tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39768439379325892882024-03-05T03:46:39.028-05:00Pondering in PurpleA series of thoughts in no particular order...prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.comBlogger226125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-14490615074260134492015-06-27T15:00:00.003-04:002015-06-27T15:24:17.129-04:00Why I’m Tired of Hearing about the so-called 4th Trimester<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I’ve
heard it again and again—like’s it’s some ground-breaking discovery—that the
first 3 months of a child’s life is like the 4<sup>th</sup> trimester of
pregnancy. Babies really aren’t ready to be born and they are only born because
the body can’t hold them any longer. So, parents need to understand that during
these first 3 months, the baby should feel warm, safe, and close. This will
best help them adjust to life outside of the womb. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">And
I am well aware that referring to the baby’s life this way is so that parents
can understand how to better soothe a disgruntled infant. I’m also aware that
many people have found this very helpful to them and probably don’t want to
hear me knock it down. So, if you are one of those people, stop reading now. I
have my own opinions and I’m using my own space to express them. I’m going off
of my experience and point-of-view alone. If you don’t take issue with the 4<sup>th</sup>
trimester explanation, I have no problem with that either. But I do, and I am really
sick and tired of hearing it constantly as if someone is a professional on
these things and needs to school me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Okay,
okay. Of course all of this makes sense. The baby would have problems adjusting
to the world. For crying out loud (no pun intended), he or she has been in the
womb for 9 months. And this is all the baby has ever known. Wouldn’t it make
complete sense that being born and experiencing the very opposite of that for
the first time would be unsettling? Isn’t that obvious? If I were to move to a
foreign country for 9 months and drench myself completely in the culture, it
would take time to adjust to coming back home. And if my entire life had been
that for 9 months and I had known nothing else, I might have a REALLY HARD time
adjusting. I might cry. I might want to go back. I’d have to figure out a whole
new way of doing things. Maybe it would take at least 3 months. Maybe it would
take even longer than that. After all, we are individuals one person’s ability
to adapt to something will vary from another person’s. That would explain why
some perfectly healthy babies are excessively fussy and others are mellow. Some
don’t take long to absorb their new world and take it for what it is. Others
struggle to cope with every new thing—and often take even more than 3 months.
I’d argue that 3 months is just an average for how long it takes the average
baby to adjust to life outside the womb. But what is an average baby anyway?
Because I have yet to meet one. We love to agree that people have a wide
variety of personalities, but then we try to group babies together as if they
are all the same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So,
here’s my beef. Those who write books and build parenting advice based on the 4<sup>th</sup>
trimester tend to hold a belief that the baby isn’t ready to be born and should
really still be in the womb for another 3 months. I beg to differ. I think
maybe a child born at 30 weeks gestation might still need to be in the womb.
Perhaps even one born at 36 weeks would still need to be in the womb. But the
same people that hold to the truths that nature works things out the way they
are supposed to go are the ones who go on about the 4<sup>th</sup> trimester.
So if my body naturally knows when to go into labor, if my baby is fully
developed and everything is ready for the outside world, why is my baby not
ready to be born? I think the baby is ready to be born by at least 38 weeks
gestation. I don’t think there was some mistake there or that our bodies were
designed ineffectively to carry the baby as long as the baby needed to be
carried. In fact, I believe if the baby were in there another 3 months, it
would probably take the baby even longer to adjust to life outside the womb
because then he or she would have been in there for a whole year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God didn’t make a mistake. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So,
here’s how I see it. The first 3 months after a child is born are not the 4<sup>th</sup>
trimester of pregnancy. They are the 1<sup>st</sup> trimester of the 1<sup>st</sup>
year of life. I observed this in my son, I am observing this in my daughter,
and I have seen it in countless other babies I have help take care of.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">During
the 1<sup>st</sup> trimester of the 1<sup>st</sup> year of life, a child is
becoming acquainted with a new environment. New sounds, smells, lights, etc.
are going to be scary. The child is going to be most settled and happy with
whatever is the most familiar to life before this. We replicate the womb
environment as much as possible to help the baby adjust. Many of us swaddle,
wear the baby in a sling, hold the baby close, or practice other habits that
help the baby feel like everything out here is just as okay as it was in there.
We try to tend to every need as quickly as possible. But I also believe in not
always doing this. I believe the baby is in the outside world and I’m not going
to pretend she is not. She will stretch out on the floor, a quilt on a lawn,
the bed, etc. from time to time to enjoy exploring things she can do like
lifting up her head and rolling. We will talk to her, read to her, sing to
hear, and interact with her. She can learn there are a lot of sounds to enjoy.
I don’t feel the need to recreate the womb environment entirely. One huge
argument I have for this is bath time. Both of my babies screamed at their
first bath…”What is this? What are you doing with me? I have never had this
before!” And then by the next bath, it’s suddenly wonderful. “Oh this is warm
and comfortable. I can relax in here.” If I avoided the bath because the baby
was not accustomed to it, I’m not doing my baby any favors. I’m not going to
avoid all things that result in tears the first time just because they are new.
This is the chance for me to show my child that these things are fine and
aren’t horrible just because they are new. Life isn’t the womb and doesn’t need
to always be like the womb. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So,
for me, I have decided to ignore anything about the first 3 months being a 4<sup>th</sup>
trimester. Instead, this is how I look at it. The first year has 4 trimesters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS4T7ca4vEjhBV3I8ot5ufpvJoNp9yaqFhXftPj1b7f4lJV-wzTEhjWPHe-qahF3IuYiVJKUoMaz-wmZYOWs3Mi6R6JXD7VtdG8ERqpLP4cpIRB-YB_SutC4f3FtL-ptx58sVB6AkKriI/s1600/DSC_0063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS4T7ca4vEjhBV3I8ot5ufpvJoNp9yaqFhXftPj1b7f4lJV-wzTEhjWPHe-qahF3IuYiVJKUoMaz-wmZYOWs3Mi6R6JXD7VtdG8ERqpLP4cpIRB-YB_SutC4f3FtL-ptx58sVB6AkKriI/s320/DSC_0063.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">0-3
months- Observation—The baby takes in the world by observation. What he or she
sees is the foundation of what life is for him or her. Is my mom frazzled every
time I cry? Or is my mom calm when I cry? The baby sees these things. The
baby’s vision is developing. I can see my mom, dad, siblings, etc. Who are
these people? As each of us interacts with her, she learns we are all people
she can trust. We interact with her to engage her brain in language even if she
can’t speak yet. She is absorbing and watching everything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Social smiles start. The baby starts cooing.
The baby stops crying when Mommy or Daddy picks her up. All of these mental and
emotional interactions are being acquired. And I do believe that crying is the
foundation for communication. So a baby starts learning through crying that she
can get her mommy’s attention. And she starts to fine-tune her crying to
communicate to her mommy exactly what she needs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">3-6
months- Interaction—The baby starts to interact with the world more. He or she
beings to grab at toys, and possibly start rolling around. The baby’s first
laugh is often heard now. The baby makes even more babbling noises and sounds. The
baby learns to sit up (my son learned to crawl during this time). The world
begins to become about interacting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Colic” goes away for most babies during this time because the baby has
physically and mentally developed beyond it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">6-9
months- Exploration—Here’s when crawling often starts. During this time, the
baby can’t help but explore. His or her mind is wired for it. They have
mastered picking up toys and now put everything in their mouth to experience
it. Teeth are often cut at this point and the baby starts solid food—exploring
new tastes and textures. Eating becomes something completely different than
what it previously was. But the baby’s body is ready for it now. Babies start
pulling themselves up and cruising the furniture. My son began walking right at
the end of this one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">9-12
months- Engaging—Now that the baby has observed life, learned interaction, and
begun to explore, it’s time to take on the world. Babies begin engaging with
the world at this time. Many utter their first words at this time. They are
definitely mobile no matter what way they choose to get around. And often some
babies who used to be fine going to just about anybody start wanting only Mommy
or Daddy because now the baby is aware of differences in personality (or at
least that’s the way it appeared to me when I saw it). Or sometimes the baby
wants help taking on the world. “I’ll engage the world, but with your help,
Mommy.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I’ve
only written what I have based on my experience and opinion. But I suppose I
don’t like being told how I should parent. I don’t like someone assuming I’m
clueless and need to be informed that my child wasn’t really ready to be born,
so that’s why she’s crying. Everyone has individual beliefs on child
development and parenting. And these are some of mine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-40983296441565187642014-10-02T21:36:00.000-04:002014-10-02T21:36:05.434-04:00Apples Aplenty<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gordon Lee has been learning all about apples this week. There are endless ideas for things you can do with apples. Plus, my child who wouldn't touch a raw apple before this is eating them like candy now! What a bonus. :) His books have really helped him understand how apples are formed, and they also help him realize that different apples have different flavors. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After reading his books, he decided that his favorite apple was the golden delicious based solely on the name of the apple and the way it looked to him. Conveniently, the skin of the golden delicious apple is very thin. So, a child like him really enjoys eating that kind whole. The skin is so thin that the texture of it does not bother him at all. As he was eating a giant one today, he kept saying, "Mommy, you have to take a bit of this! It is just so delicious!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since the are so many possibilities of things to do with apples. I will just share a list of our idea (including things we have done and things we have yet to try).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.) Apple Prints- It is so easy to cut an apple in half horizontally (and also vertically to see a different print) and make a print with the 5 seed pockets of the apple. Gordon Lee made a few prints choosing green paint. He definitely had fun. They don't look like the ones you might see in an article about apple prints, but this is all his doing. And I believe in celebrating his artwork regardless of how it looks.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvgB7WcyIFG62jvURdRMgFnKFdU4vtCnPUU35lepT-dh9UNk3Xyxi4rmUMNKej7ew-3VLKDs-Mcn23fLpuoguCYlQOK5qCPzG1T3UOXHcLhGMvvwSRZPMzTZdmWsmuK0y5szuaJgawZHw/s1600/appleprints.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvgB7WcyIFG62jvURdRMgFnKFdU4vtCnPUU35lepT-dh9UNk3Xyxi4rmUMNKej7ew-3VLKDs-Mcn23fLpuoguCYlQOK5qCPzG1T3UOXHcLhGMvvwSRZPMzTZdmWsmuK0y5szuaJgawZHw/s1600/appleprints.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.) Fun Apple Snack- I sort of just happened upon this idea. I had recently seen a sort of caramel apple candy idea that a friend shared. And I was planning on trying it. Instead of dipping a whole apple in caramel, you scoop the interior of the apple into a ball shape, dip it in caramel. And you have a caramel apple pop. I actually did not get to that yet. The reason was that I completely didn't think about the fact that I didn't have any sticks for this! So, instead, Gordon Lee had fun just using a melon baller to scoop the apple flesh out of the apple. He had fun. He could basically make his own snack. Plus, it's clean and easy. He used a honey crisp apple for this. And he loved it so much, he would just stick some pieces straight in his mouth. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- I cut the apple in half. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Dug out the core</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Showed him with his hand on the melon baller how to scoop it out of the apple.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From there he had it! The melon baller did slip once and slightly cut his other hand. But that was my fault because I walked away to throw out the apple core. During that time, he got overly eager. If I had been watching him right then, I could have prevented that. So I would definitely recommend supervision even if his cut wasn't very big.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCCHzoKHRCBO0FCCjndoJqlJ0c0NozgslmEQ0AmS3gQehaxeqmrjskcNzzMKDN9sd8-gBung8Dh7RWu2UgSzqXQviNsx9UTixi1YxCQoLmKLIKwpyStZ6jfRM8Rc1EwgW2sLbcT0UCec/s1600/20140930_173700.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvCCHzoKHRCBO0FCCjndoJqlJ0c0NozgslmEQ0AmS3gQehaxeqmrjskcNzzMKDN9sd8-gBung8Dh7RWu2UgSzqXQviNsx9UTixi1YxCQoLmKLIKwpyStZ6jfRM8Rc1EwgW2sLbcT0UCec/s1600/20140930_173700.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Eating the apple before it makes it to the bowl)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgalwBn3cWB2VWH_g9Fe6LxCMHIRylbDJvxT8EqnDy3y-gjtH8lPPpNaQ0ytd-PZVkTqVhg_FRuIfwlZfVpV4lbzE3rSWgI8f_gjFUUm-p2uSp4fduNTD093oTW6FTpaNACvvpVI5XeS_c/s1600/20140930_173749.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgalwBn3cWB2VWH_g9Fe6LxCMHIRylbDJvxT8EqnDy3y-gjtH8lPPpNaQ0ytd-PZVkTqVhg_FRuIfwlZfVpV4lbzE3rSWgI8f_gjFUUm-p2uSp4fduNTD093oTW6FTpaNACvvpVI5XeS_c/s1600/20140930_173749.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN8u4pts3Wo36bXnrpzAk_A5ppX1c1Osz0CO03ilqCB4dRrh-FR-XVa_9Rn6Rd4rqF7nbCY44iZ1ZknDSgCOVNyN5BWZbVlT9gCVb9b2QzYNJ0GNKruGBDYqI8CVTKBkWWBVlR2bqkEu4/s1600/20140930_174317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN8u4pts3Wo36bXnrpzAk_A5ppX1c1Osz0CO03ilqCB4dRrh-FR-XVa_9Rn6Rd4rqF7nbCY44iZ1ZknDSgCOVNyN5BWZbVlT9gCVb9b2QzYNJ0GNKruGBDYqI8CVTKBkWWBVlR2bqkEu4/s1600/20140930_174317.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Final product in the bowl)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3.) Making Apple Sauce- This one is so easy. Gordon Lee and I cut up apples, steamed them, and then put them in the blender with some cinnamon sugar. The applesauce was delicious! I couldn't get Gordon Lee to even taste it after we made it. But I know I will certainly be eating it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4.) Trying a Variety of Apples- There are so many kinds to try. And Gordon Lee especially enjoys tasting apples of varying colors. It's easy to buy one or two of a different kind and try them (although maybe the cashier at the grocery store might not find that fun). Gordon Lee still loves golden delicious the best. I'm trying to find some pink lady apples because those are my favorite and he loves the color pink.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzggNuohcNJPmsOfZMEwSFXbx267SPBylrBDfmFnq2tVMVWoz_UIDraKqKj7cmKzC8lajgktgl7TOqePZXqt_ngUny8uNtak4lZdFirXYMlx92CsZuqCcXLHGAt2FHOdwtyjQYwqYMiAQ/s1600/goldendelicious.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzggNuohcNJPmsOfZMEwSFXbx267SPBylrBDfmFnq2tVMVWoz_UIDraKqKj7cmKzC8lajgktgl7TOqePZXqt_ngUny8uNtak4lZdFirXYMlx92CsZuqCcXLHGAt2FHOdwtyjQYwqYMiAQ/s1600/goldendelicious.jpg" height="320" width="183" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(This isn't the best picture, but he really loved this apple. And he would eat the whole thing!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5.) Examining the Apple-</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-First, one of his books told us to look at the bottom of the apple and you can see the sepals of the apple flower.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-Cutting the apple horizontally so that the seed pockets appear creates a good math activity. You can dig out seeds and count how many there are in each seed pocket.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-A new discovery for us was what looked like an apple blossom in the center of the apple if you cut just above the seed pockets. I find this one pretty remarkable since the actual petals of the blossom fall off before the apple forms. But it's a neat way to see that the apple actually came from a flower.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-mUlorDvgr23Wd7nkRBoML2rO152vlHZw-G2h8fc0jHlq4BX_PkZSD2-1YTcroEKPBtwnFfuJELPBHHlTM3p3htYz_e4jiMRkDj16Uc7duphr8Rz_pEYcmUxzMM364028Ky266XJOUcM/s1600/2014-09-30+19.33.25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-mUlorDvgr23Wd7nkRBoML2rO152vlHZw-G2h8fc0jHlq4BX_PkZSD2-1YTcroEKPBtwnFfuJELPBHHlTM3p3htYz_e4jiMRkDj16Uc7duphr8Rz_pEYcmUxzMM364028Ky266XJOUcM/s1600/2014-09-30+19.33.25.jpg" height="291" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-We have also dissected an apple to name the parts of the apple.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ideas yet to try</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6.) Making an apple pie from scratch (This is on the agenda for tomorrow).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7.) Making candy and caramel apple "pops." I just need to find a way to get sticks for the "pop" part or we will just end up with candy and caramel apple balls.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8.) Possibly visiting an orchard. There is one about 40 minutes away from here. I want to go, but I definitely need to be able to plan it out right.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9.) Doing a blind taste test and seeing if Gordon Lee can guess what kind of apple he is tasting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10.) Attempting to make some version of an apple sweet bread.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are even more ideas than these. But some (like making apple cider) are a bit more than I can do right now. ;)</span></div>
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-51041276429123684892014-08-25T21:26:00.000-04:002014-08-25T21:26:03.203-04:00Baby #2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, there was a reason I didn't post much about Gordon Lee's adventures in learning last week. I was feeling miserable. I know for a fact that I did not have this much nausea with Gordon Lee. On the bright side, I have discovered that eating raw carrots is a great remedy for nausea! It's truly wonderful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We found out about baby #2 at the very beginning of August. Something wasn't right. I am not going to go into all of the details. But I was on birth control, and I just wasn't feeling right. I didn't think I could be pregnant. However, I was having pretty much all of the early pregnancy symptoms (minus the nausea at the time). So, I decided to just take a test and see. It was positive. I took a test from a different brand. Also positive. Of course, this was confirmed the next Monday by a blood test. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was still in shock. I think I stared at that test wondering, <i>Seriously?? </i>for the longest time. And part of me wasn't even sure I was really pregnant. "Maybe this is some weird hormonal malfunction."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I told the doctor at my very first visit that I was on birth control, and I had no clue as to how far along I could be. So, they tried to do an estimate. They gave me a due date of March 30, 2015. And they scheduled an appointment for me to have an ultrasound (which was today) to get a true date confirmed. Today, I saw a tiny little blob of a baby with a good heartbeat. I didn't even know what I was looking at until they told me. I did see the heartbeat flickering away immediately, which brought me tons of relief. The heart rate was 136. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I finally believe I am really pregnant for sure. :) We had some concerns due to the birth control. I wasn't sure if the baby would be okay in there. I also hadn't taken any prenatal vitamins until after I had a positive test and I didn't really even know how far along that was. By today's ultrasound, the baby measures 7 weeks and 5 days and has a new due date of April 8th. They told me they change the due date if the ultrasound shows an estimate that is more than a week off of the original due date. Now, on ultrasounds, Gordon Lee actually always measured a week behind of what he was "supposed" to, and he still arrived 6 days before his original due date--that would be 2 weeks before the ultrasound due date. So, you just never know. I do think it is a little bit easier at this stage to estimate weeks because of the heart rate and the way the baby looks developmentally. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This time around, I am seeing a hospital midwife. I chose to go with a hospital midwife this time because of something that impressed me with my birth experience with Gordon Lee. I had gone to the hospital after my water had broken. My doctor was not immediately available. And my labor was progressing very slowly. My doctor requested a particular hospital midwife to check on me. After 2 other people had checked on me, she figured out the problem immediately and got my labor going. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like my midwife. She is very sweet. Unfortunately, she will probably not deliver this baby. We are scheduled to move again in January. So, I hope I find someone good at our next location. While there is a slight chance we might be here, it really is not likely.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are getting pretty excited about it now. Gordon Lee is very excited. He kisses my tummy every night and says various things like "Hi Baby, I'm your big brother" "I hope you are having fun in there" "I hope you are a boy so we can play sword fights" "I love you baby" and "My name is Gordon." We just pray for a healthy pregnancy, and I will be ecstatic when this first trimester is over.</span><br />
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-44565968477478263232014-08-14T15:31:00.004-04:002014-08-14T15:31:32.624-04:00Check Up Time<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The main reason we decided to start learning about doctors this week is that I had Gordon Lee's annual check-up planned. I was getting ready to start talking about different community helpers each week. So, I thought the doctor would be the best start. His appointment was this morning. We have read every single one of his 12 books at least 3 times already. Some have been read 6 or more times. So, Gordon Lee was extremely excited about this check-up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He wanted to see the doctor's instruments. He wanted to know how they worked, and he was hoping to get a sticker at the end of the appointment. When I called to set up our health care here, I was asked if I wanted Gordon Lee to see a pediatrician or a general practitioner. I opted for a pediatrician. I figured a doctor who works only with children would probably be best. After today, I feel like I was wrong.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am not a fan of Gordon Lee's pediatrician. I am a fan, however, of the pediatric nurse. She was amazing! To all of the nurses out there. BELIEVE ME--you do NOT go unnoticed. The nurse brought Gordon Lee back, put him on the scale, measured his height. And when he asked her how big he was, she showed him. She was tickled by his answers to her questions. And she encouraged his curiosity about what they do at the doctor's office.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, in preparation for the visit, Gordon Lee just HAD to bring some of his doctor books with him. He wanted to compare his books to his actual visit. So, during the wait time for the doctor, he went through all 3 books we brought. In the first one, he found the picture of the scale and said, "That's exactly like the one I was just measured on!" He also loved the fact that his examination table was a lion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In this picture, he is looking for the otoscope (hanging on the wall behind him) and cannot find it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I did a bad job taking this picture because I was trying to get a picture of the otoscope and of the picture of it on the page in his book. But apparently I only got the one on the wall. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I cannot even express how eager he was to soak up anything and everything he could learn today. As the doctor walked in, he was in the middle of reading <u>ABC Doctor</u>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He was excitedly going through the book and explaining where each item that he could find in the book was in the room. The pediatrician came in. She paid no attention to any of this. I tried to explain to her that he was very excited and was reading his doctor books to learn. She said, "Let's put that book away. I have another book for you." She gave it to him. He opened it up and started making up a story just looking at the pictures. It was called <u>Quick as a Cricket</u>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was given a survey to fill out. In the survey, apparently the doctor was supposed to use that book to test his literacy skills. Instead she just used it to distract him while she checked his ears and nose. She didn't seem particularly skilled with children. When he was nervous about letting her look in his ears, she told him that if he moved it would hurt him. This only scared him more. We got to take the book home. But I have to say that I was disappointed. She didn't go along with Gordon Lee's excitement about the instruments. I thought maybe she would let him see some of them, but she just didn't seem to care at all. I was then encouraged to read to my child every day. Yes, I already do that...2-3 times a day...every single day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thankfully, nothing squashes Gordon Lee's enthusiasm--not even a pediatrician who appears to care less about his curiosity. So, at the end of the visit, he asked her for a sticker (because he had been reading that he might get one). She tried to brush it off saying, "I don't have any stickers." But thankfully, the nurse, who was listening in, chimed right in and said, "I have stickers!" She brought him two large stickers, and he was pleased. So, yes, in our visit, the nurse was way more amazing than the doctor. Who knows? Maybe she doesn't really want to be a pediatrician or maybe she was having a hard day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, here are Gordon Lee's stats.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He is in the 95th percentile for height at 40 inches (3 ft, 4 inches).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He is in the 43rd percentile for weight at 31 lbs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He is on or above all of his milestones, and he is very healthy.</span></div>
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-77493224046525900642014-08-09T10:09:00.002-04:002014-08-09T10:09:51.837-04:00A Few Favorite Books from our Truck Unit<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As our time learning about trucks is drawing to a close, I feel I want to share some of our favorite books we've read. I like all of these books (as does Gordon Lee) because they are not only cute with enticing illustrations, but they are also very informative and educational..also while being entertaining. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">#1 <u>Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site</u> by Sherri Dusky Rinker </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP9exXN24EIkbecuAP1h4D4iqPwhrVWtewWeVarddkJgdBKtJUeKJ67VlVAloJ0zX6yJvojYc_FSt5TePAeQt4cbwTYzbcn5Ekrxd4iq0ZVrlQhdoQ4c9hvRtA9tbD5y8vA-gHSMOQLIk/s1600/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP9exXN24EIkbecuAP1h4D4iqPwhrVWtewWeVarddkJgdBKtJUeKJ67VlVAloJ0zX6yJvojYc_FSt5TePAeQt4cbwTYzbcn5Ekrxd4iq0ZVrlQhdoQ4c9hvRtA9tbD5y8vA-gHSMOQLIk/s1600/cover.jpg" height="308" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like this book for so many reasons! First of all, it's an excellent bedtime story. The book names each construction vehicle by its real name, and it explains what each one does.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is only a small portion of the part on the dump truck (it's a big spread of 4 pictures over 2 pages). But you can see it shows what he does. Each truck does one last job before going to sleep.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just feel this book is a real gem. And if you have a little boy (or girl) like mine who is interested in construction, it's a fun and interesting book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">#2 <u>I Drive a Semitruck</u>- by, Sarah Bridges</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKG2ObUtenDRst-uj1q7P1Km3LnoM3xmMlgQOdljaSovyXgpWz3bQ_PjlbAutylBxdhsk9yzdb6SCFXLJD6_S7XcA27lHhHz3zJAfvwLGMmGiQ8NPGhdIzmTM6BIvssY5RYTfSnuFiOg/s1600/cover2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKG2ObUtenDRst-uj1q7P1Km3LnoM3xmMlgQOdljaSovyXgpWz3bQ_PjlbAutylBxdhsk9yzdb6SCFXLJD6_S7XcA27lHhHz3zJAfvwLGMmGiQ8NPGhdIzmTM6BIvssY5RYTfSnuFiOg/s1600/cover2.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was one of Gordon Lee's first choices to read as he happily declared that this was like his Aunt Terrie and Uncle Tony's truck. We had another book about semitrucks, but the illustrations in this one were much more kid-friendly. Therefore, it grabbed and held his attention better than the other one.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A driver named Tyler goes through his day as a truck driver. He explains, in easy-to-understand terms what driving a semitruck is like.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibAEvEjXSr27mxKl3M9tSclcSMRxpiQDQVvmmYWVgsuVi4PmaM7pUWXvQQNKhvA4C8SiGLWfyoXIdfqcfSYUjcrgL4X6Ej4AqRDFUqLiz5vHlci1UM4xjyxyraLH02130PX0sMGh3hjuE/s1600/semitruck2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibAEvEjXSr27mxKl3M9tSclcSMRxpiQDQVvmmYWVgsuVi4PmaM7pUWXvQQNKhvA4C8SiGLWfyoXIdfqcfSYUjcrgL4X6Ej4AqRDFUqLiz5vHlci1UM4xjyxyraLH02130PX0sMGh3hjuE/s1600/semitruck2.jpg" height="152" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">#3 <u>Get to Work Trucks!</u> by Don Carter</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This one </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is another cute one that names each machine and explains what it does. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we are on the page where they are driving to work, Gordon Lee likes to point to each one and name what it is.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQoITHYsUov8PZJ2elORDuoQ8JCkjB90gNacMltxwqPXALc_ssRA_HGqZQDWbiKOO4EjeefFJGc4sfHquA1fwVY-zLboTQ-togq7roK9y22R83-trR6Rtm89OoRHIGnq-c1rum0GHmtAg/s1600/worktrucks2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQoITHYsUov8PZJ2elORDuoQ8JCkjB90gNacMltxwqPXALc_ssRA_HGqZQDWbiKOO4EjeefFJGc4sfHquA1fwVY-zLboTQ-togq7roK9y22R83-trR6Rtm89OoRHIGnq-c1rum0GHmtAg/s1600/worktrucks2.jpg" height="175" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And on every page after they start working, there is a turtle trying to observe the construction. Gordon Lee finds this interesting and will say, "Mommy, I think this is a reptile book too!"</span><br />
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-28006024279693499632014-08-05T12:51:00.000-04:002014-08-05T12:52:14.696-04:00Learning as We Go<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week, Gordon Lee and I are learning all about work vehicles of all kinds. We just got our books yesterday, and we have read about 5 so far. This morning, we were out running some errands when everyone's favorite orange road markers showed up. <i>Great</i>, I think to myself, <i>just what I need...construction! </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, a tiny voice in the backseat calls out (with all of the enthusiasm his little body can contain), "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Look! Those are the trucks in my books! Look! Look! Look! It's a dump truck! Look! It's a digger! Oh my goodness! It's all the trucks!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Suddenly, my perspective changed--impromptu learning opportunity! So I pulled over in a nearby parking lot where there was an excavator conveniently parked and not being operated. Gordon Lee wanted his picture with it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(In this picture, he is trying to explain that this is a "really big excavator").</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Meanwhile, across the street, we get to witness these vehicles in action.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We see on vehicle digging up dirt and putting it in the bed of (what I have recently learned is) an articulated truck. This truck then took the soil over to where a front loader was also working. Clearly, we took a picture. The two construction workers probably thought we were weird for taking pictures of construction, and they in turn took a picture of us. It was all good in the end. Gordon Lee called out, "Hey! That's teamwork!" </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We then started seeking out construction just so he could see the trucks in action. You never know when a "road block" will become an opportunity to learn.</span></div>
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-78135334246839160622014-08-02T21:40:00.000-04:002014-08-02T21:40:14.366-04:00Reptiles: Up Close<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It all started when I took Gordon Lee to Petsmart to see some reptiles. I figured that would be a nice way for him to see in person what these reptiles he's been reading about are like. Then he asked me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"Mommy, do they have alligators or crocodiles here?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"No, Gordon Lee, Petsmart does not sell crocodiles and alligators."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I thought, <i>hmmm I wonder if there is some place around here to see alligators. Alligators do live in Georgia.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I googled, alligators in our own town. It directed me to the website of a place called Oxbow Meadows whose main claim was their alligators. Perfect! I didn't see any prices on the website. I called the next day. The nice lady told me that their large alligators were not there right now as their habitat was being cleaned. However, they did have baby alligators that we could see if we would like to. She also told me that everything was free.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So we went!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While they have many reptiles, they also have numerous other educationally-rich things. They have insect exhibits, amphibian exhibits, they have a whole section for honey bees. They have a rain garden and information about being resourceful with water. They have a bird sanctuary. All viewable for free!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, they brought us to the back to see their baby alligators. They were adorable! They were hungry and snapping, though, so they stayed in their "pool" as Gordon Lee called it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next, we moved on to see a variety of snakes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This rat snake came right up to the glass to say "hello" to Gordon Lee. He was excited to see the snake using its tongue to smell. But he didn't trust the glass, and he didn't want to get too close.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We learned about the anatomy of turtles/tortoises</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We saw quite a few turtles and tortoises.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrh-gXsIowLkyURt_YQkYm_lqp7wSB-a0PL7IPbxXW4LOEpfI2W541EGo9kUo4oLc-RoGQQJUcbkiXnBqe-yPhRyUrer4NU3XVDkVoZHyQ1mJ2hYcPXpAz3MQp1z01nvapZH6zS1Fd_9o/s1600/20140801_115342.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrh-gXsIowLkyURt_YQkYm_lqp7wSB-a0PL7IPbxXW4LOEpfI2W541EGo9kUo4oLc-RoGQQJUcbkiXnBqe-yPhRyUrer4NU3XVDkVoZHyQ1mJ2hYcPXpAz3MQp1z01nvapZH6zS1Fd_9o/s1600/20140801_115342.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is an adorable little tortoise called a "gopher tortoise" because it likes to go under the ground. I almost wanted one for myself...until we saw a larger one in a bigger habitat. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBLAqBdT2l0uz1c91rDcT_qE2aoidc8-aAXCq2z0tuaB05ZgZcEfAFk1_oHThlrPDabQQwH_Vhyur6GxfimKZKU9PBeaG_PYuIPDVgkHsiygYqrC5OtDCc60bMXOzsRNpsZS53dwmiej4/s1600/20140801_122244.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBLAqBdT2l0uz1c91rDcT_qE2aoidc8-aAXCq2z0tuaB05ZgZcEfAFk1_oHThlrPDabQQwH_Vhyur6GxfimKZKU9PBeaG_PYuIPDVgkHsiygYqrC5OtDCc60bMXOzsRNpsZS53dwmiej4/s1600/20140801_122244.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Outdoor turtle pond.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We saw some large tortoises outside. I didn't see the sign that told us what kind they were. However, upon researching it, I believe this is called the African spurred tortoise.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We truly had an excellent time. Gordon Lee learned a ton about the animals in his books. It was definitely a very kid friendly place. They had these great viewing step stools for children to get a better view at the habitats. Pictured below is Gordon Lee using one to see down into the Burmese Python's water hole.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You never know what fun things you can find until you go looking for them! We will certainly return for more learning experiences (and to see the full-sized alligators when they return)!</span></div>
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-47722565191008589372014-08-01T09:33:00.001-04:002014-08-01T09:33:25.921-04:00Simple Reptile Crafts: Turtle and Snake (Mess-free and easy)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This week, Gordon Lee did two art activities to have fun with learning about reptiles. The first activity was really just my own idea--making a turtle out of construction paper. However, Gordon Lee added on his own creative adaptation to it! The second one I found while googling "snake crafts."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turtle</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are the only 2 pictures I have of Gordon Lee's turtle. While we were making it, I was busy getting everything together and didn't think to take pictures.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLIsbXpjzzuZ9hCML8wpR_bTPX1zUbSxLck-z8VWWWAWWrSNefNwSnE-dMLXtED-wypu6VrLGAcvJmgZ9yZ7CxwRNXwywR-P30T6ssfQZ3LeZDS_h-IZ-YKR2y60bkyatwSwhKmG8yaL0/s1600/2014-07-29+12.32.57.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLIsbXpjzzuZ9hCML8wpR_bTPX1zUbSxLck-z8VWWWAWWrSNefNwSnE-dMLXtED-wypu6VrLGAcvJmgZ9yZ7CxwRNXwywR-P30T6ssfQZ3LeZDS_h-IZ-YKR2y60bkyatwSwhKmG8yaL0/s1600/2014-07-29+12.32.57.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So to explain how we did this, I just made another one of my own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.) Two pieces of construction paper--I chose green and brown paper because you use practically the entire sheet of green, and I think brown compliments the green well.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqd_A0C3fxfhpcSvR04vL4GdK9rxWyt4RJYfQEx2Pp5_xyugoDTyE4OIZwOR4YshPBcvS_2EgNmiX5OlpLci8VGyZ1Z6pgumDj8xS4mRKVGqyDWBDRI18b9SVD0cWM6sGjSl_4_XU2qpA/s1600/20140801_085229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqd_A0C3fxfhpcSvR04vL4GdK9rxWyt4RJYfQEx2Pp5_xyugoDTyE4OIZwOR4YshPBcvS_2EgNmiX5OlpLci8VGyZ1Z6pgumDj8xS4mRKVGqyDWBDRI18b9SVD0cWM6sGjSl_4_XU2qpA/s1600/20140801_085229.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.) I traced one of Gordon Lee's plates to make the circle. It's about the size of a dessert plate.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3OmlVdGR-v9uoK3D2_5NvQkjOvuwSq9LkgbSoGjCzUY2Qx3u3Qmel6QhMB0t4d8YsjYA9fldHE-qrrLwyiSdXKbflMTQbRY6K-K-282dnSfUZ6IBb2VXeQyIF5cqN1UgTgSukHZrXJfg/s1600/20140801_085317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3OmlVdGR-v9uoK3D2_5NvQkjOvuwSq9LkgbSoGjCzUY2Qx3u3Qmel6QhMB0t4d8YsjYA9fldHE-qrrLwyiSdXKbflMTQbRY6K-K-282dnSfUZ6IBb2VXeQyIF5cqN1UgTgSukHZrXJfg/s1600/20140801_085317.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3.) With the rest of the green paper, I cut out 1 head, 4 legs, and 1 tail. I just eyeballed these. Basically, I just tried to make the head and legs look like giant thumbs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4.) Then I drew symbols on the green piece of paper to show Gordon Lee where to glue the pieces. Honestly, though, you could probably just draw an X on every one because it is a circle anyway. So, I drew symbols at 12, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZffo4PXhhrsz1ej2ujEKOXSmcKW2CwGPIsbwghOM5Hle8kGb9ssoUGKA5fs6PdtzMnB-JfQJmsbpnoK-4lwsq4r7DfcCQDI0Gm5bhwQ6Jub755hhyphenhyphenG6zCrANjWz7fpBuasSB_38f4TMI/s1600/20140801_090025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZffo4PXhhrsz1ej2ujEKOXSmcKW2CwGPIsbwghOM5Hle8kGb9ssoUGKA5fs6PdtzMnB-JfQJmsbpnoK-4lwsq4r7DfcCQDI0Gm5bhwQ6Jub755hhyphenhyphenG6zCrANjWz7fpBuasSB_38f4TMI/s1600/20140801_090025.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 5.) Gordon Lee glued the pieces to the symbols. It makes it much easier for him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz9R7DcVq67LQh3ZZaFlAbCDHhyphenhyphenpslGqSWmT31LR0sP3hakf1z55zJ-5nt9t-BkvmRVHQNycb1GycELuUCzmCj5kPKMAWmZKmgmfTX3UYL57YV3dfulhpUychbh6VEv8BodDEktd7ssT8/s1600/20140801_090152.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz9R7DcVq67LQh3ZZaFlAbCDHhyphenhyphenpslGqSWmT31LR0sP3hakf1z55zJ-5nt9t-BkvmRVHQNycb1GycELuUCzmCj5kPKMAWmZKmgmfTX3UYL57YV3dfulhpUychbh6VEv8BodDEktd7ssT8/s1600/20140801_090152.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 6.) I asked Gordon Lee which side he wanted to be the turtle's top shell and he said brown. I like his choice. He then wanted to "paint it." So he added green paint to the brown shell of his turtle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPN2j6e9dgM-Y9mQ65A1mMIns7htSUnlLFdC0UTJY6CmM8NXqhyphenhyphenyLVJz2SfO-Qm_iVI_MyijxZrwWsKtwmjMdOCc79UVVUwR5wIhKp4pJoRrhOUcouOZHl7cqYMAGEfZEOX5zU6qfD2mY/s1600/20140801_090302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPN2j6e9dgM-Y9mQ65A1mMIns7htSUnlLFdC0UTJY6CmM8NXqhyphenhyphenyLVJz2SfO-Qm_iVI_MyijxZrwWsKtwmjMdOCc79UVVUwR5wIhKp4pJoRrhOUcouOZHl7cqYMAGEfZEOX5zU6qfD2mY/s1600/20140801_090302.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 7.) We then drew 2 dots for eyes. Here's where Gordon Lee adapted it. He had the idea to fold the head and legs to "tuck him into his shell." Then, together we saw that you could also make him look like he is walking by pulling the legs out and bending the head up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7LQuMe1K0-eUu9tMLmXKcwxfHk767QpLxuxTHENhJc2kdTKd-_2-FD2YWzLb9dQTp39b-MlW1rOT7LfTaV_Pj0kcJj6zPr9s2qMBHSqIpiiHt9iOAhYpteB222FhHEr0uvdsF-z99FJM/s1600/20140801_090405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7LQuMe1K0-eUu9tMLmXKcwxfHk767QpLxuxTHENhJc2kdTKd-_2-FD2YWzLb9dQTp39b-MlW1rOT7LfTaV_Pj0kcJj6zPr9s2qMBHSqIpiiHt9iOAhYpteB222FhHEr0uvdsF-z99FJM/s1600/20140801_090405.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had fun with it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Snake Craft</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This one I found online. Tip: When I told Gordon Lee to "glue each X and then stick them together," he kept making the tear-drop shape with each loop. But when I said, "Make the x's touch," he completely understood and was able to make a loop.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKj5LKLazACv70_5VJzSN_d5uLyEEsBnwOt6yZCvLzrT6wGo19qmgySJbLn030eNwdus_Te7PyXwCaDSDbFh7L77EZBIIsA5txZWFyD848wvHpmy7e0eonx9KLPLm6aEZtyp8NkKWVhBI/s1600/20140801_084942.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKj5LKLazACv70_5VJzSN_d5uLyEEsBnwOt6yZCvLzrT6wGo19qmgySJbLn030eNwdus_Te7PyXwCaDSDbFh7L77EZBIIsA5txZWFyD848wvHpmy7e0eonx9KLPLm6aEZtyp8NkKWVhBI/s1600/20140801_084942.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I allowed Gordon Lee to choose the color he wanted for his snake. He wanted it to be white.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.) I laid the white piece of construction paper out horizontally, and I used a ruler to cut out however many strips I could get. I think I should have made smaller strips, but this is the size I made.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKsR4mlQF1lMp9n43HvOvTIxPdhBxArTpJZ7-CGkvRXe077Oaows42a11Zykxhi_rEMolhUtt1Vry6KmNdTXJY7jj_SG_SGPRTdyk-Cr98dav3eQptBlOBJnKWfkdUgcPYAY_NDoM-BE/s1600/20140730_192617.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieKsR4mlQF1lMp9n43HvOvTIxPdhBxArTpJZ7-CGkvRXe077Oaows42a11Zykxhi_rEMolhUtt1Vry6KmNdTXJY7jj_SG_SGPRTdyk-Cr98dav3eQptBlOBJnKWfkdUgcPYAY_NDoM-BE/s1600/20140730_192617.jpg" height="112" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.) I drew one ex on opposing ends and sides where Gordon Lee was to glue. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3.) I saved one loop. I cut the ends to a point and drew x's on the same side on each end for the head.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8T5U2CvSFmdUnc8JsQavQxzSmFqjp7mSbs3ZIFmJIOvNYKHec8METfk_qMXAUmI9WVna-zCPSnEqnX7UxA9aNKqEKP28H7pEX5U7HAuEgXULe-T2Vh-F-seFc99v3szIIkaHmEnBT-mo/s1600/20140730_192629.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8T5U2CvSFmdUnc8JsQavQxzSmFqjp7mSbs3ZIFmJIOvNYKHec8METfk_qMXAUmI9WVna-zCPSnEqnX7UxA9aNKqEKP28H7pEX5U7HAuEgXULe-T2Vh-F-seFc99v3szIIkaHmEnBT-mo/s1600/20140730_192629.jpg" height="135" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4.) I cut a small tongue out of red paper.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5.) Gordon Lee started gluing. This is where I told him to make the x's touch each other.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6.) When all of the loops were finished, we made the head. Gordon Lee glued each x. We stuck the tongue on one of them. Then he folded one end over to make them touch.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7.) So, the head should only have glue where the X is. This leaves the base free. To fold a flat part. You glue the flat part and then stick it to any loop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And the snake is done! Gordon Lee didn't even bother putting eyes on this one. He just wanted to make it slither and move around like a snake.</span><br />
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-67144350539499182402014-07-27T19:15:00.002-04:002014-07-27T19:15:23.516-04:00Disappearing Act<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, we did an experiment to see what things dissolve in water and what things don't. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, I said, "Okay, Gordon Lee, we are going to learn a new word today. It is called <b>dissolve</b>. Can you say dissolve?"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He replied, "dissolve"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I said, "Dissolving is like mixing. When something dissolves into water, it mixes with the water. It becomes part of the water. Let's see what things dissolve in water!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I placed a tray with six small cups of water in front of him (I had this from my baby bullet set for freezing food).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then, I chose 6 items for our experiment (leftover construction paper squares from yesterday, a graham cracker animal cookie, an ice cube, food coloring, a candle, and a chewable tablet for nausea)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We placed each item in its own cup. I gave Gordon Lee a spoon to see if he could help dissolve some of the items. He really enjoyed this!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He quickly understood the concept of dissolving as he saw that..</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.) The food coloring dissolved immediately.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.) The ice cube and the graham cracker dissolved very quickly. I took a minute to remind him that the ice cube was water, but it was just frozen.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3.) He was a little confused as to why the chewable tablet was taking a long time to dissolve. I warmed up some water in a different cup and showed him how it dissolved faster in warm water.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4.) And he saw that the construction paper and the wax candle clearly did not dissolve at all.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He clearly understood what it meant and enjoyed experimenting with it. However, he asked me a question at the end that I found myself unable to answer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">"Mommy, why didn't the candle and the paper dissolve?"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh gee...I wasn't prepared for that one. So, I sort of gave the best answer I could. "Well, Gordon Lee, they are just solids that don't dissolve in water!"</span></div>
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-28340553691868596412014-07-26T23:49:00.000-04:002014-07-26T23:57:28.744-04:00Creating a Mosaic and Finding Patterns<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I shouldn't make promises I can't keep. In the last blog I wrote, I had said that the next day I'd share another blog about a book Gordon Lee and I were reading and a water activity that we did. Well, Gordon Lee was having mood swings the "next day," and we didn't get much accomplished. We did learn about how rain that has fallen turns into water vapor and returns to the sky to form clouds. Gordon Lee made an observation on a poster that showed the cycle, and he has been paying closer attention to the clouds in the sky. Other than that, he was just oppositional to anything and everything for the day. I wasn't about to plan any activities with him or they'd probably get thrown all over the floor in a fit of rage.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today was much better. So, we accomplished a mosaic activity, which is very simple. I just cut several squares from two different shades of blue construction paper. I gave Gordon Lee a sheet of white construction paper. And I told him to create any kind of water that he wanted to. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I put both colored squares in a cup together.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I gave Gordon Lee a glue stick, a blank sheet of paper, and let his imagination take over. He said he was making "An ocean with a waterfall" (interesting concept!).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At first, he seemed to be placing squares randomly on the paper.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I left him to his own devices while I got a few other things done (in the end he ended up spending at least 30 minutes gluing and sticking). I came to check on him after a few minutes, and I saw that he was starting to create his own shape (a circle appeared to be forming).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxEcrOVPSUajNkkHNFDc0WRm9DRgD-QXcERO7SaXeQKABur5t4OxBL2KJUgAFrV2amb97MDLo_Ie21XZg6v_Hp6u6nYSY0ll2eAKK-rv0CEGwlCRf5H4dKDZl3Glf0ftq3VwXRmGBXZk/s1600/20140726_133325.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvxEcrOVPSUajNkkHNFDc0WRm9DRgD-QXcERO7SaXeQKABur5t4OxBL2KJUgAFrV2amb97MDLo_Ie21XZg6v_Hp6u6nYSY0ll2eAKK-rv0CEGwlCRf5H4dKDZl3Glf0ftq3VwXRmGBXZk/s1600/20140726_133325.jpg" height="320" width="232" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I checked on him again several minutes later and indeed a circle was forming. He also appeared to be filling it in.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXJzIynWXLgn0IoeXPy2v38SeRXMgPzsH4TDdF1o1LznSXOpWd9YJ_0m4Z-Ew7atPwEV931mHktRdpbTUw7yB5-udJC681In-EneejuWuf3ETazpmOsw4ubOh0diEP-ElEJx5tm2PK_A/s1600/20140726_135144.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyXJzIynWXLgn0IoeXPy2v38SeRXMgPzsH4TDdF1o1LznSXOpWd9YJ_0m4Z-Ew7atPwEV931mHktRdpbTUw7yB5-udJC681In-EneejuWuf3ETazpmOsw4ubOh0diEP-ElEJx5tm2PK_A/s1600/20140726_135144.jpg" height="174" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All of this took him a good 30 minutes. After awhile, any child will get tired. Plus, we did this right before his nap time. After taking his nap, the first thing he said when he woke up was, "I want to finish my picture, Mommy!" He returned to it to add some more squares. He took another break. He came back to it later in the evening when he made his announcement that he was "all done." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is the final product of "Ocean with a Waterfall" by Gordon Lee</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ECrA7vys6KF7-PjDcyJPq67Nq6L6HM-233hg38NLGCqVPbZJ1lCvQY8daYt1IY4ExV5rEn93t3ZPhRoIK2OpQzFvYKVedNfJ9carW32fZKCCis83_c1_cWvWzEZtSEALUVB6rbPybn4/s1600/20140726_230355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ECrA7vys6KF7-PjDcyJPq67Nq6L6HM-233hg38NLGCqVPbZJ1lCvQY8daYt1IY4ExV5rEn93t3ZPhRoIK2OpQzFvYKVedNfJ9carW32fZKCCis83_c1_cWvWzEZtSEALUVB6rbPybn4/s1600/20140726_230355.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall: </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.) This is an easy art activity (that creates very little mess..just a little bit of glue on the fingers).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.) It kept Gordon Lee busy and engaged in something meaningful for him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3.) He was extremely pleased with this own masterpiece.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Funny thing--we wouldn't have been able to accomplish this yesterday. Those squares would have been all over the floor. Regardless of what we are doing with him, no child is perfect. No day is perfect. Sometimes, you plan things and just have to wait to do them. Interesting how something that is a success in one day may not have been for another day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now onto the book. One of the books that we have been reading was one that I put on the list because I was having a hard time finding enough fictional books (and I wanted one on rain). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two people judged it by its cover.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me: I thought "This book just looks boring. It looks like it might be about a baboon named rain!"</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gordon Lee: "I want to read this one! There's a monkey on the cover!"</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9UHR5roY9-LxU6c-PUMKQaOEq0UxvQH_Ex92_5Z8c_eHTCsWuNi-BckLnQVW-i_vHVOLITigD9IWi9JJxM8QulfI3VG1QjdFynIer-X_B6qLhyGMoR2rwa95m72g48eTBZJVXIXE-zo/s1600/Rain.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9UHR5roY9-LxU6c-PUMKQaOEq0UxvQH_Ex92_5Z8c_eHTCsWuNi-BckLnQVW-i_vHVOLITigD9IWi9JJxM8QulfI3VG1QjdFynIer-X_B6qLhyGMoR2rwa95m72g48eTBZJVXIXE-zo/s1600/Rain.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's called <u>Rain</u> by Manya Stojic, and it is an adorable story with a lot of elements for building early literacy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One element is a pattern of prediction. Gordon Lee quickly and easily picked up on the fact that the animals were each using one of the 5 senses to detect rain. Then, each animal tells another animal about the rain. So, he started predicting what was going to happen next (a very important skill for active, engaged readers). It all starts early!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another element is the pattern of rain. The soil is dry and cracked at the beginning of the story. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfVhgL33kKPGvblkcJ-tOCa_pSBc6D1h_Ifkn46kq1r1DR95NUnSOk1HFMF_jB2-dDPgoWxKO3lzPvy4_5ycc4d7V1mJR67qKe4TgcHW97WCdiPymIgd6M7HbfbPXIeVNzKcY4yQQaqYM/s1600/20140726_233348.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfVhgL33kKPGvblkcJ-tOCa_pSBc6D1h_Ifkn46kq1r1DR95NUnSOk1HFMF_jB2-dDPgoWxKO3lzPvy4_5ycc4d7V1mJR67qKe4TgcHW97WCdiPymIgd6M7HbfbPXIeVNzKcY4yQQaqYM/s1600/20140726_233348.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then the story starts with a porcupine sensing the rain solely through smell.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhenSGGPZIhnpgaOkAIPj6eAmRJr6RLzgBpRA5tO7pDB3EuxjJEDWqr7NAd2Uvps0gELM_yh-hCaDW0TPaY_Z_P3SK5hFHnYMWUpxWFXU1k9kkFeoymkNyeVESjOxF1XFHLqXier0BomU0/s1600/20140726_233414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhenSGGPZIhnpgaOkAIPj6eAmRJr6RLzgBpRA5tO7pDB3EuxjJEDWqr7NAd2Uvps0gELM_yh-hCaDW0TPaY_Z_P3SK5hFHnYMWUpxWFXU1k9kkFeoymkNyeVESjOxF1XFHLqXier0BomU0/s1600/20140726_233414.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The chain begins. Each sense used detects the rain as it gets closer and closer. Each page builds on the previous ones. Reminding the reader of the pattern.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2QR4ljFyLyBfjB3M65BtAWSRgW28sKjDuQNaFAD0eENdykHiAY6wtBEhD57PSon6S9Fjy1izdv4qWyNpkNgEqpbklDKvVq1aMacM7ar2zcXUg4r3WHgrC8uYHm5Jsq1I-HBN6IMXGQqY/s1600/20140726_233431.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2QR4ljFyLyBfjB3M65BtAWSRgW28sKjDuQNaFAD0eENdykHiAY6wtBEhD57PSon6S9Fjy1izdv4qWyNpkNgEqpbklDKvVq1aMacM7ar2zcXUg4r3WHgrC8uYHm5Jsq1I-HBN6IMXGQqY/s1600/20140726_233431.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last animal to detect the rain is a lion who tastes it on his tongue. Then, the rain pours down. The book shows how it has impacted the scenery. Gordon Lee likes to point out two things on this page every time, "There's a grasshopper in this book! This is a buggy book too!" and "Somebody colored on this page. They shouldn't do that to a library book!" (There is a brown crayon scribble. I am not sure how well it shows up in this picture).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ_Uon76TazIbtJjsKWR6r_NLTw2QNcWUP4aguQSulGBvEJrw27ksXnXjfQYPcvgT1H1r1sD1-4ZkV4OHLzmyaIo-__ks1yLmA1V-uR6pz25vC8N8ffNmqVA04XT38hD-UU7qgutels-Q/s1600/20140726_233452.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ_Uon76TazIbtJjsKWR6r_NLTw2QNcWUP4aguQSulGBvEJrw27ksXnXjfQYPcvgT1H1r1sD1-4ZkV4OHLzmyaIo-__ks1yLmA1V-uR6pz25vC8N8ffNmqVA04XT38hD-UU7qgutels-Q/s1600/20140726_233452.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After this point, the animals use their senses again "To feel the squishy mud, to taste water that has pooled, to enjoy the shade of the leaves, etc." The book is cyclical and comes back to the point it started where the porcupine announces she knows the rain will return again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gordon Lee "read" this book to his Nana R on the phone tonight and he actually recited 1-2 sentences verbatim from each page. It's amazing how much a child absorbs. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'd highly recommend this book. It is cute and educational (in so many ways) at the same time!</span></div>
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-58991278678220404792014-07-24T23:59:00.000-04:002014-07-24T23:59:16.840-04:00Learning by Exploring<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since I will be staying home with Gordon Lee again for the next several months, I have felt the need to enrich himself and myself in this time. I feel like I just can't stay away from teaching, and I also want to make sure that Gordon Lee is engaged in something that is going to expand his thinking. So, an idea formed. I can't take complete credit, so I will explain the process of this idea.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.) The local library where my mother lives started creating backpacks of books on various topics. She had checked one out on digging in the dirt. It came complete with a small shovel, magnifying glass, and other dirt-exploring fun. There was a nice variety of books to help a child understand soil better (The beginning of my idea).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.) While I worked with preschoolers, I was introduced to the Creative Curriculum. The approach of the creative curriculum is to encourage children to explore through their own natural curiosities, to enhance those curiosities, and to consequently provide the most enriching educational experience for a child. When I first saw it, I was skeptical. It seemed so empty (unlike some other curriculums that had a specific structure in each unit). The approach is to take a unit of study and spend 3-4 weeks exploring the topic in every possible way. From my personal experience with 3-year-olds, I found that the only downside to the curriculum was the amount of time spent on one topic. They could only sustain a heightened interest in the topic for about 2 weeks before it became too repetitive for them. Ultimately, it sort of backfired on itself because they wouldn't want to talk about the topic at all anymore after the last week. So, I thought, good idea. I like the exploration approach. Let the child ask questions. Help the child make observations. Link understanding to early literacy and reading (which is what the curriculum is rooted in). Just shorten it so they don't get exhausted by it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3.) Here's the result. Create our own "book bag" on a topic (especially since our library here doesn't have them). Then, incorporate the Creative Curriculum approach into our study. I choose one topic for us to explore. I look up 10 books to put on hold at the library (making sure they are children's books). I try to keep a good variety of fiction and nonfiction. Then, we take our bag to the library and we fill it up. Gordon Lee loves putting the old books in the return slot.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We basically do anything and everything with the topics. We are on our second week. The first week, we explored bugs. This week, we are learning all about water. Next week we are going to discover reptiles (and I am particularly excited about this one since Gordon Lee asked me for an iguana at Petco the other day). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You start finding that you don't have to go out and spend a bunch of money to provide a very meaningful experience for a child. Just a trip to the pet store can show them so much. Even this week with water, God helped us out by giving us rain for 4 days. So, Gordon Lee and I stood outside of the YMCA one day watching rainwater wash down a pipe and into the parking lot. He observed how the hill helped the water run away from the building, and then realized that the giant puddles he liked jumping in formed because the parking lot was a flat base where the water could pool. Now he is constantly finding drains and looking to see where the water is going.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And while we've moved onto a new topic, he is still excited about last week's topic and still expanding his knowledge. He found a dead Japanese beetle, picked it up and discovered why a beetle is a beetle (due to the wing covers). This is my child who would freak out at the sight of any bug before this. He started learning about them and understanding that not all bugs bite or sting. Yesterday, he became extremely excited at the sight of a grasshopper. He wanted to see how the grasshopper moved and how it could fly.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWOz-LiVQk986kD6CCZ-7rpkwZ0voITJDHswZcXXWTAS3E_LV3iXdbrEk1X2FgD7XeFjlT9xk59ZGd6yXRyPkqpGB6JHym6f-BbuU_oXotR1fy2WkzqgOjV-Jp7L2xBa3q1Id4dF3jCBA/s1600/2014-07-23+13.33.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWOz-LiVQk986kD6CCZ-7rpkwZ0voITJDHswZcXXWTAS3E_LV3iXdbrEk1X2FgD7XeFjlT9xk59ZGd6yXRyPkqpGB6JHym6f-BbuU_oXotR1fy2WkzqgOjV-Jp7L2xBa3q1Id4dF3jCBA/s1600/2014-07-23+13.33.56.jpg" height="320" width="188" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5AY9KE5Fy1_5ISUWTGEg6AGvtoAr-fRez2PsTKHj-644NGHfNIL7H8Xcq9WMBaVMqiZaDT7XonTEF1ulrLnncrVh3GK6nWHPMK49izOB9TMR-BousvekOCUzKMSm7dEmZrX6Nj9ua7TU/s1600/20140723_122835.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5AY9KE5Fy1_5ISUWTGEg6AGvtoAr-fRez2PsTKHj-644NGHfNIL7H8Xcq9WMBaVMqiZaDT7XonTEF1ulrLnncrVh3GK6nWHPMK49izOB9TMR-BousvekOCUzKMSm7dEmZrX6Nj9ua7TU/s1600/20140723_122835.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also did a lot of art during our bug week. Here are just a few samples. Gordon Lee wanted to draw, paint, color, or make every bug.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYDf91TcxRIknOUHcsBd4U5lV8LCFmkexa9lDvosjlmicTpncD84uFQnaKtEDJVMgsJF2toivV9Qn67GCH82Qn41NNESdm83TmnuMGKz4pw3VGkRVAlAODFhLMPenIfOxaIEpiEG0ZlKc/s1600/20140724_234208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYDf91TcxRIknOUHcsBd4U5lV8LCFmkexa9lDvosjlmicTpncD84uFQnaKtEDJVMgsJF2toivV9Qn67GCH82Qn41NNESdm83TmnuMGKz4pw3VGkRVAlAODFhLMPenIfOxaIEpiEG0ZlKc/s1600/20140724_234208.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(bumblebee with wax paper wings)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfsqUQ6cbRjY428UxlmFoqaKXP0rKzwl-LViJFgSlj_7uWrvr5UFDrtGazka77lGAxoRYeG5T4bP_MzY1qW4wY7Qpg1bj2IGEhNJ3QbIfkZsFQTbapfr3KDTT1NqMVmNvXD38Bp5inoEM/s1600/20140724_234236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfsqUQ6cbRjY428UxlmFoqaKXP0rKzwl-LViJFgSlj_7uWrvr5UFDrtGazka77lGAxoRYeG5T4bP_MzY1qW4wY7Qpg1bj2IGEhNJ3QbIfkZsFQTbapfr3KDTT1NqMVmNvXD38Bp5inoEM/s1600/20140724_234236.jpg" height="261" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(spider in a web made with the palm of his hand, his 4 fingers, and just free-handing the head)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(butterfly--of course..I did draw those antennae. He did the rest)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I could go on and on about how excited he is, how much I am learning, how much he is learning, and how readily books are expanding his observations around him. However, I will stop here. I will start sharing one fun thing we did each day plus sharing one book I particularly like from the selection we're reading.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the bug unit, here are some of the books Gordon Lee loved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Little Squeegy Bug by Bill Martin Jr.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a cute fictional story about a bug that has no identity. So, they all call it a little squeegy bug. He just wants to feel special and fly in the sky. Ultimately, a magic spider turns him into the firefly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bug Safari by Bob Barner</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is a story about a child who follows an army of ants to an unknown destination. Meanwhile on their journey, he learns about all of the struggles a tiny ant faces in the big world of bugs. Gordon Lee requested this one every single day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is just a sample of the nonfiction bug books we got. We had 5 of them. They are from a series called "Bugs, Bugs, Bugs!" by Margaret Hall. We had grasshoppers, fireflies, beetles, bees, and centipedes. These were extremely educational, and even I learned things I didn't know.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for water, we are not doing as much art, we are doing more experiments and observations. Tomorrow, I will share one of my favorite (and Gordon Lee's favorite) books on water. Admittedly, I judged this book by its cover and didn't want to read it, but then I loved it. And I will share one of our water activites.</span></div>
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-58522320820650776102014-03-26T22:35:00.000-04:002014-03-26T22:35:50.698-04:00Testing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's funny how we are tested shortly after we feel we have an understanding of something. My last blog was on loving others, blessing others, and doing good to them regardless of how they are. It was also on having faith in things unseen. I waited to post on it because I don't want to be someone who says one thing and does another. <br />
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Yet, I find myself tested lately--tested for what feels like no reason. But I know there is a reason. The reason is to be lost to self more and more. C.S. Lewis said, "There must be a real giving up of the self. You must throw it away 'blindly' so to speak...The very first step is to try to forget about the self altogether." What a difficult--no impossible--concept. One cannot forget oneself through human effort. The only way is to focus on someone greater than ourselves who will do it for us. In the season of lent, we spend 40 days giving up a luxury we are accustomed to. One of the reasons that lent is 40 days is because Jesus spent 40 days in the desert, was tempted, and overcame temptation. When I think of this, I think of the fact that I rely on Jesus for my strength. That is how to forget self altogether. Then, as the tests come (and they will come), we will find ourselves resilient.<br />
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Jesus says we are blessed when we are persecuted without cause. But I don't feel very blessed. That is probably why he made a point to say that. Remember that you are blessed. Remember that this isn't for nothing. Remember that when people insult you without cause it's another chance to forget yourself and focus on loving that person.<br />
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I read an interesting perspective on the movie Frozen this morning, and I really liked it. The author said that, regardless of what other messages people feel are coming across through the movie, there is one prominent message. The main character cannot live until she performs an act of true love. While the rest of the characters believe this to be a kiss, ultimately it is self-sacrifice--complete denial of herself for someone who hasn't shown her any love at all. It shouldn't matter if people like us or don't like us. Sometimes we make mistakes and people give us mercy. Sometimes we make mistakes and people are unnecessarily harsh. Oh to just love regardless of what others do and to continue to grow in love through every trial and test that comes.<br />
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-56588132449915948272014-03-16T17:32:00.001-04:002014-03-16T17:33:48.741-04:00Beneath the Surface<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Many times in the past, I have written a blog on something as soon as the thought crossed my mind. This time, I have taken a thought that began its work in me a few weeks ago and waited on it before writing. At this point, I feel this has been so eye-opening that I hope it can bless others in the way it has blessed me. I have seen a change in my heart and my understanding.<br />
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I spent a lot of time praying for something over and over again. I saw no results. I was following the popular acronym of "push" (pray until something happens) feeling as though I just needed to keep praying to see my prayers "answered." In the middle of this, God brought something even more significant to my attention. Often, we pray for what we want to see. In my case, what I was praying for was aligned with the Bible. I wasn't praying immediately for some selfish desire. What I was missing was that I was not having faith. I kept praying for the same thing because I did not SEE the change happening and therefore I did not BELIEVE that God was working. While the Bible talks about the fact that faith is believing in an unseen God, I think it applies here too because we have to believe that God knows what is best and is working even when we don't see it. Often we act out of a lack of faith.</div>
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I continued praying because I wasn't having faith--not because I was truly longing for what was good. Likewise, I was getting frustrated. Why isn't God doing anything? What more do I need to do? C'mon God <i>do </i>something! There's the problem. Everything is on my terms, my way. There is a time when God wants us to act, and then there is a time when God wants us to believe.</div>
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We need to believe that God hears our prayers and knows what is best. We need to believe that when we see something wrong in the world and we have done our part on it, the rest is up to God to deal with. When we continue on and on trying to "fix" problems, we take our trust away from God and basically call him a liar. We act as though we are the ones who need to do God's work for him because truly in our hearts we don't believe he is doing it because we don't SEE it.</div>
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The thing about faith is that it is unseen. We must believe that if we did our small part of planting the seed, that God will make it grow if the time is right and if God wills it to grow. We must believe that there is something happening for the best even if we see no evidence. How long does it take a seed to grow? Shall we water it over and over and over again like an impatient child because we don't see it growing?</div>
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I distinctly remember a time when I was a little girl looking at an unopened flower on a plant. I wanted the flower to open up so that I could see what it looked like. My mother told me to leave it alone because it would bloom on its own at the right time. Not wanting to wait for time to pass, I grabbed the flower myself and peeled back the petals. Much to my disappointment, there was no beauty to be seen from my intervention--only a wilted mess. And this is what happens when we take our good intentions and do not leave the rest to God. This is what happens when we want to see what we want to see right now because we are being proud believing we know when things need to happen. God asks us to do certain things, but God also wants us to do everything in faith. </div>
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As soon as I realized that I was not praying out of faith, I asked God to forgive me for it. "When the time is right," is the answer I heard, "For now, you do what you know is right and leave the rest to me." Micah 6:8 "He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord desires of you: to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." Love, forgive, be kind to all, bless those who are cruel to you--these are the things that most please the Lord.</div>
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-8510172043371062642014-02-15T23:29:00.000-05:002014-02-15T23:30:38.154-05:00Rate that Writing!! (Input Wanted)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Over the past week while snowed in, I have been spending time trying to develop ways to increase student performance, participation, and engagement in one particular class of mine. Overall, it should help all classes, but I have one class that is concerning me. Sometimes snow days can be so helpful because they slow down the pace and give us the time that we need to develop ideas. While thinking on this, I remembered a strategy I used several years ago that was competition-based. It seems even the least motivated students become motivated by competition--especially if they feel they have a chance at winning.<br />
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My idea seems to be coming together, but I always feel that ideas are better with input. Here's what I have thought of: A game or competition called "Rate that Writing!" I have been going through the 6 traits of writing with my students. Each week, we are covering a different trait. So far, since the snow, I have only had time to cover the ideas trait, and I am preparing to cover the organization trait. I plan on having a "Rate that Writing" challenge for the students. They are given a goal to write toward. The first one will be based on the ideas trait. They need to write a paragraph with one main solid idea and relevant supporting details.<br />
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After this, I will collect their paragraphs and place them in a shoebox. The next day (I am planning to have this on a Friday), I will select 3 paragraphs at random to be entered into the "Rate that Writing!" competition. Their paragraphs will be anonymously judged by another class using a judging criteria card (I want this portion to have a sort of game-show feel). The card will tell the students what would give the paragraph a 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1. The students then give it a score. The highest scoring paragraph wins a "gold medal" and a place on a "gold medal writing" bulletin board. At that point, the student may wish to reveal his or her name or remain anonymous.<br />
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I am having students rate another class's writing for a few reasons.<br />
1.) No student will rate his or her own writing<br />
2.) Nobody in the class will try to figure out whose it is<br />
3.) The students will not know if their paragraphs were chosen--only the winner will find out if he or she won. I feel this might help some of my students struggling with confidence to not feel bad if someone else won.<br />
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I am also choosing 3 paragraphs at random for a couple of reasons.<br />
1.) The excitement of not knowing if yours is going to be chosen<br />
2.) Trying your hardest because your paragraph will only be up against 2 others and it gives you a chance of winning as long as you do your best.<br />
3.) The students can also know I am not picking one person's writing in particular. I am choosing whatever comes out of the box.<br />
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Anyway, if anyone feels like reading this and has any input or ideas to contribute, I'd greatly appreciate it. </div>
prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-10930699043097905892013-11-23T20:09:00.000-05:002013-11-23T20:09:07.545-05:00Potty Training Progress<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To spare those on Facebook from hearing about Gordon Lee's latest adventures in pottying, I decided to come here to share his success. I know that I find myself searching out blogs, Facebook posts, articles, etc. on the road to potty training as we go through it here. So, I felt I would share my own experience for that same reason.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When Gordon Lee was almost 2 years old, it appeared that he was almost potty trained. Our method then had been to take him to the potty at set times until he became accustomed to learning when he had to go on his own. He was doing very well until he simply decided one day that he did not want anything to do with it anymore. At the time, he had not been telling us when he needed to go, we were just taking him as a preventative measure. So, I took the advice of many who have done this before me and I left him alone so as not to stress him out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After leaving him alone, he started slowly showing signs of readiness again. About 2 weeks ago, he started rebelling against diapers. Getting one on him was a battle, and I told him that if he didn't want to wear a diaper, he would have to wear underwear and go potty. I waited until last weekend when I felt I really had time to dedicate to getting him potty trained. I simply switched him straight to underwear. A friend of mine gave me a tip that she used with her son. She gave him a temporary tattoo when he went potty (as a physical reminder on him that he did a good job), but when he didn't go on the potty, she would take it off. Well, taking the tattoo off didn't work with Gordon Lee. He didn't care. He did, however, enjoy having the tattoo put on. So, every time he went, we gave him a temporary tattoo. He was very excited about this and started showing off his tattoos.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The first day, he had about 2 accidents. However, those were only because he did not catch it in enough time to get on the potty, but he had tried. The second day was better with only 1 small accident. My memory is getting a bit fuzzy after that, but I am pretty sure day 3 was completely accident-free. Since then, he has not had 1 single accident and tells us every single time he has to go. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today, in fact (one week after the start of this), he had several firsts! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.) First time holding his pee until the morning! Stating over the monitor "I have to pee!" I took him to the potty and he went!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.) I took his special superhero potty seat out with us today when we went shopping (after having him go before we left the house). At two places we visited, he said he had to go potty, but when I took him in the bathroom, he became afraid of the toilet--even with his own potty seat on it. I tried to show him it wasn't scary by allowing him to flush it, but he wasn't convinced. Finally, we were about 5 minutes away from home when he exclaimed he had to pee. We went into Taco Bell. I took him in the bathroom, but he was still scared. I decided to ignore his fears and plop him on his potty seat on the toilet and then say, "See? It's not scary at all!" I think, due to the fact that he had to go so much, he went with it. Then, after getting off of the potty, he said, "That not scary at all!" while walking tall and proud as if he was never afraid. I gave him the biggest tattoo we had for being a "big boy" and going on a "big potty." He was extremely excited about this!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3.) He did his first #2 on the toilet today! This one has been an ordeal for awhile as he has been afraid of it. Yet, he conquered his fears once again and found himself much happier than going in a diaper.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am so proud of him and I would highly recommend temporary tattoos as a potty training tool. It really has worked for Gordon Lee! In fact, he is at the point now where he doesn't want one every time he goes. He just goes because he has to go.</span></div>
prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-38550523170569291492013-06-18T23:10:00.001-04:002013-06-18T23:10:38.020-04:00Looking Inwardly<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sometimes we do the worst things with the best of intentions. When I say this, I don't mean "they" or "those people." I mean "we." I mean LOOK inwardly. And it will quiet us instantly. It's not as fun as pointing the finger at others, but it is what is right.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>It is so easy to do wrong in the name of what we feel is right. I see it in myself far too often. Growing up, whenever I wanted to say something bad about somebody else, my father would always stop me. He would remind me that all of those things I see in the other person were, to some extent, true of me. What he meant was that when we see others doing things we don't like, we should realize we are no picture of perfection ourselves. Thinking that way really shuts you up.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And I didn't like that. I wanted to talk about this other person. I wanted to focus on everything that was wrong with this other person. And why? Because of the one truth that is common to most of us. We would rather feel better about ourselves by tearing apart, criticizing, and focusing on all of those who are "much worse off" than we are. This is why reality shows that magnify that faults of all of the "screwed up" people are so popular. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Several years ago, I was wronged very badly by some people. My entire reputation, personal sense of pride, and security were all being mercilessly attacked over a lie. The other people were wrong. They were wronging me. Why? I am not entirely sure. I believe I may have upset them by doing something that I felt was right and they did not like it. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>However, I was humiliated. I wanted to PROVE myself. I wanted so badly to prove I had done nothing wrong and that these were bad people. I</b></span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> wanted everyone to know how bad these people were. I wanted to prove how wrong they were. I wanted them to face the consequences for what they had done wrong. But none of that happened.</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>As I continued to try to save my reputation, I only made matters worse. And I was faced with the truth that I needed to LET GO of my pride and quietly move on with life. If I was doing right and I KNEW I was doing right, what did it matter what others said of me and what case they tried to prove about me? It didn't. It was only my pride I was desperately trying to scramble back together. And God didn't want my pride in tact. He wanted me to embrace my hardship quietly and confidently.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Keep your mouth closed. Don't worry about what others think of you. And continue to do what is right KNOWING and TRUSTING that you have someone much greater to vouch for you--Jesus Christ. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Humiliation is a part of life. I believe we are all humiliated at some point in our lives. The difference is in how we handle it. I think of how Christ handled humiliation at the cross when insults were slung at him.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>He said nothing even when the worst people were publicly humiliating him-- KEEP YOUR MOUTH CLOSED</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>He continued to carry the cross-- DO WHAT IS RIGHT </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And he quietly and confidently defeated sin and death to rise victorious.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I think that having faith that I have someone else to be my mouthpiece makes it easier to look inwardly. I think it helps me to admit I am a sinner. I do wrong. And I am beyond thankful that I have Jesus Christ to forgive me for when I am wrong and give me grace and power to become less of myself and more of who he is. Even today, I was thinking about some things I had done wrong, and I had done them so quickly with no thought initially that they were wrong. It was only later when I reflected that I realized I owed somebody a sincere apology from the heart. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>So often, we just point the finger at what is wrong with everyone else going on about how we know what is right when we really just need to be quiet and in awe that God has given us so much grace and love. And simply be thankful.</b></span></div>
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-78882952237623501402013-05-07T23:13:00.000-04:002013-05-07T23:24:06.663-04:00If You Plant it, Will it Grow?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I own a dvd called <u>The Merchants of Cool</u> that delves into the details of marketing and how successful companies get teenagers to buy into products. In the documentary, they talk about two basic approaches to boost the popularity of something.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1.) You go out into the community and you talk to teenagers to find out some of the things most of them have in common. Then, you take those ideas and capitalize on them to bring the people to you for the source of all the things they like.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>2.) You come up with something you want people to like and you simply create hype around it to get them thinking they like it. Sometimes, they pay people to gather around something and act like it is cool. This baits other people to follow suit and actually start liking this thing simply because others do.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The more I pay attention to trends, the more I notice these two principals are basically still at play and still working very well for marketers.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Where is this going?</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I've noticed this hasn't been too much different with church. I have been to A LOT of churches. I have search for a "good" church in different cities and states. And these experiences have taught me a lot. Back when I started out on my own, and I was looking for my own church for the first time, I thought I knew what I wanted in a church. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I wanted something nondenominational with people around my age. Seriously, that's what I wanted. And the more I think of it, those were my only two requirements. I found that, and I quickly learned that I didn't want what I found. I didn't feel connected to the church. Even though people my age were there, I didn't feel I could relate to them. So, I kept looking. I ultimately found a church that matched some of the things I was looking for; however, I had then really wanted a church mostly as a social function.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>As I moved on in life, I started finding many churches that met my first two requirements that left me lacking Spiritually. I didn't feel like my desire to learn and grow as a Christian was being met. I had to find something else. I had to get past my bias against denominations. I decided to stop judging. I found a great church. I realized that I didn't know what I was looking for.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Yet, I was still leaning toward that one denomination of that one church because I felt comfortable with it. I got down to Georgia and I found myself in the deep South with a totally different set of options in the way of churches than what I found around me in Virginia or even North Carolina. I found a church there by meeting Christian people first who I really respected and finding out where they went to church. This brought me to a different denomination...one I had prejudged and ended up finding myself completely wrong about it.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>When we came back up to North Carolina, it was time to find a church again. The last time we were here, the hunt for a church was difficult. I had come to the conclusion at this point that there were only a few things I wanted. Yet, my goals had changed. First, I wanted to be in a church where the people truly cared about each other. Second, I wanted to be in a church where I wanted to go to church! I know that sounds strange, but I felt like certain churches just make you feel at home. I wanted to feel at home. Third, I wanted to feel like the messages were solid and the doctrine was sound. We had to go through several churches to find these things before. This time, one church just jumped out at me. We tried it. We stayed.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>We have grown to love the church. Unfortunately, the church is small. There are only a few people our age attending. But we feel so LOVED and ENCOURAGED by the people there that we feel it is our church home. This experience (and one other one in the past) has had me wondering what makes a church grow? It seems that some churches look for what people want, they find a way to relate to the people, and they bring people in that way. Other churches are popular just because they are popular. People want somewhere to get connected and the easiest way to do that is to go to the biggest church in town.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>But what happens when you have a great church and the people just aren't there because they are at the bigger church down the street? Many haven't even tried the church. Maybe they are like I was before and they already don't want to try a church because it is attached to a denomination. Maybe they come in and only see 5 other couples their age and that's just not enough for them. What will get people to come in? And then after that, what will get them to stay?</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I sometimes think you need to have things there to get people there. Some people want youth groups for their kids. Some people want to see a sea of people their age. But I think that to keep people, you need to care about the people. And to care about the people, you need to reach out to them and be there for them. I don't know though because I have never really done outreach for a church.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I am wondering these things because our church is about to go through a major change. Our pastor is retiring and a new one is coming in. I desperately want the change to be good, but I don't think change just for change is good. Many churches are departing from truth found in Scripture because some of it isn't popular anymore. I don't want to lose that just for change. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And I am also wondering what is growth? Is it numbers? Maybe it is a solid group of people who are committed to each other and to the church. I would rather be part of a congregation of 100 people who are truly loving and devoted Christians than one of 1,000 who attend church just because it is something to do. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The Lord has taught me so much through different churches, and I hope to learn something amazing through this experience. I hope to actually have answers to my own questions.</b></span></div>
prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-84591338497847527192013-04-21T21:01:00.000-04:002013-04-21T21:01:00.657-04:00The Good Shepherd<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">According to our pastor, this Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday. Therefore, his sermon came from John chapter 10 concerning Jesus comparing himself to a shepherd and his sheep. Without quoting the entire passage he was using, the portion of Scripture basically talks about how Jesus is the good shepherd and those who truly are his sheep listen to him and follow him.</span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think, in short, that was the entire sermon. If we believe in Jesus, we follow him. If we know he is our shepherd, we listen to him and find comfort in him. Those who are saved know who their savior is. In a world full of contradicting theology, there is comfort to be found in the fact that Jesus Christ's voice can be heard today by his own sheep. The more we tune our ears to hear his voice by choosing to listen to him, the more we simply listen to his voice.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was a part in the sermon where the pastor mentioned that true Christians do not need to be persuaded to do what Christians do. He was saying that as you come closer to the Lord, you simply want to be with the Lord. If you are his sheep, you want to be in his pasture. That means, you want to go to a church where you feel you can commune with God. And you want to go there often. That means you want to freely give to others because that's what your heart wants to do. If you are a sheep of the good shepherd, you choose to love, you choose to obey. This is not because that's what you think you ought to do but because you are compelled by the Love of Jesus...the good shepherd. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He also mentioned that we crucify Christ today. I thought this was interesting because that was something I was actually thinking about recently. I was noticing that people seem to sacrifice Christ in exchange for what's common. If Christ starts to become unpopular, people are quick to move toward what is popular. I see a lot of controversy rising these days over personal opinions and beliefs. People form beliefs and that is what they stand by, and I feel we are straying from the truth. If we want to hear the voice of the good shepherd, we need to be silent and willing to listen. Otherwise, we are simply crucifying him for what makes us happy and comfortable. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If we are his sheep, we hear his voice. When we are his sheep, our lives change. We cannot stay the same. We are compelled by his love to do what is right because he makes us want to. That is what it means to be a sheep of the good shepherd.</span></div>
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-56082941900698695822013-04-08T23:49:00.000-04:002013-04-08T23:49:56.117-04:00Gordon Lee: Mr. Jabber Walky<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gordon Lee is 21 months old today. He is growing and developing so quickly that I can't even list some of the things he has learned to do. Every day, there is something new. Sometimes, he really shocks us with the things he can do/say. I am not sure if his speech is typical for a child his age or not. I am thinking he is probably right where he is supposed to be. But he seems very interested in examining language and finding the best way to communicate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He understands the difference between singular and plural language.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He calls diapers "doctors" for some reason. However, when he sees only one, he will say, <b>"A doctor." </b>When he sees more than one, he says "<b>doctors"</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He calls one car <b>"a car." </b>When he sees several he says <b>"cars."</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The one word that confuses him right now is bus because the singular form ends in an "s." So because he doesn't know what to do, he will just say <b>"bus and bus and bus" or "bus bus bus" </b>when he sees several. Most of the time, he will try to say it for each one he sees.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For example, if he says something and we don't respond in the way he expects, he tries different approaches. First, he will attempt to say it more than once just to make sure we hear him. If we continue to not respond, he will try to say it again in a different way. Still, if that doesn't "work" in his mind, he will then try to physically show us what he wants. He has really been enjoying going for bike rides, and he frequently asks to go. Since his seat is attached to his daddy's bike right now, he will say, "bike seat, Dada?" asking to get in the seat for a ride. He will then instruct his Daddy to get on the bike saying, "Sit Dada" and pointing to the seat. Directly after returning from a bike ride yesterday, Gordon Lee decided that he was not done and wanted to go back out. So, this is how he chose to communicate.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Attempt 1: "Up Mama" "Up Dada" "Bike Seat"</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Response from Daddy: "We just went for a bike ride. We will go for another one tomorrow."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Attempt 2: He walks to the door, puts his hands on the door leaning into it and says, "bike seat bike seat"</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Response from Daddy: Same as before "We just went for a bike ride. We will go for another one tomorrow."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Attempt 3: Still standing at the door, he calls out "Bicycle! Bicycle!" in the plainest, clearest English he can produce.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, after the same answer that we would not be going back out, he resorted to throwing a tantrum...which still didn't get him his way</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But he DID get another bike ride the next day as promised.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gordon Lee is CONSTANTLY jabbering away. And he is frequently asking questions. Some of his language is indiscernible, but you can tell that he is really saying something and trying to communicate based on his tone. And some things, I actually don't understand unless I happen to catch them on camera and play them back. However, there are times in the midst of his chattering where some very clear sentences and statements come out. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are some of the things he has said in the clearest, plainest English.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>-Coming into the driveway, he points and says, "That's Daddy's car!"</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>-This morning in particular he wanted to go see his daddy. When I told him daddy had already left, he said, "Where did Daddy go?" I answered "He went to get the car fixed." I showed him my missing vehicle in the driveway; however, upon seeing that his daddy's car was still sitting there, he determined I must be incorrect. So, he answered, "See Daddy's car. Where Daddy?"</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>So, then I took him upstairs to show him that his daddy was, in fact, gone. At this point, he responded, "But where Daddy go?" </b>Oh my!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>-Every now and then, we have a conversation that doesn't end up so cyclical. A few days ago, he told me he wanted some "nanas" for lunch. I told him they were all gone. He went to the kitchen counter pointing up as if they were simply out of sight. I lifted him up to show him that the bananas were all gone saying, "See, the bananas are all gone." He responded, "Oh nanas all gone."</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He really shocked us on Easter Sunday when he heard a gun go off in the distance and yelled out <b>"Gun shot!" </b>We have no clue where he got that from.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes, I have a hard time proving that he does talk like this at times because Gordon Lee is selective about when he talks and what he says. He is pretty shy, actually, and he usually doesn't talk around people that he doesn't see too often. He has also become very aware of when I am recording him and starts to "turn it off" when he sees me holding the phone up at him. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Either way, at some point, he will be talking enough for everybody to hear and probably wont "turn it off" when we want him to!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wonder if he is starting to take after his mommy in his interest and examination of the English language. Only time will tell!</span><br />
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-34521350430747593102013-02-21T22:31:00.000-05:002013-02-21T22:51:30.258-05:00Bubble Wrap Painting! A perfect project for toddlers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I saw a great idea the other day for using bubble wrap to paint. I had never even thought of this on my own. However, when I saw it, I then googled it some more and saw what pretty prints bubble wrap can make when used to paint. This week, we are talking to our toddlers about things we can touch and exploring different textures. So, I thought it would be a great idea for them.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The project is so simple to prepare and so easy for toddlers to do. First, you simply cut bubble wrap into small squares (probably about 5 inches X 5 inches or so). I did not measure it. I just eyeballed it. Then, form it into a ball with the bubbles facing the outside and tape it up.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>It is small and easy for a toddler to hold. Then, you can really use anything nontoxic for paint. You can make your own edible finger paints; I was fortunate to have enough (safe for toddlers) paint at my disposal. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Put a small amount in a shallow dish or on a cup. Give the child the bubble wrap ball and allow him/her to dip it in the paint and then press it on the paper.</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTgMSW3O-rHT0J7UOTz8WrLhgWs074q08-csvnNkgVBV7RRijexPAxYzT3luK3SBLRColW6oRhcZOe_1rDC2qBtfMRSFx9w8I5rj_RcTdHr20gGH4M8K7mltdiFFA_HjpCLhtRAGCyJmw/s1600/IMG_20130221_192619.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTgMSW3O-rHT0J7UOTz8WrLhgWs074q08-csvnNkgVBV7RRijexPAxYzT3luK3SBLRColW6oRhcZOe_1rDC2qBtfMRSFx9w8I5rj_RcTdHr20gGH4M8K7mltdiFFA_HjpCLhtRAGCyJmw/s320/IMG_20130221_192619.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I had to show Gordon Lee to put it on the paper as his first instinct was to put it in his mouth. However, he had just eaten and found it much more fun to make "bubbles" on his paper.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Gordon Lee had a blast with it and did not want to stop. Here is his final product (complete with a handprint so we know it is his).</b></span><br />
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-19349204058320274022013-02-03T14:23:00.003-05:002013-02-03T14:23:31.927-05:00A King Yet a Servant<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I can hardly believe how long it has been since I last wrote a blog. Simply put, my brain was void of ideas, so I just didn't write.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Yet, for the last 2 weeks at least, there has been one prominent thought appearing everywhere in my life. And I feel compelled to share it. As many people know, I have chosen to work with preschoolers and most people think I'm insane for doing so. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"Why don't you go back to the school system?"</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"Maybe you can teach at a community college."</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>and then the perfectly blunt question "Why in the world are you doing this?"</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And my answer "Because right now it makes the most sense."</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And there is so much pressure everywhere for people to look down on me as if I am a nobody. Or for people to view me as somehow cheating myself. But why?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What is success? It is what the world has deemed it to be. And since the world doesn't view my job as successful it is therefore nothing and should be beneath me. The idea is that just anybody can do it.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>But the thing is that I feel like I'm doing the right thing where I am. How is it nothing to be responsible for shaping the lives of children in their most formative and critical years? </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>We had a training last Saturday where one of the teachers who works with me remarked that she is tired of this being such a thankless job. She shared a story about a parent who saw her purse and asked her how she could afford a purse like that! She was astonished that the parent really looked down on her that much. But while I think of the job I do, I see it this way. If I am doing what God wants me to do, then I don't need any worldly praise or recognition of any kind.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I could very well be beyond "successful," admired by all, and not be serving the Lord. I'll take the former.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>On top of all of that, I keep thinking about Jesus. This is the Lord himself, choosing to be a nobody. CHOOSING to allow people to look down on him. And this is because he wasn't living for here and now. <span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">Jesus said, </span><span class="woj" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">“My kingdom<span style="font-size: 0.65em;"><sup class="crossreference" style="font-size: 0.65em; vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-26822A" title="See cross-reference A">A</a>)"></sup></span> is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders.<span style="font-size: 0.65em;"><sup class="crossreference" style="font-size: 0.65em; vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-26822B" title="See cross-reference B">B</a>)"></sup></span> But now my kingdom is from another place.” (John 18:36)</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="woj" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="woj" style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px;">And last week in church, we sang a beautiful hymn reminding me of my purpose in this life.</span></b></span><br />
<b><lyrics><i>Jesu, Jesu, fill us with your love,<br />show us how to serve<br />the neighbors we have from you.</i><br /><br />Kneels at the feet of his friends,<br />silently washes their feet,<br />master who acts as a slave to them.<br /><br />Neighbors are rich and poor,<br />varied in color and race,<br />neighbors are near and far away.<br /><br />These are the ones we should serve,<br />these are the ones we should love;<br />all these are neighbors to us and you.<br /><br />Loving puts us on our knees,<br />serving as though we are slaves;<br />this is the way we should live with you.<br /><br />Kneel at the feet of our friends,<br />silently washing their feet;<br />this is the way we should live with you.</lyrics></b><br />
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<b><lyrics><i><br /></i></lyrics></b></div>
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-22134542064681807082012-11-04T14:41:00.002-05:002012-11-04T15:41:52.617-05:00Gordon Lee at 16 months<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I haven't done an update on Gordon Lee in quite some time, so I figured today would be good to catch everyone up with a comprehensive look at his latest developments! :)</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>On Thursday, Gordon Lee will be 16 months old! It feels like time is flying by.</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJIr6rSXx81NVpw4TywAkZ2PyXuYIRb02sgaZtcsNfvtoCgX1o9_HOIghqs9rUH9Ycu0Sza15wH1wSPIAQZ959ZAQIQT3kcoy4pyIMj_xUqJz21nvHinsjz65GVL9KKXQ5WXseAQyOWc/s1600/IMG_20121024_192547-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJIr6rSXx81NVpw4TywAkZ2PyXuYIRb02sgaZtcsNfvtoCgX1o9_HOIghqs9rUH9Ycu0Sza15wH1wSPIAQZ959ZAQIQT3kcoy4pyIMj_xUqJz21nvHinsjz65GVL9KKXQ5WXseAQyOWc/s320/IMG_20121024_192547-1.jpg" width="203" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>As far as language goes, he says</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Mama/Mommy</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dada/Daddy</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Baba</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Bubble</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Shoe & Shoes</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ball</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dog/Doggie</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Outside</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Nana (for banana)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hey/Hi</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>No</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Yeah</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>He also does sign language.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>He does signs for</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>More</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Milk</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Eat and</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Please</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Every now and then he strings two words together. He has said</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Dada shoes (when looking at Lee's shoes)</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>and "A shoe"</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>If you can't tell, he is very into shoes! It's his favorite word to say and he says it all the time!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>He is almost always rattling off something in his own gibberish!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>If you say "dance" he will start dancing around the room or around in circles. If he hears a song he likes, he will either dance to it or clap to it.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>He prefers his Daddy over his Mommy (which makes me kind of jealous). But he just loves his Daddy to pieces! He loves me too, but he is crazy about his Daddy. He is interested in WHATEVER Daddy is doing!</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDbHlrHwPpqvKw8BVazmPDUB74wtegj4nRu-HKoNyJd2Vn6AdKpyHBuZKjQICDz_6_49Nf5QmHhgxldPAuQ9xG85jSwUsqq4REbG9nV9Ke2NZXpsfrnr9t0AHsa2bvtU71pQ6P_Ct5g0/s1600/IMG_20121028_181919-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaDbHlrHwPpqvKw8BVazmPDUB74wtegj4nRu-HKoNyJd2Vn6AdKpyHBuZKjQICDz_6_49Nf5QmHhgxldPAuQ9xG85jSwUsqq4REbG9nV9Ke2NZXpsfrnr9t0AHsa2bvtU71pQ6P_Ct5g0/s320/IMG_20121028_181919-1.jpg" width="264" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>He is also going through quite a lot of physical developments. He climbs a lot! He can climb out of his crib now, and he wasn't shy about showing me how he did it. He grabs onto the top rail with his hands and does a spiderman move with his feet on the bars and hoists himself out. However, for now, we have moved the crib so he can't get out (it hasn't stopped him from trying though).</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>He loves to climb onto the furniture, and he does not like to be excluded from ANYTHING! On Halloween night, he threw a fit if he missed even 1 trick or treater at the door. So, we took him out on the front porch in a wagon and let him pass out candy. He had so much fun doing that!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>He can unbuckle the top buckle of his carseat. Thankfully, he has left it alone recently as he has discovered unbuckling one part of the carseat is not enough to get out.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>He tries to put his socks and shoes on, and he also tries to put socks and shoes on our feet (even if we are already wearing them).</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Recently, he has become very unhappy if he has a wet or dirty diaper and wants to be changed immediately. I am happy about this because it's a good sign that I can potty train him soon.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Gordon Lee also follows simple commands like "Sit down" "Lay down" "Bring (named object) to Mommy, Daddy, etc." Nap time has become very simple with him. I only have to tell him to "lay down," cover him with a blanket, and he will fall asleep in a few minutes.</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>He is becoming increasingly interested in feeding himself and will now refuse to eat sometimes unless I let him feed himself. He has not only been interested in using the fork or spoon but he wants to scoop the food up himself. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>He also still loves playing with blocks, and he is now making an effort at stacking blocks of similar size/shape.</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvHuyXqrW4RV7ZTmBv336BosMvuX-xISMt5UKIiDYnI57bjQVoV62uoh5G3fTeS7JFDH9CUdr6Q75F73mWJetpTZzm59o1IYmA3LsHHs0KLjNk8fbbTWwsnbjsym3Ne4YeY_fvIVm1_8I/s1600/IMG_20121023_185544.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvHuyXqrW4RV7ZTmBv336BosMvuX-xISMt5UKIiDYnI57bjQVoV62uoh5G3fTeS7JFDH9CUdr6Q75F73mWJetpTZzm59o1IYmA3LsHHs0KLjNk8fbbTWwsnbjsym3Ne4YeY_fvIVm1_8I/s320/IMG_20121023_185544.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>He is a very happy baby most of the time. He even has just cut his first molar and didn't even lose sleep at night over it! :) I am truly thankful for Gordon Lee!</b></span><br />
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-42214526656845890862012-10-17T21:51:00.002-04:002012-10-17T21:56:56.731-04:00The Story of Toto<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>All weekend long, Gordon Lee had been oscillating between acting healthy and sick. He would have a temperature and then it would go away only to come back again. He seemed to be losing his appetite, and I was somewhat concerned that perhaps he was developing a bug. However, in spite of all of this, he seemed to have no trouble happily running laps around the yard and house. On Monday morning, he was acting just fine with no fever. Well, by that early evening, he was sick. He had a fever and was vomiting. He projectile vomited all over the backseat of my car (that was the first time I've witnessed projectile vomit and I hope it will be the last). I felt so bad for the poor guy. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The next morning, he wasn't doing much better. So, I took the day off of work to take him to the doctor. (As it turns out, he had postnasal drip that made his tummy sick, but that is beside the point of this post..all of this is just introductory info).</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Since I was feeling just fine and Gordon Lee wasn't too bad off, I decided to make a short trip to Kohls to make a return. I had the amount of my returned item placed on a Kohls gift card. When I was finishing my shopping trip, I had roughly calculated the amount of items in my cart and realized I still had about $5 left to spend.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I made my way to the checkout line and saw this adorable puppy sitting on a shelf staring at us.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A few thoughts went through my mind.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>1.) My little boy is feeling sick. It might be nice to buy him a little special something to cuddle.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>2.) 100% of the proceeds go to helping sick children in the children's hospital. I am so thankful my son is only sick temporarily and not in a hospital. I think I should perhaps show my appreciation for that.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>3.) This dog is exactly $5 and that is about the amount I have left to spend.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>So, what do you think I did?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Of course I bought him.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Gordon Lee loved him and held onto him tightly in his carseat. He is now wanting to take Toto into his crib with him to sleep (the first stuffed animal he has ever wanted to bring into his crib).</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And when I look at Toto, I think "Thank you, Lord, for my healthy child."</b></span></div>
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prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-34419537181211183422012-08-03T23:13:00.000-04:002012-08-03T23:13:55.162-04:00Pride and Humility<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Disclaimer: This blog is purely covering what I have been learning in terms of Christianity. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sometimes, my week has a theme or a "lesson" in it. I will see or hear the same things repeatedly until I can't ignore the lesson I need to learn. And it's funny how it always starts with one little thing. Then, it just shows up everywhere in my life. Because of this, I feel like I have to blog about it. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>It's the whole "LOOK at ME" conundrum.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I do believe that we all like to feel good about ourselves. We like to feel as though we're doing things right. And there is a sense of accomplishment when someone else or something else confirms for us that we are. But there is a fine line here. It's the line between doing something right because it is right and doing something right so that we can boast about it.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"May I never boast except in the cross..." says Paul in Galatians. I feel like it is so easy to boast or brag. I think almost everyone can remember a kid in their class growing up who not only excelled at what they did, but that kid also gloated about it. Nobody liked that kid. For anyone familiar with the show <i>The Big Bang Theory</i>, Sheldon Cooper is that kid. While he is amusing on television, nobody likes a person that arrogant in real life. Because giving yourself accolades for what you do is like popping a balloon. Nobody really cares then.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>But what I have been noticing is even deeper than that. Giving is a good thing, right? I think we should be generous and charitable. Can giving be a bad thing, though? How can giving to people be bad? Ultimately, the act in and of itself ends up benefitting somebody. So, I wouldn't say it is horribly bad. But the error in being charitable is when we make a scene out of it. We should give because we give--whether or not anybody says "thank you," whether or not anybody takes a picture, whether or not anybody anywhere even knows. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And this is why Jesus himself says in Matthew 6:1-3 "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so your giving may be in secret."</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Why would Jesus want us to give in secret? Because we are prone to stroking our own egos. We are prone to bragging about our "righteous acts." If my heart is truly generous, I will give to those in need without a crowd of spectators. We so often want a reward for what we do. But what about just doing it just because? Too often we do the "right thing" just to be seen doing the right thing. I know I do it. But I do believe that true Christian maturity means doing the right thing without making a scene for everyone can see.</b></span><br />
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</div>prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3976843937932589288.post-80485066754941393582012-07-28T09:32:00.002-04:002012-07-28T09:32:49.666-04:00No, You Can't use the Word "No"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>When I was in grad school, we often discussed new methods in classroom management, teaching styles, etc. One of the things we talked about a lot was how to handle discipline. A trending technique was to avoid any negative wording of rules. You essentially took the word "No" out of your vocabulary so that the students would not feel as though they are being restricted and therefore rebel. Instead, you made them feel as though they had options to choose to do the right thing. So, instead of writing, "No talking," you would write, "Please sit and work quietly at your desk."</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>In my first year of teaching, I was so eager to try this out! It sounded so reasonable and practical. I felt I could understand how saying, "No" might make a student feel defiant. So, I carefully listed all of my rules in a more positive tone. The only one I really couldn't avoid was, "No Gum." Perhaps I could have said, "Keep gum out of the classroom." However, I felt that was a straightforward rule. Well I posted the rules this way and I did my best to request behavior without just saying no. All I can say, after my experience with it, is that it didn't work. Avoiding that word didn't make a difference. In fact, I noticed that students often responded to the word, "No" better. They had boundaries set. Whether you say "No sleeping in class" or "Please keep your eyes open and your head up," students who want to rebel will rebel. Period. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And as I moved on in my career, I noticed that the quietest, most controlled classrooms belonged to teachers who told students "No" and stuck to a consequence when a rule was broken. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Well, ever since Gordon Lee really started getting around and getting into things, I had to find a way to handle his behavior. Well, I could let him ransack my house and possibly seriously hurt himself, but I wasn't too keen on that. Not surprisingly, the same methodology that circulated in the teaching realm, is abuzz in parenting advice. Should I avoid telling Gordon Lee "No"? Should I just redirect him? I will admit that I have never questioned myself so much on one thing. Ultimately, I found (just as with the students) that Gordon Lee had the exact SAME reaction to being told "No" as he did to being redirected. If he wanted to do something, he didn't care if I simply told him he couldn't do it or if I just tried to bring his attention to something else. Plus, sometimes, he would get close to danger so quickly, that I wanted him to learn and understand "No" or "Stop" in case I couldn't get to him fast enough. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>But I will say that I felt so much like a broken record for so long that I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure what the appropriate way to address his behavior was. Still, though, I'd had some experiences that left me feeling like I want my child to understand and respect boundaries and leave it at that. So, I kept saying "No" even if it was for the 100th time. And I kept following through with a consequence. And I also constantly praised him when he did not touch an off-limits object or when he obeyed my instructions.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And after feeling like maybe this wasn't going anywhere, I noticed one day last week that I had only said "No" about a handful of times! My child was beginning to listen and respect boundaries (Yes, I know the terrible twos are still yet to come). And it has really been that way so far since (he does start getting more disobedient when he is getting tired, but that's it). </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>And then, as I was lying down to sleep last night, it occurred to me that even God says "Thou shalt not" and "No" without giving us a distraction. And I have settled on the fact that this word is not a bad word. It doesn't need to be avoided. We just need to learn to accept it even when we don't want to.</b></span><br />
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</div>prncssprplehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15373162820883425981noreply@blogger.com1