Shopping with Chris

My Sister-in-law, Chris, and I have always enjoyed shopping for our kids together. Having kids born a month apart often has us looking for similar sizes and items. When I lived in the states, we would shop for the kids when we were together. We have been known to call up from inside a store to let the other one know about a deal we just found and see if they want one. We have poured over Land's End and LL Bean catalogs and looked at items together on the net from 2 different states. With Vonage, we have even checked out items online together from diffenent countries. Recently, I found myself in a delimma. Emily needs a new swimsuit and I am..well...just slightly picky about her suits. I wanted something flattering and cute that was just right for a pre-teen girl, yet provided plenty of coverage. This is not an easy task even if you live in the US. Add in shopping from around the world and it becomes almost impossible. I looked here, but to no avail so I began catalog shopping. At this same time, Chris was out trying to find her girls a new suit too. She canvased stores looking for suits right for girls who can really no longer can wear kids suits, and are still a little small for ladies suits. Emily has moved into a size 2 or 4 ladies petite clothes in the last year. It is hard for me to believe, but at mid May, swimsuits are already beginning to be scarce on racks and sold out online. Finally, I found what I thought would be the perfect suit for Em. Since, we can't really try it on from 12 times zones away, Chris ordered it and had my niece, Beth try it on. She is the closest to Em's same size, just a little shorter and smaller. Success! So below is Beth in Em's new suit! Chris and I had fun shopping together again. Thanks Chris and LL Bean!!!

On a side note, Will was wanting a new game for his playstation. I told him that I could order it, but if he wanted it, the cost was $10 and he had to pay for it. His response..."How much is $10?....Is it 500 pesos?" His mind already values things by the peso as opposed to the dollar. I am still converting the other way.

Isn't she Lovely?

Last night was the middle school banquet at Faith Academy. It's a chance for the kids to dress up and celebrate the end of the school year. I thought I would share a few pictures of Emily and her friends. I can't believe how old she has gotten this year. Notice her high heels! That was her favorite part. After the banquet the 6th graders had an after party at one of their classmate's house. Just like Cinderella at the stroke of midnight, all the girls changed from their gorgeous dresses back into shorts and T-s for games and snacks. The kids had fun competing in boys against girls at various silly party games. Unfortunately the boys won most events!

Emily at her table at the beginning of the evening

Emily's table companions

This is a non-dating event, but when kids purchase tickets

they can choose where to sit.

Emily's group of friends decided they

didn't want to sit with a bunch of boys.

Weren't Mom and Dad glad?

The Flag of the Philippines

Since this week has been election week in the Philippines, I thought it would be fitting for me to give you some facts of interest about the Filipino Flag.
The white triangle is the distinctive emblem of the KKK. Before you start thinking the Philipines has ties to the US KKK you need to know that KKK stands for the Katipunan, who with a blood compact inspired the Filipinos to rise in revolution against the Spanish.The three stars represent the three geographical island groups of the country: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao and the unification of separate peoples and cultures into one nation. The eight rays of the sun represent the first eight provinceswhich revolted against Spanish rule.
The significance of the colors: the white triangle stands for equality and fraternity; the blue for peace, truth and justice; and red for patriotism and valor. However, the original Declaration of Independence stated that the three colors were inspired by the American flag in gratitude of the Filipino towards America for help overthrowing Spanish rule. One interesting note on color is that the blue was a navy blue until the reign of Ferdinand Marcos who changed it to the more royal color used today.

The Philippine flag is unique in that it can indicate a state of war. When the red is displayed on top , it means that the Philippines is at war. It was last officially ordered flown with the red stripe up, in December 1941, following the Japanese attack on the Philippines on December 8, 1941.

Email medicine

Our clinic has a close relationship with New Tribes Mission here in the Philippines. One of the ways that we try to help is being available to answer medical questions whether about themselves or about someone in their ministry area. This is always an interesting situation, some of the situations are quite difficult, especially when the person managing them off in the tribe somewhere likely has little, if any medical training.



I thought I would include one of my recent emails from a NTM missionary. The medically trained among us can give a shot at how they would answer. This email had one of the best possible inclusions . . . a picture.



From the email:

We have a little girl in our village who was involved in a truck roll over back on the 22nd of December. It appears that the parents took her to the hospital and she had as much treatment as they could afford. The doctor said that this wound on her head needed skin grafting but they could not afford the cost of the operation. So they just brought her back to the village.



We [the NTM missionary] arrived back into the tribe in mid April. just over a week ago we put her on 250mg amoxicillin t.d.s. for a week and also had the mother applying flammazine once a day to the wound. The photo attached to this email was taken after she had been on the amoxicillin for a week. Prior to starting the antibiotics the wound was very pussy and red and swollen all around it. So after a week on the antibiotics it did look a bit better. So we have continued the antibiotics for another week. The mother is also applying the flammazine twice a day for this coming week. We will check her again this Sunday.



Can you please tell us if we are on the right track as far as treatment goes? Should we continue the antibiotics after she has been on them for two weeks or just stop them and continue with the flammazine? Should that be put on once or twice a day after it has been applied once a day for a week and then twice a day for the following week?



Will the wound just eventually heal up even if it never has skin grafts? It seems a long time to us to still look this open and raw? It is coming up for nearly five months since the accident.Is there anything else we should be doing for her to help it heal up quicker? It appears it is going to scar her little face terribly, but maybe if she grows her hair long that will eventually cover it when she grows older. She is about five years old. Do you think that area will ever grow hair from it again?



Could you also let us know what would be the next best antibiotic to prevent burns getting infected if we have run out of amoxicillin. Is cefalexin or ampicillin the next best choice?



We had a little boy with burns all to his face from hot water come today, but we have run out of amoxicillin and were wondering what other antibiotic would be good to prevent infection of his burns.Looking forward to your reply,

- End of email.

Some Random Pictures

While we haven't had internet, the camera has worked just fine--that is, when I remember to take pictures. I thought I would just share a few pics from our spring.

In April, to celebrate her 12th birthday,

Emily and I had a Mother-Daughter date

for shopping and afternoon Tea

The Philippines is known for her fresh water pearls.

My Birthday gift to Emily-

her first set of "real pearls"

a necklace, bracelet and earrings cost less than $10

Will has been on the elementary puppet ministry team this year.

He has loved doing this!

Maggie tries to beat the heat

Jhun's helpers:

One of our ministry employees, Jhun has been building

a wall around the agricultural lot by the clinic.

These kids love to come out and play on the cement pile

Some shots taken outside the clinic :

This girl's family sells drinks and food out in front on the clinic

Hello faithful

Hello to all of you who still check our blog. We are finally back online! We came back online at the end of last week. We are glad to be back in communication with family and friends. Hopefully I will blog more in the next few days. Today is national elections in the Philippines so we are staying close to home.