Some of you may or may not have heard of "Love & Logic". It's a parenting program so to speak. Very big in the field of education. What I've learned about it, I love, and I use it all the time. Love & Logic is big on giving kids choices (as well as other things). Again, I use the strategy of giving choices a lot.
I just love it when I hear them using Love & Logic themselves.
Tonight, Ella was putting a puzzle together. She always recruits me to help (even though she's better than I am at puzzles). She and Anna were bickering and being very mean to one another. I had had enough. I got up and said, "I only play with kids who can get along with each other." At that, Ella began her famous drama queen melt down. Oh the wailing! Brennan said, "Ella, I will help you." Ella continued her award winning performance. Brennan began his Love & Logic...
"Ella, you have two choices. You can put the puzzle away or you can calm down. Actually, you have four choices. You can go to bed, you can calm down, you can not do the puzzle or you can...well...those are your options."
She calmed down.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Anna's First Basketball Game
A couple of seasons ago I talked Anna into playing soccer. Her soccer season was quite successful, but Anna wasn't too thrilled with the game. Before the season was in full swing she asked, "Why didn't you tell me there was so much running?" Need I mention that Anna didn't want to return to soccer?
Now, Anna decided, on her own, that she wanted to try basketball this year. There's a local church that sponsors the Upward Basketball program. The name of Anna's team is the Lady Salukis. Here's a picture of Anna from the game and one of Ella and Brennan watching the game. For exhibiting Christlike behavior and attitude during the game, Anna received a white star to stitch to her jersey. Although she was nervous about her first game, Anna did a great job and seemed to have fun. I think she'll have even more fun in the games to come as her confidence grows and she becomes less Christlike...I mean...a little more aggressive.
I only took about 100 other pictures and most of them were too blurry to see what was going on. I've GOT to learn how to use my new camera! I know, I know...when all else fails, READ THE MANUAL!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Prayer Answered Through A Fortune Cookie
Last night the kids and I went out for Chinese food and surprisingly ended up having dinner with my Uncle Dan, my mom's brother. Dinner was very enjoyable and delicious. The kids weren't terribly impressed (and neither was I) with their fortunes which is always disappointing, right? This is what prompted my post this evening.
Many of you have already heard this story, so please endure it again.
Exactly one week to the day of Jon's funeral, Anna had her second grade music performance for school. My mom, the kids and I got ready and headed up to the school to see the program. Of course the program was very good. It was tough for me, but I managed to keep it together, even though all I could think about was the fact that her daddy should have and would have been there to see her sing her little heart out. Needless to say, it was heartbreaking. Still, I kept it together...until the last song..."Love Can Build A Bridge". I cried (and thankfully didn't smear mascara all over my face since I was still at the point of never wearing make up since I never knew when the grief monster was going to appear). After the program, I put on my best happy face and hugged Anna. Anna was very watchful of my emotions during this time and I did try my best to be brave and strong for her sake. Even so, after the emotional ride, I was unable to stop crying completely for the rest of the afternoon.
Fast forward to that evening. My mom was still pretty much staying with us 24/7. Ella and Brennan were watching T.V. downstairs and Anna was playing the XBOX upstairs. Me, I was on the couch with the events of Jon's passing going through my mind like a scary, sad, horrible bad dream. I couldn't shake it. The feelings that I had can only be referred to as gut-wrenching. Pain that you feel in the pit of your stomach and nothing makes it feel any better at all. I tried going upstairs and play with Anna, but all I could think about was how Jon used to play with her on this game system and how he never would again. I started to cry again and could not stop myself this time. No matter how hard I tried. My mom suggested I take a shower or a hot bath. I went into my room, shut and locked the door. I went into my bathroom, shut and locked the door. I went into Jon's closet and crumbled to the floor and sobbed. Words can not express my pain. In my sadness and feelings of despair I prayed. I prayed for Heavenly Father to take the awful pain away from me. I didn't ask, but I told him that I needed to feel Jon's love for me and I wanted Jon to feel my love for him. That was it. Somehow, feeling a little better, I managed to get through a shower and amazingly gained enough composure to head back into the living room where my mom and the kids were. My mom was sitting in the sunroom and I went to sit on the couch in there. Anna came over to me, sat on my lap and asked if she could have a chocolate covered fortune cookie. It was a couple of days after Valentine's Day, and these fortune cookies had been given to me by one of my students and brought over to the house by friends that I worked with. I told Anna to get the fortune cookies and I'd open one up for her. They came in one of those cute little containers that is used for Chinese take-out. Opening the container, I took the first one out, cracked it open and read the fortune. It read, "Your love will continue to call, no matter how distant the shore." Remember my prayer, less than 15 or 20 minutes before?
My prayer had been answered by a fortune cookie. I believe that. After crying, not the painful shedding of tears as just a few minutes before, but this time, the tears were because of the love I felt from Jon and from my Heavenly Father, who allowed me to feel that love.
Being the pessimist that I am, after a couple of days, I decided that I would go through the other fortunes in the container. Who knew, maybe they were all really great fortunes. Not a one came even close to the one we opened first.
That fortune cookie and its powerful message gave me indescribable strength that carried me on and continues bringing me comfort in knowing that Jon's love for us all is stronger than his death.
Many of you have already heard this story, so please endure it again.
Exactly one week to the day of Jon's funeral, Anna had her second grade music performance for school. My mom, the kids and I got ready and headed up to the school to see the program. Of course the program was very good. It was tough for me, but I managed to keep it together, even though all I could think about was the fact that her daddy should have and would have been there to see her sing her little heart out. Needless to say, it was heartbreaking. Still, I kept it together...until the last song..."Love Can Build A Bridge". I cried (and thankfully didn't smear mascara all over my face since I was still at the point of never wearing make up since I never knew when the grief monster was going to appear). After the program, I put on my best happy face and hugged Anna. Anna was very watchful of my emotions during this time and I did try my best to be brave and strong for her sake. Even so, after the emotional ride, I was unable to stop crying completely for the rest of the afternoon.
Fast forward to that evening. My mom was still pretty much staying with us 24/7. Ella and Brennan were watching T.V. downstairs and Anna was playing the XBOX upstairs. Me, I was on the couch with the events of Jon's passing going through my mind like a scary, sad, horrible bad dream. I couldn't shake it. The feelings that I had can only be referred to as gut-wrenching. Pain that you feel in the pit of your stomach and nothing makes it feel any better at all. I tried going upstairs and play with Anna, but all I could think about was how Jon used to play with her on this game system and how he never would again. I started to cry again and could not stop myself this time. No matter how hard I tried. My mom suggested I take a shower or a hot bath. I went into my room, shut and locked the door. I went into my bathroom, shut and locked the door. I went into Jon's closet and crumbled to the floor and sobbed. Words can not express my pain. In my sadness and feelings of despair I prayed. I prayed for Heavenly Father to take the awful pain away from me. I didn't ask, but I told him that I needed to feel Jon's love for me and I wanted Jon to feel my love for him. That was it. Somehow, feeling a little better, I managed to get through a shower and amazingly gained enough composure to head back into the living room where my mom and the kids were. My mom was sitting in the sunroom and I went to sit on the couch in there. Anna came over to me, sat on my lap and asked if she could have a chocolate covered fortune cookie. It was a couple of days after Valentine's Day, and these fortune cookies had been given to me by one of my students and brought over to the house by friends that I worked with. I told Anna to get the fortune cookies and I'd open one up for her. They came in one of those cute little containers that is used for Chinese take-out. Opening the container, I took the first one out, cracked it open and read the fortune. It read, "Your love will continue to call, no matter how distant the shore." Remember my prayer, less than 15 or 20 minutes before?
My prayer had been answered by a fortune cookie. I believe that. After crying, not the painful shedding of tears as just a few minutes before, but this time, the tears were because of the love I felt from Jon and from my Heavenly Father, who allowed me to feel that love.
Being the pessimist that I am, after a couple of days, I decided that I would go through the other fortunes in the container. Who knew, maybe they were all really great fortunes. Not a one came even close to the one we opened first.
That fortune cookie and its powerful message gave me indescribable strength that carried me on and continues bringing me comfort in knowing that Jon's love for us all is stronger than his death.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Momma's Got A Brand New Blog
My mom started a blog. Yes, she was kind of pushed into it by her offspring. Check it out!
http://veryvanhorn.blogspot.com/
You Got To Go To The Mountain of Love
Brennan: Mom, you got to go to the mountain of love.
Me: Oh really?
Brennan: Yea, it's not far away...only an hour...you have to turn right and left and right and left a bunch of times...actually it's a volcano...and it's really like...ummm...five hours away.
Me: A volcano of love?
Brennan: Yea.
Me: Why would I want to go there?
Brennan: To see if it's melting and stuff...I want to see if it's popping and noisy and stuff...and there are people inside.
Me: I don't think so.
Brennan: Sure there are.
Me: Oh really?
Brennan: Yea, it's not far away...only an hour...you have to turn right and left and right and left a bunch of times...actually it's a volcano...and it's really like...ummm...five hours away.
Me: A volcano of love?
Brennan: Yea.
Me: Why would I want to go there?
Brennan: To see if it's melting and stuff...I want to see if it's popping and noisy and stuff...and there are people inside.
Me: I don't think so.
Brennan: Sure there are.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
There's A Pill For That
Since I'm fairly new to blogging, I'm not sure what the proper etiquette is when bloggers have errors in their posts. My sister, Chelle, and I are pretty open about this. She sends me corrections when needed and I send her corrections when needed. No big thing. I am by NO MEANS perfect in my writing and find mistakes in my own all the time. But I am a writing teacher and when reading other blogs, mistakes pounce out at me like a blinking neon sign.
Let me back track a minute and tell you that I have some issues with mistakes in writing. Remember now, before thinking I'm too crazy, that I teach elementary writing and have now for 15 years. Secretly, I make corrections in other teachers' bulletin boards when they have huge mistakes like a misplaced or missing apostrophe, a capital letter when it should be lower case or visa versa, or something else along those lines. Initially I tried just telling those teachers about their mistakes, but that didn't always go well. Please though...teachers can't model bad writing when students look at the bulletin boards and such!
I've even been in the drive-thru at Sonic and been compelled to tell the cashier that their sign on the window needed to be corrected. She gave me a look like I belonged in an insane asylum. I wasn't sure if she thought I was crazy or if she just didn't understand what mistake I was talking about (even though I described the problem to her in great detail!!) Another time I was at my doctor's office and got the same response from the receptionist there. There was a sign that had this horrible incomplete sentence! Don't they want to be told?
So what's the protocol? Do bloggers want to know or do they just want you to leave them alone? I don't know about other people, let me say right here and now, if anyone out there reading my blog sees mistakes that need to be made, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, let me know. I don't want to sound like a hilly billy (that's what my kids at school call it when they use bad grammar).
This whole post reminds me of a comment that one of my student teachers would make when I would get on rampages such as these. She would say, "You know...there's a pill for that."
Let me back track a minute and tell you that I have some issues with mistakes in writing. Remember now, before thinking I'm too crazy, that I teach elementary writing and have now for 15 years. Secretly, I make corrections in other teachers' bulletin boards when they have huge mistakes like a misplaced or missing apostrophe, a capital letter when it should be lower case or visa versa, or something else along those lines. Initially I tried just telling those teachers about their mistakes, but that didn't always go well. Please though...teachers can't model bad writing when students look at the bulletin boards and such!
I've even been in the drive-thru at Sonic and been compelled to tell the cashier that their sign on the window needed to be corrected. She gave me a look like I belonged in an insane asylum. I wasn't sure if she thought I was crazy or if she just didn't understand what mistake I was talking about (even though I described the problem to her in great detail!!) Another time I was at my doctor's office and got the same response from the receptionist there. There was a sign that had this horrible incomplete sentence! Don't they want to be told?
So what's the protocol? Do bloggers want to know or do they just want you to leave them alone? I don't know about other people, let me say right here and now, if anyone out there reading my blog sees mistakes that need to be made, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, let me know. I don't want to sound like a hilly billy (that's what my kids at school call it when they use bad grammar).
This whole post reminds me of a comment that one of my student teachers would make when I would get on rampages such as these. She would say, "You know...there's a pill for that."
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Wearing The Same Dress To Prom
While looking through my favorite blogs last night I ran across someone who had the same background as me. We can't have that now! That is equivalent to wearing the same dress as someone else to the prom. Yea, I know, right? (I had to throw that phrase in there because my nieces use it all the time, and my sisters hate it). So of course I headed off to my favorite home of the free backgrounds, thecutestblogontheblock website, and found out that their site was down. Being the quick thinker that I am I just searched some other free background websites. I'm not the most techy person in the world so what I ended up with was a messed up background! For this reason, you'll have to look at a boring blog until TCBOTB is back up and running.
This should teach me a lesson. It shouldn't matter if we're wearing the same dress. More than likely no one even noticed but me!
This should teach me a lesson. It shouldn't matter if we're wearing the same dress. More than likely no one even noticed but me!
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