Being Patient

It's still January, there's still a lot of snow in the back yard, and I still haven't learned how to put pictures on my BLOG. My computer battery died two weeks ago and really messed things up on my computer. Ralph ordered a new battery off the internet and I think thngs are back to normal now. I guess patience is the lesson I have to learn because I have been given lots of chances to practice lately.
We are looking forward to President's Day. Ben and family are scheduled to make a trip to the cabin. He has some work issues that might interfere but Sara and family plan to come then too. I am glad our children like this area because I truly enjoy seeing them instead of the obligatory visit to see "the folks". Maybe there is a little of that, I don't know. A few years ago, before we lived in Rexburg, we were playing a game where you to tell everyone where you would like to live most in the whole woeld. I was surprised when one of our daughters said, "Rexburg, Idaho"
Tomorrow we might make a quick trip to the cabin just to check on things. Last night was "date night". Ralph brings home fast food every Friday night and we watch a movie together. Last night we watched "In Search of the Castaways", a favorite movie from my childhood. It was a real "blast from the past" for me and Ralph liked it so much he ordered one online so we could have a copy for the grandkids either here or at the cabin
Today Ralph is working on our new room over the garage. We both find it helps to spend time on things that distract us from the problems of real life. Then we can deal with 'real life" and its imperfections without becoming too bitter. Ralph has a colleague that just moved here from Nampa. They were talking yesterday about how the Lord blesses us in ways we can't magine to help us deal with our trials. Though I had a hard time at first considering moving to Rexburg as a blessing, I can now see many blessings living here in Rexburg.
If you are still with me, thanks for putting up with my random ramblings. At least when I wrote letters only a few people had to endure my thoughts written down.

First Snow, Second Snow, etc. etc. etc.

It's snowing - AGAIN! Somehow the first snow in November or December is magical but now it is getting old. It snowed yesterday and it is snowing again today. I know it is only January but where we used to live Hyacinth and Tulip shoots were coming up by now. I am gearing up for the rest of winter, assuring myself I can make it until April. Until then I will try to lose myself in indoor projects. Oh well, snowmobilers and skiers will be happy.

Patterns

Early in the year I would teach kindergarten students to recognize and identify patterns. I found that recognizing patterns helped with every subject. I read somewhere that most scientific disoveries were a result of discovering patterns. Students would find patterns everywhere in their environment. They would even point out patterns to their parents.
We would start out by making a two part ( AB ) color pattern using unifix cubes (plastic colored blocks that hook together ). Each student would make a pattern then read it aloud to me going from left to right. You would be surprised how many students track from right to left and have to be retrained to prepare them to read English.
Every day we would practice patterns. Sometimes I would put a pattern on the board e.g. sniley face, frowny face, etc, Some days I would make "People Patterns" by lining up a row of students and have the class identify the pattern e.g. long hair, short hair. As the year progressed we would make and identify more complicated patterns. Nearly 100% of students mastered this concept. By the end of the year, students were competant identifying quite complicated patterns.

What I learned: Patterns can be interesting and in many cases are the key to learning.

Belief

Something caused me to think about a past experience. When I was younger and married with small childen, I had a friend in a similar situation. We used to meet in the dark after the kids were in bed and run around the block a number of imes. Bwsides talking about chld-rearing,we discussed our beliefs since we both attended the same church.. At the time our beliefs were being publicly challenged and much was written in newspaper editorials. My visiting teacher. who was also my neighbor, gave me a book that was supposed to expose my beliefs as false. She also was very against what I believed. I had always believed what my parents had taught me but I decided it was ime to decide for myself.
I embarked on a careful study of the book my neighbor had given me. Upon researching the original sources of every (supposedly somehing us poor duped believers should be made aware of) accusation of falsehood, I could see how it had been taken out of context to show a completely different meaning. I also was surprised to learn that our church had a library containing many negative and "anti" pieces written and anyone could go there to study them. After awhile of finding the same misrepresntations over and over again, I decided I was wasting my time and I woulld continue to believe what I had been taught. Since that time, I have had many experiences and read many things that confirm what I believe I also learned the importance of knowing something for oneself not just beieving what you hae been told.