1. My friend Jamie is now an ambassador for Noonday Collection. If you don't know about it, you should. Women in the third world are being taught a trade, are being fairly compensated for their beautiful and unique work, and we get to play a part WHILE looking cute. Winning, all around.
2. I was remembering a visit I made to my friend Yvonne of Great Britain circa 1996, and I saw several posters on a bulletin board at her church encouraging Christians to buy fairly traded products. This is the first time I had ever heard of this concept, and my comment at the time was something like, "I just don't think Americans, even American Christians, will ever pay more money for a product just because it's helping people. We are too obsessed with bargains." I think that now, a mere 16 years later, there might have been a small shift in our attitude. Or maybe it's just the people I hang around with. Anyway, England had it figured out first. So, cheers.
3. I am so disgusted with the money that's being raised and spent on this presidential campaign. If a candidate were actually doing a good job, maybe it would not cost one BILLION dollars to convince people otherwise.
4. The husband got home late last night and spent approximately 30 minutes of his life, that he will never get back, trying to explain to me the concept of ceilings and floors as they relate to some economic concept that was on a test he'd just given to his students. I warned him that I have never been able to get my head wrapped around the subtleties of economic theory, but bless him, he tried so hard.
5. Harper yanked out her very own tooth last night. The husband was away, and he is the resident tooth puller. I told her that I would try, but that the whole thing makes me a little queasy. She had mercy on me and did it herself. The tooth fairy rewarded her with two dollar coins, instead of the usual one, for her bravery and gumption.
6. Hudson, after several weeks of practice, is now able to expertly coordinate his arms and feet in order to perform an excellent jumping jack. I realized he needed some help after his first Taekwondo class. He looked like a marionette being operated by someone being repeatedly stung by hornets. Now? He looks like a cadet, much to his great pleasure.
7. Helena, when she is needing a little alone time in the bathroom will say, "May I please have some piracy?"
8. Well, we just got home from Walmart, where we bought supplies to make play-doh because apparently, today is National Play-doh Day. Do I want to make play-doh? I emphatically do NOT. Maybe we'll read the Constitution aloud while we squish our play-doh, because we didn't duly celebrate yesterday.
9. There is an article in the Wall Street Journal (September 12--because "news" is a relative term) about how Lululemon is suing Calvin Klein for stealing their patented formula for yoga pants and having the audacity to pretend they only cost $19.99, instead of the $98 Lululemon insists they are worth. The title of the article is "Downward Docket: The Yoga Pants War," which I thought was clever. Also, dear husband, is this a floor or a ceiling??
That will be all. The play-doh awaits.
6 comments:
You are Super Mom. I despise Play-Doh.
It wasn't too bad, as these things generally go. Granted, I have a quarter of the boys you have. Also, a trip to Walmart seemed easier than the math I really needed to be doing with Harper.
Patti....I am amazed!! shocked! :) - really? Is there a tooth fairy in your house?- Can you tell me more?!:) I might be the worse mum for refusing to tell my kids there is a tooth fairy, a santa, a father Christmas or Easter Bunny.....:) just the stories don;t add up....
In my house there is certainly angels (off course invisible) and they are not freacky scary or such, there is St Nicholas Day (when if they have been good they get some sweets and maybe a toy in their boots to remember a very lovley man called St NIcholas but also they are to give a chosen toy to another child in need (we have a toy service around that time at church), then we have Christmas Angels bringing good news of Jesus and beacuse we are so happy that Jesus was born and saved us from lots of bad things...we celebrate by giving and receiving gifts, we also have celebration of life and each other and Jesus at Easter and once again those angels that were bringing the good news of Jesus....are bringing more good news of everlasting life so we can give and receive some more gifts....
I never had the tooth fairy thing in Romania....so it is a little strange for me to understand where and how she appeared....why did I not get some coins I was brave and got all my teeth out:))))
On a slightly happier note: Patti did you know that animals can speak different languages?!
In English a frog says: Ribbit ribbit, Hungarian frog is BReakaekae, En piggy says: oink oink while the hungarian says: roeff roeff while the Romanian just snorts:)))
LIfe is so fun when you live three different ones....I mean just language wise....cause if I go down the kids, adults, oldies (people)...gets very very amusing!!
Love reading your notes....thanks for sharing! Not sure I know much about ceilings and floors but I leave that to you and your hubby....
As for England....well my observation is that WE ARE OBSESSED WITH BARGAINS and occasionally allow ourselves to feel good by buying some Fair Trade stuff....! - but currently people are making their own things and seems not that much money to spend....anymore.
Maria--
I read this quote by C.S. Lewis (or maybe George McDonald?) about the importance of letting kids imagine fanciful things (like fairies, wood sprites, gnomes..) and I realized that, other than the Narnia books, which my husband has been reading aloud to the big kids for a couple of years now, I wasn't really encouraging that. We, as you mentioned, do try to make Christmas and Easter about Jesus and the other historical figures, like St. Nicholas.
I decided that the tooth fairy would be a fun way to do something fun and magical. Harper had heard other kids talking about it (one little girl in our homeschool group even did a presentation on a small gift that the tooth fairy had brought her, and she put "tooth fairy" in air quotes to show us that she knew her mom was actually the giver, which I thought was hilarious) so she knew the basic premise. She draws maps so the tooth fairy can find the tooth, and I leave her little notes signed "Tooth Fairy" which delight her. I do think she totally knows it is me, but she has never said it. She is generally so concrete and literal that I love that she is able to use her imagination this way.
I remember trying to play a game at IBLA one time in which we were supposed to make animal noises--it was mass confusion because the Russian pigs sounded different from the American pigs and the Romanian pigs!! I still remember that the Hungarian roosters said "ku kah ree koo!" instead of "cock a doodle do!"
Oh I see! Yes, that I see how its good. I am just I guess a bit foreign to these notions. I guess its different with boys and girls...my Reuben seems to need to see and touch things a bit like me...I must say I struggle with angels and some of the invisible world Christians so wholeheartedly embrace....but I never had issues with imagination...in fact I think sometimes I am way too imaginative...:)))
My friend's daughter loves the fairies and so so interested in father Christmas and the magic of it all. Reuben seems to be unsettled when something has not got a place of origin and a location and some sort of palpable existence?!sp?
Thanks for sharring yes, IBLA....:))) yes hungarian kookadoodledoo....kookoorikooo:)))
LIfe is fun....good that we can explore it in so many ways...through so many different eyes.
The Tooth Fairy forgot to compensate Sarah for her recent loss. I told her it was because she (Sarah) had waited a few days, and that the TF needed a letter. We wrote one, and - voila! - she came! (Whew.)
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