Abundant thoughts

Last night I woke up at 4am and was up for about 2 hours. I went to the bathroom a couple of times, stirred continually trying to find a comfortable position, took Makana to the bathroom once, nursed Makana for little bit several times (as occasionally when I tried to find a comfortable position, she woke up and wanted to nurse to settle back down.) and made sure Li was covered and warm (he didn't have on his woolies and it was a cold night). In between all that, I just laid there thinking. I had so many thoughts going through my head that I was just bursting with them; great ideas, things I wanted to tell friends, things to order from the library. Most of all though, I thought about how happy I was. How I had so much going for me. So many good things are in my life and I was overjoyed with my thoughts and feelings. I thought about why I was happy and what made me feel this way in the first place. I had contemplated started a blog a while ago, but never finished creating it as I couldn't figure out a good title for it. Why does a blog need a title anyway? And I am not sure I feel comfortable putting my true self/thoughts out there. Will I ever share this? Eventually I thought about blogging again and then came up with joyful (Joy is my middle name) and I felt grateful for all that I had, especially my attitude (abundant) and I love ballet dancing and Jim calls me The Bun (a Bun dance). So, there it is!

The Chickens

Li went to his friend's Charles' birthday this week. He had a great time! Charles' family has one rooster and several hens that are quite large and absolutely beautiful. We fed the chickens some bread, saw one almost lay an egg (we think), checked out their henhouse and pet them. Charles is five and likes to pick them up and carry them. He can even hold two at once I'm told. Li and Charles began creating a new nest for the hens. When Li got home, he took an old pizza box and began creating another one with yarn and soft wool and plans to bring it to them soon. The next day, Katie dressed Makana up like a chicken and I took pictures of her and Katie took video. It was SO funny!

Learning Connections

A week or so ago, Katie (age 10) requested a couple of books on Rosa Parks from the library. I don't know exactly what prompted her to choose them, but she did. I managed to get A's and B's in history, however, my memory of history is not that great. Katie seems to have this unbelievable memory...like Jim (and Jim is a history major and is truly enjoys history btw). Katie and I discussed Rosa Parks and the bus episode at dinner. I recalled incorrectly that she had been asked to move from the front to the back of the bus. Katie corrected me and said that she had been asked to give up her seat in the back of the bus because too many white folks had come on. She then pulled out a book ("By Rosa Parks, so it has got to be true Mom.") and read me the relevant information. That is so cool! My own daughter teaches me! Li had been listening and asked some questions then and later that night. Our conversation meandered to the big dipper and we looked for it in the sky. We explained to Li that the big dipper, also called "the drinking gourd," was followed by the slaves to freedom because it points to Polaris, the north star. I remembered that we had a Famous Childhood of Americans book on Harriet Tubman and pulled it out to read in bed. We snuggled in bed and began to read it. Li, who was interested, yet sleepy, asked many questions. We discussed various ethics and values of people then and now. It even led to us dicussing child labor and the labor of poor folk in various countries. I love learning this way!

2/11/08 - There is a great "An I Can Read Book" called "The Drinking Gourd" by F.N. Monjo which is a good starting point, especially for younger kids. We just read it to Li and he really liked it.