Annalise Gets Her Ear Pierced and other things that happened while Rob was in Haiti.

My parents went home today.  While they were here, I did more arts and crafts with my dad than probably ever in my entire life!  He helped me build a big sign that says "Main Gate" for VBS and a puppet stage.  The Main Gate sign looks really great, I forgot my camera every time, but I will get it up here pretty soon.  Those days that we worked on the sign, my mom stayed home with the kids and helped them with their school work.  This made it clear to my why I've made such slow progress on VBS things.  It took 3 adults to do what I've been trying to do.

Another thing my dad and I did together was to learn how to use a popcorn machine.  I watched a youtube video on how to do it first and we figured it out.  The VBS promotions team passed out small bags of popcorn after church on Sunday with small flyers about VBS snacks.  It was a successful event and we've had several snacks donated already.

I can't express how much help they were - I have felt so overwhelmed by all the VBS preparations - from feeling like there are things I can't fix, to being nervous about trying to fix what I can, to having people ask me to make final decisions on issues that affect a lot of people, to just basic normal VBS stuff.  It was a real treat for me to have extra hands to help kids cross parking lots or just to have the option to leave them at home while I ran an errand.

A few weeks ago, Annalise asked if she could get her ears pierced.  Rob and I talked it over and we told her she could when my parents came.  The time came, she still wanted them, so we went to the mall.  She was completely confident until the last 5 seconds before the lady pierced the first ear.  The lady assured her it would hurt no more than being pinched by an old brother (the pain level of which Caleb was eager to demonstrate).  After she pierced the first one, Annalise felt her trust was violated.  She burst into tears expressing very clearly how much worse it had hurt than any pinch, any shot, anything ever!  In short, no amount of reasoning would convince her to get the other ear pierced.

However, once we left, she calmed down and was much more reasonable.  We went back the next day with two big ice cubes and numbed her ear.  She didn't even feel the 2nd one.


We ate it after Rob got home, but I made Natalie's birthday cake while he was still traveling.  After wanting a pink elephant cake and an Angelina Ballerina cake, she most recently wanted a pink kitten cake.  I copied one I saw online.

We also got free Klondike bars - because Publix forgot to take down a sale sign - and went to the open air market in Naranja.  My neighbor got me into going there because the produce is good and inexpensive.  There is also a pet store in the building next to it and they had probably a thousand birds - no exaggeration.  Finches, parakeets, cockatiels, macaws, parrots of all types, canaries, ducks, chickens, and pigeons.  The chirping was deafening!

Well VBS starts in 12 days.  My next big hurdle is the team meetings on Saturday.  Then decorating the sanctuary.  I think I will enjoy that some though.  The 4th of July parade is a week away.  If I can pull it together I'm going to make a roller coaster costume for the parade.

I'll have more Haiti pictures soon!