Happy Birthday Anna

Last Friday Anna turned 7 years old!!! Unbelievable.

Here are some photos from the festivities.

Tacos

People are always asking me what do we eat. Mexican and Americans are curious as to how our family eats in Monterrey. I admit that our eating and my cooking have changed in the past couple of years. It's very practical to make a variety of guisados (usually meat & veggies in a sauce meant to be eaten on a tortilla) and serve them with beans and a salad. So naturally the girls have gotten used to usually having tortillas at meal times. But sometimes they cross the boundaries in what makes an acceptable taco. Recent examples:

Tortilla w/ Rice & Mashed Potatoes
Tortilla w/ Crumbled Tostada Shell
Tortilla w/ Spagetti
and pictured: Tortilla w/ Oatmeal

Maggie & Anna All Dressed Up & Nowhere to Go

Elaine's Words

Here's Elaine repeating a few things.

Elaine

Sweet Elaine 6 months ago. She is now 1 1/2! She continues to be generally sweet natured & flexible. But she definitely holds her own with her big sisters. She will protest when she doesn't like something they (or I) are doing to her. She toddles about all day asking for whatever food item pops into her head. Her motto is "One Word to Rule Them All." She will repeat a word over and over and over and over and over until you finally give in. There's only so many times you can hear: "cookie, cookie, cookie, cookie, cookie" or "cereal, cereal, cereal, cereal, cereal" until you decide what's it going to hurt to give it to her. She is saying tons of words, and will repeat almost anything you say. I also think she has finally figured out that each of her sisters have a different name. For awhile she has called them all Anna.

Video of Claire dancing?

Claire

Here is a post on Claire about 6 months ago. She has calmed down some since that post, which is nice. But she is definitely a handful! She loves to explore and find new things to destroy. Recently I found her in the bathroom rubbing toothpaste on her legs (for it's exfoliating purposes, of course). She is always waiting for me to get occupied so she can get into trouble.

But she is also very sweet. She loves to take care of Elaine & "help" me. I am never lacking for conversation either, because she is a chatterbox! Her insights are endless (and usually hysterical). She has recently entered a scared stage. She has an incredible imagination and wakes up frightened several nights a week. The other night she wouldn't go to bed alone after I made shadows on her headboard. She is also very attached to me (or Wes) when we are around groups of people. So people tend to think of her as being shy!

Maggie

All that I posted a year ago about Maggie still remains the same! She has really matured in this last year though. It's been so sweet to see her grow in many areas! She continues to be the best helper a mommy could ask for. She is a very quick learner. And I think she may have Wes's semi-photographic memory! She has an incredible attention span for her age. She sometimes spends hours looking at books, making a project or drawing.

One of my very favorite things about Maggie is her ability to empathize with others. She easily cries at hearing a sad story or thinking about bad things happening to others. And she really wants others to know about God. She frequently talks about how much she loves God and wants others to love Him too. She's so special!

Retreat Rocked!!

Read my post on our Serve Site to hear about the Retreat. It was beyond amazing. And my workshop went well. It has already opened the doors for me to develop deeper relationships with several women!

Anna

Here is last year's update on Anna. She has certainly changed and remained the same! She will be 7 years old next month (yikes, when did that happen?)! She is still generally sweet and gentle in nature. She is still pretty flexible & laid-back. She still LOVES LOVES puppies. Also, she still really loves to be comfortable & looks for any opportunity to wear her p.j.'s. But somewhere during this past year she has moved away from loving pink & frilly things to liking things that are cool, such as: rock stars, guitars and super heroes. She says she wants a puppy & an electric guitar for Christmas:)! She's so funny!

She tends to be our quirkiest child. She pretty much will only drink water, or occasionally fresh orange juice. She likes to eat the same snack at school almost everyday. She loves cucumbers and will eat a whole one in a single sitting (especially if it's covered in lime juice & chili powder). She also loves books! She can read, but prefers to be read to. She loves to draw more and more everyday. And has also began writing stories. She's quite creative!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 1 yr. 1 month anniversary Socks n' Shoes!!!! My-oh-my, how time flies!!!

To celebrate I'll be posting an update on each of the girls... hopefully next week... since our 2nd annual Women's Retreat is this weekend and I'm putting the finishing touches on my portion of a workshop. Pray that it would go well & that we would all learn from it! And pray for Wes as he takes care of the girls for the weekend (what a husband!!!!)!!! THANKS!

Recent Pics

Claire being silly

Elaine being happy

Anna & Maggie being evil bunnies

Maggie displaying the whole where her 1st tooth fell out on Sunday

Maggie's Spring Parade

They make a big deal about Spring here. Both Anna & Maggie's schools had Spring/Benito Juarez Day celebrations. Here are a few shots from Maggie's school's parade around the neighborhood. She was a cutie bunny!

Elaine's words

Seriously, Elaine has the most random vocabulary! It cracks me up all the time! Here is a sampling:
Mommy
Daddy
Anna
Mimi
Nana
speak (mimicking the big girls' dog training game)
tortilla (perfectly clear!)
dog
ball
agua
ya (means "already" in spanish)
no
here
Dora
uh-oh
eat

Oh, and she also started walking around New Year's! She loved having soft, carpeted surfaces to fall on!

Fonix at its Finest

The girls rock at straight-forward phonics! Therefore their English spelling is sometimes a bit interesting. In a computer game the other day they named their puppy: Witchoqlit. Translated: "White Chocolate." Very nice, very nice!

Top 10, pt. 2

Top 10, pt. 1

Sorry for the long silence (for you 3 who read this :), but things are usually crazy, and I am always neglecting something (or someone) to do this. But it's so worth it :)

Here are my top 10 pictures from the last couple of months - enjoy!

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!

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 :)!!!

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.