The turkey was carved, pumpkin pies devoured, and I could see our Thanksgiving guests would soon be homeward bound. Good-bye Pilgrims, hello Santa. Everyone knew that the minute Thanksgiving wrapped up, we’d move into Christmas. So there I was, ready to deck the halls. But this year, it was complicated. My Dear Hubby fiddled with his wrist wrap, which was still healing from recent surgery. With him out of commission, how was I going to drag those 27 tubs of precious Christmas decor from the garden shed through the waist-high snowbanks that had piled up in our snow-trapping backyard? And yes, I mean TWENTY-SEVEN of those big, 44-gallon round Rubbermaid tubs typically used for garbage receptacles. Desperate, I stopped our two grown sons before they escaped out the front door. Of course, I didn’t tell them what was waiting for them—at least, not until after they shoveled their way to the shed and dug the snow away from its door! I knew exactly what their first question would be after dragging the first four tubs through the back door: “How do we know which tubs you want in here?” They should have known. They grew up with my obsession. “All of them.” I whispered, my jaws clenched as my face turned as red as Rudolph's nose. I’ll never forget what my father, who watched those tubs pile up in the sunroom, said to me. “What’s wrong with you? You have enough stuff here to decorate the Civic Center!” Dad, I finally know what’s wrong with me.. I should have started Christmas decorating LONG before Thanksgiving! Think about it: there are only about 30 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some years, as few as 27 days! Putting up 27 tubs of Christmas decor for as few as 27 days—what WAS I thinking? Some of us take a while to catch on. But after refraining from pre-Thanksgiving decorating for most of my long life, I have found the Thanksgiving turkey tastes the same--even in a room void of autumn decor! So, yes, I have gone to the dark side. And honestly? It’s not my fault. Mariah Carey gave me permission when she began officially kicking off the Christmas season each year on November 1st with a rendition of her famous track, “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” I'm pretty sure DH isn’t a fan. All he wants for Christmas is no decor. “When we were growing up, my mother put up one red candle every year,” he’d mutter as he toted in tub after tub year after year. Now, he’s added to the grumble: “And never once did she put it out before Thanksgiving." When do YOU decorate for Christmas? Yes, Santa is a little out of place here, but the turkey tastes the same regardless of the clashing Christmas decor!

I admit it—as a mother, I dressed my kids in costumes that would be considered racist today. Google knows everything—including what costume you’ll be wearing this year. Its Frightgeist site just released the top trend report for Halloween costumes, based on search history, and it predicts you will go as Buddy the Unicorn. If not him, then NeeDoh, Freaky Nikki from Obsession, Agamemnon from The Odyssey or Lily Love Braids from the latest release of Poppy Playtime. If not one of those, you’ll rely on the most-used costumes in history: vampires, ghosts, skeletons, princesses, pirates and Star Wars characters. Or Dolly Parton. She is Number 12 on the Frightgeist list—and Kenny Rogers (with whom she famously recorded Islands In the Stream) is Number 14. And since this is the year the movie Michael was released, you may be going as Michael Jackson. It's a safe choice, at least! Buddy the Unicorn is predicted to be the most popular costume this Halloween. I would prefer Ozzy Ox! Just sayin'! Be careful there, unless you are Black. Pretending to be a person of another race is complicated. I admit it—as a mother, I dressed my kids in costumes that would be considered racist today. Our daughter, with her almost-black hair, brown eyes and skin, dressed as every kind of female Native American heroine we knew of during her childhood. She was a beautiful Pocahontas, Sacagawea and Indian maiden. I honestly thought we honored the Native American culture with her costumes. One year back in the late 1980s, our son went as his hero, Kirby Puckett (so did a lot of other people I know, both adult and kids). Puckett, the beloved Minnesota Twins center, is still close to our son’s heart. He portrayed his favorite player, not out of mockery, but ultimate respect. And yes, of course, he painted his face black, although, truth be told, I doubt there was ever a white kid less concerned about the color of skin. He knew every move Puckett made on the baseball field, and when we met Kirby in the hall of the Holiday Inn right before a Kirby Puckett event, he was beyond star struck. I don’t think he ever thought of Kirby as Black, white or any other color. He just thought of him as an absolute hero. Then there was our third child, whom I dressed in a poncho and a huge sombrero when he was very young. I thought he was the cutest little thing I’d ever seen. Today, kids don’t get to dress like that—at least, not without giving it a lot of thought. They—and their parents—-must be aware of the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation. I am obviously no expert on the subject--but the last thing I meant to do in dressing our kids for Halloween was to stereotype another culture. So learning more about the difference between cultural appropriation and cultural appreciation has opened my eyes. Check out the article at this link. Meanwhile, I may or may not be going again this year as a witch. Five years in a row wearing the same hat and black dress. My grandkids are even tired of it, and told me so last year. But hey, Google lists the witch as THE most popular costume of all time! HAPPY HALLOWEEN COSTUME HUNTING & HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Last week, our Minnesota twins had a couple of days off, so they visited us at the The Bison Ranch. This week, our North Dakota grandkids will have a break from school on Thursday and Friday. Both states call off two school days in October for annual teachers’ conventions. The focus is on providing our educators—teachers and school leaders alike—with professional development. The conventions also give them a chance to network and address the issues facing education today. Staring back at all of us is a critical teacher shortage. Last March, North Dakota’s Education Standards and Practices Board designated teaching positions in ALL content areas as critical shortage areas—not just traditionally hard-to-fill subjects like high school math or science, but elementary education, too. North Dakota is far from alone: every state reported teacher shortages in multiple teaching areas for the 2024–2025 school year. While shortages in some states and regions go back decades, the problem has grown more urgent in recent years. Simply put, schools face two challenges at once: keeping teachers in the profession and preparing enough new teachers to take their places. According to a 2025 analysis by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, enrollment in teacher preparation programs declined by roughly one-third between 2012–2013 and 2022–2023. Pair that with findings from a recent “Educator Recognition and Retention Survey,” which reports that one in four U.S. public school teachers plans to quit within the next 12 months. One in four. Why are teachers fed up with their careers? We can all point to low pay, especially here in North Dakota. Our state ranks 41st in the nation for average teacher salaries, according to data compiled by the National Education Association for the 2024–2025 school year. That doesn’t square with our place in state rankings of GDP per capita: North Dakota is the 16th richest state. Yeah, but North Dakotans are all underpaid, right? True, we do consistently rank in the lower tier for average wages. But that comparison doesn’t exactly justify what we are paying our teachers. North Dakota’s average wages rank between 26th and 33rd nationally. But teachers place 41st! Think about that. Then couple it with other reasons teachers are ditching their careers: burnout, student behavior, and something else I learned about in a conversation last week with a retired Arizona teacher. He said he walked out of a 30-year career he loved far sooner than he’d planned. In the aftermath of COVID’s disruption to his students’ education, he felt grave concern for them and their chances of regaining what they had lost when the school resorted to remote learning. He felt that the Gilbert school where he had taught for so many years no longer had his back--and the backs of teachers, period. Lack of support from school leadership is another reason teachers leave their classrooms. In my mind, this is more than a survey result. It is a guidepost for schools everywhere. We need to support our teachers! Pay them better, listen to them, honor their expertise, teach our children to respect them. And recognize that our futures depend on turning this teacher attrition problem around. Parents, school administration, legislators and the American people: WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT THIS?

Blog Everyone is entitled to My opinion! (And yes, I am just kidding!)] But I definitely want to hear what YOU have to say! We can talk about kids' books, education, history, current events, travel, parenthood and grandparenthood! Or chocolate! Who doesn't love chocolate? Subscribe to From My Corner Windows--the view changes constantly! Enter your email here Subscribe Free! Thanks for subscribing! Welcome to My Blog! It's about children and families and the books they read. It's about loving your kids and grandkids through reading, travel, humor and everyday joy. It's about making a difference in the life of a child. Reely? Check out the action! Ozzy Ox appeals to kids as young as this 15-month-old! Hey, what's the recent view from The Corner Windows? Check our past blog posts! Gone to the dark side (and the turkey tastes the same!) Many Halloween costumes of the past wouldn't cut it today One in four teachers plan to do this within the next year Don't you just HATE data centers? On Orange Shirt Day: Learn the truth Shocked to my socks! All Blog Posts Here Gone to the dark side (and the turkey tastes the same!) The turkey was carved, pumpkin pies devoured, and I could see our Thanksgiving guests would soon be homeward bound. Good-bye Pilgrims, hello Santa. Everyone knew that the minute Thanksgiving wrapped up, we’d move into Christmas. So there I was, ready to deck the halls. But this year, it was complicated. My Dear Hubby fiddled with his wrist wrap, which was still healing from recent surgery. With him out of commission, how was I going to drag those 27 tubs of precious Christmas decor from the garden shed through the waist-high snowbanks that had piled up in our snow-trapping backyard? And yes, I mean TWENTY-SEVEN of those big, 44-gallon round Rubbermaid tubs typically used for garbage receptacles. Desperate, I stopped our two grown sons before they escaped out the front door. Of course, I didn’t tell them what was waiting for them—at least, not until after they shoveled their way to the shed and dug the snow away from its door! I knew exactly what their first question would be after dragging the first four tubs through the back door: “How do we know which tubs you want in here?” They should have known. They grew up with my obsession. “All of them.” I whispered, my jaws clenched as my face turned as red as Rudolph's nose. I’ll never forget what my father, who watched those tubs pile up in the sunroom, said to me. “What’s wrong with you? You have enough stuff here to decorate the Civic Center!” Dad, I finally know what’s wrong with me.. I should have started Christmas decorating LONG before Thanksgiving! Think about it: there are only about 30 days between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some years, as few as 27 days! Putting up 27 tubs of Christmas decor for as few as 27 days—what WAS I thinking? Some of us take a while to catch on. But after refraining from pre-Thanksgiving decorating for most of my long life, I have found the Thanksgiving turkey tastes the same--even in a room void of autumn decor! So, yes, I have gone to the dark side. And honestly? It’s not my fault. Mariah Carey gave me permission when she began officially kicking off the Christmas season each year on November 1st with a rendition of her famous track, “All I Want For Christmas Is You.” I'm pretty sure DH isn’t a fan. All he wants for Christmas is no decor. “When we were growing up, my mother put up one red candle every year,” he’d mutter as he toted in tub after tub year after year. Now, he’s added to the grumble: “And never once did she put it out before Thanksgiving." When do YOU decorate for Christmas? Yes, Santa is a little out of place here, but the turkey tastes the same regardless of the clashing Christmas decor!

Author Callen Kropp presents children's picture books that tickle the funny bone with zany rhyme and vibrant illustrations, teaching values that help children make good choices.
And "From My Corner Windows," a blog about celebrating LIFE. About families and kids and parents and grandparents doing life! Welcome to the Land of Oxen! Callen Kropp and Emily Hagen present a series of kids' story books that tickle the funny bone with zany rhyme and vibrant illustrations teaching values that help children make good choices. Find them on Amazon , and IngramSpark and other bookstores, both online and brick & mortar. Looking for picture books that start discussions that help children's hurdle life's lessons? For laugh-out-loud books in which your children will be so entertained that they won't realize they are learning? Meet Ozzy—the world's most stubborn little ox—and his incredibly patient mother, MomOx. Written entirely in bouncy rhyme and paired with breathtakingly vibrant illustrations, this 4-book series turns everyday power struggles into pure comedic chaos. Instead of lecturing, these books use slapstick consequences to teach children why listening to Mom and Dad is actually a pretty good idea. Perfect for Reading Aloud! The flawless, rhythmic cadence makes it an absolute joy for parents, grandparents, and teachers to read out loud without getting bored. Kids naturally root for the sensible choice when they see Ozzy’s over-the-top, hilarious disasters unfold. Find Ozzy Ox books here. Ozzy Ox Stands Against Socks Wins a Purple Dragonfly Award! A worldwide award based on content, originality, overall readability, design and illustration, judged by industry experts --including CHILDREN! Check out our blog "From My Corner Windows" Meet Ozzy and his MomOx in this quick clip! Volume up! "...a charming and insightful literary gem that stands out for its vibrant storytelling, endearing characters, and invaluable life lessons." "....Kropp's storytelling prowess shines as the narrative unfolds with rhythmic rhymes and an engaging plot." "...a heartwarming and insightful tale that beautifully explores the themes of responsibility, compassion, and the healing power of humor." "Ox Stands Against Socks is a cute and entertaining story that teaches children to listen to other people's opinions. " Yay! Ozzy Ox: Candy Stash-- has received great reviews ! Heralded as "a literary gem," and a "lyrical treasure," Ozzy Ox: Candy Stash has been received by hundreds of families with great enthusiasm, too! Ozzy Ox: Candy Stash 5-Star Reader's Favorite! Read Candy Stash Reviews here Check out this 1-minute of fun--a g limpse of Ozzy Ox: Candy Stash! Ozzy Ox Candy Stash Trailer by Isaac Play Video The Ozzy Ox Channel Watch Now Share Whole Channel This Video Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied Share Channel Info Close Ozzy Ox Stands Against Socks “Let’s hold your thought, give it a rest, We'll go outside today and test!" Said Ozzy, running down the hall. He came right back and stood up tall.
 With thick, bright socks on all four feet. Out through the door, they met the street. 
But when he felt the brutal cold, Did Ozzy believe what he’d been told? Five-Star Reader's Favorite and winner of the Purple Dragonfly Award "Ozzy is an adorable, stubborn calf that many kids will relate to. His personality was evident in his body language and expressions, which can be seen in the colorful and eye-catching illustrations." Read Stands Against Socks Reviews here Ozzy Ox Moody Morning "Oh, Ozzy Ox, you began this day In a most sniveling, quibbling way. You waved your hooves so angrily, And scared the screech right out of me." "As Ozzy Ox watches the morning unfold, he realizes how devastating a simple tantrum can be and he’s full of remorse. However, his animal friends rallied together and their collaborative efforts put everything right again. Ozzy Ox learns an important lesson about friendship, kindness, and caring for others." --Review by Emily-Jane Hills Orford Read Moody Morning reviews here 5-Star Reader's Favorite! Ozzy Ox: Toy Trauma "Ozzy Ox: Toy Trauma" is not just a story; it's a vehicle for teaching children about understanding, compassion, and the importance of taking responsibility for their actions. The vibrant and endearing illustrations complement the narrative beautifully, making it an engaging and visually appealing reading experience." An ER isn’t where you’d expect a lad to show concern for others. But Ozzy Ox Toy Trauma d elivers a tender moment of compassion when you least expect it. 5-Star Reader's Favorite! Read Toy Trauma Reviews here READ THEM RHYMING PICTURE BOOKS! BY DOING SO, YOUR CHILD WILL : Learn about words and language formation Notice individual sounds (example: the common ending “-ig” in wig, pig, jig) Spark their own imagination and poetry-writing skills (a lifelong skill) Appreciate the artistry and impact words make, especially in creating emotion Enjoy a fun, engaging, and memorable reading experience---our Ozzy Ox series WILL deliver!

Rascally Ozzy Ox learns life lessons the hard way in this 4-book series of picture books for kids 2-8. Zany rhymes deliver humor and life lessons that help children learn as they grow. The Full Story About This is your About Page. It's a great opportunity to give a full background on who you are, what you do and what your website has to offer. Double click on the text box to start editing your content and make sure to add all the relevant details you want to share with site visitors. Mission This is a Paragraph. Click on "Edit Text" or double click on the text box to start editing the content and make sure to add any relevant details or information that you want to share with your visitors. Vision This is a Paragraph. Click on "Edit Text" or double click on the text box to start editing the content and make sure to add any relevant details or information that you want to share with your visitors.