A Day 2 Repeat and an Extra 1!!!

What an amazing joy to be able to watch Drew on this cold spring day!

Drew and his friend David who place 4th in both the 1500m and 3000m.

The start of the 1500M. Drew is on the outside with the fastest seeded time. Love how it looks like he is just checking out the crowd.

Drew cruised the first 2 1/2 laps out in lane 2.
Then with about 500 to go, in the lovely spring rain, he took the lead.

Drew, followed closely by Matt (who places 3rd) and Ryan (who is runner up).

Crossing the finish line to his second district championship in a time of 4:03.

Drew and his friend Ryan from the cross town rival's team!! We look forward to watching them both at state next week!!

Gotta love track humor---but it is true!!

Drew also ran the 2nd leg in the 4 x 400 relay.

Part of today's cheering squad!!

District 4 x 400 relay Champions!!

New District Record!!

3:23

Darren, Stetson, Drew and David!!

Drew will have the privilege of running in 3 events next weekend at the state meet in Eugene!!

Congratulations son!!

District 3000M Champ!

We are pleased to announce Drew's district championship in the 3000M.

This is his first district title in track!

Like this unique view.

They ran what was called a 'pedestrian' first mile in 5 minutes.
I know that does not sound slow to us but for them it is.

With about 500 meters to go, Drew decided to pick it up. He knew there were two other guys in the race with top state times.

Drew has the number two time in the state with a 8:42.7. Matt directly behind him holds the state's fastest time with a 8:42.08. And Ryan behind them is always right in the race.

We knew it would be a fast last lap!!!

We were not disappointed. Drew ran a 57 second last lap for a final time of 8:50.91 and a 3 second lead over Matt and Ryan who came in neck and neck.

I love this perspective! David got all the guys from all the way across the track and through a fence to get them all hanging on the fence for support after crossing the line!!

Drew with team mates Nick, who was one second of his PR, and David who ran a 30 second PR for 4th place!!

The awards stand. Only the first and second places will advance to the state meet next week. We will get to witness the same guys on Saturday racing in the 1500M.

Books

I just got done posting about books, and a friend just did on her blog. Plus I had a question about how I got all my books.

So I thought I would post about how I go about getting my books.

1) We want to support the local Christian book store.

2) You can always use the great standbys of Amazon and CBD

3) But my absolute favorite at this point has been www.paperbackswap.com

My sister told me about this site a while ago and I have only had one bad experience and I have sent 51 (52 tomorrow) and received 37 and have 14 credits for more books!!!

It is really easy, you list the books you want to trade by ISBN number, your books will be listed in order received. I presently have 61 books on my 'book shelf'. When someone requests your book through the club, the club sends you and email. You log on and decide to accept or not and print a mailing label right off the site. You then send it and when they receive it you get a credit for any book listed on the site!!

It is that easy!!

So when you want a book you type it in and order it for free if the book is available. If not you can put yourself on a waiting list and when the book becomes available and you are the next in line they send you an email and you log on and request it for free. I presently have 61 books on my 'wish list', many of those are the same book just in paperback or hardback, I just want whichever comes available first.

I usually don't do plugs, especially for a non-christian site, but I thought this was good information to get out, especially since I know many adoptive families read this, and that means money can be tight for fun things like extra books.

I am also taking a risk, because if you all join we may end up waiting for the same books!! LOL

Actually if I read on someones blog about a book, I go here first to see if it is available. I posted about 9 books the other day, I had received 4 of them from this site.

Fields of the Fatherless---recommended by another blogger--was on my wish list till posted

Gifted Hands---recommended by another blogger

Does Anybody Else Look Like Me---recommended by another blogger--was on my wish list till posted

This Voice in My Heart---a gift for my running son!!!

Hopefully you find this helpful----and happy reading!!!!

Homeschool Questions

Laurel over at Our Journey of Faith asked some interesting questions regarding our homeschooling. Though after homeschooling for as many years as she has, I am sure she is just curious about how it works in Oregon, comparatively. Anyways thought I would answer them and some other homeschool questions in case anyone was interested.

I want to say up front, that though we homeschool, we know that it is not for everyone. We are not the homeschooling only type of family. If, I thought it was better for any of my kids at any time to be schooling in a different way, we would pray about it and do what we felt was best at that time for that child. That said, here are some Q and A's.

Has Drew been in some type "program" for his homeschooling?

Actually both Drew and Danielle have used Abeka Video Academy for upper division school(Danielle from 7-12 grade and Drew 9-12).

For Danielle it started because, she and I were struggling and I thought the best way to preserve our mother/daughter relationship was to remove the stress of the teacher/student relationship. It worked out great.

Also we suspected she would go on to run in college, as is Drew, and having an 'accredited' diploma would make life easier.

Though it made life easier in some aspects, we were still considered homeschoolers at state colleges and had the same college hoops to jump through as other homeschoolers.

Since Abeka is so test driven, we did not use it for Erinn, who at the time dealt with major test anxiety. She now is holding a 3.8 GPA at college to keep her 1/2 tuition scholarship---guess she got over the anxiety!!

Are these just a group of homeschoolers who decided to "graduate" their kids together?

Yes, in the previous post you see a group of homeschoolers from our county who have decided to graduate together. Our local support group is the catalyst for this, though the parents and students plan and fund the entire graduation.

Danielle's class was 27 kids and I think Erinn had 18 kids in her class.

Do you follow state guidelines for "graduation"? Or, do you create your own homeschool requirements?

We have followed Abeka's guidelines for graduation, adding in our own classes as need or desired.

For Erinn we followed the local high school's guidelines and made our own transcript. We did add in our Bible classes that the high school does not require. We also made adjustments and such for things such as spending a month in a tribal location during the school year. We called it
"cross cultural training" or something like that. I also added an addendum to our transcript that showed what texts, programs, classes or whatever for them to see that we actually did it.

I have not had any problem getting any of the kids transcripts accepted at any school, be it state college, private college, Christian college, or Naval Academy. We have sometimes had to provide additional resources, so I recommend to every homeschooler starting high school to keep records of everything. It is only for a few years and worth the hassle of not having to find it later.

Do you get official Oregon State diplomas, or do you give your kids self-made homeschool diplomas?

The diplomas we give the kids at graduation are home made and endorsed by our local homeschool group if the kids have passed their required state testing at a certain level. I do not know what that level is, since all the kids have been above the 95th percentile I have not had to worry about it. Danielle and soon Drew will also have accredited diplomas from Abeka Academy.

Do the local high schools graduate this early in the year? Or, was this just a date chosen by a group of homeschoolers?

Our graduation date was chosen by our group---well me actually (LOL). We usually choose a date before most high schools are graduating, so there is less conflict for families who want to come. Since I knew how busy our spring was I check early on race dates for Drew and Danielle's wedding and this was seriously the only date we could do in May and early June. Thankfully it worked for the other families as well.

Drew actually has 2-3 weeks left of his video schooling and till sometime in June for his college credit anatomy class that he is taking at the local high school.

Nothing like graduation then having to hit the books the next day!!! He isn't complaining and is upstairs working away as I type!!! :):)

So that answers most of Laurel's questions.

One thing she did not touch on was our participation in athletics.

Here in Oregon our homeschool kids are allowed to participate in public school sports. They are required to take testing every year to prove that they are academically eligible and follow all the other guidelines the public school kids do.

This has not always been easy. For Danielle and Drew who excelled at their sports from the minute they stepped on the field (their dad has coached them since elementary school) it was easier in some ways as they were immediately accepted as a helpful part of the team. For Erinn who had never played water polo it was entirely different and much more difficult.

They have been teased and hurt by words, but we felt that giving them the freedom to step out in this was was a good way to start spreading their wings outside in the world. Then each evening they would come home and be refreshed and refueled. Unlike giving it to them as they went off to college and did not have home to come to every night.

So far we have been blessed to watch all three walk these waters and come shinning through. We are exceedingly proud of their accomplishments on the field, in the pool and in the school room, but most importantly in the way they have grown to be mature adults who love the Lord and shine for Him where ever they go. I think that is the goal!!

Interestingly now that I have run the race with our oldest three, I am finding myself doing it again and since these kids have their own special challenges, we are changing lots of ways that we do things.

Different curriculum, different schedules, different goals.

Not bad, just different.

A new challenge!!

Hail the Conquering Hero!!

The day has finally come!!

Drew with good friends Jonathan and Josh!!

My handsome graduate---gotta love the curls in the front of his cap!!!

Drew and Erinn on his special day!

Drew had a small graduating class of six this year (one of the girls had her cap pinned on).

We had a beautiful ceremony of parents congratulating children on their accomplishments and encouraging them in their futures. And children thanking and blessing their parents for the hard work in raising and educating them.

Drew and his best bud, Jonathan!! Friends since we moved here in the 5th grade, they have seen each other through thick and thin. Looking forward to watching them continue to grow into the men that God has them to be and making their mark on the world.

Drew with a scholarship to WSU and Jon with a ROTC scholarship to OSU!!!

Congrats guys and may you walk with God day by day on this new journey!!

How Much?

Now I know God says he won't give us more than we can handle,

but........

He sure must think I can handle more than I think!!!

Had a full day wanting to get ready for tomorrow's festivities, a few errands to run and a hair appointment.

I was behind schedule due to pharmacists twice saying just a few minutes and both time being between 1/2 hour and 3/4 hour!!!!

Then we had all sorts of fun trying to get the new fridge and moving things around and finding how bad the mess is under the leaky fridge. Re-cleaning all sorts of stuff because of the fridge moving!! Thanks Tom and Lance for all the amazing help!!!

Then the toilet flooded!!! Seriously..... Ended up needing all new guts..thanks Drew for putting them all in. Tried to snake it out to fix the other problem...glad my dad will be here tomorrow to try to help fix that.

Lets just say I did not hold it together too well!!

Tomorrow is a new day!! With no mistakes!!!

Praying God doesn't think I can handle so much tomorrow!!

What I Have Been Reading in My Spare Time...

I have been wanting to post about some of the wonderful books I have been reading!

I have no idea how these pictures will post, but here goes.

A couple months ago I had the privilege of reading both, Fields of the Fatherless and Red Letters by Tom Davis. Both are wonderful reads and highly recommended, especially if you have a heart for orphans!

I just finished Gifted Hands an autobiography by Ben Carson. A wonderful story of sticking with it through tough times. I will save it for Caleb to read later.


I also finished a biography on George Muller by Roger Steer. It has been a while since I had read on about him and I really enjoyed this one.

Adopted for life is a wonderful life which parallels our adoption in Christ to adoption of orphans now. Wonderful!





I just got Does Anybody Else Look Like Me? I have only read the first chapter, but it looks very promising and informative on raising children in a multi-racial family.

I am about half way done with This Voice in My Heart, a autobiography by Gilbert Tuhabonye. It is his story of surviving the genocide in his home country of Burundi and his life before and after. He is a man of faith and a runner, so I originally purchased this book for Drew and both he and David have read it. I am enjoying it, though it may be too graphic in some places for certain people.


These two books I am eagerly awaiting. Priceless and Scared, by Tom Davis. Priceless is not yet released, but I have it on order along with Scared. They are fictional accounts of Orphans--Scared and Human Trafficking--Priceless.

Maybe you see something you have read or were wanting to read. Leave me a note and we can compare our thoughts. Or if you have any other recommendations, leave those too. At some point I will be done with graduations and weddings and down to two kids at home, then I am thinking I may have too much time on my hands. I would rather have a good book!!!

Advocating---

I guess I am still learning---and that is not such a bad thing!!

Sometimes when I speak up about Hannah's special needs, I get people looking at me as though I am crazy. They don't see it. They think I am overreacting. She is just a kid. All kids do that. Especially since her delays are not visible.

So today at our new dentist, I spoke with the hygienist about Hannah's teeth issues (any others of you out there with black spots on kids teeth?), I chose not to breach the issue other than Hannah has some delays and left them to see how it would go.

So I went to sit down and a few moments later I hear her trying to instruct Hannah for a panoramic x-ray. She is using words like: behind, in the front and lower. Hannah has lots of trouble with the prepositional words, she just doesn't get it, at least not regularly. So I walk back there and try to help the lady to understand that with her delays she has to show or touch her to help her do what she is asking. Then gave her a little more detail to help them get along better. I think they did OK, though I am thinking she let Hannah get away with more in the chair than I would have!

Then we go back a few hours later to get sealants on the back molars. She is going back with the dentist and his assistant this time and I had spoken with him some on Hannah's delays earlier and left it at that.

I check half way through and she was doing OK. Then they come out and I can tell Hannah is trying to be brave and all it took was a smile from me and the tears started!! The assistant said that Hannah did not tell them that they were hurting her and they did not know till they saw the silent tears!!

Again, I failed to tell them, because I did not think about sealants hurting or being uncomfortable, that due to past trauma, my dear daughter does not tell people when she is in pain, she does not cry out loud, and that she can deal with a very high amount of pain.

Oh I can not tell you how bad I felt for not advocating for my little one. My blessing who is just learning to use her voice, still needs me to be a voice for her.

Praying Lord for wisdom in advocating for my little one. For compassion for her needs that she cannot voice. For little regard to what others think as I speak for her.

Much To Do!

I guess I am kinda at that point that there is so much to do, sometimes I just get stuck and don't want to do anything!!

So we did hair today, and ironing!!!

And 40 twists, 120 beads and 80 rubber bands later---Walla!!!

Then as we were picking up I hear a crash and a little voice upstairs saying ,"U-O"

Needless to say, this was not on my list of to do's!!

SMILE!!!!!

A Day of PR's!

Today was a big invitational in Grants Pass, and the last time to run before districts.

Here is the starting field for the guys 1500M.I just love the color in this picture. Most of these guys have been running together for years!

Drew's focus in a race is incredible!
Drew ran an amazing 1500M in 3:59.27!!!

That is a personal best (PR) by a second!

First time under 4 minutes!

And a new school record, by the smallest of margins!!

Here you see him being chased by the field to the finish line!
I love this one (though I am sure Drew will not appreciate it) but, I am sure it fully expresses how he felt at this point!!

Drew with his amazing coaches.

Coach Piet and Coach Trevor

Both have been such an encouragement to Drew and have helped to make him the runner and man he is today!
David and his friend Terry celebrating with Drew today!!

Then off to the 800M.

These next pictures are for David especially--

If you look in this one you will see the front three guys feet are all off the ground, they look like they are leaping!

Now the middle 4 are all in sinc!

Again all of them cruising on air!!

First place, Cole, is way out in front and Drew finished 3rd behind his teammate, Stetson.

Earlier this week Drew set a PR in the 800M. Again today he set a new one by a few hundredths of a second!!!

Again a picture Drew may not like, but I think it really shows the digging deep that was going on to help his team in the 4x400M relay!

Getting the pep talk from coach is Stetson, Danny, David and Drew after their 5th place finish!

CONGRATS DREW ON A VICTORIOUS DAY AND GIVING US AN EXCUSE TO LAZE AROUND IN THE SUN ALL DAY!!!

"FELEPHLANT"

Hannah and I had a great time at her speech this week. She always has fun with Ms. Jennifer and I was able to get lots of clarification on some issues we are dealing with!!

We have been really struggling with some vocabulary issues. Mostly her not being able to remember the names of things or when we ask for things she does not know what we are talking about. I was thinking--you've been here for 4 1/2 years and you are 7 years old you know what ketchup is!!

Well as it has been explained to me--Hannah does not store those words in her brain properly---they are mixed up--so when she goes to pull them out to use them she can't get the sounds in the proper order--she then freezes (her stress response) because she knows it is wrong, but really has no idea how to fix it! Interesting!!

So we were encouraged to continue to prompt her with beginning sounds or give her the word. If I have asked her for something and she can't put what she is hearing with what she needs to get, we should try to describe it and move her towards it.

We have worked on pacing words using her knuckles--sometimes she goes so fast--and she does not pronounce every sound--that it becomes hard to understand her. So she makes a fist and points to a knuckle for each syllable. It slows her down and paces her words so she focuses more on making each sound.

We are now using this to help with words that are getting twisted up coming out. An example would be "elephant"--she would come up with something like 'felephlant'. You see the sound are out of order. So when she uses her knuckles and says el-e-ph-ant she gets her sound in the proper order with a visual and kinetic boost (her learning styles), then she can put her hand down and say it correctly!!!

Hannah's therapist enjoys working with Hannah, but does admit that there are so many levels that we are working with that sometimes it is hard to say why things are happening or if they are permanent or if there is only one thing affecting what we are working on. An example would be in the above scenario--is it all auditory processing, or is there some motor planning (how to make the sound), or is there some learning delay (due to her malnutrition)!! It is a multi-layered beast at this point, but I am very thankful for all the help we have found to help us walk this path.

We are hoping that when we start up again after the weddings, to do an official test for auditory processing on Hannah. Though she is sure she has it, it will help her to know where we are heading. And help us get other services if we choose to down the road. It will also help me in writing up her Privately Developed Plan (PDP)--this is like an IEP that schools do. Her PDP will allow me as a homeschool teacher to set her own academic goals, rather than trying to reach a set standard.

So Sweet....

So as I have mentioned before, I am teaching a group of homeschoolers on Thursday mornings during a ladies Bible study at a local church. I usually have 6 kids all girls and Caleb is my only boy!

This morning we were only had 4 and they presented me with this beautiful key chain and precious card!

I understand from one of the moms that her daughter was the instigator and wanted to encourage me because she knew I was very busy and she was enjoying the class!!

What a beautiful thought!! I was very touched!!

We have 3 more weeks and I will miss my kids, it has been fun traveling the world with them!

We have been to:

Honduras Haiti

India Uganda

Philippines China

Ukraine Kenya

Chile Israel

Guatemala Brazil

Liberia South Korea

Mexico Ethiopia

Papua New Guinea

Any idea for our final weeks?

Running Around!

Wanted to get a quick update in on Drew's Running Around!

Last Saturday a few of the varsity team headed down to Sacramento Meet of Champions. Drew qualified for the night meet to run late and under the lights--always a great feeling! David and I were unable to attend, so this picture is actually from a few weeks ago.

Drew ran a 3200M, which is how California runs instead of the traditional 3000M. We are happy to say he finished 4th in a time of 9:17.56 which is a personal best for him!! Also his split for the 3000 mark would have matched his personal best! He went from 11th to 4th in the last 600M---who says Jordan's don't have speed!!!

Yesterday he decided to run in a dual meet in Eugene. He has been choosing not to run in the smaller meets to give his legs rest from racing and to focus on the hard training in between big meets. But he wanted to work on some speed work, so entered in the 800M. He ran a personal best of 1:58, bettering his previous best of 2:03 by 5 seconds!!!!

He is looking forward to racing in a very fast 1500M this weekend, he will also have another shot at the 800M with some real fast guys.

I am always amazed at how my young adults can juggle so much at once. This weekend they left at noon on Friday and returned home late Sunday. And last night did not get in till almost midnight. He is presently still pulling straight A's (though his college credit anatomy class is really stretching him) and he is also working 2 hours a day doing maintenance at the retirement center! Oh to have the energy again!!

So our lives look like this for the next few weekends
8th--big all day invitational
15th--graduation
22nd--districts
29th--state (God willing) and Danielle and Ryan will be home
June 5th--Wedding #1 and the out of town family comes for a month

---after that---I think I will take one day at a time!!!

Just the Way I Am

I just received my copy of this wonderful book "Just the Way I Am: God's Good Design in Disability" by Krista Horning, from Desiring God Ministries.

What a treasure! This book contains beautiful pictures with a promise of God and a verse to testify of the promise!

I cried as I looked through it. I am looking forward to going over all the promises and verses with my treasures.

Thank you Julie at Not Just an Ordinary Life for making me aware of this beautiful book. Also a few of her children are featured in the pages of the book!!

I Can't Believe It----

.....that my guys talked me into this!!!!!

Yes, this handsome fella now graces my 'African Room'!!

Now I believe that my beautiful ivory lamp from West Africa belongs here...and the Kenyan print of three children belongs here, you can even make a point for the Papua New Guineaian butterfly and painting of two tribal children, but....

I am still not sure how the North American Black Tail Deer came from???

Besides, no matter where you are in the room he seems to be looking at you!?!?!?

I am going to have to steal my husband's end of the table at dinner just so I don't have to see it staring at me when I am eating!!!

So just for the record--congratulations Drew on your great shot!! We loved the venison!

But this is going to take a while to get used to!!!

Friendship!

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You, too? Thought I was the only one."
C.S. Lewis

Thanks to all you bloggy "friends" who help fill a gap for me, because you too "have been there!"

Erinn's Heart!

A beautiful picture into the heart of my beautiful daughter---
http://iseegodsthumbprint.blogspot.com/

May we all take the time to see God's thumb print!