Indoor Camping - A New Reward

I'm all about bribing - or rather rewarding you girls for listening to mommy the first time.  It has been so hard (to put it mildly) to get you guys to clean your playroom, so . . . I may have found a new incentive.  Indoor Camping.  Not sure how we sto, uhm came by this tent (I think Frank & Sarah), and I am grateful.  In order for it to fit, the playroom floor needs to be visible - what more does any mother want than to see the stained carpet.  God smiled on the event b/c Stella fell asleep on the couch watching Veggie Tales & saved me the trouble of her 'enjoying' the time in the tent.  I found an old head lamp & took Arturo's bike light off & voila you girls were in camp heaven (nope we don't seem to own a flashlight & I thought a candle may be a bad choice).  Armed with a stack full of books & your lights you crawled in, asked be be zipped up & were complete gems.  Today I packed up the the tent & will try to use it for you guys to be good this week - we'll see.

Flashback Friday - Dominican Republic

I need to tell you more about the Dominican Republic.  I know you will visit there as you get older, I know you will hear LOTS of music from there, and I know you will fall in love with this country.  Remember, girls, that this is your country too.  You are half Dominican, and it is an amazing & wonderful thing.  I know you do not always enjoy or understand why Papi and I make you speak Spanish, but I hope that when you are older you will not only appreciate this language, but enjoy the beauty of the language.

Abi, Jillian, and Stella - you all were born there.  Grammy thought that was quite scary & there were a few moments when I agreed with her; but I would not change it for the world.  I will try (try being the key word here) to commit Fridays to the Dominican Republic & Papi's family.  They are a huge part of who you girls are & will be.

As for me, I came to know & love the D.R. by moving there in 1995 to work with Young Life.  Through that experience, the biggest thing I can say is that God is good & faithful.  He opened my eyes to how big He is, how faithful He is to provide in all ways, and He truly desires to BE with us & for us in all we do.  I learned that life is all about proclaiming Jesus, and being in the D.R. taught me that Jesus is best shared by developing relationships. I am so grateful to God that He brought me to the D.R., and I know He brought us to Georgia, and I am excited to see what He has in store for us in the future.

The Election

One of my personal goals for the start of the school year was to go to bed at a decent hour.  Like 10pm.  Especially since I usually have interrupted sleep (which I hope will NOT last much longer).  

The Democratic & Republican Conventions have derailed my attempt at heading to bed earlier.  I came into this political race a bit late, and feel that I need to catch up quickly & get myself  as informed as possible.  I know the conventions may not be the best place, but I am enjoying hearing the speakers.  The conventions have also 'messed' up my blog updates.  So I will resume them later.

Girls - these truly are historical & exciting times.  Not matter who wins this election, it will be an historic time in the United States.  For all of you girls this will be the second president in your lifetime.  

The regular blogs will continue soon - maybe after a good nap - ok, no nap - just a big cup of coffee.

Random Musings on Monday with a Touch of Disgusting

Today is Labor Day.  A long weekend.  We were supposed to be at my brother's visiting.  In fact we left Friday, picked up Grammy at the airport & met Sarah & the kids for dinner at a kid friendly restaurant.  We had a wonderful time, and I was looking forward to a LONG visit with them.  Here is a brief breakdown of what happened.

- Jillian pukes (not sure if it's too much junk food & a late night).

- Jillian pukes.

- Stella has diarrhea.

- I decide we need to go back home b/c Frankie & Sarah have a newborn in the house & they do NOT need sickness as well.

Jillian pukes again.

- Claire has diarrhea.

- We pack into the car & head home (about 2 1/2 - 3 hours)

- Jillian pukes.

- An unexpected pet is found in the car.  A walking stick bug made it's way into our car & is hanging from the ceiling over the twins.  The girls think it's wonderful, but don't want it falling on them. I need to find a place off of I-75 in Atlanta that has grass & trees for this guy.

- Claire pukes.

- Claire pukes.

- Chloe pukes.

- We finally make it home. 

- I don't feel well.

- More random puking & diarrhea.

- Arturo takes over & I go to bed at 8:30 (haven't done this since I was 12).

- Puking stops.

- Liquid diarrhea begins.

 

Ok - you get the gist of our weekend.

Jillian told me that when she felt better she would be the babysitter so that I could sleep.  Sweet thing.  She is so great with her younger sisters - especially if they do what she wants.

Abi asked me why God allowed mommys to get sick, since they were supposed to take care of everyone.  I told her sometimes I wondered the same thing, but I guess this helps me remember how you need help when you are sick.

Arturo and I had a TV only for videos when we lived in the Dominican Republic.  When we moved to the U.S. there was lots of TV, and especially with the twins it was nice to plop in front of something while we were holding them.  Lately though I have realized that I have been going to bed late, b/c I am watching junk on TV.  I do not watch TV during the day, but at night when all of the little ones are in bed, yowsers.  Plus, Abi wants us to buy a lot more things b/c of what she sees. So, we are cutting cable. I am both excited & sad.  We enjoyed this once before, so I know this is the way to go!

I have never been a political person.  I remember how strange it was that a friend of mine from college always watched C-SPAN.  Since we moved, and it being the time of presidential elections, Arturo has gotten interested in politics.  Since he has, I have as well.  It's exciting and interesting.  Ironically, that friend from college received his doctorate in Political Science & has a great blog called, Learning About Politics.  Now I have become a C-SPAN, CNN watcher as well, and am enjoying it.  Crazy.

Angie over at Seven Clown Circus is hosting a give away from Twisted Silver. Although I am not a big jewelry person, I fell in love with their Flower Dome Ring because it reminds me of stained glass found in the Cathedrals of Europe.  I normally do not win these things, but thought it would be fun to try.

I decided I needed to change my template - wow - am I technically challenged.  I had the hardest time choosing, and then when I finally got the new template had erased everything else.  Hence, the 'new' look.  which was NOT planned, but happened out of stupidity.  Enjoy.

Well, here were my random musings for Monday.  Hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day.  Blessings.

Arturo the Photographer

Arturo is an extremely diverse & talented guy - and I think pretty hot!  Anyways, within the past year he has discovered a talent & liking to photography.  This has been a huge blessing, since I am not in the habit of taking pictures. So it is very nice to have lots of great pictures of our kids, and environment.  By environment I mean the nature out our backdoor.  Here are some of Arturo's favorite photos.  Enjoy!

Thanks honey for taking lots of good pics.

The Morning

This morning started at 3:30 am when Jillian came into our room asking if she could watch TV. I honestly think I was still partly sleeping because I told her yes, just keep the volume on low.  It was after she left that I became slightly more conscious - as much as you can be at 3:30 am - and thought why am I letting her watch TV at . . . what time is it?  Good grief, that child was WIDE awake for such a time.  So I yanked myself out of bed, went into the living room, and told her that she needed to go back to bed - now.  It was about this time that the dog got up needing to go out.  I don't normally make a habit of letting the dog out at this time, but Guira is one of those dogs that will not get up at that time unless she NEEDS to go out.  So as I let her out I realized that she needed food (don't even bother to ask why I'm feeding the dog at 3:45 AM - it's like I cannot stop looking around at what needs to be done).  So I shove my hand in the dog food container to realize seconds later that her food is infested with ants.  I was annoyed to say the least - anyone who knows me well - especially from my time in the Dominican Republic, realizes that I have little tolerance, patience, or mercy for ants (I'm clearly not vegan).  

I quickly sprayed - bathed - the ants with clorox water (which was the nearest spray bottle I had) and headed back to bed.  With Jillian.  I realized that she would NOT go back to sleep on her own.  She would end up waking up her sisters, and it was worth sleeping with extra limbs on me than dealing with Stella at 4 AM.

We finally get back to sleep, and when I wake up . . . again, I realize that it looks pretty darn bright outside.  I quickly kick Arturo and ask him what time it is.  He says 6:50.  *&^%  The bus comes at 6:55.  I quickly go into crazy mode. Rip Abi out of bed (poor thing), and get her ready for school in 2 minutes.  I barely brushed her hair, and I'm not sure she brushed her teeth.  After she ran to the bus, I wondered why I didn't just drive her to school calmly?  That may be another post.

I wish I could say that this is the last of these mornings.  But somehow I know that I will be frantically getting my kids ready for the bus, tending to late night insomniacs, and constantly looking around to see what needs to be done.

My goal is to do all of this - as if for Jesus.  Oswald Chambers talks a lot about living for Christ in the mundane of life.  I'm not sure I did that this morning, but I truly desire to model out for my girls a passion for Jesus.  So that they feel His love in all I do for them & around this house.  No small task.

On a different note, Abi & Jillian love the Funny Pets & People show, and Funniest American Home Videos show.  They ask all of the time if we can be on it.  So whenever Jillian thinks one of her sisters or Guira does something funny she asks if I want to tape it for Funny Pets.  $10,000 would be nice.

Ruthie and her cousins

We invaded my brother & sister-in-law's house this past weekend to meet Ruthie.  She is beautiful!! 

 How fun it was to see all of the kids so gentle, curious, and in love with Ruthie.  She is a very good baby who has quickly adjusted to life with 2 active brothers. 

 Ruthie was born 7lbs 11ozs, and I was expecting a bigger baby.  I guess because of Chloe & Claire I have this idea of babies being so big.  Ruthie was small & dainty.  So it is crazy to think that Chloe & Claire were half her size, and now . . .  They over 20lbs. Crazy what happens in a year and a half.  We are excited to go back for a visit with Grammy.  What a blessing from the Lord.