Miachael-san the judo man

Steve and I decided that Michael needed some kind of physical sport/activity this year. I wish we had baseball or basketball here, but we don't so I had to think of something else. You are probably thinking, "duh, what about soccer!" Well, I thought long and hard about that, but I have heard some things that left me thinking that it would be close to impossible to find a team that would be a positive experience for him. I happened to remember seeing children in the video rental store wearing the karate style clothes and I knew they were the owner's children, so I stopped by and asked the owner where they take their kids for training. Turns out that it is judo class, not karate. The owner even told me to tell the people at the judo academy that he sent me and that I would give me a discount! Well, do I need more confirmation that this is from God???? I don't think so! I talked to Michael about it and he was really excited. I took him for a test-run and he LOVED it. So, Michael used some of the birthday money he got from his Papaw and Mamaw to buy judo clothes and we have made the judo academy our new hang-out from 6pm-7:20pm on most evenings! Maira doesn't want to take lessons, but she does some of the exercises on the bench as we wait. She wants to take ballet, but we'll have to find some place with a discount! Anyway, there are days that there are about 4-5 kids Michael's size, but the day I took the camera there were only big guys training. Michael's not intimidated though, and goes at it with all he's got! What is really great is the way the owner/trainer stresses respect and self-discipline, enforcing what we are teaching at home. There is a great spirit of encouragement during the training as well...when one of the guys is struggling with a certain exercise, the others tell him to "keep breathing", "you can do it", etc. Now, when it comes to the actual competition stage of judo, I'm not sure how this mommy will be able to watch!

A Unique Birthday Party

This is the most unique birthday party I have ever been to. I happened to get involved with this after a phone call on Thursday afternoon. A friend of mine asked me if I could help coordinate a program for about 200 kids on Sunday! I wanted to pretend that the phone suddenly went dead, but instead I agreed to help. These 200 kids are from a poor section of town and a man named Washington invites underpriviledged children to his house every year for his birthday. He gives them a wonderful lunch and someone always does a program for the kids. This friend of mine did hear me clearly state that a 2 day notice would not be sufficient in the future, but just this once I would try to throw something together. Another young lady in the mission helped me call around and we quickly formed a group of 8 who was willing to help. Turns out that there were only 120 children on Sunday (can you imagine only 120 children in YOUR house?) and there was another team that works with the kids every year that was there. Oh, yes...the ever present lack-of-communication strikes again. We quickly joined the two groups and combined both programs. They led the singing and then did a short skit. As it turns out, they were really struggling with what to do this year and they were happy that we showed up.

Our team had 4 stations for the kids to rotate through: story, craft, dance, and (the big distraction) the trampolines that Washington rented for the occasion! This is a picture of the craft station where the kids made a "God's eye" using the colors of the Wordless Book. I'm not sure why it is called a "God's eye", so I didn't even tell them that is what it is called. Most of them decided to use is as a ninja throwing object! Oh well....at least they got to hear the story of the Wordless Book!

Washington has been a Christian for only 2 years, yet he has done this for kids for at least 10 years. He owns a beauty salon here in town and saves money all year so that he can celebrate his birthday by giving a special day to these children. Humbling, isn't it?

Asas Family Conference

January 24-27, Asas de Socorro had their family conference. We had a wonderful time together with lectures in the mornings and free-time every afternoon and evening. There was a wonderful lady who took care of the children during the mornings and they had their own time of growth around the theme of Psalms 119:11. Even little Maira memorized the whole verse! The conference was in Caldas Novas, a hot spring town about 2 hours from Anápolis, so the afternoons and evenings were spent in the warm water pools chatting with everyone! Maira was still taking antibiotics and recovering from pneumonia, so I had to be firm with naptime and bedtime schedules. I was just so happy that we could go and the doctor gave me strict instructions to not let Maira play in the hot sun for very long, not to put her head under water in the pools, and not to let her go in the pools at night. Maira knew the rules and had no trouble with them. It was so fun to be able to relax and talk with the other missionaries in the mission during these days! So often we work together daily but we don't have the time to casually talk and just have fun! The speaker for the conference was excellent and challenged us individually and also as a mission. I was particularly challenged by the lecture he gave on not giving up on the dreams that God has given us and he used the story of Hannah as his reference. I have several dreams that I have not fulfilled, so I am praying for God to show me if these dreams are mine or His!

Pneumonia

We had an evental few days since Sat. night. Maira was hospitalized on Sunday, January 14 at 2am with pneumonia. Michael’s party had been Sat. afternoon and Maira was battling high fevers since Thurs. night. I took her to the doctor on Friday morning, but it looked like it was just a virus. After everyone went home on Sat. after the party, I decided that Maira needed to be looked at again. Her fevers (104 degrees) were not coming down well with motrin and she was suddenly crying about pain in her back. I called the doctor and she had me meet her at the emergency room. Even after the doctor looked Maira over again, she was still quite sure it was a virus. She said she was ordering an x-ray and blood-work just to be sure and to give her a direction as to her treatment. Well, the x-ray showed that she had serious pneumonia in one lung and sinositis. She was immediately hospitalized and given an antibiotic interviniously. She complained of pain and had a fever again at 6am on Sunday. She was hospitalized until Tuesday night at 8pm. The doctor released her because her overall status was very good (no fever, no pain, normal energy, normal breathing), but an x-ray on Tues morning showed little change in the lung. I picked up her x-rays today at the hospital and I will be taking her to a specialist today or tomorrow. She continues to appear well, besides some heavy coughing at times, but I want to double-check things. When I picked up the x-ray today, the technician remembered me and asked me how Maira was doing. I told him she was happy to be home. Well, he couldn’t believe that she had been released from the hospital! That is not very comforting to a mommy! However, we are very grateful for the details that God worked out that showes us His special care. A friend from church was working the night I took Maira in and it was so nice to have a familiar face and someone to help get us situated in the hospital. Maira asked for a banana at 3am on Sunday and I hadn’t brought any from home….but when they brought breakfast at 8am there was a banana for her! Little things like a banana helped me explain to Maira how God was taking care of her! I had told her that she and mommy would be staying at the hospital and that it would be like a hotel, just for us girls! We would have a bed to share, our own bathroom, a little sofa, and a closet! She accepted staying at the hospital just fine and the next day wanted to know where the pool was! Michael was a great big brother and brought her one of his favorite little beany babies to keep her company. He was so upset the first night though when I took Maira to the hospital…he was afraid she was dieing. I don’t know if Maira heard Michael saying this, but she turned to me that first night (after it took 3 attempts to get the IV in) and told me that her yellow bear was afraid she would die. I quickly took yellow bear in my arms and explained to him that we go to the hospital to get better, so he didn’t need to worry about Maira getting more sick or dieing. The few days I spent with Maira in the hospital made me think a lot about families who spend months with infants and children in hospitals who have little hope of recovery. We are so blessed with healthy children!

Pneumonia

Here's my amazingly good-natured little girl! "My First Leapster", crayons, and coloring books are wonderful inventions!

7 Years Old!

Yep! Michael turned 7 on January 7, 2007! We had a hamburger cookout for his party and it was a big success! The kids made really cool paper airplanes from a book I have that teaches all about making paper airplanes and spent most of the afternoon doing test flights with them! Michael got a pilot jumpsuit for his Birthday that I had made for him. He LOVED it! (Brazil is full of wonderful things...such as seamstresses that have amazing talent and who are wonderfully cheap!) I had a picture of one of the planes from the "Esquadrilha de Fumaça" (Brazilian version of the Blue Angels) printed on rice paper and put that on the cake. They each had name tags that told their name, rank, flight hours, type of pilot, and flight position in the "Esquadrilha". They thought that was really neat and lined themselves up in their positions...except for Maira who wanted to be beside her big brother for the picture!

Farm Fun

When we first moved to Brazil 8 years ago, we moved into a kind of doublex, only one house was on top of the other instead of being side-by-side. The couple that owned the dublex lived in the house on the first level and we rented the upstairs house. It was a wonderful arrangement since the couple was retired and around all day long. I had lots of opportunities to practice speaking Portuguese with them and I learned so much about the culture and how to cook Brazilian food! Their 2 sons became like brothers to us and they have loved and cared for our kids as if they were their own grandchildren. We moved out when Michael was just 1 1/2 years old (partly because this Brazilian grandmother wanted to spoil him rotten!), but we have maintained our relationship with them. They now live on a "chácara"...something like a small farm. They have chickens and cows and they plant corn, sugar cane, and various vegetables. They also have lots of mango trees, lemon trees, and guava trees! The kids love to visit them and always want to spend at least one night with them to soak up all of the spoiling rotten that "vovó" and "vovô" (grandma and grandpa) have to offer them! We went out for a visit last week and here are some pictures of the kids giving a bottle to a week old calf. We are always reminded of how God has given us friends that are like family here in Brazil! My cousin, Michelle, is in the process of making the decision to minister in another country. She will be leaving family and friends. Her 2 kids will not see their Grandmas and Grandpa as often. But to her and to others who have this calling, I want to assure you that God will provide a new family for you that will not replace the one at "home", but that will ease the pain of the separation!

Making Christmas trees from magazines

Brazilians are known for being resourceful....so how about a Christmas tree made from a magazine! A lady in the mission showed me how make this craft, so I got the rest of the ladies in the mission together to make these Christmas trees to decorate the tables for the Asas Christmas party! We had a great time talking and laughing as we made the trees and the tables turned out beautiful for the party! And it was cheap!!!!!!

The big surprise for memorizing Gal. 5:22-23

Steve challenged his 6-7 year old class to memorize Gal. 5:22-23, promising them a special surprise for each one that did it. Well, last weekend the 8 kids that memorized the verses received their surprise...a ride in the airplane! It was so much fun to see these kids electric with excitement about flying! I don't know how Steve will top this surprise the next time he challenges them to memorize a verse!

Happy days....

Grandma and Grandpa Reed came for a visit Nov. 15-28! What a fun time we had! Here are some of the high-lights...



We were actually at the beach for Thanksgiving, but that didn't stop Grandma from bringing Thanksgiving crafts to do with the kids before we went to the beach (and a book to explain all about the first Thanksgiving!). We had a traditional Thanksgiving meal when we got back from the beach! (Better that way since the bathing suits are put away!)

Showing off his tree-climbing skills to Grandma and Grandpa....

Pottery...

My mom had seen the picture of our field trip to the pottery place and quickly made her request to visit it when she came. We did, and she took home some souvenirs! And she actually got the pots back to the US without breaking them!

Steve's 6-7 year old class presents.....

The 6-7 year olds have been learning about the Fruits of the Spirit. To wrap-up the unit, Steve organized a little presentation that they did in front of the whole church. The great thing is that Grandma and Grandpa were here to see it, too! The class sang songs and recited Galations 5:22-23 and then several children recited other verses that mention specific Fruits of the Spirit. Michael recited one on self-control....I don't know who was more nervous, Michael or me! He did a perfect job and I was as proud as could be! Steve is over in the corner playing the guitar....can't see him, but I promise he was there! I was awfully proud of my hubby too! He did a great job of organizing the program and an even better job of teaching the class!

Beach Vacation with Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa wanted to see something other than Anápolis this time, so we went to a beach in northeast Brazil. Our condominium was simple and didn't even come with toilet paper (smile), but it was a block from the beach! That is what is really important! The name of the beach we stayed at is French Beach and it was spectacular! I have never seen such clear blue water! I'll let the pictures prove it and tell the rest of the story!

Getting to Maceió (the beach!)

The cheap flight was scheduled to leave at midnight, but due to problems in the Brazilian air traffic control system, we didn't leave until 3:30am. Here we are passed out on the floor in the airport. About 10 min. before this picture was taken the kids were climbing the walls...and then they gave up the fight! I just noticed what a dangerous position I was in! Yikes! I really was very, very tired!

Here fishy, fishy, fishy! Let me take a look at you!

Boogy boarding 101...

Grandma playing in the sand with the kiddos...

This is the boat that we took a little ride in to see some coral reefs and the critters that live in the coral reef!

Good times......

Those little monkeys were so cute...but they jumped on my chair at lunch time and wanted to eat my food! The waitress had to get a little bowl of juice to get them to leave my lunch alone!

When the tide goes out, there are little "pools" left behind that get nice and hot in the sun! Maira had to stop and lay down in each one as we walked on the beach!

A bit scary, but cute!

Baby Nicolas with Aunt Kris and his mommy...

Help!

Okay, I am clueless! All of a sudden the blogger won't upload images! Anybody out there know what to do????

The Baby who didn't wait for the baby shower

(I have pictures but the blog isn't putting them in for some reason tonight...I'll try again tomorrow!)

My friend Cathrim was pregnant and due around Dec. 10. On Nov. 14th, I had planned a baby shower for her. However, things did not go as planned. I had all the games ready and two cakes baked for the shower that was to start at 5:30pm. I was on my way out the door to go to the office and decorate for the shower at 4:30pm when the phone rang. It was Cathrim and she was panicing. She had "water" running down her leg and she didn't know what to do. (It is at this point that I ask myself why she called me and not her DOCTOR!) I calmed her down and told her that her water had broken and that she needed to call her doctor. I went to the office and asked one of the other ladies to call everyone and cancel the shower and I gave Cathrim a call. She was calmer, but told me she had nothing ready for the hospital and that her hubby wasn't home. I went right to her house and started packing a bag for the baby while she called the doctor and got her suitcase ready. Her hubby arrived about 15 minutes later and was bouncy with excitement! It really was something to see! Anyway, we took her to the hospital and I hung out in the waiting area to see what the dr. decided. Well, turns out they wanted her to stay. Cathrim and Cesar asked me to stick around, but at about 10pm they moved her to a room where nobody can stay with her and they told her husband and I to go home for the night. I left my cell phone with her because at this point they have told her that no men are allowed in the laboring room. There are 4 beds in the room and the ladies who are in active labor are put there until the time to push comes and then they go to the birthing room where only hospital staff is allowed. Since these ladies are rolling around in agony and with hospital gowns on, I can understand the no men rule. I am just so very thankful my kids were born at a maternity clinic where Steve was able to stay with me through everything (like it or not!) So, at 7am I got a call from Cathrim asking me to come to the hospital to help her through the labor. What a priviledge!!!! The poor husband had to sit in the hall and I would poke my head out from time to time to give updates. I know she thought I was crazy a few times when I would get all excited that the pains were worse and longer, but she later told me that my excitement helped her believe that she really was near the end of the labor. Nicolas was born at 10:30am, totally healthy even though he was 4 weeks early! I had the honor of taking Nicolas to meet his daddy...it was just so special!