Terrific Twos! Happy Birthday, John Ellis!

We celebrated John Ellis and the 2 years of life that God has given him.  We are thankful to have him as part of our family.  What a blessing!  His strong personality brings us both joy and many opportunities for personal growth.  As the youngest brother, he doesn’t let the big boys push him around!  He can stand his ground and has a resilient  spirit that we are believing God will use to bring His Kingdom in even greater measure to this earth! 

We have been on a Haiti Transformed team retreat so we didn’t celebrate too much as we were travelling home all day on his birthday and didn’t get home until late afternoon.  He is the birthday boy with his breakfast at the retreat.  I did  a bit of handy work on his pancakes!

Last night (Jan 20th, his actual birthday) we looked back with our family at pictures of the night of his birth and told the boys the story of John Ellis’ birth.  John Ellis wasn’t feeling well this past weekend, we had been travelling all day and he was exceptionally tired last night so we called an early night and planned to celebrate tonight instead.

Jody picked up pizza from the lone pizza place in Leogane, Haiti (at least that we know about!).  It is fairly new and fairly decent…I wouldn’t pick it as a place to get pizza in the States, but it is pretty good by our standards in Haiti! =)

The boys trying to teach John Ellis to hold up 2 fingers.

After dinner, we invited our neighbors and team leaders over for cake.  It was our first birthday in Haiti and I was glad to have friends to celebrate with us the sweetness of John Ellis.

Opening his gift and celebrating with our team leaders and their kiddos.

Enjoying some cake!  Such a big boy!  And soon to be a big brother any day!

 

We love you John Ellis!

Our Journey to Haiti: Day Two

Our day started here:

We had a restful night at the Griffin’s house in Baton Rouge, LA.  Showered, ate and did a load of laundry.  Thanks for your hospitality friends!  The church plant team had a scheduled team meeting this morning so we got to see many friends from our training program: 24:14.  Our boys loves these guys…they always get them WIRED up! =)  This pic only includes part of the team.  They prayed and encouraged us before we headed out for another long day of road tripping.

We crossed into Mississippi.

And got to enjoy true southern hospitality.  They still offer full service at gas stations like “Giterdone”.  I politely declined. =)

Next came Alabama:  the other boys were sleeping for this picture.

The boys are enjoying plenty of games on the iPad to pass the time.

And just when we think we can’t be in the car any longer we see this guy and it puts things back into perspective.  Glad we aren’t this guy!

If I wasn’t on this road trip we would be blazing past all the state lines…unfortunately for Jody and the boys this is a tradition that began in my childhood and I have a hard time not doing.  You can tell from these next pictures that enthusiasm for the pictures at the lines was waning.  But a girl has to do what a girl has to do.  Self picture for all the passerbyers to see.  No shame.

Welcome to Florida Cash Family!  Next stop, Haiti!

Our day “ended” here:  Chick-fil-a in Pensacola, Florida.  We tried to have dinner at Cracker Barrel but that was a MAJOR bust.  We did sit down and order.  But JohnEllis pretty much screamed non stop and the big boys were complete wiggle worms...I can handle the entire restaurant staring at me for only so long.  It was a mistake that was prompted by an adult craving for yummy food.  Of course, it was a bad idea to bring 3 little boys into a restaurant like that after sitting in a car for the past 2 days.  We quickly left with to-go boxes in hand and took a 20 minute detour to find this place:

Yes, that is a fake smile from Jody. And below those are real smiles from the boys.  They were happy to be out of the car in a place they could scream and jump and play.  We are just happy to be somewhere that has understanding parents that just smile and nod when they see a screaming child. 

We love Chick-fil-a!

Now, Jody is sitting in the play place with screaming kids and I am blogging using free WiFi and eating my salad from Cracker Barrel.  Yes, that is tacky but as of now, I am okay with that. The boys will hopefully be worn out and will sleep soon in the car.  Jody and I are planning on taking turns driving through the night until we land in Ft. Lauderdale, FL tomorrow morning.

PRAY for our final leg of the journey.  Tomorrow will be a full day after a night of driving shifts.  We love you and your prayers!

Good-bye, I’ll See You Later! Cash Family Gathering.

We spent last weekend with Jody’s side of the family for a “Goodbye, see you later-Autumn-Thanksgiving-Christmas” celebration before our move to Haiti.  My highlights of the weekend were:

~Seeing Sarah & Jerod’s new house.  We love it and feel blessed that they invited all of us over when they only moved in the weekend before.  There wasn’t a box in the house.  They had pictures on the wall.  Just nuts. =)

~Fantastic autumn weather.  Perfect for walks around the adorable downtown square of Van Alstyne.

~Noise of six cousins having a blast.  They didn’t stop moving all day and spent hour upon hour jumping and wrestling on the trampoline.  No naps. Chaos.  It was pure joy for them.  I loved watching it.  My heart longs for my boys to grow up near cousins and family…never mind we are moving to another country. 

~Eating Mexican food for Thanksgiving while listening to Christmas music…the weekend before Halloween.  In this family, just about anything goes!

~Hearing Jody & his dad discuss Baylor football with the game blaring on the radio in the background.  Static and all. (They were TRYING to hear it over all the noise of the kids…anyways, there probably hasn’t been a quiet Cash family gathering in all history!)

~Dressing up the boys as Mario and Luigi and Little Batman (really, REALLY homemade, no sew costumes using things we already had around the house…they are little.  I can still get away with that!)

~Walking around the square with the whole gang collecting treats from the shops and vendors set up.  It was small town goodness.

~Having the whole family gather around us before we headed home and cover us in blessings and prayers.  I felt loved. 

It really couldn’t have been a much better day.  Thankful.

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Our 1st 6 Weeks of Homeschool!

Working on our cave paintings while learning about ancient people.

The final result…lots of marker everywhere!

This is what John Ellis does during school…mostly just destroys stuff. =)

Lucas working in his preschool workbook.

Lucas learning shapes, colors, letters and strengthening his hand muscles!

John Ellis celebrates Columbus Day

(he is still loving and wearing this hat everyday!)

Columbus Day Sailors

Science Experiments!  Boys building a mini volcano.

Filling our volcano with soap, baking soda, food coloring and vinegar.

After the eruption!  John Ellis just liked sticking things in the hole.

Family time with Jesus. 

Singing, Bible reading, and Scripture memory.

Making Egyptian collars for our study of Ancient Egypt.

Mommy sang “Walk Like An Egyptian” by The Bangles

way TOO much that week!  =)

Wrapping up Lucas as a mummy.  He wouldn’t break character for anything.

No smiling allowed he said…even for pictures! 

“Because mummies don’t smile, they’re dead!”

More Ancient Egypt

Acting out Moses and Aaron and the plagues.

Daddy was Pharaoh, John Ellis the Israelites, Mommy the Narrator.

Reading is a favorite!

30 Life Lessons

It finally happened. I grew up.

Yep, I turned 30 on April 1st...I guess at some point I should start feeling like a grown woman who is a wife and mother of 3 boys...BUT I still feel like I should be 18. Not that I want to be 18...oh, no! I just can't believe how quickly 30 years has gone by. Amazing...

I remember being a young girl and feeling like it took FOREVER just waiting for evening to come so I could spend the night with my bff who lived down the street. I guess all those silly boys who wrote in my Jr. High yearbook were right after all, "life is like a roll of toilet paper"...the older you get the faster it goes!

Here are 30 things I've been learning the last 30 years of my life:

1) I never stop learning and it's not always new things! I keep re-learning many of the same things over and over and over again...just on a deeper level with greater revelation.

2) If you can be patient potty-training a toddler, you can be patient during ANYTHING!

3) I was made to be in community and need to ask for help more often.

4) People can't read my mind. (shocking, right?)

5) I can't read other peoples minds. (even more shocking!)

6) The things I am TOO tired to do are probably the things that will energize me the most.

7) The things I have judged, I will serve. (stole this from Pastor Jimmy...but i am FEELIN' it! and am thankful for the stretching, humbling growth).

8) I don't have to completely understand or relate to someone to be able to love and serve them well. This frees me up to be myself and not feel pressure to try be like everyone else.

9) I need a Savior more than I know.

10) Thankfulness paves the way for the Holy Spirit to come and break my spiral into a bad, grumpy, self-focused day.

11) I have to rely on God...trying harder doesn't cut it and makes me tired.

12) I can hear God's voice!! =)

13) I shouldn't always do for my boys the things they can do themselves (even if I think I can do it faster and better).

14) I don't have to be doing something "spiritual" to experience God's presense.
15) Sometimes, there's nothin' to it but to do it! I've got to dig down and just do the things I hate or don't want to do and one small step after another and suddenly I'm done!

16) It is easy to be nasty to others...to come up with something sassy or down-right evil to say. It takes deep character and self-control to chose my words and live out of a place of love.

17) My default to sarcasm is sometimes funny. But usually not. (sorry to those of you who I've been learning this on over the years.)

18) I have an ever increasing capacity! Things I thought would have been impossible are now totally doable! God is always growing me...sometimes in small bits that go unnoticed and sometimes in big stretches that are quite painful. I'm looking back with thankfulness that I have greater capacity in knowledge, understanding and energy because of those times of expansion.

19) My husband needs my respect, more than he needs my love.

20) Choose Joy. I mean REAL joy...not fleeting pleasures that this world offers up.

21) This world is not my home. I shouldn't feel or get TOO comfortable. Ofcourse, I SHOULD seem a bit out of place to others because I AM out of place.

22) Lots of small "yeses" can turn into a really big "YES!"

23) Caring for others is annoying when all I care about is myself. When I take my eyes off myself, then suddenly taking care of others becomes an awesome privledge, an amazing responsibility and an overwhelming joy.

24) Peace can be enjoyed anytime and anywhere as a direct result of being in fellowship with the Spirit. I don't always have to have the perfect setup to find peace.

25) Thinking ahead keeps me out of trouble. Not thinking ahead leads to lots of "doh!" moments.

26) The more my family acquires, the less thankful we become.

27) I need less stuff than I think I do.

28) Assume the best of others but don't presume that others should do the same for me. I want to live in such a way that it is easy for others to think the best of me because of my past actions.

29) I don't remember as much as I think I will. I really do need to jot important things down. Mom, I guess you were right about writing after all!

30) Strenght is made perfect in weakness. Thanks for all the paradoxes, God. I love how you like to spice things up!

Resurrection Rolls

I want to be a mom who lets my boys explore, learn and do things themselves...it doesn't come natural to me. I am having to be intentional to bring them into things instead of always doing everything myself. Does this cause more messes for me to clean up? You betcha! But I am daily learning to relax and just enjoy and I see the boys thrive when that happens. They are boys, BUT they love to be creative and do crafts, make art, and cook with me.
We made resurrection rolls at Easter last year, too, but this year I let the boys do most of the "baking". They did a great job despite uncontrollable finger licking!

The "Jesus" marshmellow annointed in oils and spices (aka butter, cinammon and sugar) then wrapped in linen (cresent rolls) and put in the oven tomb. After 10 minutes(3 days) the Jesus marshmellow is risen and only the linen is left!

Enjoying the fruits of their labor.

Easter Joy

Our Easter Joy started 12 days before Easter Sunday with an idea I got from Pintrest (ofcourse.)! Each day the boys took turns picking the next egg in our 12 day count down to Easter. Inside was a "clue" and scripture that explained how this clue was part of the Easter story. We really enjoyed this and will include it as part of our Easter traditions because it brought light to some of the small details of Jesus' death and resurrection. I tried to be as detailed (and age appropriate) as possible on what Jesus endured out of His love for us and His Father. Lucas would regularly interrupt with, "that's so sad!". Which is true, but God regularly turns mourning into dancing and His power is perfected in times of weakness. Thank you, Lord.

The boys with our 12 day countdown to Easter eggs.

Josiah with our "Jesus" that was wrapped in white linen (strip of paper towel)...one of the last clues.

Lucas wrapping up Lego Jesus in white linen.

Then the boys put Jesus in the tomb that Lucas made at Highland and put the stone in front. Jesus had risen on Easter morning!

Josiah & Lucas helped boil and dye Easter eggs this year and wanted to stay and watch while the eggs were cooking...I told them it would take a while and to go play. It is true that a watched pot never boils!

The finished products!