finally ...

really now, how long has it been? i am afraid that i've lost many readers ... so this better be good, huh?

well, we got our computer back - THANK YOU DAMIEN! you are our computer MASTER! actually, it is a new refurbished one. we no longer have to run ours in 'safe mode' (which we were doing for about 4 years.) i can't believe how fast it is. all this to say, that i should be able to keep you updated more efficiently.

the kids are doing well in school. lexi has really adjusted well. she was the one i worried about the most. she has made many friends. she seems to have been very smart about her selections. we'll see. she starts trumpet tomorrow. she is so excited.

jackson, well, he loves school but doesn't like the decrease in playtime at home. a battle i am sure we'll be fighting awhile. he is doing very well academically. and really enjoys his class.

tony is doing extremely well. he loves going to school and gets more and more excited everyday. he is 'star of the week' this week. he had to make a picture timeline and tell what he wanted to be when he grows up. he also had to tell other facts about himself. i forgot to take a picture of it but will when he brings it home and i'll post it on here. he gets to be helper in the classroom, which he loves. and gets to bring in his favorite toy. can you believe he isn't picking LAMBY. he actually hasn't decided yet, but last i check lamby wasn't making the cut. could this be a sign of growing apart from lamby. doubt it.

i am really enjoying the walking back and forth from school with the kids. it gives us time to talk about their day.

carlos and i have decided to eat more healthy. i've wanted to do this for years but getting him to get on board wasn't easy. i won't go into details of what we eat but i will let you know that we are eating seaweed every morning and drinking soy milk. carlos actually wants to plant our own garden. (that just makes me giggle)

i would love your prayers this thursday. carlos and i are going under the microscope in front of the conference board. we are trying to get a grant to help plant the hispanic church. we'll be there from 9:30a until 4 to 6 hours later (west coast time, of course) ...

emotionally, everyone seems to be doing well (except me). actually, i am doing much better than when we first got out here. but in those moments that i allow myself to think, it can get pretty bad. there was one sunday that i cried all day. the morning started with a call home to some family. after some tears on the phone ... they just wouldn't stop. when the kids and i showed up at church, carlos took one look at me and said, "what's wrong?" i just said, "not a good day." well, he proceeded to tell me that there was someone that was waiting to meet me. so i tried the best i could to suck it up and went over to meet him. then this man asked the question ... "how are you adjusting?" well, that was it. tears started steaming down my face. i felt so badly for this guy. he had no idea what he was getting into when he asked that question. he was very gracious. and we both made it thru alive. the rest of that day wasn't much different. i was just a basket case the entire day and it spilled into the next. that day wasn't as bad as the previous. but i guess i needed to grieve. i know that the holidays coming up will be another grieving process and another mountain i'll have to conquer. stay tuned ...

i actually started that last paragraph because i wanted to tell you about tony's meltdown, but i got into me ... sorry. so ... tony and i were walking home from school. he was telling me that he wants to have a play date with everyone in his class. i tried to get him to narrow it down by asking questions like "who would be the first one you'd like to play with," all of a sudden, he got very quiet and then started bawling. and those of you that know tony, he has two volumes, low and EXTREMELY LOUD and this was EXTREMELY LOUD. i didn't know what happened. we stopped and i hugged him and he said all he wanted to do was play with JOSHUA (his best friend from NY) oh, my heart just sank. i think it finally hit him that he couldn't just play with josh anytime he wanted. he cried all the way home, as i carried him. when we got to our house, lex was outside because she heard him crying from the corner. ... (yeah, he's that loud) ... he must have sobbed for another 5 minutes at home. needless to say, he really misses joshua (as i do his mom, veronica) ...


so, does that make up for lost time?

thanks for reading,
nic