This is old news, but it was a big event this year, and I've been meaning to post about it since it happened. I think I needed a little time to get over being upset before I recorded it here.
In November, the election was held. It seemed a very big election...and a very divisive election. People I love and respect...as well as strangers... were saying some pretty ridiculous things about the election and about what would happen if President Obama won or if Mitt Romney won. It seemed to me that there was a lot of anger and vitriol and far too many people were no longer being rational. I posted about this a little bit on Facebook. This is what I said:
"I have kept my opinions to myself...but I am so frustrated with the current political climate. People have lost friendships over this election. So much mud slinging has occurred...by followers on both sides. My beautiful daughter was told by classmates that she is a horrible person because in a mock election she voted for Romney. I am disgusted by this...but not surprised. If we as adults can not agree civilly and respectfully, how will our children learn to disagree respectfully? I voted for Romney and have what I think are good reasons for my choice. But I think both candidates are decent human beings who both want to do what they believe is best for our country. Their ideas differ, but I don't think that makes them ...or their supporters... evil or stupid or even that people are voting against their own interests. I know good, intelligent people on both sides of the issues. We have different ideas on the purpose and responsibilities of government or on the direction we want our country to head...but I believe that truth, in most cases lies somewhere more in the middle...if we could stop being so divided along party lines and could compromise (that just happens to be a vocab word this week in my second grade class...wish I could show them some good examples of that happening)... Then I think our country would be in much better shape. I love my friends and family no matter who they vote for...and can see why they would make the choice they made. Obama has done some good and made some mistakes ...and the problems of this nation neither began nor will end while he is President. Let's keep things in perspective..."
I studied the issues. I, frankly, didn't think either candidate was a perfect candidate. (None of them ever are...they are only human). I didn't particularly care for either of their platforms when it comes to education. However, after studying the issues I decided to vote for Romney. I feel like I had good reasons. But I know and love people who voted for Obama, and many of them had good reasons as well. Some people said that anyone who voted for Obama is lazy and wants to be given handouts. That is not what I see. Most of the people I know who voted for Obama are hard working, talented, intelligent people who care about others and want to be certain that those who are less fortunate are taken care of. In addition, teachers and other government workers have legitimate concerns (in my opinion) about whether we will have a decent retirement. Historically, teachers have not received high pay (although it isn't as terrible as some make it out to be...but it isn't high either). but we have received good benefits and a good retirement. But our benefits, at least in my district, are not that great anymore. Insurance is ridiculously expensive...I don't take district insurance...it is more than double what we pay to get insurance through Alfredo's company and it covers about the same as his. And there have been many threats to our retirement programs. Personally, I was blessed to have parents and some other adults that taught me to plan for my own retirement. So I have been saving money in my own account for 12 years now (I began 3 years after I started teaching), separate from the 401K that the district contributes to. So I am going to be okay even if they mess around with my retirement. But 20-30 years ago, when many of my fellow teachers began teaching, the expectation was that if you taught for 30 years, you would have a good retirement. Few of them began saving until recently. And if you are just a few years from retirement, after giving 20 or more years to teaching, then it is unfair and scary that you could lose that retirement. On the other hand, our country is in a deficit that is becoming increasingly frightening and I do believe changes need to be made. And some of them may hurt. These issues and so many others are difficult. There isn't an easy answer. There is truth on both sides of the issue, and as I said, I think that we'd be more successful as a nation if we could listen respectfully to people with different opinions and learn from them and try to understand their point of view. But so often, our gut reaction as human beings is to blame, insult and ignore those who believe differently than us.
This election hurt me especially because it hurt Michelle. Her class held a mock election a few days before the election. It was supposed to be done in private, but someone saw that she voted for Romney. They told her she was a terrible person for voting for Romney. They said that Romney planned to ship all Mexicans back to Mexico and that if she voted for Romney, then she hated Mexicans. (Which, of course, is not true. But is a terrible accusation when you are in a dual immersion class and at least 50-70% of the students in your class are Mexican.) Michelle told the teacher, and the teacher talked to the student. But on the day of the election, at recess, a whole group of kids surrounded her and began telling her that she was evil and a terrible person for voting for Romney. Michelle found her teacher and told her teacher what had happened. Her teacher handled it beautifully. When they came in from recess, she grabbed the flag and talked about what the flag means/represents. She talked about the freedoms we enjoy and how this country is a land where we can have different opinions and we can vote for who we choose and that no one should ever be made fun of or insulted for expressing their opinion. She cried a bit. Then she had the class do a writing assignment. Michelle wrote about how she would forgive others even when they hurt her. (If I can find her writing assignment, I'll post her exact words). And her teacher wrote a nice response back. And things got better quickly. It's been over a month now, and Michelle occasionally mentions this event, but not often, and she is surrounded by friends now.
Here is what I also wrote on that day on Facebook:
"Right now, I'm so, so sick of this election and all of its arguing. And so sick about how my sweet Michelle has been treated. Today was a really, really bad day for her. Her teacher handled it beautifully, but she feels very isolated and picked on right now because she had the courage to vote for who she thought was best. It was a really, really bad day for her. And to tell a 9 year old that they are evil because of who they voted for just makes me sick on so many levels. Her teacher had a wonderful discussion with the class about the blessing of being able to vote, to enjoy the freedoms we have, and how important it is to be respectful of others views. I could not have handled it better ...and in fact had a similar discussion with my class yesterday and today. And the children are just repeating what they have heard adults say. There has been a lot of fear and hatred spread this election which makes me sad for us as individuals and as a nation."
I must say that despite the anger and so on that the election caused, so many people commented on my post to agree with me and to show love. And within a week or so of the election, most of the anger, fear and so on were gone. Life is back to normal. Michelle's hurt is healed, and so I can let this go. I did feel like it was an important event to share though.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Bethanie's Farewell
Last Sunday, one of the young women I served while in the Young Women's Presidency (4 years ago) gave her missionary farewell. She will be serving in the Peru Cuzco mission. She spoke so beautifully and she has such a strong testimony. I feel so blessed to know her and to see her faith. She has a light within her that shines for all to see and she is not afraid to share her light, her faith or her testimony with others.
She spoke about light. She talked about going to a cave and wandering around with her uncle and cousins. Then they turned off their flashlights and it was completely dark. Her uncle gave a little devotional about the light of Christ. Christ is the Son and provides light for all of us. She also talked about our eyes and how without light we would not be able to see... the light goes into our eyes and sends a message to our brain and then we are able to recognize what we are seeing, but without light our eyes would not work.
She also shared about some challenges she had experienced when a friend committed suicide and she felt guilty that she hadn't helped the friend. She then shared how the Atonement allowed her to forgive herself and helped her find peace and dispersed the darkness she was feeling.
It is Christ that provides our light and helps us know where to go and what to do. She shared this amazing quote by Marianne Williamson (that Nelson Mandela quoted in his inaugural address). I love this quote and always feel the spirit when I hear it:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
― Marianne Williamson, Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles"
Thank you, Bethanie, for letting your light shine and for sharing your testimony so eloquently. You have taught me on more than one occasion and I will sincerely miss you. But I am so grateful that so many lives will be able to be changed through your service.
She spoke about light. She talked about going to a cave and wandering around with her uncle and cousins. Then they turned off their flashlights and it was completely dark. Her uncle gave a little devotional about the light of Christ. Christ is the Son and provides light for all of us. She also talked about our eyes and how without light we would not be able to see... the light goes into our eyes and sends a message to our brain and then we are able to recognize what we are seeing, but without light our eyes would not work.
She also shared about some challenges she had experienced when a friend committed suicide and she felt guilty that she hadn't helped the friend. She then shared how the Atonement allowed her to forgive herself and helped her find peace and dispersed the darkness she was feeling.
It is Christ that provides our light and helps us know where to go and what to do. She shared this amazing quote by Marianne Williamson (that Nelson Mandela quoted in his inaugural address). I love this quote and always feel the spirit when I hear it:
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
― Marianne Williamson, Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles"
Thank you, Bethanie, for letting your light shine and for sharing your testimony so eloquently. You have taught me on more than one occasion and I will sincerely miss you. But I am so grateful that so many lives will be able to be changed through your service.
Christmas Piano Recital
My girls had their first piano recital this past Thursday. It was at our church. Our piano teacher is in our ward and is a great example to the girls, both musically and spiritually. She has an adorable 2 year old daughter that we all love, and she is so patient and kind with the girls. She has been a great teacher, and as she spoke she got choked up. I know that she loves my girls as well as her other music students.
We know all of her piano students and their families, so it was fun to see each of the students play their songs.
Michelle played O Holy Night and Have a Holly Jolly Christmas. They were hard songs for her and really stretched her, but she did so well. I was so proud of her. She hasn't had a piano recital before, but she has had violin concerts so I think that helped her stay calm.
Ella was pretty nervous and she did make a few mistakes, but I was still so proud of her! She's practiced hard and she didn't let her mistakes upset her very much.
I am so glad that they are able to develop their talents in this way. We have been so blessed.
We know all of her piano students and their families, so it was fun to see each of the students play their songs.
Michelle played O Holy Night and Have a Holly Jolly Christmas. They were hard songs for her and really stretched her, but she did so well. I was so proud of her. She hasn't had a piano recital before, but she has had violin concerts so I think that helped her stay calm.
Ella was pretty nervous and she did make a few mistakes, but I was still so proud of her! She's practiced hard and she didn't let her mistakes upset her very much.
I am so glad that they are able to develop their talents in this way. We have been so blessed.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
A Book A Day
I try to read to my children every day. I do occasionally miss a day, but I read to them most nights. A friend of mine wraps up 25 Christmas books each year and they open and read one Christmas book each night from December 1 through December 25. I decided to steal her tradition and try it out this year. (I've since seen others post about the same thing in several places. Such a fun idea!)
I have spiritual stories and fun stories. Short stories and long. So I wrapped up a bunch of them (not 25 though...I keep some of my Christmas stories at school for my students to read...so I'll bring some more home in a week to wrap and read to my own children). I'm sure you could mark them as you wrapped them so you know which story to open each day, but I just let my kids choose which one. (I did mark the really long ones so I can be sure they open those on days where we have a little more time.) So far we are really enjoying reading a Christmas story each night.
I saw on this blog, Being LDS that she reads a Christmas story each night and does a craft or activity with each book. I'm very impressed but totally not ready to tackle that! However, some of these books brought crafts to mind that you could try if you are more into crafts with your kids than I am. I'm sure I will do a few but not very many. (If this idea appeals to you or if you just want more Christmas titles, check out her links to 2009, 2010 and 2011 as well.)
Here's what we've read so far and my review on Goodreads:
Ho, Ho, Ho Tucker by Leslie McGuirk:
My children liked this a lot more than I did. It is a story of a little dog named Tucker's Christmas adventures...making a snowman for Santa, Christmas caroling ("Bark the Herald Angels Sing") and helping Santa fly the reindeer.
My kids thought it was cute and funny, and my 7 year old was especially happy because her teacher has a darling dog named Tucker that she sometimes brings to school. The illustrations are somewhat cartoon like and it the story was just okay for me, but as it is meant for children, it does seem to appeal to them more than it did me.
The Mouse Before Christmas by Michael Garland
Written to the rythmn of The Night Before Christmas, this story chronicles the adventures of a small mouse that sneaks into Santa's pack and is able to travel around the world with Santa.
We loved the illustration that shows him traveling past the Sphinx, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty... (My four year old is proud to tell anyone that will listen to her that the Eiffel Tower is in Paris, France...and my older two loved this page just as much).
"Mouse had never imagined a world so wide;
He lost count of the wonders he'd seen on this ride-
Crossing cities and countries, over desert and sea,
Past the sphinx and two towers and Miss Liberty."
The rhymes/rhythms work well. It imitates the original closely enough that the lines never felt awkward, but still tells a unique story.
The Little Engine that Could and the Snowy, Blowy Christmas by Watty Piper
If you are a fan of the Little Engine that Could, you will enjoy this Christmas version. Santa's reindeer all catch a cold just as he is finishing delivering all of the gifts. But then he finds one more. How will he get Timmy's present to him? The Little Engine that Could thinks he can help Santa...and of course, he does.
*You could have older kids write a new adventure for The Little Engine that Could...what else could he do at Christmastime to help someone? Maybe he could help the wise men get to baby Jesus (yes, I know there weren't steam engines back then!) or he could deliver toys to family whose mom is sick or he could help a family make it to their grandma's in time for Christmas dinner.
Christmas Is Here, illustrated by Karen Castillo
I loved that the words came straight from the King James version of the Bible, the version of the Christmas story that I know and love. The illustrations were not my favorite.
*This would be a good book to read and then act out the nativity story...either with costumes or by letting your children manipulate the pieces of a (nonbreakable) nativity set.
This is the Star by Joyce Dunbar
This is a nice cumulative telling of the birth of Christ. It begins with the star and includes each important character...the mother Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and animals, the angels, the wise men, the star, and of course, the baby Jesus.
*This might be a nice story to read before going Christmas caroling. Or you could make a Christmas star. Cut stars out of construction paper and let kids put glue and glitter on them. From the blog above, Being LDS, I saw the idea to glue glitter on popsicle sticks and then glue three popsicle sticks together to make a star shape.
Mary, Did You Know? by Mark Lowry
This is an absolutely beautiful book that illustrates the Christmas song, "Mary, Did You Know?" (One of my favorite Christmas songs!) It includes scriptures and a foreword and introduction that give even more meaning to the song and tells how it was written. A wonderful book for this season of the year.
*You just have to listen to the song after reading this book.
A Pirate's Night Before Christmas by Philip Yates
My 7 yo daughter went through a phase where she loved books about pirates. While that phase has passed somewhat, when I saw this book, I had to buy it. It follows the traditional Night Before Christmas quite closely, but changes it to a pirate ship with a pirate coming on a sleigh pulled by 8 sea horses.
"More sluggish than flounders, his coursers they came,
An' he whistled an' snarled and called them by name:
"Now, Salty! Now, Scurvy! Now, Sinbad an' Mollie!
On, Cutthroat! On, Cross-Eyes! On Roger an' Jolly!
To the top of the sail! To the tip of the mast!
Now dash away, dash away, dash away fast!"
The rhyme scheme works well throughout, and we all loved the illustrations. It also includes a pirate glossary at the end. This was a very fun addition to our Christmas/holiday books. :)
** You ought to either make some kind of seahorse craft or pirate dressed in holiday garb. I'm going to look for something and if I find something, I will add it to this post.
The Reindeer Christmas by Moe Price
Santa and his elf Elwyn have always delivered the presents on foot. But there are so many houses, Santa is sure they won't be able to continue. They must come up with a plan or Santa will have to stop delivering gifts.
This fun story tells how reindeers came to fly Santa's sleigh. The story is nice (I particularly like the page where the crocodiles volunteer to fly the sleigh and Santa kindly turns them down). The illustrations are beautiful.
**THis is a perfect book to make the snowy reindeer scenes we teach our kids each winter. Get a large sheet of white construction paper 12x 18 and tear it in about half. Glue it to the bottom of blue construction paper. Then have kids paint 2 -3 trees. One should be in the foreground and should be fairly large...it should start about 1/2 way down the white and stretch up into the blue about halfway. Make the trunk and then make the branches by painting a y shape and then some v's, then more y's and v's. (So much easier to show you than tell you!) Then paint one or two more trees but make them much smaller (as if they are farther away...they should start up higher on the white paper and not go as far into the blue paper.) Then add reindeer by making an oval shaped body, an oval shaped neck, small feet, and antlers. Make at least one large reindeer in the foreground, near the large tree. Make smaller reindeer by the smaller trees. Add footprints near the deer. Then add snow to the branches of the trees and around the sky (the blue paper.) Here's pictures of this artwork that my kids and I made two years ago:
We will be reading more books each day, so I will have more updates coming as the month progresses. :)
I have spiritual stories and fun stories. Short stories and long. So I wrapped up a bunch of them (not 25 though...I keep some of my Christmas stories at school for my students to read...so I'll bring some more home in a week to wrap and read to my own children). I'm sure you could mark them as you wrapped them so you know which story to open each day, but I just let my kids choose which one. (I did mark the really long ones so I can be sure they open those on days where we have a little more time.) So far we are really enjoying reading a Christmas story each night.
I saw on this blog, Being LDS that she reads a Christmas story each night and does a craft or activity with each book. I'm very impressed but totally not ready to tackle that! However, some of these books brought crafts to mind that you could try if you are more into crafts with your kids than I am. I'm sure I will do a few but not very many. (If this idea appeals to you or if you just want more Christmas titles, check out her links to 2009, 2010 and 2011 as well.)
Here's what we've read so far and my review on Goodreads:
Ho, Ho, Ho Tucker by Leslie McGuirk:
My children liked this a lot more than I did. It is a story of a little dog named Tucker's Christmas adventures...making a snowman for Santa, Christmas caroling ("Bark the Herald Angels Sing") and helping Santa fly the reindeer.
My kids thought it was cute and funny, and my 7 year old was especially happy because her teacher has a darling dog named Tucker that she sometimes brings to school. The illustrations are somewhat cartoon like and it the story was just okay for me, but as it is meant for children, it does seem to appeal to them more than it did me.
The Mouse Before Christmas by Michael Garland
Written to the rythmn of The Night Before Christmas, this story chronicles the adventures of a small mouse that sneaks into Santa's pack and is able to travel around the world with Santa.
We loved the illustration that shows him traveling past the Sphinx, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty... (My four year old is proud to tell anyone that will listen to her that the Eiffel Tower is in Paris, France...and my older two loved this page just as much).
"Mouse had never imagined a world so wide;
He lost count of the wonders he'd seen on this ride-
Crossing cities and countries, over desert and sea,
Past the sphinx and two towers and Miss Liberty."
The rhymes/rhythms work well. It imitates the original closely enough that the lines never felt awkward, but still tells a unique story.
The Little Engine that Could and the Snowy, Blowy Christmas by Watty Piper
If you are a fan of the Little Engine that Could, you will enjoy this Christmas version. Santa's reindeer all catch a cold just as he is finishing delivering all of the gifts. But then he finds one more. How will he get Timmy's present to him? The Little Engine that Could thinks he can help Santa...and of course, he does.
*You could have older kids write a new adventure for The Little Engine that Could...what else could he do at Christmastime to help someone? Maybe he could help the wise men get to baby Jesus (yes, I know there weren't steam engines back then!) or he could deliver toys to family whose mom is sick or he could help a family make it to their grandma's in time for Christmas dinner.
Christmas Is Here, illustrated by Karen Castillo
I loved that the words came straight from the King James version of the Bible, the version of the Christmas story that I know and love. The illustrations were not my favorite.
*This would be a good book to read and then act out the nativity story...either with costumes or by letting your children manipulate the pieces of a (nonbreakable) nativity set.
This is the Star by Joyce Dunbar
This is a nice cumulative telling of the birth of Christ. It begins with the star and includes each important character...the mother Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and animals, the angels, the wise men, the star, and of course, the baby Jesus.
*This might be a nice story to read before going Christmas caroling. Or you could make a Christmas star. Cut stars out of construction paper and let kids put glue and glitter on them. From the blog above, Being LDS, I saw the idea to glue glitter on popsicle sticks and then glue three popsicle sticks together to make a star shape.
Mary, Did You Know? by Mark Lowry
This is an absolutely beautiful book that illustrates the Christmas song, "Mary, Did You Know?" (One of my favorite Christmas songs!) It includes scriptures and a foreword and introduction that give even more meaning to the song and tells how it was written. A wonderful book for this season of the year.
*You just have to listen to the song after reading this book.
A Pirate's Night Before Christmas by Philip Yates
My 7 yo daughter went through a phase where she loved books about pirates. While that phase has passed somewhat, when I saw this book, I had to buy it. It follows the traditional Night Before Christmas quite closely, but changes it to a pirate ship with a pirate coming on a sleigh pulled by 8 sea horses.
"More sluggish than flounders, his coursers they came,
An' he whistled an' snarled and called them by name:
"Now, Salty! Now, Scurvy! Now, Sinbad an' Mollie!
On, Cutthroat! On, Cross-Eyes! On Roger an' Jolly!
To the top of the sail! To the tip of the mast!
Now dash away, dash away, dash away fast!"
The rhyme scheme works well throughout, and we all loved the illustrations. It also includes a pirate glossary at the end. This was a very fun addition to our Christmas/holiday books. :)
** You ought to either make some kind of seahorse craft or pirate dressed in holiday garb. I'm going to look for something and if I find something, I will add it to this post.
The Reindeer Christmas by Moe Price
Santa and his elf Elwyn have always delivered the presents on foot. But there are so many houses, Santa is sure they won't be able to continue. They must come up with a plan or Santa will have to stop delivering gifts.
This fun story tells how reindeers came to fly Santa's sleigh. The story is nice (I particularly like the page where the crocodiles volunteer to fly the sleigh and Santa kindly turns them down). The illustrations are beautiful.
**THis is a perfect book to make the snowy reindeer scenes we teach our kids each winter. Get a large sheet of white construction paper 12x 18 and tear it in about half. Glue it to the bottom of blue construction paper. Then have kids paint 2 -3 trees. One should be in the foreground and should be fairly large...it should start about 1/2 way down the white and stretch up into the blue about halfway. Make the trunk and then make the branches by painting a y shape and then some v's, then more y's and v's. (So much easier to show you than tell you!) Then paint one or two more trees but make them much smaller (as if they are farther away...they should start up higher on the white paper and not go as far into the blue paper.) Then add reindeer by making an oval shaped body, an oval shaped neck, small feet, and antlers. Make at least one large reindeer in the foreground, near the large tree. Make smaller reindeer by the smaller trees. Add footprints near the deer. Then add snow to the branches of the trees and around the sky (the blue paper.) Here's pictures of this artwork that my kids and I made two years ago:
We will be reading more books each day, so I will have more updates coming as the month progresses. :)
Monday, December 10, 2012
Joyeux Noel
This season is off to a wonderful (busy) start. It certainly has been a joyous season so far. Here's some of what we have been up to.
My mom and stepdad came last weekend to visit. It was wonderful to visit with them. I took Friday off from work to spend with them and gave my children the choice to stay home or go to school. I am fairly sure this is the first time I've ever let them take a day off if they weren't sick or we weren't out of town, so this was a big deal. Michelle decided to stay home, but Ella chose to go to school. Part of her reasoning was that she has Girl Scouts on Fridays and she wanted to be there, but she also really loves school. We spent the day shopping and visiting with each other. My sister Suzy came up from Orem and spent the day with all of us. That evening my parents gave my kids their Christmas gifts, and we gave them their gifts. I had read a couple of books about Matryoshka dolls (nesting dolls) to my kids and Michelle said she'd love a set. So when I saw that Seagull Book had nativity nesting dolls, I knew that was a perfect gift for my parents do give Michelle. She also got another webkinz. Ella got a book of Bible puzzles and so did Gabby. There are 6 different books in the set and we now have three. Gabby also got paper dolls. Ella also got anail polish set.
On Saturday, we went to Festival of Trees. There are so many remarkably talented people and so many beautiful trees and other items. It was fun to wander around and see things. My neighbor Jan decorated an amazing tree to donate. One of the best parts is that all of the proceeds go to benefit Primary Children's Hospital.
As I am totally not crafty or creative in this kind of way, I am so impressed by others' talents.
Saturday evening my parents had purchased tickets for Savior of the World, a play/musical based on the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was in the Conference Center. Michelle and I went with my sister, my mom and Mike (my stepdad), my aunt Elaine and my aunt Diane, and my grandpa. It was wonderful. You could really feel how happy and amazed and probably overwhelmed Mary must have felt to have been chosen to be the mother of the Son of God. You could feel the Apostles' fear, confusion and sadness after the death of the Savior because they hadn't understood the Resurrection. I really felt compassion for Thomas as he doubted and wanted to see for himself that the Savior had risen. There was a song about faith and belief that really touched me. And at the end, the apostles went out into the world to share the good news and my heart was filled with joy and a desire to be a better example, a better light to the world. I want to develop a deeper, more abiding faith in my Savior, Jesus Christ. I want to make sure that my children know that He lives and that He loves them and that He atoned for their sins. I want to study the New Testament again and read the words of his Apostles about his life. (And as a side note to that, did you know that if you visit lds.org they have videos about the life of the Savior that correspond to verses from the New Testament? We have a daily advent calendar with scriptures and one day when we were reading the verses online, I noticed a video off to the side and decided to show my girls. It really adds to our readings about the Savior. We've viewed a few now.)
On Sunday, we spent a couple of hours with my parents and they attended church with us. Then we took them to the airport. That evening, Michelle, Ella and I went to a Christmas children's choir concert at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. Michelle's friend Kate was performing in the concert. It was beautiful. It was the first time my girls had been to the cathedral, and only my second time going there. And the choir did a beautiful job. It brought the Christmas spirit.
This past Friday, we had our annual street holiday party. It was my turn to plan it, and I will admit that I felt a little stressed out for a couple of days. We had appetizers at our house, then went to Sara's for dinner and the White's house for dessert and the white elephant gift exchange. Our party is so much fun. We really have great neighbors and we laugh, visit, eat great food and have such fun. I really enjoy going.
Saturday was our ward Christmas party. The primary did a live nativity play that was wonderful. We watched a video about kids and what they think of Christmas and a video of President Monson talking about focussing on Christ at Christmas. The spirit was there and I was touched. I was able to help the kids make a cute little craft. My friend Jaylynn was there and I was able to visit with her. It was a wonderful evening.
Christmas is still a little over two weeks away, and already my heart has been so touched and so filled with joy. I am so grateful for this Christmas season and the joy that I feel as I reflect on my Savior. I love listening to Christmas music...all of it, but especially the hymns and songs about the Savior. I'm so blessed.
My mom and stepdad came last weekend to visit. It was wonderful to visit with them. I took Friday off from work to spend with them and gave my children the choice to stay home or go to school. I am fairly sure this is the first time I've ever let them take a day off if they weren't sick or we weren't out of town, so this was a big deal. Michelle decided to stay home, but Ella chose to go to school. Part of her reasoning was that she has Girl Scouts on Fridays and she wanted to be there, but she also really loves school. We spent the day shopping and visiting with each other. My sister Suzy came up from Orem and spent the day with all of us. That evening my parents gave my kids their Christmas gifts, and we gave them their gifts. I had read a couple of books about Matryoshka dolls (nesting dolls) to my kids and Michelle said she'd love a set. So when I saw that Seagull Book had nativity nesting dolls, I knew that was a perfect gift for my parents do give Michelle. She also got another webkinz. Ella got a book of Bible puzzles and so did Gabby. There are 6 different books in the set and we now have three. Gabby also got paper dolls. Ella also got anail polish set.
On Saturday, we went to Festival of Trees. There are so many remarkably talented people and so many beautiful trees and other items. It was fun to wander around and see things. My neighbor Jan decorated an amazing tree to donate. One of the best parts is that all of the proceeds go to benefit Primary Children's Hospital.
As I am totally not crafty or creative in this kind of way, I am so impressed by others' talents.
Saturday evening my parents had purchased tickets for Savior of the World, a play/musical based on the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was in the Conference Center. Michelle and I went with my sister, my mom and Mike (my stepdad), my aunt Elaine and my aunt Diane, and my grandpa. It was wonderful. You could really feel how happy and amazed and probably overwhelmed Mary must have felt to have been chosen to be the mother of the Son of God. You could feel the Apostles' fear, confusion and sadness after the death of the Savior because they hadn't understood the Resurrection. I really felt compassion for Thomas as he doubted and wanted to see for himself that the Savior had risen. There was a song about faith and belief that really touched me. And at the end, the apostles went out into the world to share the good news and my heart was filled with joy and a desire to be a better example, a better light to the world. I want to develop a deeper, more abiding faith in my Savior, Jesus Christ. I want to make sure that my children know that He lives and that He loves them and that He atoned for their sins. I want to study the New Testament again and read the words of his Apostles about his life. (And as a side note to that, did you know that if you visit lds.org they have videos about the life of the Savior that correspond to verses from the New Testament? We have a daily advent calendar with scriptures and one day when we were reading the verses online, I noticed a video off to the side and decided to show my girls. It really adds to our readings about the Savior. We've viewed a few now.)
On Sunday, we spent a couple of hours with my parents and they attended church with us. Then we took them to the airport. That evening, Michelle, Ella and I went to a Christmas children's choir concert at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. Michelle's friend Kate was performing in the concert. It was beautiful. It was the first time my girls had been to the cathedral, and only my second time going there. And the choir did a beautiful job. It brought the Christmas spirit.
This past Friday, we had our annual street holiday party. It was my turn to plan it, and I will admit that I felt a little stressed out for a couple of days. We had appetizers at our house, then went to Sara's for dinner and the White's house for dessert and the white elephant gift exchange. Our party is so much fun. We really have great neighbors and we laugh, visit, eat great food and have such fun. I really enjoy going.
Saturday was our ward Christmas party. The primary did a live nativity play that was wonderful. We watched a video about kids and what they think of Christmas and a video of President Monson talking about focussing on Christ at Christmas. The spirit was there and I was touched. I was able to help the kids make a cute little craft. My friend Jaylynn was there and I was able to visit with her. It was a wonderful evening.
Christmas is still a little over two weeks away, and already my heart has been so touched and so filled with joy. I am so grateful for this Christmas season and the joy that I feel as I reflect on my Savior. I love listening to Christmas music...all of it, but especially the hymns and songs about the Savior. I'm so blessed.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Trimming the Tree
As I mentioned in a previous post, we decorated for Christmas on the day after Thanksgiving. But we decided to get a live tree for upstairs this year. So a few days later, Alfredo and I took the girls to buy the tree. We decorated it and Alfredo didn't even rearrange ornaments too much. :) I think it smells wonderful and looks wonderful. I'm really enjoying it.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Real Life
About a week ago, my girls were talking about a teacher at their school and saying she was mean. Since neither of them have had that teacher, I asked why they thought that. They said a couple of kids said that. I said that perhaps those kids misbehave and that's why they think the teacher is mean. I then said that probably a couple of my students think I'm mean. They seemed very surprised (which is funny, because one of my darling daughters accuses me of being mean regularly) and asked why. I responded that when students misbehave, they receive a consequence or punishment. I said, "When we make mistakes, there are consequences. That's how real life works." Ella, without skipping a beat, replied, "That's why I hate real life."
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