First week completed (Day 8)

I can't believe we have already been here a week. So much fun and so much has already occurred and so much left! The little Avengers are doing awesome! They have gone on some not so fun hikes and really hung in there. Que bueno!

I taught this morning and skyped (with minor difficulty) with my graduate student Lori. She provided some great information about working with parents of students with disabilities. My students were shocked that her biggest frustration occurred over simple communication.

We had Spanish in the afternoon. Today was our last day of class with Eva. I like Eva, she is a very good teacher. Hopefully it is not 8 years until I have her again. Looking forward to a good, relaxing, fun weekend.

Going down ( day 6)

Sorry for the delay in posting - Day 6 (wednesday) took me (Black Widow) down. YUCK. We started out the day by going to visit the Cloud Forrest School (or the School for Creativity). Everyone had to walk except for 2 students (TAMU side), the little Avengers, and me. The school was interesting and different from the typico escuela. I'm glad we went. We didn't have a whole lot of time for lunch so the Avengers assembled at a quick panderia for a sandwich. Everyone, except me, ordered the same sandwich. I knew something was off, but I ate the sandwich anyway.

Spanish class was long - I didn't feel good. I thought for a long time I was just extremely tired, but the longer class went on the more I realized something else was going on. I was sick. YUCK.

FInally, spanish class over. I informed Hawkeye I was not going to eat dinner but go straight to bed. By the time I got home I just wanted to throw up. You know its bad when the better option is to throw up. Finally the throw up came following by the other end exiting. This went on most of the night. One very very long night.

The next day I actually felt better - just extremely wiped out.

Let's hope for a better day 7!

Trapiche Fun (Day 7)

So from reading day 6 - I was super worried going into Day 7. Although my stomach was deathly empty, but body was still exiting something. But, besides feel weak - I even had fun.

Trapiche was a tour of a tipico working farm with some education along the way. We learned about sugar cane, coffee, chocolate, ox carts, dulces, and guarro (YIKES). It was very interesting to hear. When to harvest, how to harvest , to burn or not to burn. This was a new tour for me and very interesting. Plus - we had a few tasty (and not so tasty treats along the way). The students were able to try sugar cane (straight from the stalk), chocolate (from straight cocoa seed to ground up, from bitter to with sugar). Some students even tried guarro. (But count me out - I'm done with cheap liquor. Plus, at like 80 proof - you can really count me out!) We had a typico lunch to follow.

Spanish class followed.

Staring Spanish class (day 4&5)

We started Spanish class today. Hawkeye and I were placed in a private class - or rather just the two of us. This will be fun, but a little intense. Oh well. I'm sure we will learn a lot. We have Eva (whom we have had before). She is a great teacher. Hawkeye wants to speed through the part we have previously learned. So far we have covered in 2 days what took us abut 8 classes last time. Hopefully we can pick up the pace just a tad more, but I think we will end up slowing down.

Iron Man and Captain America also have Spanish class. THeir comments are priceless. The first day they said "We know she speaks English because we ask her questions in English and she answers in Spanish." The second day they said "She doesnt understand English anymore." Muy bueno - maybe they will start speaking. Unfortunately, we cannot get a whole lot of speaking out of them. Maybe this will come later.

Thor hangs out with our host family during Spanish class. Monday he went to the park and played with some other children. We saw a video on Don Emiliano's phone of Thor playing on the monkey bars. Hulk hangs out in class with Hawkeye and I.

HOwever, I am exausted. Although I am really enjoying the trip - I need some down time. I feel like every "free morning" I have to teach. I am already coming up with ways to change this next time. (Yikes, did I say next time??)

Monteverde or bust (Day 3)

We have made it to Monteverde! And Monteverde went up and got big. I hardly recognize this place. So many new restaurants and stores, almost sad.

We left Volcan Arenal at 8:00 for roughly a four hour bus ride. It is great that the little Avengers love the bus (especially Thor) because we have several bus rides on this trip, We stopped for the bathroom, but that was about it. As soon as we got to CPI (the language school in Monteverde) we took a Spanish test. Yikes! This included both a written and oral component. We shall find out how things turn out tomorrow. Muy bueno.

We also met our first host family. Although this is my fifth homestay, I have never had a bad experience. Each family is always unique and special- I know I will be super sad to leave. The family consists of Don Emiliano (papa Tico), Dona Cecilia (mama tica), and Jazmin (hermana).

It will be a great 2 weeks!

Vulcan Arenal y la Fortuna (Day 2)

This was not my first time at the volcano, and hopefully not my last. It is beautiful. Only problem this time was that we almost never saw the top of the mountain. The only time we saw the top was for a brief moment at night. The shadow looked almost eerie against the night sky. We also tried to listen for lava flow, but were unsuccessful. Evidently the volcano, although not completely dormant, is only about 40% of what the laval flow was even last year at this time. Before we could hear the rocks crashing and rumbling. The volcano was almost dormant. However, this did not stop our fun.

We hiked Catarata La Fortuna in the morning. This went up and got fancy - i was crazy! I remember this being about 500 steps straight down, and yeah - this part is true. However, I remember thinking I was going to fall off the side of the cliff almost every other step. Not so anymore -there are rails for almost every step.

The little Avengers swam at the bottom of the waterfall. Hawkeye kept a very close watch. It was a lot of fun - until the 500 steps straight back up. I'm not sure if I am that out of shape or what, but this was rough on me. I have since dedecided I am not eating and drinking enough - especially on the drinking part. If I am not very very careful I am afriad Hulk may get angry. I do not feel I am keeping up with my milk supply. I have to put drinking water a huge priority.

Other activities of the day included walking around downtown La Fortuna, visiting the lake, and swimming/soaking in the natural spring waters from the volcano. Not too shabby *hahah*

Everyone is excited/anxious about tomorrow. I am mostly excited. I cannot wait to be in Monteverde again. Such a beautiful place with beautiful people.

Assembled (Costa Rico day 1)

We made it. All the Avengers held up well (until about the last 30 minutes) of a very long day. Having arrived at grandparent's house late Thursday to wake up at 5:00 this morning- things went well.

Flights were as expected and no major delays. There was one surprise with a student missing his flight and having to fly standby, but he was able to get on the group flight and all was good. Muy bien!

It was a long day though. From roughly 5:00 am to 3:00 in the afternoon, we were traveling. Hulk naturally slept on and off, but not a good, long nap. Thor dozed off for a bit on the second flight.

The airport at San Jose was as expected. There was a long line to go through immigration. However, everything I have been told about Ticos came true. As we were standing in a rather long line, a nice man came over, got us out of line and took the family through immigration. MUY BUENO! This saved us about 30-45 minutes of standing in a line. That can be such a long time for little Avengers.

So, we got our luggage, made it through customs and got on the CPI bus. Perfecto!

We spent the next 3 hours or so driving to Volcan Arenal. It was a good drive, nice to sit down and rest. The food was even better than I remember. However, it was a late day and we were completely exhausted. Finally got to bed around 10:30/11:00 at night. Buenos Noches.

In the famous words of Peter Pan...

HERE WE GO!! PURA VIDA!!

So, in case you did not know - we are going to Costa Rica. Hawkeye and I have been before and we love the country. It is beautiful, with warm, caring, wondering people. However, this will be the first time we travel with little ones. 

Tomorrow morning, bright and early we will catch a flight to San Jose. Very exciting. My goal is to blog at least every other day or so. Or at least when we experience something worth posting. I will also try to get some pictures up. 

However, today I am nostalgic. I sent my First Grade Iron Man and Pre-K Captain America off to school for the last time. Why do they grow so quickly?

 

Reflections

I almost guilty guilty writing this blog from my house. We got some hail damage Sunday, but nothing compares to Monday. That was the first "big" tornado we have experienced ever. I grew up in "tornado alley", but I get it now. I really get it.

I was sitting in my office, about to go pick up Iron Man when the sirens went off. They went off earlier than expected. I rode out the storms in my building - but this consisted of a little rain and wind. Really - nothing. The large tornado struck Moore. The city immediately to the north. This tornado was only about 5 miles away, and at one point only 2-3 miles from out house. I feel guilty praising God for protecting my family when so many families are devastated. I am growing less and less attached to stuff and realize more what is important. God has trusted me (although I cannot figure out why) to protect four Avengers (maybe 5). How do I do that?

May Storms

So I know we live in central Oklahoma. I totally get tornado ally. In fact, I think I have lived in tornado ally pretty much my entire life. I grew up in the DFW metroplex, lived in Kansas, and now OK. So, except for a short stint (ok, maybe not that short!) in Aggieland, I should be used to tornadoes.

Tonight brought some good storms.

We were supposed to be at Iron Man's end of the year First Grade party at 4:00. We were about to leave and Hawkeye notified us to the weather. He thought it would pass in about 30 minutes. An hour later is had still not passed. He looked at the radar and said  - "Let's go for it."  So we assembled the Avengers in the car and took off. Not even 1 minutes later, the tornado sirens went off. Needless to say, we reverted back to the house to get into the closet. The children and I sat in the closet while Hawkeye sat immediately outside tracking radar. Then, the hail started. Large golf ball (majority of pieces), tennis/baseball size hail started pelting the house. The tornado sirens went off a total of 5 times over the next 45 minutes or so.

This was the best part. Hawkeye declared things safe and called the younger Avengers to the front yard to collect hail. While outside the sirens went off again. I scuttled everyone back to the closet while Hawkeye went out the back door. I'm not 100% sure what he saw but he quickly came back inside. He later reported he saw circulation and the breeze matched the circulation. In his words, "I didn't want any part of that."

The house survived, and I'm sure we will be getting a new roof. Both cars have hail damage worth reporting (a few pretty good size dents). We also made it to about 90 minutes of the party and the little Avengers had a water balloon fight with their friends. I told them the only thing that matters is we are ok. Everything else can be replaced.

I am sorry to report the circulation that went right over our heads touched down about 25 miles east of here.

On a bright note - while we were hunkered down in the closet, we also got a new nephew! Hawkeye's sister had her baby!

(These pictures have nothing to do with today, but everyone likes pictures.)

Birthday Rollcall

So are part of our intentional parenting, we are currently having a Family Birthday party, as opposed to multiple smaller parties. We like to family cohesiveness we think it builds.

This year we had a Zoobilation Party. It was very fun. We had cousins and grandparents drive up from Texas and lots of friends from OK come. I consider it a success.

We celebrated the following ages:
Iron Man - 7
Captain America - 5
Thor - 3
and the arrival of the Hulk!

Such a daily joy to be part of the Avengers!

Vi-Vi Weekend

Iron man has a class pet at school. A couple months back, the class researched and picked what animal would make a good classroom pet- they ended up with a rabbit. Violet is just about the most precious rabbit I have ever seen. This rabbit literally hops in your lap to be petted. Crazy?

I love Easter!

I love Easter! Easter is my favorite holiday! I love it because it is like the harkening of spring, the warm weather, and what should be the foundation of my life. However, I fully admit I do not believe I am the Christian God called me to be.

I'm trying to make some changes in my life- I am really working hard to simplify. Several people have told us our house is too small (2000 sq ft) for all the Avengers. I spent too much time believing this too. I now have a radically different view. Our house is not too small, we just have too much stuff. I spend way too much time fussing over stuff and not investing in what is rely important.

I want to be the person God created me to be. Plus, he never told people to accumulate stuff- I think he told people to give it away. So, that is where I will start.

Add caption

Sweet Sleep

So maybe these are the little things - that if I just write them down I can keep them. I think I will miss such nights in 30 years as my children go through what I am currently living. These are sweet, precious, wonderful years. There will be sleep on the other side, and it will be bittersweet.

On any given day Hawk Eye and I have a different collection of Avengers in our room come bedtime. Sometimes there are little Avengers in sleeping bags, self-made pallets, and even sleeping on a somewhat permanent futon pad next to our mattress. Last night was one of those night when everyone made it to our room by morning.

The saga began at roughly 1:00 when Iron Man emerged. She asked to sleep on the futon (but given her insane ability to flip during her sleep, it is best to put her where she has room). She made a pallet from a comforter and quilt at the end of our bed. She goes to sleep.

Around 2:00 Hulk woke up for a nighttime nursing. Remember, he can get pretty angry if he has to wait - so its best to address his situation quickly.

Around 3:00 Captain America came in to inform me that I forgot to move him when I went to sleep. He wants to sleep at the end of the bed where Iron Man is now sleeping - but of course this spot is taken. Tears ensue. He reluctantly gets onto the futon pallet and goes to sleep. The noise wakens Hulk who decides to eat again (after all - Hulk is pretty big and probably needs a LOT of calories).

Here is where it gets fun. Thor woke up at about 4:00 and stayed awake. He first took his pants off, deciding he was hot. He then decided he needed Yee-Haw and Lambie (stuffed animals) located in another room. He gets out of bed only to step on Iron Man's head. Well, needless to say, this didn't go over too well with Iron Man. Only, she blamed Captain American   - not Thor. And well Thor, in his half asleep stupor was disoriented and confused to the whole situation and got back in my bad crying. He stayed awake for the next hour and a half filliping around in bed and taking off his shirt.

Hulk ate again around 5:00, but no worries at 5:30 all FOUR little Avengers were asleep. Thirty minutes of pure wonderful sleeping, my alarm went off at 6:00. I LOVE these moments. They are fleeting.

Avengers Assemble

So, as I informed you earlier, we are the Avengers. Well, maybe not in the eyes of Hollywood, but definitely in the eyes of our children. I love it,

Let me first introduce our newest member, otherwise known as the Hulk. This is our happy, joyous, growing too quickly, bundle of smile. But, you have to be careful not to let him get angry - because he might HULK out. Crying without "nursey milk" is the quickest way to make him angry.

Next comes Thor with the flowing blonde hair and bright eyes. Thor is three is quite adventuresome. He is extremely smart and loves a good time. He has maintained his "youngest child" personality and loves making everyone laugh. He is the life of the party.

Captain America just turned 5! He is someone what the most conservative but never backs down from a good battle. He is very concerned with fairness and equality. He is incredible smart and a natural leader, while remaining a classic little boy.

Don't be fooled by the name Iron Man, she is a stealth machine. A natural born builder with amazing visual and spacial skills which results in some spectacular building. She is impulsive to the extreme providing for lots of interesting and amazing stories.

Hawk Eye - our fearless unspoken glue. He is our rock and constant. He always sees things through a unique lens. I am unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.


Then of course, comes Black Widow. What can I say - I'm the Momma and I wouldnt trade that for anything!

Starting over..

SO well, you are probably wondering what happened to like the last 3 years. The answer is A LOT! Things got a little hectic and posting on the blog became problematic. Well, I am now trying to start over. I also have a new little took (IPAD) which hopefully makes this MUCH easier.

I want to start updating again and since today is well - Black Widow's birthday, it is time for a birthday resolution. So I started up the ol' blog and vowed to do better!