Sunday Sneak Peek: Our Thanksgiving Celebration

The kids were so excited.  They were jumping off the walls.
We were hoping for good weather so we could take them to the park.  But it poured rain so we did our best to entertain them all.  We watched movies, played games, and did puzzles.

April had us share things we were thankful for.  It was fun to hear everyone's answers... especially the kids'.

Bless her heart!  It looks like she ate the turkey!

Noah was ridiculously excited about this turkey.  He insisted on getting an entire turkey leg all to himself!
Sweet April indulged him!

It doesn't look like we'll starve!
We had turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, creamed spinach, green bean casserole, and yeast rolls.
There was pumpkin pie and pecan pie for dessert!

Logan did his part, too!  I made sure to capture him in action!  Ha!

Part of the fun of an ex-pat Thanksgiving is trying to figure out how to do it with local ingredients.  Of course, there are always a few things that you can't live without yet you can't find them here.  So you have to be very forward thinking and stock up when you're back in America, even if it's blazing hot summer.  

I can finally do pretty much everything to my satisfaction except for pecan pie.  I have to bring my pecans, brown sugar, and Karo syrup for that.  

I have two cans of Bruce's Canned Yams on my shelf.  But, I am saving them for Christmas! 

They have started to produce sweet potatoes here.  Now, they don't compare to what I'd find in an American grocery store- fresh or canned.  But, they aren't terrible.  In fact, April used them for her sweet potato casserole and they were pretty good.  The weird thing is that they aren't orange.  In fact, they are sort of white-ish.  And, when she cooked them they actually turned green-ish.  So it looked like we were eating baby food.  Yummy!!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year!

New Do's

Lucy sensed my weakness and went in for the kill.  She asked if she could get her hair chopped off.  Much to her surprise, and mine, I said sure!

After several years of home hair coloring experiments it was time to get my color fixed by a professional.  So we headed off to the salon and this is the result...

After I took this Lucy got bored so I handed her my phone to play with.  Now, I like to laugh at myself, but the pictures that she took are not even fit for the internet!  Ha!

In the end I forgot to take a picture of my hair.  Just imagine Angelina Jolie... I pretty much look just like her... cough-cough.

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We have so much to be thankful for!  The Lord is so gracious and good to us!

Oddly enough, for the first time since we moved here, we actually have Thanksgiving off from school.  Typically, it's just a regular day.  But this year the big 2 day eighth grade test was yesterday and today.  So we've had the blessed opportunity to just chill out... well, except for poor Noah who had to take the test!  

But, I'm a nice Momma, so I'm letting him stay home from school tomorrow and do his fair share of chilling out!  I think he has his dad conned into taking him to a movie!

Now... on to thankfulness...

I am so thankful for our family.  Justin and I have the most amazing parents on earth!  They have each done so much for us and we are constantly amazed at and blessed by their love and generosity!!  

I am thankful for my job.  It might be killing me but I get to spend a huge chunk of my time with people who need hope!  Plus it is really fun to be a fly on the wall in my kids' world.

We have the best teammates.  I am so thankful for them!  We are plotting and planning a fantastic Thanksgiving celebration together this coming Sunday.  We have had so much fun figuring out our menu.  They have found a guy who knows a guy who can get us a turkey.  I know it sounds sketchy, but we have high hopes!

I hope you and yours have a really blessed and joyful Thanksgiving!

"Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.
    Let the whole world know what he has done."

1 Chronicles 16:8

Photo Phun

Callie surprised us by making mugcakes for everyone.
She is quite creative and talented in the kitchen.
I won't mention the condition of the kitchen after this baking session was done!

Noah and Callie have to go to half-day school on Saturdays.  They throw in some fun lessons to help motivate the kids.  This semester Callie has horseback riding and a traditional type of painting called Ebru.  She is loving it.

They are super cautious and take things really slow.

At this point, the kids are just getting used to being on horseback.
Although, I doubt they will ever really let them ride by themselves.

The horseback riding teachers know that Lucy is quite the equestrienne.  So they told her to drop by after Callie's lesson and they'd let her ride.  So, of course we were there ready and waiting!  Lucy rode just after the 7th graders had ridden.  It was so funny to watch their faces as little Lucy got up on that horse and rode all around without any problems.  Most of the kids are scared too death.  Several of them can't even bring themselves to get on the horse!  Lucy showed them!  Ha!

 Here's a little glimpse at my reality.  I gave a vocabulary quiz last week.  One of the words from my 7th grade culture-based unit was saint.

The sixth sentence says, "I don't interest in saints, chaples, christians."  I'd say this statement reflects the feelings of pretty much everyone in this town... unfortunately!

Please forgive the fact that this picture is sideways.  I have rotated it a thousand times and it keeps resetting itself.  So, just cock your head to the side, please! ;-)

Here's another gem from my sixth grade class.  This is the final page of their quiz.  We were working on describing places.

The second description says, "One word, veri guud."  Don't even ask me what the first one says... I don't have a clue!

Clearly I'm a fantastic teacher!!  Ha!

Teacher's Day

Today is Teacher's Day.  It has been such a fun day.  All of our students get so excited and shower us with cards, chocolates, flowers, and presents.  My sweet husband even got me a bouquet of daisies! 

We had an assembly and the kids performed all sorts of poems and songs.  This is Lucy's class reciting, "My Teacher is a Flower."

All in all it was a great day and reminded me that I do actually like my job... sometimes!  Ha!

Happy Teacher's Day to all my friends and family that serve in this special way!

Sunday Sneak Peek: Teacher's Day

Tomorrow is Teacher's Day.  It's a big deal here- sort of akin to Valentine's Day or Mother's Day.  Last night my school held a nice banquet for all their teachers, faculty, and personnel.  It was really nice and ended up being so fun.  

The region that we live in is known for its traditional dancing.  And my colleagues did not disappoint!!  I thought I would only stay for an hour but ended up staying the entire night.  It was so fun to watch my friends dance!

Dude in the red sweater towards the left is a shy high school physics teacher,
but he tore up that dance floor!  As soon as the band would start up he'd fly out onto the floor.

One of the English teachers felt the need to sing.

I know I'm not right, but this dude dancing in the neck brace cracked me up!

No, this is not the karate kid.  Our drama and folk dancing teacher did a special performance.
It was interesting... to say the least!

Sunday Sneak Peek

Fail or the most delightful place at school... you decide!

All day long I looked out the window at this sweet little fishing boat on the river.

Beautiful yellow leaves... and the sun setting behind the mountains at 3 o clock!

A few of my cuties

When you're dying for the bell to ring in the very last period on Friday this is the kind of thing that seems sensible.

And of course a selfie, too!

My Great Tormentzzzz

Justin and I are being tormented by a demon-possesed mosquito.  Yall, this thing lays in wait until we drift off to sleep then proceeds to buzz our ears, suck all the blood out of our bodies, and destroy any notion of REM sleep.

It's making me crazy!!!

The thing is so evil that it will even bite you in places that other mosquitos turn then evil pointy little noses up at.  For instance, Justin has been bitten on his palm several times.  He had a bite on his ear.  I have 4 bites on my thumb, several on my forehead, and a couple on the back of my neck.  And that's just today's count!  No exposed skin is safe!!

It's not just the ridiculous biting attack but the slow methodical wearing us down by buzzing our ears.  It's like the thing can tell when we're just drifting off again and ever so subtly Zzzzzs by.  Its infuriating!!  I'm pretty sure this is far worse than water-boarding!  I'm going to patten this torture method and sell it to the US government!

I am about ready to go Caddyshack on that devil-bug and blow this place to bits!!!

Thankful Thursday

1. Dry Shampoo!!  Yall, dry shampoo has finally hit the store shelves here.  The internet was not lying when it said how great this stuff is!!  

2. As crazy as it sounds, I'm thankful that my most whack-a-do student lit a match in my class today.  I think they are going to expel him!  Fingers crossed!

3. I'm thankful for a husband who helps me soooo much!!

4. The weather has been amazing lately.  I'm thankful for the sunshine... I know it's fleeting!

5. The past two weeks have been test weeks.  I'm thankful that the kids do really well in school.

6. I'm thankful for the hope of Christ.  I mess up pretty much constantly.  I'm so glad there is redemption and renewal in the body of Christ!  Without Him, I'm toast!!

I Headache Glamar Cake?

Here's a mild taste of the tomfoolery that I get to experience on a daily basis.  On the bright side... I love the power of the red pen!  Ha!

Sunday Sneak Peek: The Perfect Day

Starts with a breakfast picnic...

with this view

and includes a little island in the sea perfect for exploring,

plenty of rollerblade practice,

and laughing at Daddy when he gets the old maid.

Then continues on to another venue with these inviting steps

and this stunning view.

Mountains as far as the eye can see.

Beautiful, healthy, happy children

Our precious little town on the left and our school at the mouth of the river on the sea at the right.

A look back up to where we were an hour before

Thank you, Lord for the last little burst of sunshine and pleasant temperatures.  We thoroughly enjoyed your creation today!!

A Word to the Wise

While making your breakfast at 6:30 in the morning, if you crack an egg in the pan and discover a tiny baby chicken carcass floating around in your pan just go on back to bed.

Today isn't your day.

Fall Favorites

8 years ago when Lucy was born, a sweet friend brought us dinner.  Along with dinner she included a big tin pan of fresh carmel popcorn.
Yall, they weren't out of the driveway before I had polished that delicacy off.  It was amazing!!  She was gracious enough to give me the recipe and now we have added her mom's special recipe to our lineup of favorite fall yummies.  Nothing screams "It's Fall, Yall!" like caramel popcorn.

Sunday Breakfast

Yesterday was payday.  They hand me an envelope of cash.  (I was going to write an envelope full of cash, but since I get paid less that $4 an hour, I thought that would be a bit of an overstatement!  There is plenty of room in that envelope for more cash!)  Anyhow, to celebrate payday we went out for an amazing breakfast this morning.  The folks here know how to do breakfast.  They fill the table with tons of little plates of cheeses, olives, tomatoes, cucumbers, butter, jams, honey, tahini paste and molasses, nutella, three different types of bread, endless tea, and more.  It is super yum-o!

Well, then of course, there's the specialty of this region... a copper pan of hot cheese sauce.

It's amazing!!

Coal

This providence just got natural gas pipelines a few years ago.  Some places converted their heating pretty quickly thereafter.  But, of course, there are other places that haven't made the switch so they still burn coal.  Our building has natural gas heat, but it still has the coal chutes.  My crazy son likes to slide down them into the basement when the kids are playing hind and seek outside.

Since the first hint of a chill there has been an ever increasing waft of coal burning in the air.   When it actually gets cold, I'm afraid we're going all going to smell like a campfire!

Here are tons of bags of coal stacked up behind our school ready to be shoveled into the furnace.