MOTHER'S WEEK

This has been a week of mothering. If any week at all could represent what it means to be a mother... this would be it.

Animal Mothers
Mother's Day must be in Spring because it's the time of year for babies in the world. We've had the greatest week seeing them come out!

Early this week, when we were able to take our walk (most of the mornings it was dreadfully rainy and wet), we got to see a new family of goslings! Oh my! They are so cute and fluffy, you just want to touch them! But Momma and Papa are on the lookout. There was a third goose keeping a watch as well. Auntie?

Good size family - Seven adorable goslings!

Squirrels are out in abundance; sometimes there are too many, as witnessed on the streets! (SAD FACE) Skunks, too, are making their presence known, maybe not visually, but...boy! I think one has crawled underneath my house. It smelled SO BAD all week, especially in my living room. You'd go outside...no smell. Inside...Whoa! I sprayed and lit candles and did all I could to try and cover the smell until it dissipated later in the week. That strong, that close up, gives me a headache!

Mockingbirds are interesting during hatching time. They swoop down viciously on any creature they feel is getting too close to their nests, be they feathered or furred. Tuesday afternoon a couple of them were acting crazy, but we couldn't see why they were so agitated. Later, I saw that our summer vacationers, the Mississippi Kites, had begun to return to the power lines above us. Figures; that's why the mockingbirds were so upset!

Babies Growing Up
The bittersweet part of motherhood is the maturation of your younglings. Both of my kids did a little growing up this week. I loved it; I rejoiced in it. And I felt a little sad. Babies aren't forever.

Tuesday evening, I drove Analiese to Norman for her appointment with the Stake Patriarch. She was a little nervous at first, wondering what the Lord had in store for her, but soon settled down due to the kind reception we received by Patriarch and Sister Tanner (relation? Still figuring that out.). I am not at liberty to say what was said, but the feelings were very tender. It started with her asking me to give a prayer before the blessing was pronounced. I started weeping even before I could say a word! Let's just say she's as special as we all know she is and know she knows that her Father in Heaven loves her very much.

The Patriarch is an artist (and a gardener - we had a great conversation!). He painted this pics on his fence. They are amazing!

My favorite

Sunflowers still under construction

Side Note: We drove home with a strong storm on our tail. One that the weather people said threatened heavy hail and possible tornadoes. The wind and rain were enough, trust me! In the dark, with driving rain buffeting the van, it was a little scary going! But we made it safe, thankfully.

Friday, I took her over to USAO and we enrolled her in two classes for the fall: Writing 1 and College Algebra. She will get high school AND college credit for them! She will go on MWF, with about an hour in between classes. She figures she'll go to the library and study for her EPIC high school classes during that time. And...one of my seminary students will be taking the math class with her! She's kind of shaky on algebra, but he's not, so I'm hoping that he can help her. Plus, the college library offers free math tutoring, so we're going to start her off right!

Jonathan grew up a little this week, too. He's my late bloomer, a little shy, but once he gets started, he goes off just fine. Like his driving two years ago! Only this time, it's been something we've been encouraging him for a while to do...he went on a date! Saturday, he took a young woman from the Norman Singles Ward (and his Pathways class) our to the movies. He said they had a good time, it wasn't so scary, and yes, he'd go again. (You know what questions Mom asked!)

Mothering Others - Seminary
I love those kids so much. I worry and pray over them like I do my own. Graduation comes next week and I am dreading losing the ones who will leave!

One of my non-graduating invited me to the band concert Thursday evening. I told Ken...I HAVE to go, she wants me there! Well, three out of my six are in band, so I got to see all of them! Two are in Jazz Band, and did some special numbers I enjoyed. The band itself was very good, not a lot of squawking. Their percussion section was amazing! It wasn't a long concert, about 30 minutes, but worth every moment to see the one student's face light up to see me!

In red, on the left, is one of my seniors playing the biggest saxophone you ever saw in Jazz band. Her brother is on the second row, dark hair and classes (about the middle of the picture) playing clarinet.

Blue hair, one of my students. On the right, dark hair, glasses, bow tie, my 6 foot 4 inch student.

She plays trumpet. He plays clarinet.

My graduate (who played flute in regular band) and senior friend.

I also promised the kids a movie night on Friday. We were to watch 17 Miracles (pass the tissues, please). Analiese recalled that my first year teaching Seminary, which was Doctrine & Covenants, we'd made covered wagons out of marshmallows and graham crackers. So...we had to do it again, before we started the movie.

My wagon example. Do you think lions and buffalo pulled wagons?

Two of my seniors, having fun

Analiese and two others, carefully crafting

Can we eat these without hands?

This is my engineering-minded student. He had to "build a better mousetrap" as it were!

Can I get this all in my mouth?

All of my students came! Ken, just off of work, graciously made all the popcorn so I could spend time with my kids. One of them glommed onto Pom and nearly took her home with him! (I told him, since he's leaving on his mission in June, that I'd keep an eye on her for him!). They all had a great time  - fun and spiritual!

Mothering Others - VIPKid
They are growing on me...especially my regulars. I have one particular student who does not use any other teacher but me, and has me teach her twice on the weekend. We had technical problems on Saturday, so she ended up being nearly ten minutes late and only getting in about ten minutes, because she kept cutting out. I felt bad, I had a special reward video for her, but I'll see her next week. She's already rescheduled.

I had two new boys this weekend. One was quiet and fairly average; before and after was confusing to him as was bossy "e." But we also learned about mammals and birds and I think he enjoyed it. The second boy was way ahead of the game and very funny. He liked to talk! The first slide had two pictures...one to represent winter and one to represent fall. I pointed to winter and asked him what season that was...and I got a lecture! He told me it was his favorite season, what he did then, what he wore, and the holidays they have then in China! Practically covered the lesson! As it was, we got everything done in 18 minutes, giving me six minutes to fill! Well, he did that well enough for me. I had to laugh, he did the same thing a boy last week did when I asked him if he wore a skirt in the Spring. (Disgusted face) I am a boy! I do NOT wear a skirt! I have to say, I love those classes!

And...my heart melted last night when I received a "gift" from another student. It was just a little message, translated into English, but it told me why I do this and why it's all worth it:

I nearly cried.

This mother's heart has room for a lot of God's children. I'm just grateful He allows me to have contact with so many of them!

HAPPY MOTHERS'S DAY...to all the mother hearts!