Say It Ain't So....

by Amy

About three or four years ago, my dear friend from Colorado, Krista, bought a lime green pair of crocs. I was living in Louisville at the time, but she sent me a picture of her feet. I didn't hesitate one bit to tell her that they were the ugliest pair of shoes I had ever seen. (Her husband gave me a hearty "AMEN!") Krista just laughed and assured me they were extremely comfortable. Well, about a year later, one of my other friends from Colorado, Anne Marie, was having issues with her feet. Her Dr. told her to buy some crocs. She too began to rave about these ugly shoes. To quote her directly, she told me and her daughter-in-law that, "You haven't lived if you haven't worn crocs!" That's a pretty strong endorsement. Becky and I decided we were happy walking around dead.

About a year ago, as I was preparing to move to Asia, I began to take inventory of my shoes, knowing that I was moving to a place where I'd be doing a lot of walking. And, I finally admitted that even though I had a lot of cute shoes, I only had one pair that I considered really comfortable: my tennis shoes. So, when went shopping, I started looking at crocs. My husband was shocked and continued to comment on how ugly they are. A month later, after shopping, buying and returning black shoes, I bit the bullet and bought a pair of black mary-jane crocs. I decided the mary-janes were a little cuter since they were smaller than the normal croc. Brad said that I could keep them if I really wanted to. "I guess they're not as ugly as the other ones." After a week in those shoes, I was hooked! I got to Asia, where you don't wear outdoor shoes inside, and quickly realized that walking on hardwood floors barefoot everyday was killing my back. So, my dear friend Krista came through again! She sent me my second pair of crocs for indoors. I love them so much that all our American friends living in our city have since bought them -- even the men! They are all hooked -- all except my husband that is....

Well, about 4 months ago, Brad's back began to hurt a bit. Immediately, I suggested he buy crocs to wear inside. He claimed he could take a pair of tennis shoes, cut the back out, wash them, and they'd be just like crocs. So, this is what he did (see a previous post). But, after all the issues he had while we were on vacation, he decided $30 was a small investment if there was a chance it could help him. So, I'm happy to report my husband is now a proud owner of a real pair of crocs! And, after wearing them for a couple of hours, he said, "You know, these are better than those tennis shoes I cut up." It took all I had to not retort with an, "I told you so!" I'm sure the smile I gave him sent the same message, though. :)




And, since Savannah, Mommy and Daddy all have crocs, Pedo and Alex couldn't be left out. (The kids have the $3-market variety!)

Pedo's Greatest Hits

Technology is wonderful. You can capture your kids favorites songs, just perfectly off tune, for the whole world to hear. Its about 4 minutes long...have fun.

Nutty Mishaps

by Amy

As I shared before, our time at this conference has been really great. But, we have had a few mishaps as well. When your kids have nut allergies, it’s always a risky thing to leave them with someone else while they eat. This is why we take Savannah to her kindergarten after breakfast and pick her up before lunch. It’s not worth the risk…. But, I didn’t have that option here. My kids were fed lunch and two snacks (morning and afternoon) while they were at childcare, aka VBS. I explained to the workers in both classes our kids were in that they were allergic to all kinds of nuts. I packed snacks in their bags, as a back-up in case a nutty snack was provided. And, I also left the epi-pin. Each day, as I dropped off the kids, I reminded their teachers of the allergy. (I had also filled out paperwork three months ago, so they could expect and plan for my kids’ allergies as they cared for them for eleven days.)

Well, on Tuesday, I got paged. So, I hurried to the nursery to find that Alex’s teachers had accidentally given him a muffin with peanuts (or some kind of nut) and he ate half of it before they remembered his allergy. After picking up Alex, I checked on Savannah. Thankfully, she looked carefully at the muffin given to her and noticed the nuts, so she ate the fruit snack in her backpack instead. In the past, when Alex or Savannah had exposure to nuts, they would vomit about 2-3 hours later. We expected the same this time. But, within half an hour, Alex began to complain of his tummy hurting, and became really lethargic. He vomited twice and still seemed really weak. So, I took him to the clinic. (We have a make-shift clinic and pharmacy in our hotel staffed with volunteer US doctors and nurses 24/7 while we are here! What a huge blessing!) After giving him Benadryl and watching him for about 20 minutes as he slept in my arms, they sent me home to put him down. But, after about 10 minutes, he started coughing, threw up again, and began wheezing. His breathing became rapid, so we went back to the clinic. There he was given a steroid and albuterol breathing treatment. The exposure to nuts had basically caused an asthma attack, as well as a rash on his back and stomach and an immediate flaring of his eczema. This was by far his worst reaction ever! He’s still on daily medication as a result of it. His VBS teachers felt horrible. I am thankful that they called me right away, and that he could get good medical attention here in our hotel. And, most importantly I praise the Lord for guarding his little life.

Later in the week, Savannah ate two bites of a cookie that caused her to vomit. We assume it either had nuts in it or was contaminated by nuts. Her teacher tried it first and said it should be fine for her to eat….

We have been in contact with the guy in charge of this conference are trying to get a nut-free “VBS” next year. We’ll see….

Vacation Fun

By Amy

Well, we’re still here in SE Asia. We’ll head home on Friday. Our time out of country has been really refreshing for me – especially this last week in the beach town. Brad and I have had a chance to attend some meetings while our kids were in “VBS.” Once again, our kids are thriving in the kids’ program. Savannah is especially loving it! She’s made several sweet friends that it will be fun to see on an annual basis. All three kids have loved getting to go swimming almost every day. And, their swimming skills have grown incredibly! Savannah is part fish (I guess you could call her a mermaid!) She is doing great swimming on her own! And, Alex has grown as well. We have little arm floaties for the boys. In the past Alex has tolerated our trips to the pool as long as he had a ring around his chest. But, the minute I pull him out of the ring, with only floaties on, he flips out! He literally screams hysterically. This just happened 10 days ago when I took the kids swimming in the capital city while Brad was in serious pain. So, on Friday night, we eat a fast dinner so we can take the kids to the pool. In the large kiddie pool (just under 3 ft deep) where both boys can stand up, I saw Alex using the floaties and kicking his feet out behind him. Brad and I both were quite impressed and cheered him on. But, I about flipped when Alex cheerfully slid into the 12ft deep end (where I was) with only little floaties on his arms. He kicked his way right over to me with a huge smile on his face! I was so proud! Pedo has always been pretty comfortable in the water and still seems to be loving it.

Having happy kids that ask every night if they’ll, “get to” go back to VBS the next day has made leaving them every day for the last 8 days, not as challenging as I expected. While our kids were playing, swimming, doing crafts and singing songs, Brad and I have been enjoying times of cooperate w-rship, pr-ching, testimonies, and seminars. (We got to choose 6 from about 60 options.) And, I am thankful to report that the Father has been so faithful to refresh and encourage me spiritually during these times. I have really felt near to Him as the old message of forgiveness and freedom has seemed so new and fresh to me. We sang so many songs about the cross and my heart was pierced anew as I reflected on what my Savior accomplished for me there. As I pondered that again, I am filled with a new resolve and power to live the life we are all called to live! PTL!

On a different note, I am also pleased to report that Brad is feeling so much better! After having a slipped disk causing back pain then intense leg pain, he is walking and moving almost normally again. The Dr. seems to think the swelling has gone down and the disk is back in place, no longer pinching nerves. What a blessing!!

Back Update and More

From Brad.

Well, problem found. After lengthy examinations and consultations with highly trained medical professionals, we discovered why I have back problems. Of all people, the answer came from an airline ticketing agent (See the picture to the right).

Yep, lifting Peter is obviously what did me in. Just kidding, as many of you know, I have some sort of problem with a disc in my lower back (compression failure, slippage, etc.). This has rendered me ineffective in doing just about anything (except for asking my wife for things :). Besides being a single parent of three small kids, she’s got nothing better to do than to serve my every whim…which usually consist of can you get me my phone, remote control, more coffee, more cream for my coffee, another pillow, PILLS!. Honestly, I cannot imagine being married to a more selfless and loving woman. She’s been at the end of her rope all week, and has juggled so many things so well…she very impressive with how much she loves her husband and children.

But now we are at our large conference where there is VBS for the kids all week long while the adults have their conference. A welcome relief for her, no doubt. Today while I was catching up on the latest woes for the unfortunate Chinese travelers on CNN (pls pr for them), she was having fun with our kids at the beach. Here are a few picts to capture the scene.

To conclude, I will share this has been my best (back) day in a while…Praise to Him! I was off my Tylenol w/ Codeine all day and was able to get out of my wheelchair and walk while pushing it. Hopefully I’ve turned a corner and the disk is sliding back into place b/c of the rest and anti-inflammation medicine. If this is so (and a Dr here will help me determine that soon), then with some physical therapy and stretching, I should be ready to return home on schedule (in 2 weeks). Moreover, I will hopefully get to enjoy some of this conference instead of being laid up in bed all week. Thank you all so much for your prayers.

Conference update

by Amy

Brad and I just attended this 3 1/2 day home schooling conference. It's geared towards people living in Asia, home schooling their kids. There were probably over 100 families attending. We are really thankful for the opportunity we've had to be here! Some of the sessions were more helpful than others, but overall, it was a really great thing for our family to be apart of. Savannah thrived in her "VBS" class. She loved playing with kids her age, and a little older, that speak English! Alex and Peter caught her excitement and were also thrilled to head to class each day.

I most enjoyed the conversations this conference encouraged Brad and me to have. Since we're not really home schooling right now, we've postponed a lot of those conversations, waiting for this conference. The other day we sat down for two in a half hours and talked through our goals for our kids, and what educational decisions we need to make in order to make that happen. As a result of that conversation, we've decided we're going to try to see if Savannah can attend her kindergarten again next year, while homeschooling US kindergarten at home. (She's so eager to read, we may actually start that homeschooling before next fall.) Savannah's language is coming along, but not well enough that we feel like she'd understand if she attended a local school with other kids 6 and 7 years old. We feel giving her another year of part time kindergarten would be really helpful. Then, in 2009-2010, in order to help her feel comfortable and at home in our culture, we plan on sending her to a local elementary school, part time. (That is providing we can find a school that we feel good about.) That was a hard decision for me. I never pictured my kids attending a local elementary school, even for a few hours a day. But, as we talked though our goals, we really want our kids to feel at home in Asia. Part of that will be giving them the tools they need to read the sign on the building next door, and talk to the kids on the play ground without sounding like an uneducated 2 year-old (like their mama!) And, I came to realize that playing at the kindergarten won't give her that. In America, we teach our kids English for 12 years. What they learn at home and in pre-school doesn't provide enough grammar to communicate clearly. So, even though we don't plan on our kids attending an Asian university, (and don't need to be able to read college level literature) they would probably be most comfortable here if they could speak fluently and read on a basic level. Not to mention, we want our kids to have friends here and attending a school should promote that.

So, I'm thankful that Brad and I had some great conversations and were able to talk through a lot of these ideas. We also enjoyed bouncing our ideas off an education consultant. She provided some positive feedback and encouraged us as we raise our kids here.

We're Here!

By Amy

Well, after a LONG day of traveling yesterday, we made it to warmer weather! I forgot how blue the sky could really be! It’s absolutely beautiful here! We’ve had fun being reunited with friends that we haven’t seen in a while, and are looking forward to taking advantage of the great shopping that’s available here. (Sue – We’re t-shirt shopping this weekend!) We had our first day of the home school conference today (a half-day), and it looks like it will be really helpful. Our days will be pretty full, but I expect, full of good stuff! We even get a PNO (parent’s night out) on Thursday! Our kids seemed to really have fun in their program. Savannah’s been calling it VBS J. Today she made Olympic rings and sang lots of fun, familiar Sunday school songs. But, our kids were wiped out! On the way home from dinner, Alex fell asleep in my arms, which is nothing new for him. But, even Savannah forgot about the promised treat waiting for her at home, and crawled right into bed – with her clothes on! Because of the time change, they were up an hour earlier than usual this morning, and because of VBS, they missed nap/rest time, so they were ready for that bed!

We will be here for about 5 more days, before heading down south a bit to the capital city. We don’t have Internet access in our room, so we’ll try to post when we can, and may be slow to return emails.