El Día de Independencia

In September, Mexico celebrates its Independence Day... therefore, we did too at CVE!

It was a great day - full of laughs, falls (more explanation to come), outdoor grilling, futbol (soccer), and "family" time.

I'm grateful for the staff here that make these memories and these moments such a joy for all the kids... and all of us, too! :)

Our first event of the day (after breakfast, of course) was an obstacle course... planned and executed by Señor Juan-tan. He is pictured above finishing details... and avoiding the camera's lens... ;)

José Mediano bugging Jo-el (turn-about is fair play, right?!?) and taking fifty-million years to sweep up after breakfast. This is not uncommon to tell the truth... lol.

Everyone got out to the church building, and gathered around while Limón and Juan-tan demonstrated what had to be done...

My kids weren't quite as interested in the whole course as they were in crawling up and down this board... which was great until they'd stop paying attention, lose their grip, and end up hanging upside down with their heads half an inch from the cement floor.... ay, ay, ay.

So, of course... I let them keep doing it... ;)

David steadies Blanca as she runs down the board. For those of you reading, don't worry. We promote safety at all times here at CVE... ;)

It was sometimes more amusing to watch the audience members than the actual kids running the course! Everyone would start out on one side of the building, and then slowly gravitate around the room, until they could run to the windows and watch what was happening outside in the final part of the course...

(Above) The perfect action shot!

Well, maybe not perfect, but pretty good... ;)

Julissa finishes off her round by kicking off the bar that signals Juan-tan to stop the timer...

At left: Cuteness personified. At right: Harshness personified... :)

When the younger boys got tired of watching everyone run the course, they decided to go outside to the dirt mound and plant "flowers." I walked up and Aaron said, "Look, Steph! We're taking care of our world!" Diego solemnly nodded his head, and added... "Hmm-hmm [insert: yes, the noise is the same in Spanish... lol]... hmm-hmm," as though this was a task of monumental import... and it is, isn't it??? :)

The two baby girls were present and accounted for as well. Kaleigh (left) and Gloria (right) were wheeled 'round and around that church... just like they're pushed 'round and around the dining room, the cancha, the campus... wow. Those strollers get a LOT of mileage...

After the obstacle course, everyone hung out until Limón finished grilling the hot dogs, and the rest of the food was ready. It was a perfect day weather-wise, too, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves...

Just looking at this picture makes me smile, because it makes me think of barbecues in my past... :)

Nicole and Carissa resting against a tree before lunch-time...

But, of course, like all good picnics... there are always casualties! Aaron walked in front of the metal swing and got whacked hard -- I mean, really, REALLY hard on the back of the head. He went down crying, and we went to the kitchen for some doctoring. I had managed to meter a stick through my toe-nail, and that was relatively painful as well... so we made a good pair... :)

Below are a few videos of the Independence Day obstacle course for your viewing pleasure:

Diego & José having a grand old time...

Candi trying to do her own obstacle course...

Uriel's full-course run... I'm not sure what place he got, but I think he did well... surprise, surprise!!! :)

Two Months Later...

... it's finally here (my laptop), and my blogging laziness has dissipated for at least a time... ;)

It's probably going to be a little bit of catch-up, since I have some great photos from the last few months, and I'd love to share them...

Installment #1: Random Events in August and September

One Saturday in August, Jenna and I took the kids to the DIF Park, and then down to the river for a picnic (although Jenna said it should be called a Pic-Juan since we do live in Mexico... lol). It was a lot of fun, and the kids seemed to enjoy perching atop the rocks alongside the river and watching the various pickups, 4-wheelers, and - yes - even mini vans go mudding in the river bottom. For the most part all the kids managed not to jump in the river or "fall" into the mud... ;)

This was one of the last pictures of the day, and I don't remember exactly why they were laughing (I think I was making weird caw-ing noises or something), but it ended up being a neat shot of their happy little faces...!

This year we had the typical rainy season through the end of July, August, and part of September... and José in his mowing suit just about made my entire year great... ;)

Never mind the fact that he was mowing in the rain... he won the best-attired award in my book... lol.

Candi and I have been getting some great one-on-one time in the mornings... and lots of one-on-one time in the bathroom... :)

I'm pretty sure I never signed up for potty-training, but praise the Lord she's doing better and the accidents are fewer and further between... lol. I walked into the bathroom a couple months ago and she was totally engaged in her book... with her leg propped up like this... very settled in and quite content with life... ;)

Every day I make lunch for Candi... and we've been trying some new dishes. Such as... chicken chow mein!!!

Dad -- she totally loved it... and her favorites? Can you guess? The baby corn cobs, of course... she even made little clucking noises that signify she thinks they're really cute... lol. She also does this "cute" noise with baby grapes, small bugs, and any baby (human or animal) that comes into her line of vision... :)

In September, Keith and Emily had dinner at their house for all the campus (also to celebrate

Emily and Gloria's birthdays)... good times.

Some pics from the evening: Uriel enjoying his carne asada - piled at least two inches high on his plate... lol (top left); Bill making faces at little Gloria - to which she eventually responded, even though here she was not amused (top right); and a view of half the group on the front porch of the new house (below).

In August, Jenna, Katie Schick and I took our kids to Nogales to go to McDonald's and play, and then to do some shopping at Wal-Mart. McDonald's was fine (even though Candi meter-ed herself - got stuck - behind the actual jungle gym area and the windows of the building) and we had some fun photo ops (we won't talk about whether or not a "kid" of my size was allowed to be in the jungle gym at all, or what a death trap that thing could potentially be if you were - ahem - to also get stuck).

Wal-Mart, however... was a nightmare. I had all six of the kids I care for with me, and while they were obedient... they were fascinated with all the stuff and just had to touch it.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I had about reached my limit for sanity by the time we finally left... and we unanimously decided that we would not be doing that again with all those kids. And then we laughed as Katie - in a stroke of genius - got the kids to play the silent game all the way home... after playing it all the way up to Nogales... absolutely brilliant!