Neil and Uncle Chu Chu :)

Way back in October, we had some very special guests. Neil called up a few months earlier saying that he wanted to come visit us. He said that maybe Michael would want to come along too.

We met Neil and Michael back in our Phoenix days. Joel and I visited a church a few times (had great friends there already...Kara and Gabrielle...both girls were part of my accountable group while there in Phoenix) before we found Hope Chapel (our home church in Phoenix...we also spent time at another fantastic church there, Vineyard Christian Church). We met Neil and Michael there.

Michael was the worship leader there. He is seriously our favorite worship leader of all time. We felt an immediate connection with him and his wife, Karen, even before we ever met. It was amazing.

Neil and his wife, Teresa, were always on the front row with their son, Jacob. Such sweet, generous, loving hearts they have. We felt a special bond with them too.

When Neil called to say that they were interested in coming, we were thrilled. Very, very excited!!

They were such an encouragement to us!!!! It was so wonderful having them here. At first, I wasn't sure what to expect. There were no mission trips, no projects going on with Asas. What were we going to do with them? :) But, it all happened just as it should and everything fell into place. They both went to Asas a few times to help Joel and the guys there. Neil spoke at the seminary here once...and also at our home group. Michael led worship at the Asas devotional meeting...and also led me, Joel, and Neil in some worship at our house one night...in ENGLISH! :) It was SO VERY refreshing and needed.

We were in the middle of packing up to move and these guys just jumped right in to do whatever was needed. They helped move boxes and furniture. They helped build things. They even fed the children and cleaned up the kitchen...alot! And the kids adored them (Neil is the father of 4 himself and Michael has 7 (!) children).

Anyway, it was such a great, great time...we loved every minute and hated to see them leave. You know how sometimes when people come to visit, you love it, but then after a while, you know that it's time for everyone to get back to their routines and daily lives...and for your visitors to go. Not the case with Neil and Michael (or, Uncle Chu Chu...the kids' nickname for him)...seriously, they could've stayed forever.

We had such a great time with you guys! Karen and Teresa...thanks for letting them come to help and encourage us...mission accomplished! Kiddos at home...thanks for giving up your dads for a while. And ALL of you need to come next time, right? ;)

Here are some pictures and video of their time here. Unfortunately, remember when our computer crashed right after we moved to the apartment and we lost some of our pictures? Some of the Neil and Michael pictures and videos were lost, including when Neil spoke, when Michael led worship, when we took them to Salto Corumba, when we went to the churrascaria, when they went flying with Joel, helping to remodel our bed, helping to build some bookshelves, a group shot of us at the airport, and a really sweet picture of Neil and his favorite Ebersole (Cass). ;) But, here is what we do have. Enjoy!

1. The morning after they arrived.
2. Michael was a tad bit jet-lagged.
3. Helping turn wrenches at the hangar.
4. Michael repairing Joel's guitar.
5. He had lots of help. :)

7. Helping move the kids' gargantuan bunk bed.
8. At the churrasco we had while they were here. I think they liked churrasco.

Video #1: 10-16-08 Michael was fixing Joel's guitar for him. He got lots of help. I'm thinking he's used to it though...he's a father of 7. He told the kids to say, 'Come on, Baby' in order for the parts to come off the guitar...that's what you hear them saying.

Video #2: 10-17-08 After a churrasco the night before, we scrubbed down the porch really good. The kids got a kick out of the suds on the tile. Joel and his siblings used to do this when they were little too...fun.

And now, just for you, Michael...LOTS AND LOTS of pictures (just thought your family might enjoy the play by play since they weren't here)...of ALL FOUR of your slides. To view the picture bigger, just click on it. If you want to save it to your computer, just right click on it. Fun stuff, right?

I Love My Family!!

Cass's Heart and Brasilia - Check; Moving - Here We Go

Thanks so much for your prayers.

Cass's heart checked out just fine...as far as we know. :) The doctor (radiologist I guess) said everything looked normal. Not sure why the murmur then, but we'll see what the pediatrician has to say. No biggie though...that was good. I was never really worried, but I have Mitral Valve Prolapse and was just kind of curious if she maybe had it too. That was a negative though...yay. And, just a sidenote...I've never really had symptoms...just the occasionally flutter. The only surgery I've ever had (the D&C after my miscarriage...first pregnancy in Dec. 2002 for those of you who didn't know or don't remember), my heart activity on the monitors sent the nurses out to the waiting room to ask Joel frantically if I had any heart issues. :) Oops...apparently it truly is pretty asymptomatic since I completely forgot to even tell them before surgery. :) But, I went to the cardiologist right before coming to Brasil, just for a check and what little symptoms I did have are now basically gone. I will always keep a check on it, but it was just really cool to have that gift. (and so cool, Susan, about your little girl...thanks for sharing)

After the heart check, we were off to Brasilia. We were not turned away at the gate this time and turns out that once you get in, they are actually really pretty darn nice. :) It all went VERY smoothly (again, thank you so much for your prayers). Here's the scary part. Like I said last night (actually, early this morning...oh, no, it is now Saturday...so, early yesterday morning...eeesh), it will take 2 weeks to get the passport...that is the average. Since our appointment wasn't until today in the afternoon, we were told that the process probably wouldn't actually get started until first thing Monday morning. So, that puts us at Dec. 22nd getting the passport. We can pick it up between 2pm and 4pm that day. Guess what folks? We fly out (from Brasilia...that same city) at 8pm that night. Yeah...like I said...cutting it close. That really is a tad bit stressful, so you can continue to pray for that. But, I'm pretty confident that it will all work out too.

And, now we are off to the next thing on the checklist for this weekend...the BIG MOVE. We've been packing up and basically it is almost all done. We've been here in this apartment about 5 weeks. It's been fun. We'll miss it in some ways. But, I am SO EXCITED about the house we are moving to (although we REALLY hate to see our friends who were living in that house go...bittersweet...we will really miss them). I really do love it and can't wait to get all settled in. It will be interesting to see what all we can do in the next 2 weeks before we leave for the states. I'll keep you posted I'm sure.

Not sure how soon we will have the internet hooked up over there. Could be immediately...I really don't know (Joel's job and he's sleeping so I can't ask him). But, I will post again soon and let you know how it went. I know the kids are just going to go hog wild with all the space they will have...inside the house and out. So fun.

We head over in a few hours (Saturday morning). Moves are so much work, aren't they? We will be working non-stop today, so again I must ask...keep us in your prayers. Thanks. I'll post pictures of the house soon. So, so cute.

Prayers for Cass

She's getting so big, right?

We have a couple of Cass-related things to take care of today.

1. We went to the pediatrician the other day (I'll blog about it at some point) and the doctor heard a murmur when listening to Cass. It was a slight murmur and lots of times murmurs are considered 'normal' and nothing to fret over in the least. But, we will be going in to see it on the big screen (ultrasound) tomorrow morning. Pray that it truly is nothing.

Also, she was sick today. She ran a fever mid-day and then after the fever was gone, vomited several times tonight and just laid on me constantly. Then the switch was flipped (as it seemed) and she was playing and crawling around on the floor, squealing with excitement (at 11pm). Just pray that it doesn't come back. Not only is it just yucky period, but we have that ultrasound as mentioned...then after the ultrasound we will be traveling...

2. ...to Brasilia. We have to get Cass registered as an American and also request a passport for her. She can't come to the states with us if she doesn't have one. :) We'd kind of like for her to come along. Seriously, we had this on the to-do list for when Joel was on a break from Asas in January...but now, with the trip, it is a MUST. And this is cutting it close. It takes about 2 weeks to get the passport. So, if it comes 2 weeks from tomorrow, that will be on the 19th, a Friday. What if it doesn't come then? Well, hopefully it would come in on that Monday. But, that Monday is the 22nd...the day we fly out of Brazil. Yikes. Yeah...everything needs to go smoothly. And they require a WOW amount paperwork and proof that she is, in fact, our daughter. Understandable, but also very stressful. We have it all, we think. We are even taking the birth video. :) Just pray that our visit with the people at the embassy would be smooth and that we would have favor there. We are Americans, it is an American embassy...but unfortunately, their reputation preceeds them...and they are not always the most helpful of people from what we hear. We actually have experienced it firsthand (#6), so we're a little skiddish. Anyway, just pray that it go well and that everything just goes off without a hitch this time. Thanks so much.

Look at this cutie that you are praying for today.

Sportin' some of the big bro's whitie tighties. Thanks, Daddy! ;) Oh, and Happy Birthday, Uncle Tucker!! Love you and see you soon!!

Homeschooling Update

You might remember that I started lightly homeschooling in August. It was so, so, so much fun. But, I wasn't working with a curriculum at all and just didn't have the time to keep up the pace that I started out with. I was just doing fun things revolving around the alphabet, but it took WAY too much time to prepare...way more time than I had to give to it. It sure was fun though. After I had already decided to do something different, my Aunt Jessica (ha ha ha, Jessica...doesn't that sound weird) told me about this curriculum...seriously AWESOME!! If you are looking for free pre-K curriculums online, look at that site. I really love it and even made out schedules and such already for if/when I do use it. But, like I said...I had already decided on and bought another actual curriculum. Anyway, so here's what we are doing...

I've always LOVED the concept of the Sonlight curriculum. Love their method, love that you get everything you need in one box, love that the work of planning is already done for you, LOVE the books that they use to teach our children, love their approach to worldview, basically love everything about it...and esp. since we have no access to libraries or other resources needed to use some homeschool curriculums, Sonlight it was. We are so excited about the huge library we are building for our kids (and us...hee hee hee). Well, let me just paste a quote from their website:

We founded Sonlight Curriculum on the principle that great books make great libraries, and great libraries are the core of great education. You won’t just get the books you need for one school year, you’ll begin a legacy by passing on a love for truly great books that inspire your kids—AND you— to be life-long learners.

And, even though it's a bit expensive on the front side, since the base of the curriculum is good books that we will use over and over throughout our lifetime (not 'textbooks'), there are 2 great things we are excited about...1) we'll only have to pay the big bucks once and then with all our other children we only buy the consumables (workbooks and such) and 2) as said before, we are building a GREAT library. So fun!! And completely worth every penny for us. This year we are using the Pre-K curriculum - P4/5. LOVE it!

We are also using the Sing, Spell, Read, and Write, Pre-K. We really enjoy it. It focuses on things like colors, shapes, seasons, opposites, sequencing, etc. the first part of the curriculum and then teaches the alphabet at the end, along with numbers 1-10. It's so age-appropriate and the kids really get a kick out of it.

Another thing we will be starting up in January is the Math-U-See Primer. It's so overwhelming, this homeschooling thing. For some people, one curriculum works and for others another works...and some do better with no curriculum at all. As we go along, we will figure out more and more what works for our family and the different learning styles within our family. We haven't started this yet, so we'll just have to wait and see how this curriculum works for our family. It looks really cool and I love it so far by just looking at it. But, we shall see. I'll let you know what I think after we use it.

One other thing that we will be doing this year is the Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons book. I plan to do it with Grady, but probably not Hadley this year. I'll wait and do it with her next year. That is the plan. We'll see if that changes. Even if I don't wait until next year to do it with Hadley, I will most likely at least go through it completely with Grady first before I even start with Hadley. Like I said, everyone is different. I've heard of some kids who this book just didn't work with...they hated it. So, again...we shall see how it works with us. I'll let you know. But, I am excited about teaching my kids to read...so, so fun! Talk about a very tangible and forever practical reward. So cool.

We "do school" every day while the little girls are sleeping. Usually we start around 2 and end around 4. The kids love it and so do I. Our schedule everyday:

Prayer
Sing, Spell, Read, and Write work
Pledge of Allegiance
America the Beautiful
Memory Verses
Sonlight Read-Alouds
Sonlight Workbook work (with the P4/5 curriculum, these are the only workbooks for the year)

We'll add the Math-U-See in January, finish up the Sing, Spell, Read, and Write in February/March, and start the Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. We'll be done with everything sometime in October, just in time to get ready for our scheduled furlough.

The Sonlight includes Bible, but after we get back from this unexpected trip to the U.S. at the end of this February and things settle back down a bit, I definitely plan to pull out the Betty Lukens set too that has been put away since we moved from the seminary house into the apartment. Right now we are just surviving in the mornings, but I normally really like to do that with the kids in the morning...that way Eissa gets in on it too.

I have to say that one of the best things I could've heard came out of Grady's mouth a while back. It was at the end of September I believe. The school where they went to "Portuguese class" had been back in session since the beginning of August. We'd been homeschooling since then also. Some neighbors had brought the kids' things back from the school that they hadn't gotten at the end of the spring semester. Things like pencil holders, etc. Grady's hadn't been brought to him, so Joel and Grady went one day after lunch to get it. I wondered what would happen. Would Grady see his friends and wish he was back there every day? I didn't say a word though...and just asked him nonchalantly, but a bit excitedly when he got back, "Grady, was it so great to see your friends again?" He said calmly, "Yeah. It was." Me: "Oh, good." Grady: "I like it there, but I want to be here with you and Daddy."

I hadn't even asked him anything about that. And me and Joel hadn't even talked about it. If we had, we wouldn't have done it in front of them. Anyway, it was just real confirmation for us that we'd done the right thing. Not that it will always be the right thing for him to remain home with us whenever he wants to instead of going somewhere...that's not the point. But, it had been a bit of a struggle to really come to the final decision of homeschooling being the best thing for our family at this time. So, again...it was just like God prompted him to say it so that we'd have this confirmation. It was so great to hear. And we continue to LOVE homeschooling. So thankful I get to spend time with my kids and teach them myself. What a great time we have together!!

Anyhoo, there you go...what we are doing these days. Should be it for the 'updates.' Now, some pics and video footage. Enjoy. (again, with the captions problem...sorry)

Grady LOVES to draw. He's become quite the artist with very interesting detail. It's so fun to see the things he draws. And I am truly a fan...I think he's really good. He could seriously get a job as a children's book illustrator right now. I think his stuff looks like the things in Dr. Suess books or something. Anyway...here's one of the first things he did. I'll have to just post pictures the kids have drawn on here one day. They're so cool.
Close-up of Grady's art.
I love homeschooling because our kids are always home with us and they model what we do...Hadley with an example of that (although she's never seen me use a bottle...no, there's nothing wrong with a bottle...just pointing that funny thing out).
Grady's castle.
Hadley's art.
Close-up of Hadley's art.
Doing some worksheets.

This day we read "Old King Cole" in the Nursery Rhymes book we have. I just happen to have an Old King Cole blanket (where did that come from, Mama?), so I got it out and showed it to the kids. Then they covered up with it and looked some more at the book. Fun.
Then after school, the girls are usually up and everyone enjoys a snack.

So, the story is that my homeschooling, missionary friend went home on furlough and they were at this baseball game or something. They said the Pledge of Allegiance there and her little Brazilian/American kiddos didn't know it. Her family was mortified. :) It wasn't in the homeschooling curriculum guide/checklist, so she didn't even think about it. I thought that story was so funny...and remembered it. My kids, after about 5 days of repetition, have now mastered the Pledge. :) Whew...checked off the list in my head.



And some of their memory verses...they learn one a week. You can also see some of our MAJOR silliness shining through here. Don't worry...we're not like that all the time.

Christmas Cards This Year

Oh, how I love the hustle and bustle!!

I think we might have to extend the Christmas festivities until at least mid-January since we aren't getting there until 2 days before Christmas. Maybe we can throw an extra Thanksgiving in there somewhere too. :) Ha ha ha.

Alisha nailed my next post on the head with her recent comment. (seriously, homeschool update is next)

Remember we LOVE getting Christmas cards, so please, SEND US ONE! And the fun thing this year, since WE ARE COMING TO THE STATES (I'm still shouting that phrase out a lot these days), is that you can mail them to us there. So easy, right? That's our focus...making life easier for you. ;)

So, send them to:

Joel and Michawn Ebersole
P.O. Box 42
Saline, LA 71070

Thanks so much!