Goodbye's are hard

Sometime last week we pulled out some sparklers - they were left over from Helaine and Phil's wedding and who better to inherit them than her nieces and nephews! So once it got dark the kids had some fun trying to get them lit and playing around with them for their short life=)In other news there was a sad occasion that also took place last week.....Logan said goodbye to Sampson. While on our trip home from Maine we adopted two small turtles, Crush and Squirt. They were about the size of a quarter and a nickel when we first got them and they've probably doubled in size since. Shortly after getting home Logan found another turtle only this one was much bigger - with the shell the size of a softball. We kept him over the course of the summer but as the weather has started to turn cooler I told Logan it was time to let Sampson go....it was a sad day!
*(not sure what the most cruel thing was....making him return the turtle to its home or taking this picture)

This is where Daddy spotted him back in May....on the side of the road leading into Buffalo Gap.

Logan and Alana walked down to the edge of the cow pasture fence and let him go....somewhat near the water which he probably once called home, although Logan was worried he wouldn't be able to find the water that was just up over the little hill.

Then along came our hero - Daddy happened to drive by just at the moment and it did a little boy's heart good. Daddy saved the day by climbing through the fence (AKA - trespassing) with his boy and taking Sampson right to the edge of turtle paradise and setting him free there.

And Logan did it all with bare feet....tough on the outside but a soft heart on the inside.

Oh the trials of growing up! He reminds me a little bit of this typist who once lost her dog for about a 24 hour period and probably cried for about 12 of them.

S'mores

Last Saturday night Monica and Zach had a youth group activity and left before supper. To make the evening a bit more exciting for the 3 little people left behind we had mini pizza's and s'mores....every kids dream except when you are sick with a cold and aren't really hungry and your mother should feed you better than s'mores but we did it anyway=) Matthew - "Lord of the Flame" (please notice the rolled up pants!!!! I can't tell you how hilarious I find this=)

Of course he will blame it on me since I belted on this self-same pair of pants to re-paint our bathroom as a surprise for him last week when he was gone....they were too long so I rolled them up=)

And the next several pictures are all just because I never tire of the faces of my precious kiddos!

Today I will label them as follows: (Please note that on a different day I may choose different labels based on the particular appropriateness of the label for that given day)

The Poser

The Cutie Pie

The Goofball

PS - Yes, Logan has a small butter-fly covered gash on the front of his forehead....he and his older brother were in a wee bit of a disagreement and a piece of metal accidentally met with Logan's head....one of those 'things that make you go hmmm."

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow...

So my plan is to curl up on the couch with my teenagers and watch a movie together tonight....that will mean that the last evening 'alone' will be checked off the list and tomorrow I can cuddle with my hubby instead=) The week has gone quite slowly but all in all it has been fine. We are all officially sick with either a cold, cough, sore throat, or a combination. So we've been sleeping in, munching on Vitamin C, plugging in the vaporizer at night, going through lots of tissues, and staying close to home.

On another note I thought I'd share a conversation I had with my 4-year old in the car today, and, as usual, it began out of nowhere....

Alana: Mommy, when was the flood?

Me: Oh it was thousands of years ago now.

Alana: Did we, um, I can't remember, did we get on the ark?

Me: No, it was a really long time ago.

Alana: Well, if we didn't get on the ship how come we aren't drowned?

Me: Because it happened way before you were born, even way before Mommy and Daddy were born. So we didn't have to get on the ark, the flood was already over by the time we were all born.

Alana: Mommy, how did you get borned?

Me: Well, I was born to my parents. (nice avoidance job on my part, huh?)

Alana: What about Daddy? Was he borned from your belly?

Me: No, he's my husband, not my son, he was born to your Grandma and Grandpa.

Alana: But how come....Hey, look, there's a man mowing that tooked his shirt off, that's gross!

And thankfully that was the end of our little chat=)

Thank you Lord for this little girl who has been making me smile for almost five years!

Mondays and Thursdays

Today....just like every other Monday, we did laundry. We do the same thing over again on Thursday. When all is said and done we probably do 7 loads of laundry a week. I used to do one every day and then after getting very weary of laundry, I changed it to twice a week. So we have official laundry days and, since Matthew is gone, I'm bored so I'm telling you about it=)

And now I'm going to show you - in chronological order!
Tweaked the colors in this one~

Alana is the official dish towel folder~

And here are the seven collection piles~

There, now wasn't that entertaining? Don't answer that....=)

A week alone

At 4 a.m. on Saturday morning the alarm clock rang, at 4:18 Matthew and I pulled out of the drive way, and about an hour and a half later Matthew was getting on a plane while I curled up in the truck with my pillow in the Wal-mart parking lot. As I tried to get in a few more minutes of sleep (we went to bed at midnight the night before due to a sick little Logan) he was on his way to New Hampshire for this years Fellowship of Missions conference. FOM is set up for the purpose of being an encouragement and a resource to like-minded Christian agencies. NTI became an official member about 2 years ago and Matthew has tried to attend the annual conferences since then. It is a good opportunity for him and a great time to interact with people who also have a vision for some of the same things. We both went last year when it was held in Ohio and our kids stayed with our friends the Bergs. But this year I just couldn't bring myself to the point of asking them, or anyone else for that matter, to watch 5 extra kids for a week. As much as I enjoyed myself last time and as much as I wish I was there this time - I'd rather be here with the kids than live with the guilt of leaving my children in some one elses care. So away Matthew went on his own.....He'll get home on Friday afternoon and I suppose I will survive until then. After all, absence makes the heart grow fonder, right....?! =)

Our Dieciocho

Since we were unable to be in Chile for the dieciocho (translated eighteenth for the 18th of September which is like our 4th of July) for an authentic celebration we did our best as a family to make the day special and come up with a few fun Chilean things to do. So we turned up the 'Huasos Quincheros', got to work, and had a blast and everybody participated in one way or another.

The hardest thing was the food - finding recipes, preparing the food, cooking it....Just because I grew up in Chile and know what the food tastes like doesn't mean I know how to make it=) But I can follow a recipe with the best of 'em!

So here we go with the empanadas....cup 1 of flour out of the 10 I used yesterday~
Preparing the dough~Rolling out the empanadas~

Sealing them after adding the chunk of cheese~

And then those that were fried along with those waiting their turn~

I also made up a couple salads, one was de choclo and one de tomate that required the tomatoes being peeled so I recruited some "empleados minimo" and put them to work~The sopaipillas were quite as involved as well and Monica was a huge help getting those cut and ready to fry. I knew even while mixing up the recipe that it wasn't just what I was looking for but they turned out alright just the same.

Zachery helped get the table ready and with our Chilean napkins (thanks, Aunt Carol)~Chilean napkin holder~ And our Chilean wooden flowers~

And somewhat authentic dress~We sat down to a typical meal that was probably duplicated all over the country yesterday in celebration! The Fourth simply pales in comparison as the celebration of independence in Chile is a month long party of good food, time with family, drinking chicha, lots of asadas, special programs at the local schools, and on and on!

And we got to see the cueca (or a version thereof) after all! While we were preparing everything Alana and Jesse did their part by entertaining us! It was a moment I will cherish forever - so cute!

Feliz Dieciocho!