The joys of being kept busy . . . .

So I thought maybe I could offer a bit of an explanation rather than just saying that I've been a bit busy lately! 

Besides the normal joys of keeping all my kids in line at school and trying to make sure they are actually learning something, I've also been kept on my toes trying to finish the orders for Threads of Purpose that I hope to be able to take with me back to the states in about 3 weeks. (Happy dance at the thought!) but to keep myself from getting to caught up in the thought of my mini vacation in the middle of the school year I guess God thought I needed something to keep me busy. So He blessed us with an over-abundance of purses to work on! As of the last count I believe we (meaning Mary and I) have completed 42 purses since the beginning of April, an average of about 5 purses per week, which doesn't seem like just to much until you consider that this is a 'spare-time' project! :) Also add in there the fact that we each spend two afternoons a week teaching two of the deaf girls how to sew. Which means that at least one sewing machine and one "sew-er" are occupied. Which wouldn't be a big deal since we have another sewing machine for the remaining "sew-er" to work on. Or we did have another sewing machine until last week when our old faithful decided to make life interesting for us and go on the blink. So now we are down to three weeks and eight purses and one dress to finish. (My trip to the states involves a wedding which involves the need for a new dress.) And two of those three weeks will also be full of company as Samuel's family will be coming to visit as well as Wesley, former teacher here. 

I'm ever so thankful for Mary's help as well as the other girls, chipping in on the weekends. Or even just keeping us company while we sew, keeping us hydrated with cold drinks. You name it! Not to mention everybody being super understanding when weekends involve me and Mary being shut up in our sewing "cueva" (cave) 

Here's a few pics to give you an idea of what goes on. 

Miguel being super helpful while ironing. Might have had something to do with the fact that I promised to jump on the trampoline with him after I finished! :) 

Like I said, lots of company to keep me entertained! Tiffany wanted to try her hand at cutting out some purses. 

Beatriz is trying to decide if she actually likes sewing or not!

Miguel trying his hand at ripping out seams. His method is to work at it for awhile then just chop a bit off with scissors and call that section done!

Break from sewing class to snuggle a bunny that Miguel rescued from the weed-eater. Any excuse works ya know!

The kind of "locuras" that come as a result of spending to much time bent over a sewing machine. I'm learning the after-effects can be quite dangerous!

But having 40 purses ready to go on the dead-line makes it worthwhile! 

I did "cheat" and took two weekends off while this girl was here. Lovely weekends of lots of relaxation and sleeping in! :) 

And now I have two weeks to finish half a dozen more purses and one dress and then I shall be off for a whole WEEK of vacation. *Blissful Sigh*

Adventures of "normal" life . . .

Yeah, how's that possible? I guess maybe if you think your life is boring you should do something about it!

Whether that means adding character to the eggs that are just sitting on the counter with nothing better to do or having a random water fight Friday afternoon or sitting down and playing a good ole game of Memory. All of which have happened here lately amidst the more boring, less exciting "normal" of life.

I  think I found a new hobby
(also fun: injecting food coloring into eggs!)

I realized my latest posts haven't really been all that informative about life in general here. . . . we'll try to fix that now.

helping each other figure out their language worksheet

The last few weeks actually feel sort of like a blur. There's been lots of studying, there will continue to be studying. There's been company, there will be more company. There have been hospital visits. Hopefully there will be no more of those!
It seems having a new toy like a trampoline just begs to be tested to the limits! So far no one seems to have suffered anything extremely permanent except for Elmer who is still hobbling around after putting his knee out of socket last week. I think it was last week anyway, honestly I'm not even sure anymore! :( Becky has also been in out of of the hospital with gall bladder problems. This Tuesday, Lord willing, she will be going in to have it removed. (Which reminds me, about a month ago I wrote that Miguel was having his surgery, I should have said, " . . .was planning to have a surgery." The government hospitals down here are unpredictable at best, so although he was been scheduled at least two different times he has yet to actually have the surgery. However, he seems to be alive and kicking so I guess we'll take that as a blessing.)

And amidst the normal of everyday school life every now and then cool unexpected things happen. Like Silvia learning the alphabet by memory! or Eduardo freaking out about his "girl-colored" notebook, or Paola actually being the one with a smile on her face or  Beatriz actually catching on that an hour is actually longer than a minute. Or some random police stopping by to canvas the neighborhood and actually stopping and taking time to mess around and talk with the kids. It was actually really cool. I was quite amazed at how open and friendly they were. Letting the kids play with their badges and letting them handcuff each other. The kids LOVED it, to say the least. Joel was determined that he was going to leave with them!
                                                                       

all so curious . . . .

Román for some reason or other was very not sure about the police!

Joel not having any mercy on poor Jairo

the future face of the El Salvadoran police force!

Carlos, finally having to admit that he needed help to get out of the handcuffs

This week we're looking forward to finally being able to finish off the last 14 weeks of studying with our first spelling competition. The kids always get all worked up about it but usually end up doing really well. 

until next time . . . .

Books of April

So one of my "to-do" goals for this year is to read two worthwhile books a month. Not exactly a challenge for me, since I have loved reading ever since I got over the disappointment that my first day of school did not have me zipping through Dick & Jane readers. For me the challenge is the worthwhile part. Not that the good books aren't out there, it's just to easy to pick the light reading than try to wade through books that need processing time. Another area of personal growth to work on!

So I will try to share my monthly books with y'all. Biographies, books to encourage growth, books focusing on kids . . . . just an idea of what's on my list for the next couple month. Spreading the word about the worthwhile books that are out there as well as hoping that y'all with share with me any that you happen to stumble across.

Starting with April, because I honestly can't remember what books I read when before that!


Running for My Life by Lopez Lomong

I have long loved stories of Africa. The gritty determination of a people who have suffered unimaginable horrors, civil wars and what not. Their indomitable spirit that refuses to be squelched even if they are living in a refugee camp for seven years where the highlight of the week is the day the trash from the neighboring city gets dumped into the trash pit. Because that day they could eat better than any other day of the week.
The story of Lopez Lomong, who was captured by Sudanese rebel soldiers as a six-year-old and ended up an Olympian for the United States is one that leaves this spoiled little American girl with absolutely no excuses for not stretching for my dreams. And that fact that once he arrived at fame he only sees it as a platform to glorify the God who brought him there and to further awareness of the plight of his family and friends still struggling in Africa should be a big kick in the butt for a lot of us "Christians."





Almost a Woman by Esmeralda Santiago
I had never heard of Esmeralda Santiago, the description just intrigued me as it described the journey of a Puerto Rican girl and her family as they attempted to figure out how to live in America. Seeing life from this side of the Latin culture makes me realize a lot more the difficulties immigrants face.

Let me know what book you think everyone should read. . . .

Learning . . .

I prayed a hard prayer this week. I prayed it without thinking really. And as soon as the words were out of my mouth I wanted to take them back.

               

  “No, God! I didn’t really mean that. I was just kinda . . . thinking out loud.”

You see, this week was kinda one of those “learning experiences.”  The kind that you want to just get it over with but you know that you do need to learn the lesson. “So, let’s just learn this lesson and get it over with already is usually my thought.

But as I was charging away on the sewing machine I was just like,

               

  “God, please don’t let these lessons be in vain. Let me at least use them in my life.”

Almost immediately, I stopped myself.

                “Oh, yeah . . . ummm, about that God. This lesson was on relationships. I don’t really want                    any more lessons in that area. Maybe we can save that prayer for a life lesson that’s a little                   less complicated. If these are the “relationship” lessons, I’m not sure I want to take the                         Test. “

But I knew instantly that was wrong.

God had a reason for everything He takes us through, for every lesson He prepares.  Who am I to say? 

              

                       “I don’t want to learn that, I don’t think I’ll ever use that in my life.”

I certainly have a few things to say to my kids when they try to pull that line on me!

Wouldn’t it be better to learn the lesson to the best of my ability, then maybe I wouldn’t have to repeat it so often! But more than that I would be ready for the Tests when God brings them to me.

So here’s to applying myself to my lessons rather than daydreaming through class . . . .

p.s. this was a post I wrote a week ago and never got around to editing & posting it. Told ya I was behind!

Adventures? in the night

Prov. 3:24; When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet.

I read this verse this morning and I laughed. After what happened to me last night it might be a little bit before this verse is true for me.

Here’s how it happened. I had been sleeping peacefully for a few hours, I really don’t know what time it was because I was a little bit involved in other more important things than checking the time. I woke up to  a tickling on my neck, “Dumb chicote,*” I thought, “I wanna sleep.” So I reached up to scoop it off my neck. I was quite surprised by the size of the thing, and it felt slightly “leggy.” I threw it across the room, hoping it would hit a wall or something and end up with a major headache. I cuddled back up, ready to resume my sleep, but when my hand got near my nose I noticed a very peculiar small. Chicotes, don’t smell. I also started feeling a small stinging sensation spreading from neck. Chicotes don’t bite either. I quickly forgot sleep!  Tiptoeing across the floor, trying not to think of the possibility of stepping on “whatever it was!” I flicked the light on, searching for a scorpion.  I didn’t see anything.  I decided to see how much my neck had swelled, so I went to the bathroom, washed my hands to get the stink off and was relieved to see only a little bit of redness and no obvious stingmark.  But I was not about to go back to bed with a murderous insect on the loose. I prepared to do a thorough search of my room.

And found him. A spider, not a scorpion, hiding underneath my bedside table, just waiting for me to climb back into bed so he could further terrorize me.  Flip-flop time! He escaped my first swap and retreated further under my bed. “Uhuh! not happening!” I crawled halfway under my bed, and thankfully rather than retreating again he decided to come at me. So I demolished him.

Yes! this was what was crawling on my neck . . .

 I honestly think he was the ugliest spider I have ever encountered. Maybe not the biggest, but let me tell you, this bugger was downright terrifying at that early hour of the morning.

I crawled back into bed after making sure that he hadn’t invited any friends to the party. I couldn’t help but imagine the rest of his family waiting patiently under my bed till I had fallen asleep again.

To say the least it took a little while to fall asleep again, even with the infallible protection of my sheet pulled tightly up to my neck.

In other news, I’m taking advantage of a free Sunday afternoon to do some writing and a lot of catching up. Updates may be scarce until about July. 40 purses waiting to be made, students to be taught, a seamstress-in-the-making to teach, plus weekend plans don’t leave a whole lot of time for extras.

But continue to enjoy life. Live every moment to the fullest and don’t forget the people around you.

*chicotes are these beetle things that have really clingy feeling legs and are very annoying.

New arrivals. . .

So if you remember about 4 weeks ago, I wrote a “fairy-tale” about a prince that would be joining our class.

Today,4 weeks later, we were finally blessed with his presence.

He seems to have been held up by a curse, which had him imprisoned for a few weeks before he was able to slay a horribly evil dragon, the sidekick of an equally evil witch  and free himself.

Ok . . . so he had appendicitis and was in the hospital for three days. And then was at home during vacation. But the other story sounds cooler! J

So yes, Eduardo finally joined us today.

It made for quite an interesting Monday as this poor nun nearly lost her religion trying to keep everybody straight and occupied and actually doing something worthwhile! But now that we’ve survived one day the others should all flow super smoothly, right?!

Also, we would have hated for our new prince to feel out of place with being the only male in the classroom so I decided to get a fellow companion for his misery.

Meet Diego:

 Quite the little charmer he is. Also a champion feed-dumper, water-splasher and general mess-maker. He seems to be a city bird, since he seems to prefer packaged food and has turned up his nose at mangoes and apples, try with bananas next time.

In other news, Miguel had a surgery today. Something with his intestines, not exactly sure what all is involved but I think the general idea is that pooping should now be easier for him. Sorry, that’s just a rather literal English translation for the sign language explanation that I got.

I haven’t heard anything about how it went, but I’m sure he could use prayers. I just don’t like the thought of my little kids in the hospital. They’re supposed to be here, running around and being annoying, not being operated on. But, knowing Miguel he’ll be up and running around before you can turn around.

Just in case you forgot which one is Miguel. J

Nicaraguan Adventures

So when a trip starts like this . . .

You have to wonder how it is gonna go!
Monday afternoon of last week found us all in the kitchen, in the various stages of making bread, cake & cookies for the trip. As well as iced coffee to keep us going while working in the kitchen.

Then 3:30 the next morning found us loading up the van for a supposedly 12 hour trip. Seventeen hours later found us pulling up in Waslala, Nicaragua, very happy to have arrived and not even caring that we had to sleep on the floor in a room full of 40 women. Well, not caring too much anyhow!!!
Here’s a short pictorial overview.
The CICS group who went. L-R Paty, Lidia, Mary, me, Verónica, Samuel, Elmer

Beautiful mountains of Honduras in the background, beautiful except when driving through them for 4 hours!

Stopping for lunch . . . I guess the Nicaraguan border officials thought we looked travel weary and so decided to give us a chance to take a 2 ½ hr break. Or else they just liked our company so much they couldn’t bear to have us leave them.

We took advantage of the break to have a picnic at the border.  Probably a once in a lifetime experience!!

                                             Not even a little bit bored!!!

Entertaining the border officials and fellow travelers with games like Rats and Old Maid. The one border official was wanting to learn how to play Old Maid!

It was with many tears we passed under this sign, leaving behind all our many friends and comrades among the officials at the Nicaraguan border. OR NOT!

And so after another 8 hours of driving, part of that on some very not so desirable dirt roads, we were able to get started with the real reason for the trip.

Teacher’s Meetings.

Teachers from Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador all came to be encouraged and to share ideas. And we were not disappointed.

Although neither were we sad when the two days of seminars ended and we were told we were going for an excursion.

We hiked about and hour into the Nicaraguan mountains. Got to see some beautiful jungle birds, hear howler monkeys, and finally arrived at a beautiful waterfall.

Nature at it’s most beautiful. Untouched by man, undeveloped, just clear, cold water and mossy rocks.
Which of course begged to be climbed and explored!

Nothing quite like drenching yourself in sweat only to be able to stick your head under a waterfall and cool yourself off

                                              Over the river and UP the hill!

                                           A sloth that we got to see up close and personal.

And then we headed out of the mountains, left the beautiful rice fields of Nicaragua behind us and 18 hrs later, after a friendly chat with some Nicaraguan police,  an overheating van and ridiculously long lines at border crossings we made it back home again, Safe and Sound!! Never have I been so happy to see our bumpy dirt road . . . . .