It's Hereditary

Lots of people have "SD Card Disease."

They let their pictures pile up on the flash cards on their cameras to the point where they get so full that you have to stop mid-pose when they realize, "OH NO! My card is full...Hang on! Hold that smile while I erase some pictures from 5 months ago so I can capture this moment right now!"

I don't have that disease.

I can't stand having pictures on my sd card from even last week. I put pictures on my computer pretty regularly. Or if I don't do it, then I just delete them...assuming that I didn't need them anyway.

That's kind of how my life is really. You will never. EVER. see me on that Hoarders show. Sometimes when I need a little "pick-me-up" I just go throw something away and it makes me feel all better. Getting rid of stuff is therapeutic for me.

This afternoon was no different for me.

I emptied off my SD card from the past few days.

I moved them from the camera to the computer. Then therapeutically, pushed the delete button on my camera. That little button is like medicine for my soul. Purging what's not needed anymore.

There are always lots and lots of pictures of the kids. Occasionally a few of cousins. Grandparents. Sometimes Brandon.
But never me. As a mommy, I'm coming to grips with never being remembered in photo albums. I think it's a duty as a mommy to be the permanent fixture behind the camera.

Brandon took the kids yesterday to get a bunch of pumpkins for this pumpkin carving thing we're attempting. (more to come on that)
While they were at the pumpkin place, he took the token Fall-ish Hay and Pumpkin pictures.
He did pretty good. As well as you can do with a 3 and 1 year old.

The process of getting those pictures is tough though.

"Smile!"
"No look at the camera and smile!"
"Say cheese!"
"Say cheese and look at the camera, Eden!"


"No look HERE, Salem."
"Now smile, please, Eden."
"No a real smile, please."
"Salem, this way buddy! Smiiiiiiiiiile!"


"Look here, please."
"Salem, where's the camera?!"
"Smiiiiile...."
"Eden, look here!"


"Salem! yoo-hoo!!"
"Eden, look at the camera!"
"Over here! Smile!!"
"Ok Eden. He's crying now. Get off your brother!"



and then eventually you just don't care anymore and either take their picture anyway, or give up altogether.

That's probably the way all kid's pictures look.
Half-smiles.
Staring at birds in the distance.
Grumpy from saying "cchhheeeeeeeeeeese" too long.

I guess it's too much to ask for a 3 year old and 1 year old to both be looking at the camera AT THE SAME TIME and both with pretty, plastered, smily faces on so we can remember them in photo albums for years to come.

And then that's when I saw it.

The ONE picture on the SD Card with me finally in it.



I guess it's too much to ask for a 27 year old to be smiling normally and looking at the camera.
I'm afraid that's the way most of my pictures look.

It all makes sense now.

No wonder my children find it hard to make normal smiles when the camera comes out.

It's in their genes.

Purse Party!

Some of you read the title and think someone hijacked my blog to write about purses.

Or maybe you think I've gone and completely lost my mind.

No, no. It's me. April. Writing about purses.

There's a first time for everything in blog-land.

Be encouraged though. I'm not talking about Coach, Gucci, Juicy Couture, or whatever-other-name-brand purses there are out there that I'm completely unfamiliar with.

I'm talking about burlap purses. Rice bag purses.

And these purses are way too cool for school. Not just because they are made out of burlap.

But because these purses have been sewn by Haitian women in Heartline Ministries.

I'm quickly learning about this ministry, it's purpose, and how it's reaching out to women trapped in poverty, struggling to find truth, struggling to feed their children... Scratch that...struggling to KEEP their children.

I first learned of this ministry from the Hendricks living in Haiti. They are friends of a friend from our Virginia days. (wow that seems like a long time ago!)

She gets to be involved with this incredible ministry, changing lives one woman at a time. One baby at a time. One boob at a time. (they teach them how to successfully breast feed! awesome!)

And one stitch at a time.

They teach them to sew. They teach them to make purses. They teach them to make purses to sell so they can provide an income to house, clothe, feed, and ultimately, keep their children.
PLEASE go read more about this ministry by clicking the link above!

So I was moved. Beyond moved. I wanted to pack up the family and move to Haiti. I was ready to learn creole. I was ready to be a lactation consultant. I was ready to figure out how to work a Haitian sewing machine...as if they are completely different.

Since we're in that waiting period of returning to The Big Chicken though, God's making me be patient.
A purse party was a way to be involved with impacting these women's lives without changing our plans to move to China.

So I ordered 22 purses. They sent me a box full of them and a few other goodies.

They included some recipes. We made the Bananas Flambe served over ice cream. Which was awesomeness in a bowl.

Included in the box was a dvd of this short video. Go watch it.

Did you watch it?

No?!

Stop it. Just do what I told you to do. Go watch it!

We had 14 women come. 17 purses sold.

At $20-$40 a purse, this helps the women move out of poverty. (you'd know that though, if you'd watch the video. :)

It also helps Heartline Ministries continue to provide the materials for the women to continue to sew purses. It helps Heartline Ministries continue to minister to pregnant women, nursing women. It helps Heartline Ministries share the TRUTH of God's word, about Christ's blood spilled for them, and about his redemption!

I got sooooo caught up in the excitement of the evening that I didn't even pull out my camera to capture the moment. Which is incredibly shameful for a photographer to admit.

But it was so much fun. The purses. The fellowship. The bananas flambe. The prayer over the Haitian women whose lives we want to impact...all the way from Texas.

I chose a burlap purse made by Suzanne A.

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And it's so cool. Thanks to Suzanne, I look hip now. Everyone needs a little burlap slung over your arm. Me and my Haitian Couture.

I've got 5 purses left. They are sitting on my dining room table. They aren't burlap. But they're still hip.

Interested?
You've got a week to let me know before I need to ship them back. :)

God's word commands up to care and provide for the poor. the oppressed.

Supporting them in their efforts to make a product (these purses) gives them more value as a woman.
It empowers them to know THEY are working and providing for their family. And it allows them to keep and care for their children.

From the belly of a Whale

A few minutes after tucking Eden in the other night we heard an ear-splitting scream come from her bedroom.

We both jumped up and sprinted to her room without thinking twice.

She was sitting up in bed. Completely fine. But breathing a little heavily and doing the dramatic-sobbing-cry and repeatedly saying, "I don't want to be swallowed by a WWHHHAALLLLLLLLEEEEEEEE!"

Confused.   "Umm...what?"

"I. don't. want. to. be. swa. llowed. by. a. WHALE!"

And then in my best attempt I tried to explain (and doing my best not to laugh) why she'd most likely never be swallowed by a whale. (especially in West Texas.)
After some cuddling, drying of tears, and coaxing back under the covers, she feel asleep. (without being swallowed by a whale, of course)

My mind started to search for answers as to WHY ON EARTH she'd be soooooo terrified of being swallowed by a whale.
I mean, not that it wouldn't be really terrifying, by seriously, WHY would you ever truly be worried about it?!
It's not like we read about Jonah every night when we read her bible:

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But then my mind started to flood with all the references she HAS had of being swallowed by a whale...

Her favorite book for the first 3 years of her life:

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And then of course there's the VeggieTales version of Jonah

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She's got a couple different copies of Jonah books...

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Oh and my mom exposed her to Pinocchio. Who, oddly enough, is also swallowed by a whale.

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And of course the VeggieTales version of Pinocchio...Pistachio is swallowed by a whale too. (A whale with a full-fledged African American Veggie Choir inside it's belly)

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And then I remembered Dori and Nemo too...sheeeeesh. The list was getting long!

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Okay so maybe it's NOT so unreasonable for her to be terrified of being swallowed by a whale. As far as she's concerned, there's been a lot of references to being swallowed by a whale! Sure, they're all repetitions of a few different stories, and of course they're not actually digested by a whale. Still, in her 3 years of life so far, that's a lot of whale swallowing going on.

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm pretty sure that if I threatened that she'd be swallowed by a whale, she'd be the most obedient little girl ever.  I can hear it now...
"Eden, little girls that are mean to their brothers get swallowed by whales!"

Well, ok. That's a bit mean I guess. I won't go THAT far!

The Birthday Girl

Three.

I have a three year old.

I know people have 9 year olds. 16 year olds. 30 year olds.

But not me. yet anyway. For now, I still can't believe that she's already three.

Three years has gone fast.



We had a full blown Tinkerbell themed birthday party for Eden on Saturday evening.



Eden was INCREDIBLY blessed with some cool new toys and cute new fall clothes. Brandon and I got her a bike for her birthday but she got it a couple months ago so she could use it before it got too cold outside...pictures to come. :)

Birthday parties are an awesome reason to have family and friends come together!



Eden with all four of her great-grandparents. On the right, Gigi, my grandmother. Grandma Harriett, Granny and Grandpa, are brandon's grandparents.



Brandon's brother and sister and soon-to-be sis-in-law.



E and S can't get enough of their cousins, Audrey and Judah. It's not a great picture, but you get the idea!



After cupcakes, Salem sported his favorite shirtless look.



Eden, and what remained of her neon pink cupcake.



We asked Eden what she wanted to do for her birthday and she wanted to ride Granddad's horses. (my dad) We couldn't do it on her actual birthday, but saturday morning we headed out there bright and early. Granddad was ready to go! As always!



It wasn't Eden's first time to ride Suzy, Granddad's new pony, but she still got strict instructions again from Daddy on proper saddle horn holding etiquette.



Salem's turn!



While Dusty took a snooze, Salem was in horse heaven.



From one ride to the next...







When we asked Eden at the end of her birthday week what her favorite part was she said, "Tinkerbell chonies and riding the tractor."
So next year, if you can't ship a tractor to Chiner, a new package of skivvies ought to make her day! :)

A Couple Laughs

I can always guarantee that Eden will amuse me throughout the day...even if things aren't laughing matters.

Yesterday at the park...
Eden:  "Salem, come here now!" (he didn't)
           "Ok Salem, that's one spankin'!"  (wonder where she hears that?)

Me: "Eden, the way you are talking right now is not loving. Fix it."

Eden: Looking at me with sweet, pleading eyes... "Mommy, may I please hit Salem, please?"

Where does she get this?!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Then this morning was fabulous. I walked in to the living room to see her eyeing something on the tip of her finger.
Me: "Eden come here please."

Eden: "Ok. Just a second." Then she runs behind the chair to do something with the substance on the tip of her finger."

Me: "Eden, are you hiding so that you can eat a booger on your finger?!"

Eden: "No. It's leftover lunch."

Me: "Where did you find the leftover lunch?"

She sheepishly points to her nose.

Times like this I'd like to say that I'm certain she doesn't get that from me.        

What Happens in Vegas isn't Just in Vegas

Brandon and I needed a vacation. Time away from the kids. Just us.
And a place where we could go but wouldn't feel guilty about leaving the kids at home.

First we looked into a cruise. But a friend talked us out of that.
Next we considered the beach. But comparatively, it's pretty pricey if you actually want to stay at the beach.
Then we thought about camping. Or Brandon did really. But I can go three days without showering in my own home. I don't need to go out to the woods to do that.
After getting some of those pesky airline emails though with insanely low flight prices, we settled on Vegas!

I know. Reeeaaaalllllllyyyyy weird, maybe.
People that don't gamble. drink alcohol. go to strip bars. or engage in extramarital affairs. Vegas? Really?


But it's a surprisingly cheap place to visit! So we booked it a couple months ago and made our parents reserve the weekend for babysitting.

And then the waiting game and guilt set in.

By guilt I mean that we probably should have just gone camping. Camping, comparatively, would have been A LOT cheaper. We could have packed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and probably had a good time out in the wilderness.
As our Vegas Vacation loomed in the future, I began to see poverty stricken Haitians in the back of my mind. The fact that we were spending so much money on ourselves while others are barely surviving made me cringe. The weight of our "getaway" vacation began to make me sink into a guilt-ridden-I'm-such-a-spoiled-American mini-depression about needing time away from my kids.

Was it enough to make us cancel our trip to "Sin City?"
No.
Not that it's terrible to do something for yourself every now and then...this is just what kept replaying in my mind as I thought of us dining on crab leg buffets in Vegas.

So to the Luxor hotel we went.


3 days of childless bliss. (I did tear up as we were leaving the kids...this was the first time I've ever been away from them, with the exception of Salem's birth and leaving Eden at home for that!)

We walked around The Strip. The architecture of Vegas is incredible! The lights are seriously mesmerizing. We ate incredible buffets. Crepes topped with whipped cream to my heart's content. We people watched. We sat by the pool and didn't have to worry about any children drowning. I'm almost certain that Brandon was the only person out by the pool reading "Spirit-filled Preaching."


And the best part of The Strip is by far the Bellagio fountains. I could have watched those all day.
And so could all the people there with kids in tow.
It's hard to make fountains perverted. You can't put lingerie on fountains or strip them down to nearly nothing. Yes, the Bellagio fountains...the only family friendly area of The Las Vegas Strip.


I guess we were naive going in to Vegas. I guess we assumed the nickname of "Sin City" was a cute pet name.

It became very clear to us that it was indeed no joke. The most blatantly obvious "sin" was the intrusion of sex every.single.place.you.turned.  It was nearly unavoidable. Thus, the Bellagio fountains, became our favorite place.

Let me stand on my soapbox for a second. Men, if you are single, you should never. EVER. go there. Parents, don't let your sons go there. For that matter, your daughters either.
The parents that were walking around with 12 year old sons tagging along...I wanted to shake the ever loving googly out of them and give them a bandana for their son's eyes.

Again, I guess we were naive. But we were literally astounded by how the "Sin City" nickname and the "sins" of the city were flaunted about like they were proud of them.

Sunday morning we woke up and searched the sbc.org website for a church in the area that was affiliated with our "sending organization" (when we head back to the Big Chicken.) We wanted to be involved with the body of Christ in Vegas and get a glimpse of the ministries going on there.

We chose FBC of the Lakes. I'm going to be bold and say that I really feel that this church is the reason we went to Vegas. The moment we stepped out of the taxi and were greeted by the door greeter, who turns out was the pastor, we felt welcome. We felt a part of the body. We met people who I'm certain I could be bff with if I lived there.

After a short chat with the pastor, who concluded we were the most unusual Vegas vacationers he'd ever met, he found out we're affiliated with that cool organization who his church supports and he asked Brandon to share during his sermon time.
"WHA?!" I think that's what I said.  I felt weird. Unworthy.

And then about 2 minutes before Brandon was supposed to get up, the british pastor asked me to share my testimony.
even bigger "WHAT?!?!?!"
I think I cried a little. Some guy brought be some kleenex. So I guess I did.
Sharing with the body of Christ what God is doing in my life is humbling. It's scary. But it's needed. And it almost always makes me cry.

It went well though. Brandon spoke for about 20 minutes and he was very eloquent, humble, and I hope encouraging to the members of FBC of the Lakes. Their heart and vision for reaching their city is so apparent that it shines on their faces. Their task is daunting, to say the VERY least. But their determination and drive, fueled by Christ their Savior, was SO.INCREDIBLY.ENCOURAGING to us. They truly were the epitome of being light in a dark place.
Neon lights.

It was awesome to see Las Vegas from a "normal" person's perspective. To see that there are moms, dads, kids, grandparents, college students, etc...living in a place where us outsiders only normally envision The Strip when we think of their city. I admire them. I want to pray for them. Living in Las Vegas, in my opinion, would be by FAR harder than living in Chiner.

Because of our visit with them, and the incredibly generous lunch we shared with the Associate Pastor and his family, our eyes were opened a bit more to "Sin City."


The reality is that every city is Sin City.

              They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.  Psalm 14:3


Every city, town, neighborhood, and person is full of sin and in need of The Savior.
The difference is that for some reason, in Las Vegas it's more "obvious sins." (and for some reason, thought of as "acceptable sins" to commit in Vegas)

The sins of Vegas are Adultery. Pornography. Lust. Drunkenness.  To name a few.
And they are right. in. your. face. in Vegas.

But the sins of my city, your city, and every other city are the exact same. We just hide those sins better. The more obvious ones around here are greed. coveting.
Living in excess is what we're pros at. Having 3 tvs in our home. Buying new clothes when our "old" ones would do just fine. Making sure our kids have the best of toys. Or all of our rooms have a piece of furniture on every wall.

Please don't think I'm being all Judge Judy on you. Trust me, I'm guilty of all of this. Today. Now. I'm guilty of this.
      
             And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body, and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Eph. 2: 1-3

Praise the Lord that my sins are forgiven by the blood of Christ!
      
            But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved. Eph. 2: 4-5



So we came home from Vegas being very encouraged.


Desiring to be filled with the Spirit every day.


Wanting to break the mold of our Gotta-Get-More selves.


Hoping to honor God with our finances.

We were able to be bold in sharing our faith like we haven't been able to in months. It's amazing how much conversation can take place with someone when there are no kids to distract. (and a captive audience of a taxi driver!)

We're glad to be home again. After a few days away, we have a renewed patience with Eden and Salem.

And maybe next time we need a vacation, we'll camp. Surely a camping blog post wouldn't be quite so long.

Friday Night Lights

We're from Texas.
So that means that just about every football stadium 'round these parts is lit up on Fall Friday nights.

This Fall, our living room lights will be lit up on Friday nights.

This opportunity just fell into our laps, but we're beyond excited about what's going on in our home on Friday nights.



Our living room has become the new meeting place for an International Church!

I'd be lying if I didn't admit that one of the big reasons we're excited about this is the food.



Everyone brings something they cooked at home, usually something native to their country, and for a big buffet/family style dinner. I'm the cool Texan that contributed homemade salsa and chips. It wasn't a huge hit...though not because they were afraid to try it, but because everyone else's stuff was WAY better. I might not add anything to the table this week for fear of rejection! :)

Then we move to the living room and worship Christ, our Savior!



Because Hilary (above) is too cool for school, she can play the guitar AND sing in Chinese. Which was really awesome this past week because everyone that came was from The Big Chicken.

We're hoping for some more diversity because the local university is off the charts when it comes to the Nations that are represented.

But for now, Chinese it is! Which is cool because it's essentially a room full of language tutors for us.

Join us! You don't have to have a cool accent or another skin color to attend.

Really, is there anything cooler than the body of Christ meeting in your living room?