Schooling at Home

The Last Toothless Smile

With Classroom Friends

Morning Pictures

This morning, I brought the camera along when I picked the kids up from school. Mornings are usually cool up here, even in the hot season, hence the long sleeves and jackets. The rainy season is still months away, so rain will be exciting if it comes. 

We live on the other side of the village, so I usually pick up the kids on the motorbike. Sometimes we stop at our friend's house on the way home. 

This friend sells lunch food in front of her house, so it's an easy spot to grab a bite to eat. 

Washing the hands before eating.

Kids with big appetites.

Proud to show off their hard work for the morning. 

The View Never Gets Old

School Uniforms

This day was a big deal. We went shopping for school uniforms in preparation for beginning at our village school in just a short time. The weight of the situation is hitting the boys right here... the new school uniforms have both collars and buttons. Tough, tough stuff. 

To boys that throw on t-shirts and shorts every day, it's a brand new day.

Two Dollars and Forty Cents

The boys weren't happy about it, but I finally dragged them to a barber shop for haircuts. For years, they've begged me to do the cutting, but I'll tell you, they had a rapid change of opinion when they realized how quickly a professional can knock out a haircut. Haha!

Eva's cut was only a little over a dollar, but not so great, so next time we'll look for another place. 

But with the good old ponytail, who can even tell? 

The Big 7

 Dad created a masterpiece for the birthday boy on his special day. "Shipwreck in Stormy Waters," we'll call it. Happy Birthday, Zach! You are the smiliest, happiest boy ever, and we praise the Lord for bringing you into our family. 

Capes and Crowns

Hand-sewn, individually colored capes and golden crowns from Aunt Laura! 

Combined with a rip stick, let the good times roll. 

cold out and cold in

Breakfast in the cold season never grows old...

Who doesn't want to get up to temps in the 40s? It's the bomb. 

40s out and 40s in... hot chocolate anyone? 

It's like constant camping... school with gloves on? We love the cold.

TEN!!!!

For her birthday, Eva invited her friends from school, just girls as she wanted, with a few of the boys' friends who snuck in too. :) Happy birthday to our favorite little girl. You light up our lives and fill our house with joy and laughter.

Field games

Decorating plates from the outdoors with amazing creativity.

The pinata was a great hit... haha

The Big 10

For Eva's 10th birthday, we thought having a pinata would be great fun. So we found a big balloon and used that for the mold

stuffed the thing full of candy

covered it with streamers we found in town

 the kids thought it was the best pinata ever!

A village walk

The kids and I were out walking one day and stopped by our friend's house in the village. In typical Lao style, she had us come right in and stay for a bowl of soup, which she made right there while we visited. Best soup ever! No wonder we love to walk in our village.