School in the USA

We've been asked a lot about what our boys are doing for school here in the States for our time here.  Well...now that's a story of God going before us!

We knew we wanted to them to have at least a full semester at school.  It just feels like with the transition of everything, at least they could start at a natural starting point instead of halfway though the semester.  We also knew there was a public school very close to the house we stay in. There was also the option of a local Christian school that offers a Spanish Immersion kindergarten program.

So we prayed about what would be best for both Forrest and Elliot.  We thought that maybe it would be best for Elliot to be in the Spanish Immersion kindergarten because it would be a safe environment for him to really dig into Spanish.  But that program is really hard to get accepted into and since it's at a private school there is the tuition thing, and well...

Back in June, someone mentioned to me that the public school district in this area was starting their own Spanish Immersion program.  Huh.  Thanks to the amaziness of the interwebs, I discovered that indeed there was going to be Spanish Immersion, and get this!  The Kindergarten and 2nd grade classes were going to be at the building closest to our house!  I am not kidding!

I emailed the coordinator and explained our situation and she said "yes!  absolutely!  Your kids sound like a great fit for the program!"

So.  Both boys are at the same building, which is literally a 2 minute walk through the church parking lot, in rooms full of other kids who are all non native Spanish speakers, and they are doing great!  It's been so great for Forrest to continue with his Spanish (he's right on target with his class, and in some ways ahead of them language wise)  and for Elliot to start formal schooling and language learning.  While he was in daycare all in Spanish while we in language school, it's been and while and he doesn't get much Spanish at home with me at home.

 Can I just tell you, he is so happy?  He was very ready to start school and is doing great!  And because all the other kids in his class are brand new to Spanish, the whole day is built around teaching them a second language.  We are just thrilled!

Yep, God wasn't kidding with me.  He did go before us!

Another 6 Year Old

Elliot turned six on the sixth!  What a kid he is!  He's inquisitive about everything from how a toilet works, to what type of bird is flying overhead.

He is thoughtful, always wanting to share what he is enjoying with others, be that food, or a special rock he's found or a bracelet he's made.

He has a care for the poor that is amazing and he has told us a couple times now that when he is a teenager (his ultimate goal in life) he wants to go to a school where they don't know about Jesus so he can tell them about Him.  We also foresee a lot of tool boxes and safety goggles in this kid's future.

Thankful for this sweet boy and what we see God doing in his heart and life!  Feliz Birthday mae!

This and That

Yep, we're resorting to bullet points.  Don't judge.

• After two days of working on letters and sounds, Elliot became a reader!  Love this kid!

• I have been working on tons of projects for church!  We have a picnic coming up in a few weeks, so we've been painting and building outdoor games, sewing buntings, and figuring out relay races.  

• I am also neck deep in fabric to make new table clothes for church.

• We're working on plans to give the kitchenette at church a make over.  Fun stuff!!

• I started tutoring for my Spanish again.  It's been painful, but good.  This language learning, it's a life long process I tell ya!

• A few weeks ago, we found a desk for a steal!  After way too long of using the kitchen table as a desk, I have one again!!

• For Mother's Day (August 15, yep, it's different) the boys and Noah got me a hose and a nozzle!! So excited!

• Our neighbors, can I just tell you how wonderful they are?  Not only do they go along with almost every hair brained scheme we come up with, they take our kid to school, and bring us food, they also have a sweet fire pit and understand the importance of living in community and taking time!!

• We've started to think more about getting ready for our Home Ministry Assignment (furlough) that will start in December.  I've got really mixed emotions about that. On one hand, we're all very excited to see family and friends we haven't seen in over 2 years.  On the other hand, we are going to desperately miss our friends, church, and neighbors here!  Sigh.  This living with your heart in two places is hard. 

• Speaking of being in MI, if you know of anyone who has a car/van/something that will hold a family of 5 that needs to be driven, we're looking for a vehicle for that 6 months. 

First Days

Last week was the start of school around here.  Sigh.  August 5th seems way, way, way too early to be starting school.  But, it's what it is.

We went to Back to School Night, and discovered that neither of the 2nd grade teachers were there that even.  Huh.  One was still on her way to Costa Rica, and the other had a family issue.  We also learned (4 days before school started) that the school day has been lengthened by 30 minutes.  Well, then.

Forrest was excited for  2nd grade, which was good. In fact, this is how he looked...

 

Those front teeth are growing in quit nicely.  Noah took him that first morning and met his teacher, Mrs. Rodrigez, who is super sweet and genuinely cares for her students.  When we did have a parent meeting the following week with both second grade teachers, she could already tell me some things about Forrest that she was noticing.  Sigh of relief! We have been praying for a restorative year for him, and us as far as school goes!!

The only blip was that the name on his desk was his middle name (cultural moment:  lots of people here go by their second name.  Most people have 4 names.  What a North American would think of as first and middle names, and then two last names, one from dad and one from mom.  So, if Forrest was really Tico, his name would be Forrest Dooley Kamper Runals, which we have seen on different papers.  And it often messes the computer systems up when we say we don't have a second last name)

A big change for us this year is Forrest is now in the mainstream Spanish class.  Last year he was in the Spanish as a Second Language class, which was wonderful! It was just him and 2 other kids.  This year, they felt like he was ready for the mainstream class, and that is just stunning to me.  He seems to be doing just fine and yesterday he came home with a Boleta Feliz (A Happy Ticket) for working so hard and participating so well!  Wonderful!

Oh!  The other wonderful part of this school year is our neighbors are sending their son to the same school!  Yeah, carpooling...it's a.mazing!  It's week two of school and I haven't had to drop off or pick up yet!  Noah works 10 minutes from school so he does most of the afternoon pick ups.  It is lovely!! Especially with Quinn still taking naps.  Thankful!


Elliot started Kindergarten at home this year.  He was a bit apprehensive about starting, but once he realized he got to have cool things in his backpack too, he was ready!  He wanted to have his first day of school photo on the Brincaline.  Benefits of Home school.

He sat right down and was excited to get some work done.  Again, thankful!  He is not a bookish kid.  He would much prefer to be building something, exploring something, creating something.  To sit and write letters has been a challenge in the past.  But that first morning there was only cooperation!  And by this week, he is reading!  Yep, he was ready!  The plan is for him to go to kindergarten in MI when we are back this winter.

Speaking of that...there is a public school two blocks from the house we will be staying in, and it just so happens that that is the building with the Spanish Immersion classes for Kindergarten and 2nd grade!!  I contacted the coordinator of the program earlier this summer and explained our situation and it looks the like the boys will be part of those classes for the second semester!  I just laughed, how like God to provide for our boys language skills while we are on Home Assignment as well!!  Amazing!

Uncollection

Well, some how we went from the beginning of July to the end of July in a blink.  Here's a little of how it went

• We watched the Ticos lose to the Netherlands in a shoot out.  Sad.  But that didn't change the reception that the team got when they flew home the next week!  They drove the whole group around on a flatbed truck for 5 hours after they landed, just so people could see them.  And everwhere there are billboards thanking the team and the coaches. 

•  We went on a short get away to a beach we hadn't been to yet.  Long story, but our neighbors were given two nights at a house just off the beach and invited us to join them.  What a blast! Best part?  Hands down, feeding the monkeys on our porch first thing in the morning!

• I finally came up with a workable solution for shelves in our garage.  I even managed to maneuver the hardware store in Spanish with all the kids in tow! Oh and funny thing about those shelves.  Elliot opened the back of the 4Runner and all three boards fell out onto his little foot!  We were concerned that he might of actually broken something this time.  So we went off to the doctor the next day (this all happened the day before we went to the beach) and praise the Lord, it wasn't broken, just badly bruised!  He was told no trampoline or tree climbing for 5 days.  And now he's right as rain.

• Noah made me a window shelve too!  Yes, we're into shelves here.

• Elliot found a lizard and put a leash on him.  

• The boys and our neighbor friend built a tepee.  Steph has been collecting used sheets to make a big one later on, but she let the boys paint one for the small tepee they built.  And I will say, their painting looks very cave drawingesk.

• This week is teacher inservice at LCA.  Today the Bible teacher is talking with the rest of the staff about how Jesus taught.  Wednesday, Noah is going to be talking about discipleship, and Friday I will be sharing some practical ways a teacher can  be disciplining in their classroom every day.  This is a new concept for most of them.  Pray for us and for the staff.   

World Cup Fever

We are not a sports watching family.  Like at all.

But it is a World Cup year and if you live anywhere other than the US you would know this.  We've been warned not to go anywhere today because there is a game between Costa Rica and Uganda Uruguay, (I stand corrected.  See what I mean, we don't know what we are talking about!)  that could completely bring traffic to a stand still.  Oh boy.

Our boys have been pretty oblivious to this until the other day Forrest mentioned something about wanting one of the albums. And what is an album you ask?  It's a book full of spaces for each player on every team completing in the World Cup.  Never knew such a thing existed until we were at a friends' house the other week and saw one.  But that's just because I haven't been on the playground in the past three weeks.  It's a big "thing".

Hummm, immigrant parent fail.  Apparently there are no more of these albums, anywhere.  As in I looked about 5 or 6 places in town and was told by ever clerk "No hay".  But a couple of Noah's students found one, as a promotion with a bag of rice at a MaxiPali.  Huh.  Who knew? And they also gave the boys their leftover postales (stickers).  they come in packs, like baseball cards, and it's easy to end up with duplicates of players. 

So the boys got right to work putting the futbolistas on their designated spots.  It's been more like a puzzle to them, finding the numbers, marking them off in the back of the album, and then sticking them in the right spot.

And really, this is about as feverish as it's gonna get here.

Elliot's New Skill

For our anniversary, Noah gave me this!

He designed it and then had some guys in our little town put it together.  The story behind it is that while there have been many twists and turns over the last 11 years, we're still on the same path together, heading where God is leading.

He and Elliot went to pick it up last week and Elliot came home with this as well!

And then there was the revelation that Elliot had helped weld part of this together. Ummm, What?!? 
No, you just watched right?  No, he actually wore a welding mask, and with the help of the welder, welded the joints on the handle! 

All week he's been telling people he welded, because he knows they won't believe he really did.  And then he laughs and says, "No, I really did!! Right Mom?"

If you know Elliot at all, you will understand how exciting this was for him!!  He is constantly wanting to know how things work, how they fit together, how to make them stronger, bigger, faster.  So for him, at 5, to get to weld!  Oh, man, that was about the most amazing thing that has ever happened to him! 

Third Culture Farm

I woke up this morning to Elliot describing this picture to me.  Apparently he had been up a while working on it.  I wish I had recorded it because he was in rare form, full of one liners, like

"I can't draw pigs very well.  I did my best, but I tried to make it a fat pig and it just looks like a turtle."

"The ant loves God, that's why it is saying 'God help me!'"

When I asked him what the different circles were, the reply for perfect for a TCK !

"The green ones are watermelons, the red ones are fresas, and the yellow ones...they're ummmm, what the name again?  Oh, yeah, piñas!" 

Love the mix of language, and that pineapples grow right next to watermelons on a farm with a big red Midwestern barn with a pig that looks like a pink sea turtle and an ant that loves God sitting under an apple tree. 

A Love Song from a Little Boy

Elliot, who is 5, sings.  Almost constantly.  Especially during "quiet time."  At the top of his lungs.  Sometimes it's just about life, but more often than not, it's about or to the Lord.

 (the photo is blurry and Quinn is photo bombing, but this is how Elliot often talks to me about life.)

Today, I was sitting at the computer and could very clearly hear him (there is no sub floor in our house, the floor for the upstairs is the ceiling for the downstairs.)

This was what I could write down.  There was a lot of repeating and the song went on for about 20 minutes. 

"You are the King that rose from the dead, 
King forever, King for always, You came to love us. 
You are rose from the dead, You love us, 
The King forever. 
You love us good, good God, 
King forever, King for always is our God. 
And our Salvation is because of You. 
We love you with all our hearts. 
You will always be with us. 
You are a good, good God. 
You love us with all Your heart. 
You are what we need. Forever." 

What a powerful song!!  It's his little heart singing what is pouring out of it, to the God of the Universe!  I have been thinking about it all morning, just how foundational, how simple and yet profound it is.  I love little grammar quirks, and especially this line "Our Salvation is because of You."   WOW!

I said to him a while later "I liked your song.  Maybe some day you'll write songs that people sing at church"  to which he replied, "Yeah!! Just like David!" 

What a love song from a little boy's heart to his God, who is "The King forever, King for always"!