Jacob and Daddy in the Woods

Yesterday, Daddy took Jacob on a speacial Father/Son adventure on a trail behind the lake. Daddy showed Jacob where he spent 3 hours with God on his personal retreat. Jacob kept asking "Have a good time with God here, Daddy?" It was pretty cute. Then we found the rock and Jacob said a prayer there- pretty sweet stuff. :)

We have been fishing a number of times and hope to get some pics of that up soon.

Lydia's Teacher's Post

Hello family and friends of Lydia…this is Ms. Marlene, lead teacher in Lydia’s class here in VA. We have 14 children in our class so there are also three other teachers. Her mommy & daddy are kept pretty busy here so we have the PRIVILEGE of playing a big part in her experience. WE thought you might enjoy getting a glimpse into our day!
Lydia is a happy girl when she gets dropped off in the morning, ready to explore and play with all the fun stuff we have in our room. She is one of the youngest ones in class so we really thought she’d still want to take a morning nap, but she has no interest in that at all, we think she’s afraid she’ll miss something fun. First in our morning schedule is playing in our classroom, we have balls to throw, blocks to stack, a climber with a tunnel to crawl through, and a really cool bubble machine that blows hundreds of bubbles each minute. We have been so impressed with Lydia’s walking, she’s out running several children that are a few months older than her! Snack is next on the schedule and the neatest thing about snack is the table in which Lydia and her friends sit! That’s right…IN the table, the chairs are built into the table!
We are blessed to be on a beautiful campus and the weather has been exceptionally nice these last few weeks so we go outside to play on the playground every day. Lydia likes to swing and she gets more practice walking by pushing around some of our push toys. We also have a wonderful invention called the bye-bye buggy, it’s a big red buggy that holds 6 children at once so Lydia and 5 of her friends get to take a ride around campus looking at God’s beautiful creation. On occasion, the ride has been so relaxing that Lydia (and several friends) have fallen asleep on the buggy. We are so thankful for some of our younger assistant teachers who are up to pushing that buggy all over campus.
The morning ends with group time which consists of singing lots of songs and reading a short book that goes along with our weekly theme. Next week’s theme is “God Made Animals” and that’s usually a popular theme…this age is captivated by looking at animals and making animal sounds. We head back to lunch in our cool tables and most days it’s a pretty messy adventure! By the end of lunch, it’s close to naptime and Lydia has been known to fuss a little at this time, but nothing her little pink rabbit won’t cure! After a diaper change, Lydia’s down for a nap and if another friend in the room doesn’t make too much noise, she will sleep for a couple of hours which takes us right up to pick-up time. She is doing great in our class but she really loves seeing mom or dad at the end of the day!
On a personal note, I want to thank you for praying for Lydia and her family. My job is so rewarding working with families like them. But I can promise you that our adversary, the devil, doesn’t like what goes on here so as you pray for them, please also pray for us that we would bring honor to the Lord and His kingdom as we serve these children and their families!

Lydia is Walking!

Around a week ago, Lydia Grace started taking her first steps! What fun! Big brother Jacob gets a little jealous every once and a while, but he enjoys her new achievements too! :)

Orientation weeks 1-3

Wow, it is hard to believe that we have already been here at orientation for 3 weeks. We have been learning a lot of very valuable information. Our days usually start at 8am and go to about 4pm with occasional night meetings. We live in a "quad" with four other families and are enjoying getting to know people here.

The kids are in their classes from 9am until 3pm. They are starting to get used to their schedules and are enjoying their time each day. Jacob is making lots of new friends, mostly older kids and adults who enjoy talking and playing with him. His favorite things right now are playing at the playground and going fishing with daddy. Each time they have gone fishing they have caught at least 2 fish (first they catch crickets for their bait) and Jacob reels them in himself. He also enjoys going to the cafeteria to eat and especially likes the chocolate donuts at breakfast (Jason gave them to him, not me!). Lydia is mostly walking now, she started about a week ago. She gets very proud of herself and excited when she walks. She has also learned to blow kisses and play peek-a-boo. She is known for the messes that she makes at meals. We'll try to get some pictures posted soon! Please let us know how you are doing!