Getting to Know Me

Well, it's Wednesday. And Wednesday is the day I committed to write. It has been a crazy week, so today's post is going to be a simple get to know you. Actually it will be you getting to know me. But feel free to comment so I can get to know you. 

▪️First job: Arby's restaurant--loved the curly fries!
▪️Dream job: I miss being in the classroom, but I don't want to go back to teaching; especially in a public school. Maybe when the kids are all grown I can find a master teacher and volunteer in her/his classroom.
▪️Favorite pizza: my memory of the best pizza is from Sardella's, but I have no idea if they are any good or if that is just a memory. I like Domino's pizza, but it's not something I can eat any more. Jonathan makes a good fathead pizza. 
▪️Favorite foot attire: cute sandals.
▪️Kids: I have 5. Girl 16, boy 14, girl 13, boy 11, girl 9. My oldest was 6 when my youngest was born--5 in 6 years. I love how close in age they are. They are each other's best friends. 
▪️Favorite roller coaster: I haven't been on a roller coaster for probably 16 years, but I love them. I just can't get anyone in my family to ride one with me. 
▪️Favorite candy: Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Licorice Nibs. YUM!
▪️Favorite ice cream: not chocolate!
▪️Pet peeve: being late and disrespect.
▪️Favorite Holiday: Thanksgiving. Probably because I like the food. And I enjoy the relaxed time with family.
▪️Night owl or early bird: early bird. I get that from my dad.
▪️Favorite family vacation: The cruise we took last year. The best part was how excited the kids were. 
▪️Number of tattoos: none. I can't think of anything I would want permanently on my body.
▪️Like to cook? not really. I do it because I like to eat. 
▪️Can you drive a stick shift? No. I learned once, but we sold the car after my first lesson and I never got to practice again. 
▪️Favorite color: red.
▪️Do you like vegetables? yes. And I'm liking some that I never liked as a kid--cauliflower, peppers, asparagus, and more.
▪️Do you wear glasses? No, but it's probably time to get my eyes checked. 
▪️Favorite season: Arizona doesn't really have seasons, but I like every "real" season for their own reasons. Summer because of the green grass and being able to hang out outside late into the night. Fall because of the beautiful colors and the crunch leaves and the chill in the air. Winter because of the way the snow looks as it falls at night. Spring because of the flowers and the warmer weather. 
▪️Dream car: anything red and shiny.
▪️Favorite movie: Princess Bride
▪️Favorite thing to do: read. 
▪️Married? Yes. We'll celebrate our 16th anniversary in October.
▪️Favorite thing to do together? travel. We've been to some fun places. 
▪️Skill you wish you had: I wish I knew how to decorate and along with that I wish I could build things--find stuff on the side of the road and turn it into something cool.
▪️Skill you currently have: I make a great loaf of bread.

Have a great week!

To Meditate or Not

I’ve never been a big fan of meditation. I just don’t get it! How does sitting  around trying not to think help bring peace and serenity? You might be asking, “Have you ever tried it?!?! You can’t knock it unless you’ve tried it.” Well, I have tried it. A few years ago I took a summer class and one of the books was 8 Minute Meditation. The book taught the reader how to meditate in simple steps and in short amounts of time. I tried every step and even blogged about my experience. After that experience I’ve never meditated again.

Until now.

I’m the kind of person that listens to signs that the universe sends. I listened to a podcast that talked about the awareness meditation brings. I argued with her. Soon after, I watched a video that talked about mindfulness and meditation in education. Two days later I read in a book about the importance of meditation. Hmmm. The next week I heard about it again. Twice. Maybe the universe was trying to tell me something. I decided I needed to look into it. So, like any mom, when I decide I need to make a change, I include the kids. I told them I needed to start meditating so they were going to learn how to do it with me.

We started with the definition I heard on a podcast—“Meditation isn’t about stopping your thought processes. It’s being able to focus on a target.” You pick a target to focus on—your breath, a mantra, your body, etc. When your mind wanders, and it will, notice it but don’t judge, just bring it back to your anchor. Meditation is the art of noticing that your mind has wandered and bringing it back to your focus. So for two minutes every morning we meditated, trying to non-judgmentally bring our thoughts back to our anchors. I said we would try it for a week.

One week went by and I wanted to quit. I didn’t feel like it was doing anything. But, because I had shared my reasons for wanting to meditate, Braedi would not let me quit. Plus I heard ANOTHER podcast about a meditation success story so I had to keep trying. But, we need to try something different.

Have you heard about Headspace? It was another one of those things that I’d heard several different times in different ways. It’s a cool app that teaches you to meditate. This guy with an awesome accent walks you through the process of how to meditate. It’s very peaceful. We’ve been using it for 5 days (it keeps track for you). I feel peaceful afterward, but I can’t say that it’s carried over to any other part of my day. But we are going to keep trying and hopefully we will see some of the benefits. Soon.

Catalyst for Change

I don't often set new year's resolutions, but I did this year after seeing a cool "bullet journal" goal setting post. Like most people and resolutions, I haven't been very good at consistently working on my goals. It doesn't really bother me, but for some reason the goal I set to write has been nagging me all year. I know that writing will be an important part of my mission, but it's one of my least favorite things to do and I wasn't sure how I should accomplish this goal. I finally decided to DO something so I committed to writing a blog post once a week.

I just finished reading "The Freedom Writers Diary" aloud to my kids. I'm not recommending it--there were a lot of graphic scenes and foul language, but the message was good-- tolerance. It was a very eye opening book for us. We had no idea that people lived like the kids in the book; that people judge and hurt others all because of the color of their skin. It was shocking and heartbreaking.

A few things we learned from the book:
1. Good teachers know how to inspire.
2. There are a lot of hurting people in the world.
3. There is power in reading a good book and asking how it applies to you.
4. Other people are going through/have gone through the same thing that you are going through. You are not alone in your suffering.
5. Change/breaking a cycle is possible.
6. Not everyone wants a better life.
7. But some people do and are willing to help you.
8. Writing can change you and those around you.
9. Having a support group and good association can help you as you change.
10. Don't judge others.

The last paragraph of the book compared the book to a relay race. The first lap was Anne Frank, the second was Zlata Filipovic who was inspired  by Anne Frank. The third lap were the diaries which were inspired by Anne Frank and Zlata Filipovic. And the fourth lap is the reader. The writer's hope is that the reader will "pick up a pen and be a catalyst for change." Maybe that is why I feel a call to write?

Book Goal

My goal last year was to read a book a week, and I used this blog to keep track of them.  Even though I stopped blogging about the books I read, I surpassed my reading goal.  Life has been super busy and blogging has been pretty low on my list of things to do.  But, I still want to give mention to some of the great books I have read. 

I borrowed "Honey for Child's Heart" from a friend and really enjoyed it.  Gladys Hunt writes about the importance of books and shares some of her favorite experiences with books.  She brought back so many memories of great books that I've loved and reminded me why I share books with my kids.






"Parenting With Love" is another great, borrowed book.  I love reading books about parenting--I recognized that there is always room for growth in that area.  The biggest thing I got from this  book was that I need to praise more.  Glenn Latham has a whole chapter dedicated to praising.  It is an area that I struggle with and strive every day to focus on the good. 



My 5th grade teacher read "Johnny Tremain" aloud to us and I remember loving the book and wanted to share it with my kids.  I hoped that they would pick it up and read it on their own, but that didn't happen.  A lot of the books I choose to read aloud are books that I want my kids to be exposed to but are ones they won't pick up on their own.  More often than not they love the book and will read it again on their own later.  This book fit right in with the Key of Liberty class I am mentoring and Braedi is taking.  It takes place during the Revolutionary War and we get see some of what did happen and might have happened in Boston. 

"Hans Brinker" or "The Silver Skates" is a book I've never read, but I remember from my childhood.  It takes place in Holland where my dad served his mission.  He might have read it to my siblings and I or told the story, but I don't remember anything but the name.  I ( and I hope my kids did, too) loved the story even though Mary Mapes Dodge gets a little wordy with her descriptions of Holland's history. 


I've continued to listen to audio books on my ipod in short increments.  I listened to the Maze Runner series, which consists of "The Maze Runner", "The Scorch Trials" and "The Death Cure".  A fun, fluff series about a post apocalyptic time where a group of kids is put through a series of trials to help find a cure for a  horrible disease. 





The Bloody Jacky series is another great audio to listen to.  The reader is fantastic!  I enjoyed her so much that one time when I couldn't find the audio at the library I bought it on audible instead because I couldn't stand reading it without her voices.  It is a bunch of adventure stories about a girl pirate.  I just noticed that the next book is out and I'm going to have to find an audio.  Lots of fun!


I've also been reading all the books that the kids have been reading for their classes at our commonwealth school.  Dyllan and I read the whole Samantha American Girl series.  For the longest time I was against that series, but I was basing my opinion on someone else's.  Just goes to show that I need to get my own opinion, because it was a cute series and I learned a lot from reading the books. 




Corbin's class is based around World War II so along with The Narnia series (which I am not rereading, but he his) we have been reading other books about the war.  We read "The Art of Keeping Cool" about a German artist who comes to America to escape persecution only to get persecuted here.  We also read "The Amazing Story of Aldophus Tips" about a girl in England and how the ward affected her family. 



Braedi and I read several books to help us understand the American Revolution and it's heroes better.  We read "The Red Scarf Girl" to show what life is like without liberty and freedom.  We read "The Landing of the Pilgrims" to get a vision of the first Americans.  We read "John Adams, the Reluctant Patriot of the Revolution" and "Meet George Washington" to learn about 2 of the great men of that time period.  I have been doing a lot of reading to prepare myself for this class, but only in spurts.  I hope to finish some of the books I have started over the next few months. 

There might be more books that I have read on my own or aloud, but I don't remember.  What have you been reading lately?

What is Freedom Worth to You?

It was my job to give the first lecture for the Key of Liberty class I am co-mentoring.  Our goal was to inspire the kids to want to put forth the effort required to learn about the founding of our country.  The outline titles the lecture "America is your land" and gave a little guidance as to what to include in it.  I found as I prepared that it came out much like a talk, so I typed it up to include here. 

What is Freedom Worth to You?

Over 200 years ago the founding fathers signed their names to a document declaring their independence from Britain.  The document stated that they pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor in support of that declaration.  Those men knew that they would be accused of treason.  “The penalty for treason was to be hanged by the head until unconscious then cut down and revived.  Then disemboweled and beheaded.  Then cut into quarters.  Each quarter was boiled in oil.  The remnants were scattered abroad so that the last resting place of the offender would remain forever unnamed, un-honored and unknown” (Making of America).  The founders sacrificed personal benefit for the good of the country, for freedom.

Robert Morris was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.  He was self-educated, owned his own business and was extremely wealthy.  When Congress went bankrupt, Robert gave $10,000 to feed and clothe General Washington’s militia.  Another time Washington pled with Robert to provide more money.  He borrowed money with his word that he would pay it back.  At the commencement of the battle at Yorktown, Washington needed more money.  Robert raised all that was asked.  Time after time he gave his own resources or used his credit to raise money to keep the militia going.  When the war ended, Robert spent 5 years in debtors’ prison.  He understood the value of sacrificing personal benefit for the freedom of the colonies. 

Francis Lewis was another signer of the Declaration who sacrificed for the good of the country.  He was well educated and had built a successful business.  The British troops were ordered to attack his home and seize his wife.  Soldiers advance from one side and a war ship attacked from the other.  Shots were fired.  The soldiers destroyed books, papers, pictures and furniture, and then captured Mrs. Lewis.  She was thrown into prison, not allowed a change of clothing and only given small amounts of food.  She soon dies from the poor treatment.  Francis lived alone for the next 24 years. 

One thing that these men and the other founders had in common was their education.  They were all well read and had read most of the same books.  George Washington took fencing lessons and devoured books so he’d be quick with a sword and quick with his mind. 

John Adams was bored with school and originally wanted to be a farmer like is father.  His father kept him home for a day, but encouraged him to continue his studies.  Adams later confessed that he didn’t like his teacher.  His father found another teacher and Johan began to study with greater interest.  He discovered that he loved books and loved to study. 

Benjamin Franklin taught himself to read and write.  He father discussed whatever Benjamin was reading.  Sometimes he would read through much of the night.

Even though Thomas Jefferson’s father died when he was 14, he was able to continue his education.  He learned Greek and Latin so he could read works in their original language.  He loved learning. 

The founders taught the importance of education.  Jefferson said, “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.”  Franklin said, “Wise and good men are the strength of the state more so that riches or arms.” 

The declaration teaches that we have certain God-given rights.  The founders also teach that the rights have certain duties and that one of those duties is to stay informed. 

Abraham Clark was another signer of the Declaration of Independence.  He was a successful entrepreneur and a veracious reader.  He was known as the poor man’s attorney because he took cases from people who couldn’t afford to pay.  After the signing of the Declaration, the British captured his 2 sons and put them on a slave ship.  The soldiers told Abraham they would only give his sons only water until he signed a document saying he would take back his signature.  Abraham begged for his sons.  He offered to trade his own life.  The British said they didn’t want him; they wanted him to sign a document saying he would take back his signature.  He talked to his wife.  They decided to gather all their money and possessions and exchange them for their sons.  The British refused to trade saying they only wanted Abraham to sign a document saying he would take back his signature.  He returned to his wife.  They talked and prayed and came to a decision.  Abraham returned to the slave ship.  He told the British, “I will give you my life, I will give you my fortune, buy my sacred honor is not mine to give” and he walked away.

We aren’t asking you to sacrifice all your money or your family.  All we are asking is that you sacrifice some of you time to read these books, to study these documents and to learn these principles so that when you are asked to lead you will be ready.  What is freedom worth to you? 

 

 

Book #58

We finished "Dorothy and the Wizard in OZ" today.  In my last post about the OZ series I mentioned that I wasn't enjoying the books.  I take that back.  This one was much better.  It was creative and fun.  Dorothy falls to the center of the Earth with a cousin after an earthquake and the same the happens to the wizard.  They find themselves in a vegetable land where they are not liked and are kicked out.  Then they travel to a land of invisible people.  Next they luckily escape a land populated by wooden gargoyles.  Finally they are trapped in a cave and are magically transported to OZ by the magical belt of Princess Ozma, where we are reunited with all of the characters from previous books (except Jack Pumpkinhead).  Dorothy eventually returns to Kansas, but the kids and I think she will soon go back to OZ. 

Book #57

I read a book that I didn't really have time to read.  I tried to make sure that I got an hour of "appropriate" reading in first, though, so I don't feel too guilty.  It was the next book in the Last Apprentice series--"Grimalkin the Witch Assassin".  This story was told from her point of view instead of Tom's, the apprentice.  Grimalkin was the witch who helped Tom bind the fiend in the last book.  It was  her responsibility to protect the severed head and keep it from the fiend's followers who wanted to reconnect it to the body.  Grimalkin was dedicated and was able to keep the antagonists at bay for most of the book.  These books really get me thinking about good vs. bad.  Can a witch be good?  If she is fighting for a good cause but uses bad magic, is that alright?  Does the ends justify the means?