Sending the kids to school

Many one you have been following our decision to send the kids to a school here in Mombasa.  Its been challenging to decide what is best for them and our family.  But now on the other side of finally making the decision to send them we have peace.  All the pieces haven't fallen exactly into place yet.  But we are trusting God is do that work for us.  On Monday we will go to the school for an open house, buy uniforms, and some other general administration stuff.
 Yesterday we bought them new school swim suits.  Living in a warm climate year round means swimming is a regular part of school. 
Elijah doesn't know what to think about this whole uniform thing.  Uniforms are so foreign to Canadians.  But all Kenyan school, International schools, and British schools, here in Mombasa use uniforms.  So uniforms it is.  I am happy to eliminate the fight about what to wear in the morning.  This school is more laid back then Kenyan schools, who make their students wear heavy dress shoes year round.  At Breaburn (the school the kids will attend) they are allowed to wear open toe shoes and crocs as long as they are black.  This suits us just fine. 
Elijah has a lot of concerns in his mind about going out of the house without Mom and Dad.  It is for this reason we want to give him a safe place to prove to himself that he can be independent.  I'm excited to watch him build his confidence through new friendships, new challenges, and new voices in his life.  I'll admit it scares me a little to send them out of the house each morning.  Sure I want to be the one speaking into their lives everyday.  But I really feel like God has made it clear to me that Elijah especially needs other voices.  Will some of those voices be false?  I'm sure.  But who of us is not braver and stronger for those voices we had to decide to reject.  I will not abandon my children, of course, and so I know God, even more so, who loves them more then I do, will be with them each day they walk out the door. 
We would have felt the same way in Canada, if God had kept us there.  We would have believed that school was what was best for them.  It's just a hard decision here because we have to pay so much money for school, and there are so many different choices.  I'm glad to have taught the kids this past year.  I feel a much deeper interest, and concern for their education and whole person then I did before that experience. 
You know, I'm thankful for challenges.  I am brought closest to the throne when my mind is troubled.  God knows I need a reason to lean on Him.  If life is ticking along with no worries; when I can easily get by; I end up letting the days slip by, not leaning on Him for His grace and wisdom.  So  thank God for this decision, though it was difficult, I was and still am falling before Him begging for the grace to have a clear mind, wisdom to lead my children and rest in His provision for this circumstance.
Thank you for your prayers.  We love you all and pray for God's peace and provision in your lives.
Amie

Kid resource links

In my hunt for resources online these are a few treasures I've found.
Busy Bee Kids Crafts
 Lots of activity pages on lots of different topics
Great recipes for all those good old standby activities we did when we were little.
The graphics on the activity pages are not lame!
The site is organized and easy to use.
Enchanted Learning
This site is not pretty but it has lots and lots of stuff.
Right now I'm teaching the kids about different insects and this page has lots of labeled printouts.  Which is so much easier than me drawing a butterfly for them to label its different parts.
The National Geographic
Great videos and lots of information. Here is the page about Honey bees that I used with the kids.
Heart of the Matter 
This is a large blog with lots of ideas and discussions. 
There are many contributors which give it a nice rounded feel.

Christmas Bags

We put together some Christmas bags for people in our life here in Mombasa. Allen our guard and his kids, some street boys that we have gotten to know through our church, our househelp Fedelma, and the watercart pusher guys on the corner that we have gotten to know. It has been fun giving them out. The kids enjoyed putting the bags together.

Have a Merry Christmas!

the Kids

Amie made sewed some new Dr. Seuss pants for Ian. Looks as though he likes them!



Elijah and Grace having fun together!

Gingerbread houses with Grandma

My mom came over a few days ago and made some gingerbread houses with the kids. They did a great job putting them together. The biggest challenge in it all....keeping the kids from eating all the candy before it got onto the houses!!

Good times in Gravelbourg

This past weekend we headed down to Gravelbourg. It is a unique community in Saskatchewan as it has deep French roots and you will regularly hear French being spoken in the community. The reason for our trip down was that Amie has an old friend named Devin who works in Gravelbourg as an RCMP officer. We had a great lunch and visit with Devin and Holly.

Enjoy the pics. Devin gave us a tour of the detachment which we all thought was very cool!




Gracie locked in the back of the Police Truck!!

Ian loved their dog!

Rider Day and other photo's

Yesterday, was Rider Day at the Elementary School for the kids. So, we got all dressed up to support our team this weekend! Go Riders Go!

We also have a ton of snow here in Caronport so I took the kids out for a sled ride one afternoon. As you can see they loved it!



Looks like Touchdown Riders!

Ian trying to wear Dad's boots!

Well We Just Have to Enjoy It!

The Snow has come October 27th and I am shoveling the driveway! Well, I guess we just need to enjoy it because we won't be seeing this in Mombasa! Right now in Mombasa it is the evening and it is 25 degrees C. with 91% humidity!! Yikes. That is going to be an adjustment! Ian was happy to get out this afternoon and try playing in the snow!



Here are a couple pics of Grace a couple days before the snow. Grandma made her a new sweater and pants. And also as you will see a sweater for "sheepy" too which Grace also has a matching sweater too!

Your Son is Not Here...

So, had a rollercoaster day today. I went to Hebrew class as usual this lunch hour. I left the kids with our babysitter who feeds them when they come home from school and then sends them back to school. Elijah was a bit late in leaving for school after lunch and was quite upset because he was scared he would be late. He was late one other time and he was given a late slip to take to his teacher. If you know Elijah you know receiving something like this would be pretty much the worst thing that could happen to him. He does not want to offend or disappoint. His sense of responsibility is quite impressive in those types of situations. (Other situations like teasing his sister is another story!!!) Anyway, about 10 minutes after 1 pm I got a call from the secretary at the school. "Your son is not here" she said. I figured there had to be an explanation. Maybe she didn't see him when he walked in or something. I put Ian on the back of my bike and we raced down to the school to find out what was going on. We got there and I checked his shelf where his shoes would go and they were not there. Then I was worried. Where is he? Maybe he hurt himself on the short-cut walking down to the school and has a bloody knee or something and is waiting for someone. I went back out on the bike with Ian. He was not there. Now I was worried. The neighbor had Grace and she suggested phoning the police. I knew if we didn't get this figured out in the next 5-10 minutes I needed to call. I went back to the school one more time thinking maybe because he was late he went into the playground and was in the back of the school grounds. No he was not there. Now I was very very worried. Just then the neighbor called and she said she had Elijah at her house! Praise the Lord!

Back on the bike Ian and I raced to her house to find out what happened. As the story came out I found out he was scared to get a late slip so he hid in our backyard! Wow! I explained to him it was not his fault it was an accident that he was late. Kind of like when he would break a toy that was not his by accident. He would not be in trouble but it was just an accident that he was late. It is better to go to school than to hide and no one knows where you are. I tried to get him to understand everyone would just be really happy to see him. We had some milk and cookies and then he felt better and so did I! So, at that point he had enough courage to walk back to school. Down to the school we went and I walked him into his classroom. The funny or maybe more sad thing is that the secretary still wrote up a late slip which I just quickly took from her so Elijah would not have to see it or deal with it. I guess in fairness to her she did not know why he was so afraid to come to school. But, I wonder if there is another way to encourage students who have a problem being late to be on time without penalizing or humiliating those who truly do not want to be late?? Suggestions?

So that was my day. Glad to have everyone sleeping in bed now under one roof! Praise the Lord!

Passport Photo's

Yesterday, we went to town for our passport photo's. Thankfully, we went to a place that had a patient photographer.

The photographer wanted to start with Ian. He tried and tried to get a picture. But every time Ian saw the red light come up on the camera before the flash he would laugh and smile! If he wasn't laughing and smiling he was looking down, looking side to side, lifting his hands, or opening his mouth. It got to the point where we thought maybe we could snap a photo of him with food in his mouth. So, I ran down to 7-11 and picked up something to try that. That didn't work either! Finally, the photographer got it! A moment of celebration in the camera shop!

Elijah and Grace did great for their photo's. And so now we begin finishing up the paper work and getting the passports in. Bringing us one step closer.

Peek a Boo!

Ian now loves to play peek a boo with us at the supper table. The thing is if you get him going he will not stop! It is so funny! We have an absolute blast with him!




Here a couple great pics of Ian too. The CFL season has started and it is obvious I am training Ian early which team is the right team to cheer for. Go Riders Go!

Skating Around the World Finale

The kids have been in the local skating club for the winter. This was Grace's first year and Elijah has been going now for a couple of years. The skate club usually does a final show for all the parents and the community and this year the theme was Skating Around the World. Grace had the Caribbean theme and Elijah was western.

They both did a great job. Grace is still at the stage where her skating looks more like "running" on the ice. Elijah since he has been at it longer had significant improvements this season and was gliding, jumping, stopping, and backing up.

The pictures of the two older kids are in the dressing room. Gracie is sitting with Grandpa as he helped her tie her skates. And we can't forget Ian he was in the stands with us cheering everyone on!

Birthday Mania

A few days ago we took on the brave task of inviting four kindergarten boys over for Elijah's birthday. It was only for 2 hours but it felt like more like 4 for us parents!

The boys had a great time though, playing pin the tail on the bunny, scavenger hunting, eating hotdogs and cake, and then more games!

It was a really special day for Elijah. He had been anticipating this birthday for many months! What made it so great was that all the boys that came were so excited too. The energy level was definitely on HIGH!

Amie made the cake for Elijah. She did a great job! A chocolate cake with white icing and gummy bears.

the kids

Thought I'd give you some pictures of the kids. I know there are grandparents and great-grandparents out there who love pictures of the kids. So where are a few to keep you all happy!
Boys, they can be cute when they want to be!