Safe Kids

Tonight I am thankful that all my kids are safe and sound for the moment. Yesterday I could not say that, so today I say it with joy. It is hard to believe when the kiddos are young and you can actually do something to keep them safe that one day you will not be able to do a darn thing in the world to keep them safe except to pray like crazy.

I once read in a book that mothers prayers go straight to heaven, like before all others. It has been my experience that this is true. I have had some pretty intense periods of prayer for my children. From not knowing where they are at all for days at a time, to knowing they really are in trouble.

I am reminded of a time my son just disappeared. He got angry at a party with friends and stormed out of the house. He turned up three days later at a truck stop in Chicago. He had gone out to hitch hike to Florida because it was warm there, and woke up in Chicago. He had a great friend who actually went there and picked him up. Oh yeah and he missed his sisters wedding in the meantime.

My daughter taking both kids on a 19 hr. bus trip to travel across Central America to visit their other grand parents. The bus got a flat and they got home about two thirty this morning, another good chance to hit the knees!

A son that decided to go check out a job in a really shady part of CR, being Jaco, the slimiest beach town around. He was gone for three days and returned today, safe and sound and determined that no job is worth selling your soul for!

As a mom all I can do is pray like crazy and know that my prayers are getting there faster than anyone elses!!

New Friends

Yesterday we met some new friends that own the potpurria on the corner. I had gone in last week to buy baby a snack on the way home from school. Here in Costa Rica they have these little stores on every corner, pretty much. These folks really found a great corner to put theirs on, as there was not one close. Anyway so baby and I went in to grab a snack. The owner guy asked me if she was cheena and if she was mine. I told him yes she was cheena and yes she was mine. I did not think anymore about it.

That evening the teens went over to buy something. When they got home they asked if I knew that the owners wife was cheena. You don't see that very often so I was surprised. It also made sense why the owner was so surprised to see us. So yesterday when hubby was walking baby home from school the owners waved him over. They went over and met the owner and his wife, their daughter was still at school and they wanted baby to come over later and meet her.

After changing her out of her uniform we walked back over to meet her new friend. The little girl is very shy and a year younger than baby. It took a little while for them to warm up but soon we were invited up to their apartment above the store. Now I know the people here are poor, but I am always surprised at how little they actually live with.

In their apartment there was only a bench to sit on, and a few cooking things in the kitchen. They did have beds and a little table and chair for their little girl to sit at to eat. She did have a few toys to play with and they had a good time with that. We talked the best we could as the mom only speaks mandarin and spanish.

When we got ready to leave the girls were looking at some cheena dresses the little girl had. Her mom asked me if baby had any cheena dresses. I tried to explain that no she had not gotten on yet. She went into the bedroom and brought out a new one, still wrapped and gave it to baby. Baby was so thrilled she insisted on wearing it home. Boy did she get stared at on the way home, as you can see by the picture she looked stunning! Of course she did not have the cowboy hat for the walk home, kind of Jackie Chans it don't you think?

Remember

Today is a great day to remember all our soldiers who have given of their lives and time and energy to try and keep us a free nation. Having had a hubby in the armed forces I know that they are really subject to many things they would not have to put up with in a "normal job".

It is a sacrifice for them to leave home for deployments, pull cq duty, and all the other extras that are required of them. And for some of them they are even called upon to give their lives.

So today I remember them and salute them and thank them with all my heart for sacrificing for me and mine!

Books! Books! Books!

Saturday was the used book sale by the womens club in Belen. It was awesome and we had a blast. The bad part was there was only two children's books and we bought both of them. The above picture was our bus ride home, reading of course. We ended up buying 25 books and I have already finished off about five of them.

We have a huge surplus of books and I am thinking about having a book swap here at my house. We could just have everyone bring books they want to get rid of and everyone go around the room swapping. I think it would be great fun, and it would help us even the score with all the thousands of books we have here.

When you go to someone's house do you check out the books? I do. I have to say I judge people by what books they have in their home, if they even have books and how many. That sounds really weird, but it is true. I can't even imagine life without books.

All our children have been readers. Not having a t.v. in the home certainly helped cultivate good reading habits also. In fact the younger kids did not read as much as the older ones. Until Micah went to jail he had never read a whole book. Now he just finished Crime and Punishment and is reading Pride and Predjudice. He is always reading something and due to lack of something better to do enjoying it.

The only problem for me with reading is my poor old eyes. I have reading glasses but never take the time to dig them out. Hence red and tired eyes. I guess I am just waiting until the big five oh catches up with me and then I will get them out for good. Until then better go and work on the thousands of books that need reading.

Reviving Ophelia

I have been reading the book "Reviving Ophelia" by MaryPipher. It is a really good book, and actually I believe I have read it before about ten years ago when daughter number one was 15. It makes many good points about teenage girls, the dangers we as mothers try to protect them from, and the growth we want them to experience.

The world is such that we have to literally protect our teenage daughters from many things. In the olden days they could make mistakes that were just that, mistakes. These days these same mistakes could get them killed, or addicted for life or any myriad of things.

With our sons we were not quite as protective as we are with the girls. Sometimes it does not seem fair that there is this double standard for girls versus boys, but there it is, it is there. After the recent rape of a 15 yr. old girl at her high school after a dance I was just amazed. Like I said these days if girls are not careful they can get hurt very bad, even killed.

I am maybe a little overprotective, but I really feel that you cannot be too careful these days!