something else I do

Over the past 6 years, I have helped my dear friend Sarah and her mom Judy support the AGAND children's home that Judy started 30 years ago in Guatemala. I only help with the books and online stuff, but I enjoy getting to hear the stories and know what is going on. The two women who run the home are amazing! Recent international adoption law changes are threatening the future of this home, which places children (many with special needs) with loving, adoptive families in the US. I've recently updated our website and just wanted to share. They would appreciate your prayers as they face big decisions. http://www.agand.org/

Our games

My kids love to get tickled! They each have their own made-up games, which I just felt compelled to share. Anna has a couple of "games" - her favorite being "get me" or "catch me". No explanation needed, really - she just looks at me with that gleam in her eye and says "get me!" I chase for a few seconds, grab her, and tickle. My mom found the perfect shirt for her recently - it has butterflies and says "catch me" on the front. She LOVES it! For her other game, she sits in my lap, smiles, and says "go, the tickler!" and soon after "stop, the tickler!" This could definitely go on and on! Daniel's game is a little more complicated. I think it started with the game my dad used to play with me (and my sister). Dad would get ready to tickle and say, "Stop means go and go means stop." Commence tickling. "Do you want me to stop?" he'd ask. Of course, if I would say "stop", he would repeat the above phrase. If I said "go" he would reply "OK, I'll keep going". Daniel caught onto this quickly and changed the rules on me. His code word for tickling is "apple juice". Stop tickling is "water". We have added many other beverages to the list with various meanings. He always remembers exactly what they are - mom and dad always seem to forget! Orange juice, coffee, hugs, kisses. We have so much fun!!

and a matching pair

What's the saying? When it rains, it pours. I spent most of last weekend sick in bed with strep throat. At some point I stumbled out of bed to try to get some clean sheets from the dryer. Hmmm, still wet. I started it again and went back to bed (I think, it's a fuzzy memory). Checked back later, still wet. Rats. Started it again, let it run for a few minutes, and yep, not hot. Bummer. Dave & I come up with a plan - it's a very busy week for him. Calls to Home Depot were not fruitful. Finally, Dave makes it to Lowe's and comes home with this beauty:

Prior to this new addition, I had new white washer and an old bisque one. I'm so glad to match again. ;)

Update in pictures

I took a couple of minutes to download pictures to my camera. My sister took pics for Anna & Ellie's 1st day of preschool, so that will come later. ;)


We took a few hours one Saturday to explore the western side of Austin. We went for a "hike" up to Mount Bonnell. It was a very easy and fun walk and even had stairs on one end of the hill. It was a UT game day, so there was plenty of people watching! I can not understand the love of burnt orange...
















After our hike, we went out to The Oasis restaurant on Lake Travis. This place is an Austin legend and is HUGE. Most of the seating is outdoors on many tiers of decks. We were enjoying lunch when a rainshower popped up. No, wet fries and chicken nuggets don't taste that good, even to a 5 year old. Our waiter graciously brought us another order before we headed back home. :) We didn't bring the camera in the restaurant; this pic is from the spaceship sculpture in the front. Kids loved it! BTW, we feel more "local" because we have the plastic "Oasis" cups in our kitchen now!
















Grammie & Papa Ray had a crazy weekend. They hosted all 4 cousins with no mommies or daddies! Needless to say, the big kids in Austin had a fun, relaxing weekend just like the old days before kids. Dave & I even took a quick trip up to the state capitol. :) Nerds, yes we are. Here are the kids buckled in and ready to go meet Grammie in Waco. Daniel got the front seat.







































Try not to let the hair distract you too much. For Kindergarten, September's unit is "all about me". One of our homeschool projects was to make a paper version of yourself. Daniel and Daddy worked diligently to make a version of Daniel's favorite shirt that has flames and a guitar on it. :) Anna had to make one too, of course!

Another homeschool project below. Daniel created all of the numbers - they are too fun! We also made bunny ears and played a game with them. We have so much fun doing school!!!

That's it for now! I'll try to keep up. :)

Big picture update

We're still settling into our "new normal" (borrowing from my friend Lisa). Anna started school this week. Despite a bit of a tearful goodbye, she had a wonderful time. She and cousin Ellie are in the same class and there are several kids in our neighborhood who also go there, so it's fun for her to see lots of familiar faces. We're looking forward to a great year!

Daniel is continuing to do well with Kindergarten and so is "Mrs. Mommy". I'm finding out how much Daniel LOVES numbers and math and I get excited as he ventures into the world of reading. I wish I would've taken a picture of the sweet birthday card he made for his cousin Halle (who celebrated her 1st birthday yesterday!). I think the phrase he wrote was "HBEBRTHDAHLLE" - loosely translated is "Happy Birthday Halle" of course.

Other news to note is that I've been in bed for a couple of days with a variety of symptoms. I'm feeling much better and am planning to head to the doctor's office tomorrow. Praise God for friends and family who helped take care of my family over the weekend. Anna woke up with fever too, so the two of us stayed home from church today. We took turns watching the Disney Channel and snoozing. She kept waking me up to tell me to stop breathing too loud! Poor girl - couldn't get a Handy Manny fix without mom snoring through the middle of it. :)

Dave's doing great too. Our church launched the fall vision series and it is really awesome. Dave's still learning the ropes and the people but it doing a great job at balancing it all.

I hope to post again soon with Anna's first day picks and (hopefully) pics from the belated birthday party for Dave, who had a sick wife during his Saturday birthday.

Happy Belated, Sweetheart

Happy belated birthday, Dave. I'm so sorry I was sick on your special day. I'm thankful for our friends and family who could make the day special for you. We'll have a do-over soon! Thanks for taking such good care of me and Anna (and Daniel too, even though he wasn't sick). YTB!