The Hammock

Yesterday our villa owner, Alberto, hung a new hammock in the garden for us. I never realized how entertaining a hammock could be to two small boys. They spent well over two hours laying in it side by side talking--occasionally rolling each other out of it. It was a beautiful summer day. The bees were buzzing around the beds of blooming lavender, the cicadas were making their noises, and a cool wind was blowing.And the boys laid there talking...quietly. Miracles do happen. If you take children away from noisy tv sets, computers and telephones they learn to adapt to silence. Why didn't I figure this out years ago?

Reading with the Boys

Not all of our days are spent driving to small villages in the area.We are trying to do some formal learning each morning before we head out.Every morning the boys are doing two pages of a summer workbook that covers various subjects. They then do one page of math drills, and listen to a CD of scriptures set to music they are memorizing. They each read aloud to me for 30 minutes.We have a list of spelling words they write out each day and are tested on on Fridays.They also do copywork each day of a poem or passage of scripture. We are reading Italian books in the evenings and they watch Italian cartoons when we are home in the afternoons (which hasn't been very often:)At night before bed they listen as we read longer chapter books aloud.Keeping the same structure and routine that they were used to in the States has helped them adjust remarkably well.They still spend a lot of time outside playing in the yard and exploring the nooks and craannies of a medieval hunting lodge. They are making some wonderful memories of the freedoms of childhood.

Hotel Sobaria

We spent yesterday driving to Citerna for Terry to meet with technicians setting up Wi-Fi for the new campus. The boys swam for two hours while I re-read "For the Family's Sake" by Susan Schaeffer Macauley. She is the daughter of the theologian Francis Schaeffer and Edith Schaeffer, who is one of my favorite authors. I love this book. It is so encouraging. I called Terry to see how the work was going and he said they were sitting at the bar. I love Italy!! We drove to our new favorite restaurant in the countryside which is a converted horse training stable from one thousand years ago. We've eaten there twice already. We went exploring to the towns of Monterchi and Citta' di Castello, the closest towns to our new home for the Fall. Monterchi is quaint, with a beautiful view, but not much else but castle walls. Citta' di Castello is a really nice town, interesting shops, but still feels less crowded than normal for Italy. We found a wonderful "mall" on the outskirts, only 7 minutes from our place. It had a wonderful grocery, shoe store, electronics shop, beauty shop, etc. It will be so convenient for everyday shopping. There was a lot of parking, which is an extra bonus here in Italy.Today we went into Florence for the afternoon. I picked up some english papers and a book and then we shared Chinese food with Brandon and Kristin.Fun days.

Life in the Hills of Tuscany

We have been at home in this beautiful little home on the hilll now for a little over a week. It cannot be adequately described in words, so I'll describe it in pictures. Jordan and Christian are loving the freedom of exploring a new world. Terry is enjoying sitting outside in the cool breeze and playing his guitar, and am enjoying being surrounded by my books and the quiet stillness of the countryside.