my new friend

I have a new friend. Terry might not be pleased w/it. Snap certainly isn't pleased w/it. You see, it's a cat. =) That's why this picture is taken from the outside, where I'm hangin w/my new friend. He keeps half yelping and running around to the front door to scratch at it. He's all grown up. He's killed 2 black birds in the last few days...

Did you know that I've always loved cats? Well, less than I used to since my kids came along, but still a lot more than dogs. Yes, Snap is not my favorite addition to the B's household. I like my furniture better than him, probably.

We always had a cat growing up, from before I was even born. They still have a cat, Garfield. Lumpy old punk. Before that was Little Bits who died of kitty cancer. Garfield was the only kitten of hers who we couldn't sell. Before him was Cocoa who hated us, and for good reason. We were all quite young and abusive when she was around. Before her was Cuddles. Before her was a white one that was a fighter cat. Terrible looking thing from the pictures.

I was always so scratched up. I remember once my Gramma K telling me that I should not hold the cat for a while so I wouldn't have any scratches on my arms and legs for my pretty Easter dress.

At any rate, cats make a place feel like home to me. When I walk by houses here and see a cat lounging around outside, I kind of sigh and wish I had one.

Terry is allergic, sort of. He got used to Garfield when we dated, but didn't care for the sniffles he got and the cat hair that covered everything. I guess I don't miss the hair all over my clothes. I don't even have to worry when I wear black.

We got Snap b/c we thought Noah needed a play mate. He's good for that. Noah wrestles Snap instead of his sister. I'm just not that fond on him. He's so needy. Cats are smarter and more independent. When Noah hurts Snap, he just takes it and comes back for more. A cat would have more sense and would hide and scratch. Take that kid!

So anyway, I came home from a walk w/the kids to this little friend peeking out of our garage:

A nice, skinny, little, friendly, calico, kitten-looking cat. What pretty colors eh? My kids were immediately excited but the cat was shy of them. Evie would have waited around a long time for that kitty to show itself again. So I put them to bed and...

...fed the cat. Yes, I did the thing I'm not supposed to do. I fed that cat b/c I liked it so much.

Look at those pretty green eyes! I brought Snap out to see what he would do and as soon as I got him on the lead, he barked and she hissed. So yeah, my dreams are dashed already.

This kitty must be a mother. She sure is skinny though and not in a hurry to get back to her babies. Maybe they're grown...

Eat up kitty. Who knows what Terry will say when he gets home from a meeting at church. Probably laugh...

I like my little friend, though I don't know if we have a future or not. I dunno though. While I wrote this she wandered off and when I went to look for her, she was under the Malibu in the garage =). I like her.

chilly days

This week has been too chilly for swimming in the pool, waking to the park or taking any unnecessary trip outside (mostly b/c I've been feeling lazy due to the overcast sky). So what have we done?

We've play inside. Yes, except in the photo to the left, Terry is home from work sick, which is another reason we're inside. He's holding his belly while he helps Tori with her Sunday school lesson she is to present. Terry is supposed to preach on Sunday!

Anyway, we've been inside a lot this week and I thought I'd show some of what we've been up to.

.

Tuesday we did venture out only b/c my friend Karla visited w/ 2 of her kids, Grant and Savanna. Grant tried unsuccessfully to model and teach Noah how to swing...

Noah can now put together this Thomas, Bertie and James puzzle ALL by himself!

Evie has taken after Noah's and flips through books a lot. This afternoon Noah dumped all of them out and they just sat around like this for a while.

I wish Nebraska United Way donated books to kids like in RC. Most of Noah's books are from that.

Evie will get bored during the day, go over to the book shelf here and flip through books all on her own. She doesn't have much patience for me to read to her yet. She wants to do it all by herself...

Queen of the mountain of books.

"Wait," mooed the cow, "I was going to give you some milk for letting me keep my hay," or something like that.

wedding outfit...*again

I'm a dork. I accidentally uploaded all these photos to the left margin. Oh well, I'm not changing it.

I say *again b/c I already posted this on facebook for better communication amounst the wedding parties. But I'm posting it here so others who care, if they're out there =), can see it too...not to mention those of the same who are not on facebook.


Terry was at Walmart yesterday browsing around in order to pass the time for his dinner break from a conference. Actually, he got our watch batteries fixed and then looked at some dress clothes for Noah at my request.

Can you believe Walmart had nice stuff? Well, I was surprised. I thought I was going to have to go to JCPenney or Herbergers w/the boy in tow which is a sure fire way to crankiness if there every was a way. That or Ebay. But God knew our circumstances and brought Terry to this outfit - the shirt was the last size and the tie is perfect for Shari's wedding. So yeah, we're pleased and even more so since everyone (Shari and Ana) thinks the outfit will work out.

Is he grumpy or... ...just really really cute. GQ right? =)

The tie fits in better than this shot. The shirt is too tight for his neck, but we'll make it work. I did make it fit the collar better.

The shoes.


Evie was trying to tell me that she was tired. She was also running a fever so she really was needing a nap - a 3 hour one to be exact, which is what she took.

Here's Noah w/my ring bearer pillow. Evie is melting.

See? She's totally had it. It didn't help that Noah kept flinging the pillow in her face...

half pump it up Noah

Terry is gone all of today for a pre-marital counseling conference. So we headed to the playground w/Snap to get our minds off of the loneliness (he usually comes home for lunch, not to mention dinner... Snap is depressed b/c Jerry and Shari left and my dad before them).

We've been trying to teach Noah how to pump himself to swing by explaining it to him, telling him when to do what and by example. However, I think he would learn best from another kid. Absolutely. You know, like at recess?

So he wants me to push him on this huge swing and I have to put my whole body weight into it. He likes to swing forEVER. I mean, for like a half hour or more would be ideal for him. One day my arms were sore. So, like I said, we've been trying to teach him. I tell him when to put his legs "Out" and "now In." He can do it, he just has the timing wrong and then he gets frustrated. He doesn't feel it yet.

So I pushed him for a long enough while and then insisted he swing himself if he wanted more. He wasn't into that. He went to each of the six swings in turn and asked me to push him. I pushed him once initially and then tried to teach him. He just whined and cried and yelled. Consequently, he's having a nap now. =) We were unsuccessful at today's lesson.

He's just the same as when he was a baby. He never wanted to hold the bottle or feed himself w/a spoon. He just wanted me to do it. Still, Terry mostly fills his spoon w/food b/c he's lazy like that. He always wants me to take his clothes off. But maybe I'm lazy too. I mean, I'm the one who doesn't want to push him for a half hour...

He still says for a lot of things, "Can't do it. You doooooo it." He exerts minimal effort in the hope that I will do it for him. He gets frustrated easily. He started saying that too, while we were gone in Mexico. My mom was busy making dinner in the crock pot at lunch and was just about done when his show finished and it was TIME for lunch. He asked her repeatedly for his peanut butter jelly sandwich, to which she said something like, Just a moment, I'm almost done, Be patient. She told him several times b/c he asked several times and he finally said "I'm frustrated!!!!!"

What a boy!

Here is the girl enjoying the bridge.

Evie enjoys stairs, which is what she's going down in this shot, b/c we only have one in our house.

This is the first swing, the one I was pushing him on. That's why he's so high...

Why not let the girl play in the puddle? Wouldn't you want to if you were 14months?

Snap dog!

The boy getting a rock out of his shoe.

Neat shadows - she's right inside a triangle!

That's as high as he wanted to go. Not a thrill seeker that one.

Hey, there's me. I'm never in this blog!

Cuteness

souvenirs

I don't even know if I've spelled "souvenirs" correctly. You'd think I'd know after working in Mt. Rushmore's gift shop for 5 summers. I guess that's what spell check is for...

At any rate. As I mentioned in my Mexico post, we didn't do anything touristy in Orizaba. Therefore, we didn't have a chance to get any Mexican toy souvenirs for Noah and Evie. We ended up buying a couple things at the Mexico City airport. Lame I know, but at least it was in Mexico.

Noah got an "authentic" Mexican soccer jersey. We try to get him to like soccer b/c Terry likes it and would like to play it w/him and he could play it at his age, but he really doesn't care for it that much (sorry I said "like" so much).

The back. Oh yeah, we got Evie a wooden, carved maracca.

I'll throw one of Evie up too since she's so cute. She's wearing an outfit that my friend Olivia got her when she was born. It was too small so I purposely brought it back to RC w/me and exchanged it for a larger size. There, she's worn it!

This is too cute. Noah was giving Evie all these little kisses. It was kind of like a game. It made her laugh, which made him laugh, which made him want to do it more. There's hardly anything better than hearing them laugh - so cute, especially Noah who rarely lets one escape his serious lips.

water

The day after we returned from Mexico, the kids were starting to get bored and Terry was at work. I grabbed the pool out of the shed, my dad cleaned it out, I half filled it w/hot water and cold so it was very comfortable and the fun began.

Evie had her little shoes on and they prevented many accidents that could have happened in the pool, but they also enabled her to try to climb up the slide, which she couldn't really handle. Here is her sliding back down

I turned off the water but Evie was trying to get more water out =)
Too too cute. I think she just gets cuter and cuter every day that goes by.

Yaaayyyy! Daddy's home!

more "jelly"

So a couple days ago Noah fell and bled from his knee again, though I can't even remember the particular circumstances. I do remember that wherever we were, I hugged him and told him everything would be alright - when we got home I would clean it up and put on a band-aid. I figured, most kids like band-aids b/c they make things better, even though we've never taught him thus. Usually, a kiss from mommy or daddy suffices.

Well, Noah didn't like my plan. He said, No band-aid, I want Snap dog!

Ohhhhh, riiiiiiight. You'll have to read that linked post above to get the whole story... The last time Noah bumped his knee, Snap cleaned it up w/his super tongue. And Noah now wanted Snap to heal him puppy style again. Well, poor mother that I am, I let it happen. Noah chased Snap around and led him to his hurt knee, with a little help from me, until Snap had licked it enough for Noah to deem it clean. And I even forgot to visit his knee w/ at least some water and a band-aid later... That's why God gave us immune systems if you ask me =).

the huge Mexico post

Man, I tell you it took like an hour to upload all these Mexico pictures. We took quite a few, and even more video. Terry is putting together a Mexico video so that is still to come later.


Anyway, we went to the Mexican state, Vera Cruz to the city of Orizaba and La Perla. Tomorrow it will be a week already since we left. It's hard to believe. I was a little nervous about going but when it was time to come home, I was quite a bit sad. I might have even cried a few tears, but my poor sleep the night before might have had something to do with that. At any rate, we had a great time w/our friends Adam and Krista Crumpton who are missionaries (Krista is also 9 months pregnant). I especially enjoyed having someone to visit w/all day long and Krista was a lot of fun. I was never alone and sort of forgot that I had kids... Yikes right? No, I shouldn't probably feel guilty. It was great to see our kids when we got back but it was also really nice to have a break. =)


We didn't do any touristy things; we mostly just helped them in what they needed done - packing, moving from La Perla to Orizaba, unpacking and cleaning. La Perla is kinda like a suburb of Orizaba and is closer to the mountains. It's more remote and small townish. It's also crazy Catholic. They had these weird processions for "the Virgin" which they worship. Krista said that when Catholicism started down there it got mixed w/their Aztec idol worship so they're pretty much worshipping Mary.


So anyway, they were moving from La Perla b/c no one was responding to the gospel and they wanted to live in town to have more of a community. Their house in La Perla was HUGE and the one in Orizaba wasn't quite finished when we got there but is mostly done now.

Friday: Crazy processional which pleases the virgin. The poor kids play drums and they march silently up the street. Oh yeah, it rained a lot. It was like a rain forest.

Friday: Our first visit to the new house. Terry is taking a shot of Adam and I through the roof. Adam is planning on covering this opening w/some sort of acrylic thing.

Friday: The view from the roof. The first opening is what you just saw me under, and the further one is another opening that they're leaving open. It's where their washer and dryer are. Apparently it's normal for Mexican houses to be so open like this.

Friday: The view from the roof. Orizaba is surrounded by mountains and was clouded frequently on during our stay. Half the year is the rainy season and half is hot. The rain was just beginning when we were there.

Friday: The view behind the new house. That is a shack leaning against their new house.
Friday: We got some really great tacos from this man, Constantine. They were so good.

Saturday: Kids class at the old house. We walked around La Perla for an hour to recruit kids to come to the final kids bible class. The woman on is Rachelle (we ate at her house later) and the man is Alex (we went to the mountains w/him and he taught this class w/his friend Ed).

Sunday: Terry was so nice and did the huge pile if dishes we had generated.

The church in Orizaba that Adam and Krista attend.

Tuesday: We went to the mountains w/a fellow missionary named Marcus, pictured here. They go once a week to evangelize these small, poor villages. He said in the video there are 40 villages in those mountains, they had visited 7 and only one person had accepted Christ... It was crazy poor. We visited w/a family and the two women had 17 kids b/w them and actually listened to the gospel message Marcus gave, which is uncommon. He will visit them again until they drive him away like they commonly do, w/the threat of violence.

Tuesday: Terry and I posing next to a small creek w/2 other men that accompanied Marcus to the mountains to evangelize. They are elders in the church, not missionaries.

Tuesday: The old house. We stopped on our way back to town from the mountains to get some more of the Crumptons things. Terry is in the door way.

Tuesday: Ray and Rachelle. We ate at their house on Monday. Adam made his special hamburgers. The beef down there is so lean that he adds bacon to it to make it more juicy. They were good. Ray also sang for us and played w/guitar. He was so passionate that it brought tears to my eyes. They said becoming Christians saved their marriage.

Tuesday: The view of the new house from the outside.

Tues.: The neighbor roof dog: Joker, as we so fondly called him. They have to keep the dogs on the roofs sometimes b/c there is no where else for them. Dogs are crazy down there. There are so many strays. We called this one Joker b/c he looked like he was smiling. Terry found it was b/c he had no teeth!

Tuesday: We ate at another church families house this evening - Allagandro and his wife Puela (?). She served us "stubborn mule tacos"... They were pretty good but made Terry sick the next day =( Puela complained that I ate only crumbs and needed fattening up. There was just so much grease and my appetite was just gone.

Tuesday: Here are our hosts.

Wednesday: The stubborn mules are working a number on poor Terry. That's why he's laid out on the love seat. There's Alistair, who is 2 and is their firstborn. You can see the stairs that lead to the roof. The door on the left is to the half bath and the door to the right is Adam and Krista's room. To the left of the bathroom is the entertainment room where Terry and I slept on the futon.

Here is the full bath, which is to the right of their bedroom.

To the right of that bathroom is Alistair's room. For now it's just a toy room.

Here is the view from Alistair's room. Adam is working on a new lock for the front doors. You can see the open area beyond him. The rain will just come in and there's a drain in there to take it away.

This is what you see when you come in the front doors. It's supposed to be for a car to park in... The window on that wall is to the room we stayed in. You can see Terry writhing in pain to the right =)

Here is the view to the rest of the house. Beyond those doors in the dining room and in the following room is the kitchen w/it's new cupboards a surprise for Krista, who has never had such a luxury in Mexico.

The dining room table and Krista fixing Alistair's lunch.

To the right of the table is this room. It's sort of a catch-all room now, but will be Krista's craft area.

Nice eh? I should menion that when Adam found this place, it wasn't finished and there was even plants growing through this window!

Another view.

This is the rest of the kitchen. It will be Adam's office.

Pregnant Krista. I told her I wanted a picture of her belly. =)

I amused myself playing paparazzi w/the making out neighbors. Krista said she was tempted to tell the girl to be careful or else she would end up like her w/a big belly.

Terry went to the market w/Adam while we were at a surprise baby shower at the church. He bought my mom a couple souvenir bowls.

See the bowls and the woman who made them?

And that is our trip.