Mood:  happy

Today is a great anniversary!

No, not my wedding anniversary.

No, I'm not talking about a birthday either.

I'm talking about a real anniversary milestone.

What is it?

Today we mark 14 years of John Allen, our oldest, being cancer free!

It was 14 years ago on Halloween that John Allen was diagnosed with Retinoblastoma. Retinoblastoma is a rare eye cancer that almost always occurs in children under the age of two.

I remember when he was diagnosed. We, of course, were devastated. The only thing the doctor said was that it was a fast growing cancer that needed to be taken care of right away. The office made an appointment with the specialist at Vanderbilt, but we couldn't get in until the next Wednesday - five days away.

FIVE DAYS!

If this was a fast growing cancer we wanted to get in their right away! We didn't want to wait five days. We decided to travel to Sarah's grandparent's house to get away for the weekend to gather our thoughts. We found some old medical journals and looked up Retinoblastoma. They said that John Allen had a 25% chance that he might die! That made us even more frantic.

We began making calls to see if we could get into St. Jude's. Yes, it was further away, but what was a six hour trip compared to our baby's life?

Finally a good friend contacted us. She remembered she had a friend in college with an artificial eye. She called him up and found out that he had Retinoblastoma as a child as well. And, his parents had just moved to Nashville six weeks before. His parents wanted us to call them so we did.

Patsy was so kind. She told us to keep the appointment at Vanderbilt and she would meet us there.

The day of the appointment came. The doctor examined John Allen's eye and, we could tell, was trying to prepare us for something. We were thinking the worst. Finally she hesitantly said that she thought that it would be best if they enucleated John Allen's eye. She then waited for us to break down. Instead she got the shock of her life. We were overjoyed. Our baby wasn't going to die! She didn't know that we had read Medical Journals that were hopelessly outdated.

She must have thought we were crazy. I'm sure she doesn't get too many parents who are happy that their child is going to lose an eye. What was an eye compared to our son's life?

Patsy and her husband Lynn allowed us to stay at their house for the next four nights. Patsy came with us the next day, Thursday, for MRI's and CAT Scans and visits with the oncologist and visits with another eye specialist who would be doing the surgery. She patiently explained things that we didn't understand. After all, she had been through it all with her son. We are, to this day, so very thankful for Patsy and Lynn and their graciousness and love toward us.

Finally, John Allen's eye was removed on Friday, November 7, 1997. Fourteen years ago today. After spending the night in the hospital we were able to come home the next day. We found out later that the cancer had covered almost 90% of John Allen's eye and had started on the optic nerve. If it would have gone up the optic nerve to the brain there is nothing they could have done.

John Allen is 15 years old now. He's almost as tall as I am and has been cancer free for 14 years!

So, today for the Gratitude Challenge I want to thank God for sparing our son and healing him from cancer.

Thank you Lord, for being the great physician.

Thank you for being a loving God.

Thank you for being a God that heals.

Thank you for our son, John Allen. Amen

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Mood:  incredulous

Actually I've been nominated in two categories! I'm shocked. I was hoping to be nominated again in the Best Homeschool Dad Blog category, but I found out that I'm also nominated in the Best Crafts, Plans and Projects blog category! That is one category that I did not expect to be nominated in at all. I don't consider myself a crafty person. My wife, Sarah, did say that she thought I had a lot of good ideas on my blog and she thought the category was perfect.

I am thankful and honored by both nominations. Thank you all so much. Now to see who the actual winners will be. I would love to have your vote in one or both of the categories. I am up against some great blogs and I'm sure voting is going to be tight. To vote, just click on either the blog button above or on any one of the hi-lighted links. The button will get you to the general voting page, but the links will get you to the specific voting pages for the two categories that I am in. You have until November 18th, 2011 at midnight to vote and the rules allow every member in your household to vote once (up to five per household). If you have more than five in your household you can go to another network/IP to vote. Someplace like the library should work great. Don't forget, the name of my blog is "Families Again". Thank you ahead of time for your vote.

Tim from Families Again

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Mood:  a-ok

Some of you smiled when you read the title of this post. Others of you have no idea what in the world I'm talking about. Here's a little help to you unknowledgeable ones.

I don't know that we have a "Mikey that hates everything" in our house, but whenever a product comes along that my children really like, it makes me stand up and take notice. Ooka Island is one of those products.

With all of the review items that John Allen and Joshua have been getting lately, poor Jacob has been left out. Well, this game was made just for him. Since Jacob is five years old now, we decided to begin doing more formal school work with him. We found a curriculum that we thought would fit him to a "T" at the homeschool convention last spring. Sarah looked it over carefully and liked it better than what we had used with Joshua, so at the beginning of the school year she was excited about teaching him. Unfortunately, he was just not ready for it yet. Maybe we'll try again in January. However, when Ooka Island came around he took to it right away.

He loves that it's a computer "game" that he can play just like his big brothers do. After an easy sign-in process, where the child is given a special picture that is his "password" for the game, you are ready to play. The characters, from things that look like pigs...to robots...to elves...to real people...all are really appealing to him. And, the way the game is set up, you can see the different areas of the island on your 3-D map. It's very tempting to jump around and try something new, but the program won't let you. It's set to only allow a child to move ahead whenever he is ready. Since Ooka Island was developed for children that are emergent readers to second grade, the game automatically adjusts to where the child is. It's really a very controlled but fun game. Watch this clip and I think you'll see why he likes it so much.

It's really hard to tell you what all Jacob has accomplished because he likes this game so much that the little bugger has snuck the laptop to go play when I haven't been around. So, I can only give you a brief synopsis of what I have seen him play, and what he has told me he's played.

Jacob began by traveling through a mine tunnel to listen for a sound. Every time he came to a stop, he heard a sound. If it was the special sound that he heard at the beginning, then he could click the mouse and it would allow him through that gate. If he clicked when the wrong sound was heard, then the game patiently repeated the sound until he heard correctly. All this was done with just the sound. No letter was connected to the sound yet. This was excellent for him because he has a speech problem and this is teaching him to hear the sounds correctly.

Next, they put a letter to the sound. And there are several games that he played to make sure he knew what letter goes with that sound. I've seen him play the magnifying glass game that you saw on the video plus a matching game that he loves.

He has gone through a series of those same games with different sounds and letters. Now, after he completes so many tasks, he gets to unlock a book. The books start out simple - right on the level that he is at - and, as he learns, they become more difficult. The book is read to him or he could (if he were able) to read it himself.

Finally, after he's done reading his unlocked book, he gets to have some free play around the island and have some fun!

When we talked about all of the games that he had played, he mentioned two games that I haven't seen him attempt - the skateboarding game, which he said was a lot of fun, and the cake decorating game. When talking about the cake decorating game he sadly hung his head and said "Dad, I didn't do too well with that one."

Jacob absolutely loves Ooka Island. This is a keeper for us, and I'm sure it will be a keeper for you as well. The only downfall that I found was that it does take a long time to download. But, after downloading we had no problem whatsoever. Although, you download the game onto your computer, in order for the game to know how your child is progressing, you need internet connection. Our DSL connection has worked fine.

Pricing for Ooka Island is also a plus. If you choose to purchase one month at a time, the cost is only $12.95 for one child or $19.95 for up to four children. Six month pricing is $59.95 for one child and $99.95 for up to four children and twelve month pricing is $99.95 for one child or $129.95 for four children. BUT WAIT...if you use the PROMO CODE: LAUNCHSPECIAL30, you will save 30% on a monthly subscription! To find out more about Ooka Island, just click here or on any of the hi-lighted links above. And to find out what other members of the TOS Homeshool Crew has to say just click here. Since this game is wonderful for homeschoolers - it can be used as a complete curriculum - or for non-homeschoolers who just need a little extra help in reading, then I'll close by saying "Happy Home Educating"!

As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew I was given a free limited time membership to Ooka Island in order to try out and give my honest review on this blog.

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Mood:  a-ok

I've got the perfect Christmas gift!

It's perfect for homeschoolers and non-homeschoolers.

It's a gift that will keep on giving.

It's a gift that will help others and be really fun for kids and adults alike.

It's a gift that won't have your kids sitting in front of a game system all day long.

It's a gift that you can buy for the whole family and would cost less than a lot of other gifts that you might by.

It's a gift where you can spread the payments out all year long.

It's a gift that won't break!

It's a gift that will have life long value.

It's a gift that is tax deductible!

It's a gift that you can give to someone who "has everything"!

It's a gift that's easy to wrap but your family will still be surprised.

It's a gift that is perfect for asperger kids (like my Joshua), handicapped kids, the elderly...really for everyone.

So...what is this fantastically, too good to be true, wonderful gift?

You promise not to exit my blog when I tell you?

You promise to read further?

You promise to really think about it and consider giving this gift?

Then I'll tell you.

How about giving a...

this Christmas?

How can a Compassion Child be a great Christmas gift?

Can it really be all of the things I said above?

I can be all of those things plus more!

It can be inexpensive:

• Sponsoring a Compassion International child is just $33 a month. That's a lot less than on Starbuck's coffee a day.
• You can pay for a full year of sponsorship at once, or you can pay monthly. 

It can be educational:

• Teach your child about the world. Remember, Compassion Children are from all over the world.
• Teach your child letter writing skills. A big part of Compassion is writing letters to your Compassion child. It can be an assignment for homeschool. Just throw it in one of your children's workboxes (only a true homeschooler will know what that means ).
• Teach your child about poverty.
• Teach your child about helping others.
• Teach your child to look for bargains as you shop for inexpensive, special things to send to your Compassion child.

Sponsoring a child is very special and rewarding:

• Your life will never be the same and neither will the life of the special child that you sponsor.
• You will soon love your new child as if he were part of your family, and you child will love you the same. Here is one of the letters that we recently received from our little Ismael - 7 years old from Nicaragua.

Esteemed sponsors, Tim and Sarah Tinkel. Ismael hopes that you're in good health next to your children and loved ones. He tells you that he has been in sick, but he already feels better. he's happy, because he started his elementary school this year and he really likes to attend to school. He learns many Bible stories at the project. He says that he has heard Moses' story and he was surprised to know how God led the people of Israel through the desert and what attract his attention is how God with his power did go past to all the people of Israel through the sea. He says that God is almighty and merciful with us. He says that he's praying a lot for you and he hopes that you pray for him, because he wants to become true his dream. He hopes to travel someday to know snow and he has to study a lot to do it and that's why he asks for you to pray for him. He hopes that your wife's mom is better. He continues praying for her. He thanks God for having you. he hopes that you're well. Is in good health your wife's mom? He hopes so.

With love, Ismael Jose Arias Narvaez

This letter was written with help of the teacher Juania Navarrete.

I didn't correct the language errors because I wanted you to know what a real letter was like from your sponsored child. I had asked him what his favorite Bible story was and we had been talking about snow. That's why he made references to those things. And, yes, Sarah's mom is doing fine. Could it be in part because of the sweet prayers of a little seven year old from Nicaragua?

Sponsoring a Compassion International child really is a special thing. Please pray about giving the gift of sponsorship to your family and to a special international child this Christmas. Just click here or on the banner above for more information. 

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Mood:  happy

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Tonight I want to thank God for our international children:

Marcelo from Bolivia

Feyber from Colombia

Somi from Indonesia

Emmanuel from Tanzania

Ismael from Nicaragua

Yvone from Rwanda

These are all of our Compassion children in the order in which they were adopted into our family. Marcelo we have supported for almost two and a half years now and Yvone for just nine months. Marcelo we support financially and the rest we are correspondence supporters for. But, we love them all the same. They are all special to us. From Marcelo - who wants us to pray for his parents to go to church with him - to Feyber - who, after some encouragement from me - is beginning to read his Bible more - to Somi - who is fascinated with every snow picture that I send to him because he's never seen snow - to Emmanuel - our oldest child for whom I am praying for a Godly wife - to Ismael - our youngest child who has to have his teacher write letters for him but draws wonderful pictures for us - to Yvone - our only daughter - who calls us her Mother and Father - we love them all dearly and we pray for them all affectionately.

Thank you, Lord, for our wonderful Compassion children. Please bless them all right now whether they are sleeping or awake. Thank you for Compassion International who is rescuing children from poverty one child at a time. Please raise up more supporters for children who are still waiting for the love of a sponsor. Amen

If you would like to share the joy and love we have for our Compassion children, please click here to get to the Compassion International website.

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