The Home Stretch

Girls in their St.Maarten dresses

Learning time for Sairalyn

Cally and her stylish do!

Cally sorting diapers 

Well despite how tired I am some days; looking after the girls and taking care of things around the house, I am enjoying this last semester.  I have been trying not to complain too much about things and just go with how the girls are feeling. We have good days and some not so good days, but the good out weigh the bad.

Sairalyn wide awake for snuggles with Daddy

Our day usually starts at about 6-6:30 where Sairalyn will stare at us from her crib and make some small noise until I get my lazy butt out of bed.  She is a very happy baby in the morning, especially when we get her and bring her in to our bed after being changed.  After a few minutes of this, big sister Cally usually wakes up and we go in and greet her and then we all get up and come out and play.  Cally likes to go and find her dad in the bed and finds it very funny to get into bed and lay where I should be. This also usually means she wants her sister to lie beside her also in the bed. We then get up, and usually get a drink, followed by putting on some kids show....lately it has been Dora.  We relax for a bit and Cally helps Dad get ready for the day by helping pick out his clothes and making sure Eric is all ready for school.  Eric then sits with Cally and they have their morning cereal together while I give Sairalyn a bottle and make coffees and Eric’s mid morning snack for school.  Eric will putter around getting ready and then when it is time to leave ask Cally for a good-bye hug and kiss after he gives both Sairalyn and I a kiss of course.  Cally thinks it s hilarious to run away from Daddy when he has to go and waits to see if he will come chase her for a kiss.  It is pretty cute and it usually ends with Cally running and giving Eric a kiss in the door way and saying “bye”.
Then the girls get ready for a mid morning walk, which usually means going to the look out by the ocean and running around for a bit.  This is Cally’s favorite place to get rid of some energy and laugh and run around.  We walk home and have a snack and a drink.  Then hopefully it is time for them both to have a morning nap.  Sometimes only one has a morning nap and that is when I find it most tiring.  Around 1:00pm, Eric comes home for a quick lunch and a cuddle/play with his girls before he heads back for a few more hours of school. After school, Eric will come home and hopefully supper is ready (sometimes I just don’t get that far but have something in mind).  If supper isn’t ready Eric will play with the girls until it is and then we all sit and eat dinner.
After dinner we usually go on our nightly walk before bath and bed and say “hi” to the people in the neighborhood but mostly to the chickens and cow that we see along our route.  We then come home and get the girls ready for a bath; Cally and Sairalyn have a lot of fun having a bath together.  I can’t wait to be in Phoenix with a big bathtub because right now they are bathing in a big red plastic tub together.  After bath we get jammies on, and Eric gets ready once again to head to school to study for the evening.  I get the kids ready for bed and do our routine and hopefully I can get the kids asleep by 8:00.

Every Friday for 4^th and 5^th semester I have been going to the SOS sewing group.  Who knew that I would enjoy sewing and making things……mostly for the girls.  I would have to thanks Alicia and Amy for helping me out on my projects.  My first project was Cally’s Winnie the Pooh blanket and I am now making Sairalyn a rag quilt.  The girls come with me on Fridays to the school where sewing is held.  Cally loves to go up to sewing and seeing the other ladies that are sewing.  There is a box of toys so the girls usually just play on the floor and make a mess.  Sairalyn usually scoots along the floor to get the things she wants, although today I saw her take her first few crawling steps on the floor.  It won’t be long till she is crawling and chasing her sister!
I think Cally will very much like it when her sister can play with her a little better.  Lately she hasn’t liked her sister getting into the toys that she is playing with, and will find he something else to play with, that Sairalyn doesn’t find very interesting.  The one thing that Sairalyn will scoot for very fast is the container of Cally’s crayons!  She is very proud if she can get to them and get some in her mouth before Cally gets upset.

Cooling off in the pool

Sairalyn rolling with the ipad

Honors Society Night

Well I think that is all for now, our time on Saba is coming close to an end, it was three more months on September 15^th. It is hard to believe that we have already been here for 17 months.  A lot has happened on this journey and I wouldn’t change it for the world.  We are looking forward to the next chapter to come after we leave the Caribbean.  We miss everyone and think about our friends and family often.  We are looking forward to the days when we are a little closer.