Back Bloggin'

So I totally fell off the blogging bandwagon for awhile. A long while! But, I'm back...hoping to be able to blog on some kind of regular basis...well, that is my intention anyway.

Looking back and reading some of my old blog entries helped to conjure up sweet memories especially of my children growing up this past year. Though sounding quite cliche, time sure flies. I think maintaining this blog helps to preserve those joyful memories and keep them alive in my heart and mind. I was able to share a few entries with my older daughter who also enjoyed taking a walk down memory lane with me.

My girls completely remind me of one of my favorite picture books about sisters. It's called Big Sister, Little Sister by Leuyen Pham who is an awesome children's author and illustrator. This book is absolutely darling in both text and illustrations, celebrates sisterhood, and is perfect for big and little sisters to read together. It resounds with me since I am a big sister to my little sister. It is certainly a blessing and a privilege to be a sister.

In Leuyen Pham's words, "The Big one gets new clothes. The Little one gets hand-me-downs. The Big one does everything first. The Little one is always catching up But the little one can do some things well, and can even teach the older one a thing or two..." I just adore this book!

Read Across America

Last Wednesday (March 2nd) was Dr. Seuss's birthday and National Read Across America Day. I had the privilege at work to organize a community guest readers program. I had invited a host of different community figures including a librarian, a police chief, the mayor, college student-athletes, former school principals and teachers, board of education members, and central administrators of the school district I teach at. And boy, my hosting duties completely wiped me out by the end of the day!

Dr. Seuss was a persistent writer especially since one of his first books was rejected multiple times before becoming published. He was inspired to write his first book while on an ocean voyage and he wrote with rhythm which goes with the rise and fall of ocean waves. Some of my Dr. Seuss faves include: Horton Hatches the Egg, Yertle the Turtle, Green Eggs and Ham, and The Foot Book. I just realized that one of his pen names Theo LeSieg is backwards for Theodore Geisel which is his real name. My older one and I just finished reading The Lorax and she just thought it was the yummiest book! My younger one loves The Foot Book- perfect for toddlers to reread over and over again!

Survived the Week

I pretty much dropped off of the blogging bandwagon for weeks now. Well, this week was a busy one. I had almost 30 parent-teacher conferences and was home at 10 pm on Tuesday, utterly exhausted. Somehow God had carried me through the week. Of course, there's always a few disgruntled parents who were angry over having to wait for their conference. Fortunately, I was able to let that slide off my back, although it's not always easy to decompress from difficult conferences. Anyway, I have one more round of conferences next Tuesday night.

Glad the weekend is here and that I can spend time with the family. It was also nice to see green grass and feel the warmth of the changing weather. No more piles of snow at the end of the driveway. Yah!

Chicken Soup for the Soul?

This is a little shout out to my nephew who was sick last week. Hope you're feeling all better, little guy! Anyway, Campbell's soup always reminds me of those Chicken Soup for the Soul books. My second grader read one of these books written for kids and just loved it and took it all in like a bowl of soup! You can see all the different Chicken Soup for the Soul books right here:
http://www.chickensoup.com/cs.asp?cid=titles

Stress Buster

Does anyone remember the Milton Bradley game, Hungry, Hungry Hippos? I used to love playing that fun game with my sister as a kid and wondered whatever happened to our set. Well, this past Christmas, my daughters' godmother sent them Hungry, Hungry Hippos, and I don't know who was happier, me or them. (The former, of course!)

The game is definitely a stress buster as long as you don't play too competitively. I can become rather competitive especially when my hubby plays, and it hurts the palm of my hand. It's a joy to see the whole family be involved in such a mindless, boisterous, and giggle-producing game. It helps us to relax as a family, and I love how both my 3 and 7-year old can enjoy it together!

Mommy Musings

Parenting is downright humbling. I feel like each day I am being schooled on how to be a more godly person and to develop more godly character because there is more to live for than just myself in this life. My children are my legacy. I honestly cannot imagine my life without my children. Don't get me wrong, it's hard work being a parent, not to mention how physically and emotionally draining it can be, but it is also coupled with much joy, purpose, and meaning.

Hubby and I have been trying to engage our children in a weekly "family devotional" time on Sundays. I guess the operative word is "trying". It is quite a challenge to get both a 3 year old and 7 year old to sit and focus for more than 15-20 minutes. However, I keep telling myself that we, as parents, should not, at this point, be results-driven, but to try our best on a weekly basis to instill in our children (on their level) simple Biblical truths/lessons which our church also teaches them.

For the past few weeks, we have been talking about what it means to have determination. Determination is deciding it's worth it to finish what you've started. This was the godly trait we want to teach our children. Along with that, we taught our children (namely our 7 year old) the memory verse from the Bible that goes hand in hand with that:

"Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." from the book of Hebrews (12:1).

The highlight of our family devotional time together was when we allowed the girls to run a "pretend" race on the first floor of our home. They have so much energy so it was a perfect tie-in, and we stressed the importance of finishing the race and not coming in first. This is a lesson that my older child consistently needs reinforcement in learning. We also taught them that everyone's "race" is unique and different in life since God has designed or marked out a plan for each one of us and that we need to live our lives trying our best to honor His plan for us by learning to be more like Jesus.

This family time has personally been time well-spent despite the sacrifice of some planning time and not being able to get as many things (such as chores) done on the weekend. It has given me a focus and more clarity on how to live the Christian life...Will I run the race God has marked out for me as wife, mother, and teacher in such a way that will honor and glorify His name? Do my heart, thoughts, actions, and behaviors reflect those of someone who is a Christ-follower?

Through my recent musings, I have learned that I need to surrender to God and embrace His plan for me. I never relied on Him more since I became a parent. I know that I need to develop more trust and faith in Him. Believe me, this is not a piece of cake or a stroll in the park for someone who is a bit of a control-freak and who has a Type-A personality. It's scary to release control over things especially when it comes to caring for your children. However, I know that I am not going to get through this life as a parent if I don't realize that He is ultimately the One in control and I need to hand over everything (all my worries, fears, etc.) to Him and know that he is Father to all.

Snow, Again?

The kids were quite depressed when the remnants of snow from our last big blizzard were pretty much gone. Above, you'll find our "snowman" family that we created from the piles of snow from that first snowstorm of the winter season. My older daughter likes to refer to the snowmen as "marshmallow" people since we totally cheated by using sand pails and our recycling bucket. We used bottle caps for the big snowman's eyes. Well, there were no corn cob pipe, button nose, and two eyes made out of coal. The snowman on the far left represents my older daughter and the two little mounds near it are her dog and doll. Anyway, I hear we're due for more of the white stuff this coming week. Break out the sleds!

New Year's "Intentions"

I was pondering my goals for 2011 and did not want to make traditional "resolutions" as they may be broken way too soon. I am trying not to fall off the bandwagon prematurely so these are my top ten "intentions" for 2011.

1. Reconnect with God through prayer and reading the Bible. I highly recommend http://www.youversion.com for a personalized reading plan for the Bible. The website offers many different plans and time frames for reading the whole Bible or just partial Bible.

2. Spend quality time with my family which includes alone time with my hubby, too!

3. Make healthy choices for my body, mind, & spirit (I guess that means some exercise and eating mildly unhealthy junk food in moderation )

4. Be proactive with guiding my children through their spiritual development (weekly family devotional time)

5. Laugh and giggle more like my children & don't take myself too seriously!

6. Be grateful for all God has given me. (Less complaining)

7. Be more compassionate and less judgmental towards others.

8. Be more comfortable in my own skin and not care what others think of me.

9. Read more books for leisure (I am a reading teacher after all!)

10. Learn something new and be creative (Still figuring what this could be...maybe scrapbooking?)