Sunday, Shapes, Shades, & Sugar Cookies

Sidney is growing so much and changing everyday. I am so thankful for these last 2 years that I have had with my baby. Being able to spend everyday with her and watch her grow has been priceless. I can't believe we only have 29 more days in the Caribbean. Looking back, it seems like it has passed by really fast. Though while in the middle of it, it seemed as though the end would never arrive and yet here we are! We will be heading home April 20th, that is, if Sidney and I do not get deported first! There is a 90 day visitor's allowance on the island. If you stay longer then 90 days then you have to file for temporary residency. Our 90 days will be up on April 7th, so we will see what happens. Worse case, we get to go home a few days earlier (Which is not a bad thing at all!!).

Sidney and I try to stay busy and thanks to our friend, Mrs. Ruth Garner, we have had plenty to do lately! Mrs. Ruth is a professor's wife that we first met on Saba. She and her husband are now here on Statia! We have been down to the beach several times to pick up shells, sea glass, and swim. We have also gone to there house for lunch a couple of days. Sidney's just loves her so much, and she treat Sid like another one of her grand children. We really enjoy Mrs. Ruth's company and we are so thankful she is here!

The last month or two Sidney has started talking in complete short sentences. She amazes me everyday with the things she says and comes up with. She is also very good at using her manners. Though she does think that because she says "pweese", that she should be able to have what ever it is she is asking for. The last two weeks she has started saying "your welcome" any time someone tells her "thank you". The other night during dinner, I was saying blessing over our food. I started by saying " Dear Lord, than you for this food"... before I could say anything else, I hear "You're welcome". Ben and I both could not help but laugh. It was so funny!!

Sidney had been learning her shapes and colors the last few days. She seen an episode of Sesame Street about shapes and has been point out circles, squares, and triangles EVERYWHERE! Ben made her a slide show of different shapes and colors. She loves to sit in his lap and name them all for him. She now recognizes about 10 shapes and 10 colors. I am amazed by how fast her little mind remembers and learns. I decided yesterday to make some shapes out of sugar cookies and let Sidney decorate them with different colors. I figured this would be fun way to look at different shaped. This afternoon I make colored icing and let her decorate them. Ben even joined in on the fun. She had a blast! I am still not sure what had more icing all over, Sidney or the cookies!

If you could not tell by the pictures.... these cookies were "Elbow licking good"!!!!

February is almost gone!!

We can not believe that it is almost March. This semester seems to be flying by, and I must say, we are loving it!!
Ben had his first exams last week and knocked it out of the park! I am super proud of him!!!
He studies and works so hard even though I know it is not easy. He does not have the best places to study here at the apartment. There is a desk, but the only chair for it, is the kitchen table chair, which is not comfortable at all...
So he has been studying in the living room lately. It is hard reading his book from his lap,so he asked me the other night if I had any ideas of how to study in the chair. This is what I came up with!

Yes, that is a broom stick and a rack out of our refrigerator!!! It may not be a fancy desk, but it works! He has been using it for a few days now!
Sidney also likes to help Daddy study!

We have also gone to the beach a few times and had a great time! Sidney love looking for shells and playing in the sand! Here are a few picture of her adventures:

Baking Wednesday

Here it is a beautiful sunny day in the Caribbean,and what I am I doing? Baking! We me and my little side kick!
Sidney and I have been backing bread, rolls, and king cake all day. I made all of my dough last night and left it in the icebox over night for the right rise.
Here are our yummy creations! ( Could not find any food coloring for the icing on the king cakes, so it's just white!)

Terrific Tuesday!

The weather on Statia has been absolutely beautiful since we arrived. It seems strange that we have only been here for 3 weeks! But I am finally starting to find my way around the island. There are so many roads, unlike on Saba when there was only one main one "The Road".

Sidney has been staying plenty busy around the house. There are plenty of animals roaming the streets and are alway willing to offer free entertainment. Just yesterday morning, I heard a yelling sound outside the apartment that sounds like a little kid. Well it was a "kid" but it was not human. There was a baby goat that had some how gotten into the fenced yard of our apartment complex. The Mommy goat was just on the other side of the fence trying to help free her baby.

After seeing the the baby that was only a few weeks old, I decided we needed to help. I walked back inside and told Sidney to come help get the baby goat back to his Mommy. I knew she would not be much help, but I also knew that she would love seeing the tiny goat running around. She must of thought she was in an episode of Wonder Pets, because she started singing the theme song "What's going to work.... TEAM WORK!!". Between chasing the goat around the yard and Sidney yelling "Team Work", I was laughing so hard that I could hardy help the goat....

I was finally able to convince the goat to walk out the gate once his Mommy came and stood in the opening. As soon as the goat ran out of our yard, Sidney started crying..."Come back baby goat, come back". I guess she though the goat was going to be her new friend. I wish I would of taken a few pictures but I was too busy laughing and chasing the goat! Here are a few pictures of Sidney from the last couple of days.

In between working on school work and playing with Sidney, I have found a little time to but my Christmas present to work. I have started my newest quilt. It's a baby boy quilt and I love it! I don't have anyone particular to make this one for. It is just such cute fabric that I think I might just have to hang on to it. Maybe on day I will be able to use it!

Today Sidney and I joined to other wives and went to the beach. One of the ladies has a daughter that is only a month older then Sidney. Sid was so excited to have someone to play with. The girls had a great time together and I enjoy some girl talk with adults! I am looking forward to hanging out at the beach more not that we know how to get there! Here are a few pictures of the girls playing together. Sidney was not sure about the sand at first but it did not take her friend Pearl long to show how to get covered from head to toe!

A change of scenery

As most of our close friends and family know... Ben, Sidney, I have moved. Ben transfered schools this semester to St. Eustatius (Statia). We feel like this was right for our family and are very thankful that is all worked out!
We are already enjoying our new island and surroundings. Statia is much flatter then Saba, so we can walk just about everywhere! This is a big plus since we don't own a car. Our apartment is in walking distance to the school and library, which is great for Ben. I am so excited to live with in walking distance to about 5 grocery stores.

Much like Saba, Statia is a beautiful island with lots of friendly people. At any given time, we can see chickens roaming the yard or cows, goats, or donkeys roaming the streets. Sidney absolutely loves seeing all the animals. A few mornings ago, there were two roasters on our front porch. Sidney and I decided to toss them some pieces of bread. Of course, Sidney loved seeing them eat and got so tickled to hear them cockadoodaldooo.....
Little did I know, we would have to hear this for the next 2 days. The roasters were stalking our front door waiting for more bread. Boy were they loud. Ben said "Haven't you ever heard the saying, 'don't feed the bears?'...well now you know why!"

Today Ben, Sidney, and I went exploring a bit. We walked all the way to the beach which was about 2 miles.

There was one spot along the beach that had hundreds of conck shells. I found a really pretty pink one that we decided to keep as a souvenir of Statia.

Then we walked back up and stopped at the park for lunch. Sidney had such a great time.
She fell asleep on the way up from the beach but woke up as soon as we arrived at the park. There are lots of characters painted on the inside and outside of the park gates. Sidney spotted Dora and just had to go hug her!

She played for about 45 minutes when we decided it was time to head home.

About 2 minutes way from the park, I realized that Sidney was looking out the side of her stroller, so I told her to sit up. She didn't move and because she had her sunglasses on, I didn't realize that she was sound asleep!!!

We have found that the Caribbean has many interesting street signs. Today, I think, I by far found the most interesting one. This sign was located in a cemetery.

You tell me what you think it means....

Fabulous Fall...

The weather in Saba is beginning to cool down and the nights are even cooler! Sidney and I are loving this beautiful weather. We spend most days playing outside where we can both enjoy it! She loves playing outside, riding down the neighbors sloped driveway on her little car! Everyday after her nap she says "GO, GO, GO!", which is what she yells as she is rolling down the driveway! Since out friend Becky and her kids are no longer on Saba, Sidney has been playing with our landlord's kids.

Ben has been really busy lately, which has taken some getting use to. This semester he has been staying at school from 7:30 AM till 9:00 PM. Sidney is usually still sleeping when he leave in the morning, so I let her stay up late a few nights a week so she can see her Dadda. Ben rides the school bus to and from school and Sidney sits on the front steps with her flash light and waits to see Dadda's bus. It is so cute how excited she gets when she hears the bus (which is just a 15 passenger van) coming down the road. We have a fairly long driveway, so she shines her little flash light so her Dadda can see the way to the house.

I am understanding what it feels like to be a single mother these days. Having an independent 2 year old is not always the easiest, but it is so rewarding! Sidney is growing so much and learns something new everyday. She knows almost all of the common animals and the sounds they make. She is talking so much and always comes up with something new. She is still in love with Sesame street but has a new love for baby dolls. I think the baby doll interested is from her seeing one of our friends with her new baby. Sidney feeds her baby doll with a bottle and always wants me to wrap it in a blanket just right! She is so girly and loves to dress up with as may bows as we can fit in her hair and a tutu!

I know Sidney misses our family so much. She often says random family member's names while playing. She misses going to church too. We watch Livingway church services online and she gets so excited. When I open the church's website, she starts waving at the screen and says "Hi hallelujah". I think it is so cute that she calls church hallelujah, but I guess that is what she hears!

I have been trying to stay busy during the day, which is not hard when Sidney is around. I am still doing my classes online and that keeps me busy after Sidney goes to bed and when Ben is up late studying. My day is usually filled with playing, singing and dancing! Sidney is so fun and keeps me entertained. I am also working on one of three quilts that I brought to make this semester. We go once a week to our "quilting class", which is more of a social event with a little sewing! I am really enjoying this group of ladies this semester. They are all very interesting and I enjoy their company. It is nice to have a group of friends that are all going through the same thing.

"There's no place like home..."

Another semester has come and gone here on Saba. Ben has one more test today and then we are jetting (as much as you can call Winair jetting) off to St. Maartin. We will spend the afternoon on the beach and in the pool. Ben has worked so hard this semsester, he deserves some down time.
Yesterday we said good bye to almost all of our friends here on Saba. Amanda, Megan, Danielle, Becky, and all the children... I hope our paths cross again one day. The have all be such great friends. I am so thankful that Mrs. Sally, one of our professor's wife, will still be here. She's my quilting buddy or should I say my quilting teacher!
On the last day of the semester looking back, is seems as though it has flown by. Though is did NOT feel that way just a few weeks ago. I felt like this day would never get here! We are so ready for a visit home. Sidney misses her grandparents so much and I know they miss her even more...
So one more sleep and we will be heading home to good Ol' Louisiana. There really is no place like home!!