Tonight, while babysitting, I read a book about stars to my young charges. It had all sorts of cool facts that I found quite interesting, and really cool pictures of space and stars, etc.
What was really cool, was that I showed the 6-year-old one of the pictues and pointed out where a supernova from 3,000 years ago still had light shining in space. This was confusing to him. He continued to ask me questions about space and stars and sky and anything else he could figure was related to the supernova still shining light after 3,000 years. But the first thing he wanted to know was how long 3,000 years was.
This conversation lasted quite a while and eventually led into talking about clouds, gravity, and the water cycle.
Some of the concepts he grasped, others, he did not, but he's got a curious mind that wants to know more and wants to know "why"...which I think is awesome. I've read other books to him before about sharks and water creatures, and we've talked about sea monster legends, and how big whales and squid can be! :)
I love watching young minds get curious about the world and ask questions, even if they don't totally get the answers right now...the fact is, they're hungry to learn, and I love that.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
fun.
That's the word that sums up today!
For the last 5 weeks, we've been in one room that's a couple minutes walk away from the building we're living in, and today, we had to move out. So that meant packing up the toys and games and hauling them in vehicles up to the other building. Not so fun. The fun part came with what we discovered in the closet...a long cardboard tube that resembled what comes off a paper towel or toilet paper roll. This was then used to play Ninja. Upon breaking in half, it was then used as swords and multiple sword fights ensued employing quotes from the movie "The Princess Bride".
After about a 30 minute lunch break, we reconvened in the new room, where the kids started building a fort using yarn, chairs, and blankets. I was impressed by their creativity. While fort building was taking place, two kids at a time came out with me and tie-dyed shirts! My hands are still stained from the dye, and this was hours ago! All the kids were able to do a shirt, only one of the kids doesn't have one, but he's 14 months...we'll make one for him later when Katie and I do ours.
Tonight was interesting as well, there was a "project fun night" and the opportunity to climb an outdoor rock wall, bungee jump on a trampoline, as well as mini-mini golf. Originally I'd planned on golfing, but was sucked in to the bungee crowd. It looked sort of fun, but quite frightening, but somehow, I was coerced into getting up on one. It was definitely fun, and I'm glad I did it! The sensation of one's stomach jumping into one's throat is not easily forgotten. There were several times I couldn't touch the trampoline with my feet and was just dangling in mid-air...so weird!
All-in-All, a fun day! I've now got to sleep and get ready to hike with some of the kids in the morning!!!
For the last 5 weeks, we've been in one room that's a couple minutes walk away from the building we're living in, and today, we had to move out. So that meant packing up the toys and games and hauling them in vehicles up to the other building. Not so fun. The fun part came with what we discovered in the closet...a long cardboard tube that resembled what comes off a paper towel or toilet paper roll. This was then used to play Ninja. Upon breaking in half, it was then used as swords and multiple sword fights ensued employing quotes from the movie "The Princess Bride".
After about a 30 minute lunch break, we reconvened in the new room, where the kids started building a fort using yarn, chairs, and blankets. I was impressed by their creativity. While fort building was taking place, two kids at a time came out with me and tie-dyed shirts! My hands are still stained from the dye, and this was hours ago! All the kids were able to do a shirt, only one of the kids doesn't have one, but he's 14 months...we'll make one for him later when Katie and I do ours.
Tonight was interesting as well, there was a "project fun night" and the opportunity to climb an outdoor rock wall, bungee jump on a trampoline, as well as mini-mini golf. Originally I'd planned on golfing, but was sucked in to the bungee crowd. It looked sort of fun, but quite frightening, but somehow, I was coerced into getting up on one. It was definitely fun, and I'm glad I did it! The sensation of one's stomach jumping into one's throat is not easily forgotten. There were several times I couldn't touch the trampoline with my feet and was just dangling in mid-air...so weird!
All-in-All, a fun day! I've now got to sleep and get ready to hike with some of the kids in the morning!!!
Friday, June 11, 2010
Playing Mom
I love playing Mommy.
So much.
I don't think I can really describe how much I love being a "mom" to the kids that are in my care. Getting to play with them, Make things with them, Comfort them, tuck them into bed, read stories, and just sit and "be" together.
I babysat some of my kids from childcare the other night and we made Knight's Helmets from newspaper and then took pictures together and then read Dr. Seuss stories.
It has been amazing to get to be with the children here, and it really has strengthened my desire to be a mother. I made spaghetti with one arm for the first time the other day (my other arm was occupied with a baby). And a 2-year-old fell asleep on my shoulder this week...AHHHH!!! I can't even describe how much I want that.
"The sweetest sounds to mortals given are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven" ~ William Goldsmith Brown
So much.
I don't think I can really describe how much I love being a "mom" to the kids that are in my care. Getting to play with them, Make things with them, Comfort them, tuck them into bed, read stories, and just sit and "be" together.
I babysat some of my kids from childcare the other night and we made Knight's Helmets from newspaper and then took pictures together and then read Dr. Seuss stories.
It has been amazing to get to be with the children here, and it really has strengthened my desire to be a mother. I made spaghetti with one arm for the first time the other day (my other arm was occupied with a baby). And a 2-year-old fell asleep on my shoulder this week...AHHHH!!! I can't even describe how much I want that.
"The sweetest sounds to mortals given are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven" ~ William Goldsmith Brown
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Home Sweet Salt Lake
We finally made it back to Salt Lake City after a very long day of travel and a slightly delayed flight out of Dublin to Chicago. Everyone in our group made it back in one piece, thankfully, and so did our luggage! Hooray!
Our last night in Dublin was a fun one! Morgan and I went with John and Kagen to see a real session on Thursday night, and it was amazing! The night we were supposed to see one in Limerick, it wasn't happening, and then Chris took us to a pub in Galway that was supposed to have one, but instead we caught the tail end of a wake...not quite what we were looking for (that night I was spilled upon by what I'm told was cider...eew).
BUT, this session was fantastic! Two flutes, a fiddle, an accordion, a guitar, and two mandolins were playing...there were a couple of times they brought out a tin whistle, one woman almost played the uileann pipes, and there was a balladier (sp?) as well! When we had to go, John and Kagen wanted to take a picture with the woman who sang, and they said we were singers from the US, and the musicians essentially forced us to sing right there...we ended up singing one verse of Amazing Grace and then they wanted something "American Gospel" and the first thing we could think of that we knew was "Wade in the Water". What a fun experience, the Irish music was great, and it deepened my love/appreciation of it!!!
As amazing as Ireland was, it's nice to be sitting in my own bed and ready to sleep in Salt Lake again! I'm looking forward to sleeping in and doing nothing but unpacking tomorrow!
"As you slide down the bannister of life, may the splinters face the right way for you" :)
Our last night in Dublin was a fun one! Morgan and I went with John and Kagen to see a real session on Thursday night, and it was amazing! The night we were supposed to see one in Limerick, it wasn't happening, and then Chris took us to a pub in Galway that was supposed to have one, but instead we caught the tail end of a wake...not quite what we were looking for (that night I was spilled upon by what I'm told was cider...eew).
BUT, this session was fantastic! Two flutes, a fiddle, an accordion, a guitar, and two mandolins were playing...there were a couple of times they brought out a tin whistle, one woman almost played the uileann pipes, and there was a balladier (sp?) as well! When we had to go, John and Kagen wanted to take a picture with the woman who sang, and they said we were singers from the US, and the musicians essentially forced us to sing right there...we ended up singing one verse of Amazing Grace and then they wanted something "American Gospel" and the first thing we could think of that we knew was "Wade in the Water". What a fun experience, the Irish music was great, and it deepened my love/appreciation of it!!!
As amazing as Ireland was, it's nice to be sitting in my own bed and ready to sleep in Salt Lake again! I'm looking forward to sleeping in and doing nothing but unpacking tomorrow!
"As you slide down the bannister of life, may the splinters face the right way for you" :)
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Dublin
I don't have much to say at the moment, but I know that mom's been reading these for updates on what's happening here!
Currently, I do not have a singing voice, I've been hacking for a couple days, and I thought maybe I was getting sick, though nothing else felt icky. Emily, on the other hand, thought it was allergies and gave me some Claritin (I think) today, and that helped to clear things up. I don't have any allergies that I know of, but it was nice to not be hacking up a lung every five minutes today.
Today we sang in St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, and the stained glass windows were glorious! It had a great acoustic (especially compared to the last church we sang in) and the choir sounded great from the audience (since I was sitting watching and not singing).
Tonight we're headed into the city to go to book stores, and there's a chance that I'll buy a dress, but we'll see how that goes. :)
Abientot!
Currently, I do not have a singing voice, I've been hacking for a couple days, and I thought maybe I was getting sick, though nothing else felt icky. Emily, on the other hand, thought it was allergies and gave me some Claritin (I think) today, and that helped to clear things up. I don't have any allergies that I know of, but it was nice to not be hacking up a lung every five minutes today.
Today we sang in St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, and the stained glass windows were glorious! It had a great acoustic (especially compared to the last church we sang in) and the choir sounded great from the audience (since I was sitting watching and not singing).
Tonight we're headed into the city to go to book stores, and there's a chance that I'll buy a dress, but we'll see how that goes. :)
Abientot!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
You Did Good, God.
We visited the Giant's Causeway today, and it was absolutely breathtaking. The causeway itself was amazing, but, the cliffs and coastline that surrounded it was simply awe-inspiring. I didn't want to do anything but sit and take in the splendor. As I sat there, between Brady and John, all I kept thinking was "Wow. You did good, God. You did good."
How majestic and powerful the cliffs were and how wonderfully and carefully made it was...painfully beautiful.
Graceful
On the 7th of May, we performed a benefit concert in Ballina, Ireland for the Mayo Cancer Support Center there. This concert took place with another choir and so we only sang the first half of the concert, they did the second and we did a piece together at the end of the night...
Unfortunately, about 3 pieces into the concert, one of our members fainted 3/4 of the way through the piece. It was the first night we had performed Agnus Dei in front of an audience and we followed up that song with Eric Whitacre's Waternight. It was Waternight that witnessed this event, right on the line that reads "If you close your eyes". Talk about perfect timing, huh?
If you haven't already guessed, that choir member, was me. It was the first time I ever fainted in performance and I still haven't heard the end of it, and today is several nights later. I began blacking out, and thought that I could make it to the end of the song, and then go sit down, but, this did not happen. I have no memory of what happened approximately 8 measures before I went down, and I've heard several versions of what happened from almost every member of the choir.
Here's the basics: I took about 2 1/2 steps out from the choir (I was standing in the front row), I looked up at something on the ceiling, and raised my hand like I wanted to grab something, then kind of staggered to the ground in what's been dubbed a "Princess Faint".
When I came to, apparently I was smiling, but I didn't know what had happened or why everyone was asking if I was okay, until Chris looked me in the face and said "You fainted." Then, I was so embarrassed that I started to cry, and Willy Ray took me over to the front row on the side to sit with him for the rest of the concert. Up until then I'd been thinking "why are you waking me up, I was sleeping!" and "Why am I on the ground?" and "Where am I?"
They all took really good care of me, Garrett even asked if I'd eaten anything since falling and got me some brown bread from the hotel bar (yum!). I did not have a concussion, thank goodness, I have a non-visible bruise on my eyebrow from where my head hit the dance floor, and a visible one on my thigh from where my hip hit the floor. There's some smaller bruises on my arm and leg, but I'm totally fine, and nothing major has happened since that would give me pause or a cause to worry.
It is nice, however, to know that when I faint, which isn't often, I do it gracefully and simply slide downward to the floor (the last time I fainted was in a Presbyterian church service and I slid out of a chair!)
Unfortunately, about 3 pieces into the concert, one of our members fainted 3/4 of the way through the piece. It was the first night we had performed Agnus Dei in front of an audience and we followed up that song with Eric Whitacre's Waternight. It was Waternight that witnessed this event, right on the line that reads "If you close your eyes". Talk about perfect timing, huh?
If you haven't already guessed, that choir member, was me. It was the first time I ever fainted in performance and I still haven't heard the end of it, and today is several nights later. I began blacking out, and thought that I could make it to the end of the song, and then go sit down, but, this did not happen. I have no memory of what happened approximately 8 measures before I went down, and I've heard several versions of what happened from almost every member of the choir.
Here's the basics: I took about 2 1/2 steps out from the choir (I was standing in the front row), I looked up at something on the ceiling, and raised my hand like I wanted to grab something, then kind of staggered to the ground in what's been dubbed a "Princess Faint".
When I came to, apparently I was smiling, but I didn't know what had happened or why everyone was asking if I was okay, until Chris looked me in the face and said "You fainted." Then, I was so embarrassed that I started to cry, and Willy Ray took me over to the front row on the side to sit with him for the rest of the concert. Up until then I'd been thinking "why are you waking me up, I was sleeping!" and "Why am I on the ground?" and "Where am I?"
They all took really good care of me, Garrett even asked if I'd eaten anything since falling and got me some brown bread from the hotel bar (yum!). I did not have a concussion, thank goodness, I have a non-visible bruise on my eyebrow from where my head hit the dance floor, and a visible one on my thigh from where my hip hit the floor. There's some smaller bruises on my arm and leg, but I'm totally fine, and nothing major has happened since that would give me pause or a cause to worry.
It is nice, however, to know that when I faint, which isn't often, I do it gracefully and simply slide downward to the floor (the last time I fainted was in a Presbyterian church service and I slid out of a chair!)
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