Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Christmas Programs



Both Anna & Maggie had songs their classes performed this past week. Here a few pictures from their little programs.

Tomorrow they have their posadas (Christmas parties) and then Christmas break begins... YIPEE!!! We are so thankful for the chance to go home & enjoy the holidays with family!

Monday, December 11, 2006

Nuestros Amigos!




At one time our Mexico team had 4 families that now have 14 children altogether. Sadly (in a selfish sense) the Lord changed directions for 2 of those families, so that there are now only 6 children on our team. Here are some pic's of the loving between our kids and the Foxes kids. Thank you guys for your faithfulness & friendship :)!!!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Thankful!


Psalm 105: 1 says "Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!"

I love how giving thanks requires a giver and a receiver... and how, for those of us who call upon the name of the Lord, know that we have received such a great mercy from our tender and loving God. We have been eternally blessed to personally know the triumphant King. We have been made royal by the precious sacrifice of Christ! I am so thankful to the Lord for drawing me into His presence and giving me sooooo much to be thankful for. May my thankfulfulness overflow in true praise for who He is & an earnest desire for the world to know Him!

Happy Thanksgiving Dearest Friends. We are so thankful for you all & hope you have a blessed day remembering & savoring the abundance of life we have been given.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Viva Mexico

On November 20, Mexico celebrates the anniversary of its Revolution. On this date, in the year 1910 the war to overthrow the dictator Porfirio Díaz, began.

Today Maggie's class particpated in an assembly to commemorate the day. Here's her get-up.






Friday, November 10, 2006

Legos & Good Grades




What does Wes do to entertain the girls while I'm getting Anna's report card & news from her teacher that she is doing very well in her class?

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

New Label Functionality, cool

Blogger has just changed over to beta, and I can start categorizing my posts... that'll be fun. I guess this will be my first label... general

No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed






Here are a few pic's of Claire posing in her adorable princessy nightgown.

Our lil' Elaine is now one!





Yesterday, November 6th Elaine turned one! What an amazingly blessed year we have had. She is still such a sweet natured baby. She is now saying "mama," "dada," "nana" for Anna; she knows what her tongue, teeth & hands are (but in spanish); she can growl like a lion and tries to bark like a dog; she still isn't walking, but is slowly realizing that she can stand on her own, but just doesn't like to! She is in all ways the baby of the family. She has 3 little mommies that look after her, like to feed her, make her laugh and teach her all sorts of fun things. We surely love our little Naners!

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Anna's Aspirations



Anna informed me yesterday that when she grows up she wants to be:
"First, a painter,
Then, a teacher,
Then, a cool girl who sells paintings."

Happy Birthday Maggie




On Oct. 3rd, Tuesday, Maggie turned 5 years old. She is maturing so much, and is just such a fun girl. We had a great day doing Maggie-chosen things.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

One of Our Budding Singers


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing

Turn up the volume and enjoy a little medley Claire created: "ABC, Twinkle Lil' Star, Jesus Loves Me, Happy Birthday To You Cake"

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Culture Shock still happens




We have lived here in Monterrey over 2 years now, but every now and then I still have "culture shock" moments. I have had 2 of those this week. On Monday, Anna's teacher informed me that an assignment was totally unacceptable. The instructions for the assignment were: Cut out and glue the following dates in order into your notebook: Sept. 1, 13, 16, 20, 27. So, we did that. What we were supposed to do was go to a paperleria and ask for historic picture sheets from those dates, cut out the pictures and glue them into the notebook. Somehow everyone just "knew" this.

Today was another of those days. I'll back up to yesterday. Anna came home with a note from school saying they were having a parent's meeting at 8:00 am this morning (I am used to always being informed about things the very last minute). I immediately told myself that I wasn't going because: a.)Maggie has to be at school across town at 9:00 b.)The babies usually wake up at 8:15 and Wes is in the shower and c.)The meetings are usually about needing fund raisers because the conditions of the school or something else that could be summed up in a note. Well, the meeting wasn't about anything that couldn't be summed up in a note (i.e. they need money for some books, explanation of grading policies, etc.). So I was very surprised by Anna's teacher's severe reproach about me being the only parent not at the meeting (aside from one who had chicken pox, but she told her she wasn't going to make it [although I don't know WHEN]). I tried to explain to her about Maggie (to which she replied, that's not until 9:00) and the babies (you should bring them). So not only am I frustrated about all the cultural differences and expectations, but I hate to think of her teacher thinking of me as the disinterested parent who doesn't care about her child's education.
And then again I cannot believe that every other parent can attend and 8 am meeting with less than a day's notice! And that proves that I'm suffering from cultural shock!

Saturday, September 16, 2006

Aaaahhhh, the other side!

Well, most of you probably don't know of the ordeal we had this week. I'll give you a brief recap. About 2 weeks ago I started having a dull ache in the right side of my lower back. No big deal since I'm always carrying kiddos around..."just pulled something" I thought. When I woke up this Monday morning I told Wes that I thought we needed to get a new mattress, that my back was killing me! By 10pm I was in pretty severe pain & very nauseous. I took some medicine and felt somewhat better. Well, after finally getting to the doctor and having tests, they discovered that I had a pretty big kidney stone - 1.4 cm X .7 cm. X .9 cm lodged in my ureter. To make the long (and VERY VERY VERY painful) story shorter, it was decided this stone wasn't coming out on its own and had to be broken up by laser so it would exit the body. Due to the inflammation of my kidney and the serious pain I was in, I had the procedure ASAP - Friday at 8am. It was very anticlimatic. I was asleep for the entire procedure and woke up feeling like a new person! As soon as I could move my legs again (they were numbed from the epidural), I was released from the hospital. After having spent 3 days feeling like I was having back labor coupled with intense morning sickness, I cannot tell you how wonderful I feel. Thank goodness for modern technology & the prayers of the saints!

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Super Fun Visitors

On Friday Graham and Amanda Davidson came to visit us for the weekend. It was a very sweet time. As a mother to small children, I don't get very extended conversations with adults too often. So I was especially thankful to have captive audiences!

I want to give both of them some press because they are incredibly talented people. Amanda has such a beautiful voice & incredible song-writing abilities! She's SO amazing! If you don't own her album, get it NOW! And Graham has worked very hard in editing & helping make a mockumentary about teaching Chalk - I am dying to see it! They are hoping to release it in the Spring.

Unfortunately we didn't get to do a lot of sight-seeing or fun touristy kinds of things, but here are a few pictures that Anna took from el Mirador (a great view of the city).




Happy Birthday to You Claire-Bear!

Last Friday Claire turned 2 years old! Wes took Claire, Maggie & Anna to Peter Piper Pizza (similar to Chucky Cheese) to celebrate the monumental occasion. (I couldn't make it because I had a previously made engagement) Claire has had a very eventful 1st 2 years of life. She is fearless and fast... a very dangerous combination in a 2 year old! We are so thankful for God's protection of her in numerous occasions!


Later we had cake & gifts to top off the sweet day! She really liked the "Best of the Muppet Show" DVD's we got her. She said, "I like that - the Muppet Show. I like that- Miss Piggy." when she opened it.


















Monday, August 28, 2006

More Photos

Rock Star Claire- she chose the outfit & poses!


Maggie in her hated uniform

Cute Pic Post

Such a sweetie!


Maggie surprised me by making my bed & giving me her pillow.

Anna & Claire playing

Week One Down

What a week! Whew! It's seriously exhausting to try to keep everyone on a schedule. But I hope with a little more practice it'll become easier. The girls had a good first week of school. Maggie has been a little more sensitive, especially in the mornings, but I think she is adjusting alright. She definitely does NOT like wearing a uniform, but she looks very cute in it. She is going to preschool for 3 hours a day. Her spanish comprehension already blows me away, so it will be very exciting to see her speak more spanish. She is also doing very well with her reading lessons too. Both girls can already read tons! And they simply LOVE it!

Anna only has one word to say when you ask her how school is, "GREAT!" She REALLY enjoys it, although all the big kids make her feel "nervous". She is already struggling with homework though. Today she had to make a whole page of letter A's and a whole page of number 1's, and it took her 3 hours and about 900 threats to finally get finished! Let's just say it's easy to get distracted in our house!

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Bosque Magico y Mas


Well, I forgot the camera, but insert our family in the picture & you can imagine us having a blast at a local amusement park - Bosque Magico. It was a fun family day, which we haven't had in a good while. We rode rides, had ice cream, played in the water & saw a fun dolphin & seal show.

We are mourning the end of an-all-too-short summer. School ended June 28th & is starting back on Monday, August 21st. We're all a little anxious about the upcoming year. Maggie will begin preschool, & Anna will go to 1st grade. We are praying for a smooth transition for all us. The girls will certainly have the challenge of mostly spanish speaking school environments, and I'll have the challenge of getting everyone up & going, as well as letting my big girls away from from me a few hours everyday.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Learning to Read

A little over a week ago I began teaching Anna & Maggie to read using this book: Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. It has gone so awesome. The book has made it so easy for me & the girls. The lessons are so quick & simple to follow. Each of them has already learned to read about 8 words, and we are only on the 10th lesson. It is very crazy to think that in 3 months that I will have two readers!

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Anna lost another tooth...


And she said something pretty funny the other day... I was talking on the phone & making pudding for a snack. She kept asking for chips. I kept mouthing to her that I was making a snack. She continued to tell me that she really WANTED some chips. Once again I told her I was making her a snack. Then she said, "but mom, can't I have chips for an appetizer."

A Few Pic's From TX

Anna, Maggie & cousins Tessa & Colby are enjoying a nice swim at Nana's

Claire's sporting a new headband at Mimi's

Elaine's gonna get Claire at David & Marita's incredible house in Wimberly!

Photos from Amanda's Wedding

Here Amanda Leggett is being escorted down the aisle.

We all participated in a time of worship.

The very happy Mr. & Mrs. Graham Davidson!

Monday, July 24, 2006

Back in Monterrey

We got back to Monterrey late last night (or early this morning) from a glorious trip to Texas. The girls and I played, played and played! Wes was there too, and he got to play some, but he also had lots of business things to attend to (sorry honey). We had such a great time visiting family & friends, swimming, eating Tex-Mex, shopping, attending a beautiful wedding, and mostly playing with those we dearly love (and miss). We were in DFW a week & a half, & in Austin over the weekend, and it all really zipped by. Honestly I don't have any pics to post...I was just too busy enjoying myself to think about a camera. In a few days I'll try to post a few pictures from the former Amanda Leggett's wedding (she is now Mrs. Graham Davidson). Thanks to everyone who made our visit so special; we really appreciate you all so much! And although I am very glad to be home with a less hectic schedule, I'm a little sad thinking about how long it'll be until our next visit!

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Do you get it?

I've been on the lookout for funny uses of english here (as promised), and a cosmetic company's slogan caught my attention. I am not sure if it's poor english or if I simply don't get it... you be the judge:

"Beauty is an experience, nothing more."

Stepping Heavenward: One Woman's Journey to Godliness


I really enjoy reading! Most of the time I wish I had more time to read... and every now and then, I simply forsake almost all other duties and submerge myself in a book. Well that's what happened with this book (sorry Wes & girls). It's a "journal" of a Christian woman who is very much like the character of Joe from Little Women. I really loved seeing the heart of someone struggling with her sin nature and seeking to deepen her personal relationship with Christ. And though I am very different from the character, many times I felt like the thoughts were taken from my own journal (if I kept one). In case you don't get a chance to read the book for yourself, I'll leave you with the most poignant quote from the book:
"Do you always submit to God's will thus?"
"In great things I do," I said. "What grieves me is that I am constantly forgetting to recognize God's hand in the little, everyday trials of life, and instead of receiving them as from Him, find fault with the instruments by which He sends them."