Trienta y dos

It's someone's birthday. 

Can you tell how excited he is?  

The House

Although our trip to Alcoi was in the works for a little over a year, we didn’t know where we would be living until a few days before we left Indiana. Originally, all of our team members were going to stay with host families while our family lived in its own apartment. The missionaries had trouble finding host families and that idea had to be abandoned.


Providentially, a Finnish couple that knew the missionaries was going to be leaving for a couple of months, and they offered their home for us to stay in. Even better, this couple had three children: ages six, four, and 7 months (born 4 days later than Tobin). This meant that their house was perfectly suited for our family.


Given that the house was so large (2 ½ baths, 4 bedrooms, and a loft area with another 6 beds), we have been able to also take care of the Bethel students that don’t have host families. During the first two weeks, this is just Hannah and Ben; however, the second two weeks will see us living with Ben, Allison, Whitney, Garrett, and Katie. I thought that I was just going to be taking care of 2 children; now it looks like I’ll have 7.


The house is spacious. It’s narrow, but very long front-to-back. On the entry level, there is a staircase leading to the second floor, a large kitchen, a ½ bath, and a sitting/living room that opens up to a back deck. The back deck has steps leading down to a patio that contains a small kiddie pool (it’s a couple feet deep) that is a house favorite during siesta. The second floor has 4 bedrooms and two full baths. Each bedroom opens onto a short balcony. The third floor has a large open room with a sitting area and bunk beds.


We feel very blessed to have this house to stay in. After only a week, it already feels like home.

Kitchen

Back Deck

Living Room and Dining Room

Our Bedroom

Adult English Classes

Yesterday, we told you about our mornings; today, we'll explain what goes on in the evenings around here.

After siesta time (during which both boys get naps, but not necessarily their parents), we eat a light snack, called la merienda, around 5:00 to tide us over for a late dinner, which the Spanish call la cena.  Then I get in the car with Ben and Hannah, the two students currently living with us, and drive into Alcoy to the church for the adult English classes.  The classes are held at Iglesia Bautista "Monte Sion" de Alcoy (translated:  Mount Zion Baptist Church of Alcoy) in the heart of downtown.  The church graciously repainted the entire inside of their building and even installed air conditioning in some of the classrooms in preparation for this event.  Hosting the classes is a good advertisement for the church, which is one of only a couple evangelical churches in the area due to the fact that many people here view Protestant churches as part of a cult.  Their hope is that by hosting these classes, people will not only become more comfortable with the church, but will also be able to form relationships with some of the members.

Iglesia Bautista "Monte Sion"

At 6:00pm, formal classes begin, during which the students are split into three groups:  beginner, intermediate, and high-intermediate.  They're taught by Jessica, Katie, and Ben, the three Bethel student teachers who came with us.  Then at 7:00pm, we split the students into groups of 4-6 to have some free conversation time.  The other American volunteers (comprised mostly of people from northern Indiana Missionary churches, along with the extra Bethel students we brought with us), give up their evening to come to the church and lead conversation groups.  We're very grateful for their help, as the Alcoy residents eat this time up.

Pastor Pedro with Inez from California and Jessica from Indiana

At around 8pm, everyone is exhausted and ready to head home...so we do.  Ben and Hannah and I usually arrive back home around 8:45, where Eric is laying out a delightful cena on the table on the east balcony.  We feast and chat and rest until it's time for bed, which happens for us old people around 11:30pm, while our students usually stay up for a bit longer to get some work done in preparation for class the next day.  

The next morning, the whole schedule starts again.  Thus our weekdays go.  

English Camp Alcoy

Whew!  That was a crazy week! Our first seven days here were a whirlwind of activity and adjustment, but we made it, and now it's the weekend.  (Hallelujah!) We thought we'd take this lazy Sunday afternoon to catch y'all up on what we're doing here in southeast Spain.

Ian with two of his classmates spelling the word "ant"

The bulk of our weekdays are spent at Escola Oficial D'Idiomes (Official Language School) in Alcoi.  We eat breakfast (el desayuno) together at 7:15, leave home around 7:45, arrive at the school around 8:00, have devotions and a general meeting time with the other American volunteers, then start English Camp at 9:00.  There are four sessions with a mid-morning snack break, called almuerzo.  The children travel in their age groups from station to station, which include art, sports, music, and English.  My Bethel student teachers and I hang out in the English classroom all day where they teach the same lesson four times...with a few tweaks to accommodate each age group.  We get to love on the kids and play lots of fun language games.  The camp gets over around 1:00pm, at which point we eat a catered lunch (la comida), with the other American volunteers, then depart for home around 2:30 for siesta.

My student Katie, teaching about England

Ian hangs out in the 5-6-year-old group all morning and has started making some cute Spanish friends.  One in particular, a six-year-old named Jordi, has been dubbed Ian's favorite.  The two boys often have to be separated for having too much fun together.  :)

Eric's morning involves driving me, Ian, Tobin, and one of our students to the school every day (the other student living with us right now gets a ride from the missionaries running the show), leaving with Tobin around 9am to swing by the grocery store for the day's victuals, putting Tobin down for a nap at home while taking care of household details (cooking, cleaning, budget-keeping, baby food-making, etc.), heading back to the school around 12:30 so Tobin can get his lunch from me, then taking us all home after lunch.  He's taken on his role as administrator/house-husband like a fish takes to water.  I'm so stinkin' proud of him.

Check out tomorrow's post to find out about our exciting afternoon/evenings!

Hola, España!

We're here in Spain, safe and sound!  The trans-Atlantic flight was terrible, but we made it, and we're happy to be here.  We're actually living in a "puble" called Concentaina, just outside of Alcoi, about a 10-minute drive from the elementary school where we'll be running the kids' camps every day.  Some wonderful Finnish people, Sami and Noora, are loaning us their beautiful home while they take a family vacation back to Finland for two months.  We got to spend some time with them yesterday before they left, and we're so blessed to have known them, even for such a short time.

Today is being spent cleaning, unpacking, and getting some rest.  Everything closes down on Sundays (personally, I think that's the way it should be), so we're just hanging out and putting off errands until tomorrow.  

Strangely, we've taken no pictures yet (gotta get that camera out), but we'll be sure to post some soon.  

Hasta la vista!  

Goodbye Thomas, Hello Legos

Being five is the best.  According to Ian, five-year-olds do all sorts of things four-year-olds don't: they eat mushrooms, they watch the "csary" parts of movies, they sleep on the top bunk, and they play with Legos incessantly without pause.  Ian's Legos live in the Star Wars universe, so that's where he spends the majority of his day.  The tune of the Imperial March is constantly being hummed.  The sounds of blasters, light sabers, and ships going to warp speed are all sounds emanating from Ian's room.  Invitations to "come see the ship I just built!" abound throughout the day.

All while the once-beloved Thomas and Friends sit in an old cardboard box in the basement.  The Dude is growing up and moving on to more complicated and varied things. It's a fantastic step of development, really, as he's not only able to continue to hone his story-making skills, but also his spacial/building skills, an aspect which was limited in his make-believe adventures on the Island of Sodor.  Now instead of tracks, it's starships and bunkers and walkers, which are much more sophisticated in their construction.  Granted, Eric is closely involved in the assembly of most of these items (a fact which delights the little boy in him), but Ian is quickly learning and exploring his own methods of building. 

I'm learning a lot too!  While I had seen the original Star Wars trilogy several times growing up, I never paid attention to types of ships or planets or obscure characters.  (X-wing?  Tatooine? Boba Fett? )  And growing up, the only interaction I really had with Legos was to help my brother find specific pieces -- which I was really good at, by the way.  Now I'm expected to repair busted Imperial shuttles and speeders -- which I'm not so good at, but I'm slowly learning the tricks of the trade.  And I'm happy to do so, because it means I get to know and understand my ever-growing son that much better.  

First Half-Birthday

Last Friday, this little guy celebrated his first six months out in society!  A social butterfly, he's all smiles when someone is holding him or talking directly to him...and it doesn't matter who.  But make him sit by himself, and you'd think the world was coming to an end! Seriously, though, he's such a joy to be around, and he's dug himself deep into our hearts such that we can't imagine life without him.  

Here are some other things Tobin is digging right now:

• his big brother's laugh and silly faces
• Daddy's face
• Mommy's milk, 4 or 5 times a day
• solid, pureed foods (homemade cereal, green beans, carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, lima beans, and applesauce)
• rolling over onto his back and getting stuck
• crawling/scooting backwards
• chewing on anything he can get his hands on
• drooling all over anyone who gets close enough 
• sleeping 10-12 hours nearly every night 
• trying to eat grass
• standing on the lap of anyone who will hold him up (sitting is for wimps)
• watching other kids play
• sticking his tongue out when he's happy

We sure love our Goober-Nut.

A Decade's Worth of Musings

Ten years ago today, Eric and I began a significant and exciting adventure that would forever alter who we were and what we were to become:  We got hitched.  Tied the knot.  Hooked up the ol' ball and chain.  Became each others' better halves.   

It's interesting and appropriate how so many euphemisms for marriage have to do with connection and and a unifying of two persons.  In our experience thus far, marriage has been just that, but not in the negative, prison-like sense that you hear so much about these days.  For me, at least, it's been truly liberating to be married to Eric.  Not only do I like who I am better than I did ten years ago, but I like him even better than I did ten years ago.  Being connected to him in such a binding way has taught me so much about relationships, love, respect, and giving of myself for other people.  Perhaps it is because he is such a good model of all of those things, but also a lot of the growth and understanding I've experienced can be attributed to simply living day-in and day-out with a person and making things work regardless of their foibles.

Not that Eric has many, really.  In fact, I was marveling the other day about how few unpleasant surprises there have been with him.  Sure, we've definitely had our disagreements and misunderstandings (we wouldn't be human if we didn't), but for the most part, anything new that I've learned about him over the years has at the very least been intriguing or interesting...definitely not scary.  I'm awestruck at the generous gift God has bestowed upon me, and cannot fathom why I would deserve him.  I can only praise God's glorious grace!

Someone once said, "A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person*."   That pretty much sums it up.

So, happy anniversary, Babe.  Here's to 4 or 5 more decades!

*Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966

Lent 2011

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, the start of the Lenten season preceding Easter.  It's actually one of my favorite times of year, as it gives me a chance to experience Christ in a new way by sharing even the tiniest bit in His suffering.  It also lends the opportunity to experience more fully the joy of Easter and the freedom that accompanies Christ's resurrection.  It's kind of like the "no pain, no gain" philosophy. 

In our family, we not only abstain from something dear to us, but we also try to take on something that is beneficial.  This year, Eric will be going without his favorite beverage, and I'll be forgoing any interaction with social media like Facebook and this blog.  Yes, it's been a six-week hiatus, and I'm about to take another full six weeks off.  Sorry about that.  (I know you're constantly sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for a blog post from us.  Your heiny must hurt something terrible.  Although, Eric is not skipping out on social media, so he's more than welcome to post as much as he wants...which is usually about one time a year.)  Anyway....Our family is also going to be taking on the practice of family devotions at dinner time.  We did this last year and really enjoyed it.  Somehow, we fell out of the habit again and are looking forward to renewing it. 

So,  dear Internet friends and family, have a nice early spring!  I'll really miss sharing with you our spring recipes and happenings -- its' my favorite time of year!  But I'll be back after Easter with lots to share, I'm sure. 

God bless!

Card Shark

 Some things of note in this photo: 

1. As of yesterday, our Bugger-boo now wears glasses, which he is sporting here.  I won't lie and say that I was happy about this new development -- because what mom doesn't want a better life for her kid than she had herself?  It sucks having poor vision, and I'm sad that Ian will have to deal with it for the rest of his life.  However, I'm incredibly thankful for Eric's dad, the optometrist in our family, who provided this stellar care for Ian's eyes and even took care of the cost of the glasses, which are pretty pimped-out.  How does Ian feel about having those things on his face?  In his words, "Everything is wobbly," but that will pass as his brain adjusts to the new input.  Currently, we're bribing him with the Thomas' Misty Island logging track once he logs 30 hours with the glasses on.  We're keeping track of each hour with a sticker chart, and yesterday Ian completed seven whole hours total!  Today he's up to three, so he's ticking the hours away pretty quickly.  Hopefully by the end of this week, wearing the glasses will be a non-issue.  
2. We're playing a lot of card games around here lately. This morning before breakfast, Ian and I played a round of "Monopoly Deal," which he just learned how to play yesterday...sort of.  Even with only being able to read about half the cards, and having no idea of strategy, he creamed me.  The dude must have his dad's luck in cards, for all I can figure. 
3. That body-less stuffed animal/blanket he's holding is none other than the infamous Bear (original name, huh?).  That thing is Ian's confidante and his mode for expressing things he's otherwise not capable or willing to share.  It's no secret around our house that I'm not a big fan of Bear -- he's dirty, smelly, has a propensity for getting lost at the most inopportune times, and honestly, he's a whiney brat.  But my son loves him dearly, and for that, I wash him, accept kisses from him (eww), and engage in repeated rescue missions for him.   He's practically a part of our family and some day he'll end up in a box in a closet somewhere, which will be kind of sad.  
4. I just love the look on Ian's face here.  Having just beaten his mom in a card game way over his head, he was a mixture of pride for himself and concern for the fact that I lost (and quite badly at that).  That, and he refuses to smile for cameras these days.  I swear that kid is four going on fifteen.