Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Copy Cat

For a long time in our house we have asked the kids to show us their teeth when they think they are done brushing.  We then tell them if it is ok to rinse or keep brushing.

This is Charlotte as she gets her teeth checked.

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Sophia also loves to brush her teeth.  As soon as we say, “time to brush your teeth!” Sophia is off running to the bathroom to get her tooth brush, meanwhile yelling “TEETH!” 

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A while back she started into the same habit the other 4 kids did when she thought she was finished.

This is what she does…

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Sunday, September 27, 2009

September School Success!!!

Well, we are now into our 4th week of school here.  It is hard to believe it is the last week of September and that school has begun.  The kids are doing great.  They are really enjoying having a new teacher!!!  Jessica has settled in well to life in the Talbot house.  We are a busy house and there is never a dull moment here. 100_1265Jessica helps each of the kids when they get stumped on a question.  Notice the “now I see what I did wrong” expression on Kyle’s face!!!   

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Each of the kids work independently on their work at our big table in the school room. 

This year Eli switched curriculums completely and is doing well with his work. 

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Hala also switched to a new curriculum and is doing great.  I work one on one with her in Math each day.  Math is very hard for her but she is learning many new things.  She has been introduced to multiplication now and is understanding the easy ones so far, i.e.: 0x, 1x, 2x, 5x and 10x.  This is a great thing for her to start getting into her brain.

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Kyle is doing a mix of old and new curriculum.  He likes the old and the new stuff.  He is a real thinker when it comes to doing his work but once he finally gets the new concept it sticks in his brain!!!

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Charlotte is a busy little girl.  Before we furloughed she had completed grade one with Bobbi. (that was a year ahead for her age)  But when we enrolled her in the public school she had to do “age appropriate”, being grade 1.  She did very well in her class and enjoyed all the new friends she made.  When we returned to the Philippines in March, we decided to do whatever workbooks we could find to keep her busy.  So seeing as she never actually started the second grade curriculum, we thought we would start her off there and see what she does.  Well, these days she is doing 2-3 lessons a day.  She will be done her grade 2 school books sometime into the new year.  So now we look to see what she should do after that.  I guess we keep moving ahead.  She has a hard time sitting still but is a smart cookie!!!

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So what about Sophia???  She is almost 2 years old and a very busy, talkative little girl.  While the other kids are doing school, Sophia plays with her toys and often helps her Ate with the laundry in the morning.  This means she gets her own bucket of water to sit and play in!!! (Notice the wet ponytails, guess what she just finished doing???)

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Just the other day, Sophia sat at the supper table and yelled to everyone, “guys, guys, supper, eat, guys!!!”  Supper was ready and she was hungry.  Guess we should hurry up and get to the table next time!!!

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Please continue to pray for the kids as they do school this year.  We will be spending lots of time in the village thus making a school routine hard to keep.

Continue to pray for me and this pregnancy.  I am still having morning sickness (actually all day sickness.)  It has been 6 weeks of it now and that is usually the most I get but it just doesn’t want to go away.

What ‘wood’ be…

As I am working on Christina’s cabinets for her tribal house I am reminded of the convenience we have back in Canada.  Building a house or cabinets here involves a lot more work than 'back home’.  It’s not just a matter of running to the Home Depot and picking up some nice, kiln dried lumber to work with.  Just ask my Dad from his time here with us. Let me enlighten you a bit. 

The lumber, after it is cut down in the forest, gets dragged by carabao (water buffalo) through the mud into the village.  Then it is sliced with the chain saw into the required sizes… well sort of.  (I asked for some 2 x 3’s for example, and the final rough sizes ranged from 1 1/2 x 4 to 3 x 3.)  DSC02886

Of course the lumber is not ready yet for construction.  We scrape off the most of the muck (mud and other ‘dirt’) and try to stack it in a relatively neat pile so it can dry out a little.  ‘Dry’ is a relative term here, so we can’t leave it for long as I’d be waiting for a really long time.  And of course, the longer it is left to dry, the more inviting it becomes for mould to grow on it, termites and ‘bukbuk’ to eat it, and ants, scorpions, snakes and other various critters to make it their home instead of mine. IMG_6146

When I’m ready to use it, the wood has to be moved to the work site (wet, tropical wood is not generally light, just ask Dad) and prepared to use.  The rest of the muck, which is hopefully dry be now, needs to be brushed off with a wire brush so it doesn’t destroy the planer DSC03094 blades.  Then, it needs to be straightened out initially by chalking a line on it and ripping it with the circular saw.  The hand planer gets rid of the bigger lumps left from the chain saw and cleans the piece up more to prep it for the thickness planer.  We have been blessed greatly (thanks to a local church there in North America) by having this machine, and when it breaks down, which it has, the process becomes a much harder. 

After getting it to the right thickness, the wood can then be straightened out more with the circular saw and/or hand planer, and ripped to size with our table saw (another blessing from one of our churches ‘back home’).

The trick in milling down the wood to be used is working it when it’s not too wet, but not so dry that it’s too hard for the machines.  Also, it needs to be used shortly after it’s been milled before it dries out more and shrinks, twists, cracks or warps beyond use. 

Having said all this, for those of you who know me, I am thoroughly enjoying being able to use my practical talents like this.  It’s a lot of work, and some days it feels like the building process will never get done.  But in the Lord’s timing it will, so we can move in with the Ga’dang people, learn their language, and be able to share the Gospel message with them.  The Lord reminds me that we’re in the relationship building stage as well right now.  Pray for us as we seek to build a good foundation in relationships with these tribal people.  Just ask DAD.

by Chuck.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Eli in the tribe

This past week I had the opportunity to take Eli into the tribe with me.  It was good for us to have some Dad and son time.  DSC03092

While we were in there, he was able to lend a hand to me as we worked on Christina’s kitchen cabinets.  DSC02957I was glad to have Eli with me, and he enjoyed it too. 

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When asked what he liked about this trip, he replied “bathing in the river and eating wild pig!”

by Chuck

Friday, September 4, 2009

Dreams had and dreams soon to be fulfilled!!!

1-27-2009 9;15;29 PM It is hard to believe that Chuck and I started dating just over 15 years ago now.  So it was 15 years ago that we began to dream of what our future would look like together. 

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First we dreamt of marriage, then of kids and a future as tribal missionaries.  God has taken us through many ups and downs over the last 15 years but He continually proves Himself faithful.  This November we will celebrate 14 years of marriage.  What a gift God had in store for me 15 years ago.  I thank the Lord for such a wonderful husband. 

Lord willing in the new year we will move permanently into the tribal village the Lord has for us to serve in.  It is so amazing to see His plans for us laid out before us and a fulfillment of that dream soon to come.  Another dream we had was for a large family. 

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First came Elijah Matthew Francis on July 1, 1997.

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Then there was Hala Anne-Marie on January 9, 1999.

1-27-2009 9;13;02 PMThen came Kyle Andrew Paul on September 2, 2000. (Happy 9th Birthday Kyle!!!)  09-02-2009 2;03;40 PM

Then came Charlotte May on September 13, 2002.

Talbot family

Then came Sophia Irene on October 17, 2007.

From the early days of our dating, we felt that the Lord would have us to have a large family.  Six to be exact.  Well, the Lord is bringing that dream to fulfillment next April too.  We asked the Lord to show us His desire about fulfilling that dream and we are pleased to say that our family will be complete in April. Pray for us as we go through all the transition of moving into the tribe along with being pregnant and then having a newborn baby.  Pray for safety as we will still be hiking in and out of the village until the end of February. Pray for me as I am going through my usual morning sickness that is not just morning sickness, more like 24/7 sickness.  Pray it will pass soon.  Pray for the kids as they adjust to one more little one in the family.  Eli thinks we have enough kids but Kyle is very,very excited to have another one in the family. Hala and Charlotte are good so long as it is a boy, as they don’t want anyone messing in their stuff.  Too bad they don’t realize that boys will still mess with girls things too!!!