Hughes House 2008
This has been a pretty hectic year. I know I haven't posted like I should, and blogging is definitely on the Resolution list for New Year's. I think writing has been a good discipline in my life. It's fun to go back and read over the past three years as well. It's a good review of events. I've forgotten many of the things the kids have done!
Em graduated from high school this year, transitioned to the States (which was probably the hardest part of the year for her) and finished her first semester in college. She's grown so much, and has enjoyed her schooling a lot. While she misses her good friends from Taiwan (they meet regularly on Skype), she's learning so much here as well. I think she picked a good major. She's got a great college and career group that she's involved in, and they meet regularly for activities. She's doing good! She needs a bit more driving experience under her belt, but overall she's doing well.
Timothy had a hard time leaving his friends in Taiwan for a year (they made him a sweet video) knowing they are starting high school without him, but he threw himself into baseball this year and had a blast. He has been practicing baseball for awhile, and seeing him come here and use his skills has been fun. He also enrolled in all pre-AP classes, except for math. He's doing very well indeed. He's gearing up to try out for the freshman baseball team in January. If he doesn't make that, it will be community league. Either way, he'll get to play baseball, so he'll be happy!
Christopher has gotten the short end of the stick this year! He missed the 8th grade Top Dog retreat, which is what they look forward to all through middle school. He also had a medical issue which meant a lot of tests and such. At one point, he had to lay still on a hospital bed for two hours. He and Big Dad kept noticing nurses going to the other side of the curtain in the other bed in the room, so Big Dad peaked around the corner to look. It ended up being a RAT strapped to a gurney, and they were running tests on him! T said he almost took Christopher and walked out! Anywho, Christopher's doing well, and things are looking up. He also is involved in baseball, but at this point it seems more of a social event for him. ha! He loves it, though, and is good at it. It's nice to see him out there playing. Middle school it good. Rough but good. He's finding the language isn't what he's used to, but he's also finding that when he doesn't participate in that type of language, it speaks volumes.
Nathaniel always keeps us hopping, and this year was no exception. He loves school, and is pretty competitive, so it's natural for him to work hard at things. He loves his legos, and makes lego movies as well. He's made a few and put them on youtube. If you don't know, there's this whole subculture of Star Wars lego videos. He gets ideas from there and applies them in his movies. However, it means I have to be up on the technology to help him. Lots of studying about how to make movies on my part, let me tell you. He has also had some medical issues, and his are a bit more serious, so we'll see how it goes. His has to do with his sight, and he'll be seeing a pediatric retinal specialist in January to see what else needs to be done. I can say it doesn't slow him down a bit, though, and at this point rarely bothers him except when he's reading close up. Wise people along the way have been in place for us, so making decisions has been easy.
Tim and I are doing great. We've traveled a bit, speaking and such. T a bit more than me. T is honing his speaking skills a bit. He's getting pretty good. I still get extremely nervous, but the message is bigger than us, so that takes over. We've also had fun with Facebook, getting back in touch with old, old friends, former students, colleagues, high school buddies....this has been a year of reconnections, that's for sure.
Long post, I know. I'm still working on some things to write in my head. I have been too busy to be as observational as I usually am! It's time to settle down a bit and watch and learn again. Such are the cycles of life!
Blessings everyone! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Em graduated from high school this year, transitioned to the States (which was probably the hardest part of the year for her) and finished her first semester in college. She's grown so much, and has enjoyed her schooling a lot. While she misses her good friends from Taiwan (they meet regularly on Skype), she's learning so much here as well. I think she picked a good major. She's got a great college and career group that she's involved in, and they meet regularly for activities. She's doing good! She needs a bit more driving experience under her belt, but overall she's doing well.
Timothy had a hard time leaving his friends in Taiwan for a year (they made him a sweet video) knowing they are starting high school without him, but he threw himself into baseball this year and had a blast. He has been practicing baseball for awhile, and seeing him come here and use his skills has been fun. He also enrolled in all pre-AP classes, except for math. He's doing very well indeed. He's gearing up to try out for the freshman baseball team in January. If he doesn't make that, it will be community league. Either way, he'll get to play baseball, so he'll be happy!
Christopher has gotten the short end of the stick this year! He missed the 8th grade Top Dog retreat, which is what they look forward to all through middle school. He also had a medical issue which meant a lot of tests and such. At one point, he had to lay still on a hospital bed for two hours. He and Big Dad kept noticing nurses going to the other side of the curtain in the other bed in the room, so Big Dad peaked around the corner to look. It ended up being a RAT strapped to a gurney, and they were running tests on him! T said he almost took Christopher and walked out! Anywho, Christopher's doing well, and things are looking up. He also is involved in baseball, but at this point it seems more of a social event for him. ha! He loves it, though, and is good at it. It's nice to see him out there playing. Middle school it good. Rough but good. He's finding the language isn't what he's used to, but he's also finding that when he doesn't participate in that type of language, it speaks volumes.
Nathaniel always keeps us hopping, and this year was no exception. He loves school, and is pretty competitive, so it's natural for him to work hard at things. He loves his legos, and makes lego movies as well. He's made a few and put them on youtube. If you don't know, there's this whole subculture of Star Wars lego videos. He gets ideas from there and applies them in his movies. However, it means I have to be up on the technology to help him. Lots of studying about how to make movies on my part, let me tell you. He has also had some medical issues, and his are a bit more serious, so we'll see how it goes. His has to do with his sight, and he'll be seeing a pediatric retinal specialist in January to see what else needs to be done. I can say it doesn't slow him down a bit, though, and at this point rarely bothers him except when he's reading close up. Wise people along the way have been in place for us, so making decisions has been easy.
Tim and I are doing great. We've traveled a bit, speaking and such. T a bit more than me. T is honing his speaking skills a bit. He's getting pretty good. I still get extremely nervous, but the message is bigger than us, so that takes over. We've also had fun with Facebook, getting back in touch with old, old friends, former students, colleagues, high school buddies....this has been a year of reconnections, that's for sure.
Long post, I know. I'm still working on some things to write in my head. I have been too busy to be as observational as I usually am! It's time to settle down a bit and watch and learn again. Such are the cycles of life!
Blessings everyone! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Comments
Merry Christmas!