I am on a borrowed computer at the moment so I am able to come here and post! Liam and Isabella's swimming teacher has graciously loaned me a computer. L & I had their third swimming lesson today at their teacher's house. They are doing great! Liam can now jump into the deep end and swim to the other side and come up for air. Isabella is doing well at going under and coming up. She is so cute diligently practicing this while kicking her legs. She can almost swim alone but still holds on to her teacher's hand with one hand.
We are looking forward to the 4th of July holiday as both Edilberto and I feel like we can use the break! Edilberto's very busy at work. Within the next 10 days they will be sending two very large (40 ft. long) containers filled with clothing, a tractor, furniture, tools, washer/dryer, and a lot of other things, to ministries in the Dominican Republic and Haiti. They are also sending a hydraulic dump truck to a ministry that serves the town in garbage collecting (in Guatemala).
We've been tested in technical and functionable areas of life (our patience and perseverance have been tested, that is.) We just spent a lot fixing an electric window in our van that wouldn't go up. It first happened while we were on our way home in a tropical downpour of rain! Now there's a bell to alert us of a door ajar that won't stop dinging even when the doors are closed! As you know too, we've had endless computer problems. Our telephones have also been a problem in getting them to work properly. They weren't installed well either and will have to be redone in the kitchen area! Nothing too horrible but just enough to feel weary with all the little problems adding up. Things that should just work don't seem to!
I have been really enjoying the kids though and marvelling at them as they grow and learn things. It is exciting to see! I look forward to be together with them and for us finding a place to serve and to be an influence in our community.
That's about all I can think of in updating about life at this time.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
I can't believe this!
Day two with the new computer and suddenly, the screen goes very bright. I can barely see the words I'm typing here, but just wanted to let you know that, unbelievabely, it looks like there's more technical computer problems in our life. After calling technical support, it sounds like it is a problem with the computer motherboard. Which means, I will have to send this beautiful new computer off to be fixed. Unless I can borrow someone's notebook, I may not be here for a while. I have no idea how long this will take.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Just Arrived!!!
Just two hours ago, the much awaited UPS man came to our house. He couldn't understand why the kids and I were so gleeful and excited to receive a box that, from the outside of it, looked as though we were awaiting a boat propeller. He didn't know that inside there was actually a wonderful new notebook computer arriving. I have been in withdrawals with all of the computer woes I've had in the past several weeks. Thanks to dear friends of ours, we now have a beautiful new and wonderfully functionable notebook in the family! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, M & M. We are very blessed!
Keeping-up on the blog has now been made easy. Very soon I will update on life. But right now, I've got three pages of e-mails to go through!
Keeping-up on the blog has now been made easy. Very soon I will update on life. But right now, I've got three pages of e-mails to go through!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
The Goings-On....Tuesday
Well, today hopefully will be much calmer than yesterday. That is when I had my first experience with the open head wound of my own child. Seeing my little boy with blood streaming down his face and all over his hands was horrid. You'd never know I worked in primary health care, taking care of wounds much worse in the now seemingly very distant past! I'm just weak in the knees when it comes to my own children.
It all started when Super Hero Liam decided to dive into his sister's lower bunk bed. It was draped with blankets to make a "fort" and therefore, the bottom of the upper bunk wasn't visible. "Slam" went the forehead into the metal (fortunately, there was that blanket hanging over it so the blow was less than it would be otherwise). It was sufficient enough to open a 1/2 inch wound on his forehead at the hairline.
I got him to sit down once I realized what had happened (before that, I was screaming at his sister thinking she'd smashed something over his head in revenge for his early tormenting her. Once I realized, I apologized to her, of course.) This all had happened while I was vacuuming. I got on the cell. phone to get Edilberto home to help. At that time, I didn't know how bad it was or wasn't.
We took him to an urgent care and the doctor was nice and didn't stitch him. He should have had a couple of stitches, but like his mother, he is a nervous patient. The doctor had mercy and did a butterfly bandage on it. Liam had a fit when we got home and the neighbor kids wanted him to swim with them in their pool. He can't get the wound wet because it would all open-up again. That was the deal for not getting stitches, I reminded him.
The good thing that came out of it was, since it was past lunchtime by the time we got Liam fixed at the doctor's, we noticed a charming looking little Cuban Deli across the street from the Urgent Care. We had lunch there since we were all starving. It was soooo good. We'll definitely be returning to that place sometime. The owner was a very friendly older chubby Cuban man, who was very happy when we raved about how good the food was! He even gave the kids some rice pudding with cinnamon on it for dessert.
On to other things: Edilberto has a very busy work week. There are, I think, three containers being shipped to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. I will update when I get the details.
Very Cool: We got to see (FROM OUR BACKYARD!!!)none other than the SPACE SHUTTLE Atlantis fly by. Woohoo!!! We were jumping up and down and hooting and hollering. The afterburner smoke stayed there for at least 30 minutes after it went by. Amazing. We had the launch on television for the countdown, then on lift-off we ran outside to see if it was possible to see it. There it was within a second or two. Amazing. Maybe we'll go to a launch one day.
It all started when Super Hero Liam decided to dive into his sister's lower bunk bed. It was draped with blankets to make a "fort" and therefore, the bottom of the upper bunk wasn't visible. "Slam" went the forehead into the metal (fortunately, there was that blanket hanging over it so the blow was less than it would be otherwise). It was sufficient enough to open a 1/2 inch wound on his forehead at the hairline.
I got him to sit down once I realized what had happened (before that, I was screaming at his sister thinking she'd smashed something over his head in revenge for his early tormenting her. Once I realized, I apologized to her, of course.) This all had happened while I was vacuuming. I got on the cell. phone to get Edilberto home to help. At that time, I didn't know how bad it was or wasn't.
We took him to an urgent care and the doctor was nice and didn't stitch him. He should have had a couple of stitches, but like his mother, he is a nervous patient. The doctor had mercy and did a butterfly bandage on it. Liam had a fit when we got home and the neighbor kids wanted him to swim with them in their pool. He can't get the wound wet because it would all open-up again. That was the deal for not getting stitches, I reminded him.
The good thing that came out of it was, since it was past lunchtime by the time we got Liam fixed at the doctor's, we noticed a charming looking little Cuban Deli across the street from the Urgent Care. We had lunch there since we were all starving. It was soooo good. We'll definitely be returning to that place sometime. The owner was a very friendly older chubby Cuban man, who was very happy when we raved about how good the food was! He even gave the kids some rice pudding with cinnamon on it for dessert.
On to other things: Edilberto has a very busy work week. There are, I think, three containers being shipped to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. I will update when I get the details.
Very Cool: We got to see (FROM OUR BACKYARD!!!)none other than the SPACE SHUTTLE Atlantis fly by. Woohoo!!! We were jumping up and down and hooting and hollering. The afterburner smoke stayed there for at least 30 minutes after it went by. Amazing. We had the launch on television for the countdown, then on lift-off we ran outside to see if it was possible to see it. There it was within a second or two. Amazing. Maybe we'll go to a launch one day.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
The Testimony of a Broken Man
Click on the title of this post to see and hear a moving testimony. I don't know anything about Robert Schueller, or the "Hour of Power," but the guest interviewed here has quite an amazing story. Watch and you're sure to be blessed and encouraged in your faith!
Monday, June 04, 2007
In a Slump and Feeling a Little Blue
I don't allow myself to indulge in sadness for any length of time, but I have to admit that lately, I have been feeling defeated and at times, heavy hearted. Getting started in a new place, setting-up and organizing house (when there's little place to put things) and making it a home, establishing a routine with the kids, getting out to meet people and looking for opportunities for the kids to make friends - it all can be quite overwhelming at times. I feel like I've accomplished very little in the past few weeks. Some days, I feel like a failure in the simplest tasks.
I know a lot of this is natural with motherhood. There is very little to show for the hard work you've put in all day. The kids can undo what you've done in the home in a split second! Looking on in victory at the freshly vacuumed and scrubbed tile floor, you can be sure that some sticky juice will be spilt moments later, mixed in with muffin crumbs. The laundry never stops piling-up no matter how many loads you've done. All this is normal. Most days I can handle it. It's just that I am so behind in a lot of other things, maintaining the home has kept me from all the other tasks that I have on hold. And the pressure mounts.
O.K., this is going to be past me someday soon. But as evening came, I felt like another day had passed and there was not much to show for it. I have this urgency in life to make every day matter. I suppose today was about encouraging Isabella in her hard work in finishing the floor puzzle she and I were working on. And about working on assembling a train track with Liam. Those moments had to be what mattered. I can do the rest tomorrow and the next day and the next.
We did have a great time yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. We had a family day at the beach. It was the first day since we've been here that we had a beach day (other than being at the beach for the air show). The weather was perfect, the water deliciously cool for the 90 degree weather, the waves soft and perfect for playing in. The kids loved it. They didn't want to know about their shovel and pail and all the other gear we lugged onto the beach. They just wanted to play in the water. So all four of us spent most of the day in the water. I was in my element!
I know a lot of this is natural with motherhood. There is very little to show for the hard work you've put in all day. The kids can undo what you've done in the home in a split second! Looking on in victory at the freshly vacuumed and scrubbed tile floor, you can be sure that some sticky juice will be spilt moments later, mixed in with muffin crumbs. The laundry never stops piling-up no matter how many loads you've done. All this is normal. Most days I can handle it. It's just that I am so behind in a lot of other things, maintaining the home has kept me from all the other tasks that I have on hold. And the pressure mounts.
O.K., this is going to be past me someday soon. But as evening came, I felt like another day had passed and there was not much to show for it. I have this urgency in life to make every day matter. I suppose today was about encouraging Isabella in her hard work in finishing the floor puzzle she and I were working on. And about working on assembling a train track with Liam. Those moments had to be what mattered. I can do the rest tomorrow and the next day and the next.
We did have a great time yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. We had a family day at the beach. It was the first day since we've been here that we had a beach day (other than being at the beach for the air show). The weather was perfect, the water deliciously cool for the 90 degree weather, the waves soft and perfect for playing in. The kids loved it. They didn't want to know about their shovel and pail and all the other gear we lugged onto the beach. They just wanted to play in the water. So all four of us spent most of the day in the water. I was in my element!
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