Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

All things orange

The last of the garden produce picked before the wintry weather comes. A mama pumpkin and her baby and stubby carrots.

And here are the carrots cleaned, defrocked and ready to eat with our dinner. They cooked up sweet and tender just the way we like them.

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder", they say

...but my leave of blogging has made me treasure reading what others have to share more than my own blogged words.
I've been busy reading on and off the web and have had no desire to spoil that time with my own blogging.
But the silence is broken now and there is much to report for the days have been busy and the life experiences have been many.
In no particular order:
I've taken on a Sunday School class this year and have been handed some unexpected twists like the superintendent and her family leaving the church after the first two weeks of class. I'm pretty sure I had nothing to do with their departure. However, it has made a big hole in the organizational aspect of the program so every week, the remaining teacher and helper cobble together a game plan for the upcoming Sunday. I am enjoying working with the children and feel like we've been at this much longer than just five weeks. I have twice dragged out the flannelgraph set to tell the Bible story and I think it really intrigues the kids. The set is bright, colorful and helpful to the imagination as we think about various aspects of the story. Of course it helps that the average age is about five years old with some older and a few younger so they listen still. :)
My class has four students every other week as the two boys only come every other Sunday. And every week, I have the kids write or draw in thin paper notebooks something relating to the lesson. My intention is to keep all the lessons together instead of doing something each week for them to take home and forget about. When we break for Christmas, they can take the notebook home and we'll start a new one for the second half of the year.
Anyways I have enjoyed getting into teaching again, including the planning and prep work. It's a bit stressful come Saturday night if I haven't had much time to think and plan but usually by Sunday morning I wake up feeling ready to teach.
Official homeschooling stuff has not yet materialized on a consistent schedule, but our son is doing well reading and sounding out words as well as improving his coloring and drawing. Baby K's appointments have really taken over the schedule for the last six weeks and I plan on changing that trend because I do not like all the upheaval it brings to our home. Some of it has proven to be non-essential and more stress on me than anything else.
She weighed in at 15 pounds almost two weeks ago at ten months and still prefers her bottle of milk to anything delivered on a spoon. She is happy, full of smiles and play for which we are thrilled to see. And she talks and squawks in only sounds that she can make.
Big brother plays quite frequently with her and just announced yesterday that he was glad we had Baby K because now he has someone to play with. That was nice to hear.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Photo Flashback


October 2005

Necessary reminder

What I’m learning as we step (sometimes fumble) through the three-legged race of family life, these ways of getting closer genuinely make it better:

* Reach out and gently touch when you talk; make it a practice to always connect before your direct.
* Fully listen to conversations with your ears, eyes, whole body language. Smile into eyes.
* Make time for walks, a mug of hot chocolate, a chapter of a book read aloud together. There’s no better way to spend time than making time.
* Let your words fill with the affection you feel. Children don’t assume they’re loved when our words aren’t loving.
* Tuck in with long talks in the dark, a foot rub, prayers. It’s the happiest way to finish a day.
* Slow down: the priority is hearts not household tasks. Take a deep breath and preach to yourself often: “I want to be, more than I want to do.”

From Ann's Untangling family knots