Sunday, December 30, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
The Monumental Chorus
Yes, that is what it is called and that is what it is, a Monumental Chorus. A local high school/college invites several schools every year to participate in a Christmas chorus. Victoria participated in kindergarten and scared me to death, so it was just until now that she participated again. In kindergarten, she and one of her classmates were lost in a sea of hundreds of older students who were jumping on the bleachers! Fortunately, the school principal kept them close and handed them over untouched at the end of the evening. Last night, Sam took Victoria to participate in the chorus. I stayed home with a sick girl -- Sofia seems to have some sort of food poisoning and has been feeling crummy. Victoria really enjoyed singing and was able to hold her own in the crowd. Sam was equally impressed with the event. They finished off the evening with a little hot chocolate at Starbucks. The monumental chorus 
Lighting candles with hundreds of other responsible children 
Sam and Victoria at Starbucks 
And for the grand finale -- a lovely song and the choir director shoots fireworks into the crowd of kids!!! Well, at least they weren't jumping on the bleachers...(these are the things that dad's do great participating in and mom's just need to see the pictures afterwards)
Lighting candles with hundreds of other responsible children 
Sam and Victoria at Starbucks 
And for the grand finale -- a lovely song and the choir director shoots fireworks into the crowd of kids!!! Well, at least they weren't jumping on the bleachers...(these are the things that dad's do great participating in and mom's just need to see the pictures afterwards)
Christmas Convivio
We had our annual Christmas celebration this past Sunday. It was a great day!!! I tried to count, but it was rather difficult -- people kept moving or I kept getting distracted. But, 147 plates of food were served and 4-6 additional people came in after the meal. So, we are saying that we had 150 there, which is a great number. There were many new faces, which we always like to see. Along with those were some familiar faces including Santa Claus. The highlight of the evening was the candle light part of the service. It was beautiful to see the room go from darkness to light and to think that that is exactly what we are all about. We were a little apprehensive as to how it would work with a lot of kids in the audience and it took quite a bit of energy to explain to our leaders how they would make it work. And it worked! The owner of the place we rented was especially impressed with it. He has spent 3 years listening to us worship, listening to God's word, listening to Sam preach...so one of these we look forward to him being in the light!
Enjoy a few pictures(a few is all I have, since I get a little distracted for picture taking):
The crowd before our worship time
Our angelic children singing a couple of songs
Fernanda, Victoria and Saul enjoying the moment
Enjoy a few pictures(a few is all I have, since I get a little distracted for picture taking):
The crowd before our worship time
Our angelic children singing a couple of songs
Fernanda, Victoria and Saul enjoying the moment
The joys of shopping
There are very few things that we can complain about with living in Mexico -- after all, we have all the conveniences of the modern world including Sam's, Costco, and Starbucks (add Target, and life is pretty near perfect!). However, it is not as easy as it may seem. We take for granted the one-stop-shopping concept. For grocery shopping, I have to go to at least 2 stores and occasionally 3, so I do miss being able to pop into the Walmart super center and get everything I need in one fell swoop.
Well, Christmas is upon us and the girls have their Christmas programs coming up, which translates into costumes, singing and dancing. I went to our local material store but it didn't have what I needed, so the dreaded diagnosis -- I would have to go downtown to find what I needed. I shivered in fear, took a deep breath and set out to make my plan. Saturday morning seemed like a good time to lessen traffic and people. The girls most certainly would have to stay home! It is way to stressful to go, much less to keep up with three kids!
So, Saturday morning I headed out. The traffic wasn't too bad, and I knew exactly where I was going. It took a few turns to get there due to the one way streets, and although I did pass an empty spot to park in on the way, I don't parallel park downtown. Parallel parking is intimidating enough for me on an empty street with orange traffic cones as my parameters, but in tight spots with honking cars and onlookers full of advice, there is no way!!!! By the way, Sam is an excellent parallel parker, especially downtown. I am always amazed at how he squeezes the van into such small spaces -- a true Mexican! I find the parking lot and wait patiently in line for 5 minutes hoping they don't run out of spots before it's my turn. No problem, I make it in, maneuver the van in reverse (not another strong point of mine) into it's spot and make my way to the material shop.
This place is an amazing maze of material upon material upon material. Right at the door, there is a table stacked high with bolts of material that are on sale. Along most aisles, you have to walk sideways to get by, and there is no way two people can pass at the same time (a mother's worst nightmare for young children on the loose). Here's for the fun part...You browse around for what you want and once you decide, you have to find someone to help you. They are walking around with yard sticks or just look for the flock of people waiting to be helped also. This person, mostly males, I might add, will cut whatever material you need. So, I have my two or three selections. The young man cuts them, writes on a paper what I got and how much it costs and informs me I can pick it up at window 2. For the other material I need, he directs me to another part of the store where I will have to get help from someone else. Again, a very nice man cuts the material, writes on a paper and this I can pick up at window 1. For my other arts and crafts needs, I have to get help from yet another 2 people, after of course, I wade through people heckling, looking, waiting, cutting in line...These items, also recorded on paper I can pick up at window number 3.
With all my tickets in hand, I head to the cashier window and pay. She then proceeds to staple a receipt to each little paper I have and give them to me to pick up my merchandise. Three windows, three lines and a headache later, I am out the door with my stuff. Except, they didn't have one item I needed, so guess what, I have to go to another store and endure the very same process all over again.
Two hours later, I was safely in my car and making my way back home. I survived and even felt a little less intimidated by downtown! Maybe I'll try it again...next Christmas. All this to say, I really enjoy shopping at Hobby Lobby =)
Well, Christmas is upon us and the girls have their Christmas programs coming up, which translates into costumes, singing and dancing. I went to our local material store but it didn't have what I needed, so the dreaded diagnosis -- I would have to go downtown to find what I needed. I shivered in fear, took a deep breath and set out to make my plan. Saturday morning seemed like a good time to lessen traffic and people. The girls most certainly would have to stay home! It is way to stressful to go, much less to keep up with three kids!
So, Saturday morning I headed out. The traffic wasn't too bad, and I knew exactly where I was going. It took a few turns to get there due to the one way streets, and although I did pass an empty spot to park in on the way, I don't parallel park downtown. Parallel parking is intimidating enough for me on an empty street with orange traffic cones as my parameters, but in tight spots with honking cars and onlookers full of advice, there is no way!!!! By the way, Sam is an excellent parallel parker, especially downtown. I am always amazed at how he squeezes the van into such small spaces -- a true Mexican! I find the parking lot and wait patiently in line for 5 minutes hoping they don't run out of spots before it's my turn. No problem, I make it in, maneuver the van in reverse (not another strong point of mine) into it's spot and make my way to the material shop.
This place is an amazing maze of material upon material upon material. Right at the door, there is a table stacked high with bolts of material that are on sale. Along most aisles, you have to walk sideways to get by, and there is no way two people can pass at the same time (a mother's worst nightmare for young children on the loose). Here's for the fun part...You browse around for what you want and once you decide, you have to find someone to help you. They are walking around with yard sticks or just look for the flock of people waiting to be helped also. This person, mostly males, I might add, will cut whatever material you need. So, I have my two or three selections. The young man cuts them, writes on a paper what I got and how much it costs and informs me I can pick it up at window 2. For the other material I need, he directs me to another part of the store where I will have to get help from someone else. Again, a very nice man cuts the material, writes on a paper and this I can pick up at window 1. For my other arts and crafts needs, I have to get help from yet another 2 people, after of course, I wade through people heckling, looking, waiting, cutting in line...These items, also recorded on paper I can pick up at window number 3.
With all my tickets in hand, I head to the cashier window and pay. She then proceeds to staple a receipt to each little paper I have and give them to me to pick up my merchandise. Three windows, three lines and a headache later, I am out the door with my stuff. Except, they didn't have one item I needed, so guess what, I have to go to another store and endure the very same process all over again.
Two hours later, I was safely in my car and making my way back home. I survived and even felt a little less intimidated by downtown! Maybe I'll try it again...next Christmas. All this to say, I really enjoy shopping at Hobby Lobby =)
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Solemn Moments...
We have them occasionally in our house, or at least we try to have solemn moments. Tonight we started our Advent devotionals. The girls were thrilled to get the candles out, and the ensuing discussion was who would get to light the candles and blow them out. But, we got the candle lit, the lights down low, everyone quiet and listening as Victoria read from Isaiah 52:7 "how beautiful the feet of those that bring good news." As we are discussing who brings good news, Sofia answers "God" (good job!), immediately followed by "Santa Claus." Trying not to laugh too much, we continue on, only to have Olivia try and imitate her father's burp and make a face way too funny for us all not to laugh. That's as solemn as it got tonight!
Yesterday during our worship service, I finally sat down with Olivia for a moment of solemnity as we participated in the Lord's Supper. I was trying to concentrate on the moment, when I felt a warm fuzzy feeling on my lap. Lo and behold, the girl had peed all over me! To top it off, when I stood up, it just looked like I had peed all over myself.
One more, where I had no choice but to laugh. A couple of weeks ago, I was wrestling three monkeys during the worship time and I finally got them settled...I'm trying to sing, focus and praise God with Olivia on my lap, Victoria on one side sitting close and Sofia on the other side trying to sit in my lap. I get my hair to move it out of the way since my girls like to play with my hair, when what to my surprise should appear, but gum in my hair. Yes, GUM IN MY HAIR!!!! Not to worry, in between verses, I pulled out my trusted pocket knife and proceeded to cut the gum out! Like I said, all I could do was laugh! I'm glad God knows and understands moms!
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