…and more changes

so, i am now longer teaching 5th grade.  i resigned from my position.  it turns out i don't have thick enough skin for public education.  and the truth is i don't want to.  it is just not a good fit for me anymore.  i did not make the decision lightly, but i did what is best for the safety and well-being of my family.  i do not believe in mistakes, but it has been a long time since i have made such a wrong turn in my path.  i am happy now to be back on my right path, being a mother, taking care of my family, taking care of myself, and making jewelry.

and, as a happy coincidence, my dear friend patty went to the tucson gem and mineral show right after my last day of teaching.  she brought me back some amazing treats!

gorgeous, high quality gemstones- tanzanite, chalcedony, chrysoprase, amethyst, prehnite, and larimar

rainbow moonstone

kyanite!

amethyst

labradorite

and prehnite

you can be sure that i am very excited to start turning these beautiful stones into jewelry.  my sketch book is filling up with ideas, and i've started a few pieces.  stay tuned for finished products!

in the mean time, i've been doing a lot of skiing, both with my family and by myself.

i've been visiting family,

and spending lots of good time with my girls.

there is also a brand new trail up above my town, and during the very warm spell we had recently, i was up there almost every day checking it out.  it's awesome.

and the dogs really love it.

also,  miss smarty pants hazel got third place in her school spelling bee,

and june continues to be spectacular.

i hope that you are all doing well, and i am really looking forward to creating some new pieces for you!

new endeavors

hello!  it's been so long since i've seen you.  i have really missed you.  but, since i have a week off from work, i thought i could check in and give you an update on my life these days.  so, yes, i have a week off from work because it is thanksgiving break because i am TEACHING FIFTH GRADE NOW.  yep. that's right.  i am a 5th grade teacher at dolores elementary school, hazel and june's school, just a few blocks from my home.

here is my fabulous class.

these are our class pets, a mama degu, alice, and her two daughters, thelma and louise.

and here i am, teaching a science lesson on sublimation on halloween.

(as an aside, glenn was cousin eddie for halloween.)

so, yes.  as you may or may not know, prior to the birth of hazel and june, and prior to the birth of silver sparrow designs, i was an elementary school teacher.  last year i started to really miss being in the classroom.  so i started to sub a bit to see if i really missed teaching or i just thought i did.  turns out i really missed it.  so i applied for a job last spring and i was selected to teach this amazing 5th grade class.  it has been, as you can probably imagine, a crazy transition and a huge challenge.  i struggle with many of the aspects of working in the public education field, but i am a very good teacher and i am proud to be back in the classroom.  i love teaching and i love my class.  (interestingly enough, i have been attempting to run a classroom blog, thesmithscoopdolores.blogspot.com, but it has proven to be a bit more difficult than i had imagined.  it's still a work in progress but you can go check it out if you'd like.)

recently the school had an event and invited bees knees to play.

and we had our family photo taken.

so what else has changed since you last saw me?  we have yet another small dog now, mason.  we got joe to be june's dog, but he absolutely bonded with hazel instead of june.  so, i was recently at the local animal shelter and there was this skinny little precious guy, begging to come live with us.  so we brought him home.

and he is as happy as can be.

and 100% junebug's dog.

so silver sparrow designs is not dead.  she is merely resting her wings, taking a break from flight for a bit.  i still get out to my shop on occasion, it is just not the main focus of my life right now.

my creative endeavors are different these days.  i have remodeled the living room, which was a blast.

i made all of these pillows, along with curtains and table runners, chair covers, etc. 

i'm also on a bit of a crochet kick.  i guess my hands are more drawn to soft mediums these days.

jo, olive, and mason on the first ski of the year yesterday

and look how huge these girls are!

i hope that everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving!

summertime

hello!  happy summer!  i recently made many items for an upcoming show.  however, for a certain reason that i am not yet ready to disclose, i ended up not doing the show.  so, i have very many new pieces in the etsy shop.

there are these earrings:

and these bracelets:

a little more detail on the bracelets

also these rings:

and these necklaces:

remember this photo, from a few year's ago?

first aid kit is hazel's very most favorite band.  she named two of our chickens after them, klara and johanna.  she also sang their song, king of the world, in her school talent show this year.  so i took her on a 9-year-old-birthday-girl-road-trip to good ol' omaha, nebraska to see them.

we were not able to meet them again like we did in newport, but i was able to get her as close to the stage as she could possibly be, with earplugs of course.

she was absolutely delighted.

and we had so much fun.

she was a wonderful traveling companion.  (as was jo)

and olive, in her own little way.

hazel and i stayed for a few days and had a blast.  our campground had a lot of fun stuff to do, we went shopping, we went and saw maleficent (which i adored, by the way) 

and we went to the omaha zoo, which is absolutely the most amazing zoo i have ever been to.  if you ever get the chance, you really should check it out.

and, as luck would have it, conor oberst was also playing in omaha two days later, so we also went to see him.  he was amazing as usual.

then we returned back to denver, where juniper was waiting with my parents.  we had some really wonderful time with parents and grandparents and brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and cousins.

my dad and his beloved olive

all the marcille ladies

 cousins

and mom and i went shopping together

also while in denver we got this precious little russian tortoise, elliott

and when we got home we adopted this amazing little bunny for juniper whom she has dubbed pipkin pumpkin finnegan parsnip smith.

things are well around here, as you can see.  we are currently undergoing a massive overhaul of the backyard.  can't wait to share the results with you.

hope all of you lovely people are well.