This week I've been asking myself if there is anything much sweeter than laying in bed (the toddler bed that is) in the arms of your two-year-old and having her say, "I like you!" Or maybe picking up your baby who turns one this week and having him lay on your shoulder while he sucks one thumb and uses the other hand to play with your hair. Those are the joyous moments of motherhood!
We seemed to keep busy for another week around here. My science class went well, I thought, but I hear that the parents want more hands-on activities (and brains-on activities aren't good enough...because the kids don't say how much fun they are having). So, it has been rather frustrating to deal with repeated mentioning of concerns that has felt a lot more like criticism despite my efforts to let them know what we are working on and my reasons why. I enjoy the kids in the class and the time out during the week. I went to lunch with one of my friends from the ward...a single mom who I am trying to convince to get to the temple.
We pretty much had the usual weekly activities that everyone seemed to enjoy. Things have been going better in nursery since we started the morning schedule. We've been able to keep the kids busy with snacks, walk, songs, lesson, and coloring for a large chunk of the time and only play for a little while. I think that it will help them be a lot more prepared for primary next year than the schedule that we had before. We have some kids still struggling to leave parents but we've been holding them for the last couple of weeks and they calm down once we can get the parents away. I am really enjoying doing that with Randy and enjoying the new nursery manual. (Speaking of which, Peter used it to give his first self-prepared FHE lesson on Monday!)
Peter is doing pretty well with his school things...is doing all math facts 0 to 5 in about 6 minutes and improving. He is writing a page of letters (not his favorite thing) and happily reading a lot. We had a book club meeting after FHE on Monday with him, Randy, and me. We really enjoyed it and included a spelling bee of the vocabulary words at the end. We are going to try and do it every other week. He wasn't too thrilled that I picked a book about George Washington for the next one. I've been trying to convince him to read it for a year or more. I also put in a pizza award...the Book-It program to sweeten the reading. He comments that he is enjoying reading it more this time than last time he tried. Next we are doing the sequel to Alcatraz and the Evil Librarians. Peter is very adoring to Paul. He calls him, "Our little pocket of joy" except when he is getting into mischief at which time he is called, "Paul Sawyer"!
Ada has been a cheerful and helpful little person. When Mary Joy threw-up on me Monday, Ada took over the mothering to bathe her, put lotion on, and fresh clothes. (Meanwhile Peter took Paul down to play.) That all made it a whole lot easier to clean up. Ada keeps Peter pretty busy with her great ideas for imaginative play. I gave her a written math quiz that didn't go so well and so I reviewed the flashcards with her but she seemed to know them all. I decided it was because they were not organized into groups on the worksheet but had all the processes mixed. She is very sweet toward anyone who seems to be suffering or unhappy.
Mary Joy is cuddly. She is also left out of the playing with Peter and Ada and therefore wants to play or read with me a lot. I am trying to do some preschool activities with her to keep busy since the one I tried to set up fell through. She is getting into changing her clothes and tells me that she likes: "pink, dress-up, and hide and seek". For her birthday she wants a pink cake.
Paul is trouble...he is pulling out flashcards and treasures from desks, playing with the buttons on the computer, climbing the stairs and falling down (or in the window sill with the same results), getting into the pile of clean paper plates, taking little bites out of raw potatoes, racing for the basement, bathroom, or outside door any time they are left open, unplugging the lamp cord, munching on anything small enough left on the floor, tearing up magazines and playing with the plastic covering on the library books, trying to walk behind the doll stroller but falling on his face, taking a few steps on his own, and loving life!
Randy seems to be really busy at work but doing well. He worked in the yard this week and made it look tons better. He is playing the ukulele a lot...the kids like him to come up and sing at bedtime. He is good, kind, and loving towards me...a great friend and companion!
I enjoyed attending the RS broadcast. I realized during the intermediate hymn all the women in my life who were around the globe participating and singing with me...I felt supported know that we were all together though physically apart. It was a sweet thing for me to feel that love and support. RS here has been my mother, my sister, and my friend.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
The good, bad, and ugly!
This week was good overall I would have to say. We managed to FHE on Monday night, the kids went with Randy to the temple visitor center on Tuesday while I taught my science class. Wednesday evening I got my friend to go to Enrichment meeting with me in exchange for some algebra tutoring and on Thursday the kids were excited for their gymnastics class. Friday we spent the morning going to the science center in Baltimore. Saturday evening was a fun wedding party for a new couple in our ward.
Okay, so now I'll let you in on the bad...there was a disagreement on the refreshment choice for FHE, they only spent 10 minutes at the visitor center because they waited an hour to find out that the temple could not find the bag of clothes that Randy had accidentally left there the week before, and most of the day Wednesday was spent with the majority of the family sick in bed. Thursday the girls were mad because Peter was the only one who got to swim at the YMCA and Friday we had to leave the fun early because I didn't bring more cash to pay for the expensive parking lot we ended up in. Then on Saturday...yes, we had to clean house before we could go to the party, had to leave Randy at home who was still feeling sick, and then we had to leave the party before everyone else left to get home and head to bed.
Finally, the ugly...Umm, hmm,...okay, you caught me, there wasn't any ugly that I can think of...oh yes, the excretions from sickness but I'll leave it at that!
The home teachers came and gave Randy a blessing last night and he felt well enough today to go to church and work in nursery with me today. We are using the new nursery manual and enjoying it. We had lots of fun with songs (and the kids are actually singing with us now), our snacks and walk (after we finally got all the parents out so the kids could stop crying), our lesson on Heavenly Father's plan, and then playing. We had an older sister come and help us out since our assistant was not there...Paul really enjoyed having her attention and it made it nice for us. I use to be so glad to have a break from kids at church and not be in the nursery...now, however, must be the right time for me as I am loving it!
Okay, so now I'll let you in on the bad...there was a disagreement on the refreshment choice for FHE, they only spent 10 minutes at the visitor center because they waited an hour to find out that the temple could not find the bag of clothes that Randy had accidentally left there the week before, and most of the day Wednesday was spent with the majority of the family sick in bed. Thursday the girls were mad because Peter was the only one who got to swim at the YMCA and Friday we had to leave the fun early because I didn't bring more cash to pay for the expensive parking lot we ended up in. Then on Saturday...yes, we had to clean house before we could go to the party, had to leave Randy at home who was still feeling sick, and then we had to leave the party before everyone else left to get home and head to bed.
Finally, the ugly...Umm, hmm,...okay, you caught me, there wasn't any ugly that I can think of...oh yes, the excretions from sickness but I'll leave it at that!
The home teachers came and gave Randy a blessing last night and he felt well enough today to go to church and work in nursery with me today. We are using the new nursery manual and enjoying it. We had lots of fun with songs (and the kids are actually singing with us now), our snacks and walk (after we finally got all the parents out so the kids could stop crying), our lesson on Heavenly Father's plan, and then playing. We had an older sister come and help us out since our assistant was not there...Paul really enjoyed having her attention and it made it nice for us. I use to be so glad to have a break from kids at church and not be in the nursery...now, however, must be the right time for me as I am loving it!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Stake Conference - Missionary work and Families
Well, from the title I guess you can tell what this weekend has been full of! The weekly activities and things were canceled so that we could all try to go to the temple instead. Randy and I went on Wednesday evening, watched the kids for the couple who watched ours - on Thursday, and then I went to the temple meeting on Friday evening after doing another session. We heard members of the temple presidency and their wives speak, they are leaving soon with Elder Tingey of the Seventies to replace them shortly. The talks were excellent and discussed some temple teachings and hit on some points that I had been mulling over in my mind.
On the way home, due to rain, there was an accident that stopped traffic for half an hour or more. Since I had Dad's cell phone, I called up some of the family to visit with them and catch up on the news. It made the time pass very enjoyably!
We cleaned house and looked for a babysitter on Saturday (but didn't find one). We took the family swimming at the YMCA and had dinner. It was Randy's turn to go to the meeting, but he was so sweet and let me go again. The adult session was really nice with talks on Joy, Covenants, and mostly missionary work and strengthening our families. They gave us five new points for our missionary efforts...can't recall them all right now but some included - talking to and inviting everyone since you really can't see who the Lord has prepared, it is not necessary to build a friendship with people before sharing the gospel or inviting them to participate, and that we need to invite people to serve with us...this seemed to be the new big key point - to ask for them to help and participate with us since it may not be that they need anything more than the joy and opportunity to feel the Savior's love by helping others. I thought that was very interesting and I am thinking of ways to ask and invite people to help participate in activities going on. I do know that the inactive lady I visit teach has been willing to come to the temple visitor center to watch my kids while I attend the temple...next time I need help with the nursery, I will know who to call!
It has been interesting to watch/hear the news about the hurricanes going on with people I know being so closely involved. I am glad to hear that they are well...and busy serving those in need. I was able to have a nice lead in discussion with my science class kids on Tuesday about it and other current topics in the news relating to science. I really enjoyed the class again. I gave out a few prizes as incentives for doing any science reading...there were only a few this first time but I expect to have a lot more this next week as they seemed to like the anticipation of having their name drawn. We are starting into a little simulation where we are a health department trying to figure out a sickness trend in the schools and where it came from and if measures need to be taken care of to resolve it. The kids are pretty inventive but I am not sure they are really thinking yet...probably because mostly all they've had to do is show up, enjoy the moment, and say that they went to science class. I had them do a written exercise last week that proved it to me and I wrote notes back to them about it, some of the older children seem to be improving on the thinking issue rather than just having "science information" given to them.
The kids enjoyed playing evenings during the temple trips. They really enjoyed a trip with Randy on Tuesday to the Monocacy Battlefield Visitor Center. They came home with some Civil War toys that we set up and had our own rubber band war between the Union and Confederate Soldiers...unfortunatley, both of the captains' white horses have lost a tail and a back leg!
Peter asked about learning German and so Randy has started us learning at the table. We are to ask for the food we would like in German or at least ask how to say it. I remember bitta...please. We've also been discussing the Louisiana purchase since that has been my reading for the week. It is interesting to me to see all the corruption, spying, false information, ulterior motives, bribery, political party propaganda, etc. that is talked about. How great will be the change when Christ reigns on earth! It was interesting to note that prior to this time the Americans considered spying to be a bad thing and consequently had problems because everyone knew what they were doing and they knew nothing. Also, it seems that we are a little better off because our government still tries not to function on bribery which is apparently the way of making money in other governments.
For something about the kids...Paul learned to crawl up the stairs this week. Mary Joy neglected to put on underpants for church today and as active as she is, I had to put one of Paul's diapers on her to try and keep her covered! She and Peter have decided that they love red peppers and are eating the ones from the garden (unfortunately for Randy as they are his favorites as well). I guess we'll plant more of them next year (and I would be happy to do without the hot peppers that sting your nose when you cut them and stay on your fingers for a day to irritate your eyes, nose, or any other sensitive skin that may accidentally come in contact with your hands). Ada was pleased to earn her first pizza award for reading. I think she was surprised that she really could read through the beginning readers. Hopefully this confidence will continue and it won't be too terribly long before she is independently reading. Peter and Ada and I enjoyed reading how Tom Sawyer and his friends spent a few days being pirates (who don't steal anything) and then returning home to attend their own funeral!
Randy has been kept busy at work doing projects to get his boss ready for a presentation (which also dovetails with the work he needs to do for his first publication for school). Also, he has been helping out a person at USU, who set Randy up here in the first place, and who has invited Randy to give a seminar when we are in Utah, and then there are the school paperwork still to be gathered and sent in. In all of this, he has been really taking care of me as I have been more tired (it seems) and spent a couple days being sick. He's gone above and beyond to be the one keeping things running around here this week. I am so blessed!
On the way home, due to rain, there was an accident that stopped traffic for half an hour or more. Since I had Dad's cell phone, I called up some of the family to visit with them and catch up on the news. It made the time pass very enjoyably!
We cleaned house and looked for a babysitter on Saturday (but didn't find one). We took the family swimming at the YMCA and had dinner. It was Randy's turn to go to the meeting, but he was so sweet and let me go again. The adult session was really nice with talks on Joy, Covenants, and mostly missionary work and strengthening our families. They gave us five new points for our missionary efforts...can't recall them all right now but some included - talking to and inviting everyone since you really can't see who the Lord has prepared, it is not necessary to build a friendship with people before sharing the gospel or inviting them to participate, and that we need to invite people to serve with us...this seemed to be the new big key point - to ask for them to help and participate with us since it may not be that they need anything more than the joy and opportunity to feel the Savior's love by helping others. I thought that was very interesting and I am thinking of ways to ask and invite people to help participate in activities going on. I do know that the inactive lady I visit teach has been willing to come to the temple visitor center to watch my kids while I attend the temple...next time I need help with the nursery, I will know who to call!
It has been interesting to watch/hear the news about the hurricanes going on with people I know being so closely involved. I am glad to hear that they are well...and busy serving those in need. I was able to have a nice lead in discussion with my science class kids on Tuesday about it and other current topics in the news relating to science. I really enjoyed the class again. I gave out a few prizes as incentives for doing any science reading...there were only a few this first time but I expect to have a lot more this next week as they seemed to like the anticipation of having their name drawn. We are starting into a little simulation where we are a health department trying to figure out a sickness trend in the schools and where it came from and if measures need to be taken care of to resolve it. The kids are pretty inventive but I am not sure they are really thinking yet...probably because mostly all they've had to do is show up, enjoy the moment, and say that they went to science class. I had them do a written exercise last week that proved it to me and I wrote notes back to them about it, some of the older children seem to be improving on the thinking issue rather than just having "science information" given to them.
The kids enjoyed playing evenings during the temple trips. They really enjoyed a trip with Randy on Tuesday to the Monocacy Battlefield Visitor Center. They came home with some Civil War toys that we set up and had our own rubber band war between the Union and Confederate Soldiers...unfortunatley, both of the captains' white horses have lost a tail and a back leg!
Peter asked about learning German and so Randy has started us learning at the table. We are to ask for the food we would like in German or at least ask how to say it. I remember bitta...please. We've also been discussing the Louisiana purchase since that has been my reading for the week. It is interesting to me to see all the corruption, spying, false information, ulterior motives, bribery, political party propaganda, etc. that is talked about. How great will be the change when Christ reigns on earth! It was interesting to note that prior to this time the Americans considered spying to be a bad thing and consequently had problems because everyone knew what they were doing and they knew nothing. Also, it seems that we are a little better off because our government still tries not to function on bribery which is apparently the way of making money in other governments.
For something about the kids...Paul learned to crawl up the stairs this week. Mary Joy neglected to put on underpants for church today and as active as she is, I had to put one of Paul's diapers on her to try and keep her covered! She and Peter have decided that they love red peppers and are eating the ones from the garden (unfortunately for Randy as they are his favorites as well). I guess we'll plant more of them next year (and I would be happy to do without the hot peppers that sting your nose when you cut them and stay on your fingers for a day to irritate your eyes, nose, or any other sensitive skin that may accidentally come in contact with your hands). Ada was pleased to earn her first pizza award for reading. I think she was surprised that she really could read through the beginning readers. Hopefully this confidence will continue and it won't be too terribly long before she is independently reading. Peter and Ada and I enjoyed reading how Tom Sawyer and his friends spent a few days being pirates (who don't steal anything) and then returning home to attend their own funeral!
Randy has been kept busy at work doing projects to get his boss ready for a presentation (which also dovetails with the work he needs to do for his first publication for school). Also, he has been helping out a person at USU, who set Randy up here in the first place, and who has invited Randy to give a seminar when we are in Utah, and then there are the school paperwork still to be gathered and sent in. In all of this, he has been really taking care of me as I have been more tired (it seems) and spent a couple days being sick. He's gone above and beyond to be the one keeping things running around here this week. I am so blessed!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
New York and Homeschool Activities
Well, since we were in New York City for Labor Day I didn't find a chance to write. Mom sent out an email to the family about the happenings mentioning the highlight being that we spoke in church and the family sang. They were really excited because there were 5 investigators there. We enjoyed the chance to visit with them and have a couple extra children to join us for our primary time. That really was fun to be a part of. During this trip we also got to join my parents at the Stardust Diner to eat while listening to broadway-performer-hopefuls sing. Then they took the kids home while Randy and I attended the Broadway show of "Wicked". They put on a great show and I really enjoyed it...gave Randy and I lots to discuss - the characters, the issues, the way it was presented, good songs, special effects, etc. I didn't think that was something that we would ever really do, but I am glad we did. We may even do it again someday when the kids are mostly grown!
We drove home on Monday during the day and had time to unload, put things away, and even do FHE. We got out a rocket that my parents had given Peter for his birthday that is launched using vinegar and baking soda. Some of the neighbor boys were interested in coming over to watch and participate with us as well. For the lesson we learned about the new nursery manual that the church has put together. Randy ordered it for us and it arrived in the mail today. I think he is planning on teaching a lesson out it tomorrow in nursery. We will be back on the early schedule starting tomorrow and move our kids into the regular nursery (complete with little bathroom) from the extra nursery that we had been setting up each week.
Tuesday we started into the homeschool things. I taught my first science class. It was about asking questions, gathering evidence, and making results based on the evidence. There were 18 kids ranging from age 10 to 17. The older ones were pretty chatty and had to be repeatedly called on. The younger ones were attentive and diligent in following most of the instructions. All were charming and very imaginative. We didn't get through too much material but hopefully we can get things settled in and move along a little better. Anyway, I did enjoy it. I am using lesson plans from NIH...and it is nice not to be having to come up with everything on my own. We are also having Randy's co-worker come in one week, going to visit at the lab where Randy works, and in the end will have poster presentations and a public display (assuming I can reserve the room at the library).
While I was gone doing all of that, Randy was spending Daddy Day with the kids. He is working on finishing up walking sticks for the girls and took them on a hike at Sugarloaf Mountain. Mary Joy walked the whole way without complaint and I guess they were all pretty good troopers. Randy seems to have come home with a couple bites from something on his neck. They all seems to enjoy the morning and Peter and Ada worked on their math flashcards after lunch without being prompted to.
Wednesday we took our weekly trip to the library and came home with lots of books. Peter ran out of books in his series so I went to print out some from the collection I have on CD's. I guess we'll see if I can get him interested in some of the old series that use to be around like Tom Swift and the Rover Boys. (I haven't tried them out myself to see if I can get myself interested in them.)
That reminds me that we listened to a music CD from the library on the way home from NYC. Peter really caught on to the rhythms. One of the songs was about all sorts of different "Tom's" like Tom Sawyer (the kids recognized since I have been reading this to them), Tom the Piper's son, Tom Tinker, and of course Tom-ato! (I don't know if Tom Swift was mentioned).
Thursday evening Peter and Ada were back in the gymnastics class at the YMCA. They were very please and excited about this. Then on Friday morning I had planned a trip for our LDS homeschool group to meet at the recycle center for a tour. The kids got magnets to be able to distinguish different types of metals, they were weighed on the scales, watched the machines sort the aluminum and tin cans (using magnets), saw the 30,000-can bale weighing over 900 pounds that will be made into new soda cans and back on the shelf in 60 days, the cardboard bales that save 17 trees for every 1 and a half bales (they do hundreds of them a day), and an antique truck that was picked up and dumped in the metal pile to be shredded before all the metal pieces are sorted out and recycled. It was interested and we enjoyed that a few of the families met us at a nearby park afterwards to play. There was a boy just Peter's age (yea!) and several girls that are Ada and Mary Joy's ages. Next week I am starting a little preschool once a week for Mary Joy...she is not excited to go without Peter and Ada and they are not excited that they are not invited to go.
Randy has been really busy this week. His boss finally gave him too much to do and consented to allowing Randy to not give a presentation he was scheduled for on Friday. As it is, he still worked Friday night and most of the day today. We did manage to send him down to the temple when the rain from tropical storm Hannah finally stopped.
Little buddy Paul is getting into more and more trouble. He stands but doesn't walk along the furniture. His favorite places are at the piano and at Peter and Ada's desk (where he can usually manage to pull out some hidden treasures to play in). He gets lots of attention from Mary Joy which he does't like but doesn't know what to do with himself if he isn't trying to get away from her!
Whew, life is a lot of work! Thankfully we have each other!
We drove home on Monday during the day and had time to unload, put things away, and even do FHE. We got out a rocket that my parents had given Peter for his birthday that is launched using vinegar and baking soda. Some of the neighbor boys were interested in coming over to watch and participate with us as well. For the lesson we learned about the new nursery manual that the church has put together. Randy ordered it for us and it arrived in the mail today. I think he is planning on teaching a lesson out it tomorrow in nursery. We will be back on the early schedule starting tomorrow and move our kids into the regular nursery (complete with little bathroom) from the extra nursery that we had been setting up each week.
Tuesday we started into the homeschool things. I taught my first science class. It was about asking questions, gathering evidence, and making results based on the evidence. There were 18 kids ranging from age 10 to 17. The older ones were pretty chatty and had to be repeatedly called on. The younger ones were attentive and diligent in following most of the instructions. All were charming and very imaginative. We didn't get through too much material but hopefully we can get things settled in and move along a little better. Anyway, I did enjoy it. I am using lesson plans from NIH...and it is nice not to be having to come up with everything on my own. We are also having Randy's co-worker come in one week, going to visit at the lab where Randy works, and in the end will have poster presentations and a public display (assuming I can reserve the room at the library).
While I was gone doing all of that, Randy was spending Daddy Day with the kids. He is working on finishing up walking sticks for the girls and took them on a hike at Sugarloaf Mountain. Mary Joy walked the whole way without complaint and I guess they were all pretty good troopers. Randy seems to have come home with a couple bites from something on his neck. They all seems to enjoy the morning and Peter and Ada worked on their math flashcards after lunch without being prompted to.
Wednesday we took our weekly trip to the library and came home with lots of books. Peter ran out of books in his series so I went to print out some from the collection I have on CD's. I guess we'll see if I can get him interested in some of the old series that use to be around like Tom Swift and the Rover Boys. (I haven't tried them out myself to see if I can get myself interested in them.)
That reminds me that we listened to a music CD from the library on the way home from NYC. Peter really caught on to the rhythms. One of the songs was about all sorts of different "Tom's" like Tom Sawyer (the kids recognized since I have been reading this to them), Tom the Piper's son, Tom Tinker, and of course Tom-ato! (I don't know if Tom Swift was mentioned).
Thursday evening Peter and Ada were back in the gymnastics class at the YMCA. They were very please and excited about this. Then on Friday morning I had planned a trip for our LDS homeschool group to meet at the recycle center for a tour. The kids got magnets to be able to distinguish different types of metals, they were weighed on the scales, watched the machines sort the aluminum and tin cans (using magnets), saw the 30,000-can bale weighing over 900 pounds that will be made into new soda cans and back on the shelf in 60 days, the cardboard bales that save 17 trees for every 1 and a half bales (they do hundreds of them a day), and an antique truck that was picked up and dumped in the metal pile to be shredded before all the metal pieces are sorted out and recycled. It was interested and we enjoyed that a few of the families met us at a nearby park afterwards to play. There was a boy just Peter's age (yea!) and several girls that are Ada and Mary Joy's ages. Next week I am starting a little preschool once a week for Mary Joy...she is not excited to go without Peter and Ada and they are not excited that they are not invited to go.
Randy has been really busy this week. His boss finally gave him too much to do and consented to allowing Randy to not give a presentation he was scheduled for on Friday. As it is, he still worked Friday night and most of the day today. We did manage to send him down to the temple when the rain from tropical storm Hannah finally stopped.
Little buddy Paul is getting into more and more trouble. He stands but doesn't walk along the furniture. His favorite places are at the piano and at Peter and Ada's desk (where he can usually manage to pull out some hidden treasures to play in). He gets lots of attention from Mary Joy which he does't like but doesn't know what to do with himself if he isn't trying to get away from her!
Whew, life is a lot of work! Thankfully we have each other!
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