A Random Catch-up Post

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So, I haven’t given an update in a while. I was just looking on our desktop and realized I had a post I never put up, but that is old news now, so I’ll just start again.

Last Friday, the 7th, our kids finished school for the year. They will start again in January in Grade 2 and Grade 3! Wow. On Friday Darin and I went to the Honors Program, which was like a little awards ceremony. It was actually quite nice. Each teacher gave awards to the kids in the class for things relating to academics and/or character. Jori received two awards, one for her writing skills and the other for her kindness. Our little Jori is definitely kind and we are thankful that others see that in her as well. She is also a bit of a know it all, telling us things like “Fragible means easily broken”. Not quite, but we appreciate the effort! Tyson received an award for his reading skills and his teacher also said that she often has to go home and Google things after talking with Tyson as he has a lot of general knowledge : ) After seeing the Grade 3 class receive their awards, Darin and I were even more convinced that we made the right choice in keeping Tyson in second grade for another half year and were so thankful for the recommendation that the principal made when we enrolled him there! He was definitely in the right class and with the right teacher at the right time.

We have really been enjoying the holiday so far. Jori was invited to a birthday party on Saturday, but the whole family was asked to come along. It was a great day of swimming and playing and eating loads of goodies and sweets for the whole family! That night the kids even stayed for a sleepover while Darin and I did a little grocery shopping and went on a game drive alone. It was just a really nice weekend for all of us. On Sunday our friends, the Warren’s, came to visit and brought hot dogs for a braai. It was a wonderful time of fellowship. We are so glad that our friends have shown a willingness to invest in our new life here at Tshepo ya Bana. They have been a real encouragement to us and the little ones also love having repeat visitors.

Darin has also been spending a lot of time with the kids, taking Tyson along to Pretoria one day and taking both kids to run errands in Hammanskraal another day. We are finding ways to squeeze in family time and I’ve noticed a big difference in all of our attitudes for having done this.

This coming week we have 2 sets of friends coming out for a visit, so that will be a treat for our family and for our larger “family” as well!

Speaking of our larger family, there have been some happenings around here. First, we had an incident of puking at the supper table. That led to a string of days where children were not feeling quite right, some very dirty nappies, one other child throwing up and one child who had a fever, which led to an epileptic-type of seizure. Thankfully we were aware of this condition so it didn’t come as a terrible fright, just a normal kind of fright. The stomach bug seems to have cleared out just in time for the runny noses and sniffles to start. This is life with small children!

We also are down to only 6 children as one of the boys went to live with his new mommy and daddy on Tuesday! I will not post his name here, but he was our best helper, always wanting to sweep, mop, rake, iron (with a fake iron), and pretend to do many other tasks, just like the mamas and papas. We sure do miss him, but after meeting his parents several times, we know that he is being very well loved and looked after and are so thankful for that.

We are also celebrating the 5th birthday of one of the other boys today and on Monday the baby turns one! This past Monday, Auntie Marlyn went back to Holland and on Tuesday Auntie Annelies returned from Holland. We are so happy to have her back along with Auntie Gemma. We are so very, VERY thankful for the volunteers here at TYB. They are doing an amazing job and I’m about 99% positive I would have already moved out if they weren’t here doing what they do each day.

So, that is the last couple of weeks for us. I am sure I have missed a few things, but my mind just doesn’t seem to retain as much information these days. I guess that means I’d better blog more regularly so that I don’t forget anything important! Maybe in 2013!

**We have been adding pictures to our Picasa site. There is a link at the top of our blog, so please check them out!

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi friend! Love you and the updates! Praying for continued health and patience! So glad you have others there to help carry the load!
December 17, 2012 at 7:55 AM
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