Stay-Cation Day 3!

Today was the best day yet.  We got up and out early (for us) and headed way over to the other side to the new aquarium.  I wanted to be there right when it opened because I was worried that it would get crowded later in the day.

Justin got me a fancy phone for Christmas (pictures from yesterday).  I love the dang thing, but I can hardly work it!  HA!  I got everything all mapped out last night and thought I was ready to roll for this morning.  When we got in the car I went to look at the map on my phone and it won't work.  We have pay as you go cell service and mine had run out!

But, I thought that I remembered the direction to go, so we started out.  (In hindsight, I was a little too paranoid about getting there right at opening time!  I should have stopped at a cell phone store in our neighborhood and bought a minute-card.)  Stupid me, I had Noah send like a bi-jillion texts to Justin asking him to put money on my phone.  Guess how many went through... none!  DUH!  It wasn't working!

I figured that I knew the area where the aquarium was, and I could follow signs on the highway to that location.   Surely after that there would be all sorts of signs for the aquarium.

Wrong!

So we get way, way out, and I began to panic because I had not seen ONE sign for the area of the city that I wanted to go to.  I finally got off the highway and drove all through some crazy tiny city streets to find a cell phone store.  I finally found one, parked in the road (anything goes here!), and ran in to get the stupid scratch-off cards to put money on the phone.  I jumped back in the car to drive to a safe place and then got my phone set up.

After a quick call to Justin we were back on our way.  I was just one exit away from where I wanted to be!!  We found the aquarium quite easily after that.

So, get REALLY comfortable.  I brought my big camera with me this time, and there are lots of pictures!

My cuties at the beginning of the Aquarium.
They had a scale model of the big water way in our city and the waterfront buildings.

Examining the fish

These kids are so weird!

Lucy knows how to pick 'em 

I can't remember why on earth this statue was even there.
But, of course, Noah found it hilarious!

One of many sharks in the huge tank.
I could have sat there all day and watched all the fish!

Lion fish in front.
Way in the back you can faintly see two goober fish.

Rainforest exhibit

Of course we had to eat lunch at the little cafe.  It was right on the water.
The aquarium is located just between the sea and the airport.  So, while we ate,
we got to watch planes coming in to land.

The weather was cloudy and drizzly so we didn't go to the top of the tall building like I had planned.  Instead, we went to visit this historic church (now a mosque) that I had been wanting to see.  It is a small replica of the huge church that the emperor Justinian built.  He had this one built to be more like his personal family chapel.

Outside the "Little" Ayasofya

The courtyard- with a small cemetery and a place for the men to do their ceremonial washing
before their prayers.

I bet the water coming out of those spigots is freezing!!

Inside- the domed ceiling.
The paintings were beautiful! 

The podium (so to speak) for the Imam to give his Friday lessons.

This area used to be the narthex when this was a church.

Three monkeys standing up on top of the women's prayer area.

From the balcony looking forward.

Beautiful stonework and etchings.
I wonder what it says...

On the balcony looking towards the back entrance.
The stripes in the carpet are sort of diagonal to the entrance.
They help orient the pray-ers towards the east.

Other side of the balcony looking towards the front entrance.

The front door.

A beautifully restored Ottoman-style home.

After leaving the Ayasofya I punched "go home" into the GPS and it took us to the car ferry.  When I saw that that's how it wanted me to go I got nervous because I have never fooled with the ferry.  I always use one of the big bridges.  We've only been on the car ferry once and it was a much bigger one that goes much farther.  Regardless, Justin felt with it.

But, I was feeling adventurous and so we went for it.  It was so fun!  I love the ferry!

Everyone lining up on the boat.

Noah was listening to "Adventures in Odyssey" so he stayed in the car.

My favorite tower.

People on the ferries toss bits of bread and the seagulls catch it like a golden retriever!

Callie couldn't resist.  So I gave her a lira to buy some bread.

Having fun on the ferry. 

Nearing our port.

Today was my favorite day in a long time with the kids!  It was relaxed and fun.  We weren't in a hurry for anything and we were all up for adventure.  So fun!

Tomorrow will be much more low-key.  Noah and Callie have guitar lessons and then we are going to my friend's house to visit.  I and hoping to stick in a movie for the kids to watch while she and I visit!

Arcopology... Acheology... Acropology

Although none of us can really even say it, the kids and I went to the big archeology museum today.  I've heard so many good things about it, but we've never found to time to see it.

So, yesterday when we were making our big plans for the winter break, Noah suggested the archeology museum.  We jumped on the idea, and headed out first thing this morning.

Get comfortable; although I didn't take my big camera, I managed to take a lot of pictures on my phone...

Just outside the museum entrance.

Callie walked like an Egyptian throughout the ancient Egyptian reliefs.

Strike a Pose

Our favorite: the MUMMIES!

With the box open.

The jars in the middle are where the internal organs were stored.

A close-up of the face on the box.

Butt Head!
You have to be a 10 year old boy to truly appreciate this picture!

Roman sarcophagus

Alexander the Great's Sarcophagus 

Another beautiful sarcophagus
This gives a little perspective so you can see how big these things are.

Zeus lost his nose!

My three treasures on the museum steps.

The girls peeking into the tile museum.

Callie and Lucy posing in front of some beautiful tile work. 

Down the steps of that section.

The front of the tile museum section.

After we fully explored all of the museums, we headed out to eat a late lunch.  We were starving!

The parade observatory located within the old city walls. 

On the footbridge over the main road by the ferry docks.

Callie, Noah, and Lucy on the ferry heading back to our side of the city.

The beautiful seaside.

Getting closer to our dock.

We had such a fun day exploring.  I was surprised by how much the kids enjoyed the museum.  They really seem to like history.  (Well, not Lucy!  She just likes to be with the big kids!)  The kids got in free and my ticket was quite inexpensive so it was a really cheap outing.  I did spring for lunch at Burger King... YUM!

I have to tell you one story from our day...

On the museum grounds there is an outside area that has rows and rows of random artifacts.  After looking through one of the museums and this garden, the kids asked why the statues were almost always headless.  So we Googled it on my phone (technology is amazing!!) and learned that when a place was raided or in times of war, the conquerers would often chop the heads, arms, and... um... privates off the statues.

Apparently this information really made an impact on Lucy!

For the rest of our museum experience, Lucy checked every statue and reported wether or not its privates were in tact.  Too bad she has no tact!

Yet another time when I was so, SO thankful that no one around us could speak english!!!



Tomorrow we are going to check out the new aquarium on the other side.  If the weather is nice, we are also going to the top of one of the tallest buildings in Europe.  Normally, the tickets are a bit expensive, but they have a special that kids can bring in their good report cards and ride the elevator to the top for free!  There is a big terrace with a 360 degree view of the city!

FUN!

We had such a fun weekend.  Friday night Lucy had a fever so the kids and I stayed home from our team fellowship.  We snuggled on the bed and watched Mars Needs Moms on the computer.  It wasn't my favorite movie, but the company was too die for!

Saturday the kids had their sports.  I went to the market and to get my eyebrows threaded.  Then we sort of hung around until the babysitter arrived.

Our babysitter is a blessing straight from the Lord.  Justin and I had been desperate for some time alone for so long.  We had searched high and low to find a girl that could watch the kids.  But we could't find anyone to do it!  Finally we found Esen.  She is a super sweet 16 year old daughter of local believers.  She studies dance at the conservatory.  She comes once a week so that Justin and I can get out and have a real conversation.  Such a blessing!!

Well, I didn't know I was going to write all that!  Just goes to show you how blessed I feel to have Esen's help.  (For the record I must state that she is no Jennie Robinson!!  Jenn will forever be our first love!)

Justin and I headed out to the stadium in full team gear.  His company had bought tickets to the game to celebrate their one year anniversary.  We met up with Justin's employees and found our entrance gate.

The game was so fun.  We were in the cheap seats (even though they weren't so cheap) with all the hooligans.  My word!  We cheered, and chanted, and jumped, and what-have-you the whole time!  Praise the Lord that we got to sit down for a few minutes at halftime!  MeMaw's feet and back were hurtin'!

Our team won 4-0.  Usually I am a jinx for my team.  So much so, that the last time I watched a match (on tv) they were losing 2-0 even though they were a man up because of a red card.  We stopped watching the game with just a few minutes left and my team came back to win!

See... jinx!

After the game we loaded ourselves into a couple of taxis and headed out to eat.  It was fun to chat and get to know Justin's employees better.  One is married, and the only time I ever met his wife was at their wedding.  So it was nice to see her without the dreadful mask of makeup they put on for weddings!

Yesterday, the kids had sports again.  We got home and were just finishing up lunch when my friend dropped by.  Her husband works for a big bank and they have a futbol league for the employees.  So we all went to cheer on Mahmut at his game.  Afterwards we went over to her flat to eat dinner and watch a movie.

It was so fun!

Today was the first day of the kids Winter break.  We were busy all day.  This morning we got caught up on all of our chores and got the house all in order.

Then after lunch we headed out to do some errands.  Praise the Lord for our car.  We've had it a year and I still don't take for granted what a huge blessing it is!

We got our things done and headed home to start dinner.  While I was making dinner a friend dropped by for a bit.  We were planning all the fun things we are going to do while the kids are out of school.

As always, I have tons of fun ideas, but minimal follow-through.

Tomorrow the kids and I are going to the Archaeology Museum.  It is supposed to be really awesome and we've never even been to see it.  Hope it's fun!


*I met my quota for the word fun in this post, didn't i?  HA!

Sunday Sneak Peek

Callie got the cutest cookbook for Christmas.

Here she is proudly posing with her first lasagna.

It was delicious!

Off to the futbol match with my hubby!

Report Card Day

Today was report card day.

Noah had school from 7:30 to 10:00.

Callie had school from 12:30 to 3:00.

Lucy had school from 1:00 to 2:00.

So, yes, I spent the day running back and forth to school.  But I was walking up and down the streets with my head high- so proud of my babies.  Noah and Callie both made the high honor roll.

Callie and Lucy posing outside of their school building.
Noah is far too grown up to have his mom following him around snapping pictures.
So, I don't have any of him. :(

Lucy posing with her teacher (and her favorite horse that goes everywhere with us lately).
The kindergarteners got progress reports.

I am just so proud of my kids.  Things aren't always easy here, but through it all they have thrived.  Their well-adjustedness and success are a gift straight from the Lord!!

Slug Bug

So this is one of the reasons that you have to really wash your veggies here.  Things are a lot more... um... errr.... natural.  A few years ago I got Hepatitis, but usually it's just lots of bugs and dirt or sand that plague the fruits and veggies here.

Also, do you see the size of this cabbage?  The cabbage here is humongous!!  This is the smallest one the guy at the fruit stand could find and he had to go out back (apparently to the slug pit) to find it.   It makes the slug look much smaller than it actually was!  HA!

During cabbage season, I can easily find a 15 kilo (roughly 30 pound) cabbage.  It's like those huge pumpkins that are always out front of the pumpkin patches during October- except those are for show and these are for human consumption.  

I mean really, what does one do with so much cabbage?  

A body can only handle so many cabbage rolls.  I usually shop around a bit for the absolute smallest one I can find.  Even then, I usually wind up using half of it and giving the other half away.  I make coleslaw and that's about it.

Care to share any good cabbage recipes?

Mrs. Fit-It

It is snowing so hard outside right now!  YAY!!!  I am hoping for a few feet of snow!

We still have snow on the ground from Monday, and the back roads are still very icy.

Anyhow, I hosted all of the ladies in my building for our weekly tea.  Normally we meet on Fridays, but this Friday the kids receive their report cards so they don't have school.  No one wants to have to host when all the kids are around!  HA!

I made two simple local dishes- shredded chicken over rice and tomato-cucumber salad.  I made a flour less chocolate cake for dessert.  As I was trying to dish it up, I was so nervous.  It's a new recipe and it didn't look at all like I thought it would turn out.  But, it was so good- a bit like a cross between an undercooked brownie and a fudge-y soufle'.  Yum!  The ladies all loved it and even asked for the recipe.

I always feel so relieved when they actually like something I make!

As luck would have it, our radiator system stopped working this morning.  I fiddled with it a bit, but was too busy to do anything about it.  Callie has guitar lessons on Wednesday mornings and Noah didn't have school today.  So, on top of preparing for 10 guests, I was running kids to and fro.

The problem was, the people here keep their homes really warm.  So, I knew they would be uncomfortable.  But, I was hoping that once people arrived their body heat would warm things up a bit.  Plus we would be drinking lots of hot tea, so that would help, too.

We all talked about the problem with the radiators.  I had already decided that I would need to call a service man as soon as the ladies left.  But as we were talking, one of my neighbors suggested that I should try to bleed the system.  We have bled the radiators, but never the complete system.  Turns out, you are supposed to do it at least once a year.

Oops!

There is this little faucet in the bathroom that you use.  First my neighbor suggested that I use some old towels to make a little channel from the faucet to the floor drain.  Then, I cut off the radiators and opened the faucet.  The water that cam out of that thing was disgusting!!  (She told me it would be.)  It was black and smelled so bad!  ICK!

After I completely drained the system, I refilled it and emptied it 3 more times.  Finally the water was running clear.  I got everything cleaned up and turned the system back on.  It worked like a charm!

At first I was so upset that my flat was not just-right for my guests.  But actually it turned out to be a blessing.  They taught me how to bleed the radiator system.  If they had not come today, I would have just called a service man.  It would have been at least 50 lira.

YAY for doing it yourself!!!

Let it Snow

Y'all, we got buckets of snow last night.  It was so fun!  It all came down so fast.  In the 40 minutes that I have to wait at the school between picking up the girls (Lucy at 5:10 and Callie at 5:50) we must have gotten 3 or 4 inches.

Justin was stuck at work so the kids and I just played outside all evening.  Everyone was out!  That's the thing I love about snow- everyone becomes a kid again.  I saw my neighbor's mom, who must be in her 50's sled down our hill several times.  She bit the dust one time, but seemed to be just fine.

We had a major snowball fight in our little parking lot.  All the boys in our building were trying to gang up on me.  HA!  I made two of them cry.  How's that for sharing the love of Christ?!  I guess it was more like helping them to experience a little bit of wrath!  Don't mess with Momma!

Even though we got a lot of snow, it wasn't enough for school to be canceled today.  We were so bummed.  There is nothing more fun than a SNOW DAY!  Especially here, where everyone, young and old, comes out to play and enjoy the snow.  Oh well, they're predicting more snow later in the week.  I'll keep my fingers crossed!


I am hosting 10 of my neighbors for tea tomorrow!  Hope they like my food!!

Praise the Lord!

Orhan was declared innocent and set free tonight at 5:00!!

It is a miracle!!

Praise the Lord!!!

Please Pray

One of my dearest friends' brother, Orhan,  age 24, was driving down a 4 lane highway for work when he accidentally hit a guy running across the road.  Although there was a pedestrian overpass very close by, it is not uncommon here for pedestrians to just cross the road, not matter how wide it is or haw many fences and barriers they have to scale to even get to the road.

Since the accident, two months ago, Orhan has been waiting in jail for his trial.  They had to wait to see what happened to the victim before they could assign charges and set a trial date.  The victim did eventually die.  So, Orhan goes on trial tomorrow for manslaughter.  He is facing life imprisonment.

Please, please pray for him and his family today and tomorrow.  Pray that the judge would have mercy on Orhan and declare him not guilty.  Pray that he would be set free.  Pray that Orhan, a very normal, out-going and fun, young man, would be able to heal from this horrible accident.  The whole family has really been suffering as, I'm sure, the victim's family has also.   So, please pray that they would all be able to move on and heal after this tragedy.  And, ultimately, please pray that the Lord would use this life-changing event to draw them to Him.

Sunday Sneak Peek

Christmas Morning

So Much for That!

Try to get back in the habit and then 10 days with nothing!

HA!

So here I am again.  My sinus infection is finally gone.

My sweet husband has been working diligently to get my computer set up.  My old one was on it's last leg.  Since some friends were Stateside and returning this week we decided to go ahead and replace it.  It is way too expensive to but a computer here.  So, if my computer went ahead and died I would be without a computer until someone else we know was coming- which is not until May.  I'd go crazy with no computer until May!

So, here I am, trying to learn how to use this thing.  It's a lot like my old one, just better and faster and it thinks for me.  It's sort of scary how much technology can assume these days!  These machines finish our words, correct our spelling, anticipate our next move, remember everything we do or write.  They even document when the last time I listened to my favorite song was!  YIKES!

So, I am trying to get used to my machine.  Don't get me wrong, I am SO THANKFUL for it.  It just may take me a bit to get used to it!


In other news...

We are doing well.  Everyone is healthy.

Justin was trying to maneuver his motorcycle out of a tight spot in our apartment's parking lot and wrenched his back yesterday morning.  He came in, took some meds, iced it, and rested a bit.  Our sweet team leader's wife called that afternoon to pray for him.  The Lord really touched Justin's back!  Shortly after that he was up and around with just the tiniest bit of stiffness!!!  Praise the Lord!!!

This morning the kids had their sports.  Noah is playing basketball at the government sports complex.  He likes it ok, but they don't have leagues or play games like we are used to in the States.  So it gets boring.

The girls had swimming.  Callie's teacher is really having her work on her strokes, and she is getting really good!  Lucy has finally learned to swim.  Her teacher is also trying to refine her strokes a bit.  Lucy does the cutest freestyle (if you can call it that) with her little booty sticking completely out of the pool.  I cannot imagine how she does it, but it is CUTE!  HA!

I took the girls today, and Justin went with Noah.  So afterwards the girls and I visited a few different friends.  That was really fun.

It has been snowing all day.  It was light at first, but for the past few hours the biggest snowflakes I have ever seen have been falling front he sky.  It is just beautiful!  We are all praying for LOTS of snow!!

We'll see...

Hope that your weekend is GREAT!

Habit

Sometimes turning something into a habit takes a bit of force.  So, right now, in the interest of creating the habit of writing, I am forcing myself to at least write a tiny bit.

Justin, Lucy, and I are sick with colds, sore throat, headache, etc.  So I really don't have much brain function and am certainly short on wit.  But it is a post nonetheless!

Have I told you I have a new nephew?!?!?  That sweet angel is making it especially hard to be far away.

So, there you have it.  That's what I have for today.  Sorry that it sucks!  HA!

That Was a bit of a Break!

I didn't realize that I was going to take a few weeks off from blogging.  It certainly wasn't intentional.  I wrote about a million blog posts in my head.  But, I never sat down and typed them out.

For me, writing is a discipline.  And I think it's safe to say that I am out of shape in that area.  So with today's post I am taking those first painful steps on the treadmill of writing.  The easiest way to do it is with a list.  (Sorry!)  Just a little catch me up exercise to get me going again.

1. We had a great Christmas.  I think each year we are getting better at doing Christmas here- fewer tears from me, more fun family time for us all, and worshipful time as well.

2. One of the highlights of my Christmas this year was Callie.  I had wanted us to read the Christmas story from Luke chapter 2.  But I was really busy trying to finish up a major clean-out of Noah's room.  Callie kept nagging me and asking when we were going to read.  So finally I told her she could read the story, but she had to wait just a bit more until Noah and I were done.  In the time she was waiting, she came up with this whole little worship time for our family.  It was so awesome.  She read the Christmas story to us in the dark with just the Christmas tree to light up the room.  Then she lead us in some times of thanksgiving and prayer.  It was so awesome!

3. My computer is going to die any minute now.  The battery is completely dead.  So it is like a desktop with a tether.  I still love it to death.  But I am finally willing to admit it may be time to replace it.

4. It feels like any time we get a bit of money saved up something like this happens.  Praise the Lord we have the money to cover it.  But, UGH!

5.  We are still on the search for the right school for Noah.  Justin had Friday off, so he went to several schools to get some information.  Your prayers are much appreciated in this area.  It has turned out to be a very difficult decision.  We need wisdom for the right school and provision to pay for it!

6. New Years ended up being so much fun.  We went over to some American friends in the afternoon.  We got home around 6:30.  We were hosting our home group the next day and I was leading the study, so there was a lot to be done.  Well, about 8:30, just as I was about to start the bedtime process for the kids one of my favorite friends called and said, "Where are you?  We are waiting for yall!"  So we went over to their flat to ring in the New Year.  It was so fun!  I am so glad she called... even if that meant my lesson the next day wasn't so great!

7. I have two very dear friends who are going through hard times.  One is a newlywed and they have hit a bit of a rough patch.  The other is my dear friend who is always suffering some sort of terrible thing.  The latest is that her youngest brother accidently hit a pedestrian who was trying to run across the highway.  Although the guy had no business on the highway, here pedestrians have all the rights and my friend's brother is guilty until proven innocent.  So, he has been in sitting in jail for over a month.  At first they were waiting to see what happened to the victim.  If he dies the penalty is far more severe.  He did end up dying.  So now this young man is awaiting trial.  Please pray that the judge finds him not guilty.  He will probably always carry the weight of this horrible accident with him.

8. This same friend had a dream that a beautiful hoca (religious teacher) came to her and told her that we would be real sisters.  As she described the hoca, I realized that she had seen Jesus in her dream.  So I am really excited as I talk with her a bit more about that and how we can be real sisters in Christ.

9. We have a new baby in our family!!!  Meet Campbell Lee Dasher (Cam), my brother, Paul's first child:

Isn't he the cutest thing you have ever seen?!?!?  We are so excited about this precious little guy!