Wazzup?

Oh my goodness. What a week. Here's what's going on....

• Brooklyn and I have really been having some "go-arounds" lately. She's becoming so independent and grown up and she just knows what she wants - which usually isn't what I want. Nothing like a tough spell like this to make me completely question my parenting skills. Ugh. Pray for us.
  
• I can't seem to get everything done. I'm guessing that it will all be worth it when I get that bachelor degree this May. But I do tend to wonder if all this school stress on top of regular Mommy stress is worth it!
• I am learning some pretty cool things in my classes. And I actually really, really love school. Doing it at home with three younguns is a challenge.... But I love learning so much that I'm wondering if I wouldn't have fun going to graduate school here at our local state college someday. Am I crazy? (Don't answer that.)
  
• I really, really miss speaking Spanish every day. I can feel it slipping. I know I'll never lose it ALL and I have a feeling that if I were put back into a Spanish-speaking environment, I'd catch up very quickly. Sean and I still speak in Spanish to each other on a daily basis - it's our code language when we don't want the kids to understand :-) But that isn't enough and we're both wondering how we could speak it more....
  
• If you think of it, please pray for the MAF team in Ecuador. They are struggling to get permission for the U.S. pilots to fly which leaves a heavy burden on the Ecuadorian pilots. The future of MAF in Ecuador is VERY tenuous right now. Whatever God's plan for that program is, we know from experience how frustrating it can be to be so unsure about your future, so pray especially for the missionaries waiting for something to happen. And pray that God's will is done, whatever it is!
  
• Speaking of Ecuador...we pretty much miss it every day of our lives. What awesome memories we have of our time there. A picture or a song or a smell will suddenly catapult me back to our little house in Shell or to our Bronco driving along the Baños road. Obviously, if we were there right now we'd be struggling right along with our friends (selfishly, I'm glad I'm not dealing with that right now). As much as we miss Ecuador, we also love where we are now. This is where we're supposed to be. It's so funny. When we lived there, I was constantly remembering and dreaming of Colorado. Now that we're here all I can think about is Ecuador! I know we can't go back and I'm okay with that. I just really love that we had such an incredible missionary experience and I'll always treasure the memories (and pictures) of those years. I don't doubt that a little part of me will always miss it.
  
• Now here is one major reason why I'm really loving living in Colorado, close to family - later today, we're going to Buena Vista to watch my niece play in a basketball game (her team from Colorado Springs is playing BV). I'm so looking forward to this little outing. I haven't seen my sister or my nieces since Christmas. And I just really need some time away from home! I'm debating about making banners to cheer on my niece....do you think that would embarrass a 15-year old girl? Okay, so I won't do it. She won't even let her Mom wear a button with her picture on it and we're barely being allowed to come today as it is. But it would be fun.
• If I get around to it, I have lots of pictures to post to give you an idea about how my week went....pictures tell the story so much better than I do.