Back to school, Fall garden, and Birthday

We had a VBS at our church right before school started. Emily and Andy had a great time. David and I taught the 5 year old class. That experience gave us a new appreciation for teachers. David often said you can easily tell if a teacher is called to teach. It takes talent and a big heart.

 

Andy started school first. He was so ready that he had his backpack on every day before it was time to leave.

 

His teachers just loved him. Two of Emily's last year teachers and one of Andy's last year teachers teach his class. We knew he was in great hands. Andy was a little nervous on the first day seeing so many kids in his class. Mrs. DeLaughter kissed him on the forehead and he went right into his routine. When he was sick a week later, he fell asleep in his teacher's arms for 20 minutes until I picked him up! We are so grateful for his wonderful loving teachers. His teachers told me how well he did at school. His clips moved up to the top several days in a week.

 

Emily started the public school one week later. She made the wonderful adjustment (she adjusted much better than I did). Her teacher told us that we should be proud of her because she was one of the role models at her class. Her ratings has been "role model" or "outstanding" almost every day of the school. We pray that God will continue to protect, guide, and use our kids for His purpose and glory.

 

 

We celebrated David's birthday a week early when Dad and Linda were here. We had a great weekend together.

 

We took the kids to the Lego KidsFestival right after school started. We all had a good time there. Four hours of fun ... we had to drag the kids out for dinner.

 

 

 

Our church friends gave us some soccer ball game tickets. It was the first time for the kids to watch a soccer ball game. They developed a new interest in soccer ball games since then.

Andy started piano lessons on August 12th. Although he was two months later than Emily, he was only one lesson behind. We are constantly amazed at how much they learned and how well they played in such a short time. Emily already can play some songs by ears! Playing piano has been their favorite pass-time activity.

Andy and Emily love our neighbor Sunny. They asked him to come over to play all the time. Most of the time they would extend an invitation for a lunch or dinner.

 

Emily and Andy love to help Daddy with the garden. They helped to plant the green beans and other vegetable at our church community garden too.

 

I read that the seed sprouts are more nutritious than the seeds. So we started some sunflower sprouts. We re-purposed a used steamer and it worked out perfectly. Within a week, we had some delicious sunflowr sprouts and Andy loved it!

 

 

 

 

Here are some last basils from the garden. Next time I'll have it in the kitchen for easy access.

David snapped this photo of the kids playing with the shaving cream. No more shaving cream crafts ...

Our small group started a "Basics of Bible" series for the Friendspeak readers who are interested in learning more about Bible. This was the first study. We are really excited about this and hope more students will join us later.

One thing that we wanted our kids to learn at school is "Do what is right despite of what other kids are doing." For example: taking the leftover snacks home instead of throwing in the trash can; saving the sandwich bags to use as utensil bags; eating the healthy food; obeying the teachers the first time being asked; ... Emily came home the first day saying that two of her classmates said her lunch was yucky because she had brocollis. I told her she didn't have to agree with what others said. She could influence and tell them "I like it! It's really good for you." The next morning when I walked her to the classroom, the principle greeted us at the door and told Emily "I LIKED your lunch yesterday! It looked so yummy!" See ... Emily had the biggest smile on her face! I hope she will always remember this first lesson in her kindergarten.

VBS and Grandpa's Wedding

July was full of the excitement! Back in June, a friend from our old church contacted me to help with the VBS because the theme of the mission room was China this year. She asked me to talk about the Chinese traditions and the festivals. I tried to talked about my childhood experiences and tied them to the VBS's theme "I will do what God asks me to do even when I don't understand". I talked about a story I heard when I was a child during the festival time: In ancient time, a poor family couldn't afford a good New Year's Eve meal because the husband was at the war and didn't send any money home. The mother didn't want the neighbors to know she didn't have anything to eat (so she wouldn't be embarrassed). She put the kids to bed very early (while most kids get to stay up all night playing and eating for the New Year's Eve) and brought out the empty chopping board and started making the chopping sound so her house would sound like anyone else's. It was a sad story. But it taught me to be sensitive about the people around me when I'm enjoying the blessings of good food and other materials. Maybe someone around me doesn't have anything but didn't want me to know it; maybe I can share my stuff with someone who is in need. We need to keep a watchful eye for the less previleged because Jesus said, if we do this (good) to the least of the people, we are doing it to Him! Then I talked about all the strange traditions that we celebrate as Chinese. I didn't understand why we celebrate that way. But since I am a Chinese, that's just part of me. Now I have a new identity in Christ. There are still many things I don't understand why sometimes. But because I am a Child of God, I will do what God says even when I don't understand or even when it's hard. The kids just soaked in everything. Even the days after the lesson, many kids still brought their parents to say hi to me. Their parents told me their kids kept talking about all the stories and things they learned from the lesson. I also got to visit with many old friends. These precious kids, our old friends, and the whole VBS atmosphere made me miss our old church.

The kids got to try the mooncakes, use chopsticks, make lanterns, etc.

 

Emily and Andy absolutely loved the VBS. I really liked everything except the snacks. Emily and Andy have been off sugars for a while. So they brought their own snacks. After the first day, Andy confessed to me (without being asked because I just assumed they ate their own snacks) that he ate the sweet snacks his teacher gave him (which were marshmellows and chocolate chips) before he ate his own snacks. I told him that I was disappointed because he knew he shouldn't have. He looked at me and said "Mommy, from tomorrow on, I will tell me teacher 'No, thanks!' every time she give me snacks. OK?'' I said "Thank you, sweetie!" Two seconds later, he looked at me again and said in a soft voice "Mommy, will you forgive me?" It just melt my heart. "Of course!" I gave him a big hug. He is just the sweetest boy! And he kept his word for the rest of the VBS (his teacher told me so)!

 

Right after the VBS was over, we headed over to Tulsa for Dad and Linda's wedding. It was a joyful celebration for us all. We are very happy for them! We know it will be a blessing to everyone! Congratulations Dad and Linda! We love you!

 Our small group from church had a bowling party for the Weatherfords going-away. It was the first time for Emily and Andy to play bowling. They just loved it! Can you tell that they had lots of help?

 

Emily's PE teacher Coach P invited us to her farm house to ride the horses and collect the eggs. But it was too muddy because of the heavy rain. So we collected the eggs and pet the animals instead. The kids had a great time!

 

Emily covered her nose while Andy collected the eggs. Boys are boys!

 

Andy is taking piano lessons next month! Originally we just started Emily. But Andy have been practicing every piece that Emily learned and he always spent more time on the piano bench than Emily did. He really showed some talent and it amazed us every day. So when he asked last month "when can I have my piano lessons?", we contacted the piano teacher right away. He already can play several songs. Here he goes!

 

David saw a bobcat outside our back gate. We were nervous for a few days. Then lots of people told us they were not very dangerous. They actually helped to keep the rabbits in check.

 

Emily and Andy tried to have some outdoor fun every day.

 

 

Some days, they would get so exausted

These are the beef jerky that I made out of the grass fed beef. They taste really good. The kids took them and some raw cheese cubes as snacks for the VBS. They never had any leftover.

 

The kids have been reading lots of books from the library. These were from one trip to the library. They were so excited to have 47 books to read in two weeks!

The cherry tomatoes have been producing a lot. Andy got in the garden five or six times a day to check/pick them. He always got several red ones every time. He would run to me and ask me to close my eyes (as if I didn't know that he had some tomatoes). Then he asked me to open my eyes and said "Surprise!" Both kids enjoyed feeding me and watching me eating the red cherry tomatoes.

 

Here are Emily and Andy helping Daddy to build another raised bed for the garden. They can't wait to plan out the fall garden!