A Tale of Two Field Trips

Since I teach Part-Time and most teachers seem to want Volunteers in the morning hours, May is a big school volunteer month for me.  I finish up my semester at Weber State at the end of April and usually have about 4 weeks where my big kids are still in school and I'm not.  So.... I sign up for all the May activities!  The school does all of their field trips in May, and I was fortunate enough to get to go with both of them this year!  

Daphne's 2nd grade field trip was first... we headed all the way up to Logan to go to a farm there that is sort of frozen in time around 1920.  We had so much fun!  

All of the tour guides wore period clothing and stayed in character... the kids loved it.  Here she is in the "Summer Kitchen".  During the winter months, the kitchen was the warmest room in the house, so that's where people stayed most of the time.  But in the Summer, it was too hot to have the oven on all day in the house, so they had a little building out back where they kept the oven and did the cooking for the Summer months.

They got a chance to wash clothes the old fashioned way.  Ugh.

This is the tour guide warning them about the smell in the chicken coop.  It was the most disgusting thing I have ever smelled.  Ever.  

She got to churn butter!  This was a shockingly painstaking process.  It made me start to use the last little smears on my butter dish instead of grabbing a new stick right away.  So much work went into making every little bit of butter!

And... we got to milk a cow!  The kids were a little nervous, but everybody tried it!  We had so much fun laughing and talking and playing on the way. 

Isaac's field trip was a different story entirely.  He is in Fourth grade, and they took the whole grade to the Farmington Wetlands.  First of all, I didn't even know we had wetlands here.  Isn't this a desert?

They divided us into groups and we each took a turn with a different tour guide.  Our first tour guide was fabulous!  He was a guy, and took us around to see rattlesnake skins and scat and droppings and knew just how to make it interesting for kids this age.

Here we are on his tour:

I have ZERO pictures of our second group because we were with an extremely soft-spoken Russian woman who had a milk mustache and in very broken English walked us around and pointed to different grasses telling us why they are important.  I think there may have been two children who actually heard or understood anything she said.  The high point (or low point) of this group was when she told the children to break off a particular piece of a plant and eat it.  This is just after we learned how to spot all the different types of animal droppings everywhere.  Oh, joy.

Next, we went into Verma's group.  Yes, there is a woman who is actually named Verma.  I don't know what her parents were thinking, but they actually named her Verma.  I kept getting mixed up and calling her Merva, because that seems like it might actually be a name rather than a rodent, but she kept correcting me.  Verma it is.  Here is Isaac measuring his wingspan next to that of the bald eagle:

Isaac and his buddy Michael:

So Verma's station essentially consisted of several tubs of pond water and a bunch of turkey basters.  She wanted the kids to suck stuff up into the turkey basters and then look under the microscope to see what the found.  

Now, I am aware that I am nature-challenged.  I am also Science-challenged.  But this seemed like the most disgustins and pointless activity ever to me.  For some reason, we were at this station for the longest time (like almost 40 minutes!!)   Good ole'  Merva, I mean Verma was so completely enthralled with the microscope that she never checked in the kids with the water.  So... although they were pretty interested in the water for about 10 minutes, pretty soon, 10 year old boys realize they can get 10 year old girls to shriek if they are wielding a turkey baster full of nasty pond water as a weapon.   So I mostly ran around trying to prevent any of the girls from getting completely soaked by one of these terrible boys.  

On an completely unrelated note:  the boy and girl to the right of Isaac in this picture are a "couple".  They stayed everywhere together and she acted like his mother the entire time, keeping him from getting into trouble or starting a fight.  I was deeply disturbed.  Do fourth graders have boyfriends and girlfriends?

Our last group was with the "Mean Lady".  I had noticed this woman talking to other groups in a  very harsh manner and I warned the kids to stay with her so that she wouldn't yell at them.  This is a woman who clearly should never be allowed to work with children.  She would try to get the groups to rotate and then become overly frustrated when they wouldn't follow directions exactly perfectly like little soldiers.  Then, she proceeded to pass out "BEYE- NOCKS" *something the rest of the English Speaking world refers to as Binoculars, to the children.  She became very impatient that they were not doing this as quickly or efficiently as she desired.  Then, she walked us all around and said things like, "If you look to your left, you'll see the nest of the Great Blue Heron".  But after the first five minutes, the kids would be looking through their binoculars and saying, "I see Lagoon over there!"  (Lagoon is the theme park around these parts)  It was a joke.  I'm not sure if they learned anything or enjoyed themselves at all, but it was fun to get out of the school for a few hours.

And now I will tell you the real reason I am glad I attended Isaac's field trip.  Other than the fact that I got to spend some extra time with him, I am mostly glad that I went because after the Wetlands fiasco, we went to a park and let the kids have lunch.  The children who were just playing in pond water, looking at dung and eating grass grabbed their lunches and started showing down.  Not my boy.  Only after I had bathed him in hand sanitizer and rubbed the park table down with antibacterial wipes, then and only then, did he eat his lunch.  

I am so grateful that I got to have that time with them!  It was so great to spend time with them on the bus.  I was pleasantly surprised that they both wanted to sit by me, even though they are getting a little older.  I'm sure one day I will look up and they are too cool to be seen with me.  But for now, I'll treasure these days together; even if they are in a chicken coop or laced with filthy pond water.  I'll take every moment I can get.

For Love of the Trampoline

When we moved into this house back in October, we inherited this trampoline.

 It seemed like a bonus at first, until we realized that the mat turns your feet black, and it is incredibly old.  But when Spring came, Matt put the mat (ha!) back on and the kids were ecstatic!   Victoria was especially excited.  She would hurry and get dressed and eat breakfast quickly so she could jump for 10 or 15 minutes before we would have to leave for school.  This girl LOVED the tramp.  First thing when she woke up from nap?  "Can I go jump on the tramp?"  And as soon as she finished her dinner, bouncing out here is where she wanted to be!

 That made it all the more sad when the poor dilapidated thing started falling apart.  One by one, the springs would just pop right off.  Until, eventually, on one fateful day in May, about 10 Springs in one place popped at the same time.  And by then, 1/3 of the mat had no springs, so it was unsafe to use at all.

 Poor Tori was heartbroken.  She spent the next few days drawing pictures of the good old days when she could jump on our trampoline.  Sad, Sad day at our house.

(Shhh!! It's a secret.  You  Don't have to worry!  There's a happy ending to this story!  Stay tuned for my next post!)

CRUNCH!!

"Sacrifice Your Body For the Ball!"

I remember that phrase being yelled at me during Softball practices and drills and I remember hearing my sister's coach yell it to her during Volleyball practice.  

And we did it.  

I may not be known for my athletic prowess; or even for an ability to walk in a straight line without falling, but I knew how to sacrifice my body for the ball.  Huge scrapes up the legs from sliding into home plate were commonplace for me in childhood.  (Hey, in Texas, it's too hot to wear pants and play softball.  I'd rather bleed.)  And my sister came home with many a hematoma on her hips from diving to "pancake" the volleyball and save their team from destruction.  

Well, apparently, my son needed no such direction.  He was born with the instinct to save the ball at all costs.

Isaac and Matt were throwing the football around in our backyard and having quite the time. ( I was inside doing... something.  Who knows, really?  We all know I'm an inside kinda girl, right?)  So, when I heard the door open, I turned to look.  I heard no sound but one look at Matt's face told me something had gone terribly wrong.  

"Did you break him!?!"  

I yelled at Matt.  (don't worry.  It was a jokingly lovey kinda yell... Mostly.)  

Matt just nodded.  

Uh. Oh.

Isaac walked in, holding his head and wincing, but not a tear fell down his face.  No cries of pain.  Can you believe that?!  Look at his head!  I'd be crying.  

 Apparently, Matt threw the ball to Isaac,who dove to catch it.  Unfortunately, he dove right smack into the L-shaped metal post that is securing one of our fruit trees.  Ouch.  

I cannot believe how tough he was.  He was even a tad bit proud of his injuries.  I said, "Good thing you're a boy.  Scars are cool if you're a boy." Hopefully it won't leave  terrible scar, but there will definitely be a line right there.  

As he was sitting in our Kitchen holding ice to his head, Matt explained to me how the fateful injury occurred.  Isaac looked up at me from beneath the ice pack and said, 

"At least I caught the ball."

Indeed.  

Did You Happen To See the Most Beautiful Girls in The World?

'Cause I did.... They were On my front porch.  

 I could just eat them they are so deliciously beautiful.

 Do you know how amazing it is to watch these two together?  When they are not trying to verbally annihilate one another, that is.  

 There were two little girls, with lots of little curls... Right in the middle of their forheads

When they are good; they are very, very good.  And when they are bad, they are horrid!

 But to tell you the truth:  Most of the time, they are very, very good.  These two girls make my life so amazingly full of love that I sometimes think my heart will burst from it!  I love you Daffodil and Tori Grace.  Thanks for making life so wonderful!

Holes in Her Ears!

So... I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but Daphne?  Yeah, well, she's kind of a talker.  I really have no idea how that happened since Matt and I are both so incredibly quiet and calm.  OK Seriously,  I admit: She is an even better version of me!  Loud, dramatic, intense and dare I say: Smart!  

Well, even though\ she comes from such a stellar gene pool,  Daphne ran into a little problem at school this year.  She was selected to be in a special Gifted and Talented Pull Out program three days a week. (That's not the problem- just wait a minute)  Anyhow, it's the first year that they have implemented this program for second graders.  The teacher is used to working with Gifted and Talented Children in 3rd grade and up.  

Now, It's my personal opinion that she has some issues.  Like... she doesn't understand young children.  And she has some really extreme disciplinary tactics.  I even considered that this might not be a good place for Daphne at first.  But the truth is that as soon as she started going to this group, Daphne started coming home saying things like, "Second Grade is the Best Grade Ever!"  and " I Love School"!  So, clearly, the fact that she was being challenged was overriding the fact that the teacher has some issues. 

Well, after about five months, I started getting notes home.  Notes that Daphne was talking too much and had been send to the "EXIT CHAIR". Twice.  And if you get sent to the exit chair 3 times?  They kick you out of the group.  Seriously.  There is a chair in the corner where she sends children who are talking too much!  Ummm... did I miss something?  Is is 1850?  Why didn't she go ahead and put a "DUNCE" hat on her head?  Yikes!!  Anyway, essentially, the teacher was shocked because Daphne's behavior didn't change when she sent her to the Exit Chair.  Ummm... Maybe that's cause the Exit Chair is rather punitive and won't work.  Or maybe it's because my daughter is awesome and doesn't respond to your Antiquated, Skinner style, overly Behavioristic Punishments.  There was a very real part of me that wanted to march in there and challenge her disciplinary tactics.  But another part of me  that realized that Daphne LOVES this class.  She loves learning about the constitution and Braille and the Bill of Rights while everyone else is doing basic reading skills.  I wasn't about to do anything that would jeopardize her ability to participate in this group.  And her only misbehavior is talking.  Talking!  I mean, I get it.  Daphne thinks that if she has a thought, she should be able to say it right when she has it.  And often, her thoughts are pretty insightful and clever and funny!  But,  You have to learn how to hold your peace.  I remember being in trouble for talking too much in second grade.  

Sooo... I figured we had to come up with a plan, fast.  Now... I'm not much of a Reward and Punishment kind of Person, but sometimes you have to fight fire with fire.  Daphne has been begging to get her ears pierced pretty much since she could talk, so I figure this would be a good reward.  We decided if she came home with good or Excellent behavior reports from this group for one month, then we would get her ears pierced early.  This goal began in February.  She never got sent to the Exit Chair, although one other child got kicked out of the group during our efforts.  Finally, on April 18th, we took a very exultant Daphne to Claire's in the mall!  

Before:

After:

  During: She was such a champ!  

I'm so proud of you, Daphne!  I think you are amazing!  I hope that you always share your wonderful thoughts, insights and feelings about life.  I hope you are not discouraged from speaking your mind when needed.  You are a brilliant, passionate and articulate girl.  I know that God has great plans for you!

Easter Sunday 2012

Were you tired of current posts?  Were you really hoping you could find out what we did three months ago instead of what's going on right now?  Oh, good.  'Cause I'm back posting.  Sure, it's June, but I gotta get'er done.  Easter Morning was pretty exciting around here!  I *may* have gone a little overboard on their baskets.  

Do you remember those sponge rollers?  This was our first attempt with them and it was a little crazy, but they made gorgeous enhancements to their natural curls. Look at Isaac's face in this one!

Everyone got candy, of course, and the girls got those darling Pettiskirts!  I think they are So cute.  Totally NOT practical, but they were super cheap and I got free shipping cause I was already ordering birthday gifts.

new books to read!  Isaac had mentioned this series called "BeastQuest" to me a couple of different times.  He said they have some  of the books at school and that he really likes them.  For Isaac, this was an incredible moment!  There's a book that you actually *want* to read?  I'll take 300.  OK, I just ordered 4 books from the series.  But he was excited!

After baskets and hard-boiled Easter Eggs for breakfast, we got everybody all dressed for Church.  I had to run practice with the Choir, so Matt got some pics of them all dressed up!

Daphne took a few minutes to read one of Tori's new books to her!  These are some of my favorite Mommy moments; when they read to each other.  Love.

After Church, we headed over to Nanny and Papa's for a yummy Easter dinner!  The Egg Hunt was super fun!  Daphne wants to be like her big girl cousins and change out of her dressy clothes ASAP, so she's all changed.  I'm pretty impressed that it was warm enough for shorts on Easter!

Tori counting all her goods!

Daphne, Tori and Penelope!  Sweet Cousins!  

Usually, my favorite holiday memories are the time I spend with my family.  But this year, my favorite part of Easter happened while I was teaching my Primary class.  (I do teach Victoria's class, so it involves family, too!)  Anyhow, teaching three year olds after they have already been in the Church in chairs for two hours can be a little tricky!  We always take a break and walk outside a bit, but they are still a little restless by the time we get to our lesson.  On Easter Sunday, I pulled out these little pictures I made years ago, when Isaac was teeny.  

They are SUPER simple.  Just some coloring book pictures that I colored, cut out and mounted to make a little more durable.  Anyway, I used these to tell a very simple version of the story or Easter. They were captivated.  You don't get seven three year-olds all sitting still and quiet at the same time very often.  

I told them about how Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed there, suffering for the sins of each one of them.   I called them by name and said that he hung on the cross to take the punishment for each one of us.  Then I told them how, after three days, the most amazing thing happened:  Jesus Came Back to Life!!  

And do you know what they did?  Their eyes were wide as saucers and three of them looked at me, and in unison said, "Again!"  So.. we told the story again before we did our art.  

Some days, I leave Primary exhausted and wonder if anything of value happened. Sometimes, I feel as though maybe I did more disciplining than teaching.  But it is these little moments that make every. single. moment worth it.  Moments where I know God has used me and my silly pictures to plant the seed of faith in their little hearts.  And I pray that the seed will grow.  Happy Easter Y'all! 

Easter Week Festivities 2012

It is a goal of mine to make Easter a memorable and spiritual experience for my children.  I often feel frustrated by the way that elaborate Christmas celebrations can dwarf this Holy time. I had a huge list of fun activities I wanted to do with them this week, but Easter is in April.  This poses a huge dilemma for me because in my job, April is one of those months where I have literally no extra time.  Like I often don't cook or clean for 2 or 3 weeks because I can't do it all.  So, although we weren't able to do a week long countdown like I wanted, we definitely had some great activities to help us focus on Christ.  

As with last year, we started the week off by making our own Palm Branches and acting out the Triumphal Entry.  They loved it!

Most of the time.

Once we got all our Palm Branches made, we read the story aloud while the kids acted it out.  (We were pretty gender neutral because we have 2 girls and one boy.- Ha!)

Can I tell you how cute my daughter is?  I get to teach her Primary (Sunday School) class this year, and when I told this story to the other 3 year olds (about 2 weeks before we had this activity at home), I said, "And while Jesus rode in on the colt, the people waved their palm branches and do you know what they said?"  And Tori promptly replied, "Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna to the King!"  She LOVES this story.  And she often reminisces about when we had the same activity last year.

We also watched The Living Scriptures dvd, He Is Risen, but I didn't take any pictures of that because that would be a little weird.
Toward the end of the week, when things calmed down a bit, we made Resurrection Rolls!

This was super fun!  You take a marshmallow to represent Christ's body, and dip it in butter and cinnamon to represent the spices used on the body of Jesus.  Then you place the marshmallow in the tomb, or crescent roll and bake.  When you take them out, the body has disappeared!  Note:  I messed up and wrapped them incorrectly, so the marshmallow melted out onto the pan instead of inside the roll.  They were still Super Delicious!

 We even had our own Christian Passover Meal!

 Complete with Bitter Herbs...  None of the children were big fans of the bitter herbs, and maybe next year I'll be more ambitious and make my own (not if Easter is in April again!). But all in all, it was a wonderful experience.  I kind of combined some of the things we have done for this in years past with some ideas put forth on this blog, that my friend Carole shared with me.  I LOVE having each child read one of the 4 questions: " Why are we eating Matza tonight?"

"Why are we eating bitter herbs?"

"Why do we dip our herbs twice?"

"Why are we eating this meal reclining?"

I have to say that the answer to number four was the most moving to me.  I explained to the children that in the time of Christ, Free Men and Royalty, all those who were free recline ed while they ate.  And then said, "We eat this meal reclining, relaxed, safe and free because our Passover Lamb, Jesus, has bought our freedom"  And in that moment, I felt it.  I looked in their eyes and they felt it:  The Holy Spirit whispering to their hearts that Jesus has made them free.

And then,  all the exhaustion of the week, the stress of trying to make this meal happen that day, of putting it all together while children fussed and cried... it was all worth it.  The Holy Ghost will testify of truth and I know He spoke to them that day.

 The next day, we Colored Easter Eggs!

This is one experience that gets more fun the older they get.  They are getting more independent so there is less spilling and more fun!!

Even though we didn't get to do lots of the fun things I wanted, we read God's Word each day.  We came together as a family to remember Christ's sacrifice and victory. I do not share this with you to pat our family on the back, but as a record for my children.  I want my children to have our memories documented.  I want them to have images and words to put with the truth that God is teaching them.  Hopefully, they will look back and remember.

I am so sorry you are seeing this so late.  But I hope you had a blessed Easter, rejoicing in the truth that because He Lives, we can face tomorrow.

What Easter is Realy Abowt

April is incredibly busy for me. Due to parent teacher conferences and end of the semester projects, I end up working more like full-time rather than part-time. (I'm working from home, but still.) I come home from school, put Tori down for her nap, work on preparing parent teacher conferences, pick up the kids, help with homework, and work on more stuff until dinner. If I'm lucky, Matt makes dinner or, even better, picks up food so I have one less thing to worry about.
It's Spring Break for my kids, so I'm trying to keep them entertained and complete the crazy amount of work I have to do. Today, while working on a student's portfolio, I got out some white constrcution paper and watercolor paints and suggested Daphne paint Easter eggs to decorate our house (and keep her busy).

After about thirty minutes, she comes to me and hands me this:
Can you read that? It says, "What Easter is Realy Abowt".

And inside: "Jesus Sufferd and died and rose because he loves us!"

That was worth taking a break to blog.

I love that girl. It is my prayer that God will make me worthy to the challenge and blessing of being her mother. It's already been a rough week with lots of Mommy repentance, so this was a paycheck moment. ( With a bonus that I could never have earned.)

I hope that this simple message is in your heart and home this week and always. He Lives.