The Secret Life of Teachers in the Summer

Teachers have the most unusual schedule of all professions, based on a throwback to the agrarian age where students were needed on their family farms to help plant during the late spring and early summer. So, now in the "information age" the idea of a summer vacation of three months seems antiquated, and a bit odd to many. However, the idea of a summer "vacation" isn't exactly what occurs.

Example... my summer "vacation" schedule.

Right now I'm Gil Grissom by-day, Bob Villa (or more aptly, Tim Taylor) by-night. I'm involved in a 2 1/2 week set of professional development hosted by Abilene Christian University's Chemistry Department where we study Forensic Chemistry. So far I've learned how to recover etched off serial numbers, detect cocaine on 20-dollar bills, and conduct a number of tests to determine all manner of illicit drugs. Tomorrow we start work on detection and identification of arson accelerants. It's from 9 to 4 everyday. Then when I get home its time to work on the kitchen, which is in the throes of a makeover with new walls, paint, counter tops, and appliances.

When the ACU training is over, then I get to start teaching summer school. That will be the last week and a half, or so, of June.

In July, well... things get worse, so to speak. The first week of July we need to have a curriculum meeting within the science department. The second week, is Singing School at the Church, and I also have to do a couple of TAKS test cram sessions for re-testers. The third week, I have to go to Austin to sit on a committee that's looking at the statewide End-of Course Chemistry exam for next year. The fourth week of July I have a district-wide professional seminar at Possum Kingdom. The fifth week of July I go to an International Chemistry Educators conference (ChemEd,) being hosted in Denton.

So the whole idea of a "vacation" is a bit of a misnomer. It's just a chance to get all those other things done you need to do, but can't since you have a classroom of kids that need you everyday.

Potty training -- Week #1

Well this has been an exciting week around here. Not only are we in the middle of updating our kitchen, we decided to start potty training as well. This was quite a chore since Megan potty trained in one minute at the age of 20 months. And Maw-Maw did that. So I have no real experience. I figured at 22 months, Madelyn could do it too. However, the biggest difference between Megan and Madelyn is that Madelyn has a much, much, much stronger will than Megan does. This was scaring me to death. I knew the sooner I got this done, the easier it would be.

I set out on Wednesday with the idea that if I locked myself in the bathroom with Madelyn that she would have to go on the potty. With a big bag of M&Ms in hand I started my task on Wednesday morning. And no, the M&Ms were not for me, but a bribe for my little one's success. By 11:00, we were back in diapers. She was more bull headed than her mommy. Madelyn would sit on the potty for what seemed like 20 minutes. I would give up on her going and let her up. She would walk across the bathroom and let it go all over the floor. After the third time, I quit.

Frustrated, I decided to try again on Thursday morning. No better luck. So I spent hours on-line reading anything I could that afternoon to encourage myself to stick with it and find an approach that was more suited to Madelyn's strong will.

Success. I ended up downloading an e-book called Potty Training Made Easy, Fast & Simple by Johanne Cesar. Her approach is to set a timer for 20 minutes constantly through-out the waking hours of the day. When it goes off, it's potty-time. The point is not for the child to go every time, but to get used to stopping what they are doing to go and get used to sitting on the potty. Of course there is to be a big celebration with successful trips. Another point she makes which I totally agreed with was that the diapers have to go. And with that pull-ups also. Let's face it, we can try and fool ourselves into believing that pull-ups are more like underwear, when in reality they are nothing more than redesigned and more expensive diapers. So nothing but cotton panties from now on at home. Carpet cleaner is cheaper than diapers anyway. (Side note: diapers and pull-ups are acceptable at nap time and bed time however.)

Of course, this approach had to be adapted for my little one. She did not like going to potty when she really didn't have to go. And she knew the difference. So I've been following her around like a pesky fly for the past two days encouraging her to tell me when she needs to potty. She appreciated not being locked in the bathroom for hours on end.

Friday started out better. She would start in her panties and tell me. We would run to the potty and there she would finish her business. I considered that a great success. And she loved getting rewarded with a handful of M&Ms. She also loved the celebration daddy and sister put on for her. Now when she successfully makes a potty run, she hurries to share the news with Shawn and waits until she gets her big hug. For those of you who don't know, Madelyn is a very loving child. The hugs probably mean more to her than the M&Ms.

Another side note: On Thursday and Friday, Shawn would tell Madelyn that he was sad after she would potty in her panties. She did not like this at all. She would mope around for at least an hour saying "Daddy sad." I would agree and she would almost come to tears. Then later when she would successfully make it to the bathroom, he would tell her that "Daddy was happy." Oh the smile that lit that little face. Then she would walk around for the next hour saying "Daddy happy!" To which I would agree. She definitely likes the praise part of this venture.

Saturday was even better than Friday. However, we had to use a little discipline at times. By mid-morning she had completely forgotten what we were doing apparently. I finally had to swat her on the leg a couple of times to make her aware that I was serious when I told her not to tee tee in her "big girl" panties. We had very few problems the rest of the day.

I was apprehensive about church Sunday morning. I was trying to be consistent about no diapers during the waking hours. But I was not sure we were ready to go out in public in "big girl" panties. So I did a no-no and put her in pull-ups this morning. I told her they were just like her "big girl" panties and that she didn't need to potty in them. A new quarter had started and her cradle roll teacher had changed. She did not want to stay in class, so she went with me just this once. During class and church she said she needed to go potty three different times. Success!!!!! Three times we went to the bathroom, three times she pottied. We came home in the same pull up and it was still dry.

I was so excited I just had to let everyone know.

Will try and post pictures of the progress in the kitchen sometime. The paneling is down, the walls are textured and painted a smoky blue, additional lights have been installed, and my favorite--the pot rack is hanging over the bar.

Communication of Elimination Communication

I have a habit of mowing the lawn and listening to numerous podcasts, like TWIT, NPR Technology, Earth and Sky, and ABC news Nightline. Tonight as we were finishing up the yard, Nightline had a story on infant "elimination communication", or as I put it "going diaperless." It about made me double over laughing to where I couldn't push the mower until I realized they weren't kidding! Here are excerpts from the story off the ABC news website (complete story):

Diapers Not Required?

Some Say You Can Potty-Train Your Baby Using 'Elimination Communication'

By JESSICA YELLIN and STEVEN BAKER
May 15, 2007

It's the latest thing in child-rearing — dressing your baby diaper-free.

Instead of putting diapers on their children, some parents use natural cues and signals to determine when their little ones need to "go," and react accordingly.

"We do potty parties. You know, 'Mommy go potty,' 'Campbell go potty' — and he usually goes. I go, and he goes," said Nancy Meyer.

Meyer is one of about a dozen women in New Paltz, N.Y., who participate in an infant potty training support group run by Lolli Edinger.

"Keeping a child out of their waste in a diaper keeps them clean, keeps them hygienic, keeps them comfortable," Edinger said.

Erica Chase-Salerno hosts the monthly meeting in her home, and she says that "It's about honoring her body. That's one of the main reasons we do it. When you catch your first pee, you're hooked. I caught my first pee — I thought it was a fluke and I kept thinking it was flukes, but when you keep having a coincidence, you're on track — once you get the first one, you can't look back."

'Attachment Parenting'

The moms say going diaper-free helps them relate to their children. To get their children to go, the moms use hand signals and the "ssss" sound, and one mom even had a song to get her son to go.

"I realized it's not so much about diapers, it's really about attachment parenting. Just listening to the baby's cues and responding to her cues. I communicate with her better now," said Carla McGarry, the mother of 1-year-old Kristina.

These parents do use diapers sometimes, such as overnight or when they go out, but when they are at home with the child, the babies are bare and the moms try to predict when they need to use the bathroom. If they're right, they call it a catch, and if they fail to predict one, it's a miss.

"I know that she is going to need to pee now," said Chase-Salerno. "She gets in a zone and I feel this is one of them. What I do is I bring in toys with her because sometimes she'll sit a little bit longer and release and relax and pee while she's playing."

OK. Before I begin, let me first say: "To Each Their Own."

But for my part I don't see me going around all day watching for that little grimace or squirm on "My Own". Nor do I see myself constantly asking Megan or Madelyn "Go Potty?" just to make sure I don't have to get the carpet cleaner out from under the sink.

Being a guy, I also find it very awkward in considering a "potty party" with either of my girls. It's hard enough to dodge certain questions, as is. For example, Megan has a habit of waiting for me right outside the door after I have ran to hide--- err, I mean, had to go use the restroom. The small bathroom off our bedroom has a pocketdoor (lockable) with about a 1-1/2 inch gap at the bottom. One time as I came out after one too many cups of coffee at work, I was met by Megan with a look of puzzlement. She asked, "Daddy, why do your feet point the wrong way when you potty?"

Maybe also, guys just handle messes in a different way: we are not as proactive. Let's be honest for most guys, the "cue" that their child needed to go, would be a puddle in the floor, or an odor wafting from down the hall. Well, that's not quite correct, we as men would be proactive, just in a much different way. Instead of making "ssss" sounds (which by the way most guys make, but not with their mouths) or singing little potty songs, men would simply go to the ag store, buy a bale, and layout hay in Junior's room. That's the men's version of going diaperless, and we have been doing this for many years with the animals we have been responsible for. Not saying anyone's child is an animal mind you, and then again you can now purchase diapers for animals, so maybe I'm just behind the time.

So as we --actually I should say Brandy--prepares to potty train Madelyn (who's name in Hebrew must mean "stubborn as a rock"), I don't see us rushing out to the neighbor's barn, nor myself with pitchfork in hand at my front door. And Brandy will not expect me to "sssss" or sing songs, although I could, like:

• "Smoke on the Water"
• "To Him who Sits on the Throne"
• "There's a Fountain Free"

Maybe I'll just stick to cheering, "Yeah! you potty-ied!"

No children were harmed in the making of this school year.

As we approach the end of another school year, I share this with you:

Under Which Lyre
A Reactionary Tract for the Times

(Phi Beta Kappa Poem, Harvard, 1946)
W. H. Auden

Ares at last has quit the field,
The bloodstains on the bushes yield
To seeping showers,
And in their convalescent state
The fractured towns associate
With summer flowers.

Encamped upon the college plain
Raw veterans already train
As freshman forces;
Instructors with sarcastic tongue
Shepherd the battle-weary young
Through basic courses.

Among bewildering appliances
For mastering the arts and sciences
They stroll or run,
And nerves that steeled themselves to slaughter
Are shot to pieces by the shorter
Poems of Donne.

Professors back from secret missions
Resume their proper eruditions,
Though some regret it;
They liked their dictaphones a lot,
T hey met some big wheels, and do not
Let you forget it.

But Zeus' inscrutable decree
Permits the will-to-disagree
To be pandemic,
Ordains that vaudeville shall preach
And every commencement speech
Be a polemic.

Let Ares doze, that other war
Is instantly declared once more
'Twixt those who follow
Precocious Hermes all the way
And those who without qualms obey
Pompous Apollo.

Brutal like all Olympic games,
Though fought with smiles and Christian names
And less dramatic,
This dialectic strife between
The civil gods is just as mean,
And more fanatic.

What high immortals do in mirth
Is life and death on Middle Earth;
Their a-historic
Antipathy forever gripes
All ages and somatic types,
The sophomoric

Who face the future's darkest hints
With giggles or with prairie squints
As stout as Cortez,
And those who like myself turn pale
As we approach with ragged sail
The fattening forties.

The sons of Hermes love to play
And only do their best when they
Are told they oughtn't;
Apollo's children never shrink
From boring jobs but have to think
Their work important.

Related by antithesis,
A compromise between us is
Impossible;
Respect perhaps but friendship never:
Falstaff the fool confronts forever
The prig Prince Hal.

If he would leave the self alone,
Apollo's welcome to the throne,
Fasces and falcons;
He loves to rule, has always done it;
The earth would soon, did Hermes run it,
Be like the Balkans.

But jealous of our god of dreams,
His common-sense in secret schemes
To rule the heart;
Unable to invent the lyre,
Creates with simulated fire
Official art.

And when he occupies a college,
Truth is replaced by Useful Knowledge;
He pays particular
Attention to Commercial Thought,
Public Relations, Hygiene, Sport,
In his curricula.

Athletic, extrovert and crude,
For him, to work in solitude
Is the offence,
The goal a populous Nirvana:
His shield bears this device: Mens sana
Qui mal y pense.

Today his arms, we must confess,
From Right to Left have met success,
His banners wave
From Yale to Princeton, and the news
From Broadway to the Book Reviews
Is very grave.

His radio Homers all day long
In over-Whitmanated song
That does not scan,
With adjectives laid end to end,
Extol the doughnut and commend
The Common Man.

His, too, each homely lyric thing
On sport or spousal love or spring
Or dogs or dusters,
Invented by some court-house bard
For recitation by the yard
In filibusters.

To him ascend the prize orations
And sets of fugal variations
On some folk-ballad,
While dietitians sacrifice
A glass of prune-juice or a nice
Marsh-mallow salad.

Charged with his compound of sensational
Sex plus some undenominational
Religious matter,
Enormous novels by co-eds
Rain down on our defenceless heads
Till our teeth chatter.

In fake Hermetic uniforms
Behind our battle-line, in swarms
That keep alighting,
His existentialists declare
That they are in complete despair,
Yet go on writing.

No matter; He shall be defied;
White Aphrodite is on our side:
What though his threat
To organize us grow more critical?
Zeus willing, we, the unpolitical,
Shall beat him yet.

Lone scholars, sniping from the walls
Of learned periodicals,
Our facts defend,
Our intellectual marines,
Landing in little magazines
Capture a trend.

By night our student Underground
At cocktail parties whisper round
From ear to ear;
Fat figures in the public eye
Collapse next morning, ambushed by
Some witty sneer.

In our morale must lie our strength:
So, that we may behold at length
Routed Apollo's
Battalions melt away like fog,
Keep well the Hermetic Decalogue,
Which runs as follows:

Thou shalt not do as the dean pleases,
Thou shalt not write thy doctor's thesis
On education,
Thou shalt not worship projects nor
Shalt thou or thine bow down before
Administration.

Thou shalt not answer questionnaires
Or quizzes upon World-Affairs,
Nor with compliance
Take any test. Thou shalt not sit
With statisticians nor commit
A social science.

Thou shalt not be on friendly terms
With guys in advertising firms,
Nor speak with such
As read the Bible for its prose,
Nor, above all, make love to those
Who wash too much.

Thou shalt not live within thy means
Nor on plain water and raw greens.
If thou must choose
Between the chances, choose the odd;
Read The New Yorker, trust in God;
And take short views.

In the Eyes of My Daughter

Okay. Don't fall out of your chairs. This is Brandy. And yes, I am making a post to the blog. I just couldn't help it.

It's fixin' to be Mother's Day. One of my favorite things about Megan being in school is knowing that she will bring sweet little hand-made projects home at special times like these. When I picked her up today, she ran down the sidewalk half-covered in mud carrying a little pot with a beautiful pink flower in it. It had a little sign sticking out of it which said

Happy Mother's Day
Love
Megan
(signed in her very own sweet little hand writing)

They went to the ABC Greenhouse across town on a school bus this morning. This is a big thing for Megan. As long as we live in town, she will never have to board a bus every morning for school. Or suffer the ride home in one after school. I only say that because that was my plot in life for about 7 years until Shane got his driver's license. I hated those yellow dogs. She thinks its really cool to ride on the bus. I pretend to be excited for her.

She enjoyed the visit to the nursery. They got to pick out the flower they wanted for their mothers. And for those of you who know Megan, of course, she picked a pink one. She especially enjoyed the trip, because we go to church with the owners of the nursery. Bob was there to give her a sucker. (Something he gives all the kids at church on Sunday morning. I still don't know how he gets all of them in his pockets without pocking himself to pieces.)

Anyway, back to the reason for this post: When she got in the car, she proceeded to empty out her folder, handing me each piece of paper one at a time until it was empty and all the contents were lying in the front seat next to me. Almost a full year of school and she still can't make it 12 blocks home before showing me all the stuff she has done and learned.

The first thing she showed me was a "pink" card obviously prepared by her teacher, but it's contents were definitely from the mouth of a child named Megan.

Here is how it went:

My Mom

My Mom is amazing.
She likes to eat cereal.
She always takes naps.
The best thing about my Mom is she makes things with me!

Happy Mother's Day!
2007
Megan

Well, there you have it. Four random bits of information about me.

Studies in Corinthians Part 14

This lesson looks at the last verses of 1 Corinthians 9, and the necessity of self discipline in a Christian life.

New Dallas Mavericks Logo

After 67 regular season wins, to get schooled by the 8th seed... what a disgrace.

Studies in Corinthians Part 12 and 13 - Christian Freedom

I apologize for not getting the audio from last week's lesson posted in a timely manner. There really wasn't any good excuse, other than maybe "Spring Fever" spurring on a case of the "don't-want-to's". This first player will stream part 12, which looks at 1 Corinthians 8, and the issue of Christian freedom.




This player will stream part 13 of the study, which is the second lesson on Christian freedom, and its application to today's Church and its mission of spreading the gospel.

Mavs First Round Playoff Airtimes

As most of you know Brandy and I are Mavs fans. Here is what the first round of playoffs look like:
Game 1 – Sunday, April 22: Golden State at Dallas, 8:30 p.m. (TNT)
Game 2 – Wednesday, April 25: Golden State at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.(TNT)
Game 3 – Friday, April 27: Dallas at Golden State, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 4 – Sunday, April 29: Dallas at Golden State, 9 p.m. (TNT)
Game 5 (if necessary) – Tuesday, May 1: Golden State at Dallas, time TBD
Game 6 (if necessary) – Thursday, May 3: Dallas at Golden State, time TBD
Game 7 (if necessary) – Saturday, May 5: Golden State at Dallas, time TBD (TNT)

For those of you out there cheering for the "Boot Accessory" team:

Game 1 – Sunday, April 22: Denver at San Antonio, 6 p.m. (TNT)
Game 2 – Wednesday, April 25: Denver at San Antonio, 6 p.m. (TNT)
Game 3 – Saturday, April 28: San Antonio at Denver, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 4 – Monday, April 30: San Antonio at Denver, time TBD
Game 5 (if necessary) – Wednesday, May 2: Denver at San Antonio, time TBD
Game 6 (if necessary) – Friday, May 4: San Antonio at Denver, time TBD
Game 7 (if necessary) – Sunday, May 6: Denver at San Antonio, time TBD

(Airtimes from Yahoo News)

Studies in Corinthians - Part 11 - Concerning Marriage (Session 2)

This is the Second Session concerning marriage. We will be looking at 1 Corinthians Chapter 7.

Secrets kept in upper cabinets...

OK, call us bad parents. Call us stingy, or unloving. Remind us that we will be the reason why our daughters will need 200 dollar-an-hour shrinks when they are 35 and feeling "un-loved." It's all our fault... because we hid the Oreos where they can't find them.

About 3 weeks ago, Brandy splurged and purchased the cookies while on a "Mommies Gettin' Away for Sanity" trip to the grocery store. When she returned she very quietly placed the delicious little treasures out of the peering eyes of the "Vocal Minority" (Madelyn) and the "Cabinet Rockclimber" (Megan). Of course I cannot let Brandy take all the blame. Dad decided that the dark, sugar- filled morsels probably required, well, -- parental guidance.

The splendor of a well kept secret, tucked away, and "out of site...out of mind" for the youngsters...and dad. I hate to admit I also forgot they were up there until today. The two children were playing in the backyard, and Brandy went into the kitchen, and very quietly retrieved the package from an upper cabinet shelf (in fact, maybe she was trying to hide them from me, she knows how forgetful I am!) I noticed, and it was like seeing a long lost friend, a buddy who was once at the other end of the world now returning home, and a smile came across my face, and I called out from the computer across the room, saying, "hey, where were those?"

Brandy said, "Sssshhhh." Reminding me that "the children" with super hearing and a keen sense of smell would soon discover us out, and that would be the end of our Oreo stash.

I whispered, "I think I want two." (Oreos-- not children, we have two already, they are plenty.) With a look of disgust, Brandy reluctantly fished another Oreo from the horde. The look on her face reminded me of a certain Seinfeld episode and the conundrum Eileen was in, except here Brandy was asking herself , "is my husband 'Oreo-worthy'?"

There is nothing like a snack after school. And I savored the first Oreo as Brandy and I talked about the day, carrying on conversation without the worry of having to stop mid-thought to say "YA'LL BETTER FIGURE IT OUT IN THERE!" or "Not right now dear...Not right NOW dear...NOT RIGHT NOW DEAR!" or a myriad of other concerns coming from a point of view somewhere around 2.5 to 3 feet from the ground.

But suddenly without warning as I started on the second Oreo, the back screen door opened and through it came "The Vocal Minority." She took one look at dad, looked at the second cookie in my hand, and then turned to mommy, and with sterling resolve, a low intonation, and brevity of language, said:

"Coo-kie."

We tried to continue, like we didn't hear her. She repeated, a little louder, "Coooooo-KIE."

It was then, we knew the jig was up. Her blackmail successful, we gave her the Oreo. I could have kicked myself for my gluttony. Brandy reminded me of this as she handed Madelyn the co-opted confection, saying, " You know she would've never seen it, if you had only asked for one."

However, the bribe kept "Vocal minority" from raising her voice with her next request, and alerting the "Cabinet Rockclimber" who, once discovering, is smart enough to get a cookie this time, wait around to see where mom stashes it, and then climb up to get another whenever she wants (give a man a fish... teach the man to climb a cabinet to get a fish-- you get the idea.) After eating all of her plunder, Madelyn abruptly turned and headed back out the door with what I thought was a very satisfied look. Brandy replaced the Cookie Cache and sat down at the computer to check e-mail.

After a minute or two, Megan came to the door with Madelyn in tow. "Mommy, look at this!" She said.

Madelyn stood there at the door, next to her big sister, wearing a smile that would make the Cheshire cat envious. And encircling the smile...the tell-tale black crumbs of O-R-E-O. It took all the poker face Brandy and I could muster. Brandy said, "Yes, Megan?" feigning ignorance.

Megan said, "Mommy, Madelyn's been eating dirt!"

A pregnant pause ensued.

Brandy replied, "Yes, yes she has..."

Studies in Corinthians - Part 10 - Concerning Marriage

This section focuses on the first part of 1 Corinthians Chapter 7, and the issues of marriage and divorce among Christians. I apologize, but due to technical difficulties, Part 9 from last week was not recorded. In the future I might try to put together a supplementary lesson for part 9.

Rain "dance"? Try Rain "bike"

After an entire week with better than a 30% chance for showers, and clouds like those Amber described, we have gotten only a pittance of rain: 7.7mm. Yes my rain gauge is metric -- I'm a science teacher, go figure(convert it here.) So, no real rain that is, until we threatened to go "bicycle."

Megan, after learning to ride without her training wheels, has asked every day, "Can we go bicycle?" We had a fellowship after church last night, so we promised to go bicycle with her this evening-- and not just dad, but mom on her bike and Madelyn on the back of dad's. We have a child's seat that converts to a book rack. It's easy on and easy off (amazon has one). So as I walked through the door from school the first thing I heard was, "Daddy!... when are we going to go bicycle?"

After supper, we got down the bikes, I put air back into Brandy's mountain bike tires, and we all got strapped in... just in time for the rain to start...

Long story short, the rain let up long enough for us to get in twice around the block, and Megan got her ride, Brandy and I got our exercise, and the yard got watered. Everybody's happy (at least for the next 20 minutes...)

Studies in Corinthians - Part 8

This study looks at how Christians should resolve conflict, and their appropriate use of judicial systems. We focus on 1 Corinthians 6:1-8.

Megan w/o Training Wheels

"The best way to keep children home is to make the home atmosphere pleasant--and let the air out of the tires."
- Dorothy Parker

Brandy had one of those "Mommy, why are you crying?" moments this evening, when we took the training wheels off the bike. Megan did really good, and after a couple of tries, dad let go of the back of the bike seat, and the girl took off.

The image above is actually a video. Just use the play button (>) to watch Megan without the training wheels.

And you think you had a bad day?

Brandy said she didn't notice our "little friend" until she rounded the back of the car to get Madelyn out of her seat. It startled her, but then she noticed it was already dead-- its head crushed. Brandy and I figure the snake was trying to get into the garage, and Brandy closed the door on him when she left to pick up Megan from Pre-K.

Call it a small case of "sympathy for the devil." When I got home and saw, I almost felt sorry for the thing...Almost...

My sympathy for things that could hurt my family doesn't run very deep.

This is the second rattlesnake we have killed since living here. They are on the move with the weather changing, and the changing of the season. This was a little one. The previous one we killed during fall was much larger. We took the "teachable moment" --again -- to tell the girls to tell Mommy and Daddy if they see a snake in the yard, and never to get close to one.

I believe in learning from the world around us. Sometimes it a been a bad day, cause we find ourselves dealing with difficult issues as the consequences of our actions (sometimes not). We all get stuck in situations its hard to get out of, but... I guess we could say the lesson for the day is:

"One way to keep from getting crushed by the things of this world, and to keep from getting stuck in situations you can't get out of, is to never stick your nose where it doesn't belong."

Studies in Corinthians Part 07 - Withdrawing Fellowship

This lesson looks at withdrawal of fellowship, its reason, and appropriate use. Our passage of study is 1 Corinthians 5:1-13.

Par for a Livingroom Course?

Winter is turning the corner toward spring, and with it, time to go outside, put off yardwork and my wife's "Honey-Do List", for a round of frustration and humiliation -- that's right, "golf." For many months now, the weather has kept us away from the links, and we had resorted to practicing the time honored tradition of "living room putt-putt."

The carpet in the house has a natural "break," probably due to parts of the pad breaking down under high traffic spots. So upon learning to read it, I have become accomplished at making putts from within 8-10 feet, between the legs of a toddler, and around baby dolls. I occasionally though have to pull out the wedge, in order to chip over larger items like riding toys, or piles of Lego blocks. I've decided that one way I could fund a golf habit might be to loan out my eager, albeit very young, "livingroom caddies" to other "livingroom golfers." One (Madelyn) is even adept at returning your ball to you before it comes to a complete stop. Also, she places said ball right in front of your putter. If you move the putter, she moves the ball, which makes for a very humorous scene while trying to line up your shot.

Studies in Corinthians - Part 6: Do not go beyond the Word.

This is the audio from Part 6. The lesson looks at the negative effects of self-interests in God's Church. The powerpoint for the lesson is available.

Science for Kids - Globe at Night

This month, from March 8-21, your children can participate in helping a group of scientists collect data on the affects of lights, and our ability to see the night sky. Megan and I started it tonight, and she really enjoyed it. I started by showing her an image from the website of the constellation Orion, and then they had a link where she could practice finding it. We drew it a couple of times, and she had no problem finding it in the sky. After we came in from spotting, I asked her to look at some of the Magnitude charts, and we talked about which one looked most like our sky in the backyard. It was very easy to do. The website details these steps:

Five Easy Star-Hunting Steps:

1) Find your latitude and longitude.
2) Find Orion by going outside an hour after sunset
(about 7-10pm local time)
3) Match your nighttime sky to one of our magnitude charts.
4) Report your observation.
5) Compare your observation to thousands around the world.

A family activity packet has any observation sheets or Magnitude charts that you may need. After a couple more observations, I'll ask Megan why she can see different stars at different times, and we can discuss the idea of light pollution. She also wants to learn more of the constellations, so tomorrow we will find Orion and one of the dippers. Anyway, it's an easy way to do "real" science. The data that is collected is used for real research, and as a participant, you can use everyone's observations as well.