Here's some shots of Scott's fun pirate party.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Treasure Hunt!

 

My boys are obsessed with climbing this gate.

 

 

 

This shot was supposed to be a shot of Ellie with teeth too....but instead it's a pretty picture of her.  I'm not gonna go back and re upload more pictures.  I forgot how dumb xanga can be, where you can't switch pictures around when they are sideways.  So I've already re-uploaded all the other shots that had to be switched around.  Pretty Ellie it is!

 

 The cake Deb made was AWESOME!!!!!

Today started out with our third smashed car window in the last month.  Brian got it fixed and had the car back in less than two hours.  While he was gone, Zekey was refusing to put his shoes on and hit the mirror in our bedroom and broke a corner off.  That boy, that boy.  We then had some fun at Ellie's birthday party......

    

 

Zekey coloring.

 

 

Em and Ellie painted their nails.

 

She's 6!!

 

This is what happened outside our place right before leaving for the kite flying at the boy's school.  Those motorbikes are crazy dangerous here.  Before we moved here, Brian always said he'd drive one of those once we got down here.  Everyone discouraged him from riding the death trap.  This guy was still alive....and just seemed really scraped up.

 

Happy Spring Day at school.  It wasn't quite a consistent enough of a wind to keep the kites up.  But all the parents and kids kept trying. 

 

 

 

Brian was unknotting Elijah's string.

 

She's SO adorable!

 

Ellie flying her kite!

 

The boys and friends chasing some kites.

 

Elijah and Julian

 

Elijah and Javier

 

What a great smile!!

 

It cracked me up how Scott's hand is hanging on Brian's back pocket!  They were going to retrieve the pinecone that some kid took from Zekey and then threw it really far away.

 

This is the crown Zekey won at Ellie's party.  He wore it to the kite day, and then took it off and Chi wore it around for awhile. 

 

 

And tonight, all three boys started swimming lessons.  They'll be taking them until we leave for the states.  We figured they should know how to swim since our first week in the states will be at an indoor waterpark for a week of vacation.  Malachi and Elijah LOVED it and listened really well.  Zekey cried some, Brian bribed him with candy and ice cream.  He stayed at the edge and dangled his feet in for awhile.  Every time one of the teacher's talked to him, he'd make a huge pouty face and start the cry.  It was funny, cute and sad....but at the end he got in the pool at the edge.  He said he liked it, we're hoping for more progress on Thursday.

I'm really trying not to worry too much about the boys' schooling, but I take it so daggone serious!  I was a teacher for crying out loud.....I'm trying to be okay with it.  And there are more days than not that I'm okay.  So, here are some things they brought home last week.  I like when these notebooks are sent home, it gives me some kind of idea as to what they do for 5 hours. And I take a lot of deep breaths....and more deep breaths.  And remind myself, they really are doing okay. 

Here's Malachi's report card............

MS is very good....in the 90's and S is good....in the 80's.

 

This is something they do quite often, there is a little poem in the corner and they have to illustrate it.  I'm assuming it is a way to practice reading and then the picture they draw shows their comprehension of what they've read.

 

Here's some math.....this is about placeholders for the tens and ones......and then at the bottom, adding 3, 4, and 5 numbers together.  Huge numbers.....okay, I'm not gonna think or write too much about it, because I'm already getting annoyed.

 

And he started cursive in September.......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!(This is halfway thru first grade people!!!)  Linda McCaman encouraged me by saying at least he has been practicing in class, many times they don't practice in class!  And we'll keep practicing manuscript at home and we'll soon start practicing cursive too.  God help me!  (Am I overreacting?  I started teaching a little bit of cursive at the end of second grade, is that how it still is in the states??)  Christa and I chatted recently about how crazy K-grade is now.....you know, your kid should be fluently reading and expecting kids to write in full sentences!!  I feel that weight on me too.  I'm teaching Chi and Lijah in the morning.  Chi can read English, but we are just starting into long vowels.  He can spell everything we've worked on up to this point in the book Phonics Pathways, but he can't write any complete sentences.  Do you hear my stress??  I'm trying not to pressure myself (or him), but I feel this need for him to be where others his age are in the states. 

 

And here's Elijah's work.

This is a poem that he had to illustrate about a rainbow.  At the beginning of the year, most of his drawings didn't match the poem.  But he seems to be understanding more and his drawings match more.

 

Some cursive handwriting practice in k-grade.  Even though he is STILL learning how to write each letter in the alphabet in manuscript!

 

This is practicing shapes.

 

This is a drawing of a dinosaur.  They spent several weeks talking about them.  I love this drawing!

 

And last but not least, the coloring of mandalas.  It is very popular and common here.  Malachi colored them last year and still does this year too.  Are those common to color in the states?  Or do you see them in art classes at all? 

 

So, they are learning things...and learning it all in another language.  And I keep reminding myself how awesome that is. 

 

I have five pairs of jeans...okay, six...but the sixth pair are work jeans with paint stains and a huge hole in the knee.  I have two that are HUGE on me and fall down even with a belt, they are stashed in the upper levels of my closet.  And then there were three,  two that now have holes in the leg/knee(one that requires a belt ) and of course many loose strings by the hem at the foot.  And until yesterday, I had one pair....that was decent, not much fraying at the bottom, no holes, but then I washed them with new red dish towels, not a very smart choice.  But they are jeans, and I thought they could stand up to red....and now they are pinkish!  PINKISH!!!   SO, one of the things I really look forward to buying when I visit the states are jeans.  I can't wait....it makes me giddy to think of owning new ones....well, new to me.  The two remaining pairs that fit the best were ebay purchases...Gap Long and Leans.  I've already searched ebay for some more, and as we get closer to departure, I'm gonna buy some and send them to a family member who will meet me at the airport with my new jeans...ready to be worn.  I'm so excited!

 

   

These are still my favorite....even with it's new hole.

 

 

I like it when jeans fray at the bottom....that means they are well-worn and comfortable and stick with me.

And I'll keep 'em and still use 'em....but I'm ready for some new ones...squeaky clean and no tears and fraying.

And Brian and the boys fed him more carrots.  He was a very happy horse and I had some very happy boys too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

and sometimes watering them.

 

 

(These photos were from Monday a week and a half ago, before all the rain and when coats and hats were still necessary, except for when you are peeing.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring is coming soon and we are SO ready for it!  We NEED to get outside more and play.  Brian's working on getting our backyard fenced in.....it is currently loaded with piles of poop(horse and dog) and there's a mini-lake from all the rain.  BUT SPRING IS COMING!!!!!!!!

(Here's one of the horses that is dropped off in our backyard to cut the grass....he's a miniature, there's a big one that comes to visit too. Brian and the boys feed them carrots sometimes.)