Likes & Dislikes: January 2011

Our daughter made a book in Sunday School last week with pictures she had drawn on each page to represent what she likes and what she dislikes.  I learned some important things about her from that book.  For example, she loves to sleep, eat, and play outside, but she does not like when her brother grabs the pink spoon before she can at breakfast forcing her to use the yellow spoon instead.

As the 1st month of 2011 comes to a close, I thought I would borrow her book format to summarize this past month.

• I like all of the kids' new Christmas gifts, but I do not like the process of making room for more stuff, nor did I succeed in making more room by the date of this posting.

• I have loved the delight in our daughter's face as she plays with her newest American Girl Doll, and I really liked seeing them dressed alike.

• I did not like that a friend had to undergo a rigorous course of chemotherapy this month, but I really liked her attitude and faith through this difficult battle.
• I did not like receiving news that 2 more loved ones have been diagnosed with cancer and that 13 friends lost their jobs due to budget shortfalls.  I have liked, however, seeing friends rally to support them and watching God open new doors for them.
• I especially liked watching math finally click for our daughter this month.  She went from crying over every problem to becoming a computing machine (that may change when we move on to division). All that memory work for our co-op curriculum is really paying off, and we are all enjoying homeschooling so much more now.  We liked performing a lot of fun science experiments this past month, too.

• I liked returning to our routine and having homeschool co-op and Bible study groups start back again after winter break, but I would like the routine even better if it didn't require waking up so early!

 

My preschool class trying to paint in the style of Gainsborough

• I did not like learning that our 6-year old would be playing basketball (for her first time time) on a team of older girls (up to 4th grade) who have basketball experience and that she would be playing with a 9' basketball goal that is 2.25 times taller than she is.  However, I really liked watching her make friends with all of the girls on the team and shoot the ball into the basket despite the age and height differences. 

She's so tiny compared to the others!

• I like the new chocolate brown paint on our kitchen walls, but I don't like the fact that the new paint would look a lot better with new appliances and a different color counter top.  $$$

• I absolutely love the fact that my husband has taken on projects like painting the kitchen without making any additional demands upon me because he loves me unconditionally regardless of what I accomplish or how I look.   He is a gem!
• I liked playing games like hide-n-seek with the kids but was sorry that I wore my son out so much that he fell asleep in his hiding place!

I see some PJs!

What I found under the pillow

• I liked watching our 4 year old try to learn how to play Monopoly, and I loved his reply when he made a play that earned him a lot of cash.  His father said, "You are about to clean house", and he replied, "Can we wait until after the game is over to clean the house?"

• I liked receiving a sweet handwritten card from my daughter, but I did not like my reaction when I read, "To a mother who....forgiving me when I do something wrong."  I immediately thought, "Oh no! What did she do wrong now?"

• I liked watching our daughter host her first Y princess meeting at our house, and I just love how devoted these fathers are to their daughters.

• I liked finding vases filled with paper flowers made by our little princess on display around our house.  

• I like the fact that kids can be entertained for hours by something as simple as a box with bubble wrap, but I wish I could have watched them play without any paranoia over suffocation.

• I liked walking through the church halls and catching a glimpse of our son singing praises to the Lord with his classmates at his weekly Bible study.  I especially liked the expression on his face when he saw me at the door.

Sing to the Lord a new song!

When he saw me, I gushed!

• I liked watching our daughter put on her game face when rehearsing for a drama based on Revelation 2-3.

• I like the fact that the English language contains a variety of words to convey the same meaning because using the "I like" format got really old, and I would be content to never repeat the phrase again!