Family Musings

My husband just brought home my newest project! I had only seen a fuzzy cell phone picture of it so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but it was free for the taking and I had just enough info to know it would fit my space in size, if not color. We are in the process of trying to make our dining room a functional space for both homeschooling and dining and the Ikea dressers we had been using for storage the last four years are falling apart from continued use. This redo has to be done on a frugal budget, so I really couldn't see myself passing up a free dresser! It easily offers enough storage to replace the two plain white, Ikea dressers that are going to either be repurposed, donated, or tossed. Now, we have to figure out what to do with this piece to make it my own. It really is gorgeous and I am thrilled that it has "feet." The rest of our furniture (mostly also from Ikea) all sits flush to the ground, so I am really counting on this piece to break things ...

My best plans to teach Charlotte about taking pictures never really happened. But she does know how to turn the camera on, zoom in, and take a picture... here are some of her better ones. The  first sunrise Charlotte has ever seen. This was taken from the bus on our way to Miami. Hanging out on the front porch of our hotel. I guess when you are short you are more likely to cut people's heads off in photos. There were several like this. This is Mary Ruth, a very good sport for letting Charlotte take so many pictures of her. Our trip leaders, Steve & Angela. This is the couple who bought the farm.  This is Carlos. He is the main, native interpreter for our trip. Today, he is interpreting for Bruce's seminarios with the local pastor's alliance.

Monday included two visits to a local school called Dream of Louisa. While public education is free in Nicaragua, uniforms, books, and supplies are not, so many children are shut out from educational opportunities. This school exists to fill that gap.  For some reason, my photos from our morning visit uploaded in a random order... This first one is Mary modeling for the camera in the older student's classroom. Charlotte finally had a chance to ride in the back of a truck. And to take a picture of mommy taking a picture of her. :) Our family is grateful for Stepanie and the other teenage girls on our team. They are willing to help out and keep the girls occupied when we need a rest or have something else to do. Here, Charlotte is encouraging the students to dance during the Chicken Dance song. And here she is working on the fishing game. During the morning session she quickly bored of her job, but towards the end of the afternoon session, she was practically runnin...

Before we left for our trip, my friend Bethany brought her artistic skills to my house and painted a Noah's Ark background that we are using as a fishing game.

They say mission trips can change lives. Apparently, that is true even if you are 4 years old! We've seen Charlotte take risks she never would have taken in the states. Some of it is just fun to watch and are things we already knew she could do, but other things are really surprising to us. She freely walked all over a farm we visited today. Even going so far as to venture off the beaten path to find her "walking stick." There was a big hill to tackle and she did it cheerfully too. While she normally freaks out at the sight of most unleashed dogs, it didn't take long for her to get up close to this one. Her love of the bixi ride has far outweighed any fear of strangers she might have had. Fortunately, this is one of our trusted drivers and Bruce was following close behind while she and Antonio (about 3 years old) rode on his daddy's bixi. Maybe it's just me... but I had to include this picture because she looks so darn grown up in it! I...