Bacteria, protazoa and viruses

Well, the results are in. Micah doesn't have Giardia but another bacteria. Everyone's blood is fine. We have yet to produce a sample for LooneyTune's intestinal content - who cannot bring himself to eat and continues to have severe nausea/stomach pain AND, When Micah was at the Doctor's he found out that PrettyPinkPrincess' throat culture from a month and a half ago came out positive in several points! Nice of the office to let us know the results came in! Oh my. She had something (we can't read the little lab note) and they never let us know! Grrrr. Well, she might still have it so I suppose we will be taking a trip to see our doctor. Medical attention is beyond amazing here in PERU. It actually is enough to drive me crazy. I can't believe I actually had a baby here!!!!!! Our fourth, LittlestBubby is Peruvian/American, and was born in the clinic where we go for everything medical related. Besides the 5-6 doctor's offices, there are 3 hospital-like rooms downstairs w/ 6 beds and an operating room. (I wish I had pictures!) It really is the only clinic within 5 hours that is anywhere near N.American standards. When someone needs to go to the doctor, they cannot set an appointment; it is first come first served. The pediatrician's hours for example are 8am - 2pm and some days he works 5pm - 8pm and on other days 8pm- 9pm. (I'm not sure how anyone is supposed to keep track, but I digress...) So, depending on when you show up and how many people are ahead of you, you could spend over an hour with lots of other sick people in close quarters... just waiting to be seen!!!! We have tried to figure out when the least busy hours are and have had some luck. If we can manage to be first there in the morning that is usually best. But with 4 kiddies living in this less than developed city we take MANY trips to the doctor for various problems and spend WAY too much time at the doctor's office. We've tried to talk them into setting appointments, but unfortunately, they are right that the majority of the time it wouldn't work in this culture, where people are always running late, or changing without notice, etc, etc. Because Micah has been sick lately as well, he's taken the kids with him to be seen together, so I actually don't have much to complain about lately... I'm just not really excited to have to wait so long to find out with PrettyPinkPrincess what she had a month ago or might still have and possibly catching any bugs that we don't already have. Okay, there's my rant for the day. :) I should learn to be thankful for the trials in patience! Amy

Tuesday, May 30, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by nsremom (71.32.254.253)

Whoa...not telling a patient about a positive lab test??? That's grounds for firing in the U.S. MAJOR mistake. What if it was serious? God Bless you guys for having a vision and devotion to our GOD that you willingly suffer such things. And you had a baby in Peru????? YOU AMAZE ME!!!!! and yes, pictures would be a great addition to this post.

Wednesday, May 31, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by drewsfamilytx (64.234.0.103)

Praying for you, Amy! It's always harder when the children are sick...we'd be willing to suffer more, but hate to see the little ones hurting. Love, Marsha

Thursday, June 1, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Rebeca (70.56.19.205)

Oh, I can (kind of ) relate to the frustration (Except that I was single when I was in SE Asia and dealt with similar medical situations. I can imagine it though, with small children! Bless you all, and I do hope for quick recovery! Do you know about GSE? It really helped keep the stomach bugs at bay for me and my team who used it. Blessings, Rebeca

Wedding Pictures

Hah! I forgot to take my camera to the wedding! The wedding started at 7pm (they had put heavy emphasis on punctuality) and all six of us were ready, in the car, driving towards the church at 6:50... I was not about to go back for my camera! Oh well. But it was a most amazing and beautiful wedding. Very different from any I've ever seen. We sat around round tables during the wedding. It was set up as a very elegant reception while the ceremony took place up on the stage. It was very beautiful. Anyway, in the spirit of weddings... I thought I'd post another wedding picture from almost 10 years ago! If you click the picture you'll see a couple more... We haven't changed a bit! hahahahaha Have a great day! Amy

Sunday, May 28, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by drewsfamilytx (64.234.0.103)

What great pics!!! At first I thought you were trying to be funny since it looked like a picture from a magazine! Oooolalaaaaa!!! :-) We celebrate 10yrs next month... it sure has flown by. We laugh and say that "we" have just always been...we're like an establishment! Love, Marsha

Monday, May 29, 2006 - Beautiful

Posted by JacqueDixonSoulRestES (216.241.130.245)

Beautiful Picture! I thought I would stop and say HI. Hope things are going well for you! Glad the illness is gone- or going... Take care! Jacque Mom of SuperAngel, jocelyndixon, rjdjohn316, and 4 more!

Monday, May 29, 2006 - lovely

Posted by Jimmie (222.209.176.58)

Wonderful pictures. I think that you DO look the same!

Monday, May 29, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by drewsfamilytx (64.234.0.103)

Surely you jest about the guinea pig!!! I did pass on the seahorses and seals while visiting China, so I'd put guinea pig just beneath that category. Although if I were ever to visit, I'm sure I could stomach it so long as you don't tell me what it is. I draw the line at internal organs like brains, heart, liver or tongue though-- blech! blech! blech! :-p Love, Marsha

Monday, May 29, 2006 - I remember

Posted by Dad (66.93.38.148)

I was there ! Amy really looked better than in the pictures ! YES SHE REALLY DID ! (ask Micah) She even kept smiling when by my eror I stepped on her wedding dress and we both went down (to the floor) just before we went down the isle to unite with the handsome young man in the picture. Yup it has been a fast almost 10 years !

Doing much better

Thanks to Giardia medicine, which the Doctor prescribed being pretty sure that's what they had, LooneyTunes and my Dearest are feeling MUCH better (apart from one unpleasant symptom that remains which will not be described). We will get the results today to find out if that's what the rest of us might have without symptoms which I guess is pretty common.

School was sort of sporadic with so many sickies around. Since Thursday we have done all of our work for this week in three days! Wow. It was a lot. We read Tree in the Trail, An Island Story - Stonehenge, Trial and Triumph - Monica and Augustine, Baldwin's Famous 50 - Napolean and Maximilian, Burgess Bird Book - Eastern Kingbird, Redtailed Hawk and Great Crested Flycatcher, 4 Aesop's Fables, Just So Stories - Armadillo and Parables from Nature - The law of the wood. They did their narrations orally for all of these except Parables from Nature which they had a hard time comprehending this chapter.

I found two interesting bird sites while looking for our stuff:

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/

This is my favorite for pictures, description, and bird songs. You enter the bird name. There are many to choose from.

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/

This one is an AMAZING web cam of several nests! Barn Owl, Osprey, Eastern Bluebird and several others.

I had attempted this entry a few minutes ago and as I went to save it... it didn't save! So, it was much prettier before, but now I have no time to fix it up like before. We are going to a wedding tonight, so that should prove to be an interesting cultural experience. I'll try to take some good pictures.

Amy

PS. We got a package today! We LOVE packages! Thanks Tabbal family! :)

Giardia

Well, we're pretty sure that my hubby and eldest child have Giardiasis. Their symptoms are diarrhea, severe stomach cramps and fatigue. Not fun. Please pray for us! It is possible that the rest of us could have it already or get it as it is VERY contagious. We are hoping that won't happen. Thanks for your prayers in advance, Amy

Wednesday, May 24, 2006 - Giardiasis

Posted by Dad (66.93.38.148)

Dosen't sound like fun. Hope you got medicine for your clan and your self. We will as always be praying for you all !

Wednesday, May 24, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by ccmmum (58.65.139.25)

Been there. Done that. It is not fun! My prayers are with you.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by CTdittmar (24.145.215.42)

Praying you will remain unscathed and your dear ones will recover quickly. Your blog about the party was a wower. Those latin americans sure know how to throw a fiesta GRANDE! Five tiers of cake! Wild!

Thursday, May 25, 2006 - How odd!

Posted by EEEEMommy (209.158.248.20)

My mother-in-law was just telling me about how my father-in-law got this the day after my sister-in-law's wedding. (They'd been hiking the week before and it took a week to affect him!) I'd never heard of it before, but only he and the other Scout leader got it, none of the kids or any of the family! I will be praying and especially that noone else gets sick! My kids are passing around the stomach flu. Yesterday, I had two kids throw up on the kitchen floor within a minute of eachother. YUK!

Peruvian Birthday Party... cont'd

Saturday, May 20, 2006 - I'm a day late as far as when I thought I'd get to these pictures, and to make things worse, after I checked out the pictures on my camera, I realized I didn't really get any good ones! So, I'll tell you that there were 4 tables just as heavily laden as this one: Click the picture to see some more pictures of this event There was everything from taffy, bubba-licious, chocolate bars, cookies, popcorn, masa-mora (majorly sweet jello/jelly combo), jell-o, lollypops, animal cookies covered in chocolate, nuts, raisins and even meat sticks! Everything was on platters and circulated throughout the afternoon. At 7pm they served a full dinner to all the guests (there were quite a lot there). The party was supposed to start at 3pm. HAH! No one else arrived until 4:30 and then it went until past 8pm (we left at 8). What did everyone do? We sat around and ate! That's all that was on the schedule; that and to listen to very loud music. The kids all disappeared upstairs as the birthday boy had just received a playstation. I could NOT believe how rarely we saw them! Well, this is how they do it. I must say it seems more catered to impressing the adult friends/family more than the kids. It is the tradition of the birthday person to host such things as this. The birthday person always provides a meal for all their guests and well-wishers. Seems a little backwards from what I'm used to. I like the American way of treating the birthday person to have their special day work and worry free! Amy

Monday, May 22, 2006 - Sweet Party

Posted by Dad (66.93.38.148)

This party looks like a job for rollaids. Wow my grandson is getting so big !

Monday, May 22, 2006 - birthdays

Posted by Jimmie (202.101.79.5)

Amy, cool birthday! Glad it was a success. Birthdays are like that here too. The person having the party hosts the whole thing -- ususally a meal at a restaurant. And what I envision as a child's party always ends up with tons of adults. The idea of a children's party just doesn't work here. I'm going to try again this year. We'll see. Amy, please remember me. We're in the midst of moving. So stressful. Appreciate it, sister.

Monday, May 22, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Fiffi (196.2.124.251)

Hi there WoW....... that was some party!!! You are so right............ it is amazing how so many parties are put on, for the sole purpose of impressing the parents!!!!!! Thanks for sharing.....I really enjoy visiting your blog! Bye Fiffi

Peruvian Birthday Party, Part one

Birthday parties in this country are AMAZING... Tons of people, loud music, loads of cake, candy, popcorn, jell-o and MORE. I'll post pictures tomorrow. It is an amazing event. I just HAD to post tonight... but as my husband just got home early... I'll be gladly spending the time I would've spent blogging with him! Yay! So, I'll see you girls around! Amy

Saturday, May 20, 2006 - HI

Posted by SuperAngel (216.241.142.146)

I am just stopping at all my friends blogs. Hope you had a great week! I am having a contest too! Check it out! Take Care! Luv Kryptonite Angel SuperAngel *Rosie-Posie Iris Hardbottle* ~Luthien Alatariel Elanesse~ @M@ND@

Saturday, May 20, 2006 - I forgot

Posted by SuperAngel (216.241.142.146)

I got you from my mom's blog!

Really COOL nature study tool!

I thought I'd post a little more about the COOL online find I just discovered. You can customize a field guide to your zip code http://www.enature.com/zipguides/ To find all bird species in your area, or mammal tracks specific to what you'd find in your region, poisonous creatures or endangered species. On the bird option, after entering your e-mail and zip code you can sort the birds by family, by common name, scientific name or only those that have audio files of their songs. I LOVE THIS! Now wouldn't it be nice if I lived in the US so I could use it in our nature study? :) About that interesting feature to find the poisonous or dangerous creatures near you (includes: plants, insects/spiders, wildflowers, mammals, etc): Which would be helpful to identify if that spider on the wall really is dangerous or not! I wish this was available for South America! :) Speaking of spiders there are some very interesting pictures and descriptions - not for the faint of heart! Watch out those of you who live in Iowa for the brown recluse spider and the wood and black legged ticks! YUCK. Okay, there. Two posts in one day. That is to catch up for yesterday since I didn't post ;) Amy

Wednesday, May 17, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by CTdittmar (24.145.215.42)

Sounds like you've had some wonderful educational discoveries lately. I'll have to check out this bird site. Our kids love bird study/ drawing. They would love it. Christa

Wednesday, May 17, 2006 - great recommendation

Posted by berrymorin (64.203.7.47)

Thanks for the website recommendation. You have a terrific looking blog.

My kids LOVE school!

Well, they love the stories/narration that we do with Ambleside Online! Both boys beg for Burgess Bird book every week! This is a book with Peter Rabbit getting to know the different birds that nest in the Old Orchard. -they are disappointed when I remind them that it's only scheduled every other week on the schedule we're using. Today the chapter was about a Least Flycatcher named "Chebec". While I was looking this up online, I found an absolutely awesome thing: a field guide matched to your zip code by National Wildlife Federation! Today we read "Tree in the Trail" chapters 17 & 18. This has prompted an interest in Indians, Wagon Trains, Santa Fe trail, Cowboys, Buffalo, etc, etc. Such great ideas for creative play. We also read George Wasthington and his hatchet from Baldwin's 50 Famous Stories. At first mention of George, GuerrillaGuy spoke up and said, "Hey, that's that famous war guy!" If something is somehow related to warfare or combat, I'm telling ya, my GuerillaGuy remembers it. We also read two Aesop's Fables - these aren't really anybody's favorites, but at least not a dreaded chore. As for independent reading and math they are not nearly as enthusiastic. But we trudge on because to my husband it is important that they keep up with the other kids their age. Our project for the week is to start our timeline book. I have to figure out exactly how we're going to do it, and then we'll work on putting the figures on for the stories/history that we've already done. Maybe I'll blog about that as we go along. Amy

Post A Comment!

Wednesday, May 17, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by humpty (216.150.112.96)

Thanks for link to the bird in your zip and the Burgess Bird Book. I am going to buy the bird book. It looks great.

Oh the sedentary life!

I've been at the computer an enormous portion of the day. Although I did go and workout with Micah in the morning and we had a brisk walk through town (that was a highlight, I rarely get out these homeschooling days, except on our date nights - that is about to change...)

During quiet time I worked on trying to download a trial for Adobe PhotoShop Elements so that I could start my online digital scrapbooking class that a friend bought for me. After several hours of downloading (6 to be exact...we have a slow unreliable connection) and several failed downloads... I gave up. No, I didn't sit here that whole time! I have four small children... that's all I need to say, I knew you'd understand

Next, while the kids played outside with a friend who was visiting, I moved on to writing our monthly news/prayer letter. To read it, click here Micah watched the kids and did almost all of the homeschooling so that I could get these projects done for him, so, after that, for some time I edited some pictures of my Beloved: (no my Beloved is not a cow, you'll have to click the picture to actually see him, I think)

click picture to see full-size

Which of course having edited the pictures I had to put them up on the website, so, after the kids were in bed, I updated the website... (our online newsletters and prayer requests were current as of September of LAST YEAR! Yikes... so I was a little behind...)

And now I'm here. Since I have nothing else to do. So much alleged "spare" time! Whatever else could I do with myself but waste... oh, I mean... allot my valuable time writing on this blog?! Well, it hasn't consumed much, and now I will go and look for something tangible to do for the rest of the time before I go to sleep!

This has been another episode of "running on and on with my random ramblings." - I hope you don't mind!

Amy

Trip to Huanchaco

(Click the picture to see our other pictures from our trip) We got back last night from a 5-day trip to the coast. We went to discuss plans for the Bible Institute that we are helping to start. The second session of IBEM (Instituto Biblico de Entrenamiento Misionero) will be held in Trujillo in July. We looked at possible locations and talked about the website. Guess who the website's author is... drumroll... me. I feel so pleased. I asked a guy there how much he would typically charge for designing and writing a website, you know what he said?! ...around $200. So I figure my work IS worth something! My apologies to those of you who read our blog, that I haven't been posting in real time... you see, there is no such thing as wireless internet that you might log in to at Panera or your local library or whatever other wonderful place in the States that has wireless access for FREE. Matter of fact, in our hotel, they charge by the 1/4 hour for internet access. So, I was only able to read the most urgent e-mails. That's okay. We had a nice break from the norm. Speaking of Panera, anyone out there want to send me a cinnamon crunch bagel with hazelnut cream cheese? And, while you're at it, go ahead and send a Bare Burrito from Baja Fresh too - with extra red salsa! I'm drooling thinking of these places! Okay, so back to the stats of this last week: We stayed in an awesome hotel about 15min away. We kept up on school.... sort of. The kids did manage to get some math done each day, we read our AO readings for week (wk.8 of Y1 in 18 weeks). And they did a WHOLE BUNCH of nature study stuff. We found a crab and kept him prisoner for the week (very interesting), we saw lots of birds (I can't name any of them except one of them was a hummingbird of some sort - I'm new to this nature study stuff.), and the kids drew quite a few pages in their nature sketch books. FUN. There he/she is! What a beauty... LooneyTune's rendition of our friend crab And GuerillaGuy's version. Observation in action of a drowning cricket found in the pool - they fished it out themselves! This trip was so busy of a time. When we weren't in meetings or driving around looking at possible locations or whatever, we did manage to have quite a bit of fun. But, it is a 6 hour drive both ways, and one day while we were there, we were all in the car for 5 hours! So we're all glad to be back even if we ALL do miss the sunshine! We live at 2,750m above sea level in the Andes mountains, so although it isn't freezing, it definitely isn't sultry either. But we LOVE the green of the mountains! -Amy

Saturday, May 6, 2006 - Sounds like a wonderful time!

Posted by CTdittmar (24.145.215.42)

What adventures you have! It sounds like you are loving life and are encouraged. I will keep praying that God fills your cup every day. I would love to send you a yummy from Panera! It would probably be a little stale though,eh? Great post! Christa

Saturday, May 6, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by nsremom (71.32.254.253)

Wonderful pictures. The memories your kids will have are priceless. Cool crab BTW. :)

Saturday, May 6, 2006 - Untitled Comment

Posted by drewsfamilytx (64.234.0.103)

Sounds like lots of learning by your kiddos-- at least stuff they will actually remember! I tried nature notebooks once, but my boys currently hate to draw. I think they just don't really know how and would like detailed instructions. So I am planning on teaching them a little basic drawing over the summer so we can actually do a notebook in the fall without crying...by both them and me! ;-) I couldn't imagine living in lush, green mountains...sounds lovely! Every day must be an adventure for you. And yes, your time is very valuable and has more worth than can ever be expressed in dollars-- so don't be discouraged, my friend! Love, Marsha

Monday, May 8, 2006 - I love the pictures

Posted by LadyPoet33 (65.100.253.249)

The pictures of the nature notebooks, and the joy on their faces. What fun you must have had. I always think that traveling as a family brings families closer together. You have some budding artists! LadyPoet33

Monday, May 8, 2006 - You are and active girl!

Posted by Fiffi (196.2.124.251)

Hi Sounds like you had fun ....but also accomplished much!! Well done! Another reason why homeschooling is #1... You can take the kids on such a trip and they would have seen you doing things for the Kingdom of God, as well as learnt a whole load on the journey!! Glad to have you back though!