Charm and Grace

Homecoming Summer 2012

 http://www.amazon.com/Learning-Carpets-Giant-Road-Carpet/dp/B00001P4YD  I had a dream about a play quilt sort of like this one. The quilt in my dream had roads with boulders, houses & trees along the side of the road. In the first part of the dream my view was at the floor level so that I could see the topography of the 3-D play mat. The boulders were large enough to obstruct the complete view of the mat. I could however move the boulders. That fact surprised me because the boulders looked too big to be moved. I was allowed to stand up and look down upon the boulders to see that they were really just large rocks. Upon lifting one of the rocks, I had the thought, "The world is as big or as small as you decide to make it". I think this observation applies equally to problems, as well as opportunities. We can choose our point of view of any boulder. We can magnify it, or shrink it. And, the size of our influence can be diminished or enlarged by our point of view...

I've been working on my "To-Do" List. This is a list that is difficult to work on during the school year. It's only Wednesday and I've: Bought a new desk, put the desk together, organized my new desk, transferred 10 boxes of Physics files home, sorted through them & kept one copy of the best stuff & refiled it into my new 4-drawer filing cabinet at home. Began working on lesson plans for the Fall. Shampooed the den carpet. Put up new drapery rods in the den, washed the drapes & rehung them. Tried a new dinner roll recipe that turned out to be Fabulous!!!!  & all this, just to avoid going to the gym . The recipe: 3-2/3 Cups  King Arthur All-purpose flour 3t                 Instant Yeast 1/3- Cup     Granulated Sugar 1t                 Salt 1-Cup   ...

If I were an angel I would: Visit every member of my family daily and help them do whatever they needed help with. Remind each member of my family how great I think they are. Remind each member of my family of how much they are loved. Show each member of my family how to get through their most difficult trials. Participate in what ever missionary effort they've got going on; Maybe I could be a temple angel. Help at least one stranger per day, like the "Touched by an Angel" TV show. but alas, I'm not an angel either. So I can: Let every member of my family know that I think you are wonderful! Let you know that I pray for each of you by name every day. Listen to you if you ever want to talk about ANYTHING. Stay in touch with you through Facebook, Skype, telephone & email. Let you know that I long to hug you & pat you on the head! Let you know that you are loved by God. Be kind, loving and patient to my teenage students & perhaps let them kn...

Friday was a long day, at the end of a long week.  I had 6:45 AM duty. My students took a quiz about Spherical Mirrors after a short review session.  I got all the quizzes graded, graded all the miscellaneous make-up work, typed in all the grades & posted the grade report on IGPro.  I had an after-school parent conference with a sweet girl and her lovely family and returned a parent call to the Mom of a struggling student at 5 PM, and then left the building for home.  We have a four-day week next week, followed by Spring Break.  I worked in the building past 5 PM three out of four days last week. Next year the teachers at our school will have an increased number of students, or an increase in the number of classes that we teach, or both.  We will continue to have furlough days next year.  I'm thinking about ways to make my work easier.  I think writing about it will help me. 

That's a quote from our Ellie dear as she peeled back the wrapping paper covering her new wooden blocks. Here's some photos:

Conference was great today!  John & I always pray daily, morning & night for each of our children and grandchildren.  I going to begin to ask daily about what I can do to be of help to each of my children and grandchildren. I was prompted during the talks to check the Church Distribution website for gospel books for my grandchildren to keep at the house.  I'll look for Family Home Evening resources to give as gifts to each of my children. I'm going to be more diligent about praying for my students. I may be the only "Mormon" they know. What kind of example am I????  I'm going to be kinder. I'm going to reach out to them individually before the end of the semester & let them know that they are of great worth.  I'm going to pray for more missionary experiences.  John placed 15 Books of Mormon when visiting a friend's Sunday School class.  It was wonderful to watch him teach.  We've been invited back to share more about our fai...

Bogan Aquatic Park is a nearby indoor pool with slides, waterworks, and a lazy river. This will be a family favorite location for years to come. It's perfect family fun and the ideal spot for relief from winter weather.  Too young for the swimming pool   Grammie & Jonathan, and Bradie & Ellie  Splish Splash! Bear & Jonathan, and Grammie & Ellie on the Lazy River Grinning for Mommy! Followed by ice cream at the Dairy Queen...what a great day!