Tuesday, January 28, 2014

And Baby Girl "F." Makes Four!

Sweet baby girl "F."

Introducing our new baby "F." As you can see she is a complete doll baby! Rudi and I picked up this sweet five month old baby girl last Thursday from Casa Uno. She had been with CDA since the beginning of December. Jennifer asked us to take her, as she felt that she could use the extra one on one attention our family is able to give. So far she hasn't lacked for attention!
Ruth enjoying the new arrival

Baby F.'s "story" is that her mother took her to the local child protection services and begged them to take F. She told them that she was a single mom that did not have any support in raising her daughter and also that she herself was very ill. She appeared to be genuinely grieved to have to leave F. I appreciate that she gave her baby a chance at life and was responsible in the way she went about giving her up, so many are abandoned in horrible places. At least her mom cared enough about her to give her to a safe place. When F. arrived at Casa de Amor in early December, 2013 she could not hold her head up at all and was incredibly floppy. She is still a bit behind in development for a five month old, but she is making progress in leaps and bounds.
Our ten month old baby A. is happy to have a floor buddy to play with and also to have a girl around. She has had only boys with her since she came to our house last July!
Girls on the Go
Babysitters hard at work...

When I can't find F. I know to look in the girls room. The picture above is an often sight these days! Paula told us that she wants to grow bigger and taller right away, so that she can carry the baby and fix her bottle and cook for her! Paula is still a bit to small to do any of those things, although she does get to snuggle her as much as she wants!
The picture below has nothing to do with baby F., but I liked it anyway!!!
Happy Reading Everyone!
Our plates are quite full with four in diapers again, and my dryer currently broken. Over the weekend it rained almost nonstop all day. But rain or shine, diapers MUST be washed and dried... So I rigged up clotheslines inside. Yep, I was pretty happy with my invention!!
Breakfast under the clothesline! Featuring baby diapers! 
Dinner under the clothesline! This time featuring baby clothes!
We are thankful to have our house bursting at the seems again and the extra blessing of another baby girl to love! "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward." Psalm 127:3
Happy Girls!!


Thursday, January 23, 2014

A "CDA" Baby Update:)

I decided it was time to show off some of the adorable pictures I have been taking of the Casa de Amor kiddos in our care. You can see how much they have grown and how cute they are! Of course, I think our kids are the cutest...like any good Tia would!

Adorable A.

Clara and A. "Enjoying the Sunshine"

Do they come any cuter than this? I don't think so!

S. loves his baby sister A. They are just barely a year apart!
S. loves to give his sister A. lots of love and kisses. He also loves to give her a tackle hug at least once a day. She seems to enjoy it as much as he does! I am so thankful that God orchestrated them being able to be together!
"Dapper Sam!"
 Big boy S. is still choosy about who his friends are, but since it is all of us we don't mind too much. He is getting to be a great helper and steady guy.
Emily getting S. dressed for church!
Gardening with Clancy

"I am not going to sleep"


"Oh well, I give up"
 And then there was the day that both boys fell asleep in their highchairs, right in the middle of all the noise going on during lunch!
Play hard, Sleep hard

S. enjoying oranges from our orange tree with Clara
Ready to meet the day!
E. is our action packed guy... He is always happy and on the go! He is starting to talk, but his favorite word is "Meow". We can tell by his tone of voice what he wants!
Handsome E.
Yesterday I caught him out in the dirt having a grand time! He posed for this series of pictures!
"Look, Tia, a rock"

"And this is how you move the dirt."

"Yah, I'm pretty good at this" 

Hanging out with Tia Emily

Manly in their PINK diapers... I think you know!

E. loves to dance with Ruth and Paula. You should see him get his shoulders going to the beat!
I realized the other day that we did not have one family picture with our three current babies. We quickly snapped one before we headed out to renew our Visas last Friday!
The Whole Gang
We are bringing home one more baby this week... Next blog will be about baby girl "F"!

Friday, January 17, 2014

Girls Room Makeover

   A few weeks ago we decided that it was time to give the little girls room a makeover. As you can see from the before and after pictures, just a little paint made a big difference. The girls were a big help and we had a lot of fun getting it all done.
The Girls Room Before....
One of the joys of painting here in Bolivia is you get to mix your own paint! Yes, you buy the tint and the paint separately and mix them in your larger paint bucket.
The purple tint is in my right hand and the paint in my left! Here goes.....
Mixing the Paint!
The girls had fun painting the room with me.
Ruth hard at work

Clara, too!
 Below is the finished product. I think it turned out nicely. The girls love hanging out and sleeping in their new lavender room! Our neighbor girl sewed some custom curtains for the window. I will update this blog with a picture with the curtain, as soon as I find my cord to download pictures with...
UPDATE: I found the cord and now here are the finished pictures....

Updated After Picture!

Ruth, Clara, and Paula "Enjoying their new room"




Monday, January 13, 2014

My Creative Kids

We have never lived in the city before moving to Cochabamba. Our kids have had to get creative in a small yard keeping themselves busy. I wanted to feature just a few things the kids have created over the past few months. 
Clara created a beautiful wreath for Ruth's head out of the various plants around our yard.
Clara and Ruth 
Ruth modeling her wreath
The girls also had fun washing the baby clothes by hand one day! Creative and helpful!!
Hand washing is FUN!


All three girls getting in on the action!
Clancy put together this model airplane that he found at Hipermaxi, a local grocery store. He painted it bright colors and rigged up a way to fly it on yarn that he strung up in the living room.
Clancy with his airplane
Myles taking a turn at flying the airplane!
One day the boys were especially bored, so Rudi took them down to the local art supply store and bought them these big sheets of styrofoam. They made airplanes out of the styrofoam, large and small. This one below is the largest they made. It flew like a dream! The only bad part was the styrofoam all over the yard for days! 
 Myles and Clancy with the "Avion Grande"!

Rudi also has the boys do some minor repairs on the car, like changing tires and such!


 All of our kids have taken up painting. They have gotten quite good at it if I do say so myself!
Clancy painting!
Myles has gotten really good at his leather art. Below is something he made for Rudi's birthday.
Rudi and Myles 

Myles amazing leather art up close!
For awhile the boys were into digging holes. A great way to burn off energy... a little hazardous for walking around the yard, though!!!
If all else fails...dig a hole in the yard!

Monday, January 6, 2014

Sharing the Good News!

Rudi along with our older children have been going to different small towns outside of Cochabamba to share their music and preach the gospel. So far they have visited two towns. They have been well received at both. Each time a different group from our church has gone with them.  

The Group that went to the latest pueblo!

Rudi and Myles sharing their music

 The children were very drawn to the music and Rudi's violin. Rudi let each one take a turn trying his violin out!
The Happy Fiddler

Emily and Myles taking a break in the shade!




One of the young ladies sharing with the children The Good News!
This particular group that went was well equipped to share the gospel with children. What a blessing that so many children were drawn to them!
Two boys listening to a gifted teacher! 

Rudi with the shoe shine boy!

This village was very similar to the many we have seen. I liked this picture of the outside market, so colorful and lively!

I don't know who has been more blessed, the people who have gone to serve or the ones served! I know my family has sure enjoyed going to these towns and interacting with the people there.
What is the Good News to which I have referred above? In a nutshell it is what these verses share below! I hope you will take time to read them and receive the Good News today!
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once." 1 Cor 15:1-6a