New Friends

God continues to answer our prayers. We were blessed with the opportunity to meet in Victor's home and share time in God's Word with several of his family and a friend. Victor is the taxi driver that contacted us about 8 months after our first and only interaction with him (I wrote about him a few posts ago). They shared their time and their home with us and we believe that God is at work! They invited us to come back and we look forward to getting to know this new group of people. Reece cried when it was time to leave because he had so much fun with his new friends.

Cow Parade

Yesterday we took some time for culture and family. There is nothing quite like seeing an art museum through the eyes of a toddler. Reece thought it was the neatest thing, at first asking what every piece of art was. I learned that rather than answering him I would ask him what he thought it was and we got some interesting insights!

Then it was on to the Cow Parade on display on Reforma (a main street here in Mexico City). I didn't know that this was an art display that has been on exhibition around the world, but apparently it is! Reece was amazed at the many large cows (and we didn't walk past them all) that were brightly painted each in its own unique way. I am not sure how many there were in total but surely over 50. I thought it was cool too - and began taking pictures of Reece by each cow as we walked along. Chase made it into a few early pics but Benjy wasn't exactly in agreement with my picture taking idea and simply stated that as long as we kept up to him and Chase, we could take all the pictures we wanted! Reece raced from one cow to the next, offering hugs or pats to each one. Here are a few cow pictures for your a-moooooos-ment (sorry, I couldn't help it!) Just click on the picture for a larger view.

  

Hoping for "Green Thumbs"

I received some birthday money from my Mom and was saving it especially for the chance to go to the huge plant and flower market here. We bought some neat stuff to begin adding some greenery and life (okay we do have lots of that!) to our home. Reece and I had fun re-potting it all - Reece loved the dirt as all little boys do - and he was particularly proud of the worm he discovered! This is a new field of interest for me so now we just hope for "green thumbs" to sustain plant and flower life! Any advice?!

  This is hard work...but, oh so fun!

  There's gotta be another worm down here somewhere!

  I am sure I'll never be climbing this tree, but it is a tree nonetheless!

  

Happy Valentine's Day

What a fun day I have had! We had a Valentine's Day party for the little ones this morning - baking and decorating cookies, finger painting and potatoe stamp painting (yes, I am realizing that this is more fun for me than toddlers!) And then the best part...a movie and dinner date with my very handsome man! We have become much too familair with jeans and a comfy sweatshirt here in Mexico, so we decided to dress up and truly feel like we were on a date. It was so fun! I am reminded today of how beautiful life is, and how blessed I am to share it with Benjy. We love each other, we love our boys, and we simply just love life!

 
  My valentine!

 
  So happy together!

GO CANADA!!!

 
 

   

Okay, I might not live there anymore, but I know who to root for in the Winter Olympics...and so do my kids! It is true that a Mom's influence goes a long way in a child's life!!! I have always been a big lover of the Olympics and it is a sad sacrifice to make to be in Mexico during the games. We don't get very good coverage here - they didn't even show the Opening Ceremonies, for example! But we will watch what we can and cheer hard for our Canadian athletes....and yes, for you American family and friends....don't worry, we will cheer for team USA as well!

Wobbly... But Walking!

Yup! Chaser is walking! He took 4 - 5 steps yesterday and seemed pretty pleased with himself. It is as though now that it is his own accomplishment, he acts like it was his idea all along and seems to enjoy it a bit more (he was pretty stubborn to any encouragement from us before!) I was home alone with the kids yesterday when this all took place - and naturally, I wanted to capture it on video - wrong. As soon as I turn that thing on, Reece becomes crazy - wanting to see himself and pretty much cancelling any opportunity to focus on Chase for a second - let alone trying to capture him actually taking steps! Chase is obviously pretty unsteady yet, but it is cute to see him venture out there, let go and take his steps. The bumps and bruises on his face are from his pre-walking days so we might be in trouble! Tonight he was trying to kick a ball and maintain his standing position...quite funny! I guess we are now another step on the journey to losing our little baby boy to toddlerhood.

 
 

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Our AIM Team

We were able to meet the AIM students that will join our work. Josh, Adam, Leah, Michelle, and Beth will arrive in Tlalpan sometime in May and will serve and work in expanding the Kingdom for the next year and several months. Benjy and I, along with James and Erin Henderson will serve as their coordinators, mentors, and friends. Below is a picture of all of us!

 
 

Just Hangin' Around!

 
 

Scattering Seed

If you are reading this you probably care a great deal about God's Kingdom and the work here in Mexico City. Therefore, I want to ask you to be praying that the seeds we will be scattering in the next few days will fall on hearts of good soil. We are looking forward to visits from 6 friends from Westport Road Church of Christ, Louisville, KY (our supporting congregation) and a group of about 80 young people from the Advetures in Missions (AIM) program in Lubbock, TX. We will be meeting the AIM team (5 students) that will be joining our work next May. We are thankful for the many extra hands that will help us with various service projects and in the distribution of thousands of invites to get involved in Bible studies, small groups, and church life. Jesus tells the parable in Luke 8 of the 4 different types of soil that seed falls on. We are praying in faith that there is good soil within our reach, and that God will providentially lead us to those people!

But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. Luke 8:15

Being Followed

Reece asked me a few weeks ago what my "favorite color" was - in reference to candies. I told him "orange". And guess what I have noticed - suddenly, everything has to be "an orange one" for Reece. I kind of like it!

Smiles from God

I am pretty pleased, and I know God must be too, to watch my kids praise Him. Sometimes, when Reece is playing, or is happy about something, he shouts, "hooray for God!" I think God smiles at that. We are loving our "devotional time" in our daily routine. Reece calls it his "devo game" and it is a highlight of his day. He often asks to do several devos at a time...we pray that he will always have this desire to love and learn about God. And singing...we have a cd with kids songs about God that he asks for as soon as we get in the car. He sings along and it is one of the sweetest sounds to hear his little voice singing "God is so good, He's so good to me" (but of course, you have to watch him in secret b/c he gets a little shy if he knows we are listening). And Chaser likes the music too - he knows when to clap his hands in "if you're happy and you know it" - but he claps whenever there is music so it might just be coincidental timing! He dances a lot to it too - a little rythymically(sp?) challenged, but hey! And just a few days ago, Chase began to participate in our prayer times - before meals, and bedtimes. It is so sweet. He will hold my hands and when I am done he claps twice (learned from Reece) during the AMEN. I am sure that God smiles frequently during the day as He watches and cares for their innocent and pure hearts.

"From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise" Psalms 8:2