Surprise visit!

What a treat!! Uncle David came for a visit with Aunt Mireya and baby Rubi!! We were so happy to see them all, and finally meet David's beautiful wife and baby!

This is one of our two gardenia plants....to be honest, we have been so busy that we haven't had time to investigate into the types of shrubs that the builder placed at our house. So, you can imagine my surprise when I went outside today and saw this shrub in full bloom, and the scent...HEAVENLY!

The end of the fast...

Our church went on a 10 day fast, leading up to the day of Pentecost...and we, as a family, decided to fast sweets, sodas, sweet tea, and caffeine. It has been an especially tough 10 days for the kids, who LOVE their sweeties! They took the fast very seriously, and stayed away from anything sweet. Last night, on the way home from church, I had to stop for gas. Josh asked if he could use his money to buy a drink. He and Luis got out of the car, and Josh found $8.00 just lying on the ground in front of the car. He was so excited that he shared $2.00 (which is a major deal to Josh) with his brother. Then the three of them went into the market. The boys knew the fast was still on, so Jonathan got a fruit juice (100% juice) and Josh got what he thought was a white milk, but when he got into the car and drove away, we realized it was a vanilla milk...aka...sugar! So, Josh, with a sad face and tears, asked if we could return it. It was already 10:00pm...and we were halfway home, so I told him we couldn't. He knew he shouldn't drink it, but I told him that it was his decision. I was so proud of him when he stuck it in my purse and said, I'll save it for the morning! And that's just what he did.

These past ten days have been really good! The Holy Spirit has been moving mightily in our church this past week, and in us as individuals. Luis has had a breakthrough in his prayer life, I have felt a sense of order come into the house, and the kids have been eating their meals better and playing together better. I'm sure it's partly because I have completely cut out the sugars (as much as I could) from their diet, but I know that there is a spiritual aspect that can't be ignored. As a result, we have also made some new rules around the house regarding sweeties and the amount we consume. As a special treat, I made cupcakes this morning, while the boys were still asleep...and I let them have a cupcake breakfast!




Now that breakfast is over, our new rules are in effect! What a great experience this has been!

Of all my children, Lily is the one who loves her pacifier the most. She has learned how to even cough, while maintaining a tight jawlock on it. She has had this pacifier since the beginning, and she can tell the difference between it, and others that I have tried. We lost it for about 2 days one time, but I thought, no problem, I have others. Wrong. That was a sleepless night, followed by a very long day with hardly much of a nap. But I have to laugh, because every time she is sitting in her highchair, sucking the life out of her paci, she reminds me of Sam the Snowman with Burl Ives' voice in the Rudolph the Red Nosed reindeer Christmas special.

Live or Die??

We went to the boys' baseball games yesterday. Jonathan plays at the Anderson Parks and Recreation location, just behind their facility. As we were heading to the field, we crossed under a tree that was full of berries...the only reason we noticed was that the ground was COVERED with ripe, juicy, dark red berries...thousands of them. We didn't realize they were there until we were half way under the tree, so we kept going. It was the strangest tree...the berries looked just like blackberries, yet, this was an enormous tree. Luis, being the adventursome lad that he has always been (and I am sure will always be!) decided he was going to eat some berries. He asked a passerby if the berries were edible, and the man said, "Why sure they are, I been eating them there berries since I was knee high to a grasshopper". (Translation for my northern friends: "Yes") So, Luis began to eat a bunch of them. About a minute later, another man walked up to Luis and said, "Them things are poison!". *silence* Luis looked at me and I looked at him. He dropped the berries that were in his hand. All the color drained out of his face. "A kid ate a handful of those berries last year, tore up his stomach and he 'bout near died" the gentleman continued. Luis and I just stood there, motionless. So I began to rattle off a few options...induce vomiting...go to the ER...and as we were discussing how to handle the imminent knock at death's door, we turned around to see an older gentlemen with two of his grandkids. They were under the same tree, and the grandfather was picking berries and giving them to his grandkids...one for him, two for them...they were gobbling the berries like there was no tomorrow. This grandfather seemed like he had been around the block a time or two before. I went over, and sheepishly asked the man if he knew what kind of tree that was. "Why, this is a huckleberry tree", he exclaimed between bites, "and the berries are perfectly ripe". Suddenly, the color came back to Luis's olive cheeks, and a smile to his face.

After some online investigation, I discovered that the tree was actually not a huckleberry, but rather a Mulberry...regardless, Luis is still alive and well, 24 hours later.