I am not a good swimmer at all. I can swim enough to stay afloat in a pool, I can even swim in a lake if I must. I am confident that I could swim enough to stay safe should I accidentally fall into some deep water and I'm not weighted down or tangled up. That being said, the reason for my swimming deficiency is because I grew up with a fear of water, one that was only overcome because of a desire to graduate High School. You see in my high school one semester of swimming was required to graduate, so I took the non-swimmers course and learned enough to get me by.
Now, because of my experiences as a child I took a very different approach to teaching my children to swim. I kept their swimming experiences positive allowing them whatever floaties, suits, and vests that they felt they needed in order to be confident and feel safe. My oldest boy has done well over the years, he's always been a bit of a fish and loves the water. He has always been the one that jumps right in as soon as swimming season hits, and he's always been the more daring one when it comes to jumping into the water, going under water, and trying to swim without floats. My middle boy however, was always the child that took a full month to decide it was safe to come off the second step and into the water, he has always required that we give him a life vest to wear in the water to keep him from drowning. He was the child that I thought would never learn to swim.
As it turns out, this summer they both learned to swim on their own time, at their own pace, and without floaties. It is quite an accomplishment for them, and they are very glad to have learned. They now swim both under and above the water, and at the rate they are going will be better swimmers than their mama in no time at all! I know that some don't like floaties for children, but for us allowing them to use the floaties until they were confident in their abilities was the best choice.
I am one happy mama, I have two swimmers now, who love the water and never had to overcome a fear of it just to graduate high school!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
What was that again?
Today I had the pleasure of visiting a local attraction The Boyce Thompson Arboretum which of itself is simply beautiful. To walk among God's Creations and see the variety and the purpose for each plant is just amazing to me. The whole point of the trip today was to attend a tour offered by a friend of ours all about the Plants of the Bible.
Because of the similarities in climate, many of the plants that are mentioned in the Bible grow well here in Arizona. I was fascinated by the many plants we saw today, and I enjoyed learning some intresting facts about these plants. For example did you know that a date palm tree can produce 24 Tons of dates in it's lifetime? This makes for a very profitable orchard if you have a few date palms within it.
Another very interesting fact I learned during our 2 hour walk was that there is no such thing as a Gopher tree...from which the ark was built, and so scholars began trying to decide where Gopher wood came from. I suppose I always thought that when the Bible said Gopher Wood, I just took it as exactly that. Now there is some disagreement as to where exactly the Gopher Wood comes from, and there is no way to know here on earth who is correct but there are two possible sources that we discussed today, one seems to me highly unlikely. Now the first of the two possible sources is an Oleander, this to me seems highly unlikely because an oleander is a bush like plant, though it can grow quite tall, with very thin whiplike branches. Oleander looks like this:
As you can see the branch of this plant does not look like much to build a large boat from. The second possible source, which seems more likely to me, and again this is nothing that can be proven but meerly an educated guess based on available information. The second possiblity is Mediterranean Cypress, now this tree is very tall, fairly large around and would likely make the perfect planks for building an Ark. The Cyprus looks like this:
As you can see this particular tree is very tall, with a big round trunk. If I had to choose between the two I'd certainly choose the cypress tree!
The Gopher wood is believed to come from the fact that in translating from the original Greek text, there was no English word for the Greek word Kupar so the word Gopher was used. Gopher however actually refers to the process used to get the wood, a process of lamination involving shaving thin piece of the tree and then gluing them back together (think modern plywood). Now this Mediterranean Cypress is very common in the Mediterranean area, it is a very hard, sturdy wood, and was commonly used for boat making by the Cretans and Greeks. This seems a much more likely canditate for the Ark to me.
Again this is all opinion, as no person alive today can say for sure what Noah used to build the Ark. I simply wanted to share a little bit of trivia with you that I found interesting. I hope to take this tour again soon and learn even more!
Because of the similarities in climate, many of the plants that are mentioned in the Bible grow well here in Arizona. I was fascinated by the many plants we saw today, and I enjoyed learning some intresting facts about these plants. For example did you know that a date palm tree can produce 24 Tons of dates in it's lifetime? This makes for a very profitable orchard if you have a few date palms within it.
Another very interesting fact I learned during our 2 hour walk was that there is no such thing as a Gopher tree...from which the ark was built, and so scholars began trying to decide where Gopher wood came from. I suppose I always thought that when the Bible said Gopher Wood, I just took it as exactly that. Now there is some disagreement as to where exactly the Gopher Wood comes from, and there is no way to know here on earth who is correct but there are two possible sources that we discussed today, one seems to me highly unlikely. Now the first of the two possible sources is an Oleander, this to me seems highly unlikely because an oleander is a bush like plant, though it can grow quite tall, with very thin whiplike branches. Oleander looks like this:
As you can see the branch of this plant does not look like much to build a large boat from. The second possible source, which seems more likely to me, and again this is nothing that can be proven but meerly an educated guess based on available information. The second possiblity is Mediterranean Cypress, now this tree is very tall, fairly large around and would likely make the perfect planks for building an Ark. The Cyprus looks like this:
As you can see this particular tree is very tall, with a big round trunk. If I had to choose between the two I'd certainly choose the cypress tree!
The Gopher wood is believed to come from the fact that in translating from the original Greek text, there was no English word for the Greek word Kupar so the word Gopher was used. Gopher however actually refers to the process used to get the wood, a process of lamination involving shaving thin piece of the tree and then gluing them back together (think modern plywood). Now this Mediterranean Cypress is very common in the Mediterranean area, it is a very hard, sturdy wood, and was commonly used for boat making by the Cretans and Greeks. This seems a much more likely canditate for the Ark to me.
Again this is all opinion, as no person alive today can say for sure what Noah used to build the Ark. I simply wanted to share a little bit of trivia with you that I found interesting. I hope to take this tour again soon and learn even more!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Mummy's boys
Today's lesson was just too cute not to share! We are using Mystery of History this year and I must say it's quite a bit of fun, today however was both fun and adorable. Our study was on Ancient Egypt and this was the result...
These are Mummy's Mummies! The most fun part to them was tearing themselves out of the toilet paper wrappings. I just love when history is fun!
Summer Days
Well, the heat is finally beginning to wind down here and so we are able to play outside some. Yesterday I took the boys to play in the grass, forgetting that Little One has never been in grass before. Oh, the fun they had! The big boys made hideouts in the bushes, and Little One well, he just ran in circles and tried to eat rocks. I thought I'd share a few photos of the fun, as they came
out better than I expected.
I especially love the one where the baby is running down the hill, it almost kinda reminds me of Little House on the Prairie in the opening where the children are running through the field, only our field is freshly mowed. It's nice that we have some grass to play in where we live, as most everything is usually either sand or pea gravel. They had so much fun, and today after lessons we have planned to go swimming. Hopefully I'll remember the camera~
Birbit thinks there is just something so peaceful in watching children play!
out better than I expected.
I especially love the one where the baby is running down the hill, it almost kinda reminds me of Little House on the Prairie in the opening where the children are running through the field, only our field is freshly mowed. It's nice that we have some grass to play in where we live, as most everything is usually either sand or pea gravel. They had so much fun, and today after lessons we have planned to go swimming. Hopefully I'll remember the camera~
Birbit thinks there is just something so peaceful in watching children play!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Can I keep him?
Little that is. Yes it's true my sweet, loving, snuggle bug has turned 6 today. I wish I could keep him little forever, ok maybe not forever but I'm certainly not ready for him to grow up just yet! This is my very emotional child, he's sweet and loving, fierce when defending his brothers, the first to hug you when you are sad, always comforting, caring, clingy, VERY clingy, but he's also the first one to make friends, fearless when it comes to meeting people, literal in everything, and frankly having him around makes me sure God knew what he was doing giving me boys because if having a teenage girl is anything like having my 6 year old around I am certain I would not survive it!
As it was his birthday he got to choose what we did today, what we ate for supper, and pretty much be in charge of the whole day. First thing this morning he requested a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast (which I knew last night so I was prepared), then he said he wanted to go swimming...however me being the more practical person that I am suggested that we either go to the zoo and see animals and play in the water, or go to the splash pad at what USED to be Tempe Town Lake (click the link if you want to know why it used to be the lake). He chose the zoo, not surprising if you know him at all. So we packed up some water (couple of gallons), sippy cups for the baby, changes of clothing, diapers, wipes, sunscreen, and snacks and off we went!
We saw few animals today because it's still too hot for most of them to 'play' outside. However they were well pleased with the few we saw and mostly we went to enjoy Yakulla Caverns, which is a water play area with two slides, 15 or so water squirting ground spouts, a waterfall, and a cave area to explore and splash in the small puddles. They played, they splashes, they slid, they ran, they hid, and then my birthday boy fell and konked his head! He is fine, but he was none too happy with the rubber playground surface with which his head made contact. We spend about 2.5 hours at the zoo today, and then we came home for what I had thought would be a rest.
Nope, he had other ideas, he wanted to play the wii! So the older boys played wii while baby slept and I went to pick up his cake and prep for his supper. He decided that he just wanted a small cake this year and so we got him a small, but very colorful 1/8 sheet cake. For his supper he requested hot dogs, burgers (which he insisted daddy put on the grill), chips, and pickles. So we had supper and then he wanted to go swimming!
We got all dressed for the pool, put on more sunscreen (this is Arizona after all), loaded the stroller, and headed to the pool. We get to the pool only to discover that it is closed, and there is no sign of explaination so the reason will remain a mystery. He was disappointed, though he tried not to show it, the disappointment could be read across his face. I felt badly, but there was nothing I could do.
So what did we do, we had cake! And presents! Then it was off to the tub and into jammies for a date with their beds. As I write this I have three sleeping children, and two grown folks who very much wish to be sleeping!
Here are a couple photos because I love to show off my boys, and well what's a blog post with no pictures?
As it was his birthday he got to choose what we did today, what we ate for supper, and pretty much be in charge of the whole day. First thing this morning he requested a bagel with cream cheese for breakfast (which I knew last night so I was prepared), then he said he wanted to go swimming...however me being the more practical person that I am suggested that we either go to the zoo and see animals and play in the water, or go to the splash pad at what USED to be Tempe Town Lake (click the link if you want to know why it used to be the lake). He chose the zoo, not surprising if you know him at all. So we packed up some water (couple of gallons), sippy cups for the baby, changes of clothing, diapers, wipes, sunscreen, and snacks and off we went!
We saw few animals today because it's still too hot for most of them to 'play' outside. However they were well pleased with the few we saw and mostly we went to enjoy Yakulla Caverns, which is a water play area with two slides, 15 or so water squirting ground spouts, a waterfall, and a cave area to explore and splash in the small puddles. They played, they splashes, they slid, they ran, they hid, and then my birthday boy fell and konked his head! He is fine, but he was none too happy with the rubber playground surface with which his head made contact. We spend about 2.5 hours at the zoo today, and then we came home for what I had thought would be a rest.
Nope, he had other ideas, he wanted to play the wii! So the older boys played wii while baby slept and I went to pick up his cake and prep for his supper. He decided that he just wanted a small cake this year and so we got him a small, but very colorful 1/8 sheet cake. For his supper he requested hot dogs, burgers (which he insisted daddy put on the grill), chips, and pickles. So we had supper and then he wanted to go swimming!
We got all dressed for the pool, put on more sunscreen (this is Arizona after all), loaded the stroller, and headed to the pool. We get to the pool only to discover that it is closed, and there is no sign of explaination so the reason will remain a mystery. He was disappointed, though he tried not to show it, the disappointment could be read across his face. I felt badly, but there was nothing I could do.
So what did we do, we had cake! And presents! Then it was off to the tub and into jammies for a date with their beds. As I write this I have three sleeping children, and two grown folks who very much wish to be sleeping!
Here are a couple photos because I love to show off my boys, and well what's a blog post with no pictures?
Yes, that is ketchup all over my oldest boy's shirt, I never once claimed they weren't messy eaters!
Birbitt is too tired to think tonight, so for this once you'll have to forgive me. :)
Friday, July 23, 2010
Family Fun Days
Life has been so busy the past few weeks, as it is summer and it seems the demands on my time increase with the heat. This past week or two I have been feeling the "blahs" and so I decided that I would not make any comittments for this week that didn't directly involve Church, my children, or my husband. It has been so nice to just relax and enjoy everyone again. We have gotten our school work done S-L-O-W-L-Y without the need to rush off somewhere, and we've spent time as a family.
Thursday we took the children swimming, and since it was an overcast day I didn't feel the need to put up the sunshade on the baby's boat. He loved it, every minute of it. The joy in his face as he threw his head sideways into the pool getting his hair wet and splashing water in his face, the shrill screams of delight as he threw his little toys into the pool and waited for them to "magically" return to his hand. The baby enjoys the water, and I am thankful for that because many babies just don't like it, and here in Arizona the pool is a necessity if we are to get any outdoor exercise from June - August (yes I am a wuss and dislike the excessive heat).
My older boys have both just recently learned to swimm, mostly because I have a very "odd" point of view when it comes to teaching a child to swim. I never learned to swim until High School and as a result I decided that I would never push my children to learn to swim if they weren't fully comfortable with it. My boys are now little fishes, the put on their goggles and nose clips and off they go, Hubby and I left to keep eyes on them and be sure they come up for air every now and again.
We enjoy swimming in the early afternoon, as very few other people use the pool at that time so we generally have it pretty much to ourselves and I don't have to worry about the boys splashing people or worry that someone else is doing something that could hurt the boys.
I am forever grateful for days like these where we can just relax and be a family enjoying the company of one another, and making memories with our children that will last forever.
Birbitt thinks memories can be made even during the most everyday events, playing in the pool to beat the summer heat, making a meal, or just being together. Memories don't have to cost a penny, and they last a lifetime. Go out and make some memories today!
Thursday we took the children swimming, and since it was an overcast day I didn't feel the need to put up the sunshade on the baby's boat. He loved it, every minute of it. The joy in his face as he threw his head sideways into the pool getting his hair wet and splashing water in his face, the shrill screams of delight as he threw his little toys into the pool and waited for them to "magically" return to his hand. The baby enjoys the water, and I am thankful for that because many babies just don't like it, and here in Arizona the pool is a necessity if we are to get any outdoor exercise from June - August (yes I am a wuss and dislike the excessive heat).
My older boys have both just recently learned to swimm, mostly because I have a very "odd" point of view when it comes to teaching a child to swim. I never learned to swim until High School and as a result I decided that I would never push my children to learn to swim if they weren't fully comfortable with it. My boys are now little fishes, the put on their goggles and nose clips and off they go, Hubby and I left to keep eyes on them and be sure they come up for air every now and again.
We enjoy swimming in the early afternoon, as very few other people use the pool at that time so we generally have it pretty much to ourselves and I don't have to worry about the boys splashing people or worry that someone else is doing something that could hurt the boys.
I am forever grateful for days like these where we can just relax and be a family enjoying the company of one another, and making memories with our children that will last forever.
Birbitt thinks memories can be made even during the most everyday events, playing in the pool to beat the summer heat, making a meal, or just being together. Memories don't have to cost a penny, and they last a lifetime. Go out and make some memories today!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Worth Saving?
I was working at our church today, helping to clean out rooms so the painters can paint, and helping to organize other rooms. Well, as we (myself and the lady whom I was helping) moved to the next room we discovered a pile of probably 5 or 6 hundred books! We had no idea what to do with them so my work buddy made a few calls and was finally told that the books were "trash". When she told me we'd be carting them out to the dumpster I nearly cried, see to me books are precious and even though some may be old and outdated to me there is nothing more relaxing (worldly thing that is) that picking up a book and getting lost in it's pages. Yes I can even get lost in a non fiction book, I get lost in my learning and it's soothing to the soul.
After speaking with her for a bit we decided to go through the books and each take what we could or would use, save some for the new library that our christian school and college will be building, and the rest were loaded up in my trunk and her trunk to be carted off and donated. I took my load to a local christian thrift store that I thought would be best suited to rehoming hundreds of Christian books, Bible Study books, Bible commentaries, Concordances, and other Christian reference type materials.
I sorted through the books and brought about 30 titles home with me, some by great preachers such as Dr. Jack Hyles, and Dr. Michael Sproul, some books are signed by their authors, some I wasn't really sure if I'd read but the titles sparked my interest and I couldn't pass them up. I even picked up an old church hymnal because I love to sing the hymns and many times I forget the words to some of my old favorites simply because I don't sing them often enough.
At the end of the day I am pleased that this stack of treasure was saved from the landfill. I understand the need to weed out books to make room for the new, but to me throwing away any book that is still readable just tears me up (no pun intended). Later in the afternoon my work partner confessed that she was glad we decided to donate them because she too loves books, and concindentally she left with more books than I.
As I sit here typing this I just thought how the state of these books reminds me of the state of our souls. Some people saw those books as junk to be discarded, but others like me saw them as precious treasure to be saved and given a new life with a new home. Much like us, you see even though many don't see us Christians as much more than another annoyance to be dealt with God saw value in us and he sent his only son to die on the cross to save us, give us a new life in Christ, and a new home in Heaven. God thought we were worth saving, and he did. Perhaps we should remember this lesson the next time we are annoyed with the unfriendly checkout clerk, or the loud person in the library, or that driver that just turned out in front of you causing you to slam on your brakes suddenly.
Birbitt thinks that, even though you or I may not see the value in a particular person or thing, someone somewhere believes that person or thing to be precious and worth saving. Just something to think about as we go through our busy lives, and maybe it will help us all, me included, to be just a little less annoyed with the disruptions that come. I am thankful that God saw value in me, and thought I was worth saving, because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross I can live knowing there is something better for me when I am called home!
I think that in some way my ordinary day of working at the church helped me to see a shortcoming in my own life, and now I have something else to work on, something of eternal value. Thank you Lord for using a day of cleaning, and emptying to help me see an area of weakness, and give me the strength and determination that I will need to overcome this.
After speaking with her for a bit we decided to go through the books and each take what we could or would use, save some for the new library that our christian school and college will be building, and the rest were loaded up in my trunk and her trunk to be carted off and donated. I took my load to a local christian thrift store that I thought would be best suited to rehoming hundreds of Christian books, Bible Study books, Bible commentaries, Concordances, and other Christian reference type materials.
I sorted through the books and brought about 30 titles home with me, some by great preachers such as Dr. Jack Hyles, and Dr. Michael Sproul, some books are signed by their authors, some I wasn't really sure if I'd read but the titles sparked my interest and I couldn't pass them up. I even picked up an old church hymnal because I love to sing the hymns and many times I forget the words to some of my old favorites simply because I don't sing them often enough.
At the end of the day I am pleased that this stack of treasure was saved from the landfill. I understand the need to weed out books to make room for the new, but to me throwing away any book that is still readable just tears me up (no pun intended). Later in the afternoon my work partner confessed that she was glad we decided to donate them because she too loves books, and concindentally she left with more books than I.
As I sit here typing this I just thought how the state of these books reminds me of the state of our souls. Some people saw those books as junk to be discarded, but others like me saw them as precious treasure to be saved and given a new life with a new home. Much like us, you see even though many don't see us Christians as much more than another annoyance to be dealt with God saw value in us and he sent his only son to die on the cross to save us, give us a new life in Christ, and a new home in Heaven. God thought we were worth saving, and he did. Perhaps we should remember this lesson the next time we are annoyed with the unfriendly checkout clerk, or the loud person in the library, or that driver that just turned out in front of you causing you to slam on your brakes suddenly.
Birbitt thinks that, even though you or I may not see the value in a particular person or thing, someone somewhere believes that person or thing to be precious and worth saving. Just something to think about as we go through our busy lives, and maybe it will help us all, me included, to be just a little less annoyed with the disruptions that come. I am thankful that God saw value in me, and thought I was worth saving, because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross I can live knowing there is something better for me when I am called home!
I think that in some way my ordinary day of working at the church helped me to see a shortcoming in my own life, and now I have something else to work on, something of eternal value. Thank you Lord for using a day of cleaning, and emptying to help me see an area of weakness, and give me the strength and determination that I will need to overcome this.
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