Today we found a 10 foot Anaconda in our house! Not a real one thankfully. Evie is studying the Amazon rainforest right now for school. One day the girls spent hours drawing monkeys, jaguars, and all sorts of animals to transform our stairway into a rainforest, so the 10 foot snake made of wire and paper completed the transformation.
Last week, the girls and I went to a homeschool conference at the international school here. It was a great week, the only downside was getting up at 6 every morning, and with Cory's schedule the girls didn't get to see him much. Evie took the Iowa Basics Standardized Test in the mornings, and then her and Winnie were in Vacation Bible School type classes while I attended seminars about homeschooling. It was a great time for us to be around other families. There was a "Student Showcase" where kids could enter work into different categories for display. Winnie was too young, but Evie entered a painting and a poster on Germany for "Cultures of the World". We pinned her hair up in braids German-style and even made Apfel Strudel. She was very excited to tell others about her project and very proud of herself. She even won a gold medal! (Though she was the only one in her age group to enter that category!)
The kids each had a little performance at the awards ceremony too. There's a little video clip at the end of this post.
Other than that, the kids just continue to grow. Evie lost her second tooth a couple nights ago, and Winnie is learning to read and has read three little books by herself!
Everything is going well for us right now. We currently have our visas extended until March 20th and should receive our year long visas before they expire. My parents our coming for a visit and we're counting down the days, 15 to go! Thanks for all your prayers!
