Sometimes, your day goes totally different than you expected

Two sweet four year olds: Anita and Erika

Susely is 14 and does a lot to help take care of her siblings, especially two year old Daniel

This is Kenya and Tonya, 11 and 10 years old

Playing with the dishes...Erika only plays with her toys when she has friends here.  She was scooting everywhere.  It is hard to keep her still...they left it all beautifully organized for us...

while the big kids tried to visit, the littler kids served them all sorts of "food"

It has been SOOO hot here.  Don't know how to express it, but we sweat all day.  And we sweat all night.

Last night, for the first time, we turned on the air in our room for about an  hour just to cool the room down.  It worked beautifully and we slept so good, except we all have colds.  Lee is very budget conscience and worried about the cost...so we shall see on our next bill.  Erika slept in our room all night, and Tori did a little while...Josh opted to sweat it out, but to be in his own bed.  I was thankful for the relief.  Even if it is just for me to sleep.

Lee, Erika and I woke up with our colds a little worse, probably because of the air:(  But it was still worth it.  I am taking tons of vitamins and trying to eat veggies and juices to get better.

So, we had a slow getting-going this morning.  I got Erika out on the couch and fed her breakfast and got ready to go to Market real quick.  We got lots of yummy veggies and some bananas that finally are not too ripe.  I am so excited because I am going to make banana pudding for my family because I found Vanilla Wafers...so excited!!!  We also picked up some movies...remember they are cheap here:).  I got a couple of classics for Erika since she is stuck to the couch...Lady and the Tramp and Tarzan.  She is watching one now...I want her to rest after our unexpectedly busy morning...

On our way out of market, there was a  guy selling snow cones...mmm...so Lee and I were just going to get one and not tell the kids.  But that is not nice.  So we juggled 5 snow cones along with several bags of veggies and movies...  Well, one of the snow cones got dumped all over the floor of the car...but we managed to get the rest home.  Then someone started calling as Lee was driving, and balancing a snow cone...I told him to just let it go.  They kept calling and calling.  We finally got home and gave the VERY HAPPY KIDS their snowcones and Lee returned the call.

It was a girl that we have met on several of our missions trips to San Ignacio over the years. Her family goes to Pastor Caleb's church and we know them a little.   She is 14 and her parents sell things at market so she wanted to know if she could come hang out, while she was in Belmopan for the day.  Well sure.  So, Lee and Tori ran back back to  market to get her.

Well, when Lee, Tori, Susely, and her 4 siblings got back...it was totally different than how I had expected my day to go.  Homeschooling went out the door very quickly.

As soon as they got here, I had to take Tori to her piano lesson so two of the girls rode with us.  On the way home, they talked to me...and soon the inconvenience in my day was actually blessing another mother.  Not at all complaining, they told me that they had gotten on the bus that morning at 7...mom ( I think she is pregnant) and her five children, carrying slippers (flip flops) to sell at market.  The little girl told me her baby brother (2 yrs) was crying because he was hungry.  They did not have time to eat that morning...and it was now almost 10.  So, the mom in me felt sad for them.  I came home and cut up bananas and made peanut butter on ritz crackers and Josh made some Tang...it was gone in minutes. 

The other thing was that the 10 yr old, Tonya, asked me when I was driving the car..."Is this YOUR car?"  And I said, well it is our family's car, but I drive it because I don't know how to drive the van...And she was like, so you guys have TWO CARS?  I asked if they had a car...I had just assumed her dad had needed it for the day.  She said no, that her dad would like to get them one, but they dont have one.  A family with 5 kids...they walk everywhere.  I mean, really, I know this is the case of families all over Belize...but here I had one of them in our home today.  A family that we know, that had to ride an hour long bus ride to market to sell flip flops...

At first the kids were quiet and reserved but quickly made themselves at home.  Lee said "Lets feed them lunch and then I will take them back to their mom."  We were able to give them about a 4 hour break from being at the market.

This, again, reminded me of how blessed our family is...to be able to throw together a meal in 10 minutes, unplanned, for 10 people...my family plus the five children.  Tori and Josh were a tremendous help.  We had one package of hot dogs, so one for each kid, made homemade mac and cheese, cut up veggies, and chips and cheese dip...Lemonade, with lots of ice to drink.  The children were very thankful and not wasteful.  And I knew that would mean their mom would not have to feed them out at market.

The four year old spoke a lot of Spanish, the school aged girls spoke both Spanish and English. So, I told Josh to have a conversation with her for his Spanish today...Practical application for sure.

After lunch, I got out coloring books and then Lee said it was time to go back to market, so I quick found some crayons and color pages and stickers to take back with them...  I got some prizes out of our prize bag for our children's church for them.  They were so sweet and so thankful.  I know they wanted to stay, so feel a little bad.  But Erika really needed to rest.  She was scooting all over and that cannot be good for her little heel.  Speaking of that, Please keep praying for her stitches to heal...

So, now we are all resting.  It was a blessing to give the kids somewhere safe to play while their mom was at market and good for my kids to serve.  And they did.  With a good heart.

And once again, makes me thankful for my life...