Life is a Bowl of Cherris

Ecuador it is, then...

2011-06-30T16:24:00.003-05:00

One thing this year in Ecuador has definitely taught me is to always be flexible. We've ended almost every sentence out of our mouths this year with, "....if we do end up staying, that is." It's been kind of annoying, but more recently I am accepting it more gracefully.

But for now, it really does look like we're staying. After lots of ups and downs and frustrations, we came to a point in January where we decided to give Ecuador another six months. Five months later, things still hadn't improved and we decided to leave. At (literally) the last minute, Shawn's bosses decided to agree with the set of circumstances we were wanting. We are now setting ourselves toward making plans for this next season of our lives.

I hope that now that things feel a little bit more stable, I'll be blogging more about some of our adventures. I hope we'll get to travel some around Ecuador and that now that I've got a handle on Spanish I can talk more about the cultural insights.

One Year in Ecuador

2011-04-23T10:54:00.002-05:00

The 21st of April marked one year in Ecuador. Anniversaries or birthdays always make me introspective, and this anniversary was no different.

Initially, we only came to "visit" for 7 weeks. Now, 52 weeks later, we're still here! It's amazing to me that so much time has passed. At times, it feels like it is impossible that it has been that long. Other times, last year seems like a lifetime ago.

Much of the time here has been frustrating for me. In Bahrain, we had the advantage that almost everybody spoke English. Here, almost nobody does. So, the first and biggest hurdle I've had to face was learning Spanish. I'm happy to say that I would classify myself now as a good solid intermediate, but I know I still have a long way to go to achieve the fluency I desire. Poco a poco.....

The morning of the 21st, I was thinking back over the past year as I went about my daily activities and then the reality of all we've actually done and accomplished hit me.

Thursday I woke up and said goodbye to Shawn as he headed out for a weekend guy's camping trip with Casa Gabriel. Later, I got up with the kids, waited for our babysitter to get here and then walked to the bus stop closest to our house. I took the bus into Quito, grabbing an empanada from a street vendor along the way. There's this one guy along our bus route who sells the absolute best empanadas I have ever had, so I always try to pick one up when I can.

I changed buses upon arrival to Quito, then took another bus to a second station. There, I crossed a pedestrian bridge to arrive at my Spanish tutor's house. My Spanish tutor and I were covering the subjunctive, one of the most difficult aspects of the Spanish language for many non-Spanish speakers. It, in my opinion, is one of the "final frontiers" of my study of the language, so I am thrilled to be reaching such an important milestone.

Two hours later, I left and walked to yet another bus line and took the bus to Mitad del Mundo. A guy on the bus saw my Spanish book and felt the need to start a conversation with me, trying to convince me that I should be practicing my Spanish instead of listening to my iPod. In reality, I suspect he just wanted to have a conversation with this gringa, but hey, it was good practice. At Mitad del Mundo, I negotiated a price with a taxi driver to take me out to a hotel nearby where I needed to make reservations. Some friends of ours are getting married next weekend and as a wedding gift, we booked them their first night in a hotel.

I made the reservation and paid, then got a brief tour of the hotel. It overlooks the most amazing valley, with beautiful green fields and quaint farms, nestled in the middle of steep Andean mountains. On the way back toward Mitad del Mundo, we passed the mountain I climbed with Casa G and the Douce family a couple months after I first arrived.

The taxi driver took me back into Quito, where I caught a bus to take me back out to our place again. And I started thinking about the last year.

Thursday, I navigated the city and outside-the-city bus system. I had Spanish lessons. I spoke to strangers. I made hotel reservations. I negotiated prices. And I did it ALL in Spanish. To see that really showed me how much good our time here has done as far as growth.

I've gotten over so many of those little things I used to let bother me. God has given me lots of opportunities to step outside my little comfort zone and really feel, taste, live and experience life. Though I have not always been as grateful the last year, I do feel grateful today for all of the hard things God has used here to make my life richer in the end.

2010 in Review

2011-02-05T21:57:00.004-06:00

I keep a daily planner and each year I go back and take stock of all that happened in a given year. This year, I unfortunately lost my planner somewhere in November, so I don't have as thorough a record of all of our life events. I had to piece together most of 2010 through looking at old Facebook posts and e-mails. To the best of my ability, here is the recap for 2010....

January-March--we started out the year in Bahrain, with things being fairly uncertain. Shawn's company's contract in Bahrain was set to expire in April and we didn't know where we would go or what we would do after that.

March:
22-Shawn's birthday.
24th-I left Bahrain to fly to the States to attend the birth of my niece.

April:
6-My beautiful baby niece, Mary, was born at home.
Shortly after this, Shawn decided that we should go visit family in Ecuador to fulfill our tax requirements. We planned initially on visiting for only 7 weeks.
21-Arrived in Ecuador.

May:
5-My first visit to the girls' house for girls who have been sexually trafficked in Ecuador. In the following months, I visited as I could.

Sometime in May, Shawn received a job offer from a company here, continuing similar work to what he was doing in Bahrain. We decided to stay in Ecuador.

June:
19-Moved into our house in Cumbaya. (Yes, like Cum-ba-ya, My Lord)
29-My brother Henry arrived to visit for two months. The timing of his visit turned out to be quite fortunate because a few days before he arrived, Shawn received notice that he would be leaving for the duration of Henry's visit to work in the States.

July:
4-Shawn left Ecuador for the States, where he worked for two months on a fire-fighting boat at the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
4-We acquired our dogs, a lab and a miniature schnauzer.
8-Shawn arrived at the Deepwater Horizon site.
20-My first day of Ecuadorian driving school, a 3-week class that is a requirement by law. It helped my Spanish, as well as teaching me how to drive a manual car.
27- Claire's 2nd birthday.

August:
3-Passed driving exam--in Spanish!
12-An earthquake happened in Ecuador, which Henry felt. I did not notice anything until he pointed out that all the light fixtures in the house were swaying slightly. My first earthquake!
27-I mowed the lawn for the first time ever in my life.
31-Shawn returned from Deepwater Horizon.

September:
2-Got official Ecuadorian driver's license.
Kai began kindergarten at his new school.
13-Shawn returns from teaching his first class in Ecuador at a jungle oil drilling site.
30-A short coup attempt in Ecuador. Everything was pretty much back to normal the next day.

October:
11-Bought Esmeralda, a 1974 Beetle.
12-13-Had to go to Ipiales, Colombia to renew our visas.
Began regularly visiting the girls' house with my dear friend from Holland, Desi.

November:
1-3-Camping trip with the Douces and the Casa Gabriel boys at the beach in Canoa.
4-My 29th birthday.
15-Kai's 6th birthday.
17-After 5 months without a dryer, we got a new one! A momentous occasion after line drying clothes for all that time.
25-Thanksgiving Dinner with all of our new Ecuador family.
28-National Ecuadorian Census. A very interesting experience during which we were sequestered in our house all day.

December:
8-Quinn's 4th birthday.
13-Attempted armed robbery of Shawn in the street. He managed to wrestle the gun away from the perpetrator and also keep all of the money he had. A harrowing experience to be sure.
24-We hosted a Christmas gathering at our house with all of the Casa G boys, the Douce family and the Ackermanns, another family that works with Casa G.
25-A low-key Christmas.

2010 was a very busy, stressful, challenging, exciting, crazy year. It definitely ended in a different way than I was expecting. Starting the year in the Middle East and then ending up in South America.....definitely not what I had envisioned!

Things We Have Enjoyed in Ecuador--Part 4

2010-11-29T08:07:00.004-06:00

Camping at the beach.

Volkswagens.

Baby Jesus on bars.

Uncle Henry's visit.

Things We Have Enjoyed in Ecuador--Part 3

2010-11-29T07:54:00.002-06:00

Forests.

Ziplines.

Family.

Giant grasshoppers! Oops, I couldn't get this picture to rotate!

Things We Have Enjoyed in Ecuador--Part 2

2010-11-29T07:26:00.002-06:00

All the boys at Casa G.

Horses and ponchos.

Waterfalls.

Spiders. Okay, maybe we haven't actually enjoyed the spiders.

Things We Have Enjoyed in Ecuador

2010-11-29T07:20:00.001-06:00

Butterflies.

Standing on the Equator.

Being 10,000 feet closer to the sky.

Treehouses.

Thanksgiving in Ecuador

2010-11-27T19:47:00.002-06:00

Thanksgiving overseas is always an interesting experience. Our first year in Bahrain, it was just Kai, Shawn and me, but we went all out and spent all day cooking. We made turkey and the whole works, ate within about 15 minutes, then it was over. The next year we just decided to skip the whole thing and ordered pizza.

This year, we are also outside of the US again, but we have enough family here that we were invited to a Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Shawn's aunt and uncle. There were numerous other American friends who joined us in a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, Shawn had to be out of town for work this week and didn't get to come.

Here's a picture of our group--some American missionaries and teachers, along with their families and many of the Casa G boys.

Shawn's aunt and uncle made their patio up so cute for the occasion, complete with tiki torches. Inside they also had a large table for most of the guests. It was a lovely evening and the food was great with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes--the works! Though I have heard it is difficult to find pumpkin here, a lady brought two pies made from an Ecuadorian plant similar to pumpkins. Though the texture was different, the spices made the delicious taste of pumpkin (-esque) pie unmistakable. A slice of heaven.

The family atmosphere was a refreshing change to some of our previous Thanksgivings and it was so nice to hear everybody talk about what they were thankful for. The adjustment to life here has been difficult for me, but taking that time out to spend time with family and friends brings things into perspective. I am of course always thankful for my wonderful family--I have truly been blessed in that area. I am also thankful that though things have been stressful, life has still been filled with so many new adventures. Here's to another year of being grateful for all God has seen fit to bless me with!

Life is Moving Too Fast

2010-11-24T14:43:00.004-06:00

I can't even begin to condense all that has happened in the last several months. Since my last posting in May, we have remained in Ecuador, but had repeated battles with Ecuadorian bureaucracy over our visas. Shawn was also gone working on the oil spill at Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico on a firefighting boat for the months of July and August. Thankfully, my brother Henry came and stayed with me during that time and got a first-hand preview at parenthood. Since August, Shawn has been settling into his new job, Kai has been settling into his new (Spanish-only) school and I've been (sort of) settling into life here in Ecuador.

Mother's Day

2010-05-10T19:36:00.004-05:00

A few months ago, I received an e-mail update from Shawn's Aunt Debbie about the ministry work they have been doing here in Ecuador. It is something she does on a regular basis and I enjoy reading about all the things they experience. In it, she mentioned that they are interested in starting a ministry for girls that is similar to the work they have been doing at Casa G over the last 8 years. When I read it, something in my heart felt immediately drawn to finding out more. It definitely sounded like something that would be right up my alley, but we were in Bahrain at the time, so I didn't give the tugging of my heartstrings much further thought.

Fast-forward to now. The same heartstring tugging happened when I started spending time with the Casa G boys, but I initially chalked it up to being a bit of the emotional persuasion. It wasn't long, though, before I started wondering why exactly God brought us to Ecuador. A few days ago, I became pretty convinced that the possibility of staying here and taking part in some of the work that is going on here was something I was very interested in. Also strong in my mind has been the memory of what Aunt Debbie wrote in her update about the girls' ministry they are trying to get started.

At present, there is a girls' house that is run by another (secular) organization which rescues and houses girls who have been rescued from prostitution and sex trafficking. Phil and Debbie (and some other people who work with them) have been wanting to start up a Casa G with some of the girls who seem most interested in turning their lives around. They have been allowed to visit the girls to talk with them about God and to spend time getting to know them.

Yesterday, Mother's Day, was one of the days they were allowed to visit. They invited me along and I was very interested to go. As we drove out there, we talked about what we would do and say while we were there. They asked me if there was anything I wanted to say to the girls. I am not the particularly outgoing spiritual type. I am usually pretty private about matters related to my spirituality, so I wasn't sure what I would have to offer. But a verse popped into my head. A verse which was very important to me during the most difficult time in my life. The verse is: Jeremiah 29:11, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a FUTURE." I knew that this was something the girls needed to hear.

When we arrived, the girls were not around, so the administrator on duty showed us to a room where we would be meeting with the girls. We set up chairs and waited for the girls to arrive. A little while later, the girls showed up came in one by one. I have to admit that I KNEW intellectually that they were girls, but when they actually arrived, it was hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that I was truly seeing GIRLS, not women. Some of them looked so very young and it was hard for me to realize that these girls had been rescued from prostitution and sex trafficking. Four of the girls had babies in tow. A few others were pregnant. Though they all greeted me with the traditional Ecuadorian kiss on the cheek, I could see that most of them seemed very uninterested in what we might have to offer.

We played a game to learn names, then the girls introduced themselves and said their ages. I think that was the hardest moment for me. Each of the 26 girls stated their names and their ages and with each one I had to try to hold back tears as they said, "I'm 13," or "I'm 14." One of the girls with a baby was 15 years old. It truly hit me at this point that these girls were ultimately children, despite the very adult world they had been forced into.

After the getting to know you part, Juan Miguel sang a worship song and played on the acoustic guitar. The girls seemed to be warming up some, but still a little reserved. Miguel Angel then took us outside to play a game.

He put the ball in the middle of an outdoor basketball court and divided all of us into two lines. Each person was given a number and when our number was called, we had to run and meet the other teams' correspondingly numbered teammate where the ball was. If we got the ball, we had to run with it before the other team's player could tag us. The girls simply came alive. They were shouting and rooting on their teammates, running as fast as they could when their turns came up. They seemed to be having a blast. I enjoyed it, too, and ran (and fell down) to get points for our team.

As we were playing, I noticed that the very pregnant girl next to me was deaf. Though she got into the game considerably, I wondered how difficult it must be for her to be without the real ability to communicate with those around her. I took a deep breath as I looked up at the beautiful Ecuadorian mountains rising up above us and the clear, blue sky. More than two dozen girls, all shouting and playing as teenage girls are supposed to. Smiling and laughing in this gorgeous natural setting. Then it dawned on me that these girls are former prostitutes who have had their innocence and their childhoods stripped from them. How do they even begin to start a new and normal life after this?

After the game wrapped up, we went back into the day room where we had been before. By this time, the girls were much more animated and seemed like a room full of teenage girls, not girls who had to be protected by towering walls, locked gates and a security guard who is constantly on duty. Not girls who had to be protected from angry pimps who wanted their "property" back.

Aunt Debbie read a Bible story and Uncle Phil translated in Spanish. Miguel Angel talked a little bit to the girls about how he felt we could apply it to our lives in a practical sense. Then one of the girls, curious about me, asked if I could understand Spanish. When Uncle Phil responded that I only spoke a little, the girl commented on how patient I must be that I would sit and listen to the group talking without understanding anything. It was very ironic, considering that patience is definitely not one of my strongest points.

After the girl's comment, it opened up the opportunity for Phil to ask me if I wanted to say something. I decided to take the leap. As I mentioned before, I can be very private when it comes to matters of the heart and spirituality, so I wasn't sure how to go about this. I have never given my "testimony" as some would call it. But I did know a thing or two about how hopeless it feels to be pregnant and feel alone in many ways. So I felt very compelled to speak.

I told the girls (and Phil translated) that I didn't know anything about how hard their lives had been, but that I could only talk about what I'd been through. I told them a little about some of the things I've encountered in my life, especially about the time I faced when I was pregnant with Kai and was really starting to cling to God in a way that I had never done before. I told them that I knew without a doubt that God cared for each one of them and that He would be there for them during this dark and difficult time. I then quoted the verse in Jeremiah that had meant so much to me during my own difficult time.

Afterwards, the girls asked a few questions about my story. Juan Miguel played one more song and the girls all sang along very loudly, which suprised me. I couldn't understand all of the Spanish words, since I am just beginning to learn, but found out later that the words were:

You saw me when no one else saw me/ You loved me when no one else loved me/ You gave me Your name/ I am your child, the apple of your eye/ I love you more than life.

In hindsight, I am glad I couldn't understand the words. If I had known what the girls were singing at the top of their lungs, I'm sure I would have totally lost it emotionally.

When we finished the song, one of the girls was looking up a verse in the Bible that Debbie had brought. She asked if she could keep it, but several of the other girls protested, saying that they also needed a Bible. Phil asked who wanted a Bible and 18 hands shot up. Some of the other girls took Phil and Debbie aside and asked if they could take them for visits with them outside of their compound. The room seemed transformed from when we first arrived.

The girls joked, "The doors are open. They are open for you to come, but not open for you to leave." Several thanked us for coming on Mother's Day to be with them. In Ecuador, Mother's Day is an even bigger deal than it is in the States, so I can't imagine how hard it must have been for them to be separated from any sense of family on a day like that. Eventually, we kissed all the girls goodbye and left.

On the way home, we all talked about how impacted we had been by spending the afternoon with the girls. It wasn't until I got home and recounted the story to Shawn that I totally lost it emotionally and finally let it out. I can't fully express how much I wanted to just reach out to these girls and give them that promise of hope. To show them love--real love. I hope in the future, I get the chance.

Casa G

2010-05-10T18:18:00.003-05:00

We've been having lots of fun here in Ecuador, spending time with family and occasionally doing some touristy type things. Some of you may not know about Shawn's family history in Ecuador, but many of you do. Shawn's grandparents were medical missionaries in Ecuador for more than 30 years. That means that Shawn's mother spent a lot of her growing up time here. Since the beginning of Shawn's grandparents' mission here in Ecuador, others in the family have felt called here, including Shawn's Uncle Phil and Aunt Debbie.

Phil and Debbie have been our guides and support since we have been here and it has been wonderful to spend some time with them. They spend a lot of their time working in a ministry for former street boys. The goal of their work is to help train up these boys to be leaders in their own communities, not just to provide them with their needs of food and shelter (though they obviously do that as well).

Since we have been here, we have been able to see into the work they are doing firsthand. The house is called Casa Gabriel, and they lovingly call it Casa G. Right now there are about 10 boys who live there full time, ranging in ages from 15-24. Shawn and I have been doing some things around the house. Shawn has been redoing the stairs there, and I organized their clothing donation room. It has been a wonderful experience for us.

The boys have been very welcoming and grateful to us and our children. It is amazing to me to see the work that God has obviously done in their lives. Seeing the transformative power that something like this particular style of ministry has is awesome.

I freely admit that I am a bit of a cynical person. Consequently, I wasn't sure what I would find when I arrived here. How much can a ministry project like this really do? I've come to realize that the combination of meeting people's spiritual, social and physical needs is truly making such a difference in the lives of the boys at Casa G.

The boys have treated us like family, and thanked us numerous times for the little things we've been able to do and give while we've been here. It really does feel like I've received 10 new brothers. I've been hearing stories of all the things the boys have been trying to do to minister to other people of their own free will and initiative. It is very humbling.

Within just a few days of meeting the boys and beginning to spend time with them, I felt something moving in my soul over this ministry. Shawn and I started talking about the possibility of staying longer term. We're not sure yet what God has in store, but I'm sure He will make that plain to us in the coming weeks.

You're What? Where?

2010-04-29T14:17:00.002-05:00

Lots of people have been wondering about what we're doing at this point, so I thought I'd post an update.

Shawn's contract ends officially in Bahrain on April 30th. However, with all the leave he had left over, we packed up and were all together in the States on April 8th. One of the perks that was sort of written into Shawn's contract was the fact that we were able to claim tax-free status while working in Bahrain. The only catch is that you have to live 330 of 365 days overseas in order to enjoy this benefit.

Since Shawn's contract ended a little earlier than expected (not just for him, but for all the guys in his group), that left us 45 days short of our 330 required days.

SO, the IRS said we had to perfectly legal options: 1) Come back to the States and pay all of this year's taxes. That would amount to a substantial portion of the money we were actually able to save this year. Essentially, that would suck big time.

Option 2: Live somewhere overseas for the remaining 45 days and meet the eligibility requirements for tax free status.

It was sort of a no-brainer for us. "Hmm, pay all of our savings to the government OR go on an extended family vacation....?"

Shawn's family has a long history of living in Ecuador. His grandfather is a doctor who spent over 30 year in Ecuador as a medical missionary. Shawn's mother grew up in Ecuador. And now Shawn's uncle, aunt and cousin live in Ecuador. Since living in Ecuador would be less expensive than living in Bahrain, we opted to come here for the remaining time we have, or approximately 7 weeks.

Our scheduled date of departure is June 10th. After that, we don't know where we will be going or what we will be doing. We know God has a plan for us beyond these 7 weeks and we are trying to just relax and enjoy the respite.

I hope to be posting more about our Ecuadorian adventures. Thanks for reading! I hope you're all doing well!

2009 in Review

2010-01-31T11:00:00.004-06:00

I keep what I call "my book." It is essentially a day planner in which I write the usual planner type stuff; appointments, exciting happenings, birthdays, etc. I have saved my books from the last five years. They provide an interesting chronicle of my life in a more palatable, bite-sized, and not-as-intimate-as-a-journal way. I enjoy looking back on major events each year to see what all has transpired. Here is 2009 in review:

January:
1-New Year's Day: Shawn worked an extra EMT shift on New Year's Eve and I ended up watching that TLC show about the Tree Man. Exciting.
7-We went rock climbing for our 3 year anniversary.
12-I started a news "fast" where I didn't watch, listen to, or read any news for 40 days. It was actually quite awesome and taught me a lot about self-discipline and not allowing negativity to distract me from all the good in my life.
20-Barack Obama was inaugurated as president.
21-Shawn began the application process for the Lee's Summit Fire Department.
31-I took a cloth diaper class and began cloth diapering the kids. It was a fairly successful experiment, though we ultimately abandoned it for logistical reasons.

February:
Throughout the month of February, Shawn had several steps to attend in the process of the LSFD hiring process.
8-Claire's first visit to the ER. Turned out to be a double ear infection.
14-Valentine's Day dinner at the Nazarene church in Harrisonville where Shawn and I played the Newlywed Game. Shawn horribly embarassed me by describing our first kiss in front of all the people in attendance. Nice.
17-A "Family Reunion" of sorts in St. Louis.
21-I taught my first childbirth education class at Christian Fellowship Church in Columbia.
23-Our car died. Fortunately, it was a quick fix and didn't cost much.
27-My grandfather passed away.

March:
3-My grandfather's funeral in Little Rock.
6-Shawn had another interview at LSFD.
21-Shawn tried out for a semi-pro football team, the Midwest Titans.
22-Shawn had his 31st birthday.
24-Shawn found out he made the Titans team.
29-Went to a casino for the first time in my life. I was unimpressed and only spent five dollars.

April:
We spent a fair amount of time looking around the Kansas City area for houses as we contemplated buying our first house.
10-Shawn found out that he did not get a job with the LSFD.
20-I taught the obstetrics portion of an EMT-B class in Harrisonville. The birth footage I showed the class made one guy throw up. Otherwise, it went really well.
22-I sat for the Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator exam.

May:
1-My dear sister graduated from college.
6-My mother-in-law was diagnosed with a brain tumor. It was a very scary day. We didn't know what to expect.
24-We made an offer on our first ever house. It was a real fixer-upper and a foreclosure, so we bid very, very low on it. The offer was not accepted.
25-Shawn's previous job in Bahrain came open and his former boss asked if he'd like to rejoin the team.
26-We decided that we were on our way back to Bahrain.
31-My neice and nephew arrived and stayed with us for a week while their parents were out of town. It was crazy with five kids for an entire week!

June:
1-Shawn got the Big V. Weird how it coincided with us having five kids under our roof, huh?
9-12-Packing and preparing for our move back to Bahrain.
13-Garage sale to offload the items we had acquired in the year we lived back in the States. Amazing how much we Americans and store up when we put our minds to it.
15-We left Harrisonville, MO to go visit family before we left for Bahrain.
17-Went to Indiana to visit my family.
18-I received notification that I passed the Lamaze exam and was an LCCE!
20-We left the States, bound for Bahrain....again.
21-Arrived in Amman, Jordan and ended up staying overnight after we missed our connection.
22-Arrived in Bahrain...again.
23-Shawn started his first day in Bahrain.
24-We moved into our villa in Hidd.

July:
I began teaching a three-sibling group of Arab children who live in our neighborhood. They began coming over to my house for tutoring in English and have since become regular fixtures at our house.
4-We hosted a get-together for the 4th with Shawn's co-workers.
16-My mother-in-law had successful surgery to remove the brain tumor she found out about in May. We were very grateful that things went so well.
18-My sister found out she was pregnant with her third baby, due in April 2010.
27-Claire turned 1 year old!
30-I ended up having surprise surgery for a hernia repair. The doctor informed me that I would have to refrain from lifting anything over 10 pounds for a month! Yeah, right!

August:
I spent most of the month of August being pampered by my mother while recovering. It was so nice to have her here.
2-My mother arrived to stay with me for a month while I recovered from surgery. God bless her!
22-Ramadan began.
22-We attempted (again) to potty train Quinn.

September:
1-My mom left to head back to the States.
2-Shawn taught a rock climbing safety class on the Base. I got to go and help.
3-I hit a construction worker who was sleeping in my driveway. It was a very unpleasant experience, but thankfully he was given a reasonably clean bill of health after a trip to the ER.
20-Eid Al-Fitr.

October:
4-I started a scuba class to get my PADI certification.
6-I enrolled in a midwifery program.
7-My brother-in-law, Matt, shipped off to Iraq with the Navy.
30-My first ever open water dive. It was awesome and scary at the same time.

November:
2-Kai started his first day at Arabic school.
4-My 28th birthday. My dad also ended up in the hospital for swine flu and pneumonia. :(
14-I finished my open water dive certification!
15-Kai turned 5 years old!
22-We took Quinn and Kai to the Wahoo water park in Manama for the kids' birthdays. Quinn hated it and Shawn had to take her home while I stayed with Kai. He came back after dropping her off with Nanny Theresa and we ended up having a blast.
26-We hosted Thanksgiving dinner at our house.

December:
8-Quinn turned 3 years old!
15-I taught an infant massage class on the Base.
25-We had a very, very quiet Christmas with just our little family. It wasn't the same without everybody around!
31-We went out on the town with some friends on New Year's Eve and had a blast dancing the night away.

I Wanna Blog

2010-01-26T07:00:00.000-06:00

It's ironic that my most recent post, entitled "Two Months" is pretty much the exact same state we're in right now. Things are up in the air with jobs, living arrangements, etc.

So after many MORE months of neglecting my blog, I've decided I want to try to blog more. With any luck I'll do a better job this time around.

Two Months

2009-05-13T08:07:00.002-05:00

Two months. That's how long it's been since I've written on my blog. And for good reason.

The last two months have been another turning point in our journey of life. There were so many things going on that were uncertain that I didn't feel like blogging about things that may never come to pass.

First and foremost, Shawn applied for a job with a nearby fire department. They had a crazy series of several interviews, each about two weeks apart. So the entire process lasted nearly the entire two months. Shawn really wanted the job, but he did not make it to the final round of interviews. Instead, he was placed on a hiring eligibility list for the next year. Out of 750 applicants, he made it into the top 41 somewhere (he doesn't know what his official "ranking" is). In theory, if another job became available with that department, they would look at their hiring list to find qualified applicants. In reality, it is extremely unlikely.

So, a closed door there.

The second major event was that there was a tax levy that the City was trying to get passed by the H'ville voters that would change the fire staffing from an 8-4:30 schedule to the regular 24 hour schedule that most fire departments have. Shawn was hoping it would pass and spent the last couple months trying to do things to promote the ballot measure and to educate members of the community. It was a very stressful time, but the measure did pass, so H'ville will go to a 24 hour schedule beginning June 15th. So that means Shawn will work in 24 hours shifts on rotating days. He will work one day ON, one OFF, then one ON, one OFF, one ON, then four days OFF. That will be his work cycle.

Because it looks like at least for a little while we will be staying with H'ville, we have considered buying a house in a nearby town. We've spent lots of time looking at it and dreaming of what we would do if we bought it. It is a foreclosure and a fixer-upper. By fixer upper, I mean just that. It needs a lot of work. Fortunately, the price is very low, but it would cost many thousands of dollars to get it up to par. We were looking at it for the last two months, but could not put in an offer on it until we found out if they were going to lift the requirement that all H'ville firefighters live within city limits. Last night the council agreed to lift the requirement. As these kinds of things go, the house we're interested in is now up for auction instead of just being on the market. We are still waiting to find out what that means.

There are so many things going on and it has given us a roller coaster ride of emotions. Shawn and I have both been wrestling a lot with the question of where we want to live, how long we want to live there, what we want for our lives as a family, couple and individually. I go back and forth between wanting to buy that house we're interested in and wanting to move somewhere else and embark on a new adventure.

To make matters even more emotionally complex, last week we found out that Shawn's mom has a tumor inside her skull that is pushing on her brain stem. The doctor is fairly certain that it is a benign growth, but that it would still require surgery to remove. We don't know at all what to expect and that unknown is very scary. We are still waiting to hear all the details from the neurosurgeon. It makes us question whether we should stay in the area, or whether moving somewhere else would be possible.

We are still at this turning point. Should we look for another job and place to live? Or should we sit tight here? Ultimately we know that we really just want the best for our family and we are waiting until we have a more definite idea of what the best thing is going to be. It's the waiting and not knowing that is the hard part.

Trip to Little Rock

2009-03-10T21:31:00.000-05:00

That's right--five car seats in the back of my sister's car. Elle, Luke and Kai took the back, then Claire and Quinn in the middle row. It was packed.

At my grandparents' graveside in Pottsville, Arkansas.

Marines waiting for my grandfather's casket to arrive.

On the trip home--Luke, Elle and Kai all fading in and out of sleep. Quinn and Claire were also asleep, but there were just too many children and carseats to get it all in one picture.

Chuck E. Cheese Outing

2009-02-18T15:33:00.000-06:00

Quinn gets a ride from Uncle Henry.

Claire and her abuelita.

Elle getting hopped up on soda or some other sugary beverage. My kids did likewise.

Quinn and Shawn at Chuck E. Cheese's.

Chuck E. Cheese Outing

2009-02-18T15:31:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, I went down to visit my family. The grandparents decided they wanted to take the kids to Chuck E. Cheese's in Springfield. All I can say is one word: chaos. It was total sensory overload. It was packed!

Walking into the place was traumatic. Somebody had puked all over the lobby and the outside area. It seemed completely impossible to me that all that puke could have come from one person! It was crazy! Whatever the case, it was really gross and there was a line out the door to get in. So, that left my little family standing basically in somebody else's puke. Not appetizing and not a good start to the outing.

However, once we got inside, things got better. We had lots of pizza and ended up winning lots of tickets. The kids really enjoyed it, but of course it ended with a group meltdown from all the kids (Kai, Quinn, Claire, Elle and Luke). Fun. Good times.

Quinn wasn't satisfied with just one piece of pizza at a time.

Grandpa makes the rounds with Kai.

Claire, my mom and Celeste.

Luke playing a driving game with his daddy.

We Miss Football

2009-02-18T15:23:00.000-06:00

That's right. Football season is over. And in our house, that is a very sad thing. So one evening recently, we decided to take the kids to the H'ville football field to run around with the football. We thought the kids might want to get out. We had fun for about ten minutes, then the kids all three had a total meltdown at one time. It was comical, yet not comical.

Kai outside the stadium.

Claire.

Claire bundled up for the occasion.

Shawn showing the kids how to kick the football.

More of the Kids

2009-01-28T16:15:00.000-06:00

Quinn got the hair that I got--thin, fine and very, very prone to static electricity.

Claire smiling as she plays on the floor.

Kai expressing his frustration over something or another.

Claire in her ExerSaucer.

The Lesson of the Day

2009-01-21T22:00:00.000-06:00

Here is Shawn with Quinn less than an hour after she was born.

The lesson I want to impart to you is this--BACK UP your pictures.

We had a separate hard drive for all of our pictures and I never backed them up. Well, that hard drive crashed and we lost two years worth of pictures--almost all of our pictures from Bahrain. It was devastating, because they were pictures of Quinn right after she was born and when she was infant, as well as all of our Middle Eastern adventures.

A few weeks ago, my mom called and gave me very good news--she had some of our pictures backed up to her computer from when she came to visit right after Quinn was born. So, though we do not have all of our pictures, at least we have a few months worth. I am posting some of my favorites from that time period......

More Bahrain Pictures

2009-01-21T20:23:00.000-06:00

Henry, Shawn and I trying to footprint Quinn for her homebirth birth certificate. It didn't work too well.

Kai bit the dust while going face first down his slide.

Shawn and Quinn as a newborn--like father, like daughter.

Nanny Theresa and Quinn.

More Bahrain Pictures

2009-01-21T20:18:00.000-06:00

My mom holding Quinn when she was about 3 weeks old.

Quinn as an infant. It's so hard to imagine her ever being this tiny.

Showing how Shawn and Quinn's feet are nearly identical.

More Bahrain Pictures

2009-01-21T20:15:00.000-06:00

Kai, Shawn and Joe at Al-Jayazir Beach.

Quinn getting her first tub bath.

Quinn's first Christmas.

More Bahrain Pictures

2009-01-21T20:01:00.000-06:00

The first time I got henna done to my hands.

My dear cousin, Justine, kissing a fish. We had gone to an authentic Arabic restaurant and Justine ordered....this...

Al-Jayazir Beach that we used to go to often.

Joe, Justine and me swimming with the beluga whale. I was pregnant with Quinn at the time.

More Bahrain Pictures

2009-01-21T19:58:00.000-06:00

Me, about 7 months pregnant with Quinn.

Our beloved nanny Theresa helping Kai "swim" in a cooler.

Kai in his ball house.

Shawn showing Kai how to use the potty.

More Bahrain Pictures

2009-01-21T19:54:00.000-06:00

Dixie, our (not-so) faithful BMW, the first car we ever owned together. It was hilarious....in a bad way.

Kai on his second birthday.

The first picture I ever took of Kai as a two-year old. This was the morning of his second birthday.

Me, fully pregnant with Quinn, on my 25th birthday. Shawn and Kai made me a torte.

More Bahrain Pictures

2009-01-21T19:51:00.000-06:00

Kai hanging out with some neighborhood friends.

Shawn and Kai on our back patio.

Shawn and Kai in our yard at the Taj Residence.

Across the street--an Al-Jazira supermarket outside our compound.

Anniversary Fun

2009-01-10T10:10:00.000-06:00

Shawn is always a gift-giver. I guess some might say that is one of his primary "love languages." He loves to surprise me with fun things on a regular basis. The flip side is that I am the world's worst gift-giver. My idea of a great gift is a gift card. That way, you know it's not the wrong thing and the person will actually USE the gift you gave them.

So for birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas and Valentine's Day, I have majorly been lacking as far as presents for Shawn goes. This anniversary I was determined to actually do SOMETHING for him.

Shawn is very athletic and likes to do physical stuff. My idea of physical stuff is going for a walk in the park. But I decided to branch out and do something I've never done before--rock climbing. I told Shawn that I was going to take him somewhere for our anniversary, but wanted to surprise him. Shawn teaches rope rescue and repelling, so he knows a lot about that sort of thing. However, he apparently has never been to a rock climbing gym.

My dear mother-in-law came to visit overnight so that she could watch the kids and we could get an actual date in. It was wonderful! A big thanks to her! When Shawn got home from work on Wednesday, I took him to Applebee's so that we could split a light dinner. Then we went back home to nurse the baby and grab some clothes to change into. I packed his bag, so he still did not know what we were doing. I had given him some vague clues in the past week, but he was still befuddled.

When we got to IBEX Rock Climbing Gym in Blue Springs, Missouri, he was really excited. It is definitely his sort of thing. Because we had never been there, we had to take an intro belay course before we started. The instructor told me when I called to schedule it that it usually took about an hour. We did it in about 30 minutes! It was basically going over knots and how to feed rope through the brake. Shawn can tie the knots they used with his eyes closed and with gloves on (literally! They made them do it that way when he was in the Marines). He has also had me practice those knots several times when he was prepping for teaching.

Okay, so rock climbing is WAY harder than it looks. But it is also a lot more fun than it looks (at least from my vanage point). It was a challenge to figure out where to place your hands and how to get leverage; figuring out what your next move would be. In that way, it is mentally challenging. It's amazing how quickly your arms can get tired doing it, though, and after a couple hours, both of us were pretty tired.

We took breaks in between climbs to watch other, more experienced climbers and to chat with other people in the gym. It was a nice atmosphere; laid-back and fun. All-in-all it was a great anniversary activity and Shawn was pretty happily surprised. He also said he was surprised how well I did. It was so fun and I would definitely like to do it again sooner rather than later.

Getting a kiss before dinner on our anniversary. You can see the roses on the table behind me that Shawn bought me for the occasion.

Us at the rock climbing gym.

Shawn messing around after climbing. He wanted me to get a picture of him to make it look like he had climbed up really high, but I didn't understand what he was asking me to do. So this is the result--a picture of him hanging about two inches from the ground.

Three Years

2009-01-07T09:17:00.002-06:00

That's right. It's been three years since Shawn and I said, "We do." It has been a very exciting three years. Time is so strange, isn't it? Sometimes it seems like three years was a lifetime ago. Other times, it seems like we just met and the three years has flown by. Either way, it has most certainly been the best three years of my life. I am very grateful for the life that I have with Shawn and our babies. In honor of our three years, I've compiled some fun facts about the last three years of our life together:

3 Most Exciting Things We've Done
Well, I probably shouldn't post some of the MOST exciting things we've done, so I'll pick some PG things that are pretty exciting, too.
1. Had an outdoor wedding in January.
2. Lived overseas.
3. Had two homebirths.

3 Things I Like Most About Our Marriage
1. Shawn and I are total opposites in most ways, but somehow God really did make us complimentary to one another. He has strengths where I have weaknesses and vice versa. It has spurred incredible growth for both of us that might not have otherwise taken place.
2. We have fun together. I actually enjoy spending time with him, even after three years of being with him pretty much every day. I know it doesn't sound like something that is that impressive, but I think in today's society, it's pretty special.
3. We both desire spiritual growth and encourage each other in it as a matter of course. That is something that I think is the most vital part of any marriage.

3 Things I Like Most About Shawn
1. His heart.
2. He's a great daddy.
3. Life with him is always an adventure. That is something he promised me when we were engaged--that if I married him, my life would always been an adventure. He has not disappointed.

Yes, the last three years has been a wonderful adventure.

This year has been the hardest year of our marriage in lots of ways. By that I mean that our external circumstances have posed more challenges than previous years. However, it has also been the year that I think has been best for our marriage. Even though other things have been frustrating a lot this year, our marriage has been like the calm inside the storm, bringing peace and comfort when things around us have been crazy. I feel like God has really knit us together this year and worked through some of the hard stuff to help us appreciate each other. I look forward to what this next year will bring. I have so much hope for the next year of our life together. Thanks to everybody for supporting and encouraging our little family.

Goodbye, 2008

2008-12-30T14:32:00.005-06:00

It has been an interesting year. 2008 brought many changes, lots of challenges. I think that it has not been one of my favorite years in my life, but I think that I will look back on this year later in my life and say, "That was where great changes began in me. That was where the growth started." It has been a tough year in many ways, but I can think back on other times in my life where it got tough for a while right before it got really amazing. I believe that is what 2009 will be--a year of seeing fruit where seeds were sown.

I keep a planner every year and I write memorable events in it as the days pass. Here are some memorable things that happened this year, 2008 (as according to my planner):

January 2: Quinn started walking.
January 7: Our two year anniversary.
January 10-12: A trip to Dubai for our anniversary.
January 13: Quinn went to the hospital because of a nasty stomach flu.

February 4-6: First felt quickening with Claire. I was 16 weeks pregnant.
February 23: Two years anniversary of the time we spent in Bahrain.

March 1: Back to the States from Bahrain.
March 4: Shawn and I passed the National Registry exam for EMT-Bs.
March 15: Shawn went to Harrisonville for testing during the application process for this job.
March 22: Shawn's 30th birthday.
March 27: Shawn offered job in Harrisonville.

April 5: Moved into our house in Harrisonville.
April 7: Shawn started job in Harrisonville.
April 15: Started my first garden EVER.
April 23: Kai's adoption finalized.

May passed relatively uneventfully.

June 13-15: I went to Louisville, KY for the Passion for Birth Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator seminar. My mom joined me.

July: The early part of July was spent developing, writing, printing and organizing my Lamaze course design.
July 27: Claire Elizabeth Cherri born at 2:56 AM, weighing 10 pounds, 3 ounces.

August 13: My first attempt at pressure canning.

September 8: Kai's first day of Playschool.
September 13-20: Shawn went to the National Fire Academy in Maryland for training in Community Education.
September 15-20: The kids and I visited my parents in Indiana; our first trip to their house there.
September 27: I learned to knit. I still haven't finished the scarf I started that day.

October 24: Attended the Kansas City Doula conference.

November 4: I turned 27 years old.
November 13: I began taking ballet classes again for the first time in years.
November 15: Kai turned 4 years old. That day we went to the circus for the first time.

December 8: Quinn's 2nd Birthday.

I pray that all of you reading this have a joy-filled and exciting new year--goodbye, 2008.

Our Family

2008-12-30T14:03:00.000-06:00

Shawn and I are notoriously UN-photogenic. I mean, it's bad. If you get the two of us together in one camera shot, at least one of us usually has their eyes half closed, giving that lovely high look. Not attractive.

I am usually the one taking all the family pictures anyway, snapping pictures while the kids play. This means that I rarely have my picture taken (thankfully!). While we were all dressed up post-church, Grame Cherri took a few pictures of us at the Cherri Orchard. They turned out so (surprisingly) well that I had to post them on the blog.

So here, we are--Me, Claire (5 months), Quinn (2 years), Shawn and Kai (4 years.)

Try This on for Size

2008-12-30T13:48:00.002-06:00

Okay, so several factors have converged recently to bring me to my next post.

1. I have lost all the baby weight. In fact, I am actually down a few pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight.
2. I got some Christmas money, and had some money saved up in our "Clothing" envelope for our budget.
3. I needed new clothes.
4. I would be in Columbia, where the variety of clothing is just a tad better than Harrisonville Wal-Mart's selection of Tweety Bird t-shirts and Wrangler jeans.

This weekend, I shopped! The Columbia mall, Target, Kohl's, Dress Barn, Old Navy, the Gap Outlet. There were some okay sales and I did manage to find a few things. I was perplexed, however, by the lack of uniformity in women's clothing sizes.

Though I appreciate Dress Barn, New York and Company, Target and Old Navy telling me I am a size 4, it makes it that much harder to take when Lee tells me I wear a size 8 jean and whoever made my jeans at Wal-Mart tells me I am a solid size 11. How is it possible for the same woman to be both a size 11 and a size 4? Can anybody answer this for me? Men's clothes--34 waist, 32 length. Simple. Easy. Precise. Why can't they do this with women's clothing, too??? Because as it stands, I have no idea what size I REALLY am. Also, it makes it nearly impossible to just go grab clothes off the rack without trying them on, looking into fifteen dressing room mirrors in bad fluorescent lighting, buy the clothes, then take them home and realize they don't fit right in natural lighting and without the "skinny" dressing room mirrors.

Whatever the case, I got a variety of different sizes--a new dress, skirt, pair of dress pants, pair of shoes (which thankfully I DO know my size in--6 and 1/2), and five shirts. All for under $100. Thank you to my dear husband, and my in-laws for the Christmas money. Shawn, on the other hand, was quite dismayed to purchase a pair of jeans that had a 36 inch waist. It was a sad day for him.....

Christmas 2008

2008-12-30T13:45:00.001-06:00

Shawn worked this year on Christmas. His brother, sister-in-law and their daughter were doing Christmas activities with my sister-in-law's family, so we thought it might work out best if we all had Cherri Christmas at the Cherri Orchard the day after Christmas. After Shawn got off work on Christmas evening, we drove over to the Cherri's house.

Last week at school, Kai made "Magic Reindeer Food" which consisted of dried oats and glitter. It had a little paper attached to it that said to sprinkle this on the lawn on Christmas Eve. Before he went to bed on Christmas night, we took him outside so he could leave some food for the reindeer. He also left some milk and cookies for Santa, which Quinn took bites out of while we weren't looking.

Kai's reindeer food.

We made sure to put it in a place it would be easy to sweep up. Kai is quite astute and I'm sure he would have known something was up if he had come out the next morning and there was still "Magic Reindeer Food" on the ground. He would discover the painful truth that there is no Santa well before his time.

Christmas morning we got up and ate french toast together as a family: Grame and Granda Cherri, Shawn, Kai, Quinn, Claire, Joe, Matt, Ashley Teal, Dolce and me (and Bo). We started opening presents and the kids had a blast! I think the adults had a lot of fun, too. I am thankful for a new blender, some pregnancy books and some clothes from Shawn and his parents. Shawn got a group gift from all of us--a tent. The kids got all sorts of little goodies from Grame and Grandpa, as well as Grandma and Grandpa Gabriel. We had a lovely Christmas dinner and spent the rest of the day playing with our new toys, eating and napping.

Christmas Morning 2008

2008-12-30T13:36:00.000-06:00

Kai showing me a truck from his stocking.

The Christmas tree on Christmast morning, complete with presents underneath.

Grame helps Quinn open up her stocking. I don't know if Quinn was trying to open it with her feet or what.

Christmas Morning 2008, Part 2

2008-12-30T13:34:00.001-06:00

Claire watches all the Christmas morning activities with an air of slight boredom.

Shawn decides to get festive.....

Quinn opening her stocking gifts.

Shawn helps Claire open her stocking.

Christmas Morning 2008, Part 3

2008-12-30T13:32:00.001-06:00

Kai opening a new game for his V-Motion from Grandma and Grandpa Gabriel.

Shawn, Quinn, Kai, Grame and Dolce.

Shawn looks at Baby Jesus with Quinn and Kai. Grame watches on.

Every year, Shawn's family has a tradition where the best present of all is unwrapped--Baby Jesus. Here is Kai opening the present.

Christmas Morning 2008, Part 4

2008-12-30T11:58:00.001-06:00

Grandpa Cherri opens a new gift--an Ohio State clock for his man cave.

Opening presents. Shawn, Quinn, Dolce, Kai and Grame.

Cousin Dolce and Ashley Teal open a bouncing Tigger from Uncle Joe.

Shawn and the kids open Candy Land.

Christmas Morning 2008, Part 5

2008-12-30T11:55:00.001-06:00

Dolce checks out Claire as Aunt Ashley Teal watches on.

Me sitting with Claire.

Shawn shows Quinn her Christmas horse.

Grame and Shawn watch as Quinn and Kai try out their new trampoline.

Quinn's 1st (2nd) Birthday

2008-12-22T09:52:00.000-06:00

As you guys are sending in your Mother of the Year Award nominations, just remember that my daughter never had a first birthday party. Last year, Shawn was in Australia when Quinn turned one. Since it was just the two kids and myself at home, I didn't make a big fuss (or even a cake) on December 8th. Life started moving so fast and in the mix, we didn't ever celebrate Quinn's 1st birthday formally. Sad, but true.

To make up for it, this year we made sure to celebrate it with cake and ice cream. Family, presents--the whole works.

Quinn checking out the horse-themed cake Grame Cherri made.

She was pretty excited about it, but didn't know what the candles were for. Shawn and Kai ended up helping her blow them out.

Quinn opening presents with my assistance.

The Fam. From left to right: Ana, Grame Cherri, Augusta, Quinn (barely seen on my lap), Dolce, Matt, Ashley Teal.

Pictures from the Cherri Orchard

2008-12-22T09:39:00.000-06:00

This weekend we went to Shawn's parents' house, affectionately dubbed the Cherri Orchard. I decided to post a random assortment of photos we took during our stay there.

Cousins! Dolce, Ilene and Kai hang out on the couch.

Brothers! Matt, Joe and Shawn get ready to go out hunting. They didn't have any luck all weekend, unfortunately.

A guy and his dog. Here's Joe with his ginormous dog, Bo.

Claire hangs out with Daddy.

A Morning Outside

2008-12-22T09:35:00.000-06:00

A couple weeks ago, it was supposed to be in the low 60s one morning, then have really low temperatures with snow and ice in the afternoon. We decided it might be the last time in a while that the kids could play outside, so that is how we spent the morning.

Here's Shawn showing the kids how to play hopscotch.

The kids playing in the leaves.

Shortly after these pictures were taken, the temperature dropped 15-20 degrees in a matter of minutes. It was really strange! All of the sudden, the wind started whipping up and it got really, really cold! I took the kids inside while Shawn finished leaf-blowing and finally raking up all our fall leaves.

Smiles

2008-12-22T09:32:00.000-06:00

Quinn.

Kai.

Claire.

Sisters

2008-12-22T09:30:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure our two girls could look any more different from each other!

They Grow Up So Fast Part I

2008-12-11T19:53:00.000-06:00

Quinn after eating dinner.

Smiling for the camera. I can't believe she is already two years old.

Kai smiling for the camera.

Kai doing.....whatever it is he is doing in this photo.

They Grow Up So Fast Part II

2008-12-11T19:51:00.000-06:00

Claire checking out the ExerSaucer.

Trying a little bite of mashed sweet potatoes.

She approves!

Big time!

Let it Snow!

2008-12-11T19:48:00.000-06:00

This week it snowed a little bit and I decided to take the kids outside to see it. Kai saw snow once before when we came home to visit from Bahrain, but Quinn has never actually played in snow before. They loved it, even though it was very cold outside.

Kai checking out the snow.

Quinn--totally excited about the snow!

The kids were really intrigued by the fact that you can leave your footprints in the snow and make shapes, too. Kai kept asking me to draw different shapes in the snow.

Dirty Pictures of My Husband

2008-12-11T19:44:00.001-06:00

Literally! He came home covered in soot and smelling like he bathed in smoke! He was pretty pleased with himself, so I had to snap a few pictures of his sooty face. It actually doesn't show up all that well in the pictures, but you get the idea.

There was a big barn fire last week in a nearby town, so H'ville was called out to assist. Shawn spent four hours breaking apart burning hay bales and putting out the fires that resulted. I had to wash his work clothes from that day four times before they didn't smell completely like smoke.

Kai's Birthday Party

2008-12-04T09:57:00.000-06:00

We decided that the weekend of Thanksgiving would be a good time to celebrate Kai's 4th birthday, since everybody would be gathered together at the Cherri Orchard. My mother got Kai a "bling bling" kit, complete with a necklace of bling and fake gold teeth. Here is Kai showing them off. He really liked these things, much to my chagrin.

Kai with his beautiful little cousin, Dolce. They were awaiting the cake at this point.

Kai informing us that this was "Edward's coal car!" Grame Cherri made this lovely little cake.

Shawn trying to help Kai understand how this toy works.

The Day I've Been Dreading Is Here

2008-12-01T15:59:00.000-06:00

Today at naptime, Quinn figured out she can climb out of her crib for the first time. It's all over now.

Kai's 4th Birthday

2008-11-20T09:25:00.000-06:00

Some dear friends of ours had extra tickets to the Shriner's Circus in Kansas City last Saturday, so we decided to take Kai for his birthday. Yes, it's true--he turned FOUR on Saturday! I can't believe it!

Anyway, we went to the circus and the kids did really well. Kai was very interested in all the acts. We saw some really cool things. I had never been to a real circus before, so it was very neat to me. It made me feel very child-like and dazzled. There were all the standard acts; dancing poodles, tight-rope walkers, trapeze artists and other fun and exciting things. Because Shawn and the husband of the family we went with had to both work that evening, we ended up staying only until intermission. Even still, we got to see so many exciting things.

Quinn wasn't quite as impressed. Or maybe she was just tired, because she fell asleep about halfway through. We couldn't believe she could sleep through all that noise, but she did.

Kai giving me a smile on his fourth birthday.

I'm really not sure what he was doing here.

My Girls

2008-11-20T09:19:00.000-06:00

Latest pictures of the girls. Here's Claire lifting her head and looking around.

A little bit of a smile. It's so hard to get a good smile picture because my camera has a short delay, during which the smiles usually evaporate.

Quinn on the stairs.

A smile picture from her, too!

Taking Inventory

2008-11-06T15:40:00.002-06:00

November 4th was my 27th birthday.

It brought about a lot of introspection, but also some wonderful realizations about my life. In my 27 short years, I've done a lot of living. And fortunately, most of the living I have done, I have done well. I have few regrets and have made many friends. I have seen and experienced incredible things.

I have to admit that when I woke up on my birthday, I was bummed out, questioning what I have "accomplished" in my time here. I haven't made much money. I haven't had an impressive career in anything. I have failed at many, many things....including organic chemistry. I've failed at love. I've made mistakes. SO many mistakes.

But I've experienced joy. True joy that only God can give. I haven't made much money, but I have been rich beyond measure. God has shown me many miracles in my life--miracles within the world, within His plans, within other people and within myself. He has helped me through so many things in my life.

I graduated college debt-free (one major miracle!) thanks to the love and support of God, my family and having the opportunity to work throughout school. God has blessed me with three amazing little children to tend to. How amazing is it that God trusts me enough to take care of these babies? He has given me a husband who I love and respect in a way that I didn't think I'd ever be capable. God has worked in me to touch so many people's lives. That's what I think it all boils down to for me. I think I was never meant to be a star. I was never meant to be a bigshot. But God is using me (amazingly!) to love a little at a time. I feel so blessed to have the friends and family I have. I feel blessed that God can even use ME to bless others as well.

Here's to the next 27 years! Thank you, Lord, for the first 27.

Fall Nights

2008-11-05T11:45:00.000-06:00

Our three jack-o'-lanterns. The one on left was one I carved with Kai's direction on what I should do. The middle one is mine and the one on the end is Shawn's.

For Halloween, we had dinner with some friends and their kids, then tagged along as they trick-or-treated through their neighborhood. Kai was Spiderman, Quinn was Lady from Lady and the Tramp and Claire was a chicken. Unfortunately, my battery on my camera was low and I did not get any pictures in all the hustle and bustle.

Claire was a little cranky during trick-or-treating; Quinn didn't really have a clue what was going on, but she still seemed to enjoy herself thoroughly. Kai, on the other hand, got the trick-or-treating thing down after the first house. He reminded me so much of my brother, Henry. When we were kids, Henry was super-serious and motivated about trick-or-treating. He thought seriously about trick-or-treating strategy in order to maximize candy acquisition. Kai strategized to rachet up his adorable-ness factor to get more candy. It worked. We took all three kids around a couple streets, then went home.

After we got home and put the girls to bed, Kai and I went to a few houses in our neighborhood. It brought back so many fun memories I have of Halloween from when I was growing up. It was probably my second favorite holiday throughout the years. We bought lots of candy, but surprisingly only had two trick-or-treaters the whole night. I don't know if it is because we live on a busy street or what, but I was disappointed. Too bad we now have soooo much candy left....sigh....life is tough.

The following pictures are not from trick-or-treating, but from a few nights ago when we let the kids play in the leaf pile as it was getting dark.

Quinn in some super cute overalls.

Kai and Quinn enjoying the leaf pile.

Even Shawn gets in on the fun! The kids loved that! Fortunately, there are no pictures of when Mommy jumped in the pile.

...and Fall Days

2008-11-05T11:36:00.000-06:00

Kai and Quinn enjoying the leaf pile.

Kai getting leaves raked onto his head.

Quinn playing in the leaves.

Quinn throwing leaves on the pile.

Peace, Be Still

2008-10-27T16:45:00.000-05:00

My dear in-laws took Kai and Quinn for the weekend so that I could attend a conference on Friday. It was nice to have a weekend with a little bit more downtime than usual. I got to nap for the first time in a long time! It was pretty awesome. Plus, I got to spend a little bit of time with Shawn.

Friday was a very interesting day. I went to a conference in Kansas City that was about birth trauma. It was focused a lot more on the psychological trauma babies can experience during/after the birth process than I was expecting it to be. I was hoping the speaker would spend more time on counseling women who have had traumatic birth experiences since that is an area of particular interest to me. Regardless, though, the speaker was very interesting and it definitely gave me food for thought.

I got to talk during breaks with some of the other ladies there--mainly doulas, midwives and childbirth educators. It was so fascinating to hear their stories and ideas about birth. Obviously, it was wonderful to be in a room full of women who share my same enthusiasm for birth and childbirth education.

Claire went with me and was very interested in the subject matter, as well. She kept cooing pretty much the entire day (while the guy was talking--fortunately, my baby wasn't the only one there making noise) and did not sleep much. It was a little stressful and frustrating at times because she got bored and started crying, making it necessary for me to leave and wait until she was done in the lobby. This happened a few times, but other than that, she was pretty good.

The conference made me think a lot about my own present situation. On the drive home, I started feeling a little bewildered. I am very educated about birth. I have a deep passion for it and love learning about it. But listening to the women at the conference, as well as the speaker made me start to have doubts and questions about my abilities to actually teach this stuff. I'm planning on teaching my first series of prepared childbirth classes in January (after all the holidays are over) and I'm starting to get a little bit nervous. I felt like I was in over my head.

Additionally, after Claire's birth, I have felt a bit perplexed about my own philosophy of birth. I have been re-evaluating my feelings and thoughts, as well as processing Claire's birth experience. It was a wonderful birth, but there were things about it that were not what I was expecting. There are even parts of it that disappointed me. I think God is using my experience with Claire's birth to teach me some things and to help me refine what I believe about birth. It is a much more challenging process than I expected, though.

Shawn had a lot of really encouraging things to say to me that evening when I told him how I was feeling. After talking through things with him, I felt much better about everything. I know that everything will work out for the best, but that I will be continually learning along the way.

The picture at the beginning of the post is a rainbow that I saw on my way home from the conference Friday. It is not the greatest picture because I took it while I was driving (I know, dangerous!). It was such a beautiful and vivid rainbow--of course the photo does not do it justice.

More Adventures in Motherhood

2008-10-24T19:20:00.002-05:00

I was chilly last night, so I actually slept with socks on.

Claire is sleeping in a play yard next to our bed, so when she wants to nurse at night, I get up and bring her into our bed, then put her back in the play yard.

When I woke up early this morning to get ready for a conference in Kansas City, I noticed that I had lost my socks during the night. I figured they just got lost somewhere under the sheets and didn't think anything more about it.

After I got myself ready, I woke up Claire and started to get her ready. It was then that I noticed she was wearing one of my socks! I have no recollection of putting it on her foot, but obviously I must have. I can't imagine what my frame of mind must have been...........

Sigh......I think I'm too sleep deprived or something.

We're All Gonna Die

2008-10-22T09:30:00.003-05:00

Am I going crazy? Does it not seem like no matter what we do, wear, eat, drink, take--we're all dying at a rapid rate. It seems like every day I read an article saying some researcher has discovered how ordinary things in life are now incredibly bad for us and will kill us.

Dairy products contain so many synthetic hormones and antibiotics that they can cause cancers and other health issues. So we can drink soy milk. Wait, what's that? Soy milk has phytoestrogens that can cause other health issues?

Clean everything with antibacterial soaps, wipes, creams and cleansers, quick! We don't want to get a single germ! Wait, what's that? Our fanatic antibacterial-izing has contributed to the strength of our newest, latest, greatest mega-viruses and bacteria, not to mention made our immune systems less able to handle the bugs? People are dying from MRSA.

God forbid we even expose an inch of our skin to the sun! We should all slather ourselves in sunblock and avoid the sun like the plague. Otherwise, we'll all get skin cancer that will kill us. But then we'll have to live with the vitamin D deficiencies and rickets. Small price to pay, I guess.

If you get your kids vaccinated, you are exposing them to unnatural and toxic substances and that could cause them to develop autism, allergies or other disorders. But if you don't, they will all get chicken pox or the measles and have encephalitis, which will cause them to have other serious problems or die. Not to mention the fact that they will all grow up guilt riddled because of all the vaccinated children they infected with their germs. (Somebody please explain that one to me!)

If we don't eat a very specific and complete organic diet--some will tell us we are going to die. Have a craving for some KFC? Don't--the MSG will kill you. It's so important to eat the "right" things. It's so important to take the "right" vitamins. In another year or so, the "right" foods and vitamins will turn out to be bad for us, too.

The parabens in your hand lotion will probably kill you. Ditto on your lipstick. It might be best to just never bathe or use cosmetics at all.

Our tap water is contaminated. Buy a carbon filter. Wait, just read those can be harmful, too. Okay, so buy bottled water, but make sure the bottle is BPA free and the source is not some random municipal water supply (as is often the case with bottled water). Scratch that--just don't drink the water at all. It will kill you.

Have you spent your life ingesting and absorbing toxic chemicals and the "wrong" foods (as well as not having organic cotton sheets)? Are you sick now with cancer, autoimmune diseases or chronic allergies? Well, I hate to break it to you but you can't take any medications for it--they will kill you, too.

How are we all surviving, if this is all true? No matter what we do, it seems we are all hastening our own deaths. I, for one, am sick of all the fear surrounding just LIVING. How can we actually LIVE our lives if we are constantly fixated on all that can cause DEATH or harm us? The truth is that we will all die, no matter what we do.

Ugh, just thinking about all of this gives me a headache. I would take some Aleve, but it will probably kill me after trashing my kidneys, liver and stomach. Not to mention the fact that I can't wash it down with a full glass of water per the instructions because the water is contaminated.

Safety Fair

2008-10-19T10:06:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, there was a Safety Fair type thing at a nearby home improvement store. They had several activities going and Shawn and his co-workers were there handing out safety literature and other fun items. There was a petting zoo with cute little animals that we took the kids to. Here is Kai feeding the baby kangaroo.

Quinn looking on at the animals.

I gave some animal feed to Quinn to give to the animals, but she didn't quite get the whole feeding thing and ended up eating the animal feed herself. My guess is she thought it was some sort of funky granola.

Quinn's face after eating the animal feed. Johnny, one of Shawn's co-workers, said she would have a nice, shiny coat tomorrow.

Safety Fair 2

2008-10-19T09:58:00.000-05:00

Kai feeding some sort of cow-like animal at the petting zoo.

Shawn and Kai feeding the baby camel and baby zebra at the petting zoo.

Kai getting ready to feed some goats at the petting zoo.

A miniature bison at the petting zoo.

Safety Fair 3

2008-10-19T09:54:00.001-05:00

Shawn at the Fire Department's booth, sitting with Claire. You can see one of Shawn's co-workers, Duane, holding Kai on his lap. Kai has a face-painted mustache on!

H'ville's ladder truck.

Claire was tired and wasn't too happy about the whole experience.

A picture of the baby zebra and baby camel at the petting zoo. So cute!

Guys' Night Out

2008-10-19T09:51:00.000-05:00

Shawn took Kai out on Friday to a father/son type campfire and campout. It was something one of his friends was planning on doing with his son, so he invited Shawn and Kai along. Shawn had to get up early, so they didn't stay to camp, but they still went out for the evening of festivities and had a lot of fun. They roasted food and marshmallows, rode on a zipline, sat by the fire and other fun stuff. The kids were all given glowsticks so that the dads could keep track of them. Here is Kai with his glowstick.

The rest of the boys with their glowsticks. Doesn't this just say, "Lord of the Flies?"

Our Beans

2008-10-19T09:48:00.000-05:00

Wednesday morning I spent time getting some green beans from our garden ready for canning. This is the beans boiling before being put into jars for canning.

Here is the end result; 4 pints of canned green beans! It went better than my first attempt to can and I think it will be easier as I practice more.

A Busy Wednesday

2008-10-16T10:54:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was a day filled with all sorts of adventures, some good....some not so good.

I had taken some green beans from the garden and was going to can them. I got up and got the children going in the morning, then started working on laundry, dishes and getting the green beans prepped for canning. Once I got the green beans all prepped and in the canner, just awaiting the actual canning, I heard Claire waking up upstairs. We have wood floors which can be quite slippery and I was wearing socks because my feet were cold.

On the way back down the stairs, after getting Claire, my feet just came out from under me and I ended up bouncing down the last four stairs or so with little Claire in my arms! It was terrifying because I was trying to be careful not to drop her or let her hit the ground. What resulted was me not catching myself and my full weight on my lower back and butt. It was pretty unpleasant.

Right after it happened, I was panicked about Claire. I think on the very last step, she bumped her head a little bit. I tried to keep her head from hitting, so I think that she did not hit it very hard. Regardless, I was still checking her over in a frenzy. She cried for about half a minute until I nursed her, then she seemed 100% fine after that. That's when I noticed that I was not feeling so fine. My sacrum and tailbone were hurting really badly and I was not sure what to do. I called Shawn and asked him if he could come home for a minute. After he got there, he insisted that we go make sure everything was okay.

Our dear friends took our two older children for the afternoon while Shawn and I went to the ER. They were packed, so we were waiting for a couple hours before I was seen. In that time, I have to say the pain was pretty bad, which made me worry even further about my back and butt. I started thinking, "If I broke something, how am I going to manage the house, kids, etc?" It was a very unsettling feeling. I guess I didn't fully realize how much I NEED my body to be in working order to do my job!

They took several x-rays and thankfully, nothing was broken. It is just bruised and the doc said it will hurt for a while. He gave me some mega-ibuprofen and sent me home. He wanted me to have a heavier pain med (which at this point I considered taking), but I'm nursing Claire and the only time she had a bottle, she wouldn't take it (even though it was pumped milk). I decided it wouldn't be worth the hassle, and the ibuprofen seemed to be pretty effective. Unfortunately, my second dose last night made my stomach hurt really bad, so I think today I will be taking Aleve instead.

When we got home, Shawn restarted the canner and we did end up with 4 pints of green beans from our garden. We also had a 5th can, but it did not seal. I took a rest and Shawn's mom came out to help. This morning, she watched the older two kids so I could sleep in and rest a bit. Weird things hurts today. My neck feels completely strained and my arms are bothering me, too. I also have a little bit of aggravation in my upper back. It is really strange since I don't remember hitting those spots or injuring them. I guess when you fall like that, your body does all sorts of crazy things.

The whole experience made me very thankful for lots of things: Claire's safety and the fact that she did not get hurt, the fact that I did not get seriously hurt or break anything, my family who all were praying for me, my husband who takes such good care of me, friends who were willing to help us out when we needed it, good health insurance and x-ray technology, and a mother-in-law who is here helping me now so I don't have to jump immediately back into the swing of things. I am very thankful.

A Saturday Afternoon

2008-10-13T08:56:00.000-05:00

This weekend Shawn got the opportunity for an extra EMT shift--an instant 12 hours of overtime! Okay, well maybe not "instant" since he does actually have to work all 12 of those hours, but it's a guaranteed 12 hours. The down side is that he was at the station all of Saturday. Around lunch time, the kids and I went over to see him. They got to see the fire truck again and we all spent a little bit of time playing basketball outside the station.

Here's Shawn in the fire truck with his two miniature firefighters.

Quinn is too cool for school! The kids liked playing basketball. In their minds, it mostly consisted of running after the balls over and over.

Us hanging out.

Claire giving a little smile.

More Garden Stuff

2008-10-10T21:37:00.000-05:00

We got this bag full of green beans and all of these carrots from our garden this evening. There are so many green beans that I will have to try my hand again at canning. It will be good practice.

Kai and Quinn playing in the overgrown bean patch.

Shawn and Kai standing next to one of our dead sunflower stalks. This is to give you a reference of the size our sunflowers were when they were fully grown. They stood nearly 10 feet tall and the heads were 10-15 inches in diameter. I made lots of nice, roasted sunflower seeds from them.

Shawn got the idea to use the de-leafed stalk as a javelin. You can see it in the upper left corner of the picture--it's the blurry thing in the air.

Our Garden--October

2008-10-10T19:39:00.000-05:00

Here was what our garden looked like in July, back when we were only semi-neglecting it. Since then we let it grow over pretty much entirely and have only watered or weeded it once since Claire was born. Even then, we only did a mediocre job of weeding it. Yet, we can't seem to kill this thing. We still have beans growing like mad, some peppers, carrots and our tomatoes have been rejuvenated since we trimmed off the dead parts and weeded around them about a month ago.

This is what our sad excuse for a garden looked like this evening. Totally overgrown and full of weeds....yet we picked a few pounds of beans and lots of carrots today, along with a few tomatoes. We're starting to really seriously wonder about this soil. It just seems unnatural that things would be growing like this, in spite of the horrible garden tenders we have been. I mean, it's October for crying out loud!

Shawn pulling up carrots.

Shawn inspecting the pepper plants while the kids traipse around the beans.

Vanity and My Blue Jeans

2008-10-10T14:55:00.003-05:00

Woohoo!

Today was a pretty good day--at least I can say it was enlightening.

The kids are all napping quietly, so I got to actually take a leisurely shower, paint my toenails (after them being naked for a week!) and blow dry my hair. In a few more minutes, I hope to actually put on makeup today.

It has been 10 and 1/2 weeks since little Claire was born, so it was time. Yes, time to try on the dreaded pre-pregnancy jeans. Shockingly, they pretty much fit, even without me sucking anything in. The transitional post-partum jeans my sister gave me fit perfectly, but I still have the major "mummy tummy" (i.e., muffin top) look going. It will be a while yet before I have my normal waistline again. In the meantime, I'll be sticking to my hippy dippy floor-length skirts and my tightest pair of maternity jeans.

All-in-all, I think I am making good progress this post-partum. I am only about 8 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight and about 10 pounds away from where I'd like to be. I think this time things have come off much quicker; maybe because I have had a ginormous, vigorously nursing baby. Give it a couple more months of this kind of nursing and I'll be back to my normal self in no time.

I remember after I had Kai, I got the urge to try on my pre-pregnancy jeans about a month after he was born. I was so dismayed when I found that not only did they not fit, but I could (literally) not get them up past my thighs. I was really starting to wonder if women who go home from the hospital after birth in their pre-pregnancy clothes were just a myth. I'm convinced at this point that they probably are. Later on, those jeans which so tormented me one month post-partum became both my sister's and my favorite jeans. Sadly, they died after my post-partum with Quinn when they got too full of holes, after going through several years with Celeste and me.

A Poem from Grace

2008-10-07T09:12:00.003-05:00

October 4th marked three years since Shawn proposed, out there on the Land. In honor of the anniversary of our engagement, Grace wrote this sweet little poem for us.

"A moonlit walk
three years ago
God blessed their talks
Three kids to show
The moon's the same
So's God, you see
Two hearts are one
for eternity."

GEC

Lulu Update

2008-10-07T09:01:00.003-05:00

So last night was the first time we tried the deer meat we got from Lulu. I made sloppy joes for dinner with some of the ground venison. It's strange how the mind works because the meat tasted just like ground beef. There were a few bites that were just a teensy bit chewier than regular ground beef, but if I hadn't known it was deer meat, I wouldn't have thought anything of it.

I've always had my meat show up in a grocery store meat case, thankfully without knowing a single detail about its origin. I know intellectually it's cow meat and that some cow was raised, killed, butchered, packaged and sent to the grocery store. But I have no intimate knowledge of that process.

Last night Shawn told Kai in regards to our dinner, "See, son, this was out running around in the woods on Friday!" For some reason, my stomach turned and I about lost it! I was like....."Um, maybe we should only talk about that directly when we're NOT eating it?" He thought my reaction was pretty funny.

All in all, I'm very thankful for the deer meat, but it will take a while to get my head wrapped around having actually seen all the steps (except the shooting part) in this meat's travels. Yuck.

Our Weekend and Our Dear Deer Lulu

2008-10-06T08:43:00.001-05:00

This weekend was a deer hunting season, so Shawn wanted to go hunting. He invited my brother-in-law, Jamas, to go, too. Since our guys were going to be at the Cherri Orchard hunting all weekend, Celeste and I met up there, too, with all of our kids. Well, since the grandkids were going to be there, my mom and dad decided they'd make the trip, too. It ended up being quite the gathering!

Shawn and I went up with our kids a day earlier than everybody else and he went out on his first run on Friday morning. I got up with the kids around 7:30 or so. Shawn came in around 8:30, elated and.....bloody. Yuck. He had spotted 7 deer that morning and managed to shoot one with one clean shot straight through both lungs. I'm not sure what it is about men and killing things, but Shawn was pretty excited.

Here he is after he arrived, covered in blood.

More bloodiness.

Okay, so you're probably wondering why he's all bloody. He shot the deer on the back 40, so he had to carry her on his shoulders for a long way to the pasture. He had already gutted her so that the blood would drain out and it would keep the meat from becoming too "gamey." The result is that he looked like a bloodthirsty maniac.

Once he got inside, Shawn, Kai and I went in the van to the pasture to pick up the deer. When Kai saw her lying there gutted, he said, "Oh, Daddy---that deer has two big ouchies! We need to fix him! You didn't mean to shoot it, Daddy. It was an accident." When we explained that he had shot the deer on purpose so we can eat it, Kai still maintained that Daddy hadn't meant to shoot it and that it was an accident. He didn't seem disturbed by it, though.

After we drove the deer up to the Cherri Orchard, Shawn hung her up to drain. Here's a picture of him with his deer (and poor Bo).

Later that day, Shawn prepared the deer for butchering. We spent some time that day and the next preparing all the meat Shawn got. It looks like we will have some pretty good meat for a while now. Shawn and I guessed we probably got about 50 pounds of meat, mostly in ground venison, but also in some steaks and jerky meat, too.

Never would I have thought that I would be content (nay, excited!) to handle dead deer meat. I helped Shawn package it as he ground up the meat. Afterwards I decided that since we will be eating this same deer's meat for many months that perhaps we should give her a name so that we can remember to be thankful that she gave her life that we could eat. Shawn decided Lulu sounded like a nice name, so Lulu it is. We labeled all of the freezer bags, "Lulu."

It was a good weekend. Jamas, Cel, their kids and my parents all came up and Joe also came down for Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Despite several more trips out to hunt, the guys did not get any more deer after Lulu. Shawn took a long shot at a deer Sunday morning, but it was a bit too far. Celeste and I got the chance to hang out with each other and I got to meet her new purse that she is currently in love with. The kids got the chance to have a blast getting into mud and playing with toys that were a part of Grandma Gabriel's "sociological experiment."

There are two more deer seasons this year and I think Shawn will probably go hunt for at least one of those. I'll keep you posted!

Gettysburg

2008-10-02T10:02:00.000-05:00

The NFA is near Gettysburg, so Shawn and some of his classmates went there for some sightseeing on the last day of the conference. Here is a canon Shawn took a picture of.

A view of the countryside at Gettysburg.

Some tents that were set up as people flocked there for the weekend for reenactments over the weekend.

The inside of one of the tents of the reenactment participants. I guess they take this stuff pretty seriously!

Pictures from NFA

2008-10-02T09:58:00.000-05:00

Here is Shawn with his class members at a class picnic they had.

The location of the picnic, a log cabin on NFA grounds.

A beautiful creek near the log cabin.

Later the group went to the pub at the NFA and of course Shawn HAD to do some karaoke. Apparently he kept getting all sorts of requests. He said some went well, some.....not so well. Either way, he had a good time.

A Pink Fire Truck??

2008-10-02T09:56:00.000-05:00

This fire truck travels around as part of a breast cancer awareness campaign. The firefighters who ride on this truck actually have pink turnout gear and everything. They have been touring around with it and people sign it for survivors that they know.

The pink turnout gear I was talking about.

Shawn signed the truck and put his aunt Mary's name above his since she is a cancer survivor. More recently, his aunt Jani also had breast cancer that she is currently being treated for.

A Burned House

2008-10-02T09:52:00.000-05:00

At the National Fire Academy, Shawn also got to see a house that the NFA procured after it experienced a fire. They moved the house to their site as it was after the fire, leaving everything intact. The fire was actually apparently contained to the kitchen, so the rest of the damage you see in the following pictures was primarily from heat and smoke that radiated outward. I guess I didn't realize that fires could do so much damage, even in areas they did not actually burn.

The first picture shows several placards on the wall that shows what the different temperatures were for those levels during the fire. They can tell by the type of damage that was done to the walls and furniture in that area.

A burned cabinet in the house.

The kitchen area where the fire actually occurred.

A TV in a bedroom that completely melted during the fire.

More Safety for the Kids

2008-10-02T09:48:00.000-05:00

This is a large dollhouse they use to teach children about how smoke moves within a house when it is on fire. The side of it is glass and they put smoke into the house so that people can watch how it spreads from room to room.

After they have put smoke in the far left living room in the dollhouse. You can see it spreading to the hallways and kitchen.

They even had a little "Safety Town" with a garage full of go-carts and tiny gas stations (pictured below).

Safety for the Kids

2008-10-02T09:44:00.001-05:00

Last week, Shawn went to a community education conference for firefighters and other fire department employees at the National Fire Academy in Maryland. He got a lot of really great ideas while he was there and I wanted to post some pictures from what he did and saw. This first batch of pictures is from an area they had set aside to teach kids safety in fires and other situations. They had various learning stations set up for the kids to walk through and experiment with.

This shows the kids the different damage that was done to this door based on the temperatures it reached while there was a nearby fire.

They have a little tunnel for kids to practice crawling through smoke in the event that a fire happens.

A bicycle safety course they have.

The Girls

2008-10-02T09:38:00.000-05:00

Shawn holding Claire at dinner so mommy could eat!

Quinn after eating....I can't even remember what we had that night, but it was messy.

Claire after falling asleep nuzzling Shawn's fingers.

A picture Kai took of Quinn. I thought it was pretty good, so I had to post it.

Growing Up

2008-09-12T16:37:00.000-05:00

Kai has started playschool, a program the Harrisonville School District does for three year olds. He is going twice a week for just a couple hours in the afternoon. He has been pretty excited about it for about 6 weeks and seemed to really enjoy it. He loves being around other kids, so he had a blast! Here's him posing outside of his classroom on his first day of school!

Kai arriving at school on his first day. He's so excited he can hardly contain himself.

Scoping out his classroom.

Making new friends at school. He jumped right into working on a puzzle with one of his classmates within the first three minutes or so of arrival.

It's amazing to think that only 3 and 1/2 years ago he was just a little baby like Claire. He couldn't do anything but poop, cry and eat. But now he is talking, running, playing, learning the ins and outs of social interaction. The time really does fly. I know everybody says that, but it really is so true.

All Wrapped Up

2008-09-12T00:22:00.000-05:00

Here's me trying out the new wrap my dear sister sent me. I didn't get it quite right the first time, though, and Claire's excitement for the wrap ended pretty quickly. I think it was cutting off circulation to her legs. I re-did it after Shawn took these photos and carried her around for a while. That trial went much better and she enjoyed being carried around everywhere.

I know my eyes are awesomely closed in this photo, but this is the best one of Claire with her eyes open.

Starting to lose patience.....

Now completely sad and miserable. You can see Quinn in the background nuzzling her blankie.

Bumbo Sitting

2008-09-02T11:39:00.000-05:00

Claire looking up at Shawn while sitting in the Bumbo.

In the kitchen, sitting in the Bumbo while I cook dinner.

She likes being able to be up and to see everybody. Her neck isn't quite strong enough to sit in it for very long, but she still seems to enjoy it.

Our Recent Activities

2008-09-02T11:36:00.000-05:00

Claire has started smiling a lot. Sometimes it takes some coaxing, but she will give us big smiles. Right before this picture was taken, she was smiling broadly, but it ended up being just this little smirk by the time we could get the camera.

Kai waves goodbye as Shawn heads out to a call. The call was a tree stump that was full of bees that someone had set on fire. Somehow the tree stump ended up falling into the road?? Anyway, Shawn went to put out a bee-filled stump that was on fire.

Kai took this picture of me. Pretty good, huh? Too bad I have no makeup on and am wearing baggy track pants under my nightgown. Okay, so I didn't get fashion sense as one of my gifts.

Quinn's eye seemed irritated the other night and her bangs were so long they were getting in her eyes. I thought that perhaps her hair was irritating her eye, so I had Shawn cut her bangs short. It was very difficult to hold her down and cut the bangs, so this is the end result. It looks pretty bad. We feel pretty sorry for her. Turns out, it wasn't her hair irritating her eyes after all. She and Claire both have some sort of eye infection. Today we will be going to the doctor.

After the Storm

2008-08-29T20:02:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned in my previous blog entry, Shawn was busy at work last night after a storm downed power lines and trees all over town. Here are a few pictures he took today of some of the damage.

This tree fell into the parking lot of the firehouse. In fact, that is one of the fire department's city vehicles underneath the tree. Interestingly, the guy that Shawn worked extra for had been parked in that spot earlier in the day. When he left to attend his son's school event (which is why Shawn was subbing for him), he moved his car. When he came back, he couldn't believe his narrow miss.

The back side of the tree in the firehouse lot.

Another downed tree in H'ville.

More wind damage.

On an amazing side note, our ginormous sunflowers (probably 10-12 feet tall) did not break or get damaged in the storm!

Trying to Make it Another Day

2008-08-29T13:21:00.003-05:00

Life as a stay-at-home mom is not all that glamorous. We are expected to look after everybody in the house, to nurture, comfort, feed, clean up after and be there for several human beings. This is all in addition to our outside social commitments, extended family and such.

Yesterday was rough. Shawn was supposed to work an extra three hours after work to cover for a guy he works with. Nearing the end of three hours, a big storm rolled in, downing power lines and bringing with it lightning that struck a house in H'ville. Shawn was called out with his captain to fight a structure fire. It was a relatively small and easy to put out fire, but afterwards they had many calls due to downed power lines, lightning strikes, fallen trees and fire alarms. Shawn said in all they had 23 calls to the Emergency Management Services department last evening.

Being the ever dutiful wife (ha!), I thought I would wait up for him. Okay, so really there was a late episode of Cold Case Files I was watching. He came home at almost 1, exhausted. I, too, was exhausted as the kids had been very demanding all day. We lay down in bed and Shawn said he wasn't feeling quite well. Fast forward about 30 minutes and Shawn is majorly laid up in the bathroom with some kind of food poisoning (or perhaps the exposure to the smoke of the fire and working 16 straight hours?). He felt better after his bathroom trip, but I was wired and worried that my kids or I would get sick, too. I guess it was something he ate at work because all of us are okay. Today he is much better.

But of course since I got about 3 hours of sleep (Claire slept fretfully), today the kids are whiny and cranky. I'm still exhausted, but I know that if I lay down I will be needed by somebody again.

I have to remember over and over that God is the only reason I can do any of this. I need Him so much right now because sometimes days are a struggle to get through. I know this is only a season of my life and thankfully, there are times when it doesn't seem like so much work. There are days when I so love and enjoy being a mother and a wife; running an entire household, tending to those that need tending.

Lord, help me get through this day that doesn't feel quite so warm and fuzzy.

Our Garden--The Saga Continues

2008-08-28T11:41:00.001-05:00

Carrots we picked from our garden last night.

Okay, so our garden has been overrun by weeds. Having been in my third trimester throughout the growing season, then post-partum, tending the garden wasn't high on my priority list. Add in Shawn working lots of overtime and you get a completely weed-infested crazy jungle of a garden. It is really not pretty right now.

Last night we pulled down our corn stalks. We have neglected watering them for a while, so they were withered and dry. We did manage to get some off of them a while back, but they are done for the season. This weekend we're thinking of pulling down the bean plants, which are also done and trimming the dead parts off of the sunflower stalks and our still (amazingly) yielding tomato and pepper plants. Once we weed the carrot patch, we should be able to get a fair amount of carrots from there, too!

In the meantime, though, I cannot post any pictures of the garden as it is much too embarassing to show to anyone. Once we get it looking a little more presentable, I will post some.

So far from our garden we have had:

Potatoes
Carrots
Lettuce
Corn

Tomatoes
Broccoli
Cauliflower
A few teeny strawberries
Green beans
Peppers

....and coming soon, we hope we should be able to have some sunflower seeds! Truly amazing. I guess all my praying over our garden paid off!

Pictures soon!!

More Pictures of the Kids

2008-08-28T11:34:00.000-05:00

Kai "creatively" using his pliers.

Kai and Quinn check out their new sister. Kai decides a kiss is appropriate.

My three babies.

Claire contemplating the greater mysteries of life.

Random Pictures of the Kids

2008-08-28T11:30:00.000-05:00

Kai earns 10 cents by helping to vacuum the playroom. He thought it was great fun--more noise is better!

Claire sits propped on the couch.

Claire watches Kai.

Quinn hogs the camera.

Daughters

2008-08-21T22:38:00.000-05:00

Claire sleeping in the stroller at the park. She's already over 11 pounds at 3 weeks of age!

Quinn gives Shawn a smile as she swings.

The Kids Lately

2008-08-21T22:35:00.000-05:00

Kai helped me make a cake the other night. He even got to have some of the batter! Here he is enjoying his treat.

At the park with Quinn and Claire.

Our three (!!!) children at the park.

Daddy helps Quinn do a pull up. This girl is strong and has a serious grip!

The Toughest Job I've Ever Had

2008-08-19T15:13:00.002-05:00

Motherhood demands so much from us. That hilarious piece of parenting advice, "Try to nap when the baby naps" goes completely out the window once it's your third child. That's what I tried to do the other day once the house got all quiet at nap time. Just as I dozed off to sleep baby #3 started crying emphatically, quickly followed by #2. #1 thought this was all good fun and started talking and yelling to his little sisters; apparently he had not napped at all.

You can't fight it. It is about complete and total surrender almost all the time. No nap for me. My "quiet time" is constantly punctuated by "Mommy...mommy....mommy." Whoever said, "It's nice to be needed" didn't understand this level of need.

The standards seem impossibly high. Women are judged as mothers by everyone. Society, their families, their in-laws, friends, other women, other moms......the list goes on and on. Some days I feel just on the verge of throwing in the towel. But I can't. I have to keep going. There is no quitting this job; no two weeks' notice.

And then there are those magical evenings like tonight where Mommy and Daddy end up singing silly songs and clapping to entertain the kids after dinner. Kai says something so adorable that makes our hearts melt. I forget all about him whining or having a temper tantrum earlier in the day. I forget the stress I felt just a few hours ago because of the kids. Sometimes they just give you this smile that lets you know they love you and in their own childish way--they appreciate the investment we're making into them. When I tuck him into bed on nights like these, I forget why I thought this job was tough in the first place. I breathe a little sigh of the relief that another day has passed successfully.

Then I thank God that I have the toughest job in the world......

.....and pray for what will come my way tomorrow.

A New Experience

2008-08-14T16:37:00.003-05:00

Last night we:

Picked tomatoes from our horribly overgrown garden, then de-stemmed, boiled, ice bathed, peeled, cut, squeezed, de-seeded and strained them. We washed canning jars, lids and rims, then heated them in hot water until ready for canning. Shawn ran to the grocery store to grab the appropriate herbs needed. I browned some meat. We simmered and boiled the entire mixture of tomatoes, herbs and meat until it had boiled down and looked somewhat like spaghetti sauce. This took far longer than it sounds like it should.

After the sauce was ready, we poured it into the available jars, then placed them in the pressure canner. Since it was my first try at pressure canning anything, I didn't realize how high the heat had to be to get the pressure going. We waited and waited for it to start working, but it took forever. When it finally did, the pressure regulator was working too fast, so we had to work with our wacky stove until the temperature was right. That, too, took way longer than it sounds like it should. THEN we had to process the jars in the pressure canner for 1 hour. By the time they were done, it was after 1 AM. All told, last night we spent about 5 hours working on and off on this pet project.

What did we yield? Well, a very, very disappointing 2 pints of spaghetti sauce and one pint of tomato juice (which neither of us like to drink). And something happened because one of them didn't seal properly. So, basically we did all that work for one single jar of spaghetti sauce. We will be able to use the other one we made, but we can't store it for long like we can the other one.

On an positive note, the tomatoes were all organic and came from our garden, as were the green peppers we threw in there. The flavor is great, too! I imagine once you get good at the whole canning thing it goes a little better.

Getting Back to Life

2008-08-13T00:11:00.000-05:00

Claire sprawled out, sleeping. (This picture is for you, Mom.)

Grame came and stayed with us this week. Monday was her birthday, so Sunday night we had a little birthday party for her. Kai helps her blow out her candles.

Kai holds his littlest sister.

Cherri Grandparents and Claire

2008-08-13T00:06:00.000-05:00

Grame Cherri meets Claire on the day she was born.

Grandpa and Grame admiring the newest Cherri Pip. Note how Claire's legs stick way out of this newborn outfit. I only packed newborn outfits because I didn't anticipate having a huge baby!

Grandpa holds Claire.

Claire Elizabeth.

Firehouse Tour 2

2008-08-13T00:00:00.000-05:00

Kai and Quinn on the back of the fire engine.

Me with the kids. Note that I was still pregnant in this shot.

Here I am at the fire station almost due with Claire.

Belly shot!

Firehouse Tour

2008-08-12T23:57:00.000-05:00

Shawn shows Kai and Quinn one of the fire trucks.

Already he wants to drive!

Shawn and Quinn at the fire station.

Gotcha covered!

At the Pool

2008-08-12T23:53:00.000-05:00

I realized that in all the bustle, I had some really cute pictures of the kids that I have yet to publish on my blog. These pictures come from before Claire was born, so enjoy the blast from the past.

Here is Kai at the Community Center pool.

Quinn loves water!

So excited!

Our water babies at the pool.

Claire Elizabeth

2008-07-29T21:25:00.003-05:00

Claire Elizabeth Cherri
July 27th, 2008
2:55 AM
Born at home with family present
10 pounds, 3 ounces
22 inches long

Around 10:30 AM on Saturday, July 26th, I started having regular contractions that were of a different quality than the warm-up labor I'd been experiencing on and off the previous week. By mid-afternoon, I was pretty sure this was IT.

During labor, I hung out with my family. We played games, went for walks, I sat in the birth tub and we spent time together as a family. I so enjoyed having everyone there supporting and loving me as I brought our third child into the world. Thanks so much to all of you!

After having pretty strong active labor contractions from about 7 PM onward, I was ready to push around 2:20 AM. After slowly starting to breathe Claire into the world, her shoulders became stuck and after a few tense minutes (that seemed like forever), she was born with some assistance from Daddy and Grandma Gabriel at 2:55 AM on July 27th in her grandparents' bathtub.

She was huge! 10 pounds and 3 ounces of beautiful, healthy baby girl. Since then she has been resting and nursing. Everyone has fallen in love.

In Labor

2008-07-29T21:24:00.000-05:00

Me in the "birth tub" at my in-laws' house. I was in early/mid labor at this point and could still smile in between contractions and whatnot. I had just passed up about 5 centimeters, and things were getting intense, so I got into the tub. The tub made things soooo much better, as you can tell here.

Shawn and Cel keep me company during a contraction.

In labor.

Labor Games

2008-07-29T21:20:00.000-05:00

Shawn acting out his Guesstures clue.

Theresa playing Guesstures during labor.

Celeste acts out, too....

Even I get into the fun while in my labor tub. This is the clue, "birdcage," for those interested. Right after this the fun and games were over, though, because labor started picking up and I felt a bit nauseated. I couldn't continue.....

It's a Girl!

2008-07-29T21:12:00.000-05:00

Getting very close now.......

Claire's first picture--immediately after the moment of birth.

Big baby girl!