Day 3

I'm going to recap today in bullet points since I am exhausted and can't think clearly enough to write in complete sentences.

-At breakfast J had a melt down....lasted abou 45 mins, but it ended well. He was crying and yelling, but I'd rather that than the silent tantrum where he just ignores you and you can't do anything about it. He finally obeyed in the end and all was well!
-Went to the pool. J started a melt down because he wanted another person's goggles, so he sat by the side of the pool area with his arms crossed. So typical of a silent tantrum. Poor kid has never been taught how to deal with disappointment and not getting anything he wants. After about a half hour, Jake offered him his googles, so then he was happy. It was totally not how I like to parent, but the pool was crowded and we really needed to avoid two tantrums in one hour. There will be many more opportunities for training, I'm sure!
-It is Mother's Day today- which was wonderful! Brent had bought a necklace (actually I think my  sister in law, Andi,  arranged it- Thank you!) with all 7 of the kids names engraved on it. Yes, of course I cried! All the kids drew pictures for me and Cait wrote the most beautiful letter to me ever. I'd post it on here, but she would be utterly embarrassed. It's a treasure, though.
-Sandwiches for lunch.
-Cindy was exhausted. Like barely has her eyes open- exhausted. BUT, she wouldn't fall asleep no matter how long I held her. I put her down and let her just wander around crying the whole time. She wouldn't be pacified. She looked and sounded so pathetic I had to smile inwardly.
-Brent had taken the rest of the kids to the playground to play cars in the sandbox. Cindy and I ended up joining them which gave her a second wind. Brent and I "chatted" with the property manager while the kids played. He didn't speak any English so I use the term "chatted" very lightly! Surprisingly, Cait often understood more of what he said than Brent and I! She's catching on to this spanish thing!
-At one point the property manager pointed out a beautiful squirrel (never seen one of these before!) in the bushes nearby. Of course Grant and Jake were immediately trying to catch it! Grant reached out his hand and the squirrel JUMPED ON HIS SHOULDER! Just for a second, but Grant screamed (like a girl- Cait noted) and it ran away. We all got a good laugh out of that one!
-Luisa found the suitcase full of crafts so we went through a lot of craft items today. She found a composition notebook I had brought for her and I showed her how to write her new name. She was so excited that she wrote it on each line of the page! They all painted with watercolors for the first time today! So adorable. Luisa's first thing she painted was her new name and under it she wrote: Papi y Mami y hermanas y hermanos te amo! So adorable. J also knows his letters but not well enough to spell anything into words. I painted a stick figure of him and he painted on green hair. Then I painted Papi and he painted on black hair. I said, "Papi no pello!" He looked at Brent and just started cracking up! I think it was the first time he noticed Brent had no hair! LOL!
-Yolima, a lady from the church we are in contact with, came over this afternoon. She is wonderful! Lived 12 years in US, so her English is very good. We sat and talked while the kids watched a movie. (Except for L, she doesn't like movies) She loves the Lord intensely and we had a wonderful conversation all about spiritual things. I was glad she agreed to stay for dinner (spaghetti) because she translated a lot of things to and from the kids for us.
-Through Yolima we learned that J is terrified of going on the airplane. Actually it was Cindy who told us that, but later J confirmed it. L and C don't have any fears about going to the US. They are excited! When asked what they were looking forward to in the US, Cindy piped up (she was in a silly mood) NECKLACES! HA! Luisa said toys! We showed her the video we had taken of our house right before we left and she was so excited for the doll strollers and stuff we had all set up for her!
-We were able to tell the kids that they will go to school at home. Luisa was very happy about mami being her teacher! So was Cindy  but I don't think she understood what we were talking about.
-Yolima was also able to draw out of Jonathan that his favorite thing in the world is futbol. (soccer). We had brought baby dolls for the girls and a soccer ball with shin guards for J but hadn't given anything to them since they were completely overwhelmed by the little things we'd put in their backpacks. So when we heard that, Brent hurried back to the suitcase and brought out the soccer ball! He was ecstatic! We haven't seen him that happy since we got him! Then we brought out the girls' baby dolls and they were squealing they were so happy! I think Cindy conned Luisa into switching dolls since she wanted the doll with hair, but they both seem happy. Luisa is so loving to her little sister and brother. She will bend over backwards to help them. She doesn't interfere if is a mother -daughter situation, unless I ask her for help to understand them. But she is always the first to give up what she has for them.
-Going to bed was crazy. I was trying to put Pj's on Cindy when she was jabbering to me. I had no clue what she was saying but she suddenly started melting down with a full blown kicking, screaming toddler tantrum. I had no idea what happened. Thankfully Luisa stepped in and let me know that she wanted her bath before bed! Sheesh! I should have realized that! Of course all three wanted to shower together- they are used to that. It is a very large shower with a tub bottom so I am able to get in there with them without getting too soaked. Oh, my goodness, they were sooo silly. They are completely capable of doing everything themselves, but I was in hysterics the whole time. They were spitting water on each other and giggling and poking each other. It was funny, but I think tomorrow we will put an end to the triple person bathing! LOL! Too dangerous!
-Everyone went to be extremely well. No tears for the first time! I didn't even have to lay down with anyone! Progress! They love it when I sing to them and Luisa even started trying to say some words in English with me.
-One really cute thing is that Cindy likes to make up silly words. Half the time we don't know if they are really spanish or a made up word. We're usually clued in when Luisa starts cracking up. We've been trying to work on saying por favor when asking for something. Cindy says it SO cute... Por pa bor! Sometimes we make her say it just so we can hear her cute voice! LOL!
-Well, I'm wiped out and heading to bed! Brent is already asleep on the couch while he was uploading pictures. Please pray for us that we would have endless energy!