All In a Days Work

When the kids are on holiday for 2 1/2 months it is a very busy time for me. So much to do and just one set of hands to do it. The kids are growing up so fast and they are such an incredible help to me it definitely lightens the load. They really have grown over the past year.... the home has a real peace over it! Praise God!

We have really been sticking to a schedule for learning English. The kids are already tops in their class in speech so we are working on writing and reading.

The older kids are getting very good at pronouncing words phonetically, which will be very beneficial to them. They love to learn too, first thing out of their mouths in the morning is 'who are you teaching first Mom?' I usually teach the six older kids individually as a couple of them were just following the ones that understood, not under their own understanding. With the younger kids I am working on the alphabet and on reading. They can pick out many words on their own and are very excited to point them out. They are taught English in the school system but usually by a Thai teacher that can't even speak English themselves. My grammar isn't always the best but the books they send home in English are terrible.... I can't believe that they aren't written properly. The kids bring them home now and say the teacher would like mom to read the book and correct the mistakes.... too funny. (oh, if they only knew the difficulties I had in school.... lol)

Something new for me this year; I am working/over seeing the English Nursery in our ministry for 5 weeks. Becky and Matt were making a trip to Canada for some rest and rejuvenating and they have helped me out so many times that it was my turn to return the favour. The kids at the nursery are so precious. I also brought a couple of ours so that there would not be difficulties in the home when I was away. I only go for 1 1/2 hours in the morning and in the afternoon. Between Mark and David taking turns caring for the younger kids we were able to pull it off. This past week and next week, Mark is away at Music Camp so David is looking after things for me. They are such awesome young men.

On the left, Victor was helping out, by washing the floor when the kids were having their snacks. On the right, he was hiding from the Thai teacher so she wouldn't give him any more chores to do - ah, he is good at hiding. :) I only have one week left, which I am looking forward to. I definitely draw my strength from the Lord!