Why We Keep the Computer in the Living Room

'Nuff said.

We're Not All Bookworms

Because of how much the older 4 kids read, one might get the impression that we all spend most of our days absorbed in our respective novels. Not so! We've actually put a limit on the number of hours the kids can spend reading for pleasure -- actually limited it to only after supper/before bed and on weekends. [We did lift that moratorium over the weekend when the power was off, so everyone went book crazy.]

The only person the book ration really didn't affect too much was Andrew. Reading and pleasure shouldn't be used in the same sentence, in his opinion! Because of his dyslexia, he has always struggled with reading. His comprehension is well above grade level, but reading...well, it's coming along!!! He has made tremendous progress over the past year. Very encouraging!!!

Of course, Andrew has in the past seen his challenge with reading as a real handicap -- everyone else in the family loves to read and reads well. This was especially hard when his little sister passed him up in reading. We were constantly reminding him of his strengths and giftings.

I especially remember one instance almost 2 years ago when Andrew was helping me fix the shower head. The little holes were clogged with sediment and I needed to drill them out, but I couldn't get the drill to work. Andrew, then only 8 years old, said, "Give me that, Mom. I'll see if I can fix it." I handed him the drill and then went back to poking the drill bit in the hole and wiggling it around (not very effective). Half an hour later, Andrew brings back the drill and says, "Here ya go, Mom. I took it apart and the wire was busted inside, so I rewired it. Works fine now." At that moment, I knew he had found his vocation.

Doug's friend, Esteban, one time asked me if I understood the English word, "nerth". No, I said I had no idea what "nerth" meant. Then he explained that he got on well with Andrew and Doug because they liked to work with tools and make things. The rest of the kids liked books. "Nerths". Oh. I get it. Nerds. Thanks, Esteban!!! ;^)

Anyway, Esteban has an old moped that he hasn't been using. He gave it to the boys to work on and ride around and Andrew has made it his project. Like he needed another reason to be covered in dirt and grease and sand! Anyway, he's had the thing in various states of disassemblage for the past couple of weeks -- seems like just when he fixes one thing, something else quits. (Welcome to the real world, eh?)

Today Andrew came in and said, "Hey Mom! Check it out! I took apart the engine and figured out what the problem was."

Long story short, he had disassembled the crank case and found a sheared bolt had fallen in -- destroying the shifter, scarring the gears and breaking a couple of seals. He remade the seals (out of odds and ends, since we didn't have the right size o ring), cleaned out the crank case, replaced the missing bolts, repaired the sheared post and reassembled the whole thing...all by himself. I took this picture just in case he asked me to help him put the crazy thing back together.

Doug came home and looked at the bike and said, "Wow, Andrew. You are amazing." Andrew just smiled!!!