Almost like snow...

The boys have been extremely disappointed to learn that living in America does not automatically mean snowy winter days. In fact, winter in Texas is often just like winter in the Tropics - rainy and hot. :) But  God has been gracious to my little men and we have had an usually cool fall in Texas... with a few 90 degree weeks here and there. :) 

Elijah's science experiment for the past few weeks has been to leave cups of water outside at night to see if the temperatures drop down to freezing. Finally, finally, after many disappointing mornings, he was thrilled to discover solid ice yesterday. 

And yes, he may or may not be outside in 33 degree weather with flip flops and pajamas on. Once a jungle boy, always a jungle boy. :)

The little boys got in on the action too... we hurried outside as soon as they woke up before the ice melted....

Elijah insisted on storing a big chunk of it in the freezer to show Brant later in the day. I may have done the same thing when I was his age. Sorry, Mom. Now I know how annoying it is to have a HEB bag in my freezer filled with chunks of dirty ice. :)

November in review

November flew by in our house. That Brant's aunt showed up on the first and his parents left on the 30th may have had a BIT to do with it. :) But we also hosted parties and Thanksgiving and had school and life and birthdays.... was a really busy, fun month.

Reading with Gappy on the back porch.

The week Gappy was here Brant worked the election, we hosted a huge missions dinner/game night for our church and did a joint birthday party for Elijah and Caleb....

We did the boys' party at a state park. The weather was perfect and no one fell in the river. :)

Then we went to a family music festival. The boys loved the rides. We loved seeing Jeremy Camp and David Crowder.

School projects... Elijah's volcano...

His shield and coat of arms... he and Brant worked for hours on it, researching all the symbols.

 We came to watch his presentation...

Caleb had to dress up like a Pilgrim or an Indian and make up a little story about himself. He called himself "Creeping Snake."

I went to see my brother and sister perform in "Hamlet."

We took a quick trip to see my sister and her fam, my grandparents and some friends. The cousins in the tree house...

 We hosted a BBQ for my dad's birthday. Was really fun and yum food.

Brant's parents came at the end of the month for two weeks and Caleb, my brown eyed boy, celebrated his 6th birthday.

We hosted Thanksgiving and my parents and the twins came too... really fun day which *might* have ended with a late night trip to Walmart so I could buy 50 pairs of little boy underwear at half price. :)  And unfortunately, it was so crazy I didn't get a single picture (of Thanksgiving, not of the underwear buying!) :) I did really enjoy Black Friday shopping. Don't laugh... if you had to buy 3 years of little boy birthday and Christmas presents, you would go for the cheapest shopping day of the year too!

On counting days and counting blessings

This is not going to be one of those filled-with-cute-pictures and happy memories types of posts. Our last few weeks have been filled with lots of tears and heaviness as I literally watch our time here slipping through my fingers and realize that I am powerless to stop it. Two more months and we'll be finishing packing and getting ready to board a plane for a very long 29 hours.

I know the hardest thing will be to leave the boys' school. Have I mentioned I LOVE their school? And they LOVE their school? Every day is an adventure and they can't wait to get to school and I can literally watch their brains and vocab and skills expanding by the day. It is so much fun to do normal school stuff like field trips to the pumpkin farm and sew an Indian costume for a Thanksgiving party. I have had to come to the realization that "counting the cost" and "sacrificing for the Gospel" will involve pulling the boys' out of their school that they love and away from their new friends and routine. It will not be easy. Pray hard for them.... and for my mama heart. I fully trust that God has put them in our family and the experiences (and sacrifices!) they will make as a result of our lifestyle are all part of His plan for their lives, but still my mama heart hurts sometimes. 

One of the other hard things will be all the knowns and unknowns we face as we return... the unknowns are scary, but the knowns are worse... That panicky feeling I get when the boys are sick - knowing a hospital is hours' away - by plane. That sick feeling I get when we start shoving anti-malaria drugs into our bodies knowing that our livers will pay the price one day. The frustration of tense relationships and tight money and power outages and ants that swarm and refuse to be killed. All those and more will be waiting for us upon our return. 

I have been so thankful for our time back in the States. Refreshing. Filling. Growing. Healing. I am thankful. Also confirming that, yes, God is still leading us back. We are resolved that this is the path He has for our life at this time. Last Sunday, our pastor defined resolve as "commitment to do something even when the feelings aren't there." We go back because we believe that God has us go back. And we go back because we know that "in due time we shall reap if we do not grow faint."

In the midst of discouragement, I had a beautiful day seeing God's small good gifts and I am so thankful for all the blessings of the day. Deuteronomy 8 is my favorite reminder to "remember all the way in which the Lord your God has led you," so, for future reminders' sake....

Things I am thankful for today...

- Watching my sweet Caleb stand in front of his class and speak clearly and loudly about his (pretend) life as an Indian helping the Pilgrims.

- A meeting that we have been struggling to set up suddenly came through easily and unexpectedly.

- Sitting with Elijah during his class "Authors' Party" and listening to him read Ezra his story about aliens... that he had written and edited himself.

- Plane tickets that needed to be changed were changed effortlessly within 20 minutes and with no additional charges.

- Our car was totally on empty and we stopped to fill up at our regular station, only to learn they were in a "Gas War" with a brand new station in town - so gas prices had dropped THIRTY CENTS a gallon from 3 days ago. First time we've filled our van for less than $50!

Small things, yes. But reminders that the Lord gives grace - small doses for small days and big doses for overwhelming days. I am thankful. 

Halloween Happenings

One of the great things about our life overseas is that we have never had to deal with the Halloween issue before. So this year it was a bit of a struggle but we finally decided to go with it and celebrate it as a bit of American culture. One of the interesting things though, with our exposure to the animistic tribal cultures, is that the boys are much more aware of demonic influences and we could differentiate with them between "it's fun to dress up and get candy," but some people use the holiday to celebrate demons and "false gods." 

We started the week with Caleb's class trip to the pumpkin patch. Really fun day!

We took all the boys to a pumpkin patch to pick out little pumpkins. 

We had "pumpkin night" at our house complete with pizza...

And carving...

They got very excited...

The finished product. The boys called it the Jack Lantern.

On Halloween night the boys got dressed up (in costumes I picked out - I didn't realize they were supposed to pick out their own costumes!) 

And we went trick-or-treating to our neighbors' houses...

The next morning our neighbors told us that we were the ONLY trick-or-treaters all evening. Our little town does a big family festival downtown on Main Street with games and candy. We took the boys down there for a bit and had a lot of fun.

44 candles

Elijah celebrated his 8th birthday last Friday. My brother and sister celebrated their 18th the same day. My mom thought it would be fun for each of them to have all their candles on the same cake.....

....And they got every single one out! Happy birthday, sweet Elijah! (and twins!) :)

We have another reader!

.....And he is SO proud of himself!

I was a bit amazed at the school... in their brochure they claim "every kindergartner can read by the end of October" and I had to be a bit skeptical. But every. single. kid. in Caleb's class is reading now. Totally impressed and Caleb LOVES to open up his reader and practice his new skills. The pic above is the first day he had a "home" reading assignment in his little paper "practice" reader. Yesterday he got into the car at pick up time and was almost beside himself that he got a "REAL" book "with a cover." :) 

I LOVE the boys' school. I'm really impressed with the academics and the creativity that goes into cramming all this information in the little peoples' heads. But I also think it's the perfect mix of structure and freedom that boys need. They are in class 2 days a week and at home 3 days. Here's our school at home day.... note, it is not always so happy or productive looking. :) 

Little dreams come true

 The boys get Highlights magazine when we're overseas... which is great fun, except the magazine was written for kids who live near a Walmart.  So over the years we have had lots of discussions on why we cannot make pine cone bird feeders and English muffin pizzas. Needless to say, the last few weeks of life have brought much joy to the little boys....

 Peanut butter and bird seed on a toilet paper roll... for those with no pine cones, even in America. :) 

Our daily trek down to the REAL mailbox that has our number on it. (It's at the far end of the street; not sure why - but it makes for a good adventure.) Always fun to see who will send us a letter, and if no letter, junk mail is a good second. :)

 English muffin pizza making. Way fast dinner for those Sunday night "what are we going to eat?" moments.  The boys got a huge kick when Brant "made" each of them on a muffin.... check the hair color for clues. :) 

That's optimism for you

The boys lost their soccer game today... 0 - 7.

Elijah's comment after we complimented him on how hard he played:

"I did so good today! I scored all of the goals our team almost made!"

Normalcy

A lady told me today we were "refreshingly normal" for missionaries. 

I just laughed. Nothing about our life is normal... whatever that is supposed to be. But I'm pretty sure pre-kindergarten chest x-rays for your 5 year old to test for TB because his little buddy died from the disease is not normal. Nor is explaining to your 7 year old how a dishwasher works. 

I'm also not sure what her comment was supposed to mean for all the other missionaries out there in the world. :)

But this past weekend was sweet normalcy for us and we savored every stereotypical American minute. 

We had movie night on Friday night as is our overseas tradition... but we had frozen pizzas and I loved it. (I don't know that the boys were that impressed, but it was way easier than cranking out the normal popcorn and smoothies.)

Saturday morning we got up and headed to town for our first soccer game. The boys had a blast. Brant did a great job coaching. (And no, he has never coached or even played soccer before, but they were a bit desperate.) And yes, I cried when my little guys took the field for the first time. I was so proud and so thankful that they get to have such a "normal" American kid experience.

 Elijah did a great job at his first soccer game. He got "defensive player" of the game.

I was so proud of Caleb. He tends to be nervous at stuff like this, but he just got out there and ran his little heart out. 

 My little buddy with his Uncle Wes on the side lines. I love this picture.

The assistant coach, coach and the two little soccer men after the game!

After the game we dropped the boys off at a birthday party for a good friend. It occurred to me after the party that the boys have seen blog pics of their little friend's birthday parties for years and have never had a chance to go to one. They had a blast. It was another "I'm thankful we're here" type of moments.

And on the way home, just when you thought life could not get any more exciting.... we visited Petco and came home with "Colors"....

It's a Beta, in case you can't tell. :)

Getting the aquarium ready. (Thank you, Annette, for the Goodwill find!)

 Our new pet! (No, you can't see him, but he's there) :)

The rest of the weekend was filled with getting a Netflix subscription and watching lots of movies; getting the boys into the children's choir at church (their Christmas program is December 9!) and talking with family in far off places (but still on the same continent!)

I am so, so thankful for fun chances to rest and enjoy normal life here in America.

And please pray the fish makes it til December. It's getting a little over-fed at the moment.

Highlights of an American Summer

I know I have been horrible about blogging lately. I guess I have been too busy living life to record it... so I'm not sure what that means about our life overseas.... :)

I have LOVED this summer. There have definitely been some challenging aspects to it, but for the most part, I am have been SO thankful for the chance to have picnics in the park, play at the beach and stuff myself on fresh berries.

So, more for the sake that I want to record our precious memories than I'm sure you want to see all my family photos, I'm going to share some high points of our summer...

We finished out our major road trip and landed in San Diego for the month of June. ENOUGH time in the car for a life time!

Beach. Lots of beach time in San Diego. I think the city tourism department would be disappointed it did not live up to the little boys' "I live by a tropical beach" standards. They kept asking why the sand was so dirty (not bleach white!) and why we couldn't go snorkeling!

Father's Day in San Diego - getting to hear Tim Tebow speak at Qualcomm stadium. Eiljah was so excited - and I was brought to tears - to discover that Tim grew up on a small tropical island with his missionary parents. My little guy has a new idol. 

LOTS of fresh berries throughout the summer! The boys liked "raspberry hats" the best.

Lego Land for the boys (with Grandma and Gappy)....

...while Brant and I went away for THREE nights to a B&B in La Jolla. 

                                     

Making berry flag dessert with the boys on the 4th

       Sparklers at night after a picnic and swimming with good friends; small town parade in the morning... a pretty perfect 4th

Camping with Grandma and Grandpa in Big Sur.

We visited more children's museums than I could count. Really fun days. 

The boys discovered bouncy houses and thought every slide or playground was built just for them. MANY fun hours spent at playgrounds. 

A great day at the Fair in California with Brant's family. We even saw Wilbur and got to ride the Ferris Wheel. :) 

 This  might be one of my favorite pics of Ezra. ever. This was also at the Fair at the Firemen's booth. He was one happy camper. He tells me he wants to be a fireman when he grows up... but I think he thinks fires are fought with swords as he's usually brandishing some sharp object when he tells me that. 

Dear friends blessed us with tickets to the water park. 

                                    

Brant braved this crazy ride...

...So did Elijah! This is his "I am way WAY proud of myself" look after he got out of the pool. I didn't actually get a picture of him going down the ride... I was praying too hard. My baby!!!

And watching the Olympics was a WAY fun family tradition we started. The boys loved it! They actually mostly watched in the morning; but Brant and I and his parents would put the boys to bed, pop popcorn and stay up til all hours cheering for a bunch of people I had never heard of before (and have since forgotten their names!) but they were AMERICAN. :)

In August we moved to Texas and had a fun Labor Day family reunion in San Antonio... which of course, meant the Zoo and the Alamo. The boys really got into the guns and swords aspect and still play "Texans" and "Mexicans" all the time. We're not really politically correct around here. :)

So thankful for our fun American summer!