Bullies

I don't like bullies. I dealt with them as a child and teenager. I hated my high school years because of some of the things that they did. What I hate more though is seeing my own children being bullied.

We had a family home evening (our weekly family night) with a lesson on bullying. I have a child who is bullied at school. That issue has been called to the attention of the principal and teachers and is being addressed. The problem I see is my own children being bullies to each other. I do not like the atmosphere that creates in my home.

We sang "Love One Another" for the opening song. The scripture for the lesson came from 1 John 2:10. I read the story of "Bullies and Brothers" for the lesson. Each time someone exhibited what was thought a bully behavior a picture of a bully was held up. If a good or hero behavior was shown, a picture of a superhero was held up. I had found the two pictures through a google search on the Internet. I had enough for each child in my family.

After the lesson we discussed what we thought constituted a bully. I was given the answers of physical harm, name-calling, teasing, put downs and the like. I told them being a bully was whenever you made someone feel inferior and belittled. A hero was someone who made your day better. That could be anything from a simple smile or compliment to standing up for someone.

Before the lesson I researched a couple of sites about bullying so I could discuss bullying with my family. The two sites I used are here and here. I have found having discussion with my family about what we learn and their feeling or opinions really helps. It is interactive and allows me some insight into my children.

No lesson is complete without homework though. The family homework for the week (or however long it takes) is to fill a mason jar with M&Ms. For every kind or "superhero" word or deed a M&M is put into the jar. Once the jar is full, we make a batch of cookies with the M&Ms and have a special family activity. Activities that the kids want are a pizza and movie night and a carnival night. The carnival night is when dinner is carnival food (hot dogs, pizza and nachos, lemonade, funnel cakes and cotton candy). It isn't healthy per se which is why it is a special treat. The breakfast bar becomes a concession stand where the kids order their food and pay with pretend money. The younger ones love it.

To help remind ourselves to not be bullies this week I posted the below picture on our refrigerator since that seems to be the family gathering spot. Below the picture I put the scripture from 1 John 2:10. The jar is on the counter, and hubby has orders to keep his hands out of it (he has a major sweet tooth).

I think I caught sight of myself

coming as I was going. Man, oh man! It has been hectic and then some. I have had to pick up the slack in some things which has added to my load and stress. November will probably be my busiest month this year.

For November, I have:

Kalynne's Birthday

Church Lessons

Church Meetings

Youth Fireside (at my home)

School Meetings

Orthodontist Appointments

Family Game Night at the Elementary (planning and running)

Dentist the & Doctor Appointments

Youth Wednesday Night Activities (planning and running)

Church Activities (just attending)

Hosting Company

Planning a Birthday Party for Jonathan

22-hour Road Trip

Normal Mommy Stuff (cooking, cleaning, chauffering, shopping, etc)

The bright side is I have to teach one less Sunday this month due to our trip. I am off the hook for one school meeting due to travelling as well. I guess the hardest part is that I have over a week cut off my month. I am trying to do all of this in weeks. At least we can relax with family the last week. I will think of it as a reward for making it until then. What I won't think of is the 22-hour road trip back home at the end of the month. Or Jonathan's birthday the day after we get home with party later in the week (at least it will be planned out ahead of time).

Whew! I feel like this frog sometimes with life being the stork ...

Election Day!

Today is election day. Please remember to vote. We live in a great country. True, America has her share of problems right now. Ya know what? I married a great guy and think we have a good marriage. Does that mean he is without his faults or problems? Heavens no! America is like that. She has her problems, but we are blessed as a people to have the freedoms that we do. They have been given to us at great cost. Remember that when you find yourself unable to take 5 minutes to vote, there are men and women who died for our freedoms. How many of them would want just five more minutes?

Student of the Month

Kaly... er, Kalynne (as she likes to be called now) was October Student of the Month at her school as well as receiving this certificate. It seems our little drama queen is doing quite well. She turns 12 this week and will enter the Young Women program for youth 12-18. I teach and lead the 12 & 13 year-olds so that ought to be fun.

Kalynne also keeps busy with church, school, band (percussion), piano, choral, and caring for our animals. She also is joining the middle school's newspaper that is just starting up. I would add cleaning her room to that list, but by the looks of it she doesn't do that. Overall, she is a keeper, faults and all.

Extreme Home Makeover

Extreme Home Makeover is building a home for a family 15 minutes from here. The kids and I like watching the show so had to go look at the building site. The road where the house is situated is closed off for 8-10 blocks. In order to see the home, you need to park and walk. There is a spectator shuttle site where you can ride the shuttle for a donation of canned goods that will be donated to area food banks. It has been nasty weather-wise this week. We have had rain half of it. Cold all of it. The wind is really bad today making it feel colder. It has been miserable for the makeover workers, I bet.

On demolition day the kids and I drove by and could see the large equipment cleaning up the lot. Cement footers were poured later that night. Just tonight I conned hubby into driving by the house. We parked and walked to take a look. It was neat to see all the people. There is a lot of behind the scenes stuff going on to that doesn't make it to television. We passed by an area food business that had a food station open to feed the volunteers/workers. There are the law enforcement workers that direct both vehicle and people flow.

When hubby and I looked at the house this evening, the landscaping was being installed. As we were leaving we saw the flooring being brought in for the new home (carpeting, tile & hardwod flooring) to some cheers of the workers. It is amazing to see it all come together so fast.

The community has been coming together too. There are collections and fundraisers to raise money to help pay off the selected family's mortgage (for old home). There is the can drive as well as a blood drive tomorrow. The family is to come home tomorrow. Watching when the episode airs later will be a must watch for us. We might see people we know!

Charissa

I gotta brag about my oldest. Charissa is 15 (16 in 4 months) and a pretty good kid. She is helpful. She does have the ocassional mouthy attitude, but overall she is a keeper.

Charissa is talented musically and plays the piano well. She plays at church when asked. She is a voracious reader and loves to write. She is a good student (much better than I ever was) which I knew. She surprised me with how good of a student last night.

She brought home her Honors English grade for the quarter yesterday. She showed me the grade. I couldn't believe it. I gave her the parental spill about trying harder and improving next quarter. It was all tongue-in-cheek though. She had a 99 for her grade. That is so awesome!

She also showed us her practice ACT she took in preparation for next year when she is a junior and takes the real thing. She had a score of 22 for the practice run. She will do well. She has a good head on her shoulders and a great mind in that head.

I am so proud of her!

Cara's Paper

This is the paper Cara read at the school board meeting (see previous post). Cara's teacher is just wonderful. She is always praising Cara which has really helped Cara blossom and have more confidence. In case you can't read the paper above, here it is typed out with original spelling still intact.

We learned Lots of thing about the desert. The Australan desert home to the bandicoot. The Gila monster is the only poionous lizard in the American desert. The dromdary is a one humped camel found in the sandy Arabian desert. It sure was fun reading about the desert.