Spring has Sprung

This year the seasons changing- or, rather, not changing- has affected me more than any other of my 5 years overseas. Last fall, I wanted cool nights and football games and Pumpkin Spice Latte's, and this Spring, I want flowers, and new, and hope, and freshness. By "freshness" I am specifically talking about the scent of orange blossoms hanging heavy in the air on humid Spring nights in South Florida. Heaven I tell ya!

So the longing for some type of Spring is what's on my mind. And I'm from Florida! What's up with this? We don't even really do Springtime in the Sunshine state. Wet cold directly to blazing sun is how we roll come March. Maybe it's just the pregnancy hormones talking? Prolly.

It's made the crafting bug in me want to make felt flowers and picnic blankets for friends.

My parenting and my wife-ing need some soil churning, water and sunshine. (I was gonna say "fertilizer" but I think with #4 on the way...well...)  Hot on my book list is Give them Grace, and This Momentary Marriage.

My bougainvillea plants decided to plan a timely flowering cycle and bright color is dotting my garden wall. 

Oh, garden wall, you poor, greening, chipping, divider of property lines... pressure washing was a must for Springtime activities. More plants and more color are in the works...but these plans, naturally, require chicken wire and at least 13 feet of it. Our car is in the shop and so my weekend of pinteresty projects in the yard has been delayed again. More on that later...

Springtime shots from the equator.

Family Movie Night. 6:30pm and its that bright. By 7pm its nearly dark. Sunsets go quick here!

Isaac: "Mama, can we eat outside for dinner?" Me: (genius! New chairs and table cloth from IKEA!) "Sure Isaac!"

My 3 year old proving he CAN have a good attitude. (I'm well aware this isn't a picture of him being told to make his bed)
Also because I know you care deeply, that wall is AFTER the pressure washing. Lemonade from lemons folks. Lemonade.

Birdie-bye sporting her new adorable bathing suit sent by Grandma. It's amazing how such a big vocabulary can fit into such a small 18 month old body.

No really. She cries.

I know, I KNOW its hard to believe that the mom to such adorable kiddos would be desiring a booster shot for parenting. This is what Immanuelle looked like while Aunt Angie was making us homemade waffles on Easter morning. I have yet to catch the boys arguing and get a picture of it, but it is very very real. And my temper (with added help from the heat and the hormones) well, maybe I should get a picture of that too? No??? Yeah, I don't wanna see that either.

i4 from the inside @ 13 weeks. Skull, spine, hands, 10 fingers, all checked and in tact.  And THAT y'all, is an Anthony Rivers head if I've ever seen one!

i4 from the outside @ 16wks. Finished 1st trimester with ZERO vomiting making this the best 1st trimester for me. Started feeling kicks at 13 weeks.

Ah, Spring. While not marked by temperature changes, I'm hoping it'll be a banner year because of what this season produces. In my craft room, in my garden, in my family, in my marriage, and mostly in my heart. It's all fine the way it is, but I find Spring this year just begging me to make things brighter, to dig deeper, to water a bit more. That's what's so great about this season...the hope of things to come!

I love this passage from the book of Isaiah in the Bible. It does my heart good to hear how strong the Lord is and how willing he is to renew those whose strength is failing. What a great reminder for the hope that Springtime brings!

"Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
    his understanding is unsearchable.

 He gives power to the faint,
    and to him who has no might he increases strength

 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;

 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint."

Isaiah 40:28-31

Crafty Schmafty - Pallet Art

Rainy season is over. Now comes the part where it's not rain everyday and constant cloud coverage. Now's "dry" season. Dry season is marked by a dramatic rise in temperatures from the normal 90 to at least 95 so that combined with humidity and no breeze you think you just might melt. Melt into a little pool of foreign goo and be stuck to the Equator forever. Every day.

My house walls get so hot on the outside that by 6pm if I slapped some dough on them, I could be pretty successful with a pizza stone business in my yard. Or for an Eastern example, I could slap some Naan loaves on the side, add a little rice and make a few extra bucks to cover the air-con bills.

It's hot, yo. Then 5 out of 7 days just when you reach the point of asking your snuggly 3 year old not to touch you ever, and then refusing to move due to melting skin, a big fat, Florida-sized afternoon thunderstorm rolls right on in with enough wind and lightning and bang to blow (and scare, if you happen to be 3) that sweat right away. It's manic-depressive weather at its finest.

All that to say. Rainy season gooed-up my "pallet art" reveal. I don't want to put more holes in the concrete walls than necessary, so I use sticky hooks. Sticky Hooks + Rainy Season = No Bueno. CRASH!!! "What was that?" "Mama! One of the pictures just fell again."

Now that it's hotter than the face of the sun and I have zero will to do anything, the sticky hooks haven't been replaced yet. So you don't get a full reveal of the photo collage. It's ok. I walk by it several times a day and ignore its incompleteness on my way to the kitchen to complain about how hot it is in the kitchen to get a glass of iced tea. You'll be alright. Promise.

The pallet art though, you like? I know it's super bright and if the color-balancing matted photo frame hadn't fallen to its death, you'd see more my vision for it all. Again, you'll be fine without all that.

Last year on Mother's Day a whole new world of awesome was opened up to me when I discovered the junk yard "recycling center." I bought a whole pallet for 5RM from a Chinese guy driving a fork lift. That's like $1.50 USD. The letters are Sharpie, which wasn't my original plan, but worked out well. 

I can see the art when I walk down the stairs. It is amazing how comforting its been to have it hanging there.  Most of the time I can't get through thinking about the first part, "Rejoice in Hope..." before I'm distracted by a child at the bottom of the stairs.

Life threatens it seems to steal my joy at every turn. Sometimes I see no stinkin' way that "this moment" (let's pick one of the 19,000 times a day my kids argue, for instance) could have any worth or any joy. Then I remember the Hope I have in Jesus. It is a sure hope and one worth rejoicing in!

A is for...***

ANTHONY

Y'all, my hunka hunka burnin' love has been in 'merica for 20ish days now and I cannot WAIT for this man to come back home. The thing is, I LOVE him for the fact that he went there to help his mom and be a hands-on son. My mother-in-law (even though this post isn't about the letter "M") totally bought me a cast iron griddle to thank me for loaning him out for 3 weeks. She totally didn't have to do that, but now we get to use the Star Wars pancake molds my friend Danielle gave us a couple years ago. Speaking of Anthony and Star Wars, I love this man and his unashamed fondness for that beloved space opera that happened a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away. He is just as excited about the griddle as me, because I bet he's already had the same idea I have about adding green food coloring to the batter for the Yoda mold. What's not to love about a man eating pointed-ear green pancakes? He a researcher, which, in stark contrast to my jump in with both feet-ness, has greatly improved the quality of our life. Part of the conversation on our birthday date to the Mexican place in town went like this,

Anthony: "This drink is good. I bet I could make this."
Me: "You think? Why not just come here though?"
Anthony: "It looked easy from what they said it was made from on the menu. It'll be fun."

And so part of our post birthday meal included him looking up a "Horchata" recipe and having it made by the next morning. He's aggrivates and makes me so proud simultaneously with his humility about his abilities. He won't push his skills on anyone, so I play talent agent. "Oh what? You didn't know my husband was incredibly good at _________? He IS! You should get him to help you with that." He has become a dedicated runner and although I knew when I married him that the best was yet to come, that man has gotten into such good shape the last year and a half and is sexier than ever these days. Cap off the commitment to family, the nerdiness, the talent, and the hott-ness with a HEAVY dose of good theology and a desire to live out his beliefs and you have, quite simply, the man of my dreams.  Can't wait to have you back Love!

***So now that you've read my "A" post, if you have a blog, write a "B is for..." post on yours! Then encourage your readers to follow suit with "C" and so on. Leave a comment on my blog letting me know your blog address so I can read what you have to say about the letter B! ***

Day 15 without Daddy...the Upside

The man of this house is in the US of A at this moment and he has been for over 2 weeks. 
Last minute loaves of bread, grocery shopping, killing roaches, fixing dinner, growing a baby, and remembering to fill up the gas tank are all tasks that are SO much easier with my hubs around.

Suction cups for birdseed holders. Hook direction is a hard concept to grasp.

 Y'all didn't judge me did you? When you came to the blog (thanks!) and saw that same video from 2 weeks ago? I didn't think so.

We are actually fairing pretty well. Anthony is home taking care of stuff with family that can only be taken care of in person.

Side note: I've actually had a couple of you ask if he was home doing something related to adoption. That's not the case, but I find it so incredibly pleasant that that's the kind of thing you all have come to expect from us.

Our bird holding the "bird pellets." We searched 4 different pet stores and this was the ONLY kind of bird food we could find. No bueno.

 Part of our success in surviving without Daddy is that friends have felt pity, stepped up their game, and been so helpful. And by "helpful" I mean "free maternity clothes," "come play in the exclusive pool in our neighborhood that you can't get into without an invite," and "homemade lasagna." Yeah. Y'all are even starting to get jealous aren't you?

See? Hooks. They're tricky.

Isn't it nice to be cared for by others? Its such an encouragement and a boost. My Love being halfway around the world from me is the pits. But, man oh man, to feel the love coming from friends and neighbors turns that right around. I give all glory to God for being our provider. We never go without and always have so much to be thankful for, these last days have revealed an even greater depth in his care.

For instance: my friend Anna, who lives in another country mind you and has 5 children of her own, visited with us over Chinese New Year.  She apparently picked up on the fact that we order Dominoe's online to have it delivered. I kid you not folks, she wouldn't take no for answer, home girl is planning to order Dominoe's for us on Tuesday and have it delivered. (is this thing on?) SHE LIVES IN ANOTHER COUNTRY!  Glory be. We are so blessed in our friends.

My friend Anna with her hubs. Us all on a uber-romantic Valentines Day dinner.

So we are surviving, even thriving. Giving in and receiving the blessing of others' help sometimes makes me feel weak, or needy...at least beforehand it does. "I can do it!" says the American in me. But when I don't have to do a thing in the kitchen and then dole out a homemade lasagna for my family, it's not weakness or neediness I feel. It's gratefulness, humility, and encouragement.

So when things don't work out- like our birdfeeders or the washer repair man never calling, or me most likely losing my phone by it falling into a pond- it's not the end of the world. We'll just regroup, move the feeders so the cats can't get to them, then add "birdSEED" to Daddy's ever-growing Target/Walmart list, self-balance the load in the wash so it doesn't rock and roll through the spin cycle, and use Daddy's phone 'til I get the energy to go buy another one and somehow communicate to all my friends here my new number. 

Hooks facing correct direction, and now some little bird pellets for the stray cats in the neighborhood.

There is so much for which to be grateful. Have you looked today? Maybe you're gonna be the lasagna maker today and not the lasagna receiver. But there's blessing in both (it's why when I finally gave in to my friend wanting to order pizza her response was "Good! Consider it done!") I hope no matter your circumstances today that you search for the blessing of gifts given or the blessing of opportunities to bless and that you choose to let THAT be what you think of when people say, "So...how's it going without your husband there?"

Gotta go for now, the washer load is off-balance. Make it a good one today, mmmkay?