German Camp

Last Spring I agreed to teach and the Tacoma Language School Summer camp.  I figured out that combined with my teaching at the Saturday school during the school year, my Summer camp hours, would get me half way to re-certifying for teaching in the state of Utah.  I knew it would be a bit of work, but I also knew that it would pay off in the end.

As part of the deal I needed to enroll the kids.  Since, Greg has little time off with his new job, and the kids are still out of school.  They were not looking forward to the experience.  We convinced them to take part without complaining and with fake smiles on their faces.

The first day was exhausting.  The camp started at 9am, but I had to be there early to set up my room and help with registering the kids.  The camp ended at 2pm.  Again, my hours were extended to include cleaning up my room, setting up for the next day and participating in a staff meeting.  Our day started at 8am and ended at 3pm.

I know that sounds like no big deal for you full time working people, but for me and the kids, we were exhausted.  That much German in a day managing the chaos of students ranging from 4 years to 11 years was a lot of work for this inexperienced working Mamma.  Fortunately, by the end of the week we grew accustomed to the exertion and we felt accomplished and proud.

The kids even grew to have fun!  Micah mentioned that he learned to like singing and asked to attend again next year.  Sadie piped in to include only if I could be her teacher.  Well, that sounds like a success!

I felt pretty good about the experience too.  I was in charge of the 9-11 years and my class was well behaved and pretty capable.  We started the day as a large group and split into our different ages.  Our group was called the Luebecker and I taught about Northern Germany.  The theme for the camp was the Fairy Tale Highway.  Each region focused on the fairy tales from their area.  I chose "Bremen Town Musicians," "The Pied Piper," and "Snow White."  We also had a day to discuss our specific region of Germany and a day to try out some foods of that area.  We tried to fit vocabulary, speaking, listening activities into each lesson to make learning more interesting for the kids.  I was also in charge of the music time for the camp and dodge ball at recess.

I think the camp was successful.  In fact, it was pretty intense.  By the end of the week, the kids knew 5 German songs and had a range of new German vocabulary.  My kids who don't have much German experience were singing along at the program on Saturday.  Micah was pulling our words that I didn't think he knew.  I asked him, where did you learn that?  "Mom, what were we doing all week?"  he answered.  Also, I think that more language seeped into their heads while we lived in Germany than I realized.

I really enjoyed having my kids with me.  In the mornings, when I felt that pit in my stomach, as I faced the long day, the thought came to my mind, "I get to take three of my best friends with me."

Summer

Summer break has been surprisingly pleasant.  Most days have had a nice balance of work and play.  Starting this week, we have swim lessons every day at 9am.  It is the perfect way to start the morning.  At first, the kids went complaining, but now they seem to be pleased with the arrangement.  I have extended the arrangement into the next swim session.  They kids are making nice progress and are getting exercise too.

We also have had a few outings.  We made it to the zoo the other day.  Greg was off and was able to attend with us.  The zoo was sparsely attended and the weather cool.  It made for the perfect conditions.  

We also met at the Owen beach with cousins.  We rented a Kayak and Katie and Thomas took the little ones on a ride around the Puget Sound.  It is great having capable big kids around to help entertain.  

Of course, Summer would not be complete without many trips to Home Depot.  The kids are seeking refuge from the Seattle heat.  

Greg comes home most days asking, "why are you all so happy?"  I don't know.  We are having a nice time, I guess.  

Mother's Day

Attack of the Ninja Moms
     by Micah Jensen

Who knew where they came from or how they got here,
but once they got started their intention was clear.

They went to the North, the South, the East, the West,
From a small smelly pond, to a great eagle's nest.

They cleaned up all the houses and cleaned up the yards too.
In fact, I come to realize some of them looked just like you.

They stopped global warming and saved the fun polar bears.
Then people began to think, "hey, these mothers really care."

They told stories to orphans and fed kids in Iran.
Apparently, they did these things, just because they can.

The cleaned up all the diapers, that babies had peed in.
Even though getting them off created such a din.

They baked batches of cookies and told kids not to eat the dough.
They helped moms not get anything they don't need at Costco.

They went shopping for Easter, Christmas and Birthdays.
They made sure no one was late on work days.

They snuggled with kids on stormy nights,
and told them everything was all right.

They made kids feel special with they did something good,
and also every time they did something they should.

They washed pillows and beds and led them upstairs.

The mayor built a statue in the Ninja mom's honor
At first they Ninja Moms were happy , but then they began to ponder.

They said, "We don't want a statue or any fancy stuff,
 all we ask for in return is love."

To a true Ninja Mom, I would like to say,
Happy Mother's Day!

Tender Moment
*I love You*

Easter

We had a pleasant week.  The sun came out and charmed us.  The kids has only half-days most of the week.  We spent a lot of time out doors at the park, made it to the library and prepared for Easter.

On Friday, I decided it was time to get Easter basket fillers.  Taylor was out of school, so I decided to make him a part of the adventure.  "Let's go play Easter bunny,"  I said.

Taylor answered with silence.

"Doesn't that sound fun?"  I added.

"Is that a game or something?"  He asked.

"No,"  I preceded to tell the news that the Easter bunny is not real and it has been me all along.

Again, silence....

"Did you dress like an Easter bunny and give us our baskets?  Did you shop for our candy at night. What do you mean you where the Easter bunny?"  Taylor was so confused.

I explained it again gave greater details, no costume, bought the candy when they were at school, hid the baskets in the closet until it was Easter morning.  Why did I decide the break the news this year?  I had forgotten how easily Taylor believes in Santa, and obvious the Easter bunny.

"Playing Easter bunny means we get to get the baskets ready for the other kids.  Don't you want to help me pick out the candy?  Do you think you can keep a secret?"

Disappointed, Taylor sighed, "Why didn't you keep it a secret?"

Sorry, bud......

Later on in the week, I decided to ask the kids if they know the meaning of Easter.  Sadie and Taylor were part of the conversation.

Taylor answered, "I think it has something to do with, you know, Jesus,"  he leaned in whispering.

Sadie jumped in the conversation, "No, no......isn't it when all the animals were created?"

I shook my head.

"Okay, Okay, I know, it was when that guy in Egypt, saw a burning bush and became a prophet?"

Again I shook my head, and thought, well, it looks like we need a little review.

Later, Greg gave them a short lesson on the events of the first Easter.  They talked about Jesus being resurrected and that we will all be resurrected.

Taylor with a desperate look on his face, "Oh, no.  I think I said something wrong."

Greg reassured him that it is okay to be wrong sometimes.....

"I told my primary teacher that I saw great Grandma Widdison being resurrected....."

It has been a while

We are well into the new year and I haven't given an update on myself or the family. My last post was in the Summer and well, a lot has happened. I am not going to try to bring anyone up to date, but will just jump into the present. I had set some new goals for 2013.

 Of course, there are the typical "get in shape" goals that make the list every year. I also plan to read more, and want to magnify my talents in other areas like cooking and playing the organ.....but there is one goal I am excited about: getting re-certified as a teacher. After having kids, I let my teaching certificate in the State of Utah lapse. Now that the kids are grown a bit, I have decided that I might want to go back and teach part time, eventually, maybe when my kids are in Middle School, or something and I want to be a super secret spy and keep an eye on them, or maybe just to be prepared if my life circumstances change. For some reason, not sure why, I have felt driven to get my teaching certificate current.

 Last fall, I started teaching at a private German School called the "Tacoma German Language School." Getting this little weekend job is it's own story. I spied a German mom and the soccer field, talking to her kids in German. I got up the nerve and started a conversation with her. It turns out that she is the principal at this school and offered me a job as a teaching assistant in the 4 and 5 year old classroom. I took the job and signed Sadie up for the older class. She has a friend from Germany who we pick up on the way to school every Saturday. It is our own Saturday girl time, with a built in play date. I didn't take the job for the money, but as a resume builder. It turns out that the Utah department of Education will recognize this time and give me credit towards re-certification: 25 points.

 After working there for 6 months, the principal asked me if I would be interested in helping out with the German Summer camp. The money is better, but because my kids are out of school at that time, I would have to enroll them to participate in the camp. Add up the tuition and throw in a tank of gas, I would break even. It would be a lot of work too, 5 hours a day, for 6 days the last week of July. I was ready to to decline on the offer. Until the Utah Department of Education responded with another 25 hours. I am in and so are my kids. They are not as thrilled..... 

Next, I searched the internet for some teacher development seminar. After some looking, I discovered that The National Science Teachers Association is having a seminar this October in Portland, only 2 hours away. It looks like I am headed on my own little Science weekend getaway. Greg is planning on taking the kids for that time. The topic it "Bridging the gap between Elementary and Secondary Science Curriculum." I am looking forward to getting current in Science Endorsement, and getting another 25 points.

 The last 25 points I have been working on for the last year and half. Volunteering at the kid's elementary school also counts towards re-certification. For every 3 hours of service, I get 1 point. Last week, I found out that I have 40 hours, around 13 points. If I keep helping out at this rate, I should have another 12 points by next year, maybe by Christmas, or before the end of the year, to make my goal of re-certification in 2013.

Starting with the end of Summer

Obviously, I haven't been up to date with blogger over the last 6 months. I vowed to keep current over the long lazy summer days. Well, they didn't turn out to be so lazy. With my fear of being bored, came the tendency to over-schedule. Now that things have slowed down a bit, I am going to blog backwards and catch up with all the summer news. I will start with the events of yesterday. It began, a few weeks ago, when we found a flier on our doorstep announcing our neighborhood yard sale. Since moving, we have assembled a pile of junk, which needs to be removed from our garage. We would like to be able to park at least one car indoors during the coming winter months. Rather than paying the dump to take our stuff, we decided to see if anyone would pay us to have it. I told the kids, that they could have the money if they helped gather the stuff, set up the tables, label the items with prices and help with the money exchange. They agreed and we decided to try to make this a fun Saturday experience. On a whim, I made a double batch of chocolate chip cookies. This proved to be the best selling item at our address. After a couple of hours, I returned to the kitchen to make another double batch. Word had spread around the neighborhood and customers came to buy cookies. Some of them removed a few "space fillers" from our garage, but we didn't get rid of most of the stuff. Although, we made $81 dollars in profit (most of it from a queen-sized bed.) It turned out to be a decent lesson in math and working for your money.

Old hobbies, New skills

With all kids in some sort of school at least couple of days a week. I have recently, discovered more time for myself. After years of day dreaming, imagining how life would be with the extra time, I felt a bit of a let down. I didn't expect there to be an adjustment! The first week of school was sad, by the second week I realized that I needed to set some personal goals to use this time well.

With so much time alone, I feared that I would end the school year fat and poor. I needed to find something that didn't include: eating food or spending money.

Of course, there is exercise and cleaning the house, but I wanted something to look forward to, something to get excited about and didn't require any extra motivation. So, I came up with a few things to expand my talents.

Organ. My mom is an organist and lives an hour away. I knew it was finally time to take advantage of free lessons, now that I live close by and am mature enough to take lessons from my mom. The only problem was where to practice. I came across this problem in Germany, when I was called as ward organist. Church was too far to get any regular practice in and I didn't feel comfortable at the church by myself. I knew that I would be more efficient with my time, if I actually owned an organ. So, I found one on Ebay for 250 dollars and only an hour away. I had it delivered on Halloween and it now resides in our bedroom....how romantic. It is an old organ, but plays nicely and has given me the chance to finally learn the pedals. I manage to get a lesson from my mom regularly and am enjoying working on a new familiar skill.

The Dollhouse. When I was 16, I got a dollhouse for Christmas, the kind you build and fill with collector furniture. At the time, I wanted to be an interior decorator and saw this as a chance to learn. I never got to that point, though. My brother and I worked on it off and on during my high school years, and managed only to get the outside done.

When we moved back to the states, the house was waiting at my parents house. I had been 20 years since I worked on it and it was time to be played with. So, I went in to productive mode and set a goal to get it ready for the kids to play with by Christmas. Well, my kids didn't have to have any furniture or cute wall paper to play. As soon as we brought it home, I discovered batman and polly pockets, occupying the empty rooms.

I put away my lofty goals of electrical wiring, real wood floors and the expensive furniture. Instead of going to the specialty dollhouse store, I went to Micheal's. Oh....yes.....one thing has happened since the early 90s, a crafting explosion. Now, there are craft stores full of scrapbook paper, paint, contact paper...etc. And of course, there are 50 percent off coupons. A very expensive hobby just got pretty cheap. I could wallpaper a room for under a dollar. Flooring (fake wood drawer liner)was 6 dollars for the entire house.

My main goal was to make this a family project. I didn't want it to take away any extra time from the kids. I didn't want to be a crafty-mom-control freak and only let my kids watch me work on the house. So, I found something that I could let them do that wasn't too difficult: paint the interior and modge-podge the wall paper in the rooms. Sadie proved to be a great painter. She also exhibited some taste in color and pattern selection. She picked out the girls room and decided on the wall paper. Also, she came up with a great beaded-curtain for the doorway. Letting the kids be a part of the work, also helps me to relax when it comes to play time. They have a decent amount of respect for the house, and treat it pretty gently. Also, when something breaks, we can always fix it, well..... because we built it.