Nuestros queridos Colombianos

!Que Dios los bendiga!

My Ty!

As I walked out of my room, after having gotten ready for church last Sunday, Ty abruptly stopped in his tracks and stared strangely at me.  "What is wrong, Ty?"  And the sweetest child responded, "I am startled, MamA.  You are so beautiful!"  Ha!

And here, he is writing out the name of his beloved choir director, Miss Lisa Kay.  Do you see it?

Dahnceh Dunham

One of my favorite memories from university is of my ballet teacher, Vivian from South Africa, calling to me, "Dahnceh Dunham," to work out a combination on the worn wooden floor to the live piano music.  -sigh-

Unfortunately, I didn't last the semester, because there just wasn't enough time to run to Italian class across campus, and, well... Enzo Fuschino was waiting.

And now to the next generation!

tendus at the bar

grand movements across the stage with Teacher Lindsey

the girls (and maybe the reason she really loves class so much!)

And now the child is dancing all over the place... such expression!

Ty was happy to oblige, providing his best air music.  Check out that set-up: He used an Ethiopian Airlines sleeping mask for the strap of his Lego guitar

keeping the beat... He is always keeping the beat.

Making the house cozy

Enchilada casserole and pickled cabbage.  Third Day's Joy to the World.  Peanut butter blossom cookies.  Family and friends.  Twinkly lights.  Memories, old and new.

Chinita, do you see the Honduran ornament?  I love hanging it on the tree and thinking of your family.

The most enthusiastic tree trimmers

A perfect job for Ty: unwrapping chocolates for the cookies.  What a great helper!

And... I'm back.

So, what have we been up to?  School.  Lots of school.

When we worked through the sandpaper letters, I also had each kid make a word list by initial sounds to use later as copy-work.  And what did Ty choose for the letter a?  Alcachofas!  Ha!

We're getting there...  Now, if she could only remember how to spell Biruktawit!

With no prompting, G illustrated The Sword of Damocles.

G's math.  In preparation for the abacus work, he is spending a lot of time with the parts of numbers. 

Due to the cold, we have been spending a lot of time on the couch, reading and snuggling.

And, because we aren't spending much time outdoors, we've needed to figure out ways to get the crazies out.  Family wrestling matches seem to work well.

Oh!  And I'm still harvesting from the backyard: kale, parsnips, thyme and dill.

Oh yeah, I grew that popping corn!

My baby!

Yesterday, Ty prayed before Calendar Time:

"Dios, tú eres grande, perfecto.  Por favo', para las placas tectónicas y protege a Japón.  Ayuda a Dana a amar a Jesús.  Por la sangre de Jesús, Amén."

This and that

We have been enjoying the divine gift of the best Autumn weather by having impromptu picnics at the dacha, prioritizing mornings at the park over number work, and hanging out on our newly fenced-in balcony.  Thank you, God!

In there was also a wonderful birthday celebration: a party with my favorite Wisdom and Youth, thrown by the Amazing JR; gifts of an embroidered map of Ethiopia, a Soroban, a magic photo mug and... you'll never believe it... I am such a pacifist... but... a machete!  It is for use against the giant thistles of the dacha.  And, you know, it'll come in handy if my dream of living in a foreign jungle ever comes true!

The kids, as always, continue to crack me up with what they say.  The other day, I gave the kids a choice of some activities and G asked Ty, "Which do you prefer, Ty?"  He sounded like a teacher!

Ty, upon finding the coconut oil in a different place than where he had left it, angrily asked, "Who is destroying my laws?"  Uh... can you tell that we have been reading a lot in the Old Testament lately?

Also, so, Ty is seriously infatuated with our church's choir director.  When Rob told us that she would be at his last music rehearsal, Ty dictated a note to me, for her.  Of course she loved it and wrote him a note back.  When I gave it to Ty the next morning, in all seriousness, the child said, "¡Qué nice!" with his best Mexican-American accent.

G's new favorite friend

Toboggan practice?

Fun with boxes

G, during rest time, reading ahead in These Happy Golden Years.  He and I had actually been "fighting" over who got the book to read ahead during rest time.  Finally, I just stayed up really late one night and finished it off.

More fun with boxes

Our newly-instituted afternoon tea and art time

Reading update:  I am happily working my way through St. Augustine's Confessions, as well as Mary Oliver's and Sara Teasdale's poetry.  The latter's Wisdom is so timely.  -a big, sad sigh-