Day to Day

While Howard has been finishing up leveling our house and I have been busy with retreats on the weekends, Jonathan has been developing a bird habitat. Recently, I picked up a book called "Kidunique" by Dan Webster. With our older children it was pretty easy to discern their areas of interest and motivation, Jonathan has been a little bit of a puzzle. The book suggests you think and pray about what has "sparked" with your kid. This took me back to Tehachapi and a friend of ours named Dan Wilkinson, who raised chickens and got Jonathan interested. So Howard asked Jonathan if he would be interested in cleaning up the chicken coup and getting some birds. The next day Jonathan was down at the coup cleaning, hauling and burning in order to get it ready for his project. Last Saturday Howard, Jonathan and Holgar went to a local market called Cotocallo and bought 10 guineas and 2 ducks. Jonathan would like to release the ducks onto our pond and keep building his little habitat. We also remembered how much Jonathan liked to garden and Howard asked him would you like a 10 x 12 plot to grow some vegetables, again his answer was very enthusiastic. Very fun for Howard and I to see Jonathan "sparked". Of course the workers are thrilled. Last Monday they were all down at the coup inspecting the birds, giving their advice. Another thing that has been revealed by this, is how good Jonathan's Spanish is, talking with Holgar about food, water, vaccinations etc. Just a glimpse into day to day life in Calacali, Ecuador.