Merry Christmas

It is a little weird to be living in a country that doesn't celebrate Christmas. There are Christmas trees for sale and even some decorations - but those just hit the shelves last week as those are considered New Year's decorations here. Nonetheless, our boys still get excited about the holiday and for a month we read portions of the Christmas story for family worship and sang Christmas carols. Last night we had some friends over for a Christmas Eve dinner and we all really enjoyed that. The kids played different parts during the reading of the Christmas story - Josiah was a wise man, Caleb was Joseph, Micah was baby Jesus and Lucas decided to be a sheep. One family built a pinata for the kids which they really enjoyed. This morning the boys woke early to open their presents - Caleb and Josiah's centered around football, while Lucas' gifts were mostly car related. Micah's favorite things were his cell phone and punch balloons. We had a great day and are thankful that the Lord has poured out his grace on us in allowing us to understand and celebrate the significance of this day - the birth of our Savior.

Thanksgiving

I realize that it is really close to Christmas and I have yet to post the pictures of Thanksgiving. We were able to travel back to our old city to see friends/family this Thanksgiving. Our boys, especially Caleb, had a wonderful time. We saw friends, ate a wonderful Thanksgiving meal, and the boys were even able to play football. It was nice to spend time with those who have become like family to us since moving overseas.

Micah

He is just like his brothers! He is growing up so fast. He wants to do everything himself- even if it means that he gets food all over his lap and the floor. Unfortunately he is not big enough to clean up after himself. He is jumping off furniture and getting into everything. His favorite thing to do lately is write in books, not in a notebook with blank pages, but on anything that has printed words on it. He tries to copy everything his brothers do - including yelling touchdown and trying to play "rock-paper-scissors". He is getting to be a handful and we are loving (almost) every minute.

Josiah Turns 6

On October 16th we celebrated Josiah's sixth birthday. What kind of kid is he? He is funny, takes very little seriously, loves math, video games and card games. He is a pretty smart kid and is doing well in first grade - though I do not know how since it is a challenge to get him to sit still through a class. He likes to work math problems in his head and loves football (though I think it mostly has to do with the statistics). When he gets up in the morning he asks to watch game video on the ESPN website. He is sweet most of the time and still loves to sit in Daddy's lap. I am also convinced that he is colorblind since he cannot match his clothes (or maybe he doesn't really care). His favorite thing about school is that girls chase him and as a matter of fact he told us that he "is six and likes girls". Help us!

A Day in the Life

As you can imagine life with four little boys is a little crazy at times. I took this video of the boys (instead of trying to shush them) at lunch one afternoon.





The other day, after having to take a break from listen to Caleb read, he asks "Mom why can't we just finish with my reading now?". My response "Because I am only one person and right now I have an 8 year old who needs to read, a 6 year old taking a Math exam, a 3 year old pouring his own cup of milk and giving it to an 18 month old who is spilling it on the floor I just mopped, that's why!". I'll be sad when they all grow up though!

A Visit from Grandpa and Grandma Tricia

Last week we were happy to have Grandma and Grandpa come for a visit. The week consisted of lots of presents, candy, snuggling, and good ol' grandparent time.

Off to School

Lucas' school is right down the street, but
he was still hoping to take the bus.

Yes, he really is that big!

Josiah's 1st grade class room.

Josiah in his new school uniform - he
also has a matching sweater.

Though Caleb and Josiah started their homeschooling well over a month ago, the national schools here have only been in session since the 24th of Sept. Josiah started back to school (1st grade) a little over a week ago and has been enjoying it. Because he has homeschool in the morning and national school in the afternoon he is pretty tired by dinner time.
Lucas went to preschool for the first time last Friday. He will only be going a couple of times a week - enough time to allow me to have language lessons. When he came home on Friday he spent half the time speaking in the national language. I am afraid that within a few months he will be saying more than me!
For those who are curious we have decided not to send Caleb to national school this year. We decided that his homeschool load this year would make doing both very difficult and, honestly, we didn't think that it was best for Caleb (emotionally) to continue to do both. We have been looking for ways for him to continue to learn the language and found that he could play/learn basketball a couple times a week.

New Obsessions

My "popped" pretzel dough and
the boy wanting to inflate it.

Ted and I continue to be amazed (and a little jealous) at how fast our boys can speak the national language and how comfortable they are in talking to just about anyone. Recently Lucas has been saying a lot more in the national language and has learned "kid talk" since he spends all day outside. His recent obsession is saying the national word for popped (i.e. the ball is popped) as well as the word they use for inflating something. He will go around squeezing bike tires and saying they are popped. At a recent trip to a hotel they had a cushioned toiled seat which he informed me was popped. Last week I was making pretzel dough and had placed in it a bowl to rise. Lucas came to me a little later and told me that someone had inflated it (using the national word) and that he had popped it. He wanted to know if he could inflate it again. It is so funny to hear him insert these national words into an English sentence. In passing I will say that he once grabbed my arm and told me that it was popped - but that is not nearly as funny as the other times he has used the word!

Back to School

Excited about learning to write in cursive!

Caleb (always wanting to look the part)
chooses a collared shirt for the first day of class.

The boys started school again a couple of weeks ago. Josiah's started first grade and Caleb started third. Maybe you are like me and cannot believe that they are that old, but they are. The boys use a DVD program and as I watched Caleb's first day I was struck by how big the kids looked. "These kids must be big for their age" I thought "because Caleb isn't that big yet". BUT, he is! At a recent doctors appointment he was in the 75th percentile for his height. You don't really notice how fast they are growing even when it is happening before your eyes. They are plugging away and (for the most part) working hard. Interestingly enough the boys have the same favorite subject - penmanship!

Anniversary Trip - Rome

Last week Ted and I were able to take a trip celebrating our 10th anniversary. This was our first solo vacation since we've had children (8 years). After leaving the boys with friends (who took wonderful care of our boys) we headed to Rome for three days. Living on this side of the world has its advantages - cheaper airfare in one of them. It was nice to be able to relax, talk without interruption, and eat a meal without having to cut up food or clean up a spill. Its amazing how easy life becomes when all you have to worry about is you! Not having to work around nap time and bed time meant that we were able to see all the major things in Rome. We had a wonderful time but we are glad to be back for our boys. I think they missed us too.

Village Cherry Festival

On Sunday a new friend of Ted's (Murat) invited us to his village festival. His village is about 2 hours from our home, right in the middle of the mountains. At 7am our family and Murat's - his wife, daughter, and mother - piled into our car and headed to the festival. Stop for a minute and see what comes to mind when you think of a festival. Okay, it wasn't like that. Sadly, there was no one there selling sweet corn or cotton candy. The festival started with a presentation by men I assume were village politicians. For the most part the men and women sat separately. After the presentation the women and children were ushered into an open field where we ate rice and meat. After the men ate we picked cherries and did a little sightseeing in the mountains. We enjoyed our time with these new friends and were grateful to be able to spend the day with them.

Hmmm!

So there is a mulberry tree pretty close to our house. The problem is that the tree is outside of our gate, which means that Lucas is not allowed to go there. Lucas came in the house covered in purple 'stuff' so I ask "Lucas did you go to the berry tree?"
"No, I didn't"
"Are you sure?"
"I DIDN'T!"
Hmmm?! He probably would have gotten away with it had the neighbor boy not pummeled him with squished mulberries.

Nana 's Visit

We are sad to say that my mother made her way back to the states last Friday. =( While she was here the boys enjoyed lots of ice cream, candy, silly talk, sleeping in Nana's room and watching Reba! As with almost any visit from a grandparent we have had to do a little detox. A couple of days after my mother left we pulled into a store parking lot and before getting out of the car Caleb said to Josiah "Don't ask for anything because Nana isn't here".
We were also able to visit a really neat city about three hours from our home. We did a lot of walking and cave exploring.

Nana's Here!!!!

This picture pretty much says it all! The boys are enjoying having Nana around. What is not to enjoy when you get candy, ice cream, soda, etc, etc.? Though the boys have not seen Nana in over a year it didn't take long for them to warm up. Caleb and Josiah, of course, have the most memories of Nana so they were excited to see her. They go to her room each morning before they come see their parents!!! About every other day Lucas asks "Are you going home today?" or "Are you going to be here when I wake up?". Even Micah, who was just a few weeks old the last time Nana visited, is wanting to cuddle and be held by Nana all the time. We are so grateful that Nana made the trip to see us and we wish the days would go by slower.

Our 10th Anniversary

On the 5th Ted and I celebrated our 10th anniversary. We have seen a lot in those 10 years - 8 homes, 3 states, 4 kids, 2 continents, and 1 argument! For our anniversary I decided that we should take our picture together. After about 30 tries Ted suggested that we may not like the pictures because we do not look as young as we did 10 years ago. Surely that is not the reason.

Mr. Fix It

Lucas came in the house a few weeks ago and I could see his toes sticking out of his shoes. Maybe its time for a new pair! I mentioned it to Ted when he came home. Well, a little while later I see Ted walking out the door with packing tape (not even Duck tape) and a pair of scissors. As he is walking out the door he says "He doesn't need a new pair of shoes, he is just ruining them trying to stop his bike". I knew where this was headed so I ran to get my camera - I needed evidence.

"GRRR" My Daddy Said

Micah trying to break the rules by climbing up the steps.

Lucas hanging in the window because he disobeyed
and lost the priveledge of playing outside.
.

When the boys were smaller they had a Goldilocks book that came with a bear that read the story. During part of the story this bear would say "Grrr my Daddy said". Why am I writing about this - well since then I have adopted that as my mantra whenever something annoying or frustrating happens. As you can image I have had ample opportunity to use that phrase since moving overseas. Today was one of those days. Let me just preface my story by saying that I know that my boys are not perfect. Over the past week or so we have been having more problems with a couple of the boys in our neighborhood. Today one of the boys kept harassing Lucas - pushing his car (with him in it) into the wall, jumping onto Lucas' bike and riding away, and hitting him. Well, I heard Lucas yelling "stop it" for the 100th time so I walked outside to see what the problem was. As I walked around the corner I saw the two neighbor boys spitting at Lucas. By spitting I don't mean a little spray, these were disgustingly huge. I asked them to please not do that again (yeah right - see my next story) and in case no one had ever told them I made sure that they knew that spitting was very disgusting. Well, about an hour later I hear Caleb crying rather loudly so I peek out the window to see what happened. He informs me that a kid (who repeatedly hurt Lucas the week before) had choked him. I could see the red marks around his neck - I was not happy! I ask Ted to go talk to the kid about it. Ted spoke to a man at the boys house who informed him that "it was no big deal". GRRRR my Daddy said!!!!! There are days like today when I want to yell out, like our boys do, "why don't they get in trouble?". My anger turns to sorrow for these little boys as I remember that there is no on in their life to show them or teach them what it means to honor God.

Caleb's 8th Birthday

An Albert Pujols jersey from Grandma & Grandpa

A birthday lunch at McDonald's

Wow, he's getting big isn't he?

Yesterday was Caleb's 8th birthday - shocking I know! Being the emotional child that he is, his feelings about his birthday ranged from the best ever (because he received the Heely's he wanted as well as a few jerseys) to the worst (because there were no friends or grandparents coming over). I think that having moved here just a month ago made this birthday feel a little more lonely for Caleb. Today he was allowed to invite a few of the neighbor kids for a movie (which quickly turned into a game of tag all around the house) and cake. Caleb is all about relationships/friendships so having others to celebrate with him made it 'feel' more like a birthday.

Right Thinking

Last week I was in charge of bringing lunch for Josiah's class. I was given the olive, tomato, cucumber, cheese, and fruit lunch. As I looked at the list and even as I was preparing the food I thought to myself "Why is bread not on the list?" It is said here that a meal is not a meal without bread. Well, half way through the food service Josiah's sweet teacher says "Is there bread?". It wasn't on the list I said but I would run and pick some up. "Do you have your own money?" she asks. "Yes I have my own money. I will be right back." Thankfully bread is never far away and I was back in a few minutes. I was mad at myself for not following my gut. Okay it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that they eat bread with every meal, but I was glad that I thought, as they would, that something was missing. Now if I could only add spices to a meal without my measuring spoons!

Picnic Season

We have officially entered picnic season here. A few weekends ago our neighbors informed us that we were going on a picnic - asap. We packed up and went to a park that was full of fellow "picnicers". It really does seem like EVERY family picnics on Sunday if the weather is nice.

Cookie Bribes Work

As I looked through possible pictures to hang in our new home I realized that I needed to get some updated pictures of the older boys. Believe it or not I have not been as good at taking pictures as I used to be - though I probably still take more than normal! I have only scrapbooked 3 times in the year and a half since I've lived here. Hard to believe considering my previous life. Maybe I will scrapbook these pages of the boys after I ask for a day off for Mother's Day! I bribed them with chocolate chip cookies to ensure that there were smiles involved and that they let me take more than three.