Colorful Supermarket

As one of our field trips, we went to a local supermarket, that kind of specializes in fancy and organic food, almost like a delicatessen market. They say it's the 'freshest and finest' in town, and they take pride in preparing and cooking most of their stuff on location. Which means, their bakery runs 24/7 - something I didn't know. They run a restaurant as well, with foods that is cooked right there. The fish is being flown in, and so really fresh, and expensive accordingly.

The kids were split into two groups, so navigating through a supermarket would be easier. Our guide was very nice, used a very child-friendly language, and made the tour very interactive. So I think, the kids enjoyed and learned at the same time. 
We went through all the departments, got to taste quite a number of different foods, like apples and oranges, cheese, bread, and so on. It was even interesting for the adults.
There is not much more to say, so I am going to let my picture speak for themselves.

 

Apparently, they have close to a thousand cheeses in the store - wow!

 

A local artist sculpted this out of a real cheese.

Mmmmmh!

Native American Indian Week

Before our school year started, I had all these plans. But then a pregnancy happened and out went my plans. I made up a curriculum week by week. If there was a busy week, well, we got a little behind with school. And caught back up during a time when things were less exciting.

So after our Knights Week, I thought an Indian Week would be nice. After all, Coqui is a boy and he needs to know about those Indians. Or maybe, it is because we Europeans are so fascinated by them, and I had way too much fun preparing for this week!!! I don't know, but I think we all liked it.

So we made our first lapbook. If you don't know what that is, it's a book created by the child with everything collected and taught about that specific theme, in our case the Indians, or as they call it here, Native Americans. Here is a link to a 'How Do I Make A Lapbbok' by Charlotte Mason. So we had bought feathers to use for our headband and the lapbook. I printed lots of stuff, pictures and little games off the internet. For example, Coqui had to write a story with only signs.  We learned about the different tribes - I had gotten a few books from the library about tribes like the Comanches, the Sioux, and the Cheyenne. I could tell him that I have personally met people from the Navajo Indians - which was such an event for me (as European)!

Here are the kids cutting and gluing away with their headbands. 

 

They also each made their own tipi. (I had printed this template off the internet as well.) He created his own totem pole, and decorated it. I did not have him make an Indian vest - but alot of sites suggested that. I figured it would just land in the recycling eventually, and Coqui didn't really want to make it. 

But instead, we also made homemade clay in order to make our own pottery. It was super easy, only three ingredients needed: water, baking soda and corn starch. Mix and cook, let it cool down to room temperature, and mold away.... Oh yes, there was food coloring involved as well, that's why ours has a greenish tint to it. That's what he wanted (and what we had in the house).

Coqui really liked this one. We made two baskets, a plate (in form of a smiley face), a fork and a spoon. He had so much fun.
There was barely a mess, and this stuff washed off very easily from his hands. So I would do this again any time.
It is still drying in the kitchen - it's been four full days and it is still not completely dry. The plate has broken, too, but everything else looks great.


This has been a tough week, but so much fun. And by tough, I mean Coqui's willingness to cooperate, and also the long hours we spend on this book. The book has eight pages, so it was alot of work for both of us to finish. But I am so looking forward to another themed week soon.....

Beth's Celebrations! Post

Beth wrote a post about all the celebrations that took place lately, our photo contest, the Relay for Life, and our Baby shower. If you would like to read it, please click below: 

C. Beth Blog.: Celebrations!

Baby shower Celebration

Today, Beth and I were the honor guests of a special celebration, a 'little shower of love'.

It was a shower for her ...and for me ...and for the baby. The ladies keep saying how blessed they are to watch us go through this 'joyous journey' together. So they planned for months to make this event a celebration of this shared adventure. An adventure that has not only blessed Beth and me, and our families, but also the many witnesses around us. Those two ladies did a fantastic job.

The house, where the shower took place, was beautifully decorated, with many little touches - banners and balloons in our favorite colors (green and purple), flowers, and food, even Vegan food. It was a beautiful atmosphere of love and support and joy.

Many of our friends came. Friends that have supported us through tough days, and the joyous days. That had encouraging words for us, cried with us, and laughed with us. Friends that continuously prayed for us. Friends that prayed for us today. I am in awe of the words that people pray over us, over Beth and me, and over the baby. It truly blesses me. And the baby.

We wore our shirts again, the ones from the Relay for Life that Beth's friend designed for us. If you don't want to go read that post, the shirts say: "My Bun. Her Oven." and "Her Bun. My Oven."

This shower was never about the gifts, though we both appreciate them so much - I know I was abundantly blessed by the cards and gifts that I received. The baby will not lack of anything due to my friends. Thank you all so much. The shower was about the celebration of new life, hope, and joy, it was about a journey together that reflected God's love, and about the testimony of turning things around for good. I know I have a big testimony and I will share it in the future.

Also I loved to see the showers of gifts that Beth received. I am happy that we both have friends that are willing to go out of their way to pour love over us, generously. It was a fabulous morning.


I love the joy we have found in this pregnancy. I love that we are celebrating this wonderful miracle of God. I love to see the 'effect' it has on others. And I am totally excited to meet this little one in a few weeks.

As a party favor, we all got bookmarks - because you know, Beth and I are vivid readers. So here are our two book marks, as a ribbon - because this is where the journey started.

And it ended in a heart.
I received God's love, and through Him, I got my family's love, Beth's love, and my friends' love. I LOVE to be on this journey.

Relay For Life 2012

Relay for Life is great.

On the American Cancer Society website, it says this about the relay:
"Relay For Life is a life-changing event that helps communities across the globe celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease."
And really, there is not much more I can add to that.

Last year's post was about my reason for walking and how we spent the night making memories.
This year, it was about that, too, but something had changed. Something was added to MY equation. My outcome was changed. Because this year, I was not alone. My best friend Beth was with me and my unborn baby.

I am a survivor. I am HOPE (as some of the t-shirts say). But I am also a witness to God's love, mercy and grace. I was so blessed to have Beth there, right next to me, because this year, i KNOW that if that stupid cancer would ever come back, I would be prepared (as much as one can be prepared for such a tragedy), and I would NOT be alone.

And I know - I was not alone last time, I had my wonderful husband and my family as support. What I didn't have was a best friend or a tight church family that was close to me and that supported me. And not because they didn't want to, it was because I was not close to them, and I was 'hiding'. Big time. Cancer is funny that way! It can break the strongest person, or it can break the weakest one out of their shells. For me, it was the latter. I broke out, finally. I became more open. I started talking about it. And you know what happened? I got hugs. I got encouraging words. I got prayers every time I went back for an appointment. And I got a best friend, who loves me and holds my hand when a bad day sweeps over me.

I AM NOT ALONE anymore. And that is what made yesterday so special.

The event starts at around 7 pm with the survivors lap - and this year, I did not walk it alone. Beth and Baby came with me, as a sea of purple shirts walked very slowly around the track one time. It was a wonderful moment shared together.
By the way, we had special shirts made for this event, that were designed by a friend of Beth. My t-shirt says: "My Bun. Her Oven." and Beth t-shirt says: "Her Bun. My Oven." Thank you to a very kind lady.

After that, the opening ceremony started, where the survivors sit on benches as the people on stage make their speeches. Last year, I sat alone; this year, we were standing up front together.
After the speeches, the survivors took a picture for the newspapers, and signed a huge banner - that I believe was hung up later - but we didn't get to see that anymore, as we left early. Miss Beth needs her beauty sleep.

Last year, I walked 19 miles throughout that night; this year, I made it a total of 4 laps, that is pretty much one mile. Wow. Talk about a crazy workout! While waiting, we were also busy decorating a cake. Which again, I had to do by myself last year, and just recruited Beth this year to help. Someone donated the cake to our team, and the survivor of that team has to decorate it, and this way, it is put up for the auction, and the winner of that cake will take it home.

We waited for the Luminarias that started at 9pm. They are to remember loved ones that lost the battle, loved ones that are fighting right now, and in honor of all the survivors, that hopefully never again have to fight that specific battle. It is very touching. Our team leader had put up two for me, one in the circle that goes around the entire track, and one in the ribbon that was next to the stage. (If you want to see pictures of them at night, I would kindly refer you to the post from last year.) 

And there is one picture of the ribbon that was a new addition to the ceremony.

It was a night to remember, at least for me. And I am looking forward to doing this again next year. One day, I would love to bring the entire family....

I want to shout out a big thank you to all my friends, new and old, who donated to the team. The money will be used for good. For example, it will be used to buy wigs for those that are going through chemo therapy. It will also provide rides for people who do not have a support team that can take them to the oncologies, hence to their doctor appointments or treatments.And it will do much more than that. THANK YOU.