Civics Based Day

Today was an unusual school day. We started the day with contractors above our heads installing our new bamboo floors. It is very loud to be under all the staple and nail guns. Rhiannon worked on some reading for history and science as well as completed her math in various rooms of the house moving away from the noise and chaos of the construction and her younger siblings lessons.

Ciaran, Sirah and I started studying Ancient Egypt, the Nile and random interesting facts. The lesson was fun and engaging and ended with an actual sword fight between the two with the result being Sirah (White Crown King of Upper Nile) defeating Ciaran (Red Crown King of Lower Nile) and capturing his crown naming her the double crown king. They really enjoyed the lesson and seemed engaged even when we did some map work and talked about things like silt and the direction the Nile flows.

Eventually the noise became too much and after finishing the lessons that require lots of discussion, read aloud and interaction we packed up the rest of the book work and headed out to finish the bookwork in more quiet.

Then we headed to a nearby political campaigning office we are affiliated with for the afternoon. The kids got messy with paint, markers, glitter and glue creating candidate posters while I made some voter identification phone calls. They were rewarded with their artwork being displayed and some potato chips with lemonade.

We headed to a friends house where I taught our weekly civics class - this week our topic was presidential debates and the campaign trail. We discussed what types of activities are going on at this point in the presidential campaign. We broke the students up into different roles and held a town hall styled debate between Senator Obama and Senator McCain. The rest of the students asked questions about topics ranging from the economy to education to foreign policy. The kids seemed to enjoy it and I was impressed with how knowledgeable the students ranging 2nd to 6th grade were about the issues and candidates. We ended with a discussion about whether winning or losing a debate matters in an election, if there really can be a winner and why the candidates answers tend to be less than clear and direct on many issues. Then I opened it up for random question and answer time where the kids can ask me any questions about politics, campaigning, issues and candidates they can think of. We had some interesting questions like:

What is a whig? What is a federalist? Why don't we have anymore?
Do you have to be a senator to become president?
Have we ever had a female presidential candidate?
How do you get to be Obama or McCain (presidential campaign)?
Why do you have to be a natural born citizen to become president?
What are the criteria for becoming president?
Didn't a president have to step down? Watergate
Can a president be elected more than twice?
How do you get to vote?

There were others but I can't think of them. I am enjoying teaching this class and it seems the students are having fun too. So far we have covered the basic structure of our government, federalism, branches of government, qualifications and responsibilities of major leaders, campaign strategies, life on the campaign trail, voting, electoral college, popular votes, how a candidate gets elected, caucuses, primaries, etc. Some day when I have extra time I will post my lessons from those days. We ended the evening watching the presidential debate as a family until one by one the kids dropped off into sleep.

This time of year we are very active as a family in campaigning and encouraging voters to vote and citizens to get involved however they can. I have friends on both sides of many issues, friends committed to various candidates, passionate opinions between family members and friends and that is all well and good. I encourage all of them to get involved no matter what candidate they support and I encourage you to do the same and to teach your children valuable civics lessons they will remember for the rest of their lives.

My kids have been involved with us politically since they were babies - we have always been active and just like many other aspects of our family life we just bring the kids along. They can't do everything with us but they have seen presidents speak, candidates debate, knocked on doors, delivered lawn signs, and just observed and learned from their parents and they participate in civics and good citizenship. I have been applauded for these choices and I have been criticized for them. I will continue to encourage families to participate in civics as families and encourage my children to be active citizens as they grow up no matter what candidates they choose to support.

My kids are now starting to show likes and dislikes and remember certain parts of their experiences from years past. Ciaran really enjoys door knocking and delivering lawn signs. Rhiannon enjoys learning about the issues and watching the debates more but doesn't like the door to door interactions but wants to be able to make phone calls. Sirah she really likes the art part of it making posters and being creative.

A few lessons along the way. They have learned patience through this, being able to sit quietly and respectfully at an office while many adults are on phones around them or wait for a long time to hear a politician speak about many things that seem boring and irrelevant to them. Their presence has made others realize that children can be present and respectful in unusual circumstances. They have learned that even as a young child they can make a difference and help even in small ways that can have an impact. They have learned about being part of something bigger than them and taking part in something with many other people for a common cause. They learn that even when we work hard we don't always win.

Now I am not going to lie and say it is always roses and what seems exciting on day one wears on anyone after 2 months especially younger ones. But overall I think they have built some positive memories and learned some life long lessons in ways they will never understand from a textbook. Some random lessons I have learned everything is easier with food, time for art, exercise and the book Duck for President.

Blessings,
Tennies

The Unsaid Thank-Yous

There are many who I never think to thank. Many I take for granted. Many who make my life better in tremendous ways. I'd like to take a minute to say thank you to some of those who make our lives better. The kids and I spent the day making cookies and thank yous and delivering some to some people on this list - to others we could not get to we just want to say Thank You.

Thank you to the police who keep my neighborhood safe and will put themselves between my family and danger.

Thank you to the fire departments who are so brave they can run into buildings on fire to save those innocents who are stuck there. The bravery of these heroes is beyond me.

Thank you to the military who put themselves on the front lines facing dangerous situations and enemies to protect our country and innocent citizens of other countries too.

Thank you to the federal agents in the FBI, CIA, and all the abbreviations I don't even know exist. Thank you for taking care of things known and unknown to me so I don't need to fear and can rest assured.

Thank you to the wives, husbands, children and parents of these heroes who give up so much time with their loved ones and know the risks they are taking but are still proud of them for what they day. Thank you for the sacrifices you make for the rest of us in the world.

Thank you to the doctors, nurses, surgeons, interns, and all those who help in emergency rooms around the world. Especially to those who do so through the middle of the night so we can always have life saving and critical health care no matter the day of the year or time of night. Thank you to their patient families as well.

Thank you to the construction road workers who provide us with safe well cared for roads to get us from place to place.

Thank you to the pastors, rabbis and leaders of churches throughout the world. To those who provide counsel, love and wisdom to all who need it and who give so freely of themselves to help others through their trails. Thank you to the wives and children who share their time and parents so much

Thank you to the airline pilots, train and bus drivers who get us from place to place safely. Thanks to the security teams that help insure problems don't arise along the way.

Thank you to the sanitation workers and cleaners who make sure we live in a safe and disease free environment.

Thanks to the doctors and health care providers who diagnosis and prevent the spreading of more illnesses keeping us all healthy while sometimes putting themselves at risk.

Thanks to the politicians, yes I am thanking them and you should to! Thanks for taking often thankless and criticized jobs because you want to improve the country and world for the people. Thank you for sticking with it and helping manage and improve a wonderful country we are so blessed to live in.

Thank you to the plumbers and repair people of the world who let their lives and schedules sometimes be dictated by our "emergencies" so we can be comfortable.

Thanks to the rescue workers who run into the areas being evacuated to get more people out and help those who are stranded even though they put themselves at risk.

To all those who work thankless and often unappreciated jobs I say thank you!!!! Thank you for all you do for me, a random stranger. Thank you for truly making this world a better place each day by going to your job, by helping others and doing things some can only fear.

Thank you for facing that fire, standing between me and a criminal, healing the wounded, cleaning the trash and bathroom filth, providing guidance and love to the seemingly unlovable, giving of yourself to better others every day of your life. You truly are inspiring and represent the best of what this country represents. I am proud of you and I am thankful for you and may you truly be blessed today.

Love
Our little family of five in Minnesota

Locks of Love

Sweet Sirah has been growing her hair out for nearly a year now with the entire intention being to donate it to Locks of Love. Last year Rhiannon donated her hair and it gave Sirah the idea. She began growing it out - since she is just 4 years old and has thinner hair it took her longer but she finally finished! This week she was finally able to donate it, 10 inches, she was very excited.

She donated at an all day event where they were collecting many hundreds of ponytails to send in all together. That morning the only thing she wanted was to have her hair in a waterfall braid just one more time. So Serona put her hair in a braid one last time when she was four as she said. Then she went and got her hair cut - she was oh so serious the whole time, barely cracking a smile.

When she was done - she loved her haircut and keeps telling everyone that she donated 10 inches of hair for locks of love. Her face looks so different after she finished, she looks older somehow. When Rhiannon donated her hair I thought she looked younger. She has since been growing it back, she was glad she donated it but likes long hair better and will likely keep her hair long for awhile.

I am glad my kids have a heart for others and come up with creative ways to share that love with people, even those they will never meet.

Hours of Entertainment

Our neighbors got teepeed last night. Ciaran was outside playing lightsaber duels with his friend. The toilet paper was an open invitation for them. I found them knocking it down off the trees and saw my neighbor come outside. I went over to talk to her and told the boys to go home. She said they might as well play in it if it was already there. So I handed the boys a garbage bag and told them as they played they could help by picking it up and throwing it out.

They have literally spent well over an hour knocking toilet paper out of a tree with lightsabers and cleaning up the neighbors yard. It won't be perfect but you can see grass again and all the shrubs have been cleared and as high as they could reach and knock down is cleared out of the tree - they even came in for another bag and the other four kids here went outside to join them.

What a fun way to lend a helping hand!

Care Package for Soldiers

Today the kids and I put together a care package for a soldier from our church. One of the Sunday school classes at church has been sending bi-weekly packages to two soldiers from our class, one a member and one the brother of a member, and today was our turn.

The kids and I enjoyed shopping together and working off the list we were given. The kids colored pictures and made a comic strip and paper airplane for them as well. I am working on a cd and a collage of pictures of the kids as we gathered items for the box. It was a really nice time together as a family and provided good opportunity for us to talk a bit about what the soldiers are doing and why. We talked about why they might want the things on the list and what other ideas they had to help the soldiers. We talked about what the climate was like in Iraq and why things like a glow in the dark Frisbee were important (because it is generally too hot to do anything before it is dark). I let the kids read and pick the items they wanted off the list.

This is an easy service project to do with your family and to bless someone who is fighting for you, irregardless of your political beliefs or position on the troops being in Iraq or wherever you choose to send.

We had a particular soldier to send to but there are many soldiers who do not receive care packages and you can link up with them through the Any Soldier website. Here you can get lists of what the soldiers need and a list of soldiers to send packages to with the confidence that your package will be passed on to those in need of some care from back home.

The items our family chose to send to our soldier were:
o Ziplock Baggies (qt. & gal. Zip lock)
o Small envelopes, pens
o CD's,
o Chapstick
o Crystal Light, (individual packets only)
o Card's (Thank you, Birthday, Anniversary, etc.)
o Frisbee that lights up when thrown
o Hot Chocolate, Cider or hot soup mix (individual packets only)
o Chips (single servings and Pringles is best)
o Candy, anything that will not melt
o Microwave popcorn
o Sunflower seeds
o Gum
o Band Aids, all sizes
o Q-tips
o Glide dental floss
o Altoids
o Books and magazines
o Pictures that kids have drawn and colored, written letter and picture collage (I took pictures of the kids as they colored and purchased items to make into a photo collage).

You could include so many different things, tailoring your items to the soldiers needs or being a generalist of items they usually need. The post office provides a free box and shipping is a flat fee for the box no matter how heavy of just under 9.00. You could do this as frequently as you want or even just once.

Another thing we do to bless our soldiers is when we see them in uniform in our country at a store or gas station we will offer to purchase their gas or items as a thank you for their service for us and our country. We have had mixed reactions to this, never negative though. Some do not want to accept as they feel they are just doing their job and do not need the extra thanks and others are glad to accept and are clearly touched by the offer.

We want to teach our kids to value those who serve for us, especially those willing to risk their lives for our country and to protect us here. Showing respect and simple thanks is important and if we can help out in other small ways we are happy to do so. Take a moment to consider if sending a care package or acknowledging a soldier is something you and your family might want to do. If so take the time to contact your church to find out about a soldier who might need help, or a soldiers family back here while they are serving away, or just click on through.

Locks of Love

Today Rhiannon donated 10 inches of hair to Locks of Love which provide real hair wigs for children who need them. These pictures are from the receipient gallery of the website.

Rhia had been thinking about it for awhile and today made the final decision to do it. There were a few tears this morning but we encouraged her that we supported whichever decision she made and this was completely her decision to make. She decided to do it and was happy with her decision.

Outside of the salon the kids and I gathered together and prayed for Rhiannon and prayed over her hair that it would bless the child who received the wig from her hair. It was a lovely prayer all of us together and then we went inside and took pictures through the whole proccess.

Rhia thankfully loves her haircut. So not only did she do something to help out a fellow child but she enjoyed the way it turned out. She is thankful that her hair will be less knotty, easier to care for and cooler for the summer as well. I was very proud of her. This decision was made entirely on her own and while she had some concerns about cutting her hair and how it would turn out she really wanted to do it to serve someone else and decided to and feels great about the result.

It is always encouraging when kids find ways to serve others themselves.

Bless Her Heart

Precious Sirah. She is three years old and can alternate between being shy and a chatterbox. Today while serving at Feed My Starving Children she worked hard and did a great job with her task. We work for about an hour and half straight and she did a great job. When it was all done we decided to pray over the boxes that are going to the children. The woman who runs the operation asked for a volunteer to pray, I am guessing there were about 20 of us parents and children of all ages. Sirah spoke up that she wanted to pray. You could see the woman looking around to see where the voice came from and the surprise at the realization. Still it was Sirah who prayed.

It was a sweet and tender and heartfelt prayer and appropriate. She may not have said everything an adult would have but she had the tender heart of a child as she asked God to protect the boxes and thanked him. It was a touching moment and one of those times I am so thankful to be able to serve others side by side with my children even when they are very young. It is a joy to serve with my own children, their friends, and parents as we all work side by side. Watching Sirah and an 11 year old boy packing boxes together and watching her with another 10 year old boy who offered to help her sweep. Seeing Ciaran and a teenage girl working side by side and listening to little Sirah's prayers, what a day. I walked out with a tear in my eye and joy in my heart, and the knowledge that today we helped 23 children have food for a year.

Take opportunities to serve with your children. What a great way to grow closer to each other as well and continue to be surprised by them every day.