Unexpected tooth

Jonathan got a tooth today, and we didn't even know he was teething... and it looks like a molar! Wierd... Sorry for the wierd expression, it's hard getting a picture of a tooth that far back!

Doing better...

Bless, Billy! He had a wonderful idea for school and for the past two days, school has been MUCH nicer. He thought that each subject should have a definate time limit, and that when that time came, I should move on the the next subject instead of just continuing on indefinatly. School had been going on to 3 or 4pm, and Katrina's behaviour and attitude digressed during the course of the day. I was excited at the thought of finishing school by 1pm everyday, regardless of whether Katrina was "on-task" that day or not. So, I decided to give it a try.
We wanted to help motivate Katrina, so when we told her our new plan, we added that she could earn 5 minutes of time on her video game for each subject that she DID finish within the time allowed (30 minutes per subject). That put the pressure on her, and off of me to speed up the pace of school.
And it worked!! Praise God, it worked. She now is eager and excited to complete each subject and keeps asking, "How much time do I have left to finish Math/Writing/Reading/etc.?" I am amazed at how much she has been able to get on task.
She still gets distracted, but seems to be trying to get herself back on task alot more.
Thank you, Jesus!

Feeling sick

Today, I am feeling sick. I have a headache, and have felt sick to my stomach all day. It feels like someone is stabbing my stomach with knife and twisting it. I tried to do school, and we got through math and phonics before I gave up and crashed. I didn't eat anything until 4pm, then I had a dry piece of toast. That did okay, so I'm going to try some chicken soup for dinner.
Somehow, feeling sick makes me feel homesick. Today, I am missing my family. It's only been 3 months since I've seen them, but it feels long today.

School daze...

Ever since I have returned home to Arusha and my family Feb 15th, Katrina and I have been butting heads about homeschooling. We took a week off when I first got back, mostly because I was on jet lag. Then, we started school again, and I was shocked at how oppositional she had suddenly become. Seriously, she would sit and scream at me, or pout in the corner, or outright refuse to do anything regardless of the punishment. Yikes! So, in March, we took a much needed family vacation for 2 weeks to Dar to reconnect as a family, after I had been gone for a month.

We returned home to "life as usual", including school, and things have been doing better. She seems to swing between having good days and bad days, but the good days are starting to out-number the bad days. Praise God!

Even before all of these Behavior Issues, while I was back in the States, I was looking at material for some concerns I've had with Katrina's learning ability. (Not sure I'm saying it right??)... but I had some thoughts that she might be struggling with dyslexia or something similar (she often reads words backwards, and flips letters, etc.), as well as ADD or ADHD. Now, adding the behavioral issues on top of those two, makes school REALLY interesting. Not to mention we have a toddler that is very distracting, and Heather who doesn't mean to distract by her playing and singing, but does. Katrina is behind in phonics and reading (almost a grade level behind), but is doing really well in Math, go figure.

We are a little behind schedule with school, since we have taken so many breaks, but we will finish this school year in Sept, and will go right into 3rd grade. Please, everyone, if you could be praying for Katrina for her co-operation, concentration, and ability to learn and reading skills to improve. We are doing better, but we could still use the prayer!

PS. Heather is in K-4, and is starting to learn to read, and she loves it!

Jonathan takes steps

These aren't Jonathan's offical "first steps", but within a few days of his first steps. He can stand now on his own, with and without his prosthetic foot, and is taking 1-2 steps at a time. We are VERY excited to see him starting to walk... soon we are going to have a toddler running around the house! Praise God!