Thursday, April 19, 2012

Feelin' Artsy


In Thailand we only have three seasons: hot, rainy-and-hot or VERY hot!  It's currently in the VERY hot part of the year.
It's been sitting on about 38-39 degrees all week. 
What a pity the Songkran water fights are over now.
Or was that just a suggestion?  Dave seems to think so!

Well, while the ZOE kids are still on their summer break, our children are currently off school on their "spring break" after just finishing the "third quarter".  (The international schools follow the American school year).  

And while it's moving in to the second month of the summer holidays, the ZOE kids are enjoying their camp holiday program tremendously (photos to come).
In another part of town, the Cross children are having some holiday activities of their own.

My children love to play "home-school" during the holidays where I am the teacher and they are the students.  We've had fun this week doing lots of artistic drawings and painting as well as reading, counting and (for Spencer) cutting practice.


These activities have enabled the children many opportunities to problem-solve and persist through set-backs and challenges.  



It's so wonderful, for me, to see each of the children developing.  I love being able to celebrate their individual achievements with them.

I love seeing how proud they are when they've accomplished something that they first deemed as being "too hard".

It's been such a joy to listen to Tobi reading longer stories to the younger two and observe his growing vocabulary.  To see Eliana discovering spelling patterns and express so much excitement as she learns to read. And to listen as Spencer clearly articulates the meaning behind his 'art work' (usually something about flames or a fire!!).


The kids have also been learning to memorize some more bible verses and understand more about God's love and plan for them.

One of the highlights this week has been setting up an art display of all our finished work.  This has made the living area look bright and cheerful.  It's also been a great opportunity to sit around and observe each other's work, analyze it, describe it and feel pride in each of the artistic creations.







An essential aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail.
Edwin Land

It always does me good to be able to identify the challenges and the successes that my children are experiencing.  
It's often when I hear myself telling them, "never give up", "keep practicing" or cheering "you can do it" that I realize that I need to take a bit of my own advice and apply God's word to my own issues more often! 

Never give up... Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up Galatians 6:9 .
Keep practicing... Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me -everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you Phillipians 4:9.
You can do it... I can do all things through Him who gives me strength Phillipians 4:13.

And so I hope as this week draws to a close that you can look back and know that you've given your tasks your best shot and remember in the wise words of Helen Keller,
"l long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble".

Thanks for stopping by!

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