Playing Around

That’s what I’ve been doing.  Just playing around…with the kids in my program that is.

When I first started my job 1 year ago, I was excited about the opportunity but somewhat anxious about the school age program and most especially nervous about the teens.  I mean, could I really run a program successfully with teens?  My entire career has been wrapped around preschoolers, toddlers, and infants.  My experience with school age was minimal at best!

While the children under 5 still continue to hold my heart, I quickly found that the school age children have a special place in it as well.  I’ve found even more so that, while they have their challenges, the teens are truly an awesome group as well.

Yes, at times they make me want to beat my head against the wall and, often times, I find myself completely perplexed by some of their decisions.  However, I am also finding myself truly enjoying that age and looking for opportunities to share with them and help them learn this crazy world that in a few short years (some of them just one year) they will be thrown in feet first and have to learn to navigate all on their own.

So, we take them to the baseball game and give them a budget to by whatever food they want.  They then spend the entire time eating and, by the end, don’t even know who won the game…but they had an awesome time and isn’t that what really matters the most?

This last week, we surprised a teen that is no longer with our group by showing up to his varsity football game for his birthday.  It was uplifting for both the kids we brought and the teen that we surprised; I think they all needed it.  Plus, the school that most of our kids go to doesn’t have any sports teams; and those who go to school with sports teams don’t attend the games because they either can’t get to them or can’t afford the tickets (which are typically only $5-7 a game).

To watch them take in the game, the surroundings, and jump into the atmosphere is truly amazing!

We are getting ready to bring a group of them up to a live TV show taping…I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces!

We are also getting ready to take a trip to the Santa Monica pier and enjoy the festivities up there.

We’ve talked in length about what we offer the kids and, while we don’t do these things for the parents, we continue to do them for the teens.  Why?  Because if I can get just one of the teens to think, “I want to be able to do this and take my kids on these adventures” then I know that one teen will do whatever he or she can to be successful, bring in an income, and be able to break the cycle of homelessness for that family.

And to me, that’s how we will be successful in my program: when the teens successfully move out of the shelter and move on to live independently.  I don’t expect them to be rich, I expect them to be hard workers, earn their own money, and be able to experience life and all that it has to offer.

So, all these experiences we are providing for these teens, all these adventures, while fun, inspiring, and awesome; there is purpose to what we do and a goal in mind.

What experiences do you like to give kids?

What is your favorite age group?

What experiences do you enjoy seeing through a child’s eyes?

Cookies

I got a new hand mixer for my birthday (thank you mom and day) with new mixing bowls (again, thank you mom and dad).  I have long been lusting over a kitchenaide stand mixer; but then I got to thinking that it would just take up counter space and it’s not one of those items you can take in and out of the cabinets easily…those suckers are HEAVY!

So, I decided a kitchenaide hand mixer was the best way to go and, while I was at it, why not get some nice mixing bowls that would last and weren’t plastic?

When one gets a new gift like this careful thought needs to go in to what will the first thing be to make with a tool like this.  You can’t just make anything with something like this for the very first use.  It has to be something that will set the path to greatness for the machine.  I mean, sure, one day it will be used to make just simple mashed potatoes or to whip cream or egg whites.  But the FIRST use must be special!

It was an easy decision for me.  The first use for a machine like this could only be one thing:

Grandma’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

And that is exactly what I did on Saturday.

These aren’t just any Chocolate Chip Cookies; these are the ones that my Grandma was known for making; the ones that will forever be missed because, although we all have the recipe, we just can’t make them the same way.

Sure one day I’ll make snickerdoodles, a cake, cupcakes, mashed potatoes, and a number of many other things; but Grandma’s Chocolate Chip Cookies are just too special.

And let me tell you…they were a great way to break in the new machine.  If it’s any indication, me and my red hand mixer will be together for a very long and satisfying relationship!

What is your special recipe to break in a new machine in the kitchen?

What’s your favorite kind of cookie?

You Say It’s Your Birthday…

Thirty something years ago, my parents became parents for the second time and my brother became a big brother for the first time to a little baby girl.

Four years later to the date, my parents were preparing for a birthday party for their now going to be 4 year old little girl while also preparing for another baby to come on a later date.

I (being that baby) heard about this awesome birthday party and decided that if there was going to be a party, I should really be there to enjoy it!  So, early in the morning, I decided to make my own grand entrance.

I successfully made it to that party!  They even let me leave the hospital later that very same day so I could enjoy cake and ice cream with everyone!

I’d like take this day to thank my sister for graciously sharing her birthday with me every single year of my life.  I especially want to thank her for sharing that cake and ice cream that very first day of my life…I mean, that’s a pretty awesome way to welcome me into the family!  There’s something pretty cool about sharing a birthday with a sister and I wouldn’t want to share this day with anyone else.

Hope you have a great day sis!

It’s my birthday too, ya!

Please tell me you know the song I have referenced in the title and last line of this post?

My World Changed

This day, ten years ago, changed my life as I know it did everyone in this country.

It was on this day that our country was attacked…and I finally decided to take notice.

I woke up to my phone ringing and my mom on the other end telling me to turn on the tv.  Little did I realize that from that day forward, my world and outlook of our country, would change.

It was then that I finally took notice of what I should have taken notice of before.  I take notice now; I care now.  I care about what is happening to my country and who is running it and HOW they are running it.  I no longer sit back and let those who are elected take charge.  That’s not what this country is about.  We are about EVERYONE participating in this country.  It’s what makes us great.

However, the biggest change that it made in me was my gratitude.  My gratitude to every person, every hero, of this country.  My gratitude to every man and woman in the military, every person on any police force, every person who is a firefighter and every other public service who puts their lives on the line every day by just putting on a uniform.

Each one of those people consciously wake up and go to work to put their lives before mine.  They willingly give up their lives to protect each one of us.  The least I can give them is my thanks.

How was your life changed?

the quickest way to feeling old

Work with teenage kids.  That’s the quickest way to make yourself feel old.

Here are these people who should laugh when you reference the Smurfs, Punky Brewster, or Care Bears.  I mean, they might not have been exactly the same age as me when those things were popular…but they still were on this planet right?

I quickly find the answer is WRONG!

I love my job!  Seriously, truly, LOVE it!

But, there is no faster way to feel old than to reference the “Energizer Bunny” and they just look at you with a blank stare on your face. (you know, “it just keeps going, and going, and going…”?)

Or to talk about the Jetsons and they have NO CLUE what you’re talking about.

It’s not the things THEY reference or like or their taste in food/music/clothes that make me feel old.  Nope, it’s the lack of knowledge of things past.

I wouldn’t change it though.  It’s pretty great experiencing things through them.

What makes you feel old?

Have you ever referenced something from the past to realize the audience it too young to know what you’re talking about?

Strange Creatures

We have a pet gecko.  I never thought I’d be a lover of reptiles.  Te be fair, I still am not a lover of reptiles; but I am a lover of THIS particular reptile.

His name is Zack…or Luke…or Zack…

When we first got him, I brought him to the center I was working at and he became a classroom pet until we had enough space at home to house him.  We got him from a sweet little boy from my husband’s center who, I think, was moving and just couldn’t have him any more.  He wrote the absolutely sweetest little note thanking us for taking him and taking good care have “Zack”.

I’m weird enough that I talk to animals (and wouldn’t be surprised if they talked back one day).  So, when I was taking him from our place, putting him in the car, buckling him in (yes, I also buckle the animals into the car) and talked to him the whole way.  “I know it’s scary, but we’ll get there soon…okay, here we go…oh aren’t you so cute sitting at the top of your log…okay, the kids are going to love you!”

Yes, I am a bit strange that way.  Somewhere in loading “Zach” into my car, driving him up to the center (a 40 minute drive at the time), talking to him, and unloading him and bringing him to my office, he became “Luke”.  I don’t know how, but he did.  I even texted The Husband about how much “Luke” loved his new home and was making friends with the kids.

The Husband texted back…”Who’se Luke?”

Long story short, for his time at the center, we continued to call him Luke because the kids all called him Luke and it worked.

Now that he is back with us, he is Zack.

Zack is one strange Gecko.  That pose up there?  That’s his “I’m hungry will you humans feed me please?” pose.  Seriously, have you ever seen a Gecko stand like that?  He can stand like that for HOURS!!!

Just waiting for his food…praying to the food gods or something…he’s so awesome and cute!

That in no way means that I am a lover of reptiles…I just love our little Zack.

Are you a lover of reptiles?

Do your pets do crazy things?

 

Summer

Did you know that summer is officially over after tomorrow?

No?  Well it is…for me anyway.

See, I run a children’s program and the day after Labor Day ALL schools will have officially started.  Monday we are closed to kids (although we do have a staff work day…I know, sucks and I’m a mean manager for making them come in, but I have to) which means that as of 6pm tomorrow, summer will be completely OVER!

Why am I so excited?  Because kids have to be entertained and kept engaged when they aren’t in school and a WHOLE SUMMER is a long time.  Especially when you are down staff members.  Bored kids are worse than anything…well, bored TEENS are the worst of all!

So, I now know why parents are always so excited for school to start up!

Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed the summer; it was just go-go-go for 3 solid months (and more if you count the planning, scheduling, reserving, ticket buying that went along with it before it even started).  It’s time for a vacation I think!

I thoroughly enjoy my job as well.  I love the time that I’ve been able to spend with the kids and teachers through the summer.  We have some great kids and getting to provide them these experiences, often their first time at most of these places, was truly amazing!

So, while I can’t wait for Friday to be over…I kind of already started planning for next summer as well.

Are you excited for summer to be over?

What do you love about your job?

 

My Daddy

My dad is THE BEST dad in the whole wide world!  I’m not even going to say “my dad can beat up your dad” because he probably could, but he wouldn’t…he’s not the type.

My dad IS however much more fun than your dad.  I can swear to that!  I definitely get my sense of humor from him.

Want something built?  He’ll do it so well with just his hands and simple tools that you would have thunk that it was made professionally.

Need your car fixed?  Yep, he’ll do that, too!

He’ll also play a game with you, go down slides at the park, climb through tunnels, play soccer, watch the football game, and of course play jokes with you!

My dad is the absolute best in the world!  Most of my childhood memories are of me spending time with him in the garage or out in the yard building, fixing, or just being together.

Every child should have a dad in their life.  Dad’s are very important.  But my dad?  He’s the BEST!  I can’t imagine having any other dad in the world…and I wouldn’t want to anyway!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Imagination

I have a pretty wild imagination.  I always have.  Not necessarily in the sense that I make up scenarios that don’t really happen; but in the sense that I can come up with some crazy explinaition as to how things work knowing full well that’s not how it happens, but wouldn’t it be cool it it did?

For example, when I was younger I had a toy musical instrument set.  You know the kind that is a drum but you take off the lid and it’s full of shakers, flutes, etc…  A parent’s worst nightmare of a toy for their child and only an auntie would dare give it to them because who else would give a child a gift that would drive a parent INSANE!

Well, I had one of those and I remember taking it out to the front driveway and pounding on it.  I was old enough to know about how echoes worked, but still, my imaginiation was much better.  See, where we lived across the street there was a hill and on top of that hill were more houses.  You couldn’t really see up there, but you knew there were families up there.

In my mind, when I played my drum and heard the echo coming back, I always thought that there was a little boy (don’t know why I never thought it was a girl) up there who would be playing with me and rumming the same rythm back to me.  It was a game this boy and I played together.

I can’t say that I ever actually had imaginary friends that went around with me; but they played with me from a distance I guess.

I also imagined that there was always someone else on the exact other side of the world doing EXACTLY what I was doing at the exact same time.  I was putting on a blue shirt?  So was this person.  I was getting into the car to go to Church?  So was she!  At some point I remember imagining that this person wasn’t on the other side of the world, but living right in the same town and we would never ever meet because if I was walking left, so was she, if I stopped, so did she….weird?  Probably!

My favorite imaginations, however, are in how things work.  I still do it!  Like batteries.  Ever since the Energizer Bunny was introduced to the world, I always imagine that inside a battery is a little bunny with a drum on his front running from one end to the other and that’s how a battery works!  And when a batteriy dies, well that just mean the bunny has gotten too tired.

Crazy?  Yes!  but it’s fun to imagine!  Guess that’s why I love hanging around kids so much.  You should hear the explanations they come up with!

Do you have a wild imaginiation?

Did you have imaginary friends?

He’s MY Super Hero!

I might, at times, give The Husband a hard time.  I might make fun of some of his “strange ways”.  If you don’t really know me, you might think I’m just plain mean.

If you know me, you know that making fun of you totally means I like you.  The more I like you, the more I give you a hard time.

What I don’t tell him nearly enough is that he is my Super Hero!

I love him more than anything.  Heck, anyone who can put up with my harassment is someone who I definitely need to keep around!  I so don’t deserve this awesome man in my life; but God has blessed me by not only putting him in my life, but also by convincing him that I was to be his wife and marry me.

In our Church, when you marry someone you are no longer two people; nope, you come together as ONE.  He so makes us a better ONE!

So, he’s MY super hero and you can’t have him!  Find your own, but good luck with that!

Who’s your super hero?