Happy Halloween!

I found this outfit by chance in the storage closet last week, so today we had to dress up our chunky pumpkin here!

Halloween isn't a very celebrated event in Bolivia, but we had a fun day playing outside and dressing up in orange.

We also had a little arts & crafts time with the Halloween stickers that I got in the mail from mi madre!

Thanks, Mama!

That's about the extent of our celebrating today, although we did go out for popsicles this afternoon...always a good time!

Happy Halloween!

Hanging out with House 2

Sunday I had an all-day shift with the older kids- always fun and usually a little tiring, too! Yesterday was my first time taking the entire dozen of kiddos out to church by myself. Between the facts that the sermon is in Spanish and that I was constantly doing head-counts in the sanctuary, I don't know how much of the service I was able to soak in, but things went pretty smoothly for the most part. I'm sure our rowdy group was a distraction at times, but I'm really glad that the kids get to go each week. They especially love Sunday School and sing the songs that they learn for the entire rest of the day. Also, the church that we take Casa 2 to is the same church where a bunch of our Casa 1 staff members go, so it is great to get to see them outside of the walls of Casa de Amor!

Beautiful day out - working puzzles in the backyard

Post-burp shot

I also got to spend some sweet 1-on-1 time with this girlie! Sunday afternoon I drove her to House 1, because a family who sponsors her wanted to meet her. We waited for about an hour, (they didn't come,) and during that time, the rest of the kids at House 1 were napping. Sooo, I had an hour to entertain this goofy 6-year-old...we played with the camera's self-timer, ate jello, and even made a skype video-call to dear old dad at home! Dad used all of his Spanish conversation pieces within the first 7 seconds of our call, so he then proceeded to walk around the house with his laptop getting all of our dogs on camera. She LOVED it and kept on wanting to call my dad back. Gracias, padre! You're going to have to come meet these guys face to face soon. And bring the dogs.

Happy Birthday to Alisonnnnnnn!

Mi hermana turns the big 21 today... Thinking about you Al - miss you!

Growing Every Day!

Height and weight checks are done every month at the baby home...I've got to say, it took a little longer than I thought it would, but we got everybody done before bed!

Anyone want to guess which 2 toddlers screamed the entire time?

For both weight...

...and height!

Our easy-going twins, of course!

Fiesta de la Piscinaaaaaaaaa!!!

This week, one of my friends from school, Lauren, is house-sitting for a missionary family who's out of town.

And they have a pool...

Matteo had the brilliant idea of heating the pool with water from the stove. It's not exactly warm here at night...but this idea was a pretty big fail. :)

Estamos listos!

 

Such a ridiculous, great group of friends!

MAPS - Mejores Amigos Por Siempre, obvi.

haa

Potluck Pics

Here are some pics from our dinner this weekend at our teacher and friend Mauge's house!

Good work, chefs.

What happens when Machews doesn't guard his camera...

Some of my FAVORITE people in Bolivia! :)

I am so thankful for these guys - lots of good times to come.

Weekend Update

Sometimes weekends here don't feel like weekends to me - especially for the 8 Tias who work here, the weekends are just like any other day - the kids need the same amount of attention every day of the week! The Tias here work 24 hour shifts evey other day, so they're always here at least one of the two days of the weekend. I'm thankful that this weekend was a really great one - on Friday night I went straight from a shift at the baby home to dinner at one of my Spanish teacher's houses. My Spanish school has turned out to be one of the biggest blessings over the past month - I have made some really great friends here, and I just love our teachers. It was a lot of fun to spend time with teachers, their families, and friends at dinner.

Saturday and Sunday were both pretty relaxing - I took 2 of our oldest kids out for lunch, caught up on some paperwork, enjoyed church, and spent time with friends from school.

Out to Lunch

Where's Waldo...? There are 2 kids in this pic...

There she is!

Ice Cream - wahooooooooo!

A few girls from school went out to dinner with a family that we've met through a Bible study here. We love Paprika's!

Page, this one's for you:

Had to post this picture for Pagina Otey, working for the year as an au pair in IRELAND.

"Erybody seen da leprechauns say YEAHHHH!"

not quiiiiite! but isn't she a cutie? i think there's definitely some resemblance to egghead and katie. don't you see it?

This is my 5-year-old hair stylist - she's a big fan of bobby pins and of us having matching pigtails, (always completed by slicking our foreheads down with water after she's created her masterpiece, of course.) And you may be surprised to find out that she is not actually Irish. :)

Baby Update

I'm 1 Month Old!

and happy about it, too! Actually, she was just  filling her diaper at this exact moment. you're welcome.

Practicing her seductive look?

Mama CreeCree - look what came today!!!

not the baby...your package! (Although the ladies at the post office did get a kick out of the baby using it as a pillow on the counter while I paid.) Mom sent us a package full of rubber pants that we use over everyone's oh-so-wonderful cloth diapers! :) Much needed...everyone says thanks, mom!

She was SO pumped.

 Gracias, Madre!

Say Queso!

(most of!) Our Gang

If you click on the picture, you should be able to see everybody better!

Guess who DIDN'T cooperate for the group shot?

HA!!

Double trouble, of course! Everybody else did pretty well - nothing short of a miracle, considering alan & crea sielbeck still have a hard time getting their kids to take a nice Christmas card pic. :)

Screamed the entire time. This set of twins cracks me up all day, every day. Hope you've had a happy Monday!

Weekend Update

Saturday was another full day at Casa 2 with the older dozen. As luck would have it, I had 12 extra candies from baking earlier in the week. If the kids behave during the week they get to watch a movie on the weekends. Candy is always great at the movies!

I don't think I EVER looked this excited to go to church when I was 2 or 3!

This morning these two girlies came to church with me. I am going to try to have a rotating schedule with the kids on Sundays here, since unfortunately I just can't take 24 babies with me every week! This morning another tia pointed out that these two girls had been on their best behavior so far this weekend, so they were easy choices for today. Throughout the year I want to make an effort to take kids along as often as possible to get them out of the Casa for a little bit...they love going anywhere - grocery store, airport, you name it, so it will be fun to try and take advantage of these opportunities. I will say that I feel like such a mom sometimes - before I leave to go places instead of remembering my phone, wallet, and keys, I now have to add a whole new checklist: diapers, bottles, snacks, change of clothes...(the reason for always needing a change of clothes was emphasized later this afternoon...) I've got to get a bigger purse -aka a diaper bag!
After church, Jennifer and I took the girls out to lunch. All went well until the younger one was picked up out of her chair to leave...and she proceeded to throw up...all...over...! She's fine now, but what an end to our outing!

Sidenote - Code Blue in Nashville today - if there's a time I wish I was going to be at the coliseum this season, today's the day. Go Titans!

Also, the founder/director of Casa de Amor, Jennifer, leaves TOMORROW until January to take a very deserved break at home with her family in the US. She is leaving us very organized, which we're thankful for, but things will look pretty different around here without her. Have so much fun, Jennifer - relax, enjoy every minute with your family, and know we'll be counting down until you're back!

Baby Boys

Just a few handsome faces to introduce you to:

And another shot from earlier this wk of the birthday boy playing with his presents - sorry I don't know how to rotate the video so that it's not sideways!?!

Feliz Cumpleanos!

Happy 2nd Birthday to the sweetest little boy you can imagine! I got to spend a couple of hours out with him this morning before his party, which was a treat for me.

Taxi ride...

...seriously 2 minutes later.

Party Time