The Search for Delicious and Other Appropriate Words

As I mentioned before, I am tying Creative Writing into our BIO year. Here is how I kicked that off.

We began our day singing "Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words" and discussed whether words have power in them, such as power to build or give life, or power to destroy. I shared the Mormonads on the worksheet below and we read the scriptures that go with each. 

A most appropriate scriptures was James 3:8-10:

"But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made of the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be."

The metaphor of a tongue being full of deadly poison fits right in. (See also verses 11-13.)  We talked about each of the pictures and their implications and then I gave them this Life-giving or Biohazardous Words Worksheet.  

Examples of some of the additional scriptures the kids found that coincide with the idea of the words we say either giving life or destroying it are:

"And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity:  so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature..." (James 3:6)

"The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life:  but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked." (Proverbs 10:11)

Amazingly, the Piano Guys released the following video the very day I wanted to talk about this, so I tied it into our discussion as well.

After talking about the affect spoken words have, I moved the discussion on to written words. I love the following quote from an old Church manual and shared it (along with using it for handwriting practice that day).

"Reading the scriptures and other good books nourishes our minds, just as good food nourishes our bodies. Books are like companions. They can lift us up or tear us down. We should read only books that will help us become better people." 

Then we talked about how we're going to do a lot with creative writing throughout the year, giving life to words and trying to write words that nourish, or give life, to our minds.

I assigned everyone to read The Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt. I love to use this book in language studies. I think it's very clever. Suffice it to say, the creation of a dictionary helps set off an impending civil war, the dictionary entry for delicious being key to both the creation of the crisis and its resolution.

After reading and discussing the book, I had my kids close their eyes while I said a word out loud. When I said the word, I wanted them to tell me what they immediately associated that word with. For example, I said, "Christmas." One child replied, "Presents," while another said, "Cookies!" I asked if either of those answers were the definition of Christmas and, of course they weren't. We then talked about the difference between definition and connotation. In The Search for Delicious, the dictionary entries weren't so much definitions as connotations, and words used contextually in a sentence. The assignment was to create a "dictionary" written in the style of the one in The Search for Delicious, with the requirement that every sentence had to be in reference to food.

(Incidentally, if you're looking to build your children's vocabulary and need some help for your tired brain, sites like this help. It came in handy a few times for me when I created the worksheet.)

Download the entire Search for Delicious Word Worksheet.

Just like the book, none of my kids agreed on what delicious is. We had pepperoni pizza, endless crepes, a bowl of mixed fruit, and creamy mac and cheese for contenders. Here are some of my favorite sentences written by my kids:

"Aromatic is a batch of chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven."

"Aromatic is a hot bowl of Jambalaya."

"Aromatic is a freshly baked pizza."

"Unnecessary is orange juice in a smoothie." (From a kids who hates OJ and hates it when I try to sneak it into smoothies!)

"Juicy is a ripe pear."

"Tart is my dad's lemon bars."  

"Lucky is when I get to have Reese's Puffs cereal," and "Unnecessary is Raisin Bran cereal," from the same child.

"Lucky is getting a doughnut for free."

"Proud is baking molten lava cake for the first time."

Another day, I read aloud one of my favorite picture books, Cookies, Bite-Size Life Lessons by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. (There are actually several sequels to this, too!) This is another book that explains meanings of words in a very creative way, through the medium of baking cookies.

Then, using the exact words "defined" in Cookies, I created a writing assignment in which these words had to be explained referencing baseball/softball.

Download the Bat-and-Ball-Sized Lessons Worksheet here.

When it comes to understanding the meaning of patience, every one of my kids referenced waiting for a good pitch. :) Here are some of my favorite sentences my kids wrote:

"Open-minded means, 'I've never bunted before but I will try it.'"

"Content means you and me cheering together for our teammates."

"Respect means to not talk back to your coach."

"Unfair means (an umpire) calling strike three at the kid's eyes."

"Cooperate means to turn a double play."

"Open-minded means to listen to your coaches."

"Trustworthy means to let your pitcher know he has defense behind him."

"Wise means to pull your pitcher out before the other team scores too many runs."

"Loyal means to always be friends with someone even if he struck out to end the championship game that you just lost."

"Respect means to not hate someone just because he's on the other team."


We also began using the Complete the Story story starters.


Here's to the power of words!

PLAY BALL!

Actually, I've been crying over this season for almost a year, knowing it was coming. (Well, I've had a few panic attacks and tried not to cry when I've thought about it and felt the surge of emotion.) Every new season is exciting; while everyone gets spring fever and looks forward to the end of winter, no one wants the snows to melt and the grass to appear as badly as baseball players. The coinciding of the renewal of the earth with the renewal of baseball is a powerful thing and I think I could write an essay just on that. But that's not where all this emotion is coming from. Of course I've been looking forward to the game and I love, love, love watching my kids play, but this is another bittersweet season wherein I have a graduating senior playing his last season of high school baseball.

I am so excited that this year I even died my hair orange and blue--the team's colors!

I'm hoping to just enjoy every moment because each one of those moments brings us all closer to the end of what's been a really great journey.

Like I said, I love the game of baseball. I've loved it all my life. Never would I have imagined that it would dominate my life the way it has and does, though. Totally unplanned, we've been a traveling, competitive-ball-playing family for a decade. You'd think I'd have the routine down by now, but every year is a little different and there is always a new challenge as the kids grow. Some days I feel like baseball is truly knocking me off my feet. 

More often than not, though, I think that baseball has really grounded my family. We've given a lot of time, money, blood, sweat, and tears to the game, but it has given us so much more in return. In the next few days I hope to share some specifics of what I value in the game of baseball and why I think this world could do with a lot more of it.

In the meantime--PLAY BALL! I'll be rooting for the home team.

Ballads, Baseball, and Valentines

A ballad is a narrative composition in rhythmic verse. It's a poem or song that tells a story. Typically it consists of 4-line stanzas. The most common rhyming scheme is ABCB or ABAB, but others such as a duo of couplets, AABB, are also employed. Often there is a lesson in the versed story, but it isn't implicitly stated.

To introduce the ballad, after discussing the literary traits of one, I chose first to read aloud The Ballad of Valentine. It's super cute and imparts the basics of a ballad well--plus it's February.

Next I went with something all of my kids will relate to well and be interested in:  baseball. I printed off copies of "Casey at the Bat" for everyone and I read it aloud while they followed along. After each stanza I asked them to rephrase what was going on. At the end we found and discussed poetic devices throughout the poem. (They've already been taught all the devices of poetry, so it's just a matter of them pointing them out. You can skip that part if you're not there yet.)

Casey at the Bat

by Ernest Lawrence Thayer ©
Published: The Examiner (06-03-1888)

The Outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day:
The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought, if only Casey could get but a whack at that -
We'd put up even money, now, with Casey at the bat.

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance of Casey's getting to the bat.

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despis-ed, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had occurred,
There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.

Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance gleamed in Casey's eye, a sneer curled Casey's lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped-
"That ain't my style," said Casey. "Strike one," the umpire said.

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.
"Kill him! Kill the umpire!" shouted someone on the stand;
And its likely they'd a-killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, "Strike two."

"Fraud!" cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again.

The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, his teeth are clenched in hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out.

Then, for a little icing on the cake, we watched Disney's 1946 animated version of this great baseball ballad.

We followed that up with Disney's 1954 sequel, "Casey Bats Again." Some people nowadays might find this offensive. It's certainly not politically correct! But it IS cleverly written and we get a kick out of it. We do all agree, however, that Casey is once, and twice, and probably forever, a very foolish person.

Tomorrow we'll read other classic ballads and try writing our own. And hopefully at least some of my kids will take me up on my cash offer to anyone who memorizes "Casey at the Bat."

Mom's Pick-me-up and Life Lessons in Baseball

Let me just admit right here and now--I am not Wonder Woman. And after spurts of trying to be, I can get down.  There is always at least once, if not twice, during the spring/summer seasons of baseball where I have a come apart over the insanity and constancy of everyone's schedules and I think I just can't keep up.  This year's "episode" happened last week.  I was trying to talk myself through it, and heard myself telling my children that I wanted them to each write an essay on the life lessons they've learned from baseball.  P2, 16 years old, was a little concerned over the ramifications.  He asked, "Does this mean that if our essays aren't good enough we have to stop playing baseball?" Well... (No, but a well thought out and written thesis on the virtues of baseball would certainly cheer me up.)

Due to... big surprise... everyone's baseball schedules, not all the essays are finished. But 11-year-old P4 got his done today and it was just what I needed to read.

Life Lessons Baseball Teaches Me

by P4

I started playing baseball because it looked like a fun sport. I still think it's fun, but I also realize the importance of the lessons I have learned in baseball. Some people think baseball is just hitting and catching the ball, but they don't realize what the game should teach them.

One of the lessons I've learned is teamwork. In baseball teamwork helps teams win. For example, when you're all contributing in the game, you win! That's called teamwork because everyone is trying to help each other. Everyone wants to win.

In life, teamwork gets things done. For example, when you're working out in the yard and you have a long job, it takes a long time to get it done if you're all by yourself. But if you don't have to do it alone and you both want to get it done, it goes faster.

Another lesson I've learned is about cheering. In baseball, cheering gives your teammates encouragement. For example, when you're up at bat and you don't hear anyone cheering for you, you sometimes feel nobody really cares about your at bat. But when you do hear people cheering you on, you feel you need to do something.

In life it is the same exact thing. When nobody is cheering you on, you sometimes think nobody cares. But when somebody is cheering you get encouragement.

I love playing baseball. I am glad it's teaching me life lessons.

P4 is in the center, being mobbed by his ecstatic teammates after he hit a walk-
off home run to win a tough and intense league championship game.

No Crying in Baseball - Lessons in Losing

I ran away today.*  It wasn't permanent, but I knew I had to get out by myself and run hard and cry hard.  And did I ever.  It's a good thing there are roads to run among fields of corn and alfalfa because I cried so hard and loud I could hear the audibles of my sobbing over the music in my earphones.

This past week was an intense emotional roller coaster that brought out all the life lessons of baseball and why we love (and sometimes hate) the game. Our Region Champion high school team was on a 3-game state playoff winning streak, having not just beaten but completely shut out the tournament favorite, dumping them into the losers bracket.  Then, in the game that was supposed to clinch our spot in the championship game, we got down 3-0, but started a comeback in the bottom of the 7th, scoring 2 runs with no outs and 2 guys on at first and second.  One of our guys hit into a miserable double play (why, oh why didn't he bunt?!?!) and the next guy after him got out, to kill the streak. We had to immediately play the tournament favorite again for the other spot in the championship and, long story short, they shellacked us.  We went from the highest of highs to lowest of lows.  

While I don't recommend watching it, there are two great quotes from the film "A League of Their Own," a fictionalized account of the real All American Girls Professional Baseball League created during WWII, that hit home this week:

"There's no crying in baseball."

"It's supposed to be hard.  If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it.  The hard is what makes it great." 

I know a lot of tough guys who play baseball.  They don't cry when they jam a finger diving back to a base.  They don't cry when they literally take all the hide off a leg sliding in the dirt, only to do it again and again with no time to let it heal.  They don't cry when they get cleated. They don't cry when they dislocate a shoulder diving for a catch.  They don't cry when they get hit in the spine (or shoulder, or hip) with an inside fastball.  They don't cry when they've thrown more pitches than an arm can physically launch and ice and ibuprofen can't touch the pain.  The only time they get upset is if you tell them they have to sit it out because of conditions such as these. 

  

So, there IS crying in baseball.  Anyone who says tough guys don't cry has never watched a bunch of smart, skilled, athletic, tough guys who've grown up together playing their guts out lose the semi-final game of the state tournament their senior year of high school, knowing at that moment that it's the last time they'll be on the field.  Was it hard?  There was nothing about that that wasn't hard.  It was hard to get to where they were and it was harder still to walk away. To me, they were tougher FOR the crying.  

Apparently there is also crying in laundry, because as I washed my son's jersey and hung it to dry for the last time, I did so with a grateful, reverent, and broken heart.  I know what it took him to get that jersey, what it took him to keep it year after year, how proudly he wore it, and how much he gave of himself in the dirtying of it.  For all the nights I was up at 2 a.m. scrubbing clay out of his uniform so it would be white again for a game in 12 hours, I'd happily do it for forever just to see him keep playing.  But, life moves on.  And that's one of the lessons of baseball.

Every game is a new one.  Anything can happen and that's one of the wonders of baseball.  On any given day, any given team can win--or lose.  And one win or loss, or ten wins or losses, does not dictate whether you'll win or lose the next new game.  If you were the mess up in the last game, you could be the hero the next.  You learn that there are some things you can't control, like a blind, or ignorant, or simply human umpire, or a bad bounce of the ball, or a hit in a hole.  You learn there are some things you can control, like your hustle, your effort, your will, your focus and attitude.  But each and every game you start over with a chance to do it right.

Every day of life is a new one.  Anything can happen and that's one of the wonders of life.  On any given day, you can conquer whatever besets you, or you can let it get you down.  But one bad day, or ten bad days, doesn't dictate whether tomorrow will be a bad day.  There will always be some things you can't control and some things you can, but each and every day you get to start over with a chance to get it right.

We learn far more from our losses, or failures, than we do from our wins or successes.  If we always succeed, we never wonder why and we never have a need to improve. But failure shouldn't define us or keep us down.  It should just teach us what to do when we get back up.

I love the literary character Pollyanna.  I shared Disney's film version with my family a few weeks ago and their favorite part to giggle at is when the minister stands at his podium and yells, "Death comes unexpectedly!"  In the movie, it's dramatic and unexpected and far different from the kinds of sermons they're used to.  But the minister has a point.  Death does come unexpectedly, whether it's a physical death, or the death of a dream, like being state champions.  But even in extreme heartbreak, there was something to be glad about, as Pollyanna would say, because we're all immensely grateful for the experience, wins and losses and all.

*I began writing this on May 23, 2014, the morning after we were eliminated from the state tournament, having placed 3rd.

Peanuts Post Preview

It's been a really long week.  We've been driving back and forth to ball fields that are 2 hours away almost every day.  First it was for the state high school tournament, then one of my younger boys has been playing in a Memorial Day tournament.  It's been exhausting and emotional.  I'm in the middle of writing a post about lessons learned from it, but I'm also in the middle of creating a video slideshow with the thousands of photos I took for the high school baseball banquet and showtime is looming.  So since I can't finish and post that bit just yet, I'm going to share some comics that hint at what's to come and also give a little chuckle to help soothe heavy hearts and put things in perspective.

I love Peanuts.  Schultz gets baseball.

Choices

Today's devotional lesson and discussion was on choices.  After singing "Choose the Right" I showed this video of Matt Bush's story and read the accompanying article.  This mattered to my kids as they are all dedicated baseball players and faithful fans of the game.  For us, to see someone who "had it all" in his grasp, a dream come true that we know too well takes a blessed triad of talent, work, and opportunity, to then lose it because of dumb decisions was powerful. Our discussion wasn't just on choices, but on how even just one poor choice can limit future choices or eliminate them altogether.  We talked about alcohol, drugs, and tobacco, of course, but also video games and pornography.  We talked about recovery, repentance, and change, and how even the strongest wills still need the healing help of Christ and the power of His grace to overcome.  And I told them that people struggling with an addiction usually need someone else in their lives also to be accountable to or to help remind them and watch out for them and that I was here for more than cooking and laundry and could and would be that for them if they needed it.

Today's discussion focused mostly on how a bad choice can dictate a path and avoiding that kind of consequence.  Tomorrow's discussion will focus on the effects of a good choice.

There are lots of topics parents need to talk to their children about and it's not always easy.  The world needs more parents who tackle the job sincerely, and I tip my hat to parents who are trying.  I share what I did here as an example, to show that if you can find a way to reach your children through the things that they love, that really speak to them, I believe it helps the lesson resonate.  Parents can't just dictate, they've got to relate.