Well the well...

...is pretty much done at the school they were drilling at in Nicaragua. The team Lauchlin was with decided to be there this morning and give up some of their 'tourist time' and head to Managua this afternoon. Lauchlin called me this morning. He said they worked really hard this week but had hit rock on Monday and had to find another location to start again. I guess I will have more details when he returns. Praise God that is tomorrow evening at 6pm.

It has been a really rough week but God has sustained us. I didn't anticipate Jude having such a hard time with his Daddy away. He was very emotional and confused this week. He also was teething and had a doctor's appointment with a shot (with side effects of course). Regardless, I will be glad for Jude's sake that his Daddy is back.

The body of Christ has surrounded us here is amazing ways. We had people in our home for 3 evenings for dinner and fellowship. Also, had a people watch the kids and let me get out a little bit. Alan, our good friend, watched them today and Jude really seemed to be refreshed by some 'guy time'.

Anyway, I will post more details and pictures on the trip later. Sorry no new pictures of the kids. Jude has been crying all week it seems anyway...

Much love,

Mackenzi (and gang)

Nicaragua or bust...

Lauchlin left last night to fly to Houston and this morning is flying to Nicaragua. He will spend a week outside of Leon in a small town drilling a well with a team to provide them with clean water. We have been going hard all week and are tired but excited for this week to begin and the task to be accomplished successfully. So, if you could pray for him this week as he travels and works hard, we would appreciate it. Also, if you can pray for me as I care for the kids! I will have a young woman staying with me the week which I believe will be a big help and at the very least adult company!! Our small group is going to do some evening shifts with me which is such a blessing as well.

I wanted to give some Nicaragua statistics so that you could understand the need for water there. Here it is:

Nicaragua
Living Water International has been drilling wells in Nicaragua since 2001. Â In 2005 volunteer drill crews began traveling into Nicaragua to drill and conduct hygiene education. The countryside is covered with small villages filled with families that do not have access to clean water; plans are underway to increase our drilling production from 15 wells in 2008 to 21+ wells for 2009. Crews drill wells of 80+ feet that are capable of producing abundant clean water to a villages containing an average of 30-50 families. While a crew is drilling another group of volunteers are teaching hygiene to the mothers in the village and the children in the schools.

Population: 5.8 Million
Lacking clean water: 37%
Below poverty line: 48%
Climate: tropical in lowlands, cooler in highlands
Languages: Spanish, Miskito
Ethnic Groups: mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 69%, white 17%, black 9%, Amerindian 5%
Life Expectancy: 71 years
Infant Mortality Rate: 26 deaths per 1,000 live births

Thanks for your prayers!!

Fondly,
Mackenzi :)

Two birds, one stone...

I started sometimes to give Prisca and Jude a bath together. It works fairly well except when Jude wants to splash like a crazy man. I can't wait until Prisca can sit and play more with her brother but this is a fun step in that direction.
The kids are up to their normal activities...

Momma dressing Prisca up to look pretty. I think she looks hilarious in this picture. She truly is just enduring the endless dresses and pictures. :)

Jude continues to spend a chunk of his day looking at books. He looks so grown up in this picture!

I had a great Mother's Day. Lauchlin made breakfast, we went to church and then put the kids down for a nap and ordered take out Mexican. I wanted to hang out at home as we are looking towards Lauchlin leaving for Nicaragua on Friday and trying to get as much down time and family time as possible before then.

The kids (and I) are really going to miss Lauchlin next week but I am excited to hear about the well that is dug and the village that will be changed radically as a result. I will post some pictures from his trip and report how things went!

Much love,

Mackenzi (and gang)

The post without a good title...

Our yard has really blossomed this year and as always, the spring is especially beautiful because everything goes from brown and grey to green and lush.

Tomorrow we will be planting our vegetable garden. It will include corn, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, squash, zucchinni and some herbs. We are excited and really enjoy the planting.

As many of you know, we have been struggling with having cats with kids. We have gone back and forth about finding a home for them and have tried a few times with no success. Then we would just resolve to keep them...well we have found a new home for them and they are there already. It was sad to say 'goodbye' to them because of our history and the fact that we have had them for 6 1/2 years. However, it is a major relief. We are already enjoying the lack of animals in our house. They were able to stay together and that was really important to me. Thanks Storge and Philia, enjoy your new home!!


Next, I was talking to my friend Katie about similarities and differences between our 2 children and I realized I had similar pictures of both of my kids so I figured a comparison was in order. So, here they are. . .

These following pictures are just for a bonus round.

I am pretty convinced that spaghetti isn't worth it!

Jude continues to climb up and read for extended periods of time. He loves staring at each page and has also started to 'talk' in a way that sounds like reading.

Prisca has decided on her thumb. She loves it and is soooo cute sucking it. She often holds it in with her opposite hand.

Here she is before church one Sunday. I think this pose is so cute. She's just hanging out.

Well, that's all for now.

Fondly,

Mackenzi (for the gang)

Mr. 'No' and Miss Oozy

So, Jude and Prisca are focusing on developing two skills.

Prisca is oozy. I will spare you the details but I thought it was pretty funny when Lauchlin called her oozy the other day. She really is right now. Oh, the joys of being a 3 month old! :)






































As you can see, her neck is getting stronger, she is able to roll over and also sit well in her Bumbo. We love it! She is more and more engaging. Jude often laughs at her because she is wiggly and looks like she is trying to go somewhere.















Jude has really become quite the nurturer when he wants to. Here he is feeding his friend Abigail her sippy cup.














He also, enjoys his own sippy! Saying 'no' has become his hobby recently. It is pretty much the first thing he says in the morning and the last thing he says at night. He even has developed a grumpy face that goes along with it. I will try to get a picture of that. Aaaah, toddlerhood. It should be interesting!
We took our first walk as a family the other night. The kids did really well and seemed to enjoy it. Someone at church saw our doublestroller the other Sunday and said 'You're in trouble when you need to get those things double wide' but I tend to disagree. I am really enjoying having 2 kids and their closeness in age doesn't really bother me and I think will only get better. :)

Here are my kiddos just hanging out!



Hope you are well!



Much love,

Mackenzi (and gang) :)

Happy Easter!

Sooooo, Jude is not as easy to photograph any more. I kept trying to put him by the flowers to interest him in them for a nice backdrop to his Easter picture. I hoped that I could get a good picture of him in his duds. Well, as you can see, that was challenging. He was much more interested in the fire pit and grill, which he is headed to in each of these pictures.

This one was the best I could get...

Prisca was pretty in pink and I thought she did pretty well for her pictures. Of course she can't move very far. :)

Here we are as a family outside of our friends' house, the Banks where we had Easter dinner.

We celebrated Easter with our friends the Banks', Thomas' and Mays. It has become a tradition for the last 4 years as none of us have family in town. Now included in our celebration are 5 kids under the age of 2. Bring on the chaos!

It was fun and we hope you too had a good Easter!!

Fondly,

Mackenzi (and gang)

Busy times...

Lauchlin and I went to a marriage conference last weekend. Hence, I was so engaged with getting ready for that event that I didn't make time to blog. Jude stayed here in our home with our friend Cindy who gave her time generously. Prisca stayed in our hotel room at the conference with a babysitter. It worked out really well. We got to enjoy the sessions and spend time with our small group and refocus on our marriage. It was a helpful time and refreshing.

I do the 'two kid' thing on a daily basis but as I prepared instructions for others it made me realize how crazy things are sometimes around here. I am sooooo grateful that I get to stay home with my kids and enjoy these precious times with them. Here are some glimpses at our day.

Morning routine involves Prisca waking up and being fed in our bed. Lauchlin is already gone for the day at 6:30am. Storge apparently likes Prisca alot more than he ever has liked Jude. He comes every morning and snuggles with us.


Then Jude wakes up and I bring him in to sit in Prisca's crib while I change and dress her. He loves hanging out there.
If she starts fussing he grabs her pacifier and shoves it in her mouth. It is sweet. He also loves to hug and kiss her or pat her when she is upset.

We then go eat breakfast while Prisca plays in her playpen. She eventually goes to sleep for one of her morning naps. I thought she looked so cute here, like she is just worn out!

Jude and mommy get some time together while she sleeps. Jude loves to get into all sorts of things at this point. He loves sitting in Prisca's bumbo but gets stuck and gets angry. He loves going into the kitchen and pulling up something to stand on and getting into the drawers. Therefore we gate it up to eliminate that struggle.

Prisca continues to grow and it is amazing how fast she is developing. It seemed to take forever with Jude but with our second, she seems to be flying through different stages.

Daddy loves to spend time with his kiddos. Jude is much more engaging right now so he and Daddy love to wrestle and run around. But, Prisca likes to smile at her Daddy too.

This picture just pretty much sums it all up! What a mess!! :)

Hope all is well with you. Happy Easter!

Much love,

Mackenzi (and gang)