Sage’s story

This is a story written by Sage. He is our sweet son that we adopted from Ukraine almost three years ago. I am so proud of him. Even though he is 9 years old, developmentally and educationally, he is a little bit behind. He is in 3rd grade but has special resource classes. He wrote this story in his resource class. I believe that he will catch up, eventually.

It rained!

Yesterday, we received a sweet gift from God. It rained! The picture is from my front porch. Can you see the wet street? In Chiangmai, there is a dry season and a wet season. In the dry season it is usually dry (that means no rain) in the wet season it is usually wet (rains daily). This is the dry season. It hasn’t rained since November. What a sweet gift of rain today. You remember how I said it was smoky? It was not smoke. OR if it was the rain made it all go away. Maybe I can see the mountain. (Chiangmai is surrounded by mountains) What a sweet gift from God! RAIN!!!

Monday....today it is very smoky out side....it kind of looks like a cool winter day. Many folks burn fires during this time of year. However, it's not winter. We have not turned the a/c on downstairs but we have to have the fan on and we can tell that hot weather is just around the corner.

Today has been one of those nice grounding days. One of the days when the house is picked up, and I am able to have a long time with the Lord. It was mainly spent in prayer and listening. Now, I have a friend headed over to spend time praying. Our friend, Linda, had to be put on a ventalator this morning. She and Cyd are still very heavy on our hearts.

I want to lose weight so I have also been talking to the Lord about that. I have never ever really tried to lose weight. Not even the baby weight....and it stayed on. About 4-5 years ago, I got braces on my teeth (a quick painful 6 months process) and couldn't eat anything for about 3 weeks and it kind of jump started me on a weight loss program. I lost about 20 pounds. Somehow, in the last yr and a half, those twenty pounds have come back and I need to get them off again. Mainly because my body does not feel good with them on. I seem to have all kinds of gastritis type issues that I don't have when I don't have that extra weight on. I'm also more easily fatigued. So, I must try to do something intentional about this weight.

Those who know me, know that I tend to be the type person that doesn't want to try something like a diet because I don't want to fail. (where did I get these perfectionistic tendancies?) Or I would rather just NOT eat at all--rather than limit my intake. I know that is not healthy and is not the way to do it. So, this morning, after having a long chat about it with the Lord, I ate a salad for lunch. It had dressing on it, and ham....BUT, it was not bread and that is one of the main things I am going to be cutting out. My husband promises I can lose quickly if I drastically cut the carbs and gradually add some back in making healthier choices.

Some men are here now putting together Malia's new closet and my friend has arrived so I will close. The picture is a flower in our garden.

Feeling heavy today as we learned of the kidnapping of a friend. Go to this website if you want to read more www. arldf.net. We have known C for many years and our thoughts are with her.

Our friend, L, is still not doing well. They have not had to intubate her but are still considering it. She has some major problems with her lungs and so far has not been stable enough to explore or do more testing. Her daughter did arrive from the U.S. to be with her. We would ask God to spare her life and heal her!

K left for a trip today. He will stop in BKK tonight to visit L and her husband and then head in country tomorrow. He will return later in the week. We already have two lights that need fixing and internet still isn't working correctly. Not starting off with a bang so far. I will have to call a handyman tomorrow to see if he can come and fix the lights!

Haircut

I did it! I finally got my hair cut. I went yesterday. I ended up going twice. After I got home from the first haircut, I just really didn't like it so I called her back and went back again. She was very patient with me. The end result is better than what it was. Of course, my few extra pounds that I am carrying doesn't help! Where did these extra pounds come from???

NILD therapy

This is a picture of some of one of my students doing one of the learning needs therapy that I do at school. This is called Rhythmic Writing and it helps with left/right brain processing. I am working two days a week and I have 4 students that I see both days for around an hour and twenty minutes. I am enjoying my students very much, although I feel like I need to get Level 2 training if I am going to contiune with this next yr.

Closet lights!

The lighting is the bedroom is terrible. Imagine my pleasure and surprise when a few weeks ago, my husband had the lights in the closets fixed. I had spent many months not being able to see in the closet. Yes, it has been so nice to be able to see what is in there. And then, today, the closet lights decided they didn't want to go off. Yes, that's right! When the closet closes they are supposed to go off. But today (when hubby is away), they decide to not go off when closed. What am I to do? N comes to the rescue! He works and works and works and still cannot get them to turn off. We are trying to figure out how to disconnect them, etc. when all of the sudden, I spy the electrical outlet with a plug plugged into it. I go over, pull out the plug and Whallaa! No more closet lights! :>

Please pray

Please pray for L...a friend who lives in V. She was getting off a bus and the bus didn't stop and she fell and broke her femur and wrist. She had to be air evac'd to our country and is in surgery now. She is in her late 50's or early 60's.

Thanks!

Sunday's are lazy days

Since we have house church on Sat. afternoon, Sunday's are lazy days here. We slept late (8am), ate a leisurely breakfast, picked up the house, and ate lunch. I went over to visit a dear friend who had just returned from the States. She brought back 5 tops for me from Kohl's for a whopping $24! Amazing! It is so much fun to have some new shirts from the U.S. My wardrobe is feeling kind of shabby. The rest of the day I have spent reading Tolstoy's "Anna Karenin." It is soooo good. K left for a short trip to the big city here. He'll be back on Tuesday evening. These are pics of the children enjoying one of their favorite pasttimes. You can guess what it is! Don't you love the Peanut butter on Noah's shirt? That's pretty tpyical!

Dance Class

Well, today there was the opportunity for several FUN pics but I didn't take my camera since it was out of batteries. Too bad, you could have seen Thai ladies, biking down the street with painted umbrella's, an elephant walking down the highway (at night--always a reminder to us that we are in Thailand) as well as others. Instead, you will get pics from dance class! We are learning the Rhomba! (I'm not sure how to spell it) It was FUN!

Pizza at our House

We order pizza from Pizza Company....not Pizza Hut, but Pizza Company because it is less expensive. It is similar to Pizza Hut. We go and pick it up and have a card that allows us to buy one get one free. It costs about $5 a pizza to do it this way. We still have K staying with us but her parents return today. The picture is of everyone around the table except for me! (taking the pic)

Batteries are out in the camera so I need to get some more before I can post again!

We're fine here. Today, I am going to run a bunch of errands and take a friend to the tailor. Tonight, Kel and I are supposed to go do dance lessons with some friends. That should be fun, huh?

Malee is grounded so she may go to dance lessons with us! She acts like it's terrible but I think secretly she will enjoy it. The others all have plans....the boys are going to a slumber bday party and the girls are going to a "PARENTS NIGHT OUT" babysitting type thing at the school. I think we will have two over night guests, since we still have Kati and Karis...the sister of the boy who is having the bday party will be with us.

I'll try to get batteries before the dance lessons. Those should make some good pics!

Blessings!

A Picture from His Trip

This is a picture from His trip last week. Isn't it beautiful? Enjoy!

Granola

I made Granola today for the 2nd time in the last week. I have been wanting to make it--a friend's recipe because cereal is so expensive here and I wanted to give my family a healthy alternative. Kelly and I really like it. The others aren't so sure yet. :>

Here is the recipe:

Sandra's Granola
1 c sugar
2/3 c boiling water
2 c non fat dry milk
1/4 honey or corn syrup
5 cups rolled oats
2 c bran or wheat flakes
2 c cornflakes
1/2 c chopped nuts
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/2 c wheat germ
1 1/2 tsp, salt
1/4 c veggie oil
Dried fruit

In Med bowl mix sugar, boiling water, stir in dry milk and honey or corn syrup and beat with mixer for 2 min. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 300. In lg bowl, combine the oats, flakes, nuts, coconut, salt and wheat germ. Add milk mixture and oil and mix thoroughly. Spread on 2 baking sheets and bake for 20 min. Remove and stir. Bake for 20 more min. Remove and add dried fruit. Bake 5 for min and remove from oven. Cool and store in airtight container.

P.S. I tried to post a picture but blogger wouldn't let me. I'll upload it when it lets me.

These are the last few I'm going to post of hairstyles. These were all taken over the last few years.....can you imagine the many hairstyles that I have had over the last 40 something years? I still have to figure out what I am going to now.

Catching up...

Kel made it back. Our internet is psuedo fixed. I can receive right now but I'm not able to send email. We will continue to work on it but it makes me wary that it's not completely fixed and can go out again. I will finish up hair pics for a while and get back to normal life. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with my hair!

We fixed it!

We fixed it....back to a more natural color. Much better......

Blackie

Our internet is down and I am at a friends house. I have to let Kel know it is down so if he needs to contact me he can call me. I don't know if it will be back up the rest of the week. So, I may be late posting some pictures.

Malia came home sick today. It is difficult for me. She was with several friends and acting sick. She did not have a passing grade on her report card in Science. We must work to fix it. I'm not looking forward to that. Please pray for me and my attitude. Her other grades were good.

The hairstyle I upoaded today is one I refer to as "Blackie." I was trying to recover from too many dye jobs that turned my hair red. So, I was trying to die it back to my natural color. This was in V and this was the result. It is also straightened. It's ok to laugh! We all did!

Not a Wig!

I know the date may say that it is only Jan. 6 here, but it is really the morning of Jan. 7. Right now we are 13 hours ahead of CST. It is 8am on the morning of the 7th here and the kiddo's have all left for school! I will go ahead and post my picture for the day to make sure it is done today!

No, this is NOT a WIG! :> It was taken in 2004. I cut it really short because it was hot and humid and I was tired of messing with it. It is highlighted but not straightened as you can see from the curl. I, actually, kind of like it like this but it very short! My husband does not prefer it this short!

Kel left for a trip today. He will be back on Friday. I let him take the camera with him so that is one of the reasons I decided to do the hairstyle pics. He will bring back some great pics from the country next door that I can post sometimes.

School starts back tomorrow. I'm looking forward to the week--I only have one bible study this semester, except for the book study that I lead once a month. So, I have Monday's and Friday's to get things together here at home. I'm looking forward to that! Tomorrow, I have to do some work for the dorm....I need to write a job description for new dorm parents.

The kids have decided to do different lunch plans this semester. Savannah will eat all of her lunches at school. Malia will eat on the "western days" (T/Thurs) and the sticky rice days...some Friday's. The boys will eat on the Thai days (M/W/F). The days they don't eat they will take their lunches. They are responsible for fixing it the night before. We'll see how it goes. The lunches at school are incredibly inexpensive (about 40 cents for the younger ones and 50 cents for the older). So, it took some persuading on their parts for us to allow them to do this. I hope we can come up with some good lunches other than just peanut butter sandwiches! Peanut butter gets kind of expensive!

Hairstyle 2

This picture was taken in 2005 December in the U.S. My hair was not straightened and highlighted a little bit. If you want to see the hairstyle up closer just click on the picture and it will give you a better look.

Hairstyles 1

Well....It seems that hairstyles have always been a thing for me. I have said in the last few years...."I want to have a hairstyle." You know what I mean....the kind of thing that when everyone thinks of you they picture a certain image, your hair styled a certain way. That has not been the case with me. I remember 12 years ago in our going away video someone mentioned that in each picture, my hair was in a different style. I have begun to grow bored with it lately. I'm trying to let it grow.... It is almost long enough so that I can pull it up--which with the hot season coming in April--it either needs to be long enough to pull up or short enough that it is off my neck. I have had it straighted for the last couple of years. It helps with the frizzy look in the humidity. I don't have to do much to fix it and that is nice. The problem with living in a tropical climate is that during the hot season, you sweat. That means your neck is almost always wet. I tend to like a "fixed" hairstyle look which is very difficult to have--when wet. I also used to highlight it but you can tell it has been a while--it is to much processing for one head of hair to do both.

Since I have 365 days of pics to take, I thought I would go down memory lane and show a different hairstyle each day for a while. I will start with our latest family picture--taken in November and very much like it is now. Bear with me and feel free to give input on your favorite Hairstyle!

Blessings!

Good News!

Today we received this news release from a friend. Interesting to say the least, since we have good Bap friends there. They have told me that they are hoping this paves the way for Bap work there. We shall see...... (I've done some editing)

This news release came from the official government V News Agency (Viet Tan Xa). If this conference proceeds as anticipated, it will allow Bap Churches to open an official seminary and print religious materials.

Bap Church to hold first General Conference
January 2, 2008
From the Capital- The Grace-Southern Bap Church will hold its first General Conference from January 10-12 in HCMC with an expected 400 guests, including those from abroad.

The V Bap Protestant Church was licensed for operation in December, 2006.

At the upcoming meeting, the church is expected to elect an executive council and pass a charter, rules and disciplines as part of its roadmap towards the Government’s recognition of its status as a religious organisation.

The Bap Protestant denomination was first introduced into Viet Nam in 1959, under the influence of the SBC of the US, according to the Government Religious Affairs Committee.

The first Bap church was founded in 1962 and concentrated its religious mission only in major cities. In 1975, the Bap Church set up 16 chapters with some 10,000 followers.

Later on, more Bap organizations have been founded. The existing 11 different Bap groups share the same belief theory and history which came from the SBC.--Enditem

Our Day

Malia and I spent most of the day together. We had a pedicure (I had taken Savy before Christmas), and ran errands. We had a delightful time together!

Menu Planning

I have tried menu planning and never have been able to successfully get into a good routine. The hold up is me! I get bored with food and if I don’t like it, then I find myself grazing and so I end up not cooking what is on the menu for that night. Not good…because my family—esp. the boys—really like to know what the food is going to be for the day. I think it helps them know how much to eat—when….in case they don’t like what is coming up! So, at the beginning of the New Year, I will try it again. I desire to make simple, healthy meals for my family. Meals that I find delicious and won’t grow bored of.
I have several friends who do the theme nights. For instance: (I got this from a loopy friend!)

Salad Night (Taco salad, Caesar salad, Chinese Salad, Chicken Salad)
Soup Night (Split Pea, Potato Cheese, Veg, Chicken Noodle)
Italian Night (Pizza, Spaghetti, Lasagne, Stuffed Shells)
Mexican Night (Enchiladas, Burritos, Tacos)
Sandwich Night (Hamburgers, Grilled Chicken, Grilled Cheese)
Rice Night (Stir Fry, Chicken Divan, Beans/Rice)
Other: (Baked Chicken, Meatloaf, Chicken Pot Pie,etc)

I think we will make Tues. and Thursday night Thai nights and we will pick up our meals on those evenings since those are the days I work. Of course on the days I work I find myself HUNGRY when I get home. It seems a logical choice since those days are “western” days at school so the kiddo’s will have had some kind of western food already that day. (or the choice of it—they can choose Thai at school)

So, here is my plan:
Monday: Chicken Night
Tuesday: Thai: Khun Off’s Take out
Wed: Salad Night
Thursday: Thai: Khun Off’s Takeout
Friday: Sandwich Night
Sat: PM: Housechurch meal
Sun: Other
Ok, Well that doesn’t really break it down enough so here is my weekly breakdown:
Week 1:
Monday: Parmesan Chicken
Tuesday: Thai: Satay, sticky rice, papaya salad
Wed: Ceasar Salad (with parmean chicken cut up in it)
Thursday: Basil pork or fried rice
Friday: Sloppy Joe’s
Week 2:
Monday: Chicken Spaghetti (use deli chicken)
Tuesday: Tom Yum Goong, Green chicken Curry, rice
Wed: Ramen noodle salad with deli chicken
Thursday: Fried Rice and vegetables
Friday: Tuna Sandwiches and fries

Week 3:
Monday: Lentil Taco’s
Tuesday: Pak See Yu
Wed: Mixed Salad (Mr. Chan’s dressing) add ham and egg
Thurday: chicken, sticky rice, papaya salad
Friday: Hamburgers/Chips

Week 4:
Monday: Grilled Meat, potatoes
Tuesday: Take home Indian food (Kel pick up on his way home)
Wed: Taco Salad
Thursday: Thai (everyone’s request)
Friday: Ham and Cheese Sandwiches

Vegetables to add:
Broccoli, Green Beans, salad, okra, Mixed veggies, carrot sticks, cucumbers
Weekend: Potatoe soup, leftovers, Breakfast

Let’s try if or a month and see how it goes. Now the question is...do I continue my weekly grocery runs or do I try to get most of these items in one trip? I'll have to think about that some more.

Blessings!

New Girls Furniture

Malia's closet has not arrived yet. This is actually Savy's closet and Malia's desk, although we ordered the same things for both girls in case they end up sharing a room again. Yay! They have closets!

Quiet Times & Mood Swings

How many of you look up commentaries during your quiet time? I was wondering today am I the only one who has constant questions and usually ends up opening up PC study bible to find someone else's opinion?

Today, the reading was in Job and I was perplexed about the idea that Job regularly practiced "purifying his children" or offering sacrifices for them to absolve them of their sins....just in case they sinned. What would that look like for us? Would it be our daily prayers for them? Would it involve asking God to forgive them of their sins?

Several have been discussing on one of the loops I am on, about 12-13 year old daughters. It has made me smile. I have two daughters in this age group. We have had some mood swings but not extreme....although one of my daughters does tend to have some extreme behavior at times. I'm not sure if this is just her....for instance, she doesn't want to hold hands with her brother when praying at the dinner table if she doesn't think his hands are clean enough. Or last night, she playfully hit him and he playfully hit back and she burst into tears. Maybe that is mood swings? She also tends to get overly excited about things--for instance sometimes she will run upstairs to get me overly excited that someone is at the gate. Not an odd thing by any means and not worthy of the extreme emotion displayed. These are just small examples. Does it sounds like mood swings. If so, I would have to say she gets it honestly. I was a mood swinger of the ump th degree.

This morning as I was praying for her, I was trying to figure out how to approach this with her. Do I tell her NOT to be too extreme in anything? (Kind of like The Queen...we watched that movie last night) Do I teach her to tightly control all of her emotions? This seems to be opposite of the cultural norms in America right now. The Thai's rarely show negative or extreme emotions and when we are in public I try to encourage her to keep a tight reign on them as to not impede her witness but again, there is a tricky balance. She does not tend to talk about her emotions, they tend to just come out in extreme actions or reactions.

Can, I offer sacrifices and purify her? :> Maybe if I lite incense and let the aroma float up with my prayers it will endear her to God. (sorry, I can't help but make fun of this culture at times) I will pray for her. And I think I will watch The Queen movie with her and talk about these issues with her. Several kids will be busy today with different things so it might be a good time to do that together.

Blessings!

Sisters....Sisters....There were never such devoted....

Where has the time gone by? They finally did their first "Sisters" performance based on the song for White Christmas on Christmas Eve with the house church. It was so cute. Malia can really do that Rosemary Clooney deep voice "I'm going to keep my eye on her," part! They are not quite as close as they were in the first picture but they are still sisters! Yesterday when we were intimate shopping....they reminded me so much of me and MY sister! It was a little weird being in the mom part and having them conspiring against me!

My sister is going to kill me, but I posted one of the only pictures I could find of her (taken almost 4 years ago!) Marla, I miss you so much....esp. yesterday when we were shopping!

Propsering....Delighting......

The New Living Translation says “Why do the people waste their time with futile plans?” (Ps 2:1) My prayer is this year that our family will not waste our time with futile plans but will hear from the Lord, delight in doing everything he wants us to do (1:2) and bear fruit each season without fail (1:3)….prosper…. Isn’t that what most new year’s resolutions are about? Helping us Prosper….

What are ways that I waste time?

What plans do I make that are futile?

I know that I spend much time praying, researching, thinking about ways to meet the needs of my family. Esp. their different learning needs. I have fretted about how to plan when we are in the states this summer. How do I make the most of the time? Does this child need to be tested? Does this child need to be evaluated by a specialist? What kind of specialist? Am I doing all that I can do to make sure their needs are being adequately met? Would they thrive if they had this new therapy or this new approach to learning? I can drive myself crazy with all the planning and wondering.

Yet his word says that those who Delight in doing everything he wants….who think about his law day and night…they are the ones who prosper. They are also the ones who he watches over their paths (1:6). Oh, how I desire for Him to look after the paths of my children! How do I make this the focus of our family—Delighting in doing everything he wants us to do? To do this we must hear-listen-take the time to make this a priority in our year. How does this work practically for our family? How does this work practically in other families? We have had different seasons of how we have tried to work this out in the family.

I recently listened to a sermon by Vonnie ???? to the TX SBC about how parents are responsible for raising their children and not youth groups. It’s not much of a problem here where youth groups are not in abundance. But, distraction is raging and busyness can take over and before we know it we look up and we have been so busy discipling others, we have not discipled our own. How do I raise children who delight in doing everything God wants them to do? Then they would Prosper.....This would be a prayer that I have for them this year.

Happy New Year

We slept late this morning since we were up until after midnight last night. We then went to the mall--Noah wanted to purchase an MP3/CD player with some of his Christmas money. The girls and I shopped for underthings and then all four children got a pair of shoes. We ate lunch at a new Indian restaurant in the mall. The kids were good sports about it but I'll be surprised if they want to go back. The food was good. This is the second new indian food restaurant we've tried in the last week. I LOVE indian food. I have been extremely homesick lately. I guess it's that time of year.... We came home and ate ham sandwiches for supper. We used a sandwich maker that I purchased at the consulate yard sale. The vote for it being the best way to get a ham/grill cheese was not in it's favor, but we had a few mishaps so I think it's worth trying again.

Well, it's hard for me to think of blogging daily and posting pictures daily but I'm going to try. I won't be able to make it every day because the internet is not reliable and I am not that structured. But, I feel like more consistency would be enjoyed by the family. Since we are heading back to the U.S. this summer, maybe this will help family keep up!

Blessings!