Sunday Afternoon with Friends

Today we got together with our friends the Stettners and the McNeils.  It's been way too long since we've gotten together and we had a great time catching up.  It's funny how difficult it is to have a social life when you have a baby.  The babies had a great time playing together and checking each other out.  Cate had her adorable new purple summer cardigan on that Mrs. Benesh knit for her.  I love her in purple!  Here are a few pictures from the afternoon!

Cate and Griffin...Cate is about 1 month older than him

Cate, Elizabeth S. and brothers Griffin and Bennett

Tim playing the role of photographer and baby wrangler

Tulip Time!

This past weekend we travelled to Des Moines to see Grandma.  We spent Friday and Saturday in Pella, where Cate's great-grandmothers live.  This weekend was Tulip Time, a celebration of Dutch culture and history and the whole town was decked out for the occasion.  On Friday we saw a parade with all kinds of traditional costumes and people pushing carts representing the trades that they or their ancestors practiced.  We would have taken pictures of the parade, but it was so hot that afternoon that we were more concerned with slathering Cate with sunscreen!  On Saturday the weather was much more comfortable, so we strolled around the town, took tons of pictures with the tulips, took Cate to the park and shopped a little bit at the outdoor market.  Cate had a great time seeing everybody.  Here are just a few of the million pictures that Tim took!

On the Mend

I don't have any cute pictures to post from the last few days, but I thought I would write quickly to say that Cate is feeling better.  She's not herself yet, she's really tired and still has a bit of a rash from her virus, but she is much better than last week when we were home with her Wed, Thurs. and Fri.  Of course she gave me her flu before she was done with it, but that's the way it goes!

In other news, not really related to Cate, Tim and I got out and got to take part in a fun serving opportunity with our church and some friends this weekend.  We spent two hours on Sat. afternoon with lots of other volunteers packing meals for children in Zimbabwe.  Our church partnered with an organization called, "Feed my Starving Children" who have researched efficient ways to get high quality, nutritious food to children who desperately need it.  At the end of our two hours, I think that they said that we packed enough food to feed 76 children for a year, and of course ours was just one of many 2 hr slots in one of many sites in the area.

One of the  volunteers for FMSC said that often, in Zimbabwe, mothers are forced to give their children "dirt cakes" made of dirt, water and maybe some shortening (if they have it) to make their little bellies feel full.  That provides a lot of quick perspective when I'm worrying about whether or not Cate has had the "right" foods for the day or whether or not we're going to be able to ever sell our house to move into a bigger one for her to grow up in.  I would never be in the position of having nothing to offer her when she's hungry other than the dirt I find outside.  

So, one of my friends, Taylor (her blog is listed on the right, "We Are Wises") wrote about compassionate consumerism and using our buying power not just to buy, but to help those living in extreme poverty to improve their situations.  She listed a few websites/organizations on her blog, but another one that our church has been working with is www.tradeasone.com.  It's a really cool website where you can buy jewelry, purses, stationary, housewares etc and the money is actually benefitting the person who worked to make the product.  When you click on a product, along with all of the other info  is a picture of the person who made it and a brief story about his/her situation.  I haven't purchased anything there yet, but I think that the next time I have a gift to buy, I'll give it a try.