The latest TA Slideshow

I already posted this on our Angel House blog but wanted to throw it up here as well for my family peeps:

My Little Magnet

That is how I feel about Bethany. Her quiet little way of worming into my heart every time I see that smile is something I crave.


God has something so special for her and I cannot wait to see how her story develops.

Shopping Day!

My friend Leah, her son Jacob and I went down to 'The Valley' to the teaching supply store and got all stocked up for our trip down to Three Angels this week. It was so much fun picking out all kinds of learning resources for these kids! A huge thank you to those that pitched in to help buy these awesome items! This is SUCH a huge step up from only being able to use dry textbooks and a chalkboard - the teachers will be so excited!


We were able to purchase writing boards, math games, fraction manipulatives, fact family boards, a complete microscope kit, prepared slides, anatomy puzzles, reproducible workbooks, stamps, maps, compasses, french vocabulary flash cards and dictionaries, see & solve games, learning workbooks, science games, pencils, arts & crafts projects, alphabet and handwriting teaching tools... and much more!

Thank you for being a part of blessing these kids and supporting their education. Don't forget to consider becoming a school sponsor! We still need 298 more people willing to donate $27 / month to send a child to school at Three Angels.

We Heart Cookies

The kids and I made Valentines Day cookies yesterday and had lots of fun decorating them.

Note to self: Do not turn mixer on when there are 3 cups of sifted powdered sugar in the bowl...

Happy VD everyone!

February Trip to Three Angels

My next trip to Three Angels in Haiti will be on February 21st. I am hoping to get some instructional materials for our teachers there. Last October, thanks to the generosity of people like you, I was able to bring down anatomy forms, geometry manipulatives and a ton of classroom basics like paper, pencils, tape, scissors, etc. The teachers and the students were so excited to know that people in the US cared about them enough to be so generous!

I believe it is incredibly encouraging to our teachers to get some actual teaching materials that are simply not available in Haiti or beyond our budget. Imagine teaching in a partitioned classroom with only a chalkboard, a few shared textbooks, pencil and paper. I would LOVE to bless them with some of the following items:

• French Bibles
• Math centers (anything except for money)
• Science Kits - $149 each
• Learning Centers - Science - $varies
• Activity Tubs - Science
• Fact Family Math Boards
• Fractions Math Boards
• Math workbooks (we can photocopy pages)
• Globe & geography tools - (world maps , not US)
• GIFT CARDS to Lakeshore Learning, Amazon, Staples, etc.

If you would like to procure and send any of these items please email me and I can give you my mailing address! (shannon@threeangelshaiti.org)

Some things to remember:

• I will need your gifts by February 20th.
• We have 335 students in Preschool - 6th grade.
  
• Materials should not be dependent upon language (our kids speak Creole and are learning French)

What a Waste

Okay, I ain't no tree-huggin', granola eatin', birken-wearin', patchouli-smellin' greenie. (with long arm-pit hair to complete the stereotype) But over the last 6 months or so I have been trying to cut down on the massive amounts of junk mail I get. It drives me nuts. Not only is it a complete waste, I do not need to have temptation delivered to my mailbox.

I invite you to join me via Catalog Choice in declining receipt of unwanted catalogs and advertisements. Just enter your mailing info and then select the merchants you don't want to get stuff from. They do all the work for you after that. I'll admit it, the hardest ones for me to select were Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware...

Not all of the catalogs I get are on the website yet but it looks like more and more are added each month. I'm still waiting for World Vision to be listed - they send me stuff every month! But that is a whole other post...

Blessing us.

This is a long one but well worth the read, especially at the end. It has caused me to question what kind of blessing I expect. This letter was sent by a missionary working in Kenya.

Dear friends,

I cannot express what it means to know that people are standing with me in prayer as Kenya continues to walk this difficult journey of political unrest. For me, the issue I am really praying about is the idea of calm vs. peace. Like so much of the world, Kenya is used to living in calm but not peace. I do not want to simply return to the "calm" where we put up with one another (although it feels much nicer). There are deep issues of hatred between tribes that unless/until they are addressed will continue to resurface. In the midst of this evil, I believe that God is trying to reveal His heart for this place, for His people. There is a deep cleansing that needs to occur. So, we continue to pray. I wanted to share these reflections from an experience I had this past week...

Like so many other Friday’s, I went to the HIV/AIDS clinic this morning to treat patients. Like any other day, people walked to the clinic or were carried on the back of bicycles. They waited in the open air corridors of the clinic to be treated.

One man arrived critically ill and desperately needed to be referred to a larger hospital just one hour away; but unlike other days, there was no vehicle to take him. The road towards town contains blockades as the post-election violence continues. So, the possibility of extending treatment or even relief to this dying man seemed impossible. Rachel, the Health Practitioner I was working with, unwilling to give up asked if I would go on a walk with her. I agreed, and we walked a few hundred meters up a large hill to the police station to request them to escort this man to the hospital. As we were walking, a group of women, displaced from their homes, greeted us. They explained that it had really been raining upon them over the past few days, and they asked her for her white lab coat. She responded that she still needed it for work.

I was not prepared for the sights I was about to see. A mere ten miles from my village I entered a refugee camp. As I reached the top of the hill, I was greeted by a lady who I used to eat in her little restaurant. With tears in her eyes, she said: “welcome to our refugee camp.” I looked into the faces of hungry and dirty children. They were playing in the middle of their refuge amongst 20,000 others who had been chased as their homes were burned to the ground. I recognized others I have treated as patients at the HIV clinic. A deep sadness entered my heart. Tears filled my eyes, and I feared if I allowed them to flow they might not ever stop. I talked with a little girl, and she asked me where I was from. I told her that I lived in Kipkaren; and she simply replied, “me too”. The only difference is that her home is no longer. She is struggling, along with 300,000 others who have been displaced within their own homeland, to survive. It is hard to imagine the kind of politics, the tribal hatred that could lead to this injustice.

After arrangements had been made with the police for transporting our patient, we started back down the hill. A little girl, maybe six years old, was carrying water on her head as she climbed the hill. Her name, Upendo (which means love in Kiswahili), struck me. She represents all that we have been called to do as followers of Christ.

Overwhelmed by the devastation of this land, I remembered these instructions that say: “Open your mouth for the speechless, in the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and the needy” (Proverbs 31:8-9).

And then it began to rain. It was not a light, gentle drizzle but a big rain. For a moment, in a small way, I felt their struggles. This may seem obvious; but without a shelter to enter, it is cold and wet when it rains. Without food to eat, hunger is felt. Without peace, there is no rest. As we walked through the rain, Rachel said: “now I know why they needed my coat.” I am convinced, although uncomfortable, there are times we need to know. I recently came across this prayer that has challenged, once again, my view of what it means to be blessed.

May God bless you with discomfort

At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejections, hunger and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them
And to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done.
To bring justice and kindness to all.

So, I am opening my mouth on behalf of those without a voice. God has shown us what is good and what is required. We are to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with Him. May God lead our hearts to love more fully and to follow Him wherever He leads.

May God bless you... With love, Juli

Still nothing.

I have nothing to say when others say it all so much better.

Cool like That

I haven't had anything original to say lately. This chick does however...

Pull my finger

Some of you are going to be soooo offended. But in this family farts are funny.

Invite an 8 year old boy to watch this with you and witness him lose his ever-lovin' mind.

Merry Christmas and Happy Dutch Ovens.

Can I make them MORE weird?

This is an open solicitation on your thoughts about homeschooling. No, I haven't been drinking (yet).

Amazing.

The Pentatonic Scale - the great equalizer. It is a musical scale with five pitches per octave as compared to the major scale which is made up of seven distinct notes.

I love learning new things, especially when God is revealed in the knowledge



Thanks Megan!

Using ALL my fingers...

Today is our 10 year wedding anniversary. I spent some of the day thinking about what I would do differently knowing what I know now. I wouldn't use that caterer who only spoke Latvian. I wouldn't have penciled in my already dark eyebrows. I would rethink the dress and definitely the shoes. I would have asked my brother to not bring that date. I would not have had that spare cooler stocked with beer under the groomsmen's table. I would've known that I shouldn't hire the guy with the navy limo. I would have paid more for the pictures and less for the flowers. I wouldn't hire an ex-boyfriend to be the DJ.

But one thing I would never ever change was the man I married. God is good. He has spared me from myself and blessed me with Gary as a partner in this life. It would take me forever to list his attributes and all that he is to me, and we have PLANS tonight... but for fits and giggles I thought I would leave you all with some pictures - 10 years later:


Yeah baby - it still fits (AND I'm bloated)!

She wanted to wear the 'leg thing' but she settled for the veil...

Sniffing Glue

Okay, it's only Elmer's School Glue, but it can make little girls sooooo happy.



Livi and her friend Gracie (Leah's daughter) spent Saturday together and we started in on some Christmas crafts. The foam angels are a wee bit dopey, but the Christmas Trees with button ornaments were a hit.

All that was needed was a pre-cut tree from Michael's (50 cents), some green paint, brown paint, lots of buttons and, of course, the Elmer's glue.


Didn't you just love doing stuff like this when you were 5? Let me know if you have any good easy craft ideas. (Um, and I don't sew or do scrapbooking, so I do mean EASY!)

It's the last day of November and...

We got elfed!

Happy Turkey Day

Our demonstration of what NOT to do after your big meal...

I am so very thankful for my little turkies. Actually I meant turkeys. That would be the proper plural. (Leah...)

Just Desserts

So a few days ago Gary had sent me a news article about the most expensive dessert in the world. It costs $25,000. Plus tip.

Ridiculous on so many levels - I won't even go there (gluttony, materialism, how many students sponsorships that would be...). But what I did find as gut-busting funny was that 3 days later I came across this follow up item:

Popular NYC Eatery Shut Down For Rodents
NEW YORK - While serendipity may be the art of finding pleasant things by chance, what health inspectors found at celebrated eatery Serendipity 3 was not very agreeable.

Officials closed the restaurant Wednesday night after it failed its second inspection in a month. An inspector spotted a live mouse and mouse droppings, fruit flies, house flies and more than 100 live cockroaches.

"Both inspections revealed rodent and fly infestation and conditions conducive to pest infestation, including stagnant water in the basement," the department said.

People stand in line for hours outside the Manhattan restaurant, known for its extravagant and expensive desserts. Its $25,000 Frrrozen Haute Chocolate features top-grade cocoa, edible gold and shavings of a luxury truffle and was declared the most expensive dessert in the world by Guinness World Records. The eatery also offers a $1,000 sundae named Golden Opulence requiring 48-hour advance notice.

Calculating the Risks

Would you fight and work for something if you thought you wouldn't win?


I highly recommend this latest post from the Livesay Tribe - missionaries in Haiti. It has a great song by Sara Groves too.

"The concept of fighting ONLY when you think you can win is one of the things that strikes us --- if everyone only did what seemed like a probable win ... well, that would rule out a whole heck of a lot of things -- it is worth losing over and over again because sometime in some small way there will be victory ---and even if the victories are few and far between ... it is worth it."

16 down

314 to go.


Three Angels Christian Academy needs School Sponsors. The commitment is $27 a month. Everything is automatic and done online. Couldn't be easier. I can send you a brochure if you would like or you can visit the website to learn more.

To make it interesting - what else costs $27? I'll start:

• A movie date with my husband with small popcorn . (Tickets are $10.50 out here people!)
• LEGO Star Wars Naboo N-1 Starfighter with Vulture Droid (that is Calvin's entry)
• A pedicure with tip but without the sandpaper treatment for my calluses.
• "You on a Diet" book that I really need to read.
• A case and a half of Celebration Ale (that is Gary's entry)
• This REALLY cute sweater at The Gap. Okay - actually that is 2 months worth...
  
• 7.8 Gallons of gas - have you SEEN the prices lately!
  

Your turn!

Big day in the Hoffmann House

Today my daughter read her first book all by herself. I am bloated with pride!