Mother Teresa Poem

Here is the poem that was read in church this morning.

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honost and sincere people may deceive you. Be honost anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

This version is credited to Mother Teresa. It is based on the Paradoxical Commandments by Dr. Kent M. Keith.

Ocean Project by Katie

Great White Shark
Found in cool coastal waters. Can be 15 feet or the size of a bus. Attacks people while hunting. Eats seal lions, sea turtles, and small toothed whales. Can detect a drop of blood up to 3 miles away. Not usually fatal, hit and run. Bump and bite and sneak attacks are fatal. Bites are crescent shaped or a series of parallel cuts. Bites can have bleeding, tissue loss, and bone fractures.


Dangerous Sea Animals

Power Point Presentation
by Katie
Blue Ringed Octopus


Tiny in size. Lives in the Pacific Ocean. Eats crab and shrimp. May attack humans if provoked. No known antidote. Full paralysis occurs in minutes. Death due to heart failure and lack of oxygen. Victim may live with CPR until venom subsides. Continues CPR may take hours.




















Stonefish


Grows 12 inches in length. Most venemous fish in existence. Camouflages on rocks. Located in Idno-Pacific Ocean. Equipped with needle like fins. Sting is deadly if not treated with antiserum. Toxin causes the tissue to die.




Box jellyfish or Sea Wasp


Can reach 10 feet in length. Live in Australia. East fish and shrimp. Attacks when frightened. Venopm considered deadly. Victims can go into shock and drown before reaching shore. Would may scar, and apin can last for weeks. Treatment includes removing the tentacles and rinsing the would with vinegar and hot salt water.







Salt Water Crocodile
Can reach 13 feet in length, largest living reptile. Found in India, Asia, and Australia. Easts insects, snakes, turtles, snails, slow-moving fish, small mammals and birds. Large adults may eat small calvesss and very rarely people. Attacks wehn frightened or attacked. Victim is killed by pressure of the jaws, but sometimes they drown. Death roll used to tear apart large animals. Will jump up out of the water and also come on shore to attack. 1-2 fatal attacks per year in Australia.

Cigarette Ad Analysis

This ad is hard to read but states that more people die from smoking than from the 9/11 attack.

We have been studying how groing and selling tobacco enabled the colonists to make money. We focused on how the extra labor needed on tobacco plantations led to the slave trade. While o nte subject of tobacco, for health we learned about some ofthe effects on a person's body from smoking. We looked at a variety of magazine ads for cigarettes. Katie chose the two above and then analyzed them. What about them caught her eye, what is the message, who is the ad targeting? It was interesting which ads she chose and who they target (teenage girls). THen we talked about the real effects of using cigarettes. WE found some realistic/ truthful ads about cigareette use and then Katie made her own with the message "Don't smoke You'll choke!" She drew the people smoking while having dun, then getting sick, and dying.

She learned that every cigarettee a person smokes reduces their life span by 14 mintues. She used that statistic to figure out how much a heavy smoker will shorten his or her life.

I believe if you click onthe picture you can see it enlarged. I know some are difficult to read.

Abby's Homework

Fires are most likely placed in forests, in houses, and in cars.

A smoke detector is an alarm that worns about firess. Becasue the smoke goes near it and it goes beep really loud.

How often should we change the batteries in a smoke detector? Twice a year otherwise it will beep nonstop.

Definitions:
safety: free from danger
battery: something that stores inergy
smoke: the cloud made from a fire
emergency: a serious situation
firefighters: somebody who fights fires
hazard: a possible danger
drill: to teach a skill
instructions: a lesson

Why is it safer to drop low and get under the smoke and fire, when escaping a burning building? Because smoke can make it hard to see.

What are the five steps you should follow if your clothers carch on fire? stop-drop-roll-cool and call

Sentences:
Fire safety is good to know.
Change the battery!
Smoke if very dangerous.
A fire is an emergency.
Hey there is the firefighter!
Smoke can be a hazard.
A fire drill is good practise.

Fire fighters and EMS workers will be there if you get hurt or injured and need help right away, so don't be scared.

Name at least 3 pieces of equipment that EMS workers use to make you feel better. A bandage, a pair of safety scissors, and a breathing mask.

Identify three items that could potentially cause a fire if used incorrectly. A candle, a lighter, and a iron.

Name 4 special days that you need to be especially careful about preventing fires. July 4, fireworks. Dec. 25, lights on the Christmas tree. Jan. 21, candls on my birthday cake. Oct. 31, candls in jackolantern.

Definitions:
equipment-necessary materials
escape- to avoid danger
chemicals-a kind of poison
fire extinguisher- has chemicals to put out fires
arson- the crime of setting a fire
company- a business
helmet- protective head covering
gear- equipment

Why is it dangerous to leave burning candles unattended in your home? Because they will catch on fire.

Why should you have fire drills at home? So you will know what to do in case of a real fire.

What are 2 ways to escape from your house or building? Jump out the window or go down the fire escape.

Sentences:
Fire fighters carry a lot of equipment.
I can escape from a burning building.
We put chemicals in our pool.
We use the fire extinguisher to put out the fire.
A arson is very bad.
My dad works at a copmany.
I wear my helmet when I ride my bike.
Fie fighters wear a lot of gear.

Clinic Halloween Event

Saturday the pediatrician down the block had an open house. Serena and the 3 girls went. Each kid got a trick or treat bag with an apple and a halloween mask. The doctor was very nice and showed us around. Serena had been interested in her since she was female and so close to te apartment, so it was sonderful to meet her in a realxed atmosphere. We talked about how adjustment to the city. She was born in NYC and has always lived here. There was also information about signing up for the NY insurance plan and Serena got more information about that. She has been trying since they arrived to figure out the insurance system here. Hopefully she now has all the information she needs to complete the forms.

Girl Scouts

It is Juliette Low's 150th brithday. She is the founder of Girl Scouts. Katie's troop had a birthday party for her and decorated cupcakes. They also had a brief ceremony. They lit candles as they said the Girl Scout promise and law then did this skit.

Once upon a time there was a little girl (stand and giggle) named Juliette Low ( curtsy and say "Be my friends") who lived in Georgia (wave and say "Hi, y'all!") and loved to ride horses (stamp your feet and say, "Neighhhhhhhhh."). AFter she grew up she went to London (sing "London Bridge is Falling Down") where she met Lord Baden-Powell ( bow formally and say, "How d'ya do?") who founded the Boy Scout ( make scout sign and say, "Be prepared."). She was fascinated by the work he was doing. She studied with him awhile and decided to found a troop of Girl Scouts ( make scout sign and say, "On my honor.") for little girls ( stand and giggle) who liked to ride horses (stamp feet and say, "Neighhhhhhhhhhh.") in Georgia (wave and say, "Hi y'all!"). So Juliette Low ( curtsy and say, "Be my friend.") said good bye to the Boy Scouts (make scout sign and say, "Be prepared.") in London ( sing "London Bridge is Falling Down") and came home with the ideas that Lord Baden-Powell (bow formally and say "How d'ya do?") gave her. She formed a group of little girls (stand and giggle), who liked to ride horse (stamp feet and say, "Neighhhhhhhhh.") and be together, into a troop of Girl Scouts ( make scout sign and say, "On my honor."). And they loved it so much that the idea spread and now there are Girl Scout (make scout sign and say, "On my honor.") troops all over the world.

Aren't we glad that a little girl (stand and giggle) named Juliette Low (curtsy and say, "Be my friend."), from Georgia (wave and say, "Hi, y'all!") who liked horses (stamp feet and say, "Neighhhhhhhh.") went to London (Sing "London Bridge is Falling Down") and met Lord Baden-Powell (bow formally and say, "How d'ya do?"), the founder of Boy Scouts (make scout sign and say, "Be prepared."), and came to start the wonderful world of Girl Scouts (make scout sign and say, "On my honor.")!

Abby's Story

The Book of Nonsense by Abby and Nefeli

There wons was a boy who lived in a toy.
He liked to play ball with his friend and his doll.
He had a big nose. And very little tose.
And if you don't mind I will have you find the pictcher of him down below.

He has a best friend. Her name is Miss Silly.
She lives in a tea cup. And acts relly dilly.

(They are still working on the rest as well as the illustrations.)

All Saints Day

People were invited to donate flowers today to remember loved ones. We donated some in memory of the kids Aeris and Seth, also Grandma Millie and Grandpa Dean.

For fellowship time someone made chocolate cupcakes with orange icing and chocolate chip sprinkles. They were really cute.

When we were walking there this morning Abby was asking how much further, then she saw the building and said,"I can see MY church!"

Church Service:

Meditation: All of the places of our lives are sanctuaries; some of them just happen to have steeples. And all of the people in our lives are saints; it is just that some of them have day jobs and most will never have feast days named after them.

-Robert Benson

Children's Message:

Who are the saints that you know? None of the kdis answered so CAndance said she would give them a hint and said. "Turn around." A saint is a good model or mentor. In Corinthians Paul called the people saints but they were messing up left and right. A child said, "But WHY?" and Candance said that is the crazy thing. Our God forgives us and called us again even if we mess up.

Then she invited the kids to stay and join in the hymn about some of the saints they might know.

Presby hymn #364 I sing a song of the saints of God by John Henry Hopkins, Jr.

I sing a song of the saint of God, Patient and brave and true

Who toiled and fought and lived and died, For the Lord they loved and knew

And one was a doctor and one was a queen and one was a shepherdess on the green

They were all of them saints of God helping to be one too.

They loved their Lord so dear, And God's love made them strong.

And they followed the right, for Jesus sake, The whole of their good lives long.

And one was a soldier and one was a priest, And one was slain by a fierce wild beast.

And there's not any reason, no , not the least, Why I shouldn't be one too.

They lived not only in ages past, There are hundreds of thousands still.

The world is bright with the joyous saints, Who love to do Jesus' will.

You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea,

In church or in trains or in shops or at tea,

For the saints of God are just folk like me, And I mean to be one too.

Scripture was Luke 19:1-10 the Zaccheus story and Luke 6:27-31 the turn the other cheek scripture

Sermon: She began by saying even though voting is important she is sick of the political ads. The money that is spent on these ads could do so much. Only one of which is to lower the deficit which all of these politicians clain they want to do. The ads are mean spirited. The politicians attack each other for actiosn thatwere done previously in good faith. It becomes an us against them thinking among voters. She then goes into Zaccheus and explains that he was a chief tax collector. He socialized with the high and mighty in society. Who would this be today? Perhaps Hillary? Imagine Hillary climbing a tree to see someone. He was an established professional. Perhaps the tree was a safer place. Yes there were crowds below but Zaccheus was nopt a liked man. It would have been easy to have been jostled in the crowd. Yet it is him who Jesus calls to thru the crowd. The people in the crowd start to question Jesus. Why does he go to the tax collector? Is it to get in with the powerful, the political? You can see the crowd roll their eyes and mumble and grumble. Why does Jesus go with HIM?! The crowd is offended. There is a shift to a new enemy. He was supposed to be here for US not the bad guys. She went on to talk about an enemy that we keep in our backpockets for when we need someone to blame. Could be a collective enemy- a political party or a group of people. However at times the enemy can mvoe from the back pocket to right in front of us and we move from grumblign to violence. Gangs, bullying, anti-Muslims, even in our families, churches, societies.

Then we move to the other scritpure. This one is much more difficult. Love in the face of the enemy. Not being a wimpy doormat. Laws at the time said you cannot back hand someone so turning the other cheek results in the embarrassing action of breaking the law. Another law you cannot take both of a man's coats, so giving him your shirt is again placing the enemy in an embarrassing position.

Love in the face of your enemy is it easy. it is in fact very difficult. THere is a story about a scorpion and a man. THe man rescues the scorpion from a river and the scorpion asks, "Why? When it is my nature to sting you?" and the man replies, "That doesn't change my willingness to save you."

It is not "How do I open my heart? but rather "How do we recognize that God has already opened our hearts?"

Jesus called Zaccheus by name. How did he know his name? He said, "Come down. I am waiting for you." Zaccheus was not repenting, but claiming who he is. A shift had happened. The crowd hears it from Zaccheus. No one wants to know or give him credit, but he has already quietly been redistributing the wealth.

When on the cross Jesus says, "Forgive them." Like the child during the children's message, we want to cry out, "How?! Why?!" If God is working on me, He is also working on my enemies. We are not left up in the tree. Jesus calls us by name so that we can reach across and help each other. Paul considered all of us saints, saints of God. God's presence makes it so.

Read a poem Mother Teresa liked by Kent Keith. It ends:

In the end it is between you and God, not between you and other people.

(Will try to find and add.)

Welcome saints!

Halloween Party

Halloween Party was held at Whittier, one of the buildings of Teachers College. There was a fog machine, plactic bugs on the floors and tables, and lots of orange balloons.

The spider web with a giant black spider crossed the entrance to the room.

Photo above Fanney is the witch on the right and Nefeli is the skeleton on the left.

Rosslyn, our next door neighbor is the ladybug in this picture and Aaron is the lizard. His mom is the community assistant who has helped us.


This yellow princess really latched onto Lilly and they played together much of the party.

Not a great picture, sorry...
This mom dressed as Fancy Nancy. She had on high heels, lots of short skirts (crinolin, is it?), lots of hair bows and paintbrushes stuck in her hair.

Lilly loved this disco ball light. The little boy on the left is Kip who, with his mom, walks to school with us most mornings. They live on our floor.

Table decorations- plastic flies stuck in the spider web.

The party had a few games and some music. Lasted an hour- perfect time. Over at 7 and before any of the kids got tired and cranky. Most were toddlers.

Trick-Or-Treat

We trick or treated inthe apartment building. Katie's friend Lena walked with her and we all joined Abby's friend Nefeli and her mother. Kevin handed out candy at our door. There are 8 floors in the building. Some floors only had 2 doors and some had around five doors with candy. The older girls all went to another apartment (also student housing for Columbia) and there were about 5 apartments there handing out candy as well.

Kevin dressed up and painted his face. He wanted to dye his hair also but we couldn't find the paint he wanted.

Katie went as a mime and looked great! She bought a white mask and found some mime pictures online. Serena decorated the mask to match one of the pictures.

Abby went as a witch. Lilly wore the dog pajamas from Lily Porter and went as a dog walker pulling her Snoopy dog behind her.

We tried practising at our house and Lilly just had no clue. At the first house we went to she took the candy from the bowl as instructed but then wanted to eat it not put it in her bucket. She did work out a system where she would hold the newest piece in her hand and put the candy from the previous apartment in ehr bucket upon receiving a new piece. By the end she would grab a few pieces when offerred but never got the idea of trick or treat. She normally talks a lot but this was to much confusion and new faces so Serena had to say trick or treat and thank you for her.

Street Cleaner

The streets get cleaned every day. There is a complicated route they take and signs indicating when the streets are to be cleaned so no parking. Each side of every street gets cleaned at least twice a week. Katie said this is her favorite vehicle in the city. It has the large brushes to sweep up the trash, but also hoses that squirt water out onto the street as well.

Back into the City

Funny license plate we saw. Bridge back into city.

Tall buildings as we cross into the city. We then drive next to the Hudson for a way before turning left and going back into our neighborhood. Sunset over the Hudson River.

We are on the New York City side now looking across the Hudson at Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Palisades Mall

Palisades Mall

I thought this sign was funny. I later learned that there was a parking garage available that direction.

The mall was 4 stories. Escalators at each end as well as 2 sets of clear elevators.

The mall directory was printed on a Coke vending machine. I tried to get a close picture so you could read it. Macy's was three stories high. I-max theater, movie theater, ice rink, bowling alley, Target, Macy's, JCPenny's, 4 halloween stores, a dog store, candy store, Robot Galaxy, Lego store, Build-A-Bear workshop, Disney store, Spencers, NY 99 cent store, Native American store, maternity clothes, store with products from around the world, Dave and Busters, Kirlins, and Carlton Cards, Barnes and Noble, Lord and Taylor, Abercrombie, Banana Republic, Chilis, TGIF, and Outback Steakhouse, plus a whole lot more that we couldn't remember! You get the idea though.

Two level carosal. Lilly rode it with Kevin and had a blast! Ferris wheel was also available at other end of the mall. Indooors.

Leaving the City

Kevin took us on an outing today to see a big mall he found. The first picture is the view facing the Hudson River as we leave our neighborhood. We go to the left and wrap around to get onto the bridge.

The bridge has 2 levels. There are lanes o nthe top but also a lwoer level that is behind the X's that you see along the bottom of the bridge. Kevin takes the lower level out of the city and the top back in. I also found out the lights on the bridge in a previous picture are pink for breast cancer awareness. They look purple from some angles. They are gel covers that were put over the lightbulbs during routine maintenance.

Pictures from the bridge of a boat and of the cliffs on the New Jersey side.

Pretty autumn colors. More yellow this week than before.