Ode to Ryan

So, you may remember my rant from last summer's adventure in obtaining a passport.  Today marked the beginning of round two.  It is time to get passports for all three Crazies.  I've learned what to do, and more importantly, what not to do.  It should be easy.

I've learned that customer service is a relative term.  Ryan had all the markings of a customer service representative, in other words, he donned the blue vest and name tag that boasted "Photo Expert".  However, that is where the customer service resemblance came to a screeching halt.  First off, he broke my personal rule of multiple face piercings including, but not limited to, his cheeks and forehead.  Whatevs... it's his face.   I'm only mentioning this, because couple an intimidating face AND not being "a people person", he came across as being the stranger in all of my stranger danger monologues to my children.  Hence... the little girls were terrified.  Mylie quickly launched herself into the ugly cry and stiff legged me.  After I gave a very quiet and powerful "YOU WILL DO THIS AND YOU WILL DO THIS NOW I WILL HOLD YOUR HAND NOW GET OVER THERE" instruction with my crazy mom eyes bugging out, we finally got her picture.  She looks like Photo Counter Ryan is threatening to cut her.    Next, Presley.  That little lady won't even budge.  She is shrieking like a pterodactyl and is attaching herself to me using all four of her orangutan limbs.  After five minutes of brainstorming solutions with Photo Counter Ryan... of which I was coming up with all the ideas, and he was shooting them all down while simultaneously rolling his eyes, tapping his steel-toed foot, and sighing loudly to make sure I knew how much this was ruining his day.  Meanwhile, I am still trying to pry the little gal off me and working up quite the sweat mustache.

I ended up awkwardly running out of there, equal parts embarrassed and frustrated.  Without passport photos.  Awesome.  We're going to try this again in a few days.

Here's to hoping for :
a) Such an awesomely easy breezy experience it won't even be worth recounting  -OR-
b) Such a heinously embarrassing predicament that I can blog about it to the delight and entertainment of my mother


Good day.

Forward Motion

So you may have noticed that the top of the blog is different, as is the name of this blog.  Simmer down, I know you're worried that this is permanent, but fear not.  Sharon of Redbud Designs is going to work her magic design skillz and transform this into a beauty once more.

Until then... we're both going to need to deal with the wonky off center picture up there, and the totally lame-o blog name... m'kay?

While you're waiting on the edge of your seat for that day to come, why don't you help a gal out and come up with a really great name for this blog.  Seriously.  Krulls in Haiti?  Could that be any more generic? (please say that in your best Chandler Bing voice)

We met with the elder board from our church and received their official blessing and support to move forward as missionaries sent directly from The Grove church.  Let the fundraising and preparation commence!  We have support letters and prayer cards in the works to be sent out in the next two weeks, a lunch meeting planned for us to share what God is doing at the Good Neighbor Orphanage and church of Lespinasse, Haiti and how you can be involved, and a trip scheduled for the end of April.  Yay for forward motion!

Just when we begin to feel discouraged, God sent some well timed and tangible encouragement.  We expect to have an approval on the offer to sell our house this week and today, due to some not coincidental circumstances, Gary was able to meet a couple who just moved back temporarily from Haiti... who are full of answers to some of our very basic "how to live in Haiti" questions.  We are so excited to ambush them with our list of 100 queries!  Also, our partnership with the Good Neighbor Orphanage, henceforth GNO, is shaping up nicely and we're so excited to see what God is going to do!

If you would like to be included in our mailing list for future updates, you can comment here or email us at: garyandmichaela{at} hotmail.com

Happy Spring Break!

Roof Rats

A few weeks ago we were talking about tooth fairy traditions from around the world, and stumbled upon Haiti's tradition of throwing the tooth on the roof for the rats to bring you a new one.  Since my little thinker knows the truth behind The Tooth Fairy, he thought this sounded a lot more exciting than putting it in a little pillow.  Recently, as in the last time he lost a tooth a few months ago, the little baby tooth sat in my bathroom cabinet.  I couldn't throw it away, because that's not what moms do... we instead attach  meaning and sentiment to inanimate objects.  I distinctly remember a small bag FULL of baby teeth that my dad kept in his bathroom cabinet, and knowing his hoarder-like tendencies... it is probably still there.  That seems a little Criminal Minds, does it not?  Think about it... it is a bag of human teeth... in your cabinet.  Gross.  Okay, back to the tooth in my cabinet.  I thought to myself, why in the world am I saving this.  There is no reason.  I threw it away, in the regular old trash.  It felt good.  So when we discovered this Haitian tradition, we all decided that when we lived in Haiti we would do this instead of the tooth fairy visiting in the middle of the night.  Well, when Noah unexpectedly pulled a tooth due to a vigorous flossing session, he decided to toss it on to the roof.  This would have been a great memory for him, had the tooth fairy, or rat, or whatever, actually shown up with the money.  The Tooth Fairy Rat told him she would still bring him a few coins.  But she forgot.  Whimsy is lost when you're just doling out cash to your seven year old the next morning, and yet, he didn't seem to mind.

By the way... that isn't a joint in my baby boy's mouth, I promise.

A First

Today was Mylie Mae's very first ever dance recital.  We're not all Dance Moms up in here.  We like to kick it old school and enroll in city offered dance classes.  In fact, Mylie's dance class was in the exact same room I took my first dance class back in '81(ish).  I convinced her that it would be a great idea to sleep in sponge rollers last night... you know, for her big performance.  She was adorable.  So here, in all her curly glory, I present Mylie Mae...

After the performance, their teacher told they to stay put so the parents could unleash their cameras on the group.  She said, "Okay, strike a pose."  And all the little girls just stared blankly at her as if she just requested them to defuse a nuclear bomb... except for my girl who struck a very familiar pose.  Seems like the apple didn't fall too far from the tree, as she chose my signature cheer pose a'la PLNU cheer 1999.

She's a sweet one, my girl.

Good Stuff

I'm so very excited for today.  February 29th!  We get a whole extra day this year.  An extra day people!!!  I feel like I don't want to waste it.  I want to do something crazy... like have ice cream for dinner.

These are quite possibly the coolest bandaids ever.  Noah got a skateboard a few weeks ago, so Grammy got him these.  I'm kind of hoping he'll get hurt (relax... not injured... just scraped).

This little lady loves herself in hats, but not girly hats, just boy hats.  Or toy buckets, those are acceptable hat options for her as well.  I love her.

Nothing To Show For It

Do you ever feel extremely busy, yet when someone asks what you've been up to, you honestly can't think of one darn thing, and have absolutely nothing to show for it?  Yeah, that's what I've been up to.

As for Haiti happenings... we're still in waiting mode, which is okay but uncomfortable.  We're ready to stop talking about it and get going already.  I hope to share in the next week or two the new news, and hopefully our fundraising plans.  In the meantime, we're taking a class called Pathways to Global Understanding... probably as exciting as the name implies.  Just kidding.  Kind of.  The reading so far is a little dry, but the content of the class should be really beneficial in the long run for our work in Haiti, or anywhere else we might end up in our lifetime :).  The class is once a week for three hours.  I like to pretend we're on a date.

Everyone told us short sales take a long time.  I didn't really believe it until now.  We put our house on the market in August, got an offer two weeks later, and it just fell through two weeks ago.  The seller backed out because the short sale was taking too long.  Frankly, I don't blame her.  Waiting for over five months with zero progress and no end in sight is pretty redonkulous.  On the bright side, we showed the house for two more days and got three new offers!  We weren't ready to move just yet anyway, and a successful short sale has to start somewhere, so we're staying positive.  Yay optimism!

We've been getting ready for V-Day.  So I guess I do have something to show for our busy-ness... four dozen freaking Valentine's day cookies.  I started strong, but four hours later, at about 11:30pm, I almost started crying because why in the world did I think this was going to be fun?  Those kids better stop and admire those little gems before inhaling them...

And The Boy and I made these cuties for his class.  I think they're darling.  I'm also pretty pleased with myself because I convinced Noah to bring back friendship bracelets.  I regaled him with tales from my youth back at good ole' Rover Elementary School, and the mass hysteria over trading and giving friendship bracelets.  I said, "Wouldn't it be cool if you started this trend at your school and pretty soon everyone was wearing, like ten of these?  It would be like Sillybands, but better."  Luckily, my boy is all about starting trends so he was easily convinced.

Free Printables available {HERE}

I've gotta run and get ready for class my date!

Twist and Shout

Today we're celebrating from afar.  Not Superbowl celebrating, but Happy Birthday Auntie Alycia (aka Beelycia) celebrating.  We're glad you were born, and also that you chose to marry Favorite Brother.  We hope your day is filled with lots of fun!