25 Random Things About Me

I wrote this for a Facebook game last night and thought it might make an interesting post over here...sorry if it's a repeat for some of you!

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are suppose to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, goals about you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.To do this, go to "notes" under tabs on your profile page-paste these instructions in the body of the note, type 25 things, tag 25 people (including the one who tagged you) & click "publish."

1. I am an MK...that explains a lot right there.

2. I like to paint with acrylics...just finished another picture a few minutes ago, in fact! I also like to paint rocks.

3. My family is originally from Oklahoma (both Dad and Mom), I was born in Pennsylvania, grew up in Colombia, have lived in both Venezuela and Mexico, we are now living in Mexico, residents of Arkansas, but have a Texas mailing address. Are we confused or what?

4. I am energized by being with people...if I'm isolating, something is probably wrong.

5. If I'm quiet, something is probably wrong.

6. I love to laugh. If I'm not laughing, something is probably wrong.

7. I have four kids...they are driving me to my knees...in prayer! They are really great kids and we are SO blessed, but this parenting thing isn't for wimps!

8. I knew I was going to marry Miguel the first time I saw him (incidentally, didn't even know his name at the time!).

9. Miguel and I were were married in a civil ceremony in Caracas, Venezuela the day we were reunited after not having seen each other for a year and a half.

10. Church wedding followed 2 weeks later in Bogota, Colombia...

11. All four of my children were born in Arkansas.

12. I once spent the night lost in the jungle with my dad...

13. I have eaten...monkey, tapir, lapa, chiguiro, alligator, macaw (don't recommend it-not that good), turtle, pirana, grub worms (they are better fried than raw-then they don't wiggle in your mouth), squirrel (sorry, Tasha), sea turtle eggs (they are kind of rubbery)...so far I've avoided eating most insects, roasted tarantula, caterpillars, and snakes.

14. Would love to visit Australia some day.

15. I play the guitar. Had who knows how many years of piano growing up, but didn't really catch on too well...Mrs. Dye always said I pounded the keys...besides, I HATED the recitals!

16. My identity is in Christ. And now I am free.

17. My Mom got bitten by a pirana once.

18. I have a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. Graduated from the University of Arkansas...Go Hogs!

19. I was a tomboy.

20. I have a very feminine daughter.

21. I'm most likely severely addicted to coffee...oh, well.

22. I am most comfortable in jeans, t-shirt, and flip-flops.

23. I had already forgotten what a 1 1/2 year old can be like!

24. When I'm down, I most often turn to the Psalms for comfort.

25. I really, really love my husband.

Anybody need a Pedicure?

We'll be happy to send our guy over!

Wiwichu

The following must be read with a Spanish accent.

We had gotten such a laugh about this over Christmas,

but then forgot to take pictures.

I was so please to see another Pepsi

with the Christmas label on it so I could capture it!

I am really not sure what a "wiwichu" is...

but at least it's good for a laugh...or two.

More...

More beauty as seen from our yard...

Sunlit mountains to the east; sunset to the west...

but we are already in the shadows.

The shadow moves up the mountains

as the sun sets...

Some of the final rays...

Declaring His Glory

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Ps. 19:1

When I consider your heavens,

the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,

the son of man that you care for him?

Psalm 8:3-4

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory be over all the earth.

Ps. 57:5



The other morning I just had to run outside and snap some pictures

of the sunrise, it was absolutely breathtaking!

I was so glad that my little camera captured some of it...

obviously pictures can't do justice to it,

but they turned out pretty well!

I have recently become somewhat obsessed with

watching the sky and the landscapes around here...

the desert is beautiful (in spite of the electrical wires

and the roofs and walls of the city)!

And healing has brought me to a place of

renewed appreciation of the nature around me.

God is good.

Silly me!

Well, I went and did it today.

I locked myself out of the house!

Yeah.

Several factors contributed to this highly annoying situation...

1. I was NOT wearing my keys around my neck (obviously) because Miguel had taken them; at the moment, it's the only set we have that includes the key to the padlock on the front gate. He needed them since he took the van out today.
2. I wore pants with no pockets today...normally, if I don't wear the keys around my neck, I would put the other set in my pocket.
3. The mat was not placed in front of the door as usual since Miguel had shaken it off earlier and left it at the bottom of the steps. Normally, the mat does not allow the door to close all the way and we can catch it before it slams shut.

So, Jojo was going to water the plants and I stepped outside to help Jkaile down the steps and wham! I heard that door slam behind me and I knew I was in trouble! Such a sinking feeling...

At first I figured that I was REALLY stuck because I didn't have keys to get out the gate, either, but then I noticed that Miguel had left the padlock on the main gate open. PTL for small things! :) (If I hadn't been able to get out the gate to go call at a friend's house, I'm not sure what I would have done...asked some stranger walking by if I could please use their cell phone to call my husband since I was locked out of the house?! THAT would have been quite embarrassing!)So I loaded the boys into the stroller and I went over to a friend's house to call Miguel. We had a nice chat over some hot tea while we waited for him to get back, so all was not lost!

Unfortunately, I DID lose the rice I had been cooking...it was rather charred by the time I got back home...

Sweet!

I often see promotions on milk cartons or other products here in Mexico, such as buy 4 of "these", pay a little extra and get "this", usually kitchen utensils or something. But today I really hit the jackpot! I quickly ran into one of the local grocery stores on the way home from church to grab a few things, mainly milk and eggs (we were down to a can of evaporated milk this morning!). As I reached the dairy case, I noticed several ladies standing there and one of them rattled off some promotion they were having for buying Lala brand dairy products. I didn't quite catch everything she said, but did catch something about some sort of glass something...I picked up two gallons of Lala brand milk,a large container of Lala yoghurt, and some Lala sour cream (our favorite brand anyway) and she said she would meet me at the customer service desk. I figured I would have to pay a few extra pesos for whatever she was offering and maybe even have to decline, so imagine my surprise when she handed me this backpack and these two really awesome glass canisters...for FREE! :) It caused a stir...quite a few other customers stopped to admire my prize! Sweet!

Now I need to decide what to use them for...

It's a bit hard to see, but there's the LALA

inscribed on the side with the trademark butterfly. :)

I think I might decide I need two more gallons tomorrow...

Slow Saturday Morning

We're having a slow Saturday morning here...kids are still in their peegees (as Miguel calls them-says it's easier than saying pjs, LOL!) and I don't think I've even brushed my hair. I had a wonderful chat with Big Sis Teresa and now I'm at my computer with my second cup of coffee.

Jkaile's contained for the moment...

happily playing with his I Spy cards.

They are thick cardboard and so he can't bend them.

Gracia and Jojo are playing SpongeBob Uno...I like the Uno part,

but we could do without the SpongeBob. :(

Micah spent the night with a friend;

we're not expecting him back until later.

At some point, however, I will have to get busy...

since Miguel is gone, I will get the privelege of teaching

all of these precious 4 to 6 year olds (including Gracia and Jojo)

tomorrow in Children's Church!

I pretty much have the lesson ready,

just have to pull it together.

Since I spend a LOT of time with little kids already,

teaching the kids at church is, how shall I put this,

maybe not as exciting for me as it is for Miguel? :)

But I have to admit that they are pretty cute...

Scattered Thoughts

My thoughts have been so scattered lately that it's hard even to sit and write a post unless I have pictures to sort of clue me in as to what to write! Well, it's hard to sit and write, period, because I keep getting interrupted...Jkaile likes to yank on my arm every few seconds, it seems, and while I'm trying to teach him to just put his hand on my arm, he doesn't seem to be getting the picture...

Miguel is on a trip right now, he and a colleague are at the Rio Grande Bible Institute representing our organization at their mission's conference. I'm really excited that he can go and I'm sure it will be a very interesting experience for him...but I'm really missing him here at home!!! I feel really scatterbrained and afraid I'll do something silly, like lock myself out of the house (which explains why I'm wearing my keys!). I did that once and had to wait outside for over an hour until Miguel got home...yeah. I'm sure somebody has extra keys to our house, but then I'd have to admit that yes, I locked myself out and that would be embarrassing...



I have been able to spend some good time with the kids, though, and I'm grateful that I'm feeling pretty well this week. I am getting tired, yes, but it's been manageable so far. I just have to remember to take care of myself...sounds funny, but I don't always do a good job of it! For one thing, making it a priority to be receiving my strength from God by staying connected through prayer and the Word. For another, not overestimating what I can do and then regretting not having rested more later...nearly every Mom can testify that the hours between 5 and 7 p.m. or so can be quite stressful! Everyone seems to be tired, cranky, demanding, hungry, etc. So if I don't rest in the early afternoon, I crash in the late afternoon and this week I have no back-up. That's one of the times that I really miss having Miguel's help with the kids...the other time being in the mornings, getting the kids ready for school. So I've been pacing myself and so far, so good.

This afternoon Gracia and I played some card games while Jojo and Jkaile were still sleeping...sad to say, she won nearly all the games we played! And then tonight I built a fire (is it just me, or do all MKs like to build bonfires?!) and we roasted hot dogs, tortillas, plátano, potatoes, and eggs (still need to work on the egg thing, but they were pretty good). The kids loved it (Jkaile a little too much, had to work hard to keep him away from the fire!), it was something different, and we didn't really add any dirty dishes to the pile!

See...still got my keys on...

Working in the garden

Well, no, I don't actually have any pictures of me working in the garden, but I can show you the results! Miguel worked out there one day, setting up the little fence and "terrace" and we were able to plant the first cactus! It was an exciting moment...

I set out the rock I'd painted our name on and then

wondered when Miguel was going to work out there again...

Then one day I thought...why am I waiting?

I can DO THIS! :) And got busy...it's lookin' good!



A close-up of the spotted rock...I've got a companion rock in the works...



A view around the corner to the right...

A close-up of the mountain scene (basically the mountains we can

see to the east of here minus the city).

And of course, this is a Work in Progress...far from finished.

I'll keep ya posted.

Lady Gracia

The Lady Gracia was invited to birthday party of one of her Kindergarten classmates last week...since there are 6 boys and Gracia in Kindergarten, I wondered how this would go! Gracia wanted to dress up, so we picked out a very pretty dress with a matching sweater and necklace, I put a french-braid in her hair, did a bit of make-up, and put on the fancy shoes. Here she is heading out the door Pre-Party.

Post-Party: Hair a bit roughed up, scuffed shoes, necklace all turned around,

and best of all, armed with sword and shield!

Mr. Independent

Jkaile is staking out his independence these days...he now wants to feed himself. He used to at least take the spoon from us and put the food in his mouth, but now he won't even do that! In fact, if you put food in the spoon, he will dump it out so that he can put it on the spoon himself...and while I have to say that he does have pretty good hand-eye coordination for a baby his age, the food mostly doesn't get into his spoon at all. I called my Mom about how to get him to let us feed him, esp. things like cereal and oatmeal, and she suggested making the oatmeal thicker...gee, thanks, Mom! :) I got the message...pick your battles! Guess this is one thing I'm not going to fight him overright now and hope he gets over this stage quickly...

Those cloth diapers sure are coming in handy...

Isn't that a lovely sight?

Yeah.

Waiting for the Bread to Bake

I'm up rather late waiting for the bread to bake and am keeping myself busy by reading blogs and thinking about possible posts. I normally would not be baking so late except that I will be going to a social in the morning and I wanted to take something homemade. A cinnamon roll ring is just the thing...I should have started it earlier, but needed a nap and then we had a dorm meeting this evening that went longer than expected (but SO much fun!). It meant my bread didn't go into the oven until 9:30 p.m. by which time I am usually heading towards horizontal. Since my posting has been rather sparse lately, though, I thought I'd write a little something...ah, I know, a recent conversation with Jojo about heaven.


Jojo: Mommy, did you know there are diamondth in heaven?!

Mom: Yes, there are!

Jojo: And the threetth are pafed wif gold! (giggle, giggle)

Mom: Yes, but do you know what the biggest treasure in heaven is?

Jojo: Diamondth! (hee, hee)

Mom: Well, yes, but Jesus will be in heaven and He is our greatest treasure!

A few moments of silence...

Jojo: Oh (giggle, giggle), I can't wait to die!

Well, Jojo, selfishly I hope it's later than sooner! :)

Don't think I'm ready for you to walk those streets of gold just yet...

Inevitable

I know in my heart that it is inevitable that my kids will get hurt sometimes...fortunately, I have pretty cautious ones, so this hasn't happened as often as it might. I try not to be overprotective, and yet it hurts this mother's heart to see the owies! :( Jkaile took a pretty bad roll down the concrete steps in front of our house, landing face-first in the gravel at the bottom. Poor little guy.

Even his cheek is swollen!

And yet, here he is, with that smile that tells me everything will be okay...

Rock painting

This is what started my rock-painting adventures...I got this card from a friend and really loved the letters/painting on the front. I had some cool rocks that we'd collected while on the shores of Lake Michigan this last summer (Miguel wasn't any too pleased to find out that I'd snuck them into our luggage, but I think he's gotten over it now) and I found one that just seemed perfect to try to paint on (since then I've found that acrylic paint really is a good rock-painting medium!). I also put "hope" and "love" on the back, but I don't like that side very much.

After that, I wanted to paint a rock for our cactus garden out front (we've been working on it little by little and we planted the first cactus just the other day-exciting). I wanted to put some color on it, but Miguel voted to have it "look like a rock" so I left it with just the letters. BUT, I have plans for some other rocks and they will definitely have lots of color!

One day when we were out rock hunting north of town, I found a nice smooth one and put Gracia's name on it. She loves her rock! Now Micah and Jojo want one, too...



I gave this set to my friend Laura who just recently left Mexico...this time I added the shadowing to the letters, makes them stand out more. I left these simple so the emphasis would be on the words from I Corinthians 13. These rocks about about 2-3 inches long?

I painted this rock for Erika, one of the single girls that lived upstairs...she had to move back home this semester for health reasons...we're missing her already!

I painted this rock yesterday for Gracia's friend Gracie (yeah, it gets a little confusing sometimes). I was in a bit of a hurry, so I wasn't as happy with some of the flowers/greenery, but Gracie seemed very pleased. :) And it was fun...

I did a few other projects as Christmas gifts too, but I forgot to take pictures. I think I got caught up in the excitement of Christmas and gifts and wrapping...so now I'm going to have to go around to my friends' houses to take the pictures so that I can have a record of them. Oh, well, a good excuse to go visiting!