What good is Calculus?

Me: Bryce are you excited to start school?
Bryce: Yeah, I want to be a teacher.
Me: What are you going to teach?
Bryce: I want to teach everyone how to snap!
Me: That seems to have more practical application than Calculus.
Bryce: Mom, why didn't you have a teacher to teach you how to whistle?
Me: Alright, rub it in...

Where did the summer go?

I just got back from an awesome trip to Fresno, CA for EFY. It was a blast and the kids were wonderful. But now I find myself wondering about all the grand plans I had for the summer and how I managed to get so little done.

For those of you who don't have kids in school yet I have a word of advice. Once you have to work around school schedules it seems like a wonderful deadline free summer will leave voids of time to get things done. So not true. I guess I have gotten used to only having all three kids some of the time and when that shifts into all of the time the messes and house work seem to expand exponentially. Add to that all the things that seem so fun that I have to cram our weeks full and say things like, "I paid for this pass and you are going to have fun whether you like it or not!" and all the jobs I had planned for the summer are still on my To Do list. Go figure...

Elephant Painting

I finished this in time for it to be a very late Father's Day present. It is acrylic on canvas and is my second real painting. It reminds me of when we went on safari in Kenya, one of the many adventures that reminds me of Dad.

EFY and such

So, I got back from teaching at my first EFY. It was awesome but hard. I learned some valuable lessons in teaching that I feel obliged to pass on.

First: Don't wear many layers while standing in front of hundreds of teenagers in a hot badly air conditioned room and especially don't do it if there is a chance of panicking. That combination can lead to overheating and possibly passing out (which leaves all those teenagers unsupervised and can create potential problems).

Second: If given weird answers from class members concerning something that you have no expertise ie) global warming as a way that Satan is taking away our agency, an good answer is, "You know, I don't know much about (insert weird topic like global warming), I'm just here to teach the gospel. But I appreciate your comment."

Third: If you get a rambler (someone who doesn't seem to know how to stop their comment)
for example:
Me: what are somethings that happen that make you angry?
Boy: You know when there are guys that try to flirt with girls by doing dumb things like taking their water bottles when there are other guys that are really trying to do nice things and the girls never even know that they are there and then the girls just pay attention to the dumb guys and .....

a good way to break in is to agree with them (you shouldn't to disagree as that will keep them talking) and then to acknowledge that should there be extra time at the end of the lesson you will turn the time over to them (just kidding).

Finally, I do have to say that even when you think you have royally messed up, chances are that you were able to teach something to someone and have thus not failed. In fact, as a rule of thumb, your lessons will have touched more people than you possibly could know (even when teaching the Sunbeams). Besides, I believe that there are special blessing reserved for those of us who are willing to bear some part of our imperfect souls so that other can learn (even if it is from our mistakes).

Selective hearing

Last night we were all sitting down for family dinner (rare with a husband who works as late as Paxton) but I was having a hard time getting the kids to eat. The conversation went as follows.

Me: Shaylee, keep eating.
Me: Bryce, your fork is to eat with. It is not a catapult.
Me: Both of you stop playing with your food and eat please.
Me: Shaylee stop playing with your brother's food.
Me: Am I invisible or are our kids deaf?
Paxton: Bryce, did you hear what your mom said?
Bryce: Yeah...That she is invisible.

It is so strange how kids never listen until you say something you shouldn't have.

Quotes of the Week

"Please watch where you are peeing."



Me: Bryce, it is 10:00 at night! Why are you still awake?

Bryce: Because I have sand in my underwear.


I love being a mom...

That Doggone Bus

I am getting some good feed back about my crazy experiences as a mother. Perhaps everyone likes to hear that someone else's life is more chaotic that their own or perhaps it is just good for a laugh. Whatever the reason I will continue to post the random craziness that happens in our house in an effort to see the funny side of things (even if it takes several month before it seems funny.) Like this one...

The last week or so of school I was so busy with tutoring and kids that was kind of in a daze. One morning I was getting the kids ready for school when I failed to watch for Bryce's bus and heard as it was pulling away. I ran out and tried to wave them down but failed. It wasn't so bad. I was going to the gym so I figured I would hurry and drop Bryce off on the way. So, I bolted upstairs to change and get him to school on time. Right in the middle of changing I looked out the window and saw the bus pull back up (it had turned around and came back for us) and to my dismay I watched Bryce, his little sister and our dog (Red) all climb on the bus. I threw whatever clothes I could reach (you know when you trying to run and put your pants on at the same time...) and got outside to find the bus driver cracking up as the bus monitor held the dog for all the kids on the bus to pet. As I pull my child and Red down the steps (hoping to not flash anyone since I was not dressed appropriately) and off the bus I heard Bryce say that maybe next time Red could come to school with him.
Lesson Learned: Perhaps this is how God designed kids to keep us humble.