JA BizTown

For the past ten weeks, Megan has participated in a program that is put on by Junior Achievement. She was in class with other 4th thru 7th graders, all homeschoolers. They basically learn how to run a business, manage a checkbook, etc. About a month ago, she had a job interview and was "hired" as the Health Care Manager at the JA BizTown Wellness Center. Once she received her job placement, the last four class periods were spent with her future co-workers of the Wellness Center learning more specifics about their particular business. Today was the big day, the day when they report to work and run their business.

Here she is doing some paperwork. Her job duties included providing health vouchers for employees of the other JA BizTown businesses and recording that information on her charts (what she's doing in the pic below), issuing insurance cards after performing wellness screenings, and familiarizing the public with healthy living practices. Before the end of the day, she had to collect the health insurance payments from each business.

Assisting a customer.

Taking her job seriously, she performs the wellness screenings.

Grace also had a class today with other 3rd graders, and I volunteered in the Professional Office, where we had eight individual businesses - a CFO, Rental Agent, CPA, Attorney, Insurance Agent, Investment Advisor, Non-Profit Director, and a Property Appraiser. I served only as a "coach" or to answer any questions they had. This is the place where I hung out for the morning.

I was able to take my lunch break when Megan had hers.Before leaving for lunch, however, she had to delegate the responsibilities of her job to her co-workers to ensure the "public's" wellness screenings, etc., were taken care of in her absence. I was impressed (and I admit, I swelled up with pride) as I watched her fulfill her duties.

During her second break, she was able to do some shopping. Her first stop was at the bank to cash her paycheck.

From there, she went to the Savings Officer, who happened to be her friend, Beau, to open up a savings account.

Then she went to the general store and purchased a JA BizTown briefcase. Finally, before returning back to work, she had time to stop by the Professional Office and purchase some shares of stock from the Investment Advisor in my locale.

At the end of the day, she enjoyed showing Grace and Kayla where she worked and demonstrated some of her job duties on them.

She did a great job, and I am really proud of her! It was a wonderful experience and one we'd do again!

~Wee

Four New Pets

Martha, Freddy, Henry, and Spot-Eye are the names of our four new pets. Yesterday we became the proud owners of four bullfrog tadpoles. We pulled our fish tank off the shelf in the garage, put in some water, and that is where our changing friends will abide.

The girls shared the responsibility of transferring the tadpoles from the bag to the tank.

After releasing them from their temporary plastic dwelling, Megan ran inside to fetch some lettuce, which was broken into little pieces and dropped into the water. Then they gathered some rocks to spruce up the new home.
Meet Martha, Freddy, Henry, and Spot-Eye.
After an hour or so in their new surroundings, the girls ran out to check on the four, to make sure they were all "still simming" (in Leah's language). This is the view I saw from the kitchen window, and it was at this time that each tadpole received it's name.

We look forward to watching the metamorphosis process. Spot-Eye is already getting his hind legs, so it will be fun to watch the rest of them as they all change into the adult stage of their life.

~Wee

Introduced to the World of Ice Skating

Yesterday, on a warm day, Megan and Grace were invited to a birthday party at an indoor ice arena. I got to go along to provide support to the one other adult chaperon! The last time I was on ice skates was before we were married, so it's been 15+ years! I was really looking forward to the opportunity to skate again and to do it with our girls. Besides our group, there were only eight other people on the rink.

Megan, Grace and Kayla - the Birthday Girl.

Girls, girls, and more girls.This was the first time Megan and Grace experienced ice skating. They both learned how to roller blade this spring, and I told them that "ice skating is like roller blading." Well, once on the ice, Grace informed me that "ice skating is nothing like roller blading." They did a great job learning the sport and really enjoyed it. And, there weren't too many wipe outs either. The only time I fell was when one of the girls (not mine :) ) accidentally plowed into me.

Megan enters the ice rink for the first time.
It wasn't long, and here she is.

Grace steps onto the ice.It didn't take long either and she was skating away from the wall and with friends.

Grace twirls with Moriah.

All the girls getting ready to skate as a connected chain. Looks good now......

but it was short lived. Sadly, their chain broke apart shortly after take-off.

It was a fun 3 hours!

~Wee

News Channel 15

Tonight a rescheduled field trip took us to our local News Channel 15 TV station. There we received a tour of the control room, news room, and studio. During the broadcasting of the 6:00 news, we were able to sit in the studio, about 15 feet in front of the news desk (behind cameras, of course) and watch as they put on the news. AWESOME is the word we would use to describe this field trip! It was fantastic!! Our field trip group was fortunate because the station just announced that they will no longer be offering tours of the station.

Our tour guide was one of the main anchors for the station. He was so personable and welcomed any questions we had, even during the commercial breaks between the broadcast segments. Before they went on air, I asked if they get nervous. Both anchors replied that they don't get nervous from being on camera, but get more "on edge" that everything runs as planned.

It was amazing to watch the weather being broadcasted! The meteorologist stands in front of a plain blue wall, and all her broadcasting is done off the top of her head (without a scroll screen).

Here Grace is sitting at the news desk trying out the pedal that controls the speed of the script on the screens that they read from. It's tricky to maintain the speed that's just right.

Megan takes her turn at the control pedal.

At 6:30, after the news was over, the meteorologist told the girls to "go ahead and sit up at the news desk" so that I could get their picture. Notice the mirror on the desk? During commercial breaks, the newscasters check their hair, make-up (even the men), ties, etc., before going back on air. It was fun to see all the activity in the studio during those 30 minutes!

Maybe being an anchorwoman is in her future......we'll see.....

Before leaving the station, we got to pose for a picture with Mark Mellinger, our tour guide.

~Wee

He Is Risen!

On Friday, Leah put Jesus in the tomb. This morning we had our sunrise service, followed by breakfast and a worship service. After we got home from church, I pointed out to Leah that Jesus is no longer inside the tomb. She looked up at Him and said, "Him come out?"
He's has risen and is ALIVE indeed!!!! HAPPY EASTER!!!

~Wee

Grace is 9

Our sweet Grace turned 9 years old yesterday ~ April 11. We are honored that God chose us to be her parents. It is exciting to see our Creator mold Grace into the person He created her to be.

We love you, Grace! Happy Birthday!



Even though it's been 9 years, she still fits on my lap!!!
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Yesterday, we spent the afternoon at Alex's sister Jinny's in Bluffton and had a great time with family. We started the afternoon dyeing eggs. It's been several years since Megan and Grace have had the opportunity to do so, and I believe this was Leah's first time doing it. She was apprehensive at first, but once she saw the routine of what to do, she handled the dyeing on her own.

All the eggs in one basket. Very colorful!

After all the eggs were dyed, the older cousins hid them outside. They did this twice, before other cousins arrived to join them. A. Jinny made cupcakes for Grace and she had a few presents to open. It was a fun day for her.

Leah finds an egg amongst the flowers.Grace can't quite reach her egg.

Megan looks through the lilies.

At the end of the evening, some participated in an egg cracking contest. Here Grace gives it a try. Winner - A. Jan....

Megan's turn. Winner - A. Jan......Alex got in on the action, as well. Winner (can you guess?) - Yep, A. Jan. Her egg wasn't even cracked, and those weren't the only three eggs she hit!

~Wee

No Greater Love

Greater love has no one than this, that He lay down His life for His friends. ~~ John 15:13

A thought from my devotional: Human strength is insufficient to rid ourselves of sin. The truth is that we are all in need of a Savior. Jesus Christ humbled Himself to die in our place, which was not a show of weakness. On the contrary, He made the most powerful sacrifice He could -- and He did it for YOU and ME.

~Wee

Survive Alive House

Today our field trip took us to the Survive Alive House and Safety Village where we learned all about fire safety. Before going into the Survive Alive House, we saw real items that were from various local house fires. The Survive Alive House was a two-story house, consisting of a family room and kitchen on the first floor and a bedroom on the second floor. Starting out in the bedroom, we practiced two different fire safety drills.

All pretend ~~ We were sleeping. The fire alarms went off. We crawled off the bed and, staying low, crawled over to the door. Grace was to the door first. Here she is feeling it with the back of her hand. It was warm (for real). No escape was possible that way. Plan B - the window. Each one of us learned how to properly climb out of the window (Most importantly, remembering to keep our head inside the window while swinging our legs out, hanging on, then dropping to the ground. Since our heads follow our bodies, this is a key point to remember. Otherwise, it would lead to disaster when falling from an upper story window!)

After we escaped from the second story, we got to actually try out the drop and hang technique from both six or eight feet off the ground. Here, both girls give it a shot. (Megan in purple; Grace in white.) I even got a try.

Then each child placed a real 9-1-1 call from a pay phone and had to tell the dispatcher why they were calling and give their address and telephone number.

The second fire drill also began up in the bedroom. Although this time when Megan felt the door, it was "freezing." She was instructed to open the door just a crack and feel for any fire out in the hallway. All was clear, so we each had to stay low and crawl down the steps backwards. Of course, as in a real fire, it was pitch black. The fire and smoke were down in the family room, but we crawled to safety out the front door.

After the fire safety part of the field trip was over, we explored Safety Village for a short time. The kids requested their picture be taken in front of this model of a building destroyed by fire.

At the dinner table tonight, the girls talked non-stop, barely allowing the other to get a word in edgewise, as they relayed the events of their day to Dad.

~Wee