A girl in Creed's class had a birthday party and he was invited. He kept asking about it the week before once he found out there was going to be a bouncy house. He LOVES to jump. I was nervousvall week because I knew I wold have to go with him. It is hard for me to converse very long in spanish. I know I have been here almost three months. But it is slow going, at least for me. We will at least come home with one really good spanish speaker. Laney is going crazy with her spanish and Creed is right there too. Laney has a great accent and talks a ton. She seems to understand a lot too. Her teacher said she is talking a lot at school. She corrects our spanish and is right a lot of the time. She seems to have a good ear for it. Plus, she is social and loves to communicate. Creed is doing great too. He speaks in sentences and loves Ana. She comes a few afternoons a week and plays with the kids. She does not know any english. She hugs, carries, and kisses Creed which helps his learning. Needless to say, I am proud of my kids. I am a little worried about myself since I am the weak link. Anyway, back to the party. We went and Creed had a blast. I got to meet some of his classmates moms and his really nice teacher was there too. I did not speak very much, epecially once the disney karaoke started. It was so loud. Glad we went and now when I drop the kids off I recognize some of the moms and the say hola.

We live near this huge park. I guess it use to be the airport. They moved the airport and planted a ton of trees and added a few ponds, some futbal fields, a track, a pool and a bunch of other stuff. They planted these austrelian eucaliptus trees because they grow really fast. However, now they are taking them out because they kill all the local vegetation and the birds and butterflies do not like them. Bummer because they are beautiful. At least they are doing it in stages so there still are trees. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago there was a couple hours of no rain so the kids and I went over to play near the ponds. They love to throw sticks and leaves in them. We were having a great time until creed slipped in up to his neck. It must have looked hilarious. Luckily it was a slopped part and I was sitting next to him. I know to never be too far from him when we are near water. He kept his head up and was lying in it up to his neck. I pulled him out by his ankle. He was very freaked out. Poor little guy. We had the stroller so after undressing him and wrapping him in our jackets we went home. That boy needs to learn how to swim soon.

I Need to Build a Boat

It has been raining for DAYS! Enough already. Before it rained every day, but was sunny too. I could so handle that. Now it rains day and night. This morning it was only drizzling so I enjoyed a long walk. First I went to see if the library was open. It was so I had a nice little conversation with the librarian about the library and it's hours. They have a nice little kids room for kids five and under with some toys and books. I think it will be a nice place to study too. It is hard to study in the house and my waistline is being affected by studying in restaraunts, so this is a good compromise. There is a park outside so they kids will like it too. On a side note we believe the poor dead gecko was Stanley. We have not seen him since that day. Laney was asking about him and Jason said maybe he went to another house and Laney said it was probably Stanley in the drawer. Creed has not asked any questions. We had a pet butterfly for a couple days in the laundry room. Creed did not care for it. It kind of looked like a bat. It hung upside down and was big and black. He disappeared after a few days though.

Stanley

We have a new pet and his name is  Stanley. He is our little baby gecko. Laney and I argued for awhile about whose room he should be in. I think he should be in mine and Laney wants him in hers. We love geckos because they eat mosquitoes. Jason decided to leave him in the living room and then Stanley found a home near the roater. Lucky Jason. Creed said he did not need him since mosquitoes do not like him. He is the luckiest of all. I have not seen a bite on him yet. Anyway, the kids made a house for Stanley out of toilet paper rolls and like peeking in on him. At night he climbs the wall above Jasonś computer. He is so cute and little. Creed found another gecko yesterday in a drawer. He was little and did not move. Laney and Jason looked into it and found out he was dead. I did not see Stanley yesterday so hope that was not him.

The Sickies

Had another pretty good weekend, which was a pleasant surprise since Laney was a bit under the weather. On Saturday we had a play date with a family who lives here and has a three year old and a one year old. They knew of  a cool park, where everything works and was so nice. The kids loved it. We enjoyed lunch and ice cream in the food court across the street. Laney was getting a little tired and bored and then made friends with a couple of girls. They had a doll that she sees on tv and loves. I heard them talking to her in Spanish and not sure if Laney responded or not. Either way she had fun. She seems to make friends easily and it is fun to watch.

Sunday we went to church and joined a womenś bible study. I decided I needed that and enjoyed it immensely. The kids seemed to have fun in Sunday School and we let Jason go to service by himself. It was nice meeting some women. I sat next to someone from The Congo and she was talking about all the war and the elections coming up. I cannot imagine how horrific that would be to see so much violence. Her faith was inspiring. There were also two Costa Rican ladies in my group who teach English. They were sweet with their words of encouragement in learning a language. After church we headed over to Gol to watch a little futbal norte americano. We were so hungry we went during the first half of the Lions game. I guess we should have waited and gone later so we could have seen the great come back. The game was kind of boring and the kids cannot stay their that long that we left. Granted we do bring toys and paper to lengthen our stay but it is not enough for a whole game. Still glad they won even though I did not believe they would. SO many years of them losing has taken its toll on my belief in them. I am still a fan and am excited for their win. Cannot wait for Monday night!! Win number 5?

The week did not go as well as the weeekend. Laney ended up getting sick. She was on the border for awhile and just could not get over it. Lots of coughing, a horrible night, and a couple of missed days of school later and she is on the road to recovery. Good thing Jason and I got two for one on our classes on Tuesday and Thursday because one of us seems to not be able to go a lot. Creed has a little bit of cold, but made it to school today. We shall see how he fares. Laney was happy to go back today to school. We could not decide yesterday if she should go or stay and when I asked her if she wanted to go she said no. So she stayed home. I know the same question will not be asked of Creed. He has been coughing, before he had the sniffles, in an attempt to stay home. Laney does not like missing school so we figured she must not be well enough to go. It cracks me up how different they are from each other. Hoping school does not wear Creed out too much and hope I get better quickly. I sent Jason off to class since I got what Laney had. It is no fun having the sickies in the house. Jason is not a hundred percent either so here is hoping for a quick recovery and another great weekend.