Update 25 March 2012

This week, we had parent-teacher conferences for the kids. Of course they are both brilliant star students.    Carlos also received a trophy for his super soccer skills. He was so excited that he brought a special trophy basket to carry it in.

On Wednesday, I had an in-person interview with the Green Dot charter school district. I was nervous but felt like it went well. I did get a funny look from the interviewer, though, when I said that the most important educational strategy is to love your students.

Kirk left again for the frozen expanses of Kazakhstan and Russia on Wednesday. He forgot his blue blazer, but when he learned that it would cost $200+ dollars to ship to Russia (not including duty taxes and fees), he decided to rough it.   (We must be in the wrong business! Somebody, open a shipping company!) He will be gone until April 5^th.

On Friday, I took myself to the “Hunger Games” movie while the kids were at school. Maren and I supposedly went on a long-distance date (same time, same movie), but she has not actually confirmed that she was there in spirit, and I did feel a bit lonely at times. I have to say that I am very impressed with the movie, which is the most faithful book-to-movie adaptation that I have ever seen. There was also less gore than I expected (much appreciated).

 

I got a good laugh at church today when the bishop’s wife described her utter horror and disgust at the movie, which she saw “blindly” (having not read the book). Apparently, at one point during the movie, she turned to her neighbor and asked, “Wait, are they going to kill the kids?!?” I can understand how that would be quite a shock. Moral: always read the book before you see the movie.*

Friday night was LILA’s Barnes & Noble book fair. I was super excited to get my hands on the French translations of the Harry Potter books. Arianna, on the other hand, stocked our basket with a dozen fairy books. My mom, a “Young People’s Librarian,” pointed out that it is healthy and normal for elementary-age girls to adore the series, so I will bite my lip and be content that Arie shares an interest with her peers. There were not really any great French books at Carlos’s reading level (English has a lot more 3-letter words), but he did score a Pikachu doll with his dime chart earnings.

 

I teach adult Sunday School every week now, which is probably good practice despite having no guarantee of an imminent job. I got tired of the traditional boring sermon/lecture style, so I shook things up today and taught a really good movin’ & groovin’ lesson worthy of a Green Dot interview. The class members were definitely out of their element but they seemed to enjoy the change.

Every time I teach a lesson, I’m surprised by how much I enjoy it. It still feels unreal to tell people that I'm a teacher (especially because some people seem to have ideas about the kind of uninspired folk who become teachers). I certainly never would have given it a try without God’s urging. But, happily, He knows better than I do and found me a path to enjoy and grow in. I just have to keep up the faith that He will help me find a job that is right for me and my family. I’ve found that many things in my life involve waiting (ex: kids, college) on God’s timing, so…here we go.

* except Polyanna, which was an appallingly boring book but is one of my favorite movies

Link to our Picasa Albums

https://picasaweb.google.com/113547050139096971693?authkey=Gv1sRgCKaQlPvI6b_i4QE 

Angry Birds & Pigs Dominoes

Update 18 March 2012

We are grateful for a good week. Here's the gist of our happenings.

• Carlos is making great progress with decoding words (learning to read).
• Kirk enjoyed a pleasantly normal workweek.
• Arianna ate her last taco for 2 years.
• I discovered my first gray hair.  

Our newsworthy event occurred on Friday when Arianna got braces! 

I was really worried for her because I remember the pain involved in this procedure, but Arianna was super brave and cooperative. 

Nowadays, braces have really become a fashion statement: you can choose from a variety of bracket shapes (Arie chose stars and hearts, no surprise) and band colors (Arie chose pink, blue, and green).   

Her orthodontist gave her a cool new electric toothbrush with a head specifically made for brushing teeth with braces, and Arianna can earn points toward prizes (ex: gift cards, MP3 players) for taking good care of her teeth.

I kept Arianna home from school on Friday because I was worried that her mouth would be sore. But she felt fine in the morning, so we had some special girls’ time and went shopping. Arie emerged from Kohl’s with some pretty cute outfits. We also read some chapters from Harry Potter 5 together, and then Arie settled in to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (my kids LOVE the scenes with Carloses).

We didn’t do anything special for St. Patrick’s Day, but maybe that’s just as well: in the past, Kirk has balked at my dyed-green dinners. Our non-holiday made me nostalgic for McFinn’s in Indiana, where we used to go for authentic “bangers and mash.” (OK, maybe we really went there to listen to the people’s accents, but we also ate.) Instead, we began working our way through the 30 cans of soup that I stocked in anticipation of Arie’s sore mouth.

This coming week has some exciting highlights.

• I have a Round 3 interview at a high-risk high school.    
• Kirk departs for two weeks in Russia, Kazahkstan, and Switzerland.    
• The kids’ school is collaborating with Barnes & Noble for a French book fair.    
• And, of course, the “Hunger Games” movie comes out on Friday. 

Let the good times roll!  

Update 11 March 2012

This week seemed to have a definite sports theme. 

On Wednesday, we joined some friends to watch PAC-12 women’s basketball playoffs at USC (even I can't argue with free front-row seats). 

Colorado won UofUtah in a lackluster game where both teams scored points almost exclusively through foul shots. 

Later, Washington State trampled over Oregon State. Although one of our friends was a native Oregonian and we were theoretically rooting for his home state, we were relieved to see one team (WSU) that actually showed up for the tournament.

Midweek, I banned Carlos from playing soccer during recess after he came home with a deep scrape on his left elbow. The recess games are uncoached, spontaneous matches when boys of all elementary ages (5-10) scramble for a foot on the ball and a shot at the goal. Carlos is great at holding his own during these chaotic games, despite the fact that he is a good 12 inches shorter than most of the players. However, the scrape was deep and messy enough that we couldn't afford further injury or infection. I expected Carlos to protest the rest time, but he’s actually enjoyed the extra attention he gets from me (Nurse Mommy) and his friends.

Saturday was LILA’s last game of the “winter” season, and the players fought courageously (but in vain) against a much more dominant team. (LOL, true to stereotypes of the French culture, LILA’s soccer team is defense oriented and balks at aggressive offenses.) 

Later that evening, LILA’s soccer kids and families helped the Los Angeles “Galaxy” kick off the Major League Soccer season. 

Despite some fancy footwork—including a bicycle goal shot—Beckham’s teammates were ultimately unsuccessful against Real Salt Lake. If misery truly loves company, then the LILA fans were the right audience for Galaxy’s loss.

Now for the week’s one non-sport highlight. Friday night, I "went out on the town" with some friends. We discovered a deliciously decadent café in Studio City, and I gorged on creamy hot chocolate with a honey-drizzled plate of warm Brie and fruit. (The only thing that could have made it better would have been raspberry jam. Mmm.) I have plans to sneak back there regularly until I have gluttonously sampled the full offering of yumminess. 

Stay tuned for next week’s update, because Arianna will have a new, magnetic smile that you won’t want to miss! Until then, enjoy Arianna & Jillian's poetry recitation of "The Black Unicorn."

Update 4 March 2012

Happy March!

The big story of the week belongs to Arianna. She had two dental visits, lost her last baby tooth, and began the path to orthodontics! She will get braces on March 16th. It’s going to be a big adjustment for the whole family but most especially for Kirk, who reveres foods on the “Banned for Braces” list as ambrosia (popcorn, chips, candy, etc.)

Arianna also expanded her simple clothing-making enterprise for dollies into a self-proclaimed international fashion industry. We will be discovering straight pins for weeks to come.

Señor Carlos continues to show enormous kinesthetic talent—a blessing since he is a very active, energetic boy!  Kirk and I realized recently that the Chub has outgrown his bike. It’s amazing how kids are always growing, but parents can’t tell until their growth=spend money again. 

On Friday, the kids’ school celebrated Dr. Seuss’s birthday by participating in the nationwide “Read across America” event. Everybody wore pajamas to school, and Carlos also wore bright orange hairspray (does that make him Thing 1 or Thing 2?). For the last half hour of the school day, all of the kids gathered on the field for “picnic reading.” It was a great tribute to a beloved author/cartoonist!

Kirk survived a super crazy schedule this week. He worked the graveyard shift three nights so he could collaborate with the Russian Medtronic team without having to travel. A lot of the week’s efforts centered on market research with Russian doctors and patients, which really appealed to Kirk’s inner statistician. (Aren't we glad that *someone* enjoys it?)

I continued the quest for employment and spent a lot of time reading, too. I’m glad that I did the editing emphasis with my B.A. in English, but I’ve noticed that it left me with a deficit on the literary side. As a teacher, both areas are crucial, so I’m trying to get some good books under my belt. I welcome anyone who will join me in my goodreads challenge: let’s read every book that’s every won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction! You don’t have to go in order, finish by a certain date, or read exclusively these books. It’s just one of those worthy, lofty goals that should be on the bucket list of every English major (or otherwise “cultured” person). 

Update 26 February 2012

Another week has sped by, and thus ends February break.

Tuesday was a fun-filled day for us. Grandpa helped Arianna’s second-to-last baby tooth, a molar, out of her mouth. (The generous tooth fairy redeemed this act with an unheard of $2 for a single tooth!) Later that evening, Grandpa treated us to dinner at Claim Jumper. We returned home to a wild and over-planned Mardi Gras party—complete with feathered masks, gold beads, and glowing accessories. The kids kept us busy with ring toss games and dancing until 10pm, and still we did not have time for all of their entertainment aspirations. 

We returned to California on Wednesday, happy to see Kirk and to be surrounded by our comfort items. Carlos absolutely forbade me to take them anywhere on Thursday because he did not want to miss another moment with his toys/TV/Wii. Thursday afternoon, he announced that we would be spending the following day at La Brea. Who am I to argue with El Rey Carlos? So, we made the time-consuming and tedious trek into downtown Los Angeles (2 hours for 12 miles).

Since we visited the tar pits only 6 months ago, I was surprised by how much I learned during this excursion. We happened to enter the Page Museum as a free tour materialized, and the zoologist that led us shared a number of interesting details. Here is a random assortment of the facts that stood out to me.

• A full-grown mammoth could become fatally stuck in just 4 inches of tar. (Animals don’t sink into tar; they become immobilized by the goo and then die by starvation or by becoming another animal’s meal.)
• For every 1 herbivore found in the tar pits (more accurately, the “asphalt seeps”), there are 9 carnivores. (This counteracts logic since herbivores consistently outnumber carnivores throughout history. But the unfortunate carnivores whose remains we find in the tar pits hunted in packs and died in packs.)
• Paleontologists can tell whether an animal is a carnivore/predator or herbivore/prey based on its eye sockets (exception: dinosaurs). Predators have forward-facing eyes (ex: humans, lions, dogs) that allow for depth perception. “Prey” animals (ex: squirrels, horses) have side-facing eyes that take in a greater range of vision but have no depth perception.
• Woolly Mammoths did not live in SoCal because, at 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the climate was too warm for furry coats. (Other mammoth and mastodon varieties thrived here.)
• The American Lion has now been recategorized as the Giant Jaguar.
• The now-extinct Short-Faced Bear was about 6 feet tall when on all fours and about 13 feet tall when standing threateningly on its hind legs (think, bear of elephant proportions). It is the largest carnivorous mammal to have ever lived in North America.
• The famous tusks on saber-tooth cats (not tigers) were brittle and very breakable. They could only be used on boneless body parts, such as the throat and the belly. This means that a saber-tooth cat usually had to turn its prey over before getting in a death strike.
• Wounded and even temporarily paralyzed saber-tooth cats were cared for by other members of their pride until they healed.
• Giant sloths moved slowly because they “walked” on their ankle bones.
• Prehistoric male horses had long canines for battling one another over rights to females.
• Dinosaurs did not live in SoCal because the land was under water. (New specifications for being a “dinosaur” exclude all water creatures as well as terrestrial creatures with crocodile-like pelvises.)

On Saturday, Carlos attended a classmate’s birthday party and then played LILA soccer. You would think he’d be exhausted after that, but he hurried home to play even more soccer!

Today, I officially became our ward’s Adult Sunday School teacher. Ha! Only the church will “hire” me to teach--and the earnings are purely spiritual! (For you Mo*s out there, here is an article that fits nicely into current Sunday School readings:
http://maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/publications/jbms/?vol=6&num=2&id=145&print.)

Actually, I have had a couple of phone interviews with Los Angeles charter schools. We will see if anything materializes there. We could really use the extra income now that we are paying off Kirk’s exorbitant loans from Wharton. With the combination of Kirk’s expensive education and my kids’ private school tuition, I have decided that our family’s “currency” must be learning.

The rest of the week’s happenings include fighting random illnesses and getting rear-ended in a no-damage, no-injury accident—not fun things, but still within the “least objectionable” category of negative events. We see God’s help and care for us in these many small ways.