MOM and DAD





I find myself really missing my parents-again. Being a mother, myself-for 5 years now, has changed my outlook so much. Has gentled me so much in my judgement of my parents.-and changed my perception on things I thought they did wrong but realize now that they were just doing their best. I find myself thinking back to my childhood, now that Bella is older, and old enough now to remember what happens now, when she's older. My mom was so sweet. She did so much with us. The zoo, Greenfield village ( a wonderful fake old fashioned town park thing) Making every holiday incredible, always ready to fight our battles, I could go on and on. We were her whole life. She taught me how to read before I was in kindergarten.
Now that I'm teaching Bella the basics, I realize what a task that was. Now that I'm raising my children, I realize what a huge task that is, and how hard it is to be a parent. sure, my parents made mistakes. But everyone makes mistakes. I wish I had the wisdom then that I had now-to see the love behind all my mom's and dad's actions.
To see their actions in a different light-and not to view everything as negative or condemning. My mom is sick now, and worn down, and partly because of her service to me and my brothers. When we all were sick, she would still be going, taking care of all of us. She worked so hard-I wish that I didn't feel like it was too late to give her all the honor she deserves. If you are reading this, mom, dad, I love you and i'm grateful that you are my parents. Thank you for all your love.

I think there's been a consensus on the whole "stranger touching my baby, what should i do?" issue.
Judging from the comments, I think slapping is the winner.

I miss Alias

Party Time for baby Sunshine




party over

Stomach Flu strikes again

Baby Etiquette

I'm used to people cooing over my babies. I start to get on edge when they try to touch them. I get very edgy when they actually succeed at touching them. But I had a scary (to me) experiemce last night that puts me way past edgy. Nathan and I were just standing in downtown santa cruz and this girl I know at the mission came out of nowhere and put her hand on Abby's face then tried to KISS her. I jumped back about a foot in shock and fended her off with one hand. She's come up before and touched her cheek, and I hate it, but I haven't said anything. But last night really got me to thinking. We're down here to minister to a certain culture. And some of them live on the street-the girl that invaded my space lives in the woods in a tent. That's really scary to me. I don't like any stranger touching my kids, period, no matter who they are. But I definately don't want someone who lives in the woods and on the streets touching my kids. But I can't just leave Abby at home, either. So what do I do? Where do I draw the line? I am a huggy person, but I am very protective of my personal space, and Abby is solidly in my personal space. But where is the line drawn when it's ok to offend someone because I'm not comfortable? I need to put her in my other sling so she's closer-and I'm going to make big buttons-one that says "DON'T TOUCH MY BABY" and one for her that says "DON'T TOUCH ME"

Just for anyone who's curious-I went with the red. We bleached it first. I highly recommend bleaching your dreds (if you have them,and you're into cheating) it accelerates the maturity process at least 6 months. At least.

this week in pictures

hey everyone
please pray for Bella! She has ashthma. Poor girl has been coughing like crazy all week.

I got so caught up in remembering the funny name thing I forgot to mention just how small a world it is-French Chris lives RIGHT NEXT DOOR!
craziness.

My Little Ladies

Wow
It's a very, very small world
Nate was walking home last night from the coffeeshop, and he ran into an old student from the Land. There were two Chris's there at the time, so he was known as French Chris. The other Chris had long hair, so, our creativity was put to test and he ended up as, can you guess! Long hair Chris. I called for him once at the flat, to see if he had been sighted and the person who answered thought I was crazy. The whole time I've been a part of this ministry we've had a hilarious lack of creativity at naming things. The Land. The House. The Flat. The Big House. The Arcata House. The blue car. The red van. I love it.

I've never met a more creative, smart, talented, outstanding group of people as I've met in Prodigal Project. It's funny that we all share the simplicity in naming things and people.
We tried to name the houses in Arcata (we had three)-I think by the fruits of the spirit. I can't remember how quick that idea died.
I miss all of you so much it hurts. Remember the long rambling staff meetings we'd have in Arcata? Good times

a few items of interest from our week(s)
(borrowing this format from Rachel, thanks girl!)

1- So, in our burning desire to move back to santa cruz, we decided we'd move ANYWHERE, as long as we could get off that darn hill. For those of you who have been on that darn hill, it's no joke. We actually were calling it that freakin hill, til Bella started repeating us, then we quit. Anyways, we were looking in a section of town called the flats. The Santa Cruz ghetto. We didn't think anyplace else would rent to us, it was a quick walk to work for Nate, and we were getting desperate. Now, i'm from Michigan, and I've lived in Detroit, so any "ghetto" in santa cruz didn't seem very scary. I mean, c'mon, santa cruz. Well, one place we were looking at seemed promising, so i went to doublecheck it before we turned in the application. Nathan had gone to see it, but I hadn't. Well, the ad described it as a two bedroom apartment. It was two tiny rooms, a kitchen, and a tiny bathroom, no bathtub. For 1200 a month. When I asked the landlord why it was described as a two bedroom, she replied that most people used both rooms as bedrooms. Yeah, cuz they don't have a choice! Right outside the apartment was a very nice park. Unfortanately, it was chock full of drug dealers, as was a car parked right next to the apartment door. And to top it off, two nights ago there was a drive by shooting, right outside what would have been our apartment. Two people had to be airlifted to San Jose, their condition was so critical. Praise God we listened to Him and just waited for a better place!

2-And, we got one! We are in a real two bedroom, in Soquel, right on the border of santa cruz, and about a 5 minute drive to downtown. This place is also 1200 a month, and is in a beautiful area. I can go downtown at night and witness!
Nathan can walk to the bus stop, so I get the car, so i can go downtown during the day and witness! Life is sweet. I met a girl yesterday that is homeless and pregnant-very tweaked out, and i was able to buy her linch. I love feeding pregnant women.

3-We took the girls to the best park in the whole world last night. I swear, it's really the best ever. I was really surprised by one thing. Every single kid at that park was completely polite and sweet. Every single one. And they all loved baby Sunshine. I let a group of little girls hold her for a little bit. I've been rather preoccupied with the whole isssue of abortion again, mostly because of an encounter I had at coffee house. A girl that came found out she was pregnant, but she was 6 months along when she found out. Kinda of a shocker. The first thing she said to Ronee as she pointed to her belly was "I gotta get rid of this." I'm not sure if she has had an abortion or not, i'll find out next week, probably. That was weeks ago, and I'm still depressed. But I felt so much hope last night, from that group of kids. Their reaction was overwhelming. Every single kid I walked past exclaimed how cute she was (one girl said she was like a baby flower) and wanted to touch her in some way. And they all wanted a baby sister. It just melted my heart-their reverance for babies. I pray that that doesn't get sucked out of them by this evil twisted society we live in. I really need to start speaking out again against abortion. I still have a bunch of pamplets and things I wrote at the land, and testimonies from girls who came through the Land that had had an abortion. I need to start passing them out and distributing them again.

I feel energized again to do all the things I feel called to. What a difference it makes, not living on top of that darn hill!

This week in pictures

Oh my goodness-I'M SO DISCOURAGED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it's seeming more and more impossible that we'll EVER get to move.
Please pray for us-this town is impossible.

All my life i've dreamed of being a mother. Gently guiding, encouraging and leading my children through their life. Teaching, coddling and consoling my daughters. Watching them grow up and serve God. Having them mature into friends.

One thing that wasn't even in my wildest dreams, however, was having to clean up after my 2 year old after she decided to fingerpaint on the wall and on her bed with the contents of a VERY dirty diaper.

Thank God for bleach, bathtubs and soap.

First outfit
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Granmie picture fix

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best friends #?
over a year ago