Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Pow-wow, Possibilities, Playing Catch-Up and Parting Ways
The title of this blog entry kind of sums up what's been happening for us since my last entry. We've been playing catch-up ever since we were all sick.
We think we were hit by the same virus that causes "Hand-Foot-Mouth" Disease in toddlers. Several kids in my class caught it about the time that we were sick. When reading about it online, we discovered that in adults it doesn't normally cause any rash or spots, but all of the other symptoms that we were plagued with for almost two weeks. 
We also got to experience an Indian pow-wow. Penny was very excited about this. She's been very interested in learning about native Americans since we've been studying American history during our home schooling. I think she's especially interested in them, since they have their roots in Asia. The sad news about parting ways is the fact that we had to say, "Good-bye" to our dear home schooling neighbor friends. Penny had some special times with them before they left. They spent time together in the mountains and went on a picnic at a local park while I was at work. She's going to really miss them.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Shining as Gold
I am so thankful for God's goodness even during this trying time. The little suffering that we are going through is nothing in comparison to what so many other brothers and sisters in the Lord are struggling with. And it's nothing compared to what our Lord Jesus suffered on the cross in order to set us free from sin. Our family has been struggling lately with the stress of not knowing what's going to happen to Jay's job (once again). Since we brought Penny home from Thailand, a little over three years ago, we both have had three job changes. This was not at all what we had expected. But, we humans like to make our plans, but it is the Lord who directs our paths. I never would have chosen this road. But, God knows what He is doing by allowing all of these challenges along the way. He has been allowing these difficulties to refine us so that we may shine as gold for Him. Lately, Penny and I are reading an amazing book, called, "The Heavenly Man".
It is a true story of one Chinese pastor who was imprisoned for his faith. Penny keeps asking me to read more. She doesn't want me to put it down. I think the true stories of God's incredible miracles and answers to prayer for these Asian believers is strengthening her own new faith in Jesus. She told me that God is changing her heart. This is a wonderful answer to this mama's prayers for her daughter. Let's pray for our children that they may know Jesus. He is the only Savior and the way to the one heavenly Father who loves all children and loves to welcome them into His family. Our own family has all been struggling with illness. It started with me bringing home a bug that I caught from the preschool where I work. It made me sick for 11 days. Next Jay caught it, just before he was scheduled to sing for the Good Friday service. But, God enabled him to get through the song without coughing. Then Penny started coming down with it when she was singing for the Easter service. So, we had a simple Easter. After making it to the late service, we came home and took some family pictures, had a little brunch and then Jay and Penny crashed. I'm just thankful that we had the freedom to worship Jesus and celebrate His resurrection freely, together as a family. Lately, one of Penny's favorite songs on K-Love is by Newsboys, "God's Not Dead, He's surely Alive!" We're so thankful that He is alive and well and loving us through the ups and downs of life. Now we are praying that Penny will be feeling better by Monday, when she is scheduled to take standardized tests required for her home schooling.
Sunday, April 01, 2012
Life Has Been a Zoo!
I feel like the whole month of March has been quite a whirlwind of activity, some fun and exciting and other stuff quite stressful. So, by the end of this month, I've finally gotten sick. I knew it was bound to happen, sooner or later, since I work at a preschool. So far, I've fared a lot better than our younger, newer teachers. But, my turn has finally come, too. I was thankful that we planned a little weekend getaway for last weekend. It was just what we needed. Let's call it our own personal Spring Break from home schooling, since we normally do the bulk of the classes on Saturday, when I'm not at work. But, we had no idea, when we planned to take a little trip to Denver, that it would come right on the heels of getting some very unexpected news. Last Friday, when I got home from work, Penny looked down and shared with me the news that she had just heard from our dear neighbors down the street. They are the nice, Christian, home schooling family that Penny likes to hang out with while I'm at work. It turns out that they are planning to move to NC at the end of April. Right after getting that news, I checked our voice mail and it turns out that Jay was letting me know that on the same day, he was told that the grocery store, in which his credit union branch is located, is closing its doors as of May 18th. Two blows at once! Let's just say that Penny had a rough night that night. So, how appropriate that we should be escaping down to Denver to go to the zoo the next day. And we had a wonderful day! The weather was absolutely perfect. Afterwards, we ate out at Swing Thai, which is Penny's current favorite Thai restaurant in Colorado. That night we had free night's stay at the Embassy Suites that Jay had won on a radio contest. The hotel reminded us of some of the upscale hotels we'd stayed at in Thailand. And Penny was excited to stop at the Lao Market on the north side of Denver on our way home. This past week was a VERY busy week for me at my work. And my new co-worker, who is still learning the ropes, ended up calling in sick twice. So, I feel like I've had more than double of my typical load of responsibility at work. We found out that the credit union that Jay is working for is definitely not planning on relocating in any other existing building in the small town where it's presently located. Penny and I started talking about the possibilities and she said she would like to move closer to her grandparents and cousins. So, Jay went ahead and applied to some open music teaching positions in SD on a whim. So, we'll see if that opens any new doors. Once again, change seems to be the theme for the Regan family. We've had way too many ever since bringing Penny home from Thailand. But, God is faithful and continues to carry us through the ups and downs. I had just been trying to encourage Penny on Wednesday afternoon, telling her that we'll just need to trust God to guide us into the unknown future. Then we drove to church that night for her youth group and my ladies' prayer group. And can you guess what the theme of our prayer group was that night? "God is our Guide!" Interesting timing, wouldn't you say?! So, will you please pray with us that God will help us continue to trust in His leading and guidance with another possible job change ahead.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Birthday and Recital
So far during the month of March, we've been blessed to celebrate Chandra's birthday together and Jay's vocal recital. On March 9th we went out to Young's Cafe (a Vietnamese restaurant) which we all loved. Our waiter was from Thailand. But, it was interesting how he took note of Penny's country accent, since she's from Udon Thani, far away from Bangkok. He kept repeating how people in Bangkok have improved their speech. It is typical for those from the big city to look down on those from the Northeast. It would be a little like people from Hollywood looking down on the Clampetts in the Beverly Hillbillies. I was a bit unnerved, too, when he kept asking me about her real parents right in front of Penny. But, I have come to realize that most Thai people are quite unfamiliar with adoption and it's just a complete mystery to them. So, I try to remind myself that they are not trying to be nosy, just curious.
On March 18th we celebrated with Jay as he sang his heart out at a vocal recital held at our church, Redeemer Lutheran Church. It was a great testimony to the grace of God, as Jay weaved scripture in along with the music. We were overwhelmed by the outpouring of God's love through his family, as many people gave to a free-will offering to help towards our ongoing adoption-related expenses. We feel truly blessed. And it was an extra blessing to have our parents present for the special concert.
Saturday, March 03, 2012
Breaking through "The Wall"
Penny finally had her performances of "The Wall", a variety show musical that was written and directed by a talented former music teacher who goes to our church. The cool thing about Heather, is that she and her husband both met while they were on a college exchange trip in Asia. Most of their time they spent in Thailand. So, there is a special connection between her and Penny, as she still remembers a few Thai words and loves the people and culture, etc. Penny had so many long rehearsals leading up to her performances, which were held on Friday, February 24th and Saturday, February 25th. That final week was super busy, and I was busier than usual, as I started going in to work earlier and was dealing with other stress that is confidential. Needless to say, things are quite a bit calmer now that it's over. But, it sure was an AWESOME show! Not only did the kids display great talent, it was so touching to see that they came together to put on this musical to the glory of Christ! In fact, all of the money they raised will be used to help reach out to others, as they'll use it to send the youth on mission trips. There was a neat story shared by one of the youth, about how she, herself, came to a deeper understanding of what it means to trust in Christ, personally, while she went on one of those trips. So, right there, in Puerto Rico, in front of her youth group, she was baptized by the youth pastor. Another really neat outcomes of this musical, has been the result of Penny beginning to open up and become closer to some of the girls in the youth group. Up until now, the main focus has just been in her learning how to trust us and figure out what it means to be part of a family. She hasn't been ready to really focus too much energy and trying to build peer friendships. And the few times she has tried, it seems that there have been hurts that broke down the attempt. So, I feel like she has broken through a wall of fearing to get close to people. It was a first for her to give the director a hug and tell her that she loved her. And this is the first time I've seen her fine with me just dropping her off. It did this mama good to see her peers coming up to Penny and immediately calling out her name and giving her big hugs. She still struggles some with separation anxiety, such as at the party on Sunday afternoon, when the youth group went to play laser tag. But, this time, she didn't feel the need to call me and beg me to pick her up early. And she seemed reassured of my dependability when I showed up exactly at the time I promised to. She told me that it was hard for her to feel far away from me. Again, I feel like we're breaking through walls of things, like fear of separation. There will be more to break through, I'm sure. But, with God on our side, I'm sure that there's nothing that His love can't help us conquer.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Happy "Hula" Homeschooling
Now that Jay and I have signed up as a part of HUG (Homeschoolers Under God), we're able to take part in their various activities. For this month they had a special Valentine's Date Night for couples with a Hawaiian flair. It was a lot of fun, with great food and entertainment. After watching the dancing I (Chandra) even got to go up on stage and practice swinging around these little things that is a tradition of the native Maori people of New Zealand. We are starting to get to know some other nice couples with similar interests and goals as us. It feels like being part of a family. I hadn't felt that from the giant public school, where you felt more like a number and you would be sequestered if you tried to get on-campus. I think this "family-atmosphere" of the home school culture is going to be a great thing for Penny! They also provide the required testing by the state law at a reduced cost at a church. And they even hold a graduation ceremony in the Spring. So excited to be a part of this new group! Unfortunatley, the flickr pictures are not allowed to be shared. Wish you could see how much fun we had!
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Into the second month
Well, we're into our second month of homeschooling and we definitely are thinking this is the way to go! I'm still managing it along with working 32 hours per week. It just means that I can't do as many of the household chores. Penny does quite a few, but can't always, like when she was sick and when she's got a lot of homework. But, that's okay. You just have to decide that you can live with more of a mess and waiting longer to put all of the Christmas decorations away. Who really cares? After all, those things won't matter in the end. But, we're creating special memories together every day as we learn together. I started off with very little in the way of actual text books. Rather, I started off with lots of online materials, books that we received or inherited from previous homeschooler families and library materials. But, now I'm gradually getting more books, via e-bay. Such great deals! And I'm getting better at learning bidding techniques that work. 
Some of the great finds I got lately include the Children's Encyclopedia of American History for only $4 and a science textbook for under $4! 
The best thing is hearing my daughter say, "I'm starting to like Science and Math now." And now when people ask her what her favorite subject is she quickly pipes up and says, "History!" She never responded with any enthusiasm at all when asked that question before she started homeschooling. And I'm amazed at how much progress she's already made in her reading ability just in the six weeks that we've been homeschooling. Now she actually WANTS to read! She'll almost get upset if I try to read something. Before it was like pulling teeth to try and get her to read things. Today when we finished a language arts assignment about verbs she said, "That was fun!" And she asked me to please quiz her over the next set of "hiragana" (Japanese alphabet). It's great that we can be so flexible, as she's also gotten very busy with her commitment to the church youth group musical. 
Last year she was invovled, but quite stressed about the Sunday afternoon rehearsals. This year she's feeling so much more relaxed that she volunteered, on her own, to be in another number, which means commiting to more practices. And I'm mean we're talking three hour practices minimum. And this year she's actually fine with me just dropping her off. She's even starting to open up and try to get to know a few of the kids and asking to befriend them on FB. So, I feel like the extra bonding time we're spending at home is paying off great benefits in helping her feel safe to venture out more in other areas. What's funny is how the school didn't get it. They were concerned about her social interactions. She's actually starting to have more positive signs of socially interacting now that she's not at the public high school. I think she also really enjoys that she can sleep in and take breaks for ice cream in the middle of her schooling. On the thirteenth Jay and I will get a nice couple's date with a group of other homeschooler parents through our local HUG group (Homeschoolers under God). Penny will busy with one of her musical practices at the same time, so she'll probably be too busy to feel left out or jealous of us spending alone time as just a couple. I think that's probably been the biggest sacrifice for us, is just not getting as much time together as a couple. It still takes me a lot of time in doing my lesson-planning. But, I think eventually this will continue to get easier. In fact, just this morning I planned ahead for Math for the whole next two semesters. And I'm already trying to purchase books that I'll need for the Fall semester, so I'll be all ready to go! We're feeling like this homeschooling thing will continue to be the best route for Penny and our family. So, Lord willing, we'll just continue to move forward.
Some of the great finds I got lately include the Children's Encyclopedia of American History for only $4 and a science textbook for under $4! The best thing is hearing my daughter say, "I'm starting to like Science and Math now." And now when people ask her what her favorite subject is she quickly pipes up and says, "History!" She never responded with any enthusiasm at all when asked that question before she started homeschooling. And I'm amazed at how much progress she's already made in her reading ability just in the six weeks that we've been homeschooling. Now she actually WANTS to read! She'll almost get upset if I try to read something. Before it was like pulling teeth to try and get her to read things. Today when we finished a language arts assignment about verbs she said, "That was fun!" And she asked me to please quiz her over the next set of "hiragana" (Japanese alphabet). It's great that we can be so flexible, as she's also gotten very busy with her commitment to the church youth group musical. 
Last year she was invovled, but quite stressed about the Sunday afternoon rehearsals. This year she's feeling so much more relaxed that she volunteered, on her own, to be in another number, which means commiting to more practices. And I'm mean we're talking three hour practices minimum. And this year she's actually fine with me just dropping her off. She's even starting to open up and try to get to know a few of the kids and asking to befriend them on FB. So, I feel like the extra bonding time we're spending at home is paying off great benefits in helping her feel safe to venture out more in other areas. What's funny is how the school didn't get it. They were concerned about her social interactions. She's actually starting to have more positive signs of socially interacting now that she's not at the public high school. I think she also really enjoys that she can sleep in and take breaks for ice cream in the middle of her schooling. On the thirteenth Jay and I will get a nice couple's date with a group of other homeschooler parents through our local HUG group (Homeschoolers under God). Penny will busy with one of her musical practices at the same time, so she'll probably be too busy to feel left out or jealous of us spending alone time as just a couple. I think that's probably been the biggest sacrifice for us, is just not getting as much time together as a couple. It still takes me a lot of time in doing my lesson-planning. But, I think eventually this will continue to get easier. In fact, just this morning I planned ahead for Math for the whole next two semesters. And I'm already trying to purchase books that I'll need for the Fall semester, so I'll be all ready to go! We're feeling like this homeschooling thing will continue to be the best route for Penny and our family. So, Lord willing, we'll just continue to move forward.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Three Weeks "Under our Belt"
Well, we can now say that we've done at least three weeks worth of home schooling. And the verdict is... that we like it, so far! It's proving to be very flexible, such wonderful bonding time and a great opportunity to help Penny at her level and challenge her in the areas she needs some help in, but in increments. The idea of throwing her into mainstream classes, when she wasn't ready, was like taking a child who hasn't learned all of the steps involved in swimming and throwing them into the deep end and saying, "Try your best!" It was not working for her. So, now we're starting out slowly and helping her to gain confidence in the things that she does know and gradually building on them. So far, one of my favorite websites include the Pathways website, great free curriculum planning for busy, working moms. I also love the aaa.math.com site as well as abcteach.com I'm LOVING all of the resources at our library. I love the Magic Tree House books with their supplemental non-fiction books on historical topics. She's already been able to go on one field trip with our neighbor lady and her kids. 
She visited the Recycle Center at the "Garbage Garage". And the last two days we've modified the home schooling plans, as she's been fighting a stomach bug. Again, love the flexibility! Penny's been able to meet with other kids at church for youth group on Wednesday night and they've been practicing for their musical every Sunday afternoon for three hours. This Sunday she went over to her friend's Chinese church to join their Chinese New Year's celebration. But, unfortunately, she couldn't enjoy much of the food, as her stomach was starting to bother her. We're doing a lot of reading and writing for our home schooling, as that's an area where Penny has plenty of room for growth. And we're using a Science curriculum that I feel comfortable with teaching, especially because it's from a Creationist perspective. Even in her Math we're having her write some about what she's been learning in a journal. I think she's already starting to gain a little more independence and confidence in her own ability. I know that creative writing is hard for her. But, I'm so proud of her progress, already. Jay and I have already attended our first ever home schooler's association meeting. There someone told me that we'd be amazed by how quickly we'd see growth and progress while home schooling. I believe I can already see that, even though it's been less than a month. We'll let you know how things are going next month.
She visited the Recycle Center at the "Garbage Garage". And the last two days we've modified the home schooling plans, as she's been fighting a stomach bug. Again, love the flexibility! Penny's been able to meet with other kids at church for youth group on Wednesday night and they've been practicing for their musical every Sunday afternoon for three hours. This Sunday she went over to her friend's Chinese church to join their Chinese New Year's celebration. But, unfortunately, she couldn't enjoy much of the food, as her stomach was starting to bother her. We're doing a lot of reading and writing for our home schooling, as that's an area where Penny has plenty of room for growth. And we're using a Science curriculum that I feel comfortable with teaching, especially because it's from a Creationist perspective. Even in her Math we're having her write some about what she's been learning in a journal. I think she's already starting to gain a little more independence and confidence in her own ability. I know that creative writing is hard for her. But, I'm so proud of her progress, already. Jay and I have already attended our first ever home schooler's association meeting. There someone told me that we'd be amazed by how quickly we'd see growth and progress while home schooling. I believe I can already see that, even though it's been less than a month. We'll let you know how things are going next month.
Friday, January 06, 2012
From the Happy Holidays to Happy Homeschooling
I've not been posting too much these days because I'm working 32 hours/week, plus was hosting for Christmas this year and was busy getting ready to homeschool Penny. She brought up the idea of trying homeschooling back in September, but then decided in December that she definitely wanted to do it. We've just about finished our first week and so far we're both really enjoying it. It's made for some good bonding times together, already. Now we can go back and get her caught up on subject areas and English at her own pace.
For Thanksgiving, we went over to Jay's parents, who just live across town. 
For Christmas, my (Chandra's) parents came from SD, as well as my brother. Jay's sister also came from Limon along with his folks. 
Having my dad and brother here was very helpful, as they helped me move furniture into our homeschooling room. My mom also helped with some organization. We've been blessed that we have so many people who have gone before us in this homeschooling venture. So, we've already received lots of advice and even free materials that we can use for our homeschooling. Penny decided to dub the name of our homeschool as "Happy Homeschool". I was pleased to find out that I qualify for an educator's discount card at Barnes & Nobles. Thanks to the kind gifts of some of my preschool families at the school where I work, I was able to use gift cards to purchase some books and a calendar/planner for my lesson planning, all for free. Not to mention, that Jay won a free laptop computer from his work's Christmas party. It just seems that God is providing everything that we need to begin this new journey. We're sensing lots of affirmations along the way. We're privileged to be in a town with some great home school networks/associations. In fact, just in the Christian homeschooler's group, alone, there are at least 140 families as members. In fact, we have a nice Christian family just about a block away from us who are welcoming Penny to come over and work on her homework while I'm at work. 
One thing I can say for sure, it sure is nice to know that Penny is starting to relax more and sleep better. Public high school was turning out to be way too stressful for her. And when your child is feeling distraught it can really make parents upset, as well. Having never been a part of the large public high school, myself, it was quite a major culture shock for me, too. I like the teacher to student ratio much better now. If only we could always have those ratios at preschool! Hope you all had very Happy Holidays! And we'll check in when we can now that we've launched our new "Happy Homeschool"
Sunday, January 01, 2012
Three Years Ago Today...
Here are some images from our New Year's Eve in Bangkok when we were with Penny. We were there from Dec. 9th, 2008 through Jan. 10th, 2009. Hard to believe that three years later Penny is now a high school student and I'll start homeschooling her tomorrow. Just three and a half years and she should be graduating. Time is fleeting...what will we do with the time given to us today?
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Three Years Ago Today...
Today is a very special day in our memory! It was the first day that we ever got to meet our daughter in person. From my memory we were all very nervous. In fact, Jay got so excited when he first saw her jumping up and down that he forgot the video camera on the floor of the van. So, you just hear him burst into tears and see something like his jeans and the seat of the van. But, we have some other photos and a few mpg movies of that day. I'll try posting them here. After doing some paperwork and taking a walking tour of the grounds of her orphanage, we went to a Fair in downtown Udon Thani, where it was very hot with lots of interesting smells wafting through the air. Jay was so surprised that Penny bought a bag of roasted bugs there to eat. She says she's not sure she could eat them, anymore. I guess she's become a little more Americanized by now. Also, on that first day we got to see her play her "khim" (Thai hammered dulcimer). But, she says she was so nervous that she made a number of mistakes. We didn't care. We were just in awe of our new daughter, whom we had waited for almost two years exactly, to the day. It was like a strange fairytale dream come true.
Today Jay is singing at a church in Loveland. And Penny has been invited to go to a Chinese friend's church. In the evening we are planning to go out to eat at the Thai Pepper to celebrate the special day. I'm so glad that I'm getting over the flu bug I had on Friday. But, I think I'll still go for something mild, like Pad Thai for now.
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