Learning not to say NEVER...again??

In the course of 10 1/2 years of being a mom we have had a good number of pets marching through our home and they have varied from a beta fish, a rat, a toad, a snake and of course a dog. And from all those mentioned above there is one that I hated. I remember myself telling Josh "I'll never have another beta fish"
Well, the Lord has a way to teach me things in such a way, that finally it's getting through my hard skull that I should not say Never.
Let me explain.
Our little Matthew started to have some anxiety issues last year while we were in Alabama, and while we were a little worried about it we thought that it was just a phase because of "Kindergarten", and that it would go away at some point. Sometimes doubting that it even was anxiety I thought that he either just wanted attention or he was just being a little...well bratty.(nice mom ha?) Well, here we are almost 9 months later dealing with something that is very hard for me to understand. First because I'm a very practical person and second because I have never dealt with anxiety myself. Josh on the other hand having dealt with some serious anxiety/panic disorder issues almost 6 years ago knows first hand the feelings that my child describes that are so foreign to anybody that has not felt them before, has been the biggest help on how to help our sweet boy when he has an episode, which usually happens when he eats.
So in the process of learning how to distract him in a not so obvious way, we decided to listen to his plea to get him a fish. It occurred to us that if we placed it close to the table it may help to focus his attention somewhere else.
Here I am with an other beta fish and glad that it's serving (a little bit) its purpose...and having to clean the slime,poop,food full fish bowl it's not so bad after all.

The hot desert!

Almost two weeks ago we moved in. We arrived to Yuma Arizona where we had left all our belongings in storage almost two months ago. When we got to the office where we were going to sign the lease and get the house keys it was 9:00 am and already 102 degrees. At 1:30 Josh and the two guys he'd hired to help us move got to the house and started unloading our stuff but had to stop for several hours since one of the gentlemen got sick because of the heat, that at that point was 110 degrees in the shade... (Now these men work for a local agency and are used to the heat but they usually work very early in the morning). But the break was needed for my hubby since the only food he'd had was coffee and a muffin at 6:00 that morning when we left SD. Needless to say that they did't have time for the second trip and we didn't finish moving that day. But the next morning God gave us a cloudy and cooler morning, so that the kids and I could help Josh load the rest of our stuff.

At last we are settling down, with boxes still here and there but happy to be close to Josh's work. The kids are happy to have their toys, some of which they've not seen for over a year.

We also met our next door neighbors who seem to be very nice, happen to have 2 boys the same ages as ours, and were awaiting the arrival of our family since our landlord told them about us and our boys before we even got here. They also have a beautiful pool, which my kids already enjoyed a few evenings ago.

Now to find a new church family. I don't know how hard it'll be since there are no PCA churches in this city, and it wont be either New Life or Westminster...

Free is great!

Our great friend Stacey with whom we have been staying for the last month has been very gracious to us. All along we'd planned to stay with her for 3 weeks or so until we picked and rented a house to live in, but for many reasons, the biggest one being that most of the houses we looked at (and that would work for our family)were not ready to be rented until July first or so, (or they had been rented already) we are still at Stacey's house. That is until July 9th. Because July 10th we are moving into the house we rented.
And all of this to say that a few weeks ago when Stacey announced that she had to go the following week on a work related trip to Palm Springs, I was so relieved thinking that that was the perfect break for her, from being with us all this time and having my boys around with all their energy and boyishness.
And so thinking along those lines, boy was I surprised when she asked if the boys and I would like to come with and enjoy the cushy life of a fancy hotel. Needless to say that we were ON for the expense free mini-vacation.
The boys had a blast! From the breathtaking pools where they spent every minute except when they were eating or sleeping, to the games and characters from the Nickelodeon special they were having pool side at the hotel, to the visit with one of Matthew's best friends. And I...well...I got to eat, relax and also got to visit our great friend Zsuzsi (Sami's mom) and our friend Salam, enjoy a delicious Mediterranean meal, have a catch up conversation and enjoy seeing all of our kiddos playing together just like 8/9 years ago.
BTW I do feel a little bad that Stacey had get up early and go to work while we had all the fun =(

Oh...now I remember!

Yes, I remember the beach, the food, the beautiful SD weather, the outrageous amount of $ people pay for it, Oh wait.That's not a good thing ha? oops!
It's been a great thing to be back in SD, our family, our friends, our church, my brother's loving way of letting me know he loves me by punching my poor biceps every time he goes by when we're together... even the extra pounds I gained in just these past few weeks...well, actually not that. The truth is that we are being very spoiled by everybody and it's nice to know how loved we are.(Thanks Stace!) The down side is missing the people we left behind in both GA and AL (and some now in Missouri) along with the greenness everywhere...but not the humidity. (is greenness a word?)
We've been so busy visiting and getting together with everyone that I kind of neglected my blog and besides I don't think that all of you want to read my blog everyday.
Thanks for your best wishes to Matthew who had 4 separate celebrations for his B-day.
They also experienced their first strong earthquake and both of them totally freaked out. But it was also a good time to remind them that it is not us that are in control but God.
And now in Spanish...so my mom'll stop getting mad at me=}

Oh ya me acorde!
Las playas, la comida, el buen tiempo (perfecto diria yo)tipico de San Diego.
Es bonito estar de regreso en SD y poder disfrutar desde la compañia de nuestros familiares, amigos, Iglesia, estar cerca de mi hermano mayor y su peculiar manera de enseñarme que me quiere, al darme un puñetazo en mis pobres biceps cada que pasa junto a mi cuando estamos juntos =} hasta eso kilos que acabo de engordar desde que llegamos aqui. Bueno... tal vez eso no lo estoy disfrutando.
La verdad es que ha sido pradrisimo como todos nos han concentido desde que llegamos, especialmente a los niños, es muy bonito saber cuanto se nos quiere.
Lo unico triste es el haber dejado atras los amigos que conocimos en Georgia, Alabama y algunos en Missouri, y el paisaje tan hermoso que hay en ese lado de el pais. Lo unico que no extrañamos para nada es la humedad en el verano...(guacatelas)
Cambiando el tema,gracias por sus buenos deceos para Matthew quien tuvo 4 fiestas de cumpleaños...pobres de mi hijos se ve que nadie los quiere=D
Y hablando de ellos hace unos dias tuvieron su primera experiencia con un temblor...y los pobres estaban super asustados. Pero fue la oportunidad perfecta para recordarles es Dios quien esta en control.

Happy Birthday!!!!

Six years ago my little Matthew was born...

We are here!!

We had planned to leave Georgia last Monday but for many reasons we had to depart one day later, which gave us the opportunity to spend two wonderful nights and mornings with our (Canadian/Georgian)friends Coralie and Jonathan and their adorable kids, meaning that we were starting our trip in a great way!
We left Georgia Tuesday morning around 9:00 AM and got to San Diego Saturday around 7:00 PM. It was a great adventure for our whole family (that includes our pets of course) Our kiddos had a great time and so did we. We got the chance to make a few stops along the way. We got to stay in New Orleans, walk the French Quarter and eat some Awesome Jambalaya and Po Boys(sandwiches)at Mothers restaurant, and have the best coffee with chicory and beignets (French doughnuts) at the Cafe Du Monde, our hotel was very nice and our snake escaped during the night inside the moving truck!...it was found later on that day very stuck in the dash board but it only took two hours to get it out=D
Texas was BIG...and well... big! But by no means as boring as I had thought, the country side was beautiful throughout and the gradual change in the vegetation was amazing. We stopped in San Antonio (where the snake escaped in the hotel room and it only took 1/2 hour to find it this time)and in El Paso, and of course we had to eat Steak! But the highlight for the kids was the hotel waffles in the shape of TEXAS!!
Next on we stoped in New Mexico and visited a little town (pueblo style) and Matthew got the best souvenirs ever or so he thinks, a hat a revolver and a rifle.
Our last stop before SD was Yuma Arizona and also the place where we put all our belongings in storage, because we are going to live there, while Josh's job is in El Centro CA, (40 min from Yuma)
Thank you all for your prayers and best wishes, and sorry for taking soooo long to give an update, it's been a little crazy haha

Not bragging... Just sharing!!!

The 5th grade Regional Math Tournament took place yesterday and my 10 year old was a participant, as well as the chosen designer for the t-shirts for the competition. Each competitor had to come up with a design for their school team and it had to combine the subjects of "Literature and Math".
If you've been around my son for a while you may know that there are two things that from a very early age have been most important in his life; food and books. And as you can see his design captures his entire person. (I love that kid)
Anyway, as the time for the event approached I saw in my Josh's face that overwhelmed look that I used to get as a little girl when a million feelings got a hold of me. So with a "quick" (I might say lightening speed) hug he left to be with the other kids.
The way the tournament was set up was new for me. (there were 120 participants) They were taken away to a classroom where they took an individual written math test, then they took them out to the auditorium where all the parents and teachers were, split each school into teams of two and started an open competition with a huge wall projector and a big timer. The principal read the question out loud and the kids had to write their answer on a paper which was taken immediately by a teacher. The points they got were for speed and accuracy. It was nerve racking, but I loved every minute of it because each time the principal read the name of Josh's school with the answer and the "it is correct" or "it is not correct" Josh waited for the answer, then looked across the room to give me a smile or a thumbs up. It made me want to freeze time. I love being his mommy.
At the end of the day his team got two awards, the school won two awards as well, and Josh got 1st place out of all 120 students in the individual category.