life lately

Inquiring minds have asked if I have abandoned the blog forever.  The answer is No. I have not given up on blogging and my hiatus wasn't on purpose.  :)  I always have the best intentions of stopping by to hang out here for a few minutes, but then life distracts and here we are an entire month later of nothing but silence.  What can I say but that life has kept us busy busy busy!

This stage of motherhood has felt especially taxing lately. I feel like the girls are changing daily right before my eyes and I'm struggling emotionally to keep up with all of their growth. It is exciting to watch them grow into the little individuals that God has created them to be, but so hard to know how to discipline and encourage purposefully and in a way that will reach them personally.   They are so similar, yet so different at the same time.  I am daily on my knees asking for discernment and guidance in my parenting with an extra heaping portion of grace to carry me through each day.   

We have extremely high highs and very low lows.  I guess that comes with the territory of having two little ladies in the house, but oh my the drama some days! It takes all the patience I have to keep up with who is in what mood and to keep my cool with the daily swings. One minute they are the very best of friends... you've never seen two closer peas in a pod.  Then the next minute I'm being called down {again} to referee an argument about who's tutu this is or she got to use that marker first yesterday, or  she just opened her eyes while Daddy was saying the blessing, etc.

Each day goes by faster than the day before and I feel like I'm playing a never-ending game of Mother May I. 

This one shares her coloring pages with that one without being asked.
{Great job on teaching sharing mom!}
 You can take two steps forward.

Then the next minutes she whops her sister on the back for stealing her crayon.
{Loud buzzer sound: Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan}
Too bad. Now take four leaps back.

A wise lady who mentored me as a newlywed once said that as mothers, we should never be too quick to take the credit for things our children do right, but nor should we be too quick to take the blame of their mistakes either. No guilt, no glory.  And although our children are a reflection of us, our values and what we've taught them, more importantly, they are their own individual. This truth is just now beginning to make sense to me in this stage we have entered into to.

Anna Cate finished up her year of preschool with a school play, The One Room Schoolhouse.  For months, all she could talk about was her school play and how she would get to wear a "Mary and Laura dress" (aka a prairie dress).  We went to Hobby Lobby and she got to pick out some calico fabric for us to make her dress with. Oh the excitement!
However, the day of the play, she was none to excited to have to stand in front of an audience.  Bless her heart, just look at that face.  There were a few tears and lots of coaxing and encouraging before-hand.  Her good friend Emma, who by the way, was extremely excited and poised for her performance, sat beside Anna Cate while they waited to go on stage and then held her hand while they did their performance. I asked Anna Cate for a smile while they were waiting for the performance to begin and this  forced smile was all I got. She looks like she is in pain.

:)
But she did great and felt so proud of herself afterwards!
Her class recited the Pledge of Allegiance and their Bible memory verse for the school year (Psalm 139), and they also sang the Fifty States Song.

 

Then came Easter.
It looks like I need to sign somebody back up for ballet class.

Enough said.
And P.S. - Could my children look any more like their daddy? What happened to my genes? I mean really! That's all I'm  saying.
 Good thing I think he's cute.
;)

Early in May, Will took the girls fishing.

They were not fans of touching something so slick and scaly.

But instead, they preferred to entertain themselves by playing in the gator or in the john boat.

May was also a busy month for BirThdAy PaRtiEs!!!

Between our little group of girlfriends,  six of them have birthdays within a few weeks of each other! We stayed busy party hopping during the entire month of May!

We had a bakery themed party for Anna Cate and Caroline this year.  For favors, we sent each little party guest home with their own batch of felt cookies.




The girls and I enjoyed a new activity (for them) one morning when I let them help me stitch the cookies together.  It was the first time they were allowed to use a needle and thread, and they both did very well!  We bought the biggest needle we could find with the dullest tip and they spent over an hour entertained with sewing felt circles together and concentrating really hard.


More party pics are coming soon. A sweet and talented friend brought her camera to the party and got some great pictures for me! I just need to download them first so I can share them here.

Hopefully I'll find the time soon. Summer has arrived and is in full swing around here!  Boat rides, cook outs, and pool parties galore!



Ta ta for now!

Las Munecas

If you are ever in need of a pick-me-up, just take a minute to look through these pictures and you will instantly find a smile on your face, no matter how bad of a day you are having! :) Getting to pass out the dolls that you all sponsored was such a joy for me and I'm so thankful to each and every one of you who gave these precious little girlies such a wonderful gift!

As I mentioned before, we got to walk through several of the neighborhoods in Managua during our time there and I saw first-hand how little these children and their families have.  I know each one of these little girls will treasure their dolls as a special friend.  

I saved the majority of the dolls to pass out on the last day we were at the school.  However, there were many little girls who were not students at the school who came through the clinic with their mamas and I prayed that God would give me discernment in choosing who the dolls went to.  It was so hard to make that decision because I wanted to be able to give one to each little girl who we saw. 

 

This little girl was the first recipient of a doll.  On Wednesday, we hosted a women's clinic in the afternoon.  When we arrived back at school from lunch, there was already a long line of women waiting outside the door and I immediately noticed this little girl. She wasn't quite a year old and when I handed her the doll, she did the thing babies do when they try to love on something by immediately smooshing it up her face with a drooling open-mouthed kiss.  Aaaahhhh! She was so adorable and I loved her reaction to the doll.  She didn't stop hugging her.  (And notice the little boy's expression in the picture.  I love his smile too watching her excitement over her new toy.) 

:)

 

The day this little girl was in the clinic was her first birthday! so of course, she got a doll!! :) She immediately squealed and fell in love with her. 

This little girl had been patiently waiting with her mom and aunt for almost an hour in the women's clinic. I could tell she was ecstatic when I offered her the doll, but was a little unsure of how to respond.  Maybe she wasn't sure if it was hers to keep?  She kept shyly looking down at the doll and then would look up with a huge smile on her face. 

And bless this poor little girl's heart.  Her mom brought her to the clinic because she had some sort of infection causing sores on her face and head.  You could tell she felt miserable.  I didn't see a smile out of her that day, but her mom brought her back a few days later after she had been on the medicine that we gave her.   Not only did she look like she felt so much better, she had her doll in hand and a huge smile on her face!

And this little pip-squeak was cute as she could be.  She was playing with her doll until I pulled my camera out to take a picture and this was the look I got.  As long as I had my camera in hand, she refused to smile for me.

***

Thursday was our last day at the school, so I rolled my suitcase that the dolls were in down to the first grade class before school was dismissed for the day.  I was really nervous standing in front of a sea of little questioning faces, unsure of why I was there and what was in my suitcase.  In my best and broken spanish, I explained how there were people back home who wanted to do something special for them and how you all had sponsored dolls for me to be able to bring with me to Nicaragua.  And then I had to tell the little boys that unfortunately I only had something for the girls, but I promised to do something special for them too (so I need to get my thinking cap on and send something down there for them SOON!)  Honestly, I was really surprised and pleased at the boys' reaction.  You'll see them beaming in many of these pictures as they watch the little girls getting their dolls.  

I must not have done a great job explaining that they were a gift for them to keep, because the first minute or so, they were very quiet and just studied the dolls like they were unsure of what was going on. 

 

 

But then I asked one of the little girls what she was going to name her doll, and the light bulb clicked on! She realized it was hers to keep forever and for always and then the smiles bursts forth!! 

:)

 

It was really special the way it worked out because we asked Louise, the headmaster, which classroom he wanted us to give out the dolls to.  There was a group of girls that I had been especially drawn to all week and would play "ring around the rosie" with during our break time.  Louise choose the first-grade classroom and as "luck" would have it, that was the class that had "my girls" in it. :) So I was secretly excited that they were the ones who got to have the dolls. 

After I had left the classroom and the children had been dismissed for the day, the little girl in the picture below (on the left) shyly walked up to me and quietly asked:

"Tiene otra muneca para mi hermana?"

(Do you have another doll for my sister?)

  

 

Her sister bashfully walked up from where she had been standing a little off in the distance.  How could I say no to either of these sweet faces?? Thankfully I did have a few extra and so each sister got to go home with a new friend that afternoon. 

It was so sweet of that big sister to be looking out for her little sister and this picture is one of my favorites from the entire trip.  I can't look at it and not smile. Hopefully you'll feel the same way too when you look through all these pictures and find joy knowing you helped to create these smiles! 

:)

Nicaragua - part 1

Hola! Hola! I've run into several people around town who apparently read the blog and have said, "Oh good to see you! You must be home from your trip."  Um, yes. It has been almost a month and I haven't updated yet! Shame on me for not sharing sooner.  It was much too full of a week to completely put into words in one blog post (which may be why I have been putting it off - sort of like trying to eat an entire hamburger in one gulp instead of breaking it up into smaller bites), but I'll try share some pictures to give you an idea of what the time was like for our team in Nicaragua. 

We had fourteen people on the team: 2 doctors, 2 nurses, 2 physical therapists, 1 chemist (who played pharmacist for the week), 5 translators, Tim (the "eye guy") and Nicole (the children's minister)

We were hosted by Henry Vargas and his gracious family in their home. Henry started MCA, which is the school were we held the clinic in Managua, and he has gradually been expanding his home year by year to host teams who come to Managua to serve.  

I love love love the hispanic culture and how hospitable and gracious the people are. I also love that most of their homes are centered around an open air courtyard.  You can't tell from this picture, but the main living area of the home is very open.  When I got back home I felt so closed in and stuffy in our house because I couldn't feel the breeze or hear birds singing when I was inside. 

:)

The school was set up in the same manner.  All of the classrooms opened to a courtyard in the middle of the school.  In their current location they are short on space for classrooms so the older classes meet in the courtyard in makeshift "classrooms" made of metal sheeting.

The first grade class busy working at their desks in their classroom.

After the first morning, I commented to Henry about how happy and healthy the children looked. I guess I had prepared myself to see much worse poverty than the little faces that greeted us at the school that morning.  He explained that most all of them come from the most impoverished areas of Managua, but they are the happiest when they are at school because they are cared for and loved. They receive a meal at school and get to wear uniforms, which increases their moral. Later in the week we had a chance to see what home life is like for the majority of these children (which I will share in a later post) and it is indeed a stark contrast to what life is like for them at school.

***

Each morning we would arrive to the school for the clinic after classes had started.  All of the children would swarm Henry's white van to greet us with smiles and hugs as we were walking in.  I could never get away from the masses fast enough to get a picture of the rest of the group to document the experience, but there was no way I was hurrying past those sweet faces.  What a way to start your morning! :)

This is Miss Nicole talking to the kindergarten class while they were waiting in line to visit the clinic.

This was the room we used to set up the health clinic. It was very makeshift, but I think we did a great job of using what we had to accomplish what we did.  We were able to see over 500 students and adults in the four days that we were there!

 




Each "patient" would come first to my table where they would fill out their name and birthday and then I would try my best to find out what they needed to be seen for.  
ha! 
The first day was hilarious as I tried to get my spanish skills working again. Who knows what I said to those poor patients that first day!?!

 Thankfully, most of those students we saw first were just there for a health check up. And thankfully I was feeling more confident in my abilities by the next day because word spread throughout the community that we were there and we started seeing other patients who came in for specific problems who were unable to receive medical attention. 

We had several different "stations" set up and I would indicate on their paper who they needed to see and for what problem: 1) vision 2) physical therapy 3) doctor 4) pharmacy (for their vitamins and anti-parasite meds)

This is Holly translating for Melissa at the doctor's station.  

Thankfully there were four other translators there who were much more experienced than I that were assigned to each station to help translate.   I think this picture was taken on the afternoon we held a women's health clinic. That green sheet behind Melissa was the "examining room" where she or the other doctor would do exams for the ladies who needed them.  Can you imagine laying on a towel on the floor to receive an exam with only a sheet between you and the rest of the room that had over 30 other people working and talking in? It was amazing to watch the doctors work with the little resources that we had and even more humbling to see the appreciate smiles and hugs of the people that they helped.  They were so grateful to be receiving any medical attention at all, not minding the hour-plus waiting time or meager accommodations of the clinic.

 
Holly's husband, Tim, set up an eye clinic and stayed busy all day long doing eye exams.  His station was the most popular by far!  But regardless of how long the line was at his station, he remained very patient with all of the children who came through requesting an eye exam (whether they really needed it or not!) 


 
These are our two physical therapists, Tina and Amy.  The little girl in the orange and yellow shirt came in with her family.  She was almost five years old (I think) and had never been able to walk on her own without assistance.  Tina was able to fabricate braces for her feet with some velcro (velcro!!) that she had brought with her and the little girl was able to walk for the first time by herself without assistance!  There is a video of Amy helping her walk, along with other highlights of the trip, on the church's blog: www.thirstychurch.blogspot.com.

 

Once the morning session for school had ended, we would close up the clinic to head home for lunch before the afternoon session.  While we were waiting for Henry to pick us up, we had the chance to interact and play with the children.  This picture is of David (one of the translators and leaders of the trip) entertaining a group of students with a broomstick.  See their smiles and how they just flocked around him?
:)
They were all so eager to just be around us and shower us with hugs and attention.


Ok, I need to wrap this up for the evening, but I'm sharing more tomorrow...
yes, I know I've said that before, but this time I double pinky promise!
;)

finding the words

I'll be honest. I'm having trouble finding the words to share all I experienced and learned during my time last week in Nicaragua. I keep waiting to feel inspired to write and share, but I just feel very quiet, with nothing but the sound of crickets chirping. My sincerest apologies for my absence, especially to those of you who sponsored a doll. I want to share those pictures with you soon. It's just that I've been walking around in a fog this past week trying to get re-acclimated to life here in the land of plenty.

One of my girls cries over her bowl of spaghetti because she really wanted a PB&J. How am I to find the patience when I have just been with children who only get to eat one meal a day and have to share that one meal with the parasite living in their stomach?

When her sister is reluctant to share one of the coloring pages from her book, I struggle to know how to discipline out of love because I know they weren't with me last week to witness children (who have literally nothing), joyfully offering the little they have to us (who have everything) as a gift: a Smurf sticker, a piece of candy, or their juice box from lunch.

How do I not feel sick to my stomach when I make a quick run to CVS to pick up medicine for the girls when I have sat with mamas who can't afford to take their children to the doctor when they are sick; much less buy the medicine they need and have to watch their children suffer through discomforts or serious illnesses?

And while I watch the girls playing outside in their playhouse, how do I process the knowledge that it is far nicer than anything most of these precious people will ever live in when their standard of living is dilapidated shanties?

I find myself frustrated with my distorted sense of entitlement when I'm in the grocery store or on Pinterest or in conversation with friends. To dwell on these thoughts can become depressing. On the other hand, if I let them go and return to my "normal" comfortable life here, I feel like I am ignoring all that my eyes have been open to. So I'm having trouble finding a balance.

***

But I do promise pictures of the dolls you sponsored as gifts SOON! Being able to give those away were one of the highlights of the trip for me!!

:)

twas a great weekend

Yes I realize today is Tuesday, which falls two days after Sunday, which is a little late to be mentioning the weekend, but hey, let's go with it, ok?

Remember that commercial we all grew up with of the frying pan and the egg...this is your brain, and this is your brain on drugs?

Well picture a ball pit at Chucky Cheese's as I make this statement:

This is my brain (the ball pit at Chucky Cheese) and this is my brain when I'm trying to make preparations to leave two small children for another country for a week. Enter the image of about ten wild toddlers jumping and throwing balls all throughout the ball pit.

So all I can say is I apologize in advance in none of my thoughts make sense today. I'm hoping if I dump some of them here then I'll be able to free up a little space. ha!

So back to the weekend. What a wonderful weekend of doing nothing in particular. It started Friday afternoon when I did a little blog browsing while the girls napped. Oh my word yes! They actually both napped at. the. same. time. and it was glorious!

But I read this post and almost wet my pants. Do you know Jami Nato? If you don't, you must start reading her blog immediately. She is hilariously transparent and real and this story was one of my favorites. It is called One Glorious Night and is about the time her dad found a boy in her sister's bedroom at 2 am. It reads like it was taken from a scene out of Parenthood. You must read it. You must! Just don't be drinking anything carbonated when you do because it will sting as it comes back out of your nose from laughing so hard.

Later that afternoon we baked some of these deliciously wonderful treats. Ashley brought us some last week and she kindly shared the recipe and they are so good. For a brief minute your mouth will be in a state of confusion. Is this a brownie? Is it a cookie? Could it be both??

Why yes, yes it is.

It is a Fudgy Brownie Cookie and you should do yourself a favor and make a batch tonight.

We took them to a little shin-dig we had going on Friday night. I was responsible for bringing the chocolate. ;)

Do you know how many e-mails it takes to organize a girls night with four moms and eight kiddos?

I'll tell you.

*32*

32 e-mails over the course of 48 hours to be exact.

And most of them went a little something like this:

Is somebody bringing chocolate? And I think we need wine too.

How many bottles do you think? I have two I can bring.

Ok, I need tonight to get here soon...

How early is too early to come over?

Yay!!!! I'm sooooo excited!!!! :)

We were in desperate need of a little girls-night in... can you tell? Although I don't know who was more excited, the mommies or the kiddos. (Or the daddies! They got together for their own guys-night out.) Although it was decided that next time the kiddos are staying home with the dads while we ladies get to go out for the evening.

The pizza pajama party got a little wild. ;)

There may or may not have been some dancing on tables...

I think the littlest partier was swiping AC's drink in this picture. I can see the top of his little head and the expression on her face tells it all.

Once we got the masses fed, we tucked them all in for a movie hoping for a quieter evening so we could catch up, but it only lasted about 10 minutes before they were up again to play dress up.

So the rest of the evening looked like this:

stuffing dolls while trying to keep little feet from knocking over wine glasses and trying to catch a few minutes here and there to actually carry on an adult conversation.

But it was a fun night regardless and I love these precious friends and their sweet kiddos. And seriously, next time it is the guys turn to host the kiddo pizza party... just saying.

Saturday morning Will took the girls to Monkey Joes so I could clean the house in peace and quiet. It was amazing how much I can get done with two entire hours all to myself.

And there is really no way to transition into this so let me just awkwardly move forward introduce you to our new favorite snack. Frozen Mango. It's addicting so don't say I didn't warn you. I don't even particualry like mango, but this stuff it so good. It is sweet and cold and taste like little pieces of sorbet. I think I polished off an entire bag by myself on Saturday while reading this:

I can't put it down, which is actually a problem since I need to be packing, stocking the freezer with meals, finishing up dolls, etc. I gave this book to my sister for Christmas and she gave it back to me 2 days later. Finished. And she warned me then not to pick it up until I had the time to be able to read it because I wouldn't be able to put it down. So when do I decide to start it? Only the most busy week we've had since Christmas. ;) I must resist the temptation to read some more tonight so I can start packing.

And speaking of packing...I can't believe my luck! I'm home all the time and the one week I'll be gone and my white hydrangeas will be in full bloom. I look forward to this annual event each year.

I love me some white hydrangeas. I'm obsessed. They are, by far, my most favorite of all flowers. When Will and I got married, all I wanted was white hydrangeas, in the church, for my bouquet, on the reception tables, you name it. And when we bought this house we discovered not one, but two bushes in our yard! They bloom only once in the spring and low and behold it will be the week I'm gone that they will be at their peak. It seems early this year, but maybe it is the unseasonably warm weather we've been having. It isn't even April yet and already feels like June, which is a little disconcerting to me.

You see I've already been thinking about what kind of party to have for the girls in May (we are only down to 6 weeks people and if you want to do a party on a budget you have to start planning early to take full advantage of those 40% off coupons from Hobby Lobby!) It is going to be a baking theme (thus the colorful cups pictured above) and I was planning on having it outside again this year (possibly on our front porch?) but with weather this hot, I think everyone would melt into a big puddle within the first 15 minutes. So it is back to the drawing board for ideas...

And last, but not least, this little escapade was how we ended our weekend at 11:34 pm on Sunday night.

Is this little angel sleeping?

Why no, she is not.

Let's take a closer look at this shot, shall we? With the background in focus this time:

Yes, that is what I found when I went to check on our little Picasso before heading to bed myself on Sunday night. Seems she had smuggled a blue crayon to bed and did a little doodling because she couldn't sleep.

She seemed remorseful once I discovered her little project. Just look at that tear running down her nose. How pitiful...

ha!

Oh my goodness, she keeps me on my toes.

Does anybody know how to get the crayon to come off the wall?

I've tried everything and this must have been one super special crayon that does not wash off easily.

Looks like I may be re-painting her bedroom when I get back next week.

Hello Dolly!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Oh my what a blessing you all have been!! Thank you so much to each and every one of you who has sponsored a doll!!!

I did not anticipate such a wonderful response! In fact, you all tripled the number I had orginally estimated so it was back to Hobby Lobby this afternoon to purchase more fabric and stuffing!

Now I'm just trying to figure out how to fit them all in my suitcase. :) I will most definitely be packing all of my personal things in my carry-on so my suitcase will be completely filled with DOLLS!

This is just some of what I've been working on the past few days.

Now the pressure is on to get some great pics of some very excited little girls. I have still been a little nervous about the trip, but thanks to all of your sweet comments and emails, and the fact that I will have my own personal toy store to take with me, I'm really really excited to be going.

:)

Tiny little doll arms and legs are scattered all over the house. I have recruited Will and Anna Cate to help me too. Will turns the legs right side out while Anna Cate stuffs them. And for those of you who know me and my neurotic t.v. will turn your brain to mush so we will not watch it in this house rule (and by we I mean the girls), well it has totally flown out of the window this week. The girls and I have watched more episodes of Madeline while stuffing doll arms and legs that I care to admit. In fact, I can hear Caroline back in her bed right now playing (as she is suppose to be going to sleep) saying "Pepito, Pepito! It is me, Madeline!" in her best french accent. ;)

We are all very excited and thankful for all of your encouragement, prayers, and the opportunity to take all of these dollies down to Nicaragua in a few weeks. Now I need to get off the computer and back to the sewing machine if I'm going to have them all done in time.

I think this is where I will be all weekend!

;)