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The Adventures of the Thomson Home Edders
Sep. 18, 2008
What a lovely homeschool week
All's well in the Thomson household. After a difficult week last week, I cried out to the Lord in prayer and this last week has been wonderful. We are all having lots of fun and everyone is settled. Someone new has turned up to help us run the Youth at church so it will be great to have more help. It's tough waiting to get the Singapore Maths books I need - will have to stock up miles in advance next time! Love Faye |
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Feb. 29, 2008
Back home
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Hi,
We've been back for a whole week now and are just starting to get back to 'normality'. Homeschool has kicked in again and the kids have slotted very quickly back into their normal routine. I'm absolutely delighted that after not being very happy with SL LA1, I have purchased some Evan Moore Daily Language and Spelling books from the US that I think will be just the ticket. I'm very excited about them. Only a fellow homeschool mum would understand the LEVEL of excitement!!! Sometimes, we really are sad! They should be here in a couple of weeks.
This week, we've been finishing up our picture study of Kandinsky, growing carrot tops and making a green leaf go yellow by covering it with foil. DS learned how to use a dictionary for the first time today. He also passed his Level 2 swimming award which he was well chuffed about. Hannah is tracing her name. I was doing HWT but she's just struggling with it so I think I may leave that for a while.
Anyway, it's late so I'll pop off for now. Faye x
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Feb. 18, 2008
The Wanderers Return from Sariyaya
On Saturday, we travelled four hours South of Manila to the village of Sariyaya to visit Iljo, the Dutch missionary we met at the mission home. Before we went there, I was expecting a few mud huts and lots of dirt but actually, when we arrived, we found it was more of a town with lots of small shops, a petrol station, housing areas and a restaurant etc. Having said that, Iljo only has water four out of every 24 hours and two of those are during the night! The village has also just received it's very first cashpoint machine!
After our arrival, our first adventure was to take a walk up the hill from Iljo's house towards the big mountain that overlooks Sariyaya. The area all looks very innocuous but we were later told that there have been several rape cases there and that no-one travels alone on the mountain for fear of the Communist Rebels! Our walk was very entertaining....we were clearly a novelty for the locals whose kids followed us! We saw some water buffaloes, some jack fruit ( the size of huge potatoes, spiky and green), some little goats frolicking by the side of the road, some squashed toads and a few Catholic mini sanctuaries in peoples' gardens.
After all that exertion, we got a tricycle back down to Iljo's house and settled down for the night. mmmmm Therein lies a tale! We were all in the same room and the kids had a mattress on the floor. However, Elijah decided it was too small so he came in with us and fidgeted. Then Hannah woke up about every three hours wanting me to do little things like adjust her sheet!! The toilet was downstairs so I was up a few times for that and then...HE started. Yep, that good old Filipino cockerel who was just outside our window decided to let rip at four a.m. In the morning, Elijah and Paul were discussing how to kill it. That would have made me laugh if I weren't having a serious sense of humour failure!
Toilets
A word about toilets here in the Philippines. I think they deserve attention. Here, they are politely referred to as 'Comfort rooms'. In all but the poshest places, there is no toilet roll provided. You have to buy it from a little machine that needs a degree in ambidextrous ability to get the four pesos in that you need. There are often no toilet seats and instead of flushing your paper away, you have to deposit it in an adjacent bin. At Sariyaya, and in the squatter areas we visited, there is also no flush so you fill a pan of water and pour it down yourself. Not really a hardship, but it's difficult breaking the habit of a lifetime and remembering where to put the paper.
Sunday in Sariyaya
On Sunday, Iljo took us along to her local church where she preached in Tagalog. That girl is well impressive - she speaks 5 languages! We didn't understand that much but it was nice to see what a provincial church is like. After church, we went to a local restaurant. Iljo explained that we were not to drink the water or ice, so we had canned drinks. The kids were fascinated by the little gecko's that were hiding behind a picture next to our table and then ventured out across the wall.
We were running out of money, so in the afternoon we travelled to the next town of Lucena and hung out at the mall where they had an 'ATM'. We enjoyed a splendid bit of cake from Red Ribbon. Hannah's was bright purple, made from something a bit like a yam called an Ube.
Back to Manila
Today, we travelled four hours back to Manila. We were all pooped and a bit smelly so we're enjoying being clean back at the Mission Home. We have an early start tomorrow as we are going to visit the guy who runs the Batan Masaya youth/childrenswork ministry with all the squatter kids.
Love Faye xxx
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Feb. 15, 2008
Anni Churches Day 2 and 3
Hi,
Yesterday, I went to the Managghan Bible Church again to do some teaching! The kids are sponsored and take part in a feeding programme so they ate spaghetti for their breakfast when I arrived. Then, I started teaching them about the months of the year, capitals and tallying. I wanted the kids to write out their birth month and then put themselves in order from January to December. Unfortunately, the lady who was helping me didn't speak very good English so I'm not sure how much the kids understood! We muddled through and then they did some drawing. When I came back to the Mission Centre , I also found out that over here they have a rote learning teaching style so my approach would have been a bit alien for them.
Following the teaching session, we went round with Amie, the Pastor's wife, to pray for more church members. On one visit, we met an old widow called Salve, who had seven children herself and then they had gone on to be parents. Her husband had died from bone cancer just a couple of years ago and the family were ALL living in her house on her meagre pension because they couldn't find work. In addition, her daughter is a drug addict. I really felt for her. She has only been a Christian for a year.
Friday
Today, Paul and I went back to the Managghan Bible Church to do a Bible Study with the kids. It went really well and we had a good translator! We did some games, taught them a song and did the Bridge to Life. Paul then gave a short talk from Ephesians 1. After the session, we visited the other Anni churches, which were fantastic. All of them care for sponsored children - feeding and teaching them.
Samaritans Purse
The absolute highlight of my day was visiting one of the Child Development Centres, run by the Anni churches, and based in a Muslim area. We were invited in and were just in time to see the children opening their shoe boxes upstairs. They were so excited and some of them were just overwhelmed with their box, you could tell. I took lots of photos and a bit of video - what a privilege to be there! All you 'shoe boxers' should be well proud of yourselves!!
Faye xx
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Feb. 13, 2008
Anni Church Feeding Programme and school visit
Hi,
Today Paul was at Welfaville, the largest squatter area in Manila to look at the Bukang Liwayway financial systems they are operating there and make recommendations. While he was doing that, Sarah took me to one of the Anni churches. These are small churches operating in the squatter areas about ten minutes from the Mission Centre where we are staying. The church we visited today educates children every morning and also runs a feeding programme. The necessity of this was apparent today when children who looked about six actually turned out to be nine years old!
Sarah said I would teach a song so I wrote out the words to 'We want to see Jesus lifted high' on the blackboard and then taught the kids the actions. The church building is the size of a large double garage and everything happens there. It is actually based right in the centre of the community so I was invited to visit and pray for the church members who all lived within a minute or two of the building. Elijah elected to stay at the class with the other teachers and Hannah came round to pray with me. The homes we visited were very basic, one had no electricity, most only had one tiny room. One of the families that struck me most were living in a room big enough really for just the bed and a few little things. They have five children, all girls, and two of them have asthma (I have no spellcheck -forgive me!). The dad had not been able to find work for three months and they all lived together in that tiny room with a narrow cement wall to look at out of the front door.
The main prayer requests from the seven or eight families today had a lot in common - health, financial provision, for the children to be able to finish school and for absent husbands who have been forced to move away/abroad to support their families. The wives have to run the show, seeing their husbands only once a year.
Paul had a similar experience in Welfaville. After he finished looking at the books, Ate Nilde took him to visit a grandmother who has life-threatening high blood pressure and diabetes. She has no income and no money to pay for medicine. This dear old lady is a Christian and simply trusts Jesus that someone will bring her rice each day and that the Lord will daily provide for her.
The Pastor asked me today if I would teach the class tomorrow - maths and english. After a characteristic initial FLAP, I prayed and then did a bit of planning so I'll let you know how it goes. Steve McGowan from OMF was right - you do need to have 'Flexible' written across your forehead!!
Paul is going to another squatter area tomorrow and then in the evening we are going out for tea with a family here.
Night night,
Fayezee x |
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Feb. 12, 2008
Visit to Cogeo squatter area
Hi,
What a mind-blowing day! Even though I'm absolutely bushed, I want to get what's in my head down into this blog before I forget a single thing. We started off early and Sarah picked us up to go to the Bukang Liwayway (Dawn for the Poor) prayer meeting. The kids were a bit fidgety but we managed to get a few prayers in!!
We then took a jeepney out to Antipolo (near Faith Acadmey) to visit the Cogeo squatter area. We were accompanying Rhegina, a nurse from Holland who has a clinic in Cogeo once a week and Ching, her assistant who is also chaplain at the Asian Theological Seminary. I nearly wet my pants laughing when we were on the jeepney because it was totally squished, we were packed in like sardines when this man hopped on just holding a live chicken. It tickled me so much I wanted to laugh out loud but I held it in!
When we got off the jeepney, we had a walk down a big flight of steps to take our first ever tricycle ride (motorbike and sidecar). It looked so tiny and yet we managed to squeeze in the four Thomsons, a suitcase, a bag and then on the motorbike bit, Rhegina, Ching and the driver. We had to take the tricycle up a really bumpy, rocky path to the squatter area on the other side of the quarry. There was a big drop down one side and we were jiggling all over the place. It was funny. I laughed my head off. The kids thought it was FANTASTIC.
Once in the squatter area, we walked to their base and had a simple lunch. Cogeo has no running water or electricity. The camp houses about 1000 families and most families cannot afford to send their children to school. We had to use a bucket of water to flush the loo and rainwater to wash our hands. The kids ate - you guessed it - rice! Oh, and bananas. The bananas here are wonderful - really sweet.
After lunch, we headed down further into the valley to visit a lady who we had been told had a very bad sore on her leg. My goodness, when we arrived, I had mistakenly assumed we would go to her house but the clinic was just in the open air beside a house and people come to Rhegina for treatment. All, and I mean ALL of the neighbouring children came out and just stood round us staring at us. They were so friendly. Rhegina told us to sing to them while she was attending to the sick so after a few moments of wondering what to sing we did 'This little light of mine' and 'We want to see Jesus lifted high.' The children sang us a song too.
Elijah and Hannah were a bit overwhelmed at times but generally, I think they coped really well. We took some photos with all the children and showed them to them on my digital camera. The kids really liked that. They had a pet duck so Elijah enjoyed a little hold and Hannah got to stroke it. Next to the clinic area, there was a dirt area outlined that served as a sort of basketball zone. Elijah ended up having a run around with the kids and trying to get the basketball in.
The lady who had the sore leg - goodness, it was bad. The sore was the length of her leg from ankle to knee and it was raw flesh. A really deep wound with green bits in it!!
Once the clinic had finished, we went back to the place where we had lunch and Regina had some more patients. She buys cheap medicines and brings them into Cogeo so people can buy the medicines they need cheaply and more conveniently. Rhegina told us that 80-90% have TB in Cogeo. The first boy who she saw in the house was one such case. Her second patient was a 23 year old who had just found out he had a hole in the heart and has been scheduled for open heart surgery. It was great that after she had prescribed some medication, we were able to pray with him as he had been understandably worried about the situation.
I feel absolutely conked out tonight. I think today was emotionally draining. The needs are just off the map. Do you know, I am so tired that you'll just have to bear with the spelling/grammatical errors tonight because I think I'm too pooped to edit better.......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Feb. 11, 2008
First visit to the Supermarket
I forgot to write earlier about our first Philippine supermarket trip. Our purpose was to buy lunch for tomorrow for our visit to the squatter areas. Apparently, the Filipinos often offer you lunch but they have nothing and give you whatever they have to live on so it's best to take your own food with you and then you can say you'll share yours.
The supermarket was full of goodies but there were a few things that were very different from the UK. First, they had a tank of live fish in there, big cat fish swimming about, some live crabs and some shellfish. The frozen fish section put ASDA to shame....it was massive. They sold, I'm not kidding, about two aisles floor to ceiling of different types of instant noodles!! There were also lots of sweets and biscuits. I've been told Filipinos eat a lot of sugar. There were many different types of rice but I didn't study that bit as well as I might....can't get too excited about rice.
In the middle of shopping, I saw.....wait for it......a Westerner! It was so remarkable to see another caucasian that I nudged Paul. So far, we have seemed to be the only ones outside of Makati and the business/rich areas.
Right, I'm off. I may have another cup of tea before bed. Hope I don't get any more mozzy bites - I've got a new one on my ankle - the little blighters.
Love Faye xx
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Feb. 11, 2008
Union church
Yesterday, we visited Union church in Manila, which is a large international church with a fantastic building. We were taken there by a lovely couple called David and Doris. Elijah loved the kidswork and had lots of fun. The preacher was really great too, talking about how we are bricks built into God's Kingdom. I had heard talks on that subject many times before but he brought out so much more from the Ephesians passage and it was so fresh.
After church, we went round one of the huge malls that are a big feature of Manila life. This one was called Trinoma (I think) and it was very posh. We ended up eating our lunch at a roof-top fish restaurant - how nice!
Today Paul and I took the kids along to Eva Gotesco (the Pink Palace) shopping centre again. We just had a little wonder around and bought some bits and pieces. It's been quite a quiet day ready for a BIG day tomorrow. We are all going into Bukang Liwayway, the Urban Poor ministry. There's a prayer meeting and then we are going into the Cogeo slum area.
I am reading 'In the Presence of My Enemies' by Gracia Burnham. She and her husband were American missionaries kidnapped in the jungles of the Philippines. Great read - I'm half way through already!
Love Faye xx
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Feb. 9, 2008
Faith Academy
Hi,
We're back from an overnight trip to see Faith Academy, the school for MKs (Missionary kids) in Manila. Kids here start school early, like 7.15 am early!!! We left the mission centre at a respectable 7 a.m. and were driven over to Faith Academy for a tour. The headmaster himself took us around for two hours and showed us all their facilities, which were well impressive and included a theatre (under construction) and an open-air pool!
We joined them for chapel where the kids go once a week. I was reassured by the fact that the messages were exactly the same as the ones Elijah and Hannah are regularly subjected to - you know the ones....be kind, respectful, don't push, take turns etc...it was all very comforting to know that I'm not the only one who sounds like a broken record in these areas!!! Ha ha
Elijah had been invited to sit in with a Kindergarten class for the day. He lasted about 30 minutes! I was really expecting him to enjoy it but he didn't like it at all - I thought novelty value would have held him for at least an hour or so! I think he was wanting to do some addition and subtraction and they were doing something about Valentines day.....
In the afternoon, we took off to one of the teacher's houses for a break who was very kind and let the kids have a rest. Then, it was off to another missionary couples' house for tea. They both work at F.A. and Chris is actually from Hartlepool! Then after tea, we went over to Sarah and Peter's to sleep there and managed to chat over what we would like to do for the rest of our time here.
We slept over at Sarah and Peter's who were kind enough to take us swimming at the Faith pool this morning. It was really refreshing.
One thing that is new is eating with other people all the time. The kids are so used to eating on their own that we are using this time to teach them to wait for others before they start their food. So, we have a new rule - they don't eat until 'the Queen' (the host adult) starts eating. They are having lots of fun with this and now want to take turns being 'The Queen'.
We got to smell Durian jam on Friday - yuk. It smells like gone-off onions. However, they have these groovy little green balls, calamansi, that are actually mini limes!! Very yummy on pancakes.
Faye xx
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Feb. 7, 2008
Amazing People
Hi,
Amazing People
One of the benefits of staying at the Mission Centre is that lots of missionaries come here for various meetings so we get to meet them. Last night, we met this amazing lady from the Netherlands who is working 4 hours bus ride away from Manila, in a village where she is the only caucasian. She has water only four hours a day and is devoting her life to helping these tiny churches in the middle of nowhere. She trains them in theology and how to do Sunday School etc. She was explaining how witch doctors are still used here a lot and that people often give their children names like 'pig' so that evil spirits will leave them alone.
Day Off
Today was our day off so we got a jeepney up to a big mall called SM Fairview which has an indoor theme park for kids. Hannah and Elijah loved it - train rides, merry-go-round etc. Then we went to the cinema to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks. The cinema only cost about six pounds for all four of us! It was so wierd to go in there where you forget where you are and then to come out and realise you're half way round the world and are THE ONLY Westerners in the whole place.
When we got off the bus home, Elijah nearly stepped on a tiny kitten in the middle of the pavement! It was so sad. If I had have been in the UK, we would have taken it home but we just had to leave it. I'm trying not to think about it.
Food
The food here seems to be heavily influenced by China. There's a lot of rice, sweet and sour meat and lumpia (I think) which is a bit like spring rolls. The locals eat rice with garlic on it for breakfast which is a bit strange to sniff when you're lying awake with jet lag like I was the other night. Last night I thought there were gun shots outside the compound but actually, it was just people setting off fireworks for Chinese New Year!
Wally Award 2008
Oh, and to finish this will give you a laugh at my expense....when we were on the MRT (train) platform the other day, I saw this woman who had what looked like a smudge of dirt on her forehead. It didn't look in a shape of any kind, just a smudge. I thought I would be nice and tell her and offer her one of my baby wipes. When I said, "Excuse me, you have something on your forehead.", she looked at me with disdain and replied "It's Ash Wednesday." OH. Duh.
Faye xx |
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Feb. 6, 2008
Hannah's is 4 today!
Our lovely girl is four today. I can't believe it - she is growing up so quickly and she's just so funny now. She makes me laugh with her funny faces/voices/strange things she comes out with.
Today, I felt much more confident about using the public transport system. We travelled to OMF Literature, a publisher here in Manila that reproduces Christian books cheaply for the Filipino market by using cheaper paper etc. We watched a fascinating presentation about their work, looked at the kinds of work they do in terms of typography, saw some samples, toured the departments and then topped it off with a lovely lunch and birthday cake, courtesy of Sarah! We also got some time in the bookshop - fatal for me...I LOVE Christian bookshops so our cases home are going to be that little bit heavier.
For tea, Sarah and Tim had arranged another cake and present for Hannah - what a blessed girl! We took some photos and Hannah was having fun. We are going to have a party for her too when she gets home so she's having lots of celebrations!
Faye xx
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Feb. 5, 2008
Shopping Heaven
Hi,
I'm the last one up in the Mission Centre after a long day so this is going to be a quickie. Today, Sarah took us on a jeepney (Filipino bus) and train into the centre of Manila. The traffic is unbelievable - everyone hoots at each other, you constantly feel like your jeepney is going to get squished between two others and there's no bell so you have to bang on the roof if you want to stop. It was really hot so getting on the air conditioned overhead train was bliss. They have a special carriage for those with small children so we managed to bag room in there.
Malls, malls, malls
Getting off in downtown Manila was like being transported to a different world compared to the squatter area we are living in. The malls are plentiful and they have western shops like Marks and Spencers, the Body Shop and Nike. The malls are air conditioned so a lot of Filipinos like to just hang round and browse. We saw some designer shops too and a handful of Westerners outside Starbucks!!
The Queen's place
We needed the toilet today so Sarah took us to the Shangri - La hotel. My, oh my! How posh! We walked in and Hannah said "Mummy, does the Queen live here?". I'm not kidding, it was like walking into an oriental palace with all these beautiful Asian ladies dressed up in long oriental outfits.
Prayer Meeting
We found our own way home then joined in with the OMF prayer meeting at the Mission Centre here. As different people shared what was happening with their ministry, it became apparent that some of the needs here are massive: TB, malnourished children and vendetta killings amongst Muslims in the south of the Philippines to name but a few.
Right, sweaty sticky Thomson signing off........xxx
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Feb. 4, 2008
Manila Orientation Day
Hi,
Orientation Session
This morning we had an orientation session with a Filipino OMF worker about the Philippines. The session was really fascinating and covered photographs, geography, history and cultural tips. There was a really interesting photo of a man in a squatter community wearing a thong but crouching down with a very high tech laptop! Apparently that is typical of many in the provinces. Other really interesting bits included finding out about cruel Japanese occupation during WWII, finding out that many Filipinos will sell their property to send their children to school if needs be. The people are primarily relationship orientated rather than task orientated. They are very hospitable, respectful to elders, averse to confrontation and extremely family orientated...it's not unusual to have three generations living together under the same roof. Divorce is not allowed here, only legal separation.
Afternoon out
The kids had a great time playing with Joshua and Amy (5 and 3) who live here. By lunchtime, they were pooped with the heat so they crashed out for an hour. This afternoon, we headed out on foot with Jelle from Holland who is also staying here. We navigated the squatter area and got to the main drag. I put my umbrella up to keep off the heat - I felt a bit of a wally at first but loads of other people do it here so when in Rome...! We walked for about 5 minutes to the nearest shopping mall, the 'Pink Palace'. My bag was searched on the way in by the security guard. It was air conditioned which was a real blessing after a humid 28 degrees and baking sun outside. We headed for Jollibee, which is a bit like Filipino McDonalds and enjoyed an ice-cream and a chat. I have finally worked out that a pound is worth about 80 pesos so when I bought shampoo in a shop, I knew I wasn't paying a tenner! Again, Hannah and Elijah got oodles of attention. We were the only Westerners in the place so I guess that's to be expected. Hannah waves at everyone! I think Paul is really enjoying himself - he's just taking it all in his stride.
Funny Noises
Oh, one thing I forgot to mention is the noises at night and in the early morning - it's a mixture of traffic, cockerels and dogs barking!! Last night, there was also a big kareoke amongst some builders in the squatter community - it sounded like a huge concert. What a lark!
Love Faye xxx |
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Feb. 3, 2008
Manila Feb 2nd
Hello from Manila! Well, we have arrived at last and here's the first update on what's been happening.....
It was really wierd that just before I got on the flight at Newcastle airport, I suddenly got all teary! I think maybe the reality that we were leaving everything familiar for the 'unknown' just hit me. I cannot recommend Emirates highly enough. They were so nice to us: hot hand towels, ace food, fun packs with toys for the kids and a fantastic entertainment system with games etc. We were fine getting to Dubai but on the second flight, Hannah started throwing up. I had some travel sickness pills which I gave her and then she stopped being sick. When Hannah stopped, Elijah started - this time diarrhoea! (Forgive my spelling) I gave him a small dose of medicine and he was fine after that apart from the fact that he had to wear Hannah's jeans with flowers on! Poor thing. I had no problem finding Jonathan Diggelmann in Dubai - he's leading a group of young Swiss people on a Mission Exposure trip and they are staying here at the Mission home for two days. So, he knew exactly where he had to take us once we arrived in Manila. We were picked up by Tim, who manages the mission home with his wife, Bronwyn and they have two boys who have been playing really nicely with Elijah and Hannah. He brought us back and we all had tea with the Mission Exposure team. The kids ate only the rice. That's ok because we prepared them for this trip by telling them that all they would eat here was rice! This morning, we visited Lord of Life Church with Sarah McKibbon, who is organising our schedule while we are here. The service was in English and Tagalog so Sarah did a bit of translating for us. Elijah and Hannah tried out the Sunday school and made origami fish! I think both of them are doing remarkably well considering all the changes. When we arrived with Tim, we had to walk straight through a slum area. The houses, or should I say, shacks (?) are close together and made of breeze blocks with corrugated iron roofs. Loads of little kids ran up to us and said hi and asked our names. I felt quite emotional about it. The slum areas are hard to describe - there are lots of people just sitting/running around outside, girls doing their washing in big bowls, washing hanging up to dry, a tiny barbers shop in a back alley, chickens and dogs in cages, a cat on a leash. In the market we drove past today, there were whole dead goats hanging up by their necks for sale and in one slum area, a pigs head was hanging by a hook at what looked like a butchers. After church today, we visited one of the local malls. I was amazed at how western it was: guards, air conditioning, western music and typical western shops. I think Sarah's family and ours were the only Westerners though and Hannah was a source of great interest to the locals who kept asking her name and saying hello. Elijah is in his element - he loves the attention and keeps giving out hugs and kisses! We tried to get a SIM card so I could make cheap calls but my phone is locked and the lady in the shop couldn't unlock it so I think that's it - down to email and blogging! This afternoon, we were able to join in the a kids outreach which runs weekly at the mission home. It was fantastic. All these filipino kids from the slum came in for worship, crafts and games. We had a blast. Elijah and Hannah loved it but by the second hour, I think jet lag was kicking in so they have jjust gone to bed! So, I'll sign off for now. Love and hugs, Fayezee xx |
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Jan. 31, 2008
Manila in the morning
| Well, we are finally packed, albeit with a few bits and bobs to squeeze in (my jeans are still drying!). People have been so kind and thoughtful, sending little messages to let us know they are thinking of us. I was especially blessed today when the Nevins dropped in to pray with us and take our plants to their house for a holiday! We have packed oodles of things to keep the kids entertained on the 18 hour or so journey , many of which are educational (don't tell them). We leave at 1 o'clock ish from Newcastle and fly straight to Dubai. I think we have a few hours there and then it's onto the next flight to Manila. Apparently, some guy called Jonathan whose parents are missionaries is going to be on the same flight and we can tag along with him at the other end. It's going to be interesting trying to find him on the flight. Shall I make myself a little homemade sign and walk up and down the plane looking silly? Yes, that sounds fun. ha ha ha |
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Jan. 29, 2008
Productive Day
Today was a really productive homeschooling day. Although I was a bit unsure about continuing with school versus Manila preparations, I'm really glad I chose the former. The kids were well up for it today and we managed to get the globe out and look at our flight path and study the continent of Asia too!
We are reading 'The Hundred Dresses'. It's a sad story about some girls who are being really mean to another girl called Wanda. However, I'm sure by the end there must be some reprieve and joy!!
The kids had their blood groupings taken at the hospital yesterday so in the event of an accident, OMF can get us all blood quickly! Eurgh - that sounds a bit morbid doesn't it? Hannah did her dance class today and was jolly happy to get a lolly at the end of it. Elijah then went to football. He is in a mixed age class where most of the boys are bigger than him but I watched him get more kicks of the ball today so he must be improving. We all had a big spaghetti bolognaise for tea. Yum. |
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Jan. 26, 2008
Flu, Flu, go away, come again......NEVER!
| Well, it's only 6 days until we all fly to Manila, Philippines with OMF and mummy Thomson is loaded with Flu. Aargh. Paul, Hannah and Elijah have gone to see Janet from OMF today. She's the lady who helps prepare missionary kids for their new environments and I think she's going to try to help them get ready for the trip. Then, they are off to Nathan's 6th birthday STAR WARS party! Hannah looked so cute with her hair in Princess Leya style this morning! My mum was a star getting them ready for me. |
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Jan. 7, 2008
Monday morning
Hi,
Well, I'm currently trying to write this in 0.2 seconds...my son has set a timer for me! He wants me to play a new game with him. It's been a mixed morning. The first part - sight words, time of the day etc was a bit slow. Hooked on Phonics was turned down!! The Sonlight reading part went well. I'd prayed about what handwriting to do today and so when we did Wet Dry Try from HWT for letter M (review), it went well. Elijah was a bit fiddly in his chair but all in all, it went well and he's back on Building Thinking Skills. For Hannah, 3, we did a bit of Singapore 1A and some tracing. They are in the show tonight - Hansel and Gretel and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. They are Oompa Loompas and in a Truly Scrumptious dance. Cute. I have a Hep B injection today for Manila trip with OMF in February.
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