Wednesday, February 1st, 2012
We are studying Shakespeare right now in my 9th grade Lit. class, starting with background information about the Globe Theater and the Elizabethan Age. Being a Shakespeare enthusiast, I lived in England for a semester during college for the purpose of taking classes at the Shakespeare Birthplace & Trust Center in Stratford-Upon-Avon. I brought in some pictures to show the class: buildings, theaters, etc. and there happened to include one of myself at the time. “You look so young!” my student exclaimed. Really? I was not expecting that observation. You mean, I don’t look like that anymore?! How come I still feel like that? The truth is, most of the time, I don’t feel 36. I feel don’t even feel 26. I still feel like that 20 year old, inside. I guess 16 years and three babies later, it makes sense that I don’t look like that anymore…but it was news to me 
So, for better or worse, please don’t tell me how old I look, I am going to embrace how young I feel.
My favorite age-old adage (no pun intended): “Age is the matter of the mind. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
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Friday, January 27th, 2012
I love my job; I really do. And, I have been so impressed with our 9th grade Literature curriculum this year. We are reading such fabulous writers and such a variety of wonderful works!
I also love when I can integrate subjects. If I can use an impressionist painting to explain the concept of imagery in a particular poem, or I can assign a research paper with a topic that pertains to their History or Spanish class — I love that kind of stuff! Recently, I got to integrate Bible with Literature — more stuff I love! Yay! (This is a secular curriculum by the way.)
Byron wrote a beautiful poem called “The Destruction of Sennacherib” inspired by an obscure story found in 2Kings chapter 19. Sennacherib was the king of the Assyrian Empire from 705 to 681 BC. He ruled over the Middle East, including the Northern and Southern kingdoms of Israel, specifically Jerusalem, whose leader was Hezekiah. King Hezekiah was a godly man who brought great social reform in turning the Jews away from idols and back to their Lord, but Hezekiah wasn’t perfect. He didn’t pay his taxes (more or less) to Sennacherib, provoking some military backlash. Sennacherib attacked not only with his massive army, but with arrogance, manipulation, and insults to the Lord Almighty. How did Hezekiah respond? Did he reinforce his army, bunker down and prepare for battle? No. Hezekiah’s first response was to go to the temple in sackcloth and pray; the prophet Isaiah confirmed that the Lord heard the king’s prayers and would indeed save His people. What a shock to everyone one when “that night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got there the next morning — there were all dead bodies!” 2 Kings 19:35. Wow! Yikes! Does this story relate to us in any way? Yes! This amazing story has a plethora of personal application in it. For example, the Lord is merciful to those who humble themselves. If you screw up, repent. If you are in trouble, pray. If you are in trouble and you are the cause of it, pray! The Lord is always present in the battle with us, but sometimes He does the fighting for us. God is POWERFUL. Sometimes, He really shocks us. “His ways are higher,” beyond our comprehension or reason. We don’t always understand His purposes. His response to a situation, His solution, may be something beyond our wildest imagination. God is unpredictable, untameable, and sometimes a little scary, but we can trust Him when He tells us that He’s got it covered.
Read Kings 18:17 — 19:36. Then this powerful poem by Byron here.
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Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
Hint: “All I want for Christmas are my two_________________.”
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Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
A grey-haired woman playing with barbie dolls? A lunch lady who trips a supermodel with a banana peel? Now that is funny! Christine Lavin, comedian/songwriter, has been around a long time apparently, but she is a new discovery for me. I came across this video and it made me laugh and laugh. She seems like just the right combo of zany/kooky/sarcastic-funny, without being mean or aggressive. Click here to see her commentary on the Victoria Secret Fashion Show. (…entertainment unlike any other/they put one foot in front of the other….walkwalkwalkwalkwalkwalk turn/What a talent! Where did you learn?)
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Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012
Conversations around our dinner table are usually entertaining, and, at the very least, interesting. Frequently, they become question and answer time: “Why is China very far away?” (Madelyn), or “Why do we live on earth?” (Jeremiah). “What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?” You know, stuff like that. Sometimes it is a report on the important happenings of the school day — who tooted in naptime; whose underwear was showing, and who saw it; whose “boogers exploded” when they sneezed. Tonight Madelyn and Jeremiah tag-teamed us for a question that really caught me off guard: “What is Afton’s name going to be when she grows up?” They insisted that “Afton” could not possibly be her real name. “Afton is a baby name,” they said incredulously. It occurred to me that we do call her a lot of things: “Peanut,” “Sweet Girl,” “Beebee,” “Booga Booga”… Madelyn and Jeremiah were convinced that “Afton” was just another one of those crazy terms of endearment. They cannot believe that that is actually her life-long name. I hope Afton doesn’t feel that way someday. I hope she will love it as much as we do. If not, she may choose Joy or A.J., hopefully not “Aftie,” which her siblings prefer. Next time they ask me that question though, I will be prepared. What is Afton’s name going to be when she grows up? Aurelia, or Frank. We are still trying to decide.
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Friday, December 30th, 2011
Where did our baby go? We now have a full-fledged toddler terrorizing things around here. She’s the fastest weeble-wobble I have ever seen, a wiggly worm in constant motion. It is amazing how a tiny tot that walks without bending her knees can move that fast! Mostly, she is the sweetest little angel, but she does have a sassy streak…and an infinity for making messes. At any given moment, her food can be turned into hair gel, especially peanut butter or oatmeal. To her, food is finger paint and all the world a canvas. Watching her feed herself is so cute though… her chubby fingers maneuvering like two tiny chopsticks. Sometimes she uses the palm of her hand to push everything into her mouth, or just shoves in all five fingers at once. She is passionate about blueberries, music, and shoes. She likes to swipe people’s shoes and switch their respective closets. Animals make her squeal in delight. She loves water — if there is a liquid anywhere she will find it and play in it. She is very communicative and has an assortment of hilarious sound effects to express her thoughts. “Ba” is her favorite thing and word for ball. “Mama” seems to be the word for everything else, except “daw daw” which she uses for dog. She loves to put things on her head like sunglasses and hair bands. She loves applause, smiles, and laughter. She is a bit of a clown and, uh-oh, a climber. I’ve never had one of those before…tune in here to watch the Afton channel.
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Wednesday, December 28th, 2011
Busy,busy. Right before Christmas I went to New York to surprise my dad for his birthday. Kudos to my brother for arranging and orchestrating the siblings to be there together. It was great to be together. Thank God for Mimi (Matt’s mom) who took care of the kids while I was gone. Madelyn and Jeremiah got strep throat, and we all missed Matt’s dad — wah. I got back very late on Christmas Eve. Danielle and Levi were already there with their newest addition, Jane, who was a hit with the kids. Jon and Alli joined us the next morning for opening presents and the food extravaganza, followed by a backyard sword and silly string fight. (Some pictures and videos here.) The weather here has been unbelievably beautiful and we’ve been trying to spend as much time outside as possible before the snow comes.
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Friday, December 16th, 2011
Did you know that there is a shortage of crazy Christmas bling in our town? There is — for those of us who are NOT willing to spend big bucks on a sweater with jingle bells sown on a fuzzy snowman, or one with dancing flamingos adorned in Christmas lights. Wednesday I got an email that all the teachers were to dress in theme: tacky Christmas. I thought, Wow, I purposely do not own anything like that. I avoid stuff like that….but still, come to school in costume? Oh yeah. I’m in! So I went to three thrift stores. Three! Could not find a thing… no shirts made out of tinsel, no teddy bear Santa earrings…nothing. Then I found a store (that will remain nameless to protect the innocent) where, between the Gangster Juniors Department and Retired Ladies Sportswear, I was finally able to piece together an inexpensive ensemble. When I got to school, I was afraid the joke may be on me. My kind was nowhere to be found. It was like being the only person in technicolor in an otherwise black and white film. The parents were giving me really strange looks. Some of them avoided me, I was sure. All of them thought that I was serious…oh my. I gave my colleagues a C- for effort, and soon discovered they had the same problem finding stuff that I did, so they said… Dressing Tacky Christmas does present a bit of an awkward situation…I mean, how do you say to your grandma, “Can I come raid your closet and look for something tasteless to wear?” Or when you see someone and say, “Nice outfit! I see you got the memo to dress tacky today. Great job; you look hilarious! Oh… you didn’t? Oooopps!” Still, I love the idea. I think we should do it every year on the last day before break. School is just a party that day anyway, might as well live it up. If you want to see who won the costume contest click here.
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Monday, December 5th, 2011
Jeremiah went to the urologist today and got a clean bill of health! Four years of praying, worrying, trying not to worry, watching, waiting, and praying some more… No more medicine; no more trips to All Children’s Hospital; no more invasive, traumatic tests on Jeremiah’s little body; no more looming surgery… Growth spurt, Holy Spirit’s healing…it is all God’s goodness in our eyes. Thank you, God, for healing him and thank you, all who have been praying!
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Monday, December 5th, 2011
Starting on Friday…
chaperoned a field trip to Medieval Times, drove to Orlando with five teenage boys; when the iPod batteries died, the good ‘ol Celebrity Alphabet game still proved to be fun; nothing like a good sword fight, jousting tournament, and eating with your hands…Pictures here.
putting up the Christmas tree, decorating with those special ornaments, a trip down memory lane; Madelyn and Jeremiah play “Away in the Manager” underneath the lights of the tree (home movie in the making)…
Saturday morning: helping my friend frost a birthday cake who had never made a cake before; “yes, you take the paper off the butter first”; Spider man decorations sent all the way from Colombia…
FLCS Staff Christmas party — I love the white elephant game! We got rid of some junk, exchanged ours for someone else’s…
Sunday: Church, then a birthday party at the park, Madelyn and Jeremiah’s first experience with a pinata; small group here, dinner by Atlanta Bread Company (yum!) followed by another fireplace-staged show in bathrobes; first public viewing of “Stars Wars: Away in A Manger”…
annual viewing of “It’s A Wonderful Life”
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