Happy Birthday, Claire!

Claire is four years old today. Four years ago today, I was a college-educated, career-driven wife. Now I'm a stay-at-home mom with no regrets.
Toward the end of my pregnancy with Claire, the doctor only allowed me to work half-days. She was born the day after school let out.
Claire was a fat and happy baby. I remember being so proud of her fat and thanking God that my baby was sturdy because I am a klutz and was terrified I would hurt her. We all called her Baby Claire, but when she turned two, she informed us all that she wasn't a baby anymore. She became a big sister then.
Now she goes by Claire Bear and is the smartest four year old I know. I taught her to write her name on greeting cards. I taught her to count to 30 when I applied temporary tattoos on her. I've been teaching her to read with little readers I printed off the Internet.
When we're driving down the road, Claire enjoys identifying cars and can tell you many makes and models of vehicles as well as who drives them. She'll point one out on the road and say, "There's a Volvo SUV just like Alli drives! or There's a Honda CR-V just like Maya and Ella have!" I often have to teach myself the names of cars so I can keep up with her.
She went to daycare until she was two, and then I quit work to take care of her and Paul. Daycare taught her how to count to 10 and it nearly made me cry because I wanted to be the one to teach her all her exciting first concepts. Now, right after she wakes up every morning, she eats breakfast and I sit next to her while she completes lessons for the day. If she doesn't feel like it I don't make her, but she wants to do it more often than I do. She loves learning and is a sponge.
She likes to tell people that she doesn't go to school but she goes to Sunday School. At church recently she announced that she was 3 11/12 years old.
She makes me laugh, she makes me think, and she makes me proud. Happy fourth birthday, Claire Bear!

New Friends

Last fall in my United Methodist Women circle, we decided to do the UMW study on the Sudan. About the same time, a Sudanese family visited our church. We became fast friends and have been since.
Both Adam and I were interested in their story immediately. Simon got to the United States via a refugee camp in Kenya. He walked for months through his country to find a place of peace. His wife, Ayen, is part of a family that was fortunate enough to leave the Sudan via plane.
Simon and Ayen live in a small apartment in Fort Worth with their two daughters and her brother, Emmanuel. They are some of the nicest, most generous people I have ever met.
After we became friends, Ayen called me and asked if I could come help her learn how to cook American food. I jumped at the chance. I love cooking!
So at least one afternoon a week, I would come to their apartment with my two kids and a bag or two of groceries and we cooked. I taught her tacos first and moved onto lasagna, baked chicken, roast in a crockpot, and other favorites.
Claire and Paul love the two little girls, Blessing and Glory. They all play together and when Simon arrives home from work, they all jump in his arms, Claire and Paul right next to Blessing and Glory. Unfortunately Ayen had to get a job and start working, so our visits to their home are less frequent now, but we still call each other and visit as much as possible.
We have received many blessings and learned lessons from our friendships with this beautiful family. We've had them over to our house for dinner a couple of times and are humbled. Ayen always helps me clean the kitchen, and then she moves onto other areas of the house and starts cleaning. I have to make her sit down or else I wouldn't recognize my house by the time they leave. Simon always says a blessing over the food, but he also always concludes the night with prayer.
Adam and I are pretty social and have people over for dinner often, but Simon and Ayen are different. No one else prays to God, thanking him for the food we served them and asking that God bless us in return. They don't realize that they are the blessing.
Last week Simon graduated with a two year degree from Tarrant County College. We were honored to be invited to the ceremony and a party afterward.
Many of Simon and Ayen's friends and family were there and after the ceremony they were taking group pictures. Everyone in the picture was dark as night and six foot tall or more. And then there was Claire. She included herself in every family photo. We kept trying to pull her out and let them take pictures without her, but everyone insisted we leave her in. "We love her!" they all said.
Simon works in a nursing home, from 5 a.m. until the afternoon. Ayen works at a cellular phone plant, from 4 a.m. until 2. Neither of them ever complain and nothing slows them down.
Today is Ayen's birthday, so we are all going to the Omni theater together as one family. As Simon says, "We are one family."

Sappy Thoughts

Today is Adam and my 9-year anniversary. While our two kids are still napping, I thought I'd post some sappy, fond memories of our life together.

It started with a box of Reese's Puffs. The moment I fell in love with Adam was when I saw him walking into the Shorthorn office at UTA brandishing a full-size box of Reese's Puffs to replace my trial size box that had been eaten. I was too poor/cheap to buy that cereal and was upset that someone else ate my little box, so when Adam replaced it with a giant one, I knew he was a keeper.

Before that, we were honestly just best friends. We bonded after his girlfriend dumped him and I tried in earnest to get them back together. We would give each other dating and relationship advice. Of course, that was before the Reese's.

We have been all over the country together. Adam loves driving and I love reading and napping on road trips. We've driven to Niagara Falls, Washington D.C., Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Matamoros, Key West, and several other places along the way.

Adam is completely left-brained and I am completely right-brained. This is often frustrating because we see nearly every situation completely different, but it's also a strength because we always get another viewpoint.

I love cracking jokes with him that only he will get. We have many inside jokes that have gone on nearly our entire relationship. Like we always say, our relationship is built on mutual harassment.

ALDI

I am a bargain-hunting junkie. I don't necessarily love grocery-shopping, but I love finding great deals and getting the most for my money.
My mother-in-law and I talk often about prices at Wal-Mart (where she shops) and everywhere else (where I shop.) I have finally admitted that Wal-Mart does have cheaper shelf prices, but there are so many drawbacks to shopping there that it's not worth it for me.
My bottom line is price. I want good quality, but don't have to have the best, and since I cook all our meals, I can always add extra spice, or oil or whatever to fix a dish up that is otherwise lacking.
When we heard Aldi was opening up in Fort Worth, we were both excited. I went there five or six times and left furious before I finally got with the program. One time I was was livid because I had just spent five minutes getting all my list, bags, and children together, only to walk up to the door and find out they were closed. The door greeter, who had been watching me the entire time, didn't have the courtesy to tell me before I got up there.
So here's some tips to actually enjoy your Aldi experience:

1. Bring a quarter to get a cart, whether you need a cart or not. One time I only had five items to buy, but since they don't have conveyor belts, the cashier put my five items in a basket and then wouldn't let me sack them before he started putting the next customer's purchases on top of mine. He also wouldn't let me push the cart to the sacking counter. Just FYI, the cashiers sit on a chair the entire time and will not get up for anything, even to help you.

2. Only go to buy basics like dairy or bread. Their merchandise rotates. Their chips are cheap and decent and they do have some staple products, but everything is their brand, so if you're picky about brand names, don't go. Also don't go with a big list because you'll be disappointed.

3. Bring your own bags. They charge 10 cents for paper and six cents for plastic.

4. Aldi does not accept coupons. All their merchandise is store-brand, so they couldn't even if you tried.

5. Aldi only accepts cash or debit cards.

6. Aldi closes at 8 p.m.

7. The benefits of shopping there are price (a gallon of milk is less than $2) and the speed of shopping. You can get your essentials and be in and out of there in 5 minutes.

Since I've learned how to do it, I like Aldi. They can't be my main grocery store, but they are my main emergency store stop.

Enrique's Journey

I recently read Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario for UMW bookclub. This book was based on a newspaper series which won two Pulitzers, one for writing and one for photography. It was an emotional read for me because it deals with mothers leaving their children to immigrate to the United States.
In the book, Nazario says "A World Bank study in in 2000 found that 42.5 percent of Mexico's 100 million people live on $2 or less a day."
As someone who is always cutting coupons and finding the cheapest way to do or buy anything, this hit home to me. I rarely go to Starbucks, but last week I spent $8 at the drive-thru. That was four days in a poor Mexican's life.
Yesterday Adam and I bought drinks at Outback. $22 or a day's worth for 11 people.
I broke my glasses on Saturday and had to get a new pair immediately. Even with the Wal-Mart exam (cheapest I know of) and a $100 off coupon at Lens Crafters, I walked out the door with new spectacles for $398.98. That's a day's worth for 200 people; a small town sitting on the bridge of my nose.
I pride myself on being thrifty and mostly not concerned with material objects. I do fall into the trap occasionally and spend money on worthless "stuff." What would my life be without all my stuff? How would my life be different if I lived on $2 a day?

Zoo friends

This is Paul with his friend, Ella. I guess I should call her his girlfriend. Ella and her sister, Maya, were in music class with us this semester. We made fast friends and do something nearly every week. Yesterday we went to the zoo where Paul took care of Ella. When her hat blew off, he put it back on and here he is making sure she doesn't fall.
Cute in her own right, Ella calls Paul, "P-Paul."
Maya, is the same age as Claire and they like to dinosaur roar at each other.
On another note, did you know that Jesus loves dinosaurs? At our home, Adam has taught the kids to pray with their hands held up to their chest, like a T. Rex with tiny hands. After we say our blessing, the kids and Adam raise their arms and roar loudly. Our prayers are said with reverance, but then followed by a roar. I'm sure Jesus would laugh if he were at the table.

Claire's Smarts

Yesterday during the children's sermon, Claire announced to the congregation that she is 3 11/12 years old. On the phone with Grandma this morning, she asked if Pawpaw was "abailable."
My girl is so smart! She has started learning to read with the website www.starfall.com. Last week I started printing off decodable books for her to read and she can now read four books! She can write her name without assistance and can copy simple messages such as "Happy Birthday" or "I love you."
Yesterday some friends from church gave her a new bicycle and she is pedaling like the wind.
Today's blog isn't thought-provoking or soul-searching. It's just bragging. I have a smart girl and I'm proud of her.