Current Things

Lately I have been doing more with my littlest ones in regard to schooling. It has been a blessing to see them blossom and learn. Grace is doing great at reading and Laura knows many words as well and both are learning to decode with great success. In addition we have been trying to integrate more copywork, dictation and lapbooking with the emphasis on nature. It has been fun trying to implement  the Charlotte Mason Method into our schooling. We have heard about it for years and figure that living in such a rich country, full of so many varied flora and fauna.. now is the time to implement it!We are REALLY enjoying the freedom and exploration the children are experiencing. Every outing, walk and trip, whether to the backyard, jungle,  beach or to the city becomes an opportunity to learn.

 We have enjoyed filling the school blackboard with our topic of study, in this case, dragonflies!!

 

This little guy was kind enough to show up this week! We were able to closely examine him in a glass jar. The girls really got a kick out of examining it's compound eyes, thorax, abdomen, head, wings and legs. They had learned all of the parts earlier in the week and were thrilled to see 'up close'

Laura is making great progress in reading

Grace and Mama work on the lapbooks. We took all the work that we had done together on dragonflies and glued it into a file folder. Lapbooking provides a great creative outlet for children and helps reinforce the information by arranging projects and information in an organized folder. It also provides a great little 'book' which they can show off to daddy and other family members.

Grace and Laura love helping Ashley take care of the mama goat and kids

Ryan's favorite past time. If ever anyone asks "Where's Ryan?" we all know to look here first..

While coming down the staircase Ryan spots this lovely specimen (can you see whats on the stick?)

We have literally seen 8 or 9 snakes at our house since arriving this time.. but this was the first fella that was discovered INSIDE! No worries though.. he was only semi venomous! :-)

A travelling produce man sold us this 50 lbs or oranges for $5 U.S! Can you say fresh squeezed O.J.?

Gracie working on her Spanish sticker book that Grandma gifted her with before leaving the States

Mandy has been such a trooper although sadly she is not feeling very well on some days.. we think we have some answers to why.. as we do more research about her condition we would covet your prayers. She would never complain though! What a joyful lamb!

Say CHEESE!! What cuties!

What are you up to Mr. Grant? :-)

Not sure what's going on here.. we have an 'open camera' policy here! Everyone, even Gracie is able to grab the camera and catch important moments.. its fun to look through and see what is on the card. :-)

Now, this photo may not seem very interesting.. unless you know what it is! Mandy perfected a gluten free focaccia bread recipe! By adding B and L and T it made a SCRUMPTIOUS meal!

Here I am Skyping with a very good friend. It has been a great blessing to utilize Skype this time to stay in touch with friends and family. Last time we were in Belize 2011-2012 it was blocked. Since then the restriction has been lifted! My family has to remind me to Skype early though or this is what happens.. I am so sleepy by 9 or so.. probably because of the extreme heat we are currently experiencing. On this particular night, my friend kept chiding me for yawning! :-) I kept assuring her that she was not boring me I was just SOOOOO exhausted!

Good evening Mrs. P! In the background you can see the make shift bunkbed Grady has made for the little girls. Our room is literally the size of a King sized bed plus 12".. so Grady bolted Laura's wooden toddler bed onto posts above Grace's homemade Belizean (by daddy) toddler bed and we now have a toddler sized bunk! Thanks to brother Ryan Laura even has a ladder now too!

 

The other day Grant caught a cute basilisk lizard....

 

Little did he know that later that day they would catch a HUGE iguana! (note the color of Grant's face.. they had been hiking around in the bush in the pasture at our house.. in 104 degree weather, chasing this guy for a half hour in the burning sun.. ) Originally they put this guy in their Hart trap and planned on butchering and eating him.. but then they got attached and didn't have the heart to kill it! LOL.  Rubins.. if only they had found this guy a few weeks ago!!!!!!! :-)

 

 

Goodbye Mr. Lizard! (update on this photo.. this happened 2 days ago and the fellow is still living in our huge cottonwood tree out front. After being let go, he scrambled up the tree and now refuses to move. The boys hope they didn't scare him to death!)

Grady chats with this man who was overseeing some

 work at the neighbors..

 

 

We were amazed at how this excavator just simply drove off the trailer and back onto it after its work was done..meanwhile the entire truck leaned and tipped.. I *knew* it would tip over.. but as the phrase our special friend coined while visiting here says- "In Belize, it CAN be done!"

 

We are loving it here.. we pray that the Lord will be able to change us and use us, broken vessels that we are, for him. . Please be praying for us.