little did i know that today when i picked sam up from school i would be in for a surprise. when he came to the classroom door to greet me, he started waving his RED hands at me. yes, that's right, RED hands. seems he was working on a craft project in his chinese class using red stamp pads. he thought it would be a good idea to make his hand print...so he colored both his hands with the stamp pad. only one thing. the red didn't wash off. sam was thrilled by the whole thing. he was proud that part of his hands were pink - ruthie's favorite color. he was excited to return home to show her.
so tonight my son went to church with red hands. don't know how long they'll be red, but he'll be enjoying every minute. there's just something about the joyful, innocence of a 5 year old boy. it just brings joy to my heart.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
the bugs that won't go away
this has been a crazy couple of weeks in our house. it seems that we have had a virus/cold/sinus stuff that just won't go away. everyone has told us that when kids start school all of a sudden you're exposed to more stuff. that seems to be working out in our experience this february. so as you're "thinking" of us these days, ask that we'll be back to normal in health and energy
Ohio and Back
We had a great time visiting Ohio. It was a blast to see old friends. It was a blessing to feel the support of old and new Brice Church folks. And it was a joy to tell Sam and Ruthie stories of our early days at Brice!
We stayed with the Templeman family. I was amazed to see how grown up their kids were after two years. Sam and Ruthie quickly fell in love with all of them (their cute dog, ice cream, and special treats helped that to happen!). Anderw introduced Sam to video games. Molly sat for hours while Ruthie "did" her hair. You would not believe how many hair clips, barretts, bows and mousse Molly's hair can hold!
We had a whirlwind morning at Brice. Too many friends and not enough time. We apologize to those of you were not able to catch up with. We desperately wanted to talk to EVERYONE. We especially enjoyed visiting Vi's Sunday School class and sharing at the special pot luck. It was the first time we shared with a group about our plans to head to China. The overwhelming response and support was a great confirmation to us.
Thanks to everyone that made our weekend special!
We stayed with the Templeman family. I was amazed to see how grown up their kids were after two years. Sam and Ruthie quickly fell in love with all of them (their cute dog, ice cream, and special treats helped that to happen!). Anderw introduced Sam to video games. Molly sat for hours while Ruthie "did" her hair. You would not believe how many hair clips, barretts, bows and mousse Molly's hair can hold!
We had a whirlwind morning at Brice. Too many friends and not enough time. We apologize to those of you were not able to catch up with. We desperately wanted to talk to EVERYONE. We especially enjoyed visiting Vi's Sunday School class and sharing at the special pot luck. It was the first time we shared with a group about our plans to head to China. The overwhelming response and support was a great confirmation to us.
Thanks to everyone that made our weekend special!
Thursday, February 22, 2007
samuel's chinese preschool
many people have been asking us about sam's preschool program. i wanted to post a link to an online version of the New Educator magazine, published by MSU, that gives some background.
here's the link - http://www.educ.msu.edu/neweducator/fall06/coverstory.htm
it also talks about the sister school in beijing which is an english immersion school there.
hope you enjoy.
here's the link - http://www.educ.msu.edu/neweducator/fall06/coverstory.htm
it also talks about the sister school in beijing which is an english immersion school there.
hope you enjoy.
visiting old friends
tomorrow we leave for columbus, ohio. we're headed to brice church to see old friends that we've haven't seen in a few years. we're really looking forward to catching up with everyone.
brice has a big part in our story. we worked at the church for several years before we began working with IV and brice is the church where we were married. when we left staff there, tammy was pregnant with samuel and the last time we were tammy was pregnant with ruthie - no there is not a pattern with this visit. :-) so we're thrilled to be able to see everyone again and let them see the kids. these are friends who have invested significantly in us over the past several years - an investment for which we are very grateful. and we're thrilled to share our lives with them now!
brice has a big part in our story. we worked at the church for several years before we began working with IV and brice is the church where we were married. when we left staff there, tammy was pregnant with samuel and the last time we were tammy was pregnant with ruthie - no there is not a pattern with this visit. :-) so we're thrilled to be able to see everyone again and let them see the kids. these are friends who have invested significantly in us over the past several years - an investment for which we are very grateful. and we're thrilled to share our lives with them now!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
the journey begins
i thought the best way to start our journey to east asia would be to blog. (besides people have already been asking if i would.)
we've really just begun this new part of our journey to china. truth is, we're just now beginning to fully wrap our hearts and minds around the move that awaits us. the there are a lot of little things (some funny, some sad) that will be part of our lives over the next few months of transition and then 2-3 years of studying chinese. we want to share the journey with you. there will be parts of our journey that we won't be able to share publicly, but know that we'll be glad to share stories that will give you access to our hearts and what we're learning and studying. we hope you'll find this a great way to stay connected.
in case you're wondering, the title of the blog bears the name of the province where we will be living - qinghai. you'll also find it in the name of the university we'll be attending.
also, please feel free to comment. we look forward to future conversations on this new blog. just keep in mind that comments are public and can be viewed by anyone with internet access. :-)
we've really just begun this new part of our journey to china. truth is, we're just now beginning to fully wrap our hearts and minds around the move that awaits us. the there are a lot of little things (some funny, some sad) that will be part of our lives over the next few months of transition and then 2-3 years of studying chinese. we want to share the journey with you. there will be parts of our journey that we won't be able to share publicly, but know that we'll be glad to share stories that will give you access to our hearts and what we're learning and studying. we hope you'll find this a great way to stay connected.
in case you're wondering, the title of the blog bears the name of the province where we will be living - qinghai. you'll also find it in the name of the university we'll be attending.
also, please feel free to comment. we look forward to future conversations on this new blog. just keep in mind that comments are public and can be viewed by anyone with internet access. :-)
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