Wrap up...going into a busy week

Thought I would put up a quick blog with some photos before we head into Service Emphasis (SEW) week at HOPAC with the Sala Sala Kids' Club and then the "Walk Through Easter" production that we're helping with for the last day of the term for school.  Looks to be a busy week!

My cutie pie.  She still loves to wear her Easter dress from last year ;)...

Might need my Mom to get her a new one for next year though, she's growing up!  Maybe she can find a clearance sale in a couple of weeks at Kohls?

A top view of her "crown hair"

The road out in front of our house.  You can see the ruts and how uneven it is.  Hoping we can get it fixed after the rains run their course.

My darling Krypto finished up his "Delta" 4th grade book this week and moved into "Epsilon."

Sissi finished up two books this week, her Explode the Code Book A and she moved into Book B and her Rod and Staff books, too.

Sala Sala Kids' Club doing some dancing to a fun song

Sissi helping me to grate tomatoes so that we could make a large pasta dish for dinner.  This way we'll have some leftovers for lunches during the SEW week.

Ladies Luncheon and Fashion Show

Today was the International Baptist Church's Ladies Luncheon and Fashion Show.  What a mouthful, right?!

It was amazing.  I'm so glad I went to share the time with friends, to see some wonderful clothes, hear a timely message, and eat some delicious food.

Before I even left, Sissi was so upset that she wasn't coming with me.  I promised her that next time, we'll make it a "Mommy and Daughter" date and that I would take lots of pictures.  Today though, it was "Mommy's Day Out!"

One of the beautiful Indian dresses

One of the Western styles...day at the beach

Another Western style dress

An African Maasai dress.  It was custom made for this very show!

I liked the bead work on this dress too

An Indian wedding dress!  The beadwork on this was exquisite....very heavy too, I got to hold it later!

One of the shirts I bought, I'm going to take off the sleeves.

I loved this outfit, when I tried it on, the color was perfect (I happen to love purple ;))  It comes with the scarf (laying on the side in the picture) and a pair of pants too.  I'll also be taking off the sleeves (or shortening them) on this top, too.  The embroidery work is just beautiful!  I'll take a picture when I wear it!

Then, we had a guest speaker, Catherine Katala from Njiani!  I loved her message, part of it was taken from 1 Samuel, which again, just happens to be the book of the Bible I'm reading this week.  Thank you Lord for tying in so many threads for me.  I was happy to share the message of God being more concerned about our hearts, the inner self, than the outward appearance (a tie in to the Fashion Show) and the second part of the message, the story of David and Nathan, with my boys when we got home.  So often, they take our rebukes in a bad way, they get sullen, or snippy, or downcast, and I've tried so many times to tell them, "I am correcting you because I love you."  Relating it to the story of Nathan and David and how immediately David took responsibility for his sin with Bathsheba, how he changed, how he asked for forgiveness and repented really hit the mark.  They got it today.  David didn't get sullen or argue with Nathan about his sin, he knew right away that he was in the wrong and moved forward to make amends and do the right thing.

Proverbs 3:11-12 "My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline, and do not resent His rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in."

I think this might be a memory verse for the week!

The food was really tasty too, lots of treats and tea and food to fill us up.  I'm so thankful that I could go and spend time withe some great lady friends.  (Sigh!)  What a great day!

Field Trip - Mukumbusho

Today, our homeschool co-op, took a field trip to the Mukumbusho Village Museum.  It is "in town" for us; but, when it was built, back in the 60's, I'm quite sure it was on the outskirts of the city.  It is a large plot of land with over 20 different traditional Tanzanian huts and gardens growing, surrounded by multi-level bank buildings and apartment complexes.

We learned quite a bit about many of the different tribes that live here in Tanzania.  There are over 120 different people groups that live here.

Just a few 'fun' facts:
- Many tribes practice(d) polygamy and build separate homes for the junior and senior wife.  In some tribes, the junior wife gets the bigger hut, because she takes care of all the household chores including the cooking.  The senior wife in these tribes gets the smaller hut, so she can relax.  In other tribes it is the opposite.  The senior wife is in charge, so she gets the bigger house.
- Some tribes have the man getting his own hut and all the women and children live in the other hut.  We saw tribes where the children live in their own hut and all the adults live in the second hut.  Oddly enough, we didn't find a single tribe where the women get their own hut and the men live with the children!
- One of the tribes builds a different style of house depending on if they are in war time or peace time.
- One of the tribes builds a hut that is mobile!

We enjoyed seeing many types of plants, we bought greeting cards that are made out of banana tree bark, heard and saw a little bit of traditional African dancing, and ate many of the traditional African foods for lunch.  The kids weren't thrilled with many of the options; but, I hearkened back to their ISMK training this summer...try everything, don't complain, and then we chanted "You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit!"  Thanks Chiefs for the great reminder!!!

The path leading up to some of the first huts we visited

The kids, outside of one of the longhouses

Sissi and her friend, Ariana

A place to smelt metals

ahhh yes, the old fashioned way to grind your grain.

Be sure to see my post from a few weeks ago about grinding grain, if you don't understand why this is funny :)

Many of the household items they would use

Krypto likes all things aquatic

Yes, bugs here are big.  That is a child's hand...so you can just imagine.

Some dancing by Ariana, Sissi, and Esther, to the African drummers that were playing.

Some maintenance being done.

An Update on Tuesdays

We've continued going on Tuesdays and helping with the Sala Sala Kids' Club Ministry.  We've found it to be a real joy, for sure.

There's been an ongoing series this semester about the many names of God.  This past week was "King."

I've included a few fun pictures from this week; but, stay tuned next week...it's HOPAC's "Service Emphasis Week" (aka SEW) and starting next Thursday, we're doing a 4 day camp for the Sala Sala kids.  It's based on an Olympic Theme of "Becoming a Champion - Faster, Higher, Stronger, Together."  Next Wednesday I'll be up at HOPAC helping the 15 students plan the lesson for Saturday, "Stronger".  My plan is to use the story of Samson.  It's going to be a great time and I'm sure I'll have a bunch of pictures and stories to share. It reminds me of Vacation Bible School (aka VBS) back in the US!

Playing on the ride-on toys

Sitting, chatting, and playing with blocks

They love it when the trampoline comes out!

Snack time at the end.  I love their crowns this week as we talked about how God is the King!

Just a few of them hamming it up for the camera

"What!...There's No Water?!"

Yes, you read that right, from the 23rd of February until the 2nd of March we had no water coming into our compound.  Now, we have 4 back up water storage containers.  They each hold 2,000 Liters.  The top two are for the yard and garden, the bottom two are for the house.  So, it's not quite as dire as you would instantly think.  But, after a week with no NEW water being added to your reserves...when you want to drink, wash dishes, do laundry, take showers...it starts to run out.

On Wednesday night, Indy came inside and told me "I can see the bottom of the tanks."  I wanted to cry, I wanted to throw my hands up in the air.  I was frustrated, tired of rationing what we did have and worrying about every time someone flushed the toilet (yes, we went there, I would make them all go at one time and then just flush once to try and conserve.)  We called a friend who knew some people in the water truck business to see about ordering a truck full of water.  I sent out an email to a few close prayer warrior friends and I finally let it all out...I cried, I vented, and I prayed!  I hadn't felt like this in months, for the most part, things have been going well.  Well, it's either that, or I'm just more used to all the "ups and downs" and "off and ons" that are normal to life here in Africa! 

Later that night, Indy was out with our gardener and he came inside and said, "You're not going to believe this, there is a trickle coming into the tanks. It's not full by any stretch; but, if we're careful, it might just give us a few more days."  Oh my goodness, THANK YOU LORD!  What an answer to prayer.  I felt embarrassed that I had lost my temper, that I had so instantly felt forlorn and overcome.  I know water is basic to life; but, as Indy put it, we did have a fix, we could have ordered a truck of water.  Why was I so upset, why wasn't I just turning to the Lord and praying?  I felt my weakness in this situation, and I was reminded of His strength.  Remember the story of Paul's "thorn" in 2 Corinthians 12 (specifically verses 9 and 10.)  Again, I am reminded that His grace is sufficient for me and that in my weakness, I am strong!

This week, in my Bible reading with the Journey Girls, we were reading the book of Joshua.  What stood out to me this time through...the tricking of Joshua and the Israelites by the Gibeonites.  They had put on their worn out clothes, old wine skins, and made themselves dirty to appear as if they had come from afar.  They made a treaty with Joshua instantly because they "appeared" to be telling the truth.  Joshua made the agreement without any prayer or intercession to the Lord.  I'm sure that if he had stopped and taken a moment, that the Lord would have laid on his heart that they were being duped.  Another reminder that things aren't always what they appear.  I am still working on my self-control and not instantly jumping to the place of frustration and anger at my circumstances.  I am so grateful, that yet again, in His grace, there is forgiveness and the working of a miracle...we got some water.

So, are you ready for the happy ending?  On Friday, after my calling the water company (Dawasco) about 20 times over the course of the week and being told they would be right over, Indy came home from work a bit early and took our gardener with him (he can speak Swahili much better than we can :)) up to the Tegeta office.  We had tried to go to the Kawe office before and were told that they couldn't help us, that we weren't in their area.  The advice we had been given from friends was to wait and bring a fundi back to the house with us.  A fundi is a worker that has skills in plumbing, electrical work, etc.and is pronounced fun-di with a oo sound, it's not "fun"...remember a fundi isn't fun (thanks Amy for that quote)!  Not only did Indy bring back a fundi; but, also the lead engineer.  They had it fixed in 10 minutes.  A few weeks back the line up the street had broken and a bunch of sediment got in the line and had drifted down the hill and clogged our meter so that no water could get through.  He had to take out the meter and clean it up and then the water gushed in.  We'll have to keep an eye on it; but, I feel such a relief, such a lifting off of my shoulders.  Thank you to all of you that prayed for us.  It's always an adventure here!

Summer School 2012 Plans

In the past, the kids have been young and then last summer, we were moving.  So, we never did much for Summer School.  This year, I'm thinking it will be different.  I'm thinking that sticking with a routine will be best.

I'm not sure how much we'll be traveling and since Daddy is actually off of work, something we're not used to even when he was teaching at the Academy, this will help us to structure our days a bit.  I'm not saying we won't go and have fun and play at the pool and do family lunches...but, if I have something planned, then we can always skip it, or use it, as need be.

So, here is the basic plan :)...should only take about 2 hours or so in the morning, and then the rest of our day is free.

1. We're going to keep up with music lessons through the summer.  I hope!  I've spoken to the piano teacher and he is on board  I still need to talk to the violin instructor and I pray that will all work out as well.  Krypto  lost so much over the past summer by not playing while we were moving and in transition.

2.  I've got some review math books that the boys will do a page in each day.  Just to keep them up to speed on what they've learned so far...again, praying they don't lose all their skills while we take the 2 month break.

The two new and exciting things.....

3.  Expedition Earth!  It's a World Geography and activity program that I printed to do this year; but, we already have so much going on with our core history curriculum, Tapestry of Grace, that I let it drop.  It's put out by Confessions of a Homeschooler and you can see it here if you're interested.

http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/world-geography

The kids will have a "passport" and will "visit" 30 countries.  Usually, you would spend a week on each country. We'll be "flying through" and just spending a day.  We'll learn all the basics, read a book about it, do some mapwork, listen to a song, etc....and then move on.  Krypto did take a World Geography class last year at High Country (our homeschool co-op back in Colorado) and he loved it.  I'm actually thinking about ordering the "Carmen Sandiego" DVDs from the 90's to let them watch this summer.  It's been so long since I watched it...I was actually already in college when it came out, so I wasn't a faithfull follower, does anyone know if the kids would like it?

4.  Finally, ART.....I am SO bad about doing art during the year.  By the time we finish all our "have to be done" subjects, I'm just too tired to get all the stuff out and deal with the mess of 3 kids doing art.  SO, I'm promising to do art everyday this summer!  We're going to use the "Word's Greatest Artist" curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler again (can you tell, I love her stuff.)  Some of the artists we have already covered while we were doing the Renaissance last year.  We'll review them; but, the point of this is to draw, paint, chalk, etc. EVERYDAY!  My kids are always asking to do art and I'm super excited that by scheduling it and only having a few things a day to do, that we can pull this off.  I think it might also help to have another adult around (Daddy) to help with the mess.  Here is the curriculum if you're interested in looking, it's a free download!

http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2011/06/worlds-greatest-artists-unit-study.html

So, any thoughts, feedback, ideas?  What are you doing for Summer School this year?  I pray this finds you well and blessed!  Here's to planning a great summer!!!

School this Week...and Planning Ahead

Here's a few pictures of school this week and also of some of the planning ahead that I'm doing for the summer and next school year.

Sissi working on her Rod and Staff "C" book.  It's all about Numbers and she does it when the boys are doing their Math work.

Gwangi made some neat crafts this week and Sissi had her "baseball guy" join his animals.  They really enjoy the Kumon "Pasting" and "Craft" books.  Gwangi is also just a few lessons away from finishing up Math U See Alpha...we'll be in Beta by next month!

The books we used this past week for school.  We were learning about the "Seven Years" or "French and Indian War."  It was a really great week.

Krypto - "My favorite thing this week was learning about all the battles."

Gwangi - "My favorite thing about History was learning about George Washington."

Sissi - "I liked learning about him turning into the President."

We use "A Reason for Handwriting" and on Friday, they get a nice piece of paper with a picture on it, to copy their Bible verse on, after working on it all week.  This week, Gwangi had the Armor of God.  He copied his verse, and then cut out all the pieces that were randomly situated on the paper, and glued them into a "person."

His completed warrior.  He actually went on to line it with cardboard, make a stand for it, and put it in a Lego fort.

Some of what I've been working on this weekend.  We'll use these "Roadtrip USA" pages (from Confessions of a Homeschooler) as we learn about the States, as they enter the Union, through our Tapestry of Grace curriculum.  We're coming up on the Revolution...so we'll be using it soon!!!!

I also got all my Literature pages and maps printed up for Tapestry of Grace Year 3 next year and figured out what we're doing for Summer School.  Stay tuned for another post about that!