I think I'm going crazy!

OK. If you read yesterday's blog, you know that it was probably the most difficult day we've had since we've been here (and that's saying alot, because there have been several.). And today had the potential to start off just as bad. I didn't get in bed until almost midnight. After I blogged, then I had to watch 2 episodes of The Office on my i-pod (I needed to laugh and that's my therapy) just to decompress from the day. So, I got to bed late. Well, Robert decided that 5:00am was a good time to wake up and start the day. Normally I would have been pretty grouchy about it but for some reason I decided to just roll with it. So, Mary Jane, Maryssa, Matthew, Robert and I got up and started our day. Robert always wakes up laughing and smiling so it's hard to be mad at such a cute kid (even though I was feeling sleep deprived). After about 45minutes Diogo woke up and came in the room. Shortly after that, him and Matthew

left the room. I really didn't care either because our room is pretty crowded and 2 less people is a blessing. After about 30 minutes I thought I should probably go and check to see what they were doing, because it was way too quiet. I noticed that the kitchen door was closed but I could here something going on inside. When I opened the door, Matthew was standing there tying little strips of plastic bags to this long thing that looked like a clothes line... in the kitchen! Diogo was standing up on top of a chair holding up one end of this long line of strips while Matthew tied them on. They had atleast 100 strips of plastic (that they cut themselves, out of grocery bags) tied to this line and it stretched from one end of the kitchen to the other. You see, those ghetto kites that I told you about yesterday won't fly unless you tie some type of tail to them. So they were just getting a head start on the day by making this big huge tail, that they woud later cut up and divide between all the siblings. We killed more time until breakfast, then we went to eat. After breakfast, we decided to let the older kids go out and fly their kites and MJ and I would keep the little ones inside and let them play with playdough. As I was sitting there, trying to act like I was interested in all the different shapes they were making (really I could care less, I was just trying to keep my eyes open because I desperately needed sleep... come on don't judge me, you can't tell me that you're always interested in every playdough shape your kid makes!), I noticed out of the corner of my eye that every time Gabriel smiled at me that there was a hint of blue on his tongue. So I asked him to stick his tongue out. Sure enough, there was a blue stripe right down the middle. Then it dawned on me... hey, he's got blue playdough, duh! He had eaten enough of his playdough that it had turned his tongue blue. I immediately panicked and scooped him up in my arms and we rushed off to the hospital, gently brushing his hair with my fingers, I reassured him that everything was going to be OK.... yeah, right... I'm kidding! Actually, I laughed so hard because this kid puts everything in his mouth and will eat absolutely anything, it's scary. Then I went and got my camera and took a picture. How much playdough do you have to eat before it changes the color of your tongue anyway? We actually played with the playdough all morning. We made all kinds of stuff with it. MJ even rolled a big ball of it up and then she sunk 3 of her fingers into it to make a bowling ball. She then fished some bottles out of the trash and used them for bowling pins. The kids loved it. And yes, as you can tell we are still bored. Anyway, it was time for lunch and I was pumped. You see, after lunch my father-in-law was going to take all the big kids to this park 45 minutes away and our friend Carla was going to take MJ, Maryssa and my mother-in-law shopping. This left me here alone with Robert and Gabriel and both of them always take naps after lunch... you know what that means? I get to take a nap after lunch! I was so happy. So, I put them down for their nap and I layed across the bed. I thought I would get a little reading in before I dozed off (I'm reading The Church in the Workplace, by C. Peter Wagoner. It's pretty good. You have to read to lead as my Pastor says). As I was laying there reading I started to think... man, I wish the 2 little guys were up so we could hang out. What? Did I just think that???? That's why I think I'm going crazy. Why wasn't I more concerned with getting in a quick nap? I was definitely tired. Then it hit me. I love my sons. I want to be with them and play with them and just have fun together. It's amazing how the Lord can light something inside of you that nobody else can. Because that's what He's done. You see, even yesterday in the midst of all that chaos, I was thinking about the what if's. What if I got arrested and put in jail for disciplining my children in public? What if they took the kids away from us because we actually believe that spanking a child is OK? The feeling that came over me wasn't good. These are our kids! We love them as our own. There is no way that we could be without them. Well, as I was laying there wishing they would wake up... I saw the handle on the door start to move very slowly. Was I hallucinating because I was so tired? No! It was Gabriel! I motioned for him to come up on the bed with me and we just hung out and waited for Robert to wake up. Then when Robert got up we went downstairs to play soccer. After that we decided to walk down to the store and get a popsicle... just the 3 of us! It was so relaxing. But here's another reason why I think I must be going crazy... I was really wishing all the rest of the family was back. Why wasn't I just enjoyng a relaxing day? Am I a glutton for punishment? Do I like the fact that when we're all together there's always some argument to break up or some kid to chase or a face to wipe, or... I think you get the point. When Mary Jane got back she asked me if I was able to relax and I told her about what happened. She definitely thought I was crazy for not sleeping and for actually missing all the drama that is 'our family.' But it's hard to explain. When I first heard that we were going to have to be here for 46 days to co-habitate with our children, I thought it was going to be a waste of time... we could do the same thing at home, right? But I believe that something special has happened over the last month... our hearts have been knitted together with our kids in an awesome way. We can't wait for you to meet them. Call me crazy, but I'm glad we've experienced EVERYTHING that we've experienced here.

Michael made it to Miami and should be boarding a plane for Sau Paulo in about 20minutes. He will fly all night and we will pick him up at 10:00am tomorrow. We can't wait to see him. Thank you so much for letting me rant today. God is really doing some amazing things on the inside of Mary Jane and I... I just hope that it translates well through the blog.

Love Ya!

Jim and Mary Jane