School Life

The year has finally come to an end, and what a year its been!

Two kids in two different schools, in two different areas of town, and two completely different cultures.

As I reflect, I do not end this year feeling like I survived, more like I thrived!! It has opened my eyes to what I confidently feel God wanted me to see....and I'm more eager then ever to continue that journey. I've wanted to write about this journey but have been hesitant at the same time. So, here it goes....

There are so many options out there on how you can school your children. To give a little history: I grew up attending only four schools ( including college!), all of which were private. My husband attended 13 public schools by the time he graduated high school, then attended college and grad school. Based on our backgrounds, we wanted to find a happy medium. Private school was not an option, even if we could afford it. For me, my parents wanted to provide a safe environment for their kids, which was all fine and good till we had to 'enter the world'. We felt putting our boys in public school, in hopes of engaging in our children and the school life, would be profitable for our children, family and the community.

When we first began this journey, we were in a small town of 60,000 where you bought a house based on what school you wanted your child to attend. Easy enough! Our oldest son's Kindergarten and first grade years were quite lovely. I helped a lot in the classes, helped on PTA, visited at lunch, knew the principal from our church, and was even involved in praying for the school weekly with a group of moms! Sounds quaint? It was....sort of Smallville like! (ha,ha!)

(screeching brake sound)

The Lord then tells us to say goodbye, sell our house, and go back home to New Orleans. Huh?

Well, that is what we did.

When we arrived back in the wonderful city of New Orleans, due to the first year being a lot of transition, I chose to keep the boys home with me and schooled them myself. One was in preschool and the other in 2nd grade. ( I had told myself that I would NEVER homeschool....but I also said I would NEVER move back home....) (sigh) We had a wonderful curriculum that I borrowed from a friend, and we did a lot of field trips around the city (with the goal of educating and getting them to fall in love with their new home). It was a wonderful year that I will cherish forever but then it came time to look into schools for a Kindergartner and 3rd grader.

WOW! When you move to New Orleans (Post Katrina) you find out that you don't just sign up for the school in your area, and we are not just looking at public schools. There are Montessori schools, Language immersion schools, charter schools....there are established schools, brand spankin' new schools, and schools attempting all different philosophies of teaching! There was a book I got my hands on that gave info on all the schools in the city. I could look at it and see the location of the school, how it tested, what kind of diversity it had, and even what percentage got free/reduced lunch. It didn't take long for me to narrow my options. Little did I know that my list of three schools would have to enlarge to 10+ schools to apply to, b/c of the demand for everyone wanting their kid in the better schools and those schools only having so much room. Waiting list, waiting list, waiting list!

I will now end talking about the monster that it was and get to what I really want this to be about!

The kids had completely different teachers. One was an experienced, native New Orleanian, female elementary teacher - the other is a young west coast male Teach for America teacher. The schools, one relies on grants based on extremely high performances which then allows them a consistent group of special teachers that focuses on the arts. The other school relies on non profits or even a church partnership to have some special things. One is so well established and organized, the other required me to be forgiving while its still figuring things out. One doesn't bat an I to ask families to pay $15 for a field trip (and anticipates many parents to show up and help), but the other schools field trips mostly just required you to pay the two bucks for the bus. A non-profit provided the kids with great field trips (but did not welcome parents).

Where was I? I was scared. Not sure how the year would go. I firmly looked at that west coast teacher in the early part of the year and told him that the two things I cared about for my child was that he was academically challenged and environmentally felt safe. In the beginning, there were many days where I was mentally ready to pull him out if I felt that would need to be done. As the year progressed, my oldest would always come home happy except for when he did something wrong with school work! It gave me a peace. Into the second semester, the teacher gave me an opportunity to step into the class and 'pour love on them.' (Cookie decorating and Picture frame craft) I even got to volunteer ONE time which allowed me to rub shoulders with a sweet lady that works at the school, I now look forward to seeing her. Where am I now? Wondering what part I can play next year in helping the school on a bigger scale, not just the classroom, but to help parents get involved. I have a huge appreciation for that west coast guy that demonstrated leadership and compassion on this pour mom:) I also appreciate the other leaders and allowing (even encouraging) Alf and I to speak out on just about anything. I still don't feel confident and comfortable in the culture of the school but am confident and comfortable in it being where we need to be.

Meanwhile, I volunteered at least twice a month at my younger ones school. I did lunch, recess, and choice time when I would go help. I showed up at field trips and holiday parties. I embraced all their was to embrace in a Kindergarten year. It was comfortable. The year went above and beyond what I could have ever expected. And yes, there were times (of course)where I would wish that both boys were experiencing 'this', like the time Trombone Shorty played for morning meeting:) Note: If you don't know who Trombone Shorty is, google him.

Well, that is my story....for now.

Dont Forget the Third Person!

God is amazing!
He gives me what I need, when I need it.

What he gave me recently is a reminder of the third person. In our christian faith, we need to take advantage of all three! God, Son, and Holy Spirit.

I was recently listening to a sermon on line where he was expressing four key things that he is committed to in this journey called life. He was committed to 1. living 'all in' 2. to follow leadership of the Spirit 3. to finishing the course 4. to doing life in relationship. All this was taken from a passage in Acts/admiring the work of Paul the apostle. (If your interested in listening, go to fellowshiponline.com The sermon is called A Call to Commitment by Tim Lundy)

What moved me the most was the commitment to follow leadership of the Spirit. These following verses encouraged me and empowered me to a deeper love for who I serve and how I live that out.

Ephesians 1: 13-14 "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of his glory."
We are sealed by the Spirit. I am in His grip and will never let me go!
"a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance" - I have the Holy Spirit to walk with me and guide me, and gives me the best retirement plan EVER!

Galatians 5: 16-18 "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law."
This passage convicts me to be aware of spiritual warfare and to spend time with Him, to walk in the Spirit. I need to know Him and His character in order to know how to follow him. I read in a book recently, 'Sometimes he invites us to draw close and listen as He reveals Himself...Other times He calls to us to participate in His purposes" (L.Terkeurst) I cant just Do,Do,Do! It includes sitting down to learn and listen to His will.

Ephesians 5:18-20 "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in you heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
ALWAYS give thanks! What are my thoughts? Where is my heart? Am I looking vertical or horizontal? Am I being filled with the Spirit?

Romans 8: 14-18 "...those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children."
We can choose, to be a slave to sin or to be a slave to the Spirit. A slave to the Spirit is eternal and freeing. I can rest in that no matter what, this day can work for good if I choose Him. Him, an intimate God(Father) that claims me as his child.

This is your certificate for a walk in City Park with me.

Quite the Mother's Day gift, wouldn't you say?

I think my oldest son, Athan, has grasped the idea that time is a gift.

I also think that he is pretty observant for his age. He knows how much I love that Park.

It also shows me his generosity, for they did not actually go anywhere and get me a gift. He couldn't even bring me breakfast in bed because they spent the night at their Aunt and Uncles! He couldn't NOT give me something.

I am so grateful to be a mom to two boys that God specifically chose just for me and Alf.

Im particularly moved at the idea that time is a gift. Time is precious and it does have limits. We ought to treat the time we have with this person or that person as precious and a gift. More then that, are we giving enough time to those we love the most? One step further, are we giving God our time?

Some Things Never Change

Soooooooo,
my birthday weekend was last weekend. I was actually born on April 1st
a.k.a April Fools Day! Yep, lucky me:)
When I was a little girl, my brother would come up with all sorts of things to fool me with. Take for instance, the time he decided to wake me up the morning of my birthday and tell me there was a limousine in the front of the house waiting for me. Uh-huh.
I've tried to wipe some from my memory.

I am now way into my thirties, and some things never change.
You see the box? That is a Mignon Fagot box. A very fine jeweler in the city of New Orleans. When I unwrapped the box to find that it was a Mignon Fagot box....lets just say that I got a little excited. Turns out the only thing in the box was a key. It was a key that I just simply needed so that I can have access to my brothers house, probably for the times he needs me to go over and let his dog outside or something.
Soooooooo, there you go - some things never change.

City Park + 'Perfect Weather' = Fun, Fun, Fun!!!

Family time was had at the park Sunday!
Last week we went in the paddle
boat....with our dog, Annie....yes, she jumped in:)
This week we
walked the sculpture garden and the boys enjoyed bike time as well. The sculpture garden is fairly new to the park, near the New Orleans Museum of Fine Art. It is an outdoor oasis with beautiful landscape and some very large sculptures.

I LOVE family time and I LOVE City Park.

By the way, the picture above - Yea, I don't know. I have no clue how it is held up!

Daddy and sons looking at fish

This one (and many others) made me chuckle. It was called Conversation with Moon :)

So, I have that kind of man that sighs when I want a picture with him next to the LOVE statue, but he is also the man that has fun with us making our own art(pics below). Not so much the romantic but he is funny:)
I'll keep him!

The piece above is called Nelson Shadows and the one below is called Ninja's weapon

Whether it be with the family or without, this park is a sanctuary to me. Lets just say, it fills my bucket every time I go! City Park is 1300 acres of fun! Memories are made here by many adults and children. Im thankful that I live so close and can enjoy it anytime.
In the above picture we were standing under a very large Oak with various sizes of wind chimes.
They named it Singing Oak.

-my jewels-

The Leprechaun Trap

Follow the Pattern to the treasure!

Aiden had to make a Leprechaun Trap for his Kindergarten class. (I know, I am a little behind on posting this) It was a fun activity for him and I to do together. We first googled Leprechaun Traps and saw multiple ideas, chose one and we were off! Great ideas come from other peoples great ideas, right? :)
Aiden came up with the pattern idea.....


and I helped him with the idea of using beads for his rainbow. Its not a New Orleans school project without using Mardi gras beads!


On St Patrick's Day, Aiden and all his class mates showed up to their classroom with green Leprechaun footprints all over the room. The Leprechaun bombarded the room, sprinkled green glitter everywhere and left a note and some gold coins. Aiden shared with me on the way home that day that he thought the Leprechaun was in the art room (the teacher did not let them go in the art room). He then went to bed that night saying, 'I a lot of reallys want to trap him tonight at our house.'

The imagination is a fun and beautiful thing!

I Want To Be Brave

One Thousand Gifts - a dare to live fully right where you are

"I know there is poor and hideous suffering....I only deepen the wound of the world when I neglect to give thanks for early light dappled through leaves and the heavy perfume of wild roses in early July and the song of crickets on humid nights....and all the good things that a good God gives.

Why would the world need more anger, more outrage? How does it save the world to reject unabashed joy when it is joy that saves us? Rejecting joy to stand in solidarity with the suffering doesn't rescue the suffering. The converse does.

The brave who focus on all things good and all things beautiful and all things true, even in the small, who give thanks for it and discover joy even in the here and now, they are the change agents who bring fullest Light to all the world. When we lay the soil of our hard lives open to the rain of grace and let joy penetrate our cracked and dry places, let joy soak into our broken skin and deep crevices,

LIFE grows.

How can this not be the best thing for the world? For us? The clouds open when we mouth thanks."

I want to be brave.

I begun this book and only in the third chapter I am being challenged. What are my thoughts through out the day? Are those thoughts bringing joy into my life or are they robbing me of joy? In honesty.... its been the latter.

I want to be brave. I want to see good in ALL things. I want to be obedient to the creator and sustainer of this world and my life, but....I fear what He has for me, not a reverent fear, but a scared fear. Why is it so hard to focus on what he has preserved me from? Why am I having a hard time finding good in things that He has allowed in the past?

I need Him. I need my God. I need to know Him. I want to feel more of those moments of joy. Not just when a newborn baby is born, or when a couple gets married, or when someone graduates. I want to feel joy in the little things too. I want to, with my mouth, thank God for the feel of warm clothes when they come out of the dryer and for the opportunities given when driving my child to and from school and for smells of fresh bread or a pot of spaghetti sauce.

May I feel the joy that only God can give....that he wants me to receive.....daily!