Kids are loving listening to Tom Sawyer.
We played word games on the back deck.
Kids are pretty good now at matching Spanish and English words.
Home run for Juan!
Kids are still into our worksheets.
PowerPoint hasn't grown old
After finishing their own worksheet, the older kids are getting good at advancing the screen so we can help the younger kids.
Paint projects are always a hit.
Mariquita....Ladybug anyone?
KidsA-Z and computer time calmed them down so we could deliver our last pen-pal messages.
Success in Los Perales
This bag is so loved, Vanesa's sister wants one just like it. Fortunately, she had enough materials to make a second one...all but a zipper anyway. Unfortunately, for her she has 5 sisters and a mother who all want one just like it. I think I'll make a copy of the pattern and leave it with her.
Remember this one? Veronica was the first to finish her bag and is now working on a dress for herself. She has her own sewing machine so she only needs my help with the hard parts.
Carina made her bag from some worn out trousers. It turned out darling but she wasn't at class last week so I still need to get a good picture.
Farm Life:
We visited Edguardo in our ward. He has a large piece of property and raises animals on it while his wife works in Buenos Aires as a nurse on weekends.
They wanted me, Amy, to stand closer to the pig for the picture. No thanks, this is close enough!
I have a story about a pig in Arvada that will put you in stitches. Ask me about it when we get home if you want to hear it. Colleen Riggs will back the story. This pig is about the size of the pig in Arvada.
Come on, get close,...it doesn't bite.
This cow likes to frolic and play around with his owner.
He was funny!
Goofing around as prompted.
A bit mad however, when we tired of his game.
Goats:
This is the neck support you get if you try to break through the yard fence. (This is how Amy feels with the language handicap...a bit silly talking baby talk.)
He's not alone in his mischievousness. Nothing like wearing your weakness for all to see.
Backyard barn
Back of the house built by the owner, and it even has a real door.
Last battle on bugs...
We received our care package from the main office this week. Some of the jefes were in the US for a conference and brought some of our stuff back with them. Fortunately, one of the items was the spray foam from Home Depot.
To keep the leaches and worms out of the house we had used masking tape.
You probably can't see from the picture, but the cracks are very deep and probably open clear through to the outside.
We filled most of the gap with spray foam.
Then we smoothed it off with caulking and painted it to match the surrounding tile.
How did we do?
Just in time for a heavy rainfall too. The evening after the repair we had a torrential downpour that had water running just outside this wall. The tape would probably not have held any longer.
This couch also got a repair.
First I turned over the raw edge and stitched it down.
Then we pinched it together, pinned it, and used a small paintbrush to put adhesive caulk to secure it in place. (Our upholstery needle probably won't get here until April, but glue was easier anyway since the fabric is so tough.)
What do you think? Two of the pillows were repaired. Can you tell which ones they are?
Family pictures now help us feel connected to home.
Bugs etc:
We may have won one battle with the spray foam, but we still have an ongoing war on mosquitoes, spiders, frogs, and ants.
We're still getting mosquito bites. So we're still spraying, creaming, watching, drying, cleaning and inside as much as possible.
Spiders: We taped up a huge opening above the water heater that we had missed earlier. We couldn't figure where the spiders were still coming from until we saw the web decorated corner. We looked up and sure enough, behind the pipes were gaping holes. Spiders are slowly disappearing thanks to bug spray, taping up gaps and holes with packaging tape, and glue traps from home.
We also found a trail of minuscule sized ants that led right under our boots outside.
Great...Sit down to protect your feet and ankles with rubber boots, and ants find their way in for a feast. We just can't win...unless...we spray the side patio for ants. Done!
We also had to tape down the toilet seat closest to the septic tank. Did you know that smaller frogs can fit between the crack in the lid. Yikes! The toilet is now secured with packing tape and gets a flush every day just in case.
What's next?
Next week will bring warm and drier weather so we hope to start painting gates. In trying to pin down exactly what Yuca wanted done, we were told that we only need to paint 6 of the more than 100 gates. Well, maybe 7... okay, 8... actually 9. Let's stay with nine!
We're also starting sewing lessons this week. The PowerPoint room is now full of sewing machines and the ironing board. Oh, and two computers set up for translating...one for English and one for Spanish.
We'll also see what Christmas decorations we can find in storage here.
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