 |
| She would prefer to look like this in every picture :) |
Keeping up with our family and our everyday little adventures!
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Easter Dresses
I couldn't pass up the 70 degree weather to shoot some photos of the girls in their Easter dresses, since they will more than likely have sweaters and tights on actual Easter day since it's supposed to cool down!
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Decorating Easter Eggs
We decorated our Easter eggs for the year. I got a kit that you sponge paint the eggs and the spinning machine that we have used at Auntie Amanda's house before. I think next year, I'll just stick with the dipping of eggs in the colored water because this ended up being super messy...and the girls didn't really care about either of them.
We did these on Friday and only have 3 eggs left now (Sunday)...I guess our family loves hard boiled eggs, but yet I hardly ever make them!
Here are a few random pictures of the girls from earlier in the week.
I took Easter pictures of Case, and Aubrey wanted her picture taken in the Bumbo seat too! Haha! I can't believe she still fits in it!
New Aubrey development! She actually peed on the potty tonight...now let's hope this trend continues!!!
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
New Adventure
Our family has a BIG announcement!
We are praying for a boy this time around, but of course will be happy with a healthy baby, no matter the gender! The girls don't really have a clue, and I don't think they will until I actually look pregnant, and even still I don't think Aubrey will grasp it until the baby comes. This will be the LAST Andreae baby for sure! My first doctor appointment was last week. We got to hear the heartbeat and do an ultrasound to confirm my due date, which is September 18th, 2015 (my sister's birthday and a day before Kristen's birthday). Everything looked good and healthy, and we should find out the gender toward the end of April.
Here is how we announced it to our parents and siblings...we sent them these in the mail.
Each box had an egg to open...
With special instructions...
And, inside each egg...
We can't wait to see the adventures baby #3 will add to our lives! It's going to be a wild ride for sure!
Monday, March 16, 2015
Nicaragua Mission Trip Experience
Finally have the time (or finally feel like I can digest all of this into a post) to sit down and write about my experience in Nicaragua. It is an absolutely gorgeous day in Terre Haute today and I'm writing this, sitting outside in the warm, 65 degree sunshine! Tomorrow the temperature will drop again, but at least we can pretend it's summer for a day.
Before going to Nicaragua, I was anxious and nervous. It wasn't because I was nervous about Bobby having the girls...I knew they would all be good, plus it's not like it was going to be that difficult for him since he had his mom come down the entire week to assist him. I think all the prep meetings about not being able flush toilet paper, or some places not having toilet paper at all; how "scary/dangerous" the oriental market was (where we would spend most of our time); just traveling (which never makes me anxious); all the medications to take 'just in case' since I hardly ever take medicine and felt like I was buying the entire pharmacy since we rarely have anything in the house other than allergy medicine or kids' tylenol/motrin; getting sick in a strange place; or just nervous about the reason/piece of the puzzle I would be with our team.
I never had to use any of my own toilet paper (more on toilets later). I never had to use any of my medications. I never got sick other than some motion sickness (which never happens to me either). The travel went super smooth and better than any of us expected. As soon as I stepped into the Oriental Market, I didn't feel scared or feel like it was dangerous at all.
The first day we arrived, we spent unpacking...we had 13 - 50 pound duffles of presents, school supplies, decorations, peanut butter, etc...A TON of stuff! Plus, we had to get our food organized and sorted for the next three mornings of food deliveries. Even though we had a lot of stuff to prepare, it was nice to be at the Quinta (our living quarters for the week) and just sit on the porch and have devotions, eat dinner, and get prepared. The Quinta is super peaceful and I very much felt like I was at church camp the entire week. I stayed in a room with 3 other girls, where we slept in bunk beds and shared a bathroom. The Quinta has amazing food, amazing staff and beautiful, tropical grounds. It's just the perfect place to come back to after a long day of mission work. It felt sort of like an oasis in the middle of the poverty we saw.
We had 130 good bags to distribute while we were in Nicaragua, which we completed in 3 mornings/half days. Each bag weighed 20 pounds maybe, but felt heavier the farther you had to walk with it. Each bag had rice, beans, oil, salt, oatmeal, cookies, toilet paper, body soap and laundry soap, and a few other things I can't recall. One bag would last a family about 10 days, which was a huge blessing since they typically buy food on a daily basis dependant on how much money they earned for that day. The money for these food bags was actually raised by the kids at our church at Adventure Week last summer. The team going in June/July will use the rest of the money for more food distribution bags.
The first food distribution was actually in the heart of the Oriental Market, also serving the people of the TAV church/school that MCC (our church) has partnered with. Again, remember me saying how we were warned that it was a dangerous place...one of the highest crime rates in the world. However, when we arrived, I have to admit that I was not shocked by what I saw and actually felt like I was in a familiar place. It is a market with shops every couple of feet with 'homes' mixed in. The streets are usually unpaved. It reminded me very much of Tijuana, Mexico. We were never alone in the market, always with a representative from the church and a translator when doing the food distributions. The church member would show us the way to the homes we would deliver, then once inside their homes...think dirt floors, corrugated metal siding or concrete for walls/roofs, people and animals all living in the same spot...we would hand them the food bag and learn a little about their family with the help of the translators, then pray with them 'Nica-style.' Nica-style praying is when everyone stands in a circle holding hands and all pray outloud in your own language. Although these people have so little compared to U.S. standards, they were always so appreciative and praising God for blessing them, which I feel is a little different than the US culture. From my job, here at home, you sometimes see those that would be considered on a comparable level of poverty in the US, more feeling entitled to certain things vs. praying/thanking God for all that they have, no matter how little. The most people I saw living in one household was 24 people, most of them children. In the market, we never really saw their 'living quarters' so I'm not sure where they all sleep but I imagine several sleep in the same bed. The culture in the market is one that men are not really present for their families. They basically start a family, then move onto the next woman, etc. It's a vicious cycle that hopefully the church/school, TAV, can start to reverse this cycle by showing the boys of this area strong, male examples and the responsibility/respect that should be present in their lives for when they are leading a family.
The other two food distributions were at 2 different church plants of TAV (there are 27 church plants from the central TAV church). These areas I would consider more suburban vs the market that was definitely more urban. These 2 other areas appeared more family-friendly with much less traffic and chaos happening in the market. You could see kids playing in the streets, where the market that was very rare because the streets are so unsafe in the market due to all the traffic and crime. Although,these homes appeared slightly more 'homey,' in the sense of their furnishings and buildings, the poverty is still apparent. Surprisingly, the culture of the husbands seemed different compared to the market. The husbands were typically more involved as the providers for their family or at least the wives reported they were out working, plus we saw more husbands while doing these food distributions.
We had one "free" day where as a group, we took the group of sponsor children that our group personally sponsored on an outing for the day. This particular day, we headed to Monkey Island. I envisioned an island that we took a boat to, got off, and there were tons of little monkeys running around. However, that's not quite how it went. We took a beautiful, scenic boat ride through Lake Nicaragua where there are tons of small rock islands with houses, hotels, etc. Our tour guide would explain the different places along the way, then we arrived to Monkey Island. It was an island about the size of our dining room with some trees and 4 or 5 larger monkeys that live there. You just ride the boat up to the island, watch the monkeys for a bit or feed them, then head back by boat through the lake. It wasn't what any of us were expecting, but it was a treat for these kids that some had never even been outside of the market. After the boat ride, we took the kids to a restaurant that had a huge indoor playplace and was a combination of Pizza Hut and an Applebee's-type menu. It was fun to see our team members that sponsor a child and their child interact. It was such a special day for the kids.
The rest of our time was spent at the school/church. It was the first week of school, so we did not have a ton of interaction with the kids so that we didn't interrupt the craziness of their first week, but were able to play with them at recess some, which because of being in the market, there is only a concrete area for the kids to play. Another difference between the kids there and my kids was that most of them only had their school shoes (leather loafer type shoes) and no tennis shoes to play in. So they play, walk, run, do everything with the single pair of shoes they own. I believe all the children are issued a uniform and then they can also buy a 'gym' outfit, but it was apparent that many were wearing their same ones from 1-2 years back because they were definitely a couple sizes too small. Just think about how much we spend on our kids' back-to-school clothing and I know my girls have way too many shoes, as well as clothes.
At the school, we had a construction team and a teacher-support team. The construction team was in charge of tearing down walls, chipping up tile, and repainting.
The teacher support team 'laminated' posters for the librarian (using packing tape), hand wrote flash cards, hand wrote 130 front/back worksheets for the 2nd/3rd grade classes. In our training, we were prepped about how we as Americans like to have things done efficiently/quickly, and in Nicaragua, it will be quite different. For instance, in America, our teachers would never dare handwrite worksheets...that's what copiers are for. However, even if TAV had a copier, they would need someone to also sponsor the paper, toner, maintenance, etc in order to keep it running because they just don't have the funds to support a copier. For the construction team, sometimes work moved slowly because they didn't have all the supplies needed to continue on with their job. Although, helping with the librarian sometimes felt as though we were doing very little, she was always so appreciative and said that the stack of laminating we did for her would have taken her the entire year to do on her own.
While there, I felt like I wasn't making much of an impact or what I was doing was so small/insignificant, but in reality, that small task of putting some tape on posters or writing out worksheets is helping the librarian/teachers spend more of their time/attention with the kids or completing other important projects to help the children learn. For the construction team, those little preschoolers/1st graders will now have a safe room to learn in. I have to remember that in order to make an impact for God's kingdom, it is not measured by how big of an act or the amount of money, something small can be just as important as something big. This was the first February trip for MCC to Nicaragua as they have gone in the summer the last few times; however, this solidified for the Pastor of TAV the commitment that MCC has for TAV school/church. You could tell that a lifelong relationship has been formed between MCC and TAV and that 2 churches really did become one.
On the last day, probably my most memorable day, we decorated for a teacher's Valentine's Day party. We decorated the church area, where we hosted a catered dinner with games and fun to show appreciation to the teachers and just a fun way to kick-off the beginning of their new school year. I was in charge of the decorations, which is right up my alley! The teachers truly enjoyed themselves and everyone had a great time. It was a perfect ending to the trip.
I think most of all, this trip allowed me lots of time for self-reflection, which was needed. Although I've been a Christian my entire life, it's easy to fall into the same routine all the time, and just go to church on Sunday and maybe a class or small group another day of the week, but it's easy to lose sight of the importance of the daily time to set aside and read the Bible, pray, and just listen to God so that we can follow the path he is leading us on.
We had a great team of 12 and I wouldn't have changed a single person from the trip. It made our huge church seem so small once again, but made God's kingdom was made so incredibly large.
Thank to you to everyone that supported me on this trip financially, with prayers, and words of encouragement. It is truly appreciated and with your assistance and prayers, you were able to move people both in the US and Nicaragua, one step closer to Christ!
As Pastor Belcer (TAV) says, "For Jesus!"
(all pictures courtesy of Kathy McCloy)
Some things I forgot...
Toilets:
Because of Nicaragua's poor sewer system, you are not to flush toilet paper in any of the toilets, so instead you throw it away in the trash. In the church/school, they do not have flushing toilets, instead after you go to the bathroom, you fill up a bowl of water in the sink and pour it into the toilet bowl and gravity assists with the flushing. We had running water at the school/church the entire time except the last day and there was definitely an odor whenever you were near the central sewer pipe in the building. Some of the homes we visited had literally a hole in the ground and that's where you would do your business. Upgrading the schools bathrooms will be the next big project we will be striving to raise money for regarding TAV in Nicaragua.
Before going to Nicaragua, I was anxious and nervous. It wasn't because I was nervous about Bobby having the girls...I knew they would all be good, plus it's not like it was going to be that difficult for him since he had his mom come down the entire week to assist him. I think all the prep meetings about not being able flush toilet paper, or some places not having toilet paper at all; how "scary/dangerous" the oriental market was (where we would spend most of our time); just traveling (which never makes me anxious); all the medications to take 'just in case' since I hardly ever take medicine and felt like I was buying the entire pharmacy since we rarely have anything in the house other than allergy medicine or kids' tylenol/motrin; getting sick in a strange place; or just nervous about the reason/piece of the puzzle I would be with our team.
I never had to use any of my own toilet paper (more on toilets later). I never had to use any of my medications. I never got sick other than some motion sickness (which never happens to me either). The travel went super smooth and better than any of us expected. As soon as I stepped into the Oriental Market, I didn't feel scared or feel like it was dangerous at all.
The first day we arrived, we spent unpacking...we had 13 - 50 pound duffles of presents, school supplies, decorations, peanut butter, etc...A TON of stuff! Plus, we had to get our food organized and sorted for the next three mornings of food deliveries. Even though we had a lot of stuff to prepare, it was nice to be at the Quinta (our living quarters for the week) and just sit on the porch and have devotions, eat dinner, and get prepared. The Quinta is super peaceful and I very much felt like I was at church camp the entire week. I stayed in a room with 3 other girls, where we slept in bunk beds and shared a bathroom. The Quinta has amazing food, amazing staff and beautiful, tropical grounds. It's just the perfect place to come back to after a long day of mission work. It felt sort of like an oasis in the middle of the poverty we saw.
We had 130 good bags to distribute while we were in Nicaragua, which we completed in 3 mornings/half days. Each bag weighed 20 pounds maybe, but felt heavier the farther you had to walk with it. Each bag had rice, beans, oil, salt, oatmeal, cookies, toilet paper, body soap and laundry soap, and a few other things I can't recall. One bag would last a family about 10 days, which was a huge blessing since they typically buy food on a daily basis dependant on how much money they earned for that day. The money for these food bags was actually raised by the kids at our church at Adventure Week last summer. The team going in June/July will use the rest of the money for more food distribution bags.
The first food distribution was actually in the heart of the Oriental Market, also serving the people of the TAV church/school that MCC (our church) has partnered with. Again, remember me saying how we were warned that it was a dangerous place...one of the highest crime rates in the world. However, when we arrived, I have to admit that I was not shocked by what I saw and actually felt like I was in a familiar place. It is a market with shops every couple of feet with 'homes' mixed in. The streets are usually unpaved. It reminded me very much of Tijuana, Mexico. We were never alone in the market, always with a representative from the church and a translator when doing the food distributions. The church member would show us the way to the homes we would deliver, then once inside their homes...think dirt floors, corrugated metal siding or concrete for walls/roofs, people and animals all living in the same spot...we would hand them the food bag and learn a little about their family with the help of the translators, then pray with them 'Nica-style.' Nica-style praying is when everyone stands in a circle holding hands and all pray outloud in your own language. Although these people have so little compared to U.S. standards, they were always so appreciative and praising God for blessing them, which I feel is a little different than the US culture. From my job, here at home, you sometimes see those that would be considered on a comparable level of poverty in the US, more feeling entitled to certain things vs. praying/thanking God for all that they have, no matter how little. The most people I saw living in one household was 24 people, most of them children. In the market, we never really saw their 'living quarters' so I'm not sure where they all sleep but I imagine several sleep in the same bed. The culture in the market is one that men are not really present for their families. They basically start a family, then move onto the next woman, etc. It's a vicious cycle that hopefully the church/school, TAV, can start to reverse this cycle by showing the boys of this area strong, male examples and the responsibility/respect that should be present in their lives for when they are leading a family.
The other two food distributions were at 2 different church plants of TAV (there are 27 church plants from the central TAV church). These areas I would consider more suburban vs the market that was definitely more urban. These 2 other areas appeared more family-friendly with much less traffic and chaos happening in the market. You could see kids playing in the streets, where the market that was very rare because the streets are so unsafe in the market due to all the traffic and crime. Although,these homes appeared slightly more 'homey,' in the sense of their furnishings and buildings, the poverty is still apparent. Surprisingly, the culture of the husbands seemed different compared to the market. The husbands were typically more involved as the providers for their family or at least the wives reported they were out working, plus we saw more husbands while doing these food distributions.
We had one "free" day where as a group, we took the group of sponsor children that our group personally sponsored on an outing for the day. This particular day, we headed to Monkey Island. I envisioned an island that we took a boat to, got off, and there were tons of little monkeys running around. However, that's not quite how it went. We took a beautiful, scenic boat ride through Lake Nicaragua where there are tons of small rock islands with houses, hotels, etc. Our tour guide would explain the different places along the way, then we arrived to Monkey Island. It was an island about the size of our dining room with some trees and 4 or 5 larger monkeys that live there. You just ride the boat up to the island, watch the monkeys for a bit or feed them, then head back by boat through the lake. It wasn't what any of us were expecting, but it was a treat for these kids that some had never even been outside of the market. After the boat ride, we took the kids to a restaurant that had a huge indoor playplace and was a combination of Pizza Hut and an Applebee's-type menu. It was fun to see our team members that sponsor a child and their child interact. It was such a special day for the kids.
The rest of our time was spent at the school/church. It was the first week of school, so we did not have a ton of interaction with the kids so that we didn't interrupt the craziness of their first week, but were able to play with them at recess some, which because of being in the market, there is only a concrete area for the kids to play. Another difference between the kids there and my kids was that most of them only had their school shoes (leather loafer type shoes) and no tennis shoes to play in. So they play, walk, run, do everything with the single pair of shoes they own. I believe all the children are issued a uniform and then they can also buy a 'gym' outfit, but it was apparent that many were wearing their same ones from 1-2 years back because they were definitely a couple sizes too small. Just think about how much we spend on our kids' back-to-school clothing and I know my girls have way too many shoes, as well as clothes.
At the school, we had a construction team and a teacher-support team. The construction team was in charge of tearing down walls, chipping up tile, and repainting.
 |
| This is before demolition...where the preschool and first-graders study |
While there, I felt like I wasn't making much of an impact or what I was doing was so small/insignificant, but in reality, that small task of putting some tape on posters or writing out worksheets is helping the librarian/teachers spend more of their time/attention with the kids or completing other important projects to help the children learn. For the construction team, those little preschoolers/1st graders will now have a safe room to learn in. I have to remember that in order to make an impact for God's kingdom, it is not measured by how big of an act or the amount of money, something small can be just as important as something big. This was the first February trip for MCC to Nicaragua as they have gone in the summer the last few times; however, this solidified for the Pastor of TAV the commitment that MCC has for TAV school/church. You could tell that a lifelong relationship has been formed between MCC and TAV and that 2 churches really did become one.
On the last day, probably my most memorable day, we decorated for a teacher's Valentine's Day party. We decorated the church area, where we hosted a catered dinner with games and fun to show appreciation to the teachers and just a fun way to kick-off the beginning of their new school year. I was in charge of the decorations, which is right up my alley! The teachers truly enjoyed themselves and everyone had a great time. It was a perfect ending to the trip.
I think most of all, this trip allowed me lots of time for self-reflection, which was needed. Although I've been a Christian my entire life, it's easy to fall into the same routine all the time, and just go to church on Sunday and maybe a class or small group another day of the week, but it's easy to lose sight of the importance of the daily time to set aside and read the Bible, pray, and just listen to God so that we can follow the path he is leading us on.
We had a great team of 12 and I wouldn't have changed a single person from the trip. It made our huge church seem so small once again, but made God's kingdom was made so incredibly large.
Thank to you to everyone that supported me on this trip financially, with prayers, and words of encouragement. It is truly appreciated and with your assistance and prayers, you were able to move people both in the US and Nicaragua, one step closer to Christ!
As Pastor Belcer (TAV) says, "For Jesus!"
(all pictures courtesy of Kathy McCloy)
Some things I forgot...
Toilets:
Because of Nicaragua's poor sewer system, you are not to flush toilet paper in any of the toilets, so instead you throw it away in the trash. In the church/school, they do not have flushing toilets, instead after you go to the bathroom, you fill up a bowl of water in the sink and pour it into the toilet bowl and gravity assists with the flushing. We had running water at the school/church the entire time except the last day and there was definitely an odor whenever you were near the central sewer pipe in the building. Some of the homes we visited had literally a hole in the ground and that's where you would do your business. Upgrading the schools bathrooms will be the next big project we will be striving to raise money for regarding TAV in Nicaragua.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Stepping Away From Facebook
We are doing a new series in church, starting this Sunday. It follows along with a daily devotional book, called Vertical with Jesus. Each day starts out with a verse, followed with a devotion, then followed by several action steps and how to pray for that specific day. In addition, I have been doing a c-class at church on Thursday nights with some women of the church which is following a series called The Life Ready Woman. Then along with both of those, my return from Nicaragua (which I haven't quite figured out how I want to write about my experience, but will eventually) have all convicted me to give up Facebook (at least for now).
I feel like I haven't posted or shared as many photos as I used to on Facebook, so in a way, I've been taking a step back (somewhat) from it. I feel like I am spending too much time scrolling through useless news feed to keep up with what other people are doing or what new items certain boutiques are selling, etc. I found that in Nicaragua where I had rarely any contact with the outside world via technology, I didn't really miss it that much. I was more focused on my mission in Nicaragua and spending time with God and people that mattered at the moment/time. I wasn't "bored" and just decided to pull up my Facebook because I "didn't have anything better to do." One, I couldn't, and two, what did it matter?
I have realized recently, after doing the daily devotions or going through the workbook in my c-class that Facebook kept popping up in my head as a time waster! I'm not being productive in my household or spending enough time with my girls or on my marriage. Instead of checking my Facebook page a million times and seeing the same thing over and over again, I should be spending that time praying, listening to God, playing with my girls, spending time with my husband (undivided attention), or taking care of myself by making time to go to the gym, etc.
So, not because of the Lenten season or because Bobby thinks it's a GREAT idea (which I'm sure he does because he gets on my case about it OFTEN), but because I want to make a purposeful choice to do the things or focus on the things I have written above. I will still keep up with my photography page, but no longer my personal page for an undefined amount of time, it could be a month, a year, forever...that I don't really know at this time. I would deactivate it, but that prevents me from keeping up with anyone that may contact me on my photography side of Facebook and at this time I don't feel the need to give that up.
I will keep blogging, which I have been REALLY bad about, but my blog I feel highlights the moments that I want to keep track of since this is basically my kids' 'baby book.' So feel free to follow me on here, if you'd like to keep up with what the girls are doing and how they are growing as I will always continue to update this when I can. Also, you can always text me, call me, or email me! :)
I know this will be a good change, but also a temptation that I will need to conquer with God's help since I feel like I use Facebook way too much and in a way is sort of (or is) an addiction!
I feel like I haven't posted or shared as many photos as I used to on Facebook, so in a way, I've been taking a step back (somewhat) from it. I feel like I am spending too much time scrolling through useless news feed to keep up with what other people are doing or what new items certain boutiques are selling, etc. I found that in Nicaragua where I had rarely any contact with the outside world via technology, I didn't really miss it that much. I was more focused on my mission in Nicaragua and spending time with God and people that mattered at the moment/time. I wasn't "bored" and just decided to pull up my Facebook because I "didn't have anything better to do." One, I couldn't, and two, what did it matter?
I have realized recently, after doing the daily devotions or going through the workbook in my c-class that Facebook kept popping up in my head as a time waster! I'm not being productive in my household or spending enough time with my girls or on my marriage. Instead of checking my Facebook page a million times and seeing the same thing over and over again, I should be spending that time praying, listening to God, playing with my girls, spending time with my husband (undivided attention), or taking care of myself by making time to go to the gym, etc.
So, not because of the Lenten season or because Bobby thinks it's a GREAT idea (which I'm sure he does because he gets on my case about it OFTEN), but because I want to make a purposeful choice to do the things or focus on the things I have written above. I will still keep up with my photography page, but no longer my personal page for an undefined amount of time, it could be a month, a year, forever...that I don't really know at this time. I would deactivate it, but that prevents me from keeping up with anyone that may contact me on my photography side of Facebook and at this time I don't feel the need to give that up.
I will keep blogging, which I have been REALLY bad about, but my blog I feel highlights the moments that I want to keep track of since this is basically my kids' 'baby book.' So feel free to follow me on here, if you'd like to keep up with what the girls are doing and how they are growing as I will always continue to update this when I can. Also, you can always text me, call me, or email me! :)
I know this will be a good change, but also a temptation that I will need to conquer with God's help since I feel like I use Facebook way too much and in a way is sort of (or is) an addiction!
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