Aaahhh... the children

Everyone knows that I think every child who walks the face of this Earth is adorable. However, this little guy is one of the cutest of all. Last week my sweet little godson turned one year old! We had a baby dedication service and a birthday party all in one... complete with a buffet dinner, cake, and karaoke. It was so, so fun. Happy Birthday Jedi!!!

Here are some more kids pics I took last week visiting an orphanage. This home is about 45 minutes from my house... up a small mountain. Most of these 123 kids are from the hill tribes of Thailand. This past year over 20 kids were adopted from this home. They live in a wonderful place that teaches them about Jesus. They are a joy to be with and super cute too!!!

A weekend whirlwind

This past weekend was packed full of fun times with friends. It started off with the normal Friday afternoon track practice. Then got a little more exciting as I hung out with Kelly and a bunch of our high school girls. We played one round of Texas Hold 'Em... and then other things became more interesting.

Saturday morning came way too early as we had a ginormous yard sale at the school. As a class sponsor, I was in charge of overseeing the Senior's car wash. It was fun and a little stressful as I watched these kids put their hands all over thousands of dollars worth of cars. Because of limited space and crazy traffic, we had all of the owners put their cars in neutral so we could push them down the line. Then the drivers went yard sale shopping and came back for their squeaky clean car later. 17 year old kids pushing cars with one hand and squirting water at the girl they like with the other hand can be dangerous... I prayed a lot that day. All was well.

Saturday afternoon I took two friends to a nearby waterfall for a picnic. We ate a ton of food and enjoyed the amazingly cool weather we're having right now--- it was about 70 degrees.... yes, cool weather. Then I took them to visit the cute kids at the orphanage and even learned how to put Thai cloth diapers on those sweet kids. No pins, no snaps, no knotting..... just a nice little folding and stuffing technique. Unfortunely, these are no Pampers. Leak free? I don't think so.

After church on Sunday I went with another group of friends back to the same waterfall for a picnic lunch. We had a grand ol' time. Here are some pics of them at the bottom of the waterfall. They were having fun until the girls who decided to water slide were attacked by leeches. Poor things.

Tonight I was hangin out with Kelly and the girls she's staying with while their parents are out of town. Kelly was being her cool self playing the guitar. When she went to do something else, I had a weak moment and picked it up and tried to play something. Just FYI, I can't play... I learned three chords a few years ago and that's it.... I'm pathetic. And because I'm such a wimp my fingers felt like they were about to fall off. As a result, this video below was made. It's ok to laugh. It's almost embarrassing. But, I decided to put in on for the blogging world to see my guitar debut--- the first ever song I've written on this glorious musical instrument.

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Greener Grass?

I live in a beautiful city. Too many days I get caught up in the stuff that goes on between my cement-walled classroom and forget to look out the window. I forget about the mountains, the green grass, the "exotic" flowers,

tangent---- a couple weeks ago i looked up flower delivery prices in the states... i already knew they were expensive. but, the funny part to me was that the most expensive flowers were ones that grow in my very own thai front yard. i bought them for 20 baht (less than $1) at the little plant shop down the road. you ship a $1 orchid to america and they suck $85 out of you. no lie. absurd. i'm still in shock. just look under "exotic flowers" the next time you go to one of those delivery places and you'll be looking at a sampling of my flower garden.---- end of tangent

the blue sky, the breath-taking waterfalls.

After thinking about how I'll be in TEXAS in 6 weeks.... I realized how amazing the place I live now is. Of course, I'm incredibly excited to go back the States for a couple weeks..... but I don't want to find myself in another year and a half heading back to Texas at the end of my term and just beginning to recognize the beauty here. I want to be here... in each moment. I want to genuinely appreciate what God has placed and created around me.

I started thinking about how the "grass is always greener on the other side." Then it hit me.... the "greener" things I see over here.... on my side of the fence (or ocean).

Last weekend I had a retreat with my company's team. It was a wonderful time to relax and refocus. The picture above is the resort we stayed at for a couple nights. This was my cute little bungalow:

The creek view from the cute little porch:

I returned home to this beautiful blossoming tree in front on our house. I bought this last year when it was a wee little plant. Now it's a tree outgrowing its pot. I think it needs a transplant. These pics are for my old roomie, Katie. Our garden misses you! And so do I!

Mommy Broogie

Last week I had the privilege of gaining more insight into the life of a single, working mother. I got to spend 5 wonderful days with these two cute kids. Something funny happened at least every hour. At least most moms have 9 months to get used to the idea of watching kids every second of the day. Now I understand why most moms drop their kids off at school while still wearing a bathrobe, coffee in one hand, and wet hair on top.

The first car ride we went on was to the pharmacy. Due to the random traffic laws of our city, I had to park a block away from the store. I told the kids.... ok guys we're gonna have to walk just a little bit to get to the store. P looks at me and says... but Aunt Brooke.... I didn't put on any shoes... you didn't tell me I needed shoes. (have you ever seen a sidewalk in Asia????)

Lesson #1 make sure your kids are properly clothed before going out in public. Since we people in Thailand leave our shoes on racks by the front door.... they're the very last thing you have to remember before leaving home.

Two days later I was getting ready for school. H had to go to preschool--- so I was running around trying to stuff corn down my throat (yes.... an ear of corn for breakfast... I'm turning more Asian everyday---- so far my skin has been faithful to its white-ness) and trying to get clothes on a preschooler who would prefer to be half naked. I barely got myself ready for work, let alone the two kids ready for their day. I waddled into work with a million bags, breakfast in one hand and a jacket I grabbed in the other.

Lesson #2 look at yourself in the mirror before leaving the safety of your own home.

My outfit for the day consisted of black dress pants, brown flipflops, and a brown sweatshirt jacket in case i got cold. Brown and black should never be together. I wasn't even in the same genre of clothing either--- dressy and casual. Lovely.

Lesson #3 don't offer to babysit on Halloween.

This has to be children's largest sugar consumption day of the year. Sugar= hyper. Hyper= craziness. Craziness= lots and lots of noise and a headache to go on top. Ok... so it wasn't that bad. We actually had a really fun time. Here are some pics of the sweet munchkins.

Meet Super Santa and Richard Simmons' Assistant.

Here H gives out candy to our first guest.... my roommate Staci! :)

H usually calls me Aunt Broogie. This week she kept calling me mommy... I told her no.... I'm not your mommy, but mommy will be home in a few days. So then she changed my name to Mommy Broogie. The day her mom got home, H looked at me and said.... You're not my mommy anymore... my mommy came back. Mommy Broogie was a fine title for 5 days--- but for now I'm loving just being an Aunt.

Working 8 hours a day and being a mom is tough! AND I even had a househelper to help me! All you moms out there deserve a big hug. You're pretty great.