Updates September 2011

Life has kept us very busy in the past few months.    San and I spend most of our time driving the kids around to classes or activities.    Sam is in his last year of high school.    Since he is our first child graduating from high school, we are learning so much as we are navigating the process.    We started out with absolutely no idea how and where to look and what to study.   Until recently, we are finally able to narrow down to three colleges of intent and some idea what he wants to study.   God has been closing doors, opening doors, leading us to talk to the right person, etc....  and slowly pointing us to one direction.    It has truly been a humbling learning process.    During this process, we realized there have been areas in our homeschooling that we wished we had done differently.  I realized that no matter what education route we choose, there is no perfect education nor perfect kid, apart from the grace of God.

Sam is taking English 101 at Montgomery College this semester.  One of his first writing assignments is to write a descriptive poem of any topic.      I later found that this is what he wrote:

He is the North Star that guides me
The One who loves like a Father
He is the water of life,
That I will not thirst again
The Light that covers all darkness
He is the path that leads to life
The great I AM
He is the dealer in the game of fate
The aspirin when I have a headache
The parachute when I fall
My song in life

I couldn't believe my eyes when I read this.   This lovely poem came from the heart of this 17-year-old boy and this boy turn it in as his homework assignment in a non-Christian college!     It makes me smile.   The result -- He received a 25 out of 25 in this assignment and his professor wrote on his paper "Strikingly Written!"

Ben

Ben - When people ask me how Ben is doing, my response is always... "Well, Ben is.....still Ben.."  ha,ha....He is the one who always does all his homework in the fastest possible(AKA sloppy) way, just so that he can play some more.  He would chat with different girls on Gmail, but doesn't talk to them in person.  :-)    He is also the one who would always make his sisters cry....and smile.   This year, he has been the fastest boy in his middle school cross country team.   Life science is still his favorite subject.     For his first writing assignment, he chose to write about human cells.     


Pearl's speech has come along very well.   She has been working hard on the B, P, O and H sounds.   What comes natural to healthy kids is challenging for her.   I can't even remember how our three older kids learn to talk - they just picked up.. somehow..... But for Pearl, she is taking on one letter sound at a time;   sometimes spend a month on one sound, and still not perfecting it.    She is a fighter, she is a learner.  She tries and tries very very hard every time we practice.       She is now able to speak in 3-5 word sentences.  Her articulation is still not clear, so sometimes we have such hard time to understand her.  But we are so proud of her progress.



Faith has been sitting in Pearl's speech therapy session every week, and she is really learning the speech techniques that were taught.   If you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up, she would tell you firm and clear, "a Speech Pathologist".



Our two daughters in China - We received both of their RAs on the 19th!   Our agency told us if everything goes well, we will be traveling in December!   I really hope so.     All of us want to go to China again, so this will be our second once-in-a-life-time, super expensive family trip!  :-)   No more vacation in at least five years!

Here are some interesting facts about our two daughters:

Our 5-year-old Bethany - She likes to play with babies or other children outside the yard.   She is determined and strong-willed!   She likes to copy phrases that she hears.   She can walk around the yard by herself.  But she becomes scared in unfamiliar places.  She can use a spoon to feed herself.  She can speak clearly (I hope she speaks Mandarin).  She will tell her foster parents which children annoy her.   :-)   She greets her family members when they return home each day.  She can guess who is coming by their footsteps and voice.   She asks, "is it beautiful?" when she is dressed in new clothes.  She likes to imitate the older children going to school.  She likes to ask other children to give her a pen and some paper to write with. ( Yes!  my daughter, you, too, will go to school to learn to read and write very soon)

 I can't wait to tell her that God loves her and she is beautiful just the way she is.

Ruth - our 1-year-old cutie - She likes to eat noodles, rices and vegetables.   She takes 4 bottles of milk everyday.   She likes to smile when she hears little sound.   She can stand without assistance.   She is curious but mild mannered.  She likes to respond to people with a smile.  She uses simple gestures such as shaking head for "no".   She likes to play with other kids.