This semester. James' RE (religious education) class at Church has been focusing on the environment. Each week, the've been learning about a different animal that Heifer International gives to impoverished families. These might include water buffalo, silk worms, bees, chickens, snails, etc.
Today's animal was the water buffalo. I was interested to find out that their horns are made out of the same material as our finger nails. The kids made water buffalo tracks using sponges and paint and James is very proud of his effort. Today, it was also announced the fund raiser that we'll be doing for Heifer International. Two different ideas were chosen, one being a bit more secular than the other.
The first one, Read to Feed, looks like a lot of fun. Basically, this one is an agreement between you and someone else that they will pay you so much per book that you read. James' grandmother has agreed to pay 0.25 per book he reads. His goal is $25 because he'd like to pay for a bee hive.
 This second one, Fill the Ark, looks like a lot of fun too. This one is a little more Bible based since it's based on the concept of Noah and his ark. This one comes with a calendar and a little box that looks like an ark. Every day, a different animal that Heiffer Interational deals with is showcased (such as a yak, bees, horses, sheep, etc.). It gives you a bit of trivia for the animal and then it asks you a question. If your answer is yes, you put so much change in your little box. If your answer is no, you still put so much change in the box, but the amount is often a little more. It's not very much, the one I can remember off the top of my head was 0.15 and 0.25 respectively.
So, we've decided to do both of these. I figured Fill the Ark can be done by just us (Carey always has change in his pockets) and we'll ask assorted family members and friends to help us with Read to Feed. This will run until May 18 when all money packets will be collected. This also coincides with our Churches First Annual Animal Blessing so that's very appropriate I thought. The next Sunday after that, the children will count their money and then decide what they want to buy and earmark it for that animal before sending it off to the organization. James is really excited about this and he's already put change in his little ark.
After Church, Carey insisted on taking us for a drive although he refused to tell us where we're going. The nice peacefull drive ended at a store and we're now the proud new owners of a 32 inch HDTV. Bleh. I can't believe how light the things is! Carey's plan is to hook this up as our computer monitor (this is his answer to my "no" to two new flat screens coming into the house) so my posting will be a bit off over the next week as I get used to the new screen. My parents came down to get our old tv for my brother. I had a nice visit with them and I wish that they could have stayed longer. It was really nice again today too. It was almost 80! It was a bit overcast and muggy though since it's supposed to rain tomorrow. :( The kids' new hats came in handy though. However, Miss Deedee has to be watched because her proclivity for nudity keeps getting her into trouble. She had ditched her underwear somewhere and then decided to climb up the play structure. Sigh... three year olds.
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