Yet another cute story

This story is from a couple days ago, but I thought it was really cute and worth sharing.
We used to have bunk beds in JoAnn's room along with a crib, which if we had normal sized rooms would not be a big deal at all. However, her room is pretty small, so with the bunk beds and the crib we only had about a two foot aisle that ran down the middle of her room. Over the weekend we got rid of the bunk beds and now there is a lot more space and JoAnn loves playing with all of the toys we moved from the living room to her room. So the other day Daniel and I were talking and she was playing in her room by herself for a while. A couple minutes after she came back in where we were Daniel looked at me and asked, "Did you put that on her?" I just stared at him blankly trying to figure out what he was talking about. Then I looked down. She had one of her Crocs on and it was on the wrong foot. Somehow, she must have found it and managed to put it on herself.


She was so excited about the fuss that Daniel and I were making over the fact she put her own shoe on that it took several attempts to get a picture where you could see her foot. I had to use the fan to distract her long enough to snap a picture.

This week we also started doing what Daniel refers to as the "Lunch Club" at the Arthur Center. Every weekday he is having someone cook up a big batch of food and if you need it, you can come eat. (I refer to it as a soup kitchen.) JoAnn and I went over on Monday which was the first day and I must admit it was a little surprising that the first 45 minutes or so of serving food we only saw about 15-20 people. I wasn't really discouraged, but more surprised. It usually seems like we have a lot more than that show up when we do other things and serve food. Then about an hour after we got home, Daniel got a text from our pastor saying that we ending up feeding 82 people. I guess after we left a bunch of kids came in and ate. I still am not sure how the amount of food we made fed that many people.

Yesterday, I was talking to one our friends who has a feeding program for kids in another area of town and since they got the food from the container, they decided to start a secondf eeding program in a village that is next to the one they work in now. I guess on the first day somewhere in the ballpark of 180 kids showed up wanting food. They weren't able to serve everyone that came, but what a blessing to be part of a program that is so needed. I think the craziest part about that feeding program is the lady they are getting to cook the food cooks over a fire. Can you imagine cooking for 180 kids over a fire pit?!

This Week in Review

I actually wrote this out yesterday, but when I went to add the pictures our internet went out again. Finally today it seems to be working...at least for the last couple hours.

On Sunday morning before church, Daniel left early to go pick up a friend from the US that was in town for a few days and was going to church with us. So, while Daniel was picking up Keith it was just JoAnn and I at home. That meant while I was getting ready, she was left to entertain herself for a few minutes. Right when I was ready to pick her up and walk out the door she came around the corner looking like this....


Somehow she managed to get into our dirty laundry and put my shirt on. I could not stop laughing and tried desperately to get the camera in time to take a picture. Then of course right after I snapped the picture the shirt got caught under her feet and Jo went flying. She managed to land right on her mouth and her tooth cut open her lip. It was the first time that she had any real blood from hurting herself and I was freaked out. All I kept thinking was, "Of course this would happen when Daniel was gone." Then after a few seconds I got my clear head back and was able to actually look at it and see that it was fine, she would just end up with a fat lip. So, I grabbed a piece of ice for her to suck on and headed out the door to meet up with Daniel and Keith.

A couple minutes after we got in the car Daniel said that he was going to take Keith to see Kirk play basketball and wanted to know if JoAnn and I would like to join them. I thought it would be so much fun to take JoAnn to her first basketball game. So that afternoon we all went to the game. JoAnn was really quiet the whole time, but loved playing with Keith and dancing to the drums.


Then on Monday, I took JoAnn with a few other women for her first shopping trip to Greenhills. It has been over a year since I had been and I love to go even if I don't buy anything. It is a huge indoor market where they sell everything from clothes to purses to shoes to pearls to whatever else you can think of. So, I dusted off the stroller and we went shopping. One of the big things that was everywhere were the Crocs. They had just about every style and color that you could think of, so when I saw the smallest cutest pink pair I couldn't resist. They are a little big still, but I think they are so cute. You wouldn't be able to tell from her face in the picture but she really likes them.

Last thing, I just have to do a little Man U promotion here...


Daniel thought it would be cute to put one of his soccer jerseys on JoAnn and I just liked the fact that it was from the all time best soccer team.

YEAH!!!!

Okay, so I am a little frustrated with the internet right now. There is something wrong with our service provider again and the only website we can access is Yahoo! I don't understand it and I am trying hard to be thankful that we have a computer and the internet at all. It is a little difficult to walk down the hall and have our neighbor's internet working perfect and still be happy, though. So, to sum it up I don't have any pictures to put up right now because I am borrowing a computer. I do have a couple cute stories that when our internet is working better I will put up. Let's just say JoAnn is getting cuter every day. The one thing I wanted to share my excitement about though, is that Daniel's parents are coming to visit! Well, that deserves a few more "!!!!!" I can't wait, it is sort of last minute, but as of right now they are coming in a few weeks to see the Arthur Center and help Daniel sort through all of his ideas about what to do with the food that was on the container. I seriously can't wait. I love the fact that JoAnn will be able to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa. I do wish it could be everyone that we miss coming to see us, but I will take what I can get and be utterly excited. So, hopefully you will hear more from me soon. (Please pray either for my patience or that the internet will get fixed, or better yet, both.)

Bathtime Fun

The other night Daniel was gone while I was trying to give JoAnn a bath and I decided to be a little adventurous. There seems to be no such thing as a bath tub in the Philippines (I know they are around, but other than at a hotel, I have only seen one). So with a toddler you have to get creative at times. I have an infant tub that we usually use, but JoAnn's knees are pretty much in her face when we use it now and I have also tried just giving her a shower, but she really likes to splash in the water and you just can't do that in a shower. My other option is a big round bucket that is usually used to handwash clothes. The reason why I say I decided to be adventurous is because I have used it once in the past to give JoAnn a bath and in the amount of time it took me to turn around to grab her towel, she managed to climb out of the tub, out of the shower and was throwing her toys in the toilet about to go in after them. So, with that in mind, with the exception of her diaper I got her ready and everything out before I even filled the tub. Well, the smart little girl that we have must have figured out it was bath time because I only had it half way full before, diaper and all, she managed to crawl inside the tub and start playing with her toys. I wish I could find something that she can't get in and out of so easily.

It has arrived

So, after our pastor went down to the docks to get the container yesterday we found out that even though he was able to get it released around 3 pm, the trucks aren't allowed to be on the roads until after 8 pm or something like that. I don't really have any idea why. Poor Better had to sit down there with basically nothing to do for almost five hours. But they left as soon as they were able to and made it back to us around 11 pm. Since it was so late, Daniel graciously let JoAnn and I stay at home and get some sleep while he and some other men unloaded the truck. I haven't seen all of it, but from what I have been able to see it seems like we will be able to feed many people with this food and we are so grateful for everything that God has provided for us. It is really amazing how much food can fit in one 20 foot container. Here are a few pictures from Daniel and the others unloading the truck last night.

Hopefully more will follow soon...

This could be a very exciting day today. Daniel has been working with his dad for a few months now trying to get a container of food that was donated from a food bank in the US over here. They were able to do a shipment of food last year. It was used by quite a few ministries here and has helped a lot of people. I know it is something a lot of people are looking forward to. The process took a long time last year once the container arrived in port. It was sitting at the docks for about 2 months while Daniel worked to try to get tax exemption. This year, Daniel has been able to be much better prepared now that he has had the experience. It arrived in port about 9 days ago and we thought we would be able to get it out on Friday, only to find Murphy's Law at work when the shipping company told us they couldn't release it even though customs had already processed it. Daniel has since then been trying to wait patiently and we've been praying that whatever the hold up with the shipping company would get resolved quickly and that everything inside the container would still be there when we pick it up since they had to open it in order for customs to inspect it.

We weren't sure how long it would take to clear everything up, but I received a call this morning saying it was time to come get it. So, hopefully I will be able to get some pictures of us unloading the container up tomorrow, but we will see. One of the things I remember about last year was that even after everything was done it still took two full days of someone going down to the docks early in the morning and not coming home until late at night before we were actually able to get it on a truck and out to where we were storing the food. On top of that, because of the traffic they left the docks at around 5:30 pm on the second day and didn't make it to us until about 11 pm. Then the unloading had to happen that night. So, I guess all this to say, please pray that we will actually get the container out today, that everything will still be there and that we will be able to get it done before it gets too late.

Just to make the post a little more appealing to the eyes here is a picture of our monkey of a daughter. She has figured out how to climb up everything it seems. She knows she isn't supposed to do it, but when I found her climbing after her toys that our Ate put up while she was cleaning I had to laugh and take a picture. This first picture is the way she always watches Ate while she is cleaning. It is so funny. JoAnn will follow her all over the house just watching her.

Long time...

Sorry for the long delay in putting up a new post. Our internet carrier had problems with their main tower for about three days. Then I haven't had a chance to get on the internet long enough to put up anything new. So thank you for not giving up on me.

Before our internet went out, I was reading an article on behavior patterns in toddlers and they said that around their first birthday they begin to throw tantrums. It mentioned something about frustration since they can understand much more than they can communicate. Well, up to that point JoAnn has thrown a few tantrums, but they were never really anything big. I know she can't read, but I am convinced that she knew exactly what the article was saying. Ever since I read it, she has been starting to do this high pitched scream/cry every time she doesn't get what she wants. I know every kid goes through this stage, I just think its ironic that hers started the exact day I read that article.

This morning I had to laugh at her, though. I was brushing my teeth after breakfast and like usual she just stared at me mesmerized. For some reason she loves watching us brush our teeth. So I did what I normally do. I took out her pretty pink toothbrush and her special grape flavored toothpaste and brushed her three teeth. Well this morning she was really loving it, so I took advantage of the situation and proceeded to brush every spot in her mouth that I could get the brush to reach. When there was nothing left for me to clean, I took the toothbrush, rinsed it and put it back in its holder. As soon as I got it out of her mouth, she started screaming and wouldn't stop for about 5 minutes. I think she might just be the only kid I have ever heard of to scream because I stopped brushing her teeth.

The only way I could get her to settle down afterwards was to take her to the kitchen and play with her "letters." For her birthday, I had my mom pick up the magnets that Leap Frog makes to help kids learn phonics. She loves the song that they sing when you press the letters. It was so cute because mid-scream I pressed the letter "P" and it started singing, "P" says p, "P" says p... It got about that far before she stopped screaming, looked at me and started dancing. I tried to capture her dance in a picture and this is about as good as I could get.

I know I am biased, but I just think she is so cute.