Fun With Kids

This is called "Fun With Kids." From top to bottom is: Rebekah, Bethany, Josiah, Naomi, Elisabeth, Coe and finally, Katherine. Elisabeth is not a kid. She is 22 and the next teacher for the kids I've been teaching. I think she's much more qualified than I, and she is very good with the kids. They've been friends for a while and they look up to her.
Today was very busy. First I went teaching from 8:30-10:50, then I went to work to clerk from 11:10-2:15, picked up school books for Coe, went back to their house, taught from 2:40-5:00, came home, made dinner, went shopping with my mother-in-law for a bridal shower gift for Adam's cousin, finally came home after spending too much money, washed dishes, and now here I sit. Whew! What a day! I feel satisfied with what I've done, except for communication with my hubby. Any ideas on how to get out of a communication slump? He works a lot, I work a lot, he likes T.V., I don't really... etc., etc. Anyway...

This week has been exciting, but for some reason I haven't been blogging about it. Just see my Mom's blog to find out how great my past weekend was. She wrote all about it. I gardened at my parents on Sunday... It felt good to have my hands in the dirt again. Monday was Memorial Day and a great day for picnicking. We had great food (I made mac salad), a rowdy water balloon fight (you should've seen Adam's face when he came out of the bathroom cradling two water balloons- "I could only get two tied!!!" I then became the official tyer... It still shows on my tying finger), a good football game, and a bonfire (after everyone went home- including me). It was a great time. I wasn't ready for my weekend to end. Last night I made chicken Parmesan (for the first time) and took it to Grandma's house for dinner. It was very tasty. I also tried to make rhubarb pie with a gluten-free pie crust because Grandma has cut out gluten from her diet. It didn't work. I even tried twice. Sorry Mom, for wasting your rice flour. I still have some left though! I eventually gave up and made regular crust. But that wasn't until after dinner at Grandma's, so the pie didn't come out of the oven until after 9:00. So, needless to say, we didn't eat our pie because we were getting tired and we couldn't wait long enough for the pie to cool. I think I'm going to Grandma's tomorrow around lunch time and then we can eat our pie. Yum!

Well, that's it for now. I'm going to see where hubby is. Good-night!

Boring Blurbs

It was a cold, wet, wet day that was not sunny... But we still could do things that were fun and were funny!
Today I went teaching... and it went well. Except history... that didn't get done. Next week. Also Rebekah and Katherine have lost their school books. That means I have to scramble in the morning and get some papers organized for them to do. But it still went fairly well today. I'll only be teaching there for about one more month. I think I will miss them... it will be nice to have my days off, but then maybe I won't know what to do with myself! I'll have to wait and see what God has in store for me. I know he's got something good. I suppose I'll be able to visit my Mom more often and get my errands done and clean the house! That'll be good. And I know that I can always visit my students whenever I get the chance. Hey Mom, have you saved me a spot in the garden? I'll be able to come over and tend one hopefully... All I need is some tomato plants, pepper plants, I do like growing corn..., maybe some beans and squash. Oh, I do like gardening... Anyway, Adam's waiting for me. He want's to go get a rain coat. I think for work. His new job is going well. I think he likes it. He doesn't complain anyway... Sorry for the short blurb of a blog. Not very good this time... Oh well!

School is Fun

Hey there blogging world! Here is a picture of one of the trilliums that we saw the other day. When I went teaching yesterday, we went for a walk again... this time with all the kids (except Meghan- she's only two and was taking a nap) and I had my camera. We tromped on out into the woods laughing and having a good ol' time. Most of the kids didn't like having their picture taken, but I still managed to get a few good ones. Katherine's face was beat red by the time we got back home. It's hard for a four year old to keep up with the big kids!

But she managed, and so did I. We didn't meet any big dogs this time, which is probably a good thing because we had so many people with us. There were eight of us in all because the neighbor boy, Brian, had been persuaded to come along.
I think that school has been going pretty good so far. Their Mom bought Joe, Rebekah and Katherine workbooks to go through. This is nice because it includes reading and writing exercises and math activities all in one convenient book. Joe is doing well with memorizing his division facts. His mom has been practicing them with him. Yeah! I don't think he knows how good he's been doing at them... or how much he actually knows. I see good progress with reading... it may not be too long before both Joe and Rebekah are reading just for fun.
Baby Rachel is getting bigger too. She is now at newborn age and her Mommy says she is popping out of her preemie clothes! That is good news.
Well, soon my hubby will be home. Dinner is already made and waiting. It's nice to have dinner done when he gets home. Makes me feel like a good wife. We're having chicken and pasta in a creamy sauce and a salad. I'm excited because it's something different and I think he'll like it. So I gotta go. Good evening to all!

Big Dogs and Small Kids

Little kids can be fun. Especially country kids like these. The one on the far left is my Grandpa- he was a cutie. Yesterday, I got to spend some time with some country kids. You know, the kids I teach... Right before lunch they like to run down to the creek and stand in the muddy water and catch slimy frogs. They carry them around a bit and then stick 'em in a bucket for the day. I can't blame them... I used to do it too. My brothers and I would spend hours during the summer months in the little creek that ran behind our house catching frogs, lots of crayfish, minnows if we could, and maybe, once in a while, a snake or two. It was one of very favorite things to do. And of course we would leave them in a bucket in the yard for a day or two or three till we let them go. It was fun being a kid... And I suppose, that my pupils also should have a chance to catch frogs and enjoy sunny afternoons too. Of course, we try to get school done as quick as we can so we can go outside and play. Yesterday, I went for a walk with three of the girls. Bethany (who is 11, almost 12), Rebecca (6), and Katherine (4) and I hiked on out over the creek and out to the woods. We walked through fields and followed the tractor trails on up the hill. Watch out for muddy spots! I braved 'em and walked through the middle on the high spot. The girls took the safer route. Once we hiked up the ridge, we noticed a single, beautiful trillium blooming under the canopy of the trees. It was like a treasure among the leaves and twigs and undergrowth. It was so precious in its' singleness. I explained to the girls what it was and how it was endangered and against the law to pick them. They ooed and awed over it and then we walked on. Pretty soon we began to notice a few more trilliums here and there. We got so excited... Bethany said they had never seen them before and she was so glad we took a walk when we did. I wished that I had my camara. The farther we walked the more and more flowers we noticed. They seemed to be growing everywhere along the ridge or that hill. They were so pretty and I am so glad we decided to take a walk that day. I don't get to see many trilliums and they only bloom in the woods in early spring. So that was a treasure. But that wasn't the only exciting thing that happened on our walk... When we were almost done with our walk (nearing the road, which we would follow back to the house) we saw, standing in our pathway up ahead of us, a big black dog, just standing there watching us. I stopped in my tracks and tried to remember what to do when you saw a strange dog and didn't know whether he was nice or mean. I told the girls not to look him in the eyes and we backed up a little. But we couldn't turn around now... it would take us forever to get home if we did. And then the dog started trotting toward us. I told the little girls to stand behind me (just in case). You have to understand... this dog was huge. He was at least part Great Dane and his head came up past my waist. I decided that I would talk sweetly to him and called out to him "Hi puppy". He was hardly a puppy, but that didn't really matter. When he came too close for comfort I stood there and told the other girls to walk on ahead but not run. The dog stood there next to me... he didn't seem mean, but he hadn't wagged his tail yet either. How could I tell what he was thinking? He was wearing a collar, and when he wanted to follow the girls, I took hold of it gently and told them to keep walking. When they were far enough away for me, I let the collar go and started walking down the path, the dog walking next to me. I caught up to the girls and took Katherine's hand in mine, and kept myself between her and the dog. The Great Dane dwarfed Katherine. She was scared of him. I patted the dogs head just to make sure that he knew we were okay and so I knew he was okay too. Rebecca got brave and patted it too. I did not want her to do that. Whenever we would stop walking the dog took a few more steps then turned around and waited for us. It looked like he was there for the duration. When we got farther down the path we could see some kids playing at one of the houses next to the road. They were jumping on a trampoline and I took the educated guess that the dog belonged to them. It turned out that he did and his name was Mozart. And although he was scary looking, Mozart really was a nice dog. Good thing for us. It was quite the adventurous walk. And fun too. Sometimes it's nice being a kid, and then sometimes one has to be the grown up, and at least act like you're brave because there are younger people looking up to me. Good thing I have someone watching out for me too.

Sentences of Joy

Hullo... here I am blogging again. I went teaching again today. Lovely day to do so. I was greatly encouraged today because two of the kids I teach wrote their very first sentences all by themselves! They even sounded out the words themselves! Yes, yes, yes!!! Now they will be able to do so many more things! Like learn to spell and write stories and write more sentences and use their imaginations!!! I'm so excited! Now let's just see if they feel like writing more sentences on Friday. You have to understand why I am so excited that they wrote sentences all by themselves. Seven weeks ago, they were both struggling to read, not quite knowing all the sounds or how to write certain letters. Now I know that I actually have been making a difference and have been helping these kids to grow and develop and learn many new things. Josiah (who is eight and just wrote his first sentences on his own) also started learning how to divide today. Simple division, of course, but none the less, division. It is good to be seeing progress. It is encouraging. Although, working five days a week is very tiring and maybe more stressful on my relationships and my housework. On which note I shall leave you all and go back to my real life. Good bye!

Dirty Sneakers (Sounds Like Ice Cream)

Tonight I wash my dirty sneakers. This has to happen because I went for a hike today (in the rain) with a couple of the kids I watch. Noami and Joe led the way through the woods. There were nice trails, but one time they tried to lead us off into the thicket. I told them to go back to the trails, partly because I didn't think we needed to go wandering off to where I wouldn't know where we were and because Katherine (who is four) was having a hard time keeping up with the other kids. We tromped through muddy cornfields, over streams, up hills and in ditches. It was kinda fun but didn't take as long as I thought it would. But, my goodness! Were we messy when we got back to the house. Noami had mud on her pants up to her knees and Rebekah's skirt was rimmed with wetness as were her boots. I did let their wet and dirty things soak in the washer for a while this afternoon. It was fun going on a hike. I haven't done that in a while. It reminded me of being a kid. I would've felt like one except I kept on having to tell those bigger kids to wait for Katherine and I. Katherine needed a little help. I had a good day, I think. Now I look forward to my day off tomorrow. I shall have to make good use of that day. Grocery shopping and going to the mall to find something to wear to my cousins wedding in two weeks. Agh! It's less than two weeks till I go to Texas all by myself! Yikes!!! I'm so excited.

Synopsis of One's Week

Well, it's been a whole week since I have last blogged. Ooops... my how time does get away from you when you're busy! I've had a busy week. Last Friday Adam and I went to the Amerks Hockey game. Of course they lost, but we had fun anyway. Hockey players really do fight on the rink, just like in the movies! It was a good game with a close score: 3-4. Saturday I helped my Dad hang a mural at church in the morning and had my family over for dinner later. Adam made a delicious ham and we had quite the feast. My Mom's birthday was last Wednesday so I had made a blueberry cheesecake in celebration of the occasion. This made a lovely dessert. Mmmm, good. Sunday was church and in the afternoon, Adam and I traveled the countryside enjoying the warm day. Meanwhile I got very tired and I believe I even slept a bit (maybe 5 minutes). Monday was work and then I went to Kohls and bought a few skirts which I returned Tuesday morning because Adam didn't care for them. Tuesday I went to work again and in the evening we went to my parents house for Bible study. I finally remembered to bring the candy canes I bought for them at Christmas (they were homemade and very good) so everyone got to enjoy a late Christmas present. Hey, better late than never! Wednesday I went teaching again. It was the roughest day yet because we were all out of schedule. The kids had had a few late nights and needed to sleep in, so only two of them were awake when I arrived. Rebekah, who is six, slept till almost 11:00. I let her because she really must've needed the sleep. It's gotta be hard when you're mommy is staying in the city because your premature baby sister is in the hospital. It was a beautiful day outside too, so it was hard to get the kids to focus on the jobs that their dad had set for them to get done. I think it'll go better tomorrow because they won't be so overtired and we'll be able to (or at least mostly) stay on schedule. I like those kids and I hope that I can be of some kind of encouragement and blessing to them and their dad, while their mom is not at home. And hopefully they will be learning at the same time! Today I waitressed again and this evening (in about 15 min.) we will meet Adam's parents for dinner. Bob's birthday was yesterday and they always go out to eat when someone has a birthday... It's kinda funny how every family does things different. When I was growing up, Mom always made us dinner and cake or pie and Grandma and Grandpa came over. It just shows how different people celebrate different ways!
So, as you can see, I've been a busy girl. Not much down time. I'm hoping to get some grocery shopping in tonight as well- I won't have any time this weekend. We'll see how that goes. Ach, we're out of eggs, almost out of butter, we need this... we need that! Yup, it's gotta get done...

Well, here I am... blogging again. This week has been a busy one and it's not done yet! I haven't had much sitting down time for doing nothing or blogging. I've been waitressing and teaching and trying to be a good wife :) Wednesday I went teaching. Those kids always ask so many questions! Especially Coe. He's the oldest at 13 yrs. old. I was telling them about the play I was in last summer and he wanted to know all about it. Who was who and what part did I play, could I sing the song I sang for them, who was Rolph and Liesel... on and on. But, despite questions, everything went well and even better than Friday. We had more things to keep us busy and I had a better idea of what to do. Hopefully I will end being of some help and the younger kids will learn how to read and everything they need to know. There are two other ladies coming to help during the week, so it will be interesting to see how they do things especially since we will never be there at the same time as the others. We shall see!
Not too much has been going on other than work... Sunday I was sick and had to stay home from church. I laid on the couch almost ALL day and, praise the Lord, I felt better the next day and I could go to work :) Tomorrow night Adam and I are going to a hockey game. I bought him tickets for his birthday. I've never been to a game before and I think it will be fun. Adam pretends that he isn't taking me, but I know better! He used to play hockey when he was younger and has talked about going to one of the games in the city once in a while. Now he has no reason not to go because he has tickets.
Well, I'm getting boring so I should be off... Maybe I should wash the rest of the supper dishes. I made pizza tonight and just have to wash the plates. Scrub-a-dub-dub!

Lots o' Kids

Aren't these cute little kids? My Dad is the little baby on the left and the others are his four older sisters. Can you imagine being the youngest boy and having four older sisters to pick on you? I can relate to that because for a long time I was the only girl with five brothers. Sometimes we got along alright, but at other times... boy my Mom must've gone nearly crazy! We would fight, I would cry, the boys wrestled, we slid down the stairs, etc., etc. I prayed for a sister and finally got one at the age of nine and a half. My Dad had a little brother eventually too, but not till he was eight.
A lot of people think that my parents have a lot of kids. Seven can sound like a lot, I guess. But I recently met a family that has eight kids, ages thirteen to newborn. In a week or two, I'm going to start helping them homeschool two days a week. Their Mom just had a premature baby and is spending a lot of time in the hospital taking care of her. So with seven kids at home and one in the hospital, you can imagine that they would need a little help. Whether this would be long term or not, I don't know yet. But I will be quite busy as I work three days a week waitressing and the other two I will be teaching/helping this family. I know it will be a challenge, but good experience, especially since I would like to homeschool my own kids someday. So, if you think of it, keep me in your prayers for wisdom and energy to do all that I will need to do in the up and coming months. I will have to be a wise manager of my time, I think. Now back to cleaning my house...