Thursday, February 11, 2016

Five on Friday



Our students listened to a personal security presentation today. The digital world can be frightening, and dangerous for those unaware. For two hours the presenter held his audience's attention. I learned a lot about internet safety. And I also learned how much I don't know. Darren Laur is a former police officer. He's not anti-internet, but counsels students to develop an online presence that is strong and positive rather than one that may come back to haunt someone in the future.


Mr. F. turned two this week. His mother created a perfect cake for a little boy who clutches his Thomas and Friends trains tightly wherever he goes. Each train car was a small cake (some chocolate, some white) with different toppings. Yum!



February is flying by. It's almost Valentine's Day. I pulled a few things out of my VD box (shoebox size), including the patchwork heart done several years ago, and the stitched post card finished last year.

I don't think I've ever been so busy in my entire life. I confess that taking on another English class has more than doubled my work load. I know that I'm still easing into it, and I'm hopeful that I'll develop a rhythm of lesson prep and marking that won't consume every waking moment.


I'm looking forward to the weekend. There will be some housework to do, but I also hope to do a little sewing or stitching. I'd love to work in the garden as I did on Monday (holiday here). The sun beamed with real warmth and I made some progress weeding and trimming. However, we're back to rain, rain, rain, so I'll stay cozy indoors. 

How about you? Indoors or out this weekend? Linking up with Five on Friday, hosted by Amy of Love Made My Home. 

46 comments:

  1. I would have LOVED to hear that talk! I wised up a bit years ago when I revealed just a little too much info to someone over the Internet. Fortunately he was a good guy, but it taught me to be very, very careful in the future! That cake is SO amazing--love it! A very happy belated birthday to your Mr. F:) Love all the pink in your post!
    Blessings,
    Aimee
    PS: If the weather permits, out! My hubby and I are trying to walk 3 times a week.

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  2. I loved see the sweet birthday cake; how fun for the little one! Your stitched Valentine cards are so lovely. How I wish I could embroider. Wishing you a wonderful weekend, Pat :)

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  3. I keep thinking about the future consequences of all the internet revelations that are made every day, glad they listened well, just hope they take note. perfect cake, my so would have loved that when he was little. Am totally in love Lorrie with your stitched postcard, it's given me an itch to have a go, but like you, where is the time these days. I am sure you will 'ease' in to the new class. Have a great week x

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  4. A Happy Valentine's Day to Vancouver ♥

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  5. Love the candy train idea for a party. Yes, It's important to be safe on the internet, just like in real life. Dangers are there, they are just different. Good luck with your chores over the weekend.

    Mersad
    Mersad Donko Photography

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  6. A lovely post with beautiful photos, especially the train. What an excellent idea for a cake. Hope you enjoy a relaxing half term break. :-)

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  7. It is good to be reminded and to learn how to be safe on the internet. Have a great week. xx

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  8. Such a beautiful post with sweet photos
    Love the train
    Big hugs x

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  9. What a lovely post, love the Birthday cakesxx

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  10. Anonymous4:12 AM

    The feather photo is wonderful. And, I love the birthday cake - ingenious. The Thomas the Train era is a wonderful adventure and I enjoyed every moment. Applause to your school for providing internet education. Forever is something they may not consider. I'll be indoors this weekend. It was .5 degrees F this morning and it is going down from there. If you are able to work in your garden, please get your hands dirty for me. :-)

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  11. That cake is so clever. And I like the cloth it's resting on (on which it's resting) ;-) Have a wonderful Valentine's Day.

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  12. The birthday cake is adorable. My grandson is another one who clutches Thomas tightly wherever he goes... even to bed :).
    Your Valentine postcard is so pretty and unique. I'm going to check your sidebar to see if you shared instructions for that one.
    I hope you will find plenty of time to relax and enjoy your weekend, Lorrie. Happy Valentine's Day.

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  13. Wonderful little boy's train cake! My 15 y.o.son loved Thomas and friends! brings back sweet baby boy memories!
    I love your stitched postcard and wish you a happy weekend!
    Christine

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  14. There are so many internet preditors, so both parents and schools must help children be safe. I do Nope you find the secret to make teaching English more time effective with the grading and lesson planning then you can write the book and maybe retire, but would that be fun? Love th cake and admire the creative moms who take the time to make birthdays special and personal. No gardening here yet. The snow is melting, turning the Garden Spot to mud. Have a fine weekend.

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  15. High five for Friday!! I know what you mean about internet security, there's is ALWAYS so much to learn. Your valentine was sweet and so was the Birthday cake! Have a wonderful weekend Lorrie!!

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  16. Anonymous7:09 AM

    Oh yes...this latest rain pattern is not promising for any dryness in the next several days. You do sound busy. I hope you find a good rhythm with your new workload soon. Love that cake and the idea of using those little baking containers. My middle son's favorite cake is still his choo choo train cake that I made for him many many years ago. I knew his new wife was a keeper when she made him a choo choo train the first birthday they were dating! Hope your weekend is filled with good things!

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  17. The birthday train is the cutest thing!

    "Busy" can be challenging! I hope that you're finding joy in your "busy" and are able to ease into a rhythm before long...and I hope that your weekend provides you some relaxing moments.

    Our weekend is busy, but all activities are indoors as we are expecting an Artic blast!

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  18. What a perfect birthday cake for the little guy. I'd even like that for myself and I am way over 2. hehe.

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  19. In, definitely!

    As the Nonni of two Thomas lovers, I am totally smitten by the special cake for your grandson. His mom is very clever. In fact, my grands are too big now to confess that they still love Thomas, but I know. When asked about packing or giving away, Sam told me that we could just leave the trains right where they are just in case. I am waiting for THAT day.

    The talk sounds timely and helpful. Keeping things positive is excellent advice.

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  20. That birthday cake is amazing! Have a lovely weekend and don't do too much housework enjoy your crafting instead. :)

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  21. What a clever birthday cake idea! I can imagine it would delight boys and girls of that age....and I have a few with summer birthdays.
    Have a good weekend! It is supposed to go up to 13 today.

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  22. I love your heart and stitched postcard. So pretty. And that birthday cake is just the cutest thing ever! How fun! I just talked with a friend the other day who is a Middle School English teacher and she made the comment that her work is never done, even after teaching for years, and years, and years. Good luck with the new workload. Have a relaxing weekend. Tammy

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  23. P.S. As for the internet, I definitely think that some people have gone way overboard in the way that they use it. Common sense seems to be lacking in many circumstances. Especially with the usage of smart phones. I love mine and it serves many useful purposes but if I had to let it go tomorrow, I wouldn't freak out. For some, it's become such an addiction. We have one of the highest rates of fatal accidents in the world and still people are texting and driving, even with their kids sitting right next to them. It's appalling.

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  24. I hope you do find a balance with teaching, crafting and home life. The VD stitched postcard is unique and I'm sure there's lots of Pinterest ideas you'd love to be putting together.
    It would be interesting to see a summary and any hints of the internet safety presentation in a post. I like Tammy's comment above about the smartphone - I could give it up too and go back to carrying a point and shoot camera. ;-0
    Happy Valentine's Day!

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  25. What little boy does not wish for a train cake? I have to marvel at how even these have changed from plastic little trains that go on top of a cake to an actual train with cars. I love the idea of using the paper loaf pans!
    I can imagine how busy you must be. Do you still teach Home Ec? That post card is unique and beautiful!

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  26. Firstly, the internet security class was an excellent idea! All students should be given one of these classes by age 10 and again every year after that! The Thomas the Tank Engine cake...I LOVE it! My grandson is 14 now, but he used to love Thomas and this would have been the ideal cake for him when he was little. Seems every little boy loves Thomas! :-) So you live on Vancouver Island. I have another blogger I follow who is there, Island Rambles. We are planning an upcoming move to Oregon and perhaps we will get into Canada at some point on vacation. I would love to see Vancouver Island. I read a book written by a Mom who boated with her four children every summer in that area, called The Curve of Time, by Wylie Blanchett. I really enjoyed it.

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  27. The internet can be a scary place for a young person, that class sounds like a great idea. I bet we all could learn from it.
    Love the cakes!!
    As a retired teacher I KNOW you're working hard, but you'll soon have a routine in place that will help you.

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  28. Lovely Valentines decorations and fabulous cake!!!! The advice about the internet is good for any of us isn't it. Hopefully the children will be off to a good start after that talk. Thank you for joining Five On Friday, Happy Valentines! xx

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  29. I'm sure the talk was very informative. Love your stitched heart and postcard. Our Family day Monday is this upcoming Monday. The grandkids are coming for a visit. It's really cold here so I'm just dreaming about the garden and looking back through the photo archives.

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  30. Love those valentines! And the train cake. Guess your daughter got a big dose of your creativity! Have a restful weekend!

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  31. Wonderful valentines. We will also be indoors this weekend with rain rain rain. Did you get the lovely break this afternoon like we did down here? It was sunny and bright - we took a ride and then went out to dinner - now it is raining again so I suspect it is either moving up your way - or coming down here from up there. Happy rainy weekend.

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  32. Sounds like a very wise seesion for the students to have.

    That cake is adorable. My boys (26 years and 10 years old respectively) both were fans of Thomas. I'm sure their kids will be one day too!

    Have a great weekend!

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  33. Hopefully we will get out and have a little sunshine in the garden. Fingers crossed. Your Thomas birthday cake made me smile. All 3 of my boys loved Thomas. ( They are all in their 20's now) What a great idea for a cake. Have a great weekend and hope the marking doesn't get you down :) Barbara

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  34. A wonderful post, Lorrie! The birthday cake is indeed amazing!
    Happy Valentine's Day!

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  35. The train cake is absolutely adorable, Lorrie! What a great decorating job by your daughter. I love your stitchery, also. Enjoy your long weekend and Happy Valentine's Day!

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  36. That top photograph (feather caught on blackberry cane) is exquisite.
    Sweet cake -- your daughter's obviously picked up your creative talents...
    Good luck with the added course. It's always tough when these are caught at the last minute, no time to have the prep in hand before. At least you'll now be thickening your folder of teaching props for this particular course for future gigs, but you'll really need to guard your resources this time 'round. Perhaps even cut yourself some slack from time to time and remember that you pitched in rather than bid for the slot. . .

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  37. ADORABLE cake!! And, wonderful stitched Valentine's. I never would have thought I'd develop a love of Valentine's Day, but I have!

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  38. I love that first picture! And that cake is adorable. What a fun mom she must be. And that stitched Valentine card is beautiful. You sound super busy; I do hope that things move into a more comfortable and manageable routine for you. I'm impressed with all the other things you do!

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  39. Love that stitched postcard! What a fun (and beautifully done) cake! Happy Valentine's Day weekend!

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  40. Certainly a feast for the eyes. Love the sewing and cake.

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  41. My daughter had a safety talk this week and said that she learned quite a bit which, being a teenage tough audience, says a lot about the trainer. I do love your stitched postcard :) Have a lovely weekend xx

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  42. What a great idea to host an educational session on internet safety for the students. The Thomas and Friends train cake is amazing and I also loved the stitched postcard.

    Today, we were under an extreme cold weather alert (felt like -30C with the windchill)so I was glad that I didn't have to leave the house! Enjoy the Valentine long weekend!

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  43. As a grandma with lots of thomas stuff upstairs I can certainly appreciate and absolutely love that cake! :)

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  44. We are having moments where I can walk outside and enjoy the garden. Oh love, love that wonderful Thomas cake. I just had some work done on my computer and my computer guy actually talked about protecting my photos and computer. He told me not to use a cloud back up system, so I added a new back up hard drive. Also said Windows 10 was less protected than Windows 7. So many things! Yikes!

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  45. Oh Happy Birthday to your little grandson Lorrie.
    His train cake is just gorgeous - what a clever idea!
    I can just imagine his little face!
    Your postcard and heart are both lovely.
    It is hard working and juggling everything - I always seem to be chasing my tail too.
    Don't overdo things and get plenty of rest at the weekend.
    Shane x

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  46. Happy Birthday to little Mr F!! Two is such a great age, past the baby and ready to get into adventures ;) I hope you get into your teaching routine soon. It takes the fun out of it if you're consumed with work. Your Valentine's crafts are so sweet. I like the postcard idea! Did you get into your gardening on the weekend? Still snowing here today.
    Wendy

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