English as a Second Language

A few weeks ago my church asked me to help teach a beginner/low intermediate ESL (English as a Second Language) class. The first class will be this morning in a couple of hours! I'm teaching a really simple (hopefully not too boring) lesson on how to introduce yourself and others.

We don't know exactly who our students will be, or how many we'll have yet. I know of 2 that are coming from my local ward- one is an older gentleman who's native language is Italian. He lives with his daughter and her 4 teenage children. The other is an older lady from Germany who is visiting her daughter and family for a few months. There's a significant African population in the area, so I assume that the majority of students will be from that area. We'll just have to wait and see!

I'm a little nervous about teaching, since it's been 2 years since I graduated with my Master's in Teaching ESL and I haven't taught it in a long time. But it's been exciting to get all my old books out and to plan a lesson! Teaching methods and learning strategies have been slowly coming back to me....hopefully they keep coming!

Teaching English is such a rewarding experience and I'm really looking forward to being involved with this class. English can seem so boring, but it's actually quite entertaining. I would recommend it to anyone. To prove my point, here's a funny commercial for ESL software. It circulated around my Master's program for a while:



Here's another funny one from Steve Martin's Pink Panther. Sooo funny, I can't help myself!! :)

Happy Memorial Day!

Here's our little American, wishing a Happy Memorial Day to her Uncle Paul and to all of the government officials and military personnel who are serving our country (as well as those who have served in the past). We are grateful for your service! And especially to Uncle Paul- we love you and we miss you!

The Ending of an Era

About a month and a half ago Bobby and I decided to take Lillian's much-beloved "chupie" away. If you're not familiar with the vocabulary at our house, "chupie" is just another way to say binkie, pacifier, passy, ba-boo, or whatever you may call it at your house. Lillian started calling her's an "uh-oh" because that's what I would always say when it would drop on the floor and bounce away, which was quite often.

In any case, the big green chupie has officially gone "bye-bye" and is "all done." I was surprised at how easy it was to take away and how little Lillian asks for it. I was sure she was a hard core addict and that she would suffer from severe withdraw when we took it, but the process has been mostly painless. She probably cries a little more without it, but a few more tears won't hurt her.

Now I have quite a collection of chupies that I don't know what to do with. I have to keep them hidden from Lillian becuase if she sees them she is suddenly reminded of her old habit and feels the addictive urge to start it again. At $4-$5 for a 2-pack, I just can't bring myself to destroy them, although that would probably be the most sanitary thing to do. I'm sure that recycling them isn't a good idea, no matter how economically or environmentally sensitive I'm trying to be. :/

In memory of the days of old, here are some classic chupie pics!

2 months


6 months - "must get chupie!!"


12 months


15 months


18 months


20 months - the last chupie pic we have!


22 months - chupie free and loving life!

Forget New Year's Resolutions!

They don't work!! :) I apologize to everyone who has been relentlessly checking and rechecking my blog only to be disappointed with the same old post time after time.

Summer is just around the corner, so it's time for a fresh new start!

Yesterday our friends Brandon and Melanie came to visit with their 8-month old Zoey. She is the best baby I've ever seen! She never cried!!

We went the the Jamaican Jerk Hut for lunch (as seen on In Her Shoes). We ate jerk chicken, curry chicken, and snapper (with the head and everything still attached!). Then we saw the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and all those horse drawn carriages.


It took a while to get around because Lillian insisted on pushing her own stroller all by herself. She's still a little too short to reach the handle bars and she can't see over the top, so she was driving blind and kept running into things. Not to mention it was her nap time, so exhausted frustration eventually took over and resulted in an emotional melt-down. Thank goodness Daddy was there to carry her on his shoulders while Mommy pushed her empty stroller. I honestly don't know why we even bother with strollers in the first place because that's usually what ends up happening.


After our friends left we had other friends, Susan and Dave, over for a BBQ. They're moving to Indiana tomorrow and we're really going to miss them!! Their son Jarom is almost 6 and he loves playing with Lillian- well, at least he does a great job playing with her, who, of course, follows him around and thinks he's the greatest thing in the world! While we were waiting for the food to finish on the grill, they found one of Lillian's little balls and Jarom would throw it and Lillian would retrieve it like a little puppy! After dinner they spent the rest of the time playing in the car. Lillian was in the driver's seat as always, and Jarom was in the passenger's seat playing with Lillian's toy laptop. They make such a great pair!

Btw, Susan and Dave's house is up for rent, so if you or someone you know needs a place to live in Philly, let us know!!