Lizards by Spencer

Lizards live in my house.
They live in the bathroom.
They live in the bedrooms.
They live in the kitchen.
My favorite lizard pooped on my friend, Chantal's head.

My 9th Birthday by Tate

For my 9th birthday I went to Amboni Caves.  I invited 4 of my friends.  The Amboni Caves are really cool. In one of the rocks there is a print that looks exactly like a cows hoof.  One cave was full have bat poo and cockroaches. Bats were fluttering against my ears.  It was disgusting.
Going to the caves was the best birthday ever. 

Trees by Spencer

We have a catus.
We have palm tree.
We have a mango tree.

I like to climb the pira (gwava) tree.
I like to eat piras or (gwavas in english).

The Weather by Tate

When I came back from Canada it was so hot and each day it got less hot because I got used to it.  Right now we are in the short rainy season. There are only 2 seasons(in Tanzania), the rainy season and the hot season. In the short rainy season it only rains every 2 weeks and in the normal rainy season it rains a lot. In the hot season is it doesn't rain from December to March.

The rainy season is my favorate because it is really, really hot in the hot season.

Firsts by Tate

When I came back from Canada, the first thing I saw was the dead, brown grass.  The first friends we saw were Wayne and Joyce. They drove to the airport in our car to pick us up.

Last night we went to the pastor's house to eat dinner. We eat beans, rice and meat and something else and juice.  The juice smelled funny and the meat smelled tasty.  Mum said the something else was lentils, I don't remember what it smelled like but it looked like it was fish scales.

The Weather by Spencer

When I first got here it was cloudy/sunny. It was steaming hot! It got hotter and hotter and hotter and hotter until it rained and then the roof dripped on me.

(As Spencer was writing this, the roof started leaking over his desk. He had to wipe the water off his book to keep going.)

Homeschool

I started schooling the kids this week and I was thinking about the last 8 months with having the boys in school in Victoria.  I was thinking about what an awesome experience they had at Lighthouse Christian Academy. I don't know if I could give a big enough thank you to their teachers who went out of their way, way out of there way, to make it such a positive time.  From the good classroom experience to the going way party with gifts to open once they got to Tanzania, the boys were thrilled. Thanks!
Now I am having trouble with the boys stating that "their teacher didn't do it THAT way". 

We Have Arrived

After a ferry ride, two 9 hour plane rides, a 6 hour car drive, and a few sleepless nights getting used to the 11 hour time change, we returned to the village.  Fighting our way through the spiderwebs and dust, we inspected our house.  Not too bad, other that the rat in the hallway that has been there way too long. The floor is littered with so many dead spiders and other bugs that you stop seeing them as bugs and just see dirt. Nothing a broom can't fix.
On closer inspection it looked as though there had been an earthquake as many of the walls and floors have cracks jagging through them,  I guess things have been very dry while we were away and it has cause the house to shift.  Nothing a bit of cement and paint won't fix though. 
The kids wander from room to room, happy to be back but with a big, empty, dirty house they soon get bored. Nothing 25 village kids ready to play won't fix.

6 days!

Check out the packing video below.

16 Days

If you had to take everything you wanted to play with for the next year or two, what would you take? Tate is loading up on Transformer paraphernalia.  Spencer is grabbing Lego sets, science kits and costumes like they are going out of style. Alisha is outfitting herself with all the safety gear she needs for her new bike.  And mom is tossing in 250 pounds of books just for good measure.

34 days

What are the kids looking forward to...the HEAT! (Tate)

                               Friends and time to "make thing". (Spencer)

                                                       Play :-)  (Alisha)

The Countdown Begins

40 Days until we fly!  Time to think of all the last minute things we would like to do before heading to the other side of the world.

Spencer took Rich up on his grant-a-wish-quick plan and went out to TIm Hortons for a snack last night. Mmmmm one last Blueberry Bloom donut.