HEADSHOT!

Last week I was on duty outside in the back garden.  The weather was terrible and so hardly anyone was outside.  I was getting bored during our hour long lunch recess so I decided to join my 6th graders in their soccer game.

Well,  my excuse is that it's hard to play soccer in dress shoes so when the ball came to me I struck it wrong.  It zinged off my foot and went straight to the face of our new student!!!

His glasses flew off his face and broke!

Hello!  Welcome to our school!  Here's a shot to the face to help you along your way!

I was mortified!!!!

Luckily he had a great sense of humor about the whole thing.  He wasn't hurt and his glasses snapped back together.

As the story got out the others teachers laughingly congratulated me and said I did a good thing- start him off with a healthy fear of his teachers!  Ha!

The kids are all calling me HEADSHOT!

...at least they are saying it in English!

International Children's Games

This Spring the English Department is playing different children's games from around the world with the kids.  We've set aside the last week of each month to play.  So, this week was our first week to play.  One of the games that was picked was a bit too complicated and each round ended in a bit of a wrestling match.  But it was fun...

Irem and I have things under control!

Can you find Lucy in this picture?

 Today the weather was really nice so we played our second game outside.  This one was more fun until the end.  We wore the kids slap out and they started to get dizzy and were falling down.  SO, there was a bit of drama.  But no one had to be taken off in an ambulance!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am so thankful for my Kindle.  We moved here back in the stone age when things like Kindle and Vonage didn't exist.  It's probably not that that big of a loss... having just relocated to a foreign country, learning language full time, trying to figure out how to keep house and cook every single thing from scratch, and looking after three small kept me pretty busy.

After a few years  I was starting to find my way through the storm and was able to find a bit of time to read every now and again.  We brought some English books, mostly for the kids.  Other than that, they were a bit scarce.

Out of the blue one day a friend emailed us and told us that an anonymous acquaintance wanted to send us a Kindle.  It just so happens that right around that time an ex-pat friend of ours' sister was coming out to visit.  She graciously agreed to bring the Kindle to us.

Once we got it we didn't quite know what to do with it.  It took a bit of getting used to.  But now I LOVE it.  I still prefer to read most non-fiction, Bible studies, the Bible, etc. in real book form.  But for novels and gaining access to English books of all sorts this thing is a dream come true!

I have access to so many books!  In subsequent years the kids have also received Kindles as gifts.  They are big readers so it is perfect for them.  What an amazing little device!  I am so thankful for it!

Right now I am reading Corrie ten Boom's The Hiding Place and I am so thankful for it!  What an amazing story!  Her perspective, and even more so, her sister Betsie's perspective on their trials and suffering are so faith-filled.  I am just eating this book up!  I have read it three times in the last two years!

The Apple of the Creator's Eye

"The truth is that God's viewpoint is sometimes different than ours- so different that we could not guess at it unless He had given us a Book which tells us these things.  In the Bible I learned that God values us not for our strength or our brains but simply because He has made us."

Corrie Ten Boom

'Stache

This handsome gentleman decided to come to school with us this morning!

P.S.- See the snow behind the school?  Notice the lack of snow on the ground at school?  We're still bitter that we didn't get a snow day!

Sunday Sneak Peek: Gummy Guns

We're on the road home from our weekend getaway.  We got some snacks for the road- including a bag of mixed gummy treats.

This was in the bag... 

Ladies and gentlemen... you are looking at a giant gummy gun.

Shop Till You Drop!

After a morning of swimming and a big yummy breakfast (with bacon!!!!!) the kiddos were all smiles!

A friend told us not to miss this weird little market full of American groceries at one of the shopping malls.
The kids went bonkers.  But the prices were ridiculous!  We each picked out one little treat:
Justin- Diet Dr. Pepper, me- Butterfinger bar, Noah- Mountain Dew, Callie- gummy life savers, and Lucy- Mountain Dew
YUM!

Keeping with the American food theme we had lunch in the food court.
Justin had Arby's.  The kids and I had Subway.

This one is for Grandma!

Birthday gelato!

Um... I'm not embarrassed to say we ate and shopped our way through the capitol city!! Ha!  We certainly don't have anything near this type of American creature comforts in our town!  In the end, we decided that we were glad we don't have all this yummy temptation at our finger tips!

It was a fun and full day.  We returned to the hotel exhausted!

The Big Day

Today is Callie's birthday.  We hit the road to the capitol city the second that school was out.  So we had to do all of our celebrating this morning.

She chose breakfast casserole for breakfast.

The kids said that this was the first school morning that we'd sat down together for breakfast.  I'm pretty sure they are correct!  Ha!

(Disclaimer: Today was crazy hair day for Lucy.)

Callie is ultra pragmatic and content with what she has.  Normally, I'd say this is great.  But around gift giving times it makes things tricky.  This child absolutely does not need or want anything!

For the most part she told everyone that she just wanted to wait until we were in the States this summer to celebrate.  She had a few little things to open.  Her favorite were the Harry Potter books.

She is excited about shopping this weekend in the big city.  But I can pretty much guarantee that she won't find anything that she wants or needs.  This summer I'm going to start a savings account for this child so she can stockpile her riches!  She is a fantastic saver!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for my Callie.  Tomorrow is her 12th birthday and I am in shock!

I remember how we laughed with joy and surprise when the doctor exclaimed, "It's a GIRL!!"

All throughout my pregnancy I felt like I was going to have a boy.  To say we were shocked and over-joyed is an understatement!  After I regained my composure I turned to Justin and asked what we were going to do with a girl.

Well, I'll tell you what I'm doing with a girl... loving every second of it!  Even the drama-llama moments are precious (afterwards).  I have this amazing young woman by my side.  She likes the same television programs I do.  She likes the same stores I do.  She loves to cook and create.  She tells funny stories and has a crazy sense of humor.  She keeps us guessing, that's for sure!

I can sum it up by saying that I'm thankful for my daughter because she's turing out to be my friend.  She is amazing and wonderful.  She is fun and interesting.  I am so proud of her and love her so much!!  She has my heart!

Praying for Snow... Again!

The forecast is calling for heavy snow.  We've actually had quite a bit of snow in the higher elevations over the past few days.  Less than a 1/2 mile inland is blanketed in beautiful white, school canceling snow!  But, the drawback of coastal living is that typically by the time the snow reaches us it is reduced to rain.

So, here we sit, watching the rain pelt our windows as it snows in the distance. 

Boo hoo hooo! 

The view from the middle school window
it's snowing across the street and raining on our campus :-(

Explorer of the Week

Look who is Explorer of the Week for 3A this week...

being introduced in morning assembly

doing her presentation for her class

She "explored" France and shared with her class.

Her picture was posted on her classroom door.

Celebrating my Callie

It's a week before Callie's birthday.  But our friends were in town today so we decided to celebrate!

We started the day with a Valentine brunch.  I found a recipe for red velvet pancakes with cream cheese butter.

Sweet mercy... I had to go to confession after those things because they were downright sinful!

Callie chose taco pile on for her birthday celebration dinner.  I made refried beans and spanish rice casserole to go with it.  It was sooo good!

Then we had Callie's cake for dessert.

This beautiful princess made her cake and decorated it all by herself!!

She is amazing!!

So fun to celebrate my almost 12 year old!!!

I LOVE This Stage

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

My sweet hubby made a card and bought me roses!  He is a keeper!  I found Oreos at a local market so I bought him some.

This afternoon Justin and I took the kids to their music lesson.  Their teacher takes all three of them at once.  So we dropped them off and went out for a coffee date.  Then we picked the kids up, gave them their marching orders, dropped them off at home, and went out for an early dinner.

When Justin and I got home our apartment was spic and span, everyone's homework was finished, they had eaten, and Callie had decorated her birthday cake. (She baked it all by herself earlier and wanted to decorate it, too.  I promise you that I offered to do it, but she insisted on doing it all by herself.)

I am loving having older kids.  Each stage is wonderful, but right now I just really like this one!

Empathy for Unicorns

My life in our new town has given me a new appreciation for the plight of the unicorn!

A unicorn looks like a horse.  It acts like a horse.  But, it's different enough to draw quite a bit of attention.  Stares.  Whispers.  Pointing fingers.  Genuine interest.

That's pretty much explains our existence here!

We act like normal people.  We look like normal people.  But we're just different enough to to draw attention and the stuff that comes with that attention.

I came to this conclusion as two middle school age boys didn't even attempt to stop staring at us today.  They were obviously discussing our very existence!  Shocked whispers were exchanged.  After more than enough staring I finally did the exaggerated eyebrow raise/smile thing to signal that it was time to find something new to look at.

It didn't work!  Ha!

Yall... this is not a rare occurrence.  Sometimes it's fun to be different.  But most of the time it's downright annoying.  I actually prefer it when folks just come right up and start asking their questions.  That happens about 50% of the time.  With a few simple words exchanged folks realize that we aren't the mythical freaks that they suppose us to be!

I know what the unicorn says... Stop staring at me!!

Bless his heart!

Thankful Thursday

Even though I would rather be sitting around in my jammies all day every day, I am thankful for my job.  I've gotten back into the groove of getting up early again.

I am thankful for my students.  They make me insane, but I know that the Lord has put me in my school to bless them.

I am thankful for our beautiful town and the sweet friends we are making.

I am also thankful for our old friends in the big city.  I talked on the phone to one of my friends the other day.  When I got off the phone I was shocked to see that we had talked for so long.  I can remember when I had to make my very first phone call here.  I was a nervous wreck... sweaty, heart pounding.  So, I am thankful that I can communicate (without sweating!!!) freely.

I am so thankful for some amazing news from a dear friend.  The Lord has answered our long awaited prayers!!

Praise the Lord!  He is good!

Don't You Wish that you had Musical Fish

It turns out that our new fish (all still alive!!) LOVE to hear Callie practice her piano.  Whenever she practices they swim over to the corner and listen to her beautiful music!  I am impressed!  I think we paid extra for highly cultured gold fish!

Praying for Snow!!!

After two fantastic, relaxing, fun weeks of winter break we have to go back to school today!  UGH!!

The sun is shining nice and bright, but I am sure everyone is joining me in praying for SNOW!!!

We just need a few more weeks vacation!!

Sunday Sneak Peek: Shhh...

The horseys are sleeping!

The Village

We loaded up in our car- 9 people in total!

Once we arrived and had a proper tour and then it was time to pick something for lunch

parsley, green onions, lettuce

Lucy and her sweet friend Bilgisu

Both village houses were about 70 years old.  But this one hasn't been lived in and has eventually come to ruin.

Their house was especially amazing because it had this beautiful flat area in front where everyone could play

Everyone stops to take their shoes off at the front door.

Justin and Emre shooting the breeze.

The view was unbeatable!

Sea-views front the front

Mountain views from the back
(All those little dots are hazelnut trees.)

The little girls had a blast playing

Check out those sweet faces!

While the women prepared the food.

How would you like to cook in this kitchen?!

The brown thing in the center is the wood-burning stove- the only source of heat.

Hayat peeking out the window

Once the patriarch got home from Friday prayers he showed Justin all around the property.
He was a delightful old man with a terrific sense of humor!

It wasn't long before the other boys in the village heard that a kid with a soccer ball had arrived.
Time to get a game going!

We fed the kids right quick and shooed them outside.
Then the adults gathered around the table to feast, chat, and drink tea for hours.

Enjoying the great outdoors

We had such a fun time visiting our neighbor, Zeynep's family in their village.  Zeynep brought her nieces, Lucy's friend, Bilgisu and her little sister Bengisu.  They played together so well.  So, Noah and Callie were freed up to seek out adventure!  They hiked all over.  Actually, I still don't know all of what they got into!  Noah brought his knives and slingshot.  He had a blast living the country  boy life!  

I love it that we all got this opportunity to get out and experience something new!  The kids get to run a bit wild and we get to meet new folks and enjoy the slow pace of village life.

The weather was incredible and we stayed until the dark.  We all came home and pretty much crashed.  A day of fun and fresh air really zaps you!!