Bed sweet Bed

This is where we moved to sleep about 3am. It was freezing in the
Miami airport. Never expected that. Like the tundra. Like middle of
winter in Nebraska. The airport staff were in coats and mittens.
Crazy. We still feel surprisingly rested and ready to finally be in
Haiti. SO excited to get there now!!!

Na We

Good bye.
I just laid Charlotte down for nap. That was not easy. Knowing this is the last time I'll kiss those chubby cheeks for a week. Ugh. I know the week will go fast and I'll have lots of things to share with the people I will miss SO much.

Thank you Thank you Thank you to all of you who have helped so much with everything. I know it's corny- but I really do feel like I'm taking all of you with me.

Hopefully I will be able to post on the artistsforhopeinhaiti blog....but if I don't post~ DON'T worry. :) We probably just don't have electricity or internet. It's not terribly reliable, but hopefully it will all be OK. If I could give you all a hug I would. That would make me cry more, but I would do it anyways. LOVE and HUGS!!!

Na we for now.

Practice Blogging For Haiti

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOFIA!
This is my practice blog from the laptop I am taking to Haiti. So far so good. I hope it goes this good from the Rescue Center. I'm not very technologically savvy when it comes right down to it.

Sofia had a fun birthday morning. She loved all the spiders and had fun opening presents and having yummy breakfast with everybody. We got her a carnivorous plant kit so she can grow more venus flytraps. Almost as good as a pet spider. ;)

This was me just playing with my lenses this morning that I am SO happy to have back.

I'm excited to spend the day with my family!

I can't believe I leave tomorrow...

Sofia's Birthday Spider Fun

Sofia turns 9 on Thanksgiving this year.
What does Sofia love most in life?
Spiders. SO....we decided to do a big crazy spider theme for her door and for the table when she comes down for Breakfast. Worked great for buying things after Halloween on clearance.

(This is the only Tarantula Sofia will ever own while she lives in our house.)

Being Thankful

I sent the kids out to look for leaves. I had seen this cute display on a table of pressed leaves with things written on them in silver pen....so we're going to be writing what we are Thankful for on our leaves and putting them on our table for Thanksgiving. With the time for Haiti fast approaching, I have about a million things in my head that I'm thankful for. So here are just a few of the things (from A-Z) that I'm Thankful for this year.

Apple sauce that I'll make with my girls tomorrow.
Birthdays (Sofia turn 9 tomorrow!!!)
Cameras (That come in just in the nick of time to take to Haiti!) and Charlotte
Daughters and Disney World
Everyone in my family!
Friends and Food
God and His amazing love for us.
Happy Times and Haiti
Ice Cream
Jesus Dying for our sins so we can live forever in Heaven!!!
Katryna and Kris
Love
Music and Mia
Nice people
Optimism
Pictures
Quiet Times
Really good books and movies
Spiders and Silly children who love them named Sofia~ and Sebastian!
Teachable moments
Unforgettable Moments
Vegetables (and all the food we have so readily available to us)
Warm showers and clean Water
X-mas
Zebras and Zoos

I hope you have lots of opportunities to think of all the things you are Thankful for too this weekend. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Target is Tiring

Charlotte Loves The Bank

Cuz they give you suckers! :)

Meeting Darline and our Blog in Haiti

I don't know if everyone knows our schedule while we're in Haiti....but we will arrive in Haiti on Saturday morning (Nov.28) around 10am. We will spend Saturday-Thursday at the Real Hope For Haiti Rescue Center and then Friday morning we will go to visit one of the Compassion International projects where I will get to meet our Compassion child, Darline, that we have had for the last 7 years. I've always thought "how amazing it would be to be able to actually meet my Compassion child", but I honestly never thought it would happen. Especially this soon. Darline was 7 years old when we chose her profile off of a Compassion Table at our church. Now she is 14 and I can't WAIT to meet her in person!

The girls wrote her letters and drew her pictures for me to bring to her. Here is what they wrote...

From Katryna:
Dear Darline. My name is Katryna. I like playing outside with my friends. I am 10 years old. My favorite animal is a monkey. I am so happy my mom gets to meet you. I also have 4 siblings. God bless you. Love Katryna

From Sofia:
Dear Darline, My name is Sofia. I like to play outside and ride my bike. My favorite color is yellow and my favorite food is apples. My favorite subject in schoo. is art and I don't really like math. I am very excited that my mom gets to meet you. Me and my family have been praying for you and your family every night. We love you. Love, Sofia.

Mia wrote:
Hiye Darline. (and then she drew a picture of herself with an arrow and wrote Mia. She also drew a beautiful turkey made from tracing her hand. They did those in school this week and she just KNEW Darline would love it. ;) )

Cute. Hopefully we can all meet her someday. If you don't have a Compassion child....you should definitely think about it. It's been so fun to correspond with her and know she is able to go to school and have what she needs because we chose her. It will be very cool to see one of the Compassion Projects and how everything works with the children in the program.

If you want to follow our adventures in Haiti (which I know you do!!!)- I will be blogging (if the power and internet allows it) at www.artistsforhopeinhaiti.blogspot.com

I will be adding a link to the side of this blog too. If I get the chance I might post quickly on this blog...but it depends on how much time we have and how the internet connection is.

5 more days!!!!!!!

Little Helper

Charlotte has been helping me pack the final crate this morning. Such a fun and crazy feeling to be almost ready to go. Lots to do...but I will post more soon and let everyone know what our blog address will be in Haiti. I can't believe we will be there Saturday. Crazy.

The Last Crate

Sleepy Beans

SO Tired...

...she fell asleep on the floor while playing. ;)

Pilgrim Family

Mia's creation from school. :)

Early Birthday Present

Sofia is the proud new owner of two baby rats. They are from the same
Rat Rescue as the others. We totally surprised her and she is thrilled
that "caramel" and "skippy" are now hers.

Will You Start To Pray For Us?

Licia just posted asking for prayers for her and her sister and all the overwhelming things they are being faced with today. She said they have lots of sick kids, several near death, and some of the worst cases of Kwashiorkor they have ever seen. I've been secretly (and selfishly) hoping they would have a "good" week while we were there. I know that isn't right....but I still had hope. I'm starting to realize that this might be WAY harder than I could even imagine.

As a Mommy I always end up putting myself in the place of being one of those cute little Haitian baby's Mommy's and imagining all the tough things they go through just in day to day life....and then trying to imagine that I can't find enough food to feed my child, to the point where I start to see my baby swell or get skinnier and skinnier. Too difficult to really even think about. :(

I know the Rescue Center is a place of hope for these kids and I need to start praying for the strength to be able to function in the midst of kids that are SO sick and SO hungry. Will you guys start praying today for our upcoming week. I know we are really going to need it. Please pray that we all can stay healthy so we can really help while we are there. Please pray for the staff and the kids there, that there will be miraculous healing for these very sick kids. Please pray for our hearts and that we can see whatever it is God wants us to see~ and that we can still be effective even though I know we are going to be broken.

Thank you. I know we will feel your prayers all around while we are in Haiti and I'm so thankful to know that we have so many people behind us.

Cupcake Crayons

Have you ever made Cupcake Crayons?
I used to make these for my Head Start classes and thought they would be fun for the kids in Haiti. Plus we were able to recycle a bazillion little crayon pieces to make them...so it was earth friendly too and that always important, right?

So if you don't know what Cupcake Crayons are~
here is how YOU can make them at home.

Have your children or your willing Mom's Group friends (thanks girls!) or your BFF or whoever you can lure into the process start by removing all the paper from the crayons. You want the crayon pieces to be small, so this is perfect for all those broken half-used crayons you have lying around.

We decided to get a little crazy this time and separate the crayons by colors. You can put all sorts of colors together or be crazy like us and mix it up a bit.

Then you put your small crayon pieces into a cupcake tin (I recommend using an old one cuz it leaves a residue and you don't want to ruin one of your new pans like I did the first time I made these. ugh.) I found a triangle corn bread pan at Goodwill and those turned out super cute.

Here is the pan in the oven.
You want to put them in on a low temp- maybe about 250 degrees. When the wax melts and gets all swirly...then you know they are done

This is what they look like when they are finished.
Kids love the size and shape and how they "change" colors when you create with them. I know a lot of the kids at the Rescue Center haven't colored with crayons before coming to the RC...so this will hopefully be very fun for them.

So now you know what you can do with all those broken crayon pieces that your kids have. I can't wait to color with some cute little Haitians in only 9 days!!!

Medical donations

Bazzy is helping me pack up some great supplies we had donated today
from a dermatology office and from our kid's pediatrician. Lots of
formula, syringes, bandages, lotions, and other great stuff. I'm
getting more and more excited about bringing these much needed
supplies to Haiti. Eleven days!!!

Let's Get Ready.....

....to watch some Boxing!
(I don't think I can finish the actual ending to that phrase. I might get sued. If you watch boxing, I'm sure you know what I wanted to say.)

I know it seems strange, but I talked Kris into pay-per-viewing the Pacquiao/Cotto fight tonight. I grew up watching Boxing and I still love it. Plus I'm a sucker for Manny Pacquiao and all the great things he does for the people of the Philippines whenever he wins. He said he feels even more responsible for helping his country this time since they were devastated with storms and flooding this year. The Philippines literally shuts down to watch Manny fight. No businesses, no work, not even CHURCH! It's strictly Manny time and I think that says a lot for everything he has done for his country.

So go ahead. Think I'm crazy. I'm OK with that. Gotta go. Fights on.

It's SO Soon

14 days! I leave for Haiti in 14 days!!! Crr-AA-zz-YY!!!

I've been trying to pack my carry on today (minus my camera stuff....which MUST come back to me by the 26th!)and also get a backpack of little gifts together for our Compassion Child, Darline. Reality is setting in. Big time. I'm so excited I can't even STAND it~ but that is mixed occasionally with nerves and sadness when I think of leaving the kids for 8 days. Especially Charlotte. I know she will be totally fine. My heart is just going to hurt big time when I have to say goodbye for the week. Ouch. I've already decided that I will NOT let missing my family get the best of me, but I will live every day to it's fullest in Haiti~ knowing that the week will FLY and I'll be back in the US very soon.

My days have been filled with making sure I have everything I need for the trip, remembering to take my Oral Typhoid Vaccine (which doesn't seem to sit well with me. Thankfully only one more to take, and nausea is obviously WAY better than Typhoid), catching up on laundry so Kris has enough outfits for the kids for the week (and hanging them up together so he knows what goes with what ;) ), playing with Bazzy and Charlotte whenever possible (knowing there will be 8 days I don't get to see those smiling little faces all day long), and organizing the donations we have gotten so far for the Rescue Center.

Sunday night we will begin the official packing process. We have 8 crates we will be packing with supplies and it will be so fun to finally get to put all those things that have been donated by so many wonderful people into their final resting place before we arrive in Haiti. Wow! We will also be weighing them to make sure they are as close to 50 pounds each as possible.

I've been looking for a dress for Darline for the past several weeks. I just haven't found something I thought would be appropriate. I'm pretty happy with the one I found finally today. I had Katryna try it on and we both smiled when we saw that Darline was wearing a plaid dress in her picture that actually looks somewhat like the one I bought. Katryna was happy to model it for me and I think it will look great on Darline and will hopefully be a great surprise. I also have some kitchen supplies, towels, t-shirts, pencils, and some other little things for her and her family. I can't believe I get to meet the girl we have been writing to for years. It doesn't quite seem real!

I better return to packing. Our bed is full of Haiti "stuff" right now. It's SO soon!!!

Baz and the Okapi

Fun At The Zoo Today

Can You Help These Runners....

....To Help Women in Haiti?

I SO wish I could join these women and run this marathon for women in Haiti. I'm not a great runner, but it's something I would like to be good at. Or at least ok at. Plus the marathon is at Disney, so that's always a plus. ;) But seriously, the reason they are running is a GREAT one and as a Mom of 5 I can only imagine what the women in Haiti go through giving birth without a hospital near bye and not always having prenatal care available for them, along with all the other little "luxuries" we all enjoy so much and often take for granted.

You can sponsor one of these runners to help raise money for an ambulance to help women in Haiti. You can read more about it here or click on the Heartline Runners button on the side, and I encourage you all to consider helping these Moms. Moms just like you and me!

Happy Veteran's Day

We are thinking about and remembering all the Veterans today! The older 2 girls sang in a Veterans Day program today at school and they said they were singing especially for their Grandpa, who is a Veteran.

Thank you to everyone who has given or is giving their lives towards our Freedom. Thank you for your bravery and love of our amazing Country!!! God~ please keep our troops safe and return them home to their families! Amen.

Oh how I miss you

I'm missing my cameras. a lot. So many things to capture on film. Nothing to capture them with. Please oh please nice Cannon people. Please have my cameras ready by Thanksgiving. please.

Until then~ here a few blast from the past pictures
to make me feel a little better.

An SNL Monologue

Bummer- SNL pulled the video from youtube. I'm guessing those of you who wanted to already watched it though. ;)

I'll admit, I didn't know a lot about Taylor Swift before watching SNL this week. Except for the whole Kanye West thing. She was way funnier than I had expected her to be and quite charming. I liked her clever little Monologue song and decided I would share it with those of you who maybe don't stay up as late as I usually do to catch Saturday Night Live.

The Haiti Hoedown

So....the Haiti Hoedown was a success!

We were hoping people would come. They did~ and there were WAY more than we expected.

We were hoping we would have enough food. We did~ people were so generous and brought TONS of food to share with everyone.

I was hoping people would dance. They did~ well....the kids anyway.
I tried a few times to get adults to dance, but I think everyone was a little intimidated with all the other people around watching. I did see a few couples dancing to some of the country songs and some of us tried the macarana and electric slide.

The night went SO fast and was honestly a little overwhelming at times because we did have so many more people than we had expected, but I'm so thankful for all the money we raised and how many friends and church members showed up to give their support for us and the Rescue Center in Haiti. That was amazing! Thank you to everyone reading who was there and/or helped out in any way!!!

I will post a total once we have all the funds in. We are waiting for a few yet, but I was VERY happy with what was raised. This also was WAY beyond what we had expected.

God is good and I'm so excited to see what he has in mind with this money. All the money raised will go towards the RC for what they need it for most. I'm hoping to find out what they would like to use it for so we can share that info with everyone.

Doing The Hoedown Throwdown

All ready for the hoedown

Ouch

Done, done, and done. 3 shots and an oral vaccine. I love when she
said " or you could do the oral vaccine". I gleefully said "YES!" If
only the other three could have been too. Ouch! My friend Dawn went at
the same time and held my hand. NOW I'm ready for Haiti! :)

I'm Freaking Out!

No....I'm not stressed about the Haiti Hoedown. I'm freaking out because I have to get my shots tomorrow for my trip. I've been fairly calm about it until now. Now I'm freaking out. I need to go to bed but the crazy spazzed out butterflies in my stomach won't calm down.

It's all for a REALLY good reason. I know that.
I just HATE those needles!!!

Random Halloween Pics

Just a warning. I'm going to be going through camera withdrawal for the next couple weeks. gulp. I decided to bring both my camera bodies and two of my lenses in to get cleaned and possibly fixed. I've been having issues for awhile and I just can't bear the idea of being in Haiti and not having a working camera. I'm guessing I'll be taking literally thousands of pictures, so I will need at least one camera to work. Now I just have to hope they can get everything done they need to in 26 days. Yes. 26 days and I leave for Haiti. Holy Smokes!

I uploaded the card that was in one of the cameras and there were a few pictures that I had taken over the last 2 weeks...so I figured I would share them now, cuz it might be awhile before there are more.

Mia and her friend at Valas.
I miss Valas already!

This would be my son in a cauldron.
Not something you see everyday.

A fuzzy pink Charlotte in the corn bin.

Trouble x 2 in costume.

Can you find my gorilla in the costume parade?

There she is! :)

Mia zipped past and smiled at me and I realized she had fangs.
Crazy child.

There's Princess Leia.

Katryna loved showing off her little sister to all her friends.

Sofie hugging our little dinosaur.

Mia and friends...
(I knew there was something wrong with my camera when it just wasn't focusing like it should. Some of these are bothering me cuz they are blurry!)

Miss Mia before leaving for our super fun Fall Festival at church.

Could he be wearing any more Lightning McQueen? ;)

Peace Out from Sofia.

Um ~ yeah...

The whole gang by our church Halloween Night.

This is one of the best pictures I have ever gotten of all 5 kids!
Except one of them looks like a Gorilla. ;)

I have a sad and sleepy little Charlotte in my lap as I'm typing this. She had 4 shots and a blood sample today at her dr. appt. Poor pumpkin. :(