It started many years ago; the thought was the RVA kids would do good to be able to spend time in other parts of Africa. So, for one week a year, juniors and seniors have the choice of about a dozen interim trips they can take. Some choose to climb Mount Kilimanjaro; some go to the coast and study the reefs and some do what I did.
I was a last minute sub for a staff member who was injured, so...
When I walk Ben and Kate to school, we frequently have Addie walk with us. Addie likes to talk to me, and I always look forward to it, because anything goes. The other day she was quite animated:
Addie: This morning when I got up to go potty, I went and went so long I thought I would have to be there ALL DAY.
Me: (With the alarm born of 5 year old twins when they talk of going to the bathroom...
Missionaries are always going through transitions, and while adults get used to it, our little ones are spinning thinking about going to America in July. Ben called out for me the other night because of a bad dream, and after I had laid with him for awhile, he started snoring and I thought it was safe for me to slip back to bed. A short time later, he called out again:
Ben: Dad, the bad dream is not going away.
Me: What...
High on the list of charming things I do in Kenya occurs after I drop off Ben and Kate at school. As I walk to my office, I pass many young impressionable students. My combination of sensitivity and gentle wit serves me well as I yell loudly at young people: `It’s MY sidewalk. Off, off, off! It’s MINE.’
There was a particular group of second grade girls whom I so delighted in instructing this way. I loved how they fled from...
The tradition at RVA is a nice one; the kindergarteners through sixth graders (the titchies) collect money all term, and we use the money to buy food hampers for the elderly around us. Right before Christmas, we deliver the food to over sixty people.
There is usually a hitch, and the one this year was that it has rained almost every day for the past two months. It has made the already problematic roads amazingly worse, and then there was one...
They say this is the season of peace and joy, but you couldn’t tell it from our household. It has been pretty tense around here.
Part of the conflict has been Christmas music. My favorite Christmas song has somehow become `The Christmas Polka’ by Jim Reeves. More importantly, it is Ben’s favorite song, and he asks for it to be played OFTEN. This causes Nancy, JT, Matthew and now Katie to flee the room. But it is so catchy that I...
Another headline you might not see in America:
I know it may be hard to read, but there are rewards in this article besides the headlines. (Note especially the last paragraph of the first column.)
This is my crazy time of year, where I am writing recommendations and sending out college applications. Because we are a boarding school and because many of our families do not have access to the internet or secure mailings, I am working day and night trying to...
It was probably because we had boys before, but I don’t remember much skipping with the older kids. Then again, I was gone before they woke up and they were driven to school.
Nancy has a 7:45 class, so I get to take the twins to school which begins at 8. It isn’t five minutes away, but it is my favorite part of the day. Part of it is how much they love school, but most of it is the skipping....
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