Here are two of the Pokemon stuffed animals and PacMan ghost that Sophie and I have made. We hand sew everything, so it takes awhile, but it's quite relaxing. We've had a few threads pop open, but that just means they're being well-loved!
Monday, November 24, 2008
Homemade Toys
Here are two of the Pokemon stuffed animals and PacMan ghost that Sophie and I have made. We hand sew everything, so it takes awhile, but it's quite relaxing. We've had a few threads pop open, but that just means they're being well-loved!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Science Fair and Field Trip
I love being the parent of an elementary school child! Fortunately, Sophie now allows me to volunteer in her classroom (she went through a period in kindergarten in which I was not to come at all, because she said she was too sad when I left) and I even work at her school, so I am there a LOT!
The Science Fair was Wednesday evening and Soph did a report on cats...third year in a row. We are the kind of parents who really try to let Soph do her own thing, with just a few suggestions and most of those she tosses aside. Her poster was great, lots of Sophie drawings of a variety of cats and we found out that lions only kill about 15 animals per year, much less than many domestic cats. I have photos, but can't find the cord that attaches to the computer. Sorry, Mom.
Today was the third grade field trip to see a production of "A Christmas Carol" at Utah State University. We walked up to campus, which is not an easy feat given the big hill to get there, and I did my best to not interfere with Sophie's time with her friends (she gave me a little talk about this last night). The play was very well done and the kids were a fabulous audience. I do think one of the other parents who went along took a little nap during the show, but I can't blame her...you gotta catch some shut-eye when you can.
My favorite part was on the walk back, when one of Soph's friends said he really liked, "Screech." I asked, "Do you mean Scrooge." He said, "Oh yeah," but for those of you who grew up in the 80's, you know about Screech and Saved by the Bell...I appreciated the reference.
The Science Fair was Wednesday evening and Soph did a report on cats...third year in a row. We are the kind of parents who really try to let Soph do her own thing, with just a few suggestions and most of those she tosses aside. Her poster was great, lots of Sophie drawings of a variety of cats and we found out that lions only kill about 15 animals per year, much less than many domestic cats. I have photos, but can't find the cord that attaches to the computer. Sorry, Mom.
Today was the third grade field trip to see a production of "A Christmas Carol" at Utah State University. We walked up to campus, which is not an easy feat given the big hill to get there, and I did my best to not interfere with Sophie's time with her friends (she gave me a little talk about this last night). The play was very well done and the kids were a fabulous audience. I do think one of the other parents who went along took a little nap during the show, but I can't blame her...you gotta catch some shut-eye when you can.
My favorite part was on the walk back, when one of Soph's friends said he really liked, "Screech." I asked, "Do you mean Scrooge." He said, "Oh yeah," but for those of you who grew up in the 80's, you know about Screech and Saved by the Bell...I appreciated the reference.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Trying a New Perspective
It happened. Again. I was having a really cool conversation with someone, talking about different cultures, experiencing life in a big city vs. a small town, our educational system and when I said I had to run, after 30 minutes, he did it. He asked if he could give me some literature from the LDS Church for me to read. I felt my heart sink. This is actually only the 2nd time this has happened since coming back to Logan, and I've prepared myself. I said to this person what I said to the other person...sure, I'll read your literature, if you'll read mine. To the last person I gave a book on Buddhism. Not sure what to give this one.
Here's the thing. At first I felt crushed, like we'd had this cool conversation and all he wanted to do was convert me. Then I tried to look at it from a different perspective. I love sharing things I'm excited about, including my beliefs. We were discussing different cultures and I did mention that I'm not Mormon, so I'm hoping this person just saw it as a way to share something cool with me. Part of me realizes he was trained, as a missionary, to convert those non-believers, which makes me sad, because I don't want that to be how people see me. I am a believer! I believe in helping out one another. I believe in questioning everything around us. I believe in learning from others who share very different views...I'm not always good at practicing this belief, but I do believe in it. I believe there may be a god, there may be a heaven, that the Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Mormons, Sufis, Methodists, Catholics may be right, but no matter what, if there is a god, that god would not punish me for not declaring myself "something". A god who is able to do what we proclaim a god to do is not a god which bothers with labels.
I'll feel better about all of this if the person really does read what I give him and really uses it to question his own beliefs, as that is what he is asking me to do.
Here's the thing. At first I felt crushed, like we'd had this cool conversation and all he wanted to do was convert me. Then I tried to look at it from a different perspective. I love sharing things I'm excited about, including my beliefs. We were discussing different cultures and I did mention that I'm not Mormon, so I'm hoping this person just saw it as a way to share something cool with me. Part of me realizes he was trained, as a missionary, to convert those non-believers, which makes me sad, because I don't want that to be how people see me. I am a believer! I believe in helping out one another. I believe in questioning everything around us. I believe in learning from others who share very different views...I'm not always good at practicing this belief, but I do believe in it. I believe there may be a god, there may be a heaven, that the Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Mormons, Sufis, Methodists, Catholics may be right, but no matter what, if there is a god, that god would not punish me for not declaring myself "something". A god who is able to do what we proclaim a god to do is not a god which bothers with labels.
I'll feel better about all of this if the person really does read what I give him and really uses it to question his own beliefs, as that is what he is asking me to do.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Halloween...Utah Style
My friends in Michigan tell me that trunk-or-treating is taking off there and my neighbor said they do it in Colorado too, but I have to believe that Utah is able to have the most trunk-or-treating events because there are sometimes 4 Mormon churches per block. Trunk-or-treating consists of all the neighbors driving theirs cars to the nearest church parking lot, and passing out candy from their trunks.
The first year we were back in Logan, 2006, we resisted doing trunk-or-treating. We felt it was anti-Halloween, because it took away from the joys of trick-or-treating. We decided to give a try last year and found the best fit for us: trunk-or-treating AND trick-or-treating. We like trunk-or-treating because we can mingle with the neighbors and the kids all see each other. We like trick-or-treating because it's the way Halloween is suppose to be!
After trunk-or-treating, most people go back home, since they just saw the neighbors in the church parking lot. We take Sophie to another neighborhood, by the university, and let her do trick-or-treating, too. She had some friends with her yesterday and they had a blast! I'm not sure why that neighborhood doesn't do trunk-or-treating, but we're sure glad they don't!
Steve said people kept telling him they were glad to see him at trunk-or-treating. This makes us giggle, because everyone in our neighborhood knows we're not Mormon, but we're certainly not against having fun!
The first year we were back in Logan, 2006, we resisted doing trunk-or-treating. We felt it was anti-Halloween, because it took away from the joys of trick-or-treating. We decided to give a try last year and found the best fit for us: trunk-or-treating AND trick-or-treating. We like trunk-or-treating because we can mingle with the neighbors and the kids all see each other. We like trick-or-treating because it's the way Halloween is suppose to be!
After trunk-or-treating, most people go back home, since they just saw the neighbors in the church parking lot. We take Sophie to another neighborhood, by the university, and let her do trick-or-treating, too. She had some friends with her yesterday and they had a blast! I'm not sure why that neighborhood doesn't do trunk-or-treating, but we're sure glad they don't!
Steve said people kept telling him they were glad to see him at trunk-or-treating. This makes us giggle, because everyone in our neighborhood knows we're not Mormon, but we're certainly not against having fun!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
