pimp my taxi

I can't believe I didn't write about this sooner. I forgot about it for a while, which in itself is hard to believe.

Eric and I found the perfect date night.

Last week we went with one of the guys that also works with Youth World to get our blood tests done, in order to get our drivers licenses. That was quite an adventure in itself, but I'm just not even going to waste my time right now writing about that part.... Because the best part was the taxi ride there.

This picture was taken with Eric's cell phone and does very little justice to the beauty of the sweetest taxi on the roadways of Quito.

This guy had pretty much everything made to blink, sparkle and glow. You can probably make out the little disco ball hanging from the rear view and silver skulls on the ceiling with glowing blue eyes. But honey, that is only the beginning. Mini motorcycles that glow, those little crackly lightningy type thingies (close to the technical name, I'm sure) and I could go on.

Dude.

So now Eric and I want to go on a date, at night of course - so we can get the full effect of all the interior illumination - in this taxi. Got to be the most romantic idea EVER.

Can't wait for it.

And I know you're jealous!

creating.... or not

So I am finally working on a few ideas that are in my brain - at least the ones that I have stuff for (so no, not a lot). And occupying the kids at the same time. Love that.

So what do you do when you have about 2.7 million coffee filters (and you don't drink coffee, and even if you did, they aren't the right filters for your coffee maker.....hey - they just got left in the house), bored children and a whole lot of time? You make butterflies.

The girls (and sometimes the boy) have been busy painting butterflies for Lucy's room. Planning to make some sort of a mobile or something. She wants me to stick them on the walls - an idea which has some merit - but, well, I'm kind of into hanging things right now.... that is foreshadowing to another project in the works. More on that later.

Anywho, I'll put up a picture some day when it is done.

I've had a good many sewing projects that I have planned - mostly curtains and nonsense like that but some things more fun too. So today I started one of the fun little things - one that I could do with just stuff lying around the house. An old t-shirt of Lucy's and a little bit of left over black fabric from some theatre curtains I made. Its a little throw pillow for Maddy's room.

I finished hand sewing some ruffly flowers and was ready to machine stitch the pillow only to discover that somehow, in our move, I lost the power cord to my beloved sewing machine.

I've looked everywhere. Everywhere. And since we really don't have much stuff, it didn't take that long to look. And I looked again.

No cord.

I haven't cried about it yet, but believe me, I want to.

I love sewing.

I have so many things I want to make (and some we things we do need) but that is not gonna happen for a while.

Sadness. Lots of sadness.

Needing a miracle... well, okay, not needing...just wanting one really bad.

first pedicure

I had my first pedicure in Ecuador today.

I think I might have been better off going to an actual business for it and paid the big bucks. But since I am too cheap for that, Lucy took care of my pampering needs.

Beautiful job, yes?

I followed with a little touch up.

My payment was to do her toes and fingers as well.

That burned up a good 15 minutes. Now to figure out how to keep them entertained for the rest of the 13.75 hours we are awake.

nature in our yard

We have two hummingbird feeders off the side of our house - bought them from the previous owners. So glad we did.

We have had a regular flow of hummingbirds that we get to watch. Cade has counted 25 visiting in the last few days.

This picture is of a long-tailed slyth that visits - absolutely beautiful but terribly shy. It has been pretty tough getting a picture of him, and this one doesn't do his beauty any justice. The long tails seem to be a lot more cautious and fly away quickly when we come near.

We are loving watching them... And maybe they will entice our bird/hummingbird loving parents (my dad and Eric's mom) to come for a visit!!??
The kids picked a bunch of flowers from our yard the other day too. These plants were also purchased from the previous owners. They are so lush and beautiful - I just hope I can keep them that way. I'm not much of a green thumb...it tends to run a little more on the charcoal edging toward black side.

Whatever the case, as of right now, we are enjoying them, even if they might be temporary!

There are lots of familiar varieties but some that I have never seen before either. The white and pink one in the middlish of the bowl is really cool but I have no clue what it is. I might get kicked out of my family (not immediate - Eric and the kids don't have a clue or care) for not knowing so I better ask or look it up some time soon.

We are so grateful to be able to enjoy a lot of God's creation right here at our house. It is a pretty cool thing.

way too weak

Remember what I just wrote?

AUGH!

God please take over.

My kids are loosing it and I am right there with them.

First thing this morning I was awaken to screaming - as usual. So much screaming, in fact, the the neighbors in the apartment beside our building started looking out of their windows at us. Lovely - the stupid, noisy gringos who can't control their kids. Okay - that is just a problem with my pride... That isn't so important.

Now another MAJOR meltdown. I'm sure everyone around us thinks I am completely abusing my children (well, two of them) and that I am the worst parent in the world. Okay - pride again. Forget that.

How can children scream so much?

The amazing thing is how I screamed so little - totally a God thing. I managed, only because of Him, to pretty much keep my cool. If it was on my own strength, I probably would have squeezed them (one in particular) till their brains popped out.

The comical thing is that one delightful (said sarcastically) kept screaming "I want daddy, I wish daddy were home!". That is pretty hilarious. I mean, I want him home too, and I know the kids miss him, but seriously. If daddy were home, their punishments would definitely be more severe. Do they not have a clue how good they have it with mom here?

Yes, definitely comical.

It is so hard to know how much to give and take right now. They are under a lot of stress; so many changes. The battles, however, are the same ones as always....just a little more intense and definitely more frequent. I can't really blame them. They can't really get away from each other (and I certainly can't get away from them either). Life is really hard for them right now. But sheesh - they still need to be held accountable for how they treat each other right?

Right now they are chilling out in their rooms separately - the one main perpetrator is stuck in my room with nothing to do - for 55 minutes. It started out with 20 minutes but increased by 5 minutes with every complaint or scream.

I am so thankful for God's grace, wisdom and strength. I am weak, He is strong. I am foolish, He is wise.

2 Cor. 12:9

Two days ago, during my short quiet time before bed, I read this in my "Praying God's Word Day by Day" by Beth Moore. It, by the way, is a wonderful guide and help.... highly recommend.

She says "Our bridegroom sometimes leads us to difficult places, but we can trust Him to have purpose in our stay and never to forsake us."

The we pray through Ps. 107:13, Ps. 57:2-3, 2 Cor 12:9 and Heb 13:5. Such a comfort.

My favorite: His power is made perfect in my weakness.

His power is really being perfected right now, because I am feeling awfully weak. Sometimes, when realizing that the spiritual is so much more important than the physical, I am so thankful for my weaknesses. It simply means that I finally get out of the way and God can be that much stronger and present in me.... as long as I step aside (something I am not very good at, however!).

I just want my weakness to exploit His strength. If I am going to be so powerless in all of the struggles that I am going through right now, I may as well do what makes the most sense: throw my hands up, admit that I am no good at any of this, and let Him take over. And then? Success. More than I could imagine or understand.

The main problem: I keep wanting to figure it out on my own. And then? Failure.

Lord, please, please help me to call it quits and depend on You.

pepino dulce

Fruit #5: Pepino Dulce

First off, please excuse the blurry photo. No, I was not drunk or anything horrid like that, just off my game, so to speak!

So, pepino is cucumber in Spanish, dulce is sweet - so yup, this is a sweet cucumber. How it is related to a cucumber, I have no clue. Except that the skin and flesh have a similar feel and/or texture. From there, who knows?

This lovely little fruit is about the size of a large apple, but more oblong in shape. The flesh is firm with a mild flavor that sort of is a combination of honey dew, cantaloupe and cucumber (okay, so it is a little more like a cucumber...). It smells wonderful. The odd thing is that it has a mildly bitter aftertaste which made Maddy label it as "gross, disgusting and nasty". I think she must have just brushed her teeth before she tried it, because, other than the slight aftertaste, it is really quite good. I found that it made quite a fine addition to the ever popular fruit salad.... problem is that after Maddy's fatal review, none of the other kids would try it, as much as they love fruit salad.

Oh, the power of being the eldest child.

Just a side note: You must be praying for the rooster. It is still alive and well. Have not had the energy to hunt as of yet.