Daybook: Mama gets to be Mama ALL DAY today Edition

Outside my window... When we lived in PNG, I used to sometimes look around at the green hills that surrounded the valley where we lived and think "These hills are so beautiful they almost don't look real."   Today I'm having that same feeling about the snowy Alps outside our window here.  Quite the difference, huh?

::Listening to... Kids singing Alouette AGAIN.  What was I thinking when I got them that Songs in French CD?!

::Giving thanks for... A three day weekend.  Today (Monday) is the first day of a new month-long session at school and the morning is taken up by doing orientation and placement testing for any new students who have arrived...so all of us returning students get the morning off.  There's some kind of workshop this afternoon that Dan is going to go to...but I'm not.  I get to stay home and be mama all day today. =)

::Pondering... A friend just posted this article on missionary burn-out to her Facebook page.  It is so true!  Having been on the edge of missionary burn-out ourselves and seen many others (including close friends) go over the edge, I can attest to the fact that it is essential to recognize when you need to stop and take a deep breath and figure out those things that feed your soul so you can pick up and keep going.   It is also essential to recognize that needing to take that deep breath doesn't make you a bad missionary either.  Being at this cross-cultural living thing for 10 years doesn't make it any less essential either.  A very timely reminder!
::Living the Educational Life... While reviewing our last 4-week school term, I came across the notes I had made when I read When Children Love to Learn. One of the the thoughts I had taken away from that book was (my paraphrase): 'The goal of a first grade classroom is to whet appetites so students will grow to love books and desire to feed themselves.' While over all I don't think I am expecting too much from Michelle as a first grader, I know that sometimes with specific readings I get a little exasperated if she tells me "she can't remember" this or that detail.  While obviously I want her to continue to expand her attention to detail, it is good to keep the big picture in mind.  The goal right now is to ensure that she loves learning. There will be ample time later on down the road to make sure she gets all the details of the life of Benjamin Franklin (or whatever) straight.

::Preparing in the Kitchen... So...I tried out a recipe for Sourdough Brownies.  Oh my.  Not sour at all - just moist, chocolately goodness.  Dan said that if I iced them, he would happily take a pan of them for his birthday cake.  I think I can oblige.  (I can't link you directly to the recipe because it was from the paid area of the GNOWFGLINS e-course...good stuff if you are interested in tutorials for nutritious food preparation methods.)

::Following These Links... Mostly I just spent to much time on Facebook last week. (I have a love-hate relationship with Facebook.) But I finally figured out why I like Facebook so much.   I think it's because in a very small way it lets me gather all of the people who have been part of my life in all its various stages all together in one place. Since it's impossible to have that in real life (I think we have friends spread out over 5 continents and I don't even know how many States)...I'm glad that Facebook allows me to have a little taste of that this side of heaven.

::Turning Pages... I am trying to get into Elizabeth Gaskell's My Lady Ludlow but it's just not as good as her others.  (I recommend North and South or Wives and Daughters if you are interested in reading something by Gaskell.)  Also started reading Leadership Education - haven't gotten far enough into it to know how much I agree or disagree with their philosophy...but interesting so far.  That is if you are a nerd like me and like reading about educational philosophy just for fun.

::Finding Rhythm... Well, we had finally gotten into a fairly good rhythm...and now this evening we will get a new school schedule and get to start all over again!  Lucky us, huh?  No, I shouldn't complain.  I am grateful that we have a language school option with a flexible schedule so that we don't have to leave our Littles in the care of others too often during these formative years.

::Kiddos this week... Michelle is trying to teach James how to play Go Fish as we speak.  Elizabeth wants to play too, but it's not really working out for her.  Something about how she just scatters the cards all around...

::Praying... For wisdom in evaluating my priorities and using my time well, and senstivity to the Lord's guidance as I go through each day. And that we will be able to make some French friends, so we will have more opportunities to practice speaking French outside of our class times.

::Planning the week ahead... Hard to say until we get that new school schedule this evening...I expect a lot of plain ol' keeping on doing the next thing.

::Capturing a few moments...

Then...

...and now