After Dinner Write Night

On November 6th, there was an important election in our community. Not the presidential election, but something much more important to one of the special interest groups in our neighborhood. The local Turkey Caucus elected Harold T. Gobbler as chief lobbyist for our family's Thanksgiving Menu Congress. 

Harold has been walking the picket line in our kitchen with his "Eat Pork" placard. As part of his "get out of the vote" campaign, he unplugged the freezer to start thawing a ham. 

Like many special interest groups, his lobbying efforts may depend on loopholes and creative reading of the rules. But as the turkey in the kitchen, the price of failure is a free trip for Harold to the oven. 

by Dad

... and yes, Harold really is in the kitchen with his "Eat Pork" placard. He happens to be clay, but he's speaking up regardless. It's now or never.

The Measure

This, speaks to me.

Thoughts Worth Pondering: Eastern and Western Education

How Eastern and Western Cultures Tackle Learning

 OSU Discovery Days

 Hands on learning.

 Seeing through a different lens.

 I pray, learning for life.

Oh, the word perseverance, it is easy to say, but hard to do. This article gave me needed encouragement to continue to tackle what is hard. We must look for opportunities for our children that require difficulty and determination. I, as a parent, will optimally model perseverance in the face of difficulty.

It begs me to ask of myself, what am I doing that is hard? What am I doing that requires me to be stretched? Am I modeling this for my children? Am I stretching my wings, while I ask them to stretch theirs? 

Perseverance: continued effort to do or achieve something despite difficulties, failure or opposition. Steadfastness.

From the Mouth of Babes...

Driving in nearby wine country on the way to chemistry class, 

I heard brother read a sign, "Hip chicks do wine." 

What does that mean I inquired? 

His response, "Chicks with hips don't whine."

Brother's chicks are getting bigger. They don't whine.

Raising Boys to Become Men Who Thrive

 Petroglyph Lake (and wall), Hart Mountain Wildlife Refuge, Oregon

I recently finished reading Swagger, 10 Urgent Rules for Raising Boys... by Lisa Bloom. I'm not sure it provoked anything but grimness in my soul. I won't review it further, but if need your cup half emptied, go ahead and read it. 

I found much more hope in The Heart Grows Smarter by David Brooks of the New York Times.

An excerpt:

It’s not that the men who flourished had perfect childhoods. Rather, as Vaillant puts it, “What goes right is more important than what goes wrong.” The positive effect of one loving relative, mentor or friend can overwhelm the negative effects of the bad things that happen. 

In case after case, the magic formula is capacity for intimacy combined with persistence, discipline, order and dependability. The men who could be affectionate about people and organized about things had very enjoyable lives. 

Raising sons (and daughters) is not for the faint of heart. More often than not, I'm overwhelmed by days that go by to fast and are filled with a complexity that my simple mind can't grasp. Lord, help us raise them well. Help them thrive, not just survive. Surely, raising children (and growing up ourselves) is a day by day lesson in grasping grace. Some days we do it better than others.

Sheldon Hot Springs, Nevada

Weekend Wanderings: Oregon State University Wave Lab

Hope your weekend was fantastic. We wandered the valley and for once we didn't battle the wet, at least not in the form of rain. We headed to Oregon State University (Way to go Beavers! :-) to see the Hinsdale Wave Laboratory.

 They ran a variety of waves through the flume.

 We were impressed.

 We were also reminded that there is a 1 in 10 chance of a major tsunami off the Oregon coast within the next 50 years.

 

Fascinating people and information. I'm hoping we will be able to go back with a school tour in the future and learn even more.

This afternoon we headed to a local arts studio to make clay Thanksgiving turkeys. We will go back this week and glaze them. I highly recommend making a clay gobbler, before you eat one!

We'll be making this turkey next week in Sunday School. We made these at home last year and we had so much fun, it's worth repeating. Our Sunday School turkey will come with a twist: we will have a baby food eating contest first in order to receive the jar for their turkey body. This should be interesting.

Chalkboard Turkey

We ended our weekend with an angel audition for a forthcoming Christmas play. The advent season is fast approaching; may we embrace Him as we learn to sing. 

Bookends: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

...and while we are discussing books, I wanted to plug The Hobbit. Are you excited about the release of The Hobbit on December 14th? We're ready to begin reading The Hobbit together at our house. I'm not sure the kiddos, brother in particular, will see the movie, but maybe!

We've learned to take him to a movie theatre near a library. That way if he and I need to leave, we can get our money back and go have fun reading books, while the others finish the film.

Recommending, The Annotated Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.