Saturday, June 30, 2012

June 2012

When the kids got out of school the second week in June, I assumed the summer was going to be a long one. Yet June has come and gone and one day just keeps rolling into the next. 
The end of May begins mango season...yummmmm!
 We had a small playdate and the kids played with water and flour.
 It takes time and experience before the kids to realize the flour/water ratio they need to make a creation. Adeline's creation was the only one that wasn't a soupy mess. I gave them sprinkles to add to their creations.
 Adeline only feels pretty these days in a blue jean skirt, a tucked-in shirt, and a belt. Unfortunately blue jean skirts don't come in long sizes for little girls and most of her shirts are to be worn outside of her skirt. Nonetheless she tucks them in and puts on a belt. Having a skirt made here shouldn't be too expensive, so I'm going to buy some blue jean fabric to have a seamstress make a skirt that goes to her knees.
 Matthias now insists he is part of the big kids now. Here he is participating in storytime before bed. He always wants to look at his own book during their time together.
 Matthias insisting on being a part of arts and crafts.
 My two babies.
 Adeline working hard on her spelling.
 Darton working hard making a dinosaur.
June 8 my grandfather passed away and Macklin and I made a trip to TX for 5 days. It was a wonderful time with the family. I got to be an aunt more than a mommy for the first time and met my new niece Ellie. Flying with only one child was like I might as well have been flying by myself (although Macklin didn't prove to be a good flyer)! I got to buy all the candy or special drinks I wanted without having to share or buy something for the kids ;).
I returned June 12 and on the 13 we had friends come in to stay with us for two nights before we headed up to Cabarete to stay for a week.
We made U.S. flags for flag day before heading up to Cab.
Macklin turned 3 months. He's wearing clothes that the other two boys couldn't fit into until closer to 6 months. He continues to be a happy and talkative baby.
Pool time in Cab. They were jumping like frogs into the pool backwards.
Ana went with us to Cab since Scott couldn't come home every night given the drive is 2 1/2 hrs from the mine. I COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT HER. We are in the process of getting her a visa to travel with us to the States in August. We are full dominican now!
 Beach time.
 Macklin can now sit in his Bumbo.
I cut off my hair while in Cab and this past Thursday night Scott and I got away for a drink. This is a watermelon mohito...delicious!
Other happenings this month - 
Sarah ran away and a man in the neighborhood who hangs out on the corner found her after two days. I had to pay him $1000RD ($30US) for finding her. Every one is trying to make a buck. It was quite the nerve racking process. He showed up to my house saying that he found Sarah at someone's house and then after mumbling some Spanish words that I didn't understand he showed me his large knife he keeps tucked into his pants!! Thankfully Theo was here to help me through the process. 
Scottt got his Dominican driver's license. This was his second time to take the test and he barely passed. The questions are quite tricky. Example: A cow walks out into the middle of the road and the car honks his horn. Was this correct? Answer: No. Honking your horn could scare the cow and cause him to run into your car. REALLY??? 
He then took the physical driving test in which you drive in an oval with two stop lights. No parking, no changing lanes, no driving around other cars. Just an oval with two stoplights. REALLY??
Both tests explained A LOT about driving here. :)

Friday, June 1, 2012

Last Days of May '12

I'm sorry I have let so much time go by without posting. I've recently bought a smartphone and am using the Whatsapp to communicate with pictures via our phones to family instead of sitting down to blog.

God has been working on us and I am thankful to say that grace is starting to penetrate our parenting. One night last week I realized how different Scott and I are now when one of the kids got out of bed and instead of sternly telling them in exasperation to return to bed and angrily asking "why are you out of bed?", we were able to embrace that time and hug on the child and get to the heart of why he/she was out of bed. Time and time again I catch myself thinking, "Ann, God wouldn't kick you when you are down; he'd help you up and give you another chance." I'm truly trying to apply that to my parenting.
I am thankful for a husband who prays aloud over me every morning. His prayers are being answered. I am thankful for books like A Mother's Heart by Jean Flemming, You Can't Make Me [But I can be Persuaded] by Cynthia Tobias, and Grace Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel. I am thankful for Beth Moore's study on the Fruits of the Spirit. It's teaching me how I can not possibly posses love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control WITHOUT the aid of the Holy Spirit. When I think about not wanting to extend goodness, I first reflect on God's goodness to me. When I think about not wanting to extend patience{particularly to my kids}, I think first of God's patience with me. etc....

I took the 3 older kids to the Botanical Gardens last week.
 Matthias was quite sure he was just as old as they are.
Now that's a leaf!
 A bonus as we were leaving....The dinosaur exhibit was packing up to leave and we got to get close the a dino without having to pay $10 to see it again. Scott took them to the exhibit in February, but of course they had been begging to go back...mainly because Adeline was SURE the dinosaur eggs had hatched by now.


 Scott and I went to the International Women's Club Gala on Saturday night. We had so much fun and even though we didn't arrive home until 2a.m., we both felt the night wasn't long enough. I'm SO thankful we still have fun together after 7 1/2yrs of marriage and 4 kids. We will have known each other for a decade this June.



Matthias insists that he needs to be a part of bedtime story time now. 
kids HARD at work
I could go on and on and on about Darton and how we are learning to parent him. He regularly puts his fingers in his ears these days in order to not hear our reprimand, instructions, explanations, etc. 
Adeline sounding out a note she was writing to me. 
For now, Darton is learning ONLY from absorption of his environment. He will have nothing to do with sitting down with me to learn something UNLESS it's his idea. 
Adeline continues to love bugs and insects. This is a snail she found in the yard.