Meet Kendy

Did you know???

* 6.5 million children under 5 die every year from hunger-related diseases. That is 12 children every minute....

* 1/2 of the world's children live in poverty. That is 1 billion kids...

Tim learned these (and other) hard-to-swallow statistics while attending a men's conference a couple weekends ago. Despite 'our' appearance as a world of lattes and margaritas, there really is tremendous poverty. So, he decided that it was time for our family to do our part...a small part...to help. He came across this sweet boy named Kendy Liberte...and decided to make him a part of our family. Kendy is 6 years old and lives in Haiti with his mom and dad and 4 brothers and sisters. Through Compassion International, we are sponsoring Kendy, hopefully providing him with new opportunities to learn and grow physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Here are some pics of Mason with his Haitian brother, Kendy. We keep his picture on the fridge to remind us to pray for Kendy. Mason likes to talk about Kendy's life in Haiti...who knows, maybe someday we can meet him!

We would encourage each of you to help combat world poverty through the organization of your choice...and keep Kendy in your prayers as Haiti is in a state of emergency with flood levels up to 9 feet in some places. Catastrophic flooding, destroyed homes, roads and bridges, and the deaths of hundreds in Haiti from Hurricanes Gustav and Ike and other severe storms have forced government officials to declare a state of emergency and appeal for help from the international community.

**For more 'you-can't-just-sit-there' poverty facts, take Compassion's poverty quiz here.

And Now...Mason & His Cars

If You're Happy and You Know It...

Levi can now clap his hands...and he is PROUD!

Oh yeah, and Mason takes full credit for teaching Levi...

the simple things...

this picture makes me happy!

I'm a MANIAC, MANIAC...

Levi just does.not.stop! I am amazed daily at his sheer strength and determination....Today, he decided that crawling was not enough, pulling up was not enough...and, in the short time it took me to get Mason up from his nap, Levi speed-crawled to the steps from way across the room...and, by the time I got to the top of the steps, he was up 2 steps and standing holding onto the bars on the banister...I rushed down to spot him while Mason got the camera so I could record his achievement. By the time Mason fetched the camera, Levi was standing just on the first step (thank God I was spotting him!) ...but he had previously been up on the second step...








And, here are some more pics of my MANIAC...STRONG MAN! He just can't stop pulling himself up on anything and everything....and it makes him HAPPY!!

this scares Mommy!

see my 2 teethers

Cars, Cars, Cars

Mason got a new cars set a couple of weeks ago from his Aunt Siggy....he loves them. It's all we do...it's all he does. It is fun to watch him use his imagination. He likes to line the cars up very specifically (where does he get that from?). Then he gases up each car before it speeds down the ramp...We discuss each car...the fire truck, ambulance, Scooby Doo jeep, Lightning McQueen, etc. We know far too much about these cars...that's for sure

In other 'cars' news, Mason is also getting quite good at his Cars Puzzle....he needs fewer and fewer cues to figure it out.

So fun...here's some pics.

I Get It...

So, now that Mason is 2 1/2....I understand the following over-used mommy phrases:

BECAUSE I SAID SO! After being so proud of myself for responding with patient, informative answers every time Mason asks WHY??....after the 400th WHY?? of the day, I just can't help but use this time-tested response. I was so excited when Mason started asking me WHY?? I thought, "Wow! He wants to understand the world he lives in...." And, "I get to be his teacher...." But, after having observed this phenomenon for more than a month now, I have to say that most of the time I don't think Mason really wants to know WHY? I also don't think he appreciates my creative, well-thought-out responses. So it really does take all I have to bite my tongue...so that this doesn't come out every time I hear WHY?!

I'LL GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO CRY ABOUT...Oh....what a hateful line...what cruel, cruel parent would say this to their sweet child?? ...especially when their own flesh and blood is crying? Well, I am shamed to admit that I may have said this a time or two in the past several days...when crying and whining become a 2 1/2 year old's favorite manipulation tool and it seems to be all you hear all day long...when patience is wearing thin at the end of the day...when you've given all you have all day long for this tiny creature...when you've skipped your shower to play cars, when you've skipped your lunch to read him extra books for nap time, when you've decided to take him to the park instead of going to the grocery store, when you've wiped his butt more times than you can remember...when it is that fake, no-tears-louder than necessary-dramatic cry, you just want them to understand that you really could give them something to cry about.....and it really does take all you have to refrain from shaking them and saying this....