Hallelujah Party

The Bridge, a CRC church plant here in Sioux Center, puts on a big Hallelujah Party for Halloween. Attending is definitely the thing to do. The party is held in the rec center at Dordt College and I think pretty much every family in the city was there. For the party, they set up lots of carnival games all the way around the track and they recruit college kids to volunteer to staff the games. Jacob was one of the volunteers tonight. The kids go around and play the games and win tickets which they can exchange for little toys and candy. Even with so many kids attending, there were enough things to do that we never had to wait in line more than a couple minutes for a game or activity.

It was fun to see all the kids, and even some adults, in their costumes and everyone was having a great time. Our kids had a blast. Jon Felipe wore his black shirt with the bones on it so he looked like a skeleton. He also wore his Colombia hat (costumes are more about having fun than being logical). Maria was pretty worn out from all the activities of the week and so she chose not to try to wear a costume. She really didn't want to stay home and miss the fun, but she was fighting her MG the whole time and even though we only stayed an hour, she was struggling with walking by the end. Even so, she seemed to enjoy the party and she can rest up tomorrow.

Soup Supper

I tell my students that they have to let kids know about the hidden curriculum. This is stuff like "Teacher A is unhappy if you turn your work in late" and "Teacher B doesn't mind so much about assignments being late, but really gets upset if you are late to class." Most kids figure it out on their own. Some need a little more help. I felt like someone needed to clue me in on the hidden curriculum tonight at the soup supper, starting with how to get in the school. All the doors we have ever used to enter the building were locked. We did eventually find the open door in the back of the building and enjoyed our meal. As Maria and Jon Felipe ran around with friends and we did our gig busing tables, we also got to know a few more people at SCCS and had a few good laughs. Still, it's going to take awhile to get this all figured out.

Birthday Cake and Beautiful Music

Jon Felipe turned 9 today. We spread the birthday celebration out over the course of the day to keep it from being too overwhelming. This morning he opened the package from my parents. After school, he opened the cards he got in the mail from Dwight's parents and from our friends the Swarts. After dinner, Jacob and Tony came over for cake and he opened his presents from us. These included a new Sponge Bob toothbrush, a hat and mittens, and a DVD of High School Musical 3. He also got to wear the birthday hat all day at school and pass out birthday candy. He had a wonderful day.

To bake the cake, I borrowed a mixer from Regina who lives just a few blocks away. In Holland, we would borrow a mixer from the Pikaarts, but we couldn't convince them to move to Iowa with us. As Jon and I were walking back home last night with the mixer, we were talking about his upcoming birthday celebration. He told me that they don't have birthdays in Colombia. Since we participated in a couple birthday celebrations while we were in Colombia, I'm assuming that they did not celebrate birthdays in the orphanage. Obviously, with so many children to care for, this would be difficult to do. Jon Felipe didn't seem upset that they didn't celebrate birthdays, but he has certainly enjoyed celebrating his birthday here.

After the birthday cake, it was off to Luke's orchestra concert. All the music groups sounded really good, but in my opinion the orchestra was particularly good. The best part was that when we were waiting for the concert to begin, I saw Luke talking animatedly to another boy in the orchestra. Most days, when Luke leaves for school in the morning, I encourage him to try to talk with at least one person during the day. Some days he gets this out of the way by talking with someone on the bus, occasionally he will talk with someone during break, many times he comes home and says, "I just couldn't do it today." He isn't unhappy at school, it is just that starting a conversation with someone he doesn't really know is difficult for him. So, I enjoyed watching him talk with a classmate as much as I enjoyed the concert.

Walking to Work

Dwight's van had to go in for repairs last week (something with brakes and tie rods and other complicated things). Parts needed to be ordered and then the wrong ones came and we had to wait for new ones to be delivered; thus, I've been doing a lot of walking to work so Dwight can use my car. Even from the new house, it is only a fifteen minute walk. Yesterday, with Maria home sick, I walked to the college to teach my morning class, came home to check on her and get her lunch, walked back to teach my afternoon classes, and then walked home for a total of about an hour of walking. It was a pleasant day for walking and I can certainly use the exercise, plus it was definitely more enjoyable than spending that hour grading papers.

This morning, though, the weather wasn't nearly as nice. When I came in from getting the kids on the bus, I mentioned that, while it wasn't exactly raining, it was "misting heavily" as my friend from Seattle would say. I expected my dear husband to respond by offering to drop me off at work. Instead he said, "Here's an umbrella." Chivalry in Sioux Center, Iowa, is dead! By the time he figured out the proper response and offered to drive me to school, it had stopped raining and I was able to walk. I really do enjoy the walk, although I could do without having to lug a heavy laptop back and forth.

English

Jon Felipe is using more and more English at home. He is receiving intensive speech therapy at school and this shows. He speaks slowly and tries to enunciate the words. His most recent phrase is "I can't help it," except that he says "I can help." He still leaves endings off words and has a hard time with certain sounds, but his speech is definitely clearer. One of his great joys is that he is a champion burper. When he lets go with a good one and we respond with parently admonition, he grins and says, "I can help."

I am so proud of the progress he is making, but I don't want to lose the Spanish either. He and I still talk in Spanish as much as I can. I still try out all my new vocabulary on him and he still makes faces at me and gives me a hard time when I get it wrong. Tonight he was teasing me and deliberately saying the opposite of the words I was trying to practice. Goofy kid, I've got another big test tomorrow.

New House

This is the view across the street from "The Big House" where we now live. To the north of these fields, there are fields of soybeans. To the south is Open Space Park which extends all the way to Dordt. We do have neighbors on either side of us and behind us, several of whom we know already as they also work at Dordt. You'll have to wait for pictures of the inside until we are a little more unpacked. Suffice it to say, though, that I have been hanging around Calvinists long enough that I'm pretty sure I don't deserve to live in such a nice house.

We only moved about 8 blocks, so our phone number is the same. Our new address is:

1163 7th Ave.

Sioux Center, IA 51250

Birthday Countdown

It is just three days until Jon Felipe's birthday. He has been counting down for the last six weeks. We plan to have Tony and Jacob come by to share cake with us. I have a cake mix ready to go, although I will have to find someone to borrow a mixer from. Now that we are moved to the new place, though, we even have room for everyone to stand in the same room with the birthday boy and sing and watch him blow out the candles. What a blessing!

Life has been pretty exciting for Jon Felipe lately. Last week he was special student of the week in his class. His two favorite things about being special student of the week were getting to sit in the big yellow chair during story time and getting to pray at lunch. Praying at lunch was particularly special for him. He was so pleased that his class prays at lunch time in his new school. Obviously, his teachers couldn't do that last year at his school. He often asks me why this is so and I just do not have a good enough grasp of Spanish nor does he have a good enough grasp of English for me to be able to explain why Christian teachers in public schools cannot pray aloud in class.

Today is a special day too because we get to eat dinner at Kid Zone. We got to do this last month too. They have invited a small group of families to stay and share a meal once a month. They provide all the food and fun, we just get to enjoy. The idea is to help build community with the families. We had a great time last time and are looking forward to a fun evening again, plus the food was delicious. Jon Felipe just loves these types of events, so he has also been counting the days until we get to eat at Kid Zone again.

Actually, counting the days until any event is one of Jon Felipe's "hobbies." So, we count the number of days until we get to go to church. As soon as the service ends, he always lets me know that it is seven days until we get to go to "iglesia" again. On Fridays, he comes home and checks the number of days until he can go to "escuela" (school) again. If any other special event is happening, he will gladly keep track of the days for you. Doing this makes him happy, plus he is top notch at counting backwards.