A World without walls
everyday life while homeschooling overseas
Today, I did the unthinkable. Something I've NEVER done once in my life before (I'm ashamed to admit it, but there it is!)-- I went grocery shopping, by myself, with ALL FOUR of my children. Oh, I know that many people have done it before me, and I know I'm not the last, but I've never done it before. Usually, Devin does the grocery shopping on the weekends. He takes one kid and calls it a 'date'. It's worked for us. Today, though, things changed a bit.
There were several reasons for this outing. First off, the kids and I NEEDED to get outside. We'd had a rough morning. It was one of those not-so-happy-to-be-together days. Doh. I know, I know, they happen, and thankfully they don't happen often, but it wasn't nice. We were going to go swimming, but the kids weren't obeying or finishing the tasks I'd set for them...then we were going to go to the park, but they continued to have issues. Finally, I just told them to forget it, we're not going anywhere! But we were getting rather low on food. It's really hard to shop when you don't have a car. Devin's been running to a grocery store, going shopping, then loading up a taxi with our groceries. Honestly, it's hard to do that for lots of reasons, the main one being the taxi drivers don't like it much and tend to try to rip you off since you're loading their car up with extra stuff (it's not like they actually get out to help you...and groceries weigh less than all 6 of us in a taxi and that doesn't cost extra, so I don't know what the issue is...) Anyway, it's been difficult to juggle the Saturday shopping, the taxi/car issue, and the kids wanting to all go with dad. Last weeks' grocery trip was, well, not much. So, today, since we were out of eggs and running low on fruit (our staple), I decided THAT would be our getting out of the house. Not necessarily a reward, but NEEDED. So, off we went down the road. We walked to the little 'store' area (I suppose you could call it a sort of strip mall, but not that glamorous) about 10 blocks away from our house. They have a 'mini' grocery store--not really a convenience store, but not a full-blown grocery store, plus a toy store, some cafes, a salon (as opposed to saloon), an appliance/electronics store... (where we found the nursery...but that's a story for another day) And today, we found not only a fruit stand-type store, but a butcher shop!!! This was a golden outing!!! The butcher shop was PERFECT!! I told them what I wanted, they ground the beef and sliced the steaks and deboned-deskinned the chicken right then and there!! The butchers were super nice and funny! They had a huge fish aquarium with giant goldfish swimming in it that kept the kids captivated--and some bird cages right outside the store with brightly colored parakeets that the kids just loved! The fruit/veggie store was completely awesome! The guy was nice--and the kids just went crazy (in a good way)! They pulled down the plastic bags and filled them up with all their favorite fruits and veggies and had a marvelous time! They were SO thrilled to be such a big part of the grocery shopping! Then we headed down to the little grocery store to get some bread, cheese, and some treats. Josh and Andrew sat outside the store watching our bags of meats and fruits and veg, and Claire and Peter and I went in to grab our other necessities (like the eggs, which I had totally forgotten was the main reason we went out....) It was nice! Peter grabbed all our treats (blowpops, marshmallows, frosted flakes, Werther's Originals, and flavored milks), Claire helped me pick out the cheeses and the bread, and I grabbed the eggs. Off we went! The bags were really full and really heavy. Josh had to big bags to carry as did Claire. Peter refused to carry ANYTHING. Andrew carried the bread. I looked like a camel carrying 6 bulging bags (thank goodness for all of those awesome reusable shopping bags that we have!!!) but we made it home and all of us actually really enjoyed that outing together! We got some exercise outside, used our knowledge of good health and nutrition to find great food to eat, took care of the grocery shopping for the week, and all felt in much better spirits by the time we got home. I'm glad we went. The kids want to do that every single week. We shall see how long that lasts... :) But, as long as they want to go, I'll take them. It's certainly MUCH easier to go grocery shopping at little shops than in a grocery store! Maybe it's the easy in/out with the doors always open; maybe it was the sheer novelty of it all; maybe it was the promise of a treat...whatever it was, it was great and it worked. Here's to shopping with all of your kids--yet another new adventure for the Hendriksens!
0 Comments
TDY. Just the mere sight of that acronym can send shivers of fear and despair through every foreign service spouse. You know when your husband (or wife) comes home with news that a TDY has been offered (or commanded) that you're going to be on your own for 4-6 weeks...or more... A TDY is when the FS employee is sent to a different post for short term to help out in an office that is short-staffed. Devin was offered to do a TDY early next year. The date has now been confirmed. He'll be going for just over 4 weeks. Here's the fun part, though. He's going to Jerusalem. And not only that, since the kids don't go to the conventional school, we are ALL going! We've found a super cool hotel with family units in an area within walking distance of Old Town Jerusalem, and I'm currently looking up some stuff to make an awesome month-long unit study of Jerusalem/Israel--not only the geography and culture and people of the place, but of its awesome history--both religious and secular. Wow. We are so excited. Yes, it's not the most exotic of TDYs (only because we live 30km away), but we get to go together, bring our car, and have an amazing time together! Woohoo! So, if anyone is currently in Jerusalem or has been (or has done lots of research because they want to go)--I'm looking for awesome ideas of things to do and places to go and what to learn! :)
The Reading Corner came to my mind one night as I was deciding what to do with this little hard-to-get-to-corner of the library room in our house. At first, I was going to put a little shelf, but it just wouldn't really work and would just add clutter to the room. Instead, I thought, "What if I just stuffed this corner full of pillows and blankets and told the kids this that this was their new reading spot?" So, I did, and it was an instant hit! I made this over 3 weeks ago, and they still love it and use it every single day! Peter is read to for probably 2 hours a day by either Josh or Claire. It's a perfect solution for school time during the day: Peter doesn't want to participate with us all the time (I had anticipated that...) so much of the time, I can send Claire out to read to him, and work with Andrew and/or Josh and visa versa. It's been magic. Peter LOVES it. I'll often look in and see 2-3 kids all cuddled up in the corner listening to a book being read out loud. Claire's reading skills have improved by leaps and bounds, and Josh's relations with his brothers has improved. Best invention ever. I'm pleased. For Columbus Day this year, we decided to go to a local site. It's always good to do those things when it's a US holiday so we beat the crowds. We went to the Citadel. This place is super cool! It is the ruins of a castle outpost, temple to Hercules, ancient Mosque, Byzantine chapel, stone age cave, and an entire palace! There's also an archeology museum, among other things. Super duper cool. And the best part? It costs 15 cents for the entrance fee...for adults. Kids are free. He he he... We had a great time! We took our school and family photos there (I'm not posting them yet...sorry everyone), plus lots of others and had a marvelous time climbing on the ruins, playing hide and seek, and learning about everything! It's one we'll have to go back to! The taxi drive seemed to take forever, but as we were twisting and turning around the city, I was grateful at that time not to have my car. Ha! (No, still no car. They're STILL waiting on some clearances. Maybe someday we'll see it again...) I also had a great "I live in the Middle East" moment. Here we are, standing in the middle of ancient Roman ruins on a huge hill that overlooks the city of Amman, and the noontime call to prayer starts being broadcast across the city from all the mosques in surround sound! If that doesn't scream "we're not in Kansas anymore", I don't know what does! Amazing place to be. The kids kept saying how this was one of their favorite field trips so far... (Well, pretty much EVERY field trip we go on becomes their most favorite field trip so far!) But I loved the fact that not only did we learn something and experience some of the coolness of this area of the world, but we got all our pictures taken! It was so fun! This is our 'class' picture. I thought it was an appropriate picture depicting our personal outlook on homeschooling: Experience it! (I especially like the Jordanian flag that's shooting up out of my head. Thanks, Devin!) We are definitely out to gain experience and to explore and understand our world. Good times. When Devin's home, I get crafty. Well, maybe not so much 'crafty' as involved in all kinds of projects that range from baking all day to making new recipes to starting some sort of gift project. Today, I made sunbutter... I found an awesome recipe that I thought tasted really yummy. My kids have yet to get used to the flavor as it IS a little different. It's yummy as a carrot dip, though. I made pumpkin raisin muffins out of my new favorite cookbook! These are gluten and sugar free! They look yummy, don't they? Well, they ARE!!! I was SO happy that this worked! I'll make them again! The last thing I did was to give ALL my boys haircuts. Here Claire is sweeping up after the first TWO...yes, that hair is only from Andrew and Peter. Oh dear. It had definitely been too long. (I also love the fact that Claire wore MY slippers to protect her feet from the hair on the ground. Very thoughtful of her.) All in all, it was a VERY productive Saturday for me. I continually find benefits to homeschooling, and this is just another one. We get to have art class with Grandma! My mom is an art teacher--and a great artist! And thanks to Skype (and some interesting time management issues--9 hours' time difference is difficult to circumnavigate!), we get to have one of our school classes taught by grandma! Gotta love modern technology! And they sure have fun showing grandma all the things they're making under her tutelage! Good times. Sometimes for our outings, we like to just go exploring. Sine we don't have a car...still...we went for a long walk! We found a little shopping 'center'--sort of like a strip mall! We got some treats from a little grocery store (chocolate milk, rolls, string cheese and rice cakes), then we went and looked for a nice place to eat our snacks. We sat on some long steps and looked around as we munched. The kids, of course, noted the toy store and children's book store directly across the way from us. I noticed that across a busy street, there was a Nursery--and it had a big sign saying that all of its outdoor plants were on sale! I thought it would be much more fun to go to a nursery and find flowers to plant in our yard than to go into another regular old toy store! Well, we ended up going to visit the toy store for 5 minutes (it really wasn't anything exciting...even the kids said that) and then we went over to the nursery. The guys didn't speak much English, but with a lot of sign language and pointing, we had a great time picking out some flowers to plant! Each one of us got to pick our own--and the best part? I spent 5JD for all 5 pots of flowers (there was one that was an indoor plant--it cost me 2JD, and the rest of the plants cost 50-75fils)--that's about $7!! The kids all carried their plants home and then we spent all afternoon in the dirt planting them! Andrew used his hoe--just like Mr. MacGreggor! We had a lovely time and the flowers look so pretty. I love finding new places and things! This was our second visit to the Children's Museum here in Jordan. We really love the place! Last time, the kids were running around so fast, they missed this little treasure trove: The Fort building center! This time, they spent almost 2 hours building a huge mega fort--then they role played! Peter was the cook in the kitchen, stirring up new concoctions (he made me a 'soup', and when I asked him what kind, he said it was Pistachio Marshmallow soup!), Andrew was the knight, and he was always galloping off to slay a dragon; Claire was the princess and seemed confined to her bedroom; Josh was busy building and organizing. They had a marvelous time! Peter did get a little tired of the fort building, so I ended up following him around for awhile. We're looking forward to going back again! |
Who Am I?
As a Stay At Home Mom of 4 wonderful children, I have the amazing opportunity not only to home school them, but to do so in many different places! I am married to the most amazingly wonderful (and handsome) man in the whole world! Together, we seek out, every day, that Joy in the Journey that makes life exciting! Archives
November 2020
Categories
All
My Favorites
Emily's books
by Dan Brown
I like that the plot twists and turns a lot...and it makes you think. However, I don't appreciate Dan Brown's endings in his books. I find the endings incongruent with the rest of his stories--why make it a romance for the last chapter...
by Shannon Hale
I loved this book. I'm a sucker for fairy tales/fantasy. This was so well written! I can't wait to read all the rest of her books!
by Shannon Hale
I'm reading this one again. I liked it the first time I read it. I'm still liking it for the second time around. I like all of Shannon Hales' books.
**Still lots of fun the second time around! I do like this book for a comfortable...
|