattered everywhere. Could this be fairy snow?  Did fairies scatter them all around?

Then I looked up and around. We have two trees covered with white flowers. They are ornamental pear trees. Here are some flowers up close on the tree.

Guess that messes up my fairy theory! (Unless they are inside those tree branches hiding–just waiting for it to turn to night time so they can scatter more all over the ground while nobody is looking!)

Here is Kyra wearing my daisy chain. I think it looks better on Kyra than it did on Missy.

Kyra and her brother and older sister wanted to learn how to make dandelion chains. We found some dandelions growing in their yard.

Joseph went right to work. Brittany had to help Kyra at first. Then Kyra was able to do it by herself.

Kyra had a trick of her own. She made a wish and blew the dandelion seeds everywhere!

We made some curly-Qs out of the stems.

What fun! Karla is looking at a curly-Q that she pulled out of the water. (Sorry, it is on the other side of her hand and you can’t see it.) Don’t you like her pretty dandelion chain bracelet?

I hope some of our visitors to my blog site will try to make some dandelion chains and curly-Qs. If you do, tell me about it, and send me some pictures.

At last! Today the dandelions were open when I didn’t have to be in school. Here are some dandelions I could pick, but I waited for the bee to fly away first. (Bees are my friends. They help vegetables grow.)

Here is how to make a dandelion chain:

Pick a flower. Use your thumbnail to cut a slit in the stem. Thread another dandelion stem through the slit you made.

 

One day when I was in the first grade my teacher told us to be careful going home and to let our parents know there were tornado warnings out. I had never heard of a tornado, so I didn’t understand what she was saying. I thought she was talking about a tomato–a big tomato. So I was watching everywhere that evening for a gigantic tomato to drop out of the sky, until I told my mom. Then she explained to me what a tornado was.

The tomato was funny, but real tornadoes are not funny. I am thinking about my friends near Florence, SC tonight.  Some really bad tornadoes went through their neighborhood this evening. Their father was really smart and built them a storm shelter when they moved into their trailer. They called me just after the tornado passed over their home and shelter. They heard a lot of hail, then a really loud noise. The tornado pulled a lot of shingles off the roof of their shelter while they were in it. It rolled another house trailer upside down that was right across the street from them. I’m glad my friends were OK, but I feel sad for all the other people who had their homes and yards messed up. I hope they will be able to sleep tonight. I know that was really scary. Please pray for Jessica and Hannah and their mom and dad and all their neighbors tonight.

I was so disappointed when I went outside this morning to go to school. I couldn’t see any yellow dandelions – only fluffy seed on top of stems where the flowers used to be. And I knew there were lots of dandelions around only a day or two ago. Here is my dog Missy standing behind a clump of dandelions with seed heads sticking out.

Drop your split stems into the water cup or jar and watch the strips curl up. Use them for decorations or just have fun watching them curl up.  Here are some pictures of how they look.

 As I was picking the dandelion stems I noticed that there were dandelion flowers that were not opened. I think maybe they open in only the warmest and/or sunniest  part of the day and then close back up until late morning the next day.

I’ve been looking at all the dandelions in the yard. They are fun to play with, but don’t put your fingers in your mouth when you do. Dandelion milk tastes terrible! Tomorrow I’m going to pick a handful and make a necklace and some curly-Qs. When I do I will take some pictures and put them here.

Did you know you could put a dandelion under someone’s chin to see if they like butter? If their chin glows yellow that means they like butter – at least that’s what I heard.

Here is a poem I wrote about dandelions once. My mother painted the picture.

Dandelions 
Poem copyright © 2005 by Janice Green

A dandelion beneath the chin
Will tell if you like butter.
Several flowers can make a chain;
Blow the seeds and watch them flutter.

Watercolor copyright © 1999 by Pauline Ducker

Copyright © 2008 by Janice Green