It's 11:24pm and I comtemplated on whether I had the energy to update the blog. I realize it's been forever, but since school started our family "grew" again! So here's an update in short version.
Phillips Reagan - now proudly announces his full American name to everyone. It sounds like "Phillip-A-Reagan-Eye"! (In a shouting voice, of course!! Most evenings he screams "hold -ju" (that's hold you!). He's making great progress at will soon transition into a 3-year-old preschool class. He started sleeping in a big-boy bed with Preston this week. He's fallen out twice, but seems to like sleeping in a room with someone much better than alone.
Parker Reese is doing great in Pre-K. He still continues to entertain each of us. His newest saying is, "Mom, I just don't understand"....and then he asks random questions."Why don't people talk about the Grinch"? "Why doesn't my friend Grace talk to me in class, but she talks to me at afterschool?" "Can we open our presents today?" "I'm not feeling so good today...I think we are going to have to do homeschool today (I hear this one about 5 days a week).
Preston is a reading machine! He passed the goal for his class and then was honored at the UGA Lady Dogs game, but he gave up the opportunity to go to the game because he wanted to get on the road to see his Nana and Papa! He is the best big brother in the world and I'm so proud of his accomplishments at school. He is becoming a pro at biking and Grandma bought him a skateboard for xmas.
Ma-fan is doing great! She stays busy with basketball and thank goodness we have carpool to get to and from practices and games. She is really blessed to have two of the best coaches on earth, John Hawley and Leshawn Dempsey. They really invest a lot of time in the girls and teach them so much more about life than jus the skills of the game. Ma-fan is doing so well in school. She was exempt from all of her finals. She's discovery all kinds of new talents (flower design, drums, drawing, etc). Today she brought home a beautiful xmas wreath she made in Floral Design. I still haven't convinced her of loving the art of cooking and baking, but she's usually right by side as I work in the kitchen so she can sample everything as soon as possible. She loves the snow...first time she's ever seen it in her life (no snow in Bangkok, Thailand).
This is finals week at EJMS, where I teach 7th grade Science and ELA. I have a kidney infection and had to miss Monday and half a day on Tuesday. The kids are so, so, so ready to be on vacation and I am too! I promised them no tests tomorrow (unless they've been in OSS or sick)...fun, fun, fun, tomorrow!
Jeremiah has been busy at school as well. It's that time of year for lots of schedule changes, evening events to attend, and helping out with everything are family needs to keep running smoothly. He helps drop off and pick up kids (our own and some others), runs to the grocery store, helps with bedtime. You name it...he helps with it. He will be coaching Track in the Spring so we will miss him!!! He will have a blast and he can't wait to work with the students.
Pray for Static Student Mall! If you haven't heard of it...google it and see what pops up. I'll share more when I have time, but right now it's in the stages of trying to get funding and going through all of the hard work to get it up and running. It's going to be awesome!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
4th Birthday, Teaching, Football & Exchange Student
Parker Reese is turning four so we celebrated Toy Story style. We had fun decorating Toy Story cupcakes, pigs (Hamm), 3 eyed aliens, and sprinkles. Just as the party started the door bell rang. It was Buzz Lightyear and Jessie the Cowgirl. Parker Reese had fun playing with his friends and wearing his Buzz custome all day.
I had asked two teenagers if they would be willing to dress up for the party. Well, I can't say enough good things about these two!! They went above and beyond what most teenagers would do for a four-year-old. They made their own costumes, Buzz pinned a special pin on the birthday boy, they played Toy Story "bowling" with all the little ones, and helped when it was time to open presents. I really admire kids like this who try to set a good example for little ones to look up too. I know that most teenagers would have laughed at the thought of dressing up for a four-year-olds birthday party and that many are caught up in some really terrible things. We are so blessed to know an awesome group of teenagers whose parents truly love them and have taught them how to show love to others.
A bit of change is coming our way this week. I've been staying home with Phillips, but I got a call from West Jackson Middle School to teach a Title Reading Program, which is what I got my Master's in, so I start on Monday. I'm really exciting to be teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th grade reading and connections. This is a just a long-term-subbing position. Phillips has been wearing his backpack around all weekend. He wants to go to school like his big brothers so he keeps getting his backpack on and saying, "Mommy, let's go bye-bye!" I don't have to the heart to be the one to leave him at "school" so daddy is going to have to do the dirty work of morning drop off!
Please continue to pray for my sweet friend, Sharon. She will be leaving for China this week to adopt her second Chinese daughter (her 5th daughter)! Shaylee Joy will be one lucky little girl to join the Ankerich family. Sharon and I used to teach together at Duncan Creek and she was such an inspiration to me. During my planning time, I would observe in her room and just soak up everything she had to offer. She taught me so much and has answered every single question I had about international adoption. Thank you, Sharon, for being an insipiration and we can't wait to introduce Phillips to Shaylee Joy!
Jeremiah is helping Coach Kirk again this year with highschool football. We went to the first scrimmage game last Friday. It's a little different this year, since a lot of the boys that Jeremiah mentored graduated and have already moved away to college, but some of his "Senior guys" (now college freshman) showed up and were so excited to fill us in all that is going on in their lives. We are really excited to see Tonya's son, Eric, play this year for the first time. Go panthers!
One of the highschool Math teachers that used to watch Preston when I was teaching in Gwinnett, introduced me to a family that is hosting a highschool student from Thailand. Her English is very good and we enjoyed visiting and sharing stories at the football game. It was nice to introduce her to some of the other girls and watch them swoop in and take her under their wings. They invited her to DQ after the game, but she had a early tennis match in Athens Saturday morning. Ma Fan was so excited to meet Phillips. She wanted to speak to him in Chinese, but he was too tired to cooperate. I'm really looking forward to getting to know Ma Fan better and helping her make some new friends in Jackson County.
I had asked two teenagers if they would be willing to dress up for the party. Well, I can't say enough good things about these two!! They went above and beyond what most teenagers would do for a four-year-old. They made their own costumes, Buzz pinned a special pin on the birthday boy, they played Toy Story "bowling" with all the little ones, and helped when it was time to open presents. I really admire kids like this who try to set a good example for little ones to look up too. I know that most teenagers would have laughed at the thought of dressing up for a four-year-olds birthday party and that many are caught up in some really terrible things. We are so blessed to know an awesome group of teenagers whose parents truly love them and have taught them how to show love to others.
A bit of change is coming our way this week. I've been staying home with Phillips, but I got a call from West Jackson Middle School to teach a Title Reading Program, which is what I got my Master's in, so I start on Monday. I'm really exciting to be teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th grade reading and connections. This is a just a long-term-subbing position. Phillips has been wearing his backpack around all weekend. He wants to go to school like his big brothers so he keeps getting his backpack on and saying, "Mommy, let's go bye-bye!" I don't have to the heart to be the one to leave him at "school" so daddy is going to have to do the dirty work of morning drop off!
Please continue to pray for my sweet friend, Sharon. She will be leaving for China this week to adopt her second Chinese daughter (her 5th daughter)! Shaylee Joy will be one lucky little girl to join the Ankerich family. Sharon and I used to teach together at Duncan Creek and she was such an inspiration to me. During my planning time, I would observe in her room and just soak up everything she had to offer. She taught me so much and has answered every single question I had about international adoption. Thank you, Sharon, for being an insipiration and we can't wait to introduce Phillips to Shaylee Joy!
Jeremiah is helping Coach Kirk again this year with highschool football. We went to the first scrimmage game last Friday. It's a little different this year, since a lot of the boys that Jeremiah mentored graduated and have already moved away to college, but some of his "Senior guys" (now college freshman) showed up and were so excited to fill us in all that is going on in their lives. We are really excited to see Tonya's son, Eric, play this year for the first time. Go panthers!
One of the highschool Math teachers that used to watch Preston when I was teaching in Gwinnett, introduced me to a family that is hosting a highschool student from Thailand. Her English is very good and we enjoyed visiting and sharing stories at the football game. It was nice to introduce her to some of the other girls and watch them swoop in and take her under their wings. They invited her to DQ after the game, but she had a early tennis match in Athens Saturday morning. Ma Fan was so excited to meet Phillips. She wanted to speak to him in Chinese, but he was too tired to cooperate. I'm really looking forward to getting to know Ma Fan better and helping her make some new friends in Jackson County.
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