Oh, I forgot to mention

Boxes and lots of them. We're moving! We have one more week in our current house. Come next Saturday this place will be filled with a handful of local friends who've committed to helping, with only a small bribe of pizza afterwards. It should take a few trips in the car and a few trips by foot. We're only moving three houses down. See what good things the Lord does! We can in fact see the second level of our two-story from our current kitchen window. And for the first time in our whole entire married life (okay so that's only 3 1/2 years) we'll be living in our own place without friends above or below. We're all grown up. Thank you, thank you Mary and Lavonne for your die-hard all-day work last week. You came and conquered. You were a bless-blessing.

There are some qualities about our newold house that make it "special" like the leaky left side of the house that leaves pools of water all over, but we won't be deterred.

The guest room is waiting your arrival (we'll take care of those leaky windows while we wait)!

It's my party

But there's no crying here! Ben became one year older on Easter Sunday and we think turning another year is cool. To tell you the truth, Ben will often refer to stories he's gonna tell his grandchildren. Woh. Here are a few fun facts you may not know about the birthday boy.

Fact 1: Ben is a fly-fisherman (not to be confused with fishing with a spinning rod). Finding a good fishing hole is difficult (though he has fished India's holiest river, the Ganges). But he hasn't skipped a beat and reads anything he can get his hands on about his all-time favorite hobby. Fact 2: Ben missed his calling as a tour-guide! He LOVES giving tours around the city to family and friends. He's actually energized afterwards (while I'm exhausted). Here he is taking my mom-in-law through our favorite market.
Fact 3: Meet Mr. Detail Extraordinar'. Here he is on the phone during our USA visit last fall, receiving the good news of Shane finally receiving his visa. The task of obtaining a little sticker was no simple task at all! Ben spent months photocopying, detailing, recording, note taking, and contacting officials for this very official sticker. And it doesn't stop here. This is "the norm" for Ben: when stuff needs to get done, it gets done (even the not-so-important stuff)! Fact 4: Ben is a fruit snob. Chalk it up to a PhD fruit-scientist dad who travels the world for work to get his hands on fruit. Or chalk it up to 135 blueberry bushes in his front yard (childhood), all different species (who knew there was more than one type of blueberry!). Or chalk it up to a family owning a wooden apple-press that they've been making fresh apple cider with for the last how-many years. We were able to join the age-old tradition last year and enjoy cupfuls of the sweet nectar.
Fact 5: He's a great dad. Aw, but you already knew that! Happy Birthday Sweets. Another year filled with stories to someday (let's make that very someday) tell your grandchildren.

Holi Celebrations

While much of the West celebrates this holy Easter holiday, much of India is celebrating something Holi as well. It's called well, Holi. And this morning we awoke to shrieks of laughter as young and old chased one another through the streets throwing handfuls of brightly colored "colors" onto one another. Ben left the house for a mere two minutes and wasn't even able to return untouched from the gaiety (after being covered in colors, Ben was asked to join for liquor. He politely refrained). Holi is a Hindu holiday said to be a joyful time of celebrating good over evil. The story? A King became proud and wanted to be worshipped like a god. His son refused, as he was already a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. So the boy was made to sit on his aunt Holika's lap as it was said that fire could not touch her. But when the aunt and boy were lit alive in the center of a bonfire, she was burnt to ashes while the boy lived! Obviously he was saved by Lord Vishnu and so good triumphed evil.

There is a ring of laughter and cheer in the air today. Maybe even around the world, as the West celebrates Easter Sunday's theme of triumph over evil, death choking finale'.

I guess the question remains for me... when we the people celebrate our various cherished holidays, do we understand what we're doing or is it the motion of tradition? And do we have purpose when we celebrate or is it just another reason to gather, be it to search for eggs or throw the colors?

I challenge myself with these thoughts.

Yes, we were there.

Four years ago today. March 19th, 2004 was a little girls dream unfolding. There were vows and a kiss, a tent and a chocolate fountain which had people afterwards saying , "You were at the reception? I just remember the chocolate fountain. Ohhh, that chocolate fountain." Yes, we were actually there. We got married, me at 28, him at almost 31. We'd run hard up until that point. Eventually we looked over and saw the other running just as hard and in the same direction. We decided to run together. So joining hands, the rest is history.....

The Always Education Way

My husband and I believe in The Always Education Way, as in, both Life and classroom is a Teacher waiting to explain the facts and figures, teaching through stories and telling the wild realities that accompany this big huge world that we inhabit.

Which is why... our friend, Erica has the coolest program running and wouldn't you know it, she started it from within her own family! It's the Kids Immersion Spanish "classroom" that takes her kids and other kiddos into hands-on experiences in learning the language as well as the culture of the Spanish-speaking world.

Erica describes that Kids Immersion Spanish gives you the tools you need to teach your children Spanish in Spanish. You will be speaking Spanish with your kids as you play games, sing, study the calendar, numbers, alphabet, weather, clothing and more. It is a fun interactive approach to learning a language in an immersion setting (which means you don't need to use English while learning Spanish!). When I decided to begin teaching my kids Spanish, I was shocked to be unable to find a program designed for young children. I developed the Kids Immersion Spanish curriculum by searching for quality music, books, games and resources that could help us develop our Spanish skills. After several years of development and research, the project will be ready to share with others in May of 2008. You can read more at my blog http://www.blog.kidsimmersion.com/.

If you and your children are interested in becoming a part of the most popular trend in America---as in, knowing more than one language!--check out Erica's stuff and then look her up. This could be the opportunity in your life time.

A little poem for you

And it goes something like this...

Roses are red
Violet's are blue
We're having a baby
No kidding! It's true.

Announcing...the very real and exiting news of our pregnancy! I am at the start of my fourth month, which means I'm entering my second trimester, which means I'm at week 14, which finally means I'm due in early September. Which means the kiddos will be about 1 1/2 years apart.

Today was our first ultrasound. The pitter-patter heart-beat, the baby's body swimming and kicking its delicate toothpick legs and toes, the fingers curled and elbows rocking; can this baby contain our love? Shane watched, munching apple pieces and commenting with grunts and smiles at the black-and-white images.

I knew I was pregnant even before we took the test. A sudden and fierce craving for apples came instantly over-night and for weeks I was eating three to four apples a day. Even after the (first) test said "negative" I even then knew I was pregnant. There was no denying those lower stomach crampings, those cravings, those tears, oh those tears! I caught the last ten minutes of a reality show and balled my eyes out during the contestants final speech. Ben was speechless and offered me a Kleenex. Two weeks later I took another test--positive. And 1 1/2 months later, today's ultrasound. I'm a little tired of course but continue to feel good.

With culture and pregnancy playing a major role in my life once again, I look forward to sharing the in's and out's of what I'll be learning, how Baby is growing, and maybe (mayyybe) a picture or two along the way.

We're so happy to share this journey with you.