Princess Abigail

And here is Connie's tribute, again, wonderfully written, to Abigail. How neat to hear my kids talked about by someone else!

 

We Call Him Sidge

Here is Aunt Connie's spot-on tribute to Sidge.

Bedtime

Each evening in our home includes Daddy reading to the kids. I captured a picture of the kiddos reading with Daddy last night. The boys love to wear their Batman pajamas (although Isaac has recently given up the shirt because he said his elbows get cold.)

Sir Isaac

As Aunt Connie prepares to leave in just a little over a day, she has written an amazing blog post depicting her view of Isaac and who he is. She painted him so beautifully and accurately. You definitely want to hop over to her blog by clicking here and see for yourself.

Friday Funnies

Sidge: "I want to have a sleepover."
Me: "You do?"
Sidge: "Yeah. Um Mommy, what's a sleepover?"
Me: "Well where did you learn about it then?"
Sidge: "In a book!"
*****
Sidge: "Why do girls have long nails and boys have short nails. Is that a wule (rule?)" 
*****
Sidge: "Mommy, gravity messes stuff up."
*****
The other "funnies" this week all seemed to surround superheroes. The boys are infatuated  with superheroes. The only TV show they have seen is The Superfriends on video a few times but their friends Jackson and Max loved superheroes and introduced them to the concept and now, they just are obsessed with them.

Joni brought them some of the little superhero figurines. They play with these constantly. One of their favorites is Wonder Woman! They talk about girls not having Barbie dolls because of the "image" they portray, and I have to wonder if Wonder Woman might not be another version of Barbie. Sidge actually said to JB, "Wonder Woman's leg is my favorite part of her." Hmmm ....

In addition, Sidge loves The Flash. He runs around the room and will say, "I'm almost as fast as Flash. You could probably barely see me, huh?"

Connie Prepares for USA Return

Our Aunt Connie will return to the USA early next week. While we are sad to see her go, we always knew she would only stay for a period of time and that her home was back in America. We are excited for how the Lord is paving the way for her return! Man can you see the Lord's presence in the small ways he opens doors! We are so blessed that she got to spend these months with us. God knew that we could really use an extra person around these parts for this exact time. He also knew that she'd be leaving at this exact time.

 

 Connie has met a lot of other great people during her time on the island. Last night we met at The Mill a very "cool" restaurant nestled into the Azorean homes lining the street. Here are some pictures from our time together.

 

If you look very closely, you can see Carla sticking her tongue out at the end of this beautiful table.



Our friend Mianna studying the menu. I love this picture!

 

A pretty picture of Lindsey.

 



Susan -- a beautiful southern gal.

 



Kimberly -- an English gal getting ready to PCS (military move) back to her home country.

 



Sweet Carla. Oh how I will miss her when she leaves this summer.

 

Two beautiful Christian gals -- Claire and Sonia. Sonia is preparing to PCS to Hawaii with Carla.

We have been stationed with Kristy (and new baby Liam) in Florida, Turkey, and now the Azores. They are getting out of the military and moving to New Orleans in just two months. What a blessing her support has been in my life.

 



Sonia.

 



Carla with another friend -- Sarah -- whose husband is currently deployed.

Kimberly with Etleva.





Connie and Mianna being silly.

Our group -- all there to say good bye to Aunt Connie.

Connie with Mianna -- a hard person to say good bye to.

Jumpy Fun with MOPS

The MOPS group on Base rented out a room at the Community Center and had a May party with jumpy castles (back when Joni was here! Sorry this is a bit late!) A ton of people came, and we had a great time. I have been at the lead of the MOPS group here on Base for this year, with the help of some awesome gals. I am going to turn over leadership to a new gal for the final year that Lajes will actually be a Base.  I've been so amazed at how many stay-at-home moms are here and how many need fellowship. I am also amazed that the Lord gave me the strength to continue running this despite how I have been feeling!

To Keep Up

I remember hearing people tell me that they had lost the ability to keep up on their life. And I remember not ever really being able to relate. I have always been busy. But I always felt I was keeping up.

Until now. Now I understand.

I am not keeping up.

And that is okay. It has to be. It is what it is right now.

Moving to a new country. Having three young children. A big dog. And then not feeling well. I think not feeling well was the final "piece" of me starting to tread water.

I'm just not keeping up on the keeping up like I once did.

Now, at almost 26 weeks pregnant, I am a lot less sick then I was during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. I am praying that the last two weeks are the start of an upward turn. I am still not feeling very good. Still having rough days. And still moving very slowly.

I watch myself, as if from the outside, doing the things I always do, and I want to yell at me, "Go faster!" I have never in my life experienced the sort of nausea, heavy breathing, and fatigue that I have experienced during the last six months. I watch myself moving at a pace so incredibly slow. "Move Wendi! Speed it up for crying out loud!"

During these last six months, I often think of people dealing with chronic illnesses. People who are not feeling well and are not sure if they ever will. People who are watching their bodies do things that they wish they would not do.

My slow down is due to the best reason ever. This little miracle girl growing inside of me. I am anxious for her arrival. Anxious to meet her.

And in the meantime, to all of my family and friends out there who have sent me emails that have not been returned, please be patient with me. Tread water with me. I love you all!

Congrats Bri

Isaac's birth mother Bri got married on Saturday in Texas to her military husband, Robert. We have had the pleasure to meet Robert numerous times. He is a fantastic guy and is awesome with kids. He is very interested in being involved with Isaac's life which is a great plus since he is marrying Isaac's birthmom.

They had a small ceremony in Texas where Robert is currently stationed with just their parents included but rumor has it there will be a more formal, big wedding someday in their future.

Congratulations Bri! Hard to believe you are 23 and have a new last name and that the little boy you gave life to just turned 5!

Fava beans

Picked, shelled, and ready to cook -- straight from the garden. Oh the kids (and daddy) had fun with this!

Friday Funnies

The boys just finished reading the first book of Chronicles of Narnia with JB. Tonight in the car Sidge announced: "I have a great name for the new baby. Baby Giant Rumbelffin." (He was dead serious.)
*****
Isaac: (To Abigail). "You smell like you have stinky brefth. I don't want to play with a stinky breafth baby."
*****
As of this week, Sidge plans to be a "real batman" when he grows up.
As of this week, Isaac plans to be a "cowboy" when he grows up.
*****
At our last Awanas meeting of the year, we were having an ice cream celebration. Sidge asked, "Do you think we are going to learn about ice cream or just eat it?"

(I was also very proud of him as he spent quite a bit of time talking to Ms. Carla prior to the meeting to assure that the ice cream would not have eggs in it -- he wanted to take care of his brother Isaac and Isaac's allergy.)
*****
Sidge: "I really want to see a dinosaur."
Me: "But they aren't alive anymore. We can see one in a museum."
Sidge: "But I want to see a real one."
Me: "There aren't any more real ones."
Sidge: "Why did they have to leave a real long time ago?"
*****
Sidge has been using the word resernaut for restaraunt. So cute!

Awanas

Isaac (front middle in white shirt). Sidge (far right by himself. :)

 

I didn't know much about Awanas before I heard about it on Base. My friend Carla (in yellow) was in charge of the program this year (she is called the Awana Commander) and we decided to give it a try. The boys loved it! It was every Tuesday from 6-8pm we attended. Sometimes JB and I helped in their class, sometimes we went out for dinner during class. Abigail would often stay with Aunt Connie at home on Tuesdays. What a great program provided for free by the Chapel. We hope that we can participate next year again.



Ornithologists

Ever since I moved here, I have been part of a homeschool group. We generally meet twice a month, once every other Tuesday.

 

Today we met at my friend Kristy's house. She talked to the kids about birds that live on our beautiful island. Then she showed them pictures on the computer. Then they went outside with binoculars and pretended they were ornithologists. Then they made bird feeders. Take a look at their great work:

 

Six boys and a girl! From left: Isaac, Jackson, Noah, Max, Abigail, Sidge, and Jonah.

A silly picture

Kristy also snagged a picture of me walking back home with my three little ones. Thank you Kristy for a wonderful morning on Terceira Island!

Island changes

Well the locals said the rains should stop in May and boy were they were right. It's as if God's big hands just turned off the faucet. While there have been some drippy days here and there (today, for one), for the most part, while we were home in the USA, the rain and winds just skidded to a stop. Everyone told us that while the rains from January until May are pretty normal, this year's winter was much more intense then year's past -- both in temperature, wind, and rain. The sunshine and absence of wind and rain is such a beautiful gift! I've always loved rain, but boy there can be too much of a good thing that's for sure.

In addition, I am not sure I have mentioned on my blog the fact that this Base (Lajes) is preparing to shut down next year (sometime in the fall of 2014). Apparently, it will continue to operate but on a very limited basis. There will be no families and just a handful of airman. This shut down is a strange thing. This fall will bring the last group of families into Lajes. So while we continue to live here, things will get smaller and smaller. Military bases always have people coming and going. It will be very strange to just have people going and no one coming once the fall hits. As of right now, our family is due to leave in June of 2014 -- about this time next year. That means we are halfway through this assignment.

I keep hoping that my blog will pick back up. That my writing will pick back up. Stay tuned! I am hopeful that there will be more words than there have been over the last few months.

But, right now,  I still find myself at a bit of a loss for words. Emotionally, I feel like I am doing much better. But physically, the last few days have brought me some more bad morning sickness days. I want so badly to feel like myself again and want to write again. But I have to just keep praying, keep spending time with the Lord, keep taking one day at a time, and keep waiting for whatever He has next for me and our family.

Ice cream in Biscoitos

One fun thing we did while Joni was here was take here to Biscoitos (more pics to come.) This is a beautiful section of our island that we missed taking her to the previous time she was here. We also had some ice cream!

24 weeks

Today I had my 24 week appointment. Today we also said good bye to Joni. (Sad face for us but happy face for Roy and Bri!) In just a few weeks, we'll say good bye to Aunt Connie. (Sad face for us but happy face for her getting to see her doggy and boys again.) Then, in late July, I'll head back to the good ol' USA to have this little girl who may  have a name but we just aren't quite positive yet. Lots going on.

I'll also say good bye this summer to numerous friends who are leaving the island for their assignment. People like Carla and Kristy and Sonia.

I had my 24 week appointment today. My NP (nurse practitioner) encouraged me today with some good news. I gained 5 pounds. My best weight gain yet. This pregnancy, due to the sickness, I've struggled gaining weight. But that 5 pounds puts me right on schedule. I am measuring perfectly as well. All good news.

My sleep and the nausea continue to be difficult parts of my everyday, but I am working on taking those one day at a time, not worrying about the future, and living in the moment. I continue to use Ambien to sleep which I would really prefer not to have to do. I also continue to struggle with the nausea/morning sickness. Some days are really bad. Other days are pretty good. She told me again today that just because I am still dealing with this at 24 weeks does not mean it will for sure stay all 40 weeks. That was helpful to hear!

Thank you for all of you who are praying for me. I so appreciate all the encouragement!

Friday Funnies

Joni: "When I get home, I'm going to try to order some new superhero costumes for you on the computer."
Sidge: "You can order it from Daddy's computer. He has an ordering computer."
*****
Sidge: "Who is older. You or Mommy?"
Joni: "I'm older than your Mommy."
Sidge: "But her head is higher in the seat."
*****
Sidge used the phrases, "I didn't realize that," and "I'm interested in Tennis."
*****
Joni: "What is your favorite fruit?"
Isaac: "Apples."
Sidge: "Grapes.'
Isaac: "And maybe chocolate donuts."
*****
Joni: "I'm 25."
Isaac: "I heard you say 62."

My birthday

I got this poem from my Dad today. How lucky I am to have the parents I have and to have been blessed with the life I have been given. Happy birthday to me.

 

I remember the day when Wendi was born,

I cried when I held her, my heart was torn.

Here she was, my firstborn child,

And she was a girl;  God had smiled!

 

She’s thirty-six today, I still have the thought

That she is the gift my great God wrought!

Her life is a testament to what daughters can be,

She lights up the life of her earthly daddy!

Not leaving yet

Last night Sidge had a good cry. He cried because, "I don't want Joni to go back to Florida forever."

I remember crying when I was little when I had to say good bye. I still do that. I still feel that way. It's hard to keep saying good bye to everyone. Some people say they are used to it. That that's just how life is for the military. But I just haven't gotten used to it yet.

Good thing Joni isn't leaving for another couple of days! Man we love having her here!