Scott's swimming

 Below Scott is on the 2nd block ready to "dive" in.  They were swimming relay laps during swim team practice.  The coach told Scott recently that he will get to swim in a meet or 2 this school year.  There are 8 during the year.  We are going to try to go to the October one so Scott can see what it is like.

 Looks a little more like a jump than a dive

Below-Scott is swimming-just to the right of the pole

Ashley likes to watch the big kids jump in and make big splashes but her attention was drawn away by a new Fancy Nancy book we chose at the library!

 Scott is in the 2nd lane below-head above water and arm behind him-doing a lap of butterfly

I made him try on his new swim team bathingsuit!

Our Creator

In my BSF-Bible Study Fellowship-class we are studying the book of Genesis-all year long!  Last year's study-Acts of the Apostles was great but we started in Acts and covered practically the rest of the New Testament.  It was A LOT of reading!  So I am excited that we get to spend the whole year in one book this year.  My discussion group leader is a very nice lady named Florence who is from Hong Kong.  I have much more respect for the guidelines of BSF now after being part of an international class-it really is amazingly like the class I attended in Greenville before having children.  In these first few weeks of class we have been talking about Creation and God's role as the Creator.  It has been very good.  It is also neat that my sister in law Emily is in BSF in Atlanta and a girl that I babysat more years ago than I care to remember whose husband is in seminary in NC is a group leader too. 

In church last week, we talked about worship and God being worthy of our constant worship.  We talked about worth of crazily expensive things like the most expensive pair of shoes, car, watch, house, etc and that though we cannot put a $ value on God he is worth much more than all these things.  We also talked about  the fact that He is all powerful/omnipotent and also desires an intimate relationship with each of us.

We sang "I am a friend of God"

Who am I that you are mindful of me
That you hear me, when I call
Is it true that you are thinking of me
How you love me, it's amazing
 CHORUS:
I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
I am a friend of God
He calls me friend
   BRIDGE:
God Almighty
Lord of Glory
You have called me friend
 and

                "Here I am to worship"
Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness.
Opened my eyes, let me see.
Beauty that made this heart adore You
Hope of a life spent with You

Here I am to worship,
Here I am to bow down,
Here I am to say that You're my God
You're altogether lovely
All together worthy,
All together wonderful to me

King of all days
oh, so highly exalted
Glorious in heaven above
Humbly You came
To the earth You created
All for love's sake became poor


and MY FAVORITE


From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
Creation's revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
All exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untamable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go
Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow
Who imagined the sun and gives source to its light
Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night
None can fathom

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name
You are amazing God
All powerful, untamable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God
You are amazing God

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God

All powerful, untamable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and You know them by name.
You are amazing God

Incomparable, unchangeable
You see the depths of my heart and You love me the same
You are amazing God
You are amazing God

Funny things about going back home

I read a note in the American Women's Club Magazine from a lady who lived here and moved back to Virginia recently.  She wrote to say hello to everyone in Manila and share some funny things as they adjusted to life back in Virginia.  She has 2 elementary school age daughters.  I did not know this lady but her article was very funny.  She said:

1.  Her girls did not know what knee socks were when they had to buy them for their school uniforms.

2.  She had to get used to using the dishwasher machine again, said that it felt weird not to wash things by hand.  I told Greg recently that part of me would like to know what the Mythbusters guys would say if they tested our handwashed dishes for germs but part of me just doesn't want to know.

3.  Target or Wal-Mart-she was SO excited about shopping and finding everything in one place.  She said she had not heard "out of stock, ma'am"  even once since returning.  That is a phrase we here often here but are never sure if they truly don't have what we are looking for, never carried it in the store, or don't know what we are talking about but don't want to tell us that.

4.  She says that her girls are starting to get the concept of picking up their own things and putting them away.  We have to tell Ms. Dali not to do too much of this for our kids because we don't want the same thing to happen to them.

5.  She said that she really enjoyed fixing hot chocolate last Winter.  Though hot chocolate is popular here and there's a Starbucks on every corner I can't imagine drinking hot chocolate or coffee here-just too hot.

Fun times

 One day when there was no school, the kids and I went to Fun Ranch-Scott and Ryan are each in these bubble things in the water.  Scott has on a bright orange shirt and Ryan is in a red striped one.

 They had a ball

 Ashley and Ryan were riding in the new ferris wheel

This is a new hairbow that I bought Ashley while we were home this summer and she wore it at home for a while before going to school on this particular day and she told me it was a "good running bow".  When I asked her why she told me "because it doesn't slide out of my hair"  That made me laugh!

 After school that day, we went to the mall to meet Ashley's little buddy Hannah for a pizza lunch and some rides.  They were so funny running around the mall holding hands.  They had to sit next to each other at lunch and on the train ride and the mommies had to sit on the other side of the table and other side of the train car.  We also rode the ferris wheel where the cars are shaped like tulips-a good day of little girl fun!

They hugged when they saw each other like it had been years-maybe a week is more accurate!  I am so thankful that God has given us all good friends here!   Hannah's mom Sheila is one of my favorites and Scott and Ryan could play for hours with Hannah's big brothers, David and Daniel-as long as there are enough legos for all of them!

Going Crazy Grocery Shopping

I was at a grocery store that I don't visit every week-on the usual hunt for cereal and though I did NOT find any cereal to make my family happy I hit the jackpot in other ways.

I found for the first time EVER in Manila-Jello lemon flavored pudding!  I bought 15 boxes and would have bought more if I could have reached them-they were on the very top shelf and I reached as far back as I could.  I also briefly considered putting Ashley on my shoulders to see if she could reach more, but decided not to make that much of a spectacle of us.

I saw refried beans-now I wouldn't touch those with a 10 foot pole but my friend who came here from Texas missed them terribly so I called her to see if she wanted me to buy her any.

Then I also bought myself a can of enchilada sauce which I had not seen here-though I now have a recipe to make my own.

Another day, I visited 3 different grocery stores looking for Honey Nut Cheerios and did not find ANY!  Some days I really miss Wal-Mart and Target.

I was buying a tub of mint chocolate chip ice cream recently and wrote a list of other available ice cream flavors:  Macapuno-which I read online is a variety of coconut, Ube delight-ube is a purple yam, avocado, cheese, golden langka or jackfruit-which I read tastes like a tart banana, bubble gum mallows-kids would probably love that one but it didn't sound very good to me   Interesting things to make ice cream out of!

Do you feel like you are going on a scavenger hunt every time you go out to the grocery store?  I am very blessed to be able to get as many "normal" things as I do at the store, but we do still joke that expats can make a full time occupation out of grocery shopping here.

Fun Fruit and Vegetable Friday

 Ryan's class had been talking about taking care of your body and healthy eating in Science.  Several parents sent in fruits and veggies for the kids to taste and snack on.  Above is Ryan's class-this was on house rally day at the end of spirit week.

 Mr. Marozzi had a slide show for the parents to watch showing pictures of things the kids have been doing recently.  It was fun.  I also read to the class-Pinkalicious, who turns pink and red from eating too many pink cupcakes and not enough green things!  They are a fun, nice group of kids.

 Below is Ashley's class one day-they were practicing their grandparents day songs

 and waving goodbye as they sang the "we are going" song at the end of the day. 

Funnies

Yesterday morning, it was Ryan's day (yes we have rules about that) to get in the car first but Scott got outside first.  Greg and I walked out the door together to see Ryan whacking Scott vigorously on the head trying to get him to get down out of the van door so that Ryan could get in first.  They were talked to on the way to the bus about this bad behavior-though Greg and I did have to laugh at Ryan's tenacity for what he wanted.  Sometimes the younger has to be cheered for-though we didn't tell him! 

So we had another conversation about this last night and reminded them of Jesus saying "the first shall be last and the last shall be first" and that what is important to Jesus may not be what is most important to people.  We talked about being polite and considerate and using good manners, being gentlemen-all things that we have talked about several times before.  The new twist is now they get a point every time they offer to let someone else go first!  And the one with the most points at the end of the day is rewarded somehow.  So Ryan offered to let Scott get in the car first this morning.  They both got a point for offering to let the other get out first at the bus stop and Scott offered to let Ryan get on the bus first so as it stands now-both boys have 2 points.  We said this could also be great to use with who goes first in a game or who gets to hug Daddy first when he gets home-yet another thing argued about at our house or who gets to scan their tag first at church on Sunday.  We also challenged them to look for opportunities to let someone else go first at school.

I will try to remember to update later on how things are going and if it is a good solution!

Ashley and her class are going on a field trip to a bee farm on Friday so they have been talking about bees in their class.  She told me yesterday that there were different kinds of bees-the queen and the worker bees and she thought maybe a "King bee."  I tried not to laugh too hard when she said that and told her that she should ask her teacher about that today :)

Craziness here

I was out shopping and saw more Easter candy today (early September)-I did not buy anymore!

There is a shoe store in the mall here where you can buy shoes-MEN'S shoes that promise to make you up to 4 inches taller! 

I was shopping again recently (mid September) and saw the perfect Christmas trees for my sisters and brothers in law-all 4 Auburn grads.  Jake, Em, Chris, and Jodi-don't you want a BRIGHT ORANGE Christmas tree???????  They were only about $140 but of course I would probably spend nearly that much again shipping it to you all the way from here.  In the same store with the orange tree, they had a hot pink one, lime green and bright aqua. I saw ornaments, lights-some strands that even sing to you, and all kinds of other decorations out.  I felt sorry for the cashiers who have to listen to the singing Christmas lights for almost 4 more months.  They were bothering me after standing in line just a very short time!  I also saw a blow up thing for your yard-Santa flying an airplane-it was nearly $300!  Don't think we will have one of those!

Ashley and I were in a bookstore that we don't usually go in and she got all excited about all the Santas in there as part of decorations.  What made me laugh was the one table of Halloween decorations and costumes in the midst of all the Christmas stuff.

We were eating lunch over the weekend and were having Doritos-Greg said that he thought they didn't taste as good because they weren't as "cheesey".  I laughed at him and didn't take him very seriously.  While out shopping this week I bought a bigger bag of Doritos at a different store.  The "not as cheesey" ones were made in Taiwan and the bigger bag was made in Texas.  Both were marked import on the bag.  We did a blind taste test after dinner last night and Greg said the ones made in Texas were better and "cheesier".

As moms we laugh about our job titles and the many hats we wear no matter where we live but something that is funny to me about living here is that only my close friends actually call me Susan.  I have had children-even Scott's friends call me "Scott's mom" which makes me laugh-a title that I am glad to have but it still makes me laugh.  Our helper, driver, etc all call me ma'am.  In Tagalog the word for ma'am or sir is "po" used as a title of respect which is nice but it is funny to me when I am called both po and ma'am together.

Ashley's classmates are hilarious.  I have trouble telling the girls apart and have been trying to learn their names correctly.  MJ-short for Marianna Jo, I think-calls me "Susan" and says hi to me loudly every morning at school.  I couldn't remember Zoey's name and kept calling her other things.  This morning I called her Zoey and in a minute, she said "no I am Steph"  As I was starting to apologize for calling her the wrong name AGAIN one of the teachers smiled and said that she was teasing me that she really was Zoey.

Ashley's Grandparent's Day Program

I missed all of Ashley's grandparents for her today-the ones at home in the US and the ones at home in Heaven.  I know that they all would have loved watching her sing and dance with her class this morning!

More Kids Books

 The boys' school library has lots of good books about other cultures-though we are learning to take things that we read with a grain of salt-some of the homes don't look like homes in the entire country and the same with the costumes-many were either native or festival costumes not what people wear every day.

 Jon Agee wrote a book called Mr. Putney's quacking dog that Grammy gave to Ryan.  His books are VERY funny.  These 2 are about a child who moves to a retirement community but decides it is not the place for him and a magician who has a bear instead of a rabbit in his hat.

 This one was one of Ashley's favorite for us to sing-it is a song about animals coming to the library for storytime and the whole book is written to be sung to the tune of "She'll be comin' round the mountain" 

 The moose in this book does not want to wait his turn to be in the book and then a mouse is chosen instead.  He is very sad so he gets to be in at the end as "Zebra's friend, Moose"

I believe these are the hens that are on the farm with Minerva Louise who is a crazy hen with a series of her own books-she wears people clothes and does all kind of other odd things-these hens want to go for a ride in the back of the farmer's red truck but they are scared.

Day to Day Happenings

 Ashley wrote a list above of what she wanted to do one day-going to school and swimming is what she said.  No I have NO idea what that is on the right side of the page

Below is a drawing of Mr. Efren, one of our drivers lately-he looked better before she started coloring in his face.  However, Mr. Efren is not pink and does not have 2 or 3 triangle shaped eyes.

 Ballet in a nightgown and tutu-ready to do ballet with her dvd on the weekend-getting ready for T and Th class

 Greg took an exam about Project Management recently and we were all excited that he passed and that his studying was over!  The test was taken on a computer so he found out immediately that he had passed so he texted to tell me.  When the kids got home that afternoon, we made a banner to congratulate him.  Below are some of the notes-We laughed really hard at Ryan's spelling of the word "past"

 Some of Ashley's coloring

 Most of the banner

 Scott's part-of course it involves a drawing of the Enterprise from Star Trek!

 Ashley brought home her lunch leftovers from Jollibee-brought in to celebrate a classmates birthday at school.  I have seen the spaghetti and chicken meals-they offer those at EVERY fast food restaurant here-don't know about you, but I don't think of those things as going together.  What made me laugh most was the peach/mango pie-no apple ones like at McDonald's or the Varsity at home!

 Thank you SO much to our friend who shared this very precious commodity with us to bring back!  We had CFA for dinner a couple of nights over the weekend and it was GOOD!  Not quite as good as the real thing but a wonderful substitute!