Our email has been out since last Thursday so I've not been able to send an update. Our power went out Thursday evening and when it came back on, we had not internet. So, I've got lots to catch up on. We had a great SongKran (Thai New Year). Hoppy enjoyed getting wet and we took several pictures (more about that later). Kel has gone to Nepal for the first time for a week. The kids and I are still hanging out here. They start back to school on Wed. I need to run to the store before the crowds hit! More soon...
Blessings,
Jamie
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Learning something new about your spouse!
I am reading Fox news on the computer and Kelly is looking over my shoulder. The headline reads, "Georgia High School to Try Integrated Prom." Kel says, "I bet that's Turner County.... Did your high school have integrated proms?" I said, "When did you go to high school? In the dark ages? Of course, our school had integrated proms and integrated everything else." He informed me that his school...Turner County High School, did not. Wow! My senior year the homecoming queen was "African American." (that's not what we called it, then!)
Lo and behold, he was RIGHT! It was Turner County High and they have had segregated proms for the last TWENTY TWO years! (or it's been that long since K graduated!) This year will be the very first integrated prom.
See news report below!
Georgia High School to Try Integrated Prom
Tuesday , April 10, 2007
AP
ADVERTISEMENT
ASHBURN, Ga. —
Breaking from tradition, high school students in this small town are getting together for this year's prom.
Prom night at Turner County High has long been an evening of de facto segregation: white students organized their own unofficial prom, while black students did the same.
This year's group of seniors didn't want that legacy. When the four senior class officers — two whites and two blacks — met with Principal Chad Stone at the start of the school year, they had more on their minds than changes to the school's dress code.
They wanted an all-school prom. They wanted everyone invited.
On April 21, they'll have their wish. The town's auditorium will be transformed into a tropical scene, and for the first time, every junior and senior, regardless of race, will be invited.
The prom's theme: Breakaway.
"Everybody says that's just how it's always been. It's just the way of this very small town," said James Hall, a 17-year-old black student who is the senior class president.
"But it's time for a change."
There are excited announcements of the upcoming dance plastered all over the school, where about 55 percent of students are black and most of the rest are white.
A makeshift countdown to the prom is displayed as a cardboard cutout on a main hallway. Student council members canvass the hallways, asking students to buy a $25 ticket and be a part of history. In the cafeteria, images of palm trees and waterfalls brighten up the sterile walls. "The First Ever!" a poster exclaims. "Got your haircut?"
Students say the self-segregation that splits social circles in school mirrors the attitude of this town of 4,000 people. So getting every student to break from the past could be a difficult task.
With prom night about two weeks away, only half of the 160 upper-class students have bought tickets. And there's talk around the school that some white students might throw a competing party at a nearby lake.
"Everyone is saying they're not going to the school prom," said Steven Tuller, a 17-year-old white junior who doesn't plan to attend either event because he wants to wait until he's a senior. "They're saying it's tradition."
Yet Turner County High already has defied tradition this year. The school abandoned its practice of naming separate white and black homecoming queens. Instead, a mixed-race student was named the county's first solo homecoming queen.
Some alumni welcome change at Turner County High.
"People still think of how life was 20, 30 years ago," said Keith Massey, a 1990 graduate who now runs the popular Keith-A-Que restaurant in town, about 75 miles south of Macon. "And life's got to move on."
Massey recalls an attempt to integrate one of the prom parties when he was in school, but few whites showed up. Attempts to organize a school-wide prom in recent years failed because of a lack of student support.
Stone, serving his first year as the school's principal, has been enthusiastic about an integrated prom. He's funneling $5,000 of his meager discretionary fund to hire a DJ and buy decorations, and he's persuaded a photographer to set up shop at the civic center to snap photos of the couples before the dance.
"This senior class is a close-knit group from top to bottom, and they want to do what's right," said Stone, who is white. "They wanted a full school prom. And I told them if they would do it, I'd do them right."
Lo and behold, he was RIGHT! It was Turner County High and they have had segregated proms for the last TWENTY TWO years! (or it's been that long since K graduated!) This year will be the very first integrated prom.
See news report below!
Georgia High School to Try Integrated Prom
Tuesday , April 10, 2007
AP
ADVERTISEMENT
ASHBURN, Ga. —
Breaking from tradition, high school students in this small town are getting together for this year's prom.
Prom night at Turner County High has long been an evening of de facto segregation: white students organized their own unofficial prom, while black students did the same.
This year's group of seniors didn't want that legacy. When the four senior class officers — two whites and two blacks — met with Principal Chad Stone at the start of the school year, they had more on their minds than changes to the school's dress code.
They wanted an all-school prom. They wanted everyone invited.
On April 21, they'll have their wish. The town's auditorium will be transformed into a tropical scene, and for the first time, every junior and senior, regardless of race, will be invited.
The prom's theme: Breakaway.
"Everybody says that's just how it's always been. It's just the way of this very small town," said James Hall, a 17-year-old black student who is the senior class president.
"But it's time for a change."
There are excited announcements of the upcoming dance plastered all over the school, where about 55 percent of students are black and most of the rest are white.
A makeshift countdown to the prom is displayed as a cardboard cutout on a main hallway. Student council members canvass the hallways, asking students to buy a $25 ticket and be a part of history. In the cafeteria, images of palm trees and waterfalls brighten up the sterile walls. "The First Ever!" a poster exclaims. "Got your haircut?"
Students say the self-segregation that splits social circles in school mirrors the attitude of this town of 4,000 people. So getting every student to break from the past could be a difficult task.
With prom night about two weeks away, only half of the 160 upper-class students have bought tickets. And there's talk around the school that some white students might throw a competing party at a nearby lake.
"Everyone is saying they're not going to the school prom," said Steven Tuller, a 17-year-old white junior who doesn't plan to attend either event because he wants to wait until he's a senior. "They're saying it's tradition."
Yet Turner County High already has defied tradition this year. The school abandoned its practice of naming separate white and black homecoming queens. Instead, a mixed-race student was named the county's first solo homecoming queen.
Some alumni welcome change at Turner County High.
"People still think of how life was 20, 30 years ago," said Keith Massey, a 1990 graduate who now runs the popular Keith-A-Que restaurant in town, about 75 miles south of Macon. "And life's got to move on."
Massey recalls an attempt to integrate one of the prom parties when he was in school, but few whites showed up. Attempts to organize a school-wide prom in recent years failed because of a lack of student support.
Stone, serving his first year as the school's principal, has been enthusiastic about an integrated prom. He's funneling $5,000 of his meager discretionary fund to hire a DJ and buy decorations, and he's persuaded a photographer to set up shop at the civic center to snap photos of the couples before the dance.
"This senior class is a close-knit group from top to bottom, and they want to do what's right," said Stone, who is white. "They wanted a full school prom. And I told them if they would do it, I'd do them right."
Saturday, April 7, 2007
HomeMakeover Continues
We worked hard again today. We started off by going to a garage sale. We ended up buying bookshelves, odds and ends and a queen size frame and mattress. It was an older lady who lived in Nepal for about 20 years and here for about 5. The bed was in very good shape...it was her guest bed. Malia is thrilled. Kelly told her it is OUR guest bed and he is allowing her to sleep in it! :>
Of course, before we could bring it in the house, we had to disassemble her room, and disassemble Sav's room to disassemble the boys' room, so there could be room for it. We ended up giving, Noah, Malia's old loft bed. Giving Sav. the extra twin bed from the bunk beds (she has two twin beds in her room) and now there is the loft bed and a twin bed in the boys room. Whew! It was a lot of work! We will probably be all sore tomorrow. Going up and down the stairs with that loft bed is a lot of work!!! So, we have plenty of room for guests now! (Hint, Hint...)
We ended the day by meeting friends at the pool and then going to "In and Out Burgers," a new burger place out on our side of town. The kids ended up having the kids over to spend the night that we met at the pool.
It's hard to believe tomorrow is Easter! All the other families in our home group are out of town so we will go to the Big international church tomorrow. We don't have a big Sunday dinner planned, though. Oh, well, not much time to think about dinner when your moving around furniture! I'm sure we'll figure something out.
Happy Easter everyone!
Of course, before we could bring it in the house, we had to disassemble her room, and disassemble Sav's room to disassemble the boys' room, so there could be room for it. We ended up giving, Noah, Malia's old loft bed. Giving Sav. the extra twin bed from the bunk beds (she has two twin beds in her room) and now there is the loft bed and a twin bed in the boys room. Whew! It was a lot of work! We will probably be all sore tomorrow. Going up and down the stairs with that loft bed is a lot of work!!! So, we have plenty of room for guests now! (Hint, Hint...)
We ended the day by meeting friends at the pool and then going to "In and Out Burgers," a new burger place out on our side of town. The kids ended up having the kids over to spend the night that we met at the pool.
It's hard to believe tomorrow is Easter! All the other families in our home group are out of town so we will go to the Big international church tomorrow. We don't have a big Sunday dinner planned, though. Oh, well, not much time to think about dinner when your moving around furniture! I'm sure we'll figure something out.
Happy Easter everyone!
Friday, April 6, 2007
God Answers Prayer!
Today we painted a wall in Savannah's room and repainted a wall in the boys room. Yesterday, the boys cleaned out their room and (I think) emptied several of their drawers into a huge give-away box so we spent several hours this afternoon going through that box! There were lots of treasures....AND I have an organized box for the Grace garage sale if I decide to participate.
Tomorrow, we will paint the dining area/family room.
I have some baskets that I have put on top of the closets in my room. I'm thinking about filling them with my favorite books and really parring down the books. I want to get rid of the book corner in my room and make it a sitting area. We can take the couch that is downstairs (the landlords) up there when the new one arrives, IF I have the area cleaned out. I will also need to sell my desk. It's big and I never use it.
Malia is spending the night at a friends tonight. Yesterday we discussed the friendship issue...she lamented that she didn't have any friends. We discussed ways she could be a friend and then just spent some time praying about it. Today, she got a call from one of her classmates inviting her over. God does answer prayers! I hope she will get the connection!
I've done some surfing on the internet tonight some, looking back at Sage's orphanage and reading about the latest with adoptions in Ukraine. I've told Kelly that I have a hard time when I think about Sage's half-brother still back in the orphanage. I know there is no way we could go back and get him. The funds just aren't there, as well as the emotional energy it takes to go through the process. But, I can't help thinking about him. Pray that God will give him a Christian home and help us be able to connect them when the time comes.
Blessings!
Tomorrow, we will paint the dining area/family room.
I have some baskets that I have put on top of the closets in my room. I'm thinking about filling them with my favorite books and really parring down the books. I want to get rid of the book corner in my room and make it a sitting area. We can take the couch that is downstairs (the landlords) up there when the new one arrives, IF I have the area cleaned out. I will also need to sell my desk. It's big and I never use it.
Malia is spending the night at a friends tonight. Yesterday we discussed the friendship issue...she lamented that she didn't have any friends. We discussed ways she could be a friend and then just spent some time praying about it. Today, she got a call from one of her classmates inviting her over. God does answer prayers! I hope she will get the connection!
I've done some surfing on the internet tonight some, looking back at Sage's orphanage and reading about the latest with adoptions in Ukraine. I've told Kelly that I have a hard time when I think about Sage's half-brother still back in the orphanage. I know there is no way we could go back and get him. The funds just aren't there, as well as the emotional energy it takes to go through the process. But, I can't help thinking about him. Pray that God will give him a Christian home and help us be able to connect them when the time comes.
Blessings!
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
House makeover
We continue to work on our home/decor/organization projects. We bought fabric for the girls rooms and I found fabric for my chair and made a decision about what sofa fabric I am going to use. We will take the girls fabric to the tailor in the next couple of days. We will try to send pictures of the finished projects when we get them completed. We have decided not to go away but to stay home and finish some of these projects as well as take breaks for swimming and eating out!
The boys are busy cleaning out their drawers and getting rid of things. Then, I will need to decide if I'm going to do the large garage sale at Grace in May. We have enough junk. It's just how much time do I want to spend organizing it to get rid of it? :>
In between times we are doing some shopping. The girls desperately need a couple of new outfits to wear when they are not in school. They will also need something to wear at the meetings this summer. I've pulled out some of Malia's old things for Sav to wear and we will see if they are a go. Before she wouldn't be caught dead in them (they are skorts!) but I think she is desperate! Ha. Neither of these two like to shop so it's not fun taking them to try on clothes. Yesterday, we were successful with getting Malia some tops but we still need one or two pairs of shorts and a pair of jeans (she's outgrown the ones she has although she doesn't think so) It's good for Malia that the tops are a bit longer than the style a few years back. IF we can last until summer (I'm not sure we can!) We might order some things for grandmother to bring back with her.
The boys are busy cleaning out their drawers and getting rid of things. Then, I will need to decide if I'm going to do the large garage sale at Grace in May. We have enough junk. It's just how much time do I want to spend organizing it to get rid of it? :>
In between times we are doing some shopping. The girls desperately need a couple of new outfits to wear when they are not in school. They will also need something to wear at the meetings this summer. I've pulled out some of Malia's old things for Sav to wear and we will see if they are a go. Before she wouldn't be caught dead in them (they are skorts!) but I think she is desperate! Ha. Neither of these two like to shop so it's not fun taking them to try on clothes. Yesterday, we were successful with getting Malia some tops but we still need one or two pairs of shorts and a pair of jeans (she's outgrown the ones she has although she doesn't think so) It's good for Malia that the tops are a bit longer than the style a few years back. IF we can last until summer (I'm not sure we can!) We might order some things for grandmother to bring back with her.
Science project
The picture above is Sav's science project that she and Sara did for class. Sara's parents work for the same organization we do and the class was paired up to work on these projects. I think they did an excellent job...the teacher thought so, too, because they received A's.
Friday, March 30, 2007
High School Musical
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!
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!
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!
Monday, February 26, 2007
A Night With the Stars....
Tonight was the annual fifth grade field trip to the University constellation department. It is up on the mountain where we went with mom and dad and it was a beautiful view at night time. There were fancy huge powered telescopes and we saw several stars and planets. I only looked through one and saw Saturn. Great view! We had a crazy day because a friend was having surgery and are keeping two of their kids AND we had three other girls who came home with SAvannah to ride up the mountain with us AND the water was off! So, a house full of kiddo's and NO water! But, we made it through dinner and through the field trip. Malia babysat the boys while the rest of us went up the mountain. Everything was still intact when we got home. :>
My highlights turned out really blonde. Of course, my kids don't have any qualms about telling me (in front of all their friends) how much they hate it! Their dad seems to like it, though, and so do I. Savannah said, "Mom you look, older...I mean younger...well, different..." They don't like me to change my looks!
Counting down....only about 32 hours until our rendezvous! Can't wait!
My highlights turned out really blonde. Of course, my kids don't have any qualms about telling me (in front of all their friends) how much they hate it! Their dad seems to like it, though, and so do I. Savannah said, "Mom you look, older...I mean younger...well, different..." They don't like me to change my looks!
Counting down....only about 32 hours until our rendezvous! Can't wait!
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