Time For a Big Ole Update!!

Right?!?

Let's get right to it...

Grady (age 5 1/2) - Grady is basically reading now. It's so fun. We are only on Lesson 75 of his "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" book, but he's reading. He is so very sensitive to our leading...always wanting to do the right thing. LOVE that boy. I'm going to LOVE seeing the big things God does with him. About a month ago, we moved Grady to his own room. He LOVES having his own space...loves it. He helps me so much these days and is just generally so grown up. He does everything on his own now...showering, brushing his teeth, dressing, putting his clothes away. He takes care of his sisters so well and is always on the lookout for them...their 'moral compass' sometimes, if you will. ;) He's so sweet and gentle and thoughtful. He reminds me a lot of his Daddy...SUCH a great thing!

Hadley (age 4 1/2) - Hadley is my girl. She's not obnoxiously girly, but she's girly. She loves to get dressed (skirts only please) and do her hair (although she rarely wants anything but a hairband these days...likes to keep her hair down; Eissa only ever lets me do pigtails). She still has more self-confidence in her pinky toe than some people have in their whole bodies. Been that way since birth. But, she is also very sweet and loving and gracious too. She loves to take care of her little sisters...they play sometimes like she's the mama and she does everything for them. The little sisters love that game...they just lay there while "Mama" does all the work. :) She started ballet class back at the end of May. A couple of classes ago (she goes twice a week), her teachers asked if she could move to a more advanced class, so we will start that. She really is very good at that...so graceful and picks things up very quickly. She always seems to be doing a ballet pose wherever she is...sitting at home on the couch (toes pointed), at the table eating, wherever...and she was like that even before ballet class. Ha ha ha. She is such a performer anyway...does not at all mind having the spotlight on her (prefers it actually...ha). :) So, ballet is good. As feisty as this little shrimp of a girl can be, she is also very loving and sweet...although it's been much more of a learned behavior than with her brother. ;) Funny. Love her spunk!

Eissa (age almost 3...next month) - We are still in the thick of the 'breaking-that-strong-will' stage that most 18 month-3 year olds pass through (well, some don't pass through it, but passing happens in this house). It's getting better though. Quick obedience is shining through...quick obedience with a happy heart. Eissa has the best facial expressions in the world...it is so fun to watch her talking to us. I love having conversations with her. She also goes to dance class and will be transferring to the more advanced class with her big sister. She is so very snuggly and loves to cuddle. She is our 3rd, but our 1st with such great baby fat. Grady was always stocky, Hadley was just a skinny little thing, but Eissa is so super squishy...love it! She has done GREAT using the big girl potty. She only had a few accidents that first week (about 3 weeks ago)...averaging about 1 a day. After that first week, she's only had a couple of accidents...and those two were when she was outside and just couldn't tear herself away from play long enough to potty (so predictable). She's even had a few dry naps and nights. Nice. Grady and Hadley are still super tight, but Eissa is now officially a part of the group. No more 'tag-along' status. She loves to help out with Cass and try to 'show her the ropes.' She's so very sweet and so much fun. She is more like Grady and those sensitive ways. Oh how we love our little squishy Eissa Rose!

Cass (age 18 months on the 25th) - She's always been the perfect baby. Now she's the perfect toddler. She is definitely opinionated, which is so very funny. But, she still just goes with the flow and so far is very obedient too. She is saying so many things these days...'shoes on,' 'door,' all of our names, 'eat,' 'more,' and so much more. She even, when looking for something (usually either her shoes or her blanket), she will say 'where are you?' (sounds like 'whe ah ooh'), just like we do when we are trying to find something. ;) She loves her older brother and sisters, but when Eissa gets a little too helpful sometimes, she will not stand for it. She's even been known to bite a time or two (yep, she has definite opinions now). She has almost all her teeth. She has definitely filled out more (I will get a weight for you soon), but she's still a tiny little thing. Her big deep blue eyes (my Granny calls them big blue marbles) just seem to look right through you sometimes. And she thinks she is just as big as everyone else in this household. She insists on sitting with the big kids when eating sometimes and just throws her head back in laughter when everyone else is (even when she has no idea what is so funny). She is a blanket girl. All of our kids have a special blanket, but they aren't attached to them (for instance, if they are in the wash for a few days, no huge deal). Cass, though, just has a special type of blanket that she prefers so far...and thankfully we have many of that type. She drags one around with her at all times (think Linus) and still sucks her left thumb too (left only please). She is a very, very cuddly girl. She still seems to be more like Hadley in temperament, but only time will tell. She is quite the little mover and shaker...if there is music on, she's shakin' what God gave her, that's for sure. And she loves to be 'tickled'...she'll come over to us, rub on her belly saying 'ticka ticka ticka,' and then grab our hand for us to do it. Fun. P.S. She also really loves it when there is a chocolate square in her afternoon snack bowl. ;)

As for their parents, we are doing well. Joel continues to thoroughly enjoy his role as maintenance coordinator there at the Asas de Socorro flight school. He makes sure that the students are getting all the practical training that they need in the area of maintenance and feels like he's really found his niche...for now anyway. He also takes up the slack here at our house...he helps me so much here at 'my job' (so nice in a husband)! I continue to do the wifely things such as keeping house, doing laundry, cooking, and watching after the kiddos. Grady and Hadley are wrapping up their first year of homeschool in the next few weeks (we use the Brazilian school schedule...starting in February and ending in November, with the months of July, December, and January off). We have thoroughly enjoyed it...I love, love, love teaching my kids. I love the time I get to spend with them every single day. So very content in that. I'm still going to Portuguese classes once a week. My teacher no longer does anything super structured with me...mainly we just talk and I ask her any questions that I might have. Sometimes I read to her aloud and we talk about my comprehension. She is also really interested in learning English, so sometimes she even asks me questions now too. ;) Fun. We are very good friends and I love spending time with her every week. It's a real God set-up I think, so that's exciting.

We just recently bought tickets to return to the states in November for our furlough (a missionary word for the time that we go home and visit friends, family, and supporters and also try to squeeze in a little vacation time and usually also some extra training of some sort), so it's official. We will be in the United States Nov. 24th - July 20th. We have so much traveling to do, but we hope to also get in some down time with family and friends as well. Saline, Louisiana (my hometown) will be our home base, but we will also be passing through Arizona, Texas, Pennsylvania, and the Boston area. Joel will also have a training in March in North Carolina. It looks like we might have to drive to all of those places (airline tickets can add up), so if you are 'on the way,' maybe we'll be able to stop off and see you too. We don't have any dates set in stone concerning our traveling while within the states, but we'll keep you posted. We are super excited to be returning and seeing some of you!! Can't wait.

I think that about does it for your big ole update on the Ebersole crew. Keep in touch...we love to hear from you!! Don't forget about us way down here! ;)

Love you guys!

And, lots of pictures for you...finally. All of these were taken this month...lots of them taken only today. Enjoy!!

All ready for dance class one day.


Hadley had applied some subtle eye make-up that day. ;)
A couple of the kids' friends (also neighbors of ours) came over to play one day. The little girl (a few years older than our girls) basically played like the girls were her dolls...they changed clothes about 50 times. ;) It was cute.
The girls (+friend) in the treehouse. Cass was performing a little one-man show. ;)
Cass had them cracking up.
Grady playing with his friend, Samuel (Rebecca's brother).

I love the look over that Eissa throws the kids...checking to see what they are doing. ;) Sweet.
They were taking their babies on a walk outside. Don't worry about Grady...they had just finished playing dinosaurs...he's well balanced. But he'll be an excellent Daddy, that's for sure...lots of practice already. ;)
Snack time. And Cass saying "cheese!" Happens every time.
A little fun with some water balloons.
So squishy!
And again with the glance over.

Cass, convinced she's half-grown.
"Cheese!"
Grady's snowman.
In the mornings sometimes, the kids watch a little Portuguese TV (morning cartoons). I looked over and saw this...Grady's arm.
Sweetness.
Grady helped Cass out of the treehouse. When I said something about how I didn't know he was going to bring her all the way in the house, he said, "Well, she was just holding me so tight, hugging me...she didn't want me to put her down."

Cass is very well taken care of.
Eissa's turn.
Oh dear...she's taken over the comedy relief role of the family. Don't worry though...after (and only after) we got a picture, we taught her not to do this. ;)
I heard Hadley say to Eissa, "Wanna touch your eyeball?" And she then commenced to showing her how. I wasn't able to grab the camera fast enough, but Eissa was giving it a valiant effort...not sure if she succeeded or not. Never a dull moment.
Afternoon snack on the driveway.

I love this shot. She was pointing, showing Eissa something and 'talking' about it. Funny.
And then again, pointing to something and 'talking' (jabbering) in a full sentence to her sister. Too cute.

It Will Revolutionize Your Life

Those are the words that came out of my friend's mouth (I joked with her that I would link to her blog, but I will spare her on this topic...this time :) ). She was talking about something called a Diva Cup...and she was right.

Now, if you are a man who is just downright opposed to hearing about girly issues, then stop right here. Click away to your Bass Pro Shop or ESPN site. BUT, if you are a man who has a wife (or plan to in the future) or a mother or a sister, or you just generally thrive on knowledge of all types, you should read this. It is super interesting and I want you to read this...if you will. Read it and share your knowledge. I do share personal stories though. You know by now that I don't mind you hearing them (obviously, otherwise I wouldn't put them on the world wide web...and they aren't that personal). But, if you prefer to skip down to the bottom of this post, you can just read the jist of this post there, in the last paragraph...and follow the links to learn more.

For those of you still with me, remember, I am a nurse...think of this as a friendly, in-home nurse-patient inservice/teaching seminar, shall we?

We will be discussing menstruation today class.

And specifically a product used in the days of the month when unfertilized eggs are dispelled.

Let's begin.

Back in January 2008 or so when I was researching cloth diapers, I saw this product and/or others like it. Of course, when I saw things like Mama Cloth and LunaPads, I didn't linger. Those are super (and I've had friends who even made their own) if you like pads. I despise them though and generally avoid them like the plague.

Again, I saw products like the Diva Cup that my friend was talking about, but I just wasn't there at the time. I had had one visit from Aunt Flo in 2004 after I had Grady, then one in 2005 after I had Hadley, and then nothing between Eissa and Cass. I was pregnant with Cass at the time of my cloth diaper research, so I was sitting happily in my non-period, pregnant self bliss. Just wasn't on my radar at the time.

Well, Aunt Flo came back for a visit when Cass was only 3 months old, to my horror. What in the world? Not time for her yet! And, also to my horror, the tampon options here in Brazil are incredibly (and unbelievably) basically null and void.
Culturally, in general Brazilians feel very strongly that girls don't even consider wearing tampons (or any internal feminine products) until after they are married. Interesting to me on many different levels and for several different reasons, but I won't get into that now. After they are finally permitted to wear tampons, it seems as if most are so accustomed to pads (and tampons have just been so taboo) that they prefer the pads. They have ob's here...like 3 boxes obscurely on a shelf anytime you go to the supermarket, amongst the whole section of pads. Occasionally (rarely) you might find a box or 2 of Tampax. But, that's it. And no plastic applicators to be found anywhere.

Thank God for girl visitors from the states (with their plastic applicators in tow) when Aunt Flo showed back up after Cass. And then they were very generous when they left to go home to the land of plastic applicators...they left theirs here for me. ;) Smooches for that, girls!

And then there was the trip to the airport in the states to depart for Brazil back in February. We stopped by Wal-Mart for one more last shopping spree...some special things we wanted to get that we can't get here. My items? 6 big boxes of precious Playtex plastic applicator tampons. :) It was quite the sight I'm sure when we were in the ticket line at the airport and I was opening all 6 said boxes and dispersing and shoving the individual tampons into our 11 large suitcases. Ha.

So...

I was set for a while. But then my friend here in Brazil (a fellow American missionary), over pizza at the food court in the mall, said, "It will revolutionize your life." She started explaining it, her husband suddenly decided he'd go find my husband in the arcade with the kids, and I was all ears.

She sold me on it. And then since, I sold another lady here on it and we are both Diva Cup owners now. :) Ahh, I love networking.

I won't describe it to you, but just imagine never having to spend money on feminine products again. Husbands, imagine never having to spend your money OR stand in line with a box of tampons or pads stuck under your arm. Imagine no leaks, no toxic shock syndrome concern, no need to pack 'essentials' in your purse. I'm telling you, your life will be changed. Here is a link that explains all you'd ever want to know about the glorious Diva Cup so you can see more yourself (they even have videos...wha?!?). But, buy from this site when you decide you want to take the plunge...this company is near and dear to my heart. And, when you buy, you won't regret it. Because truly...it will revolutionize your life.

How Much Do I Love This?!?

Oh how my little boy has my heart!

I know that I just did a post on Grady, but I needed to record this. ;) You know, for when he's grown and gone and married and all. Although, he just recently reached the conclusion that he won't be going anywhere or marrying anyone and wants to reside with me all of his days. I know that almost all little boys say this at some point or another to their mothers, but I feel quite sure that Grady really means it and won't go back on his word. ;) Right?!? Right.

Although, he did confide in me last night that there was a certain little girl in the airport way back in December (!!) when we were going to the United States that caught his eye. "She was byoo-tee-ful." O.K., then. Yes, she must've made quite the impression. He even told me what she was wearing. He always pays attention to the details. But, he is so very respectful and was just very matter-of-fact about it of course...he's not a drooler, that one. Just stated that she was a beautiful little girl with her 'mother and father', that's all. And don't worry folks...he's still constantly praying about his wife.

But, like I said...there probably won't be any need for that now since he's just going to be my constant companion from now on. ;)

Any-way...

After he was done with lunch today, he went to his room and was very quiet. Eissa even said at one point, "Where is Grady?" Ha ha ha.

A few minutes later he came out with this drawing. We are now on Lesson 67 of 100 in the "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" book. I think he is doing quite well. This was the first time he ever sounded things out to write them out...and all on his own too.

LOVE this. And love that boy!

By the way, he continues to talk about the fruit of the Spirit...things like how sometimes we have too much fruit and we just need to give some away (oh what a practical evangelism lesson) and how we need to ask God to show us where the fruit is so we can eat more and more (seeking God). I have yet to inform him that it isn't real fruit like we eat physically as in apples and oranges. I think he's getting lots of practical lessons out of it...and so are his parents. :) But, I plan to do a Fruit of the Spirit study with him soon. I'm researching online...anyone have any suggestions for free online unit studies or sites I can use? Fun, fun stuff!!

Alright, better run. I have a cute little boy to do reading lessons with.

Fruits

Last night as I was spending some time with Grady (5 1/2) in his bed before he went to sleep, he was talking about an incident that had happened during the day. Hadley was not nice to him (and Eissa), but instead of getting mad and trying to hurt her or something (we've really been working on restraining our anger and talking out the problem and then if that doesn't work, just coming to talk to Mama or Daddy about it), he just talked to her and then just walked away.

He was saying how good that was and we (me and Grady) were talking about how proud we were that he did that. And then...

Grady: "I sink (the way he says 'think') I ate some fruit of the spirit and that is why I was able to do that."

Michawn: "Really?"

Grady (just pondering, looking around the room, laying with his hands behind his head): Yeah, I sink so. I don't know what kind it was...maybe it was an apple of the spirit...or maybe an orange of the spirit."

At that point, all I could do was tell Grady how awesome I think he is. And revel in the cuteness of it all. A teaching on the fruits of the spirit was saved for another day. ;)

Ahh, I love that boy!

Potty Party

We had a big ole potty party yesterday for sweet little Eissa who was so excited about wearing underwear and going potty. We do the "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day" thing and we LOVE it. (With a few modifications. For instance, we don't have a peeing doll, we didn't use a potty chair this time, and we don't give candy as rewards.) This method is not a gradual process that takes place over several months. It requires a solid block of time dedicated to "potty boot camp," where children undergo intensive training. We are not the type to wrestle with potty training and clean up accidents for months on end. We are totally fine with waiting until our child is a little older than the 'normal beginning age,' but then getting it done and over with quicker. We definitely prefer this way. And it's worked splendidly on now 3 of our children.

Eissa has done great and within a few hours, was what I consider potty trained.

The 2 times that she's pooped since we started, she's done so in her underwear. The first time it was actually our fault. Ha ha ha. For whatever reason, we omitted the very pertinent information that not only was she to pee in the potty now, but also poop. We were cracking up at ourselves. This morning when she pooped...I don't know...guess she just forgot. But, she's only had one pee accident...and that was after she had run in the house from helping to wash the car. I think she's doing just fine.

I didn't take pictures of this, but we woke up yesterday morning and had a huge special breakfast for Eissa's special potty party day...eggs, bacon, and pancakes. We sang lots of 'happy potty day to you' ('happy birthday to you' tune of course) and talked alot about how we were all so excited for her and her big day. Then, after we had our late breakfast, we got down to business (around 11am).

Basically, for 2-3 hours we talked about going potty, we read about going potty, we sang about it and drew pictures about it. And, we went potty...every 15 minutes. After the initial 2-3 hours, we slacked off a bit and she had it pretty down pat.

Now I'm just sure to stay on top of it. I ask her very often if she needs to go potty. Then, after a certain amount of time, I just take her without asking her. Most the time though, she will go without prompting if she needs to...I still remind her often though at this point. I mean, it has only been a little over 24 hours.

After the fun, party-like late breakfast, Eissa got all ready for her special day.
"This is Johnnie. What's he wearing? Yes, a diaper." We don't have a doll that pees like the book recommends, but with a little imagination, any ole regular doll works...even one that is at least 25 years old. This was my first 'Cabbage Patch' doll. I got it the Christmas that they were such a big hit. Therefore, it isn't really a Cabbage Patch. Mama found someone that made them and got one from her since they were all sold out at the stores. He's been well worth the money Mama paid. Not only did I play with him and my kids...but, he has now successfully helped to potty train 3 Ebersole children. ;) Thanks Johnnie!!
"Johnnie is a big boy now...he's not a baby anymore. He wants to wear big boy underwear and go pee pee in the potty. So, he takes off his diaper..."
"...and puts on big boy underwear."
"See Johnnie in his new underwear?"
"And when Johnnie needs to go potty, he pulls his underwear down and...
...Johnnie pee pees on his potty."
Choosing her very own underwear and putting them on.

Eissa's turn to try on her potty!!
With everyone cheering her on!
Then we read all about people (or animals...whatever) who had gone before her, blazing the trail in potty training.


And time for another potty break. "Yay!"
Always an audience. ;)
Then it was time to draw some potty pictures.

Everyone was involved. Here, Grady puts a check mark on Eissa's chart. He and Hadley took turns. After 5 potty breaks, she got a sticker. Cass was right in there too...giving lots of cheers and claps for Eissa. ;)



She is still using a diaper for naps and nighttime...pull-ups aren't readily available here, so diapers have to work...but, we just call them pull-ups after they are potty-trained. ;) In fact, my older 2 still use 'pull-ups.' Several in the family have had this 'issue.' The bright side: I'm very glad I have such great sleepers. ;)

They don't always wet their pull-ups, but they still require them. As long as we are on this subject, I'll share this product with you. I am about to get this product for my 'bedwetters.' You can obviously get the male or female version. I've heard great things about this product...actually, I've only heard success stories. So, hopefully soon, we will only have literally one child in diapers. I'll be sure to give you a product review after I try it.

Also, a follow-up product review regarding the diaper liners since I'm talking about product reviews...
The Bummis Bio-Soft Liners are definitely the winners in our book. They are, as they say, super soft. That is the downfall to some...the others that we tried can be washed a few times if only peed on and not soiled and then re-used. But, Bummis are so soft that they cannot be washed. We personally prefer the softness though. They still guard the diaper and hold the poo spectacularly...and are soft on baby's bum. So, yes...Bummis Bio-Soft...clear winner for the Ebersoles.

Alright, I think that's all the potty talk I have for today. ;)

Yay, Eissa...you are such a big girl now!! We are so proud of you!!!!

NUH-Thing!!

After just a hair over 3 straight weeks of visitor bliss here in the Ebersole household (our visitors that arrived on Saturday left late last night), we had a day of doing just that...NOTHING!! You know...I still fed my children and did a load of laundry, did some dishes and planned a little throw-together baby shower. But, what I mean is...we did the BARE MINIMUM for sure!! The kids didn't go to the soccer and dance classes that were scheduled. I did no cooking or folding/putting away of the laundry. I let the kids lay around and watch movies 3/4 of the day (gasp!). I laid around and caught up on some correspondence. It was quite glorious!!!!

So, in my nothingness, I thought I'd post a couple of videos of the nothingness that occurred today. I think nothingness is cute! ;)

Gotta Love This

Ha ha ha...thanks for the forward, Anna!