Geocaching anyone?

Now that spring is officially here, I think the kids and I will begin working on finding more geocaches in our area. Familiar with geocaching? It's basically modern day "treasure hunting" using a hand held GPS device. (Although, to be honest, you don't need the GPS. More on this later....) Geocaches are little containers hidden in your community by every day folks like ourselves--sometimes they are tiny (think a lipstick tube) and others are larger (think coffee can). Geocaches can be hidden under rocks, in trees, inside lights, under benches, pretty much anywhere. The idea is to get outside, see the city/forest/beach you are in and search for the cache. Best of all, it's free! And world wide! You probably have hundreds of geocaches near you that you never even knew were there. You can find out more info at this website http://www.geocaching.com/

My family? We're love to search for the cache so we can swap SWAG and sign the guest log. SWAG are the little trinkets left in geocaches by the folks that have been there before you. SWAG can be stickers, erasers, tokens, marbles, toys, etc. We search for the larger, coffee can type geocaches so we can swap SWAG. We take a trinket, we leave a trinket.

What do we leave? Our local teacher store has a great collection of "space" marbles that are super cool. A whole bag is only $3 so we can leave one marble in each geocache we find and they last a while. We also dig through the toy box and look for little bouncy balls, animals, etc. It's been great fun! The kids just love to race to find each cache and see what's inside. Sometimes you find some pretty cool stuff and other times, just wet stickers (we get a lot of rain in our area this time of year). My kids love to get outside but we sometimes run out of things to do and places to go. Geocaching has taken us to parts of our town we have never seen. We also have to work together to find the cache (we are not always successful) and use the clues left on the website above. Very tricky!

As I mentioned above, you technically don't even need a GPS system. We've been geocaching for several years and we just use the maps on the website listed above. To do so, first, set up a free account with Geocaching.com so you can view their site information. Then, search for caches in your area. It will most likely show a long list. We prefer the "Search with Google Maps" option so we can get a better feel for where the caches are located. When you find a cache you want to find, click on it's name to view more information. I then select the "Geocaching with Google Maps" option so we can print off one copy of the map with all the streets listed (driving directions). Then I switch to "Satellite" view and really zoom in on the cache. You can usually see the trees and bushes nearby so you know exactly where to begin your search. I print a copy of this map and it becomes our main source of info when searching (we also use the "clues" provided by the author as well) We have found most of the caches we look for using this method. I did just buy a Garmin but to be honest, it's still in the box. So many buttons! Super long manual! Ugh. I need to figure it out eventually as I hear it's more accurate than my "map method." But that's a project for another day....


Anyway, here are some photos of the kids geocaching....

This hunt begins up the hill...


Could it be near these rocks?


This rock arrangement looks strange... (always a good clue!)

You can actually see the lid of the geocache poking out from under the rock.

Found it! (a water bottle covered in camo contact paper)

Checking out the treasure in a different cache

Jackpot! (Quite a good selection in this cache)

Ahh...this one was hidden in the bottom of a lightpost in a grocery store parking lot! (Popular option in our area since the bottom of the light "box" just slides right up--no tools needed for geocaches)

We chose to leave 2 space marbles and mini kitty.

Blessings!
Laurie

Spring has arrived...

I, personally, love spring. Lots of sun, warmer weather, trees flowering....ahh, I could just sit outside all day taking it all in. I seem to have lots of energy to work, play and be with the family and friends. Definitely one of my favorite seasons.

Not for my son though. My middle son just HATES spring. He is a huge allergy sufferer. We've done a ton of testing and turns out he is highly allergic to most kinds of "grass." Could be the wild grass on the side of the road or the grass in your backyard. After a cool winter, lots of rain and spring sun, the grass is in full bloom and he is miserable. We are working with his doctors and have tried multiple medications and finally found a combination that "sort-of-mostly" works. Xyzal has been a great med for him but he still suffers a great deal and is especially irritable (oh joy!).

Since we are big outdoor type people, we've been trying to find a way for this son to stay active without having to suffer outside in the spring.. Enter in ice skating! We've been taking lessons for several weeks and he is doing great. After 3 lesson, he was moved up a level because of his "power and speed." (Meaning he is highly competitive and will do anything to be the first kid to reach the opposite wall) Yes, the drive to the rink is super long. Yes, hockey can be expensive. But for my active middle child, it might be just what he needs. I don't mind the drive since his sister is taking lessons at the same time. I thought I would post some pics for you to see them in action :-)

In love with all things Russian....

This is my soon-to-be new niece, Grace Elena. Isn't she sweet? She is still living in Russia right now and we cannot wait for her to come home. My brother and his wife are in the midst of adopting her. They have traveled to Russia once and are waiting to go back for their 2nd trip. It's a crazy process but oh so worth it. They have one biological son, age 6, and Grace will officially be theirs sometime in the spring. She is just getting ready to turn a year old next week.

Watching my brother and his wife adopt has been a wonderful time of reflection for me. We adopted our little one almost 6 years ago, when she was just shy of a year old. It's been much easier for me to "adopt" this time around--as an encouragement to my brother and sis in law rather the one going through the process myself. :-) It was a crazy, stressful, awesome time in our lives when we adopted. My health was terrible (gastritis with chronic pain)and we had a huge financial road to climb but I was beyond excited to travel to Russia to bring our little one home.

I spent hours, just hours, learning Russian from Teresa Kelleher's CD series. I had tried many different kinds of language CDs but the native speakers were so difficult to understand (I am not an auditory learner apparently). I do not have a natural ear for language, esp. speaking. I got so confused and couldn't remember basic phrases unless I had a ton of repetition. I just loved Teresa's series for adopting parents. I'm sure she speaks with a heavy American accent but at least I could "hear" the sounds and imitate them. I could see the phrases in her booklet and copy them phonetically. It gave me all the phrases we needed to speak to our little one plus the conversational pieces for the adults. Important phrases like "It's OK. Don't cry" "I love you." "Are you hungry?" "I am your mama. This is your Papa" "Good girl!" etc. I had seen some parents with their newly adopted children/babies on the plane coming home from our first trip to Russia. Babies crying, parents stressed and not sure what to do....I wondered why they hadn't tried to learn at least some Russian? Just a few hours of their time and they could have had words of comfort for their children, a way of explaining what was happening. It convinced me that I needed to learn some Russian, even though our little one was only 11 mos and not speaking much herself. She would understand, wouldn't she?? She had only ever heard Russian up to this point--I was about to change EVERYTHING in her life, why not at least try to learn some Russian so that I could be prepared, could comfort her and praise her as we got to know each other....It turns out she DID understand my Russian--she got very excited when I asked her about food and juice! :-)

I also wanted to speak at least a few words in the native tongue with the Russian folks I met . How could honor my daughter's heritage if I wouldn't take a few hours to try to learn her native language? I wouldn't say it was easy--Russian can be extrememly intimidating. But I did make little "cheat sheets" for my travel notebook so I could refer back to them in the car, baby home, restaurant, etc. I'm glad I took the time to learn--it went well once we were in Russia. I greeted the baby home director in Russian and she quickly asked me if I spoke Russian. I, in my broken language, said I spoke only a little but she had a big smile on her face, acknowledging my effort. I also loved surprising our driver with bits of Russian here and there throughout the day. Pasha spoke little English and I knew only a few phrases in Russian but he smiled encouragingly at me when I would comment on how tasty a meal was or how tired I was feeling. It actually ended up being great fun!

If I travel with my sister in law to Russia for trip 3, I am definitely going to jump back into my Russian language learning. We have a family at our church with 3 teenage daughters recently adopted from Russia. I think I could arrange for some tutoring to help me along. Part of my problem originally was I had no one to practice with when I was first learning. I felt VERY self conscious when I first spoke in Russia. Although I was worried about learning from Teresa's CDs (with her American accent), my translator said my pronunciation was very good. I think if I could get some practice in prior to the trip, I would be more confident. I hope I get the chance to learn and use more Russian.

(Side note: Our little one has NO interest in learning Russia at this point. She's at the age where she feels self conscious about being "Russian." No worries--I will learn and she can join me when she's older and ready)

Here are a few photos from our adoption and a recent one of our little girl. Isn't she a cutie?

Let's try again....

A new year, a new attempt at blogging. I so desire to capture some family moments here on my blog but I guess I am just too busy "living" to be blogging. (Kids in the shot above are enjoying some time at Grandmas) :-)

We had the most excellent day today. It wasn't because everything went perfectly. It was because my thoughts were focused on Him. I spent time with the Lord and everything else fell into place. Now that I am working (sigh), I have even less time to homeschool the boys. So, I have to take advantage of those days that we have at home with no interruptions.

The BEST part of our day today was praying for Haiti. I'm so very thankful that the Lord granted us the time to read blogs, look at pictures and fall to our knees in prayer for the people suffering in Haiti. We made plans to collect bottles and cans to recycle so we can send money to Haiti. We sent a bit already but it feels like just a drop in the ocean though. I wish we could do more to help but what?? We are so very, VERY blessed in the USA and sometimes, I hate it. I hate that my children are becoming greedy and selfish, wanting more toys, more stuff, more things.....I want them to have a heart for those who need Jesus. I want them to want to help others, comfort others in pain. I want those things for myself.

My new favorite blog is http://livesayhaiti.blogspot.com/. I love the quote at the top of their blog....

Better to love God and die unknown than to love the world and be a hero

Better to be content with poverty than to die a slave to wealth

Better to have taken risks and lost than to have done nothing and succeeded at it.

--E. Lutzer

I want this for my life, for my family. To love God and die unkown. To be content with less rather than kill myself for "stuff." Please Lord, show me how a middle aged (ugh) woman living in the USA can die to herself and live for you!