Random Thoughts

Swaziland part 9.5 (at Bheveni)

2011-10-27T15:06:00.014-05:00

Back at the carepoint, we were able to give the bomake the large wooden spoon and pot that we had purchased for them. They were so excited - you would have thought that we had given them a car!

We had one last craft to do with the kids - Mandy printed out all of the profile pictures that we had taken of the kids and we had them decorate a foam picture frame to put the picture in. This was a special treat for them because it is rare for those kids to get photos. When we set the frames down and gave the kids stickers to decorate them, the kids had no idea what to do. It was another of those "aha" moments; one where I was reminded of just how different life is there. I can't believe that after being in Africa for a more than a week and seeing everything that we witnessed, I hadn't thought that maybe those kids had never even seen a sticker before.

Once we showed them how to use the stickers they went crazy with them. Some ended up on the picture frames but more ended up on the kids themselves. It was a riot to watch them stick them on their faces and arms!

Khaya in "traditional" wear - I think every one of us did a double take when we first saw his ensemble.

We also had the children write a note to their sponsor - or future sponsor. Some drew pictures while others wrote sweet messages. We knew that the people back home would love to hear from the kids they spend so much time thinking about and praying for.

Our team spent the rest of the time we had soaking in all we could at Bheveni. While we missed our families back home we knew that this was our last day with the kids. I went through several emotions... happy, sad, giddy, somber - it was like the hormones of pregnancy all over again. :) Mostly we all played with the kids and talked with the ladies from the carepoint.

Meredith enjoying the company

Gcebile and me - LOVE this lady.

Steve doing one of his many card tricks. Kids and adults alike went wild when he pulled out his deck of cards.

Painting nails... I bet I painted more than 500 fingernails this day. There was usually a huge group surrounding the two of us that had the polish out.

DeNise with a few of her new friends.

The women from our team decided to leave a bunch of the clothing we brought behind. We brought several skirts and a few shirts to the carepoint this day to leave with the bomake. I had sewn most of my skirts (with the intention of leaving them) so I made sure to make different sizes. Then I put in some stitches so they would fit me while I was there but that I could easily take out so they could fit all of the different women there. Those ladies lit up as we passed out the clothing. Gcebile was so sweet - after I gave her one of my skirts, she snuck away and put it on over what she was wearing. She then showed me she was wearing it and said "Please take my picture."

The time was approaching when the kids were getting ready to go home. We all gathered on the play structure for a group photo. Mike said a few words to the group (with the help of a translator) - and our team was getting emotional. The funny thing was, the people of Bheveni weren't sad. They clapped as Mike said that we were sad to be leaving but that we had our families to go home to. Over and over on this trip I was amazed by these kids. With all that they go through, what little they have - their joy is unexpected and, really, unparalleled. Although cliche, I think that this is the hardest thing for me to reconcile after the trip. How can I ever feel anything but content with all that I have when these people have such joy with so little.

Steve and Mike handing out our final gift: bags of candy that we put together for the kids.

We wrapped up and started to say our good-byes. A lot of hugs, a lot of tears on our part. I had one teenage boy (that I had only a short conversation with one day) approach me, give me a hug and say "I will never forget you." I gave Khaya a hug - he's pretty young and seemed unfazed by the good-bye - but I was teary-eyed. We were lingering; I don't think any of the B-Team were ready for our time here to be over. I had a moment - where all of the meetings, the sewing, the collecting and sorting of supplies - where all of the prep for this trip sort of flashed through my mind. I couldn't believe that it was coming to a close.

Swaziland part 9 (the safari)

2011-10-19T10:56:00.014-05:00

We were up and at 'em early for our drive to the Hlane Big Game Preserve. I was pretty excited to see a little more of Africa. As we made it out of the city and were heading into the country side, Kim and I were talking about how much we wanted to see what we call "the Lion King trees." You see them on all of the nature shows (and of course, in The Lion King.)You know, these bad boys:

This is a photo from the internet. I didn't take it.

As we approached the reserve, there were wild animals running along side the road. We saw a few wart hogs and smaller animals and also a giraffe up ahead in the distance.

Just inside the reserve.

In the jeep, ready to go!

Just as we were ready to head out into the reserve, a younger guy - all by himself (and who didn't speak Siswati or English) was added to our jeep. Of course, he was seated right next to me.

Our driver turned around to face us and went through the rules: Don't get out of the jeep, don't make loud noises, it's fine to take pictures, and my personal favorite - "If anything....um.....happens, don't scream."

We started out driving through an area that had impala (African antelope.) As soon as the driver said impala, that stupid song from the 90's (?) - you know the one: "I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller, I wish I had a girl that looked good I would call her, I wish I had a rabbit in a hat with a bat, and a six-four Impala" - got stuck in my head. So that was pretty much the soundtrack for my safari.

We drove around for awhile looking for lions. The driver had told us that there would be a chance we wouldn't see any but he made a couple laps hoping we would spot one. Unfortunately we didn't see any. We did, however, get a good look at a family of elephants.

It was amazing to be so close to them without anything in between us. None of the elephants seemed to even care that we were driving so close. We were parked near the herd and the driver was telling us some interesting facts about elephants. Now, my ears still hadn't "popped" from the flight and I was having an issue hearing everything he said. When he would say something, someone from the seat in front of me would translate because of that. I caught a few words - "...elephant .... pennies ....cool off ....urinate." I whispered "What did he say about elephant pennies??" Kim (who was in front of me) started to laugh and said "He didn't say pennies... he said PENIS." We're still not sure if he was just making these facts up as we went, but he said that if you see an elephant's... uh, pennies.... it means he's either urinating or trying to cool off.

Anyway, when we were parked there, we watched them for several minutes. The driver was talking some more and I noticed one of the larger elephants had stopped eating and was walking towards us. I got excited and said "How cool is that? That elephant is wiggling it's ears and coming so close!" That's when someone from the seat in front of me said "The driver just said that you can tell an elephant is upset if it stops eating, moves it's ears and comes closer." We retreated pretty quickly.

This one was so close - it seemed like I could just reach out and touch it!

We also got a good look at some rhinos. We saw two standing together (a mom and baby?) near a crash of other rhinos that were laying down and taking it easy. Again, so cool to get such a close look!

We pulled away from this group and were driving when we met another rhino standing in the middle of the road. As we approached we noticed that he was standing there - pooping. As soon he was done he sauntered off of the road and walked away without giving us another look. My kids love this story.

One of my favorite parts of the reserve was when we were at a watering hole. We got to see a few elephants using their trunks to suck up the water and put it in their mouth.

Other creatures we saw - turtles, lizards, vultures, birds - this one was pretty cool:

After the trip around the reserve, we sat down in a covered eating area and had some lunch. It was a beautiful day with amazing scenery. There was even a rhino resting near where we ate - and there was only a small fence separating us!

The safari was awesome... but we were all anxious to get to our next stop: Bheveni.

Swaziland part 8

2011-10-18T23:44:00.005-05:00

I can't remember if it was this morning or the next, but Steve and Mandy had a visitor in their room. They had left the window open and there were no screens....

Sunday - a day without time at a carepoint. We started the day off going to a traditional Swazi church that was located near Bheveni. As we approached the church, I was amazed at how nice the building looked. Not huge or flashy, but nicely kept. I wish I had pictures to show but I didn't feel comfortable pulling my camera out... it just seemed rude.

We got off the van and walked toward the church and were greeted by many people. Several of the older women came right up and greeted us with hellos and hugs. They were all dressed in their best clothes - for some that meant clothes that you would see at a church here in the U.S. and for some it meant something a little less clean or a little more worn. I loved that it didn't matter ... it really seemed that everyone was welcome.

As we were led into the church, we were ushered to seats. Men sit on one side of the church, women sit on another and the children have their own section. Right away I recognized a few of the Bheveni kids and gave them a big wave. As the service started several of the women that had greeted us outside started singing. I'm telling you - I have a real theory that if you are born in Swaziland, you are blessed with a beautiful singing voice. It sounded amazing. Even though I couldn't understand what they were singing at times, it didn't matter. It was give-you-goosebumps-crazy-good. There were several times when the women would burst into song, sometimes getting out of their seats and walking around while they sang. It was certainly different than anything I'd ever experienced. One of the songs was a greeting we did to each other... we had to sing a few lines and then hug each other. I immediately thought of a friend from church back home. She and I always talk about how the most uncomfortable part in church is when you have to greet those around you. At least at home you don't hug complete strangers. :)

They brought us up on the stage to introduce us and to tell them what we were doing at the Bheveni carepoint. I think something was lost in translation because after each one of us said our name and where we were from, the translator would repeat it and the crowd would giggle. I think Britt got the most reaction after the translator said "Britt Bush, Texas." I heard one person in the front row giggle under his breath "Bush....Texas." Maybe it had something to do with the former president? I really don't know.

The preacher did a great sermon and it was so nice that they had a translator for that. As the service wound down, Dennis was asked to pray. In the middle of his prayer, a huge gust of wind came through and rattled the building. We all looked over at Dennis to see his reaction but he was as cool as a cucumber.

We walked outside and chatted with some of the people. I had to go to the bathroom really bad so I grabbed some of the kleenex I had stashed (all of us ladies had been carrying kleenex around all week. Many of the bathrooms lack toilet paper) and headed to the outhouse. It was a bad sign that I could smell it from something like 40 feet away... but I had to go bad so I persevered. I stopped using my nose and tried to get my business done as fast as possible. I had to pick the seat up off of the ground but then thought better of it. I did the squat maneuver and got out of there as fast as I could. Certainly the worst Biffy I've ever used. But every trip has to have an outhouse story, right?

In the afternoon we went to the market to do some souvenir shopping. I had plenty of anxiety about this because we had been prepped that you don't ever pay full prices. At the market you are supposed to dicker the price down. It is expected. It's also something I'm completely uncomfortable with.

The market was set up like a big flea market. There was a never ending line of small shops. Many of them had similar things but it seemed like most had a few original items. As soon as you walked close to any of the shops the person would try like crazy to get you to enter. We heard a lot of "lines" from the shopkeepers, usually something like "I give you good deal. Just for you!" Kim and I stuck together through the whole shopping experience so that we could give each other moral support for the bargaining. We did pretty good - neither one of us paid full price for anything but I think we both felt guilty asking for a smaller price. I didn't even make it to all of the shops. I hit my limit of both stress and souvenirs so back to the van we went to wait for the others.

My only regret is that I didn't find a Swaziland t-shirt there. I did get the kids each a carved wooden box and Dustin a mini bongo drum (hey, the big ones can't fit in a suitcase.) I also got the most beautiful serving bowl that says Swaziland on it. Every time I look at it, it reminds me of my time in that beautiful country.

Swaziland part 7 - Bheveni Fun Day!

2011-10-18T22:19:00.013-05:00

Without a doubt, this was the day that I anticipated most. We were going to spend an entire day at the Bheveni carepoint having a P-A-R-T-Y!

As we approached the carepoint we could see a sea of red and bright green shirts playing. Almost all of the kids were wearing the t-shirts that we had handed out the previous day! The first order of business: ICE CREAM! For everybody!

For most of the kids there it was their first time trying this tasty treat. It was so fun to watch the reactions to the first taste. In some instances, it was watching a baby try "real food" for the first time; A squinty look, a few seconds in the brain to compute, and then a big spoonful.

I think these kids were just hamming it up for the camera. :)

I'm not sure who accomplished this next feat, but we acquired a jumpy house for the day. I don't think there was one single kid who didn't try it out.

We brought nail polish with and painted nails and did some face painting. Boys and girls alike wanted both done. I painted many suns and hearts on faces that day.

For lunch we surprised the Bomake and the children with Chicken Dust (which is really just a big piece of chicken with seasonings on it.) It was something they were crazy about!

Lining up to get the Chicken Dust.

YUM!

The most amazing part of the day for our team is when the bomake presented us with lunch. They had killed three of their chickens (that is a HUGE sacrifice for them) and had prepared chicken and pap for us. Dennis said that in all of his years of bringing groups to different carepoints he had never seen bomake do this for a group. We felt really, really honored. Now, remembering that our group is all American, you can imagine our surprise when each of us had something "extra" in our bowl. Mine had a few chicken livers. Mandy, on the other hand, had this:

I wish I had a picture of her face the first time she saw the chicken foot. This was another 'This is Africa' moment for us; they don't waste anything from the animal. Nothing. I was trying to figure a way around eating the chicken livers without insulting our gracious hosts. I was about to try them when Dennis' wonderful, native Swazi wife (who was sitting right next to me) whispered "I will eat them for you. We always eat them." Just one more way having Dennis (the native New Yorker turned Swazi 7 years ago) and his native Swazi wife with us made this trip a successful and fun journey.

And Mandy? She didn't eat the chicken foot and all was still well. :)

We had a chance to sit the Bomake and Bogogo down and give them each a few small gifts. Things like reading glasses and small sewing kits, some lotion and hygiene items. We really just wanted them to feel special that day - to know how much we really appreciate what they do for those kids every single day. Steve said it best when he told them "Our group are like the hands... people see and notice what we are doing. But you women are the heart of this place and the heart of these kids. People might not notice the work that you do, but this carepoint could not go on without you."

It was such an awesome day. For this day we got to let go and forget about the difficulties these people face, even if for just a few hours. We got to run around and be silly with the kids and dance and be goofy with the bomake. There were so many smiles... and the laughter and joy could not be contained. The only downside was saying goodbye to the D-Team. This was our last day with them. What they do for Bheveni and many other carepoints is unbelievable. We tried to explain to them how incredible they are - and I hope they took it to heart because they are amazing people.

The B-Team (us) and the D-Team one last time.

Swaziland part 6

2011-10-14T22:53:00.014-05:00

We hung the banner that my Sunday school kids decorated for Bheveni. It says "Jesus Loves You" in SiSwati.

Our second day at Bheveni was the day we handed out all of the supplies that we had collected and brought over. It took us only a short while to turn the inside of the carepoint into a wonderland of gifts! We had Bheveni t-shirts for everyone (in either red or bright green), shorts for the boys, dresses or skirts for the girls, headbands, undies and socks, school and hygiene packs, and someone also donated lunch bags and water bottles for each of the kids.

Meredith helping one little guy through the line.

We were also able to raise enough money to purchase new school uniforms for all of the kids! Education is so important for them. In Swaziland, children have to pay tuition to go to school. The amount gets more expensive the higher the grade and they are required to wear uniforms. For many of the kids it's a struggle to meet these financial obligations. Danielle had a fantastic donor who matched donations for the uniforms as our trip was getting close... what a huge blessing that was for Bheveni! Danielle has the B.E.S.T. fund set up to help kids who need assistance with tuition costs and uniforms - you can hop on over to her blog and read a little more about it.

Just received her new dress, headband, underwear and socks!

All of the girls loved the headbands! "Take our picture, please!!"

Handing out the gifts took up most of the day. It was so awesome to see the look on the face of each child as they came through the building. Even the shyest of the kids whispered a "thank you" with a huge smile.

We wanted to do something nice for the bomaki too - something that might make work around the carepoint a little easier. We had enough funds to purchase bowls for the carepoint... enough bowls for all of the children and ones that were plastic so they didn't have to worry about them getting too hot to touch. The women were so excited, so grateful. We also got them a new pot for cooking and a giant wooden spoon that they use to stir. Unfortunately, we didn't have those on hand this day and we would have to bring them a couple of days later.

After we finished with the gifts we had just a little time to spare before it was time to leave. We set up the Noah's Ark backdrop and Britt and Kim did their story, just as they had at Mangwaneni. The reaction from the kids was the same here as it had been there - it was a big hit! They loved pretending to be animals boarding the ark and when the "rain" started falling there were bursts of laughter.

The kids were eager to be picked to represent an animal.

As everyone was getting ready to make the walk home the D-Team gathered the kids up and they sang. It was one of the most beautiful things that I've ever heard. They were singing "I just want to say ngiyabonga Jesu!" (Thank you, Jesus.) You can see the video here.

This was also the day when I was able to do a home visit to Khaya's house. I was excited to go and get a better idea of what life was like for him on a daily basis. I walked there with Khaya and one of the D-Team members.

This is the first glimpse of Khaya's homestead that I had. I'm not kidding - there wasn't one place in Swaziland that didn't have some kind of animal roaming free.

Their homestead was like the other I had been to in that they had a few separate buildings on the property. I didn't get a chance to photograph all of it because it's considered rude to take your camera out and just start taking pictures - but believe me, I wanted to because it's just so different from how we live. They had a smaller house-style building where they slept, a small building where they cook (over an open fire - so it needs to be separate from sleeping quarters) and a couple other buildings. One looked like it was used for storage - there were pieces of broken furniture in there that I thought maybe they were going to fix up and maybe try to sell for income. There was also a structure (which is where my photo was taken with Khaya, his cousin and her newborn.) I'm not sure what that building was for.

I was disappointed when we reached Khaya's house and neither of his grandparents were there. I had been hoping to be able to talk with them a little. The cousin that has been living there with her newborn said that the grandfather was out of the country and that the grandmother was down fishing and wouldn't be back for quite awhile. The only thing that I really knew about Khaya was that his parents weren't in his life (I don't know if they're alive or not) and that there were 8 children living with him and his grandparents. The cousin was very polite but didn't answer many questions so I gave Khaya the gift that we had prepared for him, gave the food gifts to the cousin to leave for the grandparents and we headed back to the carepoint. The visit may have been a little disappointing, but at least I knew he had a place to call home and people there to feed him.

One of my favorite parts of the day was when I was able to deliver a gift to the mother of one of the girls who used to attend the carepoint. My good friend, Barb, has been sponsoring a girl named Jabulile for awhile now and had sent a gift for me to give to her. When we got to Bheveni, we found out that she had recently stopped coming. When I asked why, they told me that she was too ashamed to come - she was pregnant. While she had broken no rule; she was still allowed to come, she felt she couldn't. It isn't known whether it was a consensual relationship or not but either way there will be one more "baby" having a baby. I found out that Jabulile's mother worked at the carepoint so when things slowed down a bit, I grabbed one of the translators and had her come with me to Jabulile's mom. I explained to her about Barb being Jabulile's "special friend" (that's how the kids know their sponsors) and that Barb had sent a gift for her. I also told her that Barb and I still love her and will pray for her no matter what her circumstances are. I also told her mom to have her consider coming back to the carepoint - but I could tell by the look in her mother's eyes that that probably wouldn't happen. We grabbed one of the Bheveni t-shirts and a skirt and sent it with the gift. I hope that Jabulile understands that there are people out there that care about her - no matter what her circumstances are and no matter how much shame she feels right now.

for Jabulile

At the very end of the day, Steve ran past me and said, "MARGO! You HAVE to come inside and see the biggest spider ever!" I reluctantly went in and saw this ugly thing on the door....

Ummmmmm..... GROSS! I have to say that it most definitely looked bigger when I was standing merely inches from it. Steve was brave (or stupid) enough to get close enough to do this:
...but at least I knew it wouldn't be hunting me down when we came back the next day! Our guide, Dennis, chimed in with "Oh, that's nothing. I've seen them as large as my whole hand!" He's such a buzz kill. :)

I'm going to end this post with one of my favorite pictures. Not sure which one of my fellow B-Teamers took it, but it's a good one.

This is DeNise, my roomie for the trip, sitting with the little girl that stole her heart.

Swaziland part 5 - Bheveni, here we come!

2011-10-14T10:11:00.011-05:00

I can't even explain the excitement that I had on our way out to the Bheveni Carepoint. I had followed Danielle and Mike's journey there the past year via facebook and Danielle's blog. I had been thinking about and praying for the people of Bheveni for over a year and couldn't believe that I was about to meet them in person!

The road to the carepoint was a long, bumpy dirt road. It had rained the night before so that made the road even more of a hazard. It felt like we were driving 20 mph the whole way. As we pulled over the last hill and the blue building came into view my heart leapt.

As our van pulled in, the kids were much more reserved that the kids at Mangwaneni. The older kids were at school so there were just the preschoolers there - and it was drizzling so they were huddled in the kitchen area with a few of the bomake. We got out of the van and were introduced to the women who run the carepoint and to a few of the D-Team members. They remembered Danielle and Mike from last year so those were some sweet hellos. We made our way to the kitchen area to see the little ones. Bheveni is in a rural area and right away we realized that almost none of the preschool kids knew English. A few of the bomake could speak a little English and the D-Team speaks it very well. The school aged kids are learning English, too but with the little ones we had to rely on smiles and body language to communicate unless there was someone to translate close. One of the most endearing parts of day one at Bheveni was that first introduction to the little children. I looked at one little girl and said, "You're so cute!" She smiled at me and repeated the words right back me. She had no idea what I said but since I said it with a smile, she figured it must be good. :)

The kitchen area at Bheveni. Inside is one of the fires where they cook.

One of the first things we got to witness was the amazing work that one of the bomaki, Gcebile (pronounced Nay-BE-lay), has been doing with the preschoolers. She brought them inside and had a few of them come up front in the room. They recited Bible stories and verses for us - some in SiSwati, that another little one would then translate into English for us. With their small voices is was just so sweet. Their smiles lit up the room as we clapped and cheered for them. To be honest, with their sweet faces, they could have stood up there and made farting noises and I would have clapped for them. :)

The precshoolers reciting Bible verses.

We decided to start the name tag project with the younger kids . Our goal was to have them each finish their name tag necklace and then get a photo of each wearing it so it would be easier for sponsors and potential sponsors to be able to identify their child in pictures. The kids had a blast with the beads and turning the tag into a necklace.

Working on the craft.

The boy that my family sponsors, Khaya, was in this group. He was pretty shy so I tried not to be overwhelming to him. I wanted to sit next to him and hug him, etc. but instead I worked the room helping all of the kids get their craft done. Soon enough, the older kids started trickling in from school. I figured they would all arrive at the same time but they walk to the carepoint from a couple of different schools. I bet it took over an hour before the majority of them were there. We had them work on their name tags too - and I was surprised again at how much the older kids enjoyed making the craft. Even more than that, they loved getting their picture taken afterward.

It was time for their lunch, which was prepared just like they had done at Mangwaneni. The women carried huge, heavy pots to the fire and cooked up pap and beans. The kids at Bheveni were organized just like at Mangwaneni and they waited patiently for their turn to get a hot meal. One difference was that at Bheveni, they had a fraction of the bowls that they needed and some were metal so the little ones couldn't carry their own. I watched as the kids devoured the food they were given, then rinsed out their bowls and passed them on for someone else to use.

We got to spend a lot of time playing with the kids. It was during this time that our sponsor boy, Khaya, warmed up to me a little. He really liked the playground that had been built recently. He doesn't speak any English so we just walked around the playground together. It was really cool to be able to be with him - after months and months of only seeing a small picture of him, I was able to play with the boy that my kids talk about daily.

Khaya

As the day was winding down, the kids all gathered inside the main building and began to sing a song for us. It was AMAZING! Their voices were beautiful - I had goosebumps on my arms. I scanned the room and watched all of them sing - I could tell that this was something that they do regularly and that it was something that brought them a lot of joy.

This little one was dancing and clapping as the others sang to us.

At the end of the day, we were able to do a few home visits. We had scheduled them with several different families - and those of us who sponsored kids here were able to visit their homesteads. The visits were split into two different days. This first day I was able to go with Kim to visit her little guy, T-Bo (a nickname.) She and I, Dennis and a member of the D-Team grabbed some supplies as gifts (a bag of beans, a bag of maize, some oil, candles and a few other items) and headed down the road. We didn't have to walk too far before we were at T-Bo's house. Most of the homesteads have a few different buildings on them; one is the living area, a separate one is where they cook. If they have animals (like cows, goats, chickens) they will be roaming freely throughout the yard. As we approached the home, T-Bo's mom (I was relieved when I saw she was one of the women who works at the carepoint. There was a little less pressure not to offend her with in some way we might not realize) came out and laid a straw mat down for the women to sit on. She set a plastic chair out for Dennis. We had a little small talk and Kim presented T-Bo with a gift she had brought from home. He was really excited! We then gave the food gifts to his mom and she was overjoyed! She clapped and had a huge smile - we could tell that this food meant a great deal to the family. She asked us to pray for her - and what she said then made my heart heavy. She asked for us to pray that she would be able to support her family. She said "My husband won't work." She was worried that they wouldn't have enough to eat. More reality that I didn't want to face.

Kim and T-Bo

On the van ride back to our hotel we discussed the home visits that the others went on. Britt and DeNise went on one that was heartbreaking. They visited a home with 10 children - and no adults. The parents had died and there was an aunt near by but she wanted nothing to do with them. Britt and DeNise left the food gifts with them - which I'm sure was a huge blessing - but it's the older children who will be preparing it for the younger ones. The sad thing is that this isn't an uncommon circumstance in Swaziland. The D-Team is aware of the situation and will do what they can to make sure the children are o.k. but they are limited in what they can do. I am so thankful that these kids have the carepoint to go to. At least there the older kids have a place to leave the younger ones while they go to school and they all get one meal a day at Bheveni. Also, they will get some love from the bomaki - although it hurts to think that they go to bed at night without a mother or father to tuck them in.

10 kids, no mom and dad. Heartbreaking.

Swaziland part 4

2011-10-12T13:46:00.011-05:00

I have to start this post off with the now infamous picture of Britt. I snapped this picture of him holding two sweeties on day two at Mangwaneni. When we got back from supper I uploaded my pictures and marveled at how nice this one turned out. After I put the pics on facebook Britt made it his profile picture. A few minutes later there was a comment on the picture from his daughter: "A sweet picture with a moon in the background!" I looked at it again and saw something that I hadn't noticed before (and clearly Britt hadn't noticed either because his profile picture wasn't cropped nearly enough.) A bare butt in the background. I started to giggle right away and showed my roommate for the week, DeNise. We both started roaring with laughter, the emotions and exhaustion catching up with us. Pretty childish but still funny.

Ahhhh. I still laugh when I look at it. Anyway, on to business.

I think that everyone was as excited as I was to get back to Mangwaneni the second day. We knew more about what to expect and we also each had a few special kids that had attached themselves to us that we wanted to see and love on again.

Kim with one of the girls we both fell in love with. Pinto, on the left, was just the sweetest.

These two little boys stole my heart. The older one was all smiles every time he sat on my lap. He loved to "pet" my hair.

As soon as we pulled up to the carepoint the kids came charging after the van. Many of them grabbed our hands before we could even get out of the vehicle. There seemed to be more kids this day - I don't know if it just seemed like it or if kids that don't usually come were there to see "the visitors." The kids also seemed more aggressive with us. A few were fighting over who got to hold our hands and who got to stand the closest. Even when we circled up to play some games there were fights and tears over who got to be next to us in the circle. It was sad - we didn't want to bring any animosity and we were trying our best to spread out and give equal attention to those that wanted it.

Meredith and a game of Duck, Duck, Gray Duck.

Some of us kept the kids busy with games outside as a few of the others went inside and set up the gifts that we brought to give the kids. We had dresses, hand sewn from MANY women all over the country and hand made headbands for the girls. There were shorts (some also sewn, some purchased) for the boys. We also brought socks, underwear, school supplies and hygiene supplies to hand out. We set it up in little stations so the kids could be fitted for the clothing and then grab a bag with the school and hygiene stuff in it. We also had a few fun things for them - a little bag of candy, a small toy (a car or a stuffed animal), some bubbles and a yo-yo.

The kids were fed lunch and then Steve did a story outside with them - Zacchaeus in the Sycamore tree. We had originally had a different story planned but when we got to Mangwaneni we noticed a big Sycamore tree in the back. After a little deliberation it was decided that we'd use the example of Zacchaeus for teaching; how he once was greedy and stole from the people but once he met Jesus he changed his heart and gave back all that he stole and more.

When it was time to give out the gifts, we had the kids come in in small groups. Before this part, I hadn't really thought about the boy/girl thing, but I was now realizing that a lot of the younger kids were not the sex that I had thought! Most of the girls have very short hair ... and you can't guess by what they are wearing. Some of the clothing has been handed down several times between brothers and sisters. There was one little boy that I tried to send through the dress line - and I'm sure there were girls that got sent to the boys line.

Some of the dresses ready to be handed out.

Patiently waiting in line.

As the kids got their bag of supplies and exited the building Mike snapped a picture of each one. The joy on their faces was awesome!

Day two at Mangwaneni was an emotional roller coaster for me. It was so cool to be able to give these kids a few small things and to see the wide eyes smiles as they looked through their bags. But we all knew it wasn't enough - it wasn't what they really needed. Sure, the clothes and other items would be helpful in every day life but they will only last so long. These kids - more than any other kids I've ever encountered - needed time, love and attention. OUR time, OUR love, OUR attention. Two days wasn't enough to give them a lifetime's worth of need.

I had the feeling there that since the carepoint was in the city, it had been stopped at by other groups before. Groups that, like us, had donations to give. Some of the children seemed pretty "street wise"... a few of the kids seemed to be primed with sad stories to tell us in hopes that we would give them a little money on the side. I actually had one of the ladies that was there (while we were apart from the group) ask me for money. I didn't bring any with (on purpose - I'm a sucker when it comes to things like this) and when I told her she then asked for cigarettes. When I didn't have any of those, she half smiled and then just walked away from me. I was a little taken aback at first but then thought, "Why wouldn't they ask? Why wouldn't they try?" This is their life. We were only there for two days but these people live literally day to day not knowing where the next meal will come from.

Our intention in Swaziland was not to just bring a few gifts and then pat our backs for doing a good deed. More than anything we wanted to show the women and children at the carepoints that we cared for them and that they are not forgotten - by us or by a God that is much bigger than any blessing we can bring. We wanted to show respect for all that the women do there, love to all of the kids that have lost one or both parents. I really hope some of that shone through.

Before I left for Swaziland I read a few books. There were two by Janine Maxwell - It's Not O.K. With Me and Is It O.K. With You? and one by Tom Davis (who is the CEO of Hope Chest) called Scared. The first two are nonfiction - they are about her journey to Africa; how she first decided to travel there and eventually decided to move her family there for full time ministry. The other book is a work of fiction but is very realistic. It gives you a look into life in Swaziland. They were very eye opening for me. It's hard to imagine life any other way than in the U.S. - and really, it's hard for me to imagine life in real poverty here. I mean, we hear about it and might even witness it now and then but I don't know anyone who REALLY lives in poverty. I live a pretty sheltered life. When I read about the conditions in Swaziland and some of the real life situations there I was brought to tears. The unfortunate truth is that many people there are starving to death. Many of the children are orphaned because of AIDS. Many women and girls (and even boys) are forced into the sex trade by life on the streets or are raped by men and boys who are high. All of this to say - or to try to explain - the fears that I had as we left Mangwaneni. I looked at the kids as they filtered out of the fenced in carepoint and wondered what would become of them. Statistics say that 70% of kids in Swaziland will be HIV positive by the age of 15. If you are 15, your chance of reaching age 30 is 6%. SIX percent. What will become of these children? There are about 170 children at Mangwaneni. If statistics hold true 119 of those kids will be HIV + by the time they are 15. If they all live to 15, only 10 will make it to 30. TEN. How do you face numbers like that and still smile as you wave goodbye to those beautiful faces? I was looking at them, thinking about their futures, thinking those could be my kids - it's only a matter of geography.

Like I said, a day of emotional highs and lows. But this is something I know to be true: we live in a world where people suffer injustices every day. Everywhere. I may not be able to change the entire world but I can change the world of one person, even for only a few days. I serve a God who cares and wants me to show compassion to others. Who wants those of us who have a voice to speak up for those who are silenced. This trip has fired up a passion in me for these children that will last for a lifetime. I mean, with these faces, how can I resist?

Swaziland - part 3

2011-10-10T13:56:00.009-05:00

Our first day at a carepoint! I was excited to finally be meeting some of the children that we had spent so much time prepping and praying for. The Mangwaneni carepoint wasn't originally part of our trip but we were lucky to have it added. Mangwaneni and Bheveni were so different from each other - location (city vs. rural) and where they were at with Children's HopeChest (CHC.) CHC took over Mangwaneni from a different organization not that long ago and are still in the process of reworking it. The absence of the D-Team there was noticeable, but it was beautiful experience nonetheless.

Mangwaneni was a short drive from where we were staying. We had been told that it was located across the street from a city dump but I was a little overwhelmed when I saw it all. I guess I hadn't really pictured it - the carepoint with children just a stone's throw from a huge landfill... and not much more than a small fence to separate them.

This is a great picture that Mike took showing the proximity of the dump on the right side of the road to the carepoint on the left.

As we exited the van and headed into the carepoint many of the kids came running towards us... they grabbed our hands and led us in. There were so many children swarming around us - I just wanted to scoop up each one and give them a hug. After a couple of minutes of being tugged in many directions I decided to just sit down on the ground and let the kids fall in around me. Some wanted to sit on my lap, some sat next to me, some were a little shy and watched from a distance. Almost all of the kids here spoke at least some English which was really nice because we didn't need anyone to translate to have basic conversations.

Steve playing with the kids - they would have done this all day if his arms would have survived it!

Mandy getting some love.

A few of my new friends.

I sat with different groups of kids throughout the day. It was amazing how quickly we connected even though our lives and circumstances were so different. A lot of the younger kids spent time softly rubbing the skin on my arms (I joked that it was because I am SO pasty white - they had probably never seen anything like it.) I was glad that they liked personal contact because I had a hard time not touching some of those chubby cheeks. :) I was surprised by how much the kids liked to touch our hair. Both boys and girls - some very young - really liked to braid it. At one point I think I had 4 different children braiding sections of my hair at the same time!

Steve was a big hit with the older kids... he started a football game (soccer to us) with them that lasted most of the day. The rest of us played with the kids and talked with the women that work at the carepoint. We also did a craft with the kids - we had laminated name tags and beads for them to make into necklaces. It was so fun to watch them work on them - even the older kids were excited about them!

One of my favorite parts of the day was when Britt and Kim did the story of Noah's Ark for the kids. We all gathered inside where the guys had hung up a backdrop of the ark that Britt had brought with. Kim narrated the story while Britt (who was dressed the part) acted it out. He had the kids pretend to be different types of animals boarding the ark and they really got into it. They also had spray bottles - and when Kim read the part about it raining for 40 days and 40 nights, they squirted the kids with water. The kids absolutely loved it!

Watching the women prep for lunch and feed the kids was quite a sight. There are more than 150 kids that come to Mangwaneni regularly so it's quite a task just to get them all fed. They serve pap and beans to them every day. Pap (which looks a lot like mashed potatoes) seems to be a staple food in Swaziland - you could get it just about everywhere we went. The women at the carepoint have two separate fires going; one for the huge pot of pap and one for the pot with beans. When the food was ready, the kids grabbed their bowls and got in line. It was amazing to watch how smooth the process of handing out the food to all of those kids was. I watched on as older siblings readied the younger ones for lunch better than I do with my own kids most days.

Also amazing was watching the patience of a few of the older kids that I witnessed. There aren't always enough bowls to go around right away. I saw a few of them make sure that the younger kids had eaten first and then took those bowls, washed them and got food for themselves. I can't imagine being that selfless - for many of these kids, this meal is the only one they will get in a day. There must be some fear that the food may run out; that if they don't eat right away there will be none left.

A few different times during the day when the wind would shift the smell from the dump would be overpowering. It was a sad reminder of what most of these kids live through each day. The dump is a common place for many of the people who live near - they forage for food or things they can sell. There were a couple of things that the kids had brought over from the dump to play with - one looked like part of a broken VCR or computer and I saw two boys pushing it around pretending that it was a truck. The most staggering find was the hypodermic syringe - complete with a needle- that one of the kids had ... in his mouth. To us, who were visiting, it was insane. But to those kids it is reality.

Saying goodbye that first day wasn't too hard for me because I knew we'd be back tomorrow.

Swaziland part 2

2011-10-06T09:43:00.010-05:00

Swaziland is the purplish colored country on the right side of South Africa

We woke up early and were leaving Johannesburg by about 6:30 a.m. We had a 4-5 hour drive to get to Manzini, Swaziland where we would be staying. We loaded the trailer full of our 40 + bags and hopped in the bus, ready to start the day. A little way into the drive we stopped for breakfast. I wish I could remember the name of the place - but the best way that I can describe it is like a huge, clean truck stop. There was a large convenience store on one side and a restaurant on the other. As you head back to the restroom area, there was a large window and outside there were rhinos in a gated in area! The men let us know that when they were standing at the urinals in the men's room, there was a window there so you could watch the rhinos while you were doing your business! The strangest part of the stop for me was the security guard outside sitting at a picnic table holding onto a very large shotgun. It was one of the many times during the trip that I was reminded T.I.A. (this is Africa!)

We continued on our drive to the Swaziland border. Once we were at the checkpoint, we got out to get our passports checked and stamped. The ladies in the group decided to use the bathroom. There was a woman outside that handed us each a few squares of toilet paper (maybe it's a hot commodity there?) and we went in. As we were washing our hands we noticed a large box of condoms sitting on a shelf that were there for the taking. I giggled at the idea that the toilet paper was handed out like it was gold but you could stuff your pockets with condoms if you wanted to.

We had to drive about 10 feet and then get back out to have our passports checked again (the first time was for leaving South Africa, the second was for entering Swaziland.) When we were inside the second building I noticed 3 large portraits on the wall. One was of the King, the second was of the Queen Mother, and the third was of the Prime Minister. Those portraits would be up in every business and building we entered in Swaziland. It is still so odd to me that there is a place in this world where there is a King - and what he says goes. People do not speak ill of him and I'm sure it's because they don't want any trouble. So much different than how we live.

We got back into our bus and headed toward Manzini. As we get closer, we realize that there is rioting in the city over public transportation. Dennis and Elliott converse up front about what to do - our route to our Guest House (hotel) is blocked and we're not sure what to do. Elliott pulls a few crazy moves and drives our bus and trailer over a large median and we back track a bit.

This is not our bus, but another that was doing the same as we were.

We went to an Italian restaurant to have some lunch and figure out our next step. Dennis and Elliott put in some calls and we find some crazy back roads that bring us safely to our lodging. We all felt safe during the rioting experience - but found out a few days later from Dennis that he and Elliott were concerned. We couldn't understand what the people were yelling in Siswati - but both Dennis and Elliott could and they knew we needed to make a hasty retreat. They were good at what they do because not one of us had a clue that we were in ant danger.

We pulled up to the Asante Guest House and were amazed by it's beauty. It was a smaller, very quaint building.
We checked in and found our rooms. We settled in a bit and then met up with Dennis, his wife Zwakele, and their beautiful daughter Thandeka for a little cultural orientation. *On a side note, Dennis is from New York but moved to Swaziland 7 years ago to work with A.I.M. He married Zwakele, who is a native to Swaziland.* It was a great help to have Zwakele there with us to help up understand some of the cultural differences. We learned that pointing is very rude - you are supposed to gesture with your entire hand. You only hand things and accept them with your right hand. The left hand is considered "dirty" - so I coined it the "poop hand" to try to help it stick in my memory. When you shake someone's hand - someone older or who you have respect for, you shake with your right hand and place your left hand on the crook of your right elbow. These are just a few of the things that we tried to commit to memory... there were many more that we did our best (and sometimes failed miserably at!)

We ended the night sorting through our luggage- trying to get the stuff we brought ready for the two different carepoints that we would be visiting. We used a conference room in the hotel - and we packed every square inch!
We were in awe of all that we were able to bring with! The amazing thing is that it was possible only because so many people came along side us in this journey and donated! We spent hours going through the supplies, making sure we would have what we needed for the first carepoint, setting aside supplies for Bheveni Carepoint, and sorting and sizing the clothing that so many people across the country sewed and purchased for the kids.

I'm sorting through the HUNDREDS of hygiene packs that you all gave to us. What a blessing!!

I was able to email my family before bed and couldn't wait to hear back from them. I had a hard time falling asleep that night only because I had no idea what to expect the next morning as we would be making our way to the first carepoint. I was excited to see the kids and give them all of the love that was bursting from my heart toward them, scared of what I may see -would they be sad, hurt, sick? I only had a few hours to wait until I would know.

Swaziland part 1

2011-10-05T12:41:00.004-05:00

I want to try to get all of my thoughts down about the amazing trip that I experienced - I just don't know if I've processed everything enough to do it justice. I'm going to try to give it a go and see where it takes me.

It was less than 30 hours before I was to leave. The kids were playing outside and I was standing in the kitchen with Dustin. I turned and looked at him and the tears started to flow. "I don't want to go anymore," I said to him, "I can't leave you and the kids, I don't know what I'm going to see over there... what if it's too much?" Dustin was a champion, as he was with all of my end-of-pregnancy-meltdowns. He calmed me down. Reminded me why I started this adventure in the first place.

3 a.m. Saturday morning came quickly. The kids had insisted that I wake them up to give them a final hug goodbye. Saying goodbye to them and to Dustin was very hard. I have a bit of a pessimistic side and I thought "What if this is it?" Mike, Danielle, Mandy, Steve and Mike's dad (our chauffeur) were waiting for me in the giant van outside. 6 people, 20 large suitcases and several carry-ons ready to go.

We made it to the airport seamlessly. I was the only one who had to be rechecked at security because of one small bottle of lotion that wasn't in my ziploc bag. The flight to Atlanta was a breeze. While there, Mandy had to redo her tickets with her "passport name" on them so it was a good thing we had some time on our hands. We waited for our 3 Texas team members to fly in, out Colorado latch on to show, and our Alabama gal to drive to us. We hadn't met in person but had several video chats so at least it wasn't a blind date! As our team trickled in we shared hugs and stories and became more acquainted with each other. Steve even pulled out his bag of tricks and taught us a game called Liar's Dice to pass the time.

I talked to Dustin quick as we were getting ready to board the flight to Johannesburg. *Gulp* This was the big flight. The LONG one over the ocean. The flight itself is a bit of a blur for me. I watched 2 movies and slept on and off. My butt was sore and my legs were swollen but it didn't seem like the 16-17 hour flight that I was expecting. One thing I do remember - the food was TERRIBLE. Good thing I had some Reese's Pieces to snack on.

When we got off the plane and entered the airport Dennis (our A.I.M. guide - and maybe one of my favorite people that I met over there) and Elliott (our driver) were there to take charge. One night in J-Burg and then onto our real adventure... the kids of Swaziland!

With a Little Help From My Friends

2011-07-24T00:01:00.002-05:00

Lots of prep still going on for our trip to Swaziland. I've been busy sewing shorts, skirts and dresses for the kids at the carepoints we will be visiting. There are about 150 kids at each carepoint so it's a pretty big job. Thankfully we have a great group of women from all over the country working on this and it's been really cool to be in contact with others that are passionate about these kids!

As I've said before, asking for money or donations for myself has been an uncomfortable part of this journey for me. It feels very awkward because we have what most would call a very comfortable life. We have a house, 2 cars, 3 healthy kids and food on the table. But I have no shame in asking for help for the people we will be visiting in Africa. Take a look here to see if there are any ways for you to help contribute:

Hygiene Packs - We are collecting hygiene items for the kids. A hygiene pack would include (in a ziplock bag, preferably)

1 toothbrush

1 toothpaste (big or small)

1 small lotion (travel size)

1 comb

1 bar of soap (for under age 10) or deodorant (for older than 10)

1 washcloth

School Packs - (in a ziplock)

$5 towards a backpack

5 or more Pencils (not colored)

1 Pencil sharpener

1 thin spiral notebook (the 70 sheet is good)

1 box of crayons (for under age 10) or calculator (for older than 10)

Socks and undergarments - All items must be NEW. Socks of all sizes are needed; from little feet to mens sizes. Preferably in white, black or gray (because that is what they're allowed to wear to school.) Underwear in all sizes too - nothing too flashy and no weapon or skull prints. Bras of all sizes - again, nothing flashy...just the basics. All of these things would be great to look for in the clearance section!

Medicine - children's liquid medicine (cough medicine, tylenol, pepto, immodium, cold & flu), neosporin, gauze, band-aids, and sanitary pads.

$ to go toward school uniforms - Education is key for these kids. They have to have specific uniforms to go to school. We need to raise around $4,500 if we want to have uniforms and shoes for the kids at just ONE of the carepoints.

T shirts - You can go to Danielle's blog and purchase a t shirt. $25 includes your shirt, shipping, and a shirt for one of our Bheveni kids too!

It seems overwhelming as I type all of the needs out here... but I know that we can collect it. Would you be willing to help? If you have donations of any kind please let me know and I will gladly come pick them up!

Prepping for Swaziland

2011-07-08T18:27:00.003-05:00

I've been spending a decent amount of time preparing for my trip to Africa. My passport is here, I've had a few shots (medical, not alcohol... ha!), I've sewn several skirts to wear while I'm there, and I've sent out the dreaded support letters. You know the ones; they usually start off with a cute greeting and then dive into the asking for money part. It was harder for me to get one written than I thought it would be. I hate asking for money... I was the kid who during fundraisers would spew out a sales pitch something like this: "I am selling _____ for band and was wondering if you'd like to buy one. But if you don't want to, it's o.k. I mean, it's not a big deal if you can't buy anything. I'll just leave. Sorry for bothering you."

I still have a long way to go but I've been blown away by the response I've had. People have been more than generous with their words and their pocket books. People that I know are living paycheck to paycheck have donated. People who don't necessarily agree with my beliefs but understand that this is a trip about helping people, not about politics. Amazing.

I've learned a couple of things about mission trips before even boarding the plane for Swaziland. The first is that every penny counts. In the past I've received support letters from people when we haven't had a lot of money to offer. I'd consider sending what we could afford and then thought "But what will $10 or even $20 possibly do?" I would set the letter aside and end up not contributing at all. Now I understand that it is those smaller donations that make a trip possible. Not many people (that I know) can throw big money around. But I know that we can always afford $10, no matter how "poor" we think we are at the time. If 100 people send $10, that is a large chunk of what it costs to go.

The other thing I've come to realize is that it isn't all about the money. When I wrote my letter I included a line that said "I appreciate your prayers, advice, and any financial support that you can give." While money is certainly a helpful gift and the main reason for writing a support letter, the prayers and advice are equally important. I've kept each of the notes that people have sent me and I continue to read through them. Right now I am feeling only positive about my upcoming trip, but I know there will be days ahead when stress and anxiety will come. Those notes will be a source of comfort then... just knowing that so many people are behind this trip and are praying for my journey to Africa.

So.... a heartfelt thank you to all who have come along side me on this journey. Whether it has been financial, through prayer, advice or well wishes... it all means so much!

Two foot thirteen

2010-07-26T20:16:00.002-05:00

Double Digits

2010-05-15T10:23:00.003-05:00

10 years ago today my life changed forever. I entered the crazy world of motherhood.

I think it was quite fitting that I went to the hospital the night before, which happened to be Mother's Day, to be induced. I had no idea what to expect with labor. Or with becoming a mom. I was one of those people who had said (or at least thought) "My kids will NEVER be the kids throwing a temper tantrum in the grocery store. Or eating fast food. Or have snotty noses and dirty faces. My kids will be controlled." Oh man, I can picture God above chuckling and getting ready to make me eat my words.

When Miles finally entered this world he was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen... and that is saying something because for those of you who have seen a newborn, you know what they look like: covered in goo and screaming. As an aside, I find comfort in the fact that this is the way God looks at us. We are drenched in our awful sins, dragging our feet and kicking and screaming, yet he loves us just the same.

I can remember leaving the hospital with our new baby. And no instruction book. As the youngest in my family, I had plenty of nieces and nephews around and had taken care of lots of babies. It's a different world though when they belong to you. When you are one of the two people that have been entrusted with a new life. I can honestly say that it wasn't until that day that I could truly start to appreciate my parents and all that they had done for us.

10 years have passed. We added two more kids to round out the family. We are done with diapers and formula and getting up every two hours for feedings. We have traded in the booties for baseball cleats and the rattles for video game controllers. The funny thing is that with every new stage we enter with our kids it's like reverting back to having a newborn. We don't know what to expect and we still wish we had the instruction book.

Happy birthday Miles. We love you so much. Thank you for being the one that introduced me to the crazy, beautiful thing called motherhood.

girlfriends

2010-03-31T16:38:00.002-05:00

Do you have a friend...

who doesn't care if your clothes don't match...

or if your hair is a little messy...

and even if you don't get to see each other nearly as much as you'd like, when you do get together it's like you haven't missed a beat?

Well, I do. And I love her to pieces.

crazy week

2010-02-27T16:22:00.002-06:00

It's been quite a week for the Brown family.

The week started with me trying to recover from a fever and cold that had me down for the count. I don't think I've ever blown my nose so many times in a 5 day period. 3 boxes of Kleenex gone... seriously.

On Wednesday, after dropping the kids off at school, I was in the first real accident of my life. I rolled my car once in high school (on the way home from school) but I don't really count that since I was the only car involved. I like to make up my own rules when keeping score.

Anyway, I was about 1/2 mile from home and I was minding my own p's & q's. I saw a car approaching the road that I was on (trying to cross it) and she pulled to the stop sign and stopped. I proceeded and, well, so did she. I guess she looked but didn't see me driving because she pulled out right as I was coming into the intersection... no time for me to stop. It's crazy because it was like a movie in slow motion - the 1/2 second before impact seemed like it took forever. I hit her passenger side full force.

We were the only two people in the vehicles and lucky for both of us no one was hurt. At all. The poor 16 year old girl was on her way to school. When she got out of her vehicle she was bawling and saying "I'm sorry" over and over... I actually think she was waiting for me to start yelling into her. I felt so bad for her that I just had to give her a hug.

Funny thing is that as I was dropping the kids off I was thinking to myself "Maybe I should swing through the car wash. The van is so dirty that I can hardly stand it." It was pretty cold so I figured I would wait until it warmed up a little. If I would've gone through the car wash, I wouldn't have been in the accident. But - as my dad likes to say, "If ifs and buts were candy and nuts we'd all have plenty for Christmas."

We're still waiting to hear the status on the van. The insurance company said they were going to total it but when I said we were hoping to be able to fix it she said she would see if they could make it work. For all of the phone calls and interviews I've had to do with the insurance people, they better make it work. :)

Then on Friday, the school called about 1/2 hour after I left (from working there) to say that Greta had thrown up in her classroom. Several times. I brought her home - bucket in tow - because I was driving a rental. The poor kid spent the better part of the night with her head in the bucket.

I'm still fighting the cold, Greta's starting to feel better and we're praying the van will be fixable. And really, really hoping that next week is a little better than this one. :)

My 2 cents

2010-02-16T22:46:00.003-06:00

I watched the last 20 minutes of the show Undercover Boss this past weekend. The CEO of Hooters restaurant was on there and something he said has stuck with me. He said "I would have no problem with my daughters being Hooters Girls when they are older." Then he went on to talk about how he wanted people to know that there are more to the waitresses than what you see.

Really? Because the name of your restaurant is Hooters, which means boobs in case you didn't know. And you hire girls to serve food in ultra-tight shirts and barely there bottoms. I'm guessing that their personalities aren't really what you're after.

I'm not a feminist by any means... and really, if that's how those women want to pay the rent then let them. But as a father, to say that you wouldn't mind your daughters being oogled over by men day after day is crazy. Gross, even.

Society just really irks me sometimes.

8!

2010-02-06T13:32:00.002-06:00

In honor of Linus' 8th birthday, I thought I'd compile a few of my favorite quotes from him.

Linus, who apparently never picked up the word urinal: "I don't get why boys have to use a urine-hole and girls don't."

Linus, pointing at his nipples: "Miles, did you know that these are my nibbles and that they don't do anything? Girls have nibbles too but they are private. Mine aren't private because I'm a boy."

"Don't worry grandma, I can hold my hungries."

"Greta, sometimes you are so ig-noying!"

"Mom, don't you wish that God made it so that we didn't have to poop or pee?"

"Mom, how come when you or dad get frustrated with us you sometimes lose your temperature?"

Linus, when he caught Greta using some of his stickers: "Greta, you are such a cotton-headed-ninny-muggins!"

"Mom, I don't think I can eat my broccoli. I think I read somewhere that it has too much sugar in it." I can't remember if he was 3 or 4 but I DO remember that he couldn't read yet.

On his 5th birthday:
Me: "Linus, I can't believe that 5 years ago today I got to see and hold you for the very first time!"
Linus: "On my birthday!??!" (Like it was the biggest coincidence in the world.)

Crown Financial

2010-02-01T13:14:00.002-06:00

It's no secret that our society is one submerged in debt. The 'buy now & pay later' mentality is second nature to most. Unfortunately, my family has been no exception. Up until about 2 months ago, that is. Dustin and I were both feeling convicted about money: how we were spending and how we were (more like were not) saving.

It felt strange to me that our money seemed to be gone before the paycheck was in the bank. After all, we don't make big purchases. We don't care about fancy cars or nice furniture. We don't really do the vacation thing and we don't go shopping for anything other than groceries on a regular basis. To figure out where our money was going we started tracking all of our purchases. When we sat down at looked at the results it was crazy. I can't believe how fast you can nickel and dime yourself into debt. None of our purchases were big - mostly things like $20 for book orders through school (we have 3 kids you know), a few trips through the drive thru when we were too tired to cook, a dvd purchase - you probably get the drift. Add that to the multitude of medical bills that we are paying and the money is gone before you know it.

We then decided to make out a budget. Now this was the tricky part for us... we have tried using a budget in the past and we do really good for a couple of weeks and then start to veer off course. You know how that is... life happens. There would be some yarn that I REALLY needed or a video game that Dustin wanted and we would indulge... and then go down the slippery slope of other "needs."

This time when we were working out the budget we decided to start the Crown Financial biblical financial study. I can't explain how much this study has helped us (and we are only part way through!) We have set some drastic but attainable financial goals for ourselves. We will have to stretch every dollar - but it's something we should have already been doing.

I think the most important thing for us is to be purposeful in our spending. We are desiring to put God first. If we work hard and pay off our debt, imagine the way that we can bless other people!

I've been a bad blogger...

2010-01-31T11:25:00.002-06:00

I was (lovingly) reminded today that I haven't posted on here for some time. I was actually just thinking about it the other day and I need to keep current on here so that some day, in the far off future, my kids will remember what day to day life was like when they were young. Without further ado, here is a pic from a few weeks ago. Note: the kids did this to themselves, although it did spark a few ideas in our minds. ;)

Tom Petty was right

2009-09-30T08:45:00.003-05:00

The waiting is the hardest part

Every day you see one more card

You take it on faith, you take it to the heart

The waiting is the hardest part

The last couple of weeks have flown by in a blur. I'm still having a hard time figuring out which day it is when I wake up in the morning. Probably because Greta has had me up several times a night, I suppose.

Her surgery and hospitalization for pneumonia only lasted 4 days but it seemed like weeks. I have a new found respect for what parents of kids with medical issues have to go through. I can't imagine having to live through that on a regular basis. You sit and watch your "baby" lay in a hospital bed...thinking how you would do anything to change places with them... and wait. Wait for them to get better but prepare yourself for them to get worse. Wait for the nurse to bring the next dose of pain medication because they are writhing. Wait for the lab tech to come in and poke them again. Wait for test results. Wait for the doctor. Wait for the monitors and IV pump to alarm. Wait. Patience is a virtue but in this situation it certainly wasn't one of mine.

Just like when you yourself are sick, your own world stops when your child is sick. Unfortunately the world around you does not. Shift changes happen and those people go home and get on with their lives. You are still there, unshowered, the next day when they return for another shift. The outside world keeps moving as you stand still. It's hard to handle your daily family life too... our older kids still have school and homework and friends and, well, deserve to be living. Dustin had work but also had to juggle housework, meal times, and the kids too. All while trying to find time to come see Greta and be my support. Like I said, people that have to do this on a regular basis are a new form of celebrity to me.

Greta is slowly getting better. Her throat seems to be hurting more now than it did in the hospital but it may have to do with the healing. Her last dose of antibiotic for the pneumonia is today. Her coughing is much better. My hope is that when this is over the tonsilectomy will cure her apnea and she will not get sick as much. In the upcoming months we shall see... but for now, we wait.

the end of summer

2009-09-06T18:16:00.003-05:00

The hardest part about the end of summer is knowing our lazy days at the lake are over... until next year.

destruction

2009-09-06T18:14:00.002-05:00

My mom pulled out some old junk last week and let Linus and Greta loose on it with screwdrivers, wrenches and a wire snips. They spent the better part of 2 afternoons taking things apart and saving the pieces in piles. It was the quietest they've been in, well, forever.... except, of course, when they were fighting over the tools.

saying goodbye stinks

2009-09-06T18:10:00.005-05:00

This past week we had two tearful goodbyes. Kelsey and Amber both left for college; Kelsey to UMD for another year and Amber to Vancouver to an art school. My family is a pretty close-knit bunch so all of my sibling's kids are closer than typical cousins. My kids, Greta in particular, had a tough time saying goodbye for the school year. Kelsey and Amber have been our main source of babysitting and the kids love to hang around with them. We are already looking forward to Christmas vacation when we get to see them again!

Open House

2009-09-06T18:09:00.001-05:00

Another school year about to start means another Open House at school. This year we had 3 rooms to stop in which meant a full night there for us. In each room we chatted with the teacher, filled the desk with school supplies and picked up lots (and lots) of papers. All of the kids like their teachers and are looking forward to the school year... well, as much as kids can look forward to school. :)

Miles will be starting 4th grade, Linus 2nd, and Greta will be in all day kindergarten. I can hardly believe that all 3 kids will be in school this year. Where did the time go? It seems like just yesterday I was dropping Miles off at his first day of preschool, a 2 year old Linus and a newborn Greta in tow. Now my baby will be starting kindergarten!!

the Balvins visit

2009-09-06T17:59:00.003-05:00

We were very excited to have the Balvins out to my mom and dad's place a couple of weeks ago. It's almost like a summer tradition to us... and a great chance for Steph and I to catch up! The only downside is that Brenton wasn't able to join us but we don't really like him anyway (just jokes B!) The kids swam and fished and played on the swingset. I think my favorite part was watching Izzy and Greta play together. It had been awhile since they were together but they just stuck to each other all day doing all kinds of things... they were so cute!

Now, if I could just talk them into moving back our way...

vacation

2009-09-06T17:53:00.002-05:00

We took a short "vacation" last week in Otsego to stay at the Holiday Inn that has a waterpark. We started the trip with a stop at Fun City... they have batting cages, mini golf and bumper boats. We played there for awhile and then headed to the hotel. The waterpark is pretty cool... 3 big waterslides, a little river to float on, a mini whirlpool and a kiddie side for the little ones. We stayed 2 nights there and by the time we left I bet we had spent 8 hours total in the pool... we were waterlogged! Definitely worth the money spent!

To the Fair

2009-09-06T17:45:00.004-05:00

There are 10 grandchildren on the Youngs side of the family and my dad has taken a turn with each one at the State Fair. This was Greta's year. She was counting down the days, rattling off a list of all of the food she was going to eat and all of the things she was going to see. On opening day of the Fair grandpa came over to pick her up at 7:30 a.m. and they were off. They didn't return until after 3 p.m.... and I think Greta gave grandpa a run for his money. He said that she didn't eat much... just some mini donuts and part of a milkshake.... but her main focus was on the rides. He bought 2 sets of tickets and when they were gone she said "But grandpa, you could just buy more." One other thing that Greta really liked was looking at the horses. They found one in particular who was named Norman that she had a chance to pet and feed a carrot to. I think that if Greta had her way she'd have grandpa bring her next year... and every year after that!

Greta meets her kindergarten teacher

2009-09-06T17:41:00.003-05:00

Greta had the chance to meet her kindergarten teacher, Mr. Neumann, a couple of weeks ago. They have each child in to school for an assessment of sorts. She was so excited that she could hardly contain herself! He had sent out an introductory letter before the assessment to tell the kids a little about himself. One thing he mentioned is that he likes Oreo cookies and, without skipping a beat, Greta decided to bring a few into him. I think we have a teacher's pet on our hands!

summer just isn't my season

2009-08-15T21:44:00.003-05:00

As I was sitting in recovery from surgery, I realized that the hot months are when my body needs repair......

August of '09 - foot surgery
August of '07 - hysterectomy
August of '06 - colonoscopy
July of '05 - lithotripsy (to break up a kidney stone that was bigger than a pea)
June/July of '04 - stent for kidney stone, C-section, removal of stent

Let's hope '09 is where it ends!

The finger

2009-07-28T10:31:00.004-05:00

Seriously gross. I told you so.

My Left Foot

2009-07-26T09:37:00.002-05:00

My story isn't as gripping as the movie... although I haven't seen the movie so maybe it is. Anyway, I have a broken foot right now. It started back in early June. I had pain in my left foot for over a week that I had been trying to ignore. It grew steadily worse and so I could no longer put it off... I had to go into the clinic. The doctor looked at my xray and told me I had a small stress fracture. I was verbally chastised for wearing flip flops ("They have no support!") and told to wear firm soled hiking boots or something of the like. Since it was the middle of June (hot!) and I don't really own anything like that (and was not excited to have to hunt through stores to find some) I went to the one person that I thought might be able to get me through: my mom. Everyone that knows her knows that if you need anything, and I mean anything, she will probably be able to suit your needs. She came through for me with an older air boot that I could use until my foot healed.

A couple of days after getting the boot, I was out at my parent's house with the kids. I was picking up before going home and I didn't notice a new landscaping rock in front of me and WHAM!... I had kicked the rock with my boot. White hot pain went through my foot and I almost tossed my cookies. I made it through that night hoping to get back in to see the doctor on Friday morning. Turns out, that doctor isn't in on Fridays and they had no other appointments available that day. If I wanted to be seen before the weekend, it would have to be in the ER.

I went in and had another xray and sure enough, what had been a small fracture was now quite pronounced. I was given crutches and told to go back in to the clinic on Monday to see the ortho specialist. The next few days were torture. I have found out that crutches and I are not soul mates, to say the least. I ended up falling over a few times, usually landing on my face. I may have done more damage to myself by using those blasted things than if I would have just crawled around the house.

The specialist gave me a walking cast/boot and told me to come back in 6 weeks. No more crutches! I had been wearing the boot around 24/7 just like I'd been told and things did not seem to be healing. Then, I was taking the dog out to the bathroom and he saw a leaf bounding across the lawn and it was all over... in one swoop, he lurched toward the leaf and I didn't have a good footing. He pulled me right over, in my front yard, in broad daylight. I had hit my foot going down (and bruised my ego a bit too.) I was back into the clinic shortly after and the doctor told me that there is a good possibility that I will have to have a pin put in to have this heal completely. I'm hoping for the best... that I'll go in 2 weeks from now and they'll let me go sans boot.

For now, I'm thinking of writing my own sitcom based on my life.

a trip to the ER

2009-07-26T09:24:00.003-05:00

It was after supper. We had just finished cleaning up and the kids were playing. The boys took Greta's new High School Musical microphone that she got for her birthday and she went running after them. They ran into their bedroom and she, unbeknownst to them, was right on their tails. They slammed the door shut and I heard a blood curdling scream... not one of anger, but one of pain.

Greta came running over to me with blood running down her hand. When I looked at her finger, what I saw wasn't pretty. Her middle finger on her left hand had been slammed in their door. The fingernail, at the bottom where it is usually covered by skin, was popped up and pumping blood out. The other side of her finger had a small cut that was bleeding too. I wasn't sure what to do with the fingernail like that or if her finger had been broken... and so off to urgent care/the ER we went.

We were not the only ones there who had a hand injury. There were 2 other kids there with towels wrapped around their hands. The nurse told us Greta had to be seen in the ER so we took our seats and waited... and waited. Luckily (and it seems funny to say that!), because the fingernail was up and letting the blood out, the pressure wasn't building and Greta wasn't in too much pain.

Once we were brought back, things moved a little quicker. Greta was taken to xray where she charmed the pants off of the xray tech. When he told her to lay her hand on it's side with just her injured finger sticking up she shot him a look of confusion and said "I can't leave just that finger up. That's the bad finger." Thanks to her school age brothers, she knows all about the middle finger. I think she may have made his day... and he made hers when he went around the corner and brought back a small horse beanie baby for her to bring home.

I was happy to hear there were no broken bones and that they would be leaving her fingernail alone. The doctor put a little glue on the nail to keep it from snagging on anything and put a big bandage over the whole finger to keep it padded and safe.

The fingernail may or may not fall off, only time will tell. For now we're going to keep it covered and we'll be heading back to the pediatrician to have it checked out this week.

Unfortunately, kindness from the boys only lasted last night. They kids are already back to battle this morning. You know what they say.... kids are resiliant!

boxes

2009-07-19T14:24:00.001-05:00

This is what my brother Nate bought Greta for her birthday:

...And this is what she's doing with it right now:

5!

2009-07-15T17:00:00.005-05:00

Unbelievable. It really is. My baby turns 5 today. I can't seem to remember where all of the hours went. Believe me, there have been days that seemed like years... but 5 years? Really?

I can remember Greta's birthday as if it were yesterday. After weeks of living with a kidney stone and then a stent that only made the pain worse, my OB took pity on me and decided that 37 weeks pregnant was enough. At my regular appointment, I remember him asking "How would you like to have a baby today?"

She came into this world on July 15th rather than the expected due date of August 6th. She was born by c-section rather than the old fashioned way. And in the words of Roald Dahl, "She is a rather extraordinary child."

We traded in our lightsabers and action figures for Barbies and lip gloss. Greta can be as girlie as they come yet she can wrestle the boys down and leave them crying. It amazes me how much she can be like each of her brothers, who are really nothing like each other. Does that even make sense?

Since the minute she was born she has captivated Dustin in a way that is different from the boys. Not to mean that she is the favorite, it's just a different relationship... one that, I suppose, can only be held by a dad and his little girl. What I can tell you is that she is going to have a heck of a time trying to date once she reaches that age. Here's an example that has a little forshadowing intertwined: Greta has had an imaginary friend named Calvin for a little over a year now. A while back, she informed us that Calvin was now her boyfriend and they were going to get married (imagine the look of disdain on Dustin's face!) Calvin seemed to pop into everyday events and conversations frequently ("Calvin lives with us now because his grandpa said he could" and "Calvin doesn't like it when we eat that.", etc.) Then one day a harsh blow came: Greta told Dustin "Calvin can play the drums just like you dad, but his drums can't be broken if you hit them too hard." Ouch. A few days later came another blow: we were at my mom and dad's house on the lake and she looked towards the bay, the deepest part of the lake. She asked "Can I touch the bottom there?" I told her no. "Can Linus and Miles touch?" Again, no. "How about you, mom. Can you touch there?" No. "What about dad?" Once again, no. Then it came... "Guess what? Calvin can touch there." Dustin looked at me and said "Calvin is my nemesis." And so it goes.

That's my girl in a nutshell. A little bit sassy mixed with sweet. She's only 5 and she's already given us a run for our money. I can't really imagine what the future will bring with this one.

Happy birthday Greta!

2009-07-03T12:47:00.003-05:00

As far back as I can remember the Dodgers have held a place in my heart. I can remember being very young, my uncle Kim wearing an old, faded Brooklyn Dodgers shirt. I would use my eyes to trace over the cursive letters over and over again.

When the Yankees canned Joe Torre as manager and the Dodgers picked him up I was elated.

I also love a good underdog story.

I wanted so badly for the Dodgers to do well under Torre... if for nothing else, to show those Yankees where they could stuff it.

When Manny was suspended for failing his drug test, I'd like to say I was surprised. Unfortunately, his character has not always been, well, upstanding. I hate the phrase "It's just Manny being Manny." He is an adult, not a 2 year old... although you might not know it by some of the tantrums he throws.

I digress. Back to the underdog.

When Manny was suspended the Dodgers had been doing pretty well. I remember hearing "What will the team do without Manny?" across the board. It seemed like everyone had written them off because one player was missing. The Dodgers have pulled together and pulled off a great underdog story. They have thrived and have a record anyone in baseball would covet. All without their star. The thing I love most about this story is one of the things I love most about baseball: One person, no matter how good they are, cannot make a team or win a championship. It is why the Yankees, no matter how much money they spend on players, don't win the World Series every year. It takes a team to play and a true team to win. Home run hitters will do well for you but small-ball can be equally effective.

I hope that as Manny returns the Dodgers continue to do well. Heck, maybe Manny will even tone it down a bit. I would love to see a Twins/Dodgers World Series.

It's been awhile

2009-05-29T11:09:00.003-05:00

I have been neglecting my blog.

Over the course of the last 2 years Dustin bought me a camera and Photoshop Elements and I have not been using them to their fullest potential. I decided about 2 weeks ago that I was going to learn everything that I could about them. I've spent the majority of my free time experimenting with photoshop trying to learn it. I had used it a little, mostly to crop pictures and to edit out a zit or two (I mean I would have edited them if I had any zits.) I digress... But now I know how to turn this:

into this:

and also how to do this:

Now onto my camera... and Dustin got me a book (and I mean a book) about our camera model.

I've got to write this down

2009-05-29T11:07:00.003-05:00

I have got to be better about writing the funny things my kids say down. I bet there are several times a day when I think "I'll write that down in a minute..." and then forget to and the moment is lost forever.

Yesterday Greta was at the table asking me how to spell different words so she could write them down. This is a daily occurance here so I was spelling for her without even thinking about the words.

Greta: "Mom, what makes the letter sound BL, BL?"
me: "Like in the word black? That's B-L. Black."
[she writes a few letters, I continue to load the dishwasher and fight off the dog.]
Greta: "How do you spell believe?"
me: "B-E-L-I-E-V-E."
Greta:[in a whiny voice] "But you said B-L makes the BL sound."
me: "It does. B-L makes the sound BL."

Then I realize why she's upset. She thought that bElieve was BLieve. It reminds me of the time Linus thought that the word tree was chree.

Anyway, this is what she was writing:

Enough to make her Sunday school teacher proud, methinks.

Another funny thing she says that always makes me smile is "Mom, what today is it?" instead of "what day is it?" when she wants to know which day of the week it is.

One last pic for your viewing pleasure. Greta made this last week, when she was aparently upset with her brothers:

Gotta love it.

baseball

2009-05-15T21:09:00.003-05:00

Miles has officially started his baseball season. Practice started in April and we had his first game on Tuesday. This is his first year on a traveling team... which is much different from the Community Ed teams he's been on in the past. Before the games started, he had practice 3 times a week. Now we will only be at practice once a week and will have games 2 times a week.

The first game was a doozy! There was a rain delay about half way through and it was windy and chilly. Still, the kids had a great time. The game ended in an 11-11 tie because it got too late to finish. The best part was in the last inning...we were down 11-9 and Miles scored to make it 11-10 and his cousin Quinn scored a run to tie the game.

I am looking forward to more games and warmer weather!

9

2009-05-15T21:07:00.003-05:00

How is it possible that my boy turns 9 years old today?

Greta's 1st Twins game - 4.29.09

2009-05-06T12:03:00.001-05:00

PG 13 Dora?

2009-05-05T10:23:00.003-05:00

The other day, while in the van, Greta started singing a song she learned from Dora. Well, most of it was from Dora... the middle line was a misheard lyric:

"I speak Spanish and English too,
I like nibbles
How about you?"

Now, that by itself is a little funny. But let me back up and tell another story. A couple of years ago Linus was asking about the "bumps" on his chest. It was a little akward but I told him that those were his nipples. We had a 5 minute conversation about it and he was satisfied and went on his way. A few minutes later I overheard Linus telling Miles about what we had talked about:

"Miles, did you know that these are my nibbles and that they don't do anything? Girls have nibbles too but they are private. Mine aren't private because I'm a boy."

Back to Greta's interpretation of Dora's song:

"I speak Spanish and English too,
I like nibbles
How about you?"

I'm guessing it's not exactly what the writers had in mind for Dora.

difficult times

2009-04-26T18:43:00.002-05:00

After a week of being missing, Jelani Brinson's body was found yesterday. I didn't know him but a friend of mine from the blog world did. I can't imagine what his family and friends are going through right now. Please remember to keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

broken record

2009-04-17T13:17:00.002-05:00

A broken record... that's what it's beginning to feel like in our house. Miles and Greta are sick AGAIN. Miles is at school today for the first time this week. He's been battling a fever, sore throat and upset stomach this week. Yesterday I had Greta in to the Minute Clinic for an ear infection (or, as she calls it, an "earring-fection.") She has had a high fever as well. It has been a long couple of months here as far as illness goes but I'm confident that with the windows open and my Clorox Hard Surface out, we will prevail.

funny

2009-04-11T14:17:00.002-05:00

Miles and Linus were talking to Dustin this afternoon. I'm not sure how the conversation turned in this direction, but the boys mentioned something about public bathrooms and the "urine-hole." We were puzzled until we thought about it for a minute... "urine-hole"... urinal. Kids are the best entertainment.

Good Friday

2009-04-10T17:18:00.002-05:00

There are no specific decorations to put up. Most people don't spend weeks anticipating the day. Heck, our society hasn't even found a way to over-commercialize it. Good Friday might just be my favorite holiday.

An emotional day, that's for certain. For me, it is a day of reflection too. The challenges I face on a daily basis are nothing compared to what Jesus faced that day. Amazing sacrifice, amazing grace.

Jack

2009-04-08T20:33:00.003-05:00

Our new puppy is here! Dustin picked him up after work on Friday. He is doing well, although it's like having a baby in the house. No more toys left on the floor and we are watching him constantly to make sure he's not chewing on anything he shouldn't. We named him Jack after one of our all time favorite baseball players, Jackie Robinson (and it should be noted that Jack Bauer from 24 and Dr. Jack from LOST also played a small role in the name consideration.) The kids are in love with him and the feelings are reciprocated. The whole house training thing is going o.k.... we're bringing him out about every half hour to go. He goes almost every time we go out but if we are lax on getting him out he'll just pee in the house. He hasn't quite caught on ... but we're hoping that it won't be long before that changes.

out like a lion

2009-03-31T08:17:00.003-05:00

Dreaming of this...

...but staring out the window at this:

[Insert defeated *sigh* here.]

pride and joy

2009-03-25T12:00:00.002-05:00

Greta came home from preschool last week with a 'work of art' that I was impressed with. It is the city/country unit at school and she had a picture that she had not only colored, but had added drawings to as well. We were looking at it together and she was telling me all about it. "Look mom, the bird in the sky is singing so loud they can hear it all the way to the city. And do you see the boy swimming in the lake? And the girl taking a nap in the grass?" Wow, my girl is really smart I thought. Probably much more mature than the other preschoolers. Then I glanced to the city side of the paper... "What's going on with the cars here" I asked. "Oh," she answered, "that's just the bad guys shooting the cops."

Mother ego deflated.

quickie

2009-03-24T16:09:00.002-05:00

Hurley has gone back to live with Grandma Judie. He was here for 2 weeks but was still terrified of the kids (and Dustin and I most of the time.) We are looking into a golden retriever puppy to join our family.

I had to go back in to the doctor on Friday to get new antibiotics... my sinus infection was getting worse. They also put me on steroids to help with my sinus infection as well as the fluid in my ears.

I woke up last night at 2 a.m. with a sharp pain in my mouth. Somehow a piece of my back tooth had broken off. I made it to the dentist today and they were able to patch it up. I'm still numb and am not looking forward to when the novacaine wears off... they had to dig around the gum tissue quite a bit and I'm guessing it's going to be sore for a few days.

This week is spring break for the kids. We are ready for the rain to be done... not too much fun when you're stuck inside all day!

quarantine... again

2009-03-18T08:23:00.002-05:00

The Minute Clinic in the Buffalo Cub Foods certainly made some money on Monday night. All 5 of us went in to get tested for Strep. It turns out that everyone but Greta has it, plus Linus has an ear infection and I have a sinus infection.

This strain of Strep is a wierd one. No one was complaining of a sore throat or fever... we had all just been under the weather a little and had a few stomach aches.

So yesterday the boys were home from school and Dustin had to work from home. Unfortunately for me, Miles and Linus couldn't be at school because they were still contagious but they were feeling fine... and bouncing off of the walls!

Look Alike, part 2

2009-03-13T15:00:00.003-05:00

Look Alike, part 1

2009-03-13T14:58:00.002-05:00

The new Brown

2009-03-10T10:25:00.003-05:00

Dustin and I have been thwarting the acquisition of a pet despite the constant pleas from our kids for as long as I can remember. We've had lots of reasons to say no: time, space, money, shedding... but I'm here to say we've caved, and all because of a pretty face.

Long story short, someone that Dustin's mom knows had a dog that they were not able to care for anymore. She had the dog at her place for the weekend and I have to admit, we fell for him. The dog is a sweet 2 year old who is great with the kids, doesn't bark, and is really calm. The last owner had named him Snowball but ~~since that's a stupid name for a black dog~~ we've renamed him Hurley, after one of our favorite characters on LOST.

So, here he is, the newest member of the Brown family:

everything but the kitchen sink

2009-03-07T13:38:00.004-06:00

I started this blog in part to document our daily life for my kids' scrapbooks... and lately I haven't been doing a very good job. This post is going to be a catch-up of sorts and will most likely be all over the place!

The sickness has finally made it's way out of our house. All three kids were hit, all twice with different viruses. Thankfully Spring is just around the corner because I am feeling the need to open the windows and detoxify the house. I'm also getting stir crazy... I need more sun and less snow!

In the last week Greta has decided that she doesn't want to go to preschool anymore. She had a meltdown the last time I dropped her off and I could hear her screaming for me as I left the building. This has been odd because we have never had this problem before. On the first day of preschool she basically pushed me out the door . I'm guessing that this is just a stage... and I'm hoping that it ends soon!

We have Kindergarten round-up for Greta in a couple of weeks. I can't believe that next September we will be sending our baby to school. The days seem to last forever but the years are flying by!

I was at scrapcamp last weekend... SO much fun! I love these weekend getaways. I get to chat with lots of friends that I only see a few times a year AND scrapbook too... it doesn't get much better than that! (Unless it was on a sandy beach by the ocean...) Dustin and the kids always have a good time while I'm away. This time they went to Barnes and Noble to but a few books and went to a movie. Miles even passed up a birthday party to spend the whole weekend with dad!

We had a bonfire at Dustin's mom's house last night. Dustin's sister and her kids have moved back from Fargo and are living with his mom so it was like a little party. The weather was pretty nice and we were able to burn cardboard that has been piling up in our basement from last Christmas!

OUCH!

2009-02-24T07:51:00.002-06:00

I'll admit that I'm a little clumsy. I seem to have little accidents that I'm embarrassed to admit. Well, I've done it again... and this time it's not just my ego that's been bruised.

We have a half-wall in our house and our couch is positioned right in front of it. Yesterday afternoon I plopped down on the couch and my head went back and hit the the corner of the wall right where the trim comes to a sharp point. I ended up cutting my head open and had to go to urgent care to get it glued shut. Friends, it hurt like a mother and it's still throbbing this morning.

Out of all of the silly things I've done, I can't decide which is worse. This one, the time I slammed MY OWN hand in the van door, after my hysterectomy when I slid/fell down the stairs, ... I'd better stop now, there are just too many to list!

one more reason I love DVR

2009-02-20T07:49:00.002-06:00

So I'll admit it... I called in and voted for a contestant ONCE on American Idol. It was season 2, down to the final two and I had to support my favorite that year: Reuben Studdard. He beat Clay Aiken. Probably because of my vote, too. :) Where he is now I have no idea.

I don't think we've watched more than a few shows of any other season. Our family started watching one of the seasons a couple of years ago but my kids were genuinely upset anytime the judges came down on a singer (which is quite often) so we quit.

We started watching again this year and it's gearing up to be a good one. We set the DVR to record all of the shows and I've come to realize that I will never watch the show live again. What aired as an hour long results show this week took the kids and I about 10 minutes to watch. They fill the show with so much extra stuff that we don't care about... we just want to see who is moving on to the top 12!

As a side note here, Dustin watched the beginning of the season with us but vowed never to watch again when one of his favorites didn't make it to the top 36. I can't think of the dude's name but he was best friends with Danny... and he really should have gone through.

Anyone else watching this season?

quarantine

2009-02-14T20:43:00.002-06:00

I thought our family had made it... no one had really been sick all winter. Then, over the last 2 weeks, the kids have fallen one by one. Linus was the first - about a week and 1/2 ago after eating a large dinner he informed me (a little too late) that he felt like he was going to throw up. I won't go into every detail but let me say that projectile would definitely be an appropriate adjective here. And I was in his path. 'Nuff said. On Monday Greta came down with a fever that lasted until last night. It got as high as 103.3 but was hovering around 102 most of the time. She had a terribly swollen throat and glands and had two isolated instances where she vomitted. I ended up with her at the clinic where they did several tests, all of which pointed to - you guessed it - a virus. Then this afternoon, in the middle of Linus' birthday party with his friends from school, Miles threw up. He's been in and out of the bathroom all evening and I feel terrible for him.

It's been a long week.

school project

2009-02-14T20:22:00.003-06:00

A week ago Miles brought home instructions from school that we were to construct a swan at home and he should bring it back in and they would paint it. Now, every parent knows what this means... I was to make it and he put his name on it. We gathered up some supplies from my mom and dad's house (it's common knowledge that in the Youngs family if you're in need of anything, that is the place to go) and came home to get the job done. The swan was based off of one from the book The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. Without further ado, here is our masterpiece.....

Linus

2009-02-06T10:09:00.002-06:00

I can't believe my handsome boy is 7 today!

You're Hired!

2009-02-04T19:50:00.002-06:00

When my brothers were in grade school they showed the promise of great entrepreneurs. They would buy a pack of Hubba Bubba or Bubbalicious for $0.25 at the store and then turn around and sell the gum for $0.10 a piece on the school bus. A $0.25 profit off of one pack of gum is not bad for a couple of kids, especially in the 80's. It's too bad that the school found out about their gum business and put a stop to it. I could have been an heiress.

That being said, I think that Miles' classmates could give them a run for their money.

Maple Lake school (who are the 'Irish') has a reward system that involves giving "shamrocks" to a child in a 'caught being good' moment. The child then turns them into the office and names are drawn for prizes from said shamrocks every so often. I've been finding shamrocks around the house lately and in Miles' backpack. When I asked him why he hasn't been turning them in he told me of the shamrock racket that has hit the 3rd grade. Instead of turning them in, kids have been stock-piling them and using them like cash. Miles has, like, 15 of them right now and he wants to keep them in case anybody has something "good to sell." And he wanted to bring in stuff from home to sell... he even started making price tags (written in shamrock currency, of course.) He had several made before I put the kabosh on that idea.

I guess that if Miles has learned nothing else this year at school he will certainly come away with a sense of business, right?

best deal EVER

2009-01-28T10:47:00.003-06:00

I've been collecting Coke points on and off for the past 6 months. I got an email from them a few weeks ago that said that my points were going to expire if I didn't use them. I didn't have enough to get any of the big ticket items but I think I came out a huge winner here... I was able to get a bunch of 'one free 20 oz. bottle' coupons. Now here's the kicker... the Amoco in Maple Lake always has a buy one get one free offer on Mr. Pibb 20 oz. bottles. So, with each coupon, I am getting 2 free bottles of Mr. Pibb. Life is good!

Twins Fest 2009

2009-01-25T17:18:00.003-06:00

This has been a weekend full of baseball! On Friday night Dustin and the boys went to Twins Fest and got autographs from Kent Hrbek, Tony Oliva and Harmon Killebrew. On Saturday I joined them for another day at the Metrodome and we were able to get autographs from Justin Morneau, Jesse Crain, Ron Gardenhire and Joe Nathan. Dustin and the boys went back again today and secured the autograph they wanted most; Joe Mauer's. We were also able to get in on the batting cages, a clubhouse tour and other fun baseball stuff!

Miles asks Joe Nathan how fast he can throw a fastball. When he answers 98 mph, Miles chimes in (with a big grin) "Mine is 99 mph." Joe got a kick out of that.

Ron Gardenhire was really nice. He offered to lean in so I could snap a picture of he and Linus.

Linus took a picture of Miles, Dustin and me.

it's been awhile...

2009-01-22T14:22:00.002-06:00

Even during the post Christmas wind down, it feels like we've been running at full speed.

The cold spell last week was a big hurdle. The kids had Thursday off from school and had a late start on Friday. Add in the fact that they had inside recess for several days and you get kids that need to burn energy... and unfortunately it sometimes comes out in fighting with their siblings!

Dustin has been helping his mom finish up the last part of her basement. His sister and her 4 kids moved back from Fargo and will be living there for awhile. He's been over there quite a few evenings trying to get it all done.

I've been volunteering at the boys' school... it's nice that they still think it's "cool" to have me there. I also spent last weekend scrapbooking at my friend Shelley's house. I worked on an album for a friend's friend... and got paid to do it! I've thrown the idea around for some time now; to start a scrapbooking business. You wouldn't believe how many people have said they would pay me to scrapbook their pictures! I have to wait until Greta starts kindergarden next year before I can really consider starting it but it was fun to do the first book to get a feel for what could be to come.

I can hardly believe that we're just about half way through the school year. It seems like just yesterday I was sending the kids out on their first day of school. I'm definitely ready for winter to wind down... bring on Spring!! I can't wait to see green grass and flowers blooming.

check it out!

2009-01-12T18:00:00.002-06:00

My dad just called to let me know that he and my brother may be on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives tonight at 9 p.m. on the Food Network. Long story short, my brother Bill knows a guy from a restaurant in Minneapolis. The show came to the restaurant (i think it was last summer) and Bill and my dad were invited to come down and eat while they were filming. I don't know if we will even get a glimpse of them but I'm going to watch with an eagle eye to see if I can spot them!

they speak for themselves

2009-01-08T11:17:00.002-06:00

Fiesta Bowl

2009-01-05T23:12:00.003-06:00

I have never really paid much attention to college football but tonight that was what was on my t.v. as I was folding laundry. I caught the end of the Fiesta Bowl game (the Texas Longhorns vs. Ohio State) and I have to admit that it was a fun game to watch. It came down to the final minutes... well, seconds really. But after all is said and done, the question that begs to be asked is this....

How can anyone feel good about themselves while wearing a uniform like this?!

dedicated

2009-01-01T00:56:00.002-06:00

Last Friday Miles had a crown come off one of his teeth. It wasn't causing him any discomfort but I was concerned because it was leading into the weekend... what would we do if it started to bother him? All was well throughout the weekend and on Monday I called into his dentist to ask when he should come in to get it fixed. The receptionist was very nice but had to give me the bad news that Dr. Dennis was on vacation until January 5th. She made an appointment for Miles (actually squeezed him in) for the firt available appt. in Monticello once Dr. Dennis is back. Then she took my name and phone number down and told me that she could give him a message about what was going on. I gave her our info but told her not to make a special call to him... I really didn't want to interrupt his vacation with his family. It was barely an hour later when I got a call from Dr. Dennis... and he was so kind. He asked how our Christmas had been and talked to me about Miles' tooth. He reassured me that Miles would be o.k. until he got back but gave me his cell phone number just in case we needed him. Then I found out that he and his family were vacationing in Puerto Rico (he has family that still lives there and they go back to visit every other year.) Friends, my kids' dentist was on vacation in another country but took the time to call to me about our problem AND gave me his personal cell phone number just in case we needed him. Seriously... it doesn't get any better than this man. I'm trying to brainstorm a way to say thank you but I haven't come up with anything yet. Any suggestions?

google search

2008-12-26T21:54:00.002-06:00

Results 1 - 10 of about 2,310,000 for i hate itunes. (0.22 seconds)

At least I know I'm not alone.

I haven't been able to update my ipod or access the itunes store from my ipod even though we have an internet connection. Right now I really hate Apple.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T14:20:00.001-06:00

(from Luke chapter 2)

8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.

the mom song

2008-12-19T11:07:00.001-06:00

I've heard this before but it never gets old... and this version has the lyrics right on the screen.

Gingerbread Houses

2008-12-19T10:51:00.003-06:00

Today I was at the school making gingerbread houses with Linus and the rest of the 1st grade. It was crazy but so much fun. The kids showed some real creativity with their houses... and enjoyed eating the leftovers!

Holiday Tea

2008-12-19T10:47:00.003-06:00

I went to Greta's preschool on Wednesday for their annual Holiday Tea. I love listening to the songs that the kids have practiced. And the sugar cookies are to die for!

Snuggie

2008-12-17T15:19:00.003-06:00

No, I'm not talking about what happens when your undies get all bunched up. It is the latest product from an informercial that Linus and I want. Does it look dorky? Yes. Will it work better than a blanket? I'm not sure. Do we need it? Yes. Check it out here.

The Mother Letter Project

2008-12-17T07:33:00.002-06:00

Calling all moms out there... if you haven't heard about The Mother Letter Project yet, check it out here and consider sending your own letter in. This husband is doing a great deed for his wife this year for Christmas.

Baby it's cold outside!

2008-12-14T18:06:00.003-06:00

The title here refers not only to one of my favorite wintery songs (I suppose because Buddy and Jovie sing it in the movie Elf) but also to the gross weather we're experiencing. Cold temps and sleety-snow makes for a good day to hang out at home.... and what better way to pass the afternoon than making Christmas cookies?

...and what kind Christmas cookie making afternoon would it be if I didn't create a Patrick cookie from SpongeBob?

Christmas concert

2008-12-14T16:07:00.004-06:00

Grades 1-3 had their annual Christmas concert last Thursday at school. I love going to these, especially because there is always at least one of "those kids"... you know the ones... wiggling around or staring at the ceiling or something. This year, one of the 2nd graders was pretending to slap himself in the face in a rhythmic fashion during their rendition of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. It was a classic funny-because-it's-not-my-kid moment!

Miles playing a xylophone

Linus is in the row second from the top, three in from the right.

The Pillow Fight

2008-12-13T22:19:00.001-06:00

Here's a video that Dustin and the kids made when I was at scrapcamp in October. Dustin finally finished the editing process.

awesome product

2008-12-09T13:16:00.002-06:00

My friend Shelley told me about Clorox Stain Fighter & Color Booster. She used it to get grass stains out of several pairs of jeans... and swore it worked. I was aprehensive, especially because it was almost $10 for a fairly small bottle, but I bought it and have not been disappointed! Linus spilled grape juice all over the front of his shirt a couple of weeks ago and I tried the Clorox... and it ALL came out! The best part is that you don't have to use it in the wash cycle; just put a little on the stain or soak clothes in a tub with a small amount and presto!... stains are gone. Using it just on the stains will make it last longer... and really, even if only took out a handful of stains per bottle it would still be cheaper than having to buy new clothes!

gingerbread houses

2008-12-06T16:45:00.004-06:00

While I was out Christmas shopping today, Dustin and the kids made these gingerbread houses. From scratch. I spend the money and Dustin makes timeless memories with our kids... We make a good team.

Genesis 3... retold by an 8 year old

2008-11-30T23:41:00.002-06:00

The kids and I were in the van the other day when out of the blue Linus asked me about Adam and Eve: "Why did God make them leave that garden again, mom?" I started with the short answer only because I know that unless an answer involves Jedi knights or Pokemon, Linus' attention span usually won't last.

Miles jumped right in and gave Linus the whole story... "Linus, it was because Adam and Eve did something that God told them not to do. They had it easy in the Garden of Eden. God just told them they couldn't eat from ONE tree. Satan came as a snake or a giant worm or something and told Eve not to listen to God. He tricked her and she decided to eat fruit from that one tree and then she gave some to Adam too. After they ate it they got all embarrassed because they realized they weren't wearing anything and they had to make their own clothes. Then God punished them and made them leave... and it was WAY harder once they left. They had to, like, eat sheep eyeballs and drink their own pee, just like on Man vs. Wild."

open wide!

2008-11-26T19:43:00.004-06:00

Miles was back at the dentist today, this time to have a tooth pulled and a "spacer" put in. He did really good; even when they put the novocaine in (and I had to look away from the big needle!) Dr. Dennis came through once again and did the work so quick that Miles asked "Did you pull out my tooth yet?" The spacer is giving him just a bit of trouble because it makes his mouth ache but that will pass soon. The pulled tooth hasn't given him any trouble yet.

I'm guessing that this is the first of many "fix-its" that Miles will have to have done. Although he is still losing baby teeth and it's hard to tell for sure, I'm thinking that he will end up with braces in his future. We better start saving for that right now.

facebook is good for something

2008-11-23T20:21:00.002-06:00

I've found that facebook can suck you in and time can pass faster than you think... but one thing that I've enjoyed a lot is reconnecting with people I haven't talked to in a long time. Enter an old friend who happens to have been a co-worker at Perkins years (and years!) ago. Better yet, he has his own blog. Now I'll be able to keep in touch by reading about his life and family.... and I'll start after Dustin and I watch 24 from the DVR (now that the kids are finally in bed!)

Jack's back!

2008-11-23T18:27:00.002-06:00

I've got the DVR ready to record the 2 hour special of 24 tonight. It's almost sad how excited I am about this.

in memory...

2008-11-22T11:23:00.002-06:00

"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men."

- John F. Kennedy

If I ruled the world....

2008-11-19T12:54:00.002-06:00

Christmas is hands-down my favorite time of the year. I love pretty lights and Christmas trees lit up in the dark, decorations and Christmas music. With that being said....

There should be a law against Christmas-themed stuff before Thanksgiving. Christmas season is from the day after Thanksgiving until New Year's Day. Not before, not after. I feel much better getting that off of my chest.

please, no more surgeries or injuries....

2008-11-18T19:44:00.002-06:00

My mom had her other knee replacement surgery today. I talked to my dad a little while ago and it sounds like everything went well. Now we're waiting to see if she tolerates the recovery better than last time. She had issues with nausea from the anesthesia and problems with her breathing but hopefully this time will be better.

So, if you're counting, within the last month or so my mom had this surgery, my brother Ben had knee surgery, my brother Bill had a heart attack and my brother Nate sustained a back injury under unusual circumstances (that story will have to wait for another time... just to long to explain!)

bringin' turkey back

2008-11-17T15:00:00.002-06:00

For some reason this video won't let me post it here... but here's the link to Justin Timberlake's visit to SNL. I love this guy! I just wish I could get myself to like his music!

I took the plunge

2008-11-17T14:57:00.001-06:00

I realize that I'm pretty much the last person on earth to do so.... but I joined facebook today!

super cool

2008-11-17T08:10:00.003-06:00

Yesterday on the Discovery Channel we watched a show called Time Warp. (The show's name was misleading to me... I assumed it was some kind of space-age show or something!) Anyway, they do some really cool science stuff and then slow down the video so you can see it in slow motion. The part we liked most from yesterday's show was the segment on non-Newtonian liquids. They used a cornstarch/water blend to show some pretty sweet stuff. Dustin mixed some of this up and it totally worked. Check out the video!

LOL

2008-11-12T15:45:00.000-06:00

see more pwn and owned pictures

bummer

2008-11-12T11:27:00.002-06:00

It looks like Pat Neshek is going to be out for the Twins '09 season. You can read more about it here.

probably TMI

2008-11-12T11:11:00.003-06:00

I have a thing of deoderant that I bought that said the scent was powder fresh. I think it smells like cucumbers. I've been using it only because I feel too guilty about throwing it away but I'm at the place now where I'm thinking "How long can I stand to go around smelling like fresh produce?"

good advice...

2008-11-12T11:09:00.001-06:00

... that came at the bottom of one of those overly cheesy forward emails that I usually delete before reading:

"Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle."

How true it is.

a few reviews

2008-11-08T21:58:00.002-06:00

The kids and I saw High School Musical 3 last weekend when we went to a birthday party at the theater for one of Miles' friends. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's certainly not going to win any Oscars but it's a great movie for the family. I love that there's no bad language and no sex. All 3 kids were singing the songs this week so I finally broke down and bought the soundtrack from itunes.

Dustin and I went to see Pride and Glory last night. We give it 2 thumbs up but if you see it, be prepared to hear the f-bomb numerous times. It is centered around New York cops so I guess I should've been ready for it. There were 2 scenes where I had to look away for a few seconds (because in my old age I can't tolerate violence like I used to.) But I love Edward Norton and there is a great supporting cast.

I finished reading The Shack this past week. I really liked this book. I know there are a lot of Christians with their panties in a bunch about this book because it is not entirely Biblically accurate, but I have to say it is definitely worth reading. Going into it knowing that it is a work of fiction, I really liked the story and found myself in the middle of a page-turner. The author did a wonderful job of walking the reader alongside the main character as he wrestles with the question "Where is God when tragedy strikes?"

this & that

2008-11-08T21:43:00.002-06:00

We have had a few days of weather that I can only describe as gross. It's been wet and cold... but that didn't stop the kids and I from going outside and using the new bubble-blower that Linus won at Bingo Fun Night. We were only outside for about 15 minutes before we all had red cheeks and frozen hands.

Thanks to those of you that have commented on my brother Bill. He is out of the hospital now and feeling as good as can be expected. I found out that while he was in the ER on Wednesday night they had to shock his heart to get it started again. That kind of freaked me out. Small blood vessels and heart issues run in my dad's family so my other 3 brothers will be heading in for check-ups in the coming month.

I've been messing around with the settings on my blog and it's been kind of fun. This is new to me because I am a little 'computer-phobic'...a little funny because I'm married to a computer genius. I may even change up the template and colors in the near future.

I started my Christmas shopping tonight on Ebay... some stickers for Linus and Greta and a book for Miles. I can't believe that it's already that time of year! Dustin and I were talking tonight and we both agree that it seems like we just set up the Christmas tree... and that was a year ago!

is it that time again already?

2008-11-07T09:41:00.002-06:00

The kids had their 6 month check up at the dentist this week. All 3 were cavity free! The kids get excited to go... I know for the boys part of it is that they get out of school for awhile... but they all love to give Dr. Dennis their two cents in our ongoing Twins vs. Yankees feud. Miles will be going back in a few weeks to get spacers put in. He's not crazy about that idea but he's happy to go back and see the people at Dentistry for Children. They are a lot of fun! I know I do this after every visit (it always reminds me of how lucky we are!) but if you're in the market for a dentist for kids, this is definitely the place to go!

reality sets in

2008-11-07T08:07:00.002-06:00

Today my boys wore their winter boots to school. There's only a small amount of snow on the ground but it's still coming down. The unseasonably warm weather had to come to an end, didn't it?

BINGO!

2008-11-07T07:59:00.002-06:00

Last night Linus and I had a "date" at Bingo Fun Night at the school. The whole family went last year and we didn't get 1 bingo between all 5 of us. This year, Linus and I each got a bingo... he was so excited! I let him choose the prize when I won. I wish that I had a picture of his face as we walked up to show the caller our card... he was grinning from ear to ear! Later when he got his own bingo he was equally excited. It was so much fun!

Bill

2008-11-06T17:49:00.004-06:00

This is my oldest brother, Bill. If he knew this picture was up here, he would probably beat me up (or at least tickle me until I wet myself like he did when I was little.) Last night he had a heart attack. They did an angioplasty and put a stent in and he seems to be feeling much better. I am a worrier by nature... so this, along with the fact that he is only 42 years old, is not an easy thing for me to take in stride. It sounds like he is going to be o.k. but he will need to make some major lifestyle changes (mostly in his diet and exercise) and I can only imagine the struggles there. So, praise God he's o.k. and prayers that these transitions will not be too difficult.