Williams Family Photos

It isn't often that my brother's family and ours is at my parents' place at the same time. It ends up being a lot of people in a little space. Allen, Will, and I came this weekend for two reasons: 1. It was Dad's birthday!, and 2. to bring the other three kiddos home after all our travels. Jason's family was there for the same reasons. Dad asked us to get a family photo since we were all together. It was a bit challenging to get a great one when so many kids (and adults who sometimes act like kids... ahem!!) are in the picture, but we got a few cute ones. I think this one can be Dad's birthday gift -- Happy Birthday, Dad!

Why is it that not everyone SMILES at the same time, but everyone is anxious to do the silly faces? I think I may print the silly one really big and give it to my parents for their anniversary... it is the most "real" representation of our family :)

Farm Camp

One of Will's school assignments in May was to look for career-oriented camps that he could attend. While he searched for first-aid, medical, and science camps, I searched, too. I was excited to find a camp for the younger kids that was happening at the same time Will would be at church camp. The younger kids would still be at Gramma and Granddad's house, but the camp was within walking distance of my parents' house. I had my parents investigate and they got our three six-year olds plus cousin Julianne registered for Farm Camp.

The World Hunger Relief farm hosted their first camp this summer, and my kiddos got to be part of the first crew of "campers." Kids were invited to explore and learn about the world around them. Through arts, crafts, games, and activities, they took home a piece of the farm each day.

The theme of the first day was "Get ready, set, grow!" The kids learned about plants, they planted seeds, and they repotted some flowers. They each brought home a couple newly-planted pumpkin seeds and some bright pink vinca flowers. They also made a flower press. I was impressed that the staff made an effort to include healthy and beautiful snacks each day, too!

Day two was all about "Feathers, fur, and snouts, oh my!" The kids all had fun learning about some of the animals around the farm. They got to hold and pet chickens, pigs, goats, and rabbits, but they really had fun getting their faces painted like animals. The kids made pinecone bird feeds and painted gourd birdhouses.

The third day was about the world wide food web. They learned about what people eat in different countries and about how the farmed plants affect their diets. Thursday was a favorite, I'm sure, since I know my boys love bugs. The kids got to catch bugs in nets, investigate the butterflies, bees, and spiders in the gardens, and check out some old bee hives. "Bugs, slugs and other grubs" even made it to snack time -- not that the kids ate bugs, but all the veggies were cut to look like bugs in a salad garden. They came home with coffee-filter butterfly magnets, and even more pages were filled out in their science journals they wrote in each day.

"Farmtastic Friday" was a fun family day. Gramma and Granddad watched the kids in their plays. Jon was a bat and Ben was a moth in their group's skit. Maddie and Julianne were in a different skit and they were pigs on a farm. They ended the day with a hayride.

The four kiddos had a blast at farm camp and my three could not quit talking about everything they did and learned. I think Mom and Dad enjoyed the quiet as the kids napped hard each afternoon.

Church Camp by Will

Sarah's note: The second week I was gone, Will went to camp with a lot of kids from our church. I have heard bits and pieces, and I KNOW he had a great time, but I thought I should let Will tell the story as he remembered it. Here are his words:

I went to CentriKids church camp at Austin College. We went on two buses. When we got there, there were people with pool noodles hitting our bus and chanting. It was obvious that we were the first church there out of the other 6 churches (not including us). We unloaded our stuff and got out and went to our dorms in Daniel Baker Hall. After we did that we basically hung out until dinner.  After dinner we had a MASSIVE pillow fight, and one of the adult leaders was in it. After that we went to our beds and slept. On our ceiling there were lots of glow stars. In the morning we had breakfast and time alone with God. Lunch was next and don’t tell anybody but I had a soda challenge and my time was 27 seconds. My tracks were Weird science with Prof. Carson, who was my favorite teacher. My next track was Baseball with Coach Emily. Then Wet ‘n Wild with P.J and “The Flower”(she was called The Flower because she stayed on the tennis courts). Huh? The other days were like that, too. So that’s it.

Oh! On every vacation I go on I always get a souvenir. Do not read anymore until you have closed your eyes and thought up three things I could have gotten. And … I got (drum roll please)… A SUNBURN (confetti shoots). Yay! Well that’s my story. Hope you enjoyed it.

While Mama was Away - The First Week

The Friday before I left for Africa, I took the kids to my parents after we finished a full week of vacation Bible school at our church. Allen and I had a day and a half of a little bit of together time that we filled. Friday evening, we went to the Brown's to play board games, then Saturday morning, we spent two hours cleaning up branches, brush, and trash with about twenty neighbors. Sunday, Allen took Justin, Ellen, and me to the airport in Houston. I was thankful for the few extra hours with him.

Meanwhile, the kids were well into the fun at Gramma and Granddad's. We jokingly call it Camp Grandparents anytime they go. The week was packed with lots of swimming, canoeing, campfire cookouts, catching lightning bugs, fishing, water balloon fights, and hiking. Some of the new things they got to try included trapping (and releasing) a raccoon, hunting dino tacks at Dinosaur State Park, hunting fossils not far from my parents' home, and weaving potholders. Here are some pictures my parents took from the first week. (In no particular order... since I'm not sure the real order.)

At the end of the week, Granddad took Maddie to Ft. Worth where they picked up Julianne. Before they headed back to Waco, the girls got their own Dr. Pepper at lunch (a BIG deal for my kids), tried hiding in a deer "costume", and then got to shoot a BB gun at Cabela's. My girl had fun and was really proud that she hit the target 3 of the 5 times she tried. Back at the homefront, Gramma spoiled the boys a bit with a Coke and more swimming.

Saturday, Allen went to Waco to spend the day with kids and come back home with Will... for the next adventure!

Investigating Cardiology

If you've been following the blog, you may know that Will attends a school that has all project-based group learning. The classes have been mixed ages, with his class for most of the year being a blend of third and fourth graders. There was one project that mixed third, fourth, and fifth graders, but this last PBL the third graders were in there own class. One of the 3rd/4th teachers has been out on bed-rest, and I think that the third and fourth graders had different enough TEKS (knowledge skills) that needed to be covered that it was easier for the other two teachers to divide them. Here is a part of the project set-up:

... the Leadership Team is asking each student to prepare a digital portfolio. This will be a culminating project, in which students will establish career goals and make plans to acquire the necessary post-secondary education.

Innovators will explore a variety of STEM career pathways and identify several occupations related to your strengths. Innovators will determine the level of education and training required for these occupations, as well as the cost to obtain the necessary degrees and certifications. The investigations will allow you to compare the responsibilities and salaries of each profession. Students will prepare financial plans and justify their career path and educational opportunities.

This was a fun project for me, too, because the teachers asked several of us with STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) careers to come talk to the kids. Will's teacher knew that Allen and I were engineers, and a friend of mine teaches the fifth and sixth graders, so Allen and I got to speak twice in one day. (FYI - the teachers all knew that I am not currently an engineer, but they wanted a woman in the STEM field to tell about her training and career.) The first presentation was for the older kids, and Allen and I were speaking with another engineer. With the three of us encouraging future engineers to not just focus on math and science, but to also work hard at writing and communicating, I think they might have gotten the message. The set up in the younger class was a bit different, and it was just Allen and me speaking to them that day.

Will's teacher had given us a heads-up about some of the questions, but she insisted we follow the know/need-to-know model. That is when the kids post sticky notes of everything they DO know and everything they NEED to know to complete a project. The goal is for the kids to seek the knowledge, rather than being spoon-fed information that goes in one ear and out the other. Many of the questions were expected and somewhat typical -- What did you want to be when you were growing up? Where did you go to college? Did you get scholarships? What degree do you need to be a chemical engineer? What does a chemical engineer do? ...But I was AMAZED by some of the questions that were directed at me: What was the hardest thing about being a female engineer? How did you decide when to quit engineering and do something different? Do you plan to return to engineering? How do you continue to use your education in what you do at home or with your family? Was there ever at a problem at Mr. Kaiser's refinery that you couldn't solve? (Mr. Smooooth jumped to answer that one with a confident, "Nope.") I had a really good time talking with the kids, and I always enjoy doing that type of thing with Allen. Some of the thank you notes we later received made it clear the kids were listening carefully to everything we said.

As for Will, he started out wanting to investigate being a chemical engineer. Though I don't think that is a bad choice, I encouraged him to learn more about other careers, too. The kids had several speakers each week for the first few weeks of their PBL, and eventually one caught his attention. A local cardiologist came and talked about his career, but then he also shared that he draws as a hobby. From what Will said, the doctor started drawing one of the students, and it was clear to everyone that the caricature was of Will. Maybe THAT is that part to caught his attention, but, nonetheless, he chose to go the cardiology route. Here is a bit of his write up:

When I grow up I want to be a cardiologist. To become a cardiologist, I need to go to college and medical school to get my degrees. To get into college I have to get good grades in high school, get a high score on the SAT, take Advanced Placement courses, and get involved in community events. I am considering a college degree in biology, but I will look at other options, too. To get into medical school I have to fulfill college course requirements, make good grades in college, take the MCAT test and get a high score, and also have a good college experience.

 

Career: Cardiology

College degree: First I will get a bachelor degree in biology in 4 years.

Medical school: Medical school lasts 4 years.

Residency: I will do an internal medicine residency for 3 years.

Fellowship: I will need to do a cardiology fellowship for about 3 years.

I will apply to undergraduate college programs at Texas Tech University, Louisiana State University, and Texas A & M University. All three of those colleges offer undergraduate biology programs, and they have medical schools.

I estimate that four years of undergrad school at Texas Tech would cost about $92,000 for tuition, fees, books, dorm room, and other expenses. Four years of medical school at Texas Tech will cost about $114,000. That totals around $206,000 for the eight years of school.

 

Now we know... :) I'm anxious to see which career he will investigate next year, as the project will be built upon year by y

A Stitch at a Time

The other day, Maddie was asking about an embroidered piece I have framed in our living room. She was more than surprised to hear that I made it, and she quickly asked me if I could teach her to sew like that. It took me a few days to pull out my supplies, but I agreed. First she sketched a butterfly, then I copied it to the fabric (but I took a few of the tiny details out). I showed her a simple back stitch and helped her do a few lines. Then I sat next to her while she worked.

It started out pretty controlled, but as she kept working (and I went about my normal daily tasks), the floss got tangled and the stitches weren't staying close and consistent. Eventually, I let her do it the way she wanted to do it because it kept her busy for hours. Now, the boys have been begging me to teach them, but I haven't gotten around to getting a few more hoops so they can work simultaneously. If the stitching keeps them as busy and focused as it kept her, the small investment may be worth my sanity as summer goes on.

This sweet butterfly matches her bedroom, so we plan to find a way to frame it for the wall. She is so proud of her work!

To My Love -

My heart overflows with thankfulness when I watch you with our children.

Some days, honestly, it’s because I’m worn out and ready for another adult to share the responsibilities.

Other times, I just love to watch you being a dad –

-- the kind of dad that knows how to have fun with our children,

-- the kind of dad who patiently disciplines,

-- the kind of dad who has plenty of time and love for the teachable moments,

 

-- the kind of dad who finds just the right times for snuggles, tickles, kisses, encouraging whispers, and hearty cheers,

-- the kind of dad whose sons and daughter can look upon as a hero, and

-- the kind of dad who gives our kids a bit of an idea of how loving, patient, and kind our Heavenly Father can be.

I am grateful that our children and I are blessed with your caring, thoughtfulness, and support every day. Thank you for always putting our family first.

I pray that God  watches over you, guides you, protects you, and floods you with unending blessings. I love you with all of my heart!

Happy Father’s Day, My Love!

PS – amidst  our normal chaos, this is what I see J

Packed and Ready

Dear Friends and Family,

Thank you SO much for all your prayers and support as I'm getting ready to go to Uganda this weekend. I am so excited about going, and I can't wait to see the children who are in our family's prayers. Getting to this point has been fascinating. From a flood of donations from strangers that my family has contacted, to a Facebook friend convincing her VBS team and church missions team to collect donations for shoes, to a garage sale that more than covered my travel expenses, I am continually amazed by all that God is orchestrating to pull our team and our mission together. Each of these little miracles make me believe that God has hand-picked me for this trip, and I'm humbled and thrilled to be involved.

I have packed, repacked, unpacked, and packed again, and I think I know what I'm taking tomorrow. Although I am excited and energetic about it right now, I ask you to pray for protection from spiritual warfare that may come in the forms of loss of confidence, exhaustion, and fear. I would also ask for prayers for our safety and good health and that we can connect with the children and adults we are in contact with. I'm praying that my children adjust well to Camp Grandparents and that Allen doesn't get too lonely. I'm a tad bit concerned about homesickness for Will; he will also be going to church camp and returning the same day I will be home. Please also pray for Allen's safety as he travels; he will be driving us to Houston.

 

If you are interested in reading about our team journey before I get back to USA, you can follow the Parental Care Ministries blog at http://www.pcmonline.org/wordpress/. There is also a link to this PCM blog on the right side of this page. I will be keeping my own journal that I hope to post when I return. I am flying out Sunday the 16th and returning on the 27th, but I expect it will take me several days to get caught up on my kids' hugs and get over the travel weariness. I truly appreciate all you have done to support me on this trip whether it was with childcare, advice, financial donations, prayers, or all of the above.

Early Celebrations

We celebrated Father's Day last weekend because we will all be split up on the real Father's Day. Friday night, Allen opened his gifts -- two family games. He and I read through the rules and practiced the more complicated one before the kids sat down to play it with us the next day.

 Our normal Father's Day weekend tradition is to go pick blueberries, but there weren't many ripe ones last weekend because it was cool so late into spring. Instead of picking blueberries, we headed to the Texas Blueberry Festival in Nacogdoches for the day. We had not been before and didn't know what to expect... other than blueberries. Unfortunately, a late freeze killed many of the berry bushes that would normally have ripe berries, and there weren't as many blueberries as we expected.

It was a beautiful day for an outdoor festival. We parked far from the action, then hiked into the downtown area of the oldest town in Texas. Our first stop was to get a map of the event. We wandered the brick road around the square, stopping to watch a cowboy swing his lasso (Ben even climbed under to stand up inside the rope ring), inhaling the aroma of fried foods, stopping to investigate different booths, collecting a bag and mini-lecture about railroad safety, and getting balloons from the firemen.

We tasted a few treats -- blueberry lemonade, blueberry iced tea, and, the kids' favorite, blueberry popcorn! There was a funny cowboy show inside one of the banks; the air conditioning was a welcome pleasure, and the cowboy made the kids laugh.

After we had lunch, we headed to another bank for another indoor "event". We went in to hear the story teller, but it was really a large conference room set up for kids to color while a volunteer read stories and we all could chill out -- literally... the A/C was on in there, too. A sweet lady read stories to our kiddos. There were plenty of giggles, though, since my kids tend to ask questions during stories. The first story, I forgot. The next story was about a boy and a girl who lived in the same apartment complex and were friends. Another story was a sad one about a boy whose cat died; he came up with a list of ten things he loved about his cat so he could tell everyone at the small funeral his family had. He came up with only nine until he learned that when the cat was buried in his garden it would help the flowers grow, then he added that as the tenth great thing about his cat. The next story my kids asked for was called Compost Stew -- it was an alphabet-inspired rhyming story about what you can add to the compost pile. How would YOU like to walk into a room and hear several kids asking if they could put a dead cat in a compost bin? Then they discussed how it could decompose and add fertilizer to the soil. ... yeah, that's how the public conversation went.

We left mid-afternoon and made a stop on the way home. Henderson, Texas, has a barbeque place that is on Texas Monthly's list of top 50 barbeque joints in Texas, so we stopped and got some to go. Half the kids were sound asleep by that point, and the other half passed out on the way home.

We relaxed a bit before dinner, and I went to the grocery store for some blueberries for dessert. Our Father's day dinner was BBQ and salad and dessert was angel food cake with berries. Quite yummy! We really had a fun day, but I still hope we make it out to the berry patch to pick the tasty blueberries -- they are so much better fresh from the field!