Perspective

Ever since I returned from Haiti, my perspective has been changing. I could write a very long post about this, but I am not feeling it today. I am saving my very long and drawn out Haiti post for another day.


Instead I will get straight to the point.


Laundry. Who likes laundry? If I had to guess, I would say no one. I don't know anyone who enjoys sorting, washing, switching, folding, and putting away laundry. I don't. Long ago I loved to wash Matt's baby clothes, but that soon grew old.


Last night I was folding clothes. The more I folded, the more irritable I became.


Finally, I think God had enough of my whining and decided to shut me up. In the midst of folding my clothes, this picture flashed in my head.

This is the "laundry room" at the Bethel House in Haiti. No washer, dryer, or air conditioning. Just a couple of large tubs with water, a stick of lye soap, and more elbow grease then I could dream of. Truly, this picture came to mind in the middle of my griping. I immediately shut up and began to thank God for our clothes, the washing machine and dryer, and air conditioning.

I felt like God was watching me and thought "Seriously Aleesa? You are going to gripe about this?!" Anyone else had one of these moments lately?

More Cake Pops

Last weekend I made cake pops for a rainbow themed birthday party. I wish I could take credit for the idea, but I cannot. Her mom decided it would be cute to make a rainbow out of cake pops. She ordered 1 dozen of each primary color which ended up being 6 dozen.

It sounds very simple, but it was A LOT of work. Some of the colors I made myself and other colors I bought. It was A LOT of clean up since I had 6 bowls of colored coating.

However, I had a blast making them and they turned out super cute and sparkly. The sparkle was my idea :)

My friend took them home and turned the pops into this awesome rainbow! How cute is this!?!

Puffy Pancake Recipe

I mentioned Monday that I made Matt a special breakfast. The great thing is that it looks really really special, but in reality, it is super SIMPLE!! One of my friends made a puffy pancake for Matt and I last year for a breakfast playdate and I loved it. I loved it even more when I realized how easy it was to make. Honestly, you can have it whipped together before your oven is done preheating and the ingredients are almost always on hand.

Puffy Oven Pancake

2 Tbs butter

2 large eggs

1/2 C all purpose flour

1/2 C milk

1/4 tsp salt

fresh lemon juice, powder sugar, and/or fresh fruit for garnish

1. Put butter in glass pie plate and stick in 400 oven while preheating.
2. Beat eggs slightly in bowl with whisk. Beat in remaining ingredients except garnishes.
3. Take pie plate out of oven, brush melted butter on sides of plate.
4. Pour batter into pie plate.
5. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until puffy and browned. Serve immediately with desired garnishes.

Ta-da! This is what it looks like straight out of the oven but then it begins to fall.

Here is my wanna-be food magazine shot. It is soo easy and soo good. We love to make these on Sunday mornings while we are getting dressed for church. Pop some bacon in the microwave while this is cooking and you are good to go!

Two Days Down

Trying to figure out how school was is like trying to crack a code. I ask questions, get vague and random answers, and then piece it all together. Here is the play-by-play, according to Matt, of the past two days:

Yesterday

• I had to sit on the carpet forever, like 18 seconds.
  
• I did not get to play computers.
  
• PE is boring, we had to sing songs. (Really? Singing in PE?)
  
• I want to ride the bus!!
  
• I want to eat a hot lunch!!
  
• I played Space Lego's!!!!!
  
• I made a new friend and he almost got his clip moved to yellow.
  

Today

• PE is still boring. I hate PE.
  
• My teacher had on a pretty dress.
  
• We had to sit on the carpet and get off the carpet. Sit on the carpet and get off the carpet. Over and over.
  
• It was hot again today. Like 100 degrees! It was too hot.
  
• I don't need to do my homework because I already know everything. (Oh really??)
  
• My teacher read June B Jones and she said a "S" word. Can I tell you the "S" word?
  
• Did you miss me and cry today?

"Mom. Mom! MOM! Is it time for school yet?"

That is what I heard at 5:30 this morning!! I was in such a deep sleep that I said "No, it's Sunday. Go back to bed." Then Richard jumped up and yelled "No it's not! The alarm didn't go off and I over slept!! It's Monday!"

What a memory!

However, it only gets better. Matt crawled in bed with me but that only lasted about 10 minutes. He couldn't contain himself, so he gave up on me and went to find Richard. I followed him into the living room where he spies the Skip-Bo cards, then me, and says (too chipper for 5:45am) "Want to play Skip-Bo Mom??"

Did I mention he had the cutest smile plastered on his face?

So. Guess what we did at 5:45 am the morning he starts Kindergarten? That's right. We played Skip-Bo.

Eventually, fatigue caught up and he ditched the game and settled for a cartoon. I made him a special breakfast, took pictures, and headed out.

I was so glad to find a couple of our neighbors parked next to us when we arrived. Chatting and watching all the kids was a nice distraction for me.

So that was the morning. I did good, no tears in front of Matt. I managed to hold them back until I reached my car. I am so thankful that this morning was special and such a "Matt" morning. I pray that he keeps his excitement and enthusiasm for school for many many years. I can't wait to hear how his day went!

Just around the corner!

I have tried to avoid this post as long as possible, but I can't anymore. Guess who is going to Kindergarten next week?That's right, my one and only Matt. Tonight we meet his teacher and have orientation. Honestly, I think I am more excited and anxious than he is.

We might come to blows over what he wears the first day. I see a nice little polo shirt and pair of shorts. He is envisioning his new Lego Star Wars t-shirt, a polar fleece vest, and pants. Do you know why? Because he thinks it looks like Hans Solo! All I see is my son passing out at recess because it is so stinking hot right now. I am hoping for a compromise: the t-shirt with shorts.

He also got a haircut about two weeks ago and did not have a melt down!!! This has been a struggle his whole life. I am not really sure why he hated them so much. It was pretty ugly at times. Like so ugly that we were asked to leave different barber shops.

We have not been school supply shopping because we can pay the school to purchase them. I was going to go ahead and buy my own because I thought I could beat their price. However, my friend Danielle said "don't do it!" She tried to beat the system but I think the system got the best of her. Some of the items were so specific that she was only able to find them at one store and not on sale.

We did go back-to-school clothes shopping but did not buy much. Mostly pants and a few shirts. The only thing he wanted was a Star Wars shirt and thankfully, we found it on our last outing. Did I mention it was a Lego Star Wars shirt? Have I mentioned that Matt is 110% obsessed with Legos and Star Wars?

This has been the summer of Star Wars. Matt discovered Richard's old VHS trilogy set and I think we have watched them all 5,000 times. Every time we watch episode IV, I get more and more irritated with Luke's whining. Seriously dude, grow up! You are Darth Vader's son; you don't whine!

Anyways, I'm chasing rabbits! So, my man starts Kindergarten and I will have a breakdown. Not really. I'm sure I will cry because that is what I do best, but I am excited. It's exciting to see him start a new chapter in his little life and I plan on savoring every moment.

Go get'em buddy!

Changing the subject

I am getting more baking gigs!! Currently, by the end of August I will have made 10 dozen cake pops and one football themed birthday cake. Whoop!

God is awesome! I am so glad I am able to do something I enjoy to bring in a little extra money.

I made this Larry Boy (he's from Veggie Tales) cake last month along with another Sponge Bob.

I thought he turned out pretty good since I had no idea what I was doing! In person, he was a pretty violet color but for some reason the photo distorted the colors. I made a trial cake a few days before and it was a DISASTER!

Did I mention the football cake is for a Longhorn fan?? Hmmm...I might just have to saw those horns off. Since it is for a 4 year old, I guess I will restrain myself. Maybe just a little ATM somewhere on the cake...

Haiti: Rice feeding

At the end of our visit to the village of Canez, we passed out around 90, fifty pound, bags of rice. Each family received one bag! The total cost of the rice passed out that day was $3600. Rice in Haiti cost much more. Everything in Haiti cost more because it is an island and almost everything is imported.

Before we handed the rice out, Brent, with the help of our translator Penior, spoke to the villagers. I was able to capture it on video, but it was so windy that it's hard to hear. I hope you enjoy.

Haiti: Beauty

Thought I would brighten things up around here since my posting has been a little on the sad side. I don't want you to get the idea that Haiti is all ugly and gloomy because it is not. Yes it is impoverished and needs an obscene amount of help, but the country and the people are beautiful.


When you get outside of the city it is beautiful. There are gorgeous mountains, lakes, and foliage. I think the thing that amazed me the most were the clouds.



This was the view from one of the balconies. On the other side of the mountain on the right is Port au Prince.

However, look what happens when the clouds begin to roll in.

Finally, this is the same view when you are fully enveloped in a cloud.

Pretty amazing isn't it? Even cooler, is when you are standing inside of a balcony doorway and the clouds blow through the house.

Here are some more beautiful photos.

Don't forget the people. I think they are absolutely striking.

Another picture of the beautiful Ruth. I would take this little girl in a heartbeat.

I love this photo of the oldest man in our group (who made us "young'ns" look like wimps) with a local man at church.

This is one of our translators/bodyguards Jean Marc. He ALWAYS had a smile on his face and loved to joke. On the long bus ride back from Canez, we taught him brilliant American knock-knock jokes.This beautiful young mother lives in some of the poorest conditions on Earth and you would not guess it from the smile on her face. I think a few of the guys were quite smitten with her. Finally, this is one of my all time favorite pictures.

This is Madame Jako and her grandchildren. Madame Jako is a 70 year old widow who loves the Lord with all her heart! She lost her home in the earthquake. Over the past couple of months, Brent's teams have been building her a new home. A group from our team went to paint her new house and deliver two rocking chairs. Richard said when they arrived she began dancing around and singing praises to the Lord. I don't know if I have ever seen anyone here praising the Lord for new paint.
OK. So I lied. I have one more favorite. This is Brent and Mme. Jako laughing together. Two very beautiful people. This might be my favorite. Brent is quite the comedian, so I cannot even imagine what he is telling her.

Haiti:The three who got me

There were three kids in the orphanage who "got me".

This first little guy is Kervins, or at least that is how I think you say it. We were all calling him something different. Kevins, Kevin, Kervin, kid...Kervins was the first orphan I held at the Creche. When I walked in the first evening with Brent and Richard, all the kids went nuts because of Brent and then started running towards us to be picked up. He was like a guided missile. He ran straight for me with his arms up and a huge smile. He knew how to work it! He LOVED being held and when you put him down, he got just a wee bit mad.



The next picture was taken before we left for church. All of the older toddlers were dressed up and waiting outside for their walk to church. Kervins saw me again and made a bee-line.

The next child is Jennica. She is an absolute doll! She loved to snuggle and could sing "Jesus Loves Me" in English. Talk about making you teary.

I fell in love with her but thankfully she and her brother are being adopted!

This last little girl is Ruth. I never got a chance to visit with her because she arrived at the orphanage on Wednesday and the last chance I had with the kids was on Thursday where she spent the entire time in my friend's lap. However, she made a big impression on me (long story to tell another day). I think about her everyday but my friend said she is supposed to get reunited with her family at the end of the summer.

Haiti: The Sights of Port au Prince

Today, I have decided to show some pictures of Port au Prince. I did not get very many because we were told not to take pictures when our bus stopped; we could greatly anger people if we did. So most of mine were taken while the bus was moving pretty good (which wasn't very often).

The first photo is a view from the airplane and the second is the airport. What you see is what you get. The PAP airport is like going back in time. The airport was a crazy experience.

After you depart the plane, you get on a bus (see it under the tail) and ride to a very hot and crowded warehouse room to go through customs and collect your bags. You literally feel like cattle. The room is very hot and there are about 8 lines for all 150+ passengers to go through. Once you get through immigration, you go to the one and only baggage carousel (this was new as of 1 week before our trip) and collect your bags. However, they only let them circulate once and if you are not there, which you are probably stuck in line, they chunk your bags into pile and then you dig for them. After you collect your bags, you have to fight off airport porters because if they get your bags, you don't get them back unless you tip them.

Keep in mind that there were 30 of us and we had 37 checked bags to collect and we all had two carry-ons. Once we finally got ALL of our luggage, we headed out. This is where I freaked out. Once you get outside you are separated from the public by a chain link fence but they are all standing along the fence begging, yelling, and following. We saw children fist fighting, adults in heated discussions, and pretty much pure chaos. It got really scary when the fence ended and you had to walk down the middle of a Haitian human tunnel. It seemed like there were hundreds of people yelling, grabbing at your luggage to help, or just begging for money.

Honestly, I was scared out of my mind and overwhelmed. Eventually, we made it to our bus and headed out. Just so you don't think we were left to the wolves, Brent, our leader, and a couple of his translators/bodyguards were guiding us though.

Tent cities. We saw numerous tent cities. What caught me off guard was seeing families inside of them. We generally only see the masses on the news but to drive by and see children inside, women topless bathing, or families trying to cook outside of them really hit me hard. You see life and that is something they don't show you on TV. Don't forget, people live in these. There is NO privacy, sanitation, space, boundaries or sense of ownership. These people have squatted on land out of desperation and this is now their life. This has been there life for almost 7 months.

When we arrived it was raining and you should have seen the water and garbage running on the ground, flowing through these homes. Garbage! That's another thing, there is garbage everywhere! In piles, in the gutters, on the sidewalks, in rivers, in dried creek beds, in the trees, everywhere you look you see it and smell it.

Street markets, everywhere! Everybody sold something, even if all you had was a bottle of soda and an old pair of shoes.

Earthquake destruction.

We all had a good laugh with this graffiti.



Overall, it was a shocking and eye opening day for all of us. It's funny because when we first arrived everything seemed so depressing, hopeless, and a little scary. By the last day, it was completely different. I saw the people and the city through a new set of eyes. We all did.

Haiti: The Village of Canez

Haiti. Where do I begin? The trip was absolutely amazing and life changing. I saw so many things, good and bad, that I am not sure where to begin. I think most of you who read this blog, with the exception of my mom, have already seen my photos on facebook. With that in mind,I am going to spend some time sharing the stories behind some of my favorite photos or moments.


I think the most moving day of our trip was visiting the village of Canez. The village sits on a brackish lake that borders the Dominican. The people of this village walk an hour and a half to get drinking water and go to church. This village was only 25 miles from where we were staying, but because the roads and traffic are insane in Haiti, it took us almost 4 hours on an non-airconditioned bus to get there!


Isn't it beautiful? This picture does not do it justice, but the water was aqua blue and the mountains were gorgeous. Can you see the huts? They were made out of sicks, mud, and grass.

This is how most small children looked. No pants and red hair. Why red hair? It is because they are so malnourished that their body's are taking protein from their hair for extra nourishment. Almost every child I saw had red hair!


The huts were tiny. Large enough for a sleeping space and the family to gather inside. The only furniture I saw were large plastic buckets. The bathroom was the lake and whatever bush you chose. Sometimes, I saw animals wander into the huts.


We walked hut to hut, witnessed, and gave away family bags. The family bag was a drawstring bag filled with about $15 to $20 of grooming items, used shoes and clothes, new underwear, small toys, and school supplies. This was a huge blessing because most of the people in this village only make $20 in an entire month!

This is a photo of Richard witnessing. Our large group was split up into small groups of 6. We followed a guide and took turns knocking on doors. We asked if the person and their family was converted (that's how you ask in Haiti) and everyone our group spoke to was. Then we asked if we could pray with them and what their needs were. What amazed us was they did not ask for material things, but instead joy in the Lord, more faith, Christian fellowship, or to keep Jesus in their hearts.

This was very humbling. These people had nothing and were starving. They could of easily asked for food, clothes, or a "better life" but they didn't. They wanted their relationship with Christ strengthened.



This is William. I asked if I could take his picture and then showed it to him. I began showing him all of my pics and he would say "oui, oui, oui" over and over. Then Brent, our leader, walked up and asked him if was converted in Creole. William started talking a mile a minute and all I could understand was love and Jesus. He was pointing at the sky, grabbing his heart and there was so much passion when he spoke. It was really cool because even though we spoke different languages, we were able to understand the joy each had in the Lord.


This is our awesome translator Cindy. She and 5 others work for Brent and spent the week with us. I love her shirt.


At the end of the day we gave each family a 50 pound bag of rice. That added up to $3600! If you supported us financially, you helped buy this rice.

Can you balance 50 pounds on your head and carry your child?

I loved this man. When Richard prayed with this old man, he removed his hat and dropped to his knees.

I left that village a different person.

I saw what it meant to "need" something and "want" something.

I realized I don't need much of anything but want everything!

I saw God work in ways that I never had.

I saw scriptures come to life.

I saw love and trust in the Lord like I never have.

I saw what it meant to "wait upon the Lord."

I saw extreme physical poverty.

I saw extreme spiritual wealth.

I was blessed!