Snakes Past Snacktime

Last week Isaac decided that he wanted to be an artist and a writer. He has been reading the "Magic Treehouse" books which inspired his first story, Snakes Past Snacktime... I typed it for him, just as he wrote it (because I thought it was super cute!). I told him I would put his story on our blog. He's very excited about being "published" :)

Snakes Past Snaktime

By Isaac Reid Fowler, Age 6

Jack and Annie were so hungrey they thot they cold go for a walk in the woods and look for acorns to eat. Allofasudden they lookd up they saw a rope hanging from a coconut tree. They thot they cold tak a look what was up there in the tree house. Then Annie ran as quickly as she cold and Jack came running up behind then annie stardid to clim up the rope then they were both at the top then annie picked up a book that sade snakes of Africa. Then annie said I wish we were in Africa. Olusadin the tree house started to spin uround then it stoped then there were lots of trees then they new that they were in the jungle then they saw a green momba in a tree then they saw a pythion was slisering up the tree. Then they were so scard and they didind no wat to do then a bird came to the rescu then the tree went in sercoles. They went throu the woods then they were home.

Day at the Zoo

For the last few days the kids have each been researching a different animal that can be found at the local zoo here. They had to write down their facts and today we got to go on our first field trip! We met up with some friends and had a very fun morning at the zoo. Rylea chose to do her facts about zebras, so here she is in her zebra glasses (with a real zebra bum in the background!)

Here's the gang checking out the river otters.

Isaac reported on the Nile Crocodile. I must say his toothless grin really fits his personality :)

One of the "wild" animals at the zoo, not in a cage! The spiders were huge and plentiful.


There's a neat chimpanzee exhibit there. Here's the whole group near the exhibit. The kids cracked up at one of the chimps who was showing off for us, hitting the water with a big branch and "talking" to us!

We had fish and chips for lunch at the zoo restaurant. When they say "fish" they mean the whole caboodle :) Thankful for a fun day and for kids who are enjoying learning new things :)

Last Week

Last week we had some really good days and a really bad day... one day Mr. Phil took the kids sailing! They got to take turns going out with him in this small sailboat he rented at the sailing club. They LOVED it!

While the other kids waited for their turn, they got to swim. Since Leo works at the sailing club on the boats, we have a family membership there. It's only a 10 minute walk from our house and has a great pool for our family. What a blessing!

Miss Linda took some of the kids down to the beach to play in the sand too. We had a perfect afternoon!

On the way home from our afternoon at the beach, we picked up our new kitten, Tana, from our neighbors. She was such a sweet little thing. Here she is looking in the window while we ate dinner that night.

In spite of her cat allergies, Rylea couldn't leave the kitten alone! All the kids fell quickly in love with her, which leads us to our really bad day. Less than 20 hours after we brought Tana home, the kids all watched as our dog attacked and killed her. It was really tough. I know these things happen, but it broke my heart as all my children were sobbing their little hearts out. We were really thankful for Judy that afternoon as she took over the "funeral arrangement" for the kitten. The kids noted that just after the kitten died, there was a big thunder and rain storm (just like in the movies). It was a good opportunity to talk about how God cares about all the details of our lives, among many other discussions. We are now looking for a new home for the dog as we don't know how she'll do with any other small animals we want to bring home. This is difficult for the children too, as they all really like "Angel".

Mr. Michael has been teaching the kids how to model clay. They call it "pottery class" and they absolutely love it!


Here are some of their finished products, complete with a bunch of bananas, a papaya and various other creations! It's so neat how God continues to provide people to invest in our children, teaching them things I could never teach them. He is so good.

LAMP

I'm a couple of weeks behind in this post, but the same day that the kids started school, Leo and I started our one week of LAMP (Language Acquisition Made Personal) training. That week, we were joined by our facilitators, Phil and Linda Byler, and other new friends, the Breckenridges and two great gals who are working as nurses in Tororo for a time, Kelly and B. Here's our whole crew. We met as a group in the mornings and then for an hour had language helpers who would come to the house to work one on one with us.


The kids really enjoyed having everyone here too! Kelly and B were great with them and are actually coming back this weekend to hang out with the kids one night so Leo and I can go to dinner :) What sweet girls!!! The kids have been counting the days ever since they left!

Here is Leo with his helper, Pastor James (we have a Pastor James here too!)

The last day of our training, we invited our helpers to bring their families for lunch. All of the children enjoyed the legos and riding bikes in the yard. What a special week of learning and building friendships.

birthdays and school

August 25th was Samuel's 5th birthday and also his first day of Kindergarten! He got to open one present in the morning, one at lunch and one at night :)

The kids were all very excited for school to start. Here's Sam with Miss Judy! She is doing a wonderful job with the kids. This was also the first day we started our language classes, so she's been doing all the school with the kids so far.

The whole class (plus Malachi)! We have an extra bedroom in our downstairs that we've turned into the school room and it's great!

This is how Samuel ended his first day of school. Kindergarten must be exhausting!

The next day, the 26th, was Nezzie's 7th birthday! She got a new snorkel set for her birthday and then got to go to the pool and try it out :) We're thankful for these fun first birthdays in Uganda!

Abba House

Last weekend we had the honor of visiting the Abba House Children's Home here in Entebbe. When we arrived a group of children met us and excitedly showed us their new bore-hole, where they can get fresh, clean water!Leo quickly had several new friends :)

This is their old water hole, which they shared with the cattle.

It poured rain during our visit, but we were warm and cozy with all the cuddles and fun with the children. I got a glimpse into my girl's hearts as they quietly asked me several times if we could bring the kids home with us. At one point Rylea said, "Mom, how much money for these two girls?" I cracked up and then quietly explained that we don't buy children! It was pretty cute.

Leo was the human jungle gym for a bunch of the kids!

Rylea and Daphne. While we were there, the kids helped sand the walls to get ready for painting in the boy's dormitory. We hope to go back soon!