First Grade

**WARNING ** Really long, and probably pretty boring to most! **WARNING**

by Amy

She did it!! Yesterday was Savannah's first day attending classes at a local first grade! She did great!! When I picked her up for lunch, she was glowing! She seemed so happy! My social little girl finally has an outlet ~ with kids her own age! (At the preschool, she was the oldest. The other kids are Peter and Alex's age or younger.) I am so proud of her, I can hardly stand it!

Monday we had an orientation. So, she got to meet her classmates and teachers. (Brad and I were also there so we got to meet other parents and her teachers as well.) So when Brad dropped her off yesterday morning, Savannah knew right where to go and what to do. She said she felt a little nervous, but was also really excited. She had already made five friends at the orientation and was excited to see them again.

Schools here dismiss students for 2 hours for lunch each day. So, parents have two options. 1. They can either pick their kid up (or send a grandma to do get them), and take them home for lunch. Or. 2. They can hire a lady to come to the school, pick up their kid, with a few others, take them back to their nearby home, feed them lunch, help them with homework or let them nap, then bring them back to school. Most of the women doing this job are grandma-types, but some are younger too.

My plan for the first day of school, was to pick Savannah up for lunch and take her (and Peter and Alex) out for KFC. So, that's exactly what we did! (I also brought along some mint chocolate cookies for the occasion!) On our way to KFC, Savannah mentioned that she got all of her books except for her English book. We need to buy that one ourselves. So, I asked if she liked her English teacher. She quickly replied with, "I was the teacher, Mommy!" Her English teacher called Savannah up to the front of the class and asked her to say certain things and all of the students would repeat after her. She loved it!

Later she told me that the teacher said they only needed four books for school tomorrow, but she wasn't sure which four she needed. I told her that I was sure her teacher or a classmate would be glad to help her after lunch. But, when I picked her up yesterday afternoon and asked about the books, she said she just decided to bring them all back! -- No problem! That's probably what I would have done too!

Today and yesterday (Tuesday and Wednesday) we sent Savannah to school all day, just like the other kids. We wanted her to get a feel for what happened in the mornings and the afternoons. We also wanted her to be there when books were passed out or other important "School-Just-Started" things happened. But, normally, Savannah will only attend school part-time and home school part-time. I was hoping to send Savannah to school each afternoon, so I could continue homeschooling in the morning. (Mornings are her best time!) But, they only have 2 class periods in the afternoon (1:10-3:10) and one of them is a homeroom/study hall type class. So, we decided that probably would not be the best time to send her. Leigh (my house helper) and I have a meeting scheduled with the teacher this afternoon. I plan on letting her know what classes Savannah will attend and when.

One other interesting (and slightly annoying) thing about schools here is that no two days are alike. For example on Monday morning her four classes are 1. local language, 2, math, 3. local language. 4. PE. But Tuesday morning, her four classes are: 1. local language, 2. math. 3. English, 4. social studies. Wednesday she has 1. Math 2. local language, 3. music, 4. local language. Thursday and Friday are different too, with a local language class in the morning and in the afternoon. It's crazy!! So, since local language class is the most important class for her to attend (in our opinion), this will be her daily schedule:

Monday 7:50-11:10 - she'll attend all four classes
Tuesday 7:50-8:30 - she'll only attend local language class
Wednesday - Friday 8:30-11:10 - she'll attend three classes, skipping the math class each day (since I cover that in home schooling.) She'll also skip the two local language classes in the afternoon.

We asked Savannah if she wanted to go all morning on Tuesday or only attend local language class, and she said she really wants a long time to home school, so she'd prefer to only go for one class that day. I was glad! Hopefully we can get her teacher to agree!

I have spend months and months praying about Savannah's school situation, and I am so thankful for how all of the details have worked out thus far. The One in charge has taken good care of us! Last night as we prayed with Savannah we asked her what she was thankful for - "She said, I have 8 friends now!" She was also thankful she was able to understand most of what was going on in class. What sweet blessings in deed! I realize there may be some hard things coming, but for now I too am so thankful!

Wow - you did it! You made it to the end of a REALLY long post! Thanks for allowing this mother's heart to process and share!

Facebook

By Amy

OK, so I'm often one that's behind the times.... That's clear in the clothes I wear, my hair style (or lack there of), my choice shoes, my knowledge of actors and movies, and in many other areas too, I'm sure. So, talk to me about facebook....

In my opinion, it seems like just one more thing to keep up with, and one more thing that pulls for my attention. I already have a hard enough time reading my friends blogs and updating my own blog. But, every time my sister-in-law emails us, she tells us we "have to get on facebook!" So, I'm wondering, what's the big deal? How time consuming is it? Is it really that much better than a blog? Should I do both blog and facebook? What do you do and what would you recommend?

Flashback: 10 down & 60 to go!

by Amy

On June 19 of this year, Brad and I celebrated ten years of marriage! And, as cheesy as it sounds, I can honestly say, I love him even more now than I did ten years ago. I remember when Brad was pursuing me, I lived in Texas and he was in Colorado. That meant we spent a lot of time on the phone. I don't remember all the things we talked about, but anyone who heard us on the phone remembers hearing me laugh. I don't know what he used to say to me, but it was funny! Ten years later, he still makes me laugh. We have so much fun together; I love being with him! I love watching him play with our kids. I love remembering our past and thinking of our future together. I love learning how to live in a new culture with him by my side. I love how he loves his Savior and is faithful to point me to the cross. I love that he makes me feel safe. I love his humble, teachable heart. I love how he's quick to listen to me, quick to forgive and slow to become angry. Oh, how the list could go on and on.... Let's just say, I praise the Lord for giving me ten years of marriage to Brad and pray he gives us at least sixty more!

Flashback to Five Dragons Park

By Amy

This summer we have enjoyed cooling off at the Five Dragons Park. It's a pretty nice park with several areas with some shallow water for the kids to play in. (This is the same park Peter and Alex wanted to visit on their birthday.) Earlier this summer we were there on a beautifully clear, sunny day. So, I got some super cute pics of our kids. There was also a local newspaper reporter there and he got some fun pics of our kids, too. So, the next morning, when Brad went to drop the kids off at their preschool, the teachers had a copy of a newspaper with a picture of my boys on the front page. It's pretty cute! Too bad, I don't have any idea how to find it online and paste it here!

Flashback to the Beach

by Amy

I'm sorry I've been a slacker blogger lately. It seems like we've been hopping from one thing to another all summer long. I have tons of posts floating around in my head, but haven't had a chance to get them on the blog. So, I'm going to start a series of flashbacks....

A few months ago, Brad had some meetings at in a beach town about 3 hours away from our home. So, I decided to take the kids and go play while Brad worked. It was tons of fun! Before Brad's meetings began, we spent one day playing at the beach. It was a little too cool to play in the water for very long, but the kids had a blast in the sand.

Then, another day, I took them to a zoo/amusement park place. Even though zoos over here are not nearly as nice as American zoos, they're still fun. The kids really enjoy getting to see some animals, being outside and running off some energy. It's also really fun to see what types of animals are deemed "zoo-worthy." In the past our kids thought it was funny to see dogs -normal, everyday house trained dogs from the US - in cages on display in our local zoo. This time Alex was super excited to see a real raccoon. He has a little beanie baby raccoon name Ringo that Grandma gave him. Other than Peter, Ringo is Alex's best friend. So, he was thrilled to see a real raccoon!

My sweet daughter of course, was thrilled to find bunnies. We bought some grass for 25cents and the kids got to go in and feed them. Alex and Savannah really liked it when the rabbits hopped up to them, but Peter was content to sit on the sidelines and watch.

Then, I told the kids they could each have 20 local dollars to spend on whatever rides they wanted in the amusement park. A ride typically costs 10 local dollars each, but since it was a slow day, we were able to talk them into giving the boys "buy-one-get-one-free" tickets. So, they got to ride on four different rides.

Savannah remembered visiting this park over year earlier when my parents were in town, so she wisely held on to her money and spent it all on one "ride." She basically put on a harness that was attached to some bungee cords. Then, she would jump on a moonwalk-type-thing and bounce really high! She got to jump for about 15 minutes. Last year, she barely got off the ground, but this year she went flying! My little girl's growing up!

On our last full day there, I took the kids to an aquarium. It's actually really nice. We had been there two years earlier, and were happy to go back. They had a great polar bear exhibit, a fun show with dolphins, penguins, and other fun things. But, like most places here, when they tried to translate their signs into English, something was lost in translation....

They also had some fun little things set up for pictures. I'm not exactly sure who they're supposed to be....

I love this pic of Peter! What a nice smile!

Our time at the beach city was really fun I really enjoyed that time with our kids and am thankful for the special memories we made!

Sorry, completely wrong...anyone else?

From Brad.

After dinner we typically have our family devo time. Recently we've been reading "Leading Little Ones to God" to our kids (we love it). We came to the section where Jesus was arrested and brought before Pilate.

The book says "Pilate asked, 'What bad things has He done?' Nobody could think of even one bad thing Jesus had done." So I stopped and asked the kids, "Why couldn't anyone think of even one bad thing Jesus had done?"

Now, it isn't unusual to get strange or wrong answers from time to time, but typically we can pull some truth out of the attempt and encourage our kids in trying to answer our questions. However, at this time, Alex responded, "Because Jesus is so powerful..." I thought, good start, keep going kid. "Because Jesus is so powerful, he blinded them from knowing or remember all of the bad things Jesus did!" Well, ummm, let's see...No Alex, sorry, completely wrong...please never, ever say that in public. Anyone else? :)

Do you like cake?

by Amy

I love cake - I love a moist chocolate cake served warm with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream. Mmmm! It doesn't get much better than that (especially if there's peppermint icing involved!) And, I have a really great recipe that's super easy, so I thought I'd pass it on....

It's called A Darn Good Chocolate Cake, and it comes from the book The Cake Mix Doctor by Anne Byrn. (It's a GREAT book! I'd highly recommend purchasing it!)

1 box of Devil's Food or Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix

1 small box of chocolate pudding (3.4+ oz.) (about 2/3 cup if you happen to buy pudding in bulk like me :) )

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream (add 2 t of white vinegar to 1 cup of heavy whipping cream - just in case you live overseas and can't buy sour cream, like me!)

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Place cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, water and oil in a large bowl. Beat thoroughly with mixer, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Grease you pan and bake at 350. The time will vary depending on the type of pan you use. Look on the back of the box for guidance. She recommends 45-50 min. for a bundt pan. You can tell the cake's ready when it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and it just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan. **Be careful if you test "done-ness" with a toothpick. There will be melted chocolate chips through out the cake that can fool you into thinking the middle of the cake is not done.

Ice the cake with your favorite icing, drizzle with a ganache or glaze, or serve plain. Any way you cut it, it's delightful!