STOP HUNGER NOW!!!!!

This evening at church was pretty incredible.  Our church partnered with Stop Hunger Now to package 10,000 meals for hungry people all over the world.  It was a pretty awesome process.  Here's how it went:

A representative from Stop Hunger Now came to our church to set us all up.  Everyone had a station, and it was a very well organized process that ran very smoothly.  After the assembly processes that I have dealt with at work recently, I can really appreciate how very well everything was organized and executed. 

First there were stations to fill the bags with the food.  It all started with a vitamin packet that gets put into each bag.  Here's Alicia, one of my neighbors that goes to church with us, stuff the bags with the packets.

Next, the dried veggies, some sort of quinoa or oat something was put in and lastly, rice was put on the top.  Everything was measured by scoops.  Here's Jordan, Gabe's friend, with the glasses on helping to fill the bags, and Brigid, on the right, helping, too.

Then, the bags were passed to the weighers, who weighed the bags and if the bag was over, the took out some rice, and if it was under weight, they added rice.  Here is Sarelly, another one of our neighbors that goes with us, on the left, and her buddy Maggie on the right, weighing things out.

Delmi, yet another one of our neighbors that rides in with us was at one of these stations, too....

...then the bags were passed across the table to the sealers who sealed the top of the bags with heat sealers.  Annie, our '5th child', was one of these.

The sealed bags then got dropped into buckets that were toted by the little guys...

...which Jo was one...

and dumped onto a table to be counted and boxed.

Then, the filled boxes were carried out the door and stacked on a pallet on a truck. 

Each box held 36 bags, and as the boxes were carried out the door, they were counted by...

Elizabeth!  Then, for every thousandth meal that was packed, boxed and palletized, a little kid was asked to come and hit the...

...gong...

and everyone cheered.  Jo was not sure why everyone cheered when she hit the gong on her turn, but she thought it was still pretty cool.

All in all, it looked like a whole lot of confusion and craziness, but the 10,000 meals got packaged in one hour without hitch or glitch, and a fun time was had by all!

After all, ...

...is pretty much what it's all about!

And yes, hair nets were worn by all (well, at least all who handled the unsealed food!)

The Be-Sneakered Zebra

So, after recovering from this yard sale...

where we made almost $300, and after Annie dug up

these potatoes

from the garden with Jo and Gabriel helping

and after Gabriel ate some

dirt,

 we were all relaxing in the living room in a small pile.  (In case you haven't noticed yet, we always seem to be in piles...can you find Elizabeth?  She's there...and she's not the one with glasses...that's Annie)

Anyway, the point of this whole thing was to draw your attention to the zebra that Gabe is bouncing away on and, for a brief moment, Jo is not trying to shove him off of to get her turn.

You see, I bought this zebra when Jo was Gabe's size at Target on clearance for $4.95...it was 75% off.  Then, Jo didn't really like it, she's never really been an active bouncer, so I sold it to a lady down the street for $10.

Then, it turned out that I took that same lady's daughter to VBS with us last week, and she had the sneakered zebra sitting on her porch because she was getting rid of it because her son has outgrown it.

So, she told me to take it, (did she remember I was the one who sold it to her?) and Gabriel now has a bouncing singing snorting zebra with sneakers on that is one of his favorite toys that I earned $5 on.

Not that $5 is much, but that's not the point.  Actually, I'm not really sure what the point is, but I think it's kinda funny.

And Again I Say AMEN!

So, I wanted to get back to blogging with a bang and tell you all everything that has happened over the week that I was silent, but then I realized that you might not really care too much about what I was up to then, and it would take a long time to tell it all.

So....I will put it in a nutshell.

Monday-Friday was VBS (Vacation Bible School, for those of you not familiar with the term) and I took 3 teens, 6 students, 1 baby (Gabriel) and Yolanda with me every morning.  For those of you counting, yes, that meant that I had to make 2 trip in my 8 passenger van to get them all there...and back home. 

But it was a blast and worth every gallon of gas.

Wednesday was Jo's birthday, and she was sick.  She didn't want to be sick and promised me that she would not barf anymore, but hey, there's just some things you can't control.

So...her party, which was going to be Wednesday and then Thursday but couldn't be Thursday because Elizabeth had to do her cleaning job got pushed to Saturday. 

But in the middle of the night Friday, Gabriel started throwing up and Elizabeth developed a sharp pain in her upper right abdomen. 

So....Saturday morning at 9AM, we took them both to the dr and Gabriel does not have strep but rather a virus and they didn't know what Elizabeth had.

So....we dropped Gabriel off at the house and went back to the ER so that Liz could get an x-ray and ultrasound on her chest and abdomen because they were worried about gall stones (really?  In Elizabeth?) and/or appendicitis.

After waiting for 5 hours and the doctor and nurse completely mixing things up and getting orders turned around and trying to send us (accidentally) for a CT Scan, I went to the nurses station and told her we were leaving. 

Elizabeth did not like it when I helped her rip the tape off her arm that was holding the catheter, but we got the tape off and the tubes out and we walked out.

And Jo didn't get her party.

Then Elizabeth's pain went away and Jo spiked a fever.

Then Jo's fever went away and Elizabeth started barfing.

So...Jo has not had a party, but she will, eventually, even if it is in August.

But here is the story to entertain you:

Every evening before we eat dinner, we hold hands around the table and pray.  The prayer always ends with the words
'...and bless all of our friends and family around the world, and bless the planet...' (I figure this pretty much covers any and everybody who is sitting, has ever sat and will ever sit around the table with us) and Gabriel announces in no uncertain terms

AAAAAAMEN!

And then he knows that he is allowed to dig in.

So, along those lines, there were 2 interesting things that happened recently.

One was that I was not at the dinner table because I was no feeling well and had went to lie down.  Then I missed being at the table, so I came downstairs and heard the end of the prayer....

But those left around the table couldn't remember the magic words to get Gabriel to say 'Amen.'

Bless everyone and the planet....no, no...that's not right.  He didn't say it.

Bless the universe and everyone in it.  Nope, that's not right, either....what is it?

It went on for a minute then someone says...bless all our family and friends around the world and bless the planet! 

And then it came!

 AAAAAAMEN!

 He said it, Daddy!  We can eat now!  Baby said Amen!

Whew!  That was a close one!  Otherwise no one would have gotten dinner!



Gabriel is also working on his potty skills.  Since he is still pretty small, when we put him on the potty, we have to hold his little hands so that he doesn't grab yucky stuff or fall in. 

The first time we did this, he got really excited!

I held his little hands and he sat there a minute then looked at me with a huge smile and said....


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAMEN!

This Week

I am sorry that I have been silent for so long.  It is not my intention to stop writing on this blog, but our work load has tripled in the last week, and this week was VBS at our church, so I have been driving all over town picking up and dropping off kids that otherwise would not be able to attend. 

Please don't give up on me!  I will be back in full swing soon and fill you in on all the details!

Be Still and Know

Be still.

Be still and know.

Be still and know that He is GOD.

Be still and know...that He is faithful.

BE STILL.



I'm feeling sad, bad, emotional...you name it, I'm there...today. 

I just got done reading one of my favorite blogs, and she wrote about homeschooling and some of the different approaches to it, and it just made me feel like I wanted to cry.

Ok, so to settle the rumors (and this will tell who REALLY reads my blog! heehee)  I will say it here for everyone to know...

Jimmy and I are expecting another little one due in February.  This is earlier than I usually tell the general public, but since I told my Women's Bible study on Tuesday, Jimmy said it was only fair that he post it on his facebook for his family in El Salvador, and so word got out and the curiosity has been flying. 

That said, and acknowledging that that may be a large part of WHY I am feeling all these things, there is also another layer to the cake.  (Mmmmm....cake...)

My in laws, who live with us and watch Gabriel and Jo during the day while Jimmy and I work from 9-5, have decided to look for work outside of the house.  This means that Little Gabriel, who has only known the warmth of his Mommy and Gramma Uieta, will have to be given to someone else for 8 long hours of the day, while I get only a few short hours to try to feed and bathe him before he goes to sleep.  I am not sure what we are going to do with Jo because we can't afford to pay childcare for 2 kids, so she may come with us to work at least some of the time until she starts school again in September. 

But this is not what I want for m life nor for the life of my kids, but I feel that I don't have a choice.  I know that a lot of people say that everyone has a choice, and that the lifestyle that someone has chosen has made it impossible for a parent to stay home, but if that is so, then it is the husband that I believe that God brought into my life who was my 'lifestyle choice' if you will, and I have a hard time believing that.  Jimmy just does not have as much earning power as I do right here, right now.  I firmly believe that with God's help, he will, but right now, he just doesn't.  So, I have to work, and so that I do not have to work crazy hours and overtime, he works, too.  Otherwise, he could be home with the kids and I could be gone all day and late into the evening, but I don't think that is the right choice, either. 

So reading about homeschool choices and thinking about how much I would love to homeschool our kids breaks my heart.  I feel stagnant in my job right now, but I also feel trapped by the workload that I can't turn away from right now, because my boss depends on me and I do not think that it would be right to let him down, and by the security of the paycheck that is steady and dependable. 


So do I leave my most precious possessions, if you will, in the care of someone else?  Do I go out on a limb and quit?  But then how do we pay the mortgage?  How do we pay the lights and the food? 

And as my belly slowly begins to swell with a new life, my heart beats just a little faster in excitement of bringing a new little one into the world and into our family, but then it drops just a little more each time with the thought of birthing a child only to have to turn her over to a stranger's arms for care and upbringing.

This is not the way God designed it.  Children need to be with the ones who love them most so that they can grow to be their best in God's plan.

So today, right now, my heart is heavy and my eyes look to heaven.

There is a solution.  There is an answer.  We will find it, and it will work. 

It's just the waiting and the being still that is so hard.

Be still.

The Fourth of July and All Its Trappings

I tried to post yesterday, but for some reason I couldn't get the pictures to upload, so I gave up and went to bed instead.

But, I will try again today!

This past weekend was another full one.  On Saturday, Jimmy and I helped a friend of ours move from her basement apartment to put all her stuff in storage.  I think that when you do that, you realize just how much stuff you have and just how much stuff you don't really need!  Hence, we have a huge pile of bags and boxes in our living room awaiting another yard sale, which we hope to have on Saturday if the weather cooperates.   Our shed is completely full, too.

So, on Sunday, we spent the afternoon going through the boxes and bags and sorting them into different boxes and bags of stuff that made sense together:  kitchenware, girls clothes, boys clothes, adult clothes...you get the point, and we ended up with an entire storage bin full of pajamas!  Yes, PJ's.  So, if you need some PJ's come on by and see us.

On Saturday we also went to the pet store again.  I know...I love the pet store.  I have really gotten into the whole fish thing.  But we got a few more fish because they were on sale for $1 (Jimmy set me a $5 budget this time).  The new ones are really cool.

But...one of the must have been pregnant because on Sunday evening, there were babies in the tank!  They are so tiny!!!!  I tried to take a picture of them, but it wouldn't turn out because they are just so small!  So Monday morning, when we saw that most of them made it through the night, we decided to set up a fry tank.  So, we now have 2 tanks, one on the kitchen counter.  They have to be close because they share the same air pump, and there was nowhere else to put them.

Supposedly, according to the fish man at the store, this is a vintage fish tank.  I used to use it when I was little for hermit crabs and once I grew tadpoles in it, but I didn't know it was vintage.  Am I that old?  But anyway, it holds water and will do the trick!  There's no filter in it, but I put Morty the moss ball and he will help keep the tank clean.

Monday was the Fourth, so we didn't have to work, but we decided to clean out more of the shed and get the final remnants of the business out of our space and into the storage unit that the company rents.  So, we spent all day getting that stuff sorted out and by evening, neither Jimmy nor I were in any mood to cook out, or to really cook anything at all.  Peter had called earlier that day and asked if he could bring over some firecrackers in the evening, so I told him he certainly could and invited him to eat with us.  So he came over and Jimmy and I decided that instead of cooking out, we would go to Five Guys, which has the best burgers, and get some burgers there, bring them home and pretend that we cooked them.  Peter came over and we stuffed the little dudes in the stroller and walked over to Five Guys.

When we got back, Peter was excited about setting off his fire crackers, so we gathered outside in the driveway and he started to light them.  

Which started our fine...then went to this:

Then to this:

And then Jo suddenly said that she needed to go to the bathroom, and the next thing I know, she's upstairs watching from this:

That's her behind the open slats of the shutters.

So, we finished those up and came inside for something much more fun for everyone:

Ice Cream Cones!

Then, because I'm not his mom, so I'm allowed to do this, (besides, it was a holiday!) and Peter had never had Root Beer, let alone a Brown Cow (or Root Beer Float), I made him one.  

But rules are still rules, and there's no food on the couch!

And finally, right before bed, Gabriel decided to 'drive' Jo completely crazy!

Beep! Beep!

But she was very patient.  Ice cream cones can do that to you.

Then Peter set off some more fire crackers which were watched from the safety of the front window, we cleaned up and finally, the day was over, but unfortunately, so was our weekend!

How was yours?

Five Minute Friday - Welcome

We have once again made it to Friday, which means that it's FIVE MINUTE FRIDAY!!!!

The rules?  Write for 5 minutes without stopping to edit or fix anything.

The topic?  Welcome!

Ready? Set?  GO!




They are there...

Lurking...

Behind the door...


On the sofa...

In the driveway....

Or in the yard.

They come running when they see you...

A full tilt run...

Their little legs pumping...

Their little faces smiling.

They are little and warm...

And slightly sticky.

They're sweaty and they smell of grapes and peanut butter and apples

And dirt.

They leave little handprints...

On your work pants

When they ram into your legs

And hug them silly.

Sticky little spots to remind you of their love

Long after they are in bed.

They are cherubic

And mischievious

And lovely

And who could ask

At the end of the day

For a better

Welcome!


Ding!  Let's see what we have now!

Come join me!  It's fun, and it only takes 5 minutes!