ART!!!

I'm officially an art teacher next year! I am SO EXCITED and I can't wait. I can't even begin to describe how exciting it is to finally do what I studied to do so long ago.

Check out this blog post. It reminded me of this photo montage I did for Valentine's Day when Erin & Em were little.

There isn't supposed to be a line down the middle. I did all of this by hand, actual photos cut and glued onto paper. Now I would do it all digitally. I consider doing it again every year. Maybe Making the letters D-A-D like this would be a good Father's Day gift this year. Thanks for the inspiration Beki!

Saturday = Cleaning Day?

I'm trying. I decided I've done my children a great disservice as a mom by not teaching them about having a cleaning day every week. Housekeeping is not my forte. I'll blame it on being creative. Yeah, that's it. Anyway, I decided recently that I'm going to make up for not teaching them at a younger age, and teach them now. I made a list with a funky font, I'm going to laminate it so we can check off things when they're done. Today was day 1. For starters, the house is a real mess. We got through one, maybe two rooms. Also, I had something else scheduled. It ended up being cancelled, but that kind of threw a wrench in things. Why should THEY have to do the work that I set into motion if I wasn't even going to be there????? Anyway, here is the fruit of our labor.
I know, nothing to write home about, but trust me, it looks waaaaaaaay better than it did. It's a start.

Storm stories

Lots of storm stories this week. Wow. I was grocery shopping when the storm moved in on Sunday. I wasn't sure we should drive home, but when I called, Everett said he didn't know what I was so worried about -- no warnings here, just come home. We got about two blocks before the rain and wind started in so hard I could hardly see a few feet in front of the car. The whole time I was assuring Ellie that "we're fine, we'll be home soon, we're fine" but inside I was freaking out. The street lights went out and the tornado siren started. I knew we were in the middle of a tornado. The rain and wind got even stronger. The older two girls had been downtown working and when I called home Everett said they were closing up and coming home. When we finally got home I was so relieved to be there, but . . . the older girls weren't there. I was so afraid that they were out driving in what I had just driven home in. It was hard getting the car doors open, hard walking to the house in the wind because it was so strong. I was soaked to the skin by the time I got in, Ellie was crying. Everett told me the girls were riding the storm out downtown. I was worried about them. And the basement wall had water running down it, but that was the least of my worries. Finally, the all clear siren blew, we went upstairs and the girls called and headed home. Emma came in crying, telling me Erin wasn't afraid at all. Erin had held her hand and told her it would be ok. I hugged and comforted Emma. Then I went to give Erin a big hug and she kind of fell apart. She was being strong for her sister. I know if Emma had been with us, she would have been strong for Ellie and comforted her. I was so proud of them. I wish they had been with me, but they knew what to do, and they took care of each other. I love my girls so much. And I'm so thankful we were safe.

I'm trying, lord knows I'm trying

Be master of your petty annoyances and conserve your energies for the big, worthwhile things. It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out - it's the grain of sand in your shoe.

-- Robert Service

So I gave up talking about people for lent.

I'm not a big talker about people, or gossiper.

But I was noticing a trend.

I was getting annoyed with people I didn't even know.

And talking about them.

So you can imagine that might bleed over into those I do know.

I wasn't liking the trend at all.

I failed miserably in my lenten sacrifice.

But, by the time lent ended, I thought long and hard

anytime I thought about talking about someone.

Even the guy who pulls up beside the line of cars waiting for the train on Broadway.
Where there's not a second lane.
You know what I'm talking about.

I was even saving up some things to talk about.

Until after lent.

I even started the e-mail to say "we've got to talk".

But I deleted it without sending it.

It's progress.

One is not enough

Reduce - Reuse - Recycle

second largest hand-dug well in the country . . with trash floating in it :(

On my mind.

Wondering if I'm teaching my kids that recycling alone is enough.
And it's not.

I thought and thought and want to tell them, and anyone else I guess, that it takes all three.

This was prompted, in part, by the water bottles rolling around on the floor of the car the older two take to school. I have been refusing to buy water bottles for a long time. We have a cupboard full of reusable water bottles, plus the plastic is so bad for the landfill, where many of them end up. I did buy some water bottles for the basketball team in February or March, but I got the ones made from corn and not petroleum. If we're traveling, I tell them to pack a reusable bottle or buy their own bottles on the road.

So, I was thinking that maybe they need to be reminded of the reduce & reuse parts of that mantra. Like, for instance, the order of the words isn't just serendipity. They are in that order for a reason.

Reduce our consumption -- most important.
What we can't reduce, make sure it's something that can be reused.
And, finally, if we can't reduce or reuse, then recycle.
Makes sense to me.
That's my focus for the week, as we celebrate Earth day.

Maybe someone should warn my kids?

Throwing ice balls like a boy*

Maybe it’s because Erin throws shot put and discus in track. She’s stronger than she realizes, throws harder than she thinks. Emma came in from playing in the melting snow/ice crying because she’d been hit in the face with a hard-thrown snow/ice ball. As I was unloading and loading the dishwasher yet again after getting lunch in the oven, I was reminded of a winter day many years ago. Everett and I hadn’t been dating for long. Our young love reveled in things like taking walks in the moonlight, talking til the wee hours of the morning about “life”, and playing in the snow. And then he threw the ice ball. And through my tears, I asked the age old question “why do boys play so rough???”. I have since become jaded. I won’t play games with boys/men that have the potential to be rough. Call me a wimp.

I have more Spring Break to post about, but this post was screaming to be posted today :)

*I try not to generalize about people, regarding gender or other things, but something in my life has made me believe that more often than not, boys tend to play rougher than girls. There was a time when I would have argued that this wasn't true, until I was blue in the face. Then I had kids, and raised them right next to friends raising kids, and the truth of gender differences became clear to me. There ARE ways we socialize our children to teach them to be "girlish" or "boyish" but there are clear differences too.

Breaking the Spring

We had a great Spring Break. From exploring quirky Kansas sites, to prom dress shopping, to college visits (YIKES), to staying in the smallest cabin known to man (probably not, but it sure seemed like it) we had a fun week together. We did a couple of day trips, with mornings spent working at home . . and we actually made some progress on cleaning the house finally! Here's a quick photo journey through the first half of the week. I have 161 pictures, so hard to choose which ones to share, but I'm trying :)

Day one (Sunday) was spent exploring Marion County . . this is at the city park in Marion. My camera was doing weird color things!

Day two -- prom dress shopping (with four teenage girls!) It was a fun day and full of laughs. I'm sure every mom thinks her daughter looks beautiful in every dress she tries on. She really did :) (this isn't the one she chose . . . you have to wait until April 18 to see that one :)

Day three - Rock City in Minneapolis, Kansas -- FUN!!My family all climbed up the rocks . . .
I sat on rocks that weren't too far up from the ground :) And I took most of the pictures so I'm not in very many, which is fine with me!
Did you know that Minneapolis, Kansas is the hometown of George Washington Carver??? I didn't, but here's a plaque to prove it (we had a Kansas day trips book that alerted us to this little-known-fact). Another little-known-fact is that there is a YARN SHOP in Minneapolis, KS. I visited it and bought some great yarn and needles. There is also an ice cream shop that sells the biggest "small" cones I have ever seen.
Day three ended at Maxwell Game Preserve in rural Galva or Canton. Everett and I went there during our college years and our good friends were engaged at the top of this tower. We saw elk for the first time this trip and also saw buffalo fairly close. It was a little windy but very peacefull and beautiful! I would have taken more photos but my camera batteries died about 2 seconds after this one was taken!

I'll have to finish tomorrow or another day soon as my bed is calling out to me. I sleep horribly when I'm away from my waterbed!