Charles Arrives (Finally)

Last night we prepared all that needed to be done to make a nice welcome home for Charles. He had his 35th Birthday without us in America so we decided to plan a small intimate family Birthday party for him when he gets home today.

Aleia and I made his favorite chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, even though we will eat more then he will at least he knows we were thinking about him.

Bought him a really nice gift from the girls and I and Aleia is suppose to be making him a welcome home Birthday card in pre-school today, by the way that is the only way I got her to go to school today, cause she didn't want me to get her Daddy without her. He doesn't arrive until 7:40 tonight so she has all day to think about him coming home.

The house is cleaned, the girls have had their baths, home made chicken noodle soup is done, chocolate cake is made, Birthday gift is wrapped, took garbage out, gas in the van, vacuumed van out, laundry is done, legs are shaved, and fresh sheets on the bed. I think I've covered all that needs to be done before he gets home to make his first day home happy and comfortable.

We can't wait.....the girls and I are so excited!

3 safety steps

As a Mommy to young children, I find myself asking many other Mothers who have older children the question of "when did you know it was time to teach on _____ and _____ and _____? well the answer is always the same.....as they tell me, you'll know when the right time will be for your child.

So I've started realizing it is true what they say, you really will know when it is time and when your child is ready to learn about certain things.

Aleia is now 4 1/2 and has started pre-school, and so many new situations and conversations have been brought up, such Crossing the street, what do we in case of a fire and what is a stranger. So I've decided to use this little 3 liner 3 step rule system to help her remember what we do when we are:

#1 crossing the street, #2 in a fire, or #3 Stranger alert

Rule #1 = Stop, Look and Listen (crossing the street)
Rule #2 = Stop, Drop and Roll (in case of a fire)
Rule #3 = Run, Yell and Tell (Your heart alarm tells you somethings not right.....Stranger alert)

I found a few really good educational video clips off of lilyguanausa.org and they have been so helpful in re-emphasizing what I've been trying to teach Allie about the 3 safety steps that I feel are very important for her to learn at this time in her life.

Do you have any good safety steps you are teaching your child at this time that could be helpful?

Great giveaway

Recently over at Karens2cents blog (My 3 little women) she was having a give away for the re-naming of her blog. She's had 3 girls in 3 years and she wanted a few ideas. My name was chosen as the prize winner and the package just arrived.

It was a great to surprise to win and to know that Karen was going to be putting a package together and sending it all the way here.

The package was put together with such thought and love. Thank you so much Karen for all the little goodies you not only put in there for me but for Aleia, she was thrilled.

Good luck with those 3 little women.

Now it's time to go use some of that Mary Kay that was in the prize wining package.

Two best buddies

Aleia and Brienna are two best buddy's. One is lost without the other. They fight, fuss, kiss, hug, share, take, laugh, and cry but at the end of the day, they love one another and can't be apart.

When Aleia is gone to school, Brienna is my little shadow, she follows me room to room calling (A-ya) Aleia's name all day long. She loves her big Sister. Brie is quite the aggressive one.
When Brienna is gone, Aleia continually ask when are we getting our baby back. Aleia is very protective and loving but still has a hard time sharing her precious toys with T-Rex and rightfully so, because everything Brienna touches you can be sure she will loose or break it:-)
My sweet little babies miss their Daddy. He gets home in 7 days and the girls are thrilled. Hurry home Dad!

A little update on the bee situation: The exterminator came today and spayed, we had 2 bee hives one by my bedroom window and one by the bathroom window, he said we had thousands of bee's. We should see 1 or 2 here and there for the next 3 weeks but after that they should all be gone. I can't tell you how relieved I am that they will be gone. I've killed over 100 bee's in the last week.

It's been 2 years...

In so many ways it feels like I can't even remember my life before arriving to Vienna. Some how the church, our home, my girls, the city, the people, Vienna it's self has taken over me. Although as I think about today being the anniversary of when we first step foot onto the soil of Vienna I can say we still have so much learn.

Living and adjusting to a new place not to mention a Foreign country brings new challenges each day that we must over come, look past and be inspired to learn from.

As with each transition we have faced in our marriage and ministry I find myself feeling vulnerable and in a infant state of many things as I try to learn the language of each country we are in, learn how the people think, grocery shop, driving, adjusting to cultural difference, adapting to the newness, having patients when I make mistakes, swallowing my pride, finding my way around and being confident in the environment I'm in at the present time.

I can say although it seems when I look back I can hardly remember my life before this, I can also say the time has passed by like a face fret train. So many great things have happened in the two years we've been missionaries to Austria, we are happy this is our home, we look forward by the grace of God that we have many more years in this great country, reaching the wonderful people of Vienna and knowing that we will continually be learning, growing from mistakes and adjusting to a culture we were not born in.

A little over view of the past 2 years:
1. Lived in a 1 bedroom 650 sq.meter apartment for 3 months
2. Bought a kia van
3. Charles went to German class for 3 months 6 hours a day
4. Moved into our beautiful home
5. Dad came to help us unpack and get our home together
6. Got stuck in Egypt
7. Suppans came to Vienna
8. Have had 4 assistant missionaries
9. Started 2 daughter works
10. Had a baby (Brienna Grace)
11. Remolded the church
12. Double in the church
13. Lost a precious saint in the church
14. Dedicated 9 babies in 2 years
15. A beautiful couple were married in the church
16. The Dadzie family were blessed with Oliver
17. Moved my Mom to AR
18. Celebrated 15 years of marriage
19. Two great friends came to visit us (Kim and Heather)
20. Aleia started pre-school
21. Brienna turned 1

Looking forward to another wonderful year of making great memories, training women and men, reaching Austria and finding balance in becoming the women I need to be for the Lord, my family and for the church.

Prisoner

The bee's and spiders have taken over our home. Not sure what it is about my house but since it got cold every little crawly thing has seemed to have found a place to hide in our home. In total since Wednesday I have killed over 60 wasp in the upstairs of our home. I plugged every hole in our room only to find the next morning that the bee's found a way into Aleia's room.

I feel like a prisoner in my own home.....every corner I turn I'm sure to have a can of spray and a swatter in my hand to defend myself from the creepy crawlers that have invaded my home. Are any of you itching yet???

Finally Aleia, Brienna and I took a trip to the store and bought 2 of the largest cans of spray we could find. It was all in German but a wasp looks like a wasp on any can, American or German. I got home and sprayed the whole upstairs and now every little crawling thing is making it's way out of their hole and I'm finding dead spiders and bee's every where. I should have gotten that spray a long time ago.

The girls and I are still camping out in the guest room for the night, the smell of that spray is to strong for us to be up there sleeping. Allie and Brie are finding it pretty fun for all of us to be in one room. Actually Brienna slept better then she has in a long time. It's been my goal to not nurse her anymore, hopefully by the time Charles is home we'll be done. I have to go to Germany with him for 2 nights for board meetings and I'm not able to take her with me.

Charles will be home in 9 days. Aleia's bed time prayer tonight was that the Lord would keep her Daddy safe so that he could bring her a baby kitten named mittens home with him......the simple little prayers of children. I said don't you want to pray that you and sister sleep good tonight and that you obey Mama tomorrow, she said "No I just want a kitten".

MHR's Friday

It's not midnight yet on this side of the world so I've still got some time to post about how amazing my husband is.

Tonight I had an emergency, well actually it was a terrible day, one thing after another seemed to be happening.

Aleia didn't have pre-school today so I planned the day to be a down day for us other then getting ready and going to church....our Bible study night is on Friday night.

Not to get into everything that occurred today and only stay on the emergency part of the day, Aleia, Brienna and I decided to take a nap, well about 20 minutes into the nap, Brienna screams out this terrible cry, the one that any Mother would drop what they are doing to check. I picked her up immediately and there were two bee's in her crib. Each one stung her, one on the hand and one on her little chubby thigh. I couldn't tell at first if one had stung her in the mouth or the hand until I noticed her hand turned completely blue and ice cold.

As many of you would be, Stressed! What do I do, who do I call, why is Charles not here, is she allergic, will she react to the sting and how, where are these stupid bee's coming in at, gotta get dressed.....all these things rushed into my mind.

My heart went out for both of my girls, Brienna was in such pain and Aleia acted so grown up but you could tell she was very nervous, she got herself completely dressed and said "mama, I look pretty and I'm here to do whatever you need me to do", I was so stressed I told her "I just need you to go to your room" and now looking back on my reaction, tears flood my eyes because I know how worried she must have felt and how proud she also felt to have gotten herself all dressed up to help me. I love that kid, she has such a compassionate heart.

Called our church secretary and she called the hospital and a saint in our church who is a bee keeper. They are saying that the 21st district is infested with these certain wasp. So ok the district is infested but where in the world are they coming in at......I still don't know, I've plug every hole I can find in our room with toilet paper and tomorrow I have to call our land lord to see if he is able to fix the problem.

As of now the girls and I are camped out in the guest room and all the doors to the upstairs are closed. I just told Aleia we're making great memories that we can tell Daddy all about when he gets home. She wasn't sure about all of it and just said Mama ur so crazy!

I was finally able to reach Charles today, I told him about our ordeal and he was able to calm me down and helped me think more rationally about killing over 40 bee's in our room over the last few days. He gave me a step by step plan to follow. That is what I love about him so much is that he can always come up with a strategic plan to solve just about everything. When I over react about Brienna almost chocking on a hair bow, or when I find her on the counter top ready to put her hand in the toaster or when I can't find her at all and when I do, she is behind the curtain on the window ledge, or when she's just been stung by 2 bee's....Charles always seems to calm me down and helps me to think more clearly. You rock honey and I thank you for always having a plan.

......Brienna thankfully did not have a reaction to the bee stings, her finger and thigh are a bit red but no swelling. She cried for a little while but after about 30 minutes she was back to making messes and fighting with her sister. She really is a trooper, better known as T-REX, our little Rexie.

No more counting

For the past two days I've decided not to do the whole count down in my mind for when Charles finally arrives. Of course Aleia is still taking one loop off the chain she made for her count down, but I found the days lasting a little bit longer as I waited for the next day to be just one more day closer to when Charles would arrive back from America. If I don't know what day it is, it seems to go by a little quicker.....one day just runs into the next. For a Mothers job is never done!

I've stayed pretty busy actually, not much changes with our routine when Charles is gone or here. He travels often and we try to keep consistency with bed time, eating, errands, school, church and play time, to insure that the girls learn how to go with the flow with having a Daddy who is so high in demand.

I can tell that at this point in time, they are both very anxious for his arrival. I am so thankful for Skype, it has helped Brie Brie stay connected with Charles. He called on Skype yesterday and he taught her how to blow kisses, (now she blows kisses to everyone). Aleia was able to show him the picture she painted in school today and that brightened up his day.

Just a few things that have happened since he's been gone:
1. Was without a vehicle for 2 weeks-in the shop (took public)
2. Got the vehicle back (just in time for cold weather)
3. Brienna has a bad diaper rash
4. Killed 14 bee's in my room in one day
5. Drove to the post office to get a certified letter for Charles and they wouldn't give it to me
6. Friday it was 85 and today it snowed
7. Had lunch with a Natasha (a wonderful lady I met at Aleia's kindergarten)
8. Had a pedicure
9. Have not slept well since he's been gone
10. Found Brienna on the counter top in the kitchen
11. The fish have gotten bigger and oscar has turned a little more red
12. My internet was done for one whole day
13. Started drinking tons of water
14. Carried a heavy load from the church, while he's gone
15. Really have bonded with Aleia (we're best buds)
16. Took the girls to the library
17. Haven't cooked at ALL
18. Changed 7 poo poo diapers today
19. Had the young ladies over my house for Bible study and a sleep over
20. Missed Charles a lot

Wordless Wednesday

14 days to go......

Only 2 more weeks, and our Daddy will be home

15 more days....

More days to go then he's actually been gone. Counting down the days till we've got the man of the house finally home.

Before bed conversation with Aleia....and here is how it goes:

Me: Aleia where's your Sunday school paper
Aleia: I don't know Mama, I thought you know-d where it is
Me: No you were the one that brought it home
Aleia: Oh yeah! Brie Brie had it
Me: Oh yeah! always blame it on T-REX

So we finally find it and here how the rest of the story goes:
Me: Ok repeat after me
Aleia: Ok repeat after me
Me: UGH! Aleia not every word just your scripture, honey ok
Me: If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature
Aleia: a new preacher
Me: No Aleia a Creature
Aleia: A CREATURE
Me: hahahahahahhehehehehe oh my word Aleia you are so funny
Aleia: Why would Christ make men into Creatures
Me: Um well, yeah I think this scripture is a little to much for you, why don't we wait till Daddy gets home, lets just focus on "Children obey your parents for this is right"
Aleia: Yeah, Mom your cool

So this is how many of our conversations have been going as of late. Just before I turned her light out, I said honey when the Bible says a new creature it means a new person.....she says "well Mom then why doesn't it just say person". Aleia is our little thinker, full of personality and has one huge imagination.

16 more days....

Thirteen down Sixteen more to go till Charles arrives back home from the states.

Aleia, Brienna and I have been going along with our normal routine of life. Today was church and we had a wonderful service. Pastor Suppan preached on reaching the lost and he had each person stand that had been invited by someone in the church. Then he had each of them stand by the person who invited them and it almost consist of the whole church. It really was an amazing reality of how personal evangelism is the key to getting your friends, family and even strangers to come to church.

After service, I had promised the girls I would take them to McDonalds. Europe has the best McDonalds, you really would never catch me at a McDonalds in America other then maybe for their sausage, egg and cheese bisquit or for a LARGE sweet ice tea. Both girls were thrilled. I asked Brienna if she wanted Chicken nuggets and it was so cute she shook her head yes.

Now we're home, Aleia is playing with her horses and Brienna is napping. It's cold outside, I'm wrapped in a blanket and debating whether to do dishes, laundry or just snuggle up and pretend I have no responsibilities.

Aleia coloring a picture during church

17 more days...

Yesterday Aleia asked for her daddy about 20 times, she said "when is daddy coming home"? and I said I'm not sure why don't we go count and see how many more days we have.

So from today we've started a count down so that she can try to rationalize in her little mind that he is coming home.

17 more days.....the trick is that Daddy is bringing tons of surprises home so to her she says' She'll be fine for 17 more days.

Her list for Daddy:

1. Dive Barbie
2. Dolphin Barbie
3. Leap Frog game
4. Cool Boots
5. Cool Tights

If Brienna was old enough and had an understanding that Daddy always brings cool surprises home she'd have a list too, but I'm sure her list for now would consist of:

1. Tons of Kisses
2. Lots of Hugs
3 1 full hour of WRESTLE time

Wordless Wednesday

MHR's Friday

Just a little update on Charles, for one he rocks, I love him and miss him so much and we still have 25 more days until he returns back to Vienna from America.

Charles is a great Pastor and Evangelist who is always evolving and trying to make things more organized and better. He loves to train men and women in how to become wonderful Ministers.

He finds such joy in his two beautiful girls and is thankfully still happily in love with ME:-)

Charles has a nick name for almost everyone he knows.....he is easy to love and has a big heart, he gives and gives and keeps on giving.

He celebrated his Birthday in America yesterday and we weren't able to reach him until very late in the night and by that time Aleia and Brienna were already sleeping. Wish we could have been with him on his special day. Happy Belated Birthday to my sweet man.

We love and miss you.....Hurry Home!