Our co-op has just completed four weeks of Kings and Queens! Huzzah!
We have learned much during this unit.
Did you know......
That in zoology books from the era the dragon was listed right alongside animals such as panthers, lions and bears? They were said to dwell in caves and were considered lethal even to elephants!
Most people got married in June....shortly after their ANNUAL bath in May?
People's animals (and I mean cows, sheep, horses...LIVESTOCK) slept in the same cottage as they did?
There was a tremendous problem with fleas? (duh!)
That people in the Middle Ages ate off of stale pieces of bread called trenchers instead of plates?
People ate with their hands mostly? Our kids think that is STILL a good idea!
People had much better manners in those days?
People had to be obedient to live? (See why we did this unit??)
There is a lot more interesting information about the Middle Ages out there, but the best tidbit we picked up is...
Back then, they were simple...but they knew how to PAR-TAY!
Case in point.......
Saturday, February 6, 2010
YE OLDE PAR-TAY!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
IT'S A TURTLE! NO! IT'S A JAUNDICED DARTH VADER!
What in the world is a Bilibo????? It is kind of a turtle shell. Or a spinning seat. Or a bucket. Or a Darth Vader helmet. Ummmmm......well, you will just have to take a look at what we did with Sam's birthday gift from his Aunty and Uncle and Schnuenkins!
It's a Birthday Twinkie Seat!
It's a Bug Butt!
It's a Turtle Shell!
It's a Chin Rest!
It's Darth Vader? It's Weird Harold?
It's a Cup!
It's a Pregnant Belly Protector!
No Description Necessary!
Sam's real birthday celebration is tonight. (Yesterday, we did not have a free moment....we were punchy....which may explain some of our uses of the Bilibo!) Tonight, he will have a real cake...but last night he had an Aunty Twinkie Cake (or Twunkie, as Sam calls it).
Happy Birthday, Sam!
Friday, January 22, 2010
CAN I BORROW YOU FOR A MINUTE?
When I was coming to MASTERS, I had an agenda of many things I wanted to learn and accomplish. There was a long checklist and in 6 days I met almost all of my goals.
I have learned so much, I mean SO much, that I cannot believe I haven't actually been here for a month!! I am inspired and have a renewed vision.
I have heard some amazing things out of the mouths of kids! Though, I hesitate to call them kids. They are wild, on-fire for Jesus, and are finding all kinds of platforms and doing all kinds of speeches, recitations, and interpretations. They are making a difference in the world for the kingdom. Their purposes are eternal and I can't wait to take the fire back to our chapter.
I sat through 12 hour days of training....including pushing ballots for a day and a half! I worked a tournament for the first time, judged public forum debate for the first time, had lunch with THERESA MOON, herself and made lots and lots of friends! It was hard to say good-bye to some of them tonight....but, happily, I am leaving with my good friend Karri....AND...she is still talking to me as of tonight!!! Whew!
But several of my friends know there was one objective not met. No connection with Rosylocks.
Until tonight. As I was waiting to leave....just standing around.....Levi (my hero!), said, "Mrs. Yuen, look." I turned around and saw Rosylocks. This was nothing new. The Yuenbert children had much fun pointing the sight out to me many times during the conference. BUT....this time, Rosylocks was there to meet me! Levi had told him, "Can I borrow you for a minute?" and brought him over to meet me. So, I, naturally, filled him in. I said, "I have been waiting to meet you all week. You missed the party!" He was actually disappointed. ANYWAY....with that encounter, my week ended on a high note. And I discovered that LEVI was the greatest guy there!
Oh yeah! It ended on a high note for Catey, too! She gave her Thematic speech this morning to everyone at the conference, and if I may brag, it was FABULOUS! She also got the Top Delegate for the Security Council in Model UN. AND a pseudo-mommy brag.....Madison got Top Delegate for the UN General Assembly and was on the number one country!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
HOLY GUACAMOLE!!!!
Funny thing happened on the way to North Carolina for the MASTERS Conference. I could not pray that Catey and Madison would win their speech and debate events. I could only pray that they glorify God with their events.
So....fast forward to tonight when they announced folks who qualified to the National Tournament this summer. BOTH Catey and Madison qualified with their own Thematic Religious events. While the girls felt good about their events....this is the ONE that would glorify God the most!
I am SO proud of them!!!! They put a lot of effort into their works, so this is a sweet victory.
On a strictly Yuen note (as opposed to a Yuenbert note....which is what I call us collectively), this was Catey's very first tournament. I am bursting that she qualified. I think I screamed my head off when they announced her name!
And tonight....no pictures or anything else. We have been doing 12-14 hour days with ABSOLUTELY NO FREE TIME.....so I will get to posting more pictures later (Joss!).
ALSO....
Note to Angi......Yes! I did take a picture of his hair! (still no connection, I may be giving up after this)
Disclaimer: In no way did I intend to say that conservative, professional, informative or responsible people are boring! In fact....they are some of my best friends (and also my husband). I NEED those people....otherwise I would get NOTHING done! (but they need me too, or they wouldn't have as much fun!). Karri is VERY fun, and humors me well, though we have received some texts from her family indicating that certain members of her said family may not feel I am the safest influence!!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
SPIES LIKE US...AND OTHER MASTERS STORIES
Well, day 2 of MASTERS is under our belt. Two down, three to go. Today was the first day of the tournament and probably the last day Karri will talk to me.
It all started out great! We went to training for the new ICC Forensics Society so that we would be equipped to judge the Public Forum Debate rounds happening later in the day. We got some great information and shared a lot of ideas. Everything was very professional and informative.
The way Karri likes it.
After lunch, we started the tournament and I actually got to see Madison and Catey do their first round of debate. They did a great job, especially considering they haven't done this form of debate before. Karri, the responsible one, judged a round.
That is the way Karri likes it......responsible.
After the tournament, we had a dinner party to attend. I will say that ICC knows how to throw a party!! I had such a good time! It was a mystery dinner and we all had to dress as someone from a mystery. Catey, Madison and Maci went as Mrs. White, Mrs. Peacock and Miss Scarlet (from the game, Clue) respectively. Levi went as the Scarlet Pimpernel, which is NOT a zit, but a historic French Super Hero. (I may even read the book!) I WANTED to go as Larry-Boy. I even bought a Larry Boy hat. But at the last minute, Karri talked me into something more....conservative.
That is how Karri parties......conservatively.
In the end, however, I got over on Karri!
She talked me into dressing up as 005, and she was going to go as 006, but when we got to MASTERS and we watched the interns' program again, we changed our plans. We still dressed as spies, but we called ourselves Agent 1 and Agent 2 after two of the interns in the performance. THAT....got us some recognition.
That is NOT what Karri likes.
She likes to fly under the radar. But she was with me. Poor Karri. I LOVE the spotlight! And I love having Karri in the spotlight with me! Actually....I like to act silly and then claim I AM Karri. Which is what I did tonight.
They called us up because we had totally awesome ICC costumes. I did some silly "ninja" moves (like the interns do in the program) and then I introduced myself as, of course....Karri S.
I don't think she appreciated that. I could tell by the way her mouth tightened when she clenched her teeth at me.
Okay...seriously.....Karri and I are having a BLAST! And so are the kids. I don't know who is enjoying it more....us or them. All I know is we are all learning a lot, contributing a lot and enjoying it A LOT!
Oh.....and I know several of you are wondering........
Yes, I have met Rosylocks....but there hasn't been a real connection yet. I will keep you posted.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
THE BRITISH ARE COMING!
"Give me liberty or give me a roundabout!" Patrick Henry; revised
I am currently in the "First in Flight" state....North Carolina. Here they seem to have forgotten that we won the Revolution and are free from the tyrannical rule of the English Crown. They seem to need a firm reminder that we won our independence and no longer need to appease the king (never mind the fact that England doesn't even HAVE a king right now!)!
Perhaps they should watch the CFC intern program that I watched tonight. In it, the interns re-enact the soul-stirring speech Patrick Henry gave when he gave the charge to the Colonists (as we USED to be called) to revolt against the shackles of the English government. It was so inspiring to see this "Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death" speech as it must have been originally presented, that I was feeling very patriotic when we left.
Then I got into our mini-van. Maybe it was the fact that the van is Japanese. Or maybe it was because our GPS is an Australian mate named, 'Lee'. In any case, things began to take a turn for the worse. And a turn. And a turn. And a turn......
Oh, sure, it started out innocently enough. We even stopped at the American institution, Wal*Mart. But, it is hard to feel very red, white and blue, when your driving guide announces in an Aussie accent that you have arrived at "W-Al Mort Sipper Cent-ear". From there, things just got worse. I even saw Miley Cyrus in a British Union Jack shirt! Hello! She is an American COUNTRY singer! I even doubt she knows exactly where England is! Freedom people! We fought and died for it! I don't love country music, by any means, but those people usually bleed stars and stripes!
After we got our water, which, by the way, was bottled by Nestle, a SWISS company for goodness sakes.....we hopped back in our Toyota van and sidled up to 'Lee' as he led us through the back country to our hotel. (all the while passing restaurants like, The Olive Garden and Outback.....whatever happened to McDonald's? Oh! They are probably Scottish! Okay....getting off the soapbox now).
Now, I LOVE the melting pot that we are. I love that we have Australian GPS', Japanese cars (and sushi!!), Italian pizza and pasta, Chinese husbands and curly red-haired Scottish bagpipe players. Normally, I would never complain about our inclusive American culture. I almost always feel very blessed by it. BUT....there is one thing I cannot stand. It is a European import that I will NEVER embrace.
And I got STUCK on it tonight. Oh yeah....you know it.....
The dreaded roundabout.
I hate it.
I was driving back to the hotel and Catey and I were scaring our friends, the Sieberts, who unlike Catey and I, actually become tired at the end of a day spent driving for 3 hours and attending day one of a conference. They all smiled at mine and Catey's constant chatter, but I think I saw them rolling their eyes at each other.....and even as I type......Karri is missing. She said she was making a phone call, but I think she is curled in a fetal position somewhere wondering how she got stuck with us for a week. But, I digress.
I was driving the van, to give Karri a break. We kind of have a deal. One drives and one navigates (and Levi constantly assists from the very, very back of the van!). So, there we are driving on the back roads. There isn't much to this part of North Carolina. Mayberry is no stretch of the imagination.....neither are their roads. Straight shots. Until.......
In the middle of God's Country, all of the sudden we come to a ROUNDABOUT! You know....those ridiculous (a word which the Sieberts are having much fun laughing at me saying, by the way) traffic obstacle courses. One minute we are looking at hillbilly haven, and the next minute we are dropped on to the epitome of traffic refinement, the roundabout.
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to giggle for long at this paradox before I was caught.
I am not sure exactly how many times we actually went around the roundabout, but it was a lot! Everytime we would get to the other side of the roundabout, 5 different fingers would point in 5 different directions yelling at me to try to get off the roundabout. But, there was no escape. Round and round we went. Again and again. Over and over. I am pretty sure it wasn't me who started crying first....but by the time we finally got off, we all had tears running down our face!
And that was when I realized it. Roundabouts are an English plot. To distract the "Colonists" to fits of insanity. Sooner or later, we will all be stuck on a roundabout with Lobster-back troops marching in and then you will hear me screaming at the tops of my lungs.....
THE BRITISH ARE COMING! THE BRITISH ARE COMING!
Thursday, January 14, 2010
IN HAITI
I am pretty sure what I am doing is illegal. I am highjacking someone's deep, loving poetic heart because she says what I feel SO much more eloquently than I ever could. And, cuz she is my kid....I taught her to write, so this is just a little payback.
Seriously, please pray for Haiti. There are two precious girls there that I already love so much. I have never met them, but I love them just the same. Pray for them, their people, and their family who anxiously awaits more word on them! We have several friends with precious little ones there. May God hear your prayers and comfort their hearts.
The rest of the post is courtesy of Catey......whether she knows it or not.
Dust
It stung my eyes cough cough
The sky is opened above me
Where is the house
I'm confused
Gasping clutching Mother- mother -
Scream
The pigs move past the women scream
We cry out
There is blood on my dress
There is bile on the stones
Fear
How could this be?
Where are you, God?
So far away, what can I do
What can I do
What can I do?
Hundred miles pass in blue
Between you and I
My arms are aching
Aching to hold you.
Cursing the sun cursing
The light handling what I can
No more house no more sky
No sky just dust
I can't breathe can't cry can't speak
I hate you where are you when I need you
Why aren't you here for me why didn't you stop this
Why weren't your hands there to cradle me
God o God o God I can't feel you
Then where are you
Praising the Son praising
The Light and truth
The Shepherd was there, he cradled the lambs
I can't feel him, and his staff pains me
I just want to cry, I have no praise in my heart
But in my soul, maybe, in my spirit
I can find a wailing voice
Even if I have no words, I praise you
You were there, when I couldn't be
Hold her
Rock her to sleep
Tousle her hair
Sing over her:
Blessed be your name when I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name.
I will sing, I will shout
Burning sun blistering water
Tears in my eyes
Blood in my hair
Over me
Blessed be your name when I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name.
Your name is a strong and might tower
It did not collapse when the earth shook
I run to the tower I ascend
The stairs cavernously
Nothing can shake you nothing
I am safe here
I feel your arms around me
I know your name
You are here
Blessed be your name.
Please be in prayer for the victims of the 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti. Already the poorest country in the western hemisphere, they've consistently had natural, social and political adoptions. More people in Haiti are chronically malnourished than anywhere else in this half of the world, and with the earthquake, less food and water is available. The streets are littered with dead, and many are still trapped under rubble. Haitian adoptions are slow, unsteady and strewn with deceit and corruption. This earthquake could make things more difficult. Dozens of countries have rushed to Haiti's aid, but their support will not be enough. We need to be in prayer that the spiritual elements of the Haiti disaster will be covered, not just the physical. The country is dedicated to Voodoo, and God feels far off to these precious children of his today. When we are inadequate, Christ shows strongest. Please lift these little ones up in prayer in the coming days, weeks and months.
