Two Segues

This morning I took the kids to the park for an hour and a half. It was such nice weather and they loved it. By the time we got home it was lunch and so today was afternoon school. We had our Christmas candle, story, scripture and song. Next I read a Popcorn book to them since last week grandma had a popcorn day where they did all kinds of stories, games and lessons about popcorn. We learned that a lot of people think that there was corn and popcorn at the first Thanksgiving but that is not so. Corn came along later and the colonists used popcorn as a cereal, instead of a treat or snack, with milk and sugar.

This segued into our next project: making up our own cereals. They drew a picture of their cereal with the box and then listed what the ingredients are and how it tastes. With Luke I went further (or I should say HE went further as usual) by listing what stores he wants his cereal sold at, a pencil as a prize inside. He even listed "ALL NEW!" and "HEALTHY!" on his box. He priced his cereal at $3.00 a box. He told me that he made it low priced so that people would buy it. Isabel's cereal was "Corn Loves" and Luke's, "Fish Stix."

Another segue, from cereal boxes into our grocery geography lesson. My mother sent me a forwarded email that had pictures of a family in another country with a weeks worth of their groceries laid out on the table. Luke and Isabel loved looking at the globe, atlas and Google Maps of course to find where the family in Sicily is, Japan, Ecuador, etc. They also liked looking at the groceries and seeing if we buy any of the same things. A few days ago Isabel had written on a piece of paper names of places she wants to go to. Texsiss (Texas),  Nuwrf Pooll (North Pole), Afrcu (Africa) Sat Jorj (Saint George), Callufnya (California), Huwuee (Hawaii) and Saf Poll (South Pole). We looked each one up on the globe.

I then had Isabel look in her My First Book of Sign by Pamela J. Baker book and learn seven words in sign language that she would have to be the teacher and teach us. While she was doing that, Luke was working on compound words. They then watched a Bill Nye the Science Guy DVD on The Earth's Crust. Afterward I paid them for their chores from last week and had Luke, Isabel and Ryan clean up Luke's room although Luke and I were the ones doing all the work. Luke had piano tonight and is learning Christmas songs!

Toy car, Etch A Sketch and Jingle Bell Necklaces

A few weeks ago, my mother made and gave me a folder that has a Christmas story, scripture and Christmas song for each day of December up to the 24th. With it came a tall candle with 24 notches on it from top to bottom. So every day we light the candle and let it burn down to the next notch while we read our Christmas story and listen to the song etc. It is wonderful, I love it and the kids think it is fun. Last night Joey and I watched a Christmas Devotional with our friends the Marchants. I loved Thomas S. Monson's story about when he was a boy and first learned that it is better to give than to receive. I wont be able to retell it as well as he, but here it goes.

Young Thomas received an electric train for Christmas. He loved it. It was everything he wanted and more. He saw his mom wrapping a wind up train (not as nice as his) and wanted that coal car that was a part of the set. He threw a fit about it and his mother was not happy, but gave him the coal car. She then took him with her to give the wind up train (sans the coal car) to a neighbor boy that didn't have any presents that Christmas. Elder Monson recalled how happy and delighted the boy was to receive that wind up train and didn't even know that a coal car was missing. Thomas asked his mother to wait for him while he ran home. He got the coal car and gave it to the neighbor boy.  The End.

I thought that the story in the folder for today was a little bit too long and mature for the kids, so I told Elder Monson's story. I then had Luke and Isabel draw a picture of a toy that they thought would be fun for a child that was poor to get on Christmas morning. I then had them write about that toy and why they think it would be fun. Isabel drew and wrote about a toy car and Luke, an Etch A Sketch.  Tonight we will go to the store and have Isabel pick out a car and Luke an Etch a Sketch to buy for a child that is poor.

We then did spelling words. I gave them all Christmas related words, gift, snow, bells, etc for Isabel and ornaments, mistletoe, chocolate etc. for Luke.  I had them do their math worksheets and write birthday cards to the December birthday people.  After lunch we made jingle bell necklaces.  Just some jingle bells on string.  Luke watched Ninja Warrior on TV and Isabel and I read together and she helped me wrap some presents.

Cleanliness vs. Godliness

Yesterday for FHE I gave Luke and Isabel chore charts. Everyday they need to clean their rooms and feed the cats, after that they can ask me for a chore that they can get paid for. The charts are on the fridge and they are in charge of putting the stickers on etc. Today they were happy to do it and I hope it doesn't wear off. Next FHE lesson will have to be on tithing. In MOPS today the kids had a story teller come and tell them Thanksgiving stories. We had a speaker, Marshall Allen, a writer for the Las Vegas Sun, come and teach us how to write a good Christmas letter. Very informative. Afterward we wrote Christmas cards to boys in Juvenile detention. But my favorite was a poem shared in the opening of our MOPS meeting.  The author is Laurie Lovejoy Hilliard and Sharon Lovejoy Autry from the book, Mom...and Loving It!

LOVE IN THE HOME

If I live in a house of spotless beauty with everything in its place,

But have not love, I am a housekeeper-not a homemaker.

If I have time for waxing, polishing, and decorative achievements,

But have not love, my children learn cleanliness-not godliness.

Love leaves the dust in search of a child's laugh.

Love smiles at the tiny fingerprints on a newly cleaned window.

Love wipes away the tears before it wipes up the spilled milk.

Love picks up the child before it picks up the toys.

Love is present through the trials.

Love reprimands, reproves, and is responsive.

Love crawls with the baby, walks with the toddler, runs with the child,

then stands aside to let the youth walk into adulthood.

Love is the key that opens salvation's message to a child's heart.

Before I became a mother I took glory in my house of perfection,

Now I glory in God's perfection of my child.

As a mother, there is much I must teach my child,

But the greatest of all is love.

I know, I know, it is a little cheesy, but so true in my life right now. Yesterday everything was SUCH a mess from coming home from vacation and leaving Joey home alone for a while (kidding Joey...but not really.) Laundry everywhere, crumbs on the floor, goo on the counters, GROSS. Luke and Isabel wanted to play the card game Old Maid with me. I am not nor ever was a perfectionist or a neat freak, but it was so difficult to just let everything sit while I played that game with them. It is always especially difficult to just sit and read a book to Sylvia when I always have a million things to do, but I need to.