Not for the Life of Me

For Good

Katherine and her friend Darienne from Milwaukie Academy of the Arts perform at the MHS Fine Arts Fair.  They had very little coaching (just a little help from parents) and will be singing again at the Spring Concert in May.  

Pocahontas Opening

Well, we made it through a week of dress rehearsals and the first weekend of shows. We are all very tired, but the shows have been going very well.

Grace was given a special job selling tissues. She went around say, "the show is really sad and you might want some tissues to cover your tears." I don't think there was a single little old lady who could resist - Carrie even heard some behind her in the audience say, "Look, I've got three packs of Kleenex in my purse already, but I just had to buy some from her." Those who declined got this response from Gracie, "Well, I'm serious! You're going to need them." She sold every back they had halfway through the second show! They would've had her sell other things, but our conscience wouldn't allow it since the other souvenirs were more spendy.

Opening night was extra special with Julie's sister Carrie and her family attending. Nick and Emma sent J.J. and Katherine "Candy-Grams" (little bags of candy with notes attached that get sent backstage during intermission to cast members). We had a great time with the Juchau family all week, visiting Bob's Red Mill, McMennamin's Edgefield and OMSI as well as enjoying a Thanksgiving Feast.

The Cobarrubias clan (with friends and relative that came to the show).

Here Grace and Joyce are getting an autograph from "John Smith" (Mitchell Booth).

CYT Showcase

Katherine took a class this term called "Sounds of Music" where they learned intricate harmonies. This fabulous group of girls gave a tremendous performance - so fun to watch (and listen to).

"I'm not That Girl" from the Broadway Musical Wicked.


"I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta my Hair" from South Pacific


"Sisters" from White Christmas


Okay - think outside the Broadway box for a minute. Here's J.J.'s class: Cultural Dance and Conflict. The kids LOVED it - the parents were all a little uneasy. I love Heather (the teacher/choreographer) and her fearless creativity. J.J. had a blast learning the martial arts moves. I'll never forget driving home from CYT about the third week of class. After listening to Katherine's sweet voice singing her showcase song, I asked J.J. how his class went. "Oh Mom, I finally get to KILL someone! I'm so excited." Well, there you go! This is where boys in musical theater classes get to be boys.



I have to say I'm just as proud as "my" kids in the beginning voice class that I TA'd - they did so great. They sang songs from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and nailed everything we worked on. Happy night with lots of warm fuzzy memories. Now it's on to Pocahontas!

Pocahontas Auditions

After much practice and excitement, with J.J. and Katherine both spending hours and hours over the past 3 months, auditions for the fall CYT show have arrived! They both did so great and gave it their all - I am so proud. They both got callbacks and spent half the day Saturday learning dance steps, reading lines and singing their hearts out with their friends. Then we all had to wait...and wait...and wait - I think this is the hardest part. In the end, we learned that Katherine will be a part of the Algonquian tribe chorus and J.J. will play the part of Young Keokum (Pocahontas' friend). Below are their audition numbers.

Gracisms

My, oh my! Where has the summer gone? Most of July was spent in the garden and at doctors' offices. Katherine was sick with several back-to-back viruses on the road trip, which developed into a sinus infection after we got home, which her body responded to with a severe case of the hives (which didn't go away for a whole week). She was on five different medications, but eventually it all went away. Shortly after that, I came down with a cold which developed into pneumonia! I was still battling that when we hosted a backyard Bible club, but it was so much fun and such a great way to get to know the kids in our neighborhood.

Most of July was spent at Fir Point Bible Camp. Can you say HOT? We nabbed a thermometer one day and discovered it was 106 degrees in the kitchen one night while cooking dinner for 150 hungry campers and staff. I was perspiring from places I never knew I had sweat glands! Boy did it feel good to go swimming that night! Katherine had a good time being on staff for the first time, helping out in various jobs and doing "Kid Control" (staff child-care). J.J. spent one week with Lola in Portland while we were at camp, then a week at Grandma and Grandpa Smith's with his cousins Nick and Emma. He learned how to crochet, played with Legos a lot and even got pretty good at driving Mom and Dad's golf cart around their property.

Grace got to spend a week with each of her grandmas plus a week at camp. Great grandma Ramsey showed her how to play the harmonica and Grandma Smith did lots of painting and crafts with her. She went to VBS at the Calvary Chapel in Grants Pass where our friend George now works. All of our family (including Sovann) gathered one weekend and had a great time visiting Wildlife Images (got to see grizzley bears, bald eagles, and other wild animals up close), swimming in the river and exploring the new Taprock Grill in town. One night while playing Rummy with the grandparents, Great-grandma told us about her conversation with Grace earlier that day. She told us, "Grace was looking for Kathleen [my mom] and couldn't find her, so she came over to my chair and asked me, 'do you know where your daughter is?'"

Grace continues to be precosious, even as she's becoming less of a toddler and more of a little girl. She's very excited about going to Kindergarden in a couple weeks and her mother is feeling clingy and weepy over her "baby" going off to school! J.J. has been sharing a lot of his knowledge with her this summer, and she surprised me the other day by counting to 100 while we were driving around town. Her reading skills are blooming as well and I often hear her reading to herself now (I'm really amazed!).

A couple months ago, we went to a wedding where Grace ran around with some boys just a little older than her. The were teasing her and telling her that they were 18 or 20 years old, and she got VERY upset. "Mommy!" she said angrily, "those boys are LYING!" Knowing that they were just responding to her controlling attitude, I responded gently with, "Honey, they're probably just teasing you because they don't like to be bossed around. I know how you like to be the boss." Before I had even finished my sentence, she shot back very matter-of-factly, "No, Mommy! I DON'T like to be the boss, I just like to tell people what to do."

Earlier this month, we were camping and again she was getting to know some boys her age. One of them was rather shy and didn't want to share his name with her. Exasperated, Grace marched over to the little guy's mother and said, "Would you please make him know me?"

The kids have all improved greatly with their swimming skills this summer. J.J. passed the swim test at camp this year and went off the diving board for the first time ever, and Katherine just finished a Jr. Lifeguarding class. Grace has finally gotten over her fear of putting her face ing the water and will even float face-down in the kiddie pool in our back yard. Earlier this summer, the kids went to a friend's house and Grace began by not letting anyone let go of her in the water (even though she was wearing a life jacket). At one point, though, she decided to be brave and discovered she could paddle around and keep her head above water. For the rest of the day, she told everyone we saw about her bravery. "I'm so excited," she'd say, "I thought I was going to drown but then I just used my bravery and now I can swim! I'm so proud of my bravery."

New Stuff

Life is such an adventure! I love it when new things happen, especially at home for some reason. Yesterday was full of different-ness, from beginning to end. It started with a trip to the orthodontist for Katherine, who got pretty new turquoise bands and these funky crossing wires around her brackets that help straighten her teeth. You know how hard it is to keep your tongue from exploring something new in your mouth? Well, I'm in the front yard and Katherine comes running out with her mouth tightly closed, motioning madly about something. She then gingerly opens her mouth to reveal the tip of her tongue, stuck between the crossed wires of her front braces. That happened probably 5 or so times, but she figured out how to un-pierce her tongue each time, poor thing.

Later that morning, my sweet friend Danielle came over for a wedding makeup consultation. We spent a couple hours fine-tuning lipstick shades and eye colors while chatting about her plans for the future. What a precious time we had enjoying the art of enhancing feminine beauty while sharing little pieces of each other's lives. How blessed I am to have little jewels like Danielle pop in and out of my life.

Shortly after, another jewel stopped by - my mother-in-law. She heard that I was sick (with pneumonia) and wanted to help out. She offered to take the kids to the free lunch program down the street and give me a little break. The kids went, ate, played on the playground and enjoyed time with their "Lola." Another unexpected blessing.

Shortly after they all got back from lunch, our new refrigerator arrived. We exploded into action, clearing out food, mopping up old fridge leaks and wiping up the lint and grunge off the floor. Kudos to the Riegelman's crew who deftly moved our old fridge to the garage and brought up and installed the new bottom-freezer model (a tight squeeze coming up 2 flights of stairs). Katherine stocked our new fridge with food and creatively arranged magnets and the chore chart on the clean walls of the lovely new Amana. I was hoping this new unit would hold everything from from our old top freezer plus all the extra stuff in our full-size upright freezer (which was really only a little more than 1/2 full). I was not disappointed! I still am amazed at what we fit in there.

Everything was going great as we positioned the old fridge down in the garage (long story short - it needs to stay working and plugged in until Friday when the Energy Trust guys come PAY US $30 to haul it away). Then the delivery guy plugged it in and POP! - everything went dead. Well, just everything in the garage (which included our FIOS phone & internet service, outdoor lights, garage door opener and outlets. After a house-call by our handy-hero Rick (who determined there must be a GFCI outlet somewhere that needed to be reset) and a call to Uncle Savin (former owner of the house who led us to the hidden GFCI), power was restored and everthing was "cool." Blessings #3 and #4.


Can I also just say that I love my family? My kids have been great, helping out around the house and doing their chores plus feeding their minds with reading and leftover schoolwork. OK, now I'm bragging, but I feel the need - they have also volunteered to help in the yard! J.J.'s a pretty awesome weed-puller, Grace loves watering my potted plants with her little can, and Katherine hauled branches and helped dig and move dirt around without complaining!! Yesterday was no exception, and as different things arose that needed to be done around the house and yard, my little blessings (#5, 6 & 7) jumped right in to help.

After dinner (which Katherine fixed), I decided it was time to cut Grace's tangled locks. I made Sovann promise not to cut her hair while we were gone last month because I didn't want it too short. My goal was to trim the ends and even it up to the sections Grace had chopped off herself a few months ago when she wanted to have "Mary Marvel" hair. I found those short strands in the front and moved to the back at that same level.

I watched the first strands fall to the floor, about 5 inches long. I knew it was too short, but evenness was what I was after so I kept going. I thought Grace would look in the mirror and cry. I wanted to cry. I asked Grace, "Do you know who's going to love your short hair?" I was sure she'd say, "Daddy!" But instead, she said, "Yes, ME!" And she does love it. It must feel good - light and bouncy much like her spirit.

As the day ended, my husband (blessing #8 today) came home from battling the demons of broken relationships. This man works everyday with people who are either severely sleep-deprived (grumpy and irritable at best) or severely wounded (counseling clients, many dealing with intense "stuff"), and he genuinely cares for them and often shares their emotional pain. He is my hero. He works three different jobs to provide all we need and still comes home and empties the trash and does laundry. Not only that, but he serves consistently in leadership at church and feeds his mind and soul regularly by reading and listening to podcast sermons and worship music. Did I mention that he loves to play with the kids and teach them stuff like wrestling and tennis? Last night, he came home and sat on the couch with Katherine to connect with us after a long, tiring day at work. Not many men I know would willingly sit through "My Girl" with all it's coming-of-age girly stuff, but Sovann did. It was a sweet moment to look over and see my daughter tickling her dad who took it all in, tired as he was, and engaged with us in what we were enjoying. He didn't run away and hide, he didn't make fun of us, he just loved us where we were in that moment. I am so blessed.

Road Trip Day 6 - Philadelphia, PA

Can you tell I've had more time to write? With fewer miles and more parents to trade off, I've been spending more time with J.J. doing school or talking with Shelle in the small van.

Today was a sight-seeing day and we all marvelled at the architecture as we drove to downtown Philladelphia. The city of brotherly love which so values it's liberties is certainly a melting pot of cultures and buildings. Asian, Greek, Hispanic, Italian, Irish and Muslim shops were all over and side-by-side. Huge cathedrals sat beautifully restored or crumbling and for sale. Brownstones and tall, skinny homes (some with new siding on one half and crumbling brick on the other) filled the suburbs and tall sky-srapers shaddowed the historic buildings around them.

The ambulances here are very colorful - broad green or blue stripes all over. The stop lights are interesting, too - the red lights have a flashing strobe across the middle. We managed to find parking in a lot not too far from the historic downtown area. We split into groups of 4 or 5 and the kids got to decide where to go and what to see. My girls (Elise, Savannah, Carly, Natalie, and Sam) did a fair amount of wandering around, but used the map to get us to the Visitor's center. These girls like to take pictures! At one point I think it was Carly who said she had taken 200 pictures today alone. We went to see the original Liberty Bell where our bags were all searched before entering. I didn't think it was the real thing because the wood part looked like plastic, but outside I asked a security guard and he said it was the real deal.

Good thing we got pictures! One interesting fact I learned was that shortly after the Revolutionary war, the bell was sunk in the Delaware River to hid it from the British.

After that we spied a street vendor cart selling Cheesesteak sandwiches. J.J. and I shared an authentic Philly Cheesesteak with grilled onions and ketchup. Then we went on a tour of Constitution Hall where the Continental Congress met and signed the Declaration of Independence. They had some of the original furniture including the chair that George Washington sat in as our first President. Another part of the building served as the courthouse where cases were tried and the accused literally stood (in a cage-like box) to be judged. I was overcome with emotion twice just standing in the very building were men formed our country.

The girls took quite a while deciding what to do next, but ended up going to Burlington Coat Factory to buy purses. They were very kind to ask what I would like to do, and made efforts to help me buy a postcard, but the stores we went to on the way back to the bus were little Chinatown shops and I was too tired to walk in the opposite direction. I'm so glad we got to see what we did, but I'm not sure I should've gone because I was cold and tired and worn out from the ER visit the night before.

Back at the hotel, the kids were going to fix dinner, but somehow everyone drifted off to their own things. One group of kids tried to make mac-n-cheese in the hotel lobby microwave. It turned out to be an interesting rubbery mass, completely inedible. By 9:05 PM kids were still hungry and so Kevin took them for a healthy meal.

Earlier, some of the kids wanted to see the Philadelphia Art Museum where Rocky Balboa trained on the front steps. So Christy and Justin took a small group there and back but got caught in a downpour and ended up drenched. Katarina slipped on her way out of the van and hit her elbow hard. After calming down, icing the wound and evaluation by nurse Shelle, it was decided that we would again visit the Chester County Hospital. They returned a little before midnight and X-rays showed that it was only a bad bruise.

Road Trip Day 5, Chicago to Philly

Lauren woke me up this morning at 4:27 and the kids were all dressed and everything packed in the busses quick as lightning (really, I was quite impressed). The goal was to get through Chicago before the morning traffic hit, so we were on the road by 5:05 AM! We watched the sunrise on the Sears Tower (which dwarfed all the other highrise buildings) and were soon into Indiana. I slept through this state in the back of Shelle's van and when I awoke we were already into Ohio.

America's heartland is covered with corn fields and dotted with silos and old barns. The rest areas here are these pavement-covered "Travel Plazas" that are like mini-malls with gas, restaurants, mini-arcades and ginormous bathrooms (with like 20 or 30 stalls) and souvenir shops. Freeways are called Turnpikes here, and toll roads are plentiful (some costing as much as 35 plus dollars. There are these funny brown dome-like things that I think may be salt storehouses (for snowy weather).

As soon as we crossed the boarder into Pennsylvania, the landscape changed dramatically. The flat, gently rolling plains were replaced by rocky hills and lush greenery. All the trees were leafing out and the bright green leaves contrasted beautifully with the black trunks and limbs. The architecture changed, too; amazing, tall, colonial-style homesteads made mostly of brick. For all the tolls we paid, I was shocked at how bad the roads were - huge potholes and construction everywhere, often with narrow lanes and NO shoulder. Traffic was pretty heavy around Pittsburgh, but otherwise not too bad.

I was very intimidated and afraid to speak up and confront the kids at first, but as I'm getting to know and love these kids, I'm doing better and engaging more. I made the kids in my van put all media away and look at the countryside for awhile, then made them play history trivia to keep me awake. Christy buys them gum and has bubble blowing contests to keep her awake. There are still a few older kids that give me some attitude, but I'm calling them on stuff more.

We got to our hotel around 11:30 and all the kids started going to pieces. Half the girls were crying for different reasons and complaining of different maladies. I think they were all tired and hungry and just worn out from the pace we've been keeping up. One of our girls was a bit more serious - she had a fever and severe abdominal pain, but Shelle (our nurse) had gone to the airport to pick up a parent that was flying in that night. I got directions from the desk clerk and drove to the Chester County Hospital emergency room and was there until 4am when Shelle came and let Lo and I go back and sleep. After doing tests to rule out appendicitis, they got back to the hotel around 7am and thankfully no one was really sick (I had imagined at one point our whole group coming down with the Swine Flu - scary!).

Road Trip Day 4, Willow Creek Church

We slept in until 8 am, but spent the next 2 hours trying to find shower facilities before going to church. We almost missed their last service of the day (Satan obviously didn't want us there - a car swerved into the van on the freeway, the bus got stuck in a parking lot and we had to unhitch the trailer to get it out, and when we got to the YMCA they wouldn't let us in). So we walked in to Willow Creek church hungry, unshowered (for 2 days), most of the kids in their pajamas and no one feeling very lovely.

The service was amazing - awesome, spirit-filled worship, authentic and down-to-earth message from Bill Hybels, and inspiring campaign to feed and hydrate children in Africa. I was amazed that a church that large (big as Keller auditorium with escalators to the two levels of balconies - they had 48,000 people there Easter Sunday). Kevin bought everyone lunch at the food court afterwards, and the church let us use their showers. They were the providing hands of God to us today.

This afternoon the kids attitudes started going downhill, so Kevin had a talk with them. I noticed an instant change as they tried to be more considerate of one another. We drove to a nearby Metra (train) station to go explore downtown Chicago, only to discover it was closed due to it being a Sunday. The kids all agreed it was best to go back to our sleeping accommodations, get caught up on homework and fix dinner. Kids did a good job of cooking except for Katherine's group who haven't worked well together from the beginning.

I'm missing Gracie's snuggles and Sovann's hugs and conversations. I miss the comfortableness of my own home, but also am enjoying the different pace and not having to make decisions all day long.

J.J.'s having a great time with Caeden (Shelle and Kevin's son). They ride in Shelle's van together most of the time, which is rigged with a TV that plays movies and PS2 games. We don't let them play for too long at a time and they enjoy seeing the country and journal every day. On my off driving times, I sit in the van with him and help him do math and read about each state as we travel through it. He's also listening to "The Jungle Book" on his mP3 player and he interacts with the other kids a lot, too.

Here's an entry from J.J.'s Journal...

"This morning I ate a peanut butter bar. It was a Sunday and we went to church. It was as big as a mall. We also took showers and ate lunch there. When we took showers it sprayed me so hard that it felt like needles. But it got my hair wet in five to eight seconds and got my soap so fast that I did not know that the shampoo was gone. While we were in the lobby waiting for the girls I learned a fun game. All you do is try to touch the other person."

(The game he's describing is finger fencing. Two players grasp hands with index fingers and try to touch the other person with their finger "sword." It looks rather funny, but the kids love it.)

Road Trip Day 2, Salt Lake to Omaha

The kids pulled out a quick breakfast of muffins and yogurt, then we were on the road by 7:15 AM. Most of the kids slept as we climbed the treeless, mounded Rocky Mountain range. Snow, rain and dense fog combined with long boring stretches of road made for a rather grueling day of driving. For the next 20 hours, I was either driving or sleeping in a vehicle. We pulled over at a truck brake check area and the kids pulled out their food and camp stoves. In the 36 degree misty, windy weather, the groups fixed grilled cheese and tomato soup, boca burgers and ramen noodles in their pajama pants and flip-flops. Again, I was amazed at how quickly and efficiently they worked together - we pulled back onto the freeway in less than an hour.

This was a brutal traveling day - but with trading off drivers, we got through safely and arrived in Omaha Nebraska at 3:30 AM (local time - almost every day we lost an hour due to time zone changes - it got very confusing after awhile). When I would start to get sleepy, I'd ask the kids to talk and sing to me until we could find a rest area to stop and switch drivers. Because of the long hours on the road, Kevin (the school director) decided to buy Taco Bell for everyone for dinner to save time. Shelle (Kevin's wife) has kept us staff and our younger kids well supplied with coffee, Snapples and snacks like nuts, fruit, cheese and crackers.

J.J. is having a great time. Kevin and Shelle's son Caeden is just a year older and they are buddies at all the rest stops (all the kids must always be with a buddy at all times, and the younger kids must stay with an adult or older kid at rest stops, in restrooms, etc.). Shelle has her little van set up for the kids with a TV that they can watch movies and play PS2 games on. It's fun to listen to the boys work together to battle the evil forces on the Star Wars game. On some of my driving breaks, I sit with J.J. in the bus or van and help him do schoolwork. He's doing a great job journalling every day and is listening to "The Jungle Book" on his mP3 player, As we travel through each state, he reads facts in his Wacky Atlas, and he also has math pages to work on. Today he said, "Mom, this is so great - I'm having such a good time." The kids and staff love his generous, sweet spirit and include him enthusiastically in all their activities.

Road Trip Day 1, Portland to Salt Lake City

We gathered in the parking lot, loaded the vehicles, prayed and said our goodbyes. By 7:30 AM, I followed the bus out of the parking lot (driving the 15 passenger rental van - AKA The White Van - how original) and we marveled at the beautiful Columbia River Gorge on this sunny spring day. We stopped in Weatherby, ID where an impromptu game of ultimate frisbee ensued. J.J. joined in and everyone welcomed him, but he ended up leaving his jacket behind for some other size 7 traveler. At the next stop, we fou nd a pretty cool flight jacket complete with patches - so $20 of his spending money was put into this souvenir (little did we know they'd be selling identical jackets at the Smithsonian Air & Space museum for three times that price). Good thing he had it, though - the weather for the next 2 days was freezing, For dinner, the kids prepared sandwiches at a truck stop - amazingly they had it prepared, eaten and packed away in about 1/2 hour (the blustery wind helped everyone move quickly, I think)!

The van I drove was equipped with an entertainment system, complete with pull-down movie screen and headphones for all the passengers. It also had a power converter that the kids could plug in and charge their computers with. It was a great way to pass time and for all the kids to enjoy a movie together (quietly - yippee!). At one point, though, we started smelling smoke and I heard Blake yell in a nervous tone, "This thing under me is really hot!" I walkie-talkied to the other vehicles that we were pulling off to the side of the road because something was smoking in our van while I rolled down all the windows.

(I am very nervous about pulling off to the side of the road - I have heard so many stories and also had a friend of mine killed who were hit when pulled to the side of the freeway.) The kids all piled out of the van and at the same time, a high-pitched alarm went off. Makenzie was furiously unplugging cords and headphones, but even when the van was completely turned off and everything unplugged from the converter box, it still kept beeping. Fortunately it never got to the point that flames erupted, and Kevin pulled off behind us and had to tur n off a fuse box of some sorts under the hood to make the alarm stop. Besides a smokey interior of the van and the loss of the entertainment system, everything was fine. All this excitement on the first day!

We pulled into Layton Christian Academy, near Salt Lake City, UT around 11:30 PM. A 12 hour driving day took us 16.5 hours due to numerous potty stops, but at least we made it through. What seemed to be low-lying clouds turned out to be the snow-capped Rocky Mountains rising steeply less than a mile from the school. This beautiful school graciously accommodated us with a warm, dry place to lay our weary heads and showers to freshen up with. By midnight we were sleeping and were up the next morning at 4:45 AM.

I was recently browsing through some old digital video clips and photos - here are some of my favorites. It just amazes me how time flies and how quickly the kids grow up.

J.J. was 3 years old in the ABC video and 4 in the Caterpillar one.



Here Grace was a day old, getting dressed to go home from the hospital. I don't know how I could handle her crying like that!



This is of Katherine (8) making Grace (7 months) laugh.




Here's J.J. feeding Grace, who is almost one year old.

Crazy Weather

It all started with an inch or so of snow and an arctic blast of freezing temperatures. As everyone hurried home after church last Sunday (the 14th), the wind blew the snow across the surface of the streets like a ghostly fog. After a quick trip to the library, we made it home just fine and hunkered down for the night.

The next day we were bummed to hear that Narnia Auditions had been cancelled for the day. J.J. and Katherine had home school as usualwhile all the neighborhood kids got the day off (there was MUCH complaining about THAT). We had to melt the ice out of the bunny's water a couple times a day, and the packed snow from tire tracks and footprints became raised icy spots where the loose snow around had blown away. Sovann walked with the kids to BiMart to get essentials like coffee and milk. We watched a lot of movies and YouTube videos and the kids practiced their audition numbers a lot.

On Tuesday, we walked a mile in the freezing weather (the packed snow made it slippery, but not too hard to walk in) to swap Grace off to a friend and take their daughter to auditions with us. We spent the rest of the day at a makeshift audition location (a freezing cold church - they say the heat was on, but I couldn't feel it). I helped check kids in, recorded their costume measurements, and watched some auditions. It was so neat to see how much everyone had improved since a year ago. They crammed auditions and callbacks into one long marathon process (from 1:15 to 9:30), but we all survived and got home safely. Phew!

We were all so exhausted the next morning, and pretty sure that Katherine's Heartlife classes would be cancelled, that we all slept in and hung out in our pajamas most of the day. We all waited with baited breath for the Narnia cast list to be posted that evening. I tried to keep the kids on track with their schoolwork, but no one could concentrate. Katherine resolved to recite the Serenity Prayer every hour and we all prayed for patience. I forgot about Grace's dentist appointment, and while anxiously moping around Katherine heard a loud crash in the front yard. She looked out and saw a pickup truck had crashed through our fence. We got part of the license plate, but not enough to actually find the guy who drove off without even so much as a "sorry." Arrrgh!

As I was on the phone with a contractor friend to get a quote for the fence damage, Katherine started screaming, "I got the part! I'm Lucy! I, I, I...I can't believe it!" We hugged and screamed together (after hanging up the phone) and tears of joy were shed. Yes, the part Katherine had been hoping for, working towards, practicing on for the past year was really hers now. This is especially neat because this will be the only CYT production she will get to be in this year. The big difference that I saw was her confidence level. During callbacks, she ran up and said, "Mom, I amazed myself! I just sang every note the best I could and didn't once say (to myself or out loud) that I couldn't do that very well or didn't want to try."

We all quickly went back to looking at the cast list and found that J.J. also made it into the show!!! I am so proud of him for listening and following directions and trying so hard (even when tired and sometimes confused). He got the part of Wolf2, (which we think might be a speaking part) and is also a part of the "Cruelie Chorus." Here is his audition that a friend videotaped. I love hearing people's reactions to him more than anything else.

CYT Spring '08 Showcase

Here are the three dances Katherine's CYT class (Act Like You're Dancing) performed. All the kids chose different animals for each song. Sarah Hadley did the choreography.

This first clip is from "The Lion King" and Katherine is dancing as a monkey. She is mostly on the righthand side, with the short, dark pony-tail.

This is a song from the musical "Honk" which is the story of the ugly duckling. Most of the girls are acting/dancing as chickens. She starts center stage in the back row.

This last clip is "Under the Sea" from The Little Mermaid. Katherine, Abby and Malana were the octopi. Sorry for the wandering camera at the end - I was caught up watching Katherine (she blew me away - I never even knew she could dance like that)!

It's Almost Showtime!

Here's Katherine as "Mouse" with the bow I sewed. Behind her is "Swan" Lizzy. I also made David's "Snail'" shell.
Friendships are the best thing about CYT.
Tonight is the last dress rehearsal - tomorrow is opening night! I've been madly sewing costumes between homeschooling and keeping the house and life in general going. The show is going to be SMASHING! I am so proud of these kids and everyone that has worked so hard to make the show so awesome. It's neat to see the kids developing character and talent, too. Hope you all can come see the show. Click here to order tickets.

Chef Sovann

It was almost 7pm and we were just driving into the garage after CYT classes. Everyone was tired and hungry and I had no plans or even a clue of what to fix for dinner. The frozen pizzas and fish sticks were long gone - no quick fixes in the pantry. I was relieved that Sovann had gotten home before us and I thought out loud, "I wonder if Daddy already fixed dinner." For those of you who don't know, Sovann's gifting does not exactly include home economics. His talents lie elsewhere, and we all pretty much know and accept this in our family.
Katherine replied, "He probably would if you asked him to, but we have to be willing to eat whatever he fixes."
Later, I told Sovann what she said and he stated, "She's going to make a good wife someday."

Grace's Birthday

We just had a small family party for Grace this year.

Here Katherine is sharing her Phillipines report notebook with Auntie Bo and Uncle Jon. She had sections on culture, economy, geography, tourism, and history, including an amazing hand-drawn map and colorful flag. She put hours and hours into this project and we are very proud of her work and what she learned from it.

Opening presents...
J.J. and Josiah getting ready for a duel. They both are members of the S.A.N.C. (Spy And Ninja Christians) that J.J. thought up and organized. He brings his folder to sign up new members everywhere and when we go shopping, he pretends to buy food and supplies for the clubhouse.
Snow White dress-up treasure chest! Shoes, dress, crown and wand - wowie!
Grace really wanted Strawberry Shortcake's horse named Honey Pie, but the best I could find was the Ponyville teapot playset. I don't think she minded too much.Strawberry shortcake (actually, it was a jello poke-cake with strawberry cream frosting - yum).



Precious Oshkosh shirt from Grandma. Sunday she learned the story of the prodigal son and for snacks they had "pigs in mud" which was animal crackers in chocolate cookie crumbs. Unfortunately, she got the "mud" all over the shirt and so it will have to be washed before wearing again. She loves all the books she got - here she's reading "The Bad Haircut Day" (she's wearing the skort from Grandma, too). This morning she spelled out "mat" just by sounding out the word. I'm very excited about her learning to read.

Why Home School?

Near the end of Katherine's third grade, I had another revelatory moment that I'm sure God orchestrated. Due to back-to-back illnesses, lice (again) and Spring break, Katherine was home for a solid two weeks. They weren't necessarily pleasant weeks, either - picking nits for a couple hours a day (painful for us both) with her feeling generally rotten from a lingering cold and missing out on other Spring Break fun. But during that time, we bonded somehow, and I realized that my little girl was closer to becoming a teenager than I realized - not only that, but it seemed she was closer and more strongly influenced by her teachers and friends at school than her parents anymore. So because of the desire to bring our family closer together, take off-season trips with Grandma and Grandpa, and give her challenging, individualized education, we dove into the home school adventure.

I Can't say it was the greatest thing we could have done. Can't say it was all rosy bonding time and peaceful discoveries of the joy of learning. In fact, I think it was one of the most difficult periods of my life, but I don't regret it for a moment. For Katherine's 4th grade, I homeschooled on my own, picking out my own curriculum and doing what we thought we were supposed to do. I was insecure and always worried that there would be gaps in her educations and/or development.

Katherine and I had a lot of "interpersonal conflict" and battles of the will. We both said a lot of things we regretted. Both of us asked for and offered boat loads of forgiveness. She missed her friends terribly, and I was not able to give her all the social interaction she needed.

Grace was a little over a year old and had just suffered her first traumatic seizure that summer. J.J. was attending kindergarten at Harold Oliver, but I'd give him extra stuff to do when he got home (he was already reading before he started kindergarten). As good as it would have been for us to join a co-op or homeschool support group, I just couldn't think of adding anything to our schedule. Sovann was still taking classes at Western Seminary and working full-time and training in MMA. We were active at church (I think I was teaching children's church or Sunday school for pre-schoolers). Basically, I was just hanging on to my sanity by a thread.

We got through the year, though, and decided to try it again the next year with both J.J. and Katherine with a little more structure and guidance. So we enrolled in Connections Academy, which is an online charter school that is carried out at home. Instead of the teachers, we became "learning coaches" (which is just a way of getting around state requirements, because we really were providing the lion's share of instruction). But having the support of a certified, experienced teacher was great, and it meant I didn't have to give grades and wasn't the one making the schedules. It was better than going it all alone, but it wasn't necessarily the best for us, either.

We may have gotten through another year, but we had extra stress that sort of wore us all down. About a month after starting Oregon Connections Academy (ORCA), we had the opportunity to buy Sovann's uncle Savin's house. We hadn't expected the offer to come then, and were not ready to sell our house, but figured we should try to take advantage of this opportunity. So along with homeschooling a 5th and 2nd grader while keeping a 2 year busy, I also threw myself into decluttering and cleaning the house, holding a garage sale, and hiring a landscape/painter guy and carpet cleaner plus 3 different contractors to repair linoleum, dry rot and plumbing problems. Add to that the home inspection of the house we were buying, loan and real estate paperwork, and a million other decisions I had to make every day, and you see why I almost went insane. Sovann was in his last semester of graduate school, working on his thesis and completing an internship while still working full time at Kaiser, so he didn't have a whole lot of time to spare, either. He brought home boxes every night and we'd pack a few things each day.

To make a long story short, despite the fact that it was October (not a great month to try to sell your house) in a slow real estate year, God saw fit to bless us and give us this wonderful new home (and get out of a "not-so-ideal" situation in our other house). Our house sold in a week, (despite having foundation, drainage, electrical, plumbing and dry-rot problems) and Uncle Savin let us have access to his house for almost a month before the sale was final so that we (meaning mostly my folks) could paint and do other repairs. It never would have happened without my mom and dad, who came up and lived at the new house for two weeks, painting, cleaning, overseeing new floors being installed and fixing many little things for us. My sister's family came up from Davis, too and helped us right after moving in (they even brought and prepared Thanksgiving dinner for us!).

Still, after almost two months of prepping, moving and settling, we were all wiped out. With ORCA, there is great pressure to stay on track, turn in assignments on time, take attendence every day and attend "Live lessons." It's great for those of us who need that structure, but there's not a whole lot of flexibility. Even though Katherine had started band at the elementary school, she wasn't getting much social time and again I was too worn out to get involved with anything else.

So after some agonizing days filled with tears and prayers, we enrolled Katherine back in public school (which was a different and somewhat better school since we had just moved). It was a hard transition. The social pressures were overwhelming at first for Katherine, and she would come home almost every day in tears. It didn't help that there was a school dance scheduled and boys and girls in her class were asking each other to go together. Kids on the bus were mean, too, and since she was "the new kid," she became a target for teasing.

However, she has done very well in public school, and her teachers have commented more than once about how well Katherine expresses herself and how naturally curious she is. She has compared to several other home-schooled kids who stood out as having a sincere love of learning.

J.J. continued with ORCA for two years and has accelled academically. For the most part, the school has let him go at his own pace. He is one full grade level above normal for his age, and even more advanced in math. He has struggled with writing and communicating his fabulously creative thoughts clearly. We've had an incredible teacher for both years who has challenged and taught both J.J. and I many things. But he, too misses the social interaction of a classroom setting, and he has some behavioural issues (listening, following directions, waiting to share ideas, etc.) that have not been developed because of schooling at home.

Why Public School?

Well, it's that time of year again where we fret and plan and pray and talk and try to get a clear picture of what we'll do next fall for school. Since Katherine was pre-school age, we've gone through this process and I can't say it's gotten any easier over the years. There is so much to consider and each child has different needs, strengths, wants and abilities. Then there are family logistics and constraints to think about(things like finances, time/space/resource availabilities, mom's mental health, and dad's work schedule). When Katherine was about to enter Kindergarten, I was praying and "heard" a clear message from God. I knew it was God, because it was so NOT something that I had even considered. I was reckoning what would be best for her; worrying about quality of education, social pressures, teacher qualifications, time spent away from the family, etc. But God put this in my head: "Katherine needs to go to public school for others' sake; because of her testimony to others." Wow...OK, God. I felt proud and humbled and scared all together.
Knowing that He is in control and that his will is perfect and loving, we took the leap of faith and enrolled her at Harold Oliver Primary. We met some great families there and Katherine had some wonderful teachers. She had some just OK teachers, too and was absorbed into a system that makes it so easy for "good kids" to get lost. She also brought home lice...4 times, and picked up some not-so-lovely attitudes from classmates (not to blame them, but still I would have liked more wholesome and edifying influences for my firstborn).
Still overall, we have no strong anti-public school sentiments and Katherine has done quite well in the public school system for five and a half years. I think the NEA may be somewhat misguided on their theories and practices of education, but mostly I just think public school teachers are amazing people who are asked to to deal with more than any human should have to assume responsibility for. I have great respect for teachers - almost every teacher I've ever met is incredibly dedicated to what they do and the people they serve.


Last week, we had a conference with Katherine's current teacher and she said, "Every once in awhile I have a student whom I need more than they need me. Katherine is one of those students. She's changed me." This was so encouraging and validating for us. I probably will never know exactly how or in what way Katherine affected her teacher this year, but I know it was positive. Sovann and I both have been praying all year for Katherine, asking God to use who she is and all her good and bad experiences to "speak" to others about God's grace.