Our Wonderful Children

Our Wonderful Children – yes, Peg and I have four terrific children: Asia age 13; Z. Maggie age 11; J. Olivia age 10; and Elijah age 6. I thought I would take the time to give you a quick update about each of them.

 

Our oldest child Asia is still doing great at school, where she made the 'A' Honor Role for 7^th Grade at her Junior High School. She is a typical 13 year old, as far as I can tell, but something mysterious has happened to her this year: she is reluctant to share much about any friends of hers that are boys. Instead, I hear constant threats by Asia saying that she will get her sisters if they reveal anything to Peggy or I. So far, the threats have worked. And so, we only get a few, sporadic stories that are like pulling teeth out for us to get. Otherwise, I am amazed at how this sweet 13 year old is so responsible, with her having to catch a bus at 6:50 in the morning. She does this without any help from us parents. And she does most of her school work on her own as soon as she arrives home, and with asking only for help on the toughest of homework.

 

Our beautiful Maggie is now 11 years old. She is in the 6^th Grade, and doing well in school. She is one kid who never seeks help for studying spelling words, or her homework. And she does a good job with it. Maggie recently came back from a four-day overnight school trip that the 6^th grade went on. And she had a fabulous time: the word on the street is that Maggie was one of the bravest kinds when going over a High Ropes Course. With this, she was 35 feet up as she walked on a single rope, and held on to two other ropes. She is a brave one! And to show you her wonderful heart, she recently had a friend who went in for surgery. Maggie was there for her friend on the day of the surgery, and she spent all of her allowance on gifts for her friend. She is a sweet girl, that one!

 

Miss Olivia is battling a Science Fair project these days. She is a smart kid with her project testing the heart rate of a number of people as they listen to different kinds of music. She originally had 13 different kinds of music with which she was testing people's heart rates. But as next week's deadline is approaching, her Mother convinced her to use "only" 10 different kinds of music. Olivia is now living on our lowest level, and learning that the lack of cleanliness can no longer be blamed on her brother/sister. She continues practicing and taking seriously her clarinet, and is an amazing artist. She did the most wonderful water paint picture of the scene off of our room's balcony when we were in Mazatlan this past December. Each week I see pictures that just amaze me. She has her Mother's talent, which is saying something!

 

Young man Elijah is enjoying kindergarten. He is a favorite of his teacher, and as I learned at last week's school carnival, of several of the young girls in his class. One felt comfortable enough to come sit next to us while we ate so she could be with Elijah. Very nice! And Elijah is enjoying a new website called Toontown. From the amount of time he is spending on it, there must be something more to it than what I've seen. But it is amazing to me that a 6 year old can wheel around on the Internet, use a mouse, and enjoy games. And yes, I hear parent's groans – I do have him on a restricted access account for the Internet. And of course, Elijah is also a bright kid like her older sisters. He is a natural at math, and is now trying to learn to read anything that is put in front of him.

 

Which brings me to what we hope is a blessing that may take place in the future. We have been told that we be receiving computers for each of our children. All these computers with wireless Internet connections. The kids were so excited that 3 out of the 4 immediately cleaned their rooms so that they could have the computers in their room, once they were ready. And it was fun to see their faces when they were told about it - smiles from ear to ear! And Peggy and I are excited too – the line that forms behind our computers each morning and after school is long at times. But this is too exciting for all of us. Thanks, and may God continue to shower all of your families with His blessings and love.