My nightly ritual was disrupted when I went to Scrabulous and found a biker chick advertising domain names. What???
Thanks to my trusty search engine, I learned that the faithful can now be found at Lexulous. User names from Scrabulous are valid. Play on!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Fireproof
Mr. M and I did something on Friday that we do very rarely.
We paid money to see a movie in the theatre on opening day. We saw Fireproof, starring Kirk Cameron, in which he plays a firefighter whose marriage is on the rocks. It was clean, entertaining, uplifting, and has a great message. I laughed, I cried, and I came out determined to be a better spouse. Check it out and if you're inclined, go see it. http://www.fireproofthemovie.
Here's a link to a fun interview with Kirk Cameron speaking about his faith, his marriage, and the film: http://www.dallasnews.com/
Update on kindergarten at home OR Mrs. M waffles
A few days ago, I took on some new managing responsibilities in the apartment building across the street. This means I work regularly at a building that is within the boundaries of a local elementary school which has exceptional ratings, which gives me a valid means to transfer Ethan to said local school. I happen to know they have space because they just hired a new kindergarten teacher and opened a new class. This threw me into a loop of rethinking my decision to do kindergarten at home.
One thing which has prevented me from rushing out and doing the paperwork is that I just blogged about how wonderful homeschooling was for our family right now, and I received a lot of positive feedback and encouragement from my readers. What has changed? Am I a flake? And can I be this much of a flake in public?
When I made the decision to homeschool, this school was not an option. I was choosing between homeschool and a school whose rating is 5, where lots of kids were just learning the language. Now I have the option of a 10, where there is a strong gifted and talented program, and where it's pretty normal for kids to start kindergarten and already be reading. Additionally, I know a handful of moms whose kids go to the 10 school; they are involved moms and all love the school.
So, I'm wondering if this is just a question of grass looking greener on the other side or if it's something I should pursue. I can see myself as one of those involved moms who loves the school. I think I would like walking to school with the boys in the morning. I think Ethan would like having class with 18 kids his age. My mom says it's a win-win situation, that both options are good.
My question is - will the guilty feeling go away? Does choosing not to homeschool, having briefly chosen it, make me a bad mom? Does happily imagining myself with only Scott for 7 hours per day mean I don't love Ethan enough? Will he quit caring what his dad and I think and only care about what his friends think? Will he be challenged? Will he get bored and act out?
These are the kinds of thoughts swarming around in my brain.
One thing which has prevented me from rushing out and doing the paperwork is that I just blogged about how wonderful homeschooling was for our family right now, and I received a lot of positive feedback and encouragement from my readers. What has changed? Am I a flake? And can I be this much of a flake in public?
When I made the decision to homeschool, this school was not an option. I was choosing between homeschool and a school whose rating is 5, where lots of kids were just learning the language. Now I have the option of a 10, where there is a strong gifted and talented program, and where it's pretty normal for kids to start kindergarten and already be reading. Additionally, I know a handful of moms whose kids go to the 10 school; they are involved moms and all love the school.
So, I'm wondering if this is just a question of grass looking greener on the other side or if it's something I should pursue. I can see myself as one of those involved moms who loves the school. I think I would like walking to school with the boys in the morning. I think Ethan would like having class with 18 kids his age. My mom says it's a win-win situation, that both options are good.
My question is - will the guilty feeling go away? Does choosing not to homeschool, having briefly chosen it, make me a bad mom? Does happily imagining myself with only Scott for 7 hours per day mean I don't love Ethan enough? Will he quit caring what his dad and I think and only care about what his friends think? Will he be challenged? Will he get bored and act out?
These are the kinds of thoughts swarming around in my brain.
Birthdays
In case you haven't heard, everyone gets to go free to Disneyland on the day of their birthday in 2009. Frills! Details HERE. If you need a place to stay for your celebration, consider that we have plenty of floor space and a huge comfy couch.
We were discussing birthdays tonight. Scott came over to me and said, "Mom, my brother's birthday is (date here)."
"That's right!" I said. "When is your birthday?"
"When I turn 4, I will have another birthday," he answered.
I persisted, "But do you know the date of your birthday?"
"No."
"Your birthday will be (his birthdate)," I told him, in my best teaching voice.
"AGAIN?!"
Mr. M and I cracked up. Yep. The same date, year after year.
We were discussing birthdays tonight. Scott came over to me and said, "Mom, my brother's birthday is (date here)."
"That's right!" I said. "When is your birthday?"
"When I turn 4, I will have another birthday," he answered.
I persisted, "But do you know the date of your birthday?"
"No."
"Your birthday will be (his birthdate)," I told him, in my best teaching voice.
"AGAIN?!"
Mr. M and I cracked up. Yep. The same date, year after year.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
What Can Go Wrong Will or All's Well That Ends Well
In our new congregation, I work with the kids, ages 3-12. Today it was my turn to teach Sharing Time, one for the junior group and one for the senior group. This was a Sunday when ALL the leaders from the region would be visiting. I diligently prepared my lesson during the week, so that on Sunday morning, I would only need to print it out. Our church doesn't meet til 12:20 pm, so I knew I had plenty of time.
Saturday night, while putting on the finishing touches, our computer went wacko. The sound card and the plug-in for the ethernet cable fell in to the back of the computer, if that makes any sense. Mr M helped me to take the case off and put Humpty Dumpty back together. When we turned it back on, the screen flashed some funny signals, but didn't work. Since it was midnight, we turned it off and figured we'd fix it in the morning.
This morning, we got the CPU functioning again, but for some weird reason, the mouse and the keyboard wouldn't work. Not the wireless mouse and wireless keyboard. Not the plug-in mouse and plug-in keyboard. After panicking, I reconstructed my lesson in a notebook as best I could, and at 12:10 pm, walked out to the car to drive to church.
As I opened the garage, I saw that the car door was partly open and the light on inside. When I turned the key in the ignition, I got a weak clicking and then nothing. The battery was dead. URGH! More panic! I ran back in the house, and we had a family prayer, grabbed the stroller, and started walking. Church is only a mile away, but by this point, we had only 5 minutes before Primary would start.
Luckily, someone from the ward drove by. She had room for 1 in her car, so I hopped in, and Mr M trekked it with the boys. I made it to church before Primary got going, and my lessons were fine.
My favorite part of the lesson was teaching the 3-7 year olds Doctrine and Covenants 10:5 : "Pray always, that ye may come off conqueror!" and on conqueror, we punched our fists into the air.
The irony of it all was that my lessons were on prayer. Perhaps these experiences were to teach me a little less trust in the arm of the flesh and a little more trust in God?
I'm teaching Sharing Time again in two weeks. Hopefully without any computer or car drama.
Saturday night, while putting on the finishing touches, our computer went wacko. The sound card and the plug-in for the ethernet cable fell in to the back of the computer, if that makes any sense. Mr M helped me to take the case off and put Humpty Dumpty back together. When we turned it back on, the screen flashed some funny signals, but didn't work. Since it was midnight, we turned it off and figured we'd fix it in the morning.
This morning, we got the CPU functioning again, but for some weird reason, the mouse and the keyboard wouldn't work. Not the wireless mouse and wireless keyboard. Not the plug-in mouse and plug-in keyboard. After panicking, I reconstructed my lesson in a notebook as best I could, and at 12:10 pm, walked out to the car to drive to church.
As I opened the garage, I saw that the car door was partly open and the light on inside. When I turned the key in the ignition, I got a weak clicking and then nothing. The battery was dead. URGH! More panic! I ran back in the house, and we had a family prayer, grabbed the stroller, and started walking. Church is only a mile away, but by this point, we had only 5 minutes before Primary would start.
Luckily, someone from the ward drove by. She had room for 1 in her car, so I hopped in, and Mr M trekked it with the boys. I made it to church before Primary got going, and my lessons were fine.
My favorite part of the lesson was teaching the 3-7 year olds Doctrine and Covenants 10:5 : "Pray always, that ye may come off conqueror!" and on conqueror, we punched our fists into the air.
The irony of it all was that my lessons were on prayer. Perhaps these experiences were to teach me a little less trust in the arm of the flesh and a little more trust in God?
I'm teaching Sharing Time again in two weeks. Hopefully without any computer or car drama.
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