"It's Independence Day..."

If you are singing the Martina McBride song in your head right now... congratulations.

We must think alike... :)

And since she grew up fifteen minutes from where I did, maybe that gives me license to quote a [gasp! shock! oh no!] country song -- which I have rejected in almost every other moment in my life... :)

So. Last Wednesday (the 16th of September) was Independence Day here in Mexico. The kids weren't in school, so we celebrated here at CVE with a special lunch, activities, Easter egg hunts (ask Jenna, not me... but the kids loved it!), weird patriotic "hats" [see above picture], and... The Little Rascals -- which the kids ADORED. Seriously. But it might have given them some bad ideas for future pranks... ;)

A not-so-normal photo... a.k.a. "a more realistic one."

The night before Independence Day, we had a special dinner of... Mexican hot dogs and brats!!! Limon & Kristi and Todd Stoller joined us for dinner, and guess who got the brats...

kids or adults? ;)

Above... the kid table.

And here... the adult lounge. :)

Limon was kind enough to grill for us -- and the kids were especially impressed with the two-foot fire that erupted from the grill at one point with the advent of demasiado lighter fluid... :)

These ladies were the organizers of the special lunch for everyone; and they did an amazing job! Traditional Mexican food, decorations, music, and all the kids and staff decked out in their red, white, and green... :)

(l-r: Carissa, Nicole, Rohde, Pau, and Bere)

Thanks ladies! It was a good time.

Before lunch started, the older kids marched a salute to the flag of Mexico, and then saluted the flag with Lupita as the pledge-leader.

The younger kids paid attention for the most part during the "official" ceremony... ;)

At left: Jose with the ever-present skateboard... his best friend, but worst enemy as he constantly has new cuts, gashes, and scrapes from his frequent "meetings" with the pavement.

And right: Diego holds up the flag he colored and made in school -- that was shortly ripped to pieces (surprise, surprise) after he got home... :)

This was his "annoyed" face...

It just makes me laugh when I see Yaneli toting Gloria around -- Yaneli is still SO small and they are getting a lot heavier! And yet she carts around the younger girls like you wouldn't believe. Apparently, they don't have legs for walking when she's around... ;)

I told Jenna tonight that I don't think I've ever had a picture of Keith & Emily Schambach on my blog -- que terrible of me! So -- without further ado -- dejame a presentar our first houseparent couple (who have been here for over a year now, and take care of the girls). And [cute "awwwing" noise, please... Keith, don't gag!] they even match in this photo... ;)

Jenna had white, green... and luckily red with the sticking-outage of the tongue... :)

I think she's part bovine/anteater with that kind of elasticity!

Right before lunch commenced, Limon pointed out that Jose Mediano was "cashed out" on Joel's Lazy Cart (did I call it that?!?) -- so I got a picture of the cowboy in repose!