Butterfly Gardens

I know it has been quite a while since I last posted. Things have been quite busy around here as of late (which is for another blog post)!

Yesterday, I had the privilege of being a chaperone for C's class on the field trip 3 of the Kindergarten classes took together to the Butterfly Garden. It was so much fun!!! We piled the kids onto 2 buses and drove over to Luxembourg! They had been studying butterflies and insects in school, and this was a great way for them to finish that section.

A kernel representing a butterfly egg

A piece of uncooked spiral pasta representing the caterpillar

A piece of uncooked shell pasta representing the cocoon/chrysalis

A piece of uncooked bowtie pasta representing the butterfly

It was about a 45-60 minute drive, and we were asked often "Are we still in Germany?!" (I guess that's marginally better than "Are we there yet?" LOL) I got to be in charge of the orange group (which included C) and was shown by these really cool foam butterfly name tags that his teacher made.

When we got there, we got the speech about not touching the butterflies' wings (which anyone that has studied butterflies in school knows about the oils on our hands damaging the wings and causing them to break and render the insect unable to fly, thereby killing it). There was also a lot of moisture on the ground that they were trying to drink, so we had to be extra careful to watch where we were stepping so as not to crush any underfoot. (And when you're talking about a large group of 5-6 year olds, that's no easy feat!) But C's class, at least, did very well in following both instructions. (There were kids from one of the other classes that I repeatedly was reprimanding for trying to touch the butterflies. I don't know WHERE the adult was...)

C & his classmates huddled around a butterfly on the ground

The butterfly on the ground

The room was pretty warm and (to me) extremely humid (70%, I think it was?), but it was a lot of fun to be in there (in spite of feeling like I was slowly melting!). The butterflies fly free in the building, and they landed on quite a few people. C's teacher had at least 4 different ones land on her, and one even tried to get nectar out of her leg! LOL

1 of the 4 butterflies to land on C's teacher

A butterfly that landed on a classmate's head

A butterfly that landed on a classmate's arm

C's teacher pointing out a bird to C & his classmates

Case of chrysalises & newly hatched butterflies

Fish pond!

Turtles in the pond

A chameleon in a tank

After the kids were done looking at the butterflies, the case of chrysalises, the occasional display of other varying insects and chameleons, and the fish and turtles in the pond, we walked down along the Mosel river to get to a nearby park for the kids to play and have a picnic lunch.

C playing at the park

 

C keeping busy (& staying awake) by playing a game on my phone on the bus

By the time the trip was over and we were loaded back onto the buses and headed back to the school, the kids were soooo wiped out! At least half of the class fell asleep on the bus ride. As for me, I managed to stay awake (and knit) the ride back, but after I got home and had dinner, I laid down to take a little cat nap...and ended up sleeping through the whole night! LOL

I definitely want to go back and take the boys to the Butterfly Garden (and get to peruse the gift shop this time around!)...

Blogging Lull

I'm not sure why, but it hasn't really seemed like I have much to blog about lately...or rather, nothing more than a couple lines and a photo...so I've skipped over blogging it altogether! Maybe if I start blogging about something, the rest will fall into place...

I still haven't finished blogging about Paris, and haven't posted a single thing about Torie's wedding in September (maybe I can get to it this next week?), but I think I kept up pretty well with blogging over the holidays and the trips we took while my mom was here. (Speaking of, here is a photo of the thimbles I got while doing said traveling; there's one from Trier and one from Frankfurt.)

Oh! And I also haven't yet shared the newest addition to our household! No, it's not a baby (though a close friend of mine just had one on Tuesday!), and no, it's not an animal (in the same house as my boys?! HA!). It's a "roommate" of my craft room! (No spiders this time, I promise!) Her name is Charlotte!

Charlotte wearing my hat from Paris, Ravenclaw earrings (made by me), and the purple Luna scarf (made by me)

I bought her to model the neck wear, head wear, and earrings I make. Sadly, though, there are a few things I made recently I could have used her to model, but forgot about using her until I'd already given them away! LOL

And in that vein, here are some of the things I've recently finished, project-wise!

Triangular Scarflette I made as a last-minute decision for a friend's birthday

*PHOTOS TAKEN BY MISHA* A Hat for Emily for Elphie's husband; I made adjustments to accommodate a size larger than youth, and also made it reversible by picking up the stitches along the edge of the hat and knitting the lining

The fingerless mitts I made for The Instigator as a gift for our anniversary, complete with the logo from Zelda

And for those that pay attention to my Ravelry projects in the sidebar of my blog...you wouldn't have even known what I was knitting for these entries! These were super secret projects that I made as gifts for Kristin and Elphaba for Christmas! :D

The capelet I made for Kristin

*PHOTO TAKEN BY MISHA* The sleeved mantelet I made for Elphie

And I love my gifts from them (which I will post photos of next time)! :D :D :D They were very fitting!

In other non-knitting, non-holiday related news, Superman (who is showing signs of being Bizarro today!) lost his two front teeth almost 2 weeks ago!

And now I cannot really think of anything else to say...it seems as though my blogging steam didn't pick up today after all. (Of course, that's likely due to the fact that I'm being distracted by the boys being home from school today, doing laundry, and watching Big Bang Theory...) So I think I'll leave it here for now. :)

FIRST CONCERT!!!!!!!

You know the mom that goes to every school function possible, ever with the cameras at the ready? (Yes, plural...cameraS...one for taking photos and one for taking video!) Yeah, I'm totally that mom. :)

Superman had his first concert!!!!! He's only six, so there are no instruments involved yet, but I was beyond thrilled when I found out that he was going to be singing in his first school performance! And I even went as far as to blow dry my hair and wear makeup. That means it was definitely a big deal! lol

The front of the concert program

Having been a band and choir geek myself while growing up, it made it all the sweeter that I was finally going to be able to be the parent in the audience. Even just walking into the multipurpose room and seeing the good old risers on the stage threw me back to the days I was in first grade and singing my heart out in front of anyone that would listen. Going into this, I knew that he was at least going to be singing "Grand Old Flag," because he's been singing it around the house nearly non-stop for about the past month! And that even gave me another memory to smile about, as the elementary school I went to used that tune (albeit with different words) for their school song.

I was pretty happy that we got there as early as we did, since the seats filled up very quickly, and there were parents and families packed in there as standing room only! The principal said that in all his years of working as a school administrator (which I think he said was something like 15 years), he had never seen that many parents turn out. Honestly, I find that to be a sad thing. But I digress.

As it turns out...I likely would have been better off with standing. It turns out I'm not the only parent that gets excited, camera in hand. The only difference is, I'm not rude and thoughtless enough to stand in front of other people's kids to get my own on video! That's right. There was a lady that didn't care in the slightest that she was crowding the stage area (not all the kids fit on the stage, so there were some on risers on the floor in front of the stage...which just so happened to be where my first grader was), or even seem to notice that she was standing directly in front of a bunch of little kids, reaching across to video her own child that was on the other side of the stage. And I am not exaggerating in the slightest.

What we could (& couldn't) see of Superman (in the red) from our seat

So I got up out of my seat, did the "duck out of the way of the other parents' photos" dance all the way up the side of the room, and got close enough to get some shots of him.

Standing up front next to him

Unfortunately, my standing right next to him was distracting him, and he wasn't very focused once he knew I was there with the camera pointed straight at him (he even fell off the riser he was standing on at one point!), so I took only a few and went back to my seat.

All the 1st-4th graders that were performing

So to all the parents out there going to these school functions...please be more polite than that lady in the blue was! Be aware that you are NOT the only parent there to see their child and be aware of your surroundings and that you may be blocking the view of someone else that is there to see their child. Heck, that's a problem my kids have. It's not something that should be that difficult for an adult. Okay, I'm done ranting. lol

All in all, though, I am very glad that we went (I told The Instigator he had to tag along...LOL), and I would not have missed it for the world! I just hope that they are more prepared for a larger audience next time. Otherwise, I will be standing!

Parenting by Design Daily Devotional: Empathy

I know...it's been some time since I've blogged...there's a lot that's gone on here lately, and I promise I'll catch up! I just had to post this, first..

The Instigator (the wonderful man that he is!) recently got me and iPhone! I've been having a lot of fun with apps and everything else that goes with it. This is the first phone I've had that even has a camera, let alone all the other bells and whistles that go with it. Up until now, I've only had cheesy flip phones. Granted, it's because I previously didn't care if I had the high-tech phones.

One of the apps I downloaded is for Bible reading, and it has the option of doing devotionals. Sadly, I've already fallen behind in them, and I only started them on the 30th! But as I was playing catch up, this one really stuck out at me. (The following is as written in the devotional, which is available for free through the "Parenting by Design Daily Devotional" on the "Bible" iPhone app.)

"Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of the body, the church."
~ Ephesians 4:15


EMPATHY


"Our love grows soft if it is not strengthened by truth, and our truth grows hard if not softened by love." 
--John Stott


The essence of empathy is balancing truth and love. A rescuing parent leans heavily on love, but shies away from truth. A dictating parent leans heavily on truth, but mixes in little love. A counselor parent is able to express his love for the child no matter what they say or do, yet is strong enough to deliver appropriate consequences and to allow his child to struggle so that real learning takes place. It is a difficult balance, and out anxiety or anger often reveals where we fall on the continuum between rescuer and dictator. Is your love too soft, or your truth too hard?

Striking a balance between truth and love models out heavenly Father's relationship with us.


The part that really screamed at me was where the balance comes into play. I'm not typically one that's good at balance. I'm a very black and white person...shades of gray irritate me to no end. And it shows in pretty much every area of my life. If I'm not constantly cleaning and keeping house, I don't often get time to do what I want to do. If I forgo the cleaning and laundry in favor of knitting and computer time, the house tends to get into a state that compels The Instigator to take up the slack (...and immediately on the heels of that is overpowering guilt that consumes me, and I overcompensate and do nothing for myself to keep up on cleaning...then I get frustrated because I'm not relaxing...so I take time for me, and...do you see the viscous cycle, here?). I know, in my head (as well as from the experience of others) that all I have to do is manage my time better. Spend 30 minutes a day cleaning a room, a different room every day, to keep up with it all. But for whatever reason, that's not the way I function. I'm all or nothing. Black or white. Up or down. Joyous or furious. I can try to do the allotting of small bits of time to clean each day, but it never sticks for more than a week. So to say that this devotional hit me hard is a bit of an understatement.

In truth...I'm back and forth on the spectrum between the rescuing and dictating parent. And it's more sudden than one might expect. (I let things irritated me far more than I should...) If it's a balance that's hard enough for other people that can balance well, how much more difficult is it going to be for me?! I can absolutely see in my mind's eye examples of both extremes in my recent past. I guess all I can do is try...

I have also noticed that I'm better at  balancing things and being (at least closer to achieving the status of) a counselor parent when I'm actively immersing myself into the Bible and going to church (which is, I'm ashamed to admit, something that I've neglected since I lived in Oklahoma). So I'm taking it a little at a time...getting back into reading the Bible, doing daily devotionals, surrounding myself with positive people. I'm hoping it doesn't take me long to get closer to the middle of that parenting spectrum!