Another Exciting Homecoming Week

Something special about our school is the degree of student participation in almost everything---even crazy dress up days before homecoming. This week we had: royalty Day, fake injury day, highlighter day, movie character day, and of course our normal Friday blue and white day.









On Monday, we were inspired to be in the presence of such important monarchs as Queen Elizabeth, Queen Katherine, and...Hannah Montana? What's she doing here?

This little girl is the Queen Bee.

On Tuesday, injury day, it was difficult to get around in the halls for all the wheelchairs and casts and braces. I wore a bit of bandage tape on my face, but other than that, dressed in ordinary clothes. There was enough fake bleeding to make the place look like a triage tent and I felt some of us needed to be whole enough to care for the injured.

Wednesday, highlighter day, we had one hundred percent participation...thanks to neon duct tape. It was a wild, shiny day.

It was also "See you at the Pole" Day so we rather lit up the street as well.

Yesterday, movie characters were running around everywhere.

I was Gladys Aylward from the Inn of the Sixth Happiness, the science teacher was Ben Stein, from the movie Expelled, and there were students from every genre around...well every genre that didn't stretch the dress code too far.





Our winners on Thursday were  from Veggie Tales: Bob and Larry. They played their instruments and sang in the halls between every class.














Today is blue and white day. The posters will be judged. Homecoming will happen this evening out at the football field...and I'll be running around trying to fit the last of the t-shirt orders with those who ordered...but didn't get them delivered yet. Wish me a blue and white day!

Is That Scary Enough?

My daughter told me today that she is having trouble deciding how to make a Halloween costume for Zaya. He is determined to be something scary this year, but doesn't want any of the costumes they sell in stores, preferring to come up with his own ideas.

The first one was an ebola virus. Carina told him that was simply too scary and would stun anyone who answered their door.

So he thought a while longer and came up with another: A shigella bacteria. She told him that would just be too hard to explain without using the word diarrhea and might put people off, so why couldn't he choose something that wasn't disease causing?

He thought about it and said he'd be a black hole in space. She explained that, while the idea was creative without being repulsive, she didn't think she could make a costume out of negative space, so couldn't he think of something scary that was humanoid enough to fit a boy.

He did. Now he wants to be an IRS auditor. I voted for that one. He'll have to do some explaining, I know, but at least the costume will be easy.

A Barking Beast

Since the weather is mild, I've no longer any excuses to keep me from walking in the evenings, so I decided to take up, once again, my almost abandoned habit of meandering through the streets. Ostensibly, my goal is to lower my weight and blood pressure; however, since those two are doing well, the only goal really left is to fight flab, which, I suspect, is going to be a losing battle, but who said I was a realist?

Anyway, on my swift and steady rounds this evening, I was suddenly challenged by this little beast, who barreled out into the street and blocked my way with blustering barks and guttural growls. Two little girls standing in their yard nearby approached quietly to reassure me. The oldest spoke:

"She won't hurtcha. She's nice."
"I can see that," I lied bravely.
"She's really a sweet doggie."
"She looks sweet," I lied again, "What's her name?"

The little girl smiled as she replied, "Killer."

Phone Conversation with a Seven-year-old.

My daughter doesn't have internet yet, so she hasn't been posting. Fearing that a vital part of her children's adventures would go unrecorded, I made the sacrifice and decided to write about my grandkids whenever I got the chance.
So, I visited with my grandson on the phone this morning. Here's an excerpt from our conversation:

Zaya: "Grandma, we just watched episode four and five of the Star Wars Series."
Me: "Is that the one where the Empire Strikes Back?"
Zaya: "Yes. It's the older ones."
Me: "Well, if you're going to watch the next one, remember that the first part, where Jabba the Hutt has all those monsters, is gross, but it gets better after that. I'm sure glad I'm not living like that, roaming around the sky exploding planets.
Zaya: Why not? That would be cool?
Me: That depends on whether you are the exploder or the explodee.
Zaya: (laughing) Oh, right. I really just meant the traveling part.
Me: Yeah that's a lot better than all the fighting part. It's not as gross as some parts of Lord of the Rings though."
Zaya: "Well, you know why that is, Grandma. Star Wars is set in the future and they use lasers; there isn't blood, but Lord of the Rings is set in the past and they use swords."
Me: "You're right, still, it's pretty violent, so it will probably be a while before you watch that one. So, how are you liking home-schooling?
Zaya: "Just fine."
Me: "Just what are you studying this year?"
Zaya: "Oh you know, math, spelling, history, science, English, Greek--just the normal second grade stuff."
Me: "Um-huh."

(I didn't want to spoil it by telling him.)

The Rain is Raining All Around...Hallelujah.

Finally, it's raining.
Maybe the trees will survive. Maybe the grass will thrive--
At least for a few short weeks
Until winter lulls it into a sighing slumber
I've been watching the steady drops as they plonked polkadots onto the brown driveway
Such a wonderful, prayed-for and hoped-for, gray, dreary day!
My students gaze out the window
Almost reverently
At the rain.

There Was a Glorious Sunrise

As I drove to work today, past this newly-built church, I began to reflect:

For twenty five years this property  sat here empty on the far northeast corner of town. For twenty five years it sported a large sign announcing the building of a  "future church home".  Finally, this year, they built it--a new building--put the finishing touches on it, and set up all the furniture for their opening dedication. That night--a week ago-- the pastor looked around and pronounced it good. He then went home and died quietly in his sleep.     Yesterday, I asked a little girl who had come to our Wednesday night children's program if she had attended Sunday School this week at her church. She said: "I can't go to my church because my pastor died." 

He was, I'm sure, the only pastor she has ever known, a dedicated man who has spent over twenty five years serving his church, loving his people, being a friend and adviser to all the other pastors in the ministerial alliance, my husband included. He would have been the first to smile at that little girl and correct her:   the pastor is not the church;  the building is not the church. The church is a group of people who gather to worship God, regardless of the circumstances, and if their shepherd were here to console his grieving flock, he would remind them that as sure as the sun sets over the town, it will rise again in the morning ...and so will he.

Missouri Welcome

Today I was remembering a conversation my two grandchildren and I had with an elderly gentleman we met while we were walking up and down the block in their new home state--Missouri. I'll try to quote it:


Gentleman: (standing in the driveway of his house, the one in this picture)
Good Afternoon.
We three: Good afternoon.
Zaya: Excuse me, Is this your house?
Gent: Yes, it is.
Zaya: It is a beauuutiful house! My grandma even took a picture of it when we passed by earlier.
Gent: Why thank you. We've lived in it for 42 years.
Mim: We just moved here from Oklahoma.
Gent: Oklahoma? So are you a Sooner or a Cowboy?
Zaya: Well, I can't be a cowboy, because I'm allergic to horses. (smiles) Actually, I'm a science fan.
Gent: A science fan?
Zaya: Yes, but I'm allergic to most animals so I'm going to be a biological chemist.
Mim: He's allergic to anything that has hair, even to my hamster Goki.
Zaya: I had a Tokay Gecko because he was a reptile, but we had to feed him live crickets and that was a real problem.
Gent: I imagine it was.
Zaya: Do you know what you have in Missouri? You have cardinals.
Gent: (All excited) Yes we do! How about them Saint Louis Cardinals!
Zaya: Well the male is all red and the female has a brown head and reddish beak.
Gent: (smiling) Oh! You mean the birds!

Grandma Lilibeth:(explaining) Yes, their new back yard is full of birds, and they're not used to seeing so many out in Western Oklahoma.
Mim: Yes, we see them on our deck and also hummingbirds and a spotted woodpecker.
Zaya: And some bird that we don't recognize that eats the ants off the hummingbird feeder.
Gent: Well welcome to Missouri! I think you'll like it here.


And I think they will. Their back yard is just perfect for a couple of young biological chemists.

Family Reunion

We took a mini-vacation on Saturday and drove down to Turner Falls for a family reunion. It had been way too many years since we had been together as a family. Ever since grandma, then grandpa died, we have all lived our separate lives in lots of states, staying connected through the grape vine and not always remembering or knowing what each other was going through.

 Since Grandma and Grandpa had seven children and twenty four grandchildren, that was a lot of not knowing and not recognizing faces to go with names and not praying for each other during hard times simply because we didn't find out about those times until they were long past.





Facebook changed all that. We, the "not so young but young enough to appreciate social networks" group began to friend each other online. We reminded each other of where we lived and what we did and how many kids we had and what had become of us. Invariably, we began to talk about old times--noisy dinners around little tables, drinking out of tall Tupperware glasses with spill-proof spouts on top, snitching bits of left-over dough cream pies, and playing kick the can out under the cherry tree. We remembered...and we decided we missed each other.

Then came a crisis. One of our cousins was diagnosed with ALS. His sister and his father started calling for a reunion. At times like this family needs family.

We agreed. So my cousin's sister Tonya, and my Uncle Dale began to look for a place that was centrally located, where we could rent a building for a couple of days and nights.


She found one in South Central Oklahoma, and when my uncle went up to investigate it, he was amazed to discover that it was owned by another branch of our family. The owner's great grandfather was our great grandfather's brother. How ironic is that?








So we all arrived, exclaiming at each old face and being introduced to the new ones...some of which looked just like the old ones, but from the past not the present. You get it.

The genealogists among us were in the Land of Delight--right next to Heaven, that is, having a better acquaintance than the rest of us with the long line who have already passed over.

 There were old pictures there; some we had never seen, although we were in them. Others were pictures of our parents and aunts and uncles doing things like fishing and climbing trees back when they were humans instead of adults. They wore hats and funny shoes and chuckled as they told us why they were smiling and who it was who was holding their hand.



Cameras flashed, tired children napped, scanners and laptops hummed unceasingly copying old documents and pictures to share with everyone.

First cousins-once-removed discussed migraines and how to tell when they are coming so you can stop them before they slow you down.

Brothers caught up on the latest in the real estate market and the price of a good herd of cattle.
 

I almost got a video of this group playing football in the house, but they must have seen an authority figure approaching and hidden the ball...or maybe they thought I was an authority figure. Rats. I keep forgetting how old I am.

And compared to these two--my niece and nephew-in-law--I'm quite old, but compared to 98 year old Great Aunt Ida, who's catching up on events in the life of her young nephew, my Uncle Henry, I'm almost as young as I feel.

There were Sooner shirts, Cowboy shirts, and even a rogue Bullrider shirt--worn as an antidote to all that Texas and Oklahoma fan mania.

There was an abundance of good food... and a constant chatter of background voices.

We decided that this is something we should do more often...in a couple of years for sure. No, we don't agree on everything. No we aren't a perfect family. But we still need each other and don't want to forget that.