Education...

Education has been on my mind this week as I read a column in Forbes that talked about our need to use innovation in the classroom to help us break out of the malaise that we are currently in. I also read another column online that said that the world is catching up, as in most things, however, we are still WAY smarter now than we were years ago...only the gap has decreased between us and the rest of the world...and in some cases we have been passed.

Well, Kristen is looking into schools to go back into the nursing track and Jaden is getting ready for 1st grade and even Jacob is going to start Pre-school as well. We will have a whole bunch of school going on for the next 20+ years in this household and I certainly hope that we see some significant improvements in our school systems, their quality, and our position in the world for turning out intelligent and prepared individuals into the world...meanwhile, I have to figure out what Kristen and I can do for them for those hours outside of school to support them in their endeavors...it gets a bit overwhelming...

Pray for us!

StoryLand

I know Kristen will end up posting an awesome set of pictures from our trip to StoryLand, but I wanted to post about it as well. Yes, it was a long drive to get up there for one day but it was fun for the kids. Our goal was to leave on Friday and get up there in time to enjoy a couple of hours at the park and then get dinner, swim, etc and go back to the park on Saturday for the day before driving home. The weather did not cooperate. As soon as we got up into the park area it started pouring and we got stuck at the hotel. So, instead of going to the park, the kids got to go to a kids event for the evening at the hotel and we got to go out...just the adults and Jude...to dinner. They enjoyed themselves and so did we.

The following day we got up and went to breakfast at a little restaurant that we had been to last year and then went to the park. I did NOT feel well all day. Didn't eat breakfast or lunch and had Kristen go on most of the rides with the kids. (she was due for that anyway though since last year she didn't get to go on any rides as she was pregnant). I toughed it out, and I think Janelle was in a similar boat all day as well. The kids had fun, and then off we went back to MA. We didn't end up getting home until very late, but it was a fun day and will hold good memories. Here is one of my favorites...we paid for this one at the park but it was worth it :) I love the expressions on everyone's faces...

Facebook

Read a blog post a few days ago that suggested that the best way to prepare to talk with your kids about handling social networking sites like Facebook is to get your own account and start using it. So, I took the leap. I now have a Facebook account. Not sure what that will mean, but, it will be interesting to see if I keep it up or not...it is just another place to add stuff and to try to keep up with folks and so forth...and I already fall behind with my older avenues of communication...

Innocent fun

I am truly scared for society in general and specifically for my children. Too many things come up in the media about activities that are now considered acceptable that just are not. 'Hooking up', drugs, and many other things...are brushed off as 'innocent fun' or 'kids being kids'. I feel that we pay too little attention to these activities and thereby promote that view.
'A child can strike a match in complete innocence, but a flame still results.'
I may seem strict with my children at times, but when they grow up, I hope they will recognize how much we loved them by not being passe about all these things that society considers innocent fun.

EcoTarium

Took a day off and enjoyed it by going with the family to the EcoTarium up in Worcester. They are doing an exhibit right now on dinosaurs. I enjoyed the time with them...watching how exciting everything is, how much they enjoyed running on a treadmill to see which dinosaur they were as fast as, and I think their most fun time was simply a modified game of "I spy".
I am regularly reminding myself that I should treasure these times with the kids since they will grow up sooo fast. It was only for a few hours today that we hung out with them at the museum, but it qualified as one of those times.

PS I have no doubt that Kristen will have new pictures up in the next day or so on the day out, so make sure you check her link out on the side here...

JAM on Wednesday Nights

Back in September, I started working with kindergarten aged kids on Wednesday nights at a church sponsored event called JAM (Jesus And Me). Outside of some work and travel conflicts, I have been teaching each week to usually around 5-7 boys and girls. It will run through the end of May, so it was a much bigger commitment than I realized (8 months minus one month off around Christmas) but it has been fun and challenging. As with my own children, they can be hard to handle and entirely too full of energy, but the moments when you do get them to quiet down and focus, or those moments when they get what the story is about are pretty special and seem to make the difficulties worth it. Here is a moment when they were all quiet and praying:





Hopefully, we will have a good night tonight as well and they will find the story of God feeding Elijah by having ravens bring bread and meat each day as amazing as I do.