Don't Quote Me....

...but I think I am becoming a cat person. I NEVER thought I would say that, and yet the words are out. I know it is still a bit early...we'll see when the "new" wears off, but for now we are very happy with the newest member of the Travis Family. For those of you that did not read it on Facebook, yes, we rescued a street kitty again. (You might remember we did this last year with very sad results. Click Here for the story.) I know cats have their issues, and we will have to address jumping on furniture, scratching and hair balls, etc. when it occurs in the future, but for now this kitten seems like a wonderful (& super easy) pet for a 7 year old. Truth be told the whole family (even Matt!) is enjoying the new addition. Matt says it is because she acts like a dog. She follows us around the house. She always wants to be in the same room as the family. She is the source of constant laughs as she pounces the fringes of the carpet, climbs in and out of her box and attacks her own tail. However, she has also scared us to death by jumping up onto the balcony railing. We are on the 8th floor! I don't think she would ever consider jumping, but she has a lame back leg. She could fall off....any suggestions?? Today is the first day of fall and our first day of rain in her lifetime. (4 months we think) She was very confused. She likes to nap on the balcony rug, but this morning she would go out and run back in and look at us as if we were doing something mean to her. I confess it was pitiful and comical at the same time. Grace has named her Ginger, but since she does not speak English we mostly call her "Zencefil". She is helping us with transitioning to an ease in communication in a foreign language!! A live in tutor...constant practice!! She has decided to sleep at the foot of Grace's bed. The other night I heard Grace speaking to her in her sleep. I am so glad that Grace has moved to dreaming in a foreign language!! Now, if the rest of us can transition to that level, we'll be doing good! Okay, so I may be turning into a cat lover, but in order to avoid being a "crazy cat lady" I promise to not constantly write about the cat. AT

Candy, Kids, Candy, Kids, Candy & More Kids

The last several days have been a holiday time in our country. It is the celebration known as "Seker Bayrami". I wrote about it last year, you can click here for a few more details. We are living in an area that has a ton of children, so we were quite busy this year compared to last year. Basically, the children are allowed to "trick-or-treat" for 3 days from early in the morning until night. They kiss your hand, wish you a happy holiday and then hold up their bag. It is really cute to see the tiny ones at your door. Some of them were a little afraid of us at first, but since you can go back to the same home each day, they warmed up. They mostly receive wrapped candy, but they also get money (mostly from family) chocolates, cakes, baklava, cookies - anything sweet. We allowed William and Grace go to a few buildings with their friends. They were so excited to participate as children as well as act like big kids and get their hands kissed and pass out candy to others. The holiday is also a time to visit family and friends. We are new so I think that people in our building are still a little unsure of us, but we were blessed to make a few visits, and we invited Matt's new language teacher and his family over for a meal. We are learning so much about this culture and beautiful people. We are honored to have the privilege to be in this place. "Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man." Proverbs 3: 3-4 Singing His Sweet Praises!! AT

First Week of School 2010-2011

Praise the Lord, I think I can stamp the first week of school as a success. We held our smiles and excitement most of the time. I believe we are really enjoying our new curriculum. I was nervous about the Language Arts program, but it seems to be a lot of fun and yet challenging. It is a classical approach. For now, I seem to be able to manipulate it to work well with the kids' learning styles, my teaching style and our time available. We are continuing with our same Bible studies and Math-U-See. We added back Answers in Genesis' "God's Design For" series for our science. The big hit this year so far is our new "Mystery of History" curriculum. They love listening to the audio lessons, creating flash cards to study for tests, looking at old and new worlds maps, etc. To tell you the truth, I am learning right along with them!! The kids are also very excited to be taking piano lessons again. William still really wants to play the guitar. Maybe we can move to that in a year or so. Our new fellowship seems to be full of very talented musicians who love children. W&G enjoy sitting with all the teens and taking turns playing the recorder, clarinet, saz, guitar, etc. It's always a big jam session before we start meetings. We are blessed to have a young lady coming to our home for 2 hours each day to help us with language. It seems to work best if we try to accomplish one activity (an hour to an hour & 15 min.) and then let the kids work with our Rosetta Stone computer curriculum while I have a little time alone with our tutor. Of course there are always "kinks" in the day/week....a neighbor stops by, Matt is at the house, Matt brings a friend home for lunch, and this week Thursday & Friday were local holidays so kids were ringing the bell for candy all day (we let W&G go with their new friends - what memories!)!! In the end, all the "i"s were dotted and "t"s crossed. One of the reasons we are homeschooling is for the "kinks". We want to be flexible. Our WHOLE family is here to love and serve. Now, just 35 more weeks to go!! His Mercies are New Every Morning! AT