Tis the season where blogs are filled with cute pictures of children adorned in their new clothes and backpacks ready for the first day of school. I thought I would join in the fun, after all the best ideas are borrowed ideas. This is a picture of Skyler on her first day of school. Although, I must be honest it is not a recent picture, it was taken in January. Schools here are year-round, beginning in January and continuing through November. Sorry Michelle Arnold, it was the only picture I could find…one of her in her classroom. We don’t have a “front door” tradition perhaps because we don’t have a cute, red, front door....humm I don't think I have ever used the word cute to describe a door before....anyway. Our front door is enclosed in bars of iron so one might mistake the photo to be of her going to prison not school…..although some people think they are one in the same.
Doesn’t she look cute sporting her matching gingham alice-band, as they are called here? After the second day of wearing her hair like this I was confronted with a notice informing me that I did not read the rule about girl’s hair having to be up off their collar. I can’t imagine how I missed that one, there were only 4 dozen rules….part of the British culture, schools and teachers are very strict. She now has a matching gingham scrunchie. Good thing her thin, straight hair holds pony-tail potential.
Skyler is in Grade 1 (1st Grade) where she is learning 2 African languages- Afrikaans and Zulu. She speaks with a cute Afrikaans accent and utters phrases like, “Are you cross with me”, “I am coming just now”, and “Oh, you gave me a fright”. She gets quite upset when we repeat her with a mimicking accent. It is just too cute.
Despite the daily fight through traffic every morning to get her to school by 7:40 a.m. and the myriad of rules, we feel very fortunate to have found such a good school environment for Skyler.
Reference http://www.theeverydaymom.com for comments regarding "front door tradition".
10 comments:
Hey Michelle-
So do you know where they get the V from in V-box...just curious. :)
I will be coming over in January for a two month trial and then back to the states for a few months to finish up fundraising (and do a short contract job in DC)then back to SA hopefully in mid May. Just in time for the summer...or should I say winter outreach season!
She is so beautiful!! Oh, how I miss that girl...
We are planning a move in May, after the ATF season (and school, hopefully!) is over. SOuth Dakota here we come... I'll just send an email about the "why South Dakota?" that we get asked all the time, or maybe, hey, make it a blog post in the near future!!
Thanks for praying...having done it, I am sure you understand the concerns, frustrations and worries that it entails...
I just LOVE the phases she is picking up . . . and I'm sure I would love her little accent too!
Not to be outdone, our kids sometimes speak with an "accent" and have picked up a few local phrases as well. For instance, they occassionally say things like, "I'm fixin' to go outside and play." or "Ain't that purty." (That's Ashley's favorite one.)
I can't write what the accent sounds like, but having lived here . . . I'm sure you can hear it in your head. :)
Oh, she looks SO adorable! I'm also jealous of your year round school year!
Lily, I can't figure out if you have a blog or not...clicked on your name but could not find a blogname. So will leave a message here for you.
Thanks for offering to send things with your friend when she comes. That is very sweet of you. I am not sure what a Chi is and how coordinated you have to be to use it. I not only have hair problems I have coordination problems. :-)
I thought of you when reading one of the other blog entries---I think it was Michelle A, when she talked about her barf phobia. I thought of the time when Molly O (I think it was you Molly) barfed in my car. You were babysitting Skyler and due to my phobia you cleaned my car for me. I sure hope I paid you extra. If I did not I will stick some money in the mail for you! :-)
Nice seeing your face again!
Hey Michelle, I'm still figuring out this blog world stuff as well.
You can get to Lily's site by clicking on the link on my site, "Life As I Bumble Through It." I don't why her blog can't be accessed through her profile.
Oh, and must we talk about barfing in cars? I'd rather not remind Rod and Michelle about such things!
When we were in England a year and a half ago, Jason was zipping through the streets (we'll never rent a car there again) and Em and I were in the back seat (we didn't have a car seat...)all of a sudden, my leg was warm with Em's nice, pinky-orange puke! Thankfully it was a rental and we didn't have to clean it too thoroughly!
Anyway, Franzens and readers of the FranzenFam blog, thanks for your continued prayers for Noah and Fam. It is awesome to see the way God is networking His people around the world in prayer. We are praying, too, that our blogsite will be a witnessing tool to whoever reads it.
By the way, Rich and Michelle, your children are beautiful! I hope to meet them some day. Also, the only accent we have going on is Em's rendition of Mary Poppins, so that's cool?!
We miss your beautiful family! It's so great to see the photos & get a little peak back into the Franzen world.
Leah
Hi Michelle! My husband wishes our children had an accent and used the phrases you mentioned! But, alas, much to his chagrin, they do not call ketchup "to-MAH-to sauce" or pronounce the yellow fruit: "ba-NAH-nah." In fact, once Mick asked Jack when he was 15 months old to "bring me your ball!" Jack looked confused, but went to the kitchen and brought him a bowl. ...my poor husband...
Michelle! So glad to catch up with your life. Hard to believe you're back in SA isn't God something?
Your kids are adorable, of course. I loved their comments and prayers. God has been faithful to answer those kind of prayers for my kids, too. That said, though, I think it's their kind of faith that reaches Him. Hmmm.
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