A trip to Mexico

  This last week was a very full week as we changed our country focus to Mexico.  The kids were very excited to be learning about a new country and so we “flew” to Mexico. I set up an “Airplane” in the living room and acted as stewardess and captain.

I believe they are fastening their seat belts in this pic  ;o)

 

Upon landing in Mexico they had their “passports” stamped and were directed to the cultural information center where they watched a few short movies on Mexico.  It was great fun!  

  One of the movies was on the Naica Crystal Caverns  (we watched a video here but you can also google for some fascinating information! This inspired us to learn a bit about crystals and try some experiments. Our first experiment was a crystal growing kit.

We laid it all out and discovered we had a kit for rose colored crystals

 

We followed the directions and added water and the toxic crystal growing powder to the larger of the to containers and stirred.

   

We were supposed to stir until the chemicals dissolved but that never happened. After 2 hours of alternately stirring and waiting we gave up.  We placed the rocks in the smaller container

and then poured the solution over them. There was about twice as much solution a there was room in the container.  But we did our best

Feeling frustrated because this likely will not work I turned to google and found a recipe for growing edible crystals from sugar (aka rock candy) and, later in the week, we started that. Here are some pictures of that process.  We used got all our equipment together, measured water and started it to boil

Measured our sugar and added it to the boiling water

 

 

  Put sugar on a wet piece of yarn as a starter for the crystals
  

Added the hot sugar syrup to a jar and then placed the yarn in it

We made enough for everyone but the baby ;o)

The lighting is kind of funky in this picture, I promise the real stuff doesn’t glow!  According to the directions we should have rock candy for our Fiesta at the end of the week. I am a little concerned though because, at this time, there doesn’t appear to be the slightest hint of crystal growth.  You know, it seems every time I follow directions the project flops! :oP  I will update next week and let you know if the crystals eventually grew.

  We also worked on our leaf collection and bark rubbings for the tree identification scrap book we will be working on throughout the winter. I wanted to take pictures because it was a glorious day but most of the time my hands were full of baggies, papers, crayons, pencils, leaves, and I was trying to keep children corralled. We were blessed to have friends join us for our excursion :o)  Here is a pic I took that day trying to catch sunflare. It is much easier with my kit lens than the one I had that day, but I was pleased with the result

Throughout the week they have watched videos about Mexican history, culture, and families, read books on Mexico and missionaries to Mexico and, in general, just had a really great week.  Please excuse the mess in this pic. They were all watching a movie on the history of Mexico and it was too cute to pass up, mess or no.

 

Now, if any of you have stuck with me through all of the pictures and rambling I commend you!  Lol.  Being brief and to the point is not my gift!

Seven

   Yesterday we celebrated 7 years with our amazing B. She is such a special girl ♥  There are not words to describe how much I love her and how thankful I am that she is part of our family. 

  We started the day with a birthday haircut, by me, and then sorted all of her clothes so she would know if she needed any because she was going shopping with Grandma! She has been counting the days and making shopping lists for a month at least! ;o)  When she got home I asked her if she had fun, her response?  It was perfect! I can’t wait for my birthday next year! :o)  She added to her wardrobe, picked up a purse, some jewelry and some nail polish.   We had a girl party when she got home and the 3 of us painted our finger nails and toe nails

  Here she is with her new haircut and jewelry. She loves bling!  ;o)

 

She said, though, that her favorite present of all was that Daddy got to come home on her birthday ♥  A week in a child’s life seems forever!  

She has such a generous heart and made sure to buy little gifts for each of us at home ♥

  She is such a beautiful girl, both inside and out, and I consider myself truly privileged to be her mom!  What an amazing 7 years we have had together ♥ 

Weekly school update….

  Well, my big plans for a weekly school update are not going to materialize for last week as we got kicked in the fanny by the stomach flu.  We got in a little school here and there, but not enough to write about.  So, in it’s place, I thought I would share a little conversation between J and my 4yo (WM will stand wild man for now ;o) Using his initial just doesn’t work well.  I need cute nicknames for them!)

  Wearing Daddy’s shoes and carrying his tool case, WM: I’m doin’ to work on du hout you want to buy J (translation for those of you whose second language isn’t 4yo: I’m going to work on the house you want to buy J)

J (in a bit of an ornery mood): I already bought one.

WM: Yep an (and) I’m doin’ (going) to work on it

J: Do you know where it is?

WM: Jus down du street, in Mekico (Mexico)

J: No, my house isn’t in Mexico

WM: Oh, is it in New York lity (City)?

J: No, I bought a house in Namibia and I have a job there so I am now a Namibian.

WM: Ok, I’ll go to Mamibia (Namibia) too

 

  It is amazing where our geography lessons sneak into our everyday life and play  :o)  

Great Quote!

I stumbled upon this quote today and had to share….. It shares, much more eloquently than I ever could, something that God has taught me.  :o)

 

“My feelings are not God. God is God. My feelings do not define truth. God’s word defines truth. My feelings are echoes and responses to what my mind perceives. And sometimes - many times - my feelings are out of sync with the truth. When that happens - and it happens every day in some measure - I try not to bend the truth to justify my imperfect feelings, but rather, I plead with God: Purify my perceptions of your truth and transform my feelings so that they are in sync with the truth.”
― John Piper, Finally Alive

A Whirlwind Week

  I realize that 2 posts in a day is unusual but I just couldn’t help it!  ;o) 

   When God decides to move it can be a whirlwind.  Last Monday Brian went out to do a work interview for a company that repairs and installs manure management equipment on dairies. The company had called him the week before asking him to please apply for the job. Anyhow, he went out and really wasn’t impressed. There were just too many things that he wasn’t comfortable with, but he decided not to make a decision til he heard their offer.  He got home Mon. night, rather discouraged, and received a phone call from another company asking him to interview with them for a position (I find it rather funny that after years of applying for jobs and being rejected for said jobs, that he would get 2 companies calling him in one week!!!). This company is a dairy equipment repair company, so he would be working on the cleaner side of dairy equipment ;o)  Anyhow, he had a 1 hr phone interview Mon., a 2+ hour interview with the company rep Tues., and a 3-4 hr meeting with the owner of the company (who “just happened” to be in state and only 2 1/2 hours from here) on Wed.  The owner of the company hired him on the spot and offered a wage we can support a family on!  He will be commuting for a few months to the shop that is 2 1/2 hours from here but after that he will be the local service technician for our county.  He will be on call, pretty much 24/7, but we won’t have to move out of state.  It is a blessing to be able to stay close to family!  Today was his first day on the job.

  This will be a pretty big transition for our family as we are used to having him available all of the time, but we are so thankful that, after 3 long years, we will have a steady income.  It was such a confidence boost to have someone look at his resume and say “Wow!  You can do a lot of different things, you have a lot to offer”.   We are praising God for his provision and trusting Him to carry us through this time of transition. Hopefully within a few months we will be able to get caught up and back on our feet. What a blessing!

Week 3 in review

  Last week was a real whirlwind and so, though we did school every day, I am struggling to remember all that we did! Lol. 

    The kids are loving the stories from Hero Tales. Week 3 was about the life of Dwight Moody. Each day the kids begged me to read ahead!  I love the conversations that follow our readings as we discuss the character traits at the end of each chapter. We are also reading the story of Cameron Townsend. The kids struggle with the concept that some people groups do not have the Bible in their own language and how many years it can take to translate the Bible.  It really opens your eyes to the privilege of having God’s Word in our language.  We take it for granted far too often!

   We are in the U.S. this week and the kids have enjoyed finding states on the map and I was pleased with how many they knew.

For our art project we made a Coup Stick.  Once again, what I envisioned is not what we ended up with, but I still think it turned out nice.  :o)  

Here are the 8yos story medallions:

   

The 6yos:

The 4yos:

and the finished product:

 

We also made Matthew bookmarks, writing Matthew in Greek as well as English, as we will be memorizing verses from Matthew this year.

J(8):

 

B(6):

We still have not started our leaf collections, I need the rain to stop so we can collect in the dry and get bark rubbings too.  I have grandiose ideas for those too but I am sure the reality will be nothing like the idea!  ;o)