The Boy Does Love to Slide

Grandparents are the Best

Nathan's parents visited us for a couple of days this week. Noah had so much fun with them (and I think they probably had at least as much fun with him!). We spent a lot of time playing at home and at the park. In fact, Papa helped Noah catch his first ball! And they even babysat for an afternoon so Nathan and I could go see a movie. We enjoyed having them around and are looking forward to their next visit, as well as my parents' visit in a few weeks!

Here's Noah, trying on Papa's shoes. He's got a little growing to do before they fit.

Noah had so much fun on various slides:

This picture cracks me up. Can't you just hear him grunt?

I love these pictures. They pretty much sum up my life right now:

Broke My Heart

This evening, Noah and I stood on the front porch steps as Nathan got in our car and drove off to make a quick trip to the airport. Poor Noah just freaked as he watched Nathan start the car, and he called out, panicked, "Dada?!?" As if to say, "Are you leaving me?" Then he started wailing. Now, there are angry wails, I-want-my-way wails, and a few other variations. This was an incredibly sad wail. It was awful.

So I carried him inside, came into the apartment, shut the door, and set him down, and he just screamed and cried and clawed at the door. He just could not understand why his Dada would leave him.

Y'all, that was sad enough, but then I thought of kids whose Dada is not coming back, and that broke my heart. I've gotten to the age that some of the people I grew up with are getting divorced. Some of them don't have children, but some of them do. And listening to Noah wail for his Dada to come back, knowing that the kids whose Dada's are really not coming back sound just that devastated--it was just such a sad thing to think about.

Compassion Gifts

Many of you guys probably already know about the organization Compassion International, which provides opportunities for Christian education, health care, and a lot more to impoverished children all over the world. I've been seeing a lot about Compassion lately, because apparently they have come up with a brilliant marketing plan, which is to have prominent bloggers go on trips to some of the sites where they work. The bloggers then post about their experiences, thereby showing other people how awesome Compassion and the work they are doing is. Not to mention the fact that you start to fall in love with the children they meet. Lately, I've read about two of these trips: one on the Living Proof blog, and one on the Pioneer Woman's blog.

We've been sponsoring a child in Uganda--Opio--for two or three years, and we've enjoyed corresponding with him and learning a little about him through the letters we send one another. However, I only just discovered that his father is deceased. Add to that the letter I just got from a different organization alerting me to the food shortage in Uganda, as well as the letter we just received from Opio himself, saying that he is now traveling farther to go to school. So lately I have been thinking about his family, especially his mother, who is the sole provider for them. Do they have a much harder time than other local families because there is no father to earn an income? Do they have enough to eat? Does Opio have what he needs for school? Does he walk to school? If so, does he need new shoes? Does he take some other form of transportation, and if so, has his new school created a hardship for them because it is further away?

All of this prompted me to go to Compassion's website to find out a little more about Opio's situation. While I was poking around, I saw something that I wanted to bring to the attention of those of you who already sponsor a child through Compassion.

Did you know you can give a gift directly to the child's family? I didn't! I knew you could give gifts to the child (for their birthday, etc.), and I knew you could give extra to the "Unsponsored Children's Fund" and whatnot, but I didn't know you could give a family gift.

A gift to the family can be a huge deal for them, because they can use that money not just to buy something that they need (such as a new roof), but they can also use it to buy something that can help them generate an income, such as chickens (think eggs) or livestock (think milk and cheese). I am all about the kind of poverty relief that helps people help themselves (other organizations, such as World Vision, also do this).

Compassion allows sponsors to give between $25 and $300 to your child's family. The average family in Opio's community makes about $22 a month. So a gift of $150 is like giving his family six months' worth of income. A gift of $300 is more than his mother probably makes in a year.

What a blessing to be able to do that for your sponsored child's family. That's something that might change their future. If they start a small business, could it lead them out of poverty? Maybe it's a start. And even if it just replaces a leaky roof or buys food supplies or new beds or school supplies . . . there are lots of reasons to give, amen?

The Best Yogurt

Hello, lovelies:

My favorite brand of yogurt, hands down, is Liberte. It is rich without being heavy, it's very creamy, and the taste of the actual yogurt is tangy and really delicious. A lot of other yogurts either taste like artificial sugar (like all the fat free versions on the dairy aisle) or have a tanginess without a corresponding creaminess that just doesn't attract me (like some organic yogurts). But Liberte is set apart. I don't know what it is about it, but I just want to take little bites and savor the whole cupful slowly. It just tastes luxurious. It's kind of like Greek yogurt that way, which I also really like, except it's not as intense.

Liberte also comes in all kinds of delicious and unusual flavors, including coconut, dulce de leche, and others. But my favorites are the ones pictured above.

I've sung the praises of Liberte's pear yogurt before--I mean, it's awesome! Why aren't the other companies making pear yogurt? I swear, they are missing out on something, because it's delicious.

But the real treat is the Mediterranee style yogurt, which is richer and creamier, probably because it's significantly fattier. But it is definitely worth it. My favorite flavor has always been the plum walnut, not only because it's unique, but because it tastes amazing. I like the texture that the few small pieces of walnut add, and the mild, sweet plum flavor is truly delightful. It tastes decadent and light at the same time.

And I just tried the lemon flavor recently, too. I have to tell you, it tastes just like a custardy lemon pie. I am a sucker for lemon tarts, lemon bars, etc., so maybe that predisposes me to like this particular flavor. But it's a sophisticated lemon, not a silly, sugared down lemon. (I made a lemon cake from a box the other day and gave it a hearty thumbs down, because it tasted like Lemonheads--do you remember that candy? I don't think a cake should taste like candy; it should taste like lemons.)

Anyway, take a trip over to your local Whole Foods or specialty foods market sometime soon and pick up a few cups of Liberte. Let me know if you like it as much as I do.

T.R.O.U.B.L.E.

Why The Boy is T.R.O.U.B.L.E.:

• He's just very active. He keeps me on my toes all day, except for when he's napping. For example, he was the only kid that wouldn't sit in his mother's lap again today at story time at the library. I hope he naps until he's 20.
  
• He likes to throw food off his high chair tray and pour his milk out.
  
• He also likes to throw things off the second story front porch.
  
• At times, he puts questionable things in his mouth, so I have to keep my eyes on him any time we're someplace new. Like the incident on the back porch with the bag of potting soil.
  
• He is starting to throw tantrums. Lie-down-on-the-floor tantrums (well, he's only actually laid down on the floor once, but there have been a few incidents that have been nearly as bad).
• He loves buttons and presses them whenever he has the opportunity. Like the time he was playing with the remote and found this crazy secret menu on our TV and changed some settings. Nathan had to call the cable company to figure out what happened.
  
• He loves our cell phones and loudly insists on having the chance to play with them whenever someone calls. He has also made some phone calls when playing with our phones while we weren't looking.
  
• He has gotten really, really loud, and he doesn't yet understand what an inside voice is.
• He ate a handful of potting soil--twice.
  

But here are a few of the reasons he's incredibly endearing, despite his mischief:

• As of a couple of days ago, he says "Amen" after we pray. Actually, he says, "'MEN!" With great enthusiasm.
• He doesn't have a lot of words yet, so he really likes to use the ones he's got, like "shoes," "juice" (which also means "milk"), and "moo." He also tells us that any food that is remotely warm is hot, by waving his hands in a certain way and saying "Aah! Aah! Aah!"
• He loves trucks and is loudly enthralled by them whenever we pass one while driving.
  
• He loves stuffed animals and hugs them all. His favorite is a gray kitten named Roscoe that he sleeps with.
  
• He sometimes chases down one of our cats and hugs her, laying his head on her back. It's sweet.
  
• He has the best belly laugh of anyone I know.

Who Would Imagine?

Who would imagine that such trouble could come from this face?
Do not be misled by his angelic countenance and blueberry eyes. That boy is trouble. T.R.O.U.B.L.E.