No Like-y Icky Yucky Sushi...Well, Actually...

A friend and I took a sushi class at Mt. Fuji Sushi in SLC last Saturday - partly for fun, partly b/c she's a chef and likes learning new skills, and partly because Groupon had a great deal on the sushi class.

The"Master Sensei", we called him Joe, was the best part of the class, maybe!  His humor, skill, and experience kept us engaged and in stitches.  He made sushi-making seem easy. 

Katie's California Roll

No doubt further practice would benefit those who wanted to share this skill with others.  For my purposes, it turned out good enough to eat and that's what mattered!  Although, I have not eaten that much white rice...in my life, I don't think. 

Sharon's California Roll
[Holy Crab *not my favorite,
Avocado, Cucumber,
Seaweed, White Rice]

For those in Utah, if you are considering this class or one like it, I highly recommend Joe's class at Mt. Fuji Sushi.

Katie's "Creative" Spicy Tuna Roll
[Tuna, Sesame, LOTS of Sriracha,
Other Spices. White Rice, Seaweed]
(Master Joe was so gracious. Instead of saying we did something wrong, he'd say, "Wow! So creative!")

Getting serious with Master Joe's giant sushi knife.

Katie's Nigiri Roll
[Salmon on Rice]

The most important part - I Like-y Nigiri Sushi

Here we are with our very patient Master Joe

1st-2nd Christmas Project #1

I’m not kidding when I say we’re talking the World’s LEAST Artsy/Crafty Teacher.  So, when I look for a craft to do with the kids, it has to be:

❒  SIMPLE

❒  EASY

❒  NOT HARD

❒  RELATIVELY QUICK

❒  UNDEMANDING

❒  STRAIGHTFORWARD

❒  UNCOMPLICATED

❒  NEARLY EFFORTLESS

❒  MINIMAL

❒  TROUBLE-FREE

Do you see a pattern developing here?

Well this craft fit the bill very nicely! 

The idea and instructions came from

Buggy and Buddy: Creativity & Learning for Kids

We used our fingers instead of cotton balls to brush the chalk away from the pattern. 

And white chalk was perfect for drawing the filament section and the wire for the lights.  

Did I say SIMPLE? 

The kids did a great job and I am pleased with how the projects turned out.  

Hopefully the rest of our Christmas projects are as…well, you saw the list above.  

Let’s just say…SUCCESSFUL.

Here are the finished products.

Some of the Close-Ups

Kids' Christmas Party (2014)

This last Saturday was our Christmas Party for the kids in the church.  Thanks to Laura for letting us use her house!  Can you say #BRAVE?

Here we are waiting on the kiddies to show up.

Before the kids showed up, we hid about 50 red bows all over the park area behind Laura's house.  The goal was to find as many of the bows as possible in the allotted time.

In a few minutes, one of the girls comes running up and says, "Miss Katie, I found a red bow, but K---won't help me get it out of the tree."  

K---says, "I didn't get it because it was a red bow attached to a pair of white underwear!"  

WHAAAT?!?!  What are the chances of finding that in a tree! 

The kids cut out & decorated cookies.  Again, #BRAVE.

(Gotta love the Grinch apron!)

You can bet those cookies were masterpieces!

More like, how much frosting & sprinkles will one cookie hold!  

When we said they could go ahead & eat the cookies, 

one boy looked at a particularly saturated cookie & said, 

"I think I'll save that one to give to one of my lucky parents!"  

Toilet Paper Snowmen

(And the mess to follow...)

The kids also made Christmas cards to put in the goody baskets that our church takes to the firemen on Christmas Caroling Night.  They turned out really cute.  

One of the boys thought long & hard of the perfect card to make...of course it has to be "punny."  

It said, "I think your HOT!"  Laura asked, "Why don't you just say, 'I think your AWESOME'?"  But, he didn't think that would be as good of a pun.  Apparently he did not know what "HOT" means to most people.  I think we'll be purging that one out of the bunch before they land in the goody boxes.  

We were whooped by the end of the night, but you can't really complain when all the kids go home to their own houses.  Let their parents deal with the sugar high...  What a great night!  Good times & Lots of Laughs!

The Secret to a Long Life

A tough old cowboy once counseled his grandson that if he wanted to live a long life, the secret was to sprinkle a little gunpowder on his oatmeal every morning.

The grandson did this religiously and he lived to the age of 93.

When he died he left 14 children, 28 grandchildren, 35 great grandchildren, and a fifteen-foot hole in the wall of the crematorium.

[forwarded by Gretchen Patti]

PASS IT ON! 
Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you're REAL nice, you'll tell them where you got it!www.mikeysFunnies.com 

God on the Mountain

A song for the moment...not a hymn really, but it has a few worthy truths, and how appropriate following a week of camp "on the mountain."  

"God on the Mountain"

 Life is easy, when you're on the mountain
And you have peace of mind, like you've never known.
But things change, when you're down in the valley.
Don't lose faith, for you're never alone.

CHORUS
For the God on the mountain is still God in the valley.
When things seem wrong, He'll make them right.
And the God of the good times is still God in the bad times.
The God of the day is still God in the night.

You talk of faith way up on the mountain.
Faith comes easy when life's at its best.
But down in the valleys of trials and temptations
We can see faith really put to the test.

CHORUS

I Corinthians 10:13  "But God is faithful" - Hallelujah!

Still "Running the Lake"

With a little change of scenery...and about 1,400 miles, of course.

Thinking about you, Mrs. Fox.  It's about time to start mowing, right?  Lot's of afternoons out at your place with those blessed mowers & the temperamental trimmer.  Missing Jenny, too.  Went back to read some of Jessica's Jenni-"isms."   Good memories, I'm sure.  Makes me miss Lindsey-bop.  Hope you have a good day!  

Daily Poem - Loving this One!

John Godfrey Saxe. 1816–1887

114. Early Rising

"GOD bless the man who first invented sleep!"
So Sancho Panza said, and so say I:
And bless him, also, that he did n't keep
His great discovery to himself; nor try
To make it—as the lucky fellow might—	5
A close monopoly by patent-right!
Yes; bless the man who first invented sleep
(I really can't avoid the iteration),
But blast the man, with curses loud and deep,
Whate'er the rascal's name, or age, or station,	10
Who first invented, and went round advising,
That artificial cut-off, Early Rising!
"Rise with the lark, and with the lark to bed,"
Observes some solemn, sentimental owl;
Maxims like these are very cheaply said;	15
But, ere you make yourself a fool or fowl,
Pray just inquire about his rise and fall,
And whether larks have any beds at all!
The time for honest folks to be a-bed
Is in the morning, if I reason right;	20
And he who cannot keep his precious head
Upon his pillow till it 's fairly light,
And so enjoy his forty morning winks,
Is up to knavery; or else—he drinks!
Thomson, who sung about the "Seasons," said	25
It was a glorious thing to rise in season;
But then he said it—lying—in his bed,
At ten o'clock A.M.,—the very reason
He wrote so charmingly. The simple fact is,
His preaching was n't sanctioned by his practice.	30
'T is, doubtless, well to be sometimes awake,—
Awake to duty, and awake to truth,—
But when, alas! a nice review we take
Of our best deeds and days, we find, in sooth,
The hours that leave the slightest cause to weep	35
Are those we passed in childhood or asleep!
'T is beautiful to leave the world awhile
For the soft visions of the gentle night;
And free, at last, from mortal care or guile,
To live as only in the angels' sight,	40
In sleep's sweet realm so cosily shut in,
Where, at the worst, we only dream of sin!
So let us sleep, and give the Maker praise.
I like the lad who, when his father thought
To clip his morning nap by hackneyed phrase	45
Of vagrant worm by early songster caught,
Cried, "Served him right!—it 's not at all surprising;
The worm was punished, sir, for early rising!"

4:30p.m. On an Winter Afternoon

When the clouds finally clear from the tops of the mountains & all you see is white (speaking of the higher peaks there, of course)...that's an amazing moment!  I always feel like I can understand a little of the Israelites mind when Moses was on the mountain for 40 days.  Yes, I begin to wonder, What's happening up there?  Will it still be there when the clouds are gone? We do tend to walk by sight, don't we?

And by the way, you're right...that's a LOT of brown for winter in Utah.  We're feelin' it!  All you Southerners & snowbirds should make plans to come some place warm for the winter!  ;-)

#Ogden  #MtOgden #Snow #SunnyDay #MoonRise

Living Rejoicing! Every Day!

I've been humming this song for about a week now.  II Chronicles 15:15 is the verse in my mind for a while now, I'm sure.

O Happy Day

by Philip Doddridge

And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and theLord gave them rest round about.  (II Chronicles 15:15)

O happy day, that fixed my choice
On Thee, my Savior and my God!
Well may this glowing heart rejoice,
And tell its raptures all abroad.

O happy bond, that seals my vows
To Him who merits all my love!
Let cheerful anthems fill His house,
While to that sacred shrine I move.

’Tis done: the great transaction’s done!
I am the Lord’s and He is mine;
He drew me, and I followed on;
Charmed to confess the voice divine.

Now rest, my long divided heart,
Fixed on this blissful center, rest.
Here have I found a nobler part;
Here heavenly pleasures fill my breast.

High Heaven, that heard the solemn vow,
That vow renewed shall daily hear,
Till in life’s latest hour I bow
And bless in death a bond so dear.

Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away!
He taught me how to watch and pray, and live rejoicing every day
Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed my sins away.

"We Will Never Forget Them"

High Flight 
By John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

---

Portions Of This Lovely Poem Appear On The Headstones
 Of Many Interred In Arlington National Cemetery,
Patricularly Aviators And Astronauts 

---

"Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds -
and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of -
wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence.
Hovering there I've chased the shouting wind along
and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air.

"Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,
where never lark, or even eagle, flew;
and, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
the high untrespassed sanctity of space,
put out my hand and touched the face of God."

High Flight was composed by Pilot Officer John Gillespie Magee,  Jr., an American serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was born in Shanghai, China in 1922, the son of missionary parents,  Reverend and Mrs. John Gillespie Magee; his father was an American and his mother was originally a British citizen.  He came to the U.S. in 1939 and earned a scholarship to Yale, but in September 1940 he enlisted in the RCAF and was graduated as a pilot. He was sent to England for combat duty in July 1941. In August or September 1941, Pilot Officer Magee composed High Flight and sent a copy to his parents. Several months later, on December 11, 1941 his Spitfire collided with another plane over England and Magee, only 19 years of age, crashed to his death. His remains are buried in the churchyard cemetery at Scopwick, Lincolnshire. Biography and photo courtesy of the United States Air Force

Coffee Filter Fish Craft (Marine / Ocean Biome)

Our 1st graders' fish project turned out even better than I expected!  The students did a great job!

We colored (scribbled) with washable markers on coffee filter papers.  A little spray of water, blow dry & the colors blend together so nicely!  Love the online community of teachers who share their ideas with everyone else.  Thank you!

#coffeefilters #octopus #jellyfish #marinebiome #oceanbiome #oceancraft #coffeefilterfish

Yale Book of American Verse

One of my favorite book discoveries for 2013 was the Yale Book of American Verse compiled by Thomas R. Lounsbury, found on www.bartleby.com.  It is the "best of the best" & I have discovered many new joys through the year.   Another discovery came today, & I read it as our daily poem in English class.  This gave me one of those moments when I see Christ, His Work, and myself a bit clearer.   Though we are adverse to God in every way, He bids us seek Him.  He gives us the will to seek Him.  He makes it easy to seek Him.  He receives us when we seek Him.  He rewards us for doing that which He caused us to do and gave us the will to do.  The thought "Amazing Grace" wells up in my heart and seems so appropriate & yet not nearly enough. Praise the Lord, for His wondrous works to the children of men! 206. The Fool's Prayer

By Edward Rowland Sill.  1841-1887

THE ROYAL feast was done; the King
Sought some new sport to banish care,
And to his jester cried: "Sir Fool,
Kneel now, and make for us a prayer!"
The jester doffed his cap and bells,	5
And stood the mocking court before;
They could not see the bitter smile
Behind the painted grin he wore.
He bowed his head, and bent his knee
Upon the monarch's silken stool;	10
His pleading voice arose: "O Lord,
Be merciful to me, a fool!
"No pity, Lord, could change the heart
From red with wrong to white as wool;
The rod must heal the sin: but, Lord,	15
Be merciful to me, a fool!
"'T is not by guilt the onward sweep
Of truth and right, O Lord, we stay;
'T is by our follies that so long
We hold the earth from heaven away.	20
"These clumsy feet, still in the mire,
Go crushing blossoms without end;
These hard, well-meaning hands we thrust
Among the heart-strings of a friend.
"The ill-timed truth we might have kept—	25
Who knows how sharp it pierced and stung?
The word we had not sense to say—
Who knows how grandly it had rung?
"Our faults no tenderness should ask,
The chastening stripes must cleanse them all;	30
But for our blunders—oh, in shame
Before the eyes of heaven we fall.
"Earth bears no balsam for mistakes;
Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool
That did his will; but Thou, O Lord,	35
Be merciful to me, a fool!"
The room was hushed; in silence rose
The King, and sought his gardens cool,
And walked apart, and murmured low,
"Be merciful to me, a fool!"