Love

I have been thinking a lot about love lately. Just one of those things. Brother's getting married, watching my niece and nephew respond to their parents love. It's an amazing thing what love can do. So often I see parents, families, and even friends, miss understanding love, or using it to their advantage. It's nice to know that true love casts out fear. That when I see that love reflected in my family, and in their homes, I know that I am blessed by the Father. That He wants me to understand how He loves. And as I understand "Kings love," then I too am free.

Summer time! I love summer time. This year it came a bit earlier then expected. My class was such a buzz of activity, even to the end, I hardly had time to realize they were leaving. We were able to spend the last 15 minutes in our final "campfire" though. Each student was able to say something that he or she enjoyed out of the school year. It was a really nice and touching way to end my time with them. I was blessed with an amazing crew to sail with this year, and I think we both learned a lot.

The last time I posted I talked about working on a gentle and quiet spirit. Still working on that. Well, I'm learning, and God is kindly and graciously teaching me. I wish sometimes that I had more roll models in this area. I'm finding that as I walk this part of my path though, problems and conflicts become easier. I don't get so emotionally worked up, and my students responded a lot better. There were a lot of direct changes to my quiet conversations. I found a lot of grace and forgiveness came from my own behavior, and it really impacted my classroom for the better.

Anyway, I'm still praying and learning. Tomorrow we hit the beach, so I'm praying that we enjoy the time and that we get at least some sunshine. Maybe storms in the afternoon/evening, but we are going anyway. Should be fun!

All the best,

P

Here we go!!!

Sometimes you have to go to doctors.
Some days you have to come back from vacation.
Some days you have to do the things you really aren't ready for, but have to do them anyway.

That's why days like today are wonderful. It was such a blessing to start something with a sense of peace and purpose. The first day back from break is always a little bit rough on everyone, teachers and students both. Today was peaceful. Small, kind reminders to use your manners, to do your best, and we were on track. I'm praying to learn how to have a gentle and quiet spirit. It's harder then I thought it would be, but I see blessings already. I know that God is the one who is teaching me to be like Him. He is so good.

P.S. FroYo tonight with a friend. Love it!
P.P.S. Music makes me smile.

Timer's Set...Ready...Go

Okay so this is the new plan. I don't write enough. I really don't prefer to journal as it usually makes me kind of depressing...so maybe this will be a bit better. I type much faster then I write anyway! So, my thoughts in two minutes time. 
Ready..Go!

So there is this Sovereign Grace song "God Delights in You." My two year old niece LOVES this song. So imagine this. We are all riding home in one car. Mom and dad in front, "Aunt Pooky"" and the kids in back. Niece asks quite nicely for "come and sing" and the mood changes right way. We all start singing, the kids are clapping, and kicking up their feet in their car seats! It was wonderful! Yay for joyful noise to our Lord!

"Come and sing
come and dance
The Father's singing over you
Come rejoice and be glad
For God delights in you!" - SG

Dinner

Sometimes dinner can be a challenge. With the allure of the outdoors, may I make some suggestions for a change of pace?

Dinner Al Fresco!

One of my new favorite things in the whole world! It's much easier then you think it is. I like to make little platters of finger food, and then just nibble away. For example, the other night, I had cheese, crackers, strawberries, carrots, peppers, and a few grape tomatoes. You might think that's a really light supper, but when you are simply nibbling, and enjoying it, you find that you eat the whole plate before you even realize it! Anyway, it's a thought. I enjoyed more then two minutes outside just taking in the day. Sometimes, that the best way to end a long day. 

Weekends

These can be some of the busiest times of our week. Seriously! I know that often I put things off during the week saying, "Oh, I'll do that this weekend." Usually it involves some mundane things like mowing the grass, or taking out the trash. Laundry (the bane of my existence) is another favorite thing to put off until later. However, the more I practice the "Two Minute" theory, the easier it is to get these mundane things done during the week, or set a specific time/date when you ARE going to get them done. Then your brain wont keep reminding you of 17 hundred things that need to be done. Rather you will be able to focus on what is next on the list, and off you go. The more you get done during the week, the shorter your list of things to do on the weekend, the more pool time you get to enjoy! Boya!

Today's mission? Windows. I took the time to wash my porch over the holiday weekend. Not a large project, but one that needed to be done. In the process I "washed' the windows. Needless to say they were streaky. Well, streaky isn't the right word...more like...the left over water had dried in ribbons on the windows. Windex wipes (one of my new favorite things for a quick clean) served the purpose of wiping off the windows, and now the sunshine can come streaming through Monday morning!

*Please note: The Windex wipes are nice to have on hand for quick things, small corners that when you spray with regular Windex just fill up with the blue wonder liquid but you can't actually get the corner clean. However, they do leave little strands behind, which I find VERY annoying, and I end up using a paper towel to wipe down my mirror etc. when I am finished. What is nice? It's a VERY quick way to wipe down your mirror, and silver faucets when they get a little gunk on them. And yes, gunk is the technical term.

WHOOPS!

Okay so I haven't posted in a REALLY long time, but I did want to update on how things are going. I've been doing really well with my goal. Maybe not specifically doing 2 minutes worth of things, every day, but definitely taking two seconds here, four seconds there to put things away. Some strategies that I'm finding useful:

1) Put the dishes in the dish washer as you use them.
This tip comes with a little story. So we were learning about the ocean floor, and I asked the cherubs that I teach, to compare the bottom of the ocean floor with something that they knew. Well this of course, stumped them, until I gave them an example. What example did I think of? Well the only one that came to mind at the moment, happened to be the bottom of my sink. So I said, "The ocean floor is like my sink BECAUSE while I know what is IN my sink, I don't exactly know what's at the BOTTOM of my sink." This of course was met with noises of disgust and horror from my little ones (to my immense enjoyment). Needless to say, I came home and stacked my dishwasher. However, since then I've been very good about stacking as I go. It will save time, and if people come over unexpectedly you may actually have a clean kitchen! 

2) Have people over about once a week. Even if it is just a good friend, it will cause you to look around for a moment, and straighten things up. A little bit every week goes a long way.

3) Pull out an old candle that you haven't burned in a while. It will have happy memories, and make your life a little more cheery.

4) Play more Scrabble. Or Skip-Bo, or Uno, or whatever makes you happy. It is nice to share a laugh with friends.

5) Eat Alfresco with a good book. Tonight's dinner dirtied only one knife! It included, cheese, crackers, fresh veggies (tomatoes, red/yellow peppers, snow peas), and some fresh strawberries. Easy, and quite satisfying while sitting on the porch with an inspiring read.

Speaking of inspiring reads, my mom just shared a fellow blogger's website with me. She is a 5th grade teacher as well, so maybe I find connections with the author easier to obtain. However, her notes are amusing, and today's was quite fun. What she says about games is totally true too! Haha! Thanks mom!

Enjoy my friends!
Taming the Bicycle


All the best,

Pattertwig