Oak Tree in an Acorn: We Love the Olympic Games!

Monday, August 18, 2008

We Love the Olympic Games!

We have been enjoying watching the Olympics this past week. In my family, the Olympics was always an anticipated event; we would watch and discuss det

ails of different contests and cheer on th

e athletes. I will never forget being 12 years old and

excitedly watching Mary Lou Retton do her spectacular vaults!

Olivia's favorite events to watch are swimming and fencing (we have to tape these since they occur after her bedtime), and she is getting to know names of different countries around the world. Any countries she asks about, we

go to our big laminated world map, try to locate them for her and point out their flags.

Olivia's 5th birthday party theme this year was Olivia's Olympics, and she and her friends had fun participating in various sporting events as well as a torch relay and opening/closing ceremonies.

(A big thank you to our neighbors and families for helping us organize and host the party!)

We have been doing some Olympic theme games and activities this week which we are primary borrowing from Scotto's Place We b site (Livy's favorite is the medal math!). We sure do love the summer Olympics!

1 comment:

Unknown said...: happy birthday livy. we love the games as well and Bill knows all the flags. He loves geography. Did you know your cousin Hayden loved geography when he was your age. We got him a globe and he learned all the countries and the capitals. Must be in the family.; August 19, 2008 at 5:11 AM

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Why the title, "Oak Tree in an Acorn"?

Well, really it's all about perspective when raising the girls. It helps me to think about the grand scheme of parenting and remember that what we do now affects how our little acorns will grow. Like an oak tree, we want them to be strong in their words and deeds, be able to withstand life's storms, set and reach their goals, and be people that others can lean on and trust.

We have an oak tree planted in our yard that came from an acorn my dad planted in a pot. This acorn came from a huge oak tree that was planted in the backyard of my dad's childhood home. My dad's father also planted this tree from an acorn he found on his hunting lease in the early 1960's. Our tree is thus a family heirloom, a "family tree".

It was the year of Olivia's birth when we planted our little sapling. It looked so very sad that winter with no leaves; it was, basically, like a stick rooted in the ground. Five years later, though, it stands 9 feet tall, and we continue to nurture it and watch it grow. We hope one year it will produce acorns of its own, and we can continue to pass on this family heirloom. We hope to remember it's example of how each acorn has the potential to be an oak tree, and how our acorns, Olivia and Genevieve, will one day, with help from God, become mighty oak trees themselves.