First One Down

Today is the last day of school!  Praise the Lord!!  The kids just get their report cards and then return home.  It's a little weird.

Anyhow, my kids all got straight 5s (the equivalent of all As).  I am so proud of them.  They each did really well and are thriving in school in their second language.  In fact, one of Callie's teachers said to me, "I could only give Filiz a 100, but I wish I could give her a higher score.  She works harder, pays more attention, and performs better than all the other kids in her class.  She always asks questions and participates in class.  I don't know how she does it since Turkish isn't even her first language!"  You better believe that my chest swelled up with pride!

I cannot express how happy I am to have my first year of teaching under my belt.  It has been a great and difficult year all balled up into one.  I am thankful for this experience and that they want me back next year.  But, I am even more thankful for the summer to recoup!

Handsome Schmandsome

Every year our school holds an 8th Grade Ball.  It's a bit more of a banquet because they have a nice  sit down meal.  I was absolutely dying to chaperone it, but in the end decided to give my son some space. :-(

After much searching we found an outfit that was slightly dressy but still had the appropriate level of awesomeness.  Justin took Noah to get his hair cut and he got the Ronaldo (famous soccer player).  It's a bit like a fat mohawk with a line shaved down one side.  I had to zip my lip on that one!  Ha!

He was a bit jittery and totally over my need for pictures.  But he was nice enough to humor me a tiny bit...

Starting to get tired of me...

Really tired of me...

Humoring me for one last click!

Several of the kids got together and organized an after-party at a local restaurant.  This is where the kids danced and really let loose.  Noah had a great time celebrating his last days as a middle schooler.

He's Awesome, Too

Justin's birthday is the day after Noah's.  He requested a cookie cake.  Well, actually, knowing how hectic things are for me right now, he was adamant that he didn't need a cake.  Turns out I am more stubborn than him, because I insisted that he was getting a birthday celebration and cake!  

We went to another yummy restaurant in town for dinner.  Then we came home for cookie cake.  Happy birthday, my love!

14 and Awesome

Noah turned 14 today.  Yesterday was a big election in our country.  School is always cancelled the day after elections so that the schools, which are used as polling places, can be cleaned.  Noah was a lucky duck to get the day off of school for his birthday!

We actually started the celebration early.  Noah requested a super-dooper chocolate cake.  So I went ahead and made that for our team meeting on Sunday.

Our sweet teammates brought Noah and Justin Krispy Kreme doughnuts

I'm not sure that you can find a more chocolate-y cake!

One birthday tradition is that the birthday person gets to choose their breakfast.  Noah chose red velvet pancakes with cream cheese butter.  I made them for Valentine's Day and they are every bit as AMAZING as they sound!  I was not sad that he wanted this little slice of heaven!

This picture does not do justice to the sheer yumminess of these pancakes!

Poor Noah didn't get too much special attention on his birthday.  With school ending and us getting ready to head to the States life is a bit hectic right now.  He was happy to just chill out.  We did go out to his favorite restaurant for dinner.

We went shopping for a traditional Turkish outfit for their summer camp's International Night.  Noah got a rocking fez and shalwar (sort of like MC Hammer pants that village folks wear).  

He's pretty much awesome!

Gettin' It Done

I am in the home stretch of my first year of teaching.  It has been a doozy, that's for sure!

As hard as it has been, I am so thankful for this opportunity to be a part of so many kids' lives!  And I am thankful for a quality education for my kiddos.

playing games with my kiddos

my cute 5th graders

Cemile, one of my favorite students

Sunday Sneak Peek: Fog Mountain

Justin has been dying to check out this amazing mountain since we moved out to our town.  When the weather started to warm up a bit we planned to have a picnic with our friends.  The spring weather is unpredictable but we could not have asked for a more beautiful day.

Our beautiful view

Several different sheep herds came grazing by throughout the day.

Noah had a blast exploring and climbing

The edge of the plateau

Playing in the freezing cold mountain spring.  We put our drinks and watermelon in the trough to keep them cool.

These beautiful plateaus inland are chock full of green grass perfect for sheep!

We had the best day with our friends.  The fresh air, sweet fellowship, and amazing views are so good for my soul.  The kids had a blast running through the grass in their bare feet.   There were still shady spots that had snow to play in.  I am so thankful for the beautiful place that we live in.

Sunday Sneak Peek

Lucy had her first friend sleep over this weekend.  This is Lucy's best friend, Alara.

We were shocked that Alara's parents let her come spend the night with us.  She is an only child and her parents rarely let her out of their sights.  I was honored that they trusted us enough to let her stay over.  They missed her so much!

Mother's Day

This year on Mother's Day we headed out to a new spot for a big 'ole Turkish breakfast.  It is one of my favorite things to do.  Several of my friends had recommended this place and it did not disappoint!

The food was great, the location amazing, and we all had such a fun morning stuffing ourselves and exploring the coast.

We headed home to drop the girls off and get ready for our local soccer team's game.  Justin, Noah, and I jumped on the mini-bus and headed into town.  We played our rivals, the neighboring town.

Of course, our team lost.  But that didn't put a damper on my perfect day.

A Modern Twist on a Classic

Me: Yasin, where is your homework?

Yasin:  (completely serious and totally panicked)  Teacher, teacher, I couldn't do it.  A dog ate our internet cable.

Thankful Thursday

The weather has been beautiful lately.  I am so thankful for the sunshine and the big puffy white clouds.

I am thankful for some different camps and opportunities that are falling into place for our kids this summer.  They are looking forward to a really awesome summer!

I am thankful for the nice garden surrounding our apartment.  Now that the weather is nice everyone sits outside in the evening chatting and watching the kids play.  It's such a sweet time.

I am thankful that Justin has had some really great opportunities to be out and about in our community.  He is such an introvert.  So I am really thankful for him and proud of him for continually forcing himself to seek out people.

I am thankful for the beautiful path and parks that run along the sea in our town.  It such a pleasant place to walk or have a tea.

I am thankful that Noah's big test is over.  

I am thankful for 3 amazing kids.  We have our struggles and we definitely bicker too much.  But they continually make me proud.  They really work hard, are so flexible, and have overcome quite a few obstacles!

Mostly today I am feeling thankful for my momma.  She is more than amazing.  She is kind and thoughtful.  She works hard.  She always goes out of her way to bless and love on others.  I am sure the number of goodies and/or meals that she has shared with those around her is in the millions.  And, more than something for their stomachs, she gives all of us a piece of herself- her time, her attention, her love, and her presence.  After a few minutes with her your heart is happy.  She is the best.  Simply amazing.  I am so blessed and lucky to have her.

A Different Perspective

Somehow the topic of school shootings in America came up in the care on the way home from school today.  Noah said,

"I don't think I want to go to university in America.  It's too dangerous!"

I laughed and told him that most people think that living here is dangerous.  He was surprised to hear that!

It's interesting how our perspective shapes our thinking.  I guess that's why its a good ides to try to see things from different perspectives!

Pondering

Here are a few quotes that I've run across lately that resonate with me...

I found most of these quotes here.

Sunday Sneak Peek: Paddle Boating

We ended our worship time today with a little outing to a beautiful lake for dinner and paddle boating.  The weather was perfect and it was so nice to get out and move a bit.  The kids loved it!

Plus, like many of the good local family restaurants, they have all sorts of fun things for the kids to do while the parents linger over their meals.  This place had a huge bounce house and a playground.  All the kids played like crazy.  They were asleep before we hit the main road headed home down the coast... I was too!

Baking and Remembering

I have been on a baking craze lately.  For our International Children's Day party I made good 'ole American chocolate chip cookies.  Then, just before we babysat our friends' little kids I made a ton of muffins so that I'd have easy food on hand.  I have a loaf of banana bread and pumpkin bread in my freezer just waiting for unexpected company to drop by.

And I made a huge batch of my favorite cookies to take to the 8th graders during their test.

I may have eaten most of them before the test began!  These are seriously the world's yummiest cookies.

Then, my evil friend Jennie sent me these...

We were texting back and forth and out of the blue she slammed me with these doozies.  And I cried a million tears!  Wahhhh... I want my babies back!!!  They were so cute!

Workers' Day

Today is İşci Bayramı, Workers' Day, or Labor Day.  In past years it has been a bit of a violent day as folks protest or stand-up to the government.  But things were calm this year in our lovely little town.

Actually, I don't really know how they were in our town because we headed down the coast to the the mall.  It's a two hour drive to civilization and we were all chomping at the bit to experience it.

My girls and their girls are ready to go!

At the top of Noah's list was the new Avengers movie.  The girls and I were happy to see that the Annie remake was just released here so we saw that.  It was really cute, and the guys loved their movie.

We ate at McDonald's.  Don't roll your eyes!  Our town doesn't even have a McDonald's.  Absence truly does make the heart grow fonder!  YUM!  I am not ashamed!  Ha!

Then we shopped.  The mall has a huge sports store that we love to meander through.  One of our favorite clothing shops was having a big sale so the girls and I each picked up a little something for Spring.

And, to top it off... there's a Starbucks.  So we indulged in a treat!  This little cutie came up to us and entertained us for 30 minutes!  He reminded us so much of my nephew, Cam.  Personality plus!

I promise you he is telling us how old he is not giving us the double birdies!

I wanted to put him in the car with us and take him home!  What a cutie!!

 It was the perfect American day... complete with kids arguing in the car both coming and going!  Ha!