I've been avoiding playing volleyball for quite a while now. I'm not quite sure why. First I hurt my knee. Then I was pregnant. Then I was lazy....and this year they scheduled Activity Days at the same time as volleyball - so it seems like the perfect reason to play since I have to be there anyway.
And man, was it fun!
I think I'll do it again!
This is really what we looked like too:
I don't know who snapped that photo...but ya. That's us. :0)
My kids seem to have this need to be creative. In their opinion we really don't do enough crafts around here. Today Jill came home and quickly got to work. She furiously cut and drew and arranged things until she had this witch! We hung it up in the hallway upstairs.
Maybe this will help them feel like we're decorating for Halloween. That's another complaint around here. They really wish they had those parents that decorate their house and yard to the max for Halloween.
Life is so full of disappointments. Glad they're learning to take matters into their own hands!
Today was the Terry Fox Run at the kid's school. I went to cheer them on. It is so fun to see them enjoying school so much and being so active! I sure love these two!
Sometimes I read a book and even though it might be good it doesn't grab me. I got this book from the library in the summer and I just couldn't get into it. Soon the due date came around and I returned it and put myself on the hold list again. The second time I got it it took me a while to get around to reading it....3 weeks as a matter of fact....and so I ended up making myself read it while the overdue fines added up. Once I finally got into the book I LOVED it. When I first picked it up I couldn't figure out what it was about. It just seemed like nonesense. I'm glad I stuck with it because it is so good!! It's about friendship and destiny and God's tender mercies. I Loved it! I highly recommend it. I just read that Knit 2 is coming out in November! I'll have to read it for sure.
Sometimes Jill is a little too easily distracted . I sent her upstairs to change the sheets on her bed. She was up there for quite a while so I went up to check on her. I found her dancing, wrapped up in the sheet that was supposed to be on her bed:
Staying focused is not one of her strong points....but she is creative. And she does love to have a good time!
Tonight was our first School Council meeting of the year. I am so proud of myself!! I retired from my position on School Council. At first no one was stepping up saying they'd be willing to do it - so the chair moved on to other things, and then later in the meeting someone finally said that they'd probably be able to take over for me. I was so glad!! I would have continued on and done it if no one else had - but I'm really happy to have someone else step in.
The other things I came away with from the meeting is that I'm really glad I'm not teaching. Sometimes I think that perhaps it would makes sense to go back to teaching now that Peirce is in school all day. However, I sure wouldn't want to be dealing with all the parent issues that seem to come up in a school! I'm afraid I'd have less patience for it all now. LOL I really appreciate teachers and principals for all they do....and I'll certainly be less critical now that I've listened to some of the beefs other people have brought up. :0)
....and I'm going to really try hard to make sure I am not one of 'those' parents!! LOL
It was interesting in our meeting when the Chair was explaining the difference between school council and the 'society' portion of the meeting. She said that the first part is the boring stuff and the society stuff is the fun part. Interesting thing is I think it's the other way around! I endure the fundraising stuff....and would much rather talk about educational matters!
Here's an interesting thing with goal setting! I'm starting to really believe in the idea that you have to write down your goals. They had a goal to be in the Guiness Book of World Records...well, today they got to participate in something that did that! Check this out:
We did break the record. In church today they said we collected 500,000 pounds of food. They figure a pound is usually about $2 worth of food - and so that's $1 million dollars!
I helped organize the food drive for our ward last year. They told us that the food bank has traditionally had to borrow money in the fall to make it through to December when they receive the bulk of their donations. However, since the church has been doing this food drive they don't have to borrow money anymore.
The interesting thing is it really isn't that big a deal. It took us about an hour or two to deliver the flyers, and less than an hour to pick up all the food - and maybe 30% (that might be generous) actually had food donations out.....and with many people's little effort a HUGE difference is made. I love that!!
Oh....and here's a good part of the story too. This was all started by a man my husband and happened to get to know through church when we were first married. He did it as a High Priest group activity.... and it expanded to involve the ward, and then the stake and soon they decided to do it city wide (also High River and Airdrie do it on the same day for their food banks).
Wouldn't it be something to come up with a group activity that expanded like that and ended up making such a difference!
I really hummed and hawed over whether or not to put Peirce in swim club this year. For 2 years he's gone to the pool and watched Jill swim. I wondered if he was too young. Jill didn't start until Grade 3 and Grade One seems to totally wear Peirce out! However, it made sense to have them both do an activity at the same place (I'd hoped for the same time...but I guess you can't have it all) and so I went ahead and enrolled him. He loves it!!
Once again, I've learned that my kids are happier kid when they're worked hard! Most days after school so far this year there's been bickering and whining and just plain old tired kids. We go to swimming and they're happy and agreeable and cooperative after....and all night! That's worth the money it costs!!
Today Allen rode to school on bike with the kids. From the stories he tells, it sounds like we should do that more often. There are some things about road safety that they just don't get yet - and it doesn't seem to be intrinsic for them - so we'll need to do some family biking in order to make sure they can figure out how to do it safely. Peirce also doesn't have some of the little subtlities about bike riding (maybe that's why he still can't give up the training wheels!) They're sitting at an intersection and Peirce says, "Dad! I'm tipping". Peirce rides on a co-pilot bike that is attached to Alen's bike. He never takes his feet off the pedals!! So they stop somewhere and he doesn't stay up - but can't figure out why. LOL
....sometimes they seem so bright...and sometimes....????
All I know, is I have a renewed desire to keep my kids really active.
I've had a long frustrating day battling viruses on my computer. I'm proud to say though that I think I've conquered them all. I started the morning with a virus scan only to find out that I had 26 viruses that Norton couldn't fix. ARGH!!! The viruses were in the email program I use for work and today it says it isn't supported by Norton (although Norton has done the job before). However, since June I've had this problem creep up again and again. The first time I paid $100 to someone to get rid of them. Then a couple weeks later the viruses were back (luckily they had a 30 day guarantee!) And then again a few weeks later I had them again...and somehow I bamboozled them into fixing it all again. It took hours and I tried to pay attention to how they did it (they did this funky thing where they take over your computer) but it was over my head. Well, today when I suddenly had 26 new viruses I decided I needed to take matters into my own hands. After doing a little research about the options I checked into a few other virus programs. Finally I decided the best thing to do would be to rid myself of the strange email program I had been asked to use when I first started working for this company. Enough was enough! I tried to try Outlook but things weren't going too well. Finally, one of my managers told me she uses Thunderbird and so I downloaded it and even imported all my folders! I even uninstalled Norton and then reinstalled it (for some reason it has always had firewall issues on my laptop) and now it seems to be working just fine! Even better news.....I just ran an entire system scan and they're all gone. HA!! TAKE THAT YOU NASTY VIRUSES!!!
....and I did it all while having very good hair today. :0) LOL
Now I just have to get caught up on my work after spending ALL DAMN DAY doing this. Grrrrr!
WOW! This Ted.com video has some amazing information on how children can learn on their own.
The speaker took a computers to India and just left them there. Soon children came along and fiddled with it and soon learned how to use it. In most of the cases they did so in a language other than their own! It's just another example of how we ought to step back a little and let children explore on their own.
I found it quite interesting that he started off with this quote: "Teachers that can be replaced by a computer, should be..."
He references the quote with examples of how teachers are often not that impressed with what technology can do in their classroom. Often the argument is that it is too expensive for the benefits it gives.
Later he goes on to talk about how children were able to learn amazing things....all on their own.
I talked Jill into waiting until September to have her birthday party so that she could invite more friends to her party. In the end she wanted to have her party at Shakers and so we decided she could but she would have to whittle down her invitation list. So she and two friends went. They seemed to have a great time. They have wall-climbing, lazer tag, a play place, and tons of video games. Mostly I abhor these type of video game places - but for a birthday party I'll put up with it. We really did have a great time there...until about 8:00 when two bus loads of teenagers showed up. Things got a little crazy then so we decided to leave and have birthday cake. The night was a big hit though and Peirce says he wants to have his party there too. I will have to see if I can entice him with something a little different. I think one Shakers party in a lifetime is enough for me!
Jill on the climbing wall
Peirce on the climbing wall. He was pretty funny. At first he'd only go about four feet up. By the end of the night he was going about six feet up....but wouldn't go much past that. I tried to talk him into going to the top - after all, you're harnessed in - but he figured that was just a little too dangerous. Games Games Games And more games Yup. Far too many video games!!
I've had some thoughts swimming around in my head recently - and when I came across this quote I finally was able to bring it around full circle and find a way to express my thoughts.
"Don't believe everything you think."
When I took my kids to school on the first day of school I enjoyed getting reacquainted with parents of my children's friends. Most of the conversations were nice - but a few started making me uncomfortable. I started to feel guilty because I was SOOO excited that my kids were going to be in school and I talked to a few moms who went on about how they were so sad summer was over and they wished it could be summer forever. My thought was, man, if it was summer forever I would be miserable!! Then I felt guilty because perhaps they enjoy their kids more than I do or maybe they're just plain old better mothers.
The other day I happened to run into two of those guilt-inducing moms that I talked to on the first day of school. Turned out the one only had her kids at home for two weeks of the summer (the two weeks she had for vacation). The rest of the time they were at their dad's or grandparents. Then the other woman mentioned that in the summer her daughter spends all week at her dad's and is with her on the weekends only.It was quite an eye-opener for me!! These guys loved summer because their kids were GONE!!! And here I was thinking I was a bad mother because I didn't want summer to go on forever....but my kids don't get sent away all summer! They do go to a grandparents here and there or stay with cousins here or there...but mostly we're together as a family. Hardly compares to those families where the kids are gone all summer.
I guess I won't feel so bad about myself anymore for enjoying having my kids in school...and I'll try to stop incorrectly comparing myself to others.
Today we got to attend the blessing of our new little niece, Hannah. Hannah is going to be a really interesting little girl and I sure look forward to getting to know her better. It was wonderful to spend the day with family after watching Allen and his brothers and dad participate in the baby blessing. I think this may have been the first time that he was able to do that with both his brothers and his dad. I never really felt like baby blessings were that big a deal, but I have a new appreciation and love for those new little babies that have the opportunity to be blessed. The thinness of the veil seems all the more real every time I see a baby blessed now. My heart feels full of a new kind of joy and sad all at the same time. It sure would have been fun to raise two little girls together. I have a feeling though that Hannah and Destiny know each other quite well. I am quite sure they do....and I love that.
Tonight we stopped for a treat from 7-11 (bribery for happily enduring some errands) As Jill was taking a bite she said, "Taking the first bite of a peanut butter cup is like opening the first page of a new novel....simply delightful!"
Dozens of children respond to this peculiar ad in the newspaper and are then put through a series of mind-bending tests, which readers take along with them. Only four children-two boys and two girls-succeed. Their challenge: to go on a secret mission that only the most intelligent and inventive children could complete. To accomplish it they will have to go undercover at the Learning Institute for the Very Enlightened, where the only rule is that there are no rules. But what they'll find in the hidden underground tunnels of the school is more than your average school supplies. So, if you're gifted, creative, or happen to know Morse Code, they could probably use your help.
Personally, I'd recommend it. There's a second book....we're off to get it from the library!
I never quite imagined I'd have two kids quite as excited about school as these two are. Peirce has been waiting his whole life to finally be in Grade One and be able to go to school all day. And Jill, well, she's just thrilled to be back at school and while we had a great year last year, she and I have both looked forward to this day with great anticipation.
The dog is our neighborhood dog-friend, Tommy. He'll be coming to our bus stop every day most likely! He's a great bus-stop friend.
....and now, for a Haiku I wrote for the first day of school:
My kids seem to have this need to be creative. In their opinion we really don't do enough crafts around here. Today Jill came home and quickly got to work. She furiously cut and drew and arranged things until she had this witch! We hung it up in the hallway upstairs.
Sometimes I read a book and even though it might be good it doesn't grab me. I got this book from the library in the summer and I just couldn't get into it. Soon the due date came around and I returned it and put myself on the hold list again. The second time I got it it took me a while to get around to reading it....3 weeks as a matter of fact....and so I ended up making myself read it while the overdue fines added up. Once I finally got into the book I LOVED it. When I first picked it up I couldn't figure out what it was about. It just seemed like nonesense. I'm glad I stuck with it because it is so good!! It's about friendship and destiny and God's tender mercies. I Loved it! I highly recommend it. I just read that Knit 2 is coming out in November! I'll have to read it for sure.
Jill on the climbing wall
Peirce on the climbing wall. He was pretty funny. At first he'd only go about four feet up. By the end of the night he was going about six feet up....but wouldn't go much past that. I tried to talk him into going to the top - after all, you're harnessed in - but he figured that was just a little too dangerous.
Games Games Games
And more games
Yup. Far too many video games!!
