Posted by Emily.
Aug
23
Posted by Emily.
In 41-and-a-half hours, I will have three kids in school for seven hours a day. They’ll all shuffle out the door at (roughly) 7:30 and come home at (roughly) 2:30. While they are gone, I’ll have one fairly docile child at home, at least until she starts preschool in September.
Can you smell that? It’s the sweet scent of freedom. It smells like oranges and happiness.
Now, I don’t normally spout long, self-congratulatory harangues on this blog (at …
Aug
23
Posted by Emily.
I took a day off to fulfill various obligations and to prove, by my behavior, that I still need more Ed Week before I become a perfect parent. That could be the most disappointing part of the whole week – my spiritual well is overflowing, and yet I still find myself getting short-tempered with my kids and irritated when things don’t go the way I want. I feel like I shouldn’t be bothered when Darcey smears a brand-new …
Aug
18
Posted by Emily.
This is the second in a series of lecture notes from Education Week at BYU. Hope you like it.
Today’s classes:
Increasing Personal Effectiveness: Living Happier, More Productive Lives – Kevin Miller
The Art of Communication – Kevin Miller (*has possibly taken over as my favorite class)
The Divine Gift of Righteous Influence – Sheri Dew
How to Be A Better Wife in 4 Easy Lessons: How to Combine “He” and “She” and Not Lose the “Real Me” – Merrilee Boyack (*an excellent …
Aug
17
Posted by Emily.
Normal college students, when they have a mere ten days between the end of the summer semester and the start of fall classes, they go on vacation. A trip to Disneyland, or camping with their friends maybe. Not me. In my ten day break, I’m spending four of them…at college.
It’s a different college, if that makes it better at all. I’m attending Education Week at BYU, something I’ve done a couple of times before. Every day (well, Tuesday through Friday …
Aug
3
Posted by Emily.
It’s been a while since I posted, (as Ryan comically said, “You’ve got a blog?? I thought you forgot!”) so I thought I’d show you what’s been going on. Here’s some of the things that have kept our family busy this summer.
(Okay, so for some reason I can’t figure out how the photo system works with WordPress. If you’re seeing garble-de-gook under this sentence, click on “read more” – the next page should have it right. Hover over the pictures …
Jul
9
Posted by Emily.
I re-read “Fahrenheit 451″ by Ray Bradbury for my YA Literature class this week. Published in 1953, “451″ examines the role of books in a society that censors information ‘for the common good.’ If you haven’t read it, then put down your laptop, unplug your earbuds, turn off your wall-sized flat-screen and go buy the book. Now. I’m not kidding.
I tend to get melodramatic when I talk about how much I love Fahrenheit 451, so I will try to keep …
Jun
18
Posted by Emily.
Brad hates playing center field. On his Little League team, the Nationals, all the action happens in the infield. There is very little ball-hitting, on any of the teams. The kids strike out swinging, sometimes, or get walked. Once on base, the runs are all scored by taking advantage of errors. For a game that requires so much catching, there is precious little catching going on. It’s mostly picking the ball up off the ground, after chasing it across the …
Jun
8
Posted by Emily.
Is there a statute of limitations on spoilers? After a certain amount of time, is it okay to openly discuss endings of popular tv shows, books, movies? Am I allowed to announce “Bruce Willis was dead the whole time?” (If you don’t know what that refers to, I won’t say, since it would obviously spoil it. Whatever it is.)
I’m thinking right now about Harry Potter. I decided to reread the 7th book (okay, relisten, actually) for my class next semester. …
Jun
5
Posted by Emily.
Used to be, I would have a crummy day, or the kids would do something atrocious, or I’d do something embarrassing, and I’d throw open my laptop and pour my frustrations and angst and whatnot onto the pages of my blog. If I could spin it and turn it into something to laugh about, I loved it and was happy. If I couldn’t make it funny, I’d at least have gotten my thoughts out there, and I’d be relieved. In …
Jun
2
Posted by Emily.
I got my reading list for the Adolescent Lit class I’m taking during the second half of the summer. I have to read a different book for every class period (3x per week) but most of the books look good so I’m not unhappy. In fact, I like having a stack of books just waiting to be read.
Go Ask Alice- Sparks
Walk Two Moons – Creech
Out of the Dust – Hesse
Nightjohn – Paulson
Watsons Go to Birmingham – Curtis
Fahrenheit 451 – Bradbury
Graveyard …
