National Play-Doh Day

"Joe McVicker of Cincinnati sent some nontoxic wallpaper cleaner to his sister-in-law, a nursery school teacher.  She found it to be an excellent replacement for modeling clay.  In 1955 cVicker took the product to an educational convention and by 1956 Play-Doh was being sold commercially."

~from The Teacher's Calendar

 

 

 

We love this fun day!  Our kids always forward to an excuse to make yummy peanut butter play-doh.

 

Mix:

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup milk powder

1/2 cup honey

 

Or if you have a sweet tooth, here's another version from Early Education at Home (one of my favorite preschool resources):

 

Mix

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup corn syrup

1 1/2 cups powdered milk

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Sweet Sabbath

"We are trav'lers on a journey,

Fellow pilgrims on the road;

We are here to help each other

Walk the mile and bear the load....

I will weep when you are weeping,

When you laugh, I'll laugh with you;

I will share your joy and sorrow,

Till we've seen this journey thro'.

Some of our SITAG colleagues returned from the village last night.  We haven't seen them since March when we both lived in Texas.  Their ship ride took thirty six hours, and we've been praying through during every waking moment.  When they finally called to say they were pulling into Honiara, we jumped into to the van and raced down to the wharf.  We pulled up, I watched their ship turn around and my phone rang, all at the same time.    It was my friend on the ship, calling to let me know that the sea was too rough for them to dock, so the ship was headed over to a smaller, industrial park sort of area to land.

We raced the ship to the other side of town and just a few minutes later we were happily hugging necks and carrying boxes off the ship.  After a good night's sleep and an early church service this morning, we gathered for lunch today to celebrate their return to Honiara and to eat one of Sarah's cheesecakes because of a special birthday that we missed earlier in the week. 



Sunday afternoon was full of fellowship and people coming and going all afternoon.  Even our friend Leku came by with her niece and a toddler to chat for a little while.  I love living in a community like this!

Saturday, in the park...

 

Today we drove down to a fundraiser supporting Selwyn College.  It's what those of us from North America would call a junior high and high school, and it's associated with the Church of Melanesia.

 

 

Two of our friends from Marulaon attend Selwyn College, and several ice chests of fish came back on the Kosco to help raise money for the school today.  We found Gerald, our chief's son, and visited with him for a few minutes.  Students fro each province in the Solomon Islands set up a pavilion so we headed for Central Province, which encompasses the Russell Islands.  I bought some shellfish to take home from this booth, then we walked around to look for some food to eat for lunch. 

 

 

Instead of food, we found friends!  Grace and her husband Humphrey had also come to support the Lavukal kids who attend the school.  Olivia is as tall as Grace now!  Our friends don't have any of their own kids here, so it was a surprise and a treat to see my fishing buddy.  We made plans to hop in her canoe when I arrive back in Marulaon next month.

 

Eventually we found food.  Lots of chicken wings and fish cooking over an open fire.  Yum!  We added some green coconuts and some watermelon, and we had a delicious lunch.

 



 

We were so happy to find Harris, who is Sarah's age.  Her mom is Lavukal and her dad is from Malaita, so she had food in two different provincial booths.  We made sure to get a little bit from both booths.  Harris' mom, Julie, and little brother also attended the fundraiser, and we enjoyed catching up with them.  Julie's mom, Katherine, had a tumor just before we left last year, and I'm so thankful we were able to say goodbye to her literally minutes before we got on the plane.  She had passed away while we were on furlough, and we were able to tell Julie and Harris how sorry we were.  We enjoyed a fabulous day in the park of feasting and fellowship!

Lavukaleve Review

 

We've been reviewing some of our Lavukaleve verbs with homemade cards to play games like Go Fish and matching.

 

 

I thought maybe some of you might like to play along with us.

 

 

Leave a comment (or send me an e-mail) with your suggested matches,

 

 

and whoever gets the most will get a Solomon Island woven bag in the mail.

 

I'll pick one to fit the winner's personality.

 



The hypens on either side of the verb root hold the place of the many, many affixes we can attach to verbs in Lavukaleve.

 

 

Prefixes can include singular, dual, plural, feminine, masculine, and neuter markers, to name a few.  Suffixes can include so many things, but we're focusing on tense markers as we review.

 

 

Happy matching!

He's Home!

At 11:15 last night, the phone rang.  It was Aaron calling from Yandina, about six hours away, to let me know that he was finally on the way home.  At 6:00 this morning, the phone rang again.  This time Aaron said he thought the Kosco had slowed down a little to arrive in Honiara at dawn.  The boat was on the outskirts of Honiara, so I quickly woke up the kids, and by the time we all got dressed, this was the wonderful sight that met our eyes.  Aaron's ship coming into Honiara's harbor.

 

 

The ship paused (maybe just for us?) so that by the time our colleague drove the truck to the right part of the wharf, the Kosco was just nosing up to the dock.  Seeing my tired, smiling husband was a sweet sight!

 

 

We found that several of our friends had also come back on the Kosco.  Winter had come to pick up his sister, Hilda, and he lent his muscles to helping us unload cargo.  I love Solomon Islanders, especially Lavukal.  Everybody always pitches in to help.

 

 

Our chief's son, Gerald, also returned on this trip, accompanied by three huge ice chests full of fish for a school fundraiser on Saturday.  We're planning to go and support him and another young lady from Marulaon who attends the same school.  My friend Melissa/Leku was also on the ship and waved a greeting.

 

 

She came in with her cousin sister Agnes, and we invited them to ride up in the back of the truck with us since they were headed to a house really close to SITAG.

 

 

Smiles abounded now that Daddy was home!  On the way up the hill toward SITAG, I was trying to listen to rapid Lavukaleve over the roar of the truck's engine and I mentioned that I was going to Honiara's Central Market that morning.  I always try to head to market for fish from our area when the Kosco has just come in.  Agnes said, "I have fish.  Do you want some?"  I didn't intend to take her food, so I told her no.  Then she pulled out her ace card.  "I have cassava pudding, too.  Do you want some of that."  I couldn't turn down lelenga from the Russells.  It's the best cassava pudding in the entire Solomon Islands.  And I'm not biased a bit.  So I accepted her offer, but told her just to give me one.

 

 

We dropped off the ladies at a house on our morning exercise route, and Agnes dug in her box to pull out a parcel of lelenga and four parcels of fish.  I was so happy!  The parcels smelled like home.  We waved goodbye and chugged the rest of the way toward SITAG.  As soon as we walked in the door, I unwrapped the parcels and dug into the breakfast of champions.

 

Sweet Caroline

We just love Caroline.  Isn't her smile lovely?  She was one of my first Pijin tutors four years ago and has become a good friend.  She is working alongside another SITAG colleague to help teach literacy using the Bible.  This morning, I drove down to the main road and picked up Caroline and her cousin so Caroline could catch a ship to her village.  When we arrive around 7:00, her ship was nowhere in sight.  Quickly, we realized that even though she had already bought a ticket, the ship was not making the trip today. Plan B?  To buy a ticket for a ship that was leaving in half an hour and going to the same place.  Her cousin took the unused ticket to return for a refund, and we got sweet Caroline on the boat and headed home to visit her family.

 

 

The seas have been much nicer today.  When I called Kosco's shipping office this morning, they told me they expected Aaron's ship tomorrow sometime.  I called shortly before SITAG's team meeting this afternoon, and the office said the ship should arrive around midnight.  I'm hoping Aaron calls when he gets into cell phone range since we haven't been able to connect on the radio yet.  We have amazing colleagues who have volunteered to go to the wharf in the middle of the night to pick up Aaron, if needed.  I just love our SITAG family!  Whenever Aaron arrives, he will find a houseful of people who are very excited to see him and to hear the stories from his trip.

Honiara Woman's Daybook

Just for today...Monday, September 9

Outside my window...rain, wind, and very rough seas

From the learning rooms...reading "The Remarkable Benjamin Franklin" by Cheryl Harness to Katherine to go along with the big kids studies, beginning the video "America The Story of Us" and following along as we progress through history

Noticing that...my kids have a new favorite game, Bohnanza

One of my favorite things...the very accurate sign from my mom which sits in the coffee basket next to the Biff's Coffee we brought in our suitcases

On my bookshelf..."Desperate:  Hope for the Mom who Needs to Breathe" by Sally Clarkson, a gift from a friend who does book reviews

Crafting in the kitchen...baked spaghetti tonight and Sarah is mixing up some cinnamon egg braid right now to be ready for breakfast in the morning.

A few plans for the rest of the week...trying to stay close to home this week since Aaron is gone.  Going to call Kosco office tomorrow to see how the weather is affecting the ship's return to Honiara.

A peek into my corner of the world...we've made Lavukaleve cards to help us review our verb roots with basic games like "Go Fish"
 

Happy Grandparent's Day!

 

 

If I had mailed cards the day we arrived in Honiara, they would have arrived in time (I think) for Grandparent's Day.

 

 

One of my favorite things about furlough was the time we spent and the memories we made with our many grandparents and great-grandparents.

 

 

So, from across the Pacific Ocean, happy Grandparent's Day to our amazing and godly grandparents and great-grandparents.  We're so glad we have your gene-pool, but we're especially thankful for the influence each one of you has had on our lives!

 

Aaron just called from Yandina, a very static-full call, but so nice to chat with each of us for a few minutes.  He said the seas are very roll-y, and the skies are overcast (which is great for not getting sunburned!).  He should be arriving in Marulaon in a little over an hour, and we have plans to talk on the radio tomorrow afternoon.

And he's (really) off!

Our alarm went off at 4:30 this morning to get Aaron down to wharf in time to catch the projected 6 o'clock departure.  He woke up each of the kids, hugged and kissed them one more time, and rode with the same wonderful SITAG colleague back down to the wharf.  At 8 o'clock, our phone rang, and it was Aaron saying that he thought the ship was really and truly about to leave.  Our kids decided to try and hurry and race down to the wharf to take fresh cinnamon rolls and coffee down to Aaron, but by the time the food came out of the oven and we all headed to the car, we saw the Kosco pull away from the wharf.  You can imagine, a few tears were shed.

 

The best part about the whole delay?  Yesterday's seas were incredibly rough.  My laundry was blowing off the line.  The delay last night was caused by rough seas, something that doesn't happen very often here.  Tis morning, the sea is smooth!  In Lavukaleve, it's the word lalo, the same word for peace. 

 

Aaron plans to call in about six hours when they reach Yandina in the eastern portion of the Russells.  That's where the Kosco will make its first stop and where the only cell phone tower lives.  He'll lose phone contact shortly after they leave Yandina, so we've already planned radio times.  We have to wait until he can get the solar panels up and charging the battery before we can talk on the radio.  Thanks for all of your prayers and encouraging words!

This just in...

Aaron has called from the wharf to let me know that the Kosco is waiting until 6 a.m. tomorrow morning to leave Honiara.  The ship received reports of big ocean swells and decided to delay the trip.  One of our amazing SITAG colleagues just drove down to the wharf to pick up my husband so I could stay home with the sleeping children.  Aaron gets to sleep in his own bed for one more night!  Then, he'll wake up really early in the morning to find a good spot on the ship's deck and finally be on his way to Marulaon Village for the first time in seventeen months...

And he's off!

One of our colleagues drove the SITAG truck with Aaron, the kids, and all of our stuff, while I followed with a SITAG vehicle that's a little bit easier to maneuver. 

 

 

 

Our colleague backed the truck onto to the wharf, and Aaron went aboard the ship to find a good spot.  Space on the ship is "first come, first served", and Aaron quickly found a great little corner and spread out his mat.

 

 

After we unloaded the truck, Aaron asked the crew what time they thought the ship would be leaving.  The response?  The crew was waiting for the boss to come tell them since they were so far behind schedule!  We decided to say our goodbyes and get the rest of us home to bed.  So, Aaron is still waiting for the ship to head out on the rough seas, and we're on our way to bed.  Thanks for your prayers!

 

Just another normal day...

Today the kids and I worked on school while Aaron went into town to begin a little bit of village shopping.  Since he is going out tomorrow night, we figured he could take cleaning supplies with him.  They won't mind sitting in the house for a few weeks until we all come in October.  Sarah paused her school work long enough to finish making a birthday cake for one of the SITAG employees' granddaughters. 

 

Aaron came home just in time for a late lunch and turned around to attend a 2 o'clock meeting while the kids and I finished reading aloud.  Anyone want to take a guess at how many rolls of toilet paper we are taking out to the village?

 

 Now the kids are taking turns in the shower, Aaron is still in his meeting, and I'm about to work on an early supper.  SITAG holds a game night once a month, and tonight's the night!