Gibson wants to post this picture.
Prepare to be amazed.........

New Friends from Rwanda

We have been officially matched up through International Friendship Outreach. Our student is Jean De Dieu (in white shirt), here on scholarship from Rwanda. He is 20 years old and so friendly! When we went to meet him, we also met two friends of his, Velence (in khaki) and Prosper (in blue). We had a picnic packed and baseball tickets to see the Travelers play, so we loaded up in the car and all 8 of us spent the afternoon and evening talking and getting to know each other. I am so thankful to have met them. They are so kind, so inquisitive and so interested in knowing more about everything. I've posted a picture of the three of them with Craig and the boys. We enjoyed many laughs as we tried to communicate with our nonexistent french skills and their beginner english vocabulary. We really had a great time~

Interesting poem that I came across

Let Me Walk in the Fields

by George McDonald

I said, "Let me walk in the fields," He said, "No, walk in the town,"
I said, "There are no flowers there." He said, "No flowers, but a crown."
I said, "But the skies are black; There is nothing but noise and din,"
But He wept as He sent me back-- "There is more," He said, "There is sin."
I said, "But the air is thick, And fogs are veiling the sun,"
He answered, "yet souls are sick, And souls in the dark, undone."
I said, "I shall miss the light, And friends will miss me, they say.--
He answered:" Choose tonight If I am to miss you or they."
I pleaded for time to be given. He said, "It is hard to decide?
It will not seem hard in heaven, To have followed the steps of your guide."
I cast one look at the fields, Then set my face to the town.
He said, "My child, do you yield? Will you leave the flowers for the crown?"
Then into His hand went mine, And into my heart came He;
And I walk in a light divine, The paths I had feared to see.

so happy for the Schellhase family!

The Schellhases had their official commissioning and send-off at Grace Church this morning. I am so happy for the people of Niger! I am so sad for us. I have been so blessed to have known Debbie. She is an amazing person. It is amazing to see someone place their life in God's hands. It is amazing~ They are still in need of support, prayer and financial.

You can read their story and updates on: http://schellhasemissiontogether.blogspot.com

We had a nice, relaxing day. I finalized our homeschool plans. For history and geography, we are using Sonlight 6 and Ambleside Online book recommendations. I am so glad to be finished with that decision, and I am committing to not even looking at other curriculum!

The boys got their Iowa Test results yesterday. Braden (5th grade) scored a 8.6 grade equivalent on language and a 9.6 grade equivalent on math. Ethan (3rd grade) scored a 4.6 grade equivalent on language and a 4.2 grade equivalent on math. I am so proud of them!!!

Drama, drama, drama....

We are headed to the dentist this afternoon.
Gibson was walking on a low wall of boulders at my parents' house 2 weeks ago.
Of course, he went out without telling us where he was going and what he was going to do.
The wall is off-limits for walking on, obviously!
And, of course, he was wearing crocs that were completely bald on the bottom, thus no traction whatsoever....
Surprise, he fell and hit his mouth, bruised his gum and knocked a front tooth loose.
Since we were 4+ hours from our dentist, I gave him a tylenol and put ice on it, thought it was fine.
Until today, Craig noticed that it was looking discolored.
So, we are headed to the dentist, who is going to refer us to a periodentist.
I didn't know they even existed, and even though he can't do anything, we have to drive 30 miles to his office, just so he can refer us to this specialist and our insurance will pay for it.
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!
Just thinking about going to him makes me nauseous.

The last time we were there, Braden had to have a cavitied? (I'm pretty sure that isn't a real word) molar removed after 5!!! visits asking him if he was positive that it didn't need to be removed and it wouldn't cause the molar next to it to get a cavity.
Braden wanted it out, but guess what?
It was in there long enough to let the tooth next to it develop a cavity.
That kind of stuff makes me furious!
Aren't they supposed to know what the heck they're talking about, since they are professionals?
So Braden asks him to pull it, and he was shooting up his gum without even coming and telling me what was going on.
I was crying and nauseous and furious that he didn't even come and tell me that he was pulling it immediately.
I walk into the room seeing my son's mouth pried open and a needle as long as my arm in his mouth.
I still want to deck the guy~

Gib is our ER, emergency, danger child.
It's been a year or so since our last fiasco with him, and I was really hoping that it was a stage he had grown out of.
Apparently not, so it's off to the dentist for us.................
Lord, give me strength~