Hitting the Wall...

As of today, we have been in Guatemala for exactly 8 weeks. Many of you have asked about how our children are adjusting to the new environment. We have been pleased to tell all of you that they seem to be handling it so well - and they have. But today we finally hit the wall, and a small meltdown ensued.

I was trying to help Anna Kate with some Spanish homework this afternoon, which was tricky because I haven't had that particular lesson. I didn't know some of the vocabulary, so Parker was trying to teach me so I could teach her. As we were untangling the events of their day at school, I found out she wasn't really prepared for her class and she was "daydreaming" during class. I started to fuss at her a little bit, her lips started to tremble and this voice in my head said, "Wait a minute. She's eight years old. She's in a foreign country trying to learn a foreign language - do you think it might be more than one little girl can handle? I have had a couple of meltdowns, it's been eight weeks, somebody besides me is due for one" So now we are both crying.... and I am having to ask for forgiveness. As we dried our tears, we talked about how hard this new life can be. It was a bitter sweet moment.

I told Lee the other day that I miss our normal homeschool routine. I don't like that they have a teacher who assigns them work and I have to make sure it gets done. I don't like that they are working independently and I just check to make sure it's correct. I miss the daily teaching and working through school with them - I even miss grammar! (What is wrong with me, it must be the water.) I know the kids miss it too. Spanish school is a lot more intense than we expected. Lee and I have a tendency to push through it and get it done, but we realized our kids can't push anymore. Everyone is exhausted, our brains are saturated.

My sweet husband in his wisdom called an audible today. We are taking next week off. We planned to be off the second week of October, but that's not soon enough. The toll of the last eight weeks has finally hit and we need a respite. We are still planning to be off in October when Lee's mom visits, but next week we are going to Panajachel to stay for a couple days in a missionary retreat center on the amazing Lake Atitlan. My plan is to load up the Kindle and read for three days straight.

Thank you Lord for the opportunity to rest and be still.

Anna Kate used her Scrabble apple tiles to build a city block of Manhattan, New York. 

(She even used strips of paper with car-shaped dots to represent streets)

Have you seen anything cuter? I doubt it!