Friday, February 27, 2009

Hello and Good-bye...

Just a quick update on how my week's been going. I enjoyed a great training on Tuesday - part of the requirements for re-licensing for foster parenting. We are required to complete 36 hours of training in a 3 year period. My license was supposed to be renewed last June & the licensor finally made an appt. with me last week. I was reminded that I was not in compliance with the training hour requirements & if I wanted to continue being a foster care provider I should fix that. So I chose a course called "Helping Children Manage Grief and Loss". I wasn't looking forward to it as most of these classes are not taught from a Christian perspective - a little like suffering through a Psychology course in college. But this class was well worth my time. It was taught by a Pastor and long time Counsellor. He was quite interesting and entertaining to listen to and shared a wealth of information on child psychology as it relates to foster and adoption issues. He is a national speaker and author (Fire Spitters - Gary Benton).

This week was a very short school week as Thursday and Friday were off for our mid-winter break. And, let me tell you it is still winter around here. The forecast was calling for snow on Wednesday but I figured that meant a little bit of white stuff with the rain that was already coming down. By midday, as I was helping with hot lunch at school it indeed looked like it would be staying. It became much colder by evening and the snow kept coming down - enough to close some schools and cause others to begin late the next morning. Ours was already scheduled off so we just enjoyed a relaxing morning while we watched the pretty white stuff outside. This also gave me time to prepare for a short trip we had planned. Henry is attending a convention put on by one of their work suppliers and so I have the opportunity to go to Phoenix AZ with him. (twist my arm... okay I'll come with!) My suitcase is packed - shorts, swimsuit, suntan lotion... you get the picture. I'm looking forward to warmer weather & I'll tell you more about it later and possibly share some pictures.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Fondue





On Valentine's Day weekend I finally used the fondue set that our youngest bought me for Christmas. I borrowed two other sets so we could have different types of foods - one was chocolate for strawberries, grapes, bananas, etc. and the other was cheese for broccoli, french bread and ham and the main one was oil for the different types of meat. The nice part about having fondue is that it takes quite a while to eat - which makes up for how long it took to cut & prepare everything. We had friends join us and we all had a great time eating very yummy food. The kids especially loved it as it was their first time eating a fondue meal. We'll definitely do it again.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

What I'm reading...


Not a lot of news to report from our home. I've been reading some good books... I finished Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton - a story about the history of South Africa. Interesting but sad... "H"s class did presentations on various countries this past Friday - with displays, maps, power points, music and food to make it come alive. H and her friend did South Africa so we both learned about this country together.

I am also reading some children's literature - which it nothing out of the ordinary since I volunteer at our school library. I really enjoy reading books geared towards the elementary grades (not sure what that says about me...) Several of our school librarians (including me) are registered to attend an Author's Conference at Western Washington University. I am really looking forward to it since I was not able to attend last year. The authors that will be speaking there are Pam Munoz Ryan (When Marian Sang), Sara Pennypacker (Clementine), Joan Bauer (Hope Was Here) and Brian Selznick (The Invention of Hugo Cabret). I do not recommend the Clementine books - they remind me of Amelia Bedelia, except she has a very bad attitude...

Monday, February 02, 2009

Basketball Tournament






This past weekend J had an overnight trip with the Sr. basketball team to play in a tournament in Vancouver. It was hosted by West Point Grey Academy and it was their first year hosting it. I think there were 8 teams involved - mostly smaller schools - some private and some not. We found out Saturday morning that they had won both of their games and would be playing late afternoon for the championship. A bunch of us decided it was worth driving down to cheer them on. They played a tough game but could not pull ahead to win it but were quite happy to take home a trophy for second place. All around it was a great experience for them and a wonderful learning opportunity. Here's a few pictures - not the greatest but better than nothing.