Otherwise known as Blanding. We've been here for almost two months and we still love it. I am still doing substitute work for the school district (mostly the elementary school) and Clint is still doing lots of translation and ASL jobs. Some he can do from home (which is awesome) and others he has to travel for. Gweny loves her preschool and her teachers which she goes to twice a week. On the days that she doesn't go she and I do projects. We also try to incorporate "good" tv including PBS and Kipper which are available on NetFlicks. Every Friday (mostly) Clint takes Gweny on a hike with the cousins and I get a little break. Gweny and I go to the library every week or two to exchange our books. The book she found on this last trip was "Harold and the Purple Crayon" which is one of my favorites. It's from the 1950s so imagine my surprise when neither Clint or his mom had heard of it. We got it yesterday and I've already read it to her four or five times, it's a good thing it's a fun book. :)
I don't have much to share this week. Things are still pretty much the same. We have our routine which we stick fairly close to for Gweny. Clint does grad school mostly at night but occassionally needs to do it while Gweny's awake. We are looking forward to a trip out to see family this summer for my brother's wedding and hope to do lots of fun mini-trips in the surrounding area. We are experimenting with Gwen's hair and are putting cute braids in it today for church. Life is pretty good and Gweny keeps us busy.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
An obsession passed down
Do you think certain obsessions can be passed down from generation to generation? I think they can be. I found out recently that my mom's mom's dad was an avid collector of antique books and that he had an literal obsession with Abraham Lincoln. I know that my mom loves to read and is a fantastic writer. I also love books and have way too many for my own good as well as my own little obsession with Elizabeth Tudor. Today while working on a project Gweny told me she loves letters and she wrote "Q", "T", and "O" over and over on one of them. It did my heart good to hear that. She also loves the library, which we visit once every week or two depending on how fast I read. She selects one book each time and we read that together. Sometimes she will pick something that's semi age appropriate but several weeks ago she chose a book "written by" Geronimo Stilton, a newspaper mouse. It was a Christmas book and we read it, then I went to the library and chose another one for her by the same author about sunken treasure. She LOVES them. We went yesterday and she chose a counting book about Cinderella. It just makes me happy to see that she and I share this same interest. Right now she is looking at a dragon book but lately she has been obsessed with her "Body Book", specifically the page on digestion. She has learned all about her bones, nervous system, digestive system, teeth, brain, blood vessels, etc. She's such a smart girl and hopefully, with the help of books and the library I'll be able to keep her occupied and learning. :)
Sunday, March 13, 2011
An Epiphany...but honestly...I think it was a "Duh Moment"
I substitute teach. For kids. Yep...me...weird. This week I substituted three days: 5th grade once and 1st grade twice. I could go on and on about that but that's not the point, we all have jobs and things we do but what do we do with that information? Do you ever take the insights gained home and put them into practice? I have. I realized while being with and teaching other people's kids that my most important role was at home teaching my own daughter. I realized that she and I spend quantity time together and not quality time. She's a smart girl and she needs to be challenged regularly...so I decided to do just that. I went online and started looking up activities and things she and I could do that will challenge her and help her learn.
She expressed an interest the other day about the human body so that day she and I sat down and we looked at two books that are about the human body. Initially she wanted to learn about bones, so we talked about that then we just went through the various body systems including the circulatory, digestive, musculature, and nervous system. We talked about our senses and why they work. Since Clint works with the Deaf and my sister, Anna, works with the blind I talked to her about that. We practiced not being able to hear or see. I talked about what Daddy and Aunt B (Anna) do in their jobs. Later we talked about what happens to food in our bodies and she thought that it was hilarious about where the poop comes out. I didn't teach her "rectum" although I was tempted. :)
I printed off a worksheet with various shapes and she colored it then I cut them out and she pasted them to a sheet and we then labeled them. We worked on her tracing skills and cutting skills. This morning we made crowns and decorated them with shapes. She listened and sang to Veggie Tales (on my iPod) and danced around. Each time we completed a project she was so excited and wanted to show Grandma and Daddy.
In anticipation of this week (Spring Break) I've been thinking about when we'll be home and what we can do. So far only Thursday is planned. It's St. Patrick's Day and my brother's birthday. I'm sure we'll make him a card and mail it this week but I've been planning all kinds of fun stuff for the two of us to do. We're going to have green food (green bread, green eggs, green milk, green pudding, etc), we are going to make a shamrock tree using an outline of her arm for the trunk, I have a puzzle to finish making for her (a leprechaun), and a coloring sheet.
I've also thought about incorporating history into her learning. Mostly they will be coloring sheets of famous people (African American's, Deaf, Women, Inventors, Presidents, etc) while I give her a brief description of what they do. I will save each of these in a "Gwen's History Binder" and add their stories etc so we can look at them later. I am also in the process of making U.S. President Flash Cards...I already created Prophets of the LDS church cards which we look at during Sacrament meeting and whenever else she wants. I'm still trying to determine the schedule but I know that the days she doesn't have preschool (so three days a week) I'll work on these things with her. This will give her a set schedule and the two of us will have quality time. I've had so much fun with her and am excited to start working on this in earnest. Below are two coloring page websites I've found that I like. I hope you like them too! As I find more great websites I'll be sure to share them. :)
http://web.knoxnews.com/web/blackhistory/color/
http://www.educationalsynthesis.org/famamer/
She expressed an interest the other day about the human body so that day she and I sat down and we looked at two books that are about the human body. Initially she wanted to learn about bones, so we talked about that then we just went through the various body systems including the circulatory, digestive, musculature, and nervous system. We talked about our senses and why they work. Since Clint works with the Deaf and my sister, Anna, works with the blind I talked to her about that. We practiced not being able to hear or see. I talked about what Daddy and Aunt B (Anna) do in their jobs. Later we talked about what happens to food in our bodies and she thought that it was hilarious about where the poop comes out. I didn't teach her "rectum" although I was tempted. :)
I printed off a worksheet with various shapes and she colored it then I cut them out and she pasted them to a sheet and we then labeled them. We worked on her tracing skills and cutting skills. This morning we made crowns and decorated them with shapes. She listened and sang to Veggie Tales (on my iPod) and danced around. Each time we completed a project she was so excited and wanted to show Grandma and Daddy.
In anticipation of this week (Spring Break) I've been thinking about when we'll be home and what we can do. So far only Thursday is planned. It's St. Patrick's Day and my brother's birthday. I'm sure we'll make him a card and mail it this week but I've been planning all kinds of fun stuff for the two of us to do. We're going to have green food (green bread, green eggs, green milk, green pudding, etc), we are going to make a shamrock tree using an outline of her arm for the trunk, I have a puzzle to finish making for her (a leprechaun), and a coloring sheet.
I've also thought about incorporating history into her learning. Mostly they will be coloring sheets of famous people (African American's, Deaf, Women, Inventors, Presidents, etc) while I give her a brief description of what they do. I will save each of these in a "Gwen's History Binder" and add their stories etc so we can look at them later. I am also in the process of making U.S. President Flash Cards...I already created Prophets of the LDS church cards which we look at during Sacrament meeting and whenever else she wants. I'm still trying to determine the schedule but I know that the days she doesn't have preschool (so three days a week) I'll work on these things with her. This will give her a set schedule and the two of us will have quality time. I've had so much fun with her and am excited to start working on this in earnest. Below are two coloring page websites I've found that I like. I hope you like them too! As I find more great websites I'll be sure to share them. :)
http://web.knoxnews.com/web/blackhistory/color/
http://www.educationalsynthesis.org/famamer/
Monday, March 7, 2011
Improving Focus
So how do you keep up with all you want to do? I haven't figured it out yet but I have figured out what I want to do...I think. Last Sunday (not yesterday) I gave a talk in sacrament (which I posted) about the Holy Ghost. I realized how little I truly understood about my own beliefs. The week before during sacrament I prayed that I would know what to study and then the Bishop asked us to speak and then this past week I realized that I want to study, in depth, the beliefs of my church. As I pondered this I wondered how to start. Obviously I will continue an in depth study of the Holy Ghost but where to after that? I fell asleep on Saturday night thinking about the book "The Articles of Faith" written by James Talmage and woke up thinking about it as well. So I figured that's a good place to start. There are thirteen articles of faith which point out our basic beliefs. If I concentrate on one article each month I will be done in a little over one year...or maybe fifty. :)
That was the first thing. The next thing I want to do is put together a book for those who have had Gastric Bypass that includes recipes for each stage of their post-op recovery. During the last year that has been something I've struggled with. I've gotten bored with food and so branched out into things I shouldn't eat. If I'd had something like that I think I could have stayed on track better. Along these same lines I've decided to join a triathlon group with Clint and Karen. There is a "Try a Tri" in June just after by little brother's wedding that I think I might work toward. I want to make sure that I had the surgery and am using the tools it gave me to a good purpose (a long and healthy life).
I also want to concentrate on being a good mom and doing things with Gweny that will help her to continue to grow and learn. I don't think I'm a bad mom or neglectful or anything I just want to be better. I will probably post some of our projects in my other blog "Underground Stampers" when something fun comes up. I want to use the time we have in Southeastern Utah to my advantage. I've already started and hopefully this weekly blog will continue to show my progress in my goals.
If you have fun activities, projects, crafts, books, etc that you want to share please do so. I need all the help I can get. Now get out there and celebrate the set of circumstance that is your life!
That was the first thing. The next thing I want to do is put together a book for those who have had Gastric Bypass that includes recipes for each stage of their post-op recovery. During the last year that has been something I've struggled with. I've gotten bored with food and so branched out into things I shouldn't eat. If I'd had something like that I think I could have stayed on track better. Along these same lines I've decided to join a triathlon group with Clint and Karen. There is a "Try a Tri" in June just after by little brother's wedding that I think I might work toward. I want to make sure that I had the surgery and am using the tools it gave me to a good purpose (a long and healthy life).
I also want to concentrate on being a good mom and doing things with Gweny that will help her to continue to grow and learn. I don't think I'm a bad mom or neglectful or anything I just want to be better. I will probably post some of our projects in my other blog "Underground Stampers" when something fun comes up. I want to use the time we have in Southeastern Utah to my advantage. I've already started and hopefully this weekly blog will continue to show my progress in my goals.
If you have fun activities, projects, crafts, books, etc that you want to share please do so. I need all the help I can get. Now get out there and celebrate the set of circumstance that is your life!
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