The way to the Cross

Last Saturday Damie and I did a little bonding trip to the mountains. The mountain behind our house has 3 crosses on it. There is a trail which takes you past all 3. The final cross at the top is 80 ft. tall and can be seen from almost anywhere in San Jose. It took us over two hours of climbing straight up the side of the mountain. (no switch backs like in the States) Friends of mine had their GPS and as you can see the top cross was at 6723 ft. San Jose is around 3500 ft. above sea level so we climbed over 3000 ft! I was the last up and the last down but it was well worth the exertion.

LAPBOOKS

I can't believe I have never seen these before, they are Lapbooks! I found out about it at http://www.lapbookladies.com/what_is_a_lb.htm I needed a free way to homeschool and this way we research everything on the internet and put it together in a book and they can look at it anytime they want to. It is a creative way to display what you have learned. It's just a manilla folder folded a little differently. Damie and I are working on one about America and I thought I would try this simple one with all three kids - it is about Days of Creation. They did a great job!

Two in one week

Damie has been very late losing his teeth, he lost his first two just this past year and now two in 3 days - isn't he a cutie. It is bad timing - we are working on TH and CL in Hooked on Phonics and he doesn't have anywhere for his tongue to go. He is still doing great with his reading.

Damie

We had a party tonight to celebrate Damie finishing the 1st box in Hooked on Phonics. We are homeschooling Damie this tri and he has always struggled with Reading, but this system has really got him excited about reading. He would wake up every morning & ask to do reading first!! He read 14 little books in this first box and we celebrated by him reading them ALL to Jesse and Sierra. I felt like I was dreaming while I was watching him - I have always wanted him to love reading as much as his Papa. Speaking of his Papa he is reading the Narnia Series to the kids at night before bed and he started with the Magician's Nephew - the kids sit motionless and listen and ask questions - they are really into it. He reads a chapter a night and Jesse and Sierra are usually asleep before he finishes, but Damie hangs on Shay's every word. I hope this is the beginning of a life full of reading for him. I am so proud of him and so thankful for the opportunity to see him grow and learn.

Riding bicycles and other easy things that are really hard to learn.

Today was the first day of classes in our 2nd. trimester. My linguistics teacher is a joy to be around because she is always smiling. Today she told us that we have two choices as language learners. We can learn all the rules and regulations and depend on our text books or we can throw ourselves with abandonment out into the culture and learn to hear and speak well; which is after all what we are here for. Then she gave us the greatest illustration: You can take the risk of falling and indeed fall often but ultimately learn and enjoy the freedom of riding a bicycle OR you can walk beside your bike with a arm load of notes, text books and dictionaries that tell you how to ride the bike your PUSHING. It has occurred to me as I'm writing that I've spent most of my life living a "textbook" life afraid to throw myself to the ground enough times to learn to fly! Our journey to the mission field has been a lesson in falling and learning to get up again and again. I would like to encourage all who read this to consider where in your lives you are "pushing your bike" because your more afraid of falling than succeeding!

So who took the volcano?

My parents ,sister and her son Noah came to visit us for the holidays. We have been told by many that the number one must see place in Costa Rica is the Arenal Volcano. (We don't have live volcanoes in the Carolina's) We went and it rained the entire time so we could not even tell where the Volcano was. ( I wonder if there really is a volcano or is it a hoax contrived by Ticos to get gringos to drive to the middle of nowhere and spend money.) The only bright spot was that the resort had a pool fed by waters heated by the volcanic action. Imagine a pool as warm and comforting as your bathtub with a giant water slide too.

note: the painting pictured above was on the wall in our room and is the only evidence we have to prove the existence of the Volcano.