MICHAWN'S MEANDERINGS: November 2010

Yesterday the 2 little girls (Eissa and Cass) were sick. Guessing it was just a little 24 hour thing...they are both back to normal today. But, yesterday was definitely a take-it-easy day. We did some homeschooling amongst the high fevers and 'spilling,' but mostly I just had 2 sick little girls piled up on top of me. :)

And then today, Grady was up and dressed and ready to go with Joel to work by the time we came out this morning. We had not planned that at all. But, he never does that. So, we figured that maybe he was just in need of a 'guy day.' :) Besides, it was a great day to do that...Asas de Socorro is hosting a commemoration party celebrating 55 years of work here in Brazil tomorrow, so everyone is working hard there at the hangar getting things ready for that. We are having a girl day here. Fun. We've watched a princess movie, Gigi, and we will paint our nails of course. We might even make some cookies for our men later. ;)

Yesterday we got the call from the social worker handling our case (to adopt) that the required classes they give to couples hoping to adopt will start on Monday. We'll have classes the next three Monday nights and then we'll adopt the next week. :) Not really. Who knows when it will happen (except God), but we'll be ready and it could happen any time after those classes are done. So...pretty exciting. (insert squeal)

Remember this little guy? Well, from day 1 of meeting him, (they called him Jean, pronounced more the way the French pronounce it...Jay-uhn with a soft J and a nasally 'uhn') on the day this picture was taken (June 2008), I just loved him and we've always asked about him. He was just stuck there forever in the process of being cleared by all family members. I was starting to wonder if God was keeping him there for us...our processes and paperwork seemed to be running along the same speed. Well, we called to ask about him again today. Guess what? He's adopted!! He was cleared to be adopted a month or two ago, he went to 'visit' a family (like a trial period type thing...there is no foster system here), and never came back to the orphanage...he found his family. We're so excited for him that he is finally in a family in a real home. Be praying for our family as we go through these classes and just that God would make it perfectly clear and the process smooth concerning the children who are supposed to be in our family.

And finally today, my friend Rebecca (Miss Beautiful there in the middle) is having major surgery as I type this. She was one of my roommates in college...such a wonderful group of girls that I was blessed to live with during college! So funny...I had never really lived with girls before. And what a few girlie girls they were too. So fun...and it was good for all of us I think. ;) Tomboy meets girly girls...lots of learning and laughing and fun times. But, please be praying for her and her family and loved ones. This specialized surgery had to be done in San Diego. Well I'll be doggonit (more Southern) if her best friend (and another one of our roommates) didn't just get all moved out to San Diego a couple of years ago (also named Rebecca...the San Diego Rebecca is mighty short and the surgery Rebecca is mighty tall...so people just ended up calling these best friends Big Rebecca and Little Rebecca...hence the reason for the 'big' in my title of my blog today). Interesting how God works all these little things out. Anyway, if you could be praying for my friend, Rebecca, that would be great. You can follow her progress here. You can go to the 'journal' for her blog posts and updates.

The following are just some more pictures that I took of 'our little boy' that has now found his family. These were taken June 2009, exactly a year after that first picture. Wonder what he looks like now. So very, very happy for him.

Not too jazzed about having his picture taken right after waking up from his nap. ;) But still such a cutie, even when unhappy.

With some of the other kids there at the "kids' house" as our kiddos call it. Some of the many who are waiting for a home and family of their own.

Again, November is National Adoption Awareness Month. How cool that we are taking our classes to adopt, our last step in the process before actually adopting, in November! What would God have you do to help kids like Jean find their families? Are you a family that one of these children could find their home with?

Uh-huh...you thought I'd forgotten about this, huh? Yeah, I know. But, it's just been ker razy around this joint. We moved in this house (Dec. 2008) and then left 2 weeks later, only to return for only a few months more (which consisted mostly of sorting and getting ready to leave again) before leaving again for almost a year. Now, we're HERE. So, we are working hard to get all caught up in homeschool and also really get settled in to this home. It's a work in progress, as mentioned before. It will be a work in progress for a very long time, but unless we get booted out of this house, we have no plans as of yet to move any time soon. Settling...it's a beautiful word.

For a tiny update...

Joel is loving his new position at Asas. When we left for the states, he was serving as the Maintenance Coordinator for the students there at the flight school. A lot of things changed within the structure of Asas while we were gone and when we were in Campinas, Joel was asked to serve in a position with greater responsibility. He accepted and is now the Maintenance Shop Technical Director. The difference is that before he was just overseeing and coordinating the student's maintenance training (practical training...no small task itself) and he is now running the whole shop. He is responsible for all the maintenance the shop does...he oversees the maintenance of the mission's planes (from other bases too), maintenance of non-mission airplanes (done for revenue...and of course there are missions opportunities there as well), and is responsible for the employees and students in his shop. He still does the occasional flying (just got re-certified while we were in Campinas). And he is just really loving his job.

I am loving mine too. Ahhh, great to be back at home...loving getting settled and being Mama...and teacher. Totally and completely adore homeschooling and wouldn't have it any other way in the world. LOVE it. Things pertaining to the Bradley Method (childbirth education) are kind of on hold...for more than just reasons having to do with me. The organization itself is going through a bit of an interesting time, but childbirth education here in Brazil is still a huge need obviously. I will be attending a conference nearby in a couple of weeks, good Lord willin' and the creek don't rise (I just like to keep up my Southern roots...from time to time you may not understand at all what I'm talking about, but you can just attribute it to that in most cases). Should be interesting. My speaking in another language thing is going really well these days. I am getting to know people...really get to know them. People that I've spent time with since 2007. :) Kind of nice.

The kids are great. Grady is reading everything that has words. :) Hadley is learning to read and doing very, very well. Eissa is a super 4 year old who doesn't take naps anymore (usually, unless I see she's just really too tired), but is wonderful during school time...and I never had to even train her in that. I think she likes her alone/quiet time. And Cass is just as spunky as ever and perfect as she's always been.

Their Portuguese has come back pretty well and the more they play with their friends (and also watch Portuguese cartoons occasionally), the better they get. The other day Cass was running after a group of them all (her older siblings and several of the neighbor kids) and yelled, "Wait! Wait!" Then I heard her say, "I mean, Espera! Espera!" Hahaha. So even the wee one is getting it.

They have been expert bug scientists here the past few days...going out in the 'jungle' or 'forest' (they use both words to describe the area in back of our house) to find and collect all sorts of creatures. Fun times. I am loving the job of being a part of shaping their little characters...and it is so wonderful to see what great people they are. I so enjoy them. (To all of you parents who don't enjoy your children or even have the occasional feelings of dislike toward them, there is a better way...seek it out, please...you and your children will be glad you did)

And, that's what's up in our neck of the woods.

So, without further ado (I have never really understood those words)...pictures. As a reminder, if you have trouble with the captions lining up with the pics, try using a different browser...my captions and pictures never line up in Firefox, but I have no trouble in Explorer. And, as usual, just click on any image to enlarge. Enjoy.

A nice relaxing morning after all their jobs are done. Reading in the backyard (more like a courtyard).

And spotting something in the air...

...her brother, in his bedroom window. ;) Fun house.

Cass...in trouble. Yep, that's her artwork on the wall. ;)

And these are the kinds of things you get to do when you have a stay-at-home-dad instead of a stay-at-home-mom. ;)

Does it get any better than a mattress on the stairs?

I love how no matter where we are and what house we are in, the kids decorate and make it their own. Funny story: We've been back here in Anápolis for about 3 weeks now. After a week or so, we said something about this being our house. Cass just busted out laughing and said, 'Ahh, this isn't our house' and then kept laughing. She thought we were just being silly. Poor thing has no idea what a real 'home' is. In her short 2 1/2 years, she's lived in 6 different houses...and 'stayed' in countless others. Hahaha...what little nomads we are raising. We have no plans for travel or moving though for a while, so she'll soon realize that this really is 'our' house. Anyway, these fun decorations consist of some great pictures the kids drew, leaves from outside, and LOTS of tape. :)

Crazy girl fun.

I came in from studying one evening to find this. While Joel was helping the girls with showers, Grady was handling supper. He's awesome. Love that my 6 year old can handle meal prep for the whole family all by himself.

Do you love the smiley faces? ;) Love.

A couple of times a week after bathtime, I put Hadley's and Eissa's hair in braids. Just cuts down on the tangles of course and 'work' that goes into the hair. This was the first time I decided to put Cass' hair in braids. Cuteness. The next pics are of that fun little chic in her braids.

Hmm, what are these things again?

You can really see the enlarged end of her collarbone here where she fractured it. They said it would change and not be so big over time. You can't really even notice it now. Very thankful for that.

The kids had been playing in tents all day and asked if they could sleep in them. So, they did.

Look at those sweet legs. ;)

Our friends who used to live in the same house in Campinas that we lived in while they were in language school (years ago) got some mail one day at our house. :) It was a day pass at a water park about an hour away...just had to listen to a short shpill about an offer they had. Great, we are fine with shpills. We called to confirm and then got on our swimsuits and headed out one Saturday to this place.

Basically, Brazil is corrupt. It just is, like most other countries in the world. United States, again...don't take your wonderfulness for granted. As 'bad' as you think it is, you have no idea. Corruption abounds here. It starts at the very tip top (government...my Portuguese teacher said that she has known of only one in all of her years that is not known to be corrupt) and trickles down to everyday people (businesses, etc.). Add to that the motto here, "The customer is never right" and it makes for some interesting living. So, instead of swimming and sliding and having a ball, we had sandwiches in the back of the car. :) The kids were disappointed, but you know...they've learned to just roll with it. So, we found another adventure. And I loved just snapping shots of them as we waited for Joel to 'argue' his point and try to get us in (didn't work).

Since we weren't spending a fun day at a water park, we passed over a river in a little town on the way home and decided to turn, following the river. A couple of miles later, we stopped and got out at a 'happening' spot and happened upon some great afternoon activity.

We found snowcones!! I had never seen snowcones here...they have them, but it's not like Louisiana/Texas in the summer where little stands are everywhere. It was so fun to get some with the fam.

CUTEST little couple!

They KNOW HOW TO DO IT here in Brazil. Not skimpy at all on the juice! ;) Hahaha. Filled it right up. (and if you click on this image to blow it up, you will see something else that enjoys the juice...hahaha)

Oh how we love snowcones.

Cool bridge to cross to the other side.

Like the little waterfall in the background.

The raging river. And people hanging out next to it.

Across the river they had a little arts area...several buildings with arts exhibitions. And a big building that used to be part of a sugar mill. They have plans to renovate and turn it into a museum. Pretty cool.

It's just a really cool building. Loved it.

And this is what it will look like when they are done with the renovations.

They had a great place set up for Legos...huge, soft Legos. This 'booth' was set up to just tell people all about the educational programs within the schools using Legos here in Brazil. Pretty interesting. You can see more about it here if you're intrigued.

Right next to the Legos was a little art area.

And then they started a little story/song time. These people were great. Loved them.

Grady had no interest in the story/song time. Are you kidding? There were Legos right there! Sing?!?

Still building. :) I honestly don't think he ever even looked over there to where we were. Hahaha.

Hadley and Grady.

Was planning on taking some really cute tree pictures with the kids all lined up...but then my camera battery died. :(

Cássia (one of my Portuguese teacher there in Campinas) told me about the ExpoFlor...really nice flower expo that they have every year there in a town nearby. The town was created by Dutch immigrants. HOlLAnd + BRAzil = Holambra. You can read more about this cute little town here. I could definitely move there. :)

Born the same year as my Daddy. ;)

Their signs were all like this...cute little town.

Great houses there...I felt like I was in the states. LOOK at those grassy yards with no walls!! :)

Parked by this great little pond.

Love this.

Tons of these animals all around. Can't remember the names of them...capivara? Yes, capivara (in Portuguese anyway).

Loved this path on the way to the expo. Beautiful trees.

And, it's the ExpoFlor. What a cute place...love the buildings/shops.

At the gate of the expo...fun portrait area.

We decided not to pay to go in because there was only a couple of hours until it closed for the nightly activities (concert, etc.). But, we gandered a bit at the gate. This was a cool 'tree.' And lots and lots of flowers of course.

As we walked along, the kids had to go to the bathroom. We asked this guy if they could just go in one of the shops (the back way) to use the restroom and he said yes. While I waited outside with Cass, she made friends with him. ;) Of course.

I love this sweet picture of Eissa.

Sweet sisters.

Since we weren't going into the expo, we moseyed on down to beside the pond and stopped at a real Dutch dessert place.

Running and running and running along that strip. Joel likes to 'get their energy out' when we know we are going to be driving again for a while. ;)

LOTS of white birds.

At the flower expo, every now and then a helicopter flies over and showers everyone there with flowers. Kind of cool. I'm sure it's really neat when you are actually underneath it, but we just watched from afar. Still pretty cool even from afar.