Christmas 2008

Matching pajamas - check!

Caleb started our morning by reading
the Christmas story.

This was the first thing that Lucas
opened and waited about 30 minutes
before he opened something else.

We bought the boys robes for Christmas -
Ted and I debated giving Josiah a newspaper
with his robe.

One of the things Caleb really hoped to
receive this Christmas was a sweater vest!
Thanks Nana.

Lots of colors, lots of noise, lots of lights - perfect.

To many of you it will seem a little late, but last Friday we had Micah circumcised. We meant to take Micah in well before now, but four boys, learning a foreign language, and everyday life kept getting in the way. Why am I sharing this with you? In this country circumcisions are not done right after birth, as a matter of fact most are circumcised sometime after the age of seven. Usually the celebration of this event ranks up there with a wedding. Boys wear a special costume on this day and their picture is forever displayed in the house. When I started to take a picture of the doctor signing Micah's circumcision certificate he called for the nurse to bring in the hat and sash. Now, we too can hang a picture of Micah in traditional circumcision garb.

Thanksgiving

We were blessed to able to spend Thanksgiving with friends/family. A family with a special connection was gracious enough to give us a whole turkey, along with some other treats, to help us celebrate the holiday. Micah celebrated his first Thanksgiving like a pro - he ate turkey, sweet potatoes, and yeast rolls until he was stuffed.

In the Midst of It

A picture of life with four kids - homeschooling,
toys, and diapers - but worship in the middle.

I admit it, sometimes caring for four small boys is overwhelming. Sometimes I do just want to be alone, to finish reading one sentence without being interrupted, to make dinner without an audience. Sometimes I actually want to stand tall and proud when someone asks me for the thousandth time "Having four kids is hard isn't it?" They are right I think for a second - I should get a badge or something. Sure there are times when it is difficult but at the same time my boys are not a burden that I bear. I often hear another question "How do you do it?", usually followed by "I could never do that". There are times when I want to think that I am doing something spectacular, but in the end I know that I will not succeed as a mom apart from the Lord's help. As I was working in the kitchen I noticed what you see in the picture above. I began to think about how totally different my day goes when I do not saturate my mind and heart with Him. I was going to clean off the table before I took the picture, but then it would not be reality. A good friend gave me this ipod and speakers as a gift and I keep it on most of the day. I listen to praise and worship music as I go about my day and it helps me be a better mom. I do not want to 'survive' this season of my life, I want to enjoy it, to thrive in it, to succeed by His definition - and I know that I will not do that unless I keep Him ever before me.

A Day Late

This time I completely missed it. I intended to take a 6 month picture of Micah, but ...... I finally did get around to taking a few pictures of him on the first day of his 7th month. Hard to believe that he is already that old, but haven't I said that with each of the boys. He has started crawling already and for the last few days has come to find me if I stay away for too long. Very Sweet!

Josiah's 5th Birthday

Birthday's at our house always start
with chocolate chip pancakes! The night
before : "Mommy I want you to stand outside
my door in the morning and when I come out
you can say 'Happy Birthday'!" The day after:
"Daddy can you say 'Happy Birthday'
to me again?"

For some reason I decided to make
cupcakes instead of a cake. I thought that
it was fine until Josiah told me (later) that he
was upset with me because I didn't make him
a cake for his birthday. Apparently it is not the same.

Our Island Adventure

I took this picture of Josiah right
before he got his head stuck in the bars!

This past weekend we had to make a fast exit to another country in order to legally stay here. While the thought of making a quick trip with the four boys brought some reservations we were a little excited. The boys were excited about the boat ride and their parents were excited about getting a few food items that we cannot find here. We were headed for a two day island vacation - sounds great. NOW, as you might well imagine our travels included a few bumps!

We left our apartment bright and early Saturday morning in order to board our 8:55 flight. On our way to the airport I realized that we had forgotten our stroller ( a necessity when travelling with four kids). Soon after checking in we realized that that our flight would be delayed 20 minutes - no biggie. We met up with some friends, ate lunch, played at a park, borrowed a stroller, and headed out to the dock in order to catch our 6pm boat. It had already been a long day with no naps and we were all a little worn. Anyway, we boarded the boat and the boys were excited. That excitment lasted for about 15 minutes because soon the boat was being tossed around by the waves. How bad was it - lets just say that I had opportunity to talk to Caleb about the time the disciples feared for their lives while Jesus was asleep! While I'm sure that it wasn't exactly the same we all felt pretty terrible. We were told before we boarded the boat that if the wind got any worse we would not be able to leave the island the next day as planned. We got off the boat and wandered into the small port town, with no lit streets and no idea where we were headed. Honestly, I felt like something out of a movie as we wandered around with our luggage and four boys trying to find a place to stay. By this time we were exhausted and we just wanted a place to sleep so we decided on a hotel, ate dinner, and went to bed. The shutters in our room clattered all night and each time I woke up I was doubtful that the boat would take us back as scheduled. The next morning we decided to explore the island, starting with the restaurant with the 'french toast' promise we saw the night before. Suffice to say they did not have french toast. We got over it (except for Josiah) and the boys were excited to explore the castle ruins and to play at the park. As we roamed around we saw a grocery store - an opportunity to pick up a few special treats, right? Well we soon learned that most businesses on the island were closed on Sunday - no special treats. After calling the boat company we were told the the boat was still leaving and we roamed some more (another day with no naps) before heading to the dock at 3:45. Soon after we arrived we realized that we had forgotten the borrowed stroller at the hotel and Ted walked all the way back to get it once we were told the departure was delayed until 5:30. Well, you guessed it, at 5:45 we were told to come back in the morning because it was too windy. We decided to stay in a different hotel in order to get a good night sleep. After rebooking our airline flights and eating pizza we headed to bed. Well, so much for the good night sleep - Lucas threw up all through the night but seemed mostly fine by morning. We made it back to the dock, had an uneventful trip back, and were greeted by a friend who would give us a ride to the airport. We stopped for lunch, laughed about all the mishaps and headed to the airport. We were about five minutes from the airport when Lucas' lunch came back all over himself, Ted, and the car. We made a pit stop at a gas station, promised to pay for the car cleaning, checked our luggage (minus the goodies) and headed home. Half way through our trip Ted and I lost it when I accidentally dumped water into my chair. We both had a good laugh about it - I mean, really, how could all of this happened on the same trip?! Oh, but it is not over! About an hour before we landed I noticed that Caleb had a fever (and his voice had sounded funny since we left) and the lymph glands in his throat were swollen. SO, as soon as we arrived home Ted called the doctor and took Caleb in. Caleb had a really bad throat and tonsil infection. I'll stop my story there. I know that it has already been really long. I will say that one good thing that came from this trip was that we all just wanted to go home. More than once Caleb told me that he wanted to go home - not to a home that we had in the states but to our home here. We have come to a place where this apartment, this city is what we think of when we think of home - that is a good thing.

Fidget on the Move

Of all the boys Micah was the most active while I was pregnant. He moved ALL the time. I remember telling my mother about it and she mentioned that I moved a lot as well, but that as soon as I was born I stopped - I'm not totally sure how to take that! Anyway, I thought that maybe Micah would do the same, maybe he would be my calm and quiet son - I've seen other mom's with sons like that. Don't get me wrong, I love having boys but every once in a while I wish they would sit down. Well, it wasn't long after we brought Micah home that I nicknamed him 'fidget' - it seems like he only stops moving when he is asleep. He is a sweet baby but even when I try to hold him close he just tries to jump in my lap. A few weeks ago I began laying a small rug down on our tile floors so that Micah could play. Now he is close to crawling! For some crawling at 6 months may be normal, but not for our boys. They usually crawl between 9 and 10 months. The small rug was enough for him a few weeks but now he rarely stays on it. It is a good thing that the weather is starting to drop (supposed to be in the upper 70's tomorrow) because we are going to need to lay our rugs down to keep him from hurting himself. If this is a preview of things to come I don't think that he is going to be all that calm and quiet. I have reminded myself many times over the last few years that I need to enjoy this season (with all the jumping, and the running, and the noise, and the talking- didn't think boys talked that much) because there will come a day when I will have to make them get up in the morning and when I will wish they talked more.

Quiet (and not so quiet) Strength

This was the first official day of national school for the boys. After I dropped them off at their schools (they are attending different ones this year) I began to think about how strong and brave our boys are. Both of the boys were excited to start school today and I took comfort in that. Even though they cannot speak fluently or understand everything being said, they were still excited. I took Caleb to school first and as we stood there with hundreds of other kids and their parents Caleb was unusually quiet. He just stood there watching and listening. After a while I walked up to him in line and told him that I needed to leave. "Okay Mom" he said and as he turned his head I saw one small tear fall. Ouch!
Josiah was next. I took him to the same school he went to last year so there was at least some familiarity for him. As we walked up to his new teacher/class he began to cry. Wait a second, he was so excited 5 minutes ago. I realized that in his mind he thought that he would have the same teacher and that the another English speaking child would be in his class. I talked to him for a few minutes and he stopped crying, put on his 'inside shoes' and walked into his new class.
Our boys are brave. They did something today that would make most people feel scared and uncomfortable.
As a side note both of the boys came home today and had nothing but good things to say about how the day went.

Evidence of Growth

About a month ago I noticed that Caleb had two teeth popping up behind his baby teeth. One tooth was a little loose and with help it fell out - Caleb and Daddy spent a lot of time on that. We have waited for the other one to get loose but it won't budge. So, as I write this Caleb is at the dentist getting his second tooth pulled. Now I know that Caleb is not going away to college any time soon but times like these help me realize just how fast the time is passing. It's times like these when I realize there is no going back, no do-over's, I only get to experience their childhood years one time. These are good reminders on the days when I am weary of cleaning up spills, disciplining, helping them work through a sibling dispute, and stepping on legos. Ironically sometimes I wish they were older so that I would have time to scrapbook about the things they did when they were small. Somehow losing a tooth reminds me that there will come a day when I will long for the noise and the mess and the busyness that these four little guys bring to our home.

Something Familiar

After living overseas for a little over a year I have become accustomed to life here. I am used to the sound of drums whenever there is a wedding close by, or the honking when there is either a wedding or a big soccer game. I am familiar with the grocery store and it no longer takes me 3 hours to get in and out. I am accustomed to having access to a fresh produce stand within minutes from my apartment. I am used to hearing English rap music when I walk into the store - though I may be the only one there who understands it. For as much as I have become accustomed to life here there are, honestly, things that I miss. I miss having a variety of cereal to choose from and easy lunch options for the boys. I miss the ease of being able to go the grocery store at any hour that was convenient for me - very early or pretty late. Oh how I miss one-stop-shopping and finding a bargain! I miss driving and knowing that the lines in the road mean something. Honestly, in the summer time, I miss the common practice of wearing deodorant! I realize these things are not that important in the grand scheme of things. I can laugh about them most of the time. What I really miss, of course, are friends and family. I miss being apart of their 'day to day' lives and them being a part of mine. A few weeks ago my mother sent me a coffee mug that she said reminded her of me. The funny thing is that when I opened it I thought 'this cup is so me'. Soon after I received the mug I also discovered a new coffee drink that reminds me of my mother because it tastes like coffee ice cream. About every other day I mix this drink into my mug - it reminds me of my mother. Sometimes I need that.

Things Change

I knew that living in a new country would change the boys - they will grow up with a different worldview, different ideas of how things 'should be', and even different ideas of what they will be when they grow up. Caleb now talks of playing on a national soccer team rather than for the NFL. The other day I found Lucas putting an empty water jug on the back of his bike. Whenever we get water it is brought to us on the back of a moped. Twice a day our 'doorman' comes to our apartment selling bread. Josiah thinks its funny to ring our bell and say 'bread'. Some of the things they say and play out are pretty funny (and honestly some are not! Every culture has those). Recently Ted was telling Caleb a story and he told Caleb that the main character was very famous. Caleb responded "yeah Daddy, but is he as famous as "maglas or narya" - my made up names for popular drinks here - drinks that we never heard of before we moved!

At Three Months

I have taken a picture of each of the boys when they were three months old. I took these pictures of Micah at 3 1/2 months - its a little harder to get the extra things done these days. =) These were taken as our home studio - aka my bedroom.
Micah has been a pretty good baby. He usually only cries when he is tired or hungry - that works for me. He loves to "talk". He is at his best when someone is talking to him. He usually smiles up a storm and gets his two cents in. It's a good thing that he likes to hear people talk because there is a lot of talking going on around here (especially since Lucas joined in). I have nicknamed him "fidget" since he is always moving around (we also have our fair share of that going on here). He is always kicking and squirming, trying to grab his brothers or move to the other side of his bed. Our family has been blessed by him and , of course, now we can't imagine life without him. Hard to believe three months have passed already.

Beat the Heat

It is HOT here - there is no escaping that. Two rooms in our apartment have air conditioning units in them but we are trying not to use them too much. That means that almost anything you do can cause you to break into a sweat. Poor Josiah sweats a lot and sometimes just watching a movie cause beads of sweat to appear. Well, lately we have been finding Lucas sleeping on the floor. He does have a bed but when we go to check on him we sometimes find him on the floor. Normally Lucas gets up early (6:30) but on the morning I took this picture he didn't get up until 8:30. I guess that he has found a way to keep cool at night - sleep on the tile floor (ouch!)

Like Family

The Lord has really blessed our family with Mrs. Y. Our boys love Mrs. Y and I think that it is because she is like a grandmother to them. Yesterday she had to sneak past Lucas to leave our house (making him upset is incomprehensible to her) but Lucas went to the balcony and spotted her leaving. He lost it! He began to scream and cry "Mrs. Y, Mrs Y". Mrs. Y then ducked behind a bush hoping that he would stop crying. No go - he waited for her to reappear and then continued to cry. She tried to keep walking but turned around blew him kisses and waved - he cried all the more. I know that it took great strength for her to keep walking.
Last week Caleb was very excited to be able to have a sleep over at Mrs. Y's house. The other boys cried and cried - they wanted to go too. She couldn't bring herself to leave but she didn't want to take more than one kid on the bus with her. She finally said "Please drop us all off at my house and you can pick them up at 10pm tonight". This was after she had taken care of them most of the day. We made sure that she really wanted to do that. Needless to say all the boys went to her house. When Josiah returned that night he was in tears (and not just because Caleb got to spend the night). "I miss Mrs. Y" he repeated over and over. He was beside himself.
So what I am basically trying to say is that our boys LOVE her. Before making our trip to this side of the world I prayed that the Lord would provide foster grandparents for our boys. He has provided abundantly in Mrs. Y. I love to watch the boys relate to her (even when they are just trying to get her to keep me from disciplining them) and I love that she tries to teach Lucas her language. I love the way she laughs at them when they say and do silly things and even though it is not always helpful I love the way she defends them and thinks that they can do nothing wrong. I love that she finds it difficult to stop playing with them and talking to them the entire time that she is here. Mrs. Y speaks no English but as a mommy her love for my boys speaks volumes to me.

To the Sea

This 4th of July we took a small vacation with our teammates. We drove about an hour from our house to the sea and swam with an ancient castle as our backdrop. Not bad! Though Micah and I spent most of our time under the umbrella we were thankful to be able to make the trip. Caleb started swimming lessons last week and was excited about practicing his "dead man's float" in the hotel pool. The older boys had a great time and by the second day Lucas was content to swim in the kiddie pool but wasn't as fond of swimming in the sea.

Practice makes perfect!

He feels in control at the kiddie pool, but the sea is too much.

The boys were able to take a
paddle boat out to the castle.

Evidence that he was there.

Nice backdrop, huh?

Review in pictures

I thought that I would share a few of my favorite pictures from the last couple of months. They don't necessarily warrant their own blog posting but I want to share them anyway.


Lucas' greatest joy is to be able to go
"bye-bye down". He often sits at a window
looking at cars and kids playing.

Caleb performed a short skit (in the national
language) for his graduation program.

I just love it - no real story!

Nana's visit was a huge blessing - for me and
for the boys.

The boys loved hanging out with Grandma
Tricia and Grandpa.

Micah is finding his voice.

I brought cupcakes to school for Caleb's
birthday. Funny to have to show the kids
how to remove the paper before eating!

Caleb graduates! He (and Josiah)
have done so well learning the
language - we are so thankful.

Caleb's 7th Birthday

Yesterday we celebrated Caleb's 7th birthday and this year was his first birthday "party". We invited some of Caleb's friends over (6 boys to be exact) for a cake, ice cream and fun. That brought our boy count to 10 which brought our noise level to "over the charts". This morning our neighbor commented on the noise that came from our apartment! We were also glad that Grandpa and Grandma Tricia were able to be here to help celebrate Caleb's big day. Caleb has been very excited about celebrating this birthday. Caleb woke up yesterday, threw his hands in the air and yelled "I'm seven!". Apparently Nana told him that when he turned 7 he officially moved out of being a little kid. He tried to convince me that he was old enough to walk to the store alone today - I'm not ready for that yet. I'm also not ready for him to learn to ride the skateboard that Grandma and Grandpa gave him - even though he has spent most of the day walking around the house in his protective gear. Birthdays are always bittersweet for me. I'm excited because they are excited and I have a good reason to give extra love and attention to one child (every other day we have to be "fair") but I am also a little sad because I know that they are one year closer to being all grown up. To many of you Caleb will look a lot bigger than the last time you saw him and even though I have been with him he looks a lot bigger to me too.

Mother's Day

I have a tradition with every holiday and Mother's Day means that I take a picture with the boys. Trying to get four boys to sit still, look in the same direction, and smile can be a challenge. I think we did alright this year. As far as my Mother's Day memory this year - I think that I have two. First, as I was getting ready for church Sunday morning Caleb says "you don't look like a mom today". If you're a mom with young kids I hope that you are able to guess the "why". Apparently I do not look like a mom if my hair is not in a ponytail. I am grateful for a very observant son! Later I was trying to explain to Josiah that not all grown up men are Daddy's. I told him that grown up people are called adults. Daddy is an adult and so am I. Josiah shakes his head and says "No, you're not an adult you're just a mommy." I can live with that.

The First Weeks

I will not deny it - having four small children is crazy. There is always something that needs to be done or someone that needs to be taken care of. With friends providing dinners the first week and my mother coming soon after we have entered this new stage slowly. I joke (kind of) about what my house is going to look like when I am home alone with all four. After a rough week or so Micah is nursing better and gaining weight. There are things that you take for granted when you have your fourth child. It never crossed my mind that there would be a nursing problem - I've done this three times before right? Well, that is just another reminder that every child is different. We wondered how Lucas would adjust to having a baby in the house. He has really done well and only tells me to put the baby down when he first wakes up from his nap. The problem we are finding is that Lucas is still two, which means he is getting into everything and looking for opportunities to cause trouble. Just yesterday I went to see what he was up to and found him in the bathroom with gel running down the side of his head. I cleaned him up and then two minutes later I found him standing on the toilet. He had dumped baby powder all over himself and the floor. What else could I do besides laugh and get my camera? After my mother leaves I think that I will have to lock Lucas in a room with me while I feed the baby!


Isn't he sweet?!

Trouble, trouble, trouble!!!!