Saturday was our community wide yard sale; we participated both with a "stuff" sale and a bake sale fundraiser for Dr. Hair's (I think he needs a new name) brand new high school film club. They made more than I did. How did that happen? But I cleaned out a bunch of stuff, and took the leftovers to the thrift store on Monday, restoring our living room to a useful state. Friday I baked from 9 AM to 9 PM making 5 loaves of white bread, 2 each of banana, pumpkin and poppy seed loaves, a double batch of brownies (from scratch) and a big batch of ginger snaps. The house smelled wonderful! All that didn't sell was brought back inside to fill up the hollow legs around here and give me a week's break from baking.
Sunday we had a wonderful women's meeting at church that helped to unify us and inspire us to do more in strengthening each other and building the Kingdom.
This week I've caught up on lots of things around the house. I had to take time to clean out the drain for the laundry sink, it was clogged and draining slowly. TopDad was too busy to help so I did it all by myself; well with the help of a bottle of drain cleaner, but I did take everything apart and put it back together. Now all the laundry is caught up, you know, sheets and towels and such. The regular stuff goes on forever.
Wednesday I wrote letters and took care of some Relief Society business (church women's group, I'm president). I attended the high school honors night where Dr. Hair and Dandylion both received awards. Both in speech and Dandylion lettered in Academics, he has maintained a 4.0 GPA for at least three consecutive semesters. I know many of the seniors because they are Dr. Hair's friends so it was fun to see them. The art department has their annual art show in the cafeteria so we get to see the student projects. This art teacher is fabulous! Having lived here for four years now, I wish I'd grown up in a small town where the students get so many opportunities to explore and try things. Our youngest sons have really done well here.
Our weather is hot, cool and in between. Last night we had thunderstorms and hail. Today began clear, but clouds have moved in and "tut, tut, it looks like rain." The grass is Irish green, the trees are leafed out and my big lilac bush is in bloom smelling like heaven. I spent some time outside yesterday morning digging out dandelions from the lily of the valley patch on the north-east side of the house. I hope they bloom this year as I love that fragrance too.
So, how has your week been?
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Motherhood
Day Fourteen of Count Your Blessings 2013
Today I'm thankful to be a mother. For lots of reasons, but today for the reason that my children have introduced me to things I would never have explored otherwise.
I'm currently reading a book that Noble recommended in a genre that she loves. I can't put the dang thing down even though I have so many things to do! She's also the reason there is a jar of Kimchi in the fridge. I just had a craving for it! I'm also learning Korean, one word at a time.
Of course, my Korean gets mixed up with the Spanish I learned in my childhood and youth and try to keep up. But I'm nowhere near as fluent as PW. He gives me an incentive to get better. And then there's the guns and airplanes to learn about! And he was my first Lego Man, but not the last.
I know a lot more about the inner workings of automobiles because of JET. He loves cars! So I hear about them when he comes to visit. I love his enthusiasm. I always thought a vehicle was just a way to get from point A to point B. But he knows how to drift!!! And other cool things.
Dr. Hair has taught me to look at movies in a whole new way. As a film-maker himself he notices effects, camera angles, bloopers and such. And he can remember dialog from movies seemingly without effort. He's also the younger Lego Man. A master builder with visions and skills that rival professionals.
I sat through a year of violin lessons with Dandylion before getting up the courage to take lessons for myself. Seeing him do it gave me hope that I could learn too. It gave me great joy for four months before finances fell apart and I had to stop. We had fun playing a few duets too. He has music in his soul! I've learned to listen closer to hear the different instruments being played. He plays percussion and those instruments are not always easy to distinguish. But I'm getting better.
My cooking skills are legendary (within my family) having been honed over twenty-four years of feeding hungry children. My patience has increased exponentially over the years. I'm grateful to have learned selflessness through motherhood. And I'm so grateful for all the joy! Especially as my children become my best friends as they reach adulthood.
My only regret is that I couldn't have had five more!
Today I'm thankful to be a mother. For lots of reasons, but today for the reason that my children have introduced me to things I would never have explored otherwise.
I'm currently reading a book that Noble recommended in a genre that she loves. I can't put the dang thing down even though I have so many things to do! She's also the reason there is a jar of Kimchi in the fridge. I just had a craving for it! I'm also learning Korean, one word at a time.
Of course, my Korean gets mixed up with the Spanish I learned in my childhood and youth and try to keep up. But I'm nowhere near as fluent as PW. He gives me an incentive to get better. And then there's the guns and airplanes to learn about! And he was my first Lego Man, but not the last.
I know a lot more about the inner workings of automobiles because of JET. He loves cars! So I hear about them when he comes to visit. I love his enthusiasm. I always thought a vehicle was just a way to get from point A to point B. But he knows how to drift!!! And other cool things.
Dr. Hair has taught me to look at movies in a whole new way. As a film-maker himself he notices effects, camera angles, bloopers and such. And he can remember dialog from movies seemingly without effort. He's also the younger Lego Man. A master builder with visions and skills that rival professionals.
I sat through a year of violin lessons with Dandylion before getting up the courage to take lessons for myself. Seeing him do it gave me hope that I could learn too. It gave me great joy for four months before finances fell apart and I had to stop. We had fun playing a few duets too. He has music in his soul! I've learned to listen closer to hear the different instruments being played. He plays percussion and those instruments are not always easy to distinguish. But I'm getting better.
My cooking skills are legendary (within my family) having been honed over twenty-four years of feeding hungry children. My patience has increased exponentially over the years. I'm grateful to have learned selflessness through motherhood. And I'm so grateful for all the joy! Especially as my children become my best friends as they reach adulthood.
My only regret is that I couldn't have had five more!
Friday, February 8, 2013
Some Things Never Change
I'm reading a gentle book called Village Diary by Miss Read, the observations of a Headmistress at a country school in England during the course of a year, and came upon this description:
Miss Read wrote this in 1957! (The year I was born.)
What I do feel that the modern child lacks, when compared with the earlier generation, is concentration, and the sheer dogged grit to carry a long job through. Teaching through playing is right. It is, in fact, the only way to teach young children. But as they get older they find that any attainment needs application, and fun alone will not bring completion to a project. This is the danger-point. The older generation, resigned to hum-drum methods and a whacking here and there if there were any marked falling-off from hard work, got almost all their satisfaction from seeing the job completed and perhaps a word or two of approval as a tidbit. They were geared, as it were, to low returns for much effort.
The child today, used as he is to much praise and encouragement, finds it much more difficult to keep going as his task get progressively long. Helping children to face up to a certain amount of drudgery, cheerfully and energetically, is one of the biggest problems that teachers, in these days of ubiquitous entertainment, have to face in our schools; and the negative attitude, in so many homes, of 'How-much-money-can-I-get-for-how-little-work?' does nothing to help them in their daily battle.
Miss Read wrote this in 1957! (The year I was born.)
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