My Valentine's Week

This year's Valentine's celebration was fantastic.  I planned activities for each day of the week and spent one day with each of my kids, my husband, and friends.  Then, I ended the week with a special activity for the whole family.

On Wednesday, the week before Valentine's, I took Gillian to see a high school production of Our Town by Thornton Wilder.  A few girls from our ward were participating in it and I wanted to support them.  Furthermore, as a lover of plays, and especially plays that make you truly think, this has been one of my favorite plays to see on stage.  I thought it was going to be a bit too hard and sad for Gillian to understand the true message of the play.  I'm actually surprised that it is  the most produced high school play, since its message and plot is very deep and unusual.  My fears were unjustified.  Gillian loved the play.  She felt all of the emotions that the play evoked in all of us- sadness, joy, innocence, gratitude, and she was touched by its message of loving life and each other.  The girls from our ward did such a beautiful job.  The theater director had incorporated songs throughout the play and that little touch changed the whole play; it gave it a more humane feel; it softened the blow of sadness, and it made us truly feel its message. 

 

“We all know that something is eternal. And it ain’t houses and it ain’t names, and it ain’t earth, and it ain’t even the stars . . . everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings. All the greatest people ever lived have been telling us that for five thousand years and yet you’d be surprised how people are always losing hold of it. There’s something way down deep that’s eternal about every human being." - Thornton Wilder (Our Town)

 

On Thursday, I hosted book club.  We discussed Love In The Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez - a love story for all ages that will always be a classic for the profound questions it asks, for the beautiful language it is written, and for the passion it conjures in us. Drink some hot chocolate, put some Puccini on, and read these extracts, a few of my favorite ones (my book is covered with red underlines - Marquez's usage of words is fascinating.)  Even better, pick up the book and underline your own favorite passages.

"To him she seemed so beautiful, so seductive, so different from ordinary people, that he could not understand why no one was as disturbed as he by the clicking of her heels on the paving stones, why no one else's heart was wild with the breeze stirred by the sighs of her veils, why everyone did not go mad with the movements of her braid, the flight of her hands, the gold of her laughter. He had not missed a single one of her gestures, not one of the indications of her character, but he did not dare approach her for fear of destroying the spell.”

"He was still too young to know that the heart's memory eliminates the bad and magnifies the good, and that thanks to this artifice we manage to endure the burden of the past.”

wisdom comes to us when it can no longer do any good.”

"Amputees suffer pains, cramps, itches in the leg that is no longer there. That is how she felt without him, feeling his presence where he no longer was.”

"His examination revealed that he had no fever, no pain anywhere, and that his only concrete feeling was an urgent desire to die. All that was needed was shrewd questioning...to conclude once again that the symptoms of love were the same as those of cholera.”

"It had to teach her to think of love as a state of grace: not the means to anything but the alpha and omega, an end it itself. ”

On Friday I took a break from deep thinking and took pleasure teaching art to my kids' school.  Since it was the week of Valentine celebrations, I chose the theme of Feelings to present to the kids.  As usual, I taught art history the first half of the hour introducing the kids to several artists, paintings, and how those artists expressed their feelings through their art, and even more importantly how did their art made us feel.  This is my favorite part of my teaching art because I get to see those kids loving art for the sake of art. This time I introduced art that expressed joy, surprise, sadness, fear, anger, depression (they sure loved talking about The Scream by Edvard Munch).  But I got a kick out of the 4th and 5th graders when I showed and discussed a painting by a contemporary artist, Leonid Afremov.

 

The K-1st thought is was beautiful and they loved the colors; the 2-3rd graders tried to discuss the colors the artist had used and mixed to represent night, rain, and light; the 4-5th graders were embarrassed and started talking about love, kissing, and romance as something gross.  I didn't want to have this get out of hands, so I redirected the discussion to the loving relationship between their parents, which was not a good thing to do since most of their parents were divorced.  I used that opening to share with them my thoughts on the importance of love and having good feelings toward one another, especially our family members.  I shared how much I love my husband and how I show my love for him and my children.  The kids were quiet, and I was touched by what I saw in their eyes - a desire for love, stability and happiness.

Art is such a beautiful thing.  It transforms us into beings with feelings and dreams.  I love seeing in the students' eyes amazement, bewilderment, surprise, and enjoyment, and as soon as boredom starts appearing in their faces I switch to making art.  They love this most of all.  I do too.  I love seeing their creative side come out.  I enjoy seeing quiet students who don't speak through my first part, bloom as they express their shy nature into something so personal.  Needless to say, my kids love having me there, especially Gillian, who is at an age when having a cool mother makes a big difference in their life.  And of course I love playing the part of the coolest mom on the planet!  For this part of the art class, I had the K-1st graders do a love mosaic card for their parents (they had to use their little fingers tear small pieces of paper to use for their mosaic; let me tell you it's tiring as you can tell from my unfinished green area, but it sure makes you use those muscles.) The 2-3rd graders could choose between the mosaic card and the 4-5th grader project, which was to make your own creative way of the word love into a card.  They all had a good time.  Here are my projects (theirs were even more creative):

 

On Saturday, Elijah and I hosted our annual Valentine's party, and although we didn't have as many couples this year as in the past (this was a three-day week-end, so people were out of town), we nonetheless had a beautiful time.  The dynamic was fabulous, the food delicious, and my husband's love poem was very touching.

On Sunday, we were treated with an enjoyable piano recital, in which my kids participated as well.  They played beautifully, and I was touched by how fast they are growing.  This was a sweet gift from our children.

 

 

 

On Tuesday, the week of Valentine's, I went with Gillian and her friends at the USS Hornet in Alameda.  We took a tour of the aircraft carrier accompanied by a very knowledgeable tour guide who had been a pilot during the Vietnam and Korean wars, raced model airplanes, and explored the various airplanes located on the hangar of the ship. The boys in Gillian's class had a good time competing with me in flying our airplanes the farthest.  My "experience" and competitiveness was no match for them:)

 

On Wednesday, I was treated to a special Valentine's Tea Party at Jefferson's class.  The teacher had made nine to ten various kinds of scones, muffins, cookies, and other tea party items.  She was teaching her class good manners and threw this party to have them exercise those manners.  As soon as we entered the classroom, we were greeted by our own child who directed us toward our table.  There, we were each served by our children who had donned an apron and were very polite and obliging.  Jefferson had mentioned to his teacher that we don't drink caffeinated tea, although I had told him it wasn't a big deal for me to just drink water.  He wanted to make my experience perfect, so he had expressed his concerns to his teacher, who in turn had gone beyond being nice and added decaffeinated chamomile tea in the mix.  I was touched by my sweet Jefferson.  This party was a very sweet gesture from the teacher and a great lesson for the kids.  Jefferson was flying with excitement and was trying so hard to serve me all the best foods, and then seconds.  I loved it; it was right up my alley.

ei

 

Thursday, Valentine's day, was a busy one, but so enjoyable for me.  After finishing with Gillian's orthodontic appointment, I stopped by James's class.  We had been asked to bring red healthy food, so I brought some strawberries since I know James loves them.  The kids had so much fun eating only red on Valentine's day.  After that, Charlton and I met some of his preschool friends and their moms at Pump It Up !, a very fun structure with giant inflatable slides and bounce houses, perfect for any age kid.  I was worried Charlton wouldn't like it since he is very cautious about heights and bounces, but after a few minutes and accompanied by his friends he loved it.  When that fun was over, we all went to taste some yummy Krispy Kreme doughnuts.  Charlton was surprised to find out that he could have a doughnut before dinner.  I had two.  On the way home, I stopped by Barnes & Noble to pick up a few gifts for my kids.  While there, Charlton and I read a few books, played with their stuffed animals and toys, and then bought our gifts.  Charlton had been playing with this stuffed toy of Luke's battle ship from Star Wars.  I could tell he loved it, so before we left I sneaked it behind me so he wouldn't see that I was buying it for him. 

As soon as I got home, I had a couple of hours before the kids got back from school.  I had Charlton watch a movie, and I cleaned the house, cooked a special dinner for my family, set the table, wrapped the gifts, and prepared my favorite French hot chocolate.  Elijah got home a little later than the kids, so as soon as he got home I had them all sit down and gave them our gifts.  The kids were so surprised to see how much thought we had put in those few gifts.  I could tell that they were so touched that we had thought of what they each liked individually.

After the gifts were all opened and appreciated, we sat down to eat dinner.  This was the menu:

DRINKS

Sparkling Cider

ENTREE

Pork Chops

Hash Brown Casserole

Green Beans

Corn

Salad

Fresh Homemade Bread

DESSERT

French Hot Chocolate

Doughnuts

The evening was a success, but Elijah and I weren't done.  After all of our family activities ended, we left just the two of us to attend a play at the Lesher Center titled Old Wicked Songs written by Jon Marans.  This was a brilliant play about two men, a Viennese voice professor and a young American prodigy piano player, whose age and background are so different but who through the poetry of Heinrich Heine and the music of Robert Schumann find solutions to their life's quandaries and overcome their demons.  A beautiful play with great lines, multidimensional characters, thoughtful plot, and extraordinary music, this was time well spent.  Both of us truly enjoyed it.

 To top my whole week's celebration, Elijah gave me as a gift what else but art - a high quality print of one of my favorite paintings that graces a wall in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and now my own home. The painting is by an 17th century French painter, Jean-Honore Fragonard, whose painting The Swing is very well known to all art students.  But my painting has nothing to do with swings, but with my beloved choice of past time, reading.  It's called A Young Girl Reading, and what better way to combine art, reading and Melita in one, than this gift.  Thank you, sweetheart.

"Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that action." - Mother Teresa

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” ― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

One moment we are swimming laps and drinking iced water, in another we are suddenly surrounded by golden, orange and crimson red leaves. Birds fly in the sky like poetry on a page.  The water of the ocean is still but for a trembling of the wind.  We are driven by no apparent reason to hikes and walks up the hill where we are faced with the most gorgeous sunsets as if the earth has saved its best when we are ready to settle. Our hearts guide us to our favorite sweater as we sit outside to feel and breath the crisp air of autumn.  We have felt restless all summer long till those leaves start falling down on the ground and that simple act makes you want to sit down too.  Blankets come out, hot chocolate is served, good books are being chosen, and chairs are occupied with peaceful expectations. Our spirits feel ready to receive the harvest that comes after a long day's work. A short season this autumn is but what marvelous metamorphoses it brings, in us and around us.

Every season has its beauty, but to me autumn brings with its sweet air a desire for resting from vigorous schedule and enjoying my family and the world around us together.  It's warm colors bring me peace and satisfaction from life.  Its harvest draws my attention to new recipes and delicious pies.  The jazzy feel of this season puts a smile on my face and I feel like skipping instead of walking.  I can't wait to take my children to walks, hikes, and parks to enjoy the friendship with nature this season offers to us all.

This past week found me celebrating fall each and every day.

On Monday, I accompanied my sweet James to his field trip to the Pumpkin Patch.  I love it that neither of my boys are ashamed to show love and kindness toward me even in front of their friends.  James kept hugging me and telling me how happy he was that I was with him.

He had fun pretend-milking the cow (and telling me that he would love to have a cow at our home and milk it); he enjoyed learning about different kinds of squash and pumpkins, his favorite being 'autumn wings;'  he found some pretty flowers and picked a couple to give to me; and he had a blast jumping with his friends in the bean tub.  His favorite thing, however, was picking a pumpkin with mom.  He told me I had a good eye for picking out the best pumpkins - his was the biggest in the class.  I told him I must have a good eye for having chosen him in the heaven to be my boy- he is the sweetest in the world.

Tuesday was spent enjoying the weather and its gorgeous colors.  Charlton went to preschool and learned all about the seasons and autumn in particular.  He had fun picking leaves with different colors and learning to write letter L.

When he got home, we read a bunch of fun books on seasons, fall, and leaves.  The first book was The Giving Tree.  I wanted to help him understand the process of planting a seed and its growth. Charlton was captivated by this book, but in the end when the tree offered herself to the man to be used, he started crying.  He felt sad and upset. He didn't want the tree to be cut.  He had made a connection with that tree throughout the story.

To smooth things over, I started reading one of Little Bear's books, Little Bear's Visit.  He loves Little Bear books and I thought I had read this one to him, but boy was I wrong.  This made him cry too.  The story of the little robin leaving Little Bear's mother for better weather was unbearable to Charlton.  He couldn't forgive the little robin for abandoning mother bear, even after I informed him of little robin's return.

I gave up hope on finding the right book for Charlton this day when all of sudden he picks a Clifford book.  He loved the idea of jumping on leaves so much that after finishing reading it, we went outside and jumped on whatever pile of leaves we could find.  He loved that, and I was happy that nature brought such joy to him.

Before story time on Wednesday, we went on a fall book hunt focusing on leaves, colors and fun.  We found a bunch of fabulous books that didn't cause any melt-downs, fortunately.

On Thursday, I kept James out of school and took him and Charlton to a play, The Emperor's New Clothes, at the Lesher Center for the Arts.  This was an interactive production and James stayed the whole time sitting on stage "contributing" to the play.  Charlton started off sitting with James on the stage, but by the time the villains appeared he got scared and had had enough of "interacting" with the actors.  The story was just one hour and the kids got to visit with the actors afterward.  James made me laugh when he said he wanted a picture with the emperor - and get this- because he felt sorry for the emperor for not being very smart.  I personally think he liked the way he dressed.  Charlton wanted to say hello to the princess, but wasn't quite satisfied because he had to share her with his friends.  All in all we had a great time, and I was so happy to have brought James with us.  This was a perfect outing for him.

I had initially planned to take James back to school after the play, but when we got home the boys were having so much fun that I just kept him home.  They wanted the same lunch, the same books, the same activities.  I could feel their love for each other as they shared, hugged, kissed and teased.

 

Friday was my day to teach art at my kids' school.  Each class was going to use different materials to work on their project.  K-1 was going to use the process of cut and paste as well as drawing with crayons to make houses and neighborhoods.  2-3's theme was Fantasy and Imagination.  I had printed for each of them a copy with four different animals on it.  They were to draw, paint and use their imagination into creating a creature with the head of one animal, the body of another, the feet of another, and the tail of another.  Mine didn't come out as great as the kids' ones.  They amaze me; they have such imagination.  Jefferson, never one to follow rules, used parts from eight different animals and then he put his creature in space.  I'm telling you, you can't compete with these kids.  4-5's theme was similar to the k-1, in that they were to draw and paint houses - their house, their dream house, a street of houses, a variety of house,etc- and find ways to add depth and texture through the usage of a combination of straight lines, curves, various shapes, colors, and patterns.  The 2-3 class were to use tempera paints; the 4-5 were to use water colors.  Most of them had never use water color before, and I hadn't either, so we were all experimenting.  I was very proud of my first water color project, but I have to say the fifth graders didn't lag behind.  What a fun way to use my October colors!

 

 K-1 "Our Nieghborhood"

(Card board, Scissors, Glue, Markers)

2-3 "Fantasy and Imagination"

 (Pencil, Tempera, Marker)

4-5 "Houses"

(Pencil,Water Color, Marker)

 After a full week of activites, work and fun, I decided Saturday was going to be a rest day.  I read mostly all day; Elijah helped in the house and prepared meals; and the children enjoyed each other's company be that while they were making creations with playdough, or drawing and painting, or playing board games.  They played together all day, and they gave me peace and quite.  I love being home with my family even when we are each doing different things.

How does Autumn make you feel?