Lesson Learned #1- "Profe" Anna Grace

So, kids can be mean to each other in any culture or language.  The fact of this doesn’t surprise me, but I had to deal with it firsthand this morning.  It has been rainy and cloudy here in Cusco, which during the winter season, translates to really cold weather.  We “extranjeros” tend to not dress our children very warmly- or at least compared to the bundled ones here.  I wanted to keep Anna Grace warm for school today, so I opted for a turtleneck and sweater.  She gave me a “look” and said she really didn’t want to wear the turtleneck.  I eventually got out of her that the last time she wore that shirt, a little classmate told her that only babies wear shirts like that. 

What?!?!?

Inside I was fuming- I was thinking how am I going to approach that little girl to say, “You don’t have a clue about fashion.”  And why did it happen to Anna Grace- my sweet, sensitive child that wouldn’t think of saying something like that… why not Eliza- who would probably reply with something real smart like “Your mom’s a baby,” kick the girl in the shin, and not give it another thought.

I looked in Anna Grace’s eyes and told her that if anyone says something like that to her, that she should correct them with “No, it’s cute!”  That she needs to stand up for herself because God has made her beautiful inside and out, he loves her and thinks she’s very special.  (Not sure about the teaching here- yes, we turn the cheek, but we also don't want our children to become doormats.  I want her to understand that she has intrinsic value because she has been made in the image of God.)

After breakfast, I was still bothered by the entire thing, so I mentioned that this little girl wasn’t being a good friend.  With all sincerity, Anna Grace looked at me and said, “Yes, she is, Mom.”  “What?” I asked, “How can that be?  She said unkind things to you.”  She replied, “Yes, Mom, but Jesus can change her heart.”  Whoa. Talk about lessons learned from our children.

Sometimes it is hard to love the people here- at times they are unkind to us or try to take advantage of us, other times, we are just really different (one is not right or wrong, but just black & white different).  But Jesus came to tear down these walls and open our eyes to our limited view of how we love others.  People change- not by their own volition, but by the grace of God.  Jesus can go straight to the root of our issues- to our heart- and change it.  He’s doing it in my life, the life of my sweet daughter Anna Grace, and in the lives of the people we’ve come here to love.

So thankful for the lesson learned this morning- thank you "profe" Anna Grace.

Oh! So sweet...

We had an easter egg hunt with several other families, and made yummy sugar cookies for the party.  The girls were a HUGE help with icing them all.

And Caleb loved eating them...

Getting to know the girls...

I asked the girls several questions this morning, and was surprised by many of their answers.  We have such sweet, precious daughters and I thank the Lord for them.  He is doing a wonderful work in their lives, and I am humbled by his grace.
Hope you find joy & laughter in their answers, and maybe even be a little challenged.
Enjoy!

What is your name?  Anna Grace (with a smile)
When is your birthday?  "I don't know, mommy.  April?"
How many people are in your family? 5
Name them: Caleb, Mommy, Daddy, Anna Grace & Eliza
What do you like to do?  Dance
What is your favorite food? Chicken and fries
What is your favorite book? About princesses
What is your favorite TV show? Dora & Strawberry Shortcake
What is your favorite movie? Princess ones
Who are your best friends? Eli, Hank, Hannah & Abe
Color of your eyes? Brown
Color of your hair? Brown
What is your favorite animal? Butterfly
What is your favorite song?  Lullabye (In a sing-song voice)
What is your favorite color? Pink & Purple
What is your favorite time of day?  Spending time with Daddy and eating ice cream (Mine, too!)
What is something you are proud of? Doing schoolwork
What is something that makes you laugh?  When Eliza does this (made the gesture) with her hands
What is something you do well?  Coloring
What is something you need help with?  School
Who do you miss? Luke & Ashley (cousins)
If you had $100, what would you do with it?  Give it to poor people
What is your favorite memory... something that you have already done? Art class with Aunt Jo
What are you looking forward to? Going to the airport and hotel (We are going to Lima next week to get the children's papers of residency)

What is your name?  Pause......" Eliza" (like duh, Mom!)

When is your birthday?  Blank stare

How many people are in your family? 5

Name them: Uncle David, Brooke, Anna Grace, Caleb, Eliza & Meri (our friend and helper in our home!)

What do you like to do?  Color

What is your favorite food? Bananas (but said like the verse of the song "I like to ate, ate, ate, ay-ples and ba-nay-nays")

What is your favorite book? The Mouse and Cookie (If you Give a Mouse a Cookie)

What is your favorite TV show? Frog ones and Angelina Ballerina

What is your favorite movie? Tinkerbell

Who are your best friends? Hannah, Abe & Lydia

Color of your eyes? Blue

Color of your hair? Blonde

What is your favorite animal? Lions & Tigers

What is your favorite song?  Hey, Soul Sister (Yes, she said it, complete title)

What is your favorite color? Pink & Purple

What is your favorite time of day?  Christmas

What is something you are proud of? Not waking up Anna Grace

What is something that makes you laugh?  Saying "boo-boo"

What is something you do well?  Playing stickers

What is something you need help with?  When I fall down

Who do you miss? Jesus

If you had $100, what would you do with it?  "Give it to people." Who? "una señora"

What is your favorite memory? Jesus is the best Son and the best God (pretty good theology for a 3 year old!)

What are you looking forward to? Going to Disney World

Thanksgiving- First 3 month memories

As we near the celebration of our first Thanksgiving in Cusco, I thought I'd just remind myself of the many blessed memories we have experienced in our short 3 months here.

T: Third birthday celebration for Eliza

H: Homemade chocolate chip cookies with friends

A: Angelina Ballerinas

N: Niños- And lots of them!!!

K: Krazy Kousins

S: Special deliveries- Thank you for the great packages Mom, Emmie & Aunt Debbie!

G: Girly goofiness

I: Innovative crafts

V: Victoriously climbing into chairs

I: Irritated siblings

N: New arm tattoos

G: Great messes

Birthday Celebrations!

We've had a fun week celebrating Anna Grace's 4th birthday and Caleb's 1st!
Anna Grace had a Girl Spa Party- complete with stations for makeup, nails, hair, oatmeal hand moisturizer/lotions and edible jewelry.
We had such a great time with all the "ladies" of the team (except Kristen- who is waiting for all of us in Cusco!)

Anna Grace and her verse that David prays over her every morning

Eliza and her edible bracelet- which didn't last long!

Birthday Girl- after the make over!

The Daniel Spa

 

Manicures

This afternoon, we celebrated Caleb's 1st birthday with a Dino-mite party at the park. (Though all of the Ticos looked at us strangely, because the park is the LAST place they have birthday parties!)
Can't believe he is already 1... I've joked that his first word would be in Spanish, but he proved me wrong by saying "Up" yesterday.  Very useful word- especially when you like to be carried around everywhere!

Birthday Boy!

Celebrating at the park

Dinosaur cake- yum!

The line-up... waiting for cake and ice cream!

Caleb's cake

A little help from Eliza

She's 4!

I want to celebrate the life of our sweet Anna Grace.  We are so proud of her.  She is a great big sister to Eliza and Caleb.  She is also very thoughtful, making special gifts or surprises to deliver to other people (almost every day!)  AG loves to sing (in English & Spanish), dance around the house in swirly skirts, play kitchen, read books, watch movies (especially Princess, Tinkerbell, Dora & Strawberry Shortcake!), and help mommy and daddy.  Although she may not be the first to volunteer, she likes to try new, brave things.  School has been so much fun for her- she consistently talks about her friends, Teacher Pa-ME-la (said in a Spanish accent, of course) and brings home fun crafts and projects with the letter "A" written on them by her sweet, little hand.
We love you, Anna Grace and thank God for you beautiful life!

For the Love of Ibuprofen and Spanish Subtitles

The last week has been really long and super fast at the same time.  How does that happen?

Celebrating David's Birthday- the girls started the "Happy Birthday" song in English and finished in Spanish!

David's family came to visit us, and that evening, David began a high fever.  The next day, I began to have a sore throat... but we kept on, finishing classes and spending time with our family.
Such was life for the next week- we've been through at least a bottle of ibuprofen, but our time with family was sweet and encouraging- at least what I remember of it!
Here are a few photos from our time together:

The cousins had a slumber party!

The cousins- except the babies Reide and Caleb

Emmie and AG- water ballet

Eliza & Abe- always up to something...

And now that we are home... this is a normal scene- especially when both parents are still not feeling 100%.  Now before you think how detrimental all this TV watching is for our children, it helps to focus on the positive- they are getting extra Spanish learning time by watching Spanish cartoons and movies!  Actually, we have found that watching Spanish cartoons and movies (which is our comprehension level of Spanish) and reading subtitles has been a good way to continue to grow in language learning.

Classes resume tomorrow (the Institute allows short breaks for students to travel to renew their Costa Rican visas), and hopefully my mind and body will be functioning well enough to concentrate.

Thanks for praying for our family!  And praise to Him who has kept our little ones healthy!

Caleb's favorite toy- he carries it with him everywhere.

Family Day

Family Day at ILE

The language school in Costa Rica has been such a blessing, not only for learning Spanish, but for our family. They have really thought well for our family, marriage and especially our children.

The girls' teachers have been excellent, and this has freed us to study Spanish without concerns of if our children are being loved and engaged both spiritually and educationally.

The other week, the school planned a "Family Day" in which the children sang a song, the school principle encouraged us as parents with scripture, and then we sat together as a family to do a craft. It was a sweet time, and a great remembrance of the blessed call of parenthood.

Don't want to leave out little Caleb!
He is into everything and is completely boy (which I love!) Though I am glad I have this picture of his sweet little front teeth, because yesterday he chipped off a little bit of one while crawling at a reckless, high speed down the hallway... Hope this is not a foreshadowing of things to come with our only boy!