reporting live from Costa Rica

Weather: Rainy
Food: very good
Without my camera: it feels like I have part of me sort of missing....
Keeping busy: sleeping a lot(only a baby with me!) going to the dentist twice,riding buses and taxis,reading (The Shack,Stepping Heavenward,Captivating etc.,hanging out with old friends,coming up with new ideas for homeschool(I actually have time to think and plan!) .
Tomorrow: I plan to be out in the boonies. I'll probably keep busy making art... and working!
And~ oh,yeah! The coffee down here is really good!

Hasta Luego!
In His Love,Marcella

what is that?

Yeah,I know. That's my laundry shot at an angle. Is it a least a teeny bit like art? Look at all the textures and colors! Laundry and dishwashing are my two of my least favorite chores so I try to keep it a bit interesting... as in racing the clock,pretending I'm the maid, turning on music(Asian drums are in the player right now) and yes,taking pictures.So there,now you know some of my embarrassing secrets.
Wanna know something else? My little ones ate things like peanut butter sandwiches and Rice Krispy treats for breakfast. I was still tossing my cookies late last night. This virus is something else. Ok,now you know enough awful stuff about me for one day. Bye.
In Him, Pilgrimama

the breakfast club

homemade muffins and juice

a breakfast burrito in the making..

big and little,we gather round...

The mama breakfast club came about very organically. Lee and I attend a church a few minutes from our home that's inspired by the early churches. We come from all walks of life,and all stages. From folks struggling with homelessness to college professors and lots in between, we come. And from this growing gathering of people the mamas started to connect. And want to spend time together. So we eat breakfast together. (We meet up for plenty of other things too,but the breakfast group is the anchoring point,so to speak.) And we hash things out. Often in little snatches,here and there. We ask each other's opinions. We inspire one another. We are becoming family. These breakfast club people-I love them!

I now retire as the breakfast club people have also gifted me a nasty stomach virus. It's ok. I can handle the tough times too. Real life.

In His Love,

Marcella

thank-you wherever you are

Just reflecting this Mother's Day on the mother who carried me in her womb. Who gave birth, in a hut, to a child she pronounced beautiful but knew she could not provide for properly.So she did one of the bravest things a mother can do-she gave me to a woman who could.

So today I call out into the universe and I say" thank-you,wherever you are. May God be with you."

And, I say to the one who is my "mommy" and a grade A Mom, whom I know where she is- Happy Mother's Day! Thank-you for being an instrument of God to me, for putting so much into me and helping me be who I am today.

And to all motherkind today- it's a good work we have. It is.

In His Love,
Marcella

self directed learning

tool shopping starts young we find.......Alex found the flier for an area tool sale and begged to go....

though we refused to buy him such articles as a bow or a pistol! My foot,who does he think I am!This mother's fear of lethal weapons is well established. Sorry,dear.

"We don't approach learning as something people do as a separate activity. We live our lives and learn as we go."

the unschooling handbook by Mary Griffith

Though definitely not a radical unschooler or subscribing to much of unschooling philosophy, we do tend to view learning as an ongoing process rather than a specific time frame, in our home. It's amazing what children are capable of learning,especially when you put the right tools and opportunities into their hands.

In Him,

Marcella

a New York weekend

date night at an area watering hole....I may have been there last when I was four.

There was a lot of this....with friends and family.

a nice dose of the sun,good friends, and park equipment for the crowd of little people. We are ever so rich in wonderful friends and brethren in Christ!

My young ones exploring my childhood haunts.I feel like a piece of poetry may come from this. This beloved stream is still there,pretty much the same. But I'm no longer the five year old enchanted by its many creative options.My slate of life has so much writing on it now. How can a person come back after many years and almost reach back in time like this? And read part of the story of this one life of mine?

a beloved lilac tree from childhood-the scent of lilacs brings back a flood of memories. So much loss surrounding those sweet memories,so sweet the love I carry in my heart.It's all that's left in so many ways.

The weekend was filled with so much family reunion and was very intense. My Abba Father pulled me through and spoke to me so sweetly and filled my heart with peace even in all the intensity. And we love the dear Family of God that ministered to us so lovingly.Truly He is faithful and good!

In His Love,

Pilgrimama