Surprise After Sunset

Our family encountered a stunning surprise this past Sunday. The five of us went on a nature walk in the Bolsa Chica Wetlands the other day, just before sunset. We enjoyed time together and I took some pictures of the kids with the beautiful Pacific Ocean sunset as the backdrop. We were amazed at the clarity and admired how well we could see Catalina Island. The island's main strip was so visible it looked as thought we could bound over the ocean and land on the island's shore. My husband and I stood with the kids and enjoyed the breathtaking view of the entire island framed by our personal California sunset.

As the sunset wrapped up it’s finale, we began our walk home. That was when we noticed the mountains to the east, directly in front of us. They appeared to have a slight halo as a strange glow hovered over them. This glow began to settle behind the mountain and we realized that the light was not a reflection of the sunset. The faint orange light slowly transformed into a brightly burning fiery blaze. The children cried out, “It’s fire!” We agreed that it must be a fire that was now creeping towards us over the mountain.

Soon the fire began to spread so quickly that it instantaneously arched over the top of the mountain with a bright yellow core and a hovering deep red silhouette. We watched intently as the inferno began to rise hundred's of feet into the air. Our excitement elevated as our concern deepened. At one heart stopping moment, the fire began to explode into a ball which lifted gently and slowly into the air. We were astonishment as we noticed our fire was floating and now hovering above the distant mountain. In that moment, we realized we had just witnessed our first magnificent moonrise.

Our Deepest Fear

Marianne Williamson wrote:
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

This is one of my favorite quotes. I came across it in some of my notes this morning and wanted to share it. Her words have a way of putting a jet pack on my back while reminding me that my mentality is my biggest challenge and self confidence and being comfortable in my own skin is my best friend.

Reading With My Children

Isn't it amazing how a little encouragement and support about reading can be offered to a child and it can change them forever? This phenomenon is in the process of sweeping through my house as we speak.

A little background...
I home schooled my son and eldest daughter for their first two years of school. My #3 soon began walking and the home school lessons soon began dragging. Needless to say, my children got way behind on their reading and writing progress. They were finally enrolled into public school about two years ago, but have struggled with reading and writing. My son caught the reading bug soon after his enrollment, but my daughter has struggled with discouragement and feelings of inferiority as she constantly compares herself to her classmates' reading levels.

On with the story...
About a month ago I purchased the children's classic novel, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, for my 10 year old son. Since the books were on sale marked '3 for $20', I purchased three. My son got hooked on the storyline immediately. I was so inspired by his inspiration that I returned to the book store several times over a six week period and stocked his bookshelf with a total of twelve children's classic novels (so far).

While picking up the books, I remembered that my daughter's teacher recommended The Secret Garden so that was definitely added to our new library. We began reading a chapter a night together. I didn't just read the words. Just as any

good reader knows, you must give each character a different voice and in this case, some get an accent. Over the past month or so, as we spent family time reading, snuggling, and anticipating together I exemplified how fun and exciting reading can be. I noticed that my daughter was extremely attentive during reading time and had amazing comprehension of details. I was pleased to notice that she showed improvement in her descriptive writing at school. When we were a few chapters into the book, my daughter who had previously been intimidated and overwhelmed a the thought of reading any chapter book on her own, independently picked up a Magic Tree House book and read three chapters... in about an hour. I was so impressed with her achievement. She finished the book in less than a week and started another book adventure from the same series the same day. In addition to her excitement, her self confidence about reading has increased. It's as if she only needed that little nudge to help get her over that reading speed bump.

I do my best to live by the rule "teach by example" with hopes that good behavior will rub off. I was elated and amazed when I saw how quickly my children picked up on good reading behavior with simple bedtime story reading. As I took their story time to another level (from picture books to classics), they took their desire and hunger to another level. They have encouraged me beyond words. I've recently found myself inhaling as many written words as I can breath in each day. The written word is certainly contagious in my house and is notably powerful beyond our comprehension.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you all! I spent New Year's Eve at home with my beautiful family. We played games, talked, and watched funny videos on You Tube. We laughed our way into birth of 2009. In fact, we were having so much fun that we didn't realize we had missed the count-down. My 8 year old daughter came to me at about 12:10 and asked if we could do the count-down together. Of course, I couldn't resist her youthful innocent excitement. So we did the count-down just as if it were really 10 seconds before midnight. I followed her lead as she sweetly yelled, "Happy New Year!" and we hugged and laughed some more.

Then the next morning it hit me! We had set the perfect precedent for our new year; laughter. With so much seriousness in the air lately, it is wonderful to remember what makes the world go 'round! Sharing happiness with the people I love most is a an invaluable treasure.

Here's to much happiness and laughter for you in the New Year and always!

Sincerely,
Jenni

P.S. At the bottom of this page, I've posted one of the videos that my kids are still laughing about.