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Tiny Dancer

19 Feb

Look at this 4-year old sugar pie! Kyah’s class held a dance recital in December.  I couldn’t wait to see it and I wasn’t disappointed.  She was fantastic!  Her teacher is superb and so good at teaching skill and technique.  Unfortunately, we have moved farther south and added 30 minutes each way to the dance lesson commute.  It might sound silly (and it probably is in the grand scheme of life), but please pray that we can find a new dance class closer to our new home.  Since returning from the states Ky asks on a daily basis when dance class is and I haven’t had the heart to tell her she isn’t going back to that studio.  It would crush her.

A lot of parents sign their child up for dance class because it’s cute to watch them in their little leotard.  We have taken classes, in the states and Costa Rica, and watched  parents peel their child off and give them a love shove to go through the door.  Not the case with us. There is just no denying the joy of dancing in the life of my sweet girl. She dances wherever we are.  In a store, the airport, at school, in the park, or at home, it doesn’t make an ounce of difference.  While we’re waiting to pay at the grocery store she’ll hear a tune and can’t keep herself from jazzing up the place a bit.  I’m definitely not a “Dance Mom” (what the heck is wrong with those women?!), but I love to watch my girl dance.  She’s a natural.

Her teacher gave them all a certificate and flowers. She was stoked!

WWJD?

15 Nov

WWJD?  Probably not what I did.  I didn’t make an instant move, though.  I thought it through and the end result was what I hoped was right.  It’s all about these sandals.  They’re Kyah’s.  She took them off at Kidspoint a couple of weeks ago and we never saw them again.  Then, Cristel came to our house to play and I noticed them on her feet.  I asked where she got them and she just looked at me like a deer in the headlights of a 4×4.  Her sister spoke up and said they were a gift from her aunt, while at the same time, several other girls began to rat her out.  I was conflicted.  I felt that if I let her keep them, even though she knew that I knew they weren’t her shoes, I was reinforcing the negative behavior.  So, I grabbed her by the foot, yanked the shoes off, and she took off crying and running for home.  Not really.  Well, she did take off for home with big crocodile tears, but I politely asked her for them back because they weren’t her shoes.  I’m so mean.  Writing this makes me feel guilty.  I wish I had a pair of sandals that are actually her size to give her.  I just couldn’t gift her something that was stolen.  What would you have done?

Amigos

12 Nov

In our small barrio we have met some of the most wonderful people.  People we will stay connected with throughout the remainder of our lives.  We have developed true  friendships – the kind where they just pop up at your house to hang out – no  invitation needed. We had friends like that in the states (and we miss them like crazy!), but here it has been more difficult to find heart friends.  Why?  At first we didn’t know Spanish well, so that was an obvious barrier.  I also think being here as “missionaries” put a flashing light above our heads.  It’s unfortunate, but many missionaries will enter a place and try to convince people they need to become more like them. i.e. wear certain clothes and don’t wear others, fix your hair a certain way, do this, but don’t do that.  We have always had the mentality that God would change the things that need changed and we are going to live a transparent, authentic life.

Some of our new friends live just a few houses away.  Robert and Cody both have a love for fishing and he was the first one to invite Cody to hunt lobsters at night with a water pistol.  Swimming with crocodiles and/or sharks at night would freak me out, but not Cody.  I love my manly man.  As you may or may not know, I also love to fish.  One of the many things that Cody loved about me when we first met.  Haha!  Many women don’t fish and I don’t enjoy being the “only female” so I usually stay behind.  Luckily, Robert’s wife Rudy is a fisherwoman.  So, as couples (with our small daughters) we get to hang out and fish every once in a while.  Then we usually have a big dinner and enjoy the day’s catch.

Kyah and Ester ready to roll.

We took the boat down a back river that comes off the ocean. These trees lined both sides of almost the entire thing.

One of Cody's fish.

Robert cleaning some of the fish. We caught 11 that day!

FINALLY getting to swim!

My baby daddy…

25 Oct

…is crazy!  We live only a few miles from one of the coolest waterfalls I’ve ever seen in person.  Sure, Niagara Falls might have us beat, but you can’t swim in the Falls.

We can climb up to three different pools of water to either swim, slide, or jump.  The entire thing is probably 20-30 meters high.  It’s a fun place to hang out as a family and just enjoy God’s creation.

Check out these videos to see what I mean about my crazy man.

Queremos Paz!

5 Oct

Kyah’s Kinder participated in a peace parade which took place in a town about half an hour north of us.  We (kids and parents) were instructed to wear white from head to toe.  How many men do you know that own white shorts?   Unfortunately, not all of the kids in her class could participate because a child wasn’t allowed to take the bus up without their parent.  Big Daddy and I went and had a great time.

I helped ahead of time by making a banner to carry in the parade.  The kids were so ready to get the show on the road!

Waiting her turn for a balloon.

 She came to me after she got it and said, “Mom, he blew that balloon up without even using his mouth and hurting his cheeks!”  The helium machine was quite impressive to these Kinder kids.

All the girls had to wear matching white skirts.  An older lady in the community made them for 500 colones.  That’s about a dollar.

Jon and Kate Plus 8 anyone?

Maybe it has worked in the past, but the kids this year weren’t too excited about  holding onto a string while walking down the street.

The parade ended at the park where we ate a delicious lunch and were entertained by The Wiggles of Costa Rica.   I haven’t actually ever watched an episode of The Wiggles, but I imagine them annoying me after a song or two.  The guys down here rocked it.

Video to be added soon.

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