Still at a Cyber...

We have word about our computer. It doesn't seem too bad of a fix, but it also won't be ready until next wednesday. Sooooo, we continue with the "computer fast". Which is actually really great, because I am reading three different books and love them all.
In Search of the Source by Neil Anderson
Shepherding Your Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp
The Five Love Languages of Teenagers by Gary Chapman (don't laugh, Ellen)
Plus, I have had a bad lower back for the past few days, so this rest from the computer has been good.
All day long I think of many things to write and wish I had my trusty little friend to take notes, but, I will wait.
We did clean up with the three trees that fell down. Edson is fine. Brandon and Gaby are huge! Oscar and I are running around for school activities, etc.
Oh...I did think of something I wanted to write.
The other day Brandon put on a CD to listen to. As we were listening, I was cooking in the kitchen and started singing some of the songs. He came over and looked at me very funny and said...Mom, do you know these songs? I said, Yes, of course, they are over 20 years old! He was listening to and old album of Petra. He said...Did you LIKE petra, then? I said, Yes and I also got in trouble for listening to it! It was ROCK MUSIC. That was bad!
Okay, I can deal with Petra, again. As long as he likes it, we'll keep listening to it and I will sing along! It's better than other stuff!

Still No Computer

I've been visiting a public "Cyber" place. It's hard to find a moment without Edson to do this. So many computers were taken in on Monday that they didn't even start to look at ours, yet.
Keep praying for our family. Gaby's stitches are healing fine. Everyone else is fine...I have a very bad lower-back pain...not good with a little one around.
We are immersed in end of the year school and church activities.
Pictures of our school olympics.

Saturday's Storm

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Well, we had a strange storm on Saturday night that destroyed a lot in about 15 minutes. Weather reports advised thunderstorms and rain for all weekend. Brandon and Gaby went to church earlier on Saturday for some afternoon activities and I told them that I would follow about 6 pm...if it doesn't rain. Oscar was with a group in Concepcion, about 5 hours from here, and I was going to go with Edson on a city bus. Well, It rained off and on that day, but the sun came out about 5:30 pm. I turn on the computer and worked for 15 minutes and decided to get ready for church and go. About 5:45 there was a snap of lightning out of no where followed by a loud thunder. My computer zapped.
I was sad.
I called Oscar and tried plugging it in and out and couldn't revive it. So, by then, it started sprinkling a little bit and I debated going to church or just staying home with Edson.
I stayed home. I got some things done and went to our bedroom. I sat Edson in his pack'n play with a bunch of books and I also layed down to read and rest.
All of a sudden there was this strange wind and it seemed as if twigs or hail were hitting the window. I heard other shutters banging in other rooms of the house and went to check it out. Right about that time, the electricity went out and Edson was screaming. There was thunder and lightning almost together and non-stop...then, just as soon as it started, it stopped. I was relieved, but still we had no lights. I had to grope around for candles and mosquito spray. I was glad I didn't go to church.
Our house is on a slight hill and I could see for miles that other neighborhoods were without electricity and Vivi called me from church saying that they finished singing when the storm started and now they were without electricity, too.
By morning we also had no water. I walked outside and saw our unripe mangos all over the ground. Trees laying on top of each other, twisted and broken and one uprooted. The yard was a mess!
News reports say that the wind was about 150kmp/hour. 4000 homes affected, millions of dollars damage to the electric companies, trees, signs, and debris all over the city. The cities with the most damage were Villa Elisa and San Antonio...our city.
Thank God for His AWESOME protection. He moved those trees like toothpicks and kept me (and Edson) safe.
Sunday afternoon we went to a neighbor's house to play soccer and visit and Gaby fell cutting his knee open. Pastor Pedro took him in to get 4 stitches. Oscar got home later that evening. It was raining. I quickly started washing up dishes and cleaning toilets with rain water. We ended up showering under the rainspout in the dark!
Our lights came back on Monday at 4 pm and water at 6 pm. I went to 5 different gas stations on Monday looking for ice...with NO LUCK. Ice and bottled water were scarce!
We're cleaning up the mess...but we're SAFE!

Ostrich Eggs

We have this amazing ostrich egg at home. It’s hard. It’s old. We are praying that it won’t break open thinking that the dead stuff inside might be kind of rotten-smelling. The man who gave it to Oscar said that he makes one scrambled egg out of ostrich eggs for a couple of people. He said that his wife has used them in tortilla and cake. Should I try it?
This is my stretched out hand...and a regular sized egg beside it.

Books and Balls

I never knew kids could do this….just sit for hours and read.
You see, my older boys were born soccer players and their first gift was a ball and they have had thousands of balls shuffled between their feet since day 1. They seem to be like magnets to balls. We have balls all over our house and especially in the kitchen were we usually gather as a family. Some days I mumble to myself or scream as I kick them out of my way (the balls-not the boys), trying not to fall over them while carrying a hot pan of cooked noodles that needs to be drained. We have had stuffed balls, plastic balls, leather balls, balloon balls, basket balls, foot balls, soccer balls, tennis balls, base balls, soft balls and golf balls. (Did I forget any?)
What amazed me with Edson was that he didn’t have a magnetic pull to balls. He preferred books. He doesn’t like balls! He likes books!
He can sit for an hours just looking through a stack of books. His favorites are animal books. We take books in the car. We take books to church. We take books to the babysitters. We love books. He reads ten books before going to bed. He falls asleep on his books. He eats breakfast with a book beside him. This is amazing! After two sports heroes, we might be going towards some quieter years with Edson.

Mom! Stop taking pictures, I'm reading!

Re: Steps at Las Tres Fronteras...

At the Tres Fronteras there was no warning of the number of steps...but check out these pictures and the distance you have to go down. I just IMAGINED that there were 500 steps because it LOOKED like it. Look at those tiny, tiny people way below! I stayed back with 5 students who also didn't want to make the hike.

Last pictures of the field trip

I tried to blog yesterday, but something was going wrong with my computer so, I went to bed instead. I will show you some of the last pictures of our trip. The Monday Falls, in Ciudad del Este, are like these falls in someone's backyard. It was the first time I was there. It is beautiful! Next time you visit maybe we can go there!

We went shopping in Ciudad del Este, a HUGE market place that borders with Brazil and Argentina, and then headed on to the Iguazu falls.

The Iguazu Falls. The falls are actually in Brazil and Argentina. There is a point (where we also visited) where the three countries actually meet divided by rivers called Las Tres Fronteras. There are cool souveniers with the three countries flags on them. There were about 500 steps to go down on the Paraguayan side to get to the bottom. Most of the kids went down, but I just looked at the beauty from above...thinking...if I DO go down then I will have to climb back UP those 500 steps. We just walked for days and I wasn't ready for more torture!

The whole group at the falls.