Reading Lesson

I've been struggling with how to teach Gabriel long vowels because most of the first grade reading books won't hold his interest (he may have the brains of a 5 year old, but I guess his attention span is more like that of a normal 3 year old). By the time the books get to long vowels, the stories are pretty long and everything I have tried has black and white pictures. So I am improvising right now, taking word lists from a set of books I have, and writing some of the sentences from the stories on the white board.

Gabriel really enjoys working on the white board, especially when he gets to erase things. Then, after we have done several word lists and sentences, I let him draw a picture on the board for one of my sentences. Today's sentence was "Ray will take a nap." Gabe set to work illustrating the picture, and he was whispering "This is his head. This is his stuffed animal. These are his eyes." I thought it was funny that he was whispering, so I whispered to Gabe, "You have to be quiet so Ray can take his nap." He looked at me and whispered back "Ray isn't real you know." He just cracks me up!

Fraggles Rock!!

When I saw Fraggle Rock on Netflix, I had to rent it - for the kids. When we put it in I said to Todd, "We are probably going to think - why did we ever like this show?" But 20 years later, the fraggles did not disappoint. Neither one of us could remember there being so much music in the show, but it was all so well done!

We let them watch one episode the first night and they begged for more all day the next day. When we let them watch it again, Cadence said "I like the bagels".

Dueling Dukey

Let me start by saying that the word "dukey" has recently been revived in my vocabulary. I don't remember how it happened - it may have come from a movie or something. But I think it is a funny word, and I have been using a lot. This bothers my boy genius who says "Mom, can you just call it poop?"

So, last week Jacob came home from his father's house informing us that his sisters had been sick, and the step-mom was throwing up the night Jacob was there. He was worried about getting sick, and rightly so because he tends to bring home all kinds of stuff from their house. And the next night it hit him. Wouldn't you think that by age 8 you would be able to puke into the garbage can without getting it all over the carpet every time? Well, Jake can't. The night of vomiting was followed by several days of diarrhea.

Then Cadence got it and shared it with her beloved daddy. Todd hasn't thrown up but has been feeling sick all week. Then yesterday, it hit me. Last night we were trying to watch our favorite night of television, but we ended up playing "dueling dukey" while we watched TV. We only have one toilet (unless you count the training potty) and we were taking turns running upstairs saying "tell me what I missed". Thankfully our stomachs were on a slightly different schedule. In the 2 hours of television that we watched, I don't think that we watched more than 25 minuets of it together.

So thank you, David, for bringing my son into your germ infested house once again! We are waiting for him to come up with $150 to pay his lawyer to redraft the surrender document so that we can get this adoption moving. The way he operates, that will probably take months...

Get them to the ranch

I think I have mentioned before that my sister, Cathy, and her family are in the process of moving to PA to pursue full time ministry at Miracle Mountain Ranch. They are actively looking for churches to speak at as they seek support (both financial and prayer). So far, they have traveled to Maine and various places throughout New York. So, if you are interested, or have a possible church connection for them, they would appreciate it. The ranch is a really neat place, and provides some great opportunities for young adults who might not want a traditional college education - you can earn an accredited associates degree in 1 calander year, while doing lots of hands on learing and character development. So here are excerpts from their current newsletter...

"We have been very busy the past two months. It is hard to believe that two months have gone by since we sent our first newsletter. Yet, it is also incredible what God has done in that short amount of time. It has been a blessing to see Him provide in many ways.
As we mentioned in our last letter. We hoped to move to the ranch at the beginning of September. Unfortunately, we have not been able to move yet. The last step that needs to take place is for our house in Syracuse to sell. We have a buyer who is very interested but the gentlemen works locally with the United Auto Worker’s Union and the union contract is in negotiations. He does not want to commit to purchasing a home until that is resolved. We had another couple look at the house yesterday. Lord willing, we will be free from the mortgage soon and be able to move.
In the meantime, Roger has been able to continue working with Kurt Peschka. It has been a real blessing to work for someone who is willing to be flexible. His flexibility has allowed us to work at the ranch a few times and travel to speak and share about our new work. We are grateful that the Lord has provided employment in this time of transition....

The day after graduation we headed to Maine for a series of meetings. Roger was able to preach at a few churches and present our new work. We were able to stay with Roger’s uncle Eric and his family. We always have a great time with them. We even got to do some sight seeing with them and Grandma Look.During our visits and meetings several churches and individuals mentioned they would be praying for us and they would consider helping us with financial support. We are so thankful for the many gifts and words of prayer and encouragement. PRAISE the LORD!! We have really enjoyed the opportunity to make new friends and to share about the ranch and the GOOD News of the gospel with some who have never heard of the hope that we have in Jesus Christ.

Please continue to pray:
· That we will have more opportunities to share the GOOD NEWS
· For our home to sell and for more financial support (we are currently at 55% of our total need)
· Praise for the gifts and support (both prayer and financial) that many have given already.
Even as we await the sale of our home we are hoping to be able to spend some more time at the ranch getting to know this year’s apprentices and helping with projects. We are also looking for more opportunities to share the ministry with churches and individuals. Please feel free to contact us if you would like more information or would like to be added to the Miracle Mountain Ranch mailing list."

They can be reached at rpiger at aol dot com.

4 and 1!

Coach Kelly managed to orchestrate another win Saturday morning, guaranteeing that the "Green Snakes" will finish above .500 this season. We didn't deserve the win this time - and I felt a little guilty as I stacked my team (putting my 3 best players in at forward all at the same time) in the fourth quarter with us down 1 - 0. "It's not about winning, it's about having fun!" that's what we are supposed to tell the kids. And the other team had moved the ball down the field and passed effectively the whole game. I can't seem to get my kids to work together - and last week Todd overheard one kid complain to another "coach is putting us both in, but she said we have to pass it."

I enjoy coaching, but I think I would enjoy it more with older kids, or maybe if I had an assistant at practices. I inevitably lose control about 3/4 of the way through practice and on game day they are all begging to play midfielder or goal keeper the entire game. The concept of team seems to be above the heads of these 6,7 and 8 year olds. The gap in skills and maturity between a 6 year old and an 8 year old is another part of what makes it hard to run practices. Either the drills are over the heads of the little ones or they are boring to the big ones - it's tricky to find a balance. But I had a great conversation with the losing coach after Saturday's game, and he gave me a few new ideas.

We play a lot of our games at Velasko Road, which was Faith Heritage's home field back in the day, and as I was warming my team up I thought "I would have made it as a keeper if we had used these goals - I don't even have to jump to touch the cross bar"

So, my team doesn't totally suck and most of them seem to be having fun most of the time. But really, deep down in my heart, it is really about winning!

Fundrasing

My niece Nicole is raising money to go to Jacksonville with her AWANA club. They are doing a "book party" and each order hips seperate ($4 shipping), so if anybody wants any Pampered Chef, follow the link www.pamperedchef.biz/lauriemitchell to browse the catalouge and contact me if you want anything!