So for the last few weeks at church, things have been a little up in the air. Last week they put in a new primary presidency and this week they put in a new relief society presidency.
The real problem is this. The new primary presidency is the old Sunbeams teacher. The problem being that those little sunbeams are still getting used to primary and for the last 2 weeks have had substitutes. Good Subs, but still subs.
I have a hard time seeing it because we sent the cutest most ready for sunbeams class I could have imagined. I was so proud of them.
Yes, there were some cold feet but they were adapting well.
Then this week comes (second week of subs) and at least 3 girls didn't want to go to class. Two were girls who don't normally have a problem. My little A was one and is very independent. I know I was in nursery with her, but she didn't care if I was there or not.
anyway, I'm just concerned for these kids. I had hoped they would have a new teacher in today but no dice.
It makes me sad and now I'm a little worried about these kids. Probably more so because my kid is in the group.
I'm sure they'll get it ironed out. I just wish it was sooner rather than later.
Thanks for letting me whine. I know they must be trying to find the best sunbeam teacher ever :)
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
blogging in my head
Someone over at MormonMommyWars said something that really hit me. She talked about blogging in her head.
I had to read that again...because I thought I was the only one who did that!
Like last night I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep and letting my thoughts wander. I remember thinking about a topic and then started thinking about what I would write.. then I fell asleep.
So if I ever remember what that topic was, I promise I'll write about it.
:)
I had to read that again...because I thought I was the only one who did that!
Like last night I was laying in bed trying to fall asleep and letting my thoughts wander. I remember thinking about a topic and then started thinking about what I would write.. then I fell asleep.
So if I ever remember what that topic was, I promise I'll write about it.
:)
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
more funny
I forgot to mention that the comedian's name is Elna Baker.
that is my attempt at putting a video up on my blog. :)
that is my attempt at putting a video up on my blog. :)
Funny
I was listening to this american life this morning. I think it was the show that they aired last week. Anyway it was titled "Matchmaker" or something like that.
I was enjoying the last story, and as it ended Ira Glass (the host) said blah blah blah has a new book coming out entitled "The New York Regional MORMON Single Adule Halloween Dance" and other memoirs. Of course this caught my ear and I had to google it because I had missed the authors name.
Turns out there is a very funny Mormon New York comedian.
Check out her my space page. The video clip is extremely funny. http://www.myspace.com/elnabaker
or you can listen to her other story at www.thisamericanlife.org
I was enjoying the last story, and as it ended Ira Glass (the host) said blah blah blah has a new book coming out entitled "The New York Regional MORMON Single Adule Halloween Dance" and other memoirs. Of course this caught my ear and I had to google it because I had missed the authors name.
Turns out there is a very funny Mormon New York comedian.
Check out her my space page. The video clip is extremely funny. http://www.myspace.com/elnabaker
or you can listen to her other story at www.thisamericanlife.org
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Nursery
I've been in Nursery since last March. I was originally called with my hubby just for 4-5 months to fill in until another person was called. Well, after that time, they did call another couple, but again, just to fill in. I should mention these weren't official calls, just requests from the bishopric and primary presidency.
Anyway, I would sub when asked and after about 2 months the other fill in couple moved into their new home in a new ward.
So I kept filling in until about 4 months ago when they finally made the calling official.
The nursery was run very well by 2 ladies when we first went in. They had both been there for over 2 years. The first one was released soon after we joined the crew. She was immediately put in as the stake nursery leader.
The other lady was a very sweet, smiley lady whom all the kids were drawn to. I was thankful for her because I'm all thumbs when it comes to convincing a child they want to stay. Although after all this time, I'm getting much better.
The smiley lady was just asked to teach the valiant 10's, and started Jan 1st.
So now we have a new leader in nursery and me. The new leader is very nice and sweet. But I must say that like me she has back problems and should not lift children. I'm sure we'll get by though.
The nursery has been well run up until now and I don't want to blow it.
We had 14 kids on the roll, but our class size fluctuated from 8-12 normally. Our typical schedule was this:
When the kids would first come we would switch back and forth from play dough to toys. Toys one week and playdough at tables the next.
Then we would go to toys. If we started out with toys, it just meant that toys were played with longer. If playdough was first, it just meant that toys was shorter.
After that was snack. This was followed by lesson/singing time. We split the group in half. we were lucky enough to have a large room that we could separate by one of those curtain door things. She would take half and do singing time, and I would do the lesson with the other half. then we would switch. Also, we teachers alternated months on who would do the lesson and who would do singing time.
It was a lot of fun and I felt that we sent a very ready group of sunbeams.
This year I've made a few changes and I hope they are for the better. Also, we only have about 6 kids.
I want to start off with the same thing each week. I think this will help the kids a little with stability. They will know that they can count on toys first every week. This will help those who need that stability.
Next we will have snack. I thought this was important to keep next because the kids are used to it being after toys.
Next we will have singing time. I put this next to keep us from being up to the tables for a long long time. Also should mention since our group is down to 6 we no longer need to split for lesson and singing.
After singing time, I thought we could have a time called finger play. This would be for play dough or any other crafty thing we might want to do. Last week we failed miserably with color with water pages. :( They are still too young of a group for that.
After finger play is lesson time. Again, they were used to this being last, so we kept it last.
So far we've done this schedule once. I'll give it another few weeks before tweaking anything.
I also wanted to mention how important it is for the nursery kids to learn certain things so that next years sunbeam teacher has an easier time of it.
Its very important that the kids learn to sit in chairs. If they can do this by the time they leave nursery, then the sunbeam teacher has one less thing to deal with.
Its also important to figure out the kids who cry. We had one kid who had a really hard time of it. His parents would always drop him off and he was heartbroken the rest of the time. they would then stay for most of the class. They tried dropping him off and just seeing what would happen and he would cry for most of the time. It was really tough. Then the idea of having his sister drop him off came up. I don't remember where it came from , but it worked!
Another little boy is reluctant to stay, but can be easily bribed (usually). Last week I merely mentioned a cookie and he was fine for the rest of the time. He even forgot about the cookie by the time I walked over, got it, and brought it back.
Another little boy would stay, but was sad, and didn't want to be involved. We would try and get him involved, but that would make him cry. So one week we decided to just leave him alone. He wasn't crying, but was standing by himself by the wall. Eventually he realized we were doing something fun and joined in. He hasn't been a problem since. He's now a sunbeam.
Currently we have the last boys little brother. Now that his brother is gone, he is very sad. He has a loud recognizable cry, so a walk to the drinking fountain isn'g possible without his mom or dad hearing him and coming out to get him. So we tried treats. This was great and he would stop crying. Still wanted to be near the door, but wasn't crying. I hope that he'll come around like his brother once he realizes we're doing something fun. One thing that I think is a clue for us is the fact that for snack time, he didn't want to sit at the table but would let my hubby (who was a sub) hold him and feed him the snack. Interesting. Ideas anyone?
The next problem we're having is another almost 18 month girl. She's very sweet and does very well until the other boy starts crying. That starts her crying. If anyone has any ideas, I'll take them!
Anyway, other ideas for helping to get your kids ready for sunbeams:
The 2 weeks before nursery we had the kids who were moving up visit primary during singing time (do they call it that any more?) for about 10 minutes. This introduces them to primary.
Also, we talked about Sunbeams a lot. And along with our last lesson we colored a little certificate that said something about being a sunbeam now.
Anyway, I would sub when asked and after about 2 months the other fill in couple moved into their new home in a new ward.
So I kept filling in until about 4 months ago when they finally made the calling official.
The nursery was run very well by 2 ladies when we first went in. They had both been there for over 2 years. The first one was released soon after we joined the crew. She was immediately put in as the stake nursery leader.
The other lady was a very sweet, smiley lady whom all the kids were drawn to. I was thankful for her because I'm all thumbs when it comes to convincing a child they want to stay. Although after all this time, I'm getting much better.
The smiley lady was just asked to teach the valiant 10's, and started Jan 1st.
So now we have a new leader in nursery and me. The new leader is very nice and sweet. But I must say that like me she has back problems and should not lift children. I'm sure we'll get by though.
The nursery has been well run up until now and I don't want to blow it.
We had 14 kids on the roll, but our class size fluctuated from 8-12 normally. Our typical schedule was this:
When the kids would first come we would switch back and forth from play dough to toys. Toys one week and playdough at tables the next.
Then we would go to toys. If we started out with toys, it just meant that toys were played with longer. If playdough was first, it just meant that toys was shorter.
After that was snack. This was followed by lesson/singing time. We split the group in half. we were lucky enough to have a large room that we could separate by one of those curtain door things. She would take half and do singing time, and I would do the lesson with the other half. then we would switch. Also, we teachers alternated months on who would do the lesson and who would do singing time.
It was a lot of fun and I felt that we sent a very ready group of sunbeams.
This year I've made a few changes and I hope they are for the better. Also, we only have about 6 kids.
I want to start off with the same thing each week. I think this will help the kids a little with stability. They will know that they can count on toys first every week. This will help those who need that stability.
Next we will have snack. I thought this was important to keep next because the kids are used to it being after toys.
Next we will have singing time. I put this next to keep us from being up to the tables for a long long time. Also should mention since our group is down to 6 we no longer need to split for lesson and singing.
After singing time, I thought we could have a time called finger play. This would be for play dough or any other crafty thing we might want to do. Last week we failed miserably with color with water pages. :( They are still too young of a group for that.
After finger play is lesson time. Again, they were used to this being last, so we kept it last.
So far we've done this schedule once. I'll give it another few weeks before tweaking anything.
I also wanted to mention how important it is for the nursery kids to learn certain things so that next years sunbeam teacher has an easier time of it.
Its very important that the kids learn to sit in chairs. If they can do this by the time they leave nursery, then the sunbeam teacher has one less thing to deal with.
Its also important to figure out the kids who cry. We had one kid who had a really hard time of it. His parents would always drop him off and he was heartbroken the rest of the time. they would then stay for most of the class. They tried dropping him off and just seeing what would happen and he would cry for most of the time. It was really tough. Then the idea of having his sister drop him off came up. I don't remember where it came from , but it worked!
Another little boy is reluctant to stay, but can be easily bribed (usually). Last week I merely mentioned a cookie and he was fine for the rest of the time. He even forgot about the cookie by the time I walked over, got it, and brought it back.
Another little boy would stay, but was sad, and didn't want to be involved. We would try and get him involved, but that would make him cry. So one week we decided to just leave him alone. He wasn't crying, but was standing by himself by the wall. Eventually he realized we were doing something fun and joined in. He hasn't been a problem since. He's now a sunbeam.
Currently we have the last boys little brother. Now that his brother is gone, he is very sad. He has a loud recognizable cry, so a walk to the drinking fountain isn'g possible without his mom or dad hearing him and coming out to get him. So we tried treats. This was great and he would stop crying. Still wanted to be near the door, but wasn't crying. I hope that he'll come around like his brother once he realizes we're doing something fun. One thing that I think is a clue for us is the fact that for snack time, he didn't want to sit at the table but would let my hubby (who was a sub) hold him and feed him the snack. Interesting. Ideas anyone?
The next problem we're having is another almost 18 month girl. She's very sweet and does very well until the other boy starts crying. That starts her crying. If anyone has any ideas, I'll take them!
Anyway, other ideas for helping to get your kids ready for sunbeams:
The 2 weeks before nursery we had the kids who were moving up visit primary during singing time (do they call it that any more?) for about 10 minutes. This introduces them to primary.
Also, we talked about Sunbeams a lot. And along with our last lesson we colored a little certificate that said something about being a sunbeam now.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Stupid rabbit
It was cold outside and my hands must have been stiff or something (at least thats what I'll tell everyone) and I picked up the rabbit and accidentally dropped it. It ran under the chicken coop and I spent the next half an hour freezing my behind off trying to get it.
It took myself, hubby, and a broom to get it out. By that time I was frozen. The knees and a generous part of the leg of my pants were soaked from wet and frozen ground that had an unhealthy mix of sheep urine and poop all over it.
Yum yum.
It took myself, hubby, and a broom to get it out. By that time I was frozen. The knees and a generous part of the leg of my pants were soaked from wet and frozen ground that had an unhealthy mix of sheep urine and poop all over it.
Yum yum.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Politics
I wish people whose blogs I read would avoid the political discussion/rants.
The reason being is this.
I am innocently reading some of the blogs I read regularly and all of a sudden I'm disgusted because that person is pro the weirdest guy running and on another blog there is someone saying they would never vote for some guy who I was thinking of voting for.
Neither one with plausible arguments. And it tells me something about some of my favorite bloggers that I maybe didn't want to know.
Anyway, it shouldn't matter to me this much except that I guess maybe I read those blogs for fun and bringing up politics makes things sticky and makes people take sides.
So don't do it!
Please?
The reason being is this.
I am innocently reading some of the blogs I read regularly and all of a sudden I'm disgusted because that person is pro the weirdest guy running and on another blog there is someone saying they would never vote for some guy who I was thinking of voting for.
Neither one with plausible arguments. And it tells me something about some of my favorite bloggers that I maybe didn't want to know.
Anyway, it shouldn't matter to me this much except that I guess maybe I read those blogs for fun and bringing up politics makes things sticky and makes people take sides.
So don't do it!
Please?
Thursday, January 10, 2008
I am so tired
Remember that poopy sheeps wool I started to was yesterday? Well after the first wash, there were still spots of lanolin. There was enough of it that I felt I needed to start the wash process over.
This was my first time washing wool in pillow cases. I think that is what part of the problem was.
Anyway I was up until 1am washing wool. And as I was pulling it apart to dry... I found lots of lanolin build up in places.
I threw up my hands and went to bed at that point.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do now.
I may have to start the whole process again.
This was my first time washing wool in pillow cases. I think that is what part of the problem was.
Anyway I was up until 1am washing wool. And as I was pulling it apart to dry... I found lots of lanolin build up in places.
I threw up my hands and went to bed at that point.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do now.
I may have to start the whole process again.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Happy... something or other!
Our black silkie laid its first eggs in the past few days. Hooray!
We had a steady snowstorm going all day yesterday. So I was only a little surprised that we didn't get any eggs today. But I wanted to make sure so I opened the side of the hen house (hubby was thinking ahead for easy cleaning!) and took a look.
I was so surprised to find an egg in the main area near the corner. Also I found that I had overlooked an egg in the main nest that all the hens like. She was making an awful lot of noise in the hen house on Sunday, so I think that was when she laid the first one. Then after figuring out what was happening she then decided that she needed to be like the other hens and lay in the nest.
So that was our exciting day!
I've also just put some poopy and dirty sheeps wool in to wash. It actually looked like good stuff. Just the muddy brown that most wool looks like unwashed. I think it may have been the cleanest stuff I've had to wash though.
My spinning wheel is so fast that I've spun through all of my fiber except for a grocery bag that is half full of wool I may keep for needle felting. There isn't enough of each color to spin, though I might if I don't use it in the next little while.
I've also decided that I like dying unspun wool better than spun wool. If you dye before spinning, its a whole lot easier to blend the fiber and cover up any uneven dying.
So, back to the snow. On Sunday we received around an inch, maybe 1 1/2 inches. Yesterday we received more. I think its around 6 inches, but I'm just guessing.
We're trying to eat healthier, but its been hard for me. Since Christmas we've been eating all sorts of junk food and candy. The hard part for me is going from a bunch of chocolate to no hard candy. But we're trying. Since Sunday I've cut back from a whole heck of a lot to today where I've had (so far) 2 mini butterfingers, and its already dinner time. There aren't any more of the mini butterfingers though, so they won't be calling to me from the cupboard!
We had a steady snowstorm going all day yesterday. So I was only a little surprised that we didn't get any eggs today. But I wanted to make sure so I opened the side of the hen house (hubby was thinking ahead for easy cleaning!) and took a look.
I was so surprised to find an egg in the main area near the corner. Also I found that I had overlooked an egg in the main nest that all the hens like. She was making an awful lot of noise in the hen house on Sunday, so I think that was when she laid the first one. Then after figuring out what was happening she then decided that she needed to be like the other hens and lay in the nest.
So that was our exciting day!
I've also just put some poopy and dirty sheeps wool in to wash. It actually looked like good stuff. Just the muddy brown that most wool looks like unwashed. I think it may have been the cleanest stuff I've had to wash though.
My spinning wheel is so fast that I've spun through all of my fiber except for a grocery bag that is half full of wool I may keep for needle felting. There isn't enough of each color to spin, though I might if I don't use it in the next little while.
I've also decided that I like dying unspun wool better than spun wool. If you dye before spinning, its a whole lot easier to blend the fiber and cover up any uneven dying.
So, back to the snow. On Sunday we received around an inch, maybe 1 1/2 inches. Yesterday we received more. I think its around 6 inches, but I'm just guessing.
We're trying to eat healthier, but its been hard for me. Since Christmas we've been eating all sorts of junk food and candy. The hard part for me is going from a bunch of chocolate to no hard candy. But we're trying. Since Sunday I've cut back from a whole heck of a lot to today where I've had (so far) 2 mini butterfingers, and its already dinner time. There aren't any more of the mini butterfingers though, so they won't be calling to me from the cupboard!
Monday, January 07, 2008
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