Jeremiah has gone home.
I will spend today doing laundry, scrubbing corners, sending emails . . .
and doing all those things that
get left undone when guests are around and I have better things to do like:

• go to the zoo (that gorilla is amazing - he gets me every time)
• race rowboats at the chapultepec pond (huh.  I'm way slower than I thought I would be)
• souvenir shop for Jeremiah's bike shop connections (remember his connections?  he's got to keep everyone happy)
• talk about all of Miah's genius ideas to make his bike shop the awesomest bike shop in town
• talk extensively about the communication differences between someone who tends more towards being an introvert (Miah) and someone who tends more towards being an extrovert (me) . . . I obviously got the upper hand since we talked extensively about those things; Miah is a kind, patient brother.

I kind of like it that my day will be filled with tasks of the mundane sort - - it allows me to dwell a little bit longer on those times and conversations.

Saturday:
my boy turned nine today.  nine!
that's craziness, I tell you.  
insanity.

I held him in my lap this morning and told him about the day he was born - about how when I was in labor, the nurses yelled at me "didn't they teach you how to push in your birthing class!?", and about how he finally slipped out and the doctor caught him and let me hold him just for a second before they whisked him away to do who knows what some important baby testing.  I told him that when Loli came to visit us in the hospital, she said that he was the handsomest baby she had ever seen (and Loli never gave out fake compliments), and that the nurse said that she had never seen such a bright-eyed, alert baby in all her years at the hospital . . .


To celebrate 9 awesome years of life with Malachai,
we baked a cake;
then we packed it up with some plates and forks
and took it to the park.

On the way to the park we stopped by the local ice-cream shop to make Malachai's birthday dream come true (mint chocolate chip ice-cream) . . . which we later regretted  because I'm pretty sure that the mint chocolate chip  ice-cream was just frozen toothpaste with chunks of chocolate added.

Summing it up:
1. I'm so thankful for my boy
2. it's getting easier to bake with Josu and Selma
3. Mexico does salsas way better than mint chocolate chip ice-cream

Jeremiah is here
He brought with him :
a dutch oven - which pleased me very much,
and his "guns" - which pleased the children (obviously - see picture below)

He also brought the skate helmet that we asked him to pick up last minute  for Malachai's birthday present (it's a sweet helmet - Miah knows people who know people . . . if you know what I mean.  If there is a cycling mafia, I'm pretty sure Miah's got connections); unfortunately  Malachai found that sweet helmet in the living room this morning because I accidentally left it out last night;  I think I'm good, though, because he's convinced that it's Jeremiah's helmet.

(I neither confirmed nor denied his theory . . . he'll find out the truth soon enough)

Today is Mother's day in Mexico.
Mother's day in Mexico is a pretty big deal.

So this morning I went to the kids' school (with a camera - - without an SD card), and listened to them sing songs and recite poetry that had lines like this:
"the morning that you were born, the flowers began to bloom"
"nightingales sang on the morning of your christening"
"your smile shines like the moon at night"

yeah, it was pretty awesome.
(Latinos have totally, totally got us North Americans beat on the poetic language thing)

We've had two weeks of house guest . . . the very best kind- - the kind that fill their suitcases with snacks and treats from Trader Joe's, wash my dishes, love on my kiddos, encourage us to do good, keep us up late with thoughtful questions, and then make us coffee before we even get out of bed the next morning!

On Tuesday we said our goodbye's
and washed the sheets and towels;

And now Joshua is off picking up my brother Jeremiah from the airport.
(I like having a full guest room)