First Day of School...or Not

My buttermilk pie I made this weekend for Sunday lunch guests. [Judy, I have big shoes to fill, but I'm trying my hardest :) ]

She didn't approve of the first picture, so she posed for a second...

With tears in my throat Adeline and I headed to her first day of arts & crafts school. She will be attending three days a week for about 3 hours at a time. Two of the days I will be taking Spanish classes at the same time.

A good church friend helps head-up the school's program. I got Adeline all signed up and asked the director "Where do I put her bag" and she said "Oh, the school doesn't start until TOMORROW!" Although I was the one who arrived with tears, Adeline was leaving with tears. I was thrilled she was excited about it though.

She then spent the next two hours at a coffee shop with me while I was learning Spanish. Minus going to the restroom once every 20 minutes, she did very well. We then picked up Sarah from the vet where she got a hysterectimy this past weekend and headed home.

Family Conference Weekend

We had a WONDERFUL weekend at the beach! Our church had a family conference on "Being a Family that makes Glorifying God a Priority" and it was AWESOME! A much needed boost to our spiritual walks with God.
Here are a couple of pictures I took during the week before we left.
Adeline was fingerpainting under Ana's supervision....Adeline walked into my room and said "I love you, mom." PRICELESS!Georgie and Jessie hung out with us for a couple of hours on Wednesday. They were enthralled by "Thumbalina" during this picture. We stayed at Viva Dominicus Wyndham Beach Resort in Bayahibe. It was nice, but not worth going back to before trying something else out. It was our first large all-inclusive resort experience and the grounds were huge! Of course this was the one trip I decided to not bring the stroller. Ana went with us so that we could fully enjoy the conference without having to tend to Darton. It worked out great, but I think she was very ready to be done with us by this evening...and I was done speaking Spanish!
Some funnies about the hotel....
Upon arrival Scott discovered a cockroach on the curtains. He captured it and threw it in the toilet. This fella was just too strong for the toilet current! Second funny moment came when you had to hold the shower lever up with one hand and the drain lever pushed-in with one foot while taking a shower. Yes, you can take a shower with one hand while standing on one foot...just in case you were wondering. The air was less than half working and the floor was nothing but sand when we arrived...but we really just laughed at it all. These things only happen to gringos! Oh, yes, and then the last funny - We got into bed Thursday night sandless. We returned to our room on Friday after the service lady had made the bed (but not cleaned the floor of course) sandless. The odd part of the story...when we got into bed sandless on Friday night, the sheets were covered with sand! The equation just didn't add up. Like I said though, nothing was too bad to move rooms and it gave our Dominican friends a good laugh. We met Jason & Mandy Speegle and their son Edwin this weekend. They have been here for 6 years working with Crown Financial Institute. They adopted Edwin over a year ago and are now waiting on permission to bring him into the States. It's a long story, but it could be at least another year and Jason has already moved back to the States while Mandy and Edwin are here living with different friends.

This was a BIG weekend for Adeline. She has decided that she can put her head under water! I was way impressed since she freaks out about water in her face when we just wash her hair! Notice she's not even holding her nose!! Yeah!

The world got a lot smaller this weekend when the Dominican pastor who taught at the conference, who now works and lives in Miami, works for Komatsu and has worked with Pueblo Viejo (Scott's mine). He will be going out to the mine on Monday in fact! He is a full-time pastor AND has a full-time job in upper-level management with Komatsu. He's the first pastor we've come across in such a position. And his sermons weren't lacking in anything!

Natural History Museum

The kids and I went with Anastasia & Hartleigh to the Natural History Museum today. Most places here only cost about 30 pesos (about $1) to get into. Today's museum was 100 pesos (about $3) - 50 for me and 25 each for the kids. I was suprised, but then had to remember that any museum in the states would have cost way more.

Sleepy Weekend

Friday we joined friends at a hotel pool and Friday night Nick, Rosalynn, and thier kids came over. Friends help you get back into the swing of life when you've been gone for a while.

Darton was a wild man! The kiddie pool was low enough that he would crawl around on his hands. He doesn't suck in water when he goes under, and just comes up laughing.

Scotty's desire for Father's Day wkend was to sleep! So sleep we did...a couple of naps during the day and in bed by 10:30p.

On Saturday midday we went to the near-by park and I witnessed my first mugging. The thief came near us to check us out and my radars immediately went off. He greeted us with a "Que lindo (how cute)" and walked on. I got suspicious again when he with two others came back through the playground area walking in a triangle with a bit of distance between each of them. On the jogging trail I noticed a gentleman running with his young son riding a bike. Ten minutes or so goes by along with other joggers and I hear a boy crying. I turn to see that the runner, his son, and the other joggers have returned to the area and the suspicious man in a split second jumps on the man's back and then runs off. I asked the joggers what happened and they told me the man's necklace was stolen. I was absolutely amazed at how fast it all happened. Scotty missed it all, and although I hate that the muggin happened it was good for me to remember to keep my guard up even when I'm not alone. It was also good to know that my "radar" went off at the right time. Odd thing is, the robber is known in the park by others.

This is a Mimosa Tree. They are blooming throughout the park.

This video is of Darton imitating his sister spitting out watermelon seeds.

Scotty requested waffles for breakfast and tortilla/black bean soup and key lime pie for lunch. The Carribean is one of two places for Key Limes, so I enjoyed making my first Key Lime pie. Since it was my first, I just followed the recipe directions I came across first. The directions said to bake, so bake I did and we ended up with a pie neither one of us had eaten before. Oh well...he went with the flow and it still tasted fine.

Denny, Cynthia, and Liah came over for lunch. Adeline insisted on performing Mama Mia twice for them (pretty sure I've created a monster!) and then she went home with them for a couple of hours. Cynthia asked, "Adeline, do you want to go to our house." And much to Cynthia's surprise Adeline answered yes! So our little girl is growing up. She packed her bag and waved good-bye for an afternoon of smell goods (lotions & such) with Liah.

Home Again, Home Again

We've made it back to the DR. We arrived Tuesday instead of Monday b/c of a plane delay in Dallas. Thankfully we only spent about 4 hrs (this includes time to check-in, go through security, wait for plane to arrive, and wait for Scott's mom to pick us back up) in the airport in Dallas before we left and rescheduled for the next day. It all worked out except that our luggage went on down to the DR without us. Thankfully nothing was stolen while it waited in a locked-room, but we did have to wait over an hour once we arrived for someone to open the door for us!

Time with family in TX was beyond great...actually great enough to imagine one day living there again :). We'll see what God has instore for us.

I made a hamburger quiche last night for dinner that I was proud enough to post. I was proud of the crust...the best looking one I've ever made to date in the last 5 years of marriage (and didn't make them before then :) ). Now I know this crust has NOTHIN' on a Skye Patterson crust!

We're back into the swing of things and only have one more piece of luggage to unpack...this process is never fun.

We bought a battery operated bubble blower for $3 at Target and had a lot more fun than $3 worth today on the balcony. Adeline is in charge of the bubbles in this pick.

Bubbles are made from soap and soap makes a sticky mess...so we pulled out the hose and enjoyed playing in the water. The kids loved how the water felt going into their mouth. We'll see if this water intake produces tummy aches tomorrow...just one of those DR plusses.

Summer Fun

We enjoyed family around the pool this evening.

Little Man is teething and most of the day his face had this expression.

My cousin Matthew is a Dallas policeman and he came up for the evening to spend time with the kids. He entertained them all evening and the kids responded great to him! He is a very gentle and kind-hearted young man. Thanks Matt!

On Tuesday we went and took pictures with my new nephew Colten. We then headed to a good family friend's to have her trim up Adeline's hair and give me a few pointers. I think Little Miss loved the attention because she was a perfect angel.
On Wednesday we visited my girlfriend Rebekah and her two - Samuel (4yrs) and Naomi (14mths). Rebekah and Scotty grew up together and she was a bridesmaid in our wedding. Darton and Naomi are about 3 weeks a part. A shot of Darton walking.

The Last 3 Days

We left Scotty's family late Friday afternoon after a fun morning at Barnes and Nobles for storytime. Once we hit Celina, we haven't stopped going.
We've spent time in the park...

Time in a .50cent spaceship ride that ended in tears...Time in Uncle David and Aunt JoEllyn's pool (cool thing to note: their pool is salt water not chlorine)...

Much needed time with my new nephew Colten (who hasn't helped the baby fever).

Time in Grandmommie and Gdad's front yard...Time in the sprinklers in our pjs...

My mom didn't have to go into work today, so the kids stayed home with her while my Nonna and I did some "damage" in the shops. Our time has been nothing but fun so far. Countdown until Scotty comes in on Friday...on an airplane ride without his children...how did he manage that one???