Whew, another weekend over and done . . . only one more until Christmas vacation! We are SO busy here this time of year- everyone wants to do "nice" things for kids this time of year. Some things are really fun (like FREE tickets ~worth $60 each~ to Medieval Times. Some things are holiday related, like tickets to see the Christmas Carol acted out. This week we have a dinner cooked for us by the Citrus Club of Orlando (fancy & exclusive club), the theatre, dedication of our new school and a few other random things thrown in there.
All this to say, it is SO hard to find ways to teach the kids that Christmas isn't about them, when everything we seem to be doing, seems to be saying the opposite! It's really actually very discouraging to realize what they are learning (presents, gifts, presents, gifts!) and that there isn't much we can do about it. We all (staff) struggle with that here, every year.
In contrast, we want to keep Christmas very simple in our house. Thanks to all your gift suggestions, I found the perfect thing for Shannon. When it arrives, I'll post pictures and a list of all the ideas I collected!
Other than doing events, I've been working really hard to "learn" my new camera lens and my camera. I shoot with a Canon Rebel XTi. My new lens (great piece of glass) is a 50mm 1:8 fixed lens (no zoom). It takes very clear shots and is great in low light. Yahhoo! Here are some of my practice shots . . .
Over Thanksgiving, Shannon had her first trip to the Ocean!
I took the boys fishing on Saturday, played around with different focus.
Shannon of course :)
All this to say, it is SO hard to find ways to teach the kids that Christmas isn't about them, when everything we seem to be doing, seems to be saying the opposite! It's really actually very discouraging to realize what they are learning (presents, gifts, presents, gifts!) and that there isn't much we can do about it. We all (staff) struggle with that here, every year.
In contrast, we want to keep Christmas very simple in our house. Thanks to all your gift suggestions, I found the perfect thing for Shannon. When it arrives, I'll post pictures and a list of all the ideas I collected!
Other than doing events, I've been working really hard to "learn" my new camera lens and my camera. I shoot with a Canon Rebel XTi. My new lens (great piece of glass) is a 50mm 1:8 fixed lens (no zoom). It takes very clear shots and is great in low light. Yahhoo! Here are some of my practice shots . . .
Over Thanksgiving, Shannon had her first trip to the Ocean!
I took the boys fishing on Saturday, played around with different focus.
Shannon of course :)
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