Making Faces

Introducing Victor to Starbucks...he loved it..OF COURSE..who wouldn't???!!!

This was our English class last week.  It was marvelous!  We three decided that English class is SO much more fun at Starbucks...more expensive too...for all of us!  But worth every Real it took.  There really is nothing like Starbucks, especially 8000 miles from "home"!

Victor and Amanda are my Tuesday students and are fantastic ones.  They work hard and are doing so well in English.  I am extremely proud of them.  We celebrated their hardwork with a fieldtrip!

My Two Preciouses As I Call Them!

Her daddy combed her hair out and this is the result!

We were busy last weekend making and eating Mexican Food!  Always a process and can be time consuming but this time was special...mommy found a jar of Mexican salsa at a store at the Mall full of imported foods.  Chloe LOVED chips and salsa!  Ah, that's my girl!

Anyone notice that our little taco and chip eater is one handed?

Ah, well.  We would not want more than a few days without a Chloe adventure, would we?  Chloe, in a very freak accident on Sunday morning, dislocated her tiny elbow while playing with the kids at Sunday School and has a soft cast mid-upper arm down to her hand.  It should come off Friday but has been quite a learning experience for all of us on many levels!  And last night she ran into the wall AGAIN and in the very SAME spot as last week, so now her forehead is all green and purple all over again.

Just home from the ER and cuddled down on the couch watching her favorite DVD...and using the situation for all it's worth to have mommy and daddy's full-time attention!!!

Having a bit of a tough day!

Daddy is officially on VACATION!  Yesterday I spent the day baking for our ladies tea at Restoration Ministries today.  Her daddy took such good care of her.  When I arrived home from the grocery, this is where I found them. Her hero built her a tent under the table and they were curled up watching a video, comfy as could be.  I was a bit jealous but went cheerfully away to my kitchen to bake up a storm.

This is what I saw when I walked in the door.  Made me chuckle.  He doesn't quite fit under our table, but under there he was.

We love him.  We are excited about 30 days of having him around.  He is our hero.

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I have not one single picture of our Tea this afternoon but all I will say is 

1. two recipes of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies with walnuts

2. one huge recipe of mom's sugar cookies

3. one recipe of Dorothy's shortbread

4. one pan of lemon squares

5. and FOUR recipes of brownies

disappeared in less than 5 minutes at our Tea.  AMAZING how hours of work can disappear so fast!  I think the ladies enjoyed them as well as the delicious sandwiches the ladies of our church prepared.  I think they had never tasted American "sweets" in their lives and it was a success.  Made me very happy.  I so enjoy making things that they so enjoy eating.  It was a blessed afternoon.  The American team that gave testimonies and the devotional were a true blessing.  

Have a blessed evening, dear Reader.  May you truly find joy in His presence tonight.

Mommy and Chloe "having tea" with her dollies and the fun napkins Grammie sent from California!

Chloe has a patience issue: We had a fun outing to the mall, which happens to sport an entertainment room, and Chloe loved it...of course!  Here she no longer has patience to wait her turn in the balls and slide section and solved that issue by climbing the fence.  You may have noticed the little boy trying in vain to keep her on the "right" side!!!  Unfortunately our little girl is so tall and so incredibly strong she can usually scale or get through whatever the current barrier happens to be.  Makes for some stressful times in public.  For mommy anyway.  Funny how she never seems overly bothered!

Chloe loves her animals and dolls...usually she isn't happy to settle down in her crib until they are ALL in there, leaving little room for our rapidly growing two year old.  Only when she is fully asleep can I remove most of them so they don't fall on top of her little self.

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Oh, how she loves to "help" mommy in the kitchen.  She can also cover my kitchen in water faster than you can blink.  But I am really trying to relax on the "freaking out at messes" end of parenting.  At least it keeps her occupied for a long time, so I have found it is okay to have messes in one place in order to accomplish something in another!

Knowing his little Brazilian/American granddaughter LOVES her Papa's messages on the recorder, my dad called on her birthday BBQ day just to leave her messages (knowing we weren't home and would not answer!).  He sang a hymn to her and these pictures with her Bible were taken as she listened to my dad on the recorder (only about the 10th time that day!), and sang along with him using her Bible as her songbook.  This little Bible is very special and she only gets to look at it with supervision.  It was given to her by her great-great Grandma Eunice who now lives with Jesus.  Watching her moved me to tears...for various reasons:  her little heart is so sincere and so sensitive to Jesus already.  She loves to sing.  She loves her Papa's voice and his songs.  Tears pop up at a moment's notice when I wonder if it will ever not hurt that she only has contact with them by phone or occasional internet.  I wipe away tears because that little Bible is so much more than a little leather bound, pale pink book with pictures.  The giver will ever be missed.  Most likely, my daughter will never remember her. For sure she will never have the memories I have of her.  But I sniffle and wipe them away, because God is good.  Chloe has other sweet memories.  We will see her in heaven.  In heaven we won't live 8000 miles away from people we love so dearly.  Nor will we have phone recorder messages memorized because a little girl loves them so much she listens to them over and over and over.  Oh, heaven will be good!  But here has it's joys as well, praise HIM for that.

May this Easter be one of joy and thanksgiving because we serve a RISEN SAVIOR!!!