I've been asked a lot these past few months whether I'm excited about Gabon, whether I've started studying French, what schools the kids will go to, etc. And I keep thinking, yes, no, and I don't know! Gabon still feels so far away (and it is still over a year away), but while Gabon still feels far away, the end of Mexico is marching closer and closer. It's already May! I am determined to stay focused on Mexico until we are actually gone. I still go to Spanish class twice a week to improve my Spanish, and we're still fully engaged at church and school. I have six months in Virginia to think about Gabon, French, and schools. Speaking of Virginia, we think we will get placed near the Ballston area, but we won't know for sure until December.
I am super happy about having a seven year old! Through the years, I've observed my friends and their kids, and I have been under the impression that the years seven through twelve are kind of this glorious time when your kids aren't so small and needy, but they still think you're cool and like to be with you, and now they are more reasonable and can talk to you. I've been looking forward to it, and now it's here for Jill, and it's fantastic! I love the girl she's grown into.
Mexico celebrated Children's Day on April 30. The school celebrated all week long. Monday was crazy clothes day (inside out or backwards), Tuesday was crazy hair day (as pictured below), and Wednesday was crazy face day (crazy makeup or face paint). Thursday was an all-out celebration: the kids could bring their bicycles, scooters, etc. to school, and they just played games all day. Friday there was no school. I said this last year, but I really like Children's Day. It's kind of like all of the children in the country are celebrating their birthday at the same time, in that it's a big party for all.
I walked into the living room the other day to find this. I said, "Alice, why did you do that?" Alice replied, "I not being a nice girl, Mommy." Well, at least she's honest!
This boy LOVES all things athletic. I don't know if he's just mimicking his older siblings, or if he really does love sports way more than any of my other kids did at his age, but it's very cute either way. (Thanks for the photo, Christy.)
We celebrated ten years last week by going to UTEP to see "Fiddler on the Roof." The actor playing Tevye was amazing. The whole production was well done. As I watched the performance, I kept wondering whether Jewish people minded the play and how sad it was that the same story has been played out over and over and over again. In the play, the Jews are forced to leave their homes by the Russian police. Why is that storyline still being played out??
Jill turned 7!
I am super happy about having a seven year old! Through the years, I've observed my friends and their kids, and I have been under the impression that the years seven through twelve are kind of this glorious time when your kids aren't so small and needy, but they still think you're cool and like to be with you, and now they are more reasonable and can talk to you. I've been looking forward to it, and now it's here for Jill, and it's fantastic! I love the girl she's grown into.
Mexico celebrated Children's Day on April 30. The school celebrated all week long. Monday was crazy clothes day (inside out or backwards), Tuesday was crazy hair day (as pictured below), and Wednesday was crazy face day (crazy makeup or face paint). Thursday was an all-out celebration: the kids could bring their bicycles, scooters, etc. to school, and they just played games all day. Friday there was no school. I said this last year, but I really like Children's Day. It's kind of like all of the children in the country are celebrating their birthday at the same time, in that it's a big party for all.
I walked into the living room the other day to find this. I said, "Alice, why did you do that?" Alice replied, "I not being a nice girl, Mommy." Well, at least she's honest!
This boy LOVES all things athletic. I don't know if he's just mimicking his older siblings, or if he really does love sports way more than any of my other kids did at his age, but it's very cute either way. (Thanks for the photo, Christy.)
We celebrated ten years last week by going to UTEP to see "Fiddler on the Roof." The actor playing Tevye was amazing. The whole production was well done. As I watched the performance, I kept wondering whether Jewish people minded the play and how sad it was that the same story has been played out over and over and over again. In the play, the Jews are forced to leave their homes by the Russian police. Why is that storyline still being played out??
Ten Years!!
This was the face I got when I told Alice that there were no "galletas" in the house.
I already put this on facebook, but I really, really love it when all of my kids play together happily. In this particular instance, Daniel had Batman, Gordon had Captain America, Jill had Barbie and Queen Elinor, and Alice had Ariel. All of the dolls and superheroes were very busy saving the world and having crushes on each other. It was very fun.
The other day in the car, Jill and I were talking about death. She suddenly said, "Mom, when you die, I hope you have your phone in your hand." My thought raced to "does she think I'm going to die texting while driving??" So I said, "Why do you say that, sweetie?" Jill replied, "Because if you have your phone, you can text me from heaven." Awww. I thought that was sweet. Too bad it doesn't work that way!!
A few days ago, I was doing laundry. I returned to the laundry room and found Daniel inside the dryer. He saw me and said, "Mom, I can't get it to spin!" My response, "Have you gotten it to spin before?!" He said, "Yeah. Hmm. Oh! Maybe it only works when the door is shut!" Apparently he and Jill have put each other in the dryer before, and then they walk like hamsters in a ball and make the inside spin. That can't be good for the dryer. Surely they are too heavy or something.
That's life for me right now. Mimi, out! (I love that President Obama dropped the mic at his speech during the White House Correspondents' Dinner.)
I need to come up with new ways to say, "I love your kids!" I love them, is all.
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