Keeping sane

Dear Baby

2012-01-16T20:06:00.001-03:00

Time for a phone dump.

2012-01-13T06:00:00.000-03:00

I love taking pictures with my phone! Love, love, love!

But they stay on my phone. Bad, bad, bad.

Do you use Instagram? Do you love it as much as I do?

Embrace the Camera

2012-01-12T06:00:00.001-03:00

This weeks Embrace the Camera is all about my baby girl, Lexi.

We just found out that I am expecting baby 4!

I'm still early on in the pregnancy, not even throwing up yet, so it doesn't quite feel real to me. Once my head is hanging in a toilet I'll "feel" pregnant. :)

Thinking about the arrival of New Baby has me hugging on Current Baby a lot more.

Never have I had a child as attached to me as this little one.

We are, without a doubt, best friends.

How will she handle the change?

We shall see!

Go to Emily's for more Embrace The Camera!

A smelly summer

2012-01-11T08:18:00.003-03:00

Summertime means lots of good things like popsicles, ice cream and pool time.

But here in Paraguay where temps easily go over 100 degrees on a daily basis, summer also means stinky.

I fight two battles every summer: Kill All Ants and Keep House from Stinking.

Why does summer smell?

Well, the house is hot. I mean, H.O.T. So every little crumb, every little piece of toilet paper in the trash can, every sweaty child, every dirty diaper (be it cloth or disposable), every wad of dirty clothes, every piece of leftover food in the trash, begins to fester and steam in 97 degree house.

A trash can that is only half full of used paper towels will be ok at bedtime but by morning? It smells like a pig pen.

Here's what I do to help, but the problem is never really solved to Fall weather wisps in sometime in March.

1. Empty every trash can, every night, no matter how empty it is.

2. Flush every toilet many times a day. (My children are unable to flush. I don't know why...but they never do. Annoying.)

4. Take the trash out to the street every night. This makes the front of the house stink, but hey, we spend more time indoors than outdoors.

5. Spray all sweaty children down with water house about three times a day.

6. I had to switch Lexi back to disposable. In order to keep the cloth from stinking I had to wash a load every night, this was using up too much water and for me right now, taking the trash out is easier than doing yet another load of laundry.

7. And speaking of laundry, keep on top of it! That stuff is smelly!!!

8. Light candles all the time.

9. Open windos and turn on every fan.

And once all of the above has been done...

TURN ON THE AIR CONDITIONER.

Any other ideas? Please share!

On getting organized

2012-01-10T06:00:00.001-03:00

I always get bit by the organizing bug in Janurary. I want to declutter, throw out, and deep clean just about anything in site!

Here's a few things helping me keep on track.

Declutter Calendar

Home Routines App

What tools are you using to stay, or become, organized?

Sunday tantrum and Tim Tebow

2012-01-09T10:05:00.003-03:00

Here is Lexi throwing a temper tantrum on Sunday.

Yes, I dress my kids to go to church, but she decided to play with the water bubbler, when told no, she threw a fit and spilled water all over her dress.

Nice.

She had to sit in the "happy chair" till....happy.

Aaah...that's better! Snotty nose and all!

She ended the service by throwing up everything she had eaten all day, in front of everyone. It cleared the room fast. Sorry folks! Fellowship time is over! The pastors kid just puked in the middle of the small and crowded room. See ya next week!

Then we went home and watched Tim Tebow win and win good.

Yay for MK's! And big double Yay for MK's who love Jesus!

Go Tebow!

This week in review

2012-01-06T06:00:00.000-03:00

What does a week in our life look like?

1. A firework show in our friend's backyard.

2. Brian helped light the fireworks and kept us all alive.

3. Many (many) failed potty attempts. I give up for now.

4. A ladder. On top of my dining room table. To install the ceiling fan. I left the room, because I didn't want to look.

5. A late night snack of peanut butter sandwiches in their bedroom. (Moments like these are what make being a mom awesome.)

How was your week?

Determined to keep trying!

2012-01-05T12:44:00.003-03:00

I am joining Emily's Embrace the Camera again.

I am determined, DETERMINED, to take more pictures of myself and my husband with my kids.

And since the main purpose of this blog is for my girls to read in the future...Here girls, this is me! Twenty-six years old.

Next week I'll try to include some of the kiddos (or the husband!) with me.

2012-01-03T06:00:00.000-03:00

Some messes are not nice, but some look cozy. Like this scene in the girls room. Pink, sunshine-y, and glowy. It makes me happy to see remnants of their creativity and playfullness laying around.

(Most of the time, anyway. Some days it drives me crazy!)

I've been organizing, tidying up, cleaning out and sprucing up the house. I always seem to struggle with finding the balance between home and others. On the one hand, I realize the importance of making my home a haven for my family. I can glorify Christ through welcoming others into my home, helping them enjoy their stay, feeding them,etc. On the other hand, should I really care about hanging pictures on my wall? Should I spend less time inside and more time walking around the neighborhood with my girls finding people to encourage and help? When do you stop one good thing and move on to the other?

It reminds me of how important the Holy Spirit is in a Christian's life. Every day is so different, and my role as wife, mother, missionary can change on an almost daily basis. I'm learning to follow His leading and enjoy the balance only He can give.

New Years Eve around these parts

2012-01-02T06:00:00.000-03:00

Isn't my new kitchen artwork beautiful? My friends gifted it to us for Christmas and I couldn't possibly love it more. That constant reminder of Christ's sacrifice for me and the growth that He gives us, placed in my kitchen. The room of the house that gets the most use.

I hope your New Years Eve celebration was a sweet as ours. We kept it simple with all of our littles running around. They did get to stay up late. Ten o'clock. Wow!

I am thankful for:

The look on her face when she sees ice cream being served.

The joy these two have. Their excitement is contagious!

Homemade ice cream cake to ring in the New Year

Because what could be better than ice cream cake?

A Crazy Costume Competition to end the evening? (Lexi decided to wear her Birthday Suit)

How did you spend your New Years Eve?

Farewell Christmas! Hello 2012!

2011-12-31T14:08:00.003-03:00

Goodbye Christmas, see you next year. And may I just say, good riddance? I love Christmas, but I also love seeing it go. I love how BIG my living room feels after I pack the tree up, I love how clean the house looks without piles of odds and ends everywhere.

Christmas this year was interesting for me. We had planned for almost six months to bring my brother and his wife down as a Christmas surprise for my mom. I had very big expectations for Christmas. All my girls with all my siblings and two of my bestest friends.

But, oh, the girls were sick! For weeks. And still are.

Cough, cough, cough.

No long cozy afternoon at my mom's...it was more like one hour of eating bites of delicious food in between puke buckets, and mopping up piles of goo. There was also a lot of tears and whiny children who just didn't feel good. We left my mom's house and went back to my house where we tucked all of our little sickos into bed, and then stared at the wall in a daze.

I had wanted Christmas to be "perfect" and do advent and make sure my girls were focused on Christ more than gifts. Turns out it was I who really needed the lesson. My perfect Christmas dreams were shattered as I wiped runny nose after runny nose. A constant reminder that Christmas isn't about fun and games and advent reading but about a perfect Saviour who came to an imperfect world.

His Holiness meeting our earthly sin and sickness.

As it turns out, Christmas was perfect after all.

And now the New Year is upon us, which in this house means lots of fruits and veggies to clean all of those Christmas carbs out of our system.

My only New Years Resolution is to keep reading through my Bible till I've read every single word. And I won't get there in a year, but that's okay.

What are your resolutions?

What we're up to: Told in Pictures

2011-12-16T08:00:00.001-03:00

A whole lot of cute

A whole lot of busy

A little bit of baking

A lot of holidays

Some visiting

A little bit of decorating (and of course, admiring!)

A lot of playing with toys and animals

a whole lot of summer!

Painting squash and ourselves

2011-12-15T08:00:00.002-03:00

Beware: If you do not like messes, quit reading now.

I don't mind messes too much. Crafting with the girls is okay and I expect there to be HUGE messes.

Brian just stays away, messy isn't his kind of thing.

I had seen online lots of tutorials about painting pumpkins, which for this stage in life seemed much more doable than carving them. The pumpkins were pricey at the grocery store so I bought about 8 little different squash and let the girls go crazy on them.

How do you feel about messy? yay or nay?

The baby of the house

2011-12-14T08:00:00.001-03:00

Just a simple blog post to stretch my blogging muscles again.

A little bit of Lexi to brighten your day!

Just a quick note...for now.

2011-12-13T07:22:00.002-03:00

Yes, we are alive and kicking! It's been months since I posted here due to Facebook invading my life, that's where most of my pictures and updates are. I remembered that there are a few people who don't use Facebook but do like to read my blog and see the zaney antics of my girls via this blog (I'm talking to you Nana Cantrell!)

Here's the run down:

Lexi, 22 months old. Her latest adventures include knocking down the Christmas tree, using my makeup brush to clean the toilet bowl, ripping her diaper off and streaking through the house with an amazing amount of toddler-ish energy. She is busy.

Abigail is busy with her usual stuff, saying the funniest things, wearing the coolest clothes, still sucking her thumb to fall asleep, and filling all of her coloring books with her beautiful coloring talent.
Elena is, as usual, practicing her Future Mommy skills. She likes to boss, help and clean. Her favorite word to write is GOD and she can't wait to start school again. She also tries to sneak and turn the Air Conditioner on whenever we're not looking.
That's all for now, and I'll try to update more but I'll need to find an extra 30 minutes to plop into our days in order to do so. Anyone have extra minutes laying around they can gift me for Christmas?

No?

I didn't think so.

Butterflies for preschoolers

2011-10-12T06:00:00.002-03:00

I think this craft is pretty self-explanatory, but just in case, here goes:

Coffee filters (we didn't have any, so we just cut round circles out of a crumpled piece of packing paper I found in one of my unpacked boxes. Yes, still a lot of unpacked boxes here.)

Watercolors

Clothes pins

Paint the circles with watercolors, allow to dry, then clip in the middle with a clothes pin. I used scotch tape to tape them to our playroom door, but I think these would make a cute mobile too. Hm....

Elena and a List (because I love lists)

2011-10-11T06:00:00.001-03:00

Has it really been almost a month since my oldest turned six?

SIX.

That's first grade. That's reading. That's maybe loosing a tooth. Tying shoelaces. Learning to ride a bike....

Why do they all just keep growing, and growing, and growing?

Here's a random little list of things I'm feeling very grateful for today:

1. The memories of birthday cupcakes with pink frosting. Sticky goodness everywhere!

2. A cloudy day with a hot cup of coffee in hand.

3. Watching our church grow and grow and grow.

4. Thankful for my husband who does all sorts of good, little everyday things for me such as, making coffee, letting me sleep in, doing the groceries, and not caring if the sink overflows with dishes.

5. Elena loving to do school.

6. Abbie's cute accent in Spanish

7. Lexi's face covered in Jell-O.

8. The sound of the fan humming

9. My iPod, my iPhone, my MacBook and our iMac. (I will really miss Steve Jobs.)

10. Our first chocolate panettone! The holiday season is very, very near!

Quick! Ten things your thankful for, GO!

Take them OUTSIDE.

2011-10-10T06:00:00.000-03:00

What I remember most about my days with two babies was how long those days were. I was the sole source of...everything, for both of them, and it was beyond exhausting.

One of my solutions was to take them for very long walks.

I would put 5 month old Abbie in the Baby Bjorn, and grab 2 year old Elena by the hand, and we would be off.

We would walk for hours.

It gave them a chance to breathe fresh air and me a chance to talk to other adults. It would make their little legs tired and give me some exercise.

We would get home dusty, sweaty, but hey! It was dinner time, bath time and then bedtime! Another day finished: Woohoo!

Now, I feel like the days fly by, there's so much to do and yet, not much of it is getting done. So what happens is we all start snipping at each other. What's better? A clean kitchen and picky people or a sink full of dishes and happy people?

I try to choose the latter (but oh, how I love a clean kitchen!) and so many times, when I find that everyone is getting a bit clingy, grumbly, and droopy, we head outside.

For hours.

We drink terere with neighbors, we make new friends, we see a new bug, and we come home tired and happy.

I know it doesn't always really make sense, to leave the long to do lists behind, but it's so much better.

Seriously, grab some shoes and go outside.

Now vs. Then

2011-10-08T14:47:00.002-03:00

Shoveling...that's what I'm doing these days. Shoveling my way out of laundry, diapers, and sticky messes. I find myself getting frustrated and wondering why it's not working like it used to. I remember when I had two kids I was able to keep the house fairly tidy, the children were bathed on a regular basis, I blogged daily, cooked a new recipe almost three times a week, and went to the gym every morning.

Why isn't it working now?

Finally, because I'm so slow sometimes, it dawned on me that things are so different now.

I have THREE kids, not TWO. The oldest wants to read, the middle one wants to play quietly with toys, the youngest wants to climb into the kitchen sink and hang from the rafters. So different then when I had two babies who's needs were basically the same.

Our church now is very young compared to the church we were in "way back then" which was more established.

I wasn't homeschooling then, I am now.

Why do I keep trying to squeeze my present into the past? It's only frustrating me and leaves me with a bigger pile of mental and physical "stuff" to shovel out of.

Thankfully, I know that my identity is not in a tidy house, and perfectly synchronized schedule. It's in Christ, who is so, so, so very patient with me.

I have to remind myself that going to the gym every morning, or three new meals a week are not eternal things.

So for now, I only cook food that don't require recipes. I don't blog as often. My house is a wreck because instead of cleaning it I take my three wiggly girls for a walk to meet our new neighbors and establish relationships.

So yeah, we eat lots of sandwiches, we take naps, we make messes, and pull out our clothes from large piles found on top of the dryer. We buy bread, we play PBSKids.org, and I haven't seen the inside of a gym in ages.

And those things are not eternal, but my girls souls are. So if I'm washing dishes and I notice one sulking, I leave the dishes and talk to Miss Pouty, give her the Gospel, pray with her, correct her and then move on to something else.

The dishes will get done, eventually.

And that, is where we're at NOW.

Open your face!

2011-10-06T10:19:00.002-03:00

One of my little girls has the habit of frowning, she is very emotional and can turn on the tears just.like.that. We've talked about habits and we're working with her to overcome this. I want her to know I'm on her side and one of our key phrases with her is "Open your face!" meaning, stop scrunching it, lift those lips up into a smile! and no more whining! That little phrase usually keeps her from melting down into a puddle of tears over a broken cookie, lost toy, or misplaced shoe.

Yesterday, I had to keep telling myself to open my face.

I don't know what it was exactly but I just found myself feeling so ruffled. Two long weeks, little sleep at night, teething toddler...I wasn't sad, I wasn't grumpy, I wasn't mad...I was a mixture of all three and tried to hide it all morning.

Ah! But then Brian took me to a local greenhouse/plant store. It's not in town, so we drove a about 20 minutes on a long stretch of highway and pulled into a small, manicured jungle.

So glad I grabbed my camera.

All those plants made the air easier to breathe, the birds were everywhere and singing, bright colors surrounded us and I felt so much better.

We went back home with a few trees and bushes in the back of our car, and I for one, had an open face. :)

2011-10-04T08:01:00.002-03:00

(This is Elena making what we call her "Daddy face.")

On todays agenda: Finish painting some shelves red for the girls playroom, bake chocolate chip cookies, have friends over for burgers, walk around the neighborhood and meet some neighbors, take Alice for a long walk at the park (done!), plant more grass in the backyard, find a local bookstore to buy cardboard for the girls chore chart, and, oh yeah...school with Elena.

I hope it to get it all done, if not, oh well. There's always tomorrow!

I've been spending a lot of time and creative energy on our photography business lately, I wanted to see and try it out. So far, I have to be honest, I'm really not liking it. We haven't had any jobs yet (it's only been three days since we launched) but I feel that my head is in another place. I spend so much time planning and thinking about what I would do for a newborn shoot, wedding shoot, etc that I end up giving my girl the tired, leftover, un-creative parts of me. Boring.

The good news is, I'm not in this photography thing alone. My friend will soon be back and take over almost everything, except photo editing which is my favorite thing of all. It truly is wonderful to have friends.

All that to say this: I refuse to give my creative energy to anyone but friends and family, for now. Some women have it in endless amounts and can spread it all over church, family, friends and complete strangers, but I just can't.

So, hello girls! How about we do some finger painting today?

My Cinnamon Rolls

2011-09-29T17:54:00.003-04:00

(Yes. They really look like that.)

DOUGH:

1 3/4 cups of lukewarm water

1 1/2 Tablespoons granulated yeast

1 1/2 Tbsp. salt

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

1/2 cup of honey

1/2 cup of unsalted butter, melted

7 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix the yeast, salt, eggs, honey and melted butter with the water in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) container.

Mix in the flour without kneading, using a wooden spoon. You may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour.

Cover, not airtight, and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), for about 2 hours.

The dough can be used immediately after the initial rise but it is MUCH easier to handle when cold. So...refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container and use over the next 5 days. This is enough for three batches of cinnamon rolls.

(Tip: I usually mix the dough three days in advance, we find that the flavor is better when the dough ferments a bit)

On to the cinnamon rolls!! (are you still with me???)

The Caramel Topping (Don't miss this! It's what makes my cinnamon rolls special!)

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

* Mix together and spread evenly over the bottom of a 9 inch cake pan. This magical concoction will turn into a sweet, sticky, gooey caramel that will sink into your amazing rolls.

The Filling

4 Tbps. unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp of freshly grated nutmeg

Pinch of freshly ground black pepper (yup. you read that correctly)

1 cup of raisins

*Pull your bowl of dough out of the fridge, dust the surface of the dough with flour and cut off a 1 1/2 pound (roughly the size of a cantaloupe) piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to a thin rectangle. Cream together your butter, sugar, and spices. Spread thinly over the dough, sprinkle raisins on top. Starting with the long side, roll the dough into a log. If the dough is too soft to cut, let it chill in the fridge for 20 minutes or so.

With a sharp serrated knife, cut the log into 8 pieces and place in cake pan with the "swirly" sides facing up. Let rise for about 1 hour.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees about five minutes before baking.

Bake the rolls for about 40 minutes or until golden brown and well set in the center.

Pull out of oven, and while they are still hot, turn onto a large serving dish. Make sure the serving dish has a lip around the edge or else all the gooey topping will fall onto your counter. DO NOT let the rolls cool in the pan or the Caramel Topping will make them stick.

And you're done!! :)

Yes, a lot of work, but look at this picture! They are SO worth it!!

Recipe adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, which you should own. Seriously.

My Dad, the doctor. Another re-post!

2011-09-22T09:16:00.001-04:00

She asked if my dad was a doctor.

Uhm...yes, well, kinda...maybe? Sorta.

Hm...I'll just start at the beginning.
When I was eleven we moved from a big city in Venezuela, Barquisimeto its called, to a small Indian village named Chajurana. It was a two hour plane trip. Not a big plane, a small one engine 206 Cessna. Like a sardine can with wings. We arrived in the village and began the long process of settling in. The bats didn't like that we were taking over their outhouse. And of course we didn't like going to the outhouse by ourselves. So who ever had to "go" also had to convince a younger sibling to accompany them.
Josh - "Hey! Jewel! You want to go to the out house with me?"
Jewel- "No."
Josh - "It will be fun!"
Jewel- "No, it will stink. The out house smells weird."
Josh - "Please???"
Jewel - "Uh...no."
Josh - "Uhm...Jayde! You want to go the out house with me??"
Jayde- "AAAA!! I hate bats!!!" (as she's running away....)
You get the point. Well, one day, right at dusk, the Ye'kwana nurse came to get my dad. He told my dad they needed his help. A little boy had shot an arrow into his shoulder. Could my dad help the men get it out? My dad was ecstatic to help, he grabbed his flashlight, because his idea of "helping" was holding the flashlight so they could see better while they pulled the arrow out. Wrong.

When they got to the small, smokey little hut one of the men handed my dad a scapel and said, "There you go." My dad asked them just what they thought he was supposed to do with a scapel. "Pull the arrow out."
"I don't know how to pull the arrow out. You're the nurse!"
"Yeah, but you're the missionary."
"So....?"
"All missionaries have to do medical stuff." Of course this conversation did not take place in English, it supposedly took place in Yekwana, which my dad knew very little of at the time. So for all we know the conversation that really took place was...
"Pull the arrow out"
"Hi! How are you? What is your name?"
"What? I asked you to pull the arrow out. Here's the scapel."
"We will be here for three months, and Jesus loves you."
"You missionaries get weirder and weirder."
Most of our early conversations in Yekwana went like that, and I must admit that my grasp of the language never really got past that point! ;-)
Long story short, my dad pulled the arrow out, and he was hooked. He loved medical work and went on to deliver babies,treat burns, stitch, pull teeth, etc. Just about anything you could think of, he could do. Of course his children did not put as much trust in him as the Ye'kwanas did. We were afraid to tell dad we had a toothache, cause he would want to pull it. Practice, he called it. We were not very excited about being his dental guinea pigs.
The Ye'kwana parents would threaten their kids..."If you dont behave, the missionary is going to give you a shot!" Ahh...the good old days. When penicillan could fix everything!

Chicken Run!

2011-09-20T13:45:00.003-04:00

The other day we had quite the adventure. I'll let Elena tell you about it in her own words:

"Okay. Once upon a time, there was a chicken right next door and it came into our yard, and Alice was chasing it and I was screaming "Daddy! Daddy! Save the chicken!" And then Daddy stopped Alice, and I picked up the chicken. I was so proud of me! Then I was five years old, but now I'm six. And that was a very funny day. My Daddy was laughing very hard when he was chasing the chicken."

Abbie's view on that day:

"I was thinking if that chicken would get dead by Alice. I was sooo worried. I screamed very loud. And laughing too. And I thinkded that I would have to take it back to the man that the chicken belongs to. Because I was scared of the chicken. And that's it."

Captain Alice's view:

"Chicken. Get in my belly."

The End.

Bedtime Woes

2011-09-16T16:04:00.001-04:00

A re-post from my old blog. To busy to blog right now, so enjoy this oldie!

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

There's nothing like saying, "It's Bedtime!" to turn a happy child into a sad, sad, sad, pathetic mess of tears.

My guess is that Elena believes we throw parties after she has gone to bed.

(Because after a long day of giggles, Barney songs, runny noses, peepee accidents and endless questions there's nothing I would possibly rather do than throw a party.)

Not just any party mind you.

Oh no, in Elena's mind these parties are some kind of toddler awesome.

I'm sure she pictures elephants, balloons, giant lollipops and an endless supply of grandparents to give you anything your little two year old heart desires.

Which would explain why she is so distraught at having to sleep while we party.

Friends, we are The Meanest Parents In The World. At bedtime anyway.

If only she knew the truth...

There are no elephants. Just two blurry eyed, fuzzy brained adults, who can't wait to fall into bed and stare at the ceiling.

No balloons. Just dishes to wash, and trash to get out.

No lollipops either. Maybe just a few minuts of reading before my eyes slam shut.

As for the grandparents? They're not present either, but oh how we wish they were.

The closest we get to a party is giving each other high-five's and a hearty "Congratulations!" for making it through another day.

And then we go to bed.

Because we're tired and it's all going to start again tomorrow.

So, dear Elena, trust me on this...You're not missing anything.

And one more thing...

I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Graduating in Brazil

2011-09-14T15:37:00.003-04:00

I was homeschooled from pre-school till 12th grade. One of the few, though the number is growing in the USA, that never attended a traditional school. I'm always asked if I felt that I missed out. No pep rallies? No friends? No graduation? My answer? Nope. Some homeschoolers miss those things but I never felt that I needed them. If you know my family then you know why. We are good at entertaining ourselves.

My grandfather is the pastor of a church in Florida full of lovely, kind people who decided to throw me a surprise graduation upon my completion of High School. I was 16 years old and got to experience wearing the silk robe, walking down the aisle to Pomp and Circumstance, and eating lots of cake afterwards. I was the only graduate and it was still fun.

Last weekend we were able to attend the graduation of a dear friend. It was his college graduation in Brazil.

It started at 7:30 PM and we did not get home that night till 1:00 AM.

Thankfully I had a long nap and a sip or two of Brian's cappuccino before the ceremony.

I have to tell you, if you think American graduations are fun , you've never been to a graduation in Brazil!

There was music! I can not verify this but I do believe the theme song to Star Wars was one of the melodies chosen for the walk down the aisle. Awesome.

There were balloons! Bull horns! Vuvuzelas.

It was all very fun and cool.

The graduates were color coded...as in Medicine graduates wore yellow sashes, International Relations wore red, Computer Engineers wore blue, etc.

The graduates were very proud and joyful. None of them appeared to take for granted their hard work and accomplishment.

All this to say, I never really felt that I "missed out" in not graduating from College, or being in a large graduating class in high school, until...

I went to this Brazilian graduation.

Now I wish I could graduate...Brazilian style. :)

And as for our friend, who graduated top of his class, we're so very happy for you! And thanks for letting us share with you that night.

His grand entrance:

He and his wife: Happy, happy, happy!

Felicidades!

Who wants to play with Lexi?

2011-09-09T06:00:00.000-04:00

Peek-aahhhhhh....

BOO!

Why I blog

2011-09-08T17:19:00.003-04:00

Sometimes I forget why I blog. Why do I feel the need to post something as often as possible? It isn't to make money, obviously. And I don't really do it to interact with people although I LOVE getting comments. I blog so that one day my girls can remember what they did, said, and acted like "way back when."

So...to my three little crazies, on this day, September 8th of the year 2011 this is what your day looked like:

Mornings are slow....Angry Birds on the couch while Mommy makes oatmeal for breakfast.

It was a rainy, drippy day and Elena had the best idea yet - put on rain boots and play in the mud. She ran around in circles, splashing in puddles and shouting out "BEST.DAY.EVER!!" (For those who don't know, that's a line from the movie Tangled)

Then it was time to make dinner...a new recipe, Potato Pizza! It was yummy and they were both sweet in the kitchen.

My big girls helped by sprinkling rosemary on to the pizza and then feeding leftover bits of fresh parsley to their pet caterpillar named Pasqual, who I am sorry to inform you blog readers, passed away this afternoon. Caterpillars don't like to be pulled apart into two pieces, this was Abbie's lesson of the day.

Except for a long game of Ring Around the Rosy with Lexi before bed, those are all of the highlights of today in pictures.

Just little snippets of our days for my girls to remember, I usually only write about the good stuff. There were also some bad attitudes, laziness, and whining today.

(Mostly all from me, and that's the truth.)

2011-09-05T19:47:00.002-04:00

{Do not be fooled by Abbie's serious face here. We had a wonderful day.}

I think today may have been the first time since we moved into our new house that we got really sit back and relax. Early this morning I heard clapping at the door (we don't ring door bells in Paraguay, we clap) and I literally crawled on the floor from the living room to the back bedroom so that they wouldn't see me through the window.

Why? Because I'm an introvert. I love being alone, being alone energizes me and helps me not get migraine headaches. So after a week and a half of having strange men parade through the house with their loud machinery I.AM.DONE.

Brian took care of the two guys that stopped by this morning (one to fix a minor detail on a window and the other to make sure the minor detail on the window was fixed) while I hid in the TV room with the girls and watched Sense and Sensibility.

After that we spent the day cooking, working in the yard, grocery shopping, facebooking, coloring, reading, eating, and not being around other people.

Bliss!

Orange dirt and lots of it!

2011-09-03T20:11:00.000-04:00

Our yard currently looks like a big slab of orange clay. Oh wait....it is a big slab of orange clay! Our socks are orange, our bath towels are orange, our clothes our orange, and yes, our feet are orange. On Monday we will be laying sod which will make this Mommy extremely happy because orange is quickly becoming my least favorite color. It also makes me so very happy that I chose reddish orange tile which looks clean-ish even when covered in reddish-orange footprints.

Most of today was spent outside spreading two loads of dirt all over the front yard in preparation for grass.

.

A pretty nice way to spend the afternoon, if I do say so myself.

Messy girls!

2011-08-10T15:42:00.002-04:00

Things I love about this picture.

1. Crocs. My girls each own two pairs of shoes. Flip flops and crocs. That's it. There's not a lot of dressing up around here and I feel that we're still sorting and cleaning lots of shoes as it is.

2. Lexi is covered in water. She's a big girl and wanted to drink out of a regular cup, which resulted in being soaked.

3. Scabby knees, bruised legs, and dirt smears. Playing outside is so good for them!

4. Color. I love all the colors they are wearing.

Two more weeks till we move into our house!! I feel like I've been waiting for this move for two years (oh wait...I have been!) I wonder what I will do with my life once it's done? :)

Afternoons

2011-08-09T20:30:00.002-04:00

Every day after naps, Lexi gets a snack on the kitchen floor. Her blankie, a plate of fruit and she's all set.

"All done!"

Then she hangs out with Alice for a bit...

Isn't life grand?

2011-08-09T20:20:00.001-04:00

Delish!

2011-08-08T08:14:00.002-04:00

The Cheyenne Burger

We recently took it upon ourselves to cook our way through Bobby Flay's Burger, Fries, and Shakes cookbook.

So far we've made one, and then our friends went on vacation. Hurry back guys, we want more burgers!!
Next on the list to make: The Buffalo Burger!

What I've been reading

2011-08-07T15:34:00.002-04:00

{This picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post}

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (It's taking me forever to finish but such a great example of the Christian faith!)

Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God (I'm loving this, I simply can't put it down.)

The American Frugal Housewife (free on Kindle, not very practical for today but interesting to read.)

In the Company of Others: A Father Tim Novel (I didn't feel this was as good as the other Mitford novels, but still perfect reading for right before bed.)

Tell me what you are reading!

Nursery

2011-08-06T11:21:00.003-04:00

Sometimes during church its just me and Lexi in the nursery, so we take pictures of ourselves.

And we eat cookies. Lots of cookies.

Abbie's Fashion

2011-08-04T14:42:00.002-04:00

All over the internet I am finding blogs where people talk about what their kids wore. Vintage outfits and what not. It's very cute. Check out Pippi Parade, pretty neat, right?

We all know I'm not good with the fashion stuff, my girls dress themselves every day. Elena is very conscious about what she wears and how it looks.

Abbie is sort of like me.

Is it comfortable? If yes, wear it. If not, don't.

I give you A Week In Abigail's Fashion:

Notice, when it's cold she just puts tons of clothes on. A dress, over a skirt, over leggings.

Why not?

Sweet girl, sweet dress, sweet friend.

2011-06-21T08:05:00.002-04:00

A friend of mine once brought her darling little girl to church in a sweet little dress. Her little girl is always dressed impeccably and this certain dress had a real vintage feel to it. I oohed and ahhed over it, and told her how cute the dress and her daughter were. Fast forward a few months and my friend gives the dress to Miss Lexi Joy.

Pictures were in order! Lexi Joy will not pose for pictures unless bribed with cookies.

Cookie in hand (and headband removed!) my Dad held her back so that I could get in position. Lexi moves fast!

Here she comes strolling down our fashion runway, also known as my Dad's garage, wearing the sweet vintage-y dress.

Oh Lexi! Pictures of your are a lot of work (and a lot of cookies!) but so worth it! My sweet little girl in her sweet little dress!

Obrigada amiga por el lindo vestido! :)

SuperHero Dad

2011-06-19T10:41:00.002-04:00

For Fathers Day the girls made Brian a comic book of sorts. I told them I would draw a picture of Daddy looking like Super Man. So I drew this:

They scratched their heads and said, "but that doesn't look like SuperMan or like Daddy."

Tough luck, kids. I'm no artist!

And while I may not be an artist, I can whip up a good batch of cinnamon rolls for my husband on Fathers Day.

Happy Fathers Day, Brian. We love you!

What is it?

2011-06-16T20:54:00.003-04:00

We made this hair clip thingy today out of circles of fabric. We went crazy with the hot glue gun. We can't decide if it looks like a fabric flower hair clip or like a bunch of fabric circles hot glued together.

What do you think?

Elena couldn't hold still, this is normal.

Abbie kept making funny faces for the camera, this also is normal.

Today I got all the laundry done.

(And by done I mean washed, NOT, washed, folded and put away. That would just be crazy.)

Eggs, Paper, Paint, Sandwiches

2011-06-14T20:54:00.003-04:00

*Whew*

Today is over and it was a good day, but I'm Tired. (Yes, with a capital T!)

Abigail learned how to make her own peanut butter and jelly sandwich today. She was very proud of herself and told me to "tell your computer I can make my own sandwiches." I think that's her way of saying "please blog about me and my new skill."

So there you have it, computer. Abbie can make her own sandwich.

She also made this painting which I really, really like. I think I might frame it for their play room in the new house.

One of the reasons I may be so tired is because I found two weeks worth of eggs smashed on the floor.

(Alice thought they were AWESOME.)

I won't name which child did this, but here is a picture of a certain someone fleeing the scene.

Dear Lexi,

That's a lot of eggs,

and they smashed on top of the construction paper

that I bought downtown.

Going downtown is a nightmare for me.

No more ruining construction paper, please!

Signed,

a Tired (with a capital T) Mommy

Cooking with Alice

2011-06-13T20:23:00.002-04:00

Tonight I made dinner all by myself. I love cooking with my girls, it's so sweet when they help me stir, chop veggies, lick the spoon or dump ingredients into a pan. Every now and then it's nice to cook without them, less concentration required, more quiet in the house, less mess. That was nice.

Of course I wasn't completely alone. I did have some company. And while I would like to think she was there because she loves me so much, I think she was just hoping to eat stuff off of the floor.

Why would I think that? I mean, it's not like every time she hears that Lexi is in her highchair Miss Alice goes scooting over to see what's up.

They are good friends, those two. I love them both to pieces.

Before I leave you tonight, please, check out Captain Alice's love handles. Aren't they the cutest?

Our Weekend

2011-06-13T06:00:00.001-04:00

We had a busy weekend. Well, maybe not busy compared to a USA busy weekend. Seriously, life there is FAST. How do you all do it?

Busy for us, our little slow moving family in a country known for being "tranquilo." (calm)

Here is a glimpse at our busyness:

1. We played with balloons.

2. Lexi read some books, one of which happened to be about balloons. What are the odds??

3. We had church and it was good.

4. We made a double batch of Easy Yummy Oatmeal Cookies.

5. Captain Alice escaped from her kennel around 3 AM and made a HUGE mess in the living room.

6. Brian and I went to a birthday party for someone we barely know. Then we left because, hello, we barely knew the person.

And there you have it! Our busy weekend.

That is all certainly busy enough for me! I am very easy going and I don't like rushing. At all.

How was your weekend?

Chubby cheeks are meant for kissing.

2011-06-12T22:33:00.001-04:00

Bedtime kisses on smooshy baby cheeks, is there anything better?

We think not.

Same old same old

2011-06-10T18:55:00.011-04:00

Today was big day around here.

We taught Alice how to play futbol.

She's very passionate about the sport and shows lots of potential. Ha!

Elena drew a picture of this family and then took a picture of it.

Alexandra got into the puppy's water dish (again) and I told her not to (again.)

Abbie pretended she was sleeping so that she wouldn't have to clean up the mess she made. Sneaky.

Just another day in paradise!

Today

2011-06-09T18:46:00.002-04:00

We started off with having Eggs In A Hole. Or Eggs In A Basket. Or Man In A Boat. I've even heard of them being called Toad In A Hole.

I love them!

Morning was beautiful, we had a rock hunt in the yard and then the girls painted the rocks with my last little bit of paint in the house.

(Blurry picture, but very accurate.)

I spent the rest of the day talking to myself. Scolding myself actually.

"I'm so sick of waiting to live. When do we start living? We've been packing/moving/packing/moving for over two years now. What gives? When does it end?"

And then I say to myself, "Self, stop complaining. You have a roof over your head. Count your blessings. You are living. This might be the last day. Enjoy it."

And then Grumpy Self says, "I hope it IS the last day. I'm tired. I don't feel like a mom. All I feed these little people is PB&J. Our days feel like a Dr. Seuss book and I want out."

And then I say to Grumpy Me, "The girls love PB&J! And they love Dr. Seuss! You are a mom, every day, like it or not, so be a good one. Circumstance don't decided that!"

And then Grumpy Self says...

You get the picture.

Do you ever have to chew yourself out?

Then came my least favorite part of the day.

5:00 pm.

Brian asked what I needed. I needed two things. Would he please keep an eye on the popcorn popping while I went to the bathroom and could he take over Lexi's bedtime.

I couldn't do it. Not tonight.

As always, because he's perfect for me, he stepped in and saved the day. (Thanks Hon!)

I gave the big girls some Ginger Honey Tea to soothe their runny noses and sore threats. They sipped on it while I read from Little House on the Prairie.

Maybe I do feel like a mom after all.

My thoughts on photography

2011-06-09T11:04:00.005-04:00

I've been thinking a lot about photography lately. I might be starting a small, photography business.

Or I might not.

I can't really decide.

The reason we bought my SLR camera was because I had learned how to use my point and shoot to the max. There was so much more I wanted to do but couldn't because the camera was limited. I feel that my life is pretty interesting, and I want to capture that. I think my kids are pretty cute and I want to remember all the cuteness. I didn't buy a fancy camera to make money. I bought a nice camera so I could remember small, but important, details about my life.

Like, how during this rushing season of our life, where our days seem to revolve on building a home, we spend some afternoons at my mom's house. Jayde and Elena will watch The Cosby Show while eating a snack.

One reason I hesitate about a photography business is I'm not very good at setting up a scene or picture. Photo shoots don't come easy to me. I am creative, but creativity leaves me exhausted when I force things to happen. Dressing my kids up in cute matching outfits and setting up a pretend picnic scene with helium balloons sounds like a great idea to me, but I will become frustrated and short tempered when the kids don't cooperate. I'll have cute pictures, but not so good memories.

However, if I happen to make a stack of pancakes for dinner and place them in front of my freshly bathed 3 year old, with wet matted hair, and pink Sleeping Beauty pjs...good pics and good memories.

Abbie thinking. She does this a lot.
Elena, rolling down a grassy hill in Grandpa's yard.

Lexi, and her awesome blue eyes.

The only reason I'm considering a business is because I have a few wants right now. Not needs, wants. A small photography business would supplement some cash for my wants.

But is photography fun when you're being paid to do it? What if clients show up with an idea I just can't stand? What if I get stuck in a rut? What if I don't feel like setting the perfect picnic scene with floating balloons? What if I get so busy that I neglect my kids? I don't have any training! What if my camera breaks while taking pictures of complete strangers and then I can't take pictures of my kids? What if I just plain don't feel like taking pictures?

(See? It's a whole bunch of crazy in my head.)

We'll see what happens.

My girl, forever and ever.

2011-06-07T14:49:00.002-04:00

Me - "Elena, will you be my girl, forever and ever?"

Elena- "Yes."

Me - "You'll never leave me, right? Like, get married and go somewhere else?"

Elena - "Oh dear. I was planning on getting married someday."

Haha.

I love her soooo much.

???

2011-06-02T06:00:00.000-04:00

Questions I hear every day:

"May I come in please?" - Captain Alice

"Will you color with me, for a long time?" - Elena

"Is this a funny face? Will it make people laugh?" - Abbie

"Is it okay if I never wear clothes again?" - Alexandra (ok, so maybe she doesn't say it but I know she thinks it.)

Do you like puppies?

2011-06-01T06:00:00.000-04:00

I hope I'm not boring you with pictures of my sweet adorable Captain Alice.

Someone is beginning to look a lot like a Bulldog.

I know you are all terribly frightened right now.

She does look ferocious doesn't she?

It's important very important that you not show fear.

Captain Alice can sense fear.

When she tilts her head like this I feel like melting. How cute is that?

Captain Alice says, "Sorry folks. No more pictures today! I need to go take a puppy nap."

A home for the fairies

2011-05-31T06:00:00.001-04:00

I had so much to do inside. Laundry, dishes, cooking, you know...but it was SO PRETTY outside!

So we went outside and Elena made a house for all the pretend fairies that live under this tree.

She was very happy with herself.
Until Lexi came along. Don't let Lexi fool you. She's cute and everything....
but when it comes to fairy houses she can be dangerous.

Dose of Abigail

2011-05-30T06:00:00.001-04:00

I haven't blogged in a while which means you haven't seen my Abbie in a while.

We can't have that!

People, I give you Abbie.

Covered in dirt from head to toe and it's only morning! That's what our "school" looks like right now for this unstable season of life. Reminds me of Winnie the Pooh when he said, "Don't underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering."

It's going to be a good day!

A girl and her puppy

2011-05-25T06:00:00.001-04:00

There once was a little girl,

Who had a little curl,

Right in the middle of her forehead,

And this little girl,

Loves her puppy.

(She's almost always good and never, ever horrid.)

Reality

2011-05-24T12:52:00.002-04:00

I'm really liking the sun sets right now. It happens around 5:30 pm or so which means I'm awake enough to enjoy it. By the time the sun sets in the summer I'm crawling in to bed.

We're loving the wheelbarrow rides with Daddy. The perfect activity to get out those right before bedtime wiggles.
Coffee. Friends. Front porch. What's not to like?

Tea. Husband. Candles. Darkness. Front porch.

And, another dose of our reality, you know how everyone else in the universe has clean, brightly colored crayons? I'm guessing because they can run out to WalMart and buy a new box when they start looking like ours do:

Yup. We have a puppy.

2011-05-23T06:00:00.000-04:00

Hi. I'm Alice, officially Captain Alice, but that seems rather long for someone so small. I'm an English Bulldog and very cute. I spend my days being potty trained and following Lexi around (she drops food often. I like this.) Mom thinks it's cute that we both have wrinkles and rolls.

Playing with three little girls makes me tired. That's when I let Abbie rock me to sleep in the hammock.

I'm tiny now, only 8 weeks, but I'll get stocky soon.

My latest adventure has been meeting Grandpa's new puppy, Janus. She's a Great Dane and she's huge. I try to ignore her.

Like I said before, I'm Alice...you'll be hearing from me again.

Scenes from sick days

2011-05-22T06:00:00.001-04:00

Scene 1: Elena hangs over the couch while watching TV. "So that if I throw up it gets on the floor and not on the couch." (I brought her a bucket.)

Scene 2: Baby, healthy as a horse, helps me make a huge pile of tortillas to freeze.

Scene 3: Puppy attacks the plastic bag.

Scene 4: At my feet a constant state of motion. Did you know that babies act a lot like puppies and vice a versa?
Everyone is healthy now! Hooray! Let the blogging continue!

Color, color everywhere!

2011-05-11T10:49:00.002-04:00

Yes, color. And chaos.

Still no routine here except for a few things:

Reading a Proverbs at breakfast

Reading a chapter of Little House on the Prairie before bed (but after Baby has gone to bed, because she is nuts with energy.)

Quiet Time in the afternoon

Other than that we're having people and things come by every day...plumbers, electricians, big dumpsters to fill with yard debris, friends for lazy Sunday afternoons on our porch, etc, etc, etc.

So yes, life is colorful and chaotic right now. I'll keep the color but I won't mind seeing the chaos go.

Just counting some of my blessings!

2011-05-09T06:00:00.000-04:00

Fresh papaya from our yard

Coffee every morning on the front porch

Friends who love my babies

Resurrection Sunday eggs - He has made all things new!

Did you see it?

2011-05-07T06:02:00.003-04:00

We took a break from all the house projects to watch the Royal Wedding. Oh yes we did!

Our lovely British friends got up at 5 o'clock (the one in the morning!!) to tape the wedding. We then went over to the house for a full English tea and Royal Wedding viewing. The only requirement: Small princess wannabe's must come dressed as true princess'.

And so they did.

(Please excuse Princess Abbie. She had to go pee-pee.)

My favorites:

I loved the dresses. Especially Pippa's dress! Wow!

THE kiss on THE balcony.

Prince Harry riding in a horse drawn carriage with all the children of the bridal party.

Did you see it? What was your favorite part?

What we're up to

2011-05-03T13:09:00.002-04:00

Projects, projects and more home projects!

We moved into my parent's new to them home that they recently purchased.

The structure is sound, it's beautiful, but in need of a lot of TLC.

So we're keeping busy!

Where is Baby?

2011-04-20T06:00:00.002-04:00

Lexi was here:

and here:
and here:
Aha! Here she is doing her daily exercise routine which involves going crazy on the couch.
A sure way to find the baby? Just follow the mess!

More Pen Pals

2011-04-19T06:00:00.002-04:00

Dear Mommy,

Since all this packing has begun our days look very different than what they used to. We spend all day in our pajama's, you forget to brush our hair (and even our teeth!!), we watch Madeline and Olivia the Pig. We hear you mumbling to yourself, "this is only temporary." but why don't we make it permanent? We like this!

Love,

Your Big Girls

Dear Big Girls,

In your dreams.

Love,

Mommy

Pen Pals

2011-04-18T06:00:00.004-04:00

Dear Mommy,

I hate to complain, but...here goes.

Where have you been? It seems lately I spend more time with everyone else but you. I'm being put to bed early and going to Grandma's a lot and well, I miss my mommy. What's going on?

Love,

Lexi

Dear Lexi,

I am so sorry. We're moving and packing and it's craziness, I agree. I miss you too! We're almost there, the packing/moving/cleaning it's almost done, I promise! And then things will get back to normal. I think.

Love,

Your Mommy

Interview with Miss Abigail

2011-04-16T06:00:00.002-04:00

Favorite color: Purple

What color do you want me to paint your new bedroom? Purple

What is your favorite movie? Strawberry Shortcake

What is your favorite toy? Strawberry Shortcake (she doesn't have a Strawberry Shortcake toy.)

Who do you love? Mommy and I loved my Barney doll but I don't have it anymore.

Where is their mother?

2011-04-15T06:00:00.004-04:00

Child A: Covered in head to toe with dirtChild B: Dirty feet hanging off of bench while playing with Fisher Price Little People.
Child C: Bored, bored, bored. Playing with Slinkie.

Hammock time!

2011-04-15T06:00:00.003-04:00

E's favorite game

2011-04-14T06:00:00.001-04:00

"Mom!"

"Don't call me mom, call me Mommy. You're only 5."

"Oops. I forgot. Mommy!"

"Yes?"

"Don't chase after me, and then don't tickle me if you catch me. Okay?"

And then she "runs" away very slowly so that I can catch her and tickle her.

Repeat 15 times.

And that's how you play her favorite game.

7:23 AM

2011-04-13T06:00:00.003-04:00

At approximately 7:23 every morning Alexandra Joy enjoys a delicious breakfast.

This morning it was a piece of homemade cinnamon raisin bread and a pile of shredded cheddar-like cheese. (I need to go grocery shopping.)

She has finally learned to hand me the plate when she is done rather than throwing it on the floor. This is wonderful thing. But the ants are sad, they miss the crumbs.

Quick Update

2011-04-12T06:00:00.007-04:00

This week we are getting ready to move. Brian is spending most of his days getting the new house ready (not our new house we're building, but the new rental we'll be living in while we wait for our house to be built.) So while he is over there I'm here with the girls killing time till I can start packing.

Today's activities include:

Playing The King's Speech with the girls

and keeping an eye on Alexandra while she feasts on dirt.

What are your plans today?

Lemons!

2011-04-11T06:00:00.000-04:00

Almost every day we have a large pitcher of freshly squeezed lemonade. We're definitely planting a lemon tree in our new yard next year.

The girls like to eat lemons like they're apples, they suck on that sour juice and don't even make a face.

How do they do that?

Shes got it goin' on.

2011-04-09T06:00:00.000-03:00

This is what happens when Abbie dresses herself.

(So, basically, it happens every day.)

She is wearing:

Hello Kitty hat

Her baby sisters (size 18 months) shirt

Pink silky pj pants with glitter stars

Purple and pink flip flops

Abbie is a nice daughter to have around, especially on those rainy days where you need some sunshine. I think you all know why.

Completely unedited photos.

2011-04-08T22:05:00.002-03:00

Pictures of my house inspired by this post.

We're moving in two weeks.

Hold on to your hats.

and then we went to the park

2011-03-28T06:00:00.000-03:00

It was early on our day off. Only 8:30 or so, and yet the children were bouncing around the room with loads of energy.

While sitting in front of my computer catching up on my favorite blogs sounded perfect to me, the girls didn't agree.

So, we packed them up, strapped them in the car, and went to the park.

The weather was perfect, the park was empty, Lexi was content to stay on the quilt while Daddy played Angry Birds. (Anyone else love that app?)

I went off to catch some sun flare.

We walked around that beautiful morning collecting pine cones, reading the Guarani names of trees, and taking big, deep breaths of fresh cool air.

Then it was off to Grandma and Grandpas house with a brown sack full of chewy Chinese donuts.

Perfect. And much better than reading blogs all morning.

From the backyard

2011-03-27T06:00:00.000-03:00

The photo above by Elena. I love it.

Small, red bugs on my basil. I'm moving, the basil is not. The bugs can keep it.

Attack of the cute baby

2011-03-26T14:40:00.002-03:00

She wants to get her sticky little fingers on my camera.

No way, Jose.

Don't worry...we're still here.

2011-03-26T10:54:00.002-03:00

After a few days without internet, and several days of "I'm in a bad mood so I better not blog" days, we are back.

We do have a lot of little happy things to report such as the recent arrival of Fall-ish weather, construction beginning on the house, trips to the park, a fresh crop of lemons leading to many pitchers of lemonade, a whole lot of banana bread baking, and making countdown paper chains. 40 days and counting till we move out of our apartment!

Elena is learning how to read, Abbie found one dog she is not scared of, and Lexi took her first steps.

See? Lots of little happy things!

Stay tuned!

My first little film

2011-03-04T11:31:00.000-03:00

A few of my favorite things!

2011-03-02T17:36:00.000-03:00

When did it happen?

2011-02-26T05:31:00.004-03:00

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November
December
January
Febuary

Seriously? When did it all happen? She's a year old. The baby that came as a big surprise, that taught me I could have unmedicated posterior labor, the one who loves me and clings to me more than any other baby I've ever had.

When did she get so...so...big?

Today we celebrate her first birthday. She is one year old and we love the girl to pieces. I'm thankful for her health and her life with us...here's to many more years with our Alexandra Joy!

Simplifying the toy situation

2011-02-25T06:00:00.003-03:00

Princess Cinderella in her shoe box house, sitting on her duct tape couch. The serving fork? That's Prince Charming!

We have three sets of toys here:

1. Fisher Price Little People figurines and houses

2. Baby dolls and clothes (this includes their American Girl dolls as well)

3. Dress up clothes and shoes

With a few odds and ends here and there (such as two princess dolls, and maybe some puzzles...) that's pretty much it.

I have found that the less my girls have to play with, the more they play with what they do have. Such as boxes, duct and tape, and forks. :)

I have a few specifications for the toys I buy our girls as well. All flexible of course, but over all it would seem that the toys that adhere to these following points are the ones that stick around and get played with the most.

1. No batteries required.

2.No flashing lights, annoying songs, or repetitive sounds. (This rule founded by Daddy and strictly enforced by him as well. He doesn't like annoying sounds! Ha ha!)

3. No small pieces. (Huge piles of Polly Pocket shoes, dresses and accessories are sure to make me break out in hives.)

How do you handle toys in your home?

Our Routines

2011-02-24T06:00:00.000-03:00

God has given us the wonderful opportunity of living in a country where flexibility is key. There are not many rigid schedules here, everything is "tranquilo", and I really do like this. The culture I grew up in is very similar, it is not an unfamiliar concept.

Small children however, do need some sort of structure. At least mine do! We have found that routines work way better than schedules in our household. Schedules require hour by hour commitments... for example, at 3 p.m we will have reading time! But what if at 3 pm the fruit vendor knocks on the door? Or your neighbor wants to know if you can drink terere with him?

We find that routines work best for us, they allow us to be more flexible and fit others into our lifestyle. So we don't know when exactly reading will happen...but we know it will be after naps.

Our bedtime routine really works for us. I have three great sleepers, and they have been since they were 6 months. Training babies to sleep through the night definitely works for me (I. Need. Sleep. Period.)

We send them to the potty.

They get a drink of water.

Jammies get put on.

A Bible story is read.

We ask them to tell us one thing they are thankful for.

We pray.

Nightlight is turned on along with some soft classical music.

They are tucked in, each with her own special blankie....

and that's that.

Bedtime usually happens around 7 p.m...but on really long days it could even be as early as 6. Weekends are much later.

So, no matter what time the clock says, the routine is the same, and this really works for us. We are not tied to the hands on the clock, in keeping the with our flexible routines we are more open and available to adapt to the needs of others.

His gifts are good!

2011-02-23T06:00:00.001-03:00

Oh my, but I am a baby in February. A whiny, ungrateful baby. I can handle the heat of Paraguay in December (Christmas distracts me!), I gather up strength for January and make it through okay...but February? The shortest month of the year? I use it as an excuse to avoid all sorts of things. Laundry, cooking, and playing outside with the girls...those things I know are okay to cut back on. But grace? Kind words? Loving my neighbor? Is high heat and high humidity (day after day after day) a reasonable excuse to put those aside?

No.

And so every day for the past week I have been preaching short sermons to myself about praising God, giving thanks, and showing patience to my girls. Since I am a sinner I fail miserably...but I try again and again. To put aside love of self and replace it with love for others. To put aside complaints and replace with praise and gratitude.

I will be thankful because I am blessed.

Yes, there is culture shock and yes it's hot and yes I'm tired.

I have culture shock because God has graciously allowed me to live my life in many countries. It's hot because it's summer. The season of popsicles, pools, and cook-outs. All gifts from God.

I'm tired because I am the mother of three small girls who are healthy and energetic and constantly learning.

So today I am thankful because God has filled my life with His blessings.

It's messy, it's hectic ,and yes, hot, but it's beautiful and God will be glorified through it.

Watercolor heart doilies

2011-02-22T06:00:00.001-03:00

I realize it has come and gone...Valentines Day was nice around here. Our wedding anniversary, (7 years, wow!), I made a few heart things with the girls to hang around the house.

Crayon Hearts

Watercolor doilies

How was your Valentine's Day?

Grandma Bodin's Coffeecake

2011-02-21T06:00:00.000-03:00

I don't know who Grandma Bodin is, but I've been using her coffeecake recipe for years.

Quick, easy, lots of cinnamon, streusel topping. Perfect for a brunch with friends, or quick grab and go breakfast on a weekday.

2 C. flour

1 1/2 C. sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 C. butter

2 eggs

3/4 C. milk

1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a cake pan with butter.

In large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and cinnamon. Reserve 1 cup of this mixture for topping.

Add eggs and milk to remaining mixture. Mix well.

Pour in pan and sprinkle with reserved topping and bake.

This recipe is from the New Tribes Missionary Ladies of Venezuela. It's one of my favorite cookbooks because it has recipes for mapuey, and lapa meat. The cookbook has been around the world, Venezuela, Costa Rica, the United States, and now Paraguay. The recipes seem to work everywhere, and why wouldn't they? They were created or tweaked by ladies who were used to traveling all over the world. There are no recipes in here calling for "a box" of this or a "package" of that. They all use ingredients that can be found (or flown into) the deepest jungle or bustling city. Perfect for my life.

What is your favorite, have to have it, cookbook?

Baby is on the go

2011-02-16T06:00:00.000-03:00

Shortbread Cookies

2011-02-14T06:00:00.001-03:00

Recipe adapted from Apples for Jam

7 tbsp. butter, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 egg, lightly beaten

A few drops of vanilla extract

About 2/3 cup of your favorite jam (we used strawberry)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Have a large sheet cake pan ready, I lined mine with wax paper.

Put the butter and sugar in bowl and mix together till well blended. Add the flour and baking powder and mix them in. Add the egg and vanilla. Mix until compact and smooth. Place in zip top baggie in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes, or until dough is firm enough to roll out.

Divide your dough in half. Roll out one half on floured surface, gently place in your baking pan. (Drape it over your rolling pin to carry it over to the pan)

Spread jam on that half.

Roll out other half of dough, and place on top of jam. Pinch the edges closed.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until it begins to brown in areas.

Let cool in pan for about 5 minutes then cut out shapes with a cookie cutter.

We started with a snowflake shape since that is the only cookie cutter that got left out of the Christmas box. Oops.

But then I got impatient so I just cut it all out into squares.

They still tasted good that way. Perfect with a cup of tea.

I've been asked.

2011-02-11T06:00:00.001-03:00

I'm asked often how I get my kids to eat their vegetables.

They love vegetables.

So, here's my big secret.

I get my kids to eat their vegetables by giving my kids vegetables to eat.

I don't know if that is why they eat their veggies or not. Maybe I've just been blessed with three non-picky eaters?

But in case I've done something right, here goes:

Offer veggies all the time. For snacks, for meals, for teethers...
They must have at least one bite of everything.
They are never, ever, ever allowed to spit something out of their mouth. Unless of course the food is rotten and I didn't realize it. Obviously, that hasn't happened yet.
If they spit something out, I pick it up again and put it back in their mouth. Yes, I am a mean mother...but one, maybe two times of having to swallow "spit up" food and they never do it again. (Children who spit out perfectly good food...well, that's a pet peeve of mine. Don't get me started.)
Fresh, crunchy veggies are yummy. Soggy, gooey over-cooked ones are not. Offer the healthy variety.
Be gracious. Abbie only has to eat a small spoonful of beans when we have them. Elena does not need to eat a heaping pile of spicy food, but they should eat some.

How do you get your kids to eat their food?

(Brocoli is probably a choking hazard or something...I don't know. Rest assured that I was watching her closely while she teethed on her broccoli.)

Crazy Lady

2011-02-09T06:00:00.000-03:00

Growing up on the mission field I knew many first year missionaries. One in particular that I remember meeting when I was really young. I remember that she cried about ants. There were ants in the kitchen and this made her cry. I thought this odd. Ants are everywhere. Every kitchen is crawling with ants. Since I only knew Venezuela that was a fact for me. My young mind didn't comprehend that where she came from, kitchens didn't have ants.

I thought she was crazy. Who cries about ants?

Now I realize she wasn't crying about ants. Not really. She was going through culture shock and it just so happened that on that particular day the ants were getting on her last nerve.

No, she wasn't crying about ants. She was crying because she was lonely, homesick, confused, scared. Maybe she was crying because she was convinced that under all the intense heat her brain had actually turned to mush. She may have been crying because some days breathing felt like a chore and that's a scary feeling. She wasn't crying about ants. I'm sorry I assumed she was crazy, I didn't know any better, but looking back I wish I had helped her kill some of those ants.

I am now the "crazy lady." Just yesterday I cried....about ants. It was one of those Bad Days where this new city and I were not getting along very well. It has nothing to do with city and everything to do with me. I've gone through it before and I'll do it again. It passes, things become normal and everyone survives.

My first and worst to date experience with culture shock was living in the USA while going to college. It was horrible and I'm surprised I have any friends left from that year.

In order to deal with this culture shock I've adjusted a few things, simplified and made changes.

1. I will take a nap every day. I call them my "anti-meltdown naps" This means no exercising for the time being.

2. I will hire someone to clean my kitchen every day of the week. It's not very expensive here and worth every single penny.

3. I will go to bed early.

All you ex-pats out there that read my blog, I'm curious, what have you done in the past that has helped with your transition into a new culture?

(Because this city we are in is not very Paraguayan...it's like a hybrid culture. A mixture of everything. Kind of like an MK. I think I'm going to like it here.)

Watercolors on Newspaper

2011-02-08T06:00:00.000-03:00

Months ago I stumbled upon this idea on the internet: Newspaper Bunting.

I forgot all about it till one rainy, cooped up day. I didn't follow her instructions exactly, I folded over the newspaper and cut out triangles so that the crease was at the top.

Then I gave the girls some watercolors and let them go crazy.

After they dried I rubbed a glue stick on the crease of the triangle, folded them over some string and hung it from my mantle.

Clearly, I should have been folding laundry instead of painting, but...I wasn't. So who cares?

It is a well known fact that I decorate my home with my kids artwork. I think it makes the place look happy, don't you?

Frozen Yogurt Pops

2011-02-07T06:00:00.000-03:00

So simple:

2 cups of plain yogurt

2 cups of frozen strawberries

1 banana

Sweeten with honey.

Blend into a thick smoothie.

Pour into plastic cups, stick popsicle stick in the middle.

Freeze.

Enjoy the taste of summer.

(If it's summer where you are that is...)

Our week

2011-02-05T13:55:00.001-03:00

How was your week?

Miss You Know Who

2011-02-04T06:00:00.001-03:00

Oh Abbie.

Because, really, what else is there to say?

Cuddles

2011-02-03T06:00:00.000-03:00

Cuddling while watching cartoons.

How cute is that?

I've decided to let the girls watch one DVD per day. That afternoon slump when Lexi is especially clingy, dinner needs to be made, and my spiritual maturity is waning... I figure if I just DECIDE to let them watch one every day then I won't feel guilty when it happens. The way I see it, it's better for them to cuddle together on the couch watching a cartoon then to be cooped up in the hot, steamy kitchen with a mommy who will loose her patience. I'm just not very good at 4 pm. Time to accept that and move on.

Right now I'm thinking one DVD a day will help our days go on a little more peacefully. And peace sounds nice.

Baby finds carrot

2011-01-29T06:00:00.001-03:00

Baby finds carrot under table.

Mother does now know how long it has been on the floor.

Nor does she care.

Baby is quiet.

Yesterday was a long, long day.

I waged war on the ants in my kitchen. It's the same war I wage every summer in Paraguay. I always loose, until the cold winds come again and then they die. I've tried everything (cornmeal, grits, salt, pepper, etc.) I have not spread ant poison on my counters, that seems a little much.

I was homesick for somewhere but I wasn't sure where that was.

I'm so done with culture-shock. (Except I'm not, which explains everything.) Honestly, this city we're living in now is so different from Asuncion. I sometimes feel as if I'm in a different country.

But yesterday is over and we're moving on to today!

Have a great weekend!

6:30 PM (or so)

2011-01-28T06:00:00.000-03:00

6:30 means bathtime.

Babies that smell like Johnson's Shampoo.

Fluffy white towels.

Slippery baby toes.

Little hands rubbing small eyes.

A bathtub emptying of water, and smudged with dirt.

Pajamas.

Tangled hair being combed.

Bible stories being read.

Prayers being said.

Girls being tucked in.

Mommy and Daddy time.

6:30 PM means bedtime is on the way.

Hangy Thingies...?

2011-01-25T06:00:00.001-03:00

It's Tuesday.

Which means I blog about the latest simple craft the girls and I have made. Hopefully these fairly simple ideas will help your days be a little easier, simpler, more fun and memorable. It's so important to keep those littler fingers busy, isn't it?

We took paper plates and cut them in half. We each got two halves to paint with watercolors. Then we took long strips of tissue paper (we had yellow and pink on hand), glued them between the two paper plates, and then hung them from the ceiling on our patio.

A little splotch of color and we like watching the ribbons flutter on breezy days.

Making these was better than spending the afternoon watching cartoons.

(Which is what my girls are doing right now while I type this. Ha!)

Cowboy Cookies

2011-01-24T06:00:00.000-03:00

I made these cookies to get out of our usual cookie rut. It was a good choice, the dough make sa lot of cookies, freezes well and is choc full of many different flavors. Stop on by, I'll let you have a taste!

Cowboy Cookies

3 cups of flour

1 Tbsp. of baking powder

1 Tbsp. baking soda

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

3 eggs

1 Tbsp. vanilla

3 cups chocolate chips

3 cups oats

2 cups coconut

2 cups walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

In LARGE bowl (this recipe is huge so make sure the bowl is big) beat butter till creamy. Gradually beat in the sugars. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Stir in flour mixture till combined. Add chocolate chips, oats, coconut, and nuts. (I also added raisins...just because.)

Bake for about 15-20 minutes till golden brown around the edges.

Our days via the iPhone

2011-01-22T06:00:00.000-03:00

{Youngest church pianist ever}

{Abbie and her funny faces}

{The girls spot a rainbow}

{A very hot day}

{Flowers from the yard}

{Baby eating dirt...again}

Super Hero Girls

2011-01-21T15:17:00.002-03:00

Elena says:

"Andy from Toy Story 3 looks very romantic."

Abbie says:

"Andy is handsome, but I want to marry Prince Phillip"

Seriously? Where do they get this stuff?

Embracing with my new do!

2011-01-20T07:15:00.004-03:00

BEFORE:

AFTER:

My wavy mane is gone and I have to say, I really don't miss it. It's cooler, and because I don't have to do a single thing to it I get more time for the important things. Like posing in front of Photobooth with my girls.

Elena likes my new hair. She says it's "really cool."

Abbie did not like it. "You look like a different mommy."

She's getting used to it.

And seriously, if you've ever wanted a pixie cut, but have been too scared to get one, a piece of advice:

DO IT.