Christmas Choir

Yesterday morning we attended Eva's school Christmas party. Sitting in the bleachers watching her, I found myself welling up. Eva is beginning the process of growing away from us. It makes me emotional and proud. Up until now she has mostly been right by our sides, doing most things with our direct help and support. And now her independence is increasing by leaps and bounds.

It really hit me that I'm a MOM attending her child's Christmas concert. I remember being Rudolf in my kindergarten Christmas play. And probably my Mom felt a lot like I did. Oh, the cycles of life!

Here is a little one minute video of the event. Andrew also posted photos on his Photog Blog. Josh enjoyed himself so much he even sang along with the last song!

Here Comes Santa Claus....

This is what we came upon on the way home from school today... fun!

El Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe

December 12 is the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Wikipedia says:

According to the traditional account, the image appeared miraculously on the cloak of Juan Diego, a simple indigenous peasant, on the hill of Tepeyac near Mexico City on December 12, 1531. The icon is on display in the Basilica of Guadalupe in the same locality and is regarded as Mexico's most popular religious and cultural image.

Mexonline tells the story of Juan Diego's encounter:

Juan Diego was a young indigenous Indian walking toward the Hill of Tepeyac on December 12, 1531 when he was stopped by the appearance of the Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary appearing to Juan Diego was a young woman with black hair and dark skin which looked more like an indigenous person. She ordered Juan Diego to go to the Bishop and ask him to build a church at the Hill of Tepeyac. Juan Diego then ran to the Bishop to tell him what the Virgin Mary had told him. The Bishop didn't believe what this young men was telling him and decided to ignore the petition.

The Virgin Mary appeared again in front of Juan Diego and told him to collect flowers from the top of the hill, but because it was December Juan Diego knew that there was not going to be any flowers at the rocky hill. Upon reaching the top of the hill, Juan Diego was surprised to see that it was covered with colorful and beautiful flowers. Juan Diego, as he was asked to, collected the flowers using his overcoat and ran again to see the Bishop.

Juan Diego gave the coat full of flowers to the bishop, and here the bishop discovered the image of Virgin Mary's picture was miraculously traced on the coat. Seeing both the unseasonal flowers and the image of the Virgin, the Bishop realized Juan Diego had told him the truth and The Basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe was built on the hill of Tepeyac in Mexico City.

MexConnect explains the significance of the Virgin of Guadalupe to Mexicans:

Truly, the Virgin of Guadalupe is the rubber band that binds this disparate nation into a whole. She is the common denominator of this land, it is she giving Mexicans a sense of Nationalism, and Patriotism. Their brotherhood comes from the strength of intense faith rooted in indigenous attributes, images, symbols, magic and myth. The focus of this intense faith revolves around Our Lady, La Virgen Maria de Guadalupe, the mother of God who appeared in Mexico in 1531.
[...]
On her special day, December 12, all of Mexico, and all Mexican sons and daughters on the other side gather for the celebration of the Virgin. An endless parade of pilgrims from the country’s four points appear at her Basilica with their flowers, songs, chants and prayers. They stream in processions led by indigenous dancers, to every church named for her. Wreaths of flowers adorn the signs of streets, neighborhoods, and towns bearing her name.

The church in our neighborhood is called "La Capilla de la Virgen María de la Medalla Milagrosa" (Chapel of the Virgin Maria of the Miraculous Medal). The church members tonight made their offering to the Virgin on this day of celebration.

Every little while they would stop for a Bible reading. I heard the story of Christ's birth from the book of Luke and I heard the Lord's Prayer. I'm not sure what else they read, or what they did once they got back to the church.

We watched with interest and enjoyed the dancing, drums and shakers. Eva was very excited to see her classmate Lorenzo dancing in the procession.

Here is a clip of the procession, a stone's throw from our house.

Even some of the littlest ones participated.

A Typical Morning

A glimpse into what we see and do weekday mornings:

We might see the produce truck... (I would love to buy from this truck but apparently I don't buy with enough frequency and volume to make it worth the seller's while to add my house to his route.)

While it's not unusual to see military convoys, we saw this rather incongruous scene of military trucks- guns, balaclavas and all- parked in front of the local church. I wish the photo were better, but I wasn't sure how apropriate it would be to take a photo so I was sneaky about it.


We travel the short distance down a highway to Eva's school... (39 secs)

Then we wait in line to drop her off at her gate. It's a pretty slick system where the parents don't even get out of the car for drop off and pick up. All the teachers know which cars/parents belong to which children- impressive- and escort each child to and from the corresponding vehicles. Quite safe and efficient.


The usual sights and sounds at the back of the school bus... (15 secs)

Did you pick up the accusatory glance Joshua shot at me?

Domestic Help

I have domestic help twice a week, for about five hours a day. Cori does general tidying and cleaning, changes the beds, and sweeps up out front and out back. Many people have their helpers do laundry and iron, and also food preparation. I don't mind doing laundry and Andrew doesn't mind ironing, so I have her focus on the other stuff. Our tidiness and also cleanliness does suffer in between visits but this arrangement has felt about right to us.

It is so dusty here that the house gets dirty much faster than in Canada and so it really is a lot harder to keep the house within the acceptable range of clean. Also with three little kids and our social life largely confined to our home and family, well, I'm sure you can see why I am glad to take advantage of the affordability of domestic help.

A couple of weeks ago I asked a Mexican mom what kind of domestic help arrangements she has, and this is what she told me:

- Live-in nanny, responsible for child care including accompanying mother and child(ren) to birthday parties, light cleaning, food prep, laundry. Expected to work morning to night. Has Sunday off. "She's really good" so she's paid $1,000 MXN (~$85 CAD)/week
- Daily housekeeper, eight hour work day, responsible for heavy cleaning and ironing. Paid $1,000 MXN per week.

I just can't wrap my head around dedicating something like $750/month to domestic help. I paid way less for my first apartment!

Another interesting cultural difference!

Snot, Smiles and Taekwondo

So Josh wasn't even over his last cold when this one hit him. Poor guy is so tired but just can't stay asleep once the snotcork wedges into place. However, despite the miserableness of having a cold, and at the risk of him immediately proving me wrong (as kids are wont to do) I am going to declare Joshua more content.

The last week or so has seen him enjoying diaper changes, quietly hanging out in the bouncy chair or swing for a stretch, and doing much less crying in the carseat. Yippee!!! He really enjoys when the big kids fuss over him- which is such a double edged sword because that's how he gets his colds. Yesterday he sat on my lap and quietly enjoyed the kids' Taekwondo class for a good 15 minutes before the snotcork got the better of him.

I've been looking for some sort of activity in which to enroll Micah. He is so bored in the mornings! He needs an outlet. Of course there are no morning activities since other kids his age are in school. But most afternoon activities are for kids four and up. But I found out that Xochi's Taekwondo teacher takes kids as young as three!! Yesterday we went to check it out. It only gets better. Both kids can be in the same class. There is a volume discount. It is two days a week and starts at 4:30 (many activities are three days a week and start as late as 6 or 7'o'clock). I like the confidence, discipline and language benefits I see coming from this class. And the kids really really enjoyed it! So did I. It was really fun to watch them learning with big smiles, and Micah was so cute doing his best to follow instructions. I will try to get some video tomorrow.

Day of the Dead

In honour of el día de los muertos (Nov. 2), Eva had cooking class on Monday. Each child conjured up two sweet amaranth skulls. Eva was very excited about the whole thing. She thought it tasted fantastic and did her best to convince Micah. He really didn't care for it but dutifully choked his back in deference to his idol.

Eva enthusiastically tucking into hers

Is he actually taking a bite? I think he tucked most of his 'treat' into his napkin.

Bean Sprouts

A while ago, at the suggestion of a friend, I gave Eva and Micah some beans and containers to play with. Their play culminated in an enthusiastic planting session in the ficus tree pot. I thought that was the end of it... but some days later we had a bumper crop of bean sprouts! And this photo was taken after we did a significant amount of thinning!

Quite the Week

This was a challenging week. Even since before he was born, I had been dreading pulling together everything for Joshua's proof of Canadian citizenship and Canadian passport applications. With good reason; it was as horrible as I expected. On Tuesday morning, knowing it was overly optimistic but hopeful since all our destinations were close to one another, I hoped to accomplish the following: Get Joshua's blood test done, get his passport and citizenship photos done, and get the photos and passport application signed by our guarantor.

Here's what really happened. We got to the clinic at the time they told us to be there, waited 20 minutes, then were told that the special test thingie wasn't in yet and to come back in half an hour. So we went to the photography studio, showed them the diagrams with the size requirements, had Joshua's photo taken, and were told to come back in an hour and a half. By the way, try getting a photo of a fussy four week old which does not show hands holding him, and where his eyes are open and mouth is closed. About as easy as finding and killing that mosquito that lurks under Andrew's desk making mincemeat of his legs.

Went back to the clinic, and of course by this time there was no parking nearby. There poor Joshua was subjected to multiple heel pricks in order to fill the little circles with blood stains, and Micah played in the hazardous waste bucket.

Called the studio and the photos weren't ready yet.

In the afternoon, took all three kids back downtown to get the photos. Micah, did you bring shoes? No, why would I have done that? Carried Micah and Joshua into the studio (luckily there was parking right in front). The passport photos were clearly not the specified size. Guy said he would take care of it. Eva is now hungry and thirsty. Micah now has to go pooh. Willy bad. I did not want to take him back, shoeless, to a restroom we had once used and didn't care to use again. Never mind with two other kids in tow. You're gonna have to hold it, kid. Finally we got the photos we needed and couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Later that evening I actually had a look at the photos. Not only were they still not the right size, but my hands were showing. Big no-no.

So the next day we went back. After fiddling with the photos for 15 minutes, it became apparent that another shot would have to be taken. It took about 20 minutes to get the shot. And then we spent an hour waiting for the prints. In the muggy waiting room. With an inconsolable baby. Aughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

When we finally emerged victoriously with the necessary photos, we headed over to drop one off with our guarantor for signing. Micah didn't want to leave the building but I managed to convince him and finally we were done for the day.

Getting close to having everything together now. The rest should be a piece of cake. There is a bank and courier office in walking distance, and walking with Joshua and Micah is cool. Fun, even. This morning we did that walk, only to be told at the bank that we need to have an account to get a cashier's cheque. I'm pretty sure that's not true. I also know that the service fees for the cashier's cheque are going to be almost as much as the value of the cheque itself, but I'm purposely not letting that get to me. Anyway also the courier office by my house has shut down. Perfect.

Thursday we had our monthly Circle of Friends meeting. I barely got to be part of it because Joshua was super uncomfortable and just cried and cried. The only thing I've eaten different lately is the trial of two pieces of toast on Monday. I would have expected to see repercussions the same day or day after, but he was really hurting on Wednesday and Thursday!

The other thing that has been tough this week is the acting out by both of the bigger kids. On the one hand I understand, but on the other hand I can't just let it go. Eva spent a good thirty minutes in time out rather than clean up a few things she took out. I put Micah back on his time out chair over and over and over and over and over again (not to mention chasing him down as he dashed for another part of the house- all of this with a baby in the sling) before he finally acquiesced. I was sooo close to just giving up on both of them, but the persistence did pay off. That was encouraging.

So those are the challenges of my week. But there were plenty of blessings and good stuff to offset it as well. People at Andrew's work took care of picking up the stuff from the guarantor and will take care of the cashier's cheque and courier stuff for me. Whoohoo! The last couple of days have been a little better with the big kids. Joshua had a much better day today. Still having discomfort but doing way better than Wed and Thu. Andrew takes good care of me, picking up the slack in the dinner department, being totally in charge of bedtime for Eva and Micah (even if Joshua is asleep, sweet!), doing the grocery shopping, and encouraging me. Micah was really quite well behaved during all the many runs to downtown. We had a fun time doing our walking errands this morning. We bought some birthday supplies and Micah was so excited to come home with Spiderman plates and cups and whatnot. In the afternoon Eva and I had our little birthday supply date and she loves her Princess paraphernalia. We have a social weekend planned and I think that will be good for the kids. On Wednesday I did something very out of character and I not only took the kids to a fast food restaurant, I also bought them something to eat. They played for a really long time on the play structure and finally got up the courage to explore the whole thing. They were so excited! AND, Eva made some friends. So happy for her.

Also, next weekend is my birth conference! Everyone is coming along and Andrew is going to enjoy three days in Monterrey with Eva and Micah while Josh and I conference it up. I'm so excited!!

So life with three is just a little more extreme. The challenges are tough but the blessings and rewards are great!

This and That

Mom left this morning :( It was so awesome having her here. She supported me, mothered me, helped in so many practical ways, loved on the kids, and never failed to remind me to take the points for the jack in cribbage. I so appreciated her taking three weeks out of her life to be here for Joshua's arrival!

Today was the first day of my new reality- and Eva had the day off school. It was both a wonderful and a difficult day. After we walked out to wave as Nana's airplane passed overhead, the kids played together beautifully most of the morning, and Josh slept for hours in the sling. I got a bunch of things done, including my first sink of dishes in weeks and it was very low key and enjoyable. Quiet Time had a rocky start, with Micah wandering all over and Eva sobbing because she wanted presents RIGHT NOW. But then it took a sudden turn to peaceful, and I found myself in a remarkable situation: all three kids were sleeping!! I did a bit of reading and then realized that I should be sleeping too. So I got a few zzz's. Sweet. The pendulum swung back the other way once everyone was up. Micah and I had a huge battle of wills about him removing his stinky peed-in Superman jammies. (I won in the end) Eva continued to grump about presents and anything else she could think of. Joshua got fussy. Suppertime and after went well. We planned a new, more strictly structured bedtime routine. It all went well until the part where they were supposed to go to sleep. Eva had a huge accident. Micah had a gigantic meltdown. It's almost 10 and Eva is still awake. When will I learn not to let her nap during the day??

We're going to stick to this new routine for a full week whether it seems to be working or not. I am hoping they will come around. I am SO TIRED of fighting both kids to sleep every night. It is time consuming and exhausting.

In other news, it is incredibly dry here. We had a couple of weird weeks where it was raining almost every day and so humid that everything smelled and felt damp. I thought to myself, I'm glad I live in a dry climate because I don't like this. But now that the relative humidity is zero and my lips are cracked and bleeding and I've drunk 2 litres of water since suppertime... well, I'm not so fond of either option.

The Luckiest Kid

Last night Eva was invited to attend the wedding service of her teacher Raquel. What are the odds that within the same year both of a child's teachers will get married and invite their students? Pretty cool. Unfortunately these weddings occur after Eva's bedtime so her self-consciousness was magnified. She clung to me and would not pose with Raquel for a photo.

Raquel and Oscar with Eva's classmate Ana

She almost missed out on the group photo too...


...but finally got up the courage to get in there.


At one point during the service Eva leaned over to me and whispered, "I am the luckiest kid ever. I have a trampoline and I got to go to two weddings and I have pretty shoes." My mother's heart sang.

Beautiful candelit ceremony.

NEST!!

GROSSgrossgrossgrossgross......!!!

We used to see a few cockroaches just about every morning in the laundry room (mostly). We installed a door sweep to eliminate their access via the space at the bottom of the back door and that seemed to make all the difference. In the last few years cockroach sightings have been rare. Until lately. We've been seeing far too many cockroaches for our liking (like, one or two a day) in the last couple of weeks. And the last couple of sightings are the grossest yet- in our pantry!

So today I asked Cori to clean out the pantry. Mystery solved! My blissful innocence has been lost but at least the source of the cucarachas has been located. I hope this reduces our sightings again back down to rare. Still looking forward to coming, Mom? Are you going to pack your own food? ;)

Tennis Pics

Here are a few of the snapshots we took yesterday during Eva and Micah's tennis lessons.

Eva was trying to catch the ball in the cone.


Eva's two handed forehand! Look out Serena!


Micah practicing his backhand!


Great work Micah!

Swimming and Tennis Update

We swam with the kids again today. It's so fun. Eva is fearless and would stay in the pool all day, I think. Her determination is awesome. I loved watching her practice her swimming by pushing out into deeper water and then working her way back to where she could touch. If she gets tired she asks for help and never panics. She is doing fantastic.

Micah has had a couple of scares in the pool in past, so while he enjoys the water he has been Mr. Clingy. Always needing to have some part of him wrapped tightly around some part of one of us. Well today he surprised me by letting go in deeper water for a few seconds at a time! He also loves to do "pole diving", where he uses the stairs handrail to dive down to the bottom of the pool.

The kids are doing really well at their tennis lessons. They both tell me they don't like it but it sure doesn't show while they're in their class. It's held in a squash court and they do all kinds of great drills to help their hand-eye coordination and to get them familiar with the game of tennis. Eva has a pretty good backhand! Andrew came to watch and took a few photos so you might find some posted on this blog or his photog blog in the next few days.

A New Era in Housekeeping

Claudia quit last week so we have hired a new housekeeper. Cori comes highly recommended, having worked for a quite a few expats here. Her daughter and sister also work for expat families who are very happy with their work.

Cori came for the first time on Monday and she seems to be really good! Hard worker, go-getter, punctual... She is a gentle person and a Christ-follower. Based on what I have seen and heard of her work ethic, I am excited about having her to help us!

I can't tell you how much I appreciate having domestic help. I just can't keep up. Two days is about my max and then it starts getting out of control. How do I keep my kids from throwing over their shoulder whatever item it is they are done with??? And how do I keep the dust under control? Oh yeah, we live in the desert. It's impossible.

The Cluuuuub.

I (Andrew) haven't posted here for a while so I thought I'd add a post. We spent the weekend hanging out at the cluuub. In Spanish the "u" is long therefore, it is called the cluub. Anyway, we were hanging out at the cluub this weekend and really enjoying it. It's like going on a mini vacation. During the week Eva and Micah have been taking tennis and art classes. I hope to make it out this Friday to their 'tennis' class. I'm quoting "tennis" because it's more like hitting the ball against a wall etc. At the end of the day it's awesome for their hand eye coordination.
This weekend the kids spent a lot of time in the pool. Eva has advanced like crazy in the pool. She's got her pink pool noodle and that is giving her the confidence to jump off the diving board into very deep water (unassisted), slide down the super fast tube slide and swim all over the place. In fact, Eva can now go down the slide, crash into the water, then get her head above water and swim back to the edge....WITHOUT HELP. No pool noodle and no Mom or Dad. She is really growing up fast.
Here are a couple of snaps from Saturday and Sunday.

A little diving board action....


Sliding with the pink noodle...




Big impact but she manages to hang on....


That was too easy...Now she wants the noodle to float in the water as she comes down the slide.



She came shooting out a little hot and lost control...Please be advised she stuck the landing unassisted.


Finally, we had to throw in a belly photo. So awesome.

A Few Recent Pics

Eva after her latest haircut.

Mr. I-Don't-Need-A-Nap-Anymore

Playing computers at the kitchen table

Micah indulging in some sort of weird imaginative play. What he was trying to portray by putting the baby in the Foreman grill and then applying the mixer to its legs.... well, I have no idea.

Clubbin' It

Wee Eva & Mom looking out on the golf course after brunch, Nov 2006

Oo, I feel so hoity toity and swanky panky- we're officially members of a golf and country club.

No, we haven't suddenly ascended the socioeconomic ranks. It's just that the golf & country clubs around here are hurting for members so much they are offering pretty smoking deals. Three years ago you had to pay a hefty application fee, plus monthly fees and sign up for at least a year. Today you can just walk in and pay month by month. And a month is all we intend to use and pay.

One thing I really really wanted to do this summer was get the kids and myself into a pool on a regular basis. Ideally with swimming lessons for the kids, who are so on the cusp of really actually swimming by themselves. I did some research and checked out a few options and this one seems like the best value. In addition to unlimited pool privileges, my mom can join us for free while she's here, and swim and tennis lessons, craft and jazz classes (among others) are all included and available for our little guys. So this week we went for it!

This morning we swam for an hour or so and I came home feeling fresh as a daisy! Impervious to my 29* kitchen as I prepared lunch. What a difference it made! And of course the kids had a wonderful time. In the afternoon they did the craft class and really enjoyed it. Looks like we'll start the swim lessons next week.

It will be a great way to keep cool and to have some structure this summer. I am grateful for the opportunity.

Mouse in the House

A couple of days before Andrew joined us in Canada, he told me he had seen a mouse in the house. He repeatedly emphasized that it was a small mouse, expecting I guess to reassure me. I don't care if it's a family of small mice making a home in my underwear drawer... I don't want any mice making a home in my underwear drawer!

He put out a couple of traps and some kind of goo tray and left without finding our little friend. Terrific.

I was happy to come home to an absence of tiny turds, but still unconvinced that our small problem was actually solved. Andrew preferred to think that the little guy had just strolled out the way he had strolled in.

Today the mystery of the mouse was solved. Claudia was cleaning behind the guitar cases and came across a Definitely Dead small mouse. The kids were fascinated. Claudia was repulsed. I had her peel it off the wall anyway. Enjoy the photogs.

Home Again, Home Again

Winding up our first full day back at home in Torreon. It is weird and normal all at the same time. We've pretty much stepped back into life. Everything is familiar and routine. Which is good and bad. This is our home after all, and there is a certain comfort to being home. But we MISS our loved ones! And spending the whole day together as a family unit, every day. We sure miss Andrew when he's at work.

This trip to Canada was exceptionally rich. We really focused on spending our time with people, and were so blessed by that decision! We have so many extraordinary people in our lives. Thank you to everyone who carved out time for us. We felt very very loved. (And sorry to those of you we didn't get a chance to see. Vacations are always too short!)

I think I can speak for Andrew when I say that a huge highlight (among very many) was seeing our kids with their cousins. Even at such a young age, the kids just know there's something special and different about family. And it shows in their play and comments. That special bond is so tangible.

You could see that the kids recognized that there was something different about all the loved ones we spent time with, and adjusted their behaviour accordingly to be much more open and comfortable than they are with people we are not as close with.

While we did focus on people, we managed to squeeze in some shopping, and came home with most of the things we needed, including: a new maternity swimsuit for me! Goodbye Ursula the Sea Witch swimsuit, hello much more flattering and form fitting swim dress (not even maternity, but it works). I also bought a boatload of new cloth diapers, and was gifted a boatload of used cloth diapers. Thank you so much Louise and Melissa!!!! I am super excited about my foray into cloth diapering. Ridiculously excited, some might say. I am actually saving the washing and organizing of said diapers as a reward for completing my 'coming home to-do list'.

I could devote a whole post to how much I love and appreciate my bed. We bought it right before we moved here. It has been worth EVERY PENNY. Seriously, almost every night we comment to each other about how much we appreciate that bed. We give thanks to God for that bed. It's worth it to spend a little extra on something you spend 1/3 of your life using.

It's hot here. I don't know why I feel I have to comment on that. Of course it's hot here. It's the middle of summer and we live in the desert. So far though, I'm holding up well.

I'm feeling quite nesty. Have the energy to go that extra mile around the house. Like, if I see something out of place or dirty, to do something about it. Hopefully that lasts for a little while. It is nice to hang around in a neat and clean home.

Our yard is amazingly overgrown. I hope our gardener can come tomorrow.

My van is amazingly coated in dust. I hope I get around to washing it tomorrow.

My ficus tree is still alive!!! Whoohoo!! Last summer all my house plants bit it while I was gone.

Maybe I'll even buy a few more house plants now that our annual lengthy absence has passed. Good to have that extra oxygen in the house. Anybody have suggestions of VERY hearty houseplants that tolerate dry conditions and neglect?