Working It Out

Upon returning to the Basque Country, it became clear to us that our son was experiencing such hardship in school that we had to take him out. It was not a healthy environment for him to grow and learn. We reached a point where we literally felt like we had no options, but through the prayers of our beloved family and friends, and the support around us, we are seeing a bit of a clearing. It has always been a dream of mine to homeschool my children, and now it looks like I get to do that! I have been doing a bit of research and I really like what I am seeing with the strategy of a Charlotte Mason education. It incorporates an abundance of literature, and since my children can't get enough of books and stories, I think this could be a good route for us.
Because Simon is a great auditory learner he has been feasting on the adventures of "Huckleberry Finn" via podcast audiobooks. He and the girls have also been laughing to the tales and mischief of "Pipi Longstocking," and relishing in the mystery and intrigue of "The Secret Garden."
I have a lot of kinks to work out (homeschooling in a foreign country) but I am feeling encouraged and hopeful about it.

"See You Crazy"

Today Gerald and I saw a neighbor woman whom we hadn't seen for some time. She is great and always friendly. After stopping to chat for a few minutes, we began to say our goodbyes which traditionally end in something like this: "Hasta Luego" which means basically: "See you later." Gerald decided (unintentionally of course) to try something new: "Hasta Loco." No explanation needed.
I find this extremely appropriate given the state of our life right now.

Garage jam session in Arizona...

Check out Gerald, Chris, and Michael getting funky in the Ledners garage on Lylah's blog:

http://lylahledner.blogspot.com/2008/05/blog-post.html

Update!

Much time has passed since our last blog entry! And even more so-events! I write this post from our living room in our apartment in the Basque Country! For those of you who haven't heard, our visas arrived just in time! Gerald happened to be on a "boys surfing trip" in Malibu with Simon, and our friend Andone from Basque Country when the visas came in. I joined them later that night (quick flight from Phoenix to LA) with 5 passports in hand. 4 days later, we made our flight back to the Basque Country. As much as I love the States, and specifically Arizona, and my family, my prayer was that God would bring the visas at the right time. It certainly seems that He did!
Coming back, I realized all the things that I had forgotten that I love about being here:
-people walk everywhere, and I do mean everywhere
-the sound of mopeds (Gerald thinks I am crazy, but I love to keep my window open and listen to them race up and down our street at 3 in the morning. There is something musical about it, though!)
-fresh bread (oh it tastes so good, but it can be so dangerous when eaten in large quantities on a daily basis long term)
-the streets, sidewalks, etc. are always full of people, there is so much life here
-the buildings are old, and beautiful
-although it hurts my brain, it is fun to learn a new language
-i love our cozy apartment with just our little family
We thank God for a safe journey back home!

Confessions Of A Slacker

Okay, so our blog has been a bit spotty the past few weeks because of our upheaval in our current living situation, but please check our our wonderful friends and teammates Chris and Megan Probasco's blog. They have just spent 2 weeks in the Basque Country living in our apartment doing visiting and meetings for the summer program, because we have not been there. They will be in Seattle this summer with students from the Basque Country, and we are praying they can join us this fall by moving to Donostia!
On the other hand, I have taken lots of pictures and posted many blog entries in my head. I will get around to putting them on our actual blog soon! Stay tuned! :)

cmprobasco.blogspot.com

From Bayonne to Bilbao...

"My people

have always had a harbour;

but nothing to hold on to firmly,

our harbour is the sea,

the furious sea,

which stretches from Bayonne to

Bilbao...

The sea is our language,

from Bayonne to Bilbao."

Biaonatik Bilbora

by Imanol Larzabal

It's Out Of My Hands

I can have a tendency towards extremeism. Much of the time I am laid back and can go with the flow. But, when it comes to food...well-I can be a bit...unflexible. One year our family ate no sugar. For Easter, I loaded those plastic eggs with little erasers and raisins and peanuts. Simon has eaten at McDonald's two times in his life. Jillian and Miriam-never. Sometimes I overhear Jillian ask Simon when he grows up if he is going to eat at McDonalds. He gets a wicked grin and a rebellious smile and says: "Oh yeah. Like everyday." Jillian is moritified and feels her brother is walking a straight line toward the gates of hell.
We eat organic whenever available, I would prefer to grow my own food, have chickens who lay our eggs, and collect milk from my own cow. Anything artificial keeps clear of our plates.
I say all this because as I look at my current life situation, I have really gone down hill.
Since living with my parents this past month (and counting...) my kids have a constant supply of bubble tape bubble gum (unnaturally blue or red), coke at dinner time (my heart races at the thought!), and well, whatever else they ask their grandfather for. I love my dad, and now-there is just no competing. He is a sucker for his grandkids. And for now, their teeth are rotting, but they are happy.

Top Ten Reasons I Love The United States

1. Whole Foods
2. Stumptown Coffee, Pete's Coffee, and when these aren't available...Starbucks is!
3. Libraries are in english.
4. Old Navy has incredible sales.
5. Every type of food you can imagine (thai food, indian food, sushi on every corner!)
6. Eating dinner at 6:00 is normal.
7. The coffee at restaurants is endless.
8. You can buy peanut butter.
9. Drive-thru's.
10. My mom's washing machine can fit more than 3 towels. A LOT more.
okay...11. Target (thanks Angela! how could I forget???!)

An Update

Okay, so we came back to the U.S. because we had extended our legal stay in Spain (Basque Country) as our residence visas had not come in as planned. It seemed perfect. The "man in charge" said our visas would arrive in L.A. at the end of the month (March), the kids had 2 weeks of spring break, and we had a conference with Summer in the USA to attend in Seattle. Yet here we are in Arizona two weeks into April, no word on our visas (still waiting!), and we can't get back into the country until the papers are in our hands. So now, we are waiting, and praying, and I am teaching Jillian timestables, and working with Simon on reading (Treasure Island), and doing Rosetta Stone (spanish) on the computer, and Gerald is working on the phone and computer.
So-this is the latest news for us! We are in a holding pattern. We are learning patience. We are learning faith. It is not where we want to be, but we recognize we are not the ones in charge! And we can take comfort in this!

A Little Work...

...And A Lot Of Play!

Experts (again!)

So, we have been back in the Good Ol' U.S. of A for nearly 2 weeks now. After having been living in the Basque Country for 6 months, we are enjoying the ease of conversation in our native tongue, we are finding the "system" here to be smooth and effortless, and the coffee and food...well, let's just say...variety is the spice of life! :) It is certainly humbling to live in a foreign culture and foreign language. We are like infants, dependant on those who know how to live and operate in this land. The simple daily activities that we take for granted in our own country, become large hurdles, burdening obstacles that must be manuevered with lots of time and care.
Even though it has been a difficult season of learning, I thank God because He has helped our family to grow. We are seeing areas in our lives that need His sharpening and His careful carpenter Hands. We are learning dependance on Him in ways we never knew possible.
So, for the next two weeks, we will enjoy being the "experts" on everything! But we are excited to return because He has been faithful to us in unimaginable ways and we know He will continue to do so.

Who Needs A Dog?

...when you have ladybugs!

Bike Tales

Jillian never rode a tricycle. I was concerned that she'd never learn to ride a bike. But two days ago, she got on the bike and Gerald has been chasing her ever since.

My Three Girls!

How is Miriam's face?

The Dirt Has Arrived

My parents are putting in garden boxes. They had dirt shipped from California-here is the day of delivery. The kids were ecstatic when this big truck pulled up and "dumped" the dirt right on the driveway. They weren't so ecstatic when they spent two days helping my parents shovel the dirt from the front to the back of the house. But all the hard work sure has cured the jet lag!

Drums And Fun

I have been enjoying the freedom of living in a house again. After 6 months of living in an apartment and constantly having to remind kids to keep noise levels down, the kids are loving loud singing, loud laughter...and loud drums! Gerald thought this would be a great gift for Simon as this was around the time Gerald began to play drums. Fortunately for everyone, these drums do come with earphones!

4 a.m. Is The New 7 a.m.

I hate jet lag.

London Airport

We arrived in Arizona!!! It took 2 planes, and 2 days-but we made it safely. As we were landing in London and preparing to spend a night in England Simon was a bit pensive.

Simon: Dad, are the people in England all like Mr. Bean?Gerald: No, Simon. He's just a funny character.

Simon: (confessing) good...because I was a little scared of him.

On The Road (again!)...

After talking with the person-in-the-know here in the Basque Country, they were able to find our visas in the computer systems (still in process) but will be ready for pick up in early April. This means our whole family has to be present in Los Angeles to pick up our visas. The timing works out great because the kids have two weeks off from school for Semana Santa (Easter break) and Gerald has a conference in Seattle the last week in March.
So...tomorrow our family of 5 begins the 2 day journey back to Arizona for a few weeks (2) to catch our breath and drink 6 months worth of Starbucks, and then Gerald and I will spend some time in Portland to see our wonderful friends and then up to Seattle for our conference. We will finish our trip in Los Angeles to get our much awaited visas before returning to San Sebastian. 4 States, 4 weeks.
I look forward to posting lots of pictures of cousin time. Simon, especially, has been missing his cousin and BFF-Zane. He told Gerald he didn't want to spend a minute without Zane.
We appreciate your prayers as we prepare for this journey!