Bowling!

We went bowling Monday night and it was the first time ever for the kids and for Juan Pablo! There is no bowling alley in La Paz...he said people in Bolivia wouldn't want to wear shoes that other people wear. The place was practically empty...we went before 6pm when the leagues come...Joaquin calls them the "laners".


Have you ever seen a ball take a full two minutes to go down the lane? We definitely needed the bumpers up for no gutter balls, but everyone did great for their first time. Joaquin got a strike on the second round! He was beating everyone for most of the game with all of his spares.



Wow! Those balls are heavy...even for the kids they are 9 lbs.!


I love this shot!
Everyone decided we should definitely go again...Juan Pablo's last thoughts were "bowling can be addictive!" Uh-oh!....I'm fine with the 10 rounds and that's it. But it was a lot of fun to see how excited the kids (and Juan Pablo) were at trying something completely new!

our nature path

My good friend Liz gave us a great idea to rake a little path through our woods for the kids to play on. It didn't take long at all, was great exercise and fun, and the kids have been so excited to play on it everyday! I've been trying to make sure I send the kids outside more....since I've been researching homeschooling, I've discovered this great teacher's methods, Charlotte Mason, and this is one thing she said about outdoor play:
"With all the pressure to give our children a good education and adequate socialization, it's good to remember that a mother's first duty should be to provide a secure, quiet early childhood. For the first six years, children should have low-key schedules so they can just be and grow, and they should spend most of their waking hours outside enjoying the fresh air. This is not just good for their bodies; their heart, soul and mind are nourished with exactly what they need when we leave them alone in a stress-free environment among happy influences that give them no reason to rebel and misbehave."

So this morning, when they started to get a little rambunctious before it was time for the bus, I sent them outside to play on the path...fun for them, and peace of mind for me!

Betty Crocker

Isabela is going to be the next Betty Crocker...she LOVES to cook...when I'm brave enough to let her. Today we made a cheese ball and pudding, but she can cook her own scrambled eggs on the stove and bacon in the microwave!

trick or treat!

Isabela and Ellie!


Batman...da..da..da..da..da..da..da..da...Batman!!


A little princess makeup!!


What a great night trick or treating! One of the benefits of not living in a neighborhood is you get to pick where you want to go trick or treating. Several friends were nice enough to invite us to their neighborhoods. One of the neighborhoods went all out, and people had their fire pits out front, passing out candy, and had spooky music and very scary decorations. I was exhausted by the end...since when did houses get built with such STEEP driveways?

Halloween Parade

This is my preK class!


A brief glimpse of Batman's real identity!


Check out those muscles!


Is that the man in the yellow hat?



The three amigos!

Adventurous Kids

Our family, too, has taken on the challenge of raising adventurous kids after hearing Mike Young's speech last Friday.....see www.noblewarriors.org if you have no idea what I'm talking about. So it started the next day...I had gone right out and bought a box of nails to teach the kids how to hammer. There is this great craft using nails and a mailing tube to make a rain stick. The nails go in very well and don't get all bent up because they aren't hammered straight. The kids loved it and only hit their thumbs a couple of times...and not enough to cry! The project is not finished, but when they feel like it, they go and hammer a few more nails into the tube.
The next adventure was getting the chimney cleaned out so we could have a real fire. It needed some caulking repairs, which Juan Pablo took on himself. He bought a ladder and climbed up onto the roof, which of course, Joaquin also wanted to do. Notice there are no pictures. I did hear the pitter patter of little feet on the roof, but I did NOT want to see it. Joaquin thoroughly enjoyed himself, and Isabela was quite upset that it happened while she was at school...so another roof outing is planned for the weekend.
Then, tonight, before he left for work, Juan Pablo built us a fire, suggesting we could roast marshmallows. I was reluctant because he wouldn't be here, and "what if the house caught on fire?" was in the back of my mind. But I gave in, and the kids had fun searching the woods for the perfect sticks and then roasting. I even added several logs to the fire as it started to die down. And the house is still standing!

I'm really excited to find out what other adventures God has planned for us. It is definitely hard to let go, and trust no one will get hurt, but also worth every effort.

car singing... to mass choir

I've always loved to sing...my favorite place is in the car. Then there's karaoke night on Christmas Eve. I'm not really a shower singer. Yes, I know I can't really carry a tune...but when our church asked for any volunteers to sing in a special 150 person mass choir (no talent required!) I signed right up, both Isabela and I. On the first practice night, we were ten minutes late, so I sat us down as inconspicuously as possible...which turned out to be with the sopranos! Well, I don't know what I am...and I certainly wasn't going to take a test to find out! So the practices were fun, and thank God I'd taken piano lessons and could read music...it's not really like learning Mary Had a Little Lamb...I mean, they skipped from the middle to the back to the front and anywhere in between twelve sheets of music.
So the big performance was yesterday. We got to do one run through before the 9:30 service, and Isabela and I got the premium spots on the end of the risers...not too hot amid all the bright lights...and more importantly, no microphone nearby. The big band played with us, so you really couldn't even hear your own voice...which, for better or for worse, made me sing louder...I did notice someone different was standing next to me the second time around. I wasn't sure what that meant.
Joaquin also performed yesterday in the Jr. Kid's Choir. He brought his trusted "other one" bear, who was balanced on top of his head for the first few stanzas. But, then he got serious, and he really sang beautifully!
There really is no talent required to be a musical family...we just need to get Juan Pablo up there next! Have you heard him sing?