It is worth it!

My baby is sick.

She has a fever, a dry cough, a fussy disposition, and a voice that sounds like a 60-year old smoker.  I cannot tell you how funny it is when she says "Mama!  Dada!" or "Amen!" with a raspy sound.

But, the rest is not-so-funny because she is wanting to be held constantly while she's awake.  Who's to blame her when she's achy and miserable?  But, for a chronic multi-tasker like me, this is hard to swallow.  Both of my boys have played well independently once they learned to sit up, but Kyla is an co-dependent extrovert at heart.  Especially when ill.

So, my biceps are getting toned from all the hip-carrying - and she's getting to witness just about every part of my day being right by my side.  Laundry.  Cooking.  Phone calls.  Blogging.  Two days ago, she slapped her hands on the keyboard and the shift key and the "Fn" key (whatever that is) went flying in the air.  I am thankful for a handy husband who can fix such blunders.  Otherwise, that "to do" would have been added to my mile-long list of things to fix, clean, buy, organize, etc....I digress.

The Ergo carrier that we bought last year is definitely getting some mileage...she spent a good 4 or 5 hours on my back yesterday as I attempted to manage the house. 

And, when I hold her and pray for her as she goes down for her nap each day, I am reminded of how precious she is to me.  As Treavor was leaving to attend a meeting yesterday, I complained "Oh, I am just never going to get anything done today."  He shot back - "What?  You ARE getting something done!  You're taking care of our baby!" 

Sometimes, I forget that moms have limits.  They don't have to be Superwoman.  They don't have to being doing three things at once in order to be successful (even though I almost feel "lazy" if I'm JUST feeding the baby, or JUST cooking dinner or JUST doing the dishes).  I whip out my phone to check up on someone, or read my emails, or try and teach my 5 year old math while I'm chopping vegetables.  Doing all of that is fine.  But, when I am limited to just enjoy one task at a time, I feel like I'm cheating or something.  Does anyone else ever feel that way?

So, Treavor's comment helped me to be "in the moment" yesterday.  My nerves calmed.  I actually made eye contact with my children.  I listened to their stories.  In the end, they were loved.  And, I was a happier mommy.

How have you learned to enjoy life lately?  To feel free to love people more fully, but still do what you're made to do?  Feel free to comment below.

Who says homeschooling is boring? Even on a Saturday...

I cannot tell you how much fun it is to do school on Saturdays.  No, it really is.

No.  I'm not sick.

No.  I'm not a nerd.  I could only wish to be that smart. 

Here in our little po-dunk town, tucked away in the lush forests of southern Thailand, we do home school on the weekends.  Science, Art, crafts, games, songs, scriptures, videos, messy things, loud things, and things that will (hopefully) entertain a rambunctious bunch of 5 kids 5 years old and under.  It can be crazy.  It can be fun.  And, sometimes, the kids learn a thing or two. 

Here's a look into the things we did yesterday:

We've been learning about plants, their seeds, pollination and the sprouting process.  The kids played a game where they pretended they were bees, so they spread the pollen (baby powder) around to the chalk-drawn flowers outside.  So fun!

Then we picked some weeds and labeled the parts of the plant.  Lily, our friend, drew bees by her plant.  Cute!

"Quiet Reading Time" - better known as "You kids better sit down with a book because you're driving us crazy Reading Time"



Elliot and Sammy



We learned about the upcoming Thai holiday - Songkran (click for more info) - which traditionally is a time to honor your elders...but has now turned into more like a humongous, nationally-celebrated water fight! 

We decided to celebrate early by having our own water fight in the front yard.  "P.E." at its finest!

Huy and Lily

Steph, Jeshurun, Jed and our friend, P. Nit

Then, low and behold...this gigantic scorpion decided that he wanted to get drenched, too!  Stephanie's hand in the pic above proves how freaky this guy looked!

The scorpion, up close and personal.  Later, our friend, P. Nit, smashed his stinger and beat him.  When he wasn't a threat anymore, the kids had a blast pelting him with their water guns.  Amazing Thailand!

Pictures From the Mudslide

These were taken two days ago when Treavor hitched a ride with some locals to go and hand out aid and pray for those affected by the recent flooding.  The death toll from these floods have now reached 54.  It is so sad and we believing for Hope to rise up in the midst of it all.

As you look on these, please reflect on and intercede for the houses (which represent real, live families) that are in need of great provision and even greater hope.  As we have read and heard, some families have decided not to return back to this village because practically everything they had, including their dwelling, was swept away.  Mercy, Lord.

A caravan of five trucks - filled with caring believers and sacks of clothes, food, soap and Bible tracts.

 The sack at the front door was some of the aid given.  This house was almost completely covered to the roof.

Treavor said that there were just piles of enormous trees swept everywhere.

Standing in the middle of was once a giant river of mud.  If you look up at the mountain, you can see the bare patches where the soil gave way and came crashing down onto the village below.

Double Rainbow!

Today, after dinner, Jeshurun looks out the window and yells, "A RAINBOW!!!  WAIT, TWO RAINBOWS!"
The whole family ran outside and just stood in wonder of God.  The sky was orange from the setting of the sun behind storm clouds in the distance, and we all praised God for his faithfulness to us! 

Yesterday, Treavor went with some local believers to hand out aid, share and pray for those affected by the recent floods and mudslides in a nearby city.  I will post pictures tomorrow.  Some people have lost everything.  It is truly so sad, but as we looked upon these rainbows today, we thanked God for his covenant with all the peoples of the earth never to cover the entire face of this world again. 

Even as we sit in our depravity, our pride, and our turning away from his beauty - He still shows his mercy and his everlasting love through a magnificent rainbow in the clouds. 

He has painted it for us today. 

And we are grateful. 

And He is good.

I messed with the saturation a little on this one so you could see the second rainbow (it is fainter, to the left and over the brighter one)

Another edited shot, you can see it clearer on the left

The original colors (the second, bigger rainbow was almost gone by now - but still magnificent to us!)

Thank you, Lord - You're Awesome!

A Little Laughter for Your Monday

http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=76KZWWNX

You gotta check this out - it is awesome and sooo hilarious!

10 Things I Like Today

1.  My fat baby (see above).  We've always wanted a chunky little girl.  Now we have one. 

2.  The smell of fresh-cut grass.

3.  The husband who made my lawn to smell like fresh-cut grass rather than smelling like terribly-overgrown grass.  If terribly-overgrown grass has a smell.

4.  Books on audio.  So I can feel accomplished and doze at the same time!

5.  Friends like Stephanie who I can be myself with.

6.  Stephanie's four cute kiddos who I will love forever.

7.  The sun!  Now I can finally dry out all my laundry!  That mountain by the laundry-area will finally see a bigger dent.

8.  That God created the Sabbath for man.  Our Sabbath is tomorrow.  I'm a little excited to see my husband for the whole day!

9.  Kleenex with lotion.  Ahhhh...my aching nose.

10.  Anyone who happens to read my blog.  I like you today!  Thanks for stopping by! 

What do you like today?  Comment - I really want to know!

Cold Weather = Chicken Soup

The aroma of chicken soup is wafting out of my crock pot as I type this.  The naan bread dough is rising beside the pot, and I am quite eager to dig in, cook it, eat it and not share one bit.  But, I have to exercise self-control.  That is hard when it is cool, rainy and dreadfully dark inside of our house at 3:30pm in the afternoon. 

A neighbor friend of ours is pregnant and very very close to her due date - we'll call her Grace.  I saw her this morning, and she said she just encountered a big scorpion in their house (locals leave their windows and doors open pretty much all day to let in the breeze).  She said she wasn't brave enough to kill it herself, so she called her husband over to beat it reeeeal good.  I was happy for her because whenever I see anything crawling in the house, be it an ant or a giant spider (or a slug, centipede, katydid, snail, you name it...everything comes in here!), I call for the boys or for Treav to come and dispose of it rightly.  My sons are learning to be brave because their mother usually isn't! 

Anyway, our friend Grace will be feasting on my chicken soup and bread tonight because I remember that all I wanted to do at 9 months into my pregnancies was put up my feet, kick back and order out! 

If I could get my camera working rightly, I would post a pic of my sweet friend...but that will have to be for another day.

What do you crave when it's cold and rainy outside?  When you live overseas like us, recipes, or just even great ideas, are priceless.  Please post with your favorites!