Guatemala Vs. USA Part 2

So below I posted Hope's journal entry on Guatemala Vs. USA. Today I looked Camden's up in his journal and read his. It's definitely more positive towards Guatemala than it would have been last year. :)

Guatemala Vs. USA

Guatemala is stinky, USA smells fine.
USA is plain, Guatemala is beautiful.
Guatemala is polluted, USA is clean.
Some Americans are rude, some Guatemalans are nice.
Guatemala markets are disturbing, USA markets are cool.
American movies are expensive, Guatemala movies are cheap.
Guatemala has bad water, USA has good water.
USA has uneven weather, Guatemala has good weather.
Guatemala culture is different, USA culture is what I'm used to.
USA has fruit that you do not need to clean, and Guatemala has fruit you do have to clean.
Guate has Luna de Miel (restaurant), USA does not.

Guatemala Vs. USA

Camden and Hope had a journal entry they had to complete this week entitled Guatemala Verses USA. I thought I'd share Hope's because I want to remember it. I know there are some things that aren't necessarily accurate, so I wouldn't put this on Facebook or anything because I wouldn't want anyone to be offended. Not that anyone should be offended by a ten year old's perspective, but if it were to happen it would happen to me. Anyway..... I was happy to see she was pretty balanced as far as seeing positives and negatives of both countries.

Guatemala Vs. USA

USA is flat, Guatemala is beautiful.
USA doesn't have pollution, Guatemala does.
Guatemala is colorful, USA is not.
USA has one story malls, Guatemala has three story malls.
In the USA nobody's poor, in Guatemala 50% of the people are poor.
Guatemala has maids, USA doesn't.
USA is less dangerous and you can play outside at night, in Guatemala you can't.
Guatemala has way more stray dogs than the USA.
Guatemala has parasites, USA doesn't.
USA has dollars, Guatemala has quetzales.
USA has buid-a-bears, Guatemala doesn't.
USA speaks English, Guatemala speaks Spanish.

Camden Bailey is 12!!

Camden has changed a lot this year. He's faced his disappointment of moving from the states head on and moved from angry to learning to deal, and from learning to deal to acceptance, and from acceptance to contentment . I have been so proud of him. He definitely hasn't become "Guatemalan" by any means, and I can't say that he embraces everything about the culture, but he HAS learned to be content. And that's a big lesson to learn at eleven years old. And it was a lesson he had to learn mostly on his own. Blake and I couldn't do it for him.

I also can see his growth as we start school this year. He is focused, has a good attitude, and tries hard. I breathe a sigh of relief and gratitude every day. I am not an "everyone should home school" fanatic, but for me personally I am so, so very thankful that I get to be his teacher. He loves to discuss what he is learning. It means it takes us longer to get through subjects, but more importantly it means he's enjoying learning and that makes me very happy!

He gets things now that would go over his head just a few months ago. And he says things that are really funny. Not like cute funny. But funny funny. And when he laughs his eyes laugh and it's fantastic. He and I have a similar sense of humor so a lot of times we are laughing way after Blake has quit. (while poor Hope is still trying to figure out what is going on) This is probably my most favorite thing about our relationship right now....laughing our heads off together.

He is still as much of a dare devil as ever, if not more so. I am so thankful to the Lord that he hasn't hurt himself badly. I want him to continue to love adventure and try new things and challenge himself so I let him do a lot of things that I can't actually watch him do or it will freak me out.

Camden loves drawing, action hero movies, and mine craft. He wants to do something behind the scenes with movies one day, and he is adamant that he will live in Texas forever once he moves back from Guatemala. He really can't figure out why there is anyone in the world that DOESN'T want to live in Texas. He wants to get married one day to a girl that doesn't like "fancy food."

Tonight we went to his favorite place for dinner: Luna de Miel. He gets the same thing every time a ham and cheese crepe and a Dama Blanca...which is a huge ice cream with chocolate syrup. I think it's hilarious that his favorite thing is a crepe and an ice cream named: "White Woman" at  restaurant that translates "Honeymoon". We told him as we ate all the things that we have seen him grow in this year. It was very touching as long as you could ignore Hope whining, "How come you didn't say anything nice to me on MY birthday?"

I get how Camden's mind works a lot of the time, and understand his struggles because I have struggled or am still struggling in the same way and fashion.  This way of being able to relate to him means I can feel his pain inside of my own self. It is really cool, but it's hard. He feels things deeply and over a long period of time. He asks himself (and us) hard questions and wrestles with them. He needs time alone, yet also craves close relationship. But then he doesn't quite know what to do with himself in big settings of people, and can sometimes be a tad awkward. Wow! That looks familiar. I find myself trying to explain to Blake where Camden is coming from pretty frequently.

For as much as he is like me however, he is still very different in that he is all boy. He can't be still. Can't just walk through a room and not do something to Hope or I...poke us in the ribs, mess up our hair, scream that he sees a bug, etc... He leaves cabinets open, dirty clothes in the bathroom, and crawls up on all beds with filthy feet from playing outside barefoot. He drives us girls in this house crazy but we miss him like crazier when he's gone for more than just a little while. He is just so cute, we can't stay frustrated with him.

I feel honored to be a front row observer as his mom and his teacher in the next year and see the continued growth and maturity that happens. I know deep down that Jesus has a plan for him and that He is preparing him. I hope and pray that I do my part well in helping him become the man that he is called to be.

Camden Bailey I believe in you. You ARE and you are GOING TO BE just amazing.

Destiny Hope is 10!!!

This amazing girl turns 10 today. I feel overwhelmingly blessed to be her mom. She couldn't be more different than me. I've said that plenty of times. But she is my sweetheart. She teaches me so much, and fills my days with surprises and lots of laughter.

She continues to be the extrovert of the family. I love how she has started asking people questions to get them to talk. "Have you ever had a dog?" "What time do you wake up in the mornings?" "What's your favorite movie?"

She understands quite a bit of Spanish, but is still real hesitant to speak it. She likes being a part of our ministry's art site and education site, but we can't seem to get her there near often enough. She also is beside herself with excitement when she gets to spend time with her fellow missionary kid friends (from other ministries).

Hope has just started 6th grade along with her brother this week. Grammar, Reading, and Spelling are her strong subjects. She loves learning new things on her own... making her rainbow loom bracelets, cooking her own homemade lip gloss on the stove, discovering creative ways to do her nail polish, and watching then memorizing gymnastic routines. You tube is a school of it's own for her.

The way she continues to teach herself gymnastics makes us so proud! She teaches herself something on the trampoline first and before we know it she's doing it on the ground. She is never satisfied. Always pushing herself. Some days she limps around like an invalid because she is so sore from hours of gymnastics the day before.

Her goals in life are still the same. Get married, have five kids, and live on a ranch in Montana with lots of animals especially dogs. She adores dogs and spent a whole afternoon crying her eyes out after seeing an especially cute puppy at the feed store here in town. She knew with all her heart that dog belonged with her. I am excited about her future FOR her! I will be so happy to see her living on a ranch one day with doggies running everywhere.

She's got a red-head temper and can slam doors, wail, and make drama like a true professional. Thankfully it passes quickly and we have our sweet girl back usually before we can even figure out exactly why she is flipping out.  Camden and I have learned not to look at each other during her "displays of emotion" because we laugh and that doesn't help things. Blake is learning there is no talking to her during this time and that if slamming her door helps her feel better well she can just slam the door. Once. Hope's learned once better be all it takes to make her feel better.

Hope is very excited about her little brother that's on his way. She talks to him, sings to him, massages him out of my ribs, shakes him awake, smells his package of diapers we bought like they have the scent of flowers, and squeals and oohs and aahs over all things baby. She is learning lots about pregnancy, labor and delivery, and breastfeeding. I think she's pretty much got it figured out until she does something like puts a soccer ball in her shirt and then yanks it out screaming, "Oh my gosh! My uterus!!" Then I wonder if maybe she isn't just really confused.

She loves leggings and skinny jeans and gymnastic clothes. For her birthday dinner she requested "chicken tacos, rice, and sour cream...lots and lots of sour cream." Her hair drives her crazy but she tries hard to take care of it because she knows her daddy loves her curls.

I am looking forward to this next year with my best girl. My little helper, my entertainer, my red-hair beauty. Words truly cannot express how very grateful I am that she is my daughter.

Happy Birthday Destiny Hope!