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.

He's Here!!!

Cason Lovic Dasher

8lbs 15 oz

21 inches

born yesterday afternoon

He's pretty much the cutest thing ever!

Cam meeting baby brother.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for the beautiful sunset.  We've just had Daylight Savings so the sun sets at 5 o'clock!

I'm also thankful that my newest nephew will be born any second now!  We cannot wait to meet Cason!!

I am thankful that my kids are really flexible, well adjusted, polite, good students, and interesting people.

I am so thankful for a husband who helps me.  It is extremely rare in the country for a man to do anything around the house.  Justin is always willing to help me- even more so now that I'm out of the house so much!

Finally I'm thankful for generous teammates who insisted on watching our kids and putting Justin and I up for a night in a nice hotel.  What a blessing to be working with them!

Still Rockin' It!

Two years ago when we were in the States Noah and I discovered my mom's old sweatshirt stash.  He quickly claimed the Georgia Tech sweatshirt that my brother wore when he was Noah's age.  I was reunited with my old soccer sweatshirt from high school.  I had to make a few alterations since I'm not really into shockingly tight bands around my wrists, neck, and waist anymore.  Yall, these shirts are 20 years old or more!  That's downright vintage.  So, I guess that makes Noah and me hipsters!

Republic Day

Today is a national holiday.  It's the 91st celebration of the formation of this country.  All the schools in our district met at one of the local schools bright and early this morning for a ceremony.

The band was getting in one last practice before they got on the bus.

Our adorable folk dancing group.
They didn't get to perform today because there was another mining accident yesterday.
During times of national mourning things stay very solemn.

But, our group looked adorable in their traditional costumes.

3 of my 10th graders

The local mayor, town dignitaries, and honored veterans arrived.
The two guys in the back were wearing fezes.

After several speeches the flag-bearers marched around the schoolyard.

Then the folk dance troupe led the students in marching around the schoolyard.

These are my ninth graders.

Some adorable kiddos from the local public school.

Some more precious cuties marching.

Finally, our marching band rounded out the festivities.

Rubbers!

I spend every waking hour pretending to be a mature adult.  But, so help me, when I point to a picture of an eraser and say, "What is this?" and thanks to our British curriculum, my students holler, "It's a rubber!" I just die.

I just lose it every time.

I absolutely cringe and crack up and revel in my own inside knowledge of how hilarious this situation is.

There is nothing weirder and therefore funnier than a pack of 9 year olds screaming out the word rubbers in a classroom setting!  It's just wrong.

Then we move on to prepositions...  the rubber is in my hand.  The rubber is on the table.

Yall!  It's just not fair!  How can I be expected to maintain professional decorum under such circumstances?!

RUBBERS!!

Foreigner Troubles

You know what... sometimes it is just ridiculously difficult to be a foreigner!!

Poor Noah has been working so hard at school and we finally found a great soccer program for him.  He is loving it.

Well... was loving it!

Today we found out that the TFF will not certify foreign minors to play soccer.  So, he can't play!  After a hard day, this was nearly a fatal blow!  Why can't kids just play some soccer?!

The soccer club's best solution was to use another child's identification to get Noah's TFF certification.  Of course, that's wrong and we won't go that route.  So, we're back at square one.  Scrambling to find a fun soccer opportunity for Noah.

Life is hard, but God is good!

*While we're on the topic of foreigner woes... please pray for my work permit to be approved.  We need the Lord to move in this area soon!  Thanks!

Do Not Fear

"Be strong and bold; 

have no fear or dread of them, 

because it is the Lord your God who goes with you; 

he will not fail you or forsake you."

Deuteronomy 31:6