6 sets of feet!
/Our dear friends, the Pech's, escaped for a quick, last minute get-away to Sao Miguel island for a few days. They leave in just under two weeks and have never been to another island, so it came just in the nick of time. We have their littles while they are gone. It adds some serious and blessed chaos to our house. Their daughter, Mykah, is just about a year younger than Joel. She'll be 3 at the end of this month. Their son Noah is 4 months younger than Luke. So we have four tykes 3 1/2 and under. :) The older boys do a great job at helping and it's such a blessing to be able to give them specific directions and have them do it.
We woke this morning to a beautiful promise from our Creator. It was horribly rainy and windy yesterday, and going outside was just not an option. The rain storms here is like "pre-hurricane" rain. It's intense.
A fisheye lens makes for an easy capture. This place is a land of many rainbows. They are frequent, vibrant and beautiful!
Manuela arrived at her usual time, just before 8:00. It's always a sweet relief to see her coming down the driveway. She has truly become a part of our family. I was relieved to have her with me when the Pech's arrived. I often feel like she's more qualified than I am, with 20 plus years of experience in Nannying and house cleaning. I have learned invaluable lessons about patience, tender heartedness and gentleness from her. I've not once heard her raise her voice or get frustrated with the boys (or anyone's kids), even in their most trying moments. She cares with them with such ease and grace with the kind of quiet spirit that I long for and pray for.
Pech's arrived, unloaded and then I drove them to the airport. I came straight back and got the babies down for their morning naps. Manuela plugged away at her impressively quick speed cleaning the house, while I worked on laundry and moving more things to the down stairs house to prep for the movers to come in several weeks. Once the babies woke up we loaded them up in the double stroller and took all the kiddos down to do a sea glass hunt in our favorite spot. Toward the end of our time there Manuela told me that she had grown to love it. She has only been with us to do sea glass 3 times, but it doesn't take long for it to grow on you! Sifting through the pebbles while listening to the rhythmic waves pound in is soothing and therapeutic.
We arrive home just in time to get lunch going - it was gorgeous outside so the kiddos stayed and played outside while the babies and I worked in the kitchen. The kids had played hard all morning and were very ready for a hearty lunch! Luke and Noah watched a bit of a baby movie once I decided it was time to work without them hanging on my ankles. ha!
As I got the babies ready for naptime, Elijah stepped up and did a wonderful job keeping the rest of the tots occupied as he read them a story. It's so wonderful to watch him enjoy reading - what a huge help that he can read to his brothers now! They love it!
I was able to get out of the house for a bit during nap time, which was wonderful. Manuela had the house completely clean by 3:00, despite the many interruptions during the day. She never ceases to amaze me and it's SUCH a blessing to be able to do things that there would be no time for if I didn't have her help keeping the house clean. We both need each other. After naps the kiddos went straight back outside to enjoy the sunshine. Manuela decided to stick around and hang out with us until she needed to leave to get her kiddos at school at 5:00. I brought the sea glass jar outside after loading our finding in it. We filled it! It's all the way to the top.
Josh was able to come home from work earlier than usual, as he plans to do each day that the Pech kids are here. It's so fun to see him roll down the driveway before 6:00. We ate grilled chicken tacos on the table outside and then took the kiddos for a walk to burn off more energy. We found a huge puddle on the way home and it was the source of great delight!
The evening presented the challenge that we expected of getting kids to go to sleep in places they weren't used to. Mykah was awake at 9:00, asking where the boys were, and Judah and Joel had a very difficult time calming themselves down while sharing the bunk bed in Joel and Elijah's room. Elijah was beside himself with excitement to be sleeping under the reading tree. I imagine it's a very magical place for a child's mind to spend the night!
Josh and I had 3 very full basket of laundry to fold, so with bellies freshly enjoying double chocolate cookies and delicious tea, we put on a show and got to work.