We have a new Jungle Baby!

No, I didn't give up blogging...God just surprised us with an extra special something to be thankful for!  

Baby Judah was born on November 23, 2010 at 1:31 a.m. (two weeks before his due date, and one day before I had planned to make all the preparations...hehe)


He weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz. and was 21 in. long, and came into the world VERY quickly.  (My water broke at 10:30, we left for the hospital a little after midnight, called the doctors on the way, and they arrived just before Judah did.) 


Everyone is adjusting well, and loving this new addition to the family.  Here are some photos of their first meeting.

Judah means "praise" and we are all praising God for this precious gift!

Week 14 - Widow is Servant Hearted

Printables for this week:

Servant Hearted Bible page

Servant Hearted Chart from Hubbard’s Cupboard

Galatians 5:13b from Hubbard’s Cupboard

Zoo ABC - letter l

Zoo Math L - #12

This week we learned about Elijah and the widow who gave up her last meal for him.  Acting the story out is a favorite, and this week we practiced in English and Spanish!  It is so fun to hear Aryelle speak in Spanish these days, as she is like a little parrot copying whatever she hears (real words or not...hehe)

Bread Painting was also a big hit this week.  (Just mix a drop of food coloring with a couple tablespoons of milk, stir, and paint away!)  We used the little watercolor brushes for some good fine motor practice.  They were supposed to practice writing their names, but were enthralled by the colors and ended up painting every inch of their piece.  Then it was straight to the toaster, as soggy bread is not very appetizing no matter what color it is.  ;-)  There were squeals of delight over this activity!

We also practiced being servant hearted by serving each other snack this week.  They draped a towel over their arm (like the photo on the bible verse page) and in their best British accent said “Would you like...?”  Then they would bring the snack and drink, both using their best manners.  It was quite amusing, so much so, that I was laughing so hard I only snapped a couple of photos.

For our cooking day, we made Lizzy Lizard bread!  This is one of my favorite recipes called Tomato Basil Bread which makes a delicious Italian bread with an orange color that is perfect for Lizzy.  I made the dough in the bread machine, then gave each child a chunk of dough to create their lizard.  They ended up needing a little more guidance, so we talked about the different parts of a lizard’s body and made them together.  Everyone insisted on including the tongue, too.  hehe

Our Friday edition of Jungle School was Leaf Art.  Each student brought some leaves we dumped in a tub in the middle of the table.  Then I used one of my favorite fall books Look What I Did With a Leaf, by Morteza E. Sohi to provide some inspiration, and set them free to create!  Here we have cats and an elephant.  Aren’t they great?

Tomato Basil Bread

This recipe came from a Quick Cooking magazine years ago.  It goes great with any Italian meal, soup, or salad.  I also like to make it on the dough setting, then roll it into breadsticks for a fun variation.


Ingredients:

• 8 ounces tomato sauce
• ¼ cup water (70∞ to 80∞)
• 2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons dried minced onion
• 1 ½ teaspoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 3 cups flour
• 1 ¾ teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions: 1. In bread machine pan, place all ingredients in the order suggested by manufacturer. Select basic bread setting. Choose crust color and loaf size according to bread machine directions (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water or flour if needed).

Yield: 1 loaf (about 1-1/2 pounds)

Week 13 - Job is Content

Printables for this week:


Content Bible page
Content Chart from Hubbard’s Cupboard

Hebrews 13:5b from Hubbard’s Cupboard

Zoo ABC - letter k

Zoo Math K - #11

This week was still not back to normal, as Wednesday and Friday were official holidays here.  Panama has four independence days and they are all celebrated in November!  It is one of my favorite times of the year here because many people leave the city to vacation...which means that the traffic is heavenly and I feel like I have the city all to myself.  hehe

Our bible story this week was Job, and we spent time discussing contentment and what that looks like.  We borrowed the idea from Hubbard's Cupboard to do a needs/wants sort by cutting pictures from a magazine.  We talked about our basic needs (food, water, sleep, love) and had them find those first, as the wants side is much easier to fill up.  


Our zoo friend this week was Kayo Kangaroo.  Did you know kangaroos are born the size of a bumblebee, and crawl up to the mother's pouch by scent?  (How I wish I could pop out a bumblebee instead of a papaya about four weeks from now!  hehe)  They then spend the next nine months hanging out inside the pouch, just nursing and growing.  Also, they can balance themselves on their tails while using both feet to kick at the same time!  I showed the children this video of a baby kangaroo's birth on YouTube, and let's just say we were fascinated.  We couldn't wait to share our new knowledge with Papito, and my favorite moment was capturing his face as we told him about our day. 

I'm not sure he shared our enthusiasm, and think he might have been a little traumatized by the video.  However, I found it entriguing...you be the judge.




For our cooking project this week it was a tough choice between Kangaroo pocket sandwiches and Kabobs, but Kabobs won.  Kiwi Kabobs would have been great for K week, but the children were just as happy with their fruit kabobs.  Again, another great independent project.

So as you can see, we don't have many photos of school this week, but it was a very important life week here in Jungle School.  We took the day off Wednesday, as Levi wanted to be baptized!  He started asking questions on Sunday, and just wouldn't stop until Papito agreed to baptize him on Wednesday.