Above: Faith and Joy show off their "Creation Books."
Hello, all--
We have officially completed our first week of homeschool. Yea! It was a good week--and today our literature books arrived from Sonlight curriculum! It was like Christmas--the girls were SO excited to have some new books. They are good ones, too! Anna Mei scooped up a biography of Helen Keller and has been reading it with great interest. Elizabeth is still looking over every book very carefully to choose the first one to read. We will begin "Cheaper By the Dozen" at bedtime tonight. Other school news: Elizabeth made a 92 on her first spelling test of the 1st grade, and Anna Mei scored 105 (thanks to correctly spelling the bonus word, "invention"). Also, we completed "Creation Books" since we studied the Creation account this week. When hers was finished, I told the girls they could share the books and tell how God made the earth and everything in it. Joy was very excited. "I'm going to tell everybody," she said.
Our lunch the past two days has been very interesting. When Marissa and Enoch left for their visit to the US, they blessed us with some special treats--one of which was a jar of Orville Redenbacher popcorn. It didn't take long for Bee to notice it on the shelf and start investigating popcorn. Yesterday, when we entered the kitchen, there was a plate of popcorn on the table, along with 2 french bread loaves and a soup-bowl of salty ham cooked in it's own flavored juices. That was lunch. The girls were completely thrilled: popcorn!!!! Most of the kernels had a little black on them--I'm not sure how much oil she used, if any. Also, she communicated to me that the popping took her completely by surprise and she almost dove under the table for cover when it began! She was laughing about it, making motions with her hands in every direction: "pop, pop, pop, pop, pop!" I think she thought to grab a lid and cover the pot before too long. It didn't scare her too much--today's lunch was an exact repeat--except the kernels were not scorched. I won't complain about the meat--afterall, since she discovered that I really like fish, she has fixed a single portion for me every night for supper. Bless that woman's heart. She also knows that Anna Mei and Elizabeth have a special love of white rice with soy sauce, so there is always an ample supply. Joy and Faith like any meal that ends with watermelon, so they are not hard to please, either.
I took the girls to Big C this afternoon to celebrate the end of the first week of school. We needed to make a stop by an ATM or the bank. Bee went with us. We inadvertently walked into the wrong bank. I realized our mistake and turned to go, but the tellers had caught sight of Elizabeth's hair and said something to Bee, who summoned us all back into the bank. The guard took Elizabeth behind the counter so all the tellers could pinch Elizabeth's cheeks and touch her blond hair. They gave her candy, so she was agreeable to the whole thing.
I have been practicing the little bit I know of Vietnamese. The first phrase I learned when we first came here was "thank you." Yesterday, I finally learned how to say, "You're welcome." When I whipped that one out on Bee, she looked surprised that I said it, then she smiled big. "Ooooooooooooo, Mommy" she said in her high pitched voice, shaking my waist with her hands (her gesture of endearment). She always calls me "mommy" because of hearing the girls say it so much.
Today, I said, "Father, make my first word to You every day, "Thank You." Thank You, thank You, thank You for every blessing, every grace, every opportunity, every ounce of strength, every ray of hope, every breath, every call of "Mommy!!!!", every responsibility, every demand on my time, every challenge that drives me to You..."
I hope you find as much to be thankful for today. God is good. All the time.Grace and peace!
