So Long Ordinary

It's 8:30 a.m., I'm still in my pajamas with the Wildest Hair South of The Border, the house is a mess, Maddie is still in her soggy nighttime diaper, I have a huge mountain of laundry to do and a prayer letter to write....so I'm really going to try to make this quick. The baseball game still didn't work out. It POURED here on Sunday night. Sean and I went out and found the streets flooded, trees knocked down, and cars stuck in several places -the whole city was shut down. The electricity eventually went off due to a very big lightning strike. So, we spent the evening enjoying the storm, the crispness of the air, and the candlelight. Does this mean rainy season has started? I sure hope so! It has cooled down considerably here, not getting above 75 or 80 degrees. The cool air is refreshing after so many stifling hot days. I finally got to see the MAF office last night. I think the proper word for it would be...."cute." The building is tiny and I'm ...

It has been a busy weekend...here's a short update on all we've been up to lately: On Friday, I was finally able to catch up with a missionary friend here in Oaxaca that we went to language school with. We've had plans to get our families together for a while and it still hasn't worked out, but I was glad that Lorenda finally just drove over here (we live very close to them, actually) and stayed for a good long chat. So fun to catch up with people we thought we'd never see again! We kept in touch over the years, of course, but never imagined we'd be in Oaxaca together someday. Goes to show you that you never know what God will do. Friday night we had hoped to go to a baseball game, but it became obvious that there was no way that Madison was going to stay up past her bedtime. We ended up going for a long drive all over Oaxaca, hoping she'd take a nap. She did take a nap. But it wasn't enough. So, we ended up staying home and watched some TV epis...

There just isn't much I can add to this one.

Today, my husband and best friend turns another year older. He's just as crazy as he ever was. And I love him for it. I love that I have a man who can still make me laugh so hard my sides hurt, even after almost 8 years of marriage. He's a man who isn't afraid to climb higher just for a good view, a man whose adventurous spirit keeps me on my toes, a man whose faith in an Awesome God challenges me, a man whose smile still leaves me breathless! Sean, I love you. Happy Birthday.

We had a good, relaxing weekend. Saturday's fun was recorded by Sean on his blog already - we did our favorite thing, which is to drive around until we see something worth exploring :-) Our girls are going to be either explorers, archaeologists, missionaries, photographers, biologists, or some combination of the above. They are such good sports. We drag those kids all over the place. We had a good time at church on Sunday. We're about 90% sure that we've found the church where we belong. Yesterday was our third time to this particular church, and we always come away so refreshed, so blessed. We've been slow to get too involved as we continue to pray for God's guidance, but soon, we hope to get involved in a small group so that we can get to know people from that church a little better. It is a very large church - much larger than any church we've ever gone to before - and we realize it will take some effort on our part to really become a part of that co...

Yesterday was just a BAD day. I woke up sick to my stomach. Must of caught Brooklyn's bug or something. I was so achey that I couldn't get comfortable in any position. On top of the tummy-ache, I also had the beginnings of a head cold coming on. I tried to be brave and strong while Sean went in to the office, but it soon became obvious that I was not going to make it through the day by myself with the girls. They were running wild, crying, needing things, and I could barely move to help them. I tried to help Brooklyn make her waffles for breakfast. It didn't go well. My stomach rolled at just the thought of food, and actually smelling it put me over the edge. All this while both my hungry girls cried, and fought, and whined, and generally ran a muck. So what did I do? I called my Night in Shining Armor. My sweet husband came to my rescue, even though it meant he didn't get to go flying. (I'm still feeling horrible about that.) I guess he could hear by ...

Me : "You'll have to read my blog, I wrote about my first time through the drive-thru in 3 years." Sean : * audible gulp* "How's the car?!" Me : "The car's fine. I didn't wreck the car...just my self-esteem."

I share the following story only because I have learned to chuckle at myself and have come to discover that the world is a better, happier, more cheerful place when my foolishness is put on display for others to laugh at. So, uh, drive-thru's. McDonald's drive-thru's, more specifically. (Am I even spelling that word right? Drive through? Drive-through? Drive thru? Drive Threw?) Folks, do you know it has been 3 years since I have had the pleasure of going thru a drive-thru? Three years of complete seclusion from the first, and most important American Right - The Right To Have My Lunch Thrown At Me Through My Car Window By A Pimply Teenager. Yes, that right. So, I was out running errands with the girls and thought - hey! I have a right to go through that drive-thru at the Golden Arches! I mean, there was this voice telling me to go there...it sounded a lot like Brooklyn's voice actually, but I digress. I was quite proud of myself, pulling up to that bright red ...

You may or may not be aware of this but my eldest child is obsessed with princesses. Obsessed. We bought a new movie on Saturday - Enchanted - and our little girl absolutely loved that movie (as did we, it is really well done). In the movie, they talk about going on a date, which was something totally foreign to the princess in the movie and something new to Brooklyn too. The next day, Brooklyn sweetly asked her Daddy if he would take her on a date. Sean and I both chuckled, but our hearts were melted....I'm pretty sure Brooklyn will get her "date" with Daddy soon! As we continue to wait for our shipment (could be another 2 months or more), we are living without most of the girls' toys. We brought a few special items, but it has been especially hard on Brooklyn to have such limited options. She's been very good and resourceful with what she has, but I couldn't resist getting her a special treat when we went grocery shopping today..... She's been pla...

They say art imitates life. Well, in this case the blog imitates life. I figure, hey, everything else in my life is in upheaval, then why not my blog too? You may have noticed my blog is currently "under construction" again. I'm trying to figure out this mysterious code called HTML. You'll know I've figured it out when things don't look so ridiculously messy...until then, or until I give up and go back to the original look, thanks for your patience!

Last night, at around 8:30 p.m. we finally got our furniture. A festive red couch now happily sits in our family room and a sturdy pine dining table and chairs now takes the place of plastic outdoor furniture in our dining room. We still have a few more pieces to get, but it amazing the difference just a couch or table can make to make things so much "homier" and more comfortable. Our girls are thrilled, as are we! And by the way, we aren't sick yet! Wouldn't it be nice if the rest of us could avoid Brooklyn's affliction? I'm not totally convinced that what she had was anything more than a case of "too-much-bathwater-ingestion-itis." The city water from the tap is NOT for drinking, but we have a hard time of convincing Brooklyn of that fact...maybe she gets it now!

Last week, we discovered a great park not far from the MAF office here in Oaxaca. We love it! The play area is, of course, a favorite place for the girls. It's nice to be able to get out in the sun and just play - especially since we don't really have much in the way of a yard here at our house. Sean and I are loving the great walking paths winding through cypress trees, eucalyptus trees, huge bougainvilleas, cacti in every shape imaginable, and many more trees we don't know the name of. We'll definitely be visiting this park often! One could easily get lost in it, it is so big. It's our little oasis in the desert. Some pictures....(and yes, Brooklyn did cut her bangs all by herself....again. Grrrrr. )

*UPDATE* Well, Brooklyn stayed sick most of the day. We made do with what we had and she sat in an office chair in front of the TV with a pillow. Not quite as comfortable, but she's four and can sprawl out better on an office chair than the rest of us could! Poor thing threw up at regular intervals until around 3:30 this afternoon when it suddenly stopped. She's a lot more energetic now. I can tell she isn't totally well yet, but she is on the mend, at least. Sean and I are both begrudgingly admitting to feeling a little under the weather ourselves...let's hope it is just due to sleepiness after a rough night. In other news, Sean went to get our furniture (I'm staying home with Maddie, who went to bed early)! We'll let you know if it all actually works out. I told Sean that, if we're going to be sick all weekend, we might as well have a couch to wallow on! We'll see.... It was a rough night in the Cannon household last night. Brooklyn kept comi...

Madison is really keeping us on our toes. Really. Keeping. Us. On. Our. Toes. She's 18 months old now - that means she is just tall enough to reach everything we think we put out of her reach. This morning she got into a bunch of papers and had them all over the place in the blink of an eye. She turned off the computer, dipped the remote to our fan (fancy, I know, isn't it cool?) in my coffee, pulled a cup of water off the nightstand, and who knows what else...all in the span of about 1 minute. She is busy ! I've pulled keys out of the toilet, re-rolled toilet paper rolls that have been completely unrolled, washed grubby hands that grabbed some gross object, folded clothes and returned them to their drawers, gathered mismatched shoes from all ends of the house, and fished shoes out the turtle's bowl more times than I care to remember. We've seen some real doosies as far as temper tantrums go too. Ohmygranny! This kid is not to be messed with. Even as I type...

After all of our exploring Saturday morning, we came back home for naps. I was sleeping soundly when I woke to the sound of a screaming baby and Sean asking for help - QUICK! My first foggy thought was that Sean was having a hard time changing a diaper or something but as Sean hurried into our room with Maddie in his arms, I realized something was really wrong. Sean, who had been working on the computer, had heard Maddie's cry and ran in to find a SCORPION in the crib with Madison. I began searching Madison's body for evidence that the scorpion had stung her and Sean ran to catch the scorpion so that we would be able to describe it to doctors. We went to the Ross' house right away and they began calling Mexican doctors that they know. We finally found where the scorpion had stung Maddie - her left pointer finger had swollen to twice its size. But other than her sore, swollen finger, she was acting totally normal. Still, all we could think about was how very poisonous scorpi...

We took a drive out to Mitla yesterday. We saw some pretty amazing old ruins there and enjoyed some time just doing our thing - exploring! It was hot and dry and sunny, but we had the whole place to ourselves and we just marveled at what we were seeing there. This is the kind of stuff you see in movies or read about in National Geographic! We had a great time. We bought the girls hats right away, to protect their blonde little heads! The Great Pink Archaeologist checks out the steep, narrow steps leading up to an ancient palace. We explored ancient tombs well below the surface of the ground. The only one who could walk through the tunnels upright was Madison. (And yes, it was creepy!)

Well, this has been a good week so far. We've settled in to a semi-routine, and it is really helping us all feel a little more grounded. Of course, most of my plans for the week have been thwarted...but this is motherhood, so, actually, all is normal! Here are some tidbits from the week... Sean started going in to the office at the airport and is working on all the details needed to get our missionary visas and his Mexican pilot's license. He is in the "observation" stage here, which means he's - you guessed it - observing...everything. He did get to go on one flight Monday, which he enjoyed. I know he's looking forward to getting back in the air. However, it may take some time for him to be able to get his Mexican license to fly...pray for that! I've been busy mopping and cleaning! I don't mind it, really - it's a part of life that must be dealt with no matter where you are. It's so awesome to have a washer and dryer of our own. Of c...