A Warm Fall!

We are just now beginning to enjoy what winter brings, cold and snow (flurries so far!). This fall was tremendously mild and has almost spoiled us. We are just beginning to see winter precipitation and we are long overdue.

Korri has officially become a Kindergartener. She is also in her 2nd year at Awana and is in the Sparks class. She began her fall coming into her own as a piano performer. Her first performance was at All Saints Episcopal Church in Hershey during a morning service. She also played in Founders Hall during a Milton Hershey School chapel service. We have never been more proud!

AJ began his second year of life with a bang, walking in May ('06) and has not slowed down since. He loves basketball and this is what sustains his attention the longest (20 min...hey, that's long for a toddler!). He is very busy and loves every minute of life when he's awake. He sleeps like he's run a marathon. We are wondering how God could make two completely different children from the same parents. Well whatever the reason, it keeps us on our toes and we're always guessing! We have relied on His mercy and grace frequently this year to raise these blessings that He's given us the right way!

Summertime in Hershey!

Our summer in Hershey is always enjoyable! We usually kick off the summer with our student home vacation. This year Grandma Kay and Papa Tom came out to keep Korri & AJ company while we ran around frantically packing tents, sleeping bags and food for our 4 day camping adventure with the guys to Deep Creek Lake State Park.

It was an amazing feat taking 12 middle school boys to western Maryland to hike, camp, boat and white water raft around the mountains and rivers of Maryland and Pennsylvania. The highlight of our trip was rafting down the amazing Youghigheny River. It was a college memory for me-- falling out of the raft a few times. We made it home tired, but with lots of memories and just a few scrapes. We were blessed because the Lord kept us safe!

After an amazingly exhausting student home vacation we were able to have a much needed rest from the student home and Milton Hershey School. Here, the kids are playing and enjoying Hershey Park! Hey, why not? It's free!





After a few weeks of "down-time" with just the four of us (we don't get that very often!) we had the wonderful pleasure of hosting Slam Fest '06! here in Hershey.

The pictures don't do justice to the fun and fellowship we had with our sisters and brothers, Mom and Dad Slamans and our wonderful, precious and forever growing nieces and nephews.

A heartfelt "thank-you" to all the Slamans for the fun, laughs and chocolate-in-the-air memories!

Lots of other friends and family made our summer wonderful, too! Here are more photos for your enjoyment!

Korri Graduates from Awana!

On Wednesday, May 3, Korri Faith graduated from the Awana Bible program that she attended all year at the North Annville Bible Church in Annvile, Pa. Each Wednesday night she traveled with 3 other friends to her Awana Classes. We carpooled with another Awana Mom who is also a fellow housemother here at MHS (Korri's in the long pink dress in the front row).

In case you did not know, Awana stands for:

Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed

which is taken from 2 Timothy 2:15 "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth."

Korri was in the Awana Cubbies class. The program is challenging, but fun! Korri had a memory verse every week that she needed to have memorized along with 3 verses from previous weeks. She was pretty disciplined in memorizing them. There were a total of 32 verses in all which is impressive for a 4 year-old who can hardly read! When she completed a series of verses she received a patch that I sewed onto a vest (similar to Girl Scouts) Of course, Andy & I were challenged in memorizing the passages as well. As a matter of fact, parental involvement is what made this program work for Korri. We even got an award, too!



















I had never heard of AWANA before this year because I did not grow up in a Christian home. Bible memorization is so important for Christian Growth and Korri is laying a strong foundation that will help her in years to come. She is already an amazing testimony to me!

Happy 1st Birthday, AJ!

AJ is 1 year-old today!! This year has flown by as probably all of us can attest to. AJ had chocolate cake for breakfast and clapped after we sang for him the Birthday Song. Korri said that she wanted to have a birthday today, too (smile!).

I know it was hard for her to see him get the attention, but it was also good for her. AJ's not walking yet, but it's a good thing because I am not quite in the condition to chase him around because of this cast.

How did I end up with a cast??

Can you believe that after 3 weeks of crutches and sitting around with my foot propped up I am still in denial that I broke my ankle?! I suppose if I put it in writing I will have to admit the truth so here goes... I broke it sledding one evening with Korri after the Northeast got a bunch of snow this past February.

The pain was indescribable but the worst thing about it was that I could feel the bone snap under my weight. I landed on it wrong, plain and simple. So I am here on the couch again...(last year I was carrying AJ on bedrest). It's amazing how reflective a person can be when she is suddenly unable to work or care for her family. I feel helpless and it's not a feeling that I want to become too familiar with again. But, such is life...

Fortunately, I can still get down on the floor and play with the Birthday Boy and Korri. I've actully gotten to know my little girl really well lately. She is very nurturing and takes care of me quite well for a four-year old. She sweeps up all the food that ends up under AJ's highchair after meals. One morning while she was sweeping, AJ took aim, and purposely dropped his sippy cup on top of her head and she screamed! (Sigh...my son is not like my daughter...)

Korri and I have still managed to do school. Mostly it's on the couch and mostly it's workbooks, but practicing reading is really what I want to make sure she gets a lot of. The highlight of her world is that she has begun piano lessons and is picking it up just fine. She also has two new hermit crabs. She named them "Korri" & "AJ"! (surprise, surprise!!)

Homeschooling Korri

5/25/06 - There is a trout hatchery on the campus of Milton Hershey School. The boys in the student home signed up to release the trout at a nearby stream (Manada Creek). These photos are of Korri and some students releasing the fish. She really enjoyed herself (0nce she learned how to walk in the boots!).



3/3/06 - I started homeschooling Korri the beginning of the 2005-2006 school year after the birth of our second son AJ in March. She is four years-old and going through the K4 ABEKA curriculum.

Our fall was spent watching the leaves change and antcipating the holidays. She is learning time through months, weeks and days. Here Korri is dressed as an indian girl before going to a Thanksgiving Feast that she participated in with our MHS Homeschool Co-op. The children shucked corn and made popcorn over an outdoor fire, Korri also made a bow & arrow, baked her own loaf of bread and creamed butter. After the food was served, the children sampled many dishes that were thought to have been prepared during the first Thanksgiving. Korri learned that the first Thanksgiving Feast happened by "accident" about 400 years ago. There were approx. 90 Wampanoag Indians and 50 settlers at the first harvest feast in 1621. Here is a website that dispels many of the myths surrounding the First Thanksgiving: http://www.plimoth.org/OLC/index_js2.html

Presently, she is beginning to read (yeah!) and just finished studying and observing Painted Lady Butterflies. We sent away for the baby caterpillars from a certificate she received for Christmas at www.insectlore.com and they came in the mail marked-CAUTION: LIVE CATERPILLARS!

• We watched four caterpillars eat and grow for about 7 days. During the weekend of Feb. 20-22, they formed their chrysalides while we were away with the student home on a Racial Reconciliation Retreat in Ocean City, MD. We came back and found the caterpillars at the top of the lid of the container and they were in their silky wrapping. There was one caterpillar that did not form correctly, so we began to suspect that it may not transform into a butterfly.
• After about 7 days we saw the first butterfly transform. Korri named it "Korri" (how very original). The next day the second butterfly emerged, Korri named it "Mommy". The last butterfly to emerge took place a day later. I tried to catch this final emergence on videotape but I ran out of footage. It was named (you guessed it) "Daddy". What about the 4th one, you ask? It did not emerge because the chrysalid was not formed all the way. Still, Korri named that one "AJ" but told everyone that "he didn't make it."
• It has been amazing to watch these butterflies eat with their probiscus as they suck the juice out of an orange slice. They are quite amazing. As I watch them I cannot believe that they were once fuzzy caterpillars. Our God amazes me!
• It's been wonderful teaching Korri the life cycle of the butterfly and the word butterfly in Spanish--la mariposa. She cared for those insects like they were her own children. She also shed tears when we flushed them down the toilet; after she held the last live one, of course. Her tiny fingers held the body while she watched the wings fluttering rapidly. It's refreshing to see how much children enjoy God's Creation!

Welcome to Hershey, Pennsylvania!

Welcome to our new web log site! We are excited to be able to communicate to so many of you this way! This site will contain most of what we do here at Milton Hershey School along with many of our latest family experiences and memories. Let this be an online scrapbook for you, our family & friends! C'mon and check it out...

Presently, we live in Hershey, Pennsylvania in a student home on the campus of Milton Hershey School. We are in student home Harpers with 12 middle school-aged boys. They are full of energy and test us constantly. However, Andy & I have never felt more suited to this job. We love it!

We have two beautiful children, Korri Faith Kay & Andrew Jeremiah "AJ", (both of whom were carried via bedrest during the 2nd & 3rd trimesters). They love growing up here in Chocolatetown, USA, and riding the new roller coasters at Hersheypark!

If you want to find out more about our lives here and what we do, click on the various links of Milton Hershey School and our student home links. Also, you will find links to Korri's Home Schooling adventures and our life as a family. Have fun!!

Deanna