In Zambales

We are in Zambales.  The Internet is intermittant--like every other minute it comes and goes. 

The trip was uneventful except for 1.5 hours of carsick misery.  After Jerry gave me some of his Dramamine, it cleared up. 

The compound is actually a school for about 70 kids--most of them Aeta.  The Aeta's were the first inhabitants of the Philippines and descendents of the Aborigines in Australia.  They live in the mountains nearby and this school is to help the children get an education and have a better life.  We had no idea that there would be 70 kids here!  They are so cute!!  They were standing in rows waiting for us and waved and sang as we drove up.  They saw me get my camera out and the outgoing ones started mugging for it immediately.  Adorable!

Could they be any cuter? 
I think not.

Those two little guys crouched down in front?
Yeah...
They were the ones mugging for the camera.

 So stinkin' cute!

Let's all squeeze in and push and shove each other out of the way.  haha
Then they all wanted to see their picture on the back of my camera--and were quite amazed and self-conscious.

I tried three times to get a shot of this little girl but Mr. PhotoBomber there on the left continually inserted himself into every frame.  Finally I gave up and settled for this shot.

"Ahhh, yes.  I am Mrs. PhotoBomber but that is because you were ignoring me and I really wanted to have my picture taken."

 These kids were quite delighted to see themselves on the back of my mom's camera.

You will not be seeing any pictures of me because my hair has reacted MOST unfavorably to the humidity and lack of decent air flow from my hairdryer.
Yeah.
Forget it.  I'm not showing you.

Right now, I am hitting the jet-lag wall of tiredness and incoherancy, so I will sign off and hopefully tell you a bit more tomorrow. 
The pastor's wives are coming in the morning so we have a full day.  I am taking portraits and supposedly giving a talk that I haven't even prepared for yet--because I thought my talk was at the end of the conference.
Ack!

Here is our room--on the third floor of the girls dorm.  Thankfully, we have a window A/C and unfortunately, seem to also have the ever-present barking dog as musical accompaniment.

I'm going to hit 'publish' while I still have Internet--so sorry if this is an abrupt ending.

Made it Safe and Sound!

My mom and I met up in Tokyo and flew into Manila on the same plane.  We were thankful that we--and our luggage--all made our connections.

We arrived late at night and it was past midnight when we arrived at our guest house.  We are staying at a SEND International guest house so everything is nice and clean; basic, but we have A/C in our room.  Yay!  However, there was a dog that barked incessantly right below our window.  I was thinking many unkind thoughts about it and wondered how on earth it could bark so long without getting hoarse.  It's probably had many hours of practice to keep it's voice box limber.  UGH.

We leave today after lunch for Zambales, about 4 hours north.  We have been told it is much more primitive but we will be staying in a compound of a Philippine family who runs a school and clinic there.  We were told last night that the mosquitoes are fierce since the typhoon hit, so we are going to try to locate some bug spray in a little bit.  We would love prayers that our team would stay healthy!

Speaking of health, Jerry, our fearless leader (who was also on our Honduras trip) had his first-ever gallbladder attack last night.  He was in intense pain but is feeling better this morning.  Having just had my own bout of the same thing a few months ago, I was able to commiserate. 

I have no pictures to share yet since we got in late, but hopefully I will be able to take a few today and share tomorrow (providing we have wifi there). 

Oh...I almost forgot...  my church family donated medical supplies to take and I was trying to make sure my suitcases were not overweight.  As I'm sure you know, you are allowed 50 pounds for each checked bag.  Our scale at home broke, so I had to estimate.  The larger of the two suitcases had most of the medicines and at the last minute, I shifted a few things around to try to balance the weight between the two, hoping the large one wouldn't be over the limit.  I had my camera and computer in a rolling carry-on, and two large suitcases.  Schlepping all that stuff by myself was a bit difficult and I just wanted to get rid of it.  I didn't want to be opening and re-arranging at the check-in, so I just prayed that God would help me get it right.  I hoisted the heaviest one on the scale at the check-in counter and held my breath.  It was 50 pounds right on the nose!!!   I couldn't believe it!  (Oh me of little faith!)  Would it have been a big deal if I had to have rearranged things?  No, but it was just so nice that God took care of it.  It was just His way of smoothing the way and letting me feel His Presence.  And maybe His way of making up for the stinkin' lack of Starbucks at JFK.  What's that about, anyway?

Heading to the Philippines in less than Seven Hours....

I have seriously neglected this blog the past few weeks.
I have a good excuse.

Besides the usual mayhem around here, I have been preparing to go on a mission trip to the Philippines with my mom.

That means all the kids' school lesson plans needed to be typed up in advance so that they would know what they needed to do each day.

And suitcases needed to be packed.
Passport located.
Medicines collected.
Kids fall clothes brought out of storage.

And I needed to cook and freeze nine days of meals.
Just kidding.
Jeff is on his own with the cooking thing.
ha.

My mom and I are going with Advancing Native Missions, the same organization we went with to Honduras last year.  We will be doing essentially the same thing (medicals, portraits, and then a one-day medical clinic in a village in the mountains).

Our churches are both sending us off with lots of medicines, as well as money to buy prescription meds once we meet up with the doctor in Manila.  We will then be heading four hours north to Zambales.

This area just got hit with a typhoon last week so we will probably have an opportunity to help with additional needs.

I am hoping to blog daily if possible. 

Jeff is working from home and is going to experience the joys of a homeschool mom.
No, really.
THE JOY, people...the JOY.
The kids are kind of in a groove now--thankfully--so I am hoping the household will hum smoothly while I'm gone.

I'll check back in from Manila if possible.

Another Field Trip to Old Sturbridge Village

The kids have been begging to go back to Old Sturbridge Village.  A few of them just happen to love the place and the others were saving up their money to revisit the gift shop.

We continue to be ridiculously amused by these boards.

 We especially like seeing Jake as the baby girl in a dress.

And we found a new one at the playground!  I'm biased but I think Katie is one of the cutest little lambs I've ever seen.

Posing in the fake outhouse in the playground area.

We made Jordan participate and he doesn't look too happy about it. In fact it looks like the shirt is choking him.

They played for so long on this part of the playground.

They didn't play here for very long, though.  haha

Kate was the exception.  When all the kids were playing elsewhere, she snuck back in and was singing "The Star Spangled Banner" at the top of her lungs.

You don't even want to know how long it took them to get up there and pose for this (their idea not mine) and I had to snap quickly because they were sliding off.

I pointed out this wholly caterpillar and it was quickly snatched up and fought over.  It was also carried from building to building, much to the dismay of some of the staff.

We stopped by to see this cow lick the fence.  Over and over.  I don't have a clue why.

We went into the Tavern to wait for the stagecoach and the kids played checkers. There is a restaurant in the basement and it smelled soooo good.  We had brought our PB&J, so we were all good. 

After a few hours, we had collected quite a few wholly critters.  And they were very loved.  And played with.  And gross.  Kate's kept pooping on her.

I had promised them that they could either ride the stagecoach or the boat the next time we came and they chose the boat.  Whee.

The captain asked SaraGrace to push the button to sound the horn as we returned to the dock.  Unfortunately, it stuck.  As in BLARING LOUDLY for the last few minutes of our voyage.  She was mortified because she thought it was her fault.

They have a beautiful covered bridge that I love.  I'm somewhat obsessed with covered bridges if you haven't noticed.

Katie runs to check out the sawmill.

Running down the lane to see the cows.

It was a beautiful day and such a pretty setting.  Doesn't this take you back in time?

We spent a lot of time here in the farmhouse kitchen asking questions and enjoying the smell of the food.
But not the flies.
And this time we asked if they ate the food after the flies were swarming it. 
They do.
Blech.

We learned that coffee beans are white when they come off the plant and don't turn dark until roasted.  Not sure why that fact has escaped me until now.

The kids took turns grinding coffee.

Then it was off to see them feed the pigs.  SaraGrace thinks they are cute.
I'm not getting the same loving feeling.
Plus...they were really mean to each other...biting and snapping.  Now I know where the term, 'don't be a pig,' came from.  UGH.  They were fighting over every scrap and snarling at each other.

We wandered over to the barn and found out that they were going to call the cows home.  Cool!  We looked out toward the field and were amazed at how the cows came running when they were called.

Here they come!

This year's baby.  Isn't she cute?

We wandered over to see the sheep while we waited for cow milking time.

There were apples lying all over the ground--in the fence and out--so the kids tried feeding them to the sheep.  None of the kids liked getting their fingers so close to sheep teeth, so Jordan came up with the idea to offer an apple on a stick.
It worked.

Jake got bored and began to use his apple as a hacky sack.

Then the farmer came to call the sheep and they also came running instantly.  So cute!
We headed back to the barn to see the cow get milked, which was quite fun.  Unfortunately, my iphone could not get a decent picture because it was so dark in the barn.

After spending quite a bit of time at the farm, we moved toward the exit but not before stopping at the school yard to jump rope.  Kate had been begging all day.  She had a blast!  Who knew that child would love jump roping so much?  While there, SaraGrace found this wooden bucket and dipper and wanted to pose.  She was QUITE bugged that Katie 'photo bombed' her photo.

Before leaving, they found a water pump which they all tried out.  They were so excited about it.  I tell them frequently about the pump my grandparents had at their cabin when I was a little girl.

Another fun day at the Village!  They are planning their next trip already. 

Are you Ready for some Football?

A few weeks ago I received an email that our town was starting sign-ups for flag football.  We mentioned it to a few of the kids who we thought might be interested.

Guess who was all excited?

Miss Zoey!

She played her first game this week.  It's a league for boys and girls, but there are very few girls.  Zoey is the only girl on her team.  Go Zoey!

We got there early so the younger kids begged to go over to the playground until the game started.  Reluctantly, I agreed when Molly offered to go with them.  Within ten minutes, I saw them all hurrying toward me...Molly carrying Kate and the other kids yelling, "Katie got hurt!  Katie got hurt!"
Argh.
Her chin was covered in blood, her hands were bloody from trying to keep blood from dripping onto her clothes and she was sobbing.
We headed to the car where I had some napkins and water to clean her off.
As I examined the wound, it became clear that she had hit her face and bit all the way through her mouth.  There were two little teeth wounds on the outside of her face.
And Jeff wasn't there yet.
Just. shoot. me. now.
Once Jeff got there, we discussed what to do and decided not to take her to ER.  We have experienced this face-with-teeth-through-the-skin injury with other kids and were always told they didn't need stitches if the wounds were clean and horizontal.  I think Kate will heal nicely.

But seriously....do we always have to have the drama?

Deep breaths....and focus on what we came for...THE GAME!

Zoey started off the evening by being co-captain.  Cool!  I'm sure all the kids will get a turn but it was neat that she was picked the first game.

She was on offense and started off as quarterback.  All the kids have to wear a mouth guard, so Zoey looks pretty hilarious in all the pictures.

 Waiting for the snap...

She drops back to pass...

Looks for a receiver...

And the throw....

Overthrown...  Oh well.  It was a really nice spiral. 

(And would the second grade receiver have actually caught it anyway?)

Let's try the offensive line!

How about being a Center?

And the snap...

Don't mess with me, boy.

Seriously?  You don't scare me, dude.

Good game, guys!  (They won 18-0) but of course, they don't keep score.
Don't get me started about all the stupidity of that.
Those kids knew EXACTLY what the score was.
It's the adults that delude themselves into thinking that if they don't SAY the score out loud, the kids will magically have no idea who won and just have fun.
Pfffffft.