Adeline had her ballet performance last weekend and thankfully my parents were here for it.
Matthias and I went to practice every day with Adeline. Darton stayed with Ana. I hired her all week so that D woudn't have to endure hours and hours of waiting on his sister. I learned something new about my dominicanas this week.
Time in the latin community is....well I don't have the word for it. You are expected to show up on time for things such as school, work, and church, but to all other events you
start getting ready at the time the invite states that the party begins. It is safe to say that you will still be one of the first ones at the event if you show up an hour late. Therefore, the director of the ballet studio EMPHASIZED that we much show up on time. Adeline's practice for 3 out of the 5 days was from 2:30-7p. A good 2/3 of the moms we present by 3p the first day. The director walked in at 3:30p. The second day of practice there were a few less moms who arrived promptly and again, the director arrived at 3:30p. By the third day we had all learned our lesson. Don't show up before 3:30! I was impressed that so many of the moms strived to be there on time because it was asked of them. It was quite rude of the director to ask promptness of us with her not arriving until 3:30 and practice to not even begin until 4p. I learned that
dominicanas can arrive on time if it's expected of them. But if the
jefe doesn't abide by the rules, then don't expect others too.
Adeline loved posing.
Adeline is 2nd in line.
If you are in the market for a children's Bible, Scott & I would recommend the Jesus Storybook Bible: Every story whispers his name - Sally Lloyd-Jones 
Matthias turned 4 months this week and enjoys his exersaucer. Stephanie and Andrew gave this to us when we had Adeline. Matthias, however, is our first child to get to experience it with batteries in it!
Since figuring out that my kids truly enjoy time with mommy without their siblings, I've been making it a priority to have "dates" with them. Darton and I went to a nearby pasteleria (bakery) for our date. He only looks at the camera these days when HE WANTS TO! 
I got to have a date all by myself on Tuesday night. Two months ago I was fired up to be a mommy of 3. Now I JUST WANT TIME BY MYSELF! :) 
Miss Betty saying her prayer
Visit to the North Coast
Natural fruit juices are a very popular drink in the DR. Most restaurants carry fresh orange juice (jugo de naranja) and fresh limade (limonada). When the season is right, you can also almost always order fresh passion fruit (jugo de chinola). The word chinola is a much better word for a passion fruit. I expect a sweet drink when I hear "passion fruit," but jugo de chinola is the exact opposite. In fact chinola is undrinkable without added sugar. 
For some reason we have a beer picture of Adeline and Darton, so I figured we might as well keep 'em going ;). If I haven't told you, Matthias smiles all the time! Bad days are impossible since I have a son who smiles at me every time I talk to him!
Matthias and I went to practice every day with Adeline. Darton stayed with Ana. I hired her all week so that D woudn't have to endure hours and hours of waiting on his sister. I learned something new about my dominicanas this week. 
Adeline loved posing. 
Nice pose!
Making his way down the tree.
He let a few coconuts fall in our yard to enjoy agua de coco (coconut water). I learned after taking this video that there are 3 stages to the ripening of a coconut. These coconuts only had the liquid to enjoy. As they ripen they will have the water and a slimy inner coating to eat. The last stage is the dry coconut that I posted videos of last week.
