Things I have learned.......

I have learned that....

I should NEVER.....REPEAT NEVER use a trip to the beauty salon for cut and highlights as a way to cheer me up on a bad language day.

DRIVING!!!!!!!

After one year in Costa Rica without a car..........the moment finally came. We received keys to our loaner vehicle. I thought I was going to cry. I think this was the best Christmas gift I could have received.

Although I am extremely excited about the renewed freedom of the road I need to explain to all my North American friends about driving in Buenos Aires. Imagine driving your car with a school of fish. Now, imagine that you have 13.5 million of those fish jocking for position around you. It is awesome!!!

A few differences from driving in the States.

1. This is the land of the one way street. Literally 90% or more of the streets are one ways.
2. Forget the lines in the road that promote an orderly approach to your leisurely drive. The few roads that have lines here are merely a suggestion. How many cars can fit side by side at 60KM per hour. Come to Argentina and I'll show you.
3. Oh Yes I almost forgot. On the main avenues which can be 6 or 8 lanes wide according to the paint. You can only make a left hand turn with a arrow........one problem......they don't ever seem to appear when I'm looking for one. So, in such a case three rights truly make a left.

Those few driving rules to say it may be a little different but I sure am glad to have keys in my pocket again.

Blessings

Mark

Argentina!

Ok, well I only have a minute to do a quick post but we are here in Argentina and doing ok. My goal was to have a dinner on the table by Wednesday night and we did it! Ok, it was frozen pizza and green salad but that's ok....it was our dinner on our table and we all sat down and ate!

Remember that we don't have internet so or vonage so any contact or responses will be slow.

Thanks for your prayers. The girls are better but we are still trying comfortable here.

I will post again when I can.

WARNING: CONTENT MAY BE EXCITING

Just a quick note to remind our friends and family that we go offline on Wednesday both internet and vonage. You can still leave a voicemail on the phone line if you want. Our internet usage will be sporatic for about 4 months so if I don't answer quickly to emails or post on the blog, please be patient!!

Also, a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

A star is born.....well, ok..how about a DIVA!

Claire was "Mary" in the school Christmas program today. She was fantastic (of course, what did you expect me to say?)!

Here is a picture .....I have video that I will try and post but it may not work. In the photo is Aunt Liesa and Aunt Crystal who helped Claire with her costume because I have NO creativity when it comes to things like costumes!

Enjoy.

Has anyone seen those ruby slippers?

Yesterday started a series of errands for Mark and I because of some recent changes in document requirements for Argentina. I will spare you all of the gory details but the long and short of it is ....I think the ONLY thing we need now to finish our document scavenger hunt is....that broom from the wicked witch of the west!

It was an interesting cultural experience to say the least but all joking aside, the Lord provided people to be nice and help us every step of the way. I am sure it had nothing to do with the fact that I promised they would NEVER AGAIN have to hear my Spanish if we could only get these documents today. HA!

Now.....about that broom?

HSM Birthday Party

Olivia asked to have her birthday party (7 years!) here in Costa Rica before she leaves so....today is the big party! It is a good mix of about 1/2 gringos and 1/2 Ticos so.....should prove to be an interesting day as far as language goes! HA

Anyway....here is a pic of the decorations BEFORE the party!!!

Happy Birthday Olivia......you are LOVED!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!! We hope you all have a great day of reflecting on how God has blessed in so many awesome ways. We are thankful for each one of you, your prayer support and also the money that flows through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. As many of you know, this is the backbone of support for us and over 5000 people like us all over the world. Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours.

It's beginning to SOUND alot like Christmas....

It is hard to get into the Christmas spirit with tank tops and 60 degree weather here in Costa Rica and Argentina ....well...summer starts the 21 of December so.....

Anyway, thought that I would share some of our favorite Christmas songs in the hopes that it would bring on some holiday flavor......vamos a ver (we'll see?)!

Enjoy.

Barbie for boys?

Olivia asked Mark tonight WHY he like to watch football so much.......his answer......"well, baby.....it is like Barbie for boys."

Happy Birthday Mark...we love you!!!

Yesterday was Mark's birthday....38 years!!! Wow....think I will start calling him "sir".....naa!

We had school, Claire's class field trip, and meetings yesterday so we decided to celebrate today by taking him to Friday's to eat, baked his very favorite cake (yellow cake with chocolate frosting....yum!) and FOOTBALL at home on the couch. Thanks to all of you who called, sent cards and emails wishing him a great day!

Here is a picture of Mark and the girls.......WE LOVE YOU....YOU ARE THE GREATEST!!!!

Claire's thoughts....

Tonight.....lying in her bed, Claire's asks "how many fingers does an owl have?".......wiggling her fingers up in front of her face.

Countdown

We have less days here than a mandatory detox .......

VIP seats ROCK!

Ok, here is a perk of living in Costa Rica.....

We took the girls to see High School Musical 3 tonight at a really nice mall about 15 minutes from our house and the mall sits up close to the mountains with a beautiful view. The perk is that we bought "VIP" tickets which means you go to a different part of the theatre with separate bathrooms, a sushi bar, coffee bar, and a regular movie theater food bar. Our seats were overstuffed leather RECLINING seats with cup holders and side tables ....AND here is the kicker...the waiters took our order and delivered our snack food and coffee!!!

It was awesome!!!! All for the low price of about $7.50 US dollar per ticket.

Sorry, but after walking for 1 year and in the rain for two months now....just had to brag about this one!

Quote of the Week

Claire has been getting bug bites and we don't know from where or when because none of the rest of the family has them....so it has been a family mystery about Claire's bug bites.

Tonight at bedtime, Claire was scratching and I asked "Claire, what are you scratching?"

Claire replied, " my bug bites".

Olivia says, "hum, you gotta plague!" without ever missing a bite of her bedtime snack.

Couldn't resist

Claire was so tired that she fell asleep with her bedtime cookie still in her hand.

I just couldn't resist sharing these precious pictures of my girls.......I love to look at my sleeping angels.

Argentina Fellowship

The "mate" table set outside for the guys....traditional Argentine drink.

MK family cousins

Traditional Argentine food.....empanadas!!!

Olivia's artwork welcoming everybody at the gate for mate and empanadas.

We hosted a fellowship for fellow M's in our mission going to Argentina so here are some pics of the party. Olivia was in charge of the decorations so take note of the sign we posted at the front gate to the house......so sweet! Enjoy!

Crazy Hair Day

Last Friday at school (the girl's school) was "crazy hair day" so here are some pics of our crazy hair!!! I have posted pics of everybody's crazy hair......except mine......why?......because it is the rainy season here and EVERYDAY IS CRAZY HAIR DAY!!!

Quote of the Week

In a letter written shortly before his death, C.T. Studd reviews his life with this summary:

"As I believe I am now nearing my departure from this world, I have but a few things to rejoice in. They are these:

1. That God called me to China, and I went in spite of utmost opposition from all my loved ones.

2. That I joyfully acted as God told that rich young man to act.

3. That I deliberately at the call of God, when alone on the Bibbly liner in 1910, gave up my life for this work, which was to be henceforth not for the Sudan only, but for the whole unevangelized World.

My only joys therefore are that when God has given me a work to do, I have not refused it."

bright...bright...sunshiny day!

Wow...we have had like 2 days of beautiful sunshine!!! It has been great. Of course, there is some rain in the late evening and during the night....but who cares?......the day is perfect!

Rainy Season

Rain, rain, go away.....we have to walk for 57 more days.

Did you know that in the rainy season in Costa Rica it rains every single day? Yep, it does.

Big sigh. I miss my car.

Sick Day

My girls are so very generous ....they even gave their Mommy their cold. HHMM....big sigh.....how sweet. So I am spending today drugged up on ibuprofen and benadryl. Fun times.....

Claire has a nasty little cold -

please remember to pray for her.

A good day to be Olivia

After Olivia's performance in the theatre this weekend she said "Mom, I felt like an astronaut!". "An astronaut?" I replied..."don't you mean a movie star?". "No Mom, I mean an astronaut the way I walked down those stairs and everybody was cheering for me."

Note: To much Apollo 13 in the Hobson House!

Just to prove....

Just to prove that I do occasionally get out of my flip-flops and put some make-up on....!









Did I mention that we have TICKETS TO FLY?????? Yep, December 12....yea baby~!

Olivia had her first night (1 of 3!) of performance last night and she was outstanding.....no really, she was.....not just the Mom in me talking!!! She was beautiful, graceful and absolutely fabulous and completely confident on the stage!! We had front row seats in this huge historic theater in downtown San Jose. It was a great night for our family. I will share some photos but sorry none are of the performance because they don't allow pictures.

Warning ...entering a proud Mom zone!!!

Olivia has her big ballet presentation this weekend....EVERY DAY THIS WEEKEND...we have 3 performances. This is a picture of her ballet class. So sweet! Can you tell we are a SO proud of our Olivia??? Can you pick her out? Yep, she is the vanilla scoop on the end!













Claire, well she if fine...now! Claire decided to go head first into a concrete wall last Friday and for several days now she has looked like she went 12 rounds with Ali but thankfully now, the bruising under her eyes is fading and her head looks better. That's our Claire....we love her!

Quote of the Week

"Never pity missionaries; envy them. They are where the real action is -- where life and death, sin and grace, Heaven and Hell converge." -- Robert C. Shannon, Christian Standard

N.....this is for you!

Hey girl.....this is for you....and anyone else who happens to need it today!
This is dated in my Bible "December 2007" because I had so much trouble resting (and sometimes still do:)...see my post a few days ago!

Psalm 4:8
"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety."

We will pray for you...all of you.

Love ya!

Open House

Olivia's class had "open house" on Friday so we were able to go in (side note....you KNOW I had already been in that classroom......hello helicopter mom!). She is enjoying first grade...I can't even type it without tearing up....but she finds it challenging and her favorite class is SPANISH.

She was actually asked by the Spanish teacher to translate what another little girl in the class was trying to say......we'll you know what they say....."the apple doesn't fall far from the tree".

Big sigh....oh how I wish that was true concerning Spanish!

Independence Day in Costa Rica

Today is the day that Costa Rica celebrates their Independence from Spain. One funny note, every week I have to interview 5 people/5 questions each for my conversation class. One of my questions last week was who did Costa Rica win independence from......one young lady (Costa Rica, of course) answered the United States. I was floored.....all of the cultural sensitivity left me at that moment and I said "WHAT? THE UNITED STATES?"

So the little ones at school had a parade which is part of the celebration every year. They parade in the streets and beat drums. I am posting a video piece of Claire in the parade, you will notice she is way more concerned with her look than her march timing!

More thank you's!

Wow....God's timing is perfect!

Ok, yesterday was a little scary.......the guy that delivers my water every Tuesday was robbed at GUNPOINT ...HELLO!!!.....at 2:45pm in the afternoon right in front of my house!!! Yea, not fun! The scariest part was that Mark and Olivia were walking up on the sidewalk coming home from school. Thank the Lord, they were about 5 minutes late and just missed the robbers running away. So, the Lord always knows when you need a little "pick me up" or in our case chocolate and Velveeta! So today we received 4 boxes full of stuff from friends in the States...totally unexpected but desperately appreciated.

Thanks so much Burgess family and Bird family.....it means the world to know you thought about my kidos (and us too)!

Good times!

Our family had a great time visiting the volcano "Arenal". Yes, it is very active and has explosions about every 5 minutes. For some strange reason, Mark felt like that was a great place for his mother-in-law to go for relaxation. He kept urging her to get closer for a better picture! Seriously, we had a great time and saw some fantastic activity and lava flow.

You know you have had TOO MUCH Olympics.....

when every man over 50 is trying to back-flip off the bridge at the swimming pool.

when Mark is trying to figure out how to do the butterfly-stroke AND breathe at the same time.

when Claire "rewards" everything we do with "a gold medal and roses".

when Olivia is "Michael Phelps winning the gold" with her pool floaties on and swimming 2 feet away from the wall.


Today, I am thankful for closing ceremonies!

Planetarium and Children's Museum

Today we set out to see a couple of things that we had heard about here in Costa Rica but not yet done.....the planetarium and the Children's Museum downtown. We had a great time and here are a couple of moments in the day. Enjoy!

The video is from the museum...they have one exhibit that simulates an earthquake so that children learn what it feels like...important info for Costa Rica!

EL SOL Cheese dip!

This is one for the record........Mom and Dad arrived here with tons of goodies but this one you won't believe!

We ate nachos and cheese dip from my VERY, ALL TIME FAVORITE place in Pine Bluff to eat....that's right baby, I had EL SOL last night!!! They transported the food in an insulated bag all the way from White Hall and Miguel sent it all free of charge! Thanks Miguel...we miss you!

Support El Sol restaurant and thank Miguel and Gloria for supporting your missionaries with nachos and cheese dip!

By the way when Mark called Miguel to say "thanks and hello" he started out with a complaint of receiving cold food (obviously just teasing with Miguel)!

Thanks Everybody!!!!!

WOW...Mom and Dad arrived safely yesterday and with them TONS AND TONS of goodies, gifts, cards for all of us. WOW...I cannot say "thank you" enough to express how much we appreciate every item that you sent. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

The girls ripped into packages and cards and goodies until they were worn out. Mark and I dug into presents and treats like it was Christmas morning. Thank you!

Marilyn, I baked a chocolate cake last night in my very own pan...thank you. I couldn't possibly name every person that was involved but collectively we so appreciate the love you have shown our family....thank a million.

Quote of the Week

Today Olivia was checking our blog to see what countries have hit our site (a favorite past time of our family) and she saw the Philippines.....Olivia says "Mom, what country is this?" I replied "It's the Philippines" when Olivia says "Oh, yea the people that David fought!"

Joke of the week!

Two blondes living in Oklahoma were sitting on a bench talking, and one blonde says to the other, 'Which do you think is farther away... Florida or the moon?' The other blonde turns and says 'Helloooooooooo, can you see Florida ?????'

Too cute!

Bummer week!

OK, we got our oral exam results back yesterday...which I didn't need to see in writing to know how bad it went! I was SO depressed after taking mine on Thursday that I skipped grammar class and came home to cry for 2 hours straight.....it was that bad. The worst part is that for about 2 weeks now I have really struggled with language, fatigue, and keeping my mind focused.
Not excuses....just reality!

Anyway, we watched a ton of Olympics last night after we found them in ENGLISH and it was a great time. We cheered for the USA team and teared up when we heard OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM. Funny how you take those simple things for granted but it has been months, I suppose, since we heard our national anthem. Sure sounded good!

My take is that we all really need a nice long break......

18 years and counting!

Wow, today is our 18th wedding anniversary!! We don't have any big plans because we are in our last "real" week of second trimester language, we have oral exams this week, Olivia has ballet this afternoon, and a host of other priorities that superceded a "date". When Mom and Dad arrive in 2 weeks, we plan to go have dinner and a movie once or twice!

One thing we can say......our life has been anything but boring. What an adventure together!

Mark.......te amo ahora y siempre!

Quote of the Day

Shortly before his death, he said: "I am not tired of my work, neither am I tired of the world; yet, when Christ calls me home, I shall go with gladness..." Adoniram Judson

All I want for Christmas.........

"All I want for Christmas ....." Can you finish the phrase? "is my 2 front teeth!"

She has now lost BOTH of her front teeth and the tooth fairy is looking to get a LOAN!!!

I can't help myself.......I ask her to say she is "selling seashells by the seashore." It is so precious!

My little one just thinks the idea of cashing in on some teeth is too cool. I am not quite sure that she wants to use her OWN teeth, though.....gotta watch that little one!

Did you have a "clean" week?

Today was my day for the "House of Restoration". We had a really good Bible Study with about 10 ladies this week and Tasha and I feel like the women are beginning to warm up to us a little bit now. One young lady shared how yesterday, she accepted the Lord and she was able to give a brief testimony of how God has changed her mind and heart already. How important is that for us as believers to verbally share what God has done in our lives? It IS the beginning of true discipleship! I hang my head to think how long I have known the Lord and how STILL I back off from opportunities to testify about God in my life. I learn many things from these women.

I also was able to ask how did your week go (meaning are you still clean....remember this is a house for addicts, prostitutes, alcoholics, etc.)? On the way home, I begin to think about how my week had gone. Could I answer that for one more week I was clean ...spiritually speaking? Sure, my addictions and strongholds are not the same sins but sins all the same! They have a victory when they make it one day, one week, one month clean from their particular flavor of "sin that so easily entangles" but what is my flavor? Did I have the victory of a "clean"week?

"No donuts....enjoy your bandaids."

I know the title of this blog post sounds like a line from "Mommy Dearest" but let me explain:

Yes, we do have bandaids in Costa Rica but just in case you are wondering WHY I would put that on our wish list......here goes.....my girls are totally into bandaids right now for every scratch or nick in the skin. We must have a bandaid on it! My girls decided that I didn't have any cool bandaids...I only have the regular bandaids ...SSSSOOO at the mall we stopped by the pharmacy to pick up a box of bandaids to their liking. I thought I would break my bill for smaller change for the cab ride home and pick up their bandaids all at once......that's a Mom thinking huh?

At the checkout...for 2 boxes of bandaids (one Mickey and one Princess) the bill was $10!!!!
Trust me when I say I needed a bandaid for my feelings after that.....needless to say the girls asked for donuts from the little donut shop just outside the pharmacy and my response ......"no donuts.....enjoy your bandaids"

Quote of the Day

"I am immortal till my work is accomplished," David Livingstone

House of Restoration

Today was my first official Bible Study (outside of the classroom as an assignment) in SPANISH!!! Tasha and I went to the House of Restoration and as you can imagine....it seems that every distraction possible happened. However, one lady gave a "testabite" of how God had changed her thinking and her heart, how he had compassion and mercy. This lady went on to say that she had been clean from drugs for about 1 month now PTL!

As much of a failure as I felt with my ability to communicate both culturally and verbally, if we had not had the Bible Study then this woman may not have had the opportunity to testify about how good God is.

I have to remind myself that God can use obedience above skill.

Crescent rolls and corned beef hash

Today I went to buy some groceries because all I had in my freezer was a bag of coffee (absolute essential!) and ICE!!! (before you call.........no Mom and Dad ....we DO NOT NEED MONEY FOR FOOD). I went to my favorite grocery store SIN HIJAS Y ESPOSO (alone without kids and hubby) for an enjoyable afternoon in the store that carries imported but expensive grocery items.

It was like Christmas because I found Corned beef hash so that I can make stuffed bell peppers!!! God is so good! :) You don't always find the same items every time, for example today I didn't find any pepper jack cheese so no stuffed Mexican chicken at least until after next payday. This store is a once a "payday store":(

OK, here goes the drama of the day.....I spotted them (background music starts).....only 3 cans left of Pillsbury Crescent rolls. PAUSE: do you have any idea how many different ways I can use crescent rolls?! Ok, the ex-pat "ex-patriot" man is standing in front of me right in front of the crescent rolls!!! YIKES......he could be some insane ex-pat that would buy ALL 3 CANS!!! What do I do? Do I bump him with my buggy? Do I yell "immigration"? I HAVE to have crescent rolls! It turns out, he didn't buy any of them and I got all 3 cans! Turns out I probably would have gotten them without the "Jet Li" move but why take chances?!

It's the simple things in life that we have found God uses to show us his touch sometimes......little girls without head injuries, crescent rolls and corned beef hash!

Here we go again~

The Emergency Room seems to be the favorite tourist attraction of the Hobson Family because we manage to get there quite often. Yesterday after leaving a meeting, Mark was carrying "baby sister" on his shoulders (as he always does so we can hold on to her!) and he slipped and fell. They BOTH went crashing to the sidewalk and she hit her head fairly hard on the sidewalk.....SO off to the ER we go for skull xrays! She is fine and Mark (I think) mainly hurt his pride! Of course, last night we got to wake her up EVERY 1 1/2 HOURS ......OH THE JOY!!

As if that wasn't enough........"big sister" goes to get a drink in the waiting room of the xray department and I turn around only to see my daughter drinking from some plastic cup that she found sitting on TOP OF THE WATER COOLER BOTTLE.........YIKES!!! If you know me very well you know how much of a germ freak I am.....of course this sent me into overload!! I begin to think of every communicable disease known to man that she could possibly get and don't think I didn't at least consider HOW I might could disinfect her mouth!!!!!!

Kitchen Help

My girls LOVE to help in the kitchen so I had lots of help tonight as we made supper and pudding! They grow up so fast ....I wish I could capture every smile and word on video but at least here are a couple of photos of my precious babies!

Finally Friday!

Today was a special "optional" day at school so we "opted" to stay home and I can't even say what time I got up~!!! Que Verguenza!!!! (That's embarassing!)

Anyhow, we are having a relaxing day around the house doing some cleaning out of closets and other stuff. The Lord knows when our minds and bodies are in need of major rest and He provided a time for that this weekend.

Please remember to pray for Mark....he found out last night that my parents have bought tickets for a 2 week visit in August!!!! He layed out in ashes and sackcloth this morning ....HAHA .....just teasin Mom and Dad....he is really very excited :) and so are us girls!!

Friends

God always seem to know when you need a little extra encouragement and I have already explained that this weekend was one of those times. We have some really good friends who keep in very close contact with us and we talked to them today. They always know exactly what to say to encourage us and remind us that they are praying for our family.

Thank you Tony, Susan and the kidos (Resingers) for your friendship. You may never know how important you all have been to us. Thanks for calling, writing, praying and listening.

We love you guys!

Not so Happy July 4th

Ok, I guess I can admit (though my strong will says "no") that everybody here was a little...ok a lot bumbed out about July 4th. I don't mean the kids.....they really don't know any difference ....I am talking about my M friends. I thought it was just me until tonight which really made me feel better because at least now I am know....I was actually feeling quite par for the course!

We have not had water consistently now for 3 days and probably will not tomorrow either. We miss our American food, BBQ, friends, patriotism.....I could go on and on but I won't. I missed Dad's Birthday. You name it and we had reason to cry about it this weekend, or so we thought.

My friend, Tessa has not had a shower in 4 days!!! Today her husband Bob actually took a shower in the rain in the backyard soap and all! And I do mean ALL! Fortunately none of their neighbors can see into their yard!

On a lighter note, Mark actually got to DRIVE tonight! He was so excited. He got behind the wheel of a 1986 Nissan Sentra and was lovin it. It is our friends car and he drove us home from the party and let Mark drive. Mark hasn't driven since December 27!

Tooth be gone!

Olivia finally lost that front tooth this morning. I don't know who was more excited ...Olivia for getting it out or Claire for seeing that it was out! Looks like we will be getting a visit from the tooth fairy this weekend!

Here a picture.....yes it's kind of gross but necessary to really EXPERIENCE the moment with us!haha

AND I LIVE IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY

Okay....can I just have a minute here to say this has not been the best day so far? For day 3....we have no water. I do have to say that there is enough that we all had a shower under a trickle this morning and I was able to wash a few dishes but rumor has it that it is going out again sometime today.

I am trying to fix food for the BBQ and my chocolate cake has fallen apart in the middle while removing it from a BORROWED pan (just have to add that because I miss my stuff). Of course, I can't fix more than one thing at a time being that I am boiling MORE WATER to have for later.

AND I LIVE IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY!!!!!! (drama queen enter stage right)

Today I guess the Lord gave me this verse because He already knew about the cake and every other train wreck of this day.....Eccl 7:14

"When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider God has made the one as well as the other".

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

Today is my Dad's Birthday! I won't say how old he is but let me put it this way......as a gift ...I checked into having his Titanic ticket framed for him.....HAHA....not really.

Sorry we couldn't be there Dad but we thought about you, talked about you and wished you a very happy day....you deserve it.

Thanks for being the absolute best Dad ever and Happy Birthday!

Ok, you and Mom go eat a buffet on us.

We love you all the way around.

Happy 4th of July!

Ok, we had a different but good 4th! Can't say I have ever had a July 4th like this one! We haven't had water in 2 days.....yesterday we found out at 7 am that there would be no water until sometime last night........today was just a bonus, I suppose. There has been no water today either! Fortunately, we have large drinkable water bottles (and we keep a couple in stock just in case days like today) but that doesn't help for showers and dishes. SSSSOOOOO since there was no water.....we headed out to a mall about 15 minutes from our house to eat and see Kungfu Panda.

Cultural note: This theatre has a "VIP" entrance and 3 "VIP" theatres. Cost a little more but the seats are leather recliner-like and they bring you your food!!!

About our July 4th BBQ...hopefully tomorrow......if we have water!

P.S. It just wouldn't be July 4th WITHOUT hearing Lee Greenwood so I posted it to my playlist.

New pictures!

The girls graciously posed for a couple of new photos tonight.

Olivia is preparing for her big "stage performance" coming in September with her ballet school. This is serious stuff! She has decided that she doesn't like to be called "Liv" .......only "Olivia".

Ok, don't say I didn't warn ya!

Claire is excited because she has finally learned how to write her ENTIRE name.....ok...except Elizabeth but no sense in stressing out the cutie. Just recently she started including the I and R because she said there just wasn't enough room. She is a true lefty with the old marker!

Mark has finally learned how to introduce himself in Spanish and we are so proud of him. "Baby steps!" I always say....who could say this has been a wasted 6 months? Seriously, Mark is doing good with his language. I'm just teasin'.

Thanks for looking!

WOW...I love my new counter!! It is the simple things in life that fascinate me, I know, but it is so cool to check out who's checking us out. I had no idea that people actually read this besides my parents, of course!
I will have to try to be more entertaining now that I know people are looking in on us HAHA....which I guess means more stories about Mark and his Spanish.....always a joke in the making there!

Thanks so much for watching our life. This is one of the easiest and most efficient ways of staying in touch with you all and we really appreciate the interest you take to see what is going on here in CR. My girls are always asking me to take pictures and post them and THEY check in as well to see who is looking at our notes. It means alot to them to know people are interested in our family life. GRACIAS!!!

Graduation!!

Olivia graduated to 1st Grade and Claire has graduated to the 4yr old class (we are making a big deal of this because she doesn't want to leave Teacher Tatiana!). Olivia had a really nice graduation ceremony .....it was so sweet. This is a huge month.....Uncle Jamey came for a visit, we graduated from Kindergarten AND SHE IS ABOUT TO LOSE HER FRONT TOOTH!!!!

Vanilla?

"Mommy, I am the only vanilla girl in my ballet class." I anticipated having to confront many parenting issues because of having "MK's" but this was not one that had crossed my mind! Olivia has discovered that all of her friends (in ballet) are not only more "chocolate" (skin color:)) but also they have different names like Gabriella, Fabiolla, Esmeralda, etc. and she no longer likes her name because it doesn't "sound" Latino enough.

Wow, I didn't see that one coming! It is a real juggling act to help our girls understand who they are and where they come from while living and learning to live with people who are different, in some ways, from them.

Look at my precious babies sleeping....I couldn't resist snapping this picture! I can't believe Claire is graduating to the four year old class and Olivia is graduating from Kindergarten tomorrow!!! It is so hard to let them grow up...........although they promise to always remain my rock-a-bye babies!!!