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".