Programs

Seems like we have been attending a lot of school programs the past couple weeks. Here are a few pics from the different events. All the programs were great and made us very thankful for the schools our children are privileged to attend.

Thankful

Maria and I decided that we were going to sit down each night and list at least three things we were thankful for that day. Here is my list for today:

1. Ice cream dates with my daughter.


2. Hugs from my children.


3. Sunny days so I can walk to work.

Now go check out Maria's list on her new blog Thoughts from a Romanian Princess at http://mkv-maria.blogspot.com/

Let her know you visited by leaving a comment or becoming a follower.

Luke's Birthday

Blogger has been having some issues lately, so it took me a bit of time to get these pictures up, but we celebrated Luke's 18th birthday last weekend. Some of Luke's friends came by and they went to the movies together and then came back to our house to hang out and eat cake. Luke is such a fun, easy-going, young man to have around and we are so blessed to have him as our son.

Tip Night

We went to tip night at Pizza Ranch in Orange City tonight to support a family from Dwight's school. Their little girl was born very early and has been in the hospital a long time, so the event was to help raise money toward their medical expenses. Dwight helped with washing dishes while Luke and I ate with Jon Felipe and Maria. It was one of those nights when I should have known better than to take the kids out. We've been praying for this baby for a long time and really wanted to support the family by attending, but it wasn't our finest hour.

Maria had her IVIG treatment today. She will often sleep for a little bit after each of the doses of benedryl, but today she slept almost the entire day, probably 6 or 7 hours. That's unusual. When we woke her to go with us, she was pale and weak. I suggested that she and I stay home, but she really wanted to go. My girl is definitely a social butterfly, even when she's feeling yucky. She did perk up some after we got home, so I think getting out probably was good for her.

Jon Felipe was in a mood. He had gotten hurt at recess and has a big lump on his head. He also was complaining about his brace. After we sat down, one of the screws came out of his brace. I asked him to just leave it on (his shoe was holding that part together) and we'd take care of later, but he would not wear it that way. He had to take it off. He could not settle down even after he'd taken it off. He was totally stuck on the issue of the broken brace. He wasn't loud or disruptive, just not his usual happy self.

So, needless to say we were quite the spectacle. Maria was drooping. She really looked pitiful. Jon Felipe was out-of-sorts. We probably should have had a sign over our table that said, "This is why some people should do take-out." At least the event was a fundraiser, so I don't have to feel too badly about paying to go out to eat and then having kids not eat much. Plus, it was great to see so many people, both students and teachers, working together to help support this family. And I have to admit that I do like the fried chicken at Pizza Ranch. And the dessert pizzas.

This and That

It has been a busy week out here in windy northwest Iowa. We had Ideafest on campus this week. Students presented papers and did poster presentations on their research. It was inspiring to hear about the work that students are doing across campus. I went to a presentation given by the student who designed the computer program I am using for my research study. Oh my, that undergrad students are able to undertake such work is amazing.

Friday was Ag day, so Jacob and I took Maria and Jon Felipe down to see all the animals and check out all the farm equipment. Jon Felipe loved having Jacob climb up into all the tractors with him. He wasn't too keen on the animals, though. He was pretty sure they would bite. Maria, on the other hand, spent all her time petting the goats, sheep, horses, and baby cows. I'm pretty sure no one petted the chickens or the steers, not even the baby ones, but I could be wrong about that. Being a city girl myself, I was content to just look.

I also had my interview with the board this week. I can hardly believe that I am at the end of my 2nd year at Dordt. The interview was great fun and they appointed me to a regular contract, so I guess we'll be in Sioux Center for awhile longer. You can tell you're getting used to living in a rural area when a trip to the "big" Walmart in LeMars is a major outing, not that I'm admitting to that happening here in the recent past. Just saying.

We also celebrated Jacob's 21st birthday this weekend. Here are a few random pictures from our weekend. It was a good one.

Inclusion

Jon Felipe is in an inclusive 3rd grade classroom. Last week the students worked on writing biographies. On the day they presented their reports, they also dressed up like an important person from the life of their subject. Jon Felipe really likes the Curious George books, so he wrote about the author, H. A. Rey, and dressed up like the man in the yellow hat. He was SO excited to dress up and to take his monkey to school with him.

This week the students are working in groups to do research on different countries. Jon Felipe's group is doing their project on India. He has certain pieces of information that he is responsible for providing. I love that he is included despite his learning struggles and that he is expected to participate in ways that are achievable for him. He loves going to school. He comes home everyday and tells me all about the friends he played with at recess. This is how inclusion is supposed to work!

An interesting note: The children in his class have each been assigned a number and they write that number on each of their papers. That helps when it comes time to sort and return papers. Jon Felipe doesn't just know his own number, he can tell you the number of every student in his class. Interesting.

Happy Easter

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Wishing everyone a blessed Easter.

Maria and me in our Easter duds. The boys declined to do the Easter finery thing.

Have I mentioned how much we love having George and Regina and their family living nearby? Definitely on my list of good things about living in Sioux Center!



A houseful for Easter dinner. So fun!

The annual egg rolling contest.

For the championship...

The winner!

Maria took first. Miranda got second.

Austin was the winner last year. He claimed that he used scientific analysis to plan his winning strategy. This year he got knocked out in round one.