We've just had our mid-term school holiday, so haven't submitted any writings for a while. This time a blog isn't the best way to record the boys' writings: they made picture books of their stories! But I'll record the text here. The assignment was to write an imaginary journal entry.

The Van in the Future, by Nate Noble, November 7, 2009

Today I took my son, Nate, to the van store. And I let Nate, my son, choose which kind of Toyota van he wanted. I bought the one he wanted. It had a flat roof, and in the front there was a water bottle holder. The middle seat in the front could fold into a seat or a water bottle holder. It had seats that you can take out and it had air con and it was so cool in there, and the air con made the van so cool. And you can take the seats out of the van to camp in it. We had fun driving it home and taking lots of people in it, and Rainbow Rabbit, the Great Warrior of Thanom Sri.

Jellybean Goldheart in Dinosaurland, by Pete Noble, November 7, 2009

Today I found my magic key and used it to go to Dinosaurland, and then I saw a big difference of my house, and it is a big Dinosaurland with bumps and all different places where dinosaurs could be, and I saw a Tyrannosaurus Rex. And I had invented people swinging on the dinosaurs and I invented the goodest armor in the whole world so they wouldn't get hurt, and I see all different kinds of animals. I invented a lot of stuff. I got home by the end of the adventure by my magic key.

Dear Mom and Dad,
I’d like to help you decide to buy a van instead of a truck. I think it will be better to have a van because it is fun to sit in the front.
If you put a back on a truck we can’t fit as many people, but if you don’t put a back on, we’ll get wet if it rains. And it is more comfortable to travel in a van than a truck because it is not as crowded and not as lumpy as a truck, and it is quieter. You can take lots of people on trips. Sometimes Uncle Peter’s van might not be available. Na La’s van may not be available sometimes and it’s more expensive to rent.
That’s why I think it is good to have a van.
Excited, from Nate

On Sept. 25, Nate wrote a summary of an Oxford "magic key" reading book he'd really enjoyed. Floppy is the dog of Chip, one of the friends mentioned:

The Red Planet

Chip, Wilf, Nadim, and Floppy got in the rocket. Floppy pushed the take-off button. The rocket took off and landed on the red planet. The children found a space buggy and drove it around. They crashed into a hole. They found some space creatures who helped them float back to the rocket. The magic key took them home.

By Nate Noble

Friday, Sept. 18: already! I mean to log in some creative writing the boys have done each week, but it hasn't happened again till today. We took a family "field trip"/ day off to Khao Yai National Park, which is a favourite place for us. We visited Haew Narok waterfall for the first time. It is stunningly beautiful! Also saw a lot of cool wildlife: hornbills, monkeys, deer of two sizes (in Thai they have totally different names), and just as we were leaving our favourite "treehouse" we heard an elephant trumpet! We scrambled back upstairs and watched 6 elephants of different sizes have a dirt bath before we left for home, grateful that our path and theirs weren't in the very same direction! I hope to insert photos soon.

I helped begin and end each composition, and the boys each made their "middle" part, so I'll note when we change authors:

Today we went to Khao Yai National Park and saw a bunch of wild elephants.
Pete: We saw a deer. The first deer, we could take a picture of him. The second one ran away from us fast like a rabbit. The waterfall was cool. But why don't they got any places to go swimming at Khao Yai? The end, by Pete.
Nate: And we saw two deer. And the first one we took photos and the second one we wanted to but it ran away. We went down to the waterfall and the stairs were steep and then it was wet there and damp. It was misty on the way home. The end, by Nate.
It was a good day to see animals.

Hi, friends and family. We're starting this blog to share some of our lives: photos, writings from school, and other things that we hope will help keep us in touch with loved ones.

About us: Nate is going to be 8 years old in October, and is doing Grade 2 homeschooling.

Pete turned 5 in July, and is in Kindergarten homeschooling.

Both boys also attend a Thai school part-time.

Brenda is the mom and teacher, and we'll let you guess how she is...

This week our creative writing (always a group effort) is a tall tale about the baby rabbit we just got on Monday. Here it is:

A Tall Rabbit Tale

Rainbow Rabbit is a gigantic rabbit and she guards Thanom Sri neighborhood. She chases the dogs and they run away with their tails between their legs. She's our hero!

Here are two photos of our hero!

And that's our first entry! We hope you've enjoyed it.

Brenda