Surviving and Shopping

I'm still here. I have survived a double illness (stomach virus on top of allergies), driving Gabriel far and yon to the drama performances and 3 solid days of teaching in the same kindergarten class. My house needs some serious attention tomorrow and my brain needs a rest. I must make time to read a good book. I happened to get 3 in the mail. I actually won a contest! Thanks Marsha! I can't wait to sit down and relax a bit with these.

Last Friday night, Hannah, Holly and I stayed on the other side of town while waiting for Gabriel. I had a $10 off coupon for JC Penny so we decided to check it out. We happened upon a great deal. Most everything was 40% off and I was in desperate need of some new clothes. It was actually fun to shop with Holly as she hurried around all the racks, picking out things that she thought would look good on me. "Oh Mom, you have to get this one!" was repeated over and over again. I was glad to have Hannah along to, to help me decide what looked the best. We had a great girls' night out.

I have some more blog entries in my head. A bit deeper and hopefully not as boring as things have been lately. Please stay and chat a while. I've missed my bloggy friends.

Contest at 5 Minutes for Mom

Two Weeks of Toys is just about over at 5 Minutes for Mom. I haven't entered any of them because so far, they've all been toys for children younger than mine. But I do have a little girl who would love to win this one!

Catching Up

I think I'm in a blogging slump. I don't have time to blog and when I do manage to squeeze some in, I cannot think of anything exciting to say. Here are a few things that have happened in the past few weeks:

• Gabriel turned 17 - He is the most awesome young man in the whole entire world. I am blessed.
• Holly turned 10 - She is turning into a young lady right before my very eyes.
• My parents came up for a visit. They'll be here until Friday.
• Holly had a "Grandma and Me" dinner with her Girl Scout troop. Her leader was kind enough to schedule it when my parents were here.
• They decided to do a 50's theme. Holly wore a dress and sweater that we already had and I spent $1.00 on some ribbon for her hair. She looked really cute.

• She read a poem that we wrote together.
  
• We went shopping in Williamsburg. I found some dishes that I like at the Pfaltzgraph outlet. I bought some shoes.
• I took Hannah to the DMV to get a driving manual. She will be old enough for her learner's permit in only a few days.
  
• My dad and John took the kids on a field trip to the Navy Museum in Washington DC.
  
• My mom and I looked for some more deals at Walgreens and CVS. We found some.
• I'm hoping to mostly stay home tomorrow.
  

Welcome to my Party!

(This is a sticky post. Please scroll down for more recent additions. Thanks!)

Hi! Welcome to my blog. I am Karen and I'm so glad you have come to my blog party. It's going to be an exciting week. Last year's Blog Party happened to occur during an exciting yet sorrowful time in our lives. We were packing to leave Romania, a country that became home to us and friends that we love with all of our hearts. After more than 10 years in the ministry and 7 years on Romanian soil, God called us back to the states. Now we find ourselves in Virginia, watching in awe as God unfolds His plan for us. My husband John and I will celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary next month. We have three children:

Gabriel - days away from 17, happily employed at Chick-fil-A and recently promoted to trainer. He was an avid lego collector/builder but now they mostly sit dusty on his shelf or dormant in boxes. He has dreams of bigger, more expensive toys these days.


Hannah - 15 and hoping to soon be employed at Chick-fil-A. One of her immediate goals is to learn more about digital photography. Here is her photo blog.

Holly - weeks away from 10 and a wanna be teen. She is a girly girl and loves anything pink and sparkly. One minute she's playing with baby dolls and Barbies, the next she's trying hard to grow up.

There's lot's of prizes being given away at the Ultimate Blog Party. I am donating a beautiful hand painted porcelain Easter Egg (#33) painted by my mom. I posted a picture of it in the entry below. Check it out- it's gorgeous!

The top 3 prizes that I would like to win are:

59 — $25 Cash Provided by: Lori
60 — $25 Gift Certificate Provided by: Judy
67 — Blog Makeover Provided by: Shauna

Other great prizes include:

117, 55, 140, 129, 39, 82, 49, 70, 102, 24 & 21

Pull up a chair and make yourself at home. We'll have some fun and games and hopefully make some new friends! Introduce yourself and tell me something about your family.

Still Partying

Holly was invited to a real life party on Sunday night. Since we don't have a PM service on Sundays, I thought it would be a good chance to get to know some more people. Holly was really excited about going and I was happy for her. It was at a place called Pump it Up. I lost all excitement for the celebration when they handed me a waiver to sign. Whatever happened to having birthday parties at home anyway? Letting a child, whose nickname happens to be Crash, loose in a place like that is nerve racking. She did fine, thankfully. Only ended up with a slight friction burn from one of the slides. I'm glad she had fun. I'm glad it was only two hours.

Are you enjoying the Ultimate Blog Party? I've been busy the last couple of days with substitute teaching but I'll probably check out some more blogs tonight and put another party game on my blog. Tell me who has a great party going on?

Swimming, Sailing, Swaps and School

Today was one of those days where I did not spend much time on "academics" with Holly. She read a book and wrote a story. One could say that was pretty much "school" for her today. Here are some other things that were accomplished:

We started the morning out by finishing up her SWAPS for Girl Scouts. -Arts and Crafts


We went to the mall and looked for a bathing suit. PE because we walked around the entire mall and in and out of stores at a very quick pace. Life Skills because we discussed how stores were just now putting the new bathing suits out for the new season and the $40 bathing suits did not fit in our budget. The last store we went to was Old Navy and they were having a 40% off all children's and baby clothes. We found her a bathing suit for $9.50! That was all before lunch. When we were done eating, we had family devotions. - Bible and Listening Skills.

Our Girl Scout meeting was in Timbuktu today. I left plenty early because I did not know exactly where we were going. Map Quest was vague and confusing. I did not get off at the correct exit and I practically ended up in Constantinople. So I turned around and we made it to right place on time - another lesson in Life Skills. My dad taught me well "Leave 15 minutes early or you're late."

Holly had a great time at the meeting. - More PE time with 1.5 hours of swimming and lots of socialization (if you insist).


Here is a picture of Holly getting ready to launch her pine derby sail boat. She did not do so well against the experienced sailor next to her but she had fun all the same.

Wacky Weather and Busy Days

Are you having some wacky weather where you live or is it traditional wintertime? It was 79 degrees Fahrenheit (26 celsius) yesterday. Today we are supposed to get more of the same plus a thunderstorm.

We've had a busy week so far. Monday morning I thought I set my alarm for 5:45. I woke up at 8 AM when the phone rang. It was a call to sub. Thankfully for a half a day beginning at 11:15. After a very easy sub job, the girls and I went grocery shopping. Then I took Hannah to drama.

Tuesday's schedule was full as well. Holly and I made sarmale for Girl Scouts. It was her turn to make an international food and she had her heart set on the traditional Romanian dish. Well, I've only made it twice and that was a long time ago. I never made it in Romania. Romanians made it for us when we went to their homes and when they came to ours, they expected American cuisine. I knew that a half recipe would be more than enough for a group of girls who would probably turn their noses up at the sight of stuffed cabbages, so I only bought one head of cabbage. We started cooking before I took a shower because my clothes were in the dryer. Half way through wrapping the meat mixture with the cabbage leaves, I realized that the inside of the head of cabbage wasn't going to cooperate with us. The leaves were too thick and tough. There's probably a trick to it but time was not on our side. I'm sure that the wrapping of sarmale is a skill that must be learned as a young Romanian girl and Holly and I were not going to accomplish it in the hour's time that we had. So I ran out to the store for another head. No make up and a bad case of bed head. Dear Holly, please know how much I love you when I leave the house without hair and makeup being done. We finally finished the sarmale, I got my shower and we took off for girl scouts. Everyone tried Holly's treat. Several just ate the meat inside. That's what my kids used to do. We stayed at Girl Scouts a while longer because the weather was so nice and the girls wanted to play outside. Then it was time to head home, put the leftover food in the fridge and go out to eat with a friend.

It's nearly 70 degrees now and I am going to have to open some windows or turn on the AC. I am planning on getting some cleaning accomplished. It's amazing how busy schedules get in the way of housework. We are supposed to go walking with some other homeschoolers this afternoon and in our free time, we'll make some SWAPS.
I also made a quiz yesterday, just for fun. Go ahead and take it and let me know how you did! Thanks and have a great day!!

My Famous Kids

Check out my famous kids!

Actually, I found this site over on Julie's blog. How fun!

Show and Tell Friday - French Braiding

On Monday, I made a list of things I want to accomplish while John and Gabe are away. Here is my progress so far:

• Organize paper work - working on it
  
• Learn to French braid - Done! See pictures below.
  
• READ! Currently reading The Power of Crying Out
• Blog more often - I've managed to do an entry each day. Better than my previous once or twice a week.
  
• Watch LOST - Done!
  
• Begin writing my book

It came out a little too puffy on one side and not quite perfect but there's hope! Maybe between now and Sunday I can do a better job.

Early Birds and Night Owls

Shhh! My girls are still asleep, here in my room. We stayed up late last night and so I'm letting them sleep in. But I thought I would try to blog while I have a quiet moment.

Monday was a busy, on-the-run kind of a day. I was up before the sun in order to get ready to take John and Gabe to the airport. I sat in the back and wasn't paying attention to the way to the airport and nearly panicked that I wouldn't be able to find my way home. (I am terrible with directions!) Thankfully it was as simple as going straight and taking the interstate entrance. Three or more turns and I would have been lost. After the airport we had time to run home. Hannah wanted to take a quick shower and I read my Bible. While home, I found out the phone was not working. Something always has to happen when John goes away. Well, at least I still had my cell phone. Hannah had archery lessons and then the three of us went to lunch at Cracker Barrel - one of my favorites- and then shopping for groceries. We didn't get a lot because I had left my coupons at home. I can't stand to buy something when I know I have a coupon for it sitting at home. When we returned home, Hannah put the groceries away while Holly and I cleaned out the car. Then we had a bit of time to relax before we had to leave for drama. Drama is still in the same county that we live in but it takes 25 minutes to get there. So Holly and I have to figure out what to do on that side of town. Thankfully there is library just 5 minutes away. Time goes by rapidly at the library! Finally we went home for a late dinner and relaxation while watching something useless on TV. I can't even remember what it was now.

Tuesday was a much slower paced day. Not only did I get my dining room table decluttered, but we managed to get some school work done. Gabe is technically on spring break while in Romania. So I told the girls that we would take it easy but I did want to catch up on some math. So we did several math lessons yesterday afternoon. We managed to spend the entire day at home until time for my ladies Bible study. Hannah and Holly go to a single mom's home to babysit for her during the Bible study. Afterwards, I spent some time on Instant Messenger with John trying to figure out what was wrong with the phone. I did not want to call the company and be charged with a customer service bill if it turned out to be a problem in the apartment and not with the company. Well, if you think I am bad with directions, you ought to see me around mechanical/technological devices. It's not a pretty picture. Thankfully, John was able to talk me through the procedure and now we have phone service once again!

Today I am planning on another easy day at home with a little more decluttering/cleaning and a couple of lessons in math. Hopefully, we won't have to go anywhere until church tonight. We very well may stay up late again (hey, we are "night owls" and my very early "early bird" men are not here) but I plan on having a reading/writing time instead of vegetating in front of the TV. That's the plan. We'll see what actually happens!

The girls are still sleeping and I'm off to start my day - shower and Bible reading. Are you a night owl or an early bird?

Making Adjustments

Many people have asked me how am I adjusting to life in the States after so many years in a foreign country. Probably the hardest thing for me is the busyness of life here. Sunday morning is church. We don't have service on Sunday nights but the youth group meets so I have to drive Gabe and Hannah. Monday night is drama. Holly has Girl Scouts every other Tuesday afternoon and I just started doing a ladies Bible study - Beth Moore's Stepping Up. It is twice a month on Tuesdays and I think that sometimes it will be the same day as Girl Scouts and sometimes not. Wednesday night is church and Thursday night we have music practice. It's usually an hour or less but it's still a night out. Add to that grocery shopping, errands and picking up Gabe from work when it's dark and life gets busy! Now I realize that you are probably just as busy and maybe more so. But this is a drastic change for me.

In Romania we not only did homeschool but we had church at home too. Most of our church activities were at our house. I did not drive there so John did most of the grocery shopping. I would walk to the nearby stores when the weather was nice. But in the winter time, I could stay in the house for two weeks without going anywhere. When I felt like I was getting cabin fever, John would take me out somewhere but I would have to figure out where my purse was first.

With two teens and an almost 10 year old, I doubt that life will slow down anytime soon. I can already tell that this year is going to go by at a rapid pace. I had great plans of blogging much more frequently now that I am not teaching full time (for pay that is) and suddenly I discover that it's Friday again and I haven't written a word. Before I know it, it will be the Fourth of July and Christmas.

My Day

I didn't get as much accomplished today as I hoped. I worked on lesson plans for homeschool next week. I'm nowhere near done with that.

I spent some time just enjoying my children. Holly and I played Hail to the Chief this morning. A great game for an election year. Hannah had some Christmas money burning a hole in her pocket and begged me to take her to the mall. I have never been a shopper. I don't really like shopping. If I happen to have some money, I can't find anything I want. When I don't have the extra cash to spend, I find plenty of things that I wouldn't mind having. I'd rather not shop. I'd rather stay home. I can find plenty to do here and I have enough stuff. Hannah did not inherit my anti-shopping attitude. So we went out for a while this afternoon. She found some cute clothes on sale. Gabe entertained me with his movie quotes and impersonations. I am blessed with amazing kids! They all three have a blog but Hannah is the only one who frequently updates hers. She actually has 3 blogs. I love this picture on her photography blog.

What else did I do today? I made tacos for dinner and read for a while. Reading - both out loud and silently - has been sadly neglected around here and I'm glad to be starting the year off right. It's late but I have one more mission before bedtime - change the sheets and put our heated mattress pad on the bed. Warm and snuggly! How was your day?

Around the House

The weather has turned wintery with temperatures below freezing yet we still haven't felt the need to turn the heat on. We did have to don sweaters and warm slippers and curling up under a warm blanket now seems like a good idea. The indoor thermometer says 68 which is actually warmer than we were accustomed to in Romania.

Yesterday, I was able to get some work done in the girls' room. They had one small dresser to share with drawers deep enough to hold a couple of tee shirts. I had them use it for PJ's, socks and underclothes. Tee shirts, blue jeans and other articles of clothing all had to be hung in their closet. It was one crowded closet. Add to that the toys, purses and an entire array of paraphernalia that they "need" and the closet was one colossal mess. Well, we were able to get the girls their own chest of drawers. I moved the small dresser into the hallway where it still holds the PJ's and etc. I filled up Holly's chest of drawers and went to work on the closet. The room now looks terrific and heaven help the person who messes it up! I am working diligently with Holly on putting back what she gets out. Something I obviously failed to do somewhere along the way. Now if I could only figure out how to get her to do a decent job on making up her bed, which is the top bunk.

Home for Christmas

I spent a week in Alabama with the kids. John had to stay behind and work. We were all sorry about that. Other than that, my only regret is how sick I was the entire time. My dad asked me why I hadn't written a blog entry. What was there to write except the fact that I was sick? Not very interesting.

We had Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve and left yesterday morning. I was hoping that traffic would be light. Years ago, John and I traveled on Christmas Day and the interstates were practically deserted. Not so yesterday. I was amazed by the amount of holiday travelers on the road. The trip was long and feeling badly made it seem even more so. About 11 hours into it, Holly called her cousin to chit chat. They talked about everything from their favorite gifts to the beautiful moon. At one point, Holly told her that it was 37 degrees Fahrenheit and then told her that we were that we were "east". (The car has a digital readout.) She said, "We're east. I don't know what we're east of but we're east." I don't know if it was her matter-of-fact tone or just that I was extremely tired, but that struck me as hilarious. I laughed out loud in my still laryngitic voice. I laughed until I cried and needed to pull over because I was having difficulty seeing through the tears.

It's great to be home again. I'm looking forward to being well again. How was your Christmas?

An Accomplished Goal

Hannah and I went out shopping yesterday in the very warm, spring-like weather. It was nearly 80 degrees. Being on the second floor of an apartment building, we haven't even turned on our heat, not even when the temperatures have dipped into the 20's. Yesterday and today I have had to open windows. I won't complain and neither will my electric bill!

Today I was able to accomplish my goal of not going anywhere. Life has been busy lately and I have been out every day and evening for too many nights in a row. Today, I slept late, stayed at home, worked on a project with Holly and basically relaxed. I am ready to get back to real life now - I think. How was your day?

Catching Up

There's so much to write about and so little time. I have had days worse than the one I mentioned here. Three of my eleven students were suspended on Halloween. There have been days where I have come home physically exhausted and emotionally and spiritually drained. Tears have not been an every day occurrence but neither have they been unexpected.

"D" is no longer with us. They moved him to another school that is closer to his home. His mom was blaming some of his behavior problems on the 30 minute ride to school. Yesterday was his first day in his new class. I do not know how it went but that school called our school at 8:15 am. I think it's more than the bus ride. . . My heart breaks for these children. I really like "D" when he's good. He can be so good and sweet and then there's the other, quite opposite side of him.

My other dilemma, adding tension to stress, was Holly. My honor roll student - practically all A's, fell off the academic cliff hard and fast. We gave her time to get adjusted to public school but the grades were just awful. We did flash cards, practice tests, extra worksheets and oral review. She knew the information but that fact wasn't at all obvious on her tests and quizzes. We spent almost as much time on homework as we did homeschool. Part of the problem was Holly and not working well in the public school setting. Another part was the lack of discipline in the classroom. With her grades sinking at a Titanic rate, the poor behavior of her classmates and their rude behavior towards her, we decided to pull her out and homeschool her once again. John is home during the day and he is being a great homeschool dad.

I spoke with the regular teacher yesterday. We now have an official date. My last day will be December 7th. I am thankful for the extra money. And all is not bad news. We had an amazingly good day today. It could be "D's" absence, lots of prayer or maybe both. In any case, thanks for your prayers and please keep on! I have 10.5 days left and I would love to say that the worst is over.

Updates

My substitute orientation meeting went fine on Monday. I did have to have a TB test because I was considered "at risk" since I lived in Eastern Europe recently. This morning I had to go back and have it checked by a nurse. Thankfully it was negative and the biggest bother was just going all the way over to the board of education building for the second time this week. It's actually only 14 miles away but I have to get on three different interstates to get there. One of the joys of living in a big city. The good news is, I should be able to begin subbing soon.

Other updates- Holly's finger is fine. It's still bruised and is now a slightly brighter blue but she says it doesn't hurt. She's still hoping to sell her Leap Pad. She has big plans for her money! I think that's about it. Life is going by too quickly to remember anything else! How is your week going?

Injury!

Last night we went to church. We were only about ten minutes early but there were only two other people there and no one to unlock the door. We got out of the car and I was going to put my keys away when Holly started screaming. She had slammed the car door on her finger. The door was locked. So I had to open my door and then reach in to unlock hers. Having a finger smashed is painful enough but then to have to wait for someone open the door is harrowing.

Holly has always been a bit clumsy. Bumps and falls don't bother her much and she usually responds with, "I'm OK!" Finger injuries, however, are particularly horrific for her.
When she was a tiny baby, only nine months old, her finger tip of her pinky was severed. (That's a story for another day. It happened in Romania when her tiny finger was caught in a cabinet door.) Praise the Lord that this time, it's not nearly so bad. Her screams were heard by everyone nearby and one sweet lady ran to a nearby house for some ice. The bruised finger should heal soon. Probably sooner than my heart.

The First Day

Holly's first day went well even if it was a bit on the boring side in her opinion. Passing out books and learning the rules cannot be but so interesting. She has already made a couple of friends. I knew it wouldn't take her long. She is hoping that the seating assignment will be rearranged so she can sit by them instead of the "most annoying boy in 4th grade." Her favorite thing so far - besides eating lunch with friends - is her own personal agenda notebook. Her only homework this afternoon was to give me a stack of forms to read and sign.






Holly diligently filled out her information on the first page of her agenda. Clothes are once again laid out. I am going to read to her and pray she goes to sleep sooner than last night.

First Day Jitters

Holly, the planner, had her evening carefully scheduled. We had a busy day including a church picnic where she swam (played in the pool) for most of the 6 hours that we were there. We came home and relaxed for a moment. She had a sandwich, a shower and got ready for bed. Her clothes that she had decided on days ago were laid out. Then came the hard part – actually falling asleep. We did everything we could to try to get her to sleep. Three hours later she walked into the living room in tears because she couldn’t sleep. I held her for a while and she decided that she was ready to go back to bed. I tucked her in with the promise of checking on her soon.

She finally fell asleep.

Open House Pictures

The most excited 4th grader

Holly's teacher - "She looks just like I imagined!"

Holly's name tag on her desk. There are 21 students in her class. With a last name beginning with W, my kids are usually at the end of the list. I was just the opposite growing up.

Looking Forward

Summer is not my favorite season. The only good thing about the hot, sticky, muggy weather is being able to slip on sandals every time we go out the door. I will miss that when the season ends along with lazy days of sleeping late. Holly has an Open House at school this Thursday to see her classroom and meet her teacher. It’s in the afternoon. She will probably be ready before the rest of us are awake. School starts the day after Labor Day. I won’t begin subbing until sometime later. I have an orientation meeting on the 10^th. On Saturday, I received a fat envelope in the mail with a ton of paperwork to fill out. It looks like I’ll have to get a TB test done since I have to mark “yes” to “Person has lived in a country other than the US, Canada, Western Europe, Australia or New Zealand for 3 months or more and has been in the US for less than 5 years.” We’ve been in the US for a little over 5 months.

I am looking forward to Thursday and meeting Holly’s teacher. I’m looking forward to fall, cool crisp weather and a nice cup of coffee. I am looking forward to seeing how God continues to lead us through this season of our lives.

Show and Tell Friday - Getting Ready for School

Holly will be going to public school in just a few days. She can tell you exactly how many and has her outfit picked out for open house as well as the first day. She even has her lunch planned. Can you tell she's excited? We went to get her haircut today. Her hair is thick and fine and tangles very easily. I decided that shorter would be easier on the early morning rush. She wants her bangs to grow out so we pretty much left them alone. Here are her before and after pictures:

Before - with her hair still wet

After

Click here for more show and tell!

A Difficult Decision

This has been a year of difficult decisions and today another one was made. Like the others, leaving Romania and moving to Virginia, it was not done without a lot of prayer. In order to make ends meet, I am going to have to go back to work for the first time in 17 years. I turned in my application for substitute teaching and I am hoping to work two or three days a week beginning this fall. I will continue to homeschool Gabriel and Hannah who are able to do much of their work independently. Holly will be going to public school. This makes me about 12 different kinds of nervous. It’s temporary. Hopefully just for this school year. My gregarious little nine year old is beside herself with joy. We shall see just how long her enthusiasm lasts with the early bedtimes, early morning routine and the inevitable homework.

The ABC's of Summer School

Growing up, I learned that there are rules to learning. Math has its 1 2 3’s and for Reading one must know the ABC’s. However, in the past eleven years or so I have discovered that is not true with homeschooling. There are as many varieties of homeschooling methods as there are families. I am a firm believer in doing what is right for our family. That may change in any given year, month or moment.

This summer, we are doing what I would call semi-relaxed, very eclectic homeschooling. Some days will look like unschooling and others may resemble more traditional methods. My main goal for Gabriel and Hannah is to finish Geography and Physical Science. With Holly, we are just working on reading and spelling.

Listed here are just a few of the ABC’s of our homeschooling program for this summer, at least for now. What’s on your schedule?

A. Art, Apples to Apples Game

B. Blogging, Bicycling. Book reviews

C. Croquet, Computer games, Chick-Fil-A

D. Devotions, Driving

E. Educational DVD’s

F. Free time

G. Geography

H. Hopscotch

I. In a Pickle Game, Internet research, Instant Message with friends

J. Journaling, Jump rope, Jacks

L. Library

M. Maps, Move – hopefully!

N. Newspaper reading for current events

O. Ongoing organization attempts, Outside free play

P. Physical Science, Pictionary game, Piano

Q. Quilting

R. Reading, Read alouds, Recipe book making

S. Spelling, Sewing, Scrapbooking

T. Timelines

U. Unplanned learning opportunities

V. Vacation Bible School

W. Writing, Walks, Water fights

X. X- box (It is summer and what else could I put here?)

Y. Yarn painting

Z. Zealously sleep late!

Bicycle Lessons and Florida Update

Should a child whose nickname is “Crash” be allowed to ride a bicycle? Is a crash helmet enough or should we invest in full body armor? Holly learned to ride her bike on Friday and has eagerly asked to go riding every day. On Saturday, we ventured all the way across the street to a tiny cul-de-sac. Our goal was for her to stay on the bike and actually steer. She did fairly well. Yesterday we dared to go beyond the first cul-de-sac to the street behind my parents’ house. On the first time around, she smacked into a mailbox. The mailboxes in this neighborhood are encased in solid brick columns. The second time around, she fell off the bike in our neighbor’s driveway. Amazingly, there was no blood. Thankfully, her courage was undaunted and she was ready for a third and highly successful trip. John took her out this afternoon and he realized, after yet another crash, her problem is that she doesn’t know how to brake. I went out with her after dinner and we practiced braking. She is improving but I am still considering body armor.

John spent the first weekend in May in southern Florida. He stayed with his parents for a day and then traveled further south to speak at a church that is seeking a pastor. John thought that the city was great and the tiny church has potential for growth. But it appears that the retiring pastor’s views are drastically different from ours and it looks doubtful that we will be called there. It was a first step and an invaluable learning experience for John. Meanwhile, we are still here. Still searching, still praying, still trusting that God will lead the way.

Bicycling and Bandages

Learning to ride a bike in Romania was not an easy thing. Our yard was bumpy and short, the streets were bumpy, holey and dangerous. The park wasn’t much of an improvement. Kids did learn to ride bikes, scooters and roller blades there in spite of the difficulties. Even Holly started to get the hang of it. But because we wouldn’t let her ride on the street, she didn’t get to practice much and still had some learning to do. This afternoon, John and I worked with her. I mainly took pictures and stood at the end of the driveway. She was fearful of not being able to stop and going out into the street so I was there to catch her! After she built her confidence up, John stood in the street, watching for cars and had her to ride a short distance. She forgot to steer and hit the curb, practically doing a wheelie! She now has a scrape on her calf from the bicycle pedal, but no blood and her confidence was not hindered. She’s excited about going riding with me tomorrow!

Just in case we have more spills, I am really hoping to win the latest contest going on over at 5 Minutes for Mom. It’s a year’s supply of free Nexcare Bandages.

Arts and Crafts Photos

Thought I would share a couple of things that we did this week in the arts and crafts area of our lives. Holly is taking an art class and this week the teacher had wooden blocks for them to create and paint. We have been studying birds in school and Holly made a cardinal.