A few years ago, Rashmi held a contest on her birthday. Whoever came up with the most clever way to use $30 (can’t remember the exact amount…it was however old Rashmi was turning) would get that money. I emailed Rashmi and told her that we would buy a world map and have Carmen’s nurses put a pin in their countries. Most of Carmen’s nurses were from Africa: Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, etc.

We won! Rashmi chose our idea to win the birthday money. My paypal account got $30 richer.

We searched around for a map but couldn’t find just the right one.

Fast forward a few years.

Dave and I and the girls went to the Crate and Barrel outlet here in Carlsbad, looking for some magnetic boards. Displayed right in the middle of the store was a framed world map with a cork board back and set of pins!

We now have a world map hanging in our house. We pinned the countries we have visited: Canada, Guatemala, Peru, England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Mallorca (is that a separate country?), and Sweden. The rule is that as long as one person in our immediate family has been to the country, it can be pinned. Time to take a trip 50 miles south to Tijuana so we can pin Mexico!

I’m hoping we can find a similar map for the United States and hopefully it won’t take me years!

I’m embarrassingly horrible at geography so I am pleased as punch to have the world right in our hall. And it’s fun to see where we’ve been and where we would like to go.

Thanks Rashmi! I hope you are OK with a few years late and a slightly different plan.

 

Our rental house has all white walls. We need color in our lives. I’ve been on a hunt for ways to liven up our house.

I found hot pink, yellow, orange and turquoise butterfly and flower felt place mats at Bed Bath & Beyond on clearance for 80 cents each. So, I bought a few and decorated Lauren’s and Hope’s bathroom. Actually, I stood on a chair and Lauren told me where to put them.

Easy-peasy and fun!

The yellow bathroom lights made the colors look all wrong but you get the idea. The turquoise butterflies are hanging above the mirror.

Oh yes, that would be Hope hollering. Poor Hope is very frustrated. Her language is not developing nearly as fast as her other skills. She is scheduled to see a speech pathologist in November and hopefully we can come up with a plan for her. She wants to tell us stuff and cries and cries (and screams and screams) when she can’t figure out what to say. Please pray that she starts talking and that we have patience!

The one good thing is that Hope is an absolute angel in the church nursery and with babysitters. She reserves her hollering for us!

Last week, a mom who reads our blog emailed and invited us to her daughter’s 5th birthday party. The party was at a petting zoo about 30 minutes north of us. My girls + a petting zoo + a birthday party  = pure happiness. We were excited to meet this family and to have a fun Saturday afternoon.

April and Brian adopted Lona from Ukraine 8 months ago. Lona is a lovely, sweet little girl who is blessed to have such wonderful parents! And likewise, they are incredibly blessed to have her.

Dave and I had a great time taking pictures so here are a bunch!

This is Lona riding a horse.

I think it’s safe to say that she really liked the horse!

Lauren also loved riding the horses. Although she really wanted to take off galloping!

Hope on the other hand…

Hope was not so sure about the big hairy animal!

Bunnies were far more her speed.

Lauren LOVED the bunnies. She spent the majority of the party feeding and holding the rabbits. I warned her that they might pee or poop on her and she said she didn’t care. Thankfully, none did!

Bunny on steroids…

After all that animal hugging and holding and feeding and riding, it was cupcake time!

April and Brian requested that in lieu of gifts, we consider making a donation to Reece’s Rainbow. Reece’s Rainbow is a ministry dedicated to rescuing orphans with Down syndrome through the gift of adoption and helping adoptive families afford the high cost of adopting these beautiful children.

You know what’s ironic? Reece’s Rainbow is headquartered in Gaithersburg, the town we just moved from. Andrea, Reece’s mom, spoke at my MOPS group. Small world!

If you would like to support this ministry, please click here. There are so many wonderful organizations to support but just like the children it serves, this one is extra special.

Happy birthday sweet Lona! We will be donating to Reece’s Rainbow in honor of you.

 

[This post is part of an ongoing blog series to get to know each other better. Have you read and participated in the other "More About You Monday" questions?]

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This Saturday we went to a birthday party at a petting zoo. I’ll share more about that later.

Lauren and Hope both love animals. Lauren has started asking for a pet. Like asking every single day.

Dave and I are both allergic to most animals so anything with fur is out. Maybe a fish? Lauren doesn’t think fish are very much fun.

Today’s More About You Monday question is: Do you have pets? Tell us about them!

Yesterday afternoon the girls and I were eating a snack in the kitchen when the electricity suddenly went off.

Did I forget to pay the electric bill? I ran all over the house trying to find our SDG&E bill. It wasn’t in the “bills folder” because I had taken it to Lauren’s school to verify residency and never returned it to its proper place. Downstairs in the junk drawer? No. Upstairs in the file cabinet? No. On the desk? No. Where is that bill???!!!

Hmmm, well, Hope probably threw it away.

Next, I tried to turn on the computer in order to log into our SDG&E account and pay the bill. Oh right, the electricity is out. No computer.

But, I have an iphone so I can look up the phone number and call the electric company and straighten this out (since I can’t find the bill, I don’t know the phone number to call).

Nope, internet is down. And my cell phone won’t work. I can’t even call anyone!

At this point, I am getting mad at SDG&E and planning my tirade when I finally do get in touch with them. “We just moved in! Can’t you give warning before shutting off power?! I have two kids here. The power needs to be turned back on NOW and no, I am not paying a turn-on fee!!!!!!!!!!!”

Knock, knock on the door. Lauren opens the door and her little friend, Curtis, is standing outside. “Lauren, we don’t have any power! No one in San Diego does and some of LA is out too!”

Is it bad that I was relieved that no one had power and it wasn’t because I forgot a bill? I think it is!

A few hours later, we found out that an electrical worker in southwest Arizona removed a piece of monitoring equipment at a power substation causing a massive blackout. Parts of Arizona, Mexico, parts of southern Orange County and all of San Diego lost power. Poor guy. I bet he’s having a bad day!

We went to bed early, 8pm, because there really wasn’t anything else to do. No internet, TV, laundry or other chores. Lauren and I did find a flashlight in order to read the Bible. She thought that was extra fun!

Before going to sleep, I pulled out the camera and Lauren had some fun posing with the flashlight. She was hoping for some scary pictures.

Lauren thought this one was funny…what do you think her shadow looks like?

The power was out for 12 hours. It finally came on around 4am. No school today. We are supposed to be conserving energy for the next few days.

Dave was in San Francisco for a meeting so he missed out on all the excitement!