Before We Get Back to School...

... a few pictures from this summer! I know that my posting has been sporadic, but it seems like that's life nowadays... ;)

So... an end of summer photo album for you all:

(above) The kids found great joy in climbing the young tree in our front yard... and here is Aaron - little monkey that he is - perched and posed. That was great until they started breaking all the branches, and then we had to have a serious talk about treating our tree friends a little more kindly... ;)

Jenean decided to pull the kids' shirts over their heads one day... and they looked like a squadron of... well, I don't know... a squadron of something... lol.

A drill was donated to CVE, and here are all the kids posing on it... :)

As you might notice, Candi was nada feliz to have to sit on the bottom row... she wanted to climb up in the driver's seat and I wouldn't let her... lol. All the kids: (back) Michel and Ramses, (middle) Blanca, Magda, Ponch, Nere, Yaneli, Jose Mediano, (front) Aaron, Jose Chico, Candi, and Diego.

I call this photo: "Ultimate Satisfaction" - for me, not for Diego... lol.

He has the fluffiest hair, and I love waiting until the last possible second to cut it... because then I get the pleasure of "mowing" down the center. It - sadly - makes my entire day happy... lol.

We had ears of corn to shuck this summer [sidenote: it took me forever to think of the word "shucking" in English... the closest translation in my mind got to "making the corn bald"... lol]. The kids "helped" by making every worm we found their new pet!

Above, the worm-caretakers (Candi, Diego, Aaron, and Julissa) even made a home for the worms...

... and it consisted of the magnetic fishing game you got them, Mom! Did you ever think it would be used for this purpose?!?

Jenean has graciously invited us over to she and Carissa's casita several times, and this was the photo of the last time we ate at her house. Sometimes I think the cleanup after having six children between 2 and 8 is more work than preparing the meal... ;)

The picture on the left: Just helping Candi think more eco-friendly... ;)

And on the right: Safety measures in Mexico... lol. Jose Grande was cutting down some of the limbs from the tree close to the girls' dorm. I took this picture right after the big branch had fallen, but he was hanging over (on his stomach) the branch he's sitting on, balanced without hands or feet touching, using a chainsaw to cut the branch below.

Incredible... that he didn't fall and kill himself, like I surely would have done...!

The other night, the six kids and I went for ice cream, because they helped pull up weeds in the backyard. A lady who was standing there looked at me like I was crazy, and then (as though talking to someone in a mental hospital) kindly asked me whether they were all mine? I laughed and told her that I cared for them, but they weren't "mine." She just shook her head... :)

(L-R) Jose, Nereida, Poncho, Aaron, Diego, and Candi (in front).

Ice Cream continued: (left) Diego made this amazing face, and I wanted to share it! (right) And Ponch has a great smile... this was mid-laugh... :)

"See how he uses a spanner to tighten that nut!"

If you're a Monty Python fan, you're smiling right now, and if not... go check out the Monty Python "bicycle repairman" skit on Youtube. Go. Do it. Right now.

It will make your day happy as well... ;)

Above: All the boys on campus went through this phase of "fixing" the bikes... which involved taking them apart, and putting them back together with all the wrong parts... ;) They actually had a great time doing it, and I was impressed with their ingenuity! The morning I took this photo, Armando was up at 5:45 a.m. to get started with his "work-load."

Thankfully, I had the opportunity to go to Minnesota for Meg and Dale Koch's wedding in late July/early August. While there, my aunt had a houseguest from Guadalajara, who had been Meg's housemother while she studied in Mexico. Blanca didn't speak very much English, so it ended up being a good thing that I could stay with my aunt and help translate... although I'm sure they would have gotten along fine without me!!!

Above, my Aunt Paula and Blanca at my aunt's house in Minneapolis.

I couldn't get this picture of Candi and little Gloria to load correctly, but it was pretty cute, so I used it anyway... and it does make me laugh to think of every person that reads this turning their head sideways to see it better... :)