Our First Christmas

Being in a new country (where only foreigners celebrate Christmas) definitely has a different feel to it. We were able to get a Christmas tree and a few other decorations, but once you leave our apartment there are no reminders of the Christmas season. Admittedly the change in atmosphere left me longing for the way things used to be. Walking into a store and hearing Christmas music or having trouble deciding what Christmas wrapping paper I like best. The day before Christmas I walked around looking for matching pajamas for the boys. For the last few years I have bought the boys matching pajamas for Christmas (though its more a present for myself than for them I guess) and I was having trouble finding some. Most children in this country do not wear pajamas, but sweat suits or something similar. I have resigned myself to buying sweat suits instead and found some I was willing to settle on - only to find that my credit card wouldn't work! As I walked back to our apartment I was a little upset. I was reminded of a shopping experience a few weeks prior, when I couldn't find anything affordable that I thought the boys would like. Again I was thankful that our reason for celebrating the Christmas season would never change. No matter where we live or what we have access to we still have a reason to rejoice and to celebrate.

Just so you know - it all worked out in the end - they boys had their matching pajamas and I still had my tradition! Despite the fact that all their friends were at school Christmas day the boys had a wonderful day - complete with matching pajamas, presents from grandparents, Christmas carols and the Christmas story.

Thanksgiving and the amoeba.

Though Caleb spent most of Thanksgiving resting in another room we still had a very enjoyable holiday. We are grateful to have been able to spend the holiday with a few other families. Are meal was complete with all the trimmings, though we did not have a big turkey. You can buy a turkey here for about $40 (15lb) but we were all satisfied to just have turkey breast. This Wal-Mart shopper could never bring myself to pay that. Unfortunately Caleb started to feel bad again that night and on Friday we had to take him to the doctor. Caleb was unable to keep anything down and had eaten very little for three days. We were all retested for the amoeba and Caleb, Lucas and I were still positive. By this doctor visit someone in the family had been sick for at least a month. Though Lucas will be retested tomorrow I am happy to report that the other boys are now amoeba free!!!!!! Though I am not taking medicine to fight the amoeba (because of the pregnancy) I feel 100 times better. We are now entering our second week without illness and we are very excited about that. We are so thankful for those who so faithfully pray for our family. I did take a few pictures of us at the doctor's office - maybe it will make the scrapbook.

Caleb makes an appearance on Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving with friends = fun.

Lucas enjoys the festivities.

Passing time at the doctor's office.

Lucas waits for his test results.

Big Boy Lucas

Lucas has really been trying to talk a lot lately. It seems like he's trying to say something new everyday. He is doing a lot more "big boy" things like using silverware, drinking from a big boy cup and even trying to tie his own shoe laces. Now, if I could only get him to clean up the spills and put away all the shoes he takes out!

Josiah's 4th Birthday

Josiah celebrated his 4th birthday on the 16th - hard to believe. He was very excited, making sure that he told anyone who would listen that he was "four now". The morning of his birthday we took cake, cookies, and Sprite to his class - a requirement for all students on their birthday. The night before, Ted went to a bakery and asked for a cake that the baker thought the children would like. There were no Spiderman 3 cakes, much to Josiah's dismay. Ted bought a Tweety Bird cake that was coated with pistachios. I stayed in his class while all the kids were served and as Josiah bit into the cake. I've attached a picture of his expression - he was not a fan. The baker was right though, the other kids did like the cake. Those who know Josiah will not be surprised to find out that he received three costumes for his birthday. After opening the first one (a Batman costume from Grandma and Grandpa) he stopped opening the gifts to put it on. We encouraged him to open the other two - a black Spiderman costume from Uncle Rob and a Blue Power Ranger costume from Nana. He also stopped after opening those and wanted to put them on. He wore all three that night and Caleb was able to wear one as well so they could do their super hero fighting together. I made my first cake from scratch! The cake was pretty good, but the frosting was questionable. Josiah liked it so that is all that matters! I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Random Pictures and Stories

Both Lucas and I love this video. I'm a mom - telling stories about my kids and showing pictures is what I do.



Caleb and Lucas enjoy a banana shake - Lucas especially! Lucas decided to go for the banana shake goatee while Caleb opted for the mustache.
Last weekend we were able to take the boys to a large and well maintained park downtown. This very large mosque sits at the end of the walkway that runs through the park.

Josiah is very excited that his birthday is coming up in a few weeks. He will be four soon and looking at this picture reminds me of how big he is getting.

This is a perfect example of why we need a babysitter while we have language classes. One day Josiah came into the room with his arms and legs covered with pen marks. When asked why he would do that he responded, "I was only giving myself a tattoo".

Ted's friend the barber (Ralph) graciously came over to cut Ted's hair and Lucas'. Lucas did not appreciate the house call.

Lucas has developed a love for tools. He often "helps" Ted as he does things around the apartment. My favorite do-it-yourself job is the frequent attempts to get the bathroom door to actually open!

The first week of school

Admittedly I was a little nervous as we took our boys to school for the first time. Would it be too much for them to handle - spending a whole day with a class full of people who they do not understand? The first week of school is now behind us and the boys (and their mother) survived.


Josiah started the week excited about going to school. The first day he walked in a little leery of the other kids and his teacher. He was a trooper though and when Ted picked him up the second day his teacher said he was "very delicious" - a common term of endearment here. That's when things started to change for Josiah. The next few days he would again wake up very excited about going to school, but then he would burst into tears when he was dropped off. The funny thing is that when we pick him up after school he says he had a great time at school! The first week he did fall off the swing and came home with a bite wound - maybe next week will be better. We did receive some encouragement from him that his going to school will help him learn the language. The other day he said a sentence in English that was structured the way a sentence would be structured in the national language. Instead of saying "Caleb wears house shoes", he said "Caleb house shoes wears." That's a little bit of progress - wrong language but progress anyway.


Caleb woke up the first day of school NOT wanting to go and very nervous about how the other kids would treat him. I think that had something to do with the fact that our language tutor told us to teach him to say "please don't hit me"! Anyway Caleb went to school the first day much like he gets immunizations. He very bravely walked into class and sat in his chair - then the tears began to roll down his face. This was difficult for me to see because I know that under normal, English speaking circumstances, he would LOVE to go to school and would be too excited to sit still. Anyway, he came home that day and said that "school was boring". He is one of the oldest kids in the class and most of the activities are directed to younger students. When he woke up upset on the third day our hearts dropped - was this what it was going to be like every morning? Well, we soon found out that he was upset because he thought he wasn't going to be able to go to school. THANK YOU! Each day since then he has been excited about going to school and runs to his class each morning. He told me the other day that the kids in his class don't call him Caleb, but something that sounds like "jaji". I said the national word for foreigner and he affirmed that that was what they were calling him.


A Big day in the life of our boys (and us)!

The Boys

Isn't this picture sweet. I love it. Of course Caleb, the boy who loves to be loved, had me take this picture of him with his brothers. For the most part our boys seem to be adjusting to life in a new country. They definetly have their moments when they miss something from "home". Caleb misses people more than things. Last week I found him sitting on the couch looking a little sad. I asked him if he was alright and he just started to cry, "I miss my grandmas and and grandpa". Today he was a little upset about missing his friends. I'm not too worried about him though. He is a relationship driven person and he spends a lot of time playing outside with his new national friends. I think the conversation I had with Josiah today helps to explain how we feel sometimes. "These are the people I love today - Mommy, Daddy, Caleb and Lucas. I do not love the "national" people. I do not like their words, I like English words." Then as soon as the words leave his lips a car drives by us and he yells "Hello", not using the English word but their word! We all have moments when we miss the ability to communicate freely with people. The older boys will start going to a national school soon and that will help them with the language. Though I am a little nervous about it I know that this is the best way for them to learn the language. The school program will not be academically driven, but will involve a lot of crafts and play. I hope that it is not too strenuous because we will have to do our homeschooling in the afternoons. If you know our boys you know that they LOVE to talk so I think this will be a great help to them feeling more at home here.

Our Neighborhood

These are just a couple of pictures from our neighborhood, our street and our apartment building. Most people, about 90%, live in tall apartment complexes. We are told that once everyone returns from their summer homes the city will be really crowded. One day we hope to take a picture from the outskirts of the city so you can get an idea of just how many apartment buildings there are. Our boys seem to be enjoying their new home, even though they do not have a backyard! Caleb has been spending a lot of his time downstairs playing in the courtyard/parking lot of our apartment complex. Even though he is the only English speaker he seems to still have a good time, especially because the other boys enjoy soccer as well. It is somewhat funny to watch him as he interacts with the other children. Josiah will just keep speaking English, either not knowing or not caring that they do not understand him. Caleb, on the other hand, will say English words with a foreign accent. I'm not quite sure what foreign accent he is using but he thinks its working. Tomorrow I will actually go look into sending him to a national school, where we hope that he will learn some language.

National Flavor

Lucas enjoys this popular national dish called lahmacun. I think he actually ate more than Ted did! It is like a thin pizza but is topped with minced beef and lamb. Last night we were invited to have dinner with our new national friends. We knew that we were in for an interesting evening because last time we did not get home until one in the morning! I went there hoping that our boys would eat whatever was put before them. I was happy that to see that we were having lahmacun. I probably should have been more worried about how I would do! I bravely agreed to try a popular national drink that is basically just plain yogurt mixed with water. I was served a large glass but I could not bring myself to drink more than one sip. I can do many things I do not like to do without trouble, but for some reason eating/drinking things I don't care for is VERY difficult for me. Ask my mother about hours spent at the table trying to eat the little bit of broccoli that was set before me. This was going to be a challenge. I sat there thinking that I needed to drink more so as not to offend. Then Lucas came to the rescue. He asked for a sip and loved it. He ended up drinking a good portion for me. Though Lucas has not adjusted to staying up so late he has acquired a liking for the national foods.

Master of Disguise

Can you tell who this boy is? Josiah puts his clothes on over his costume so that "no one will know who I am". We laugh of course, but he is oblivious to the fact that his clothes do not totally conceal his secret identity. In a city as large as our it is easy to believe that we are lost in the crowd. Sure we're foreigners but no one could know that for sure unless we spoke. I've actually had quite a few people come up and talk to me, the possibility of my being a foreigner never crossing their mind. Even as I use the word for "I don't understand" they continue to talk. I think they just change the wording because they think I need further explanation. About a week ago we learned that we are not lost in the crowd here. Ted went to talk to his barber and the barber asked if he lives at "such and such". Amazed, Ted asked how the man could know where we lived. Apparently the water man told him. That clears it up, right? We are beginning to realize that a lot of people we've never met know that we are the foreigners who just moved to the neighborhood. We are glad that our neighbors are curious about us and we hope that soon we will be able to say a whole lot more than "I don't understand".

Birthday Bash and a Castle

Last Friday, the 20th, Ted celebrated his 30th birthday. Our new friends hosted a birthday party for him. We, along with our very sleepy son, left the party at 10pm. Children here stay up till all hours of the night and on that night we were "cultural". Anyway, we got to our apartment door only to find that our key was not working. The apartment manager could not open it either and a locksmith was called. The good part of this was that our neighbors graciously invited us in. We sat in their apartment able to speak only a few words in their language. As I mentioned it was well past Lucas' bedtime and let's just say that he was not in the mood for socializing. The neighbor kept squeezing his cheeks, which he did not appreciate. Then he threw a toy (he likes to throw) which hit my glass, which made the drink spill into my lap! Oh well! All in all we are thankful to have been locked out so that we could begin to build a relationship with the family next door.

Our most recent adventure was to the ruins of a castle. The boys were excited as they climed to the top - even while I repeatedly asked them to please be careful! Another family here has four sons who made the trip with us. Our boys have really enjoyed their company and are constantly asking when they can go play with them. I was thinking the other day about how differently people here view mulitple sons as opposed to the U.S. As we travelled with our three sons people would come up to us and say "Ooh, three sons. You have your hands full." In this country having three sons commands the respect of others. Our tutor even said that I must be a really good wife because I have three sons. Sounds good to me! I'm kidding!

From the Mouths of Babes

Well our trip to our new home was quite the adventure. Prior to our travels I kept telling myself that it was just going to be one day and no matter what happened I could deal with it. Well, that one day turned into 40 hours! It seemed that with each little bump in the road the boys reminded me of what was really important. It was a little disheartening to walk up to our departure gate in Chicago to find that our plane was just pulling away from the door. We were told initially that we would have to wait until the evening of the next day to continue with our travels. As I sat their thinking that in the "one day" we would have only travelled from Louisville to Chicago I heard the boys break out in song. "Jesus loves the little children...." Okay I thought there in no need to be upset. Then after spending hours in the airport trying to rearrange flights we were told that we would have to collect all 16 of our bags and carry them back to the hotel. I headed to the hotel with the boys while Ted stayed behind to try to work something out. All the way to the hotel Josiah sang at the top of his lungs "Jesus loves the little children...". When we got to the hotel I tried to get all the boys to bed - we started our travels about 12pm and it was now close to 10pm for them. Then I hear Caleb call my name. "Caleb, please go to sleep it is late and we have to get up really early." "But Mommy, we need to pray." That's right, my sons keep me in line! The next day proved to be a little less dramatic, but we still had a few bumps. We missed yet another connection, but we were just rolling with the punches by then. As we sat on our last flight the announcements came on in a language we did not understand, the stewardess asked us what we wanted in a language we did not understand. For the first time we were "odd man out". Josiah's favorite song right now is "Once Again" and midway through our last flight, singing loudly in a language few if any on board understood, he began to sing it. "Jesus Christ, I look upon your sacrifice, You became nothing, poured out to death. Many times I wonder at your gift of life and I'm in that place once again." He repeated these lines a few times and I just sat in my chair and laughed.


Needless to say we have made a few adjustment since arriving in our new city. The biggest adjustment so far? Line drying makes softner ineffective! Towels aren't the comfort they once were. Oh well, We'll continue to laugh about our exfoliating towels so we don't cry about it.

Loving the Spot Light

I love this video of Caleb at his end-of-school performance. Needless to say, he loves to be on stage. He was very passionate about his singing. I hope you enjoy this video of my highly extroverted son! Just as an update, we are still in the midst of packing for our trip on July 4th. I am excited to not only arrive in our new home, but also to not have to pack again for a while! I'll try to update this again when I get to the other side.

One month down

Well, I thought that I would set up this blog so that those of you who would like to stay more updated on our happenings could. We have been in Virginia for a little over a month now and we are all enjoying our time here. Of course, the boys love to be around people all the time. Some days they are in class from 9 to 5 and they still want to sit with their friends rather than with their mom and dad. I don't get too upset because once we leave here they will be stuck with us whether they like it or not. As far as family news goes, Ted and I celebrated our 8th anniversary on the 5th (hence the title of our blog) and Caleb celebrated his 6th birthday on the 18th. Some of our quad mates bought him presents which he really appreciated. When Nana called to ask him what he wanted for his birthday he was very specific - he wanted a Spiderman 3 shirt but there were a lot of do's and don'ts about what he wanted on the shirt. When the package arrived I tried to talk to him about being grateful for whatever was in the box, no matter what it was. He responded with "It's okay Mommy, Nana always buys me good things." His birthday was pretty eventful. That Friday was our first immunization day and he received three shots (as did the rest of us) but he was brave even as the tears streamed down his face. Soon after arriving here in Virginia we were told that the smoke detectors in our rooms were very sensitive and I put that to the test in Caleb's birthday. In attempting to light his birthday candles I set the alarm off! Even though we called the fire dept to assure then that it was a false alarm, they still came. The neat thing was that they allowed the boys to climb in the truck. They thought that was pretty neat. I've learned my lesson though and hope that will not happen again. We have about 3 weeks left here in VA - time is flying! I attached a few photos of our time here.