A Little Bit of This and That

This post is really just a brain dump....things I've been thinking about this week.


MEXICO ~ 
In one week I will be on a plane to Mexico. The trip is consuming my thoughts these days and I'm very excited about it. I think I've passed the "what was I thinking?" stage and am eagerly anticipating the experience. I am going to Mazatlan with some very good friends from church who helped start an orphanage down there several years ago. Ever since we heard about the orphanage we've been wanting to go down and see their work and meet the kids. If you want to know more about Rancho de los Ninos, you can read their website.

What will we be doing? Well, we'll be doing some work around the orphanage (i.e. painting), interacting with the kids who live there (all boys) and then seeing some local sights. I'm excited to be taking along a violin so I can share my music with the kids.


GARDEN NEWS ~
My garden is growing and I am most excited about the seeds I planted from last year's flowers. I saved seeds from my zinnias, sunflowers and marigolds and in a couple months our backyard is going to be in full bloom!

I love my daily walk around the garden to see the progress. I'm also quite excited to see that my dahlias are coming back. I had given up hope when I noticed a little green poking through the mulch.

The artichoke we planted last year was growing so well, but I wanted to relocate it so I could use this garden for other things. It just seemed to be taking over this space, so I moved it to the back of my flower garden.

It went into shock and became very, very sad. I thought I might have lost it, but it's begun to look much healthier and I'm glad to see it coming back to life.

School ~ We are trying to wrap up some of our curriculum and move on to "summer school". Although we do not fully embrace unschooling, there is an element of interest-led learning to our school environment and during the summer months I want this to dominate what we learn. I'm sure there will be a lot of science going on in our back yard as the tadpoles change into frogs, the preying matis sac gives way to 200+ preying matises, the garden produces veggies and all other sorts of creatures find their way into Sydney and Kayleigh's hands.

I recently came across a great set of math books (Life of Fred) that we'll be reading through this summer. It's basically a read-aloud approach to math and can be used as stand-alone curriculum. We'll likely use is a supplemental, summer reading. The girls love it as it's a bit on the whacky side of things, and I've noticed Sydney has started doing more math in her head since we've been reading it.


Compassion ~ In the past 17 years I have never felt that this ministry has been more "alive" in my life than it is right now. I am humbled that God continues to use our efforts to bring in new sponsorships, inspire and encourage others and give our family a great group of kids who truly bless our lives. I am so thankful for Kevin's involvement and support as well. I would not be able to do this without him.

I love having a group of sponsors in my own church family and love that we meet monthly to encourage one another and write to our kids.

FISH NEWS ~ The day after my last fish report, the dalmation molly died. So Sydney is down to just one fish. Or so we thought.

As Kevin and Sydney were cleaning out the tank and changing the water, they noticed several baby fish. Hmmmmm.....

ORIGAMI ~ I love the idea of origami, but find it very frustrating to do myself. There always seems to be one step that completely baffles me, and as hard as I try, my creations never come out looking quite right.

Apparently I had a lot more in my brain to dump than I originally thought. I'm sure there is still more, but I'm going to stop. It's time for school!