This afternoon we are going to see the play "High School Musical." The kids are all excited since it is the ONE movie they ALL like to watch! (boys and girls tastes are diverging!) If you have not seen it, it is a fun musical with teenagers in it. Ha. Not much too it, but lots of fun music and dancing. One of the International Schools is putting it on. We'll let you know how it goes.
It has been a busy, busy week and Kel is still at it. He is doing a two day training for some V students that are here at one of the universities. Lift him up! Our meetings went fine, but they were long and our evenings extended into dinner. I, also, tried to spend some time at school, in between times and take Malia to her various appts. We are ready for our spring break that started yesterday! Yoohoo!
We received the IOWA Basic skills scores. Savannah and Noah did great! They decided to let Noah circle the answers in the test booklet and someone else filled in the bubbles for him. His scores were alot higher than they had been in years before, probably because of this. Savannah's scores were very high. We are so proud of her. She will graduate from speech therapy! Malia's scores were good, esp. with all she has been through this past year. Sage's scores were terrible and I am meeting with the principal on Monday morning to discuss them. Please pray for us for wisdom for next year. It looks like the school may provide the independent study classes Malia needs but it's not a done deal and we are still unsure how to proceed with Sage. I have grave concerns about him going into 3rd grade with the situation as it has been this year--only ONE teacher (Noah has been in that class). They desperately need another 3rd grade teacher. I, also, am unsure if he should repeat 2nd grade. One of the special ed teachers suggested I homeschool him, so please pray for wisdom! I am of the opinion that many of his issues are language/adjustment related and that he doesn't have a learning disability but that might just be wishful thinking. I pray it is not. Noah will not be happy if I homeschool Sage and not Noah, BUT, Noah needs to be at school. So, pray! We also received the results of Sage's ESL testing. He is up to par speaking but has a long way to go with reading and writing!
Well, those are the main highlights of the week! We are on break and we are glad to be. We don't know yet if we will be taking a trip or not. I'll keep in touch!
Blessings!
Friday, March 30, 2007
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Monday update
I wanted to send a quick update at the beginning of the week, since I am unsure if I will have a chance later in the week.
***Happy Birthday Carolyn!***
Today is Carolyn's 50th Birthday! Carolyn has been working with us the whole time we have been here (Asia) and we are privileged to have her as a colleague and friend. One highlight of turning 50 for her means she is eligible for a retirement visa...which means she can live her with much less hassle and work! Congratulations Carolyn on turning 50!
Tomorrow, we begin SGL meetings and will be busy day and night. I will be at the meeting tomorrow and then popping in and out as my schedule allows. Kel starts a big training here on Sat. with some V students that are here at a university.
Next week starts spring break. We have not decided what/if our family will be traveling or going anywhere. The kids want to stay home. The girls want the focus to be on decorating their rooms. I'm hoping if we stay home we can plan some fun relaxing times. Everyone else we know will be going away!
A family has decided to join our house church that has a 12 year old daughter. She and Malia seem to have hit it off and we are rejoicing that they have decided to join the group. They also have a 14 yr old and an 11 yr old so our kids are no longer the oldest kids in the group.
Yesterday we had our first celebration service--where 4-5 house groups came together for a celebration service. Kelly led the music, found the place, chose the speaker and that type of thing. We had around 100 people there. We plan to have this type of service every 2 months, so the next one will be in May.
Bob, Zona and Zack are planning a trip to Thailand this summer. They will be helping with childcare at one of the meetings and then they will spend some time with us. We are looking forward to their visit!
Well, I think that's the latest here. Let us hear updates from each of you!
Blessings!
***Happy Birthday Carolyn!***
Today is Carolyn's 50th Birthday! Carolyn has been working with us the whole time we have been here (Asia) and we are privileged to have her as a colleague and friend. One highlight of turning 50 for her means she is eligible for a retirement visa...which means she can live her with much less hassle and work! Congratulations Carolyn on turning 50!
Tomorrow, we begin SGL meetings and will be busy day and night. I will be at the meeting tomorrow and then popping in and out as my schedule allows. Kel starts a big training here on Sat. with some V students that are here at a university.
Next week starts spring break. We have not decided what/if our family will be traveling or going anywhere. The kids want to stay home. The girls want the focus to be on decorating their rooms. I'm hoping if we stay home we can plan some fun relaxing times. Everyone else we know will be going away!
A family has decided to join our house church that has a 12 year old daughter. She and Malia seem to have hit it off and we are rejoicing that they have decided to join the group. They also have a 14 yr old and an 11 yr old so our kids are no longer the oldest kids in the group.
Yesterday we had our first celebration service--where 4-5 house groups came together for a celebration service. Kelly led the music, found the place, chose the speaker and that type of thing. We had around 100 people there. We plan to have this type of service every 2 months, so the next one will be in May.
Bob, Zona and Zack are planning a trip to Thailand this summer. They will be helping with childcare at one of the meetings and then they will spend some time with us. We are looking forward to their visit!
Well, I think that's the latest here. Let us hear updates from each of you!
Blessings!
Friday, March 23, 2007
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Friday, March 16, 2007
School decisions!
Well, it's that time of year again! We begin thinking about next yr and options for school for the kiddo's. Sav just received her report card for 3rd quarter and received 6 A's and 1 B! We are so thrilled at the diligence we have seen in her and responsibility she has taken for her own work. Her teachers are proud of her because they have seen her hard work. She is enjoying school and thriving. One of the latest things is there are several little boys who have "crushes" on her and that has been fun to observe and watch....esp. her reaction to it. She's not really interested in them at this time but is growing her relationships with her girlfriends around her. She is also loving having her own room and she does a great job of keeping it organized and clean.
Noah...Noah's grades were ok.... He is doing some interesting things....like he sits on a ball in his class.... When you see him you might want to ask him more about that. He is not drowning in school so does not qualify for a lot of extra services so, I'm trying to figure out how I can help him. It is getting harder for him to compensate for his dyslexia issues and he is requiring more help at home, esp. with written projects. However, it's good for him to be at school. He tends to want to be more of a computer/junkie introvert so it is good for him to be with others!
Sage....we are still unsure what next yr will hold for Sage. His teacher would like to see him repeat 2nd grade. He is making baby steps of progress that I am pleased with but his learning difficulties seem to be more involved than just ESL issues, although they accentuate the issues. His performance is very inconsistent. Pray for wisdom about the next step for him. Should we put him on medication? Should we homeschool him? Should we push for him to move up to 3rd grade? Should we have him in counseling? These are just some of the questions that we are trying to answer and need Godly wisdom to discern.
Last but not least, there is Malia, who at this time has the most severe learning needs. We just had some more testing done (it needs to be updated periodically). We are still trying to determine her options for next year. She will not be successful in a large classroom so the school is still in the decision making process about what services they will be able to offer. IF she goes into a resource classroom, she most likely will be the only girl (with 5 boys). I'm not sure how I feel about that, although (she doesn't know this is an option) she seems to have a much easier time relating to boys right now than girls--their conversations are not as complex and they are not so emotional! We need wisdom to know if this is the best thing for her and I'm praying that direction will be set by the school--IF they decide that they can offer her services, we will go with it. If they can't, it will be a clear indicator to us that she needs to homeschool. I may also try to find out more info about the homeschool co-op here (it meets one day a week) to see if homeschooling might be a better option for her socially. I'm not sure I'm up to the task of homeschooling but I know God gives you what you need at the moment you need it--and sometimes not before. :>
Please pray for wisdom for me about whether or not I should approach some mothers of some of the girls in her grade about her specific deficits to see if they would be willing to encourage their daughters to be her friend. This is a unique community in that most of these moms are "M's" and some of them might have a desire to do something like this. I need wisdom.
Thanks for your prayers!
Noah...Noah's grades were ok.... He is doing some interesting things....like he sits on a ball in his class.... When you see him you might want to ask him more about that. He is not drowning in school so does not qualify for a lot of extra services so, I'm trying to figure out how I can help him. It is getting harder for him to compensate for his dyslexia issues and he is requiring more help at home, esp. with written projects. However, it's good for him to be at school. He tends to want to be more of a computer/junkie introvert so it is good for him to be with others!
Sage....we are still unsure what next yr will hold for Sage. His teacher would like to see him repeat 2nd grade. He is making baby steps of progress that I am pleased with but his learning difficulties seem to be more involved than just ESL issues, although they accentuate the issues. His performance is very inconsistent. Pray for wisdom about the next step for him. Should we put him on medication? Should we homeschool him? Should we push for him to move up to 3rd grade? Should we have him in counseling? These are just some of the questions that we are trying to answer and need Godly wisdom to discern.
Last but not least, there is Malia, who at this time has the most severe learning needs. We just had some more testing done (it needs to be updated periodically). We are still trying to determine her options for next year. She will not be successful in a large classroom so the school is still in the decision making process about what services they will be able to offer. IF she goes into a resource classroom, she most likely will be the only girl (with 5 boys). I'm not sure how I feel about that, although (she doesn't know this is an option) she seems to have a much easier time relating to boys right now than girls--their conversations are not as complex and they are not so emotional! We need wisdom to know if this is the best thing for her and I'm praying that direction will be set by the school--IF they decide that they can offer her services, we will go with it. If they can't, it will be a clear indicator to us that she needs to homeschool. I may also try to find out more info about the homeschool co-op here (it meets one day a week) to see if homeschooling might be a better option for her socially. I'm not sure I'm up to the task of homeschooling but I know God gives you what you need at the moment you need it--and sometimes not before. :>
Please pray for wisdom for me about whether or not I should approach some mothers of some of the girls in her grade about her specific deficits to see if they would be willing to encourage their daughters to be her friend. This is a unique community in that most of these moms are "M's" and some of them might have a desire to do something like this. I need wisdom.
Thanks for your prayers!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
ChiangRai Disaster Area
Chiangrai province, the province next door to ChiangMai Province where we live, has been declared a disaster area due to the fire and pollution. It's pretty bad, here, too...in fact, if it gets much worse they will cancel school. They have already limited all outdoor activity and there can be no sports activities. Yesterday, we had about 600 meters visibility. Today it seems a little better. They aren't expecting it to get alot better until it rains though. Rains aren't expected until June. I'm not sure we can live in this for three months. Do your lungs eventually adjust? Mom and Dad, you can't see the mountain at all. That should give you an idea of how bad it is...there isn't even a little hazy glimpse of it. Here is a news article if you want to read it:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=117418
Kel is traveling in the country next door. His first trip in. Here is an excerpt from his email to me. He did not take his computer.
"Also, I am now in P. (in the south near Camb.) Checked in the hotel. Came down to eat and decided I had best drop the diet on this trip since I saw a Pho shop. (V soup for those of you who don't know.) It is connected with the hotel. Talked with the owner and found out she was third generation v. I went ahead and spoke V with her and then would drop back into Thai when I couldn't remember what to say. She said that P is full of V, and they all speak V. Whereas the V in the capital city won't speak it much she said. She said this country is full of other people other than the main people group. Her mom owns the hotel, she runs the Pho shop. The girl next to me at this internet cafe is talking V. This is an interesting place."
Please pray for our team leaders in the southern part of where we used to live. He just returned from his mom's funeral and there have been some major disappointments involving the work there. The enemy is alive and roaring.
Thanks for your prayers!
http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=117418
Kel is traveling in the country next door. His first trip in. Here is an excerpt from his email to me. He did not take his computer.
"Also, I am now in P. (in the south near Camb.) Checked in the hotel. Came down to eat and decided I had best drop the diet on this trip since I saw a Pho shop. (V soup for those of you who don't know.) It is connected with the hotel. Talked with the owner and found out she was third generation v. I went ahead and spoke V with her and then would drop back into Thai when I couldn't remember what to say. She said that P is full of V, and they all speak V. Whereas the V in the capital city won't speak it much she said. She said this country is full of other people other than the main people group. Her mom owns the hotel, she runs the Pho shop. The girl next to me at this internet cafe is talking V. This is an interesting place."
Please pray for our team leaders in the southern part of where we used to live. He just returned from his mom's funeral and there have been some major disappointments involving the work there. The enemy is alive and roaring.
Thanks for your prayers!
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Nanny's Chicken and Dumplings
NANNY’S CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS
Gently boil five large chicken breasts with the skin on until cooked. Season the water lightly with salt and pepper. A bay leaf added to the water gives an even better flavor. Turn off the heat, remove the chicken breasts to cool but leave the broth in the pan. Draw out a cup of broth (making sure you get plenty of the fat in it for tender dumplings). After the cup of broth cools to lukewarm, pour it in a large mixing bowl and add three large eggs to it. Salt and pepper the mixture and then begin adding flour to it until it starts to get manageable. The consistency of the dumplings dough should be like bread dough: tender but neither sticky nor dry.
Bring the broth back to a gentle rolling boil. Roll out handfuls of dough to about a fourth inch thickness. Cut in strips of an inch or so wide and three or four inches long. Drop in boiling broth and stir gently to keep them from sticking on the bottom.
When all the dumplings are in the broth and cooked (only takes a few minutes), add one can of cream of chicken soup and about 1/4 can of cream of celery soup. Much of your salt will come from the soups so please don’t over salt your broth. Add pepper to taste.
Remove skin from cooling chicken, cut into chunks and add to the broth and dumplings. Stir and cook only a few more minutes. Overcooking will disintegrate the dumplings!
Posted on Beth Moore's blog by her daughter Amanda.
Gently boil five large chicken breasts with the skin on until cooked. Season the water lightly with salt and pepper. A bay leaf added to the water gives an even better flavor. Turn off the heat, remove the chicken breasts to cool but leave the broth in the pan. Draw out a cup of broth (making sure you get plenty of the fat in it for tender dumplings). After the cup of broth cools to lukewarm, pour it in a large mixing bowl and add three large eggs to it. Salt and pepper the mixture and then begin adding flour to it until it starts to get manageable. The consistency of the dumplings dough should be like bread dough: tender but neither sticky nor dry.
Bring the broth back to a gentle rolling boil. Roll out handfuls of dough to about a fourth inch thickness. Cut in strips of an inch or so wide and three or four inches long. Drop in boiling broth and stir gently to keep them from sticking on the bottom.
When all the dumplings are in the broth and cooked (only takes a few minutes), add one can of cream of chicken soup and about 1/4 can of cream of celery soup. Much of your salt will come from the soups so please don’t over salt your broth. Add pepper to taste.
Remove skin from cooling chicken, cut into chunks and add to the broth and dumplings. Stir and cook only a few more minutes. Overcooking will disintegrate the dumplings!
Posted on Beth Moore's blog by her daughter Amanda.
Project Finished!
We finished the big project! I will try to send pictures soon. We have the girls beds up on trunks. One of them is going to get a queen size bed, so when we have guests they have somewhere to sleep. It will probably be Savannah since her room is closest to a bathroom and bigger. It's strange having Malia down here right off the family room. They have done a good job of sleeping apart so far. Sav left with her room all nice and clean this morning and Malia...NOT. :> That is some of the reason Savannah was anxious to change. Now we have to decide on decorating themes. If you have inexpensive fun ideas, send them our way!
The Living Room is a little crowded but it will work for a few months. (until Kel moves his office furniture to a new place...yet to be determined. I'm still intending to finish a thorough cleaning and organizing task. I want to get things they way I want them. I also have a friend coming over after lunch to give me some decorating ideas to get it finished! Our lease is up in Dec. Let's see, I might have it just like I want it by then! Ha. It is my desire to stay longer and not move to a new place just because our lease is up.
I'm going to post a recipe that we are going to have for supper tonight. I got it off Beth Moore's blog and it appealed to me because it said..."Nanny's Chicken and Dumplings."
The Living Room is a little crowded but it will work for a few months. (until Kel moves his office furniture to a new place...yet to be determined. I'm still intending to finish a thorough cleaning and organizing task. I want to get things they way I want them. I also have a friend coming over after lunch to give me some decorating ideas to get it finished! Our lease is up in Dec. Let's see, I might have it just like I want it by then! Ha. It is my desire to stay longer and not move to a new place just because our lease is up.
I'm going to post a recipe that we are going to have for supper tonight. I got it off Beth Moore's blog and it appealed to me because it said..."Nanny's Chicken and Dumplings."
Friday, March 9, 2007
Prayers for Heath
Please continue to pray for Heath. He is still in the hospital and not feeling well! He was able to go home for a few days but had to return on Wed. Pray for Marla and Scott...for physical stamina. I guess my mom and dad could use prayers for physical stamina, also. I'm thankful they are nearby!
We are fine here....in the midst of a big project....trying to move furniture around to enable to girls to have their own rooms. It is a big project. I'm thankful that Kelly is willing to move furniture two times...since he doesn't really have space at his office yet to put his furniture, he agreed to go ahead and move his office to the family room so the girls could go ahead and begin moving. They are thrilled! It is alot of work to move his office!
We are fine here....in the midst of a big project....trying to move furniture around to enable to girls to have their own rooms. It is a big project. I'm thankful that Kelly is willing to move furniture two times...since he doesn't really have space at his office yet to put his furniture, he agreed to go ahead and move his office to the family room so the girls could go ahead and begin moving. They are thrilled! It is alot of work to move his office!
Monday, March 5, 2007
Monday ramblings....
What a day! I feel like I've been doing homework all day! Am I a student???
Malia has 200 challenge words due on Thursday and even though I have been telling her each week to get them done, I haven't followed up on them and so she is lacking about 150. :> She wants to settle for a C grade. I've talked to her teacher before about helping her with these because it is really difficult for her to pick them out (they come from reading and she reads constantly but has difficulty remembering to mark the words). So, I often go back through the books she has read looking for words and marking them and either typing them in for her or she writes them. Today we wrote/typed 101 and I found probably around 25 more that she has not written yet. She has until Thursday, so we will be working on these a few more days.
I've also been researching Hyena's. Noah is doing a project on Hyena's and tonight traced and colored a drawing of a hyena. Would you like to see it? Remind me and I'll try to put different parts of his project in as he does them.
And then we've been working on the Magic E with Sage. (Add e to a short vowel word and it makes the vowel sound long or say it's name) I worked with him for about an hour after school and then Kelly worked with him again for about thirty minutes after supper. Does he have the concept down? Not quite.... This is part of the cognitive processing we've been working to strengthen. He has just completed a program called "Interactive Metronome" and had great success while he was on the program but has seemed to have regressed since completing it. This is very unusual--we are trying to figure this out. I keep thinking/hoping/praying/dreaming that his learning issues are ESL related and he will outgrow them. I'm still clinging to a slight hope that these cognitive issues we are identifying are related to brain overload and will eventually get better. I guess time will tell, won't it?
In between all this homework, I made chicken pot pie and cut up fresh strawberries for supper. Kel called to see if he can bring anything home...ha....and I told him if I got a chance to take a break from homework, I would finish supper and get it in the oven. :>
Prayer request for this week..... Thursday night I will lead a Parent Support Group for Parents of Special Needs kids. The topic is Social Success and this is the 2nd meeting we will have. I expect there to be an interest in this topic. Pray that God will give me wisdom to know what to include and how to lead the group. I've got lots of research and need to narrow it way down so we can actually talk with one another and support each other.
One more prayer request....My nephew Heath, was in the hospital last week with asthma and they don't know why...he wasn't sick. They suspect a food allergy. Please pray for them as they test him and find out what they are dealing with. His cute picture is the one you see here. Doesn't he look like Marla???
Saturday, March 3, 2007
The Honeymoon's Over....
Well, hopefully, not quite! We are back from our get away where we ate, read, ate, read, ate, read...ha. You would think we would get tired of it or bored, but we did not! Kelly read the book "Shattered Dreams" by Larry Crabb. You should ask him about it. I read fiction...just pure....fluff....and I enjoyed it. We came home to issues that needed to be addressed with the children and I must admit, I was disappointed that they were not perfect children while we were gone. ;> It seems like Sage's world was kind of rocked with both of us being gone and he acted out often. I didn't even consider that might be an issue.
Sounds like ya'll are having tornadoes and snow storms? I hope all of you are ok.
We just returned from house church and I'm tireder than I expected to be.
Noah received a medal today because his "chess team" came in second in the tournament. They missed first place by 1 point. He won 4 out of 6 games. He really enjoys playing chess.
We'll we're home, with a day off tomorrow and getting back to life as normal.
Blessings!
Sounds like ya'll are having tornadoes and snow storms? I hope all of you are ok.
We just returned from house church and I'm tireder than I expected to be.
Noah received a medal today because his "chess team" came in second in the tournament. They missed first place by 1 point. He won 4 out of 6 games. He really enjoys playing chess.
We'll we're home, with a day off tomorrow and getting back to life as normal.
Blessings!
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