Fourth of July- What a Difference a Year Makes

This year my family is again scattered- oldest in Seattle, middle in New Orleans nearing the end of her 6 week volunteer project (I'm looking forward to giving her lots-o-hugs!) and the youngest is just a few blocks away. We are expecting him to descend with his friends for a barbecue soon.

Last year, Rachel and I celebrated our country's freedom in Cambodia with an awesome family from America. I took a suitcase of books for the children, and some Mp3 players loaded with audiobooks. Living differently, like the Lewis family, certainly requires sacrificing things that one enjoys, such as books. They founded Action to Restore Hope- Cambodia to provide safe water, medical supplies, and educational materials to a remote area in the northeastern part of Cambodia.

Books- wow! I scored at ALA! Huge tote bags full of ARCs- thank you to all the generous publishers! I'm set to read for weeks!

Caption the Picture Contest- "The Clay Marble" style

Time for fun again!

This is a photo from my trip to Cambodia last summer. Village kids would gather to watch us paint the medical clinic - some would pitch in to help, others were a little more shy and would sit at a safe distance and watch.

These boys are playing with toys (guns ) they had made from clay, just like in the book The Clay Marble by Mingfong Ho.

Click below on "comment" to leave your caption. Winner will receive a $10 giftcard to Chipotle.

To see the last caption the picture contest, click here. It was fun.

Rules: Have some fun. No profanity. Maximum of two entries per person. I decide who wins. No whining. Contest ends before the expiration date, which I will announce when I feel like it. ABCDEFG insured. All rights reserved. Protected by national and international copyright laws, as applicable. Winner responsible for taxes. Family members or employees of the wobbly librarian are welcome to enter, but must not whine if not selected as the winner. Same goes for friends of family members. All other rules will be made up as we go. Potential disputes are left to settlement at the sole discretion of her highness the Wobbly Librarian

Finally, A quilt for my daughter's bed.

It started when we are in Cambodia in July; Jordan and Hailey vacated their bed and slept next door on the floor (totally wrong, but don't let me get started on a rant about the "me-centeredness" of the trip....... -Groveites- this is something that needs to change big-time for any future trips..... broke my heart.... )

Anyway, Jordan and Hailey had a lovely quilt on their bed- made by Kim, the mom of this amazing family. I may not have mentioned that the Lewis family of 8 lives so far from large towns that they must hike in to their lovely home during non rainy seasons, or take canoes if it is raining. Or just wait if it the weather is bad. Electricity by generator.

Beautiful fabrics were everywhere in this poor country - the women wore them for skirts, and we had then at every meal as table cloths and napkins. The bed was covered with a lovely quilt, so I suggested to Rachel that she might like a similar one for her bed at CBU to remind her of our trip. Kim gave me the general directions, and we purchased the fabric in Phnom Penh on the way back home. It really should not have taken me so long to complete...... boo for Meniere's!
But Yay for friends like Susan Miller. Encouraged me and saw me through many a dizzy evening when I had double vision and insecurity. Rachel texted me to say that she was warm and cozy. All is well.

Everybody loves their own kids.... so stop saying yours are the best.

There. Got that off my chest.

I've enjoyed looking at some photos from the last few years. Here are some recent ones from Cambodia.

Rachel was great in Cambodia.
She has a heart for kids. Spent so much time with the children in our group..... and she connected with the Kui kids in a way that the adults on our team did not - because we could not.
Here are Patrick, Jordan, Rachel, Austin, Colton, and Hailey at Angkor Wat.


Rachel tried fried tarantula
for a snack on her 19th birthday.

Yes! Fried Tarantula! No, the Lewis family members do not eat these every day.

We just happened to be traveling from the big city to the little village and stopped to have lunch.




















These lovely ladies are Jordan, Rachel, Hailey, and Jacqueline. Just having a little hairstyling fun in the bedroom. A little break from the morning of painting the medical building.

It was also a break from various other games that they played with the kids inside and outside. Uno. Phase 10. Catch Phrase.

Yes, I love my kids. I love Rachel for who she is. Caring, compassionate, with a heart for lost people. And she is willing to spent time with them, even when it is uncomfortable and hard to do that.
I love each of my children. As I am sure all bloggers do. So no need to say yours are better. We can all love our kids and see the good qualities in them. No shortage of time and space in our hearts to love kids. Our own and others. No limits.

Ode to My Necchi

Purchased for $35 in 1977 at a yard sale from a man whose wife was away for the day, this machine is a marvel. I was expecting my first child, and had thoughts of sitting at home with a child quietly playing at my feet. Said child would, of course, be happily playing for hours on end while I stitched up lovely little baby clothes and decorative items for home. (The second of six kids, how in the world did I have that picture in mind?)

My children have all had their turns sitting on my lap in of the machine (when they were young enough to be sleeping in a sling or old enough to know not to grab the knob or stick precious fingers in the fascinating needle). We’ve made projects together with it. An LA Fakers shirt for Jonathan. Matching dresses for Rachel and friends in elementary school. Costumes for history; sweatbands for mission trips, girl scouts, and the library. A toga for Jacob last year for the homecoming parade. I’ve mended and dreamed with the machine. I am so very glad that the kids did not play at my feet; it was much more rewarding to have them involved in the dreaming and making.

Current project: coverlet for bed using fabric from Cambodian trip.

Moto dopes

Motos- are the bikes. Dopes are the guys who are the hired drivers.

Moto dopes.
A way cool form of transportation.

Thing is, I would have a fit if Jacob were to hop on one of these. Here are a couple of shots of me at the start of our moto ride into the mud.... (this was near the end of the day after our 6 hour ride on some very interesting roads out to this area in a van...) Good times.

Last shot is a short video of when the great lost shoe escapade happened. I was barefoot the rest of the ride. Shoe was found by the 5th grader on the trip - Jaqueline- who had to go up to her shoulder in mud to reach it. Laughs by all!



Video

Rachel in rice

This is good. Found the files of pics from our Cambodia trip. (Computer crashed while we were there; my camera went missing, so these are a hodgepodge of photos. Still recovering files from my backup - which I had done just before I left :) )

The Kui villagers loved Rachel. This is a picture of her planting rice. We all went to plant for a while. A couple of the group did not participate; the rest of us were in up to our knees before long. Rachel slipped on in and the villagers did not quite know what to do - so they did what they do when they are embarassed - laugh! And laugh! And laugh! We all laughed so much.

The rest of the group quit but we were invited to stay. Jordan Lewis stayed with us until lunch time. The Kui people worked on teaching Rachel how to say "I am planting Rice" and "It is hot" and they kept having fun with her accent. They seem to really like Rachel. They are in awe of her., almost.