So the kids are all back at school after a fun Xmas new Year short break. Here are just a few glimpses of the chill time with old and new toys.
Dec 262011
Mae Salaab is not such a typical Thai village , in that it addition to the villages Buddhist Temple it also boasts a Christian Church.
Tradition has been formed that a show is put on every Xmas Eve, with performances by local residents and school children.
Year we watched Yong doing her bit on stage and this year was the turn of Jor , who with her Prathom 6 classmates put on a contemporary dance performance to the jolly sounds of Jingle Bells.
Other performances included on exercise routine by elderly members of the community, hula hoop dancing by Mae Salaab schools little ones and a Nativity Play by some of the older children.
Free food including Pad Thai and other local cuisine was provided for all who attended and many gift prizes were given out in between the performances.
yet more prizes were given out by Santa who arrived around 9pm at the end of the show.
Our children benefited by many small prizes including snack food, washing powder, toiletries and, most impressive, a toaster.
It was a great show and everyone had lots of fun…loved Jors dancing…though I’m not sure she should give up her day job..555
Its been a while since the kids have been out, budget restraints have cut down the trips out. But having watched them all work so hard on their Projects, without complaint, I was determined to give a break off site, and with Monday being a Universal day off school for all our kids, we had an early lunch and got over to Huay Tung Taow just after Midday.
It was a beautiful fresh, sunny day. Very cool by Thai standards but some of the kids still braved the water for a short time.
As further reward I spent a little extra on the kanom from the lady vendor. The kids got a further nice surprise when a Thai family sitting close by sent their duaghters over with more kanom for them, good healthy seaweed snacks 
They were a lovely family and they all spoke very good English too, so I was able to have a nice chat with them
I’m so sorry , we did introduce ourselves, but I’m hopeless with remembering Thai names, I’ll remember to write them down next time we meet.
They were very interested in the Foundation and expressed a wish to come and visit and we are all looking forward to that.
And the pleasant surprises weren’t finished yet, as a little later in the afternoon Greg Kennedy, who recently donated plants for the childrens “Villa”, turned up with his two wonderful dogs, Biccy and Song See,(hope I got those names right).
They arrived right in the middle of a drawing what you see session. Two of the Thai fanily returned at the same time, they had forgotten their mat, and were very impressed with the childrens drawing and English writing.
This weekend our Mattayom Student Team spent time putting the final finishing touches to their Villa and Sport Project.
Whilst Tai went to work concreting a “kerb around the edges of the Patong Pit ( I think I’ve been labelling it Batong wrongly), the rest of the team went to work transplanting some colourful flora to the back border of the Villa.
And as can be seen in the recent post about Li Li Tans recent visit, a kind donation, from Greg Kennedy, of hanging pot plants, adds yet more ambience.
As the Mattayom team put the finishing touches to their Villa and Sport Project the Prathom students have now started their own project, building a Dogs shelter. We have 4 dogs and as the cold weather draws in we thought it would be nice to build them a proper “home”. Not only will it help them keep warm and dry but will also give them a shaded spot to retreat to in the heat of the sun.
The start of the work was hard work, clearing the selected site of weeds and then digging post holes. Once again the kids rose to the challenge very well this weekend.
Today we had a great day at Huay Tung Tao which you can read about soon, but today is special for another reason.
Its my Mums Birthday. And as I know you are looking
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!!!
The photos are just a sample of the cards made by the children to add their best wishes for you on this day and everyday.
They miss you loads and are always asking when you are coming back.
I can’t thank you enough for all your support and all that knitting!
Hope you have a great day , a wonderful Xmas and Happy New Year.
Well there has been many clips of photos of the kids working and learning, here’s a little of the ample fun time in between.
Had a lovely moment at the beginning of the day yesterday,(Monday 5th), as I was about to start explaining an idea for a new project, when all the children surprised me with Fathers Day cards.
A little moment that made me glow,
thanks kids, all your beautiful cards mean a lot to me.
Although all our children are generally well behaved and give few problems, since his arrival here, at Stratton House, young Zak has stood out as the most well behaved of children. He is respectful at all times, listens very carefully and can often be heard reminding others what they have been told. This may give the impression that is some sort of “goody two shoes”, far from it. His cheeky sense of humour brightens the atmosphere daily.
He has shown a high degree of independent thought and creativity and is one of the most forward when it comes to asking questions.
Zak was not here last year when we had our Wish Come True campaign where many of the children received musical instruments that they dreamed of playing.
Zaks older brother has been doing very well learning to play the guitar and it has been clear that Zak would love to be able to join in. I am a big believer in good behaviour and effort being rewarded and after sourcing a small sized guitar at very reasonable cost little Zaks wish came true during the English lesson on Saturday.
Next weekend he will be spelling Guitar.
Dec 052011
This weekends English language practice has concentrated on questions, starting of with,”What are you doing?”.
This was after they had all had their goes at spelling their new word for the week.
Saturdays lesson involved some minor role play to help the children understand the language and have fun at the same time.
All the kds did very well and Sundays session went on to deal with how, who, why, what, where and which, as well as future and past tenses.
Again all the children did a good job with what can be very confusing for them.
