Build-A-Bear

I took my niece, Amanda, and nephew, Joey, to Build-A-Bear to celebrate their birthdays (8 and 6) this week. I've always wanted to visit the store and see the whole process of putting the stuffed animals together. The employees do a great job of making the kids feel special as they participate. I thought choosing the animal would be the most difficult part, but it turns out choosing the clothes and accessories takes the longest time. The kids had fun and I loved spending the day with them.

After choosing your animal, you bring it to the stuffing machine. Amanda chose a bunny and Joey picked out a bear.



The animal is attached to the machine and the child steps on the pedal to put the stuffing in. You need to hug your animal to see if there's enough stuffing - it has to feel just right. Then you take a red heart that says "I love you," hold it tight to warm it up, give it a kiss for love and kindness, jump up and twirl around to give it energy, and stick it in the bear before the final seam is stitched.



Once your furry friend is stuffed, you get to give it an air bath and brush its fur.




Then comes the most difficult part. They each had a set amount they could spend on clothes or accessories. Joey decided fairly quickly, but it's always harder for girls to choose just the right outfit.



The final step is to print out a birth certificate for your stuffed animal. It was a little difficult for Aunt Melanie to help both kids at the same time, but we got it done. The new animals were named, the certificates were printed out, the purchases were paid for, and both kids had a new birthday present.





We had to dress the animals right away after we left the store.




Then we enjoyed a pizza lunch at Sbarro.



Aren't they cute?

Little Annoyances

Life is filled with little annoyances; things that aren't really bad but are frustrating. Here are a few from this week:

1. I had a blog entry totally finished on Monday. But when I pushed the submit button it failed and I lost the entire thing (except for the first two sentences which were all that were auto-saved). Effect: No one will ever read the "Bee Careful" blog post about Tosca's bee sting.

2. After purchasing two birthday cards for my brother-in-law yesterday (one from me and the other from my little niece and nephew which they picked out), I somehow left the bag somewhere in the (huge) Indiana mall. Six dollars!! Effect: I need to make another trip to a card store this week. But my brother-in-law is worth it.

3. In anticipation of new carpeting coming tomorrow, I need to move all the furniture out of two rooms. The futon sofa will not fit through the door, so I need to take it apart tonight AND put it back together later (that's even more frustrating). Effect: My wonderful parents are coming to help me take it apart tonight. Any offers to help put it back together??

4. Mosquitos.

It's only Wednesday; I'm sure there will be additional annoyances throughout the week (hopefully none involving the carpeting, though). I guess it's time to think about the little joys - like spending a day with my niece and nephew and getting my updated laptop back!

Washing Windows

Last week I finally got around to my annual task of washing windows. (If windows are supposed to be washed more than once a year, please don't tell me as I feel mighty successful if I can actually complete the job each year!) I actually enjoy washing my windows since they have the nifty tilt-in feature. It's so handy to wash both the inside and outside together. I only have to go outside for one big living room window. The difficult part is not to get any streaks on the windows. And the messy part is wiping out the dirty window sills. It's amazing how dirty they get when they're closed all winter.

As I was wiping away all the dirt from the windows and sills, I started thinking about God. And then I thought about how God washes away my sin. In washing windows, I need to spray on the cleaning solution and wipe the dirt away with a towel. When Jesus wiped away my sin he did so through his sacrifice and death. In both cases, the result is sparkling clean: windows and my soul. The analogy breaks down a little because Jesus only had to wash me once and I need to keep washing my windows, but I still sin and continually need his cleansing, so I'm sticking with the analogy.

It's amazing what God can remind you of while doing a simple household chore. And, by the way, I love looking out through my sparkling clean windows. How much more awesome to know that God sees me sparkling clean!

"Wash me and I will be whiter than snow." Psalm 51:7b

Bags and Balls

I spent two days attending a Bal-A-Vis-X workshop last week, learning how to toss beanbags and bounce raquetballs in specific rhythms. Bal-A-Vis-X is a program that incorporates balance (Bal-), auditory (A-), and vision (Vis-) exercises (X) using rhythm to help stimulate the brain and body. It requires focus as well as cooperation; many activities can be done independently or with a partner. However, the exercises are not all easy at first. In fact, I was often frustrated when I couldn't pick up an activity quickly (good reminder for how my students sometimes feel). One of the nice things about it is that everyone can participate - not only athletes. It just takes practice. This program has seen many positive results with both children and adults, and several area schools are using it. I hope to incorporate some of the exercises in my classroom next year. It will be especially helpful for students who learn best by moving around, but I think all my students will benefit from doing these exercises. That gives me about a month and a half to practice!

Here's a video demonstration of a few of the exercises.

Tosca's Troubles

My dog, Tosca, enjoys a lot of activities. She loves going for walks, sniffing around in the backyard, visiting Grandma and Grandpa, hiking in the woods, sitting next to me, and eating her bedtime treats. Although she's eleven years old, she has always acted much younger; I love watching her run in the dog park as she's chased by other dogs. However, several events have occurred in the past month which would lead her to term the beginning of this summer as "troublesome" if she could talk.

The first was her yearly visit to the vet on June 16. Nothing bad, just unpleasant getting shots and having the vet poke and prod. We did find out that due to her age she needed to have a dental cleaning, so we scheduled that for the following week. Tosca was definitely glad to leave the office.

She loves playing with the year old black lab next door. Grace comes running over and the dogs chase each other through the two yards. Unfortunately, as they were running just a couple days after our vet visit, Grace rammed into Tosca and apparently bruised her shoulder. Tosca spent the next week limping and holding her front right paw up as she walked. I felt so bad for her as she hobbled along, getting up to follow me each time I moved through the house. Anyway, we made another visit to the vet where it was determined nothing was broken, we got some medicine, and postponed the dental cleaning for another week. When she was still limping five days later we went back to the vet for another, more thorough checkup and got a refill of medicine. She finally began walking on all four legs again that weekend. I have noticed that she runs a little differently now, taking a little extra care with her right side, so maybe this will be a permanent effect. And she still doesn't want to run much with other dogs. Hopefully that will get better with more time.

After our heavy rain and basement flooding I first allowed Tosca to come downstairs with me as I worked to clean things up and out. However, after I realized the old tiles could contain asbestos, I wouldn't allow her in the basement anymore. Since she wanted to be with me she couldn't understand why I suddenly made her stay upstairs. The couple times that she did sneak down I made her go back upstairs, and she slunk up with her ears down and her tail between her legs. I know she didn't understand everything, but this was just another troublesome event.

We finally had the dental cleaning last week. Since this was our fourth visit to the vet in less than a month, Tosca began shivering as we pulled into the parking lot. It was very difficult to leave her as I knew they would anesthetize her for the cleaning and, after all, she is eleven years old. Her brown eyes looked at me with fear as I left her, telling her I'd be back in a couple hours. The procedure went well, although she was a little dopey when I picked her up. Her teeth now look beautiful!



The final straw was the Fourth of July. Tosca has never been bothered by fireworks or thunderstorms before, but I think after the past month she had just had it. She actually was scared during an extremely loud thunderstorm earlier in June and the neighbor's fireworks just put her over the edge during the day. I was worried how she'd react to the multitude of fireworks that night, but only the close ones really bothered her.

I'm hoping that this is the end of Tosca's troubles this summer. I'd like to take her hiking up at Sleeping Bear Dunes later; we'll see if that works out. It's interesting to me how simply matter-of-fact she is with everything. Maybe that's because she's a dog instead of a person; I haven't seen anger or even frustration, she simply takes life as it comes - the good and the bad. And no matter how hard things got, she'd come and stay close to me, knowing that I love her and will take care of her. I guess I want to learn from her and be that way with my heavenly Father.

Freedoms

As our nation celebrates on this holiday weekend, I've been reflecting on the various freedoms we have. I am so thankful to be living in the United States and to enjoy the following:

* the freedom to openly worship God

* the freedom to listen to Christian music on the radio

* the freedom to participate in government by voting during elections

* the freedom, as a single woman, to own property

* the freedom to speak my mind and give my opinions

* the freedom to walk outside and go where I wish

* the freedom to enjoy our national and state parks

* the freedom to read any book I choose

* the freedom to live wherever I desire

* the freedom to pursue an education and the career of my choice

I know these freedoms are not available in all countries for all people. I hope we never take them for granted. Happy Independence Day, America!

Birds

As the school year ended I was so looking forward to sitting out on my backyard deck and watching the birds at my bird feeders. Just sitting back, relaxing, and watching the birds - my summertime goal. For a number of reasons I haven't been able to spend as much time as I planned sitting and watching the birds. I spent the first week of vacation finishing up some curriculum work for school and this past week has proved frustrating in dealing with the effects of a water-damaged basement, as well as a dog with a hurt leg (it's getting better), and car trouble.

But I've discovered another reason why I haven't spent a lot of time watching the birds. I've found that birds can be a lot of work! I hadn't thought about how you have to continually clean the feeders. Occasionally the birds actually eat all the food; then I only need to rinse the feeder out and let it dry before refilling it. But often (especially in the expensive, squirrel-proof feeder), they don't finish all the food and the seeds begin to sprout. Then they really won't touch it. I've also noticed how the birds, especially sparrows, peck at the seeds, scattering much of it to the ground instead of eating it all. (That might have to do with the quality of the birdseed I bought, but still, it's kind of rude to toss all that on the ground!) Of course, any seed that falls to the ground ends up growing - as weeds - right in my garden. I've debated about putting plastic under the feeder as my extra layers of landscaping bark haven't stopped the weeds.

But the hummingbirds are the most picky. I have a hummingbird feeder and twice a hummingbird has come up to it, hovering over it, but not stopping to drink. I don't know if they don't like the feeder or the feeding solution, but it doesn't last, so I end up dumping it after a week and making more.

I also enjoy watching the birds drink from the birdbath. But they can't even keep that clean, and after a few days I need to wash that too.

After a couple of weeks of this I began to think "why bother." Let the birds go somewhere else. Forget about feeding them. But then I hear them singing in the trees. And I remember the beauty of the cardinal and goldfinch. And I'm reminded how nothing in this world is easy. I think of the messiness of my life and how God continually cleans me up and takes care of me. He constantly prepares and provides for me, even when I'm picky and hover without stopping. He provides me with "Living Water" that is always clean.

So, I guess I can continue feeding my backyard birds. Once the preparation work is done, I can again sit and watch them eat and drink and take pleasure in their beauty. And thank God that He cares for me more than I care for the birds.

I've got some feeders to clean!