Kautz Kids

2010-06-29T11:33:00.004-04:00

Hey Everyone!

Alex here. I am packing up my house again because we are going to be going back to Colombia! I recently had my birthday and I got a lot of birthday money! I was able to buy myself a Nintendo DSi! I am having a great summer so far and I hope you have one too!

~Alex

2008-04-27T19:54:00.002-04:00

Día del Idioma means Language Day where the Spanish language is celebrated by every class in the school.

Maggie ~ At the festival we did something like Alice in Wonderland, but it was like Alice and Colombia, learning different cultures. On my line I kind of got nervous, so then I kind of forgot my line...but everyone says I did fine. Alice went all over Colombia. I represented Orinoquia and talked about tropical stuff.

Here's a glimpse at Maggie's part...

Alex ~ My class did a dance. The song talked about how Colombia was a place of peace. It talked about how God took a rest in the seas when he was done with creation. Its main point was that Colombia is a good place to be and that their citizens love it. It was a tricky dance! We all wore Colombia soccer jerseys.

Here's a glimpse at Alex's song...

2008-04-27T19:48:00.002-04:00

We went to get eye exams and we found out that I needed glasses. I had to wear these special things to see what type of glasses I need. I was kind of afraid of getting glasses because I thought everyone would think I looked weird. But when everyone saw they just got used to it. I'm wearing them now.
~Alex

2008-04-04T19:40:00.000-04:00

I got to the final five in the spelling bee. In the final five I came in second place. I was stressed out and felt like I was sweating. I got one word wrong and that's why I came in second place. Being in second place, the winners - first and second of each grade - got to go to McDonald's.
~Alex

2008-03-27T17:13:00.002-04:00

Maloka is a science museum. We went there on a field trip. We played and learned lots of different things. There was one electric thing where a girl would go up and touch this big lightbulb shaped thing. It would make your hair stick up. Then the man got one person to do it and then everyone took hands. Then it shocked everyone! The electricity went through every one of our bodies. It felt as if something had just jerked our arms. There was another thing that was different. There was a truck that was hooked up to something and then behind the car you would pull ropes and lift up the car.
~Maggie

2008-03-24T13:24:00.002-04:00

Girls just wanna have fun! Maggie's been having fun with her friend, Camila, during Spring Break. We went to a salon for girls and they were excited to get their hair curled! Here's some pics from after they had their hair done and a day at the park.
~Tona

2008-02-25T19:51:00.003-05:00

On February 24th I had to do a science project. It was where we had to make a sun and an earth and label things like the axis, equator and stuff like that. Our teacher said we could do whatever we wanted with it, so I did cakes. The sun was vanilla cake with yellow frosting. The earth was chocolate cake with blue and green frosting. It took quite a while to make it. The equator was a chocolate Twizzler. The axis was just a little toothpick sticking out of the top. And the other things were labeled with little flags. They came out to look really cool and nice, but it’s always fun for me.
~Maggie

Mom says, "Maggie did most of the work on these cakes and loved every minute of it! She got 100% on the project!"

2008-02-25T19:45:00.003-05:00

A quick update on Maggie's riding...

Maggie has being doing wonderfully in riding. She is jumping higher and higher and is not to the point where I think I might have a heart attack watching her each week! She has ridden the same horse, Rioja, for almost a year now, but her teacher just changed her to a different horse. This was a big deal to her because the horse she rides now, Jalisco, is from the upper barns. What does that mean? Well, there are two barns, the lower and the upper. The lower barn has all the horses in stalls that are just divided by small logs as fences. Those horses are used for all of the general classes. The upper barns, however, are like nice little individual stalls, kind of like a three star versus a one star hotel! The upper barns also hold all of the competitive horses and privately owned horses. So the upper barn horses are seen, at least to Maggie, as having a lot more prestige and are much more special! So now she is riding Jalisco and along with riding a "fancier" horse she gets more responsibility. After class she takes him for a walk, guided without his saddle, to the pasture to get a snack and cooling down time. Maggie is very proud of the responsibility she has been given!
~Tona

Here's her thoughts on her recent changes...
Maggie says, "Horseback riding gets tougher every week…well, depending on what’s going on. Sometimes it’s getting tough and sometimes it’s like usual. Sometimes we jump. Sometimes we just work on usual things like if my feet are in the right position, if everything is in the right position and that I’m doing everything right. When I changed horses it felt unusual because I got used to riding a certain horse. The horse I rode on felt more comfortable because it was a horse that teachers would usually use. Sometimes it’s difficult to use the horse if you don’t really know it and you’re not ready to ride on a new horse."

2008-01-02T22:06:00.000-05:00

"And tomorrow, I'm making waffles!" - Donkey from Shrek

Yup, that's what Maggie's been saying every day! For Christmas she got a waffle iron (yes, something that was on her list!) and cooking supplies. On Christmas morning she made us all chocolate chip pancakes. Since Christmas we have had traditional waffles, Cinnamon Belgium waffles, Norwiegan waffles, chocolate chip waffles, French Toast waffles, apple waffles...I'm starting to feel like Forrest Gump here! You get the idea, and seriously she had made all of those types, some multiple times! The first day started with me helping her and from then on she's been doing it all on her own. In fact, yesterday we woke up to breakfast on the table and Corey's coffee waiting for him!! Sorry, she's not for hire! Anyway, Maggie's found something to keep her very occupied this school break and we're reaping all of the benefits!!!

Oh, she also made no-bake cookies the other night for the first time, a very important family recipe...haha!
~Tona

2007-12-14T20:47:00.000-05:00

Just when I was pulling my chin up off the ground after Maggie participating in the Thanksgiving program she blew my mind when she came home one day and said, "I'm going to be Mary in my class play!" There is no sign left of that little girl who was terrified to get in front of people!

So you'll see in this video some of her play. It was a very short production and probably looks a bit confusing on camera. She and "Joseph" went to every door of the multi-purpose room where they knocked and someone answered to tell them there was no room. Unfortunately the sound isn't great since there is always lots of commotion when they have a school event, but at least you get the idea.

In this video you'll see the song they sang at the end.

Here are a few pictures from the event.

Again, I am so touched at how God is working in Maggie's life and beginning to open her up to new things. Have a blessed Christmas!

2007-12-07T10:57:00.000-05:00

Field trips are always fun...but they're awesome when you get to go do your favorite thing in the world - ride horses!! Maggie's class went to an equestrian center for a day of riding horses. She was very proud when she was one of three selected to be part of an advanced class. Although riding time ended up being fairly short because of so many kids, she had a great time playing with a small filly.

Maggie says: "My field trip was different than I'm used to because the horses weren't quite as well taken care of and they were much bouncier when they trotted! But it was cool because I got to see different kinds of horses."

2007-11-25T09:44:00.000-05:00

Being a missionary kid isn't just about being the son or daughter of a missionary - it's about being part of the ministry, having a mission also. Alex and Maggie were invited to speak at a Children's Church in a part of the city called La Victoria. Little did we know when they agreed to speak that it was for FOUR consecutive services!! They were real troopers, though, and did an amazing job. They talked about what life was like as a missionary kid, what kinds of changes they had gone through, what was good, what was bad. The children's pastor had asked them to share every aspect so the kids would know the truth of what you leave behind and what some of the adjustments are. They told us that they just see missionary kids as being rich because they get to travel so he wanted them to have the whole picture of leaving behind family and all of your stuff. Alex and Maggie did a great job! Alex did his part in Spanish and Maggie did hers in English with mom translating. We're very proud of our little missionaries showing others that they, too, could be missionaries!

Maggie says: "Speaking in front of all those kids was odd because I'm not used to speaking in front of other people. It was also cool to be able to tell other people what we do as missionaries."

Alex says: "Speaking in front of them was kind of scary because it was the first time we had done it! It felt kind of weird. We don't usually do that type of thing! But it was fun!"

2007-11-21T19:26:00.000-05:00

God has an amazing way of placing exactly the right people in our lives at the precise moment we need them. This year we have watched Maggie blossom and grow in many ways but mostly in self-confidence and a great deal of that is in thanks to her amazing teacher, Miss M. The last time Maggie willingly participated in an on-stage event was when she was about four and from then on she developed incredible stage fright and if forced to be on stage she should just stand still or sometimes have a break down. I nearly cried as I watched this performance and saw a new joy on her face, a new confidence to sing and take part. I thank God for giving Maggie the perfect teacher for this time in her life!

This video is from Thanksgiving when all of the elementary gave a presentation. Maggie is the second girl in the front from the left. I wish we had a better quality camera so you could see how much passion she had while singing this song! After the presentation they had a field day with lots of obstacle course style races. The pictures are below.

2007-11-10T15:59:00.000-05:00

I had a fantastic party. It was really cool. One of my friends had a sweet tooth, so she started crying because of eating some cake and ice cream. We watched "Night In The Museum" and then we watched "Princess Diaries 2" and then we went to sleep. And then in the morning we ate really, really good cinnamon rolls. We also decorated pillow cases. The one I decorated is in my bedroom on my couch. My mom says it matches my room really well. One of my friends put glitter all over another girl's pillow case and both of their pillow cases were covered with glitter. What lots of the girls liked at the party was the karaoke. Some of the girls were playing karaoke. Some girls were playing GameBoy and then some girls were just walking around the house looking at what was going on. We had so much fun!
~Maggie

2007-10-17T23:14:00.000-04:00

Happy 10th Birthday to Maggie!!

2007-07-01T19:45:00.000-04:00

Maggie:
At kid’s camp we did a lot of crazy things. Most of the kids were really poor. At the kid’s camp there were just over a hundred kids. They might have had a pair of nice clothes, but they were not kids with a lot of clothes that were nice clothes. We were there for about four days and on the last day we did a icky dirty project. We all wore clothes that we had already worn and did an obstacle course. At the course we took turns of teams and what the teams had to do at the first place whoever knew how to swim had to jump in the pool with their clothes on and find six plates, six bowls, six mugs, six forks and six spoons. Then we had to walk through this plastic tunnel and wait for our team. Then we went to a sheet of plastic and they put soap on it and we had to slide down it. And then probably the best part was that there was a course called Spider Man. It was a giant web connected in between two trees and you had to hold on to a yellow rope while you climbed over a black rope. And then after your whole team gets over you would run around the fence to the next course. Then you would climb under yellow cords through a bunch of mud and aren’t supposed to make your head touch the cord. It was fun!
(note from mom – Maggie wrote this while feeling sick and didn’t make it through the rest of what she was going to say.)

Hi there,
Alex here! Just wanted to tell you about kids camp. Here is what I did.
First I arrived at the camp late at night. Then I ate dinner and went to bed. The next day I ate breakfast and got choosed for a group. I was a “seres vivientes”. My group went to do prayer groups. After that we ate lunch. Then we did stations. Then we got pool time! After that we ate dinner. Then we had a camp meeting. After that we went to bed. We repeated this schedule for the rest of the camp. I made friends with a young boy named Lucas. It was hard to say good-bye. I hope I meet him again.
~Alex

2007-06-10T11:24:00.000-04:00

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~Tona

2007-06-06T18:52:00.001-04:00

KARAOKE REVOLUTION!!!
We just got it for the GameCube and let me tell you...it is SOOOO fun! The kids really don't want to be videoed for this, but I did get a few seconds of Alex, so here you go...Alex Kautz singing "Dust In The Wind."
~mom

2007-06-01T00:23:00.000-04:00

Maggie says:
At the awards ceremony they did all the classes. And when we went I got four certificates. One of them was for obedience and courage. My other ones were writing, creative art and Spanish. I feel great for school to be over because I can take care of my puppy and spend more time with her and I can do a lot more stuff with my family. And best of all...we don't have homework!!! (yet, says Dad).
~Maggie

Video - Maggie receiving her Spanish award

Alex says:
At the end of the year I had an awards ceremony. I got two awards. Before the awards ceremony my class had a party. I brought in the soda. The cake came in late because Miss D. ordered it that morning. The two awards I got were for flexibility and science. My friend, Andrew, felt happy that he got his awards. It felt good that it was the last day of school because I can finally sleep in...except for my dog waking up early! I've been thinking about how fun it will be when I go back to the States for two weeks this summer. I'll get to see all of my friends again. But what makes me a little sad is that I will be away from my friends here in Colombia.
~Alex

Video - Alex receiving his science award

Mom says:
Alex also passed a test that will bump him up to 7th grade math in the fall. The fact that my little boy is going into middle school makes me a little nostalgic this summer for those years that have passed so quickly!
~Tona

2007-05-31T00:18:00.000-04:00

I went to Panaca for a field trip all day of school. It's called "Fun Day". Panaca is a place where there is a lot of animals. At Panaca I got to feed a baby animal. It was a baby goat. There were sheep also right next to the goats. What was funny was they sounded like men were pretending to do their voice. At first I thought it was my dad doing it, but it was actually the sheep! In one of the pens with the sheep there was a big, big sheep and it had horns! It kept running into the wall. I also saw a bunch of dogs. There were all sorts of dogs. There were German Shepherds, Beagles - two different kinds of beagles - Boxers, Rotweilers and a lot of different dogs. Some people played with the dogs and some people got ice cream. And after we went to the dogs we went to see the horses. There were big horses and small horses. And then we had to go :(
~Maggie

2007-05-30T23:48:00.000-04:00

In riding I have been working on jumping and trying to gallop and I'm working on trotting on the horse without going up and down. My favorite part of riding is when we practice jumping. When I saw that he was going to make me jump I felt nervous. And then when I did it I felt like I was flying! The hardest part of riding for me is when we're galloping because I have to stay sitting on the horse without my feet going out of the stirrups. Some days, if I had a hard time, before the class is over he lets me do whatever I want on the horse. The horse I ride most of the time is called Rioja. Sometimes she obeys really well except other times she's really tired from getting ridden and she's always slow and down. But she is a fantastic horse! I'm looking forward to jumping even higher and going into difficult things that I have to do. I think eventually I'll be able to gallop without freaking out!
~Maggie

Video - Maggie doing warmups

Video - Maggie's first attempt at galloping...with a little bit of panic!

Mom says:
Sorry for the dark pictures! Maggie's class is in the evening and the lighting is never quite right to get good shots.

2007-05-30T00:07:00.000-04:00

The last day of school my class went on a field trip to Salitre Magico. Salitre Magico is a big amusement park. There's many rides. I went the Apocalipses. It's a big ride where you get in this car hooked to a big machine. There's two rows of seats. First you'll start to go up in the air in a circle. Then when it does two circles the car that you're in will start to flip! Me, my friend Joel, and my teacher went on it together. My teacher was too scared to go on it the second time, but Joel was asking if I wanted to come with him. I said yes. Another attraction was the Crystal Palace. You have five minutes to get through the maze of mirrors and glass. I kept hitting the glass! I got lost in it once. I did..hehe...the guy had to come in and get me. Another ride was the ferris wheel. It was the biggest ferris wheel I've seen. When I went on it it stopped me almost at the top. I could see the whole park. You should try coming to Salitre Magico if you ever come to Colombia!
~Alex

Video - Alex on Apocalipses (he is in the front row on the far left)

2007-05-29T23:45:00.000-04:00

I had an end of the year party for the boys in my class. We did laser tag. I invited three friends and my teacher. Before we started we made sure that everyone was ready. After that, the guy in charge told us the rules. I understood most of it, but not all of it. Some of the rules were like this: you can't run or your gun will be shut off for 30 seconds; you can only shoot a base once and then keep going. Inside you had to find your way through a glow in the dark maze and find the bases. I got lost in it once. The green team won both games - that was me, my dad and my friend Andrew. My teacher was sitting in a little hiding place and kept shooting our base. Every time I came around the corner I'd scream because I'd be surprised - then she would scream! Then we'd try to shoot each other! Usually I won. My friend, Juan Pablo, got shut off five times because he kept running! We had two games, but after the first game we had lunch. Then after the second game we had cake. Oh wait, other way around!!
~Alex

2007-05-26T23:36:00.000-04:00

I had a sleepover. I invited all of the girls in my class. Five or six people came. We watched three movies and listened to a lot of CDs and we made special books. Everyone had a good time. They said it was the best party! On the inside of the books we made, when you opened it you would think that it was just a normal book, but they they tried to open it all the way except it was glued because the inside was cut open so you could put stuff inside of it. All the girls in my class loved to do it! They worked on it for hours.
~Maggie

2007-05-21T14:00:00.000-04:00

In writing workshop we were writing stories of different things that we thought of. Some things were made up stuff. Other things were video reviews and it was really fun to do. We were doing persuasive writing, narrative writing, poems, expository and imaginative. My favorite writing was narrative. I wrote a story called "The Horse and Its Girl." It was about a girl that went through a tunnel in her bedroom and meets a unicorn and the unicorn helps her get home. In the video below I am reading my story.
~Maggie

Video: "The Horse And Its Girl"

2007-03-18T08:42:00.000-04:00

A collection of new videos. (The first time through the video may be choppy as it downloads, but will play smoothly the second time or you can press play, but then pause immediately and allow the download to finish before unpausing to watch it without choppiness.)

Maggie singing a song from school.

"Dia Del Idioma" - the students and parents singing the first two (of eleven) verses of the Colombian National Anthem.

"Dia Del Idioma" - Alex and Maggie's Spanish class singing a song.

2007-03-06T19:49:00.000-05:00

Standing up on the saddle...

“Around The World”…

My first riding lesson was fantastic! It felt awesome to do "around the world" when the horse was moving and to lay down on the saddle, when the horse was walking, without my feet on the horse . When I was riding the horse and the guide told me to turn the horse it wouldn't listen. The guide used a big whip and made the horse trot by saying "trote" and he taught me to trot with one hand on the reigns and part of it on the harness. And then he taught me how to ride with both hands on the reigns. It was such a great ride, except for when I was trying to lay down on the horse the first time (on my stomach with my legs off the side of the saddle) when it was moving because I slipped off the horse, but I landed on my feet and I was fine! It felt funny! ~Maggie

2007-03-06T19:28:00.000-05:00

Alex joined the after-school soccer team just a few weeks ago and this Friday they had their first game. Unfortunately the other team practices together three times a week and Alex's team just once, but they gave it their best shot...and lost 5 to 1. Alex had issues with his shoes. He had broken a loop on his new shoes last week and had to wear his old ones, that kept flying off when he had a big kick. He said he was pretty embarrassed...especially when one hit another kid in the head! Fortunately, we got his new shoes fixed!

2006-12-16T08:49:00.000-05:00

At school we had a 5th grade family Christmas party. We decorated gingerbread houses, played a shoe game and played a candy game where you have to unwrap it.
~Alex

2006-12-02T20:23:00.000-05:00

I went on a field trip. On the field trip my mom was a helper. We went to the National Museum. The first thing we saw was an asteroid. The teacher was speaking Spanish. I didn’t understand anything. We went through three floors. On the first floor there were old sculptures from Indians and pots from archeological digs. On the second floor there was a room that had dead skeletons cuddled up in holes. It was one of their old traditions to bury somebody important in the little holes on the edge of a cliff. On the third floor there were many pictures. They had some old time rooms, like a pool table room. This whole museum used to actually be a Colombian prison. On the third floor they still had a cell with a display that showed all the handcuffs and chains they used. My favorite part of the museum was the dead skeletons…and I’m very glad they’re not living skeletons!!!
~Alex

2006-10-27T21:25:00.000-04:00

In place of Halloween festivities the kids celebrated Christian Character Day at school. They also had fall festival. Maggie dressed up as Mary (a last minute thrown together ensemble). Alex's class did a play about the Muslim culture and he was part of the Taliban. The focus of the day was on Muslim countries.

Afterwards was the Fall Festival with games and activities for the kids. Maggie was excited when they brought out a horse for rides, but very upset when the horse became agitated by the crowd and whipped his head back into her face! She cheered up when she got to throw a pie at Mr. Cool, her teacher's husband who is also a teacher in the school.

Alex was a little bit embarrassed because his picture was chosen as the display picture for the school. I thought it was cute!
~Tona

2006-10-01T13:02:00.000-04:00

We just moved to Colombia and it's a little bit different, but I already made friends. Most of my friends are from school. Santiago is one of them (there's a picture with him below). Most of the kids in the school are trying to learn English, so that's a relief for me. Our school isn't just one big building. It's like two big patios, one half is for high school and the other for elementary. My favorite subject is art. I also have an activity period. My class is cooking. One of the things I made is chocolate.

We've been going to different churches. The one that I like best has a park and the teacher is really nice. She's trying to learn English.

I like the malls here. They have little parks for kids inside. One of them has an amusement park on the outside. So far all of them have parks for kids.

~Alex

2006-10-01T12:00:00.000-04:00

Today is October 1st and I moved here about a month ago or two. When I first got here I thought it was cold and now I found out in the mornings it is cold. In the afternoons it’s hot. At church I liked to wear long-sleeved dresses and it is a lot of fun. In about 16 days is my birthday! I have been trying to think about what I can do and I can’t wait to go back to Georgia and back to the States.

In school I had a girl’s sleepover at my teacher’s house. It was fun. We watched High School Musical and Mulan. We played a few games. School is a lot of fun when you get to be there for a few times. My favorite subject is the class that’s not very long, but it is fun. There’s a lot of different ones because everybody is assigned to certain ones. I am in stuffed animals. On Friday I had to sew, except a needle got in my skin a lot. I’m making a soft stuffed animal rabbit. I already stuffed it and now I only need to do the clothes and maybe keep sewing, but that hurts.

I have been having a lot of fun at churches. Sometimes we have been going to lots of different churches with friends. I can’t wait to go back to the States. It is fun there, but I wonder if there is anything funner than some of the games here. Like there are amusement parks and they are fun. One time with a friend we went to a park where there was lots of water things, like you try to swing over the water without getting wet, except I accidentally dunked my foot in it and got wet. And there was a huge thing with a lot of different colored slides. Some were bumpy and some were smooth…especially the red one was bumpy. There was this thing like a zip line except you did not have to wear straps, you just sat down, held on to a rope and it brought you down. There’s yellow and red. The yellow is smooth and the red one is bumpy!

There are a lot of fun things in Colombia. I am thinking about finding a horse back riding place for my birthday to go horseback riding because that’s what I LOVE to do!! Or maybe we’ll go to this thing by school that shows horse shows and it will probably be fun if I do. That’s all for now :)

~Maggie

2006-09-27T16:34:00.000-04:00

Check out Alex and Maggie's new rooms! Maggie is excited because her room was the den and still holds the largest TV in the house along with the satellite service, DVD player and VCR (the Lawrences left lots of good stuff in the house!!) Alex has the biggest bedroom of all of us.

2006-09-12T15:27:00.000-04:00

School Open House

2006-09-12T15:18:00.000-04:00

A day at the park. This place is called Multiparque. It's a pretty cool place where the kids have to make everything work on their own. Alex and Maggie had a blast!

2006-08-07T00:41:00.000-04:00

Alex's New Pet. He found it at school.

2006-07-11T23:15:00.000-04:00

When life gives you lemons...

2006-06-27T01:11:00.000-04:00

My friends, Suyen (in the middle), her sister and son, set up a big Saprissa party for me.

Saprissa is one of Costa Rica's soccer teams.

There was a pinata that had the Saprissa symbol on it.

There were two cakes. One was chocolate cake with chocolate icing and the other was vanilla cake with chocolate icing. Both of them had strawberries on top.

I got stuff like a World Cup book that you keep teams that are in the World Cup on stickers. I also got an electric kit that makes an alarm. I also got a lego type car and board games.

I invited all my friends to my party. We had a great time!

~Alex

2006-06-25T22:15:00.000-04:00

My friend, Ben, is from Atlanta, Georgia – like me!! He is my friend. He is from my mom’s school and he comes to my school to help with folk dancing and he helps to heat up the lunch. He takes us on trips. Last Thursday he took us to a campground instead of school! It was a lot of fun. We went swimming. Sometimes Ben gives me piggy back rides. When he took us to the pool I told him I didn’t want to get in because it was freezing cold! Ben took us to a movie to see Eight Below. After most of the movie went by everyone started running all over the theater because we were the only ones there. They got better seats. Ben let me sit with him during the scary parts. The bad part of the movie was this mean old leopard seal that came up and bit the best doggie and hurt its leg. Ben also took us bowling. We’ve had lots of fun!
~Maggie

Note from mom: I feel I should clarify Ben a bit…lol. Ben is a blessing from Evangel Community Church in Snellville, Georgia. He is here in Costa Rica for the summer to spend time with our MKs. He and Laura, an intern/missionary associate here, take the kids every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday after school on field trips to the park, bowling, movies, etc. I’m not sure if we shared this before, but the kids are finished with school for the summer. However, they go every day from 7:30 until one and have a summer camp style day with lots of Spanish class. Ben and Laura help give them a little bit more of a fun summer feeling and help us have a little extra time to do homework.

2006-06-20T01:00:00.000-04:00

How To Make Empanadas ~ A Lesson With Alex

I made empanadas for my dad for father's day. Here is how you make them. First, you mix flour (maseca), water and a little bit of salt.

Next you make little balls and smoosh them in the tortilla flatener.

Then you take cheese, chicken and other things (only take one) and sprinkle it inside the tortilla. Then fold it in half and gently flatten again.

Then you put them on a hot pan with oil and flip over when it is lightly brown.
Bon Apetit!

~Alex

2006-06-19T10:56:00.000-04:00

Alex's Tico Twin

2006-06-06T16:30:00.000-04:00

Here's a video of Alex and Maggie's last day of school. In this video Alex is playing "Jingle Bells" with two classmates. They said they chose that song because they really liked it. By the way, it was pajama day. I don't normally send my kids to school in their jammies!

2006-04-07T17:32:00.000-04:00

These are my friends. I just wanted to show you all the new people and friends I've been meeting! Here's a picture of two friends. I met them at church. About every time I go there they always find me and we always play together. Sometimes we speak English and sometimes we speak Spanish.
~Alex

2006-03-24T21:18:00.000-05:00

Hi, guys! It’s Alex. I did a skit at the Luis Palau Festival. When we got there it was very crowded and there were lots of jumpies. The jumpy I went on was first and it was small. At first I was a little nervous, but when I saw my friends and my family I felt my confidence. When we did the skit there was music before it and some of the people that were in the skit were dancing to the music in front of the crowd and they were laughing. When it was time for the skit I felt a little nervous, but then I remembered my friends. So then we did the skit and after that everybody congratulated me. There were lots of people in the crowd and I also saw my Spanish teacher. I don’t know what the crowd thought, but I hope they thought it was serious because it was about believing in God so that you could go to heaven. At the end they told the crowd about Jesus because they had planned it on a sheet of paper and they did a Spanish prayer and FOUR THOUSAND KIDS SIGNED THE CARDS THAT SAID THAT THEY HAD ACCEPTED JESUS CHRIST THAT DAY!!! I was so happy that I had helped save so many kids from Satan! I get to do the skit again this Sunday at a children’s church close by. I wish that everybody in the world could see it and be saved!
~Alex

2006-03-21T20:44:00.000-05:00

Hey, it's Maggie! A while ago my daddy and mommy bought a pool. It's smaller than I thought, but it's still fun. A while ago when we were playing together, Alex, me or Taylor would be a tunnel and we'd go under them. I actually put my whole head under the water. It was sort of cold! School has been great. Today, March 24, 2006 was Hawaiin Day.

~Maggie

2006-02-22T20:47:00.000-05:00

The picture on the right is from Friday night when our family went out to eat with Bwana Chad.

Last week on the weekend Bwana Chad, the MK leader, took us out for the day. He took us bowling and skating. In bowling I came in third place out of five. Then we went and had a pizza party. After the pizza we went skating. There was a big race that whoever wanted to race could race. It was all one big group in one race. I came in first every time, except I got tagged before they called time is up and called the winners. I was so close! After that we went to the Planet Mall, which is a big mall, and went to the food court where it had an ice cream shop and we got these humongus ice cream cones!

Monday we practiced a skit that we're going to do in the downtown market. My mom signed me up for it and I was surprised because I hadn't been in a Spanish play before. I was a little shy when I met all the people that were acting. I was the little boy in the skit. That night we went to this place where all the people that were doing skits at the market were watching me do my skit and then I watched them do their skits. I felt proud that night.

~Alex

2006-02-22T20:23:00.000-05:00

Last weekend I had a blast! There were a couple of things that I did. I was with Bwana Chad (the ISMK director) and he paid for stuff that we would do! So most of the MKs gathered together to do something. First we went bowling. It was fun, but I was last place. But I was the only one who got a strike on the first try! The teams were from 5 to 7 and the other team was 8 to 9, I think. The bigger kids, which was two kids, played bowling, but they weren't on teams.

After we went bowling we went to Pizza Hut. We had to wait at the door to get name tags. After we did that, when all the kids were ready, we went to play on the playground until the pizza was ready. When the pizza was ready we got on our shoes and went to the bathroom and washed our hands. Then we came back out and ate breadsticks. Some of the pizza was already out. That was a pepperoni. So the people who wanted cheese pizza had to wait until the cheese came out. After kids finished they went back out to the playground. Me and Rebekah had to climb under the table because all the chairs were so close we couldn't get out.

After that we had to walk a little ways to get into the car. There were two groups. Me, Alex, Taylor and Kenedie were one group. The rest of the MKs were in a different group. When we got to the car we got in and drove to a skating place and we waited a while because the people who drove us had to go park the cars. And then a lady came out of the skating place and we went in without the drivers. We got to pick what kind of skates. There were skates with wheels in one row only and there were skates with two wheels in a row. There were two rows, which I didn't know how to use those things! So I got skates with one row of wheels, because I was used to those. I fell down three times. I skated with the lady who drove me and I skated with Bwana Chad quite a few times. And then he said one more time around and then we were going to go, but we ended up going around TWO times!! And then we had to gather all the other people. And then we turned in our skates and put on our shoes. They gave us an orange. We ate them right away!

Then we left and walked. We didn't take the cars that time. So we walked quite a ways. We went through the street and passed a fountain. We went to the mall close by the apartments where I live to get ice cream! It took a while to find the ice cream store. But finally we found it! We had a choice to get chocolate or vanilla. It was big! Kenedie ate all of hers, but slowly. After everyone finished they took us back home. Right when we got home the person who drove us gave us goodie bags! The boys got glow stick necklaces. The girls got glow stick glasses and jacks. Alex had a ball that was squishy and I wanted one, so I gave him cheese puffs for the ball because I LOVE SQUISHIES!!!
~Maggie

2006-02-11T16:22:00.000-05:00

Hi, this is Alex! I've been having a good time, but I've been too busy to blog for the past month. Last night we went to this yummy pizza shop and the crust tasted like crackers. We go to a market called the Feria and also a bigger market that's downtown. The downtown market I bought a little clay pig and a picture of a house with the volcano erupting in the background painted on wood.

At school I've been learning Spanish for a while and I'm getting the hang of it. I am on a soccer team on the first level. I should be on the second level, but I'd probably get beat up with the ball! In soccer I usually score a lot of goals since I'm in a higher grade than most of the other players. At the end of the semester I am going to switch levels. In soccer Profe, my soccer teacher, has been teaching us drills. He teaches us how to get the ball past the defenders of the other team. Also at school I've gotten an ID and I'm going to use it at school because the school is doing an ID check and is getting a new guard to check them.

From the US I've missed my family and all my friends. I don't have all of the good foods of America, but I'm finding new foods that are good down here in Costa Rica, like Chickys, which are these rectangular cookies with chocolate on the bottom. I also like empanadas, which are tortillas wrapped around beans, chicken and cheese.

I'm hungry for Chickys right now!
~Alex

2006-02-11T16:08:00.000-05:00

Hi. This is Maggie! I have had a good season. I have had fun. I enjoy the house and the back yard. Some Sundays we went to church, one we did not. We went to one of the churches twice. Once I have been in Alex and Taylor's class at church. They were not like in the USA. They were older looking. There have been a couple of changes at school. Mr. Riley, my principal, got a bunny. The bunny's name is Cookie. The whole school had a vote of what the name for the bunny would be. I'm the one who thought of Cookie. A kid in my class thought of Mr. or Mrs. Chunky. Some people voted for Johnny Appleseed. You would not be able to pet the bunny because it would bite you. They do not know if it is a girl or a boy yet.

I have learned a lot of new things. I started history in this school. There are different levels of Spanish classes. So if you only know a little bit you would be in the first level. If you know a little bit more, you would be in the second level. If you knew a lot you'd be in the third level. And if you knew a ton of Spanish you'd be in the fourth level. I am in the first level because I don't know a lot of Spanish.

~Maggie

2006-01-12T21:00:00.000-05:00

Hi, this is Maggie. On Monday I started school. I felt a little nervous to go to school. I did not know anybody in my class. I wanted to be in the same class as Alex and Taylor. But I have one friend in my class now. One kid is on my soccer team. Another kid was on my soccer team, too, but he quit. At school I do a lot of things. Some days I have art. Every day I have Spanish. I am learning a lot of Spanish! It is my first week. I am going to have music tomorrow. Hasta la vista!
~Maggie

2006-01-08T20:04:00.000-05:00

Hi there! I'm Alex. Today I went to a new church that spoke Spanish. It's like a whole new world to me. I felt a little shy at first, but then I got used to it. I live in a really big apartment and it makes me feel better about Costa Rica. There are lots of taxis and I heard that there are pirate taxis. Well, gotta go. Daddy wants to shave me bald - no, just kidding - I'm joking, but I am getting a haircut.
~Alex

2006-01-05T21:41:00.000-05:00

Hi. This is Alex. I had a great Christmas in Michigan before I came to Costa Rica. I got an H3 Hummer that I brought with me to Costa Rica and a couple other toys. The rest stayed behind in Michigan. I already miss the friends I made in Michigan and the old friends I have in Georgia. And I've been missing my family that's living in Michigan. The flight was cool because it was a movie flight. I got to fly with one of my friends from Missouri, Taylor. When we got to Costa Rica I was a little frightened at first because there were lots of people I didn't know and it was a different country.

I like our apartment because it's so big compared to others. I found two lizards on the patio. They were very hard to catch because they were very fast. My sister, Maggie, noticed one that ran behind a picture. It was before we found the other one. My dad took off the picture frame looking for it and found two instead of one. I reached for them to grab them, but then they both darted to the right. I caught one of them first behind a chair and the other one beside a bookshelf. I have a lime tree and a couple banana trees in my back yard. I let one lizard go by a door that was in the fence that led to the street. I didn't lay it on the door, but I laid it in front of it and didn't see a crack that led to the street and it ran right through. I didn't see that one again. The other one I played with in the back yard. I put it in my shirt and it tickled as it crawled around. It felt like popcorn popping in my shirt. Me and my sister, Maggie, named it Speedy. When it was just about time to go in I laid Speedy on a branch of the lime tree.

I miss all my friends in Michigan and all my friends in Georgia. And to all of you who are reading this I hope you're having a happy holidays and a great winter!

Love,
Alex

p.s. The first picture is me and Maggie with the two lizards. The second picture is my friend, Taylor, me and my sister, Maggie at our new school.

2006-01-05T20:33:00.000-05:00

Hi! This is Maggie. It was sad to say goodbye to my family when I was flying to Costa Rica. I went to school January 5th and had fun. I played games and almost all of the games I played against my friend, Taylor, and my brother, Alex. I've seen a lot of homeless people. It makes me sad to see people laying on the streets. I saw a lot. I did not see any around in Michigan. I am having fun at the apartments playing with Kennedy (a missionary kid to Ecuador). That's all for now.
Love,
Maggie
p.s. This picture is me in our back yard.

2005-11-28T17:43:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,
This is Alex. I just wanted to say hi because it's getting cold up here and it's almost time for Christmas so I want to say Merry Christmas! I hope that you all are having fun and we're having fun, too, with our other friends. Hope you're okay and have a merry, merry Christmas!
On Thanksgiving we went to a big dinner with my family and I ate a lot of stuffing. It was very yummy! I wish you all were here. Here's a picture of me throwing a snowball at Maggie!
Love,
Alex

2005-11-28T17:20:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone,
This is Maggie. I'm having fun in Michigan. The snow was deep in the back yard and cold! I wish I was in Georgia again. I miss all my friends in Georgia. But I met three friends in Michigan. My friend Erin told me one of my best friends moved back to Georgia and that made me happy. That's all :)
~Maggie

2005-11-02T15:57:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Alex and Maggie's blog, where you can get an inside look at life as a Missionary Kid.