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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helping Out & A Giving Opportunity

We had wanted to get back to little Maria's house to help them put up the screened fabric on their windows and on their eves to prevent bugs to get into their home. Between illness and company it has been long overdue! :-)  Grady and the boys helped to start this house back in March of 2012 and it has been a blessing to help them with a few of the practical finishing necessities. Last year they experienced tons of mosquitos as well as snakes and rats. They are hoping by closing off the wide open areas (with screen) in the eves and by making frames with screens for the windows and doors that it may cut down on the pests..

 

 

They can either have their shudders open which allows for a nice breeze on hot summer days..

with bugs

Or they can keep them shut in order to keep the bugs out.. which makes the indoor temps soar..

It is such a blessing being able to work as a family. We love spending the day on little projects like this! :-) Little Maria supports her mother, daughter and sister's household, including children. (little Maria and big Maria live next door to one another) (little) Maria cleans houses M-F and receives about $15-$20 U.S. per day. With a budget like that, it is a bit difficult to purchase simple things like tack strips, caulking and screen. A very special friend in WA heard of their need and donated $100 U.S. for this project. This money was enough for everything we needed..with a bit leftover to make them a small chicken coop to protect their small remaining flock of chickens that the fox has been eating! Ryan hopes to get a start on that chicken house project tomorrow..

Grace and Laura have a fun time swinging with Maria's little girl..

What a great helper!

Laura takes the time to stop and smell the flowers..

cutting screen

Grant is there to help too!

Having a fun time visiting with Grandma Marta and 'big' Maria while the girls play in the hammock

Their back yard view

Mandy pitches in also

 

Mandy and I say goodbye to 'big' Maria.. we have to come back to finish screens on another day because we forgot that in Spanish Lookout the stores are closed Friday, Saturday and Monday of 'holy week' Grady needs more thin wood for tack strips.. the lumba yaad (a little Belizean Creole there) will open again tomorrow (Tuesday!) when we will head back over for some more screening and chicken house buildin'!

 

We also hope to get a start on big Maria's front porch steps (she currently has three dilapidated and tippy cement blocks to balance on while clamboring up onto her porch) We also plan to close in her porch in order to transfer her kitchen to outside so that her two teenage boy can have their own room apart from their teenage sister. Currently all four of them live in a one room cabin which is about 500 square feet in all, with no interior walls for privacy. If you would like to help in this project- building steps for her porch, replacing rotten boards on the porch, moving her kitchen to outdoors in order to make room for a small bedroom for her daughter, you can donate here- we figure the whole cost would be no more than $150-$200 U.S. Every little bit helps!  :-) On a side note, big Maria also has a pretty severe case of epilepsy which we are trying to help find medication for here in Belize. The whole lack-of stairs to the porch issue has us very concerned as she has actually fallen off of that porch during a seizure twice now. Please pray for this sister.. she has been through so much and is truly trying to live as a Kingdom Christian. She is always such an encouragement to me. In fact in the picture above she is thanking us so much for our help in their lives and I am explaining that she gives so much more to me than she realizes.. that she brings conviction, encouragement and joy to us ladies every time we come for a visit. We were telling her here that God must have known that we needed each other. Wow, anyone still reading this blog post should get a reward or something.. most patient reader. :-) I'll be quiet now. May the Lord bless you this day.

 

Birthday Pool Party

Our beautiful 20 year old birthday girl

 

with her best friend and sister Ashley

After given a gift and a choice as to what to do for her birthday, Mandy chose a nearby resort called the Banana Bank Lodge to visit. They charge a $10 per adult day use fee for full access to their pool and mini zoo, children half price.. Being 'locals' we were quoted half of that! Anyhow, it made for a pretty fun (and affordable) birth-day for Mandy!

 

Birthday Girl!

 

 

 

Between dips in the pool dad treated the girls to some nachos at the little pool-side café..

Then it was on to seeing the different animals, mostly birds, that Banana Bank lodge has in captivity. This umbrella cockatoo had the girls mesmerized. One of the daughters of the workers there at the resort showed the girls around the bird pavilion.

In another enclosure (one that was much larger) housed larger birds including this absolutely stunning peacock.

This poor tucan had a twisted beak

Banana Bank Lodge is situated on a 4,000 acre piece of land. Horses roam free around the place. They are all trained for horseback riding via the John Lyons and Perrelli way and so are very tame.

This caged jaguar wanted to grab Ashley through the bars. It was kinda scary! We all agreed that she needed a MUCH higher fence!

The Banana Bank Lodge offers their guests (whether day-use or overnight) very affordable meals. In addition, upon request they can make meals with specialty ingredients..We opted to have dinner there and had told them that we were gluten intolerant. On the menu that night was lasagna but for us ladies they had made corn empanadas served with condiments instead.

Daddy hugs the birthday girl

Mama hugs the semi-unruly and tired out little girls :-)

Grant enjoys a hot cup of coffee

Ashley too!

Our yummy empanadas

For dessert, instead of chocolate cake which was the dessert on the menu for the evening.. the waitress asked us if we would like cantaloupe instead. She proceeded to bring Ashley and Amanda a big bottle of chocolate syrup to make it even more of a treat! The girls had WAY too much fun decorating their cantaloupe with chocolate. :-)

 

We had never *thought* of putting chocolate on cantaloupe but you know what? It was ALMOST as delicious as chocolate cake, maybe even more so! We enjoyed and appreciated the staff there soo much! Such wonderful young ladies. We were blessed to chat with them a few times throughout the day.

After dinner the boys talked us into one more dip in the pool.. it was still warm, both the pool water and the outdoor temperature. A dip sure felt nice after a hot day..

 

 

Daddy elected to read instead..

Like daddy like daughters..

 

A sweet ending to a lovely day. Happy Birthday Amanda dear! We love you so much honey!!!!

 A big thank you to the person who gifted our family this special gift.. (you know who you are!) It is such a blessing to have had a day of R and R as a family. Hugs!