Homeschool

Joel started reading his first book today!!! He was so excited. I have built it up since Friday, and every day he has been asking if today was THE day. Well today it was!!

Next week three of my children will do their annual SAT testing. I'm often surprised at how well they do in some subjects and how poorly in others. Sometimes the things I didn't teach them are the things they excel in that year. Somehow they picked up what they needed to know. I'm not sure how my sixth grader will do this year. It seems he does so poorly in a subject unless I'm able to explain things to him and spend one on one with him. We've backed up on math since it seems as though he wasn't getting the concepts down.

In the end I know they can catch up. I know they don't need to know ALL those facts. So far the two I've graduated have done okay for themselves. One is in the ___ Academy and the other is in the plumbing business. My junior is getting an A in Honors Chemistry and my daughter loves to read and is so willing to help young moms who need a hand. It's not ALL about pronouns and fractions and the Northwest Ordinance of 1757 is it?

Adoption

I am seriously getting antsy overhere!!! I want to know who our new children will be! I'm waiting for a DVD from Kingdom Kids on young available children. I want to buy things, but don't know who to buy for! I received a CD I ordered from KK, it's Defending the Cause: an Orphan Symposium featuring Rev. W.C. Martin.

Looked at hotels online in the Addis area and I think we may go for the Addis Sheraton. The reviews seem to be four and half-to-five stars. I emailed a doctor in our area recommended for international adoptions to see if she would evaluate the medical information given to us when we receive our referrals.

Weight Watchers

Started WW at home yesterday. I would like to lose about twenty pounds before we fly to Addis. Picked up some WW frozen meals at Vons today. Tonight we had spaghetti, salad, sour dough bread and strawberries. (Hey, that's an "S" meal if I ever heard of one!) We'll have Smart Pop popcorn later. I figured out that the trail mix I was eating is half the points I'm supposed to have in one day. The Cold Stone ice cream I love? It's a whole day's worth of calories by itself, not counting the add-ins. Doggone it!!! Ah well, at least there's sugar-free fat-free Jello pudding. Rice cake anyone?

Sarah

Sarah is doing better. She went to the ortho yesterday and they reattached the metal clip (permanent retainer that is attached to the back of her teeth.) On Saturday she was able to push her tooth back in place, although it's still a little lower than the other one, and she wore her retainer to help keep it in place until her ortho could see her. She's done remarkably well. She's one tough cookie.