SEA Games!

Our city is hosting half of the South East Asian Games!  Amazingly, admission was FREE!  So we took a school field trip.  Hey, in Texas everyone is taking a State Fair Day, right?  I think we are entitled to a SEA Games Day! :)

After paying the parking dude 50 cents (20 cents for parking, he said, and 30 cents for snacks and a smoke!) we headed to our first event:  Sepak Takraw.

We had a friendly gun slinger escort us to the venue!

Sepak Takraw is a really cool sport.  It is a mix of volleyball and hacky sack!  Oh man, it was amazing to watch, like volleyball with no hands!

But first, a stop at the toilet.  We felt very safe since they controlled the doping! (?)

Kris and Joel got their picture taken with the Malaysian Sepak Takraw team!  This was just before Indonesia beat them!  AYO!  Indonesia Bisa!  Later, though, we got to ride a bus with this very team, we were looking for transport and a military commando dude invited us to ride with the team!  We dropped them off at their dorm and then went to our next venue (but I'm getting ahead of myself...)

Here is the gym and some of us from the group of 22 foreigners who all went together!  Parts of the day WE were the main attraction!

Unfortunately, I couldn't find the right setting on my camera to capture the amazing Takraw moves.  But if you Google it, you'll see how they fling their legs up over their heads to spike the ball!  Here is one of Indonesia's star players.  He was practicing right behind where we were sitting.

Here is part of the time we were the main attraction.  That's Seth with the Ladies' Takraw Team!

And Joel with a random girl who wanted her picture with him.  After awhile we were surrounded by giggly girls and couldn't even see the takraw game, so we excused ourselves, found some lunch, then headed to the next venue...

Gymnastics!  Men and Women were competing in the finals.  It was SO COOL!  We didn't get to see all of it, but we watched them practice and we watched men's floor, vault and pommel horse and the women's uneven bars!

Here is one of Malaysia's gymnasts.

Here is one of Indonesia's gymnasts.  

This is one of Indonesia's gymnasts.  I took this picture especially for my gymnast niece Kayla!!

What a great day of fun!  We got to see some neat stuff and still there was so much more to see!  What a great opportunity to see some great competition!

Congratulations! You just won...a...ummm...

This is my first time to homeschool and I am learning all kinds of things.  I wonder if the boys are learning anything?  I feel like I should have been required to at least have a semester of student teaching before being entrusted with the education of the kids.  But apparently it is a sink or swim sort of thing.  I think it would be wise for me to invest in some scuba gear.

I want the boys to memorize Scripture.  So they get a verse a week.  They can quote their verses once a day to me, and when they have done so correctly five times they get a small prize.  When they have filled in a chart of 4 verses quoted five times each, they get a bigger prize.  They have been looking forward to the bigger prize.  I've been focused on keeping the small prize bag filled with interesting things.  I've done pretty good on that, and was even prepared to add new things when the prizes became a bit "old hat."  But I forgot about the big prize.

Hmmmm, I had afew ideas but nothing solid.  Seth proudly quoted a verse to me this morning and I handed him his sticker and pulled out the prize bag.  

"I get a BIG prize too, Mom!"

"Of course you do!  Yea for Seth!" (hide panic in my voice with a big high five)

"What is it?"

"What is what?"

"The BIG prize?  What is it?"

and thus began the Kelley Homeschool Teacher's longest stall yet...

"Congratulations!  You just won....a..."

The other two boys are lined up behind Seth, ready to hear the BIG prize because they each only have a couple of more verses to quote before THEY also win the much coveted but somehow elusive BIG prize.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"What did I win?"

"Well, see, it is time to start class now so I will give you the BIG prize later."

"But what IS it?"
"Well, I can't tell you until you get it."

and so on and so forth throughout the day.  But I never seemed to have time to rummage through my stash of things that might be deemed BIG prize, nor could I settle on what I thought would be a good alternative.  Ice cream?  By the time afternoon rolled around, it seemed anti-climactic to say...

"And NOW, what you have ALL been waiting for!!!!  SETH has, for his hard work, earned himself....a scoop of...well...ice cream."

Oh dear, I needed to decide quickly before the anticipation made ANY gift at ALL seem trivial.  But, of course, the day continued to get away from me.  And then we decided to surprise the boys with a trip to the movie theater.  The movie was great and when it was over we went out for dinner at Mr. Pancake (which, incidentally has a small section of the menu dedicated to pancakes while the other 80% of it has things like shrimp alfredo, fried rice, crispy chicken steak, noodles etc). 

Seth asks, "So what is the BIG prize?"

I tried to pass the movie off as the big prize but that definitely did not work.  OK, gotta make a decision, this is ridiculous.  On the way home Kris leans over and asks me quietly if I know what the prize is.  Well, I have an idea...sort of... When we get home I tell the boys to get ready for bed and I rush to my desk to finally decide on a BIG prize.  I rummage around and find these great coupons and immediately fill one in for an amount from iTunes.    By then Seth is ready for bed and is brushing his teeth (in the TV room because that is where our only sink is...what?...your only sink isn't in the TV room?  Really?  Weird.)  Aaron and Joel are robots fighting each other (can you guess what we watched at the theater?)  I try to make a grand presentation for Seth who turns to receive his coupon just as flying robot pieces (ie a sofa pillow) comes flying off of one of the robots and splats against Seth's hand holding the toothbrush.  I thankfully save the toothbrush, and the remotes that get whacked off the coffee table.  The presentation is less than desirable, the amount I have written on his coupon is also less than desirable, but is all I can do at the moment.  After working weeks to get his prize, then waiting all day with anticipation, Seth looks at his coupon.  He reads it.  I watch.  A moment of silence.  Then he smiles and says, "I can use this to buy the rest of the season I wanted!"  Big grin!  I LOVE MY KIDS!  They are so gracious and thankful for even the smallest things.  They make me feel like a million bucks even when I feel like the amount on that coupon!  :)  

Lesson learned, when you offer a BIG prize, know what it is before it's time to give it.  

Krabi, Thailand

Recently we went on a 10 day trip to this tropical paradise!

We got to stay in these great bungalows!

It's hard work being a Third Culture Kid!

Don't get any ideas. I will not do this at home!

Our porch overlooked a lagoon.

These guys always make life an adventure!

Cool places like this also add to the adventure!

Can you guess how old Seth turned while we were there?