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MVI_2927
Originally uploaded by katkimchee

April showers bring spring sniffles and soccer

Because we're a family that believes in sharing, Evan passed his cold on to me this weekend. Following our busy Saturday, I woke up Sunday morn with a sore throat and general sense of malaise.

I was glad that the only thing on our calendar was Evan's first spring soccer game. He's playing micro soccer in the YMCA Youth Sports league again this year (fewer practices= fewer commitment for his parents). The mighty Mercury team includes Evan and two of his classmates, Andrew and Tristan. Brian was relieved that a couple of the other dads stepped up and reluctantly volunteered to coach. And I was pleasantly surprised to see how Evan had improved since last year. He's been dragging his dad out to practice kicking in the evenings after dinner and it's paid off. In fact, Evan scored one of two goals for his team and the Mercury won, 2-1.

After the game, I suggested D'Leon's takeout for dinner, hoping some spicy salsa would open up my sinuses. It was tasty, but I ended up crashing at 8 pm and took Brian up on his generous offer to put Evan to bed.

Cough, cough, sniffle, sniffle, sneeze.

Trail runner

Ni-Bthaska-Ke 2008 141
Originally uploaded by teamnebraskabrooks.

Brian competed in his first trail run this weekend at Platte River State Park. Unfortunately, he said the course markings weren't very clear, and he went off track a few times. Frustrating!

While Brian was running, Evan and "uncle" Bill hiked, got muddy, and found a dead bull snake. Neat-o. Sorry I missed it.

Super Saturday

While Brian was running over hill and dale Saturday morning at Platte River State Park, I was participating in my second library practicum experience with Lincoln City Libraries. Each month, a bilingual storytime and crafts event is held for Spanish-speaking children and their families at the South Street Branch. My high-school Spanish is pretty rusty, so thank goodness there are some terrific volunteers who help out with translation and reading in Spanish. Making bunny handpuppets and flowers from pipe cleaners, coffee filters, and colors needs no translation! A yummy healthy lunch was hosted by Open Harvest. It's really neat to see the whole family - moms, dads, and siblings - involved. One family signed up for their first library card, and it was a joy to see how excited the kiddos were to chose books and videos to take home. I'm really enjoying my first foray into observing and participating in Youth Services. Quite different from my day job in academic libraries.

Saturday evening, we watched a little Final Four action at John & Janelle's and supervised a little Furious Five action: Evan, Nolan R., Lewis, Ian, and Nolan H. burned off some energy outside. After watching Memphis conquer UCLA, we caught a performance by Son del Llano at Meadowlark Coffee. Brian had seen the group at the Zoo Bar and raved about them. It was nice to see and hear live music in a setting like this, open to all ages, and both the very young and more mature folks were getting into the Latin groove and dancing.

practicum and language

This week, I begin my practicum with Lincoln City Libraries' youth services department. My two-hour practicum course is required for the master's in library science degree and over the next three months I'll be spending 90 hours gaining experience in public library service to children and young adults.

Last night I assisted with Bennett Martin Public Library's first Prime Time event of the year. Designed as a series of events where

Low-literacy, low-income Spanish-speaking families gather in libraries to read award-winning children's books with storytellers and scholars. Prime Time fosters high academic expectations for children and encourages parents to speak and read English.

There was a nice turnout of approximately 40 family members who enjoyed a pizza dinner followed by storytelling and discussion for the adults and older children, with a separate storytime and crafts for the preschool and under set. Spanish-speaking volunteers are a big asset in both the presentations. Building upon my pretty rudimentary high school Spanish is one of my goals. Some basic vocabulary and phrases come back to me, but I tend to confuse select words with French, which I took in college. I really envy people who can speak multiple languages, and that's why I want to encourage Evan to enroll with me this fall in our local Saturday morning Korean language school.

one step closer

This afternoon, I'll be interviewing by phone with the MU coordinator of this summer's Korean teaching program. I mailed my application last week to meet the March 31 deadline, so I'm excited to see the process is moving along.