August 2010... we're getting closer!

Mid-August the kids started back to school! Nereida and Jose hadn't transitioned in to live with Dan & Tami yet, so we started school with all six kids lined up for the [of course] necessary "first day of school" pictures.

[I seem to remember getting progressively more skeptical and annoyed as the years passed and Mom took our pictures EVERY SINGLE YEAR... but now I'm thankful to have those pics, so these kids are going through the same! :)]

Above (l-r): Marcos, Aaron (check out his eyes... weirdo), Diego, Nereida, Candi, and Jose.

First Day of School pic #15 of 584... ;)

(that was an exaggeration, by the way)

Marcos turned 10 on August 3rd... wow.

This summer was actually a really healthy one... I saw a lot of maturation that definitely was not present at the end of the last school year, and for that I praise God! It's a lot nicer having a good example of behavior around than a constant battle. That's not to say that he is perfect... obviously none of us are, and he still has a lot of issues to work through from his past. But... Lord-willing... this growth will keep happening! Please keep praying for this guy...

On another note, he turned 10.

This means [segun this Bahr household] he can now drink coffee.

It has been quite the bonding experience for us... :)

And... I went home in August to surprise our parents for their anniversary (which is actually in July, but hey... it's the thought that counts)!

It actually worked really, really well considering our family kind of stinks at surprises... :)

When Dad saw Tif and I home (at 1:30 a.m. or so, after Chel woke him up to say that her dog had treed - is this a word? - some strange animals and that he should go outside right-now-this-minute) he just kept saying, "Well I'm just dumb... dumbFOUNDED!"

And Mom just knew that something was going on... yeah, yeah, yeah.... ;)

They were "good times"... thank You, God, for family!

A few days after school started, Nereida and Jose moved into the new house with Dan & Tami (officially called, "The green house" :). The four Soto kids are now the ones I take care of, and though we miss Nere and Jose, it's brought a new level of closeness to these four siblings.

Please pray that we can continue to grow as a "family," and that we would be God-centered and not materialistically or self-centered. And please pray that God would grant me love, patience, and wisdom as we follow His will for our lives.

July 2010...

Apparently October must be a rough month for me, because I believe it was a year ago that the blog got stuck on "October 2009" for... well, a long while!

Hence, this is my "break the chain" post that is letting all five of you readers know... I'm not giving in to the just-stop-blogging-already syndrome yet! ;)

This is maybe the cutest CVE "couple" I've ever seen -- sorry all you married folks down here -- because Candi and Angel (Zulema's 4-yr. old) get along so very, very well! By that I mean that Candi gets to be really bossy, and Angel (who has an abnormally laid-back and patient nature... most days anyway!) usually goes along with her... ;)

Jenna was watching him the other morning, and after two hours or so of Candi telling him things like, "Angel, do this... Angel, don't play there... Angel, do it this way... Angel, you can't read that book right now, etc." the poor little guy was ready to go home! He came up to me and said exactly that, "I'm ready to go home now."

However, today in church they were holding hands, and jabbering on about who-knows-what... so I think they're back to normal... :)

These were two [dead] trees in our front yard that our amazing neighbor [Farmer Limon] cut down and made into a nice little bench! The kids now use this (most of the time) as a small goal for yard soccer... :)

For a little bit, the bench also became Rito's favorite place to jump up on... however, he was perilously close to hanging himself several times (considering he is slightly vertically challenged :) so his line was moved to a different part of the yard.

Before that happened, though, I caught he and Aaron playing tug-of-war on camera... ;)

July brought rain... thank You, Lord! Rain meant... lots of people (adults and kids) running around acting idiotic in the downpour... yes, if you were here, you would be doing it, too, so don't even ponder that question.

And... inevitably... there was an accident. Apparently Diego was pushing a little toy dump truck around the cement basketball court, slipped in the rain, and gashed his chin open. And it was... a big gash. Four stitches, an hour and a half, a few childhood stories from the Bahr girls, and a bag of chips later... he was good to go! We even made it back to CVE in time for supper and now he has a sweet scar on his chin... I wonder if his beard will ever grow in there?!? I wonder if he'll ever even have a beard?!?

We have a corner-full of dress-up clothes in our living room, and I love seeing what the kids randomly show up wearing outside my bedroom door! Here we have Jose as an "urban cowboy"...

... and Marcos as a smurf-gone-wrong. :)

As the time was nearing for Nereida and Jose to leave to live with Dan & Tami, I tried to incorporate some "fun events" with the girls since Candi was really going to miss her "big sis." We had a night where we visited an older lady in town, went to dinner, had ice cream, came back to paint nails (of course!), had popcorn (why not?), and then watch a movie (technicality: Steph was ready to "sleep-through" a movie at this point).


It was a fun night, and though it took me a while the next day to remove the five or six coatings of paint Candi found necessary to do my nails with... it was still fun!


p.s. (Candi's smile above is the result of a lot of sugar, a really late night, and the fumes from open fingernail polish bottles... ;)


Looking at this picture just makes me miss this little lady! She was an excellent "older sis" for Candi and a wonderful helper most times... it's great to see her bonding with Dan & Tami and enjoying being with her other siblings, but we still miss having her around! Please pray that she would continue to open up with the new parents God has blessed her with...


That's all for the moment... please continue praying for wisdom and guidance as CVE seems to be (once again) in a period of transition... maybe we don't ever really leave this stage!!! :)


It's wonderful to know that even when we have no clue what God is going to bring or where He is going to lead... He is still good, He is still in control, and we can trust Him fully with our future!

June 2010...

... brought lots of activities!

Like... harvesting from the garden (and sort-of-kind-of smiling so Steph can take your picture :)...

... eating raw veggies from the garden (story: Candi and Gloria decided that they really, really liked these onions from the garden. And admittedly... they were pretty yummy! So... I'd be cleaning onions, they'd be "helping" and suddenly they were popping pieces of raw onion in their mouths... ;)...

... going into town for ice cream prizes...

... playing in the sprinklers in the backyard, and then making a "little train" as you lay out to dry off! Cute little boogers...

... enjoying the new grill! We got lots of use out of it this summer, and I've been so thankful!...

... and having "sleepovers" (which, if you're with your "little sister" it just means sleeping in her bottom bunk, instead of your top one;)!

Those were just a few of the summer-starting activities, which don't include end-of-school parties, camping outside for a "male-bonding night" (don't ask... I didn't, but the boys wanted to tell me all about it...), the start of ever-so-many frog and bug collections, lots of sweating, and... of course, how could we forget it?...

Kindergarten Graduation!!!

Diego with his teacher, Maestra Brenda.

Jose with his teacher, Maestra Sylvia.

Dan & Tami Coughlin and the five Arcoverde children; June was also the month when the kids found out they would be going to live with Dan & Tami in the new house. We started going to different activities together and letting them all get used to one another! It was wonderful that they could all be at Jose's graduation, and made him feel very special... :)

The four Soto kids: Candi, Diego, Marcos, and Aaron

These are the four that I am currently caring for; hard to believe that I've taken care of three of them for 3 1/2 years, and Marcos for almost 3! I praise God for how he has grown these kidlets, and how He has taught me so much through taking care of them.

I actually just prayed this morning for God to keep working in their hearts, and if it were His will to send them a godly Mommy and Daddy; it's so easy to become possessive of children (well, at least for me it is), but I know and trust that He loves them more than I do... and He knows what is best!

Please continue to pray for Dan, Tami, Kaeb (their little boy) and the five Arcoverdes -- transitions are always rough, but we know Who is in control! Pray for patience and an overwhelming love for these children to saturate their household... :)

And please pray for continued wisdom with changes around the bend!

Some mornings...

... this is the only song on my heart:

"Undo" by Rush of Fools

I've been here before, now here I am again
Standing at the door, praying You'll let me back in
To label me a prodigal would be
Only scratching the surface of who I've been known to be

[Chorus]
Turn me around pick me up
Undo what I've become
Bring me back to the place
Of forgiveness and grace
I need You, need Your help
I can't do this myself
You're the only one who can undo
What I've become

I focused on the score, but I could never win
Trying to ignore, a life of hiding my sin
To label me a hypocrite would be
Only scratching the surface of who I've been known to be

[Chorus]

Make every step lead me back to
The sovereign way that You

[Chorus]
Turn me around pick me up
Undo what I've become
Bring me back to the place
Of forgiveness and grace
I need You, need Your help
I can't do this myself
You're the only one who can undo
What I've become

Sometimes lessons are hard to learn, and more often than not I see myself reflected in the selfishness, pride, anger, and rebellion inside these kids -- I just do a better job of hiding the sin.

God, reveal all our sins and show us the depths to which we fall... so You can raise us up again. I'm learning what grace is... and that I'm totally unworthy of it. Praise Him that whether we are worthy or not has never been a factor... He is gracious and merciful and just, whether we accept those facets of His nature or not.

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." -- Romans 7:18

"... O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?" -- Romans 9:20

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." -- Romans 12:1-2

May 2010...

Wow... this was already six months ago! Once again, the CVE adage is proven true -- "CVE: where the days go slow, and the years go fast."

Above, you see two little hams: Candi & Diego!

They were playing "dress-up" one day, and called me over to watch them dance it up! They are really cute when they play... and (whether from being together more when they were younger or other factors) are really close. Diego does a good job of watching out for his little sis, and even manages (most of the time) to "suffer" her constant hugs and kisses... ;)

This was at the end of the school-year last year. Marcos (and the rest of the grade-schoolers!) put on a play... above you see Marcos & Eduardo (Edi) who both live in our house. Edi got here in April of this year and Jenna & Jodi take care of him.

Just randomocity!

We had "hot-cake-citos" one morning, and Aaron decided to make his into a weird smiley-face... but I had to admire his creativity! :)

One evening, the six kids and I headed to the top of this little lookout about ten minutes from our house. We call it the "montecita" -- 'cause it's a little mountain! It was really a beautiful, beautiful evening and sunset!

Nereida, looking toward Santa Ana -- the town south of us.

Aaron pointing something out to Jose -- the kids were fascinated that we could see the dirt from the vehicles driving down the country lanes from really far away!

Diego & Candi again; I would like to say this pic wasn't posed, but it kind of was... :)

Diego was holding her hand to keep her from "falling off the mountain"... but I repositioned them so I could get the sun in the pic...!

Marcos just sat here in the same spot for quite a while, watching the sun sink below the horizon... it made me wonder what all he was thinking about. Sometimes it's just good to be still... I hope he felt that!

Our attempt at a family photo... and we're all orange and red! :)

Stephanie = "crowned one"

I had no idea it would be referring to wildflowers (a.k.a. weeds) on a Mexican hilltop, officially "crowned" by six kids under the ages of 10... :)

Thank You, Lord!

And Mom... this photo is for you!

Look what we've resorted to using the jelly jar for... cookies! Good thing you're coming down soon to make us some more of your jummy grape goodness... ;)

Please pray for wisdom as we chart the waters with recent developments in childcare; pray that God's hand be upon everyone and every child that God brings into our care. And please pray for the parents of new children... that they would also come to know the love of God!