Family Night Celebration

Once a year, Casa de Amor holds a "Family Night" party. All of the staff members are invited as well as the families of the staff. Our big kids from Houses 2-3 also come to the party, and this year, we brought all of our big kids and Baby C. from the baby house! 

This morning was filled with lots of food preparation. Tía Silvia, our cook at the baby house, was in charge of the hamburgers, so she spent all morning getting those ready. Tía Benita, the cook at Houses 2-3, was in charge of the condiments, cooking the chorizo hotdogs, and getting all of the lettuce/tomato cut up for the hamburgers. The Boohers at House 4 brought drinks, and Tío David was in charge of grilling the hamburgers during the party. It really was a group effort!

We also had two birthdays to celebrate! Carla Booher's birthday was yesterday, and Tía Sarin's birthday is tomorrow. I made a cake and lots of cupcakes. Lindsey also made chocolate chip cookies. The cupcakes and cookies were all gone in about 30 seconds. We did have Carla and Tía Sarin blow out birthday candles and bite the cake as we sang "Happy Birthday!" (in both English and Spanish, of course), but I don't think we actually cut into the cake during the party. 

I wish I had more and better pictures, but I only had my cell phone for pictures, and they didn't come out so great. The Boohers were taking lots of pictures though, so hopefully I'll be able to steal some from them ;)

Wordless Wednesday

Our Saturday in Pictures

My camera hasn't been working, so that's why there has been a lack of blog posts lately. As I told Jennifer this morning, cell phone pictures just aren't the same… but this post is for you, Jenn! ;)

Baby G. fell asleep like this on the floor after his bath this morning… We thought he looked too cute!

We have a new centerpiece for our table!

Baby C. being her usual adorable self during lunch! She starts smiling as soon as she sees the camera!

 Heading out to Horita Feliz… S. and A. are still living with the Boohers, but as they will be moving back to the baby house soon, they came over and spent the morning with us today and then came with us to Horita Feliz!

 V. is so photogenic!

S. eating her snack… That blur in the background is N., begging for more oranges. Our rule is that they must stay in their class if they want to eat their snack afterwards. For the first time, N. stayed in her class, and I think she probably ate her weight in oranges after class as she was making up for the many weeks she didn't get to eat one!

M. loves the little bags of chocolate milk!

R. is a big fan of the oranges, too!

 You may notice that this outfit is different than the one in our group picture… Baby C. decided to blowout her diaper down to her toes on our way to Horita Feliz! Luckily, I had a change of clothes in the car for her, but she still looked like a little ragamuffin. 

 E. and S. lived together at the Boohers' house, but now that E. is back at the baby house, they don't see each other as often. It was so fun to watch them playing together at Horita Feliz. When it was over, they held hands and ran circles around the building, laughing the whole time!

Baking Bread with Baby G.

Tía Silvia is in LOVE with Baby G. He has definitely become "her" baby, and she often sneaks him into the kitchen throughout the day. 

After lunch today, the tías were baking bread, and Tía Silvia declared that it was time for Baby G. to learn how to bake bread as well. She gave him a piece of the dough and helped him shape it. It was too cute! Unfortunately at only 2 months old, he won't get to enjoy his piece of bread, but I've been told that he's willing to share it with Baby C. at breakfast tomorrow!

Twins and Triplets

Ignoring a crazy looking Baby C... we brought our fake twins and triplets with us to Horita Feliz this afternoon!

I think we can thank former CDA volunteer Savannah for leaving behind the matching dresses and maybe those shirts, too!

A Picture Post

Life has been busy, and I've not had much time for blogging these past couple of weeks. Rather than trying to catch up right now, I thought I'd just upload some recent pictures of life at Casa de Amor!

Lindsey and I went shopping for baby clothes one afternoon, and she found a 9 month version of some 24 month-sized pajamas that M. wears all of the time! Now Baby A. and M. can be twins at night! 

 Baby C. so badly wants to pull up on the side of her crib. Nearly every morning I find her turned on to the stomach and reaching up!

 The kids LOVE helping the tías peel habas (a type of bean). Not only is it a help to the tías, but also a great fine motor activity for our toddlers!

One afternoon, Tía Rosa (CDA's Administrator and Social Worker) came down to my room to ask if I had my camera to take a picture of Tía Yovana and M. napping together. Tía Yovana's group can usually be found snuggled up with kids during nap time.

Sometimes in the afternoon we change diapers in one of the kids' bedrooms instead of the big playroom, and it's a little dangerous to have the babies laying on the floor. On this particular afternoon, we kept the babies contained in the laundry baskets while we folded clothes :) 

Baby A. the Pirate

 Before Baby C. really started crawling, she and Baby F. did a weird dragging themselves along type of crawling. We used to lay them next to each other and see who could get to a toy first!

 I'd cry too if I had that combination of clothing!

100 bolivianos in coins… Coins are basically sacred here as we use them for transportation. While at the girls' house one day, one of the tías offered me 100 bolivianos in coins for a 100 boliviano bill, so I of course took her up on her offer! I'm set for trufi money for awhile now! 

 Tío Rudi feeding a quick lunch to E., S., and A. They don't normally eat lunch on the kitchen counter, but they were rushed on this particular day so feeding them assembly-line style was the quickest way!

 Sweet A… Can't wait until she's back at the baby home!

O. and I at her Mother's Day luncheon for her class.

Why S. asked me to take this picture of her is still a mystery!

Baby G. (our littlest at the baby house) has started smiling!

 When picking up the big kids from school, sitting in the back with the window open is the preferred spot!

 I might have already posted this picture… Elizabeth, Baby D., me, Lindsey, and Melanie. Elizabeth and Melanie both came short-term to help Baby D. before, during, and after his heart surgery. This picture was taken at the Boohers' house on the day Baby D. was discharged from the hospital!

 R. and I before church

Savannah, a former volunteer, helped raise money for our new washing machine and asked if I could take some pictures of the kids with it to send to some people who donated. The tías never asked what we were doing but looked at us like we had lost our minds as we were taking these pictures before church one morning!

 It's never too early to start potty-training…

 Baby D. is doing SO well after his heart surgery! This picture was taken last Friday afternoon.

M. loves to have his picture taken!

Baby E. hanging out in the playroom!

N. and I last Saturday morning.

 Lindsey and I with our babies!

One Saturday morning, Lindsey and I were sitting in the room and happened to glance out of the door. Guess who we found just peacefully hanging out in the doorway?! The tías still refuse to tell us who left the babies there or why!