You Know You're a Floridian If...

As a native Floridian, I totally GET this e-mail my friend sent me. If you are a native or just live in Florida, let me know if you agree or anything that might be missing from this list. I thought it was RIGHT on and funny!

You know you're a Floridian if:

Socks are only for bowling.

..You never use an umbrella because you know the rain will be over in five minutes.

..A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store, but everything to do with shade.

..Your winter coat is made of denim.

..You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites.

..You're younger than thirty but some of your friends are over 65.

..Anything under 70 is chilly.

..You've driven through Yeehaw Junction.

..You could swim before you could read.

..You have to drive north to get to The South.

..You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix.

..Every other house in your neighborhood had blue roofs in 2004-2005.

..You've gotten out of school early on Halloween to trick or treat before it got dark

..You know that anything under a Category 3 jus t isn't worth waking up for.

..You dread love bug season.

..You are on a first name basis with the hurricane list. They are Hurricanes Charley.. Frances ... Ivan ..Jeanne.

..You know what a snowbird is and when they'll leave.

..You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average.

..You were twelve before you ever saw snow, or you still haven't.

..'Down South' means Key West

..You think New York drivers licenses should only be valid in New York .

..Flip-flops are everyday wear

..Shoes are for business meetings and church,& nbsp;

..but you HAVE worn flip flops to church before.

..Sweet tea can be served at any meal.

..An alligator once walked through your neighborhood, or they caught a 10'ft. boa in your neighborhood.

..You smirk when a game show's 'Grand Prize' is a trip or cruise to Florida

..You measure distance in minutes.

..You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt.

..You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls.

..A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level.

..You think everyone from a bigger city has a northern accent.

..You know the four seasons really are: hurricane season, love bug
season, tourist season and summer

..It's not soda, cola, or pop. it's cok e, regardless of brand or flavor, 'What kinda coke you want?'

..Anything under 95 is just warm.

..You've hosted a hurricane party.

..You go to a theme park for an afternoon, and know when to get on the best rides. ( Space Mountain during the Electric Light Parade!)

..You understand the futility of exterminating cockroaches.

..You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee , Ichnatucknee, Withlacoochee and Micanopy

..You understand why it' s better to have a friend with a boat, than have a boat yourself.

..Bumper stickers on the pickup in front of you include: various fish, NRA, NASCAR, Go Gators, and a confederate flag.

..You were 5 before you realized they made houses without pools.

..You were 25 when you first met someone who couldn't swim.

..You've worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas.

..You recognize Miami-Dade as ' Northern Cuba

..You not only forward this but you understand it!!

A little prayer request

I have just a little prayer request for you all - if you wouldn't mind praying for me. It's probably nothing, but since Thursday I have had 3 episodes of chest pains. The first one was for 10 minutes, the second for 5 minutes and last nights was for 30 minutes. My arm doesn't hurt or tingle, I can still breathe okay, and my pulse appeared to me normal - just a strange pain in my chest right where my heart is. If I have another episode I will go to the doctor. But quite frankly I don't feel like going through the whole rigamaroll of tests just to hear that it's all fine. Obviously, I will use my good senses and go if there is another episode. Thank you for your prayers!!

Thank you....Uncle Sam

Good Ol' Uncle Sam was very good to us this year. He sent us this wonderful statement about our taxes telling us how much he can't wait to send us some money that he owes us! He is our favorite UNCLE!!!!

And then, he sent us another letter this week saying he is thrilled to give us an additional $2,400.00 to stimulate the economy. He really loves us, huh! I wonder if he realizes it will be stimulating the economy in Central and South America? Not important!!!

All I know is this year he loves us and we are thankful for Uncle Sam's generosity! We'll send him a thank you note from our new MACbook his money will be buying us!

WE LOVE YOU UNCLE SAM!!!!!!!

Semana Santa/HOLY WEEK

School is out in honor of Holy Week (Good Friday and Easter)!

We have fun activities planned for the family throughout most of this week (local stuff, cheap stuff, exciting stuff....so far we have gone to the movies and the zoo). Nothing spiritual....just good family time.

My blogging has really been cut in half, but I probably won't blog this week at all - if I do it's only b/c it's exceptionally noteworthy - and I doubt that will happen.

I am looking forward to the lack of commercialism here with Easter! They don't call it Easter and there are no bunnies, plastic eggs or emphasis on candy. I will, however, miss the easter egg hunts, chocolate Cadbury eggs (MY FAVORITE - hint, hint), peeps (everyone loves peeeps, right?) and coloring eggs with the kiddos. I guess I could use a little commercialism here to suit my cravings (hehehe...). However, a lot of times my kids are torn between celebrating Christ and getting baskets and stuff. So at least this year there won't be any distractions. But we wouldn't mind being distracted by some Cadbury eggs. :)

Anyway, may the Lord bless you during your "Holy Week" and I pray your Easter is as marvelous as God's love!

Here is a link my friend sent me of things we can do with our children during Holy Week:
http://www.crosswalk.com/11570532/

My Homeschooling Choices - in case you care

THANK YOU to everyone for your homeschooling advice. Here is what, after much research and deliberation and prayer, I decided to order for this next year. THANK YOU IMB AND ALL THOSE WHO GIVE TO THE LOTTIE MOON CHRISTMAS OFFERING SO THAT WE CAN EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN SO WELL

Anyway, we are huge Hooked on Phonics and Right Start Mathematics fans. The Konos and Bible program will be new to us. I seriously appreciate all the time and energy you each put into helping me. I wanted to post this information in case you are looking for new or different curriculum. Check out the math program and the Konos. They are AMAZING. And like I said, HOP is great, too! Keep in mind, I did have other stuff shipped to Peru that we used in the past:

Hooked on Phonics Master reader: http://hooked-on-phonics.com/hooked-on-phonics-product2.cfm?Product_ID=28&Category_ID=3&cat=&p=WhatsIncluded

Hooked on Spelling: http://hooked-on-phonics.com/Hooked_on_Spelling_trade__P170C3.cfm

Konos in a box curriculum (Attentiveness): This will be our primary social studies, writing, character and history curriculum and I can use it for all of the children.
http://www.konos.com/elemcurriculum/box.htm

Right Start Mathematics: http://www.activitiesforlearning.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=109

Bible Curriculum (K-12): http://www.judahbible.com/jbc/order.htm


5 MORE MONTHS from this THURSDAY - But whose counting. All of this research has got me so excited and ready to have my babies home with me again so we can be learning and having fun together EVERY day. It's going to be FANTASTIC!!!!

God's Girl turns 6

Six years ago, exactly six months after the 9/11 attacks, we (or shall I say I) gave birth to our first daughter, Allyson Paige Pham. Her life has been a precious jewel to us since her first breath at 10:30 a.m. on that amazing morning. Today we celebrated her life and God's goodness with donuts in the morning, a day off of school with only Ally and me, a party at school at lunch time and an evening date with daddy. And of course, presents!

Ally is:
Pensive
Smiley
Thoughtful
Accurate/Meticulous
Motherly
Caring
Quiet and shy
A great big sister to her little sister
Girly, Girl
Obedient
Determined
Friendly
And most importantly, GOD'S GIRL!!!!

Here's Ally's special song that we sing to her (since she was 2ish)...

Allyson Paige
Allyson Paige
Your God's Girl
Your God's Girl
With your sweet, sweet smile
We love you all the while
Your God's Girl
Your God's Girl!

We couldn't decide which pictures were the best so you can view them all. I straightened Ally's hair for her special day and we had a good time doing girly things and making cup cakes:

Ally's Party at School. She shares her b-day with her best friend from school, Isabelle. They wanted to celebrate together so we had a pizza and cupcake party. Isabelle is the cutey next to Ally! She is precious, too! Also, we are going to an amusement Park with Isabelle and her family on Monday to celebrate our babies. More pictures to come. Oh yeh, the girl with the beautiful red hair is Ally's teacher!

MEMA!!!!

I miss my Mema terribly today! I want to hug her and kiss her and eat some of her yummy food. It has been 7 months (the LONGEST IN MY ENTIRE LIFE) since I last saw her face and although I hear her voice on the telephone, I long for a kiss and an I LOVE YOU!!!! She is an adorably sweet, Godly woman and tonight I was thinking about all of our good memories together (without tears - praise the Lord) and my heart just filled up with an achy "I miss my Mema" feeling! :) Mema if you get to read this somehow......I love you and can't wait until the day I can see you again!

Hair, banana pudding and AOL!

I finally hooked up my AOL instant messenger again - let's chat....at jessicapham76

If you have an aol messenger account, please send me your name so I can add you to my buddy list. I also use skype a lot for chatting (johnpham777) and facebook (jessica pham).

I colored my hair light brown yesterday in an effort to get rid of the blonde highlights so my hair can just grow back natural. Pictures to come tomorrow. I like it - so far!

If I'm going to be an overseas missionary and want cook or bake, from scratch it will.

Had a craving for some banana pudding. They don't sell cool-whip here or vanilla pudding. So something that should or would take 15 minutes back home, took me over 2 hours with prep and waiting and such. I had to make the cool-whip from scratch and the vanilla pudding from scratch. Until today, I didn't even know that could be done. Let's you know how strong my craving was (NO...I'm not pregnant so don't bombard my comments with that question). My friend Pam helped me make it and we had a great time. I took a picture and I will post the vanilla pudding recipe tomorrow (yummy). And if you want to make your own cool-whip I can post that too.

Love to you all!

One more thing....when I use to go to Publix in Florida getting Sushi was a special treat and now when I go to HiperMas (think wal-mart, but definitely not wal-mart) getting TAMALES are a special treat! My how I've changed!

CULTURE SHOCK!!!! For real, yall!

Okay...so I know you can't view my blog from google reader because it is private, but you can view the other 25 you check each day! :)

The homeschooling advice has been great. I'll definitely post what I decide to order. I am still waiting to hear from our mission as to the ordering process so I haven't yet done research based on the suggestions. But keep them coming! They are invaluable.

I now know 13 different verb tenses and my head just might explode off of my body. If it does, you can send my body back to Florida! :) LOL

The house of restoration Bible Study today was a DISASTER! Most of the disaster was probably only in my head, but I was having a hard time dealing with their interactions and fast talking, but keep in mind that I seemed to be the only one with issues (and praise the Lord they were all in my head). Today, one lady accused another lady of not having the Holy Spirit and that she wasn't a Christian. And that same lady accused the same lady of not reading because she didn't care. And ALL the WHILE I basically was LOST! Yes, lost during the study I was supposed to be teaching. After talking with my friend, Paula, I realized I am just going through culture shock during these studies. Everything is so different - the way they talk, interact with each other, study, etc.... Today I was thinking as I heard 8 billion words passing by me that I DID not understand because they were being said at warp-speed that I AM doing my life's calling; sharing the word with people. And it is HARD!!!!!!!!! Harder than I every imagined. Everything about sharing the word in this language was hard for me today - especially that ideas and concepts just aren't the same. UGH!!! So culture shock is upon me in a very real way. I have 2 weeks off from the restoration house and I am going to make MAJOR changes to the study to help accomodate the needs (no reading comprehension, no teeth, 2 women are illiterate, etc...) in the study while I have some time. The good news is that I did write the entire study by myself and translated it myself and my tutor looked it over and most of what she had to change was moving stuff to the subjunctive form which I haven't learned yet. Anyway, I digress! Today was frustrating, but once again, I was reminded how much it is NOT about me or about making me feel all comfortable and warm and cozy inside; which would be nice, but it's not always gonna happen that way. God kept telling me during the study, "don't worry about what you can or can't understand. JUST TEACH MY WORD!"

As my kids always say to us, "Yes sir, I'd be happy too!"

PLEASE PRAY FOR MY CULTURE SHOCK, ATTITUDE, DESIRE TO CONTINUE TEACHING AND MY PATIENCE! :) I KNOW THE LORD HAS PUT ME THERE FOR HIM!

Okay...I'll share....

I've finally decided to share one of the best inventions ever. I have mentioned this to a handful of people, but I think it's time for all you blog checkers to know that there is a website that will AUTOMATICALLY (yes, you read that right) send you updates of someone's blog so you don't have to manually click on each and every blog 5 times a day to see if it was updated. Can you believe it? It's like an inbox just for blogs and you get the post as soon as it is posted. WOW! Ingenious! And of course it is free and is a brain-child of google. It has saved me HOURS of time and now I check blogs every few days and it has all the updates conveniently organized just FOR ME! And now I will share: ENJOY!!!!

https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?hl=en&nui=1&service=reader&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Freader%2F

Let me know how this works for you since I know your life will be transformed.

If the link doesn't work, just go to google and type in google reader! You're welcome.

Restoration Houses

Last week we had the privilege of preaching (John) and teaching a Bible study (Jessica) at the restoration houses (half-way house) for drug addicts and alcoholics that are trying to recover; some recover and some do not. The turn over is very high there and many people end up back on the streets. Last week I was feeling discouraged and wasn't thrilled about teaching the Bible study. I was experiencing spiritual war-fare with my attitude (it gets very difficult to talk with people who have little or no teeth, mumble and are incomprehensible to listen too) and also with physical pain in my kidney. My friend, Rita, prayed for me and I realized I was experiencing warfare. I prayed too and then went on to lead an AMAZING bible study. There were 12 women in all and God really spoke to them. He even gave me words I didn't know I had and He allowed me to share my testimony to the group as well. We are studying the book of James and I am teaching verse by verse (yes, in Spanish). The women even asked if they could have a copy of my study. When we got in the car my friend Rita (a national), who is not quick to give comments said, "Su espanol es muy buena, su estudio Biblico fue muy buena!" Boy, I was riding high after that. I knew it was TOTALLY the Lord and I am so glad I didn't succumb to the bad attitude that had plagued me when I first got there. And the kidney pain did go away right before the study started.

Also, John's sermon on Monday went very well. He said he was super comfortable and the guys participated and helped him when he was struggling with words. He preached on faith and obedience from James and Hebrews. Instead of relying on his notes, he just spoke from his mind and he left feeling very encouraged that the Lord's word was conveyed in a manner that was understood and can impact their lives. When he went back to visit the guys last Thursday one asked for copies of his sermon! As struggling Spanish students, these compliments are really great boosters in our confidence and reminders that God is so able and willing to use those who are simply available.

Please continue to pray for the people in these homes. The situations are oftentimes very heartbreaking and we just ask for the Lord to break these strongholds and that we would be vessels of His word.

HOMESCHOOLING HELP NEEDED!

HELP! I have to order curriculums for a 3rd grader, 1st grader and Pre-K/Kindergartner. I really need help deciding what to use and I want ALL advice that I can get from you guys.

Here's what I need or don't need:

Don't need a math program (we use RightStart mathematics)
Need a Reading program (for 2nd grade on up)
English
Spanish Program
Social Studies/American History (very important since we are living in anotoher culture)
Science
I have a good spelling program

The little ones can do RightStart and Hooked on Phonics for math and reading!

I don't need to use just ONE program; a mish-mosh is okay or if there is a program that is great with everything that is okay.

I do not like a ton of worksheets.

I like hands-on!

But then I have 3 kids to homeschool and a baby, so I need something that doesn't take FOREVER (like the Noah Plan) to plan. And I can't do Konos b/c I won't have the English resources in Lima, Peru.

I will not have a ton of literature at my disposal. Is there a program that comes with books for each year?

Please help!!!!!

Can you believe that in 5 1/2 months we will be back to being together everyday again. It will be quite an adjustment for me, but one I am looking forward to.

A Gator's Birthday!

My hubby is going to be 35 on March 30. He was just 24 when I met him and I can't believe in 5 short years he will be over the hill. But for now, we'll just celebrate 35 years of his wonderful life. The kids and I came up with an idea for him. We would like to have a Florida Gator b-day for him. Only problem is....yep, we're in Costa Rica. So, we thought we'd enlist the help of our friends. If you possibly could, we would like John to receive as many packages (or cards) possible with Florida Gator junk...I mean stuff. Shirts, socks, gadgets, stickers, paper, key chains, etc...anything that is Florida Gators - except hats. He's super picky about them and only one time in 10 years was I able to score on a hat purchase for him. Anyway, he is a medium or large (6 feet, 152 lbs) depending on the shirt and is a gator alumn (class of 96). If you can help make his day special that's great, if not, that's great too. Hopefully, we can surprise him in true gator fashion!

Our address is to the side of our blog! I know it looks strange, but it is correct. Please let me know if you are sending something just so I can be on the lookout for it. It takes about 10-14 days for packages or cards to arrive.

Campfire Fun

A few weeks ago we had a mock campfire where we roasted hot-dogs and made smores. It was great fun! And no one got burned.

Superman and his bridge jumping sister

Parker was gifted with the opportunity from our sweet, sweet friends to be able to Zip line at Arenal. He is our little superman!

Ally and her friend Rosie anjoy the bridge at the pool! Good times!