China Express 2: Mason Family Update

The Eye... I was going to put this at the end of the post but decided it would make a great opener. This is Michael hiding in a corner after rearranging his room.

March, almost a quarter of the new year has passed. So much has happened. last December we decided to put Samuel in School. He started after Christmas break and is now attending Mountain View Elementary. We have not been involved in public school for 10 years, it is kind of culture shock for me. But the routine of having to get up and out of the house in the morning has been good. And the time to work with Anna one on one with her schooling has been a blessing as well.

Samuel attends ESL in the morning and Afternoon kindergarten. One of the reasons I put him in school was so that he could receive services for speech. This unfortunately is not happening as I would have liked. What I perceive as severe articulation difficulties the school perceives as lack of English proficiency. But they have agreed to evaluate him. I am having him independently evaluated as well.

Samuel is not our only child, though he seems to get the most attention in my conversations of late. The others have been busy as well. Since the new year Ryan has been busy with roadkill and totaled cars. One Saturday in January he hit a hawk it was stuck in the grill of his car. The following Saturday he hit a deer which affectively totaled his car. Thankfully he was able to borrow his grandmothers car for a week and we were able to find him a new one post-haste.

Here is a picture of poor old Grendel...

Michael has been busy with his school work and he also has entered the wonderful world of motor vehicles. He purchased an old VW bug. He is sure to gain a credit in auto mechanics with this one. Dad promises to help. This did prompt him to go get his learners permit as well which he accomplished after taking the test twice.

Michael also rearranged his room this week
before: