The Best Day of Her Life

As you may know, Lucy has been dying to lose a tooth!  She even wrote the Tooth Fairy to ask when she would lose her first tooth.  This poor child was the LAST one in her class and among her friends to lose a tooth!!  (Please don't faint from the trauma!)

When I took the kids to the dentist this summer he promised her that she would have three wiggly teeth very soon.  Sure enough, her bottom left tooth began to get a bit wiggly.  She was ecstatic!  And that is putting it mildly!

Never has a child wanted to lose a tooth more!

Well, by Friday evening it was really wiggly.  All of the sudden she came running in screaming that she had pulled her tooth out!

Praise the Lord!  Lucy has finally lost her first tooth!  The Tooth Fairy gave her 4 lira (instead of the normal 1) because she waited so long and patiently.

Just this summer, I cleaned out my space in my parents' attic and found my old Tooth Fairy pillow.  I washed it up and brought it back with us.  I am so happy that Lucy got to use it!  What a big girl!!

Sunday Sneak Peek

Next Thing Ya Know 'Ole Lizzy's a Millionaire

So, I got this email yesterday...

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND (IMF) / World Bank

Milbank Tower, 12th Floor 21-24;

Milbank London SW1P 4QP ENGLAND

Website:  www.imf.org

Attn: Beneficiary,

Following the outcome of the annual meetings held between the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the October 12-14 2012, the International Monetary Fund has been given the mandate to monitor the release of funds floating in the International Financial Database. These funds originated from unpaid contract sum, inheritance/next of kin and lottery beneficiaries that originated from  Europe, Asia Plus Middle east, American and Africa.

The reason for contacting you is simply because you are listed among the victims who has faced difficulties in the hands of corrupt bank officials in a bid to receiving their payments and the funds are currently floating in the International Financial Database. Hence, you are requested to respond back to us via email or phone as a matter of urgency to enable us educate you on how to make your claim. Remember to provide your current direct phone number for easy communication.

Contact Debt Department via Email: imfdebtdept@presidency.com for confirmation

Regards,

Dr. Donald Hilton.

Coordinator, International Debt Settlement Unit.

IMF - United Kingdom Representative Office

I am sooo excited that I am about to be rich!!  Can you believe that there are just funds just floating around out there waiting to be claimed.  All I have to do is click on the link and give them a tad bit of personal info!  

My favorite line is,

"The reason for contacting you is simply because you are listed among the victims who has faced difficulties in the hands of corrupt bank officials..."

I have suffered.  Once I get my claim I'm going to move to old Beverly... Hills that is!  You'll find me in the cement pond!

(Don't worry, Dad, I didn't give them my SS number.  I gave them yours!  HA!  Just kidding!)

Brain Dump

A few things that I have been thinking these days...

Having Lucy at home in the mornings without Callie has been quite the adventure.  Every morning she sort of comes into the living room in a half-asleep state.  After about 20 minutes she wakes up and heads back to her room.  Typically the next sound I hear will determine how the morning will go.  If I hear her stroller coming down the hall, then today she is a mommy and I am the grandmother.  If I hear her crawling back into the room she is a dog, Sniffy, and I will be the dog's owner.  Yesterday she was a mermaid and I was the mer-mom.  (NOT to be confused with a Mormon!)  Often times whatever we play involves dogs, horses, and/or babies.  Each day is different and when I wake up, I never know what I'm going to be that day!


We had a mosquito in our room two nights ago.  It kept buzzing around our ears.  Justin and I both have bites on our feet and I have two on the right side of my face!


I have finally made our new chore chart!  YAY!  The kids are so excited about their new jobs.  Not!


Our landlord got mad at us because we refused to pay the 20% rent increase that they were trying to enforce.  (It is against the law to raise the rent that much!)  So, now they want us to move out when our contract is up in June.  I am praying for a change of heart!


I have been using my crockpot so much lately.  I need to learn how to scale things back so that we don't have too many left overs.  When you just keep adding things to a big 'ole pot it ends up being a lot of food!  We can do leftovers, but eating the same thing several nights in a row has not gone over well with the kids (or me!).


It looked like fall was going to begin, but it's gotten hot again.  And they are doing so much construction in our neighborhood.  It looks like a dustbowl ghetto!  Plus, they are building some huge something across the main road.  I guess they are in a hurry to get it finished because they work through the night often times!  It is so annoying... and loud!  Maybe if we are forced to move, it wouldn't be the worst thing on earth!


We are in our seventh year here.  Yet, after just two months in America, my brain cannot seem to comprehend that bathroom light switches are outside the room and the toilet flush is a button on the top not a handle on the side.  I'm sure I'll get used to it again soon!  I have to keep reminding myself that we've only been back for two weeks!

We finally found a reasonably priced dance class for the girls.  I am so excited!  They have been begging to take dance for years.  We are going to go to the class tomorrow to try it out!  YAY!!

I hope your weekend is great!

"May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace."  Gal. 1:3

Technology is a Blessing!

Yall, I have a love/hate relationship with technology.  It seems like I am always skeptical at first, then grow to love said piece of technology.  I quickly become dependent on the technology.  Of course, just as the technology has me by the throat it lets me down by breaking, not working properly, or requiring some update that makes everything wonky!

Anyhow, tonight I have never loved technology more.

Like I posted before, my dear friend passed away.  Today was a day that I was dreading as I watched it creep closer on the calendar.  Today was Sue's memorial.  Being across the world, this hasn't felt very real since we're not there to walk through the aftermath.  But, in my heart, the memorial service sort of sealed the deal.  It proved that the unthinkable did actually happen, and I am going to have to accept it as reality!

The key to this acceptance was getting to be a part of the memorial even though we're 5,490 miles away!  Sue had friends all over the US and even a few of us scattered across the globe.  So, the church graciously live streamed the memorial.  What an amazing blessing to be able to get closure in this way.

And, I have to say, this is the way to attend a memorial!  I put on my jambes, got some chocolate, and curled up in my bed with my computer and some tissues.  I got to hear the beautiful words that were spoken about my friend and mourn in the privacy of my home.  The best part was I didn't even have to break out the Spanx and waterproof mascara!

I will desperately miss my precious friend, but I am so, so thankful for this opportunity for closure.  I guess technology isn't so bad after all!!

It's Not a Newton or a Fruited Cake

Have you ever seen a  fig?

I think they are a Middle Eastern thing, because they are everywhere here.

I'm not sure that I had seen one or really even knew what a fig was, apart from a  fig newton.  I'd read about fig trees in the Bible and all.  But, I was pretty sure that I didn't really like them.

Then, last summer I was at some friends' house and they served figs.  I told them that I had never eaten a fig before and they were shocked.  Of course, I couldn't refuse to eat the things right there in front of everyone.  How rude!

My friends showed me how to eat a fresh fig and I slowly did just as they told me hoping that I wouldn't gag.

It turns out that figs are super yummy!  They are sort of weird, so you have to just get past that to enjoy the gushy yummy fruit.  It's like eating straight jam without the guilt!

Here's how to eat a fresh fig:

Wait until it's super soft- it will seem almost overripe.  Then you tear it open.

Then you eat all of the yummy fruit out.

They actually taste great, skin and all.  But, Callie doesn't like fruit skin.  So she eats them like this.  I am fine to simply wash it and eat the whole thing!  It's less messy that way.  I do have one friend who opens hers up and uses a spoon to sort of scrape out the fruit.

Regardless of how you eat it, a fig is a really great and healthy fruit.

Have you ever eaten a fresh fig?

Our Building

This morning while Lucy and I were outside playing before school I took a few snapshots of our building and its surroundings...

Our parking lot

Looking up the back side of our building

The back of our building

The entrance 

Our neighbors

More neighbors

More neighbors and the main road

Looking up the front side of the building.
Our apartment is that very top window and balcony.

The tiny patch of "green-space" between the street and our building

We have three trees, a gazebo, and a cyprus hedge

The (Second) First Day of School

Praise the Lord!!!  Lucy finally started school!  I started to think it would never happen!  I mean, I love that little girl with all my heart, but after a summer full to the brim with family time, and an extra week of Lucy and me... all day... every day, Momma needs a BREAK!

Typically the first day is chaos.  But this year, with school starting a week late, a new school building, and a smaller schoolyard, everything was a complete madhouse!  Lucy, who was up dressed and ready two hours early quickly lost her excitement and kept saying, "Let's just go home, Momma!"  But, in the end we found her class line and got situated.  Once they walked in, I left.  Some of the other moms stick around to see their kids during the recesses every forty minutes.  You know what I call those ladies... folks who need a hobby!  I practically ran screaming and cheering out of the schoolyard!

It is the first time that I have been all by myself in months!  I need to run to the market and get some groceries, but I want to sit back, relax, and read a book.

Ahhh... life's choices!  Which one will win out!

Sunday Sneak Peek

Momma's Little Helper

A Good Problem to Have

Typically I abhor bickering and fighting amongst my kids.  But today's fighting was music to my ears.

Noah and Callie were so excited when they got home today.  They kept interrupting each other and talking over each other about all the great things at school and which class they had been placed in.

(They had placement testing interspersed throughout this first week of school.  Incidentally, both are in the the top class for their grade.  Am I a proud Momma?  YES, yes I am!)

As you can imagine, they quickly got frustrated with each other and began bickering as they were still trying to tell me all the great things about their new teachers, classes, and school friends.

Can I just give the Lord a HUGE shout of praise?!!!

The journey through schooling here has been a tricky one.  Last year when we decided to send Noah to a local private school it was a big step of faith.  I prayed and researched for a year.  He did well and liked it so much.

This year, as Callie entered middle school, again we prayed and researched.  And, again, we decided to send her to the same private school that Noah attends.  Thus, doubling the step of faith!

It is expensive and scary to make big changes for our kids.  But, the Lord is good!  He is providing- not just the tuition dollars, but also joy and success for our children.

Praise the Lord!

Just as I Suspected

This morning I asked Justin to drop by the school on his way to work to find out if school really was going to start.  He couldn't find any of the principals- they are probably in hiding!  But the one guy that he did talk to (Justin assured me that he looked official) said that school would probably start on Monday.  I called Lucy's teacher just to make sure and the theory was confirmed!

Again, I'll believe it when I see it!

In other news... tonight is date night!!!  Praise the Lord our sweet babysitter is still free this year.  She comes one evening a week to give Justin and I a chance to go try to remember what finishing a sentence feels like.  It is probably the most important line item in our budget!  I was concerned that she wouldn't be able to come this year because she is starting college.  But, it looks like everything is going to work out!

YAY for date night!!!

Desperate Housewife

This is how you know I'm desperate for something fun to do with Lucy...

Today we went to IKEA (aka- the Devil's house) to just walk around!  We walked all though the store on that annoying one way path that leads you past every bit of merchandise.  God forbid you miss the SPLARNOV or the VLONDER!

Then, I was that mom.  Once we arrived at the children's section, I totally let Lucy loose!  She played with all the stuffed animals and other junk to her heart's content.  Finally, we wound our way out of the store and went home.

Dear Lord, please let school start soon!  IKEA is the bottom of the barrel.  I cannot imagine what will come next!

On Monday Lucy's principal told the parents (before he sent everyone home) that school would start on Thursday.  That is tomorrow!  But, I'm not holding my breath!

Help!

Can someone please tell me why Blogger centers all my text?!  I have tried a million times to change the setting.  And even though it is set up for align-left, once the post is published it always ends up centered!  Please help me!

Stomach Bug

Good 'ole Mr. Stomach Bug has come for a visit!  He spent some time with Callie on Friday night and then hopped on over to me last night!  I am praying that he goes home before he visits the rest of my family!

First Day of School!

Praise the Lord, the day has arrived!  I love my kids, but after a totally amazing and fun summer, we need some structure, an outlet for our extroversion, a break from each other, and someone new to tell our fart jokes to.  (Perhaps you can guess who in this family has heard a few too many jokes from a certain 12 year old boy!)  So, it was with great joy that we dove into the new school year!

This precious girl was excited about starting 5th grade (middle school here) at a brand new school!

She looked adorable and so grown up!

Ok... maybe Noah wasn't super excited about starting school.
Although he's 12, so it's against the rules to get excited about things that don't have to do with video games or bodily functions!

Callie, 5th grade, and Noah, 7th grade

They went out to wait for their bus, but when they saw me taking their pictures from the balcony they ran out of sight.

Getting on the bus.

Lucy insisted on two buns today.
She loves this hairstyle, but I think it looks like Shrek!

Her backpack is almost as big as her!

Showing off her snack bag that Aunt Michelle gave her.

The full uniform shot with her new school shoes.

"Mom, if I do this, will you please take my picture?"

Lucy's first day ended up a bust!  They are building a new school but didn't tell anyone it wasn't ready.  So the whole neighborhood showed up uniformed and ready to start school.  I really do mean the whole neighborhood!  It was chaos!  Imagine you and at least 2,500 other folks jammed into a courtyard roughly the size of two basketball courts!  Everyone had heard different rumors and was going nuts.

The funny thing is we knew that it would happen.  I even made Justin drop by the school the day we returned to ask if school would start, what building it would be in, and what time it would start.  The answer was Monday at 1:00 in the new building.

Guess what?!  Now they are saying that school will maybe start on Thursday.  I'm not holding my breath!

Noah and Callie both had great days!

Sunday Sneak Peek

Bathing Beauty

Tooth-Cutting Party

My dear friend's baby just cut her first two teeth.  In the olden days here, when a baby cut its first tooth the mother would pass out little bowls of bulgar (wheat grain that cooks up and tastes like rice) to their neighbors.  The bulgar sort of looks like little baby teeth.   The recipients would eat the bulgar and later on return the little bowl with a gift for the baby.

These days "tooth-cutting parties" (for lack of a better translation) are done rarely and differently.  I've only been to two.  I wrote about one of them here.  And the other one was today.  (See what I mean about diving into things again!  Sheesh!  A girl needs to sleep and can hardly remember a word of the local language!  HA!)  Today was more like a birthday party.

This is the cake.
It says the Alisa Meyra's tooth has come out.

Isn't it the cutest cake you have ever seen?

This sweet girl has her Daddy wrapped around her little finger!
Don't you just love her curls?!

Daddy showing her the the food table.
Just after this he was kicked out because the guests (women and children) were due to arrive.

Momma and Baby

She refuses to sit down.
She wants to stand up all the time, even when you are trying to hold her on your lap!

We tried our best to get all the kids to pose for a picture.
This was the best one! :-/

I ordered Alisa these bloomers and had Justin bring them back from America last January.
Folks aren't so into monogramming here, so it was a risk.  But my friend LOVES them!

She loved her cake!
Too cute!

It was a fun party and a good way to see a lot of my friends again.  I am so blessed to have such sweet friends in my life!  And their adorable babies are pretty awesome, too!

Done Today

I knew we had a lot to do, so I finally woke the kids up at NOON!  They had slept from 9pm until noon!  Then we hit the road running errands.  It was a lot to do, but we didn't leave ourselves much room for lolly-gaggin!  So we hit it and got everything done!

-Back to school haircuts

-Uniforms procured after going to two different uniform stores.  We still lack the appropriate khaki pants.

-Went to Noah and Callie's school to show Callie where to go.  (She will be new there this year.)

-Bought school supplies

-Bought some basic groceries


Yay, us!

Things I've Forgotten

I must have forgotten how crazy folks drive here because after I recovered from our taxi ride home from the airport I asked Justin, "Was this driver particularly crazy or is that how folks drive here?"  He answered "Yes!"

I forgot what my flat looked like.  Not really what it looked like, but how it felt.  The kids kept saying, "Is this really where we live?  This place is tiny!"  It's not tiny, FYI.  It's just different than an American home.  Folks here do not go for an open floorplan concept at all.  Plus, my cream color tile floor seemed so bright to me after being in homes with hardwood and/or wall to wall carpeting.

I could not find the button to unlock the doors of the car.  They lock automatically when you put it in gear.  So poor Callie had to wait forever while I searched the dash and door for the button.  It is on the gearbox.

Cat fights are loud... very LOUD.  And they always seem to fight (and make up) in the middle of the night!  Gross!

I could not work my gas stove.  I kept trying to get it going- using every trick I know.  Turns out the gas supply was shut off.  Face-palm!

I forgot that they are doing construction EVERYWHERE!  Our neighborhood looks like a war zone!  With the construction comes multiple opportunities for the utility companies to tear up the streets.  Let's see... at least three times for each building... gas, water, and electric!  There are two huge holes in the street in front of our apartment right now, and trenches everywhere.  We live in the ghetto!

I forgot how communal folks here are.  They don't really have a need for time alone or personal space.  That's fun!  They certainly don't get the concept of jet lag or the need to readjust slowly!  You just have to dive right back in!  And so we shall!

Mourning

I lost a dear friend yesterday.  Everyone is in shock. 

I am just clinging to this promise:

"God blesses those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted."

Jet-lagging

Would you please pray that we get over jet-lag quickly and get ourselves together?  School starts Monday and there is a lot to do to get ready!  It would be nice if we could start sleeping through the night quickly!

Home Again

We're home!  Thank you for your prayers.  Everything went well.  The flights were good, everyone behaved themselves, and all of our luggage arrived!

Our neighbor met us at the taxi!  She had been watching for us.  So, as soon as we got our bags into our flat we went down to visit and have tea.  She put out all sorts of food for us, which was great because we were starving!  Now we are caught up on the neighborhood goings on.  So we just have to figure out what Lucy's school school schedule is going to be, unpack all of our bags, get some groceries, buy school uniforms and supplies, and get ourselves back on this time zone!

And so it begins...

Goodbye ATL

And hello Hoboken!

We had a 5 hour layover in Newark so the girls and I decided to make a run for Carlo's Bakery in Hoboken!  

Callie, Lucy, and I love the show Cake Boss.  So we couldn't resist the chance to go visit the bakery where it is filmed.  The cannolis were fantastic but we didn't get to meet Buddy.  Oh well, it was a fun adventure anyway!

Now it's time to hop back in a taxi and get to the airport. We've got a plane to catch!!

Prayers Please

By this time we've most likely loaded up on the plane and are on our way home.  We have a quick flight to Newark, a four hour layover, and then our long flight to our home city.  We should be back to our flat by about 7 am EST- almost 24 hours of travel!  YIKES!

Would you please pray for safe and smooth travels, well behaved children (and parents!), and multitudes of grace as we travel.  Also, please pray for a smooth transition back into our lives and school (since it starts on Monday!).

Packing Essentials

We are in the throws of packing.  It's stressful!  All the little things that we acquired over two months really add up!  It is so hard to get everything into our baggage allowance!  UGH!  Airlines and their baggage limitations.

We always take everything out of its packaging.  Then I put our clothes in Space Bags and suck out the air.  That saves a lot of space!  Space Bags are the best!  We also make sure that there is no wasted space.  Every nook and cranny have something stuffed into them.  Our bags are bulging!

But, the most vital ingredient to packing is a big 'ole dose of Valium!  We need some heavy duty pharmaceuticals to get through this process!

Lord, help us!!

We're Back!

We had such a great time away together.  I left my beloved laptop at my parents' house and we tried to stay off of all technology.  I have to admit, I think my fingers were twitching a bit.  It really is hard to disconnect from the world!  I really did miss the world wide web!  But, I was glad for the time not being on the computer afforded me.  I went to bed so much earlier and interacted with my family so much more.  Amazing thing is, everything went just fine without me and no one died from a lack of email!

Now, it's time to get down to business and start packing.  We fly home on Wednesday morning.  Lord help us!!

More Farm Time!

Like I said the other day, we are blessed to have agriculture on both sides of my family.  We planned to take a week away- just our family- before we returned overseas.  So, before we went away we went down to spend the night with my brother and his family.

We played kickball in the yard while we waited for Cam to wake up.  It was HOT!  It seems like summer has finally come!  It was so mild and rainy up through the end of August, and now, Boom!  The heat is on!

So, after a quick game of kickball, Cam woke up and we went swimming to cool off.  Praise the Lord for swimming pools!  Cam loves to be around the pool, but he hardly gets in!  It is so funny.  He runs around, playing with everyone from the side of the pool.

After a dip in the pool, we loaded up the truck and headed to the farm.  I love this place, and so do the kids.  We had a blast.

We hardly had the car stopped before Lucy was headed out to the pasture to see the horse.

We got some feed and the rope to bring the horse up.
As I was walking her through the pasture Lucy rode bareback.

The proud cowgirl!

My precious nephew and me

Paul and Cam puttering through the field on the three-wheeler.

Justin and Callie on the four wheeler.

Noah loved driving me around on one of the four-wheelers.

Of course, he really loved driving the four-wheeler on his own.
Uncle Paul gave him permission, and Noah was ecstatic!
He had a blast going nuts all through the fields!

Callie and me ready for some four-wheelin' action!
 

The boys tried to teach Cam how to play corn-hole.  But Cam kept stealing the beanbags, running over to the board, and slam-dunking them into the hole.

Melissa chowing down on some of my brother's amazing ribs.

No trip to the farm would be complete without a bit of fishing.

Lucy caught a nice big one.

Callie did, too!

We had such a fun day with my Paul, Melissa, and Cam.  We also got to spend some time with my aunt, uncle, cousins, and their kids.  We love any opportunity to get our country on and let loose at the farm!  City living helps us appreciate the beauty and simplicity of the country so much!