A World without walls
everyday life while homeschooling overseas
Typically, when it comes to holidays, we tend to stay home to celebrate. We are creatures of habit, really, deep down inside...somewhere...I think... We like our traditions and traditional foods. So, usually for Thanksgiving, we prepare our huge meal and invite our friends over to share it. Well, this year we decided to do something a little different. We went on a family trip over Thanksgiving break! *Gasp!* We made amazing memories--it was definitely a Thanksgiving to remember. More so than the generic ones we typically find ourselves enjoying. It started off by an early morning drive out of Colombo into the hill country! We drove up to Nuwara Eliya--which is probably my favorite part of Sri Lanka. We enjoyed a day of wandering about the little city and the park and LOVING the cool air and sprinkling rain. We stayed in a cute little house on the side of a hill. There was a big open dirt 'field' nearby where the kids spent ALL DAY running about and playing. It was glorious! Our Thanksgiving dinner was HILARIOUS! We got a small turkey breast instead of a full size turkey, and I'm very glad we did! We cooked everything in clay pots over wood fires! And the wood was branches from cinnamon trees and coconut husks! I made stuffing in a wok! And the best was the yams--we opened canned yams and poured them into a clay pot, then added freshly squeezed orange juice, jaggery (a local sweetener somewhat akin to maple syrup), then ground up a bunch of fresh whole spices (cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom) and poured it all over (along with a lot of butter)! We got that cooking over the wood fire, and wondered how we were supposed to brown the marshmallow to put on top... Well, necessity really is the mother of invention! We put marshmallows on forks and toasted them on the fire under the pot! When it was browned, we pulled it off the fork and tossed it into the pot! HA! Not all the marshmallows made it into the pot... Ha! It was such a fun dinner to prepare and to eat! We had to keep leaving the kitchen because the smoke got so bad! I'll never forget it, that's for sure! Thanksgiving afternoon, we went to the botanical gardens nearby. Oh my. They were SOOOOO gorgeous!! We could have spent hours and hours there! The next morning, we headed over to visit Lipton's tea factory--the original one where the real Sir Thomas Lipton (of Lipton Tea Fame) began his empire! It was super cool! I had no idea what went into making tea! But the BEST part was Lipton's Seat! We drove up and up and up past a million switchbacks to get to the top of this hill with this incredible vista! WOW! It was pretty overcast, and VERY windy, but so very beautiful! The last stop on our list was to a waterfall on our way to our hotel. Then we wandered around an old Buddhist temple near our hotel while we waited for dinner to be ready--"No later than 7:30"--but we started eating at 9pm. Oh well. It, again, was memorable. And then, the piece de resistance: The train ride home! Pictures will NEVER do this train trip justice. Incredible doesn't go far enough. Wow. Just wow. If you ever get the chance to just ride the 11 hour train ride through the mountains of Sri Lanka, DO IT! Don't let that chance pass you by!! I want to go again!! Hooray for family memories!
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Today I sat in piles and piles of silicon.
The little boys played in silicon mixed with water. Josh used silicon to take pictures of it. I used more silicon to post this. This day was brought to you by silicon. (And carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen...among other things. Thank you chemistry lesson this morning.) Dinner tonight is brought to you by spicy peanuts and spicy manioc chips. Yum.
Oh, and while Claire and I were walking to the store to buy the above yummies, a bird pooped on my head. Gross. On our way home from the store, the bicycle bread guy was selling his wares, so we bought some sugar coated goodness for all the kids. Yum. Successful Day. A lovely friend of ours is having a story written up about her daughter in 'The Friend' magazine (an LDS church publication geared toward children), and Josh has been taking her pictures for it!!! It has been SO much fun to watch him practice his art! That kid has some talent! And it's been so fun spending time with this lovely family!!! So what's the story going to be about in the magazine? Well, it's a very cool story!! But, if you want to know what it says, you'll have to read it when it comes out!! Don't worry--when it's published, I'll post all about it! And then you'll get to see the finalized photographs, too, which turned out pretty amazing! |
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
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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...
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