tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51754368784775500312024-03-05T21:19:59.431-08:00A Broad Un/HomeschoolingWe are an expat family living and learning in Central Costa Rica. Loving and living the Pura Vida! I love to share tips and ideas about un/homeschooling. We have been at it for 30 years and still learning.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-12651899660257316692010-10-27T19:03:00.000-07:002010-10-27T19:07:37.579-07:00Online SchoolTeeny has finally gotten enrolled in the online community college. She is very excited to get started next Monday with classes. The college we are working with in Arizona, since we are residents of Arizona, has been great to work with.<br /><br />Her counselor has made it very easy for her to get registered and enrolled and even get her fasfa done and turned in so that she does not have to pay.<br /><br />I have been encouraging her to save the excess from her pell grant to pay for her big college in a couple of years when she moves on. We will see if she surprises me and listens to me. <br /><br />She will be taking basic math as well as spanish. These two classes are very basic and did not require any placement test. <br /><br />We do have a proctor here that she can take her tests with so that will make it easier. This is going to be fun!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-86275238108189750642010-09-13T13:57:00.000-07:002010-09-13T13:58:49.908-07:00Beach LearningThe girls are learning how to clam, surf and build amazing sand castles. Great lessons for life if you ask me.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-4363699686534898052010-09-09T09:01:00.000-07:002010-09-09T09:26:22.430-07:00Finishing UpWe are almost done with our mandatory first grade experience. Today is "dia de nino". School today will include a 60's rock and roll party as well as lots of junk food. Baby is very excited and ready to celebrate with her peers their day. <br /><br />I figure every day is kids day, but hey one more reason to celebrate.<br /><br />I think the plan we have come up with is a "transfer" to a private school after we complete this year. Baby said she really wants to be home and so we will make that happen. The trick is doing it so we don't get into trouble with the PANI. <br /><br />When you are a "guest" in a foreign country it is very important to play by the rules. Not quite my cup of tea for those who know me, but we are doing our best at it. I do have to say the teachers and director have bent over backwards trying to make baby happy.<br /><br />Two days ago two big girls came up to her when I was picking her up and said "hi Maleah". I asked her how they knew her name. Then I remembered that we raised such a fuss about the other kids calling her "cheena" and they talked to all the kids. Like they talked to the whole school. So of course now the kids know her name, and it is not "cheena".Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-49746224940324817722010-08-30T20:11:00.000-07:002010-08-30T20:14:13.960-07:00CassicsI am trying to read some classics. When I found out that my 19 yr old son had read "War and Peace", I decided I need to buckle down and do some serious reading. Now if I can just fit it in between <a href="http://knittingforninos.blogspot.com">knitting </a>for my daughters' project, writing for my <a href="http://realjailnews.blogspot.com">sons book</a>, and trying to fight with schools for my baby, maybe we can actually get some reading done around here!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-79444255873055267652010-08-22T20:22:00.001-07:002010-08-22T20:22:56.832-07:00Great SpeechThe following speech was delivered by top of the class student Erica Goldson during the graduation ceremony at Coxsackie-Athens High School on June 25, 2010<br /> <br />Here I stand<br /> <br />There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, "Ten years." The student then said, "But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast – How long then?" Replied the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?" Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path."<br /> <br />This is the dilemma I've faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.<br /> <br />Some of you may be thinking, "Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn't you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.<br /> <br />I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contend that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer – not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition – a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared.<br /> <br />John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, "We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness – curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don't do that." Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt.<br /> <br />H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not "to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States."<br /> <br />To illustrate this idea, doesn't it perturb you to learn about the idea of "critical thinking?" Is there really such a thing as "uncritically thinking?" To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth?<br /> <br />This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is.<br /> <br />And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.<br /> <br />We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren't we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.<br /> <br />The saddest part is that the majority of students don't have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can't run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be – but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation.<br /> <br />For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, "You have to learn this for the test" is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades.<br /> <br />For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake.<br /> <br />For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth.<br /> <br />So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn't have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians.<br /> <br />I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a "see you later" when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we're smart enough to do so!<br /> <br />Reprinted from Signs of the Times.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-23490398285533047062010-08-16T19:40:00.001-07:002010-08-16T19:45:07.030-07:00Art Classes<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjruHZ-SbMKDvIiyHDC7YZ2FYiratHPUBgdgddb1nPjvv_Uxd-YTrKzeLucCNHPtyDtvgMIx-d24O6vB7G84WkruSum3vNIUqbrEsACXf3bYsuNS8KCj2rg4kuDDjoZYmBOkrkkMlcFVCY/s1600/summer+036.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjruHZ-SbMKDvIiyHDC7YZ2FYiratHPUBgdgddb1nPjvv_Uxd-YTrKzeLucCNHPtyDtvgMIx-d24O6vB7G84WkruSum3vNIUqbrEsACXf3bYsuNS8KCj2rg4kuDDjoZYmBOkrkkMlcFVCY/s400/summer+036.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506203476388375874" /></a><br /><br />A week ago Saturday baby had another art class at our local cafe. It was a great class. This time they learned how to make paints out of local plants. She learned how to make purple out of mora as well as yellow out of another flower. <br /><br />The teacher took them outside and read them a great story. After the story they all got to pound some plants and make some pictures. After they were all done they made them mini pizzas and some juice. The cafe specializes in all natural foods and vegetarian foods. <br /><br />It is our favorite place in town and we take our students there for their graduation celebration. They also have the art classes once a month. Oh and the cost for all this? $6.00! A great deal if you ask me.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-66074166374832568952010-07-14T09:33:00.000-07:002010-07-14T09:39:54.324-07:00Family Trip<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF-gyCuEVBNxKqwqnIcEu-XiJHhDzyTWVacg4tG6Nkuds83-VYaWM6i1NW91jfcNedt9PYLzh_zH5-koWj_FCa_YTJD55pJmYfhycSIPRjAJzAHeAP55ySlk25JL5Z936NXIOvc00NSfQ/s1600/100_4342.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF-gyCuEVBNxKqwqnIcEu-XiJHhDzyTWVacg4tG6Nkuds83-VYaWM6i1NW91jfcNedt9PYLzh_zH5-koWj_FCa_YTJD55pJmYfhycSIPRjAJzAHeAP55ySlk25JL5Z936NXIOvc00NSfQ/s400/100_4342.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493801712408135682" /></a><br />Playing Bingo with the nieces. Auntie and the princesses are having a blast playing.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyZLiVCOm1j_cU1JYdleIFv9pk99meyZyGPJMCQsEV_2b6AECVCAO9S5KEfvzjWP2Df8g8gtuGAF2Kp6678oQwBBQF4MiRdle_P3XcPsPl4XJCgu-uqU95sVzqbCbcvJE2PAJ9ch698x8/s1600/100_4325.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyZLiVCOm1j_cU1JYdleIFv9pk99meyZyGPJMCQsEV_2b6AECVCAO9S5KEfvzjWP2Df8g8gtuGAF2Kp6678oQwBBQF4MiRdle_P3XcPsPl4XJCgu-uqU95sVzqbCbcvJE2PAJ9ch698x8/s400/100_4325.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493801528661043106" /></a><br />No way to make 3,000 miles of driving fun in any way shape or form. Lots of thinking time.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPPjQxTFguoninnDDLxt5BO6IgrMbAYMlOCOaNSPqcAIC9xBmfekF2t4KOiu-UhsHmlLezLoi568y_L4wNMsUxlfcg1mHKIi5cTPnyVhxCvfOvlhglNAXtVAhXsJl_UZqfxmxYo3D0izs/s1600/100_4317.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPPjQxTFguoninnDDLxt5BO6IgrMbAYMlOCOaNSPqcAIC9xBmfekF2t4KOiu-UhsHmlLezLoi568y_L4wNMsUxlfcg1mHKIi5cTPnyVhxCvfOvlhglNAXtVAhXsJl_UZqfxmxYo3D0izs/s400/100_4317.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493801334038632098" /></a><br />Fun with cousin Cayson. The same age and lots of fun together.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZhBpfQjuEOFPmaZGsKkCmRlBK5Ljwgj9uZQvc0P-0Wz8ltoz0Mjp8jO23vIo0-r_mbyU7IGmnuCGa5Cw__ziIMNCa1ncOZWHDpjV-vUO4qecsdQktx3f83IJA_OgkjCft8LYojHiMkY/s1600/100_4313.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZhBpfQjuEOFPmaZGsKkCmRlBK5Ljwgj9uZQvc0P-0Wz8ltoz0Mjp8jO23vIo0-r_mbyU7IGmnuCGa5Cw__ziIMNCa1ncOZWHDpjV-vUO4qecsdQktx3f83IJA_OgkjCft8LYojHiMkY/s400/100_4313.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493801180193714562" /></a><br />Always fun at Grandmas house.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-55497381158261177622010-07-05T20:11:00.000-07:002010-07-05T20:15:15.723-07:00Car LessonsWhat do kids learn while on the road? Well baby has learned what a wild fire is, seeing one up close and personal by the side of the road.<br /><br />She has learned what a hawk is and beautiful mountains of Colorado. She has learned what a cousin is and how much fun they are.<br /><br />She has learned that the world is a big beautiful place and it takes two airplanes and a really long car ride to get to her brothers place.<br /><br />She has learned that her brother gets out of jail in 1,000 days and when he gets out he is going to take her on a date to California to eat ice cream on the beach.<br /><br />She is probably the only six year old that knows what "follow the yellow line to B pod" means and how to get to the visiting area of the jail.<br /><br />Hard and wonderful lessons for a six year old.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-40462465783593147842010-06-26T19:45:00.000-07:002010-06-26T19:50:39.573-07:00Art ClassesToday baby went to her first ever formal art class. The little cafe we like to eat at was offering a childrens art class. They studied pottery and looked at a few books. They then let the kids make a little clay pot. Maleah offered to teach me how to do it after I raved about hers. <br /><br />Breyssi did a beautiful one with snakes and all kinds of decorations on it. It was great to see them interact with the other children, and the teacher who was wonderful. After the class the cafe made them a little snack and some juice. A fun day for six bucks. It is good to see them offering things like this for the kids.<br /><br />It was funny because yesterday we told the girls they would be going for an art class today. This morning Breyssi said she did not feel good and did not want to go to the art class. I wrote the teacher and told her that Breyssi was not feeling good and would not make it. Later in the day Breyssi was talking about how she did not want to go to the class because of all the water. I asked her what she was talking about there was no water at an art class. She perked right up and said she wanted to go then.<br /><br />I think those water boarding um excuse me swimming lessons scarred her for life!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-18840047884975210252010-06-17T20:12:00.000-07:002010-06-17T20:15:33.405-07:00Give Me a BreakI was ordered to put my baby back in school or the family services would take her away from us. Today at school they spent the day making a fathers day card. Yup that is right, I get threatened for them to take her away from her family so that she can spend the afternoon making a card for her Dad! Is that not the most messed up thing you have ever heard?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-71807563207878398812010-06-16T21:58:00.000-07:002010-06-16T22:04:59.657-07:00School Day, AgainWe did it. We took baby to the school today. They were very nice and put her in the other class. It is calmer, and the teacher is on top of things. She is also our neighbor and a frequent visitor to our massage clinic when we have students, so it is better. <br /><br />What we have found out about home schooling in Costa Rica. Are you ready for this? The great ah ha moment here. They have to attend first grade! Yup the quote about all I ever needed to know I learned in kindergarten? Well here it is all I ever needed to learn I learned in first grade. And they mean it.<br /><br />After the student finishes the first grade you can apply to home school them. At that point they feel the student has been properly "socialized" and it is safe to take them out and educate them at home. That is if you have a "certified teacher" to teach them. <br /><br />Lots of hoops to go through, of course. The deal is I feel like I have been plunged back 25 years to when we first began home schooling in the U.S. Same old restrictions, same old requirements. Retarded! <br /><br />We are now figuring out the way to get around all this silliness and in the meantime baby shows up for school every day. Late, with her street clothes and flip flops on, and one notebook in her backpack. But of course her money for the little store and her sizzors, glue and colored pencils, there are priorities after all!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-34181912776283530872010-06-15T13:10:00.000-07:002010-06-15T13:15:00.498-07:00WarWe put baby in pre-kinder last year to help her learn the Spanish. She had a great year and a very good experience. This year her teacher was pregnant and miserable. They had a class with too many people and baby was miserable. <br /><br />A month ago we decided to take her out of the school and home school here. A couple of weeks later we received a visit from a couple of the teachers. They threatened us that they were going to have to turn us into the Family Services here.<br /><br />Today we received a phone call from the PANI threatening us that if we did not bring baby to school tomorrow they would come and take her from us. They are telling me that they are going to take my baby away if I don't put her in their stupid school.<br /><br />To say I am angry is an understatement. Big brother is alive and well in Costa Rica. If you are even contemplating moving here take all the same precautions you would take if you were in the States. Right now hubby is out talking to an attorney.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-1124943952342671062010-06-10T18:53:00.000-07:002010-06-10T19:02:16.517-07:00Laid Back Days of Rainy Season<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiApGXpcQu24DivLmcboKrIq9V2mWGm3hzZs7Tve9ukrfjpHdTSMh-KNSJB0-KyN3E2NGH8IXBVsse3nVnazKUuuAygXvl3n8lrdZwVuopyuuEh7Vis_JwxSk8XjHdrM17MQ7HsjSvbZTk/s1600/foot+016.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiApGXpcQu24DivLmcboKrIq9V2mWGm3hzZs7Tve9ukrfjpHdTSMh-KNSJB0-KyN3E2NGH8IXBVsse3nVnazKUuuAygXvl3n8lrdZwVuopyuuEh7Vis_JwxSk8XjHdrM17MQ7HsjSvbZTk/s400/foot+016.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481329077326504178" /></a><br /><br />When I tell people we just chill during rainy season, I mean chill! Little Rica above is just a little example of our days here during the rainy season in Costa Rica. It just seems natural to want to rest and sleep while it is raining in the afternoon, so that is what we do.<br /><br />Usually after lunch we will hang out for an hour or so and then baby will start yawning. I ask her if she wants a story and we head off to the bed. Usually after one story she is ready to crash out. She does not sleep every day, but about three days a week works well for her.<br /><br />She has always been one who loves her sleep. She will sleep until nine or ten in the mornings. Of course she has nothing on teeny who will sleep until noon. Her boyfriend gives her all kinds of grief about being sooo lazy. I just figure she is still growing or something. <br /><br />It will sure be a shock to our systems when we go to the states and it is not raining. Of course the way things are going when we hit Texas it will be full of water! Until then we will enjoy our laid back dog days.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-68532581917525550552010-06-08T20:50:00.000-07:002010-06-08T21:03:20.196-07:00Ready to Move OutToday we made the trek to town. That would be about six blocks from our house to be exact, so not far at all. In fact Benji can walk all the way. We made a quick stop at the Macrobiotica for some sea salt and calcium and magnesium. Then it was off to the Ropa Americana for some great deals on used clothes. We are great fans of used clothing. The little girls are the best little shoppers you have ever seen. They can spot the cute clothes miles away and always end up getting some great deals. <br /><br />Once we finished there we headed down a couple doors to the bakery to get the kids a quick snack. I was standing there getting ready to ask baby what she wanted to order for her snack. She marched right up to the counter and asked the guy in Spanish if he had any ham and cheese empanadas. He said no only cheese. So she told him she wanted two of them, and two grape juices also. He was just cracking up by this time and looked at me with a shocked look.<br /><br />For some reason people are always shocked when she starts speaking Spanish to them. They always ask if she speaks English or Chinese. The Chinese will have to come later, right now is Spanish time. <br /><br />After they got the goodies she went over to the caja and paid the cashier for the snacks. He took her money and handed her the change. When she walked over to us her sister asked her if she got the right change. She said yes and went over to the park to eat their snacks. <br /><br />This would have to be one of the best things about living here in Costa Rica and raising kids. It is just so easy to take them everywhere, without even having a car. I told baby that it was good to know they could get along on their own. If they had some money they would be able to get themselves around town and even buy their own food and even pick up some snacks at the health food store if need be. It is great!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-20917394101063997282010-06-07T13:45:00.001-07:002010-06-07T13:56:01.196-07:00Socializing<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNtEO5emftSgpFLFNoCjYxUlmwbbpFLqCWb-kvyxsuvd0itZkeTdRbwJHJ3kpdXLs6edxDpU7pDlXo3qCNnY8z4SIoAzrPRMDlXP9TBfeLASlTrpk-QV4aHqWCpcTo9jQoSgAEdQul0U4/s1600/birthday+020.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNtEO5emftSgpFLFNoCjYxUlmwbbpFLqCWb-kvyxsuvd0itZkeTdRbwJHJ3kpdXLs6edxDpU7pDlXo3qCNnY8z4SIoAzrPRMDlXP9TBfeLASlTrpk-QV4aHqWCpcTo9jQoSgAEdQul0U4/s400/birthday+020.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480137127492012786" /></a><br />They try to say that home schooler's are not socialized enough. Does this look like they are not getting enough socialization? This was grandson's birthday party and as you can see there was plenty of socialization going on for everyone. He turned two and the girlies helped decorate the cakes, the ball cakes.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvve_-noDWFnc3DFK029-F7eaN7d0I0SvSXz-B2TSdz27IggEGCC2Oc9WGF0qd47aVyJFWuHxa2yQbfQNx3XzZ6MfDeWirgcVVXGmhfptbC5MCalnNp-lvsDlKHCaDfICl7YrxJ5izQko/s1600/birthday+017.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvve_-noDWFnc3DFK029-F7eaN7d0I0SvSXz-B2TSdz27IggEGCC2Oc9WGF0qd47aVyJFWuHxa2yQbfQNx3XzZ6MfDeWirgcVVXGmhfptbC5MCalnNp-lvsDlKHCaDfICl7YrxJ5izQko/s400/birthday+017.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480136538651700754" /></a><br />And of course there was the mandatory pinata! We do not have a party here in Costa Rica without the pinata. I mean we do not have any party without the pinata. That and of course tons of food and we are all happy and ready to go. Oh yeah and good friends, what more could you ask for? Pura Vida!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw555X8RckF-OsKzSjpWa1HKYyFZq0QLXV9FHYNTGFLZOJgAWXZFe-4FpDS3IdSYNyW2YdRZzhimSNmpGXh8RrzcB0zwdmgLPoIEaJrlzu7uM-JZlvcZofTBaSUkWkYrD7lvayWiUo-GA/s1600/birthday+019.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw555X8RckF-OsKzSjpWa1HKYyFZq0QLXV9FHYNTGFLZOJgAWXZFe-4FpDS3IdSYNyW2YdRZzhimSNmpGXh8RrzcB0zwdmgLPoIEaJrlzu7uM-JZlvcZofTBaSUkWkYrD7lvayWiUo-GA/s400/birthday+019.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480136106760299810" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-91204241489675167932010-06-03T19:03:00.001-07:002010-06-03T19:09:58.395-07:00Computer Class<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJI6cpnvuc54uXbUwOuOywtoprcASirJW0sFlvh_shSMDtqOEQHK_VzzXovErhWIM5TECPmJWFhV6bB0sxh6TUer3h0qQFZIjbibEfGu-7g89ocu0UIk9GRYHJ72Tw2K4Wt3KdSY4HUL8/s1600/coconuts+014.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJI6cpnvuc54uXbUwOuOywtoprcASirJW0sFlvh_shSMDtqOEQHK_VzzXovErhWIM5TECPmJWFhV6bB0sxh6TUer3h0qQFZIjbibEfGu-7g89ocu0UIk9GRYHJ72Tw2K4Wt3KdSY4HUL8/s400/coconuts+014.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478733829874568498" /></a><br /><br />Such concentration! Tia Maleah is teaching the kiddo's how to play computer games. It does not take long for these guys to get these games down. Even the baby can tell them what to do and what needs to move where. He is always busy telling them what to do on the computer.<br /><br />I wrote some key words for Maleah and she has been able to find and play all her own games. I have noticed they are getting harder all the time. When she first started playing computer games she did not like anything too hard. Now I see her playing some that take thinking and planning.<br /><br />She said the other day that she needs to learn to read so that we don't have to read everything to her and help her. Now that is motivation!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-73298007276177268882010-06-02T19:46:00.000-07:002010-06-02T20:01:24.658-07:00Where's Waldo?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2wTiWRb2I82b6vds1n_s1lU0OoBZOn5avbaiLAVgxWhGSetWzTWPUaf62u1fhobs0O3unFOb2ENgmSJKhyYYgwBs-VK7a9yISWdIEVEM2qZmWeYrlkbStZomPFuNO0F-Iiv8T-AfZNUE/s1600/park+017.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2wTiWRb2I82b6vds1n_s1lU0OoBZOn5avbaiLAVgxWhGSetWzTWPUaf62u1fhobs0O3unFOb2ENgmSJKhyYYgwBs-VK7a9yISWdIEVEM2qZmWeYrlkbStZomPFuNO0F-Iiv8T-AfZNUE/s400/park+017.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5478375494326655202" /></a><br /><br />Can you find the two kids blending into the trees here?<br /><br />These two cannot get enough of playing at the park, and climbing trees, and swimming at the pool. You know these are the kind of things children are supposed to be doing.<br /><br />Where they live in Hondurus there is no place they can safely play. The roads are dirty and there are rats running around the drains. The drivers do not watch out for children playing. TB is rampant and probably many other diseases we don't even know about yet.<br /><br />It is a different world, one which most of us will never comprehend or understand. I am just glad to know that my grandchildren can leave and come get all their playing in. Now I just have to keep working on talking their mother into staying in Costa Rica with them.<br /><br />It may not be too much problem if Hurricane Agatha keeps kicking butt in their neck of the woods. Of course we are apparently the earthquake capital these days, don't know which is more fun out of those two.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-65207086302163450272010-05-26T18:50:00.000-07:002010-05-26T19:02:44.090-07:00Cleaning DayToday was a great day, filled with excitement. Late tonight big sister with her hubby and kids will be arriving from Hondurus. After a 15 hr. bus ride they will be rolling in late tonight.<br /><br />We cleared out babies room and set up a big air mattress and now have wall to wall beds in our "guest room". Baby is thrilled because she gets to sleep with mom and dad. <br /><br />Tried to baby proof the house today. I know we have missed something, I just know it. Benji is 2 next week and I can guarantee you he will find something to get into, and hopefully it will not put him in the hospital!<br /><br />The next seven weeks will be "vacation" time so we will have lots of fun pictures, hopefully! We will be enjoying Costa Rica for four more weeks, then off to the U.S. for three weeks of fun. Summertime fun.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-71706221679851254512010-05-24T19:53:00.000-07:002010-05-24T20:02:26.445-07:00Life ChoicesI was telling teeny today that she did not have to decide right now, even in the next few years what she wants to do with her life. She is young, only 16 and has many years to decide what she wants to "be" when she grows up.<br /><br />After talking with her I laughed to myself as I remembered that at her age I left home. I went to live with a friend in California and spent the summer there, doing lots of things I would not want her to do. Once I returned home to finish my senior year, I was still 16, I met my hubby. We got married seven months later, when I was 17 1/2!<br /><br />I did not talk to her about that part!<br /><br />Suffice it to say I assured her to look at life and decide what she wants to spend her life doing. She has a boyfriend right now that is talking to her about the realities of being a famous singer. He is trying to convince her that she will not have a life if that is what she does. I think it is the opposite and her life will be all about her. <br /><br />He did tell her he did not want to live with someone that was famous. That was what got her thinking about her other options. She told him that I had always tried to talk her into being a lawyer, she can argue like none other. I mean she has always been able to argue very well.<br /><br />He agreed with me. He told her because of two things. He thought she would be able to talk well in a court room, and the most important part, she looks really hot in a pencil skirt!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-88660825566423033712010-05-20T19:11:00.000-07:002010-05-20T19:34:02.760-07:00Chinese Channel<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRoSktFrH0wUbdO2b_ko8smDceVrWTIXz4DT3N46WgdGzapj-3rYdg7JJvQwuq7Hv1Uf_9NSGtwrITAWBYcfJWiHN9sl5CehUhN1hhC1u25xbcXSE38zLtGlyuoxxcD_QFbyby0c1TTHo/s1600/family+196.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRoSktFrH0wUbdO2b_ko8smDceVrWTIXz4DT3N46WgdGzapj-3rYdg7JJvQwuq7Hv1Uf_9NSGtwrITAWBYcfJWiHN9sl5CehUhN1hhC1u25xbcXSE38zLtGlyuoxxcD_QFbyby0c1TTHo/s400/family+196.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473544923247335538" /></a><br />Baby is watching the Chinese channel. She loves to watch this channel and claims she can understand what they are saying. I think the real draw for her is just to see so many people that look like her. <br /><br />I know from experience that it is very difficult to live in a place where you look different than everyone else. I mean children literally stare at me when we are on the bus. Hubby thought I was imagining it but has had to admit that yes they are mesmerized, or terrified of my big blue eyes.<br /><br />Whatever the reason it is difficult to be stared at everywhere you go. When hubby first got her started watching the Chinese channel she would not watch very long. Now we find her watching it for longer and longer periods. She also likes it when we put on Chinese music for her.<br /><br />We feel it is important to help her connect with her roots. Yes she is an American now and no longer lives in China. But everyone there looks like her. That is big, as I have found. When we go places that there are more Chinese people she loves it! I think it is such a relief to her to not be in the "fish bowl" for a change.<br /><br />This is part of the reason we have chosen Austin to live part time while hubby finishes his degree. They have a big FCC chapter there and we are very excited to get her involved in that. She will be starting Mandarin lessons here in October, when she turns 7.<br /><br />In the meantime she will continue watching the Chinese channel and yelling out every few minutes, "she looks like me too!"Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-38054943889416622582010-05-19T17:57:00.000-07:002010-05-19T18:11:12.793-07:00Celebrate the Successes<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdCcg8RQa43gG_nX-v1oDMoaH_VqbV-p-TZdHU1OsxmZM9ghy8-VtwVQMTypOvvKSdOgttVtkvMpR6oakhR_UUvblxP-ne5IPrIAFJxtpLgw0jQjJcT7aH2Q9cT2Vai-P9OHl0Ubo15GQ/s1600/fam+020.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdCcg8RQa43gG_nX-v1oDMoaH_VqbV-p-TZdHU1OsxmZM9ghy8-VtwVQMTypOvvKSdOgttVtkvMpR6oakhR_UUvblxP-ne5IPrIAFJxtpLgw0jQjJcT7aH2Q9cT2Vai-P9OHl0Ubo15GQ/s400/fam+020.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473152724044962434" /></a><br /><br />Yesterday baby and daddy went out to lunch to celebrate. They had read the complete Book of Mormon. Not only did they read it, they read it in Spanish. It has helped hubby's accent a ton and has been a great way to put baby to sleep every night! <br /><br />She was so excited to go out that she got all dressed up and even told dad to change his pants. They went out for chinese food and had a great day.<br /><br />When they got home she was ready to start reading in English so that we could all celebrate together next time!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-2775455852137125262010-05-17T21:42:00.000-07:002010-05-17T21:53:00.031-07:00Values<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihm_eTeT7SuhhP3FTwsuAZwT1hB-S1hyphenhyphendSlfqmG9A_LwKD3NUcUomjJHnktJ7zMvVcdli7Mm7sGKSsvKRc0iKk5Q2awHR8nDbjaAHSY5qDRST53HYiHFp6OhEBJL0suh7_VO16JJWoQhg/s1600/sally+017.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihm_eTeT7SuhhP3FTwsuAZwT1hB-S1hyphenhyphendSlfqmG9A_LwKD3NUcUomjJHnktJ7zMvVcdli7Mm7sGKSsvKRc0iKk5Q2awHR8nDbjaAHSY5qDRST53HYiHFp6OhEBJL0suh7_VO16JJWoQhg/s400/sally+017.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472466544939255586" /></a><br />Once a week we have a "family day". That is actually kind of funny because of course every day is family day! Today was a good day for the girls. Hannah has a couple of gringo expat friends in Escazu that we get to visit with occasionaly. They all have great fun together and it is good to see her hanging out with boys that are not boyfriends. I think after her stint as tour guide last week she is glad to just rest and recuperate. She has a cold, hence the gloves. We were also doing a family service project. My friend has been sick in the hospital and it was time for her get well massage. That meant a trip over was certainly in line.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfmNmwLf5_2QRPwhHWH25bqnCOyB9G9IKANRp-m_xo8V7gmwBrAwegNeagT9_1-tKJCKekPtCo4HqccU8DILcFad13EFZS_eYyCOvsMVMxFU3pNeSe9FRn7cB2DVeaguq-1wvrVcYtxA4/s1600/sally+019.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfmNmwLf5_2QRPwhHWH25bqnCOyB9G9IKANRp-m_xo8V7gmwBrAwegNeagT9_1-tKJCKekPtCo4HqccU8DILcFad13EFZS_eYyCOvsMVMxFU3pNeSe9FRn7cB2DVeaguq-1wvrVcYtxA4/s400/sally+019.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472466142663113090" /></a><br />We try to teach the girls to be compassionate and gentle with the sick and afflicted. Here baby is being gentle with our friend who has been very sick. We had explained before we went that she had been in the hospital and very sick. Baby was very good about helping and just being attentive. She even went in the kitchen and helped cook dinner! Even when she saw a big ole mouse come running into the kitchen from the backyard. She just climbed onto higher ground!<br />I hope when all is said and done, if my children learn nothing else from us in this life, they will learn to love!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-4527585393999892432010-05-14T18:46:00.000-07:002010-05-14T18:54:55.301-07:00Tour Guide of the Year<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOKLN89clLyw3eDYzQp-4WLMnlv9twA6_QHDmRoh6ChlhxOT2QBhFf9CQrfPa-42-Vef-zEXSYyMOkWBVq-PfTqvuczNW8XQeh0vTyMWtCf-4VVLmle8t-rYl8Tis8IaGg5eNSPXs08Rg/s1600/100_4150.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOKLN89clLyw3eDYzQp-4WLMnlv9twA6_QHDmRoh6ChlhxOT2QBhFf9CQrfPa-42-Vef-zEXSYyMOkWBVq-PfTqvuczNW8XQeh0vTyMWtCf-4VVLmle8t-rYl8Tis8IaGg5eNSPXs08Rg/s400/100_4150.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471307786856559842" /></a><br /><br />Well she did it. Showed her friends a great time and shared some of the best of Costa Rica with them. The best part of all? They are all still friends. She took them to the beach for a couple of days, off to the mall for a day, up to the mountains for a day and down town for shopping for a day. <br /><br />They were very lucky that the weather cooperated and it has not rained for five days now! That in itself is a miracle at this time of the year. <br /><br />As you can see by this picture she now has a boyfriend to add into the mix also. He asked her, at the promptings of her matchmaking friend, to be his girlfriend. The thing is here in Costa Rica there is a method to their madness.<br /><br />They begin with friends with benefits. Benefits I am told kissing and holding hands etc. They stay there approximately six weeks, and then it is on to girlfriend, boyfriend. I am not sure what is next and since she is only sixteen she will not be finding out for a couple of years either!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-8602811616295504192010-05-11T19:40:00.000-07:002010-05-11T20:13:10.160-07:00Friends, Boyfriends and Beaches<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt5VIushUtmGAAM1aFx2dCpEdcAlntY3VWNpDsdmLQ7QXNOYbxRlISBw6RiAl6jDHOOH4sdL7Z0jLVY1465iiJVWGMBPRoGNEA__7D_JVPs6fSriW96xx7OX_9RC7QEtIhCGNhwz_njgg/s1600/DSCN2414.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt5VIushUtmGAAM1aFx2dCpEdcAlntY3VWNpDsdmLQ7QXNOYbxRlISBw6RiAl6jDHOOH4sdL7Z0jLVY1465iiJVWGMBPRoGNEA__7D_JVPs6fSriW96xx7OX_9RC7QEtIhCGNhwz_njgg/s400/DSCN2414.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470215060898405762" /></a>
<br />Teeny finally got a visitor from the U.S. They have had a blast and she brought a friend with her who got to fit in some surf lessons. They took a trek to Manuel Antonio and hung out for a couple of days. Staying in the cabinas saved them a bunch of money and just eating chips and refried beans also helped save bucks.
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"
<br /><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNf2LQ8Ul328280ihyphenhyphenhDRai4BmQdlGkmGJ1brnZR5fdhkskTHo3YOYChrDTQFSgwAMa6-pIgJahNPXDp_nQkJDUKZCjJCOrP6_Z3eevRpZ6kA9xVIXUT26IqkvFTe0yGsRs0FpshoNJPk/s400/DSCN2269.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470209443503358770" /></a>
<br />One night they decided to camp on the beach and that got a little scary. Some crack head kept asking them for money and food. Finally they decided to get a room in the cabinas for the night so they could get some sleep.
<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj_p5n8t3wt8PzyK11rGun80G20zNN3Ke3_jvAyl0B1NdBSBLDBju2WFT7n74qZspZUFpZtmlwy1uiDT-Dgsr4qkDZXQ-k0rPXZsZDoG-ysjY6_nPh9-3PT9oVSbHlZhE-wPFFWbat-Pk/s1600/DSCN2442.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj_p5n8t3wt8PzyK11rGun80G20zNN3Ke3_jvAyl0B1NdBSBLDBju2WFT7n74qZspZUFpZtmlwy1uiDT-Dgsr4qkDZXQ-k0rPXZsZDoG-ysjY6_nPh9-3PT9oVSbHlZhE-wPFFWbat-Pk/s400/DSCN2442.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470208784265007506" /></a>
<br />We were very proud of her for helping her friends enjoy Costa Rica as well as keeping them safe and sound, so far they go home Saturday. Still a couple of days for fun. Tomorrow is the pool and then a campout in Monte de la Cruz for the last couple of days. What a trip for them.
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5175436878477550031.post-7500108832751172332010-05-08T13:18:00.001-07:002010-05-08T13:25:13.499-07:00Parent Rights<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvIbrfYAfnIALFkcRHwn0DFXD8i6-JdVklfYvrz1Ndlxz2N5PrUJkB0Hte5HCJnI6M0nF2bBNe9cuYardifCQPeh8RNvm487YXm7es8jYyd_I_AixxbM-enCFbCbYuUxTBJWnJPn1DkKQ/s1600/100_4128.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvIbrfYAfnIALFkcRHwn0DFXD8i6-JdVklfYvrz1Ndlxz2N5PrUJkB0Hte5HCJnI6M0nF2bBNe9cuYardifCQPeh8RNvm487YXm7es8jYyd_I_AixxbM-enCFbCbYuUxTBJWnJPn1DkKQ/s400/100_4128.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468996724053128930" /></a><br /><br />Did you know that as a parent if you get dreadlocks you pretty much give up your rights to tell your kid they look weird? Yeah I did not realize that until after I got the dreadlocks, but I can't really say anyone looks weird anymore. <br /><br />It is a great way to keep you from being judgmental, just get them and try to say someone looks anything! It just sounds really funny coming out of your mouth with all those fuzzy crazy locks waving around on your head. <br /><br />Kind of like the saying when you point your finger three more are pointing at you. It has been good for me though, and sure makes me stop and realize how incredibly judgmental I was. <br /><br />The good news is this was playing Emo pictures and hopefully not a look she plans to stick with long term. If she does, oh well what can I say?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0