beyond the face: John Kerry

Name: John Kerry

Age: 5 years old

Favorite thing to do: Give the boy a ball/balloon/rock and he is good to go. I have never seen a kid more able to entertain himself with just a ball than him. 

Favorite thing to get in trouble for: throwing rocks/balls at other kids, ha!

Favorite food: pumpkin soup (and any kind of sweet treat!)

The phrase "all boy" certainly is a fitting description for John Kerry. He loves to wrestle, play with cars, drum, and as mentioned above, he loves anything sports related. With that said, he still loves a good cuddle. He is super affectionate with me and loves when I can take a few minutes and rub his back. He often will come and bury his head into my stomach and wrap his arms around my back and stay there for a few moments...then he is off again to play. He makes the best facial expressions and loves to sing/clap/dance at devotion time. I won't be surprised if he doesn't grow up to be one of the drummers at the mission. There is a coordinated physicality to everything he does...drumming, throwing a ball, etc.

I wrote before that when we first moved to Haiti he and I had a tough start to our relationship...but, as usual, the Lord changed things up for us and now, I have to admit I have a bit of a soft spot for him. 

Ok, maybe more than a bit.

thursday thoughts

On this day 11 years ago I was immersed in all things wedding. My wedding. Our rehearsal dinner was tonight and the BIG. DAY. was coming tomorrow. 11 years ago?!

When Zoe has had a bowel movement in her diaper she comes up to me now and says, "Mom, I smell like poop!" I think she has heard her brothers say that one too many times about her...

My brother Ben flew back to the states yesterday. We had a great visit that just zoomed by! Despite all the craziness of the chicken virus at the mission (total of 6 kids got it so far...) we did manage to show him a little bit of this beautiful country with a trip to the mountains and the beach one afternoon. And of course, lunch at the UN base to round things out. We will all miss him.

Normally at this time of year we are winding down school for the year. This year, however, I feel like we are just now hitting our stride and we have plans to keep going until at least the end of June right now. And I'm okay with that. It's been a crazy year homeschool wise and staying flexible is what its all about =)

I have been devouring books lately! Like I am a starving book eater or something. I need some good recommendations to restock up my kindle. Feel free to leave me a comment with the last few good books you've read! Any genre except sci-fi or harlequin romance as long as its good.  Please.

And finally, because it's Thursday and what is better than a throwback?! A few pics of my youngest two who are (I fear) going to pair up and take over the world one day. They are tight, these two, and only growing tighter the older they get...

Happy Thursday everyone!

It happens.

It happens.

I find myself burned out and spread thin.
Everything becomes a big deal and my soul feels heavy, my feet lead.

My kids laughter and hilarity irritates.
Toys left out on the floor annoy.

And then it happens.

I realize that, yet again, I have been doing too much and savoring too little.

My agendas have starved my soul. Their souls.

I cry out to God when the realization hits, begging him for his great big gulps of fresh air that bring life back to my body. I breathe deep for what feels like the first time in a long time. I close my eyes with contentment. I allow the Holy Spirit to fall fresh on me, fill me, shine out of me once again.

My priorities re-focus.
My joy returns.
My kids laughter and hilarity bring a smile.
Toys left on the floor still annoy, but in a contented I'm glad for their creativity kind of way.

And I am filled, once again, with the hope and promise the day holds.

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

thursday thoughts (and iphone photo dump)

I got the best Mother's Day present ever...sweet individual time with my oldest girl. She's been needing some extra attention (and its been way past time to have the real "talk" with her...yes, that one) so Sunday evening Ella and I went to a local hotel for the night. I might have taught her the fine art of hotel bed jumping and how to act inappropriately in an elevator.

Oh, and they had hot water.  Heaven...

I have purposed in my heart to never ever ever take a hot shower for granted again.

The best part about rainy season in Haiti?

The puddles of course...

Zoe loves to play hide and seek right now.
She comes up with some killer hiding places.
All the kids love to indulge her in this game and will look for entire minutes for her =)

Um, has anyone seen Zoe?!

Remember those new life seeds we planted back during Holy Week? 

We planted them in the ground and they are doing great! 

The lesson lives on...

My feet look like this 90% of the time.
I am accepting donations for a personal pedicure fund =)

Gross. Yes, I know.

We are LOVING having my brother here this week. LOVING! He is such a trooper and is filling in as Uncle of the year, mechanic assistant, dishwasher, soccer instructor, among other things. He graduates with a degree in criminal justice in December with plans to join the police force...so I've felt extra safe having him around, ha!

Happy Thursday everyone!

thursday thoughts (on Friday)

It's been one of those weeks where you feel very defeated as a parent. One of those weeks where you feel like you need to drop everything you are doing and stage an intervention (on an 8, 7, and 6 year old level)...but you can't. I told Jeremiah last night that parenting really and truly doesn't ever get easier it just gets different. Still hard, but different hard.

For the record, I KNOW what amazing kids I have. But they have sin natures just like everyone and this week they are running rampant. Which is making my sin nature act up. Ugly cycle.

Yes, I know it's hard to believe that this sweet one ever gives us any trouble =)

I am in the middle of an almost 800 page book. Or, technically 5/8ths of the way in. I don't even truly care for the book, but when you've committed 500 pages of your life (at 5 pages at a time) you feel like you need to finish. (It's The Goldfinch for those of you interested.)

For the first time in 8 months I have consistently exercised for longer than 2 days in a row. I cannot even tell you how hard it is to exercise here. I won't go into the excuses, but I will say that I am committed to continue.

Rainy season is upon us. Thus the mosquito's are back. This time they are carrying an extra virus to be wary of. A virus with a name so silly that it is hard to take serious: Chikagunya? Really?! However, with 4 adults at our mission down with it, it really isn't so silly.

The setting: Ezra and I just finished playing a game where we were on a team together racing other teams.

Ezra: Mom, how'd we do?
Me: We came in 12th.
Ezra: Oh yeah!
Me: That means we were in last place.
Ezra: Awesome!

The setting: Ezra was testing out his prototype Lego boat in the bathtub.

Me: Is it floating?
Ezra: No.
Me: Sorry bud, maybe you can remake it differently and try again.
Ezra: Nah, I've decided I'm only building submarines now.

My brother, Ben, is flying in tomorrow and staying with us for 10 days! We are so stinking excited!

Happy Friday everyone!

Adventures in Creole as a 2nd Language

Creole is the native tongue of Haiti, and we are all learning it at varying speeds. Jeremiah and Ella seem to have been gifted with an ability to absorb languages easily and by far are doing the best. The boys, Zoe, and I...well, we have to work a little bit harder.

8 months of living immersed in Creole has not been without some...uh, blunders:

• Like the time we were told that Zoe's nickname of ZoZo actually meant a slang term for a mans genitals. Yeah, breaking that habit was hard.

• Or the time I went to the store next door to buy "Cat Limonades" (4 drinks) and the shop owner kept trying to give me minutes for my cell phone? I'm still scratching my head over that interaction. 

• Then there is the time Jeremiah made a phone call and asked the lady who answered if she "monge engle" (ate English).

• Or the time I asked what the creole word for poop was (with 34 children, believe me when the subject comes up enough for me to need to know that word!) and someone thought it would be funny to tell me the curse word for it. The Engligh equivalent of s*it. It was a while before someone else filled me in that I might not want to be saying that word to the kids. Nice.

• Or the way Ezra says Merci (thank you) sounding more like he just arrived from the backwoods of Alabama "Mur-Seeee" that makes everyone laugh.

I could go on and on, but I won't...for I only have material that implicates myself now =)

Despite the blunders, here are a few things that have helped us with learning the language here:

1) A brainscape app that teaches French Creole.

2) Learning the phrase "Kijan an de __________ an Creole" (how do you say ________ in Creole) the first we we moved here and asking it all the stinking time.

3) Sitting down and talking with our neighbors who don't speak any English and just asking question after question after question. They seemed more than happy to help our efforts and it did a lot towards creating a friendly relationship with them.

4) Making the effort. Yes, we miss a lot. Yes, we blunder a lot. But we also learn a lot through our mistakes and our efforts seem to go a long long way in building the trust and respect of the Haitian people.

life and death

She smiled at me and begged for one more piece of strawberry cake...her eyes sparkling and her impish little grin making her head tilt just slightly to the right. She is so full of life I thought to myself.

I gave her that second piece of cake because I knew what was coming. The news I was going to give to her that would forever split her life into to two spheres: before mom died and after mom died.

After cake I watched her prance around the gazebo, singing and dancing and riding the sugar high of two pieces of cake like any four year old little girl without a care in the world. So full of life.

After watching her play a little while longer I knew we couldn't prolong the inevitable...and so we pulled her inside the living room and gently broke the news to her that her mom had passed away.

There were no tears in that moment. Just a quiet silence as the news was absorbed.

The tears came later in the night as the music of devotion time started up. Tears that left my shirt drenched with dark spots. We did a little ceremony at the end of devotions to share the news with the other kids and I carried her to the middle for the other kids to pray over her.

I watched their faces as they got up to circle around us. Faces that were serious and empathetic. Faces that conveyed they understood her loss. I watched one other girl close her eyes and pray with power...she has lost her mom and dad both in the earthquake...and it was like she knew exactly what to pray in that moment.

We walked quietly back to the little girls room for tuck in time. She cried into her pillow as I sat with her. The other girls would walk by and offer a sweet pat on the head to her. Several people scooped her up in their arms for a hug that conveyed their love for her. And finally, she was able to settle down to sleep once she joined Enolica in her bed...comfort in closeness.

After this I joined one of our other girls in her top bunk bed. It was her birthday that day and I had promised a special "just for her" birthday lullaby at tuck in time. She chose hush little baby and listened with a big grin on her face through the whole song, mouthing the words where she knew them. We talked about her favorite part of the day...playing in the water with all the kids before dinner. I told her that I had watched her pray for her friend that night and for her to keep praying and loving on her and that I was proud of what a sweet girl she was and that if she allowed Him, the Lord would use her sweet spirit to encourage others throughout her life.

Life and death.

It's ever before me here in Haiti. In a way  I've never known.

A little girl who was spared but lost both her parents in the big earthquake.
A little girl whose Momma got sicker and sicker until she finally died.

Which makes two little girls that need a life. A life where they are loved and cared for. But also two girls who offer life, in their bravery and love and sweetness and encouragement to each other that displays their Father's love for them.

For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

 1 Thess 2:9-11