More Mother's Day

Could this child be any cuter?




Callie is really into baking and helping out in the kitchen. So, she insisted on baking me a cake for Mother's Day. The actual day was so full, so she had to settle for baking me a "Day After Mother's Day Cake." Daddy only helped a tiny bit. She did a great job!

Finally...

Only two months later, here's my Mother's Day story...

My dear sweet husband gave me the choice to do anything that I wanted for Mother's Day. I wanted us to spend the day together as a family, so I needed to choose something that the kids would enjoy, too. It would cut out on the whining and grumping! So we looked on the internet and our guide books and decided on a neat park that has scale miniatures of all of the country's famous natural wonders, mosques, and other famous buildings. We had heard that it was a fun family place.

The first bit of our journey was a special treat- a taxi ride (we always take the bus) to the pier. Then we got on a ferry to go up the waterway. I LOVE being on the water. It is so soothing!


Callie posing on the ferry.



Noah wanted his picture taken, too. I cannot believe that I have been a mother for 8 years!



Legend has it that the first flight took place from this tower hundreds of years ago. A man made wing-like contraptions and it is said that he was able to completely cross the waterway over to our continent!



More scenery



Adorable scenery!


After we worked our way through all of the stops to the end of the ferry line we disembarked. From our maps it didn't look like the park was very far from the last ferry stop. We headed to the sidewalk along the coast to walk the rest of the way. But, once we got down by the water we saw that the sidewalk ended just a short way up the coast. So we turned around to go on the sidewalk by the road. A man asked us if we were headed to the park. When we said yes, he directed us back down toward the water and assured us that that was the way to go. Then he called an old man over and shouted into his ear the name of the park where we were headed. He took us down to perhaps the first dock ever placed on water- it was ancient. We had to climb down off the sidewalk, over some rocks, and pray to God as we stepped onto this dock. And the boats made the dock look fancy!! Justin and I exchanged glances, and for some crazy reason decided to do it. To be honest, I absolutely cannot tell you why on earth I agreed to get on that boat. But it turned out to be my favorite part of the day.



Looks inviting doesn't it? Who needs a cruise when you've got this?



And we're off...



Our lives were in this guy's hands. We were going along just fine- albeit loudly. After a bit Justin said, "Well, I know why this guy can't hear anymore!" At one point we looked back and he was putting on a life jacket. Did we have life jackets? NO! This was a little, um... interesting! After we went along a bit and didn't sink we figured he just put it on for warmth. About halfway through our journey we ran out of gas! Luckily the old man pulled out a coke bottle full of gas, filled her up, and we were puttering along again. We made it the rest of the way to a tiny little dock right next to the park without any more hitches.



We got to the park and had a blast! Here is Callie Cutie on the the trampoline.



The kids posing on a miniature bridge. There are two huge ones in this city that span the continents.



Lucy's favorite part of the day- the train ride.



A perfect day always ends with ice cream!



Little lady



Have I told you that this child is trouble?



She is trouble!



God is good...



all the time!

We ended the day by taking a ferry, a bus, and then a minibus over to pick up pizza. We actually have Papa John's Pizza here. Two in the whole city! It is fantastic! The sausage and pepperoni that they use is the closest thing to pork that we can find. The pizza is yumm-O! So it was a major good day!

Thank you, Lord for your abundance! Being a mom is the hardest thing I have ever done, and it never stops. It is constant and all encompassing. But it is without a doubt what makes life worth living. I cannot imagine what life was like before these monkeys came into it. They are so fun and smart and beautiful. Life is a thousand times better with them. And of course, the amazing man that I married 12 years ago who parents alongside me. I love this little family more than words can express!!!

I Think Lucy Got a Hold of my Camera

What do you think?

Engagement Party

Awhile back I got to go to my downstairs neighbor's engagement party. Children- no matter how old- in this culture live with their parents until the day they are married! And lots of times afterwards, too. If not immediately after they are married then at least when they have a baby one of the mothers moves in for a year or more!

I was too shy to get up and dance with everyone. They were laughing and having so much fun, but when I am up there I feel like everyone is watching me. I'm not a good dancer anyway, and certainly not good at the dances they do here yet. But, now I regret it a bit because it is so much fun!!

Anyhow, the crowd of well wishers was large. The party begins with mingling and everyone sort of making their entrances. Then there are introductions of family members, and sometimes speeches. Then they put sashes on the bride and groom to be and people pin money or gold on the sashes as someone is announcing who gave how much! (My mother would be apauled!) They usually make enough to pay for all of the wedding expenses and sometimes honeymoon, too! (At the wedding they make enough to set up their home.) Then they pray for the couple. They they dance, and their parents dance. And finally the music starts really pumping and everyone gets on the dance floor. It is really fun.

Here are my pictures:


The bride to be- in the white dress.


The mother and father of the bride to be.


The whole family dancing.


The future groom on the left.

Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight

Well, its finally happened! I thought that it had already happened, but, lo, it had not. The summer heat has come! UGH! Its the kind of heat where you take a shower right before you go to sleep, and pray that you fall asleep while your hair is still wet and you are relatively cool! Its too hot to do anything. Pretty much all weekend we huddled inside and stared at each other! Yesterday afternoon Lucy and I slept for like 3 hours. I think I had actually passed out! Ha! You would think for a city this huge there would be something to do. NOPE! No pools, no water parks, no relief from the heat. We are bored to tears! Entertaining the kids all day long in the flat, while trying to regulate the amount of television they watch has proved difficult! Praise the Lord that we are in our new flat. It has more space, and is higher up, so sometimes we get a nice breeze!

All weekend I have been playing the "if only..." mind game. Like if only I was in Kentucky right now, We would be at the Nicholasville pool. Or If only we were in Marietta right now we'd be playing with Michelle and the kids. It is not a good game for me to play.

Anyhow, God is good, and we trust Him. Besides, this heat is enough to scare the Hell out of anyone!!! I am quite sure that Heaven will be in the high 70s and breezy a good bit of the year! Can't wait!!!

Potty

One of the unexpected benefits of potty training Lucy has been that she cheers for me every time I use the bathroom.

Yirmiüç Nisan

Children's Day is on the 23 of April each year. It is a huge celebration that the mothers started talking about and preparing for in the first week of school. There are costumes, patriotic speeches, performances, and national pride in droves! It is really fun, and a special event for the people here.

Noah was in a special club that met during his last lesson time on Wednesdays. They learned traditional songs and dances as well as learned to play chess. And to be honest, I have no idea what else they did! But he enjoyed it. They got to do a special performance. Unfortunately, my video of it shows the sign with the school name, so I cannot post it. But here are some pictures. He did a great job, and looked so dapper in his little costume.












Callie's class also did a performance. They practiced for months, but it was a HUGE secret. Callie was ultra confidential about the whole thing. It was so cute. I did manage to get better video of her.

23 Nisan from Elizabeth on Vimeo.

The kids get the day off of school. But because the performances and assemblies started to become such a big deal, and in reality, were more work than just going to school, they also give the next day of as well. A day to rest and celebrate being a kid. Parks, restaurants, and things that kids would enjoy are usually packed. Toy stores have special sales because families usually give gifts to the kids. It is a nice reminder to celebrate and cherish children!

Yea Me!

I am so proud of myself! Yesterday I made some dip that my new neighbors loved! They practically licked the bowl clean. It may not sound like that big of a feat, but you have to understand the people here. They are notoroiusly proud of their food. They firmly believe that their cuisine should be the most popular in the world. When they talk about the "world kitchens" (did you know there was such a thing?) of which Chinese, Italian, and French are the most popular, they think that theirs should be right up there.

This should tell you how much they love their food... Of the three local families that we know that lived in America none of them ate American (or any other type) food while they lived there! One of the families was there for 8 years!!! In this city of over 17 million people there are maybe 5 Mexican/Spanish restaurants, and maybe 15 of each Chinese, Italian, and French. That's not much variety, folks!!

That's all to say that the people here love their food. And, I will give them credit- it is good! If I am going to be serving my friends, I usually try to limit the things that I make so they won't have to pretend to like it while desperately trying to force their kids to eat it so their plate will be clean. So I was shocked and happy that unless they are really good actresses, they really liked the dip I made for them!! Yeaaa me!

Celebrate Good Times

A few months ago we heard music outside of our apartment. Always one who loves any excitement, I looked out the window to check out the scene. There was obviously a celebration going on...

Its Party Time from Elizabeth on Vimeo.

The kids and I raced downstairs- along with quite a few other neighbors- to see what was going on. A man in the building next door was getting married. His side of the wedding party was celebrating as they were going to pick up his bride.

Wedding March from Elizabeth on Vimeo.

I LOVE celebrations here. They are like they should be- simple, happy, and full of dancing, laughing, and food!

So Cute

Out of the blue this morning, Noah gasped and said, "Oh, I get it! I bet Gamma is the Tooth Fairy!! She has a room downstairs that we are not allowed to go in. That is where she keeps the teeth. And she has a clock that rings when no one is looking. It rings every time a kid loses a tooth! Or... it could be PawPaw. He could use ashes from the fire place to make himself small, and fly off to collect the teeth!"

Back in the Saddle

Hepatitis, the end of school for me and the kids, moving, and Justin's parents' visit have kept me away from my computer and especially my blog. I have been chastized by Mom and Earlda, so now I am trying to get myself back in the habit of writing. I do realize that it is a great creative outlet for me to tell you my story. I have been going through my pictures and realize that I have A LOT to catch up on. Be prepared for weird stories peppered with cute videos and pictures of my kids and maybe a bit of my cultural learnings and bloopers. I am going to try to write daily. We'll see....

This is what I want you to know today:

We had a great time with Justin's parents. We dragged them around this city and tried our best to wear them slap out. There is a lot to see here! Also, we all went down to a co-workers home on the sea for a week. It was so fun and relaxing. Tom and Deb did great!! They ate whatever we recommended, were always up for adventure, were totally flexible (except when squatty-potties were involved!), had great attitudes, and loved on all of us. It was a great break for us!!

Here's an interesting tidbit... just after school let out, and we moved to our new flat I amused myself by watching the moms walking their little boys to and from Koran school each morning and their little girls to and from Koran school each afternoon. Did you know they had Vacation Koran school? Me neither? It was so cute to watch the kids carrying their family Koran with so much pride- always dressed in their finest, and the little girls wearing their headscarves for the first time.

Ok... thats all for now, but I promise to be back soon... ok, Mom?