The Witch's Cackle

I have always loved The Wizard of Oz. Admittedly, I watched a lot of it peeking through the holes of an afghan when the witch was on, and I think much of my fear of tornadoes stems from that movie... but still, I love it! We had a really sweet moment as a little family last spring when we watched The Wizard of Oz with Luke. He was fascinated. He loved it, laughed at all the right parts and was a little scared in all the right parts.

Sometime after we watched the movie the first time, I told Luke that Mimi could cackle JUST like the Wicked Witch. Not only that, but she has played the Wicked Witch before in the play! We called Mimi on Skype so Luke could ask her to cackle for him. She did it, and he was so impressed! Mimi promised Luke that she would show him her wicked witch nose and chin this summer when we got home. He did not forget that promise!

So, here are a few shots of Luke and Mimi trying on the witch nose and chin.



Doesn't Luke have the world's greatest (and most talented) Mimi?!? By the way, on the very same day, the two of them went outside and collected bugs in a bug house she had bought for him, too. The next morning the first thing he said to me was, "Mama, isn't it amazing that Mimi and I caught that beetle last night!?"

I know we miss out on a lot of the "normal" time lots of kids get with their grandparents, but I am so grateful for this kind of time he gets with Mom and Dad. Most kids don't get that the way he does. Thank you, Mom and Daddy! We all love you! Even if Mom is a witch... ;) AAAeehh-hah-hah-hah!*

*That was my best attempt at transcribing the witch cackle!

Great Friends and Unlimited Filet Mignon

We usually get together with the Farleys and Shabouts before we leave each time we come home. We either go to a Brazilian steakhouse or The Melting Pot. This time we went to Boi Na Braza and had dinner.






The food was delicious. Jason informed everyone that I ate as much steak as he did. I sure felt like it! We had dessert, too, and I felt like Templeton the rat afterward!


It is always so much fun to get together with these guys. I miss them so much when we're away, and love catching up when we get home. Jason has had the pleasure of knowing them since he was a kid, and I am ever-grateful they adopted me into the group! :)

Summer time

We had a very busy summer living out of suitcases and traveling from place to place. Jason began his summer at a conference in New Mexico while Luke and I stayed in Texas. Then shortly after he returned, our whole family went to Hawaii. We had a great week there all together. (I will probably post some highlight pics later...they're already up on facebook.) The day after we returned from Hawaii, the three of us left for Wisconsin and Illinois. We spent time with Uncle Bob and Aunt Liz before going to Illinois to see Aunt Nancy and Uncle Victor, and then heading back to Wisconsin to go to the fair and visit Grandma and Jeremy. Then I flew home to be in Texas in time to visit with Noel and Rachella (Egypt friends), who were there for a conference. Jason and Luke drove home about a week later, and then we had about ten days before we came back to Caracas. When people asked how our summer was, I say, "Great, but not very relaxing." We were just on the go so much!! We did get to visit many of the people we had hoped to see, which is always fun, and we had lots of good times with Mimi and Granddad, Aunt Kari, Uncle Scott, Aunt Jenny, and Jackson! Here are a few photos from the END of the summer.




We are now back in Caracas. We love it here and are glad to be back. The beautiful weather is so wonderful. Right now our windows are open, we have a nice breeze in the house, and everything is quiet. We've been back at school officially since Tuesday, but Jason and I have been there every day since last Wednesday. Our classrooms are both just about finished and we're on to lesson planning and working with our teams.

A note about the blog: Several people have commented on how infrequently I've posted since we moved to Venezuela. When I started this blog three years ago, I was still a stay-at-home mom. Then the next year I taught art and only had four lessons a week to plan. Luke was still home, in preschool every morning. Last year I went back to teaching fifth grade full time, and Luke started kindergarten. My job is fun, intense, and exhausting. Luke has homework every night, and we all participate in after-school and evening activities. We love our schedules and our life here. I just do not have the time and energy to post as frequently as I used to. I am going to make more of an effort to post weekly, or at the very least, every other week, because I know there are many people who love to see photos of Luke and hear how we are doing. I appreciate the gentle nudges to write, but please understand that I'm doing the best I can do! :) If I fall off the face of the earth for a while, please forgive me. Thanks for reading, and thanks for understanding!

Love,
Katherine

School construction

Here you go, Sascha! More and better photos to come. Jason's going to take the camera to school tomorrow.

Luke's New Quarters

Thanks to Mimi, we have some great new decor for Luke's pirate bedroom. She gave him some vinyl stick-ons for his wall, a neat sign for his door, and a new pillow with his name on it. I added the collage on the wall behind his bed, and hung up a net that mom gave me years ago for my classroom. His pirate toys provide the rest of the decorations. Voila! New quarters for James Barrelwalker!