Happy Easter 2013!

This year we are doing the Resurrection Eggs again.  It's our 3rd year doing them, but the experience this year is very different as Jonathan understands much more now.  For those of you who don't know about the Eggs, there 12 plastic eggs each containing a symbol of Christ and Easter.  For example, the first egg contains a donkey to help us remember when Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.  We have opened one egg each day and read the Bible story connected with it. 

While we are only "supposed" to open one egg each day, the boys have gotten a bit carried away and we've had opened eggs all over the place!  That's okay, though, because while they play with the eggs, they listen and think about the story. 

 

Jonathan has been paying attention.  We pray every night and thank Jesus for dying on the cross to save us from our sins, so it is not a new concept for him.  This week, however, the Resurrection Eggs have led us to talk about dark and horrible topics like the torture and crucifixion of Christ.   We've talked a lot about how "the bad people" caught Christ and did mean things to them.  "Why did they do mean things to Jesus, Mommy?"  Jonathan repeatedly expressed his belief that Jesus "got away from the bad guys."  When we were talking about the nails used to put Jesus on the Cross, Jonathan said that "the wind blew them back out again mommy."  To be honest, I have hesitated to tell him the truth about the the horrible violent story of Christ's death ....it's so gruesome.  Isn't it too much for a 3 year old who thinks that Thomas the Train is a scary movie? 

"Are these all the mean things, Mommy?"

I decided to move forward and trust God to reveal the truth to Jonathan in His tenderness.  If I wait to tell Jonathan the truth, he may hear it from someone else who doesn't love him as much or in a way that is not as true.  So this week we learned about the coins used to pay Judas, the whip, the crown of thorns, the nails, the die for casting lots, and the spear.  I actually felt nervous and had a feeling of dread each day as I tried to find the right words to tell Jonathan about each thing.  I've realized anew what a horrible thing is the killing of Christ.

So then I got the idea of making a paper mache tomb.  Here is step one ....mixing the flour/water glue and using the paper, etc, to make a BIG MESS!

Step two:  Painting the tomb with Daddy.

The finished product!  Here is a paper Jesus, dead and ready to be wrapped in gauze and put inside.

 The 10th Resurrection Egg had a roll of guaze inside, to help us remember how Jesus' body was wrapped by his friends.  So on Good Friday, Jonathan wrapped our paper Jesus right up and put him in the tomb with the stone closing the opening.  So now we're waiting for Sunday morning!  To be continued.....The resurrection is going to be great!

Field trip -- Local landfill. Written by Guest Blogger Dave (aka Mr. Patrow)

The following photos are all from one day in the life of our AP Environmental Science class.

This is the majority of the class.  Three of the boys are off making trouble someplace:-)

Mr. Patrow insists that students take detailed notes about garbage.

Don't slide down this or you're in for a smelly landing. 

All smiles for the garbage dump. (The black pillars in the back are the landfill methane vents.)

 Things don't always work the way they are supposed to.  A non-functioning sedimentation tank.

Another photo of the same tank with garbage floating in the upper chamber. 

 

You can't see them, but families were sorting through this pile as we walked by.  You can see the bags of items they have collected to sell for recycling. 

Jen sharing the virtues of cloth diapers after we got back to the school.  Disposable diapers take a lot of room in landfills in the USA -- the 3rd largest item after food and drink containers.  Here disposable diapers are now commonly used and some end up in landfills.  Many others unfortunately end up shredded by dogs or in local rivers or roadside ditches.  Cloth diapers are a much better alternative!  (Yes, Jenn added a few editorial comments to Dave's one line caption here!)

Ancient playground. Spring break play day

It's Spring Break and although we aren't taking any overnight trips, we did go on a day trip to a nearby temple complex!  We rarely go out of town together as a family so this was a special treat!  If Dave were writing this blog he would tell you all of the exciting things about the history of this place.  I'm less interested in the history so I'll just tell you it's REALLY old.  These are temples built long before Islam entered this country.

Dave took Jonathan to the inside of the temple, where visitors are required to wear helmets. 

This photo reminds me how strong Jonathan is becoming.  He walked under his own power all over the complex....no stroller needed!  I also see from this photo that those pants are getting a little short.  He has grown over 2 inches since his birthday in November!

Humorous family self-portrait attempt.

 

 Here is a rare photo of Jennifer (usually behind the camara) with Jonathan and Joshua.

This site is a big tourist attraction even for locals.  In our home city, there are a lot of Westerners and people are used to seeing us around.  When we go to other towns we attract crowds because of our fair skin.  The boys are cheek-pinched and photographed and hugged.  At this age they don't seem to mind the extra attention from strangers, but it's still a bit overwhelming for us as parents. 

 Oh wow.  So there was a little playground at the park with a small electric train for 30 cents a ride.  Jonathan was in heaven! 

The signs says "Children only" but the man let me ride with Joshua. 

 The little engineer!  The only thing missing is the hat!  Jonathan says this is "me saying All aboard!"

They also had these little pedal-powered go-carts.

Jonathan, our vehicle expert, said this is a "back-end loader with no bucket."  He's a very serious driver!

Big boys can swing!

 Time to teach Joshua how to swing!  Jonathan gives a skilled demonstration while Dave helps Joshua get his arms positioned.  The little one kept wanting to put one arm behind. 

 The look of triumph!  I'm doing it!

Jonathan's been swinging on his tummy for over a year, and has recently learned to sit-up swing and pump his legs too. 

Going to TOWN with Jonathan

There's so many things to look at, I can't focus on the camera!

So Jonathan's play shoes got played out -- there were holes in the toes.  I've tried going shoe-shopping without him before ....it doesn't work.  I just end up spending money on shoes that don't fit.  So I decided the only thing to do was go to town with Jonathan.  Not something I usually like to do!   Our high school friend Hannah came to watch Joshua while we went on our mother-son adventure! 

Jonathan hasn't worn his harness in a long time, but I asked him to wear it today for safety and he agreed!  It was a good thing I did because his impulse control is not very good yet!  I would have lost him several times!  So we found some new shoes at the first store we went to, and then went to the hardware store to buy some rope and have a tour. 

Oh my!  Is the hardware store ever an exciting place!  We looked at everything .....rooms full of cans of paint and rolls of upholstery fabric and bins of pipes and walls of water fixtures!  Not to mention ramps to go up and stairs to climb and mysterious corners to wonder about! 

We made a few more stops:  snacks, a few special groceries, and a birthday present for a friend.  Then it was time to go home.  Little legs were tired.  We were loaded down with purchases by now so it would have been a long walk back up the hill to the minibus terminal.  Fortunately we could get a ride on a dokar,  (horsecart)! 

It cost about $2.50 cents to ride all the way home with our purchases.  The minibus ride is only 50 cents..... so 5 times more expensive.  A local could have bargained the price down, but as a white-skinned person I've never been able to.

Really, though, where else in the world can you get a 15 minute horse-cart ride for under three dollars?

That said, the ride home is interesting as we traverse the main roads along with all of the motorcycles, vehicles, minibuses, and sometimes large lorry trucks.  I don't know how much longer dokar travel will be legal in our town as they can be a traffic hazard.  Those horses have nerves of steel! 

I enjoyed my trip to town with Jonathan and am looking forward to doing it again!  The next big thing will be to try taking both boys ....I think it will be another year at least before we're ready for that!