Out of School Fun List

Good Wednesday morning!

The Gallery Pics are of the pups. Yesterday, I heard a racket, and when I looked out the kitchen window, I saw the black pipe connected to our gutter drain had been disconnected and was on the patio. I then noticed Sparkle trying to crawl in one end of the "too small" pipe, and Copper trying to crawl into the other end.

Obviously a critter had run into the pipe, Sparkle disconnected said pipe and she and Copper spent the better part of an hour (from the sound of it) trying to remove the poor critter.

NOTE - I didn't stand around for an hour. That's just how long the racket lasted.

Did they get the critter? Thankfully, I will never know, but it was fun watching them try.

RANDOMNESS #1 - Beginning February 1, I will begin a Top Ten List series which will last until Valentine's Day. It will be called "Top Ten Reasons I Love... ." Each day, I will give you the reasons I love what I love. It could be anything from Mikie to a Caramel Frappe'. You'll just have to tune in to see what is near and dear to my heart... and why.

RANDOMNESS #2 - My friend, Melaney, sent me a forward yesterday called "Handbook for 2011." It is divided into sections, but I thought it had a lot of good advice, so I want to share a section a day between now and Monday.

HEALTH

1. Drink plenty of water. (They always leave off Diet Dr. Pepper!)

2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar. (I tend to eat all of my meals like a king. I'm going to have to work on this one!)

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

4. Live life with energy, enthusiasm and empathy. (I love this one!)

5. Make time to pray. (This should be the first one on the list, but I love that it is under "HEALTH.")

6. Play more games.

7. Read more books than you did in 2010.

8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.

9. Sleep for 7 hours. (I think this is a typo. Isn't it supposed to be a minimum of 10 hours a day?)

10. Take a 10 to 30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile. (The smile part pushed me over the edge a little bit.)

All in all, pretty good advice, don't you think?

Wednesday Wisdom - Today's Wisdom come from the word "prayer." Our Pastor used several quotes Sunday morning regarding prayer, and it served as a reminder to me how powerful and necessary it really is in a Christian's life.

"To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing." Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Pray, and let God worry." Martin Luther

"All prayers are answered if we are willing to admit that sometimes the answer is 'no.'" Anonymous

"I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go." Abraham Lincoln

"Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden." Corrie ten Boom

Out of School Fun List

I recently read this on another mom's blog. Since the kids were going to be out of school on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the mom asked all four of her children (two elementary-age and two preschool) to make a list of anything and everything they would like to do on their day out of school. The following is their list:

1. Ice skating
2. Skiing
3. Go get doughnuts
4. Sledding
5. Drive to Mexico
6. Go sailing
7. Go to a movie
8. Go to the dinosaur museum in Phoenix
9. Go shopping
10. Earn a dollar to buy caps for my gun
11. Play pirates in the tree house

How great is THIS list. Considering the family lives in Utah, the "drive to Mexico" and the trip to "the dinosaur museum in Phoenix" were pretty funny. Also, the thought of going sailing on a January day in Utah probably wasn't the most practical choice.

However, some of the list was "doable." Some of it was downright easy. And whether the mom picked one or four of the things on the list, it made a day without school fun, special and memorable.

The next time you have a planned "Out of School" Day, ask the kids for a list the night or weekend before (and do not help them). Let the list plan your day. Remember, those days are few and far between. Take advantage of them.

NOTE - On a larger scale, you can also have the kids make a list for the week of Spring Break or Summer Break. It would be fun to see how many things from the list you could mark off if you had a longer period of time to "work" on it.

Have a fantastic Wednesday. Thursday's Blog Linkage list is growing, and if I do say so myself, there is some pretty good reading material. I'll also share a date for you and yours.

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda