Messes

 

One brother's mess is another brother's treasure!

 

 

 

Like Father, Like Son - In Orange

 

Great minds think alike...and they didn't even talk :)

Aren't they both so handsome!?!?!?!

Introductions!

Our partnering church in Kentucky asked us to send them a little video to introduce our family to the new members at WRCC that don't know us yet. We put this little one together and I thought I would post it here...just because....my boys are so fun...and...I thought...you might like to meet us too :)

Check it out.

Enough Said!

4 reasons why I feel blessed to be on the receiving end of this day....




Now if we are going to start talking about the giving end of this.....too many pictures of amazing women who I would celebrate and wish and thank on this Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to all.

Oh My Heart...

 

Time is flying.... I look at my little baby and I can't believe how quickly time is passing. I look at my oldest son and can't believe he is 7, or that my next is 5 or that my 3rd is 3. The other day Reece asked me why time seems to go so slow when he is bored, but so fast if he is doing something he likes to do.... "That, my son, is a life lesson: time flies when you are having fun!"

Speaking of fun and yet rapidly passing time.... I cannot believe that we are now looking at "weeks" in regards to how long we have in Mexico. My heart is divided - I know that God is taking care of us and that He is ahead of us, leading and guiding. I believe that this next chapter in our life will be a great one - full of blessings and growth and challenges and new opportunities. I know that we will find new friends, make new memories, be involved in all kinds of new things. Yet, at the same time, I can't believe that we are packing up and leaving Mexico. True - we do not know what the future holds - maybe we will call this place "home" again at some point in our future....but we believe that we need to move on as though this is a final good-bye...for now.  

Seven years ago we arrived in this place - we were younger, we were a smaller family (Reece was just 2 and a half months old!), I didn't speak any spanish at all. A whole lot of growth and maturity and life experience and ministry experience and people experience and family experience and marriage experience and parenting experience and team experience and personal experience has been experienced!!! :) We leave this place much fuller and much richer than when we arrived. We have many people to thank for that! In the past days and weeks I have been reflecting about what Mexico means to me, to us. What have I learned from our experiences here? I believe that some of those ideas/concepts/lessons are clear and able to define...and my intention is to process and record them. But I also believe that there are many abstract and valuable things that we cannot yet put a description to - they can't be defined in a bullet point or jotted down in a paragraph. They are much more over-arching and deep reaching. They are truths that have helped to form our identity as individuals, as a family. They are fresh realizations about faith and walking with God. We have been blessed to step outside of our own culture and have been able to learn and see different perspectives and values....and we will carry these things - whether we can define them or not - with us into our next life chapter. We have been changed, I believe, most certainly for the better. I am thankful.

So, although it is quickly becoming a not so favorite thing to do for me - I will begin doing the necessary - the sorting, the sifting, the packing, the organizing...and as I do that, my heart will be full of many memories of this place - this large large City that we have called home for 7 years. Wow. Time flies!

Kids Day/Dia del Nin~o

In Mexico, April 30 is a day to celebrate kids! The boys had a special day at school....and we planned our very own special but crazy celebration.

I feel blessed to have 4 amazing little boys to call my own and so I tried to think of something unique yet special to let them know that we love and appreciate them. Although there could easily be a thousand ways to express this to a young boy - or four of them in our case - I decided to honor a long standing but never fulfilled request that our crazy, oldest son has had for a few years now. I have no idea where he gets his ideas, but for some strange reason, he has really been intrigued with the fun of a pie-throwing contest. He really wanted it to be a part of his birthday festivities, but I knew that was a little too far out there...and denied his repeated request. 

But why not do it for Dia del Nin~o in the privacy of James and Erin's garden so we would not have to face any cross cultural stares or questions???? I tried to drop some hints to the boys but didn't want to out and tell them their "surprise" - they had no idea what was coming....even after we put Reece in "position".  The pictures are quite self explanatory and tell the story of our fun afternoon!  

Notice Reece's sort-of-confused expression as we tell him to simply "wait"...

 

Benjy gets the honors to introduce his oldest to a whipped cream pie plate! 

 

"Surprise!!!"

 

Reece was laughing so hard and just kept saying "thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Before long everyone wanted to participate and lined up to give and receive!

 

Chase was happily screaming (with a small hint of panic in his voice),

"I can't breathe!"

"I can't see!"

Everyone began chanting for the Daddy's to get involved so James and 

Benjy had little choice...

WIth all of the activity, Kate snuck a pie to Pierce and he wasn't very pleased :)

I got it too...

But this kid had an absolute blast!

Other than a few extra showers and some sticky laundry - this was a sweet (literally) and affordable( $4) way to celebrate the craziness of kids!

A fun time was had by all...except maybe Pierce :)  Thank you James and Erin for sharing your garden and  great afternoon together!

 

 

 

  

The Shirt Says It All

My Mommy Loves Me...

~ even though I slobber all over the place (see my shirt!)

~ even though I have not let her have an even close to decent sleep in over 5 months 

~ even though I have the strongest and most painful pinch reflex in the world and I tend to utilize it whenever she feeds or holds me (both of those are often!)

~ even though I often add to the noise and craziness of our household!

But she especially loves me because...

 ~ I have the most amazing and charming smile

~ I am super social and have caused more-than-we- care-to-count over the top goo-goo-gaah-gaah reactions from everyone we encounter

~ I make this little sing-songy sound every time I eat and it kinda melts her heart (or so I have heard her say)

~ I am growing and learning new things - like the fact that I have pretty much mastered sitting up on my own (other than a few balance issues at times), I try to jump, and I love, love, love to stand (with the support of someones fingers, of course)

~ I am so ticklish and she knows exactly how to make me laugh

~ she believes I perfectly complete our family and just fit in so nicely with all of my big brothers

~ she waited and prayed and hoped for me for a long time and I make her utterly thankful that I belong to our family!!

~ I make her so very happy.  Just because I am me.

So, ya see, there's a whole lot of love that comes my way!  

And that is something to smile about!

 

 

 

"D'ya Wanna Play With Me???"

There is always something that needs to be done. Always. Too often the things that don't really matter far too easily take priority. Today, I am thankful to say, that I was intentional about how I was going to answer Pierce's question, "d'ya wanna play with me?" After all, what a sweet invitation that won't always be so freely spoken from my children. I set aside the unimportant to sit down on the floor and play with Pierce. We played "pirates" - Playmobil pirates (I love playmobil toys!)...and I love, love, love my Piersen. What a wonderful time we had.  We put off getting dressed or combing hair (as the pics indicate!) and instead we just escaped hungry crocodiles, doctored up the pirates who got bitten, shot the cannon gun over and over and over again...getting the most joy out of aiming at Daddy's legs when he came home from work.  I love my boy and am so thankful for the invitation to play with him :)  It was so fun, just might have to do it again soon!

 

 

 

 

A Day of Firsts....

Wednesday began just about the same as every other day....we had just dropped big brother Reece off at school...Hudson was having some tummy time on the floor...when suddenly...

 

I looked over and this is what I saw! We all missed it but Hudson snuck in a little roll - from tummy to back. We all celebrated...tried to get him to do it again...but he was not interested in performing for us :)

 

And then later that day... it was decided to give our big, hungry, growing boy his first taste of solids. I know my boys so I held off on this milestone until they were home from school.... and as was expected Reece asked to give the first taste. Chase followed right behind. I love it that they are involved in the milestones. Makes family life so fun! And Hudson...

He was happy...and perhaps a little impatient so he tried to take matters into his own hands!

An empty bowl....a happy smile!

I love this kid!