Dear Daddy,

Dear Daddy,

I’m thrilled you came to see us over Spring Break. There’s something about how you light up around the kids that makes me so happy and so proud!





The trip to the lake was fantastic and breathtaking. The kids loved it, too, and Sam has continued to talk about how he liked having a “roommate” for the week. Did you know that Lake Atitlan was listed as one of the top ten destinations for 2011? (Google “Worlds Top Destinations 2011” and then check out the first article.)
Here’s my favorite quote from that CNN article: “Lake Atitlan is one of the most beautiful places in the world.” I’d agree, wouldn’t you? I know we couldn’t be extreme adventurists like you an Erik on the African Safari, but I think with two little ones we did alright. Sorry about all that vomiting in the car on the way there and back.



Not only did you help create an “M &M” monster, but you’ve also now created a Croc-monster. Ruth adores those shoes you got her. Also, her new word of the day is “Walkie Talkie” (no kidding) and she pretends like she’s really using it. Mostly she just shouts “Bubba! Bubba!” as she holds it up to her mouth. I know you saw for yourself, but she is a JOY! Her brother is an amazing gift, too!

(I couldn't find a picture of the crocs or walkie-talkies, but this was cute anyway.)

Ruth and I are so happy we can be with Mom in May and I’m praying that we are both a good help. I seriously think Ruth will bring just the smile Mom will need after such a difficult surgery. I know we mentioned it last week, but Mom has been seriously strong and amazing through all of this. What an inspiration!

Love you, Daddy. Hopefully you can come again…maybe sometime in November. What do you think? ;)
Love,
Meg

Spanglish

This afternoon Sam was playing with his blocks and proudly showed me a pattern he created in his block tower.
"Look, Mommy, my pattern! Blue, Gleen, Blue, Gleen."
"Great pattern! But are you saying 'Gleen?' You know how to pronounce 'Green.'"
"No, Mom, that's how they say it at my school."
Although my main motivation for sending Samuel to school is so that he learns some Spanish, his school prides itself in teaching English to their students. Unfortunately for us, it has caused a little confusion at home because the English is taught with a very pronounced accent. One day a few weeks ago, we had a big discussion that "Weensdayy" is an English word, NOT a Spanish word. He gets a little tripped up, I think, because he distinguishes the languages according to the pronunciation of the words...so when you pronounce English words with Spanish accentuation, he gets a little confused.
But what do I know, that's just a guess. He also told me recently that the teacher wants them to say: "May I go to the bathroom?" when they have to go so that they can practice their French.

Cutest Kids on the Block

Sam hasn’t been around much lately. Instead, our family has been hanging out intermittently with Floor, Zipper, Cold, and TV. On Friday, Samuel came home a bit sad because his friends and his teacher wouldn’t call him by his new name.
“You should just tell them your new name, then,” I suggested.
“I told them: ‘Me llamo Frío,’ but they just don’t listen.”
Ruth’s speech has exploded in just a few weeks time. (Sam reminded me tonight that “Ruth’s speech has exploded” is just a figure of speech. Ruth didn’t really explode, friends; she just has a lot of new words.) She is literally repeating everything she hears and it’s very endearing. She has even learned to repeat/tell a good knock-knock joke. Our favorite Ruthie knock-knock joke goes something like this:
Ruth: Knock-Knock
Us: Who’s there?
Ruth: Agua
Us: Agua, who?
Ruth: Agua Car!! And then lots of giggles. We’re pretty sure she came up with that herself.
She also has started to excitedly tell others about things she has experienced long after the event occurred. You should hear her talk about her vacation last week when Grandpa was here. It’s a beautiful mix of excited babble and words like “agua, boat, pool, Mommy, Daddy, Bubba, Papa, Ree.” (Ree is how she pronounces her own name and it’s starting to stick as a nickname.) This evening she excitedly told her Daddy all about visiting her friend Maddie in the afternoon. It went something like this: “Ree, Maddie, play, Maddie school Bubba.” Which is true, Maddie goes to school with Samuel.
When my Dad came to visit, he bought Ruth a brand new pair of knock-off Crock shoes in the market. She. Loves. Them. She cries when she has to take them off. She begs to have them in her bed with her. She wake up and asks for her “zapatos.” The girl loves her shoes.
And finally, Ruth is getting so big that this weekend was the “quit-the-paci-cold-turkey” weekend. It’s been a rough ride for everyone. But she is just so big.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good...
* I’ll go ahead and state the obvious first. I really like having a maid/nanny five days a week.
* I like the fact that my milk doesn’t expire until September. Ultra High Temperature pasteurization is cool. The only reason I can figure as to why you can’t buy milk like this in the US is because Americans think it’s creepy to buy warm milk on the shelf. It’s not (creepy, that is) and it sure does prevent the milk-going-bad problem.
* I like that my cookies come packaged within the package. At first I thought this was such a waste of packaging, but then I realized that when you live in a country where it rains six months out of the year, the extra packaging is necessary or things go stale fast. An added bonus is that it limits my cookie consumption at each sitting.
* I enjoy hanging my clothes on the clothes line to dry in the sun. There’s just something about it that feels so warm and good. Whenever we are back in the US, I want a clothes line in my backyard!
* I like sunshine and shorts in January.

The Bad...
* I’ll go ahead and state the obvious first. I miss my family and friends. While we’ve been SO blessed to have visitors while we’ve been here, not everyone can just come on down to Guatemala for the weekend, ya know?
* Skype is great, but it’s not always reliable.
* Have I mentioned before that the cobble-stoned streets are annoying? They are. Thanks to the cobblestones, our most recent car problem is that our “stabilizer” broke (whatever that is, but “stabilizing” sounds important…).
* I do not like the market experience. It’s crowded, dirty, and very anxiety-inducing for me, but necessary if we want to eat produce. I also don’t like Bodegona, which is the local answer to a grocery store. I’ve actually had day dreams about hugging the baskets and produce and groceries at HEB and then stretching my arms wide in the aisles just because I can.
* Sometimes it’s weird to have so much sunshine and shorts in January.

The Ugly...
* Ugly? I live in Antigua, Guatemala. There's really no such thing there.

Schoo, Schoo, Schoo

Yesterday Ruth and I dropped Sam off at school. As we were pulling away, Ruth keep saying, “Schoo, schoo, schoo.”
So I asked her, “Ruth, do you want to go to school?”
“Nooooo,” she said.
“Oh, you want to be with Leyda?” (Leyda is her babysitter every morning while I work.)
“Nooooo,” she said.
Feeling good about myself, I asked… “Oh, you want to be with Mommy??"
“Nooooo,” she said, not feeling so good about myself now.
“What is it that you want to do, Ruth?” I asked.
“PLAY!!!!”
I love it! Forever our simplest, greatest desire - just to play!