Our Schoolroom

Darren and I wanted our schoolroom to fit the in with the decor of our home. The only thing that really stands out, to me, is the dry erase board. Our schoolroom is in a corner of our living room. To the right of the mirror are our lockers. There are three, one for each of us. Darren installed four shelves in each locker. This gives us tons of storage.

Yes, that little green chair is mine. My chair has to be short enough for me to sit directly in front of the kids desks. Next to my chair is my lesson planner notebook. The little red bookcase is where I store all of our pencils, dry erase pens, charts, flashcards and teacher manuals. All of our other books are in bookcases and baskets all throughout the house.


I write a list of the subjects we are going to do each day on the bottom left hand side of the dry erase board. When we finish a subject, the kids erase it from the list. This has really helped keeping their attention and lets them know what to expect each day.

Malina's Art Work

This is a picture she drew during calendar time. She and Rian just finished watching a documentary on Red Deer in the Swiss Alps that morning. Notice the fawn kneeling down on the left and the family on the right. The Daddy deer has a big rack and the baby is nestled safely between the Mommy and Daddy.





This is a charcoal picture she drew in Art class at Co-op in the Fall. It hangs in our living room.

Another Finger Update

We went to see the doctor Monday, February 2. He removed the cast but ended up putting a third one back on. He feels like Rian's finger still needs a little more time to heal.

This is a picture of him getting the cast cut off. He was not scared, just trying not to get all the dust in his face. Malina is absolutely fascinated with the whole process.

I took the opportunity to snap some pictures of his finger with the pins still in it. Kind of gross but cool at the same time.

The marketing department at Vanderbilt wanted to take some pictures for their website. As the photographer was taking pictures of Rian, I was taking pictures of the photographer. When the website is ready, I will post a link to the page Rian is on.

The new cast!

Dance Lessons Are Not Just For Dancing

Since I started Ballroom dancing three years ago, God has been using the roles of lead and follow in a dance partnership to teach me about my role as a wife. Full of hope and enthusiasm, I often come home after a "dance lesson," telling Darren what I have learned in both dance and in my role as a wife. Revelation after revelation, he encouraged me to write a book. I don't know if I will ever finish it or if it will ever sell, but I can honestly say that I am a better wife because of dancing. I hope my "dance lessons" inspire and encourage others as well.

Following, is the first complete chapter. I hope you like it.

Dancing Blind

Most of the men I dance with know I love them to spin me to the point of nausea and vomiting. I absolutely love to be spun! When I dance with someone and I spin two or three times, instead of the one spin he leads me to do, I have just stripped my partner of his role as leader. This is one example of back leading.

There are many reasons why I back lead. It may simply be because I want to be spun more than just once, I may want to do something other than what I have been led to do, I may be bored with the simple patterns led by a beginner or I simply do not trust the leader I am dancing with so I force him into leading me to do what I am more comfortable with. For what ever the reason, it is not as important as the reason why I should not back lead. I should not back lead because it is disrespectful to whoever I am dancing with, and taking the lead is simply not my role. My role is to follow. If I accept an invitation to dance with a man, I have just entered into an agreement that I will follow his lead. If I dance with a man and he is clumsy, forceful or dangerous, I politely decline his next invitation to dance.

An instructor at the studio I attend, who introduced me to a dance called the West Coast Swing, wanted to see my progress. I asked him what he thought after he watched me dance with my dance partner. He asked, “Do you really want to know what I think?” With his years of experience and all of my hard work, I was humbly prepared to hear his praise. “Yes!” I replied. He thought for a moment and said “You need to stop back leading. You know what your partner is going to lead you to do and you do it before he even leads you.” “How do I stop back leading?” I asked. He took another moment and said, “You just do!” Well, “You just do!” was not good enough for me, so I came up with an exercise that my partner and I could do in order for me to be able to get rid of this habit of mine. It is very simple actually: I close my eyes and dance blind. Dancing blind does not allow me to see any of his gestures or body movements that would indicate what he would lead me to do next. I rely only on the lead that is indicated by his body and his hand holding mine.

In this particular dance the footwork has a forward-to-backward movement that gives you a “slot” you dance in. My partner mentioned that he noticed we were drifting around the room and that he, as the leader, could not maintain our dance slot on the floor. My dancing blind allowed us both to realize he was depending on my back lead in order for us to remain in our dance slot. What a revelation! He was partly depending on me to do his role as the leader. I never realized that I was affecting the development of his leadership skills. I was not allowing him to lead the way he was taught by his instructor, nor was I allowing him to learn from his mistakes or figure things out on his own. Only after he had complete control of me was I able to follow exactly what he was leading me to do, and only then could he see his true responsibility as the leader.

Being a bit controlling, I knew this would be a challenging exercise for me, but I was excited! I had to be completely vulnerable to him and trust he knew what he was doing. If he did not, I would not be able to correct him. I knew that learning to follow better would make me a better dancer and partner. But what I want most is to give back his role as leader. When I give that to him, in turn, he will become a stronger, more confident dancer, partner and leader. When we both respect each other's role and take responsibility for our own role, we will both enjoy dancing with one another, and our partnership will grow stronger.

Let me relate this to my marriage. How much stronger of a leader would my husband be if I let him lead? How is he going to be a leader if I often assume his role along with my own? How is he going to gain the confidence to lead me if I don’t give him a chance to take the first step without me? How is he going to master his role of leadership if I interrupt the process by forcing him to let me do what I want to do? How, then, will I learn to trust my husband, if he can only learn from the mistakes I make while back leading him? How great of a leader would my husband become if I simply took his hand and followed his lead? No corrections. No forcing. No interruptions. No suggestions. No assumption. No back leading. Honestly, I can not imagine what that would be like. Where my husband is weak in his leadership skills is due to the fact that he has not had the opportunity to develop them on his own.

Just as I would politely decline a second dance with a leader I did not enjoy dancing with, so will a leader not ask a “back leader” to dance a second time. If my husband ever asked me to dance, I have to ask myself, would he ask me for a second dance?

Why Spanish?

In order for anyone to understand my passion for the Spanish language, I guess I should start from the beginning.

I was 4 years old when I remember the first time I expressed a desire to learn Spanish. It was a beautiful, sunny California afternoon. My Dad and I were outside in the backyard; he was cleaning up leaves while I played. He said something to me in English that did not make much sense (yes, this still happens), and I remember my response to him: “Papi, if I teach you English, will you teach me Spanish?” His answer is obvious because I am still learning the Spanish language.

He told me that in preparation to move to the USA and start his career in Structural Engineering, he studied English in Argentina. His reason for not teaching us Spanish is because American citizens should speak English. How can you argue with that! I respect that, I really do, but it would have been nice to have been raised bilingual. If he had raised us bilingual I would not have to continue taking Spanish classes.

When he speaks Spanish it so beautiful that it does not even sound like he is talking, but singing, no, serenading whomever he is talking to. Unless he is mad, of course. It was and still is so romantic and soothing to hear him speak his native language. No wonder it is one of the romance languages. Even to hear him speak English is pretty with his lovely accent.

There is not a day that goes by, unless one of us is out of the country, that my Dad and I don’t talk on the phone at least once. Most days, we call each other multiple times. He tells me how he is feeling, and what vegetables he is harvesting, and he asks about the kids and what our plans are for the day. He also spends a lot of time answering my Spanish questions, especially if I am teaching the kids something new in Spanish. I have spent endless hours preparing work sheets, charts, flashcards, games etc., to teach my children Spanish. As well, I have spent a lot of money purchasing books, toys and curricula.

Still, the absolute best way to learn any language is to be immersed in it. So, in September of 2006, I took a two week trip to Costa Rica (alone) to attend a Spanish language school six hours a day. I lived in a host home so I did not have to do laundry or cook for two weeks! The host cooked a wonderful breakfast and dinner for me and I ate out for lunch, oftentimes with my teachers. She also did my laundry and cleaned. I just cleaned up after myself. I know, two weeks is not long enough, but it was amazing! It only took a day or two of being there to start dreaming and thinking in Spanish. Even if one of my teachers knew English, and many of them did, no one spoke English with me. They tried very hard not to let any of the students know they knew English. If a student found out, it would be very easy for that student to fall out of speaking the language they went there to learn. If I did not understand something a teacher said to me, they did not speak louder, they would just say it a different way or used body language and motions until I did understand. And if I did not know how to say something I would do the same until they understood. When they figured out what I was trying to say, they would tell me how to say it correctly and I would learn.

April of 2008, my husband started doing research on Costa Rica. He liked it so much he wanted to move there! I suggested that we go for a few months to learn the language better, tour the country and see if it is somewhere we would want to live. He agreed, so my family and I are planning a three month trip to Costa Rica. Monday through Friday, we will walk to school where we will all study for four hours a day. We are also looking into putting the kids into extracurricular activities to build their social skills and confidence with other children that speak Spanish. On the weekends we will travel the country or relax.

I am not sure why I have such a passion for learning Spanish. Maybe God is preparing my family and I to do missions in a Spanish speaking country some day and we don’t know it yet! Maybe, by teaching my children, I will give them more opportunities in their future. I do know this: it has helped me communicate with my relatives in Argentina and Peru. As well, when you know two languages it doubles the friends you can make! And I have made some really great Spanish speaking friends.

I will keep you posted on the Costa Rica trip.

Every time I read this it has new meaning. What does it mean to you?

God Said, "No."

I asked God to take away my pride.
God said No...
HE said it is me who has to GIVE IT UP..

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.
God said No...
HE said her SPIRIT is whole.

I asked God to grant me patience.
God said No...He said patience is a byproduct of tribulation, patience can not be granted, it is EARNED.

I asked God to give me happiness.
God said No...
He said, he could bestow blessings, it is up to me when I would be happy.

I asked God to spare me any pain.
God said No...
He said, suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and draws you closer to me.

I asked God to make my spirit grow.
God said No...
He said You must grow on your own, that He would prune me and make me fruitful.

I asked God to help me to love others as much as He loves me.
God said , Ahhh... Now you understand.

Rian's Surgery Update

Just a quick note to let everyone know that Rian’s surgery is over! I could not ask for a better behaved son. We sat in the waiting room for 30 minutes and then it was off to his patient room where we sat and waited another 3 ½ hours! Neither Malina or Rian whined, complained or whimpered. When the surgery was over, around 2:30, the nurse told me Rian was the best patient they had all day. I think that says a lot for a 4 year old boy. He will be getting the cast taken off and the pins taken out in three weeks.

Thank you so much for all the prayers, emails and phone calls. We really appreciate it!