ABCs

Finally! One of the blessings very part-time involvement at school this year has already afforded me is extra time. Time to read, time to rest, time to exercise, time to cook, and time to craft. I could get used to this. But with baby Scar's impending arrival drawing closer (only 10ish weeks, folks!), I've been advised to enjoy this luxury while I can, because soon, my life will never be the same.

Months ago I found the idea online of creating an alphabet wall in the nursery. Since then I've schemed and planned, hunted and discussed, to make the most one-of-a-kind alphabet wall yet designed. Okay, so I know I'm a first time mom, but I love the idea of creating both a mentally and sensorily stimulating space for our baby AND, si Dios quiere, one that can be used for future Scar babies as well.

So, my challenge for myself has been to find and decorate 26 letters, each of which will somehow reflect a word(s) which begins with that letter. Here are a few of my first projects. Take the challenge and see if you can guess what each stands for:

This one's actually tricky. A is for...

Thanks for the help on this one, Grandma. B is for...

Fabric courtesy of Sarah's Fabrics in downtown Lawrence. D is for...

This is actually looking out the window in the future nursery. G is for...

Not only will junior be able to read from an early age, but measure as well. I is for...

One of my personal favorites. M is for...

One of these is dated back to 1906! P is for...

On the grill for a reason. S is for...

This one's meaning is two-fold. T is for...

Not the perfect shade of red, but you get the picture. This one's a bit obvious. V is for...

Place: downtown Atlanta. Frame: Durham thrift store find. X is for...

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Soft as a baby's bottom. Y is for...

Another (hopefully) obvious one. Z is for...

Answer Key:

1. Atlas (if you could zoom in, all the places begin with "A"--Atlanta, Arizona, Alberta, Atlantic Ocean, etc.)

2. Button

3. Duck

4. Green

5. Inch

6. Music/melody 

7. Postcard/Postage

8. Silver/shiny

9. Twine & twig

10. Vino (Spanish) = wine (English)

11. X-ing (a bit of a stretch, but X is hard!)

12. Yarn

13. Zebra

die dreaming

"Would you like a die dreaming?" Tim asks without faltering as we take our guests past La Casa de Morir Soñando. Perhaps one of the most unique and famous drinks this tropical island has to offer is a creamsicle-like, orangey beverage sold in ice cold vats along the route from Jarabacoa to Santiago. Why do I tell you this? Yet another reason worth visiting us in our little rincón of paradise.

I've been back home now only a week, and yet we've enjoyed reuniting, meeting, painting, cleaning, welcoming, hosting, projecting, and exploring. This past week our staff did a 3-day expedition "slice", or group learning process. We traveled to the nearby town of Manabao, home of our school's coffee farm.  There we joined up with another school and divided up to work on different projects. My group of 8 women was charged with painting a mural on the kids' bathroom wall. Just a peek at what it looked like before...

And after a day's worth of team work!

As I look forward to this year of very very part-time teaching and a baby coming in a few months, my hope is to do a lot more ART--painting, crafting, creating, you name it, both in our home as well as those of friends here. Truthfully I've had so little time to do what I thrive on. And as the name of the drink implies, I could easily die dreaming as I think of the prospect:)