Motherhood Moments #23

Sometimes motherhood looks like this...

a painting party for the ladies in our group. Sometimes motherhood isn't always just about motherly duties like diapers and 2 AM feedings - it is about being a woman who spends time away from her family for her sanity. The ladies in our MAF group got together today to paint, share lunch, and talk about ministry with one another. I was excited that I got to "adult" today! :-)

Motherhood Moments #22

Sometimes motherhood looks like this...

The road to the right is a one way blocked by the police
who work for the ambassador who lives on that road,
otherwise people would utilize that road as well. 

a traffic jam. And not just any jam but one close to our home. There have been some recent road updates on a road that ties into our own, which means people get backed up on our road trying to get to where they need to go. Since we live up about 1/4 mile up the road, often times I find myself walking home with the kids, leaving Kevin (or whoever dropped us off) to wait in traffic. We always beat them home. The worst was when we were two cars away from our gate and had to wait 45 minutes (there is no "sidewalk" by our door that we could use).

Adah holding onto Papa Leopold as we walk home.

This is the spot right by our gate where we got stuck
that one time for 45 minutes
(the dark grey to the right of Papa Leopold's head is our gate). 

Motherhood Moments #21

Sometimes motherhood looks like this...

broken glass and glass shards. Our main door is a sheet of glass with bars surrounded by a metal frame. The door is difficult to close at times. On Saturday evening, as I went to close the door behind me, it did not shut the first time. In my hurry to get the littles inside, I pushed it a little too forcefully and the entire glass plate shattered! I did not realize how weak the glass was until that moment. After an embarrassed stutter-filled apology to Kevin, he cleaned up the remaining bits from the house and called Pepe to come get it fixed. The next day, Pepe came to measure the door and by Monday we had a new glass.

Francy sealing the glass

We have a functioning door again!

Motherhood Moments #20

Sometimes motherhood looks like...

There are some days I miss the convenience of calling upon one of my barber buddies when my son looks like this...

Granted it only took me 20 minutes to wrangle him and trim it, but most of that time was spent holding him down. Here is the final product:

 But here's what my little man really thinks of his new hair cut...

Motherhood Moments #19

Sometimes motherhood looks like this...

 A folded wash cloth. The cloth on the left is mine and the one on the right was and attempt to fold by little girl.

Sometimes motherhood looks like a bigger mess than you anticipated. Making tortillas is MUCH harder with 6 hands.

And sometimes motherhood is a beauty of cooperation when washing and rinsing dishes.

Motherhood Moments #18

Sometimes motherhood looks like this...

 amazing fun with friends! We did balloon races and it was a blast.

 Half the kids gathered on one side to release an inflated balloon that was taped to a string.

 The air inside it propelled it across the distance to the kids standing on chairs waiting to declare their team a winner.

Motherhood Moments #17

It's been a while since my last Motherhood Moments blog. So I thought I would start back up again. Sometimes motherhood looks like this...

Hand, foot, and mouth disease. Poor baby boy had not been feeling well a while back and the lymph nodes on both sides of his neck swelled up. After starting a course of antibiotics, they began to go down. But the lymph nodes had been fighting HFMD and when the swelling dropped, the symptoms popped up. Poor kiddo! Luckily he was a trooper and got through it quickly and it did not spread around in our family.

Motherhood Moments #16

Sometimes motherhood looks like this...

A morning filled with birthday party fun! I am grateful for the days of normalcy and I cherish the memories made with our friends here.

Motherhood Moments #14

Sometimes motherhood looks like this...

This is the witching hour. That dreadful time in the afternoon around 3:00 when the kids are hot, tired, and cranky. It is too late in the afternoon for naps and I should be starting dinner. Instead, sister has TV time and I have brother on my back. The battery fan is on full blast as we try to stay cool waiting for the electricity to return or for daddy to walk in and be a distraction. We do what we can to keep up morale and sometimes it requires a TV and snuggles.

Motherhood Moments # 13

Sometimes motherhood looks like this...

I think this photo needs no explanation other than to say those WERE clean clothes and they are now on a dirty floor.

Motherhood Moments #12

********************Warning: Yuckiness factor is high********************

Sometimes motherhood looks like this...

Diaper duty. But not just any diaper duty. This is the "quarantined" pile from the past weekend. When you suspect your kid(s) may have developed worms/parasites, you must check. The easiest check is to take a sample and let it sit for 12+ hours. After that length of time, you must check your samples for any living parasites. If negative, you must wait a little longer, up to 24+ hours.

We were very lucky and had a negative test for the past 72 hours. So we are worm free (for now). Some other missionary families were not quite so lucky this round. They will de-worm their kids and check again to make sure everything has passed.

Isn't parenting fun? I told you this post was yucky!

Motherhood Moments #11

Sometimes motherhood looks like this...

Today was the first day of school for our little girl. This year, she will be attending the International Belgium School. She is in the first level of "maternelle" which is equivalent to the "preschool" level in the U.S.

Sweet pea is no stranger when it comes school and when we walked into the room, she went right to her favorite toys...

DINOSAURS! ROAR!

After exploring the room, she then focused on the kids in her class. We were very lucky that one of her friends, Ruth, is in her class. We were a bit sad that her other friend Abby was in another class, but they were able to play together at recess so all was well in the world again.

Adah and Ruth playing with doll accessories

 After school, we all went out to ice cream together to celebrate our fun day!

Adah, Abby, Elijah, Ruth, and baby Joel

She had so much excitement at school, she came and crashed. Typical three-nager!

Mother Moments #10

Sometimes motherhood looks like this...

I believe this moment needs no explanation. The "three-nager" years have been rough for this little boundary pusher. Some days it takes every bit of grace and prayer to make it to bedtime. Often times I just want to giggle when I catch the things I end up saying to her:

"Don't ride your brother! He's not a horse!;
If Solomon wanted you to lick his face, he'd tell you so!;
Sweetheart, mommy can't walk while you are hiding under her skirt.;
Stop growling at your friend - she is scared of dinosaurs!"

I must be doing something right if I have to laugh at the things that come out of my mouth!

Motherhood Moments #9

Sometimes motherhood looks like this...

an impromptu Sunday school class. The kids were getting restless at church and since it is "summer break," Sunday school classes have not started back up. So we let all the kids play together outside this particular morning. Having many children close together in age truly is a blessing.

Motherhood Moments #8

Sometimes motherhood looks like this...

A trip to the grocery store can turn into an episode of "Fear Factor." Our little girl's expression is one of sheer joy because the electricity just came back on! Nothing like grocery shopping in the dark to make your toddler want to sit securely in the cart so she can feel encompassed. Brother is safely strapped to my back in the carrier. Luckily I try not to leave the house without my phone, which has a flashlight.

Motherhood Moments #7

Sometimes motherhood looks like this...

But then again, it also quickly turns into this...

Sister has decided that being cute and posing for photos is not nearly as fun as wrestling with a squirmy baby brother. I think she has been watching her daddy too much. It is hard to tell who won since he almost outweighs her!Oh well, c'est la vie!