So what has been going on in the Deschaine household?

There have been quite a lot of changes in our household. I have delayed posting about it for several months for many reasons. But I can delay no longer!! Many of you already know, but for those who don't...this post is for you:

Our family is following God's call to be short term missionaries to South Asia. Due to the sensitivity of the ministry, I can't post certain details (like exactly where we are going). Our goal is to leave the States at the end of December and return mid-June. During our stay we will determine if the Lord is leading us to continue on with this ministry beyond June.

We have created a mission blog (see the link to the right). We'll be mostly posting to that blog once we reach our destination so check there often.


Now...for the story on how we reached this point in our life. After we returned from our summer vacation at the end of July, Brian was notified that he (along with several other teachers) was laid off from his teaching position. We were quite shocked, especially since school was scheduled to start in just 2 weeks. Brian applied for several teaching jobs but nothing came together. During this time, God was AMAZING! He provided for EVERY need, sometimes before we even knew there was a need! God was using this trial to draw us closer to Him, to teach us to depend utterly on Him, and to prepare our hearts to better serve Him. In September (on a Wednesday) Brian was offered a part time college coaching position in Pennsylvania. We took a few days to pray and seek council. That Sunday, after the morning service, we asked someone to watch BJ so we could have some quiet time to make a decision. We decided that since this was our only job option it must be where God wanted us to go. Little did we know that God had other plans!


At Sunday night church, a missionary couple visited our church and presented an urgent need for a PE teacher, coach, and athletic director at their school. Their current person was leaving in December and they needed someone to join their team in January. Because God had already prepared our hearts (and our circumstances) we were willing and able to meed this need. We talked to the missionaries and then took an additional few days to pray and fast. We both felt this was exactly where God was calling us! We made the decision in September, were approved by the missionary organization in mid-October, and have been traveling to raise support in November. We are currently back in Maryland but only to pack up our house. Time is quickly approaching for us to leave!


Feel free to ask any questions in the comment section. I'll try to answer them as well as I can!

Pumpkins and Apples

Tis the season for apple picking and pumpkin decorating. We've done several of these activities in the month of October.

BJ proudly displaying his pumpkin that he painted at our church's fall festival. Please take note of his sweatshirt...it is his absolute favorite. You might see it in many future pictures as he never wants to take it off. Even indoors (hence this particular photo).

We went to Miller's Farm on my birthday for some homemade softserve icecream (it's never too cold in MD to eat icecream!). I got pumpkin spice and vanilla twist (of which BJ ate most of it) and Brian got Apple Pie and Pumpkin twist. Yummy!

BJ is smiling REALLY BIG in this picture. His smile is SO big that even his hands are involved!

A birthday pose with my boy!

Last weekend we went apple picking in VA (I really don't remember the name of the orchard). The place was PACKED due to the holiday weekend (we didn't think of that when we decided to go). This place was HUGE! They had pick-your-own apples, pumpkins, a cow, food for sale, apple cider, and a small country store that we didn't bother to go into because the line was going out the door. Despite the crowds (and the heat....it was nearly 80 degrees!) we had a fabulous time!

BJ testing his strength! Good thing that pumpkin didn't break when he threw it!

BJ is such a big helper. He LOVES helping out around the house too!

Mommy and BJ

These apples were not good for picking but they were good for diving into! BJ did a belly flop right on top of them and squashed a rotten apple. Yuck!

And who can resist climbing into a tree?!

With all the apples we picked I have made apple crisp, apple pie, and papaya-apple sauce. We still have several apples left. I need some more recipes!

The last post of summer pictures, I promise!

I wanted to share one of my favorite pictures of BJ and his cousin Tommy. I had to scan it so it took a little longer to post. This picture is from our trip to Bethany Beach at the beginning of July. Tommy's expression is SO my sister! It cracks me up every time!


In August, BJ and I were invited to a play date at a splash park in VA. Not only was it an amazing place, it was absolutely FREE!!

Because balls are still BJ's favorite thing...

Chocolate, Cucumbers, and Cock-a-doodle-doo

These are the 3 newest words in BJ's vocabulary.

• Chocolate, or "choc" as BJ says, refers to chocolate milk. He will stand with his hand on the refridgerator handle and repeatedly say "choc". Hmm...I wonder if he's thirsty?! Once I open the door he knows immediately where the chocolate syrup is and, honestly, gets a little mad when I don't reach for it. If it where up to him he would drink chocolate milk 24/7.


• Cucumber, or "cuk" as BJ says, refers to Larry the Cucumber. Boy, does BJ love Veggie Tales! He's been able to say "Bob", as in Bob the Tomato, but it took a little longer to master Larry's name. Every night we watch 5 minutes of "bob and cuk" or "bomp bomp bomp bomp" (which is how BJ sings the theme song).


• Cock-a-doodle-doo, or "ca-ca-ca", is the sound a rooster makes!! One of BJ's favorite books is "Higgledy-Piggledy Chicks". The book starts off with a farm scene at night. When you turn the page the sun is rising and the rooster crows "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" BJ will switch back and forth from those two page and laugh hysterically as the rooster (aka mommy) crows. He now can do it himself. Too funny!

Three Weeks in Masschusetts (Part 2)

I never posted the rest of the pictures from our summer vacation to Massachusetts. There has been A LOT going on in our household (posts on that to come). Without further ado...
Brian's WHOLE family (from his mother's side) vacationed in the Berkshires for a week. It was wonderful to have everyone under one roof for an extended amount of time!

At Big Pond Lake in Otis, MA

This is literally the only picture I have of Brian and his brother, Brad, with their boys.

Ice Cream!!

The WHOLE family! (Don't mind my CRAZY smile...I had just set the timer on the camera and was DASHING back to my spot before the picture was taken!)

One of my favorite pictures of BJ and his cousin Alexander. Look at those crazy curls on BJ's head!

Racing in the pool

BJ's first boat ride. He fell asleep within 5 minutes of the trip!

Great Grandma Leonard with Brian and BJ. She traveled all the way from FL to see us (and the rest of the family)!

Storytime!

BJ and Auntie Amelia

Daddy and BJ golfing

Auntie Autumn and Uncle Jeff with BJ and Alexander

BJ was very into showing off his muscles at Grandma's house. He carried water, juice, and gatorade back and forth from the kitchen to the living room, all the while grunting because it was so heavy!

Twenty One (and a half) Months

I cannot begin to express how quickly time is flying by. BJ is growing faster and learning quicker. He is a smiley, happy, talking toddler! Here are a few insights into our life with BJ at 21.5 months:

• BJ loves to jump. He jumps on the bed, he "dives in the bathtub" (from kneeling to belly), he jumps on his toys. The other day he even jumped off the couch with no one to catch him (yikes...that was scary!). I wonder where he got that idea from!

• BJ is learning how to listen and obey. Some days he listens, others he does not. On those days, he often runs the complete opposite direction and does this:

• Sometimes when BJ takes a drink he will hold it in his mouth for a few seconds. He will look at you to see if you are watching and, when he has your full attention, he will swallow and say, "Aaahhh!"



• BJ likes to pray. When he takes a drink, he will fold his hands and urge either Brian or I to pray, and then he'll swallow. He also says little prays. He'll clasp his hands, whisper a prayer ever so softly, and then do jazz hands while saying "Amen".



• BJ likes to "dunk" his food and makes up interesting food combinations: orange slices in A1 sauce, green peppers slices in yogurt, BP&J in tomato soup, etc. You would think that it tastes disgusting but he loves to do it! (I have yet to partake in his tasty experiments)




• BJ likes to dance. He asks for the radio to be turned on and he'll turn around in circles or sway back and forth. During our nightly devotions, BJ and I make up a song and dance. His favorite dance move is to have both hands and his right foot on the floor and raise his left leg as high as it can go!




• BJ LOVES Veggie Tales. He sings the theme song by going "bomp, bomp, bomp" and puffs his cheeks. He constantly asks to watch it (and we constantly say 'no'). On the rare occasion that he gets to watch 5 minutes, BJ gets SO excited. He screams, claps his hands, and points to the tv.




• BJ and Sweetie (our cat) have a love/don't-like relationship. BJ loves her and will do anything to get close to her. He chases her around the house, tries to play catch with her by throwing balls at her, and just gets so excited when he catches a glimpse of her. Sweetie, although she used to tolerate BJ when he was younger, has become a scarce sight in our house. She has taken to hiding under the couch when BJ is awake. But as soon as he is strapped into his high chair for dinner or is asleep, Sweetie is out and about.
  
  PS - I created this post several weeks ago and never finished it! Hence the 21.5 instead of 21 months :)

Three weeks in Massachusetts! Part One

The last three weeks of July we spent up in New England visiting Brian's family. We stayed overnight with Brian's sister, Autumn, and husband, Jeff.
Brian is a HUGE New England sports fan. Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics. Autumn and Jeff took us to Gillette Stadium to take a look around. Despite the monsoon that was occurring when we arrived (we got soaked!) we had a wonderful time exploring the grounds. There was an event happening that evening (New England Revolution vs Manchester United) so we left before the crowds got too big.

Instead of eating at the stadium we decided to eat closer to home. Our waitress gave BJ a HUGE dessert (on the house). We saved the cookie for later (for Mommy and Daddy, of course) and gave BJ all the rest. He loved it!

The next day we went to the zoo!

BJ and Daddy fed a deer from hand.

I cuddled with Brian's littlest sister, Amelia.

BJ and Grandpa Deschaine looked at the animals.

Deschaine Family Fun at the Zoo!

Later in the week we went and visited Grandpa and Grandma Deschaine at their house in CT. BJ and Amelia had a blast in the kiddie pool.

Although the pool was fun there was an even bigger body of water waiting just around the corner....

the lake!!!!

BJ also got to meet his Great Grandpa McCracken on this trip. We tried to take advantage of this special visit by taking a photo of Great Grandpa and the great grandkids. Well, the kids wouldn't cooperate without the parents so instead we took a picture of Great Grandpa, his grandchildren who are parents, and his great grandkids.

From left to right: Brian and BJ, Great Grandpa McCracken and Caroline (cousin Heather's youngest), Uncle Brad and Alexander, and Cousin Heather and Madison.

And finally, here is a cute picture of BJ running through the sprinkler. Such joy!