Lemonade Stand

From left: Jonah with Kristy and baby Liam, Sidge, Jackson (Carla's son), Noah (Kristy's oldest son), Max (Carla's second son -- behind lemonade pitcher) and Isaac.

Our friend's Nick and Kristy run a non-profit organization that does work in Peru. Nick is there now so Kristy decided to let Noah try is hand at a lemonade stand to raise money for Daddy's organization. The concept is entirely familiar to the Portuguese so we didn't sell much lemonade, but we did sell some and the kids had a great time learning. Kristy is so good at these types of activities -- she has a real gift.

Strawberry cake

We tried this "Egg Replacer" at our Commissary to make some strawberry cake. Isaac is still showing signs of this allergy, and therefore, he can't really eat baked goods at all. He wanted to make some cake, and when I saw this item in our tiny Commissary, I thought it was too good to pass up. So try it we did. The cake was pretty good. JB (our foody) said he could tell the difference, but I couldn't. Yum!

Bluebbery Boppin'

The boys and I attended a birthday party on Saturday. Daddy and Abigail stayed home so she could nap. While we were gone, JB captured this video of our little girl attempting to mimic his blueberry-tossing-and-catching-in-his-mouth-ability.

P.S. You'll see her signing "more" in this video many times. She continues to talk little and sign a lot!

P.S.S. Blueberries are expensive here on the island. Sharing them with Scrubby (who usually snubs his nose at blueberries anyways) is not an option. I think each blueberry probably costs us about ten cents!

P.S.S.S. I have been having a lot more good days and continue to be hopeful and prayerful that the third trimester in pregnancy will be my best trimester yet!

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

My Dad. I could never pick another Dad more perfect for me! And as good a dad as he was, he's an even better Papa! I found a few fun photos of my Dad to share:

Our family. By the time my Dad was my age (36), he had a 12 year old! Yikes!

 

My Dad started coaching me in youth softball and would be my coach in many sports for years to come.

This was in 1995. I was the player of the year for the Miami Herald newspaper and my Dad was the Coach of the Year at the same time.

 

Thank you Dad for instilling in me my faith. Thank you for being so much fun. (I have funny memories of you telling me you were ready for church in only your t-shirt, shorts, and black socks.) Thank you for always caring not how good I was but how well I tried. Thank you for loving me.

To my husband on Father's Day

1993. Once upon a time, he asked me to homecoming ...

 

1994. And I talked him into falling in love with me.

 

 

2008. And after many more years than we would have chosen ourselves, we adopted our little Isaac.

 

2009. And were utterly shocked by the arrival of our Elijah "Sidge."

 

2009. Two boys in just under nine months, while in residency. And he didn't miss a beat.

 

2011. Nor did he appear overwhelmed, in the slightest, when Abigail made three.

 

2012. Life took us from South Florida to Kentucky to Minnesota to Northern Florida to Turkey to the Azores. It brought us each other and three (almost four kids) and a big dog.

There is no question, whatsoever, that my JB is the "glue" of our family. While I have been hormonal and overwhelmed and freaked out by the direction our life has gone, he is steady and confident and amazing ... always. He loves his children so incredibly much. They are the only thing that ever make him tear up. He is hands-on, devoted, committed and steadfast. He loves the Lord, his wife, and his children, without hesitation.

I love you JB. Happy Father's Day to my best friend. In just a few days we will celebrate fifteen years of marriage. We've been together nineteen years. I'd do it all again. Any day. I love you.

Can I get an Amen?

Things that make you smile

Folks, our Commissary here is, well, frustrating, to say the least. There are so few choices already, and they seem to be out of something all the time. The Base downsizing has magnified that issue. For awhile, they stopped carrying any sort of wipes (except the little disposable, cheapy wipes that all of us know to avoid.) They were completely out of size 5 diapers for months (except the cheapy diapers that all of us know to avoid.) Our grocery store is only about 10 aisles big already so remove items from that, and it can be a little ... frustrating.

But during today's visit, some good news was to be found:

All natural jelly.  I bought five jars because JB limited me. But truthfully, I wanted to clean out the shelf! (Food hoarders are not looked upon kindly in these parts.)

Another thing that is often hard to come by -- ripe bananas. They will often have VERY green bananas that you buy, thinking they'll turn yellow, and a month later, no joke, they are still green. But today, we got some! Yipeee!!!

We haven't tried these yet so the jury is still out on whether or not these strawberries will make the grade. But at least they even LOOK semi-eatable!

Friday Funnies

While bringing her up the stairs for her bath, JB said to Abigail, "How did I get so lucky to get a little girl like you?" Without missing a beat, Abigail replied: "Mama."
*****
Looking at a picture on our shelf, Isaac said: "Was that when Daddy was younger? Was he a daddy or a boy?"
*****
Sidge: "I would like you not call my Elijah. Only Abigail can call me Elijah. And Daddy, when I am being bad."