Ladies Trip

I got to take a little trip last week and spend some time with some very sweet friends.  I am always so encouraged by these ladies and this trip was no exception.  To get caught up on their family's lives, see a few of their kids before they head off to college, soak up some sweet words of wisdom, it was FABULOUS.

It’s just nice to sit an ask women who get what my life is like questions about how to manage everything, deal with VERY active boys, apartment living questions, language questions, etc. 

Even the part where we were stuck in an elevator for 30 minutes wasn’t too bad.

I did find out I’m highly allergic to birch pollen.  The city was filled with it and one evening we even experienced a pollen storm before the rain came through.  The city sky was green due to the pollen, and when the wind picked up there was pollen everywhere.  It was bizarre, but after the rain I could finally breathe.

photo source

A Jack Daniels Burger is pretty hard to resist.  It didn’t disappoint this time around.  Yum!

And a Wendy’s?  It’s the first one I’ve ever seen overseas.  I took a risk and got a frosty.  My itchy throat was very thankful for the cold frosty and I was thankful for no revolting symptoms on the flight home due to the dairy consumption.

It’s nice being pregnant on the metro.  I’m so thankful for all the people who gave up their seat for me.

I even toured a hospital in town and had an appointment.  The hospital was very nice, but I wasn’t a fan of the doctor I saw, who took none of my pregnancy history into consideration and prescribed a list of things.  After a few emails with my doctor in Istanbul, another ultrasound locally, the concerns he had are pretty much normal for my pregnancies.  (I again have excess amniotic fluid)I’m still waiting on one more test result to come back, but hopefully I’ll have a normal pregnancy from here on out. )

The good thing is I got another sneak peak at Charge (we’ve adopted Calvin’s name suggestion for the time being until we decide on a name.)

It was a trip well worth the money.  Thanks to all the fabulous ladies that made this trip so sweet.

Come on In

I know I posted a few pictures of our apartment in the past but I don’t think I ever gave you all the grand tour.

View from our door when you walk in.

View from the other direction

Our little office area

Living room

Kitchen

Boys Room

Our room

The Man Cave (Balcony off of our bedroom)

Toilet room

Bathroom

Come on over anytime.

Balcony Quake

Last week shortly after getting the boys breakfast drilling began in the apartment above us, it’s nothing unusual.  I was thankful they were getting an early start and hoping that maybe they’d be done by nap time.  After I took Calvin to preschool and I came home and we had dust all over our balcony and a started noticing a little crack above our window.  I didn’t think about it much and got ready for a full day of language.

I had to get a book from our room and checked the balcony again and noticed we now had larger crack and could see outside, 10 minutes later the crack grew larger. 

No one must get a permit to do remodeling, and workers aren’t always concerned with structural safety I didn’t know how structurally sound our windows were if they continued to drill.  Honestly I was worried they’d fall out.  Since they were bolted to the floor above us which was disappearing.

I showed our nanny and my language helper and got their advice, called Marvin and sent him a picture of what was going on.  So our nanny went upstairs with me and she let the workers have it, while I chatted with our neighbor.  In the end the workers were “sure” it wouldn’t be a problem and they would fix the gap.  My sweet neighbor even came down to clean up all the dust, twice.

The next day we woke up and there was a blanket hanging down covering our windows, which was really sweet of our neighbors to help prevent any more dust, but today they were welding, which means lots of sparks.  I fully expected to look outside to see a blanket on fire.

Thankfully that didn’t happen, and it turns out they are adding an extension to their balcony.  While this is great for us and gives me a little umbrella for my laundry in case of rain I have a few more minutes before my clothes are soaked, and some shade in the hot afternoon/evenings.  But I hope that their new balcony doesn’t come crashing down anytime soon.

Letters, Letters Everywhere

Shortly after I woke Calvin up one morning he excitedly told me that I had to come in to his room and look at the letter on the wall.  

When I walked in I saw the letter "I" perfectly projected on the wall.  My little boy who loves letters right now was pretty excited.  

Another One Bites the Dust

Seriously the makers of child safety locks need Micah to help them develop their products.

Off to buy another one.

Flash Mob {Ninevite Style}

During dinner this week we heard some music playing and people clapping.  When we looked out the window it was a group of young guys with flags, one of them had an accordion another one in traditional dress and the others were in a circle and dancing.  It was so much fun to watch.

I love how the people here love their culture and dance so much.

Classic

Marvin captured this a few weeks ago.  It’s pretty much how people roll around here.

Of course it needed a few captions, so he added a few.

Neighbor above: “Ahmed, don’t jump.”

Ahmed: “Don’t worry Tembulat, I have my human safety harness on.”

The whole time Ahmed is thinking, “Babushka better hold on tight.”

Bookworm

My little bookworm has been devouring books recently.  I’ve loved it.  We’ve spent lots of time reading during Micah’s naps and in the evenings.  The other day, when their room exploded, he even crawled through the window to the balcony to get some new books.  He’s hungry for literature right now, although we did have a talk about the appropriate way to get new books out of the balcony.

Calvin’s still enjoying his reading program and generally begs me to do it, which helps me get it done when I’m exhausted.  Some days it’s tough to slow him down, as he wants to do multiple lessons, but I want to make sure he knows it before we move on. So I’ve tried to add in more school things to our day.

I’m hoping to add a read aloud chapter book in next.  Any suggestions of books your kids have loved?  I think it will be the perfect way to wind down in the evenings.

40 Carrots

Calvin’s been coming up with a few things we don’t want to forget.

Recently he’s been curious about this new baby growing in my belly.  One day he asked, “When Micah was a baby in your tummy, did he go potty in your belly?”

I of course told him yes, to which he replied with his eyebrows raised, “Ewe that’s kind of disgusting.”

We decorated cookies for our neighbors and Calvin usually averages about 4 cookies when we decorate them.  This day was a struggle, he really just wanted to eat the first cookie he made.  He did spend a long time on it and used all three colors of frosting and lots of sprinkles.  He got stuck on cookie #3 and only wanted to eat the first one.  Finally he just said, “Mama I lost my focus, and I don’t know where I put it.” 

I’m always amazed at how different his play is from what I remember doing as a child.  His world is very different from my Kansas childhood.

We had some friends come to visit and I was amazed at how well they played airport.  From baggage handlers, to boarding passes, to taxi drivers, they had it covered.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t know anything about flying at the age of 4.

He’s been very into a local show when translated is called “Funny Balloons.”  Apparently he's been reenacting a scene from the show recently.  He’s been playing Sorok Markov (40 Carrots) a lot. He takes his cart and wheels it around the house with his “carrots” (various toys) selling carrots.  It cracks us up.  Growing up I never inspired to be a carrot vendor.  How about you?

Measuring Up

I have a few favorite kitchen items.  Of course my kitchen aid mixer ranks #1 but I have a new #2.

When you live in the land where butter has no measurements on its packaging or Crisco sticks, a food scale will rock your world.  I promise.

Seriously why didn’t I think of buying one before?

No more washing greasy measuring cups for me!!!!

Lesson learned

Calvin is an intense kid.  He plays hard.  Dives into projects with his full attention on them and gives them all he’s got.  He works at things until they are perfect.

He also feels things very intensely.  He gets very excited and now we’re working on how to handle strong emotions better and to not sin during them.  So one day he was pretty upset when he lost some privileges, couldn’t handle himself so I had him go to my bed and take a nap.  Long story short we ended up with a broken window that afternoon.

He’s been getting some spending money if he helps with some extra jobs around the house and he decided he wanted to buy a Lego guy with all his money.  Unfortunately we had to take away all the money he had been saving to replace the broken window.  He was crushed.  But it was a good learning lesson for him.  Although his piggy bank is pretty bare right now I think this taught him a little bit about controlling his emotions a little better.  We’ll see.

Recently....

I made a quick trip to Istanbul for a doctor’s appointment.  It was a great trip; I packed it with seeing as many friends as I could.  I came back home with my heart full but exhausted.

My balance is all out of whack.  The day before I left I fell out of a mini bus, holding Micah and groceries.  I twisted my ankle and our usual 5 minute walk from the bus stop home took me 40 minutes. Thankfully the Lord allowed me to walk the next day, which made flying much easier, but it was still very swollen and sore.

I successfully got to several places by buses in Istanbul without the help of my GPS, aka Marvin.

I’ve been working on storytelling skills in a different language; it’s hard and has been stretching my language skills to the max.  I’m hoping it will help grow my ability to explain things in more details.

Spring has officially arrived!!!!

It’s amazing how we went from snow.

To mud

To dust in a just two short weeks. 

Our weather has been gorgeous and I’ve been soaking up all the sunshine before the rainy days of spring hit and the pollen revs up.

I love fresh flowers in the spring time.  I also love that someone is always gathering a handful for me.

Our heat is still on in our building, full blast.  Which means our apartment is SO hot.  It wouldn’t be so bad if we could open our windows, but with our crazy climber open windows make me nervous.

Someone learned how to climb out of the pack and play.  He’s so close to climbing out of his bed.  So our little guy is back in his sleep sack to prevent the climbing out of the bed, he loves it. 

Someone else has decided he doesn’t like many, many things.  Things he ate well just weeks before he refuses to touch.  So we’ve tried a few things, the most torturous of all is…. eating alone.  This day that strategy backfired.

Easter 2012

In preparation for Easter this year we had been doing a Resurrection Egg each evening.  This was perfect for Calvin; he loved it and can tell the entire story with the help of his eggs now.  It’s fun to see him learn the passages of scripture and watch his excitement and amazement grow with each story.

We had taken cookies to our neighbors the night before and right before we had a little egg hunt at our apartment, our neighbor came by with a little gift for the boys.  How sweet is that?  I just love our neighbors.

We’re very thankful for the ex pats community in our city.  For our tiny little town (about 300,000) there is a good group of ex pats.  It's special for our kids to get to have some American traditions with other kids growing up so far away from America. 

We had a sweet time together in worship.  Marvin did a great job leading our time.  In our group we had multiple countries represented, so it always makes worship more meaningful to get a little taste of what heaven will be like.  It’s a day I won’t forget for a long time.

Of course everyone brought yummy food.

We even had an egg hunt.  With prizes for all the kids.

Calvin carried his bucket around the entire day.  Munching on all the sweets he found.

Micah had fun taking his eggs in and out of his bucket. He stuck with it much longer than I thought.

We have so much to celebrate and I’m thankful for the sweet memories created this year.

This kid

Oh my do I love this guy

He’s so determined.

I forgot how difficult the toddler stage is. It’s hard to teach and correct a child who quickly forgets.

We’ve been putting him in his bed when he throw things or hits people.  I’m hoping this will tame our little bull, but it’s exhausting some days.

We’ve decided to try and potty train him once we get to Istanbul this summer.  We’ll have some free time before the baby arrives and we will be free of some of our normal responsibilities.  He’s showing some interest in using the toilet but right now I don’t have time for it.  

Anyone have any good books/systems they used?  He’ll be 20 months.

We’ve decided his love language is physical touch.  So when I’m frustrated with him, we’ll spend some time wrestling, or just squeeze him tight and it makes the day much, much better.  He’ll often come up behind me if I’m sitting on the bed and throw his arms around my neck and try to pull my backwards.  He loves wrestling more than Calvin ever did.

This little fella has a love for animals and it makes his day to see a cat or dog.  Serious excited giggles are heard.  I love it.

My days rocking this little man to sleep are over.  He’s way to wiggly for my belly these days and seems to be happy snuggling with his blanket in bed.  I’m a little sad that I don’t have the peaceful time with him a couple times a day. 

He’s growing up and I wish he’d stop doing it so quickly.

Growing

It’s amazing how my belly has grown so much in the last month.  I’ve started noticing it’s more difficult to bend over to pick up things off the floor, which isn’t great because I spend a large bulk of the day picking things up off of the floor.

Calvin’s been such a sweet little guy helping me.  The other day he helped me carry a juice in from the balcony and said that he had to be a helper so that his new baby stays safe.  He’s really excited about having another sibling and sometimes takes his big brother responsibilities very serious.

I was able to take a quick trip to Istanbul to see the doctor a couple weeks ago.  I was thankful for that visit, and it looks like everything is going great.  I passed my glucose loading test, but I’m trying limit sweets and breads just in case.  With Micah I know something was wrong, even if my tests all came back fine.  I’ve just dealt with my usual barrage of pregnancy problems, so if I keep getting regular analyasis and everything looks fine I should be able to leave at 36 weeks as planned.  This is such a relief because it means Marvin can travel with us, he'll get back from his trip just a couple days before we need to head to Istanbul.

Week 21

Week 25

I’m very visibly pregnant, and I haven't had to wear my winter coat, so it’s even more visiable.  So if our neighbors were wondering before now, they for sure know now. 

Well hello there

We’re in a slightly crazy season of life right now.  Our little family keeps me busy.  Micah keeps me on my toes and then there is the usual cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping that tends to take up so much more time here.  Top of all that with our job here, it’s no wonder why I’m so exhausted and fall asleep in 2 seconds every night.

This exhaustion hasn’t given me much time to plan for this new little guy (or blog for that matter).  We’ve taken on the mentality that it will just come together when he gets here, for now I’m concentrating on studying and speaking as much as I can before he arrives.  I know it will be much more difficult once he gets here.

I got a sneak peak of our littlest one a few weeks ago.  It was such a blessing to be able to watch this active little guy move and wiggle, rub his eyes, play with his hands.

So after my sneak peak I couldn’t help but wonder what this little guy is going to be like?  Will he be like Calvin or Micah or his own person?  What his quirks will be, what things will he love, what things will make him giggle?  I’m so thankful for advances in technology that gave me this little glimpse of the little one who loves to stretch and kick inside my belly.

I can’t believe he’ll be in our arms in just a few short months, this pregnancy is really going by very quickly, almost too quickly.  Regardless I’m excited to meet him and so thankful that he’s healthy and I’ve had a so far mostly normal pregnancy.

A Day for Women

International Women’s Day was this week, and it’s a pretty big holiday here.

I wanted to make some little gifts for our neighbors.  But it’s always tricky with the whole reciprocation thing.  I didn’t want it to be too much but just something that made them feel loved.  So I broke out my sewing machine the weekend before and busted out 16 of these bags, they were perfect.  

Inside the bags I added little notebooks I whipped up using scrapbook & computer paper, added a pen to each one, and then gave them an assortment of muffins.  Nothing overly huge but just wanted them to know I was thinking of them.

I knew I needed a lot of muffins when I planned to do this but didn’t quite figure in how long that would take me in the kitchen.  4 hours later I had over 100 lemon poppy seed, chocolate zucchini, banana and apple cinnamon muffins.  I took advantage of Micah’s nap, but was still baking after he woke up, so I opened the balcony and he was thrilled to get to play in a usually off limit zone.

*A big thank you to some fabulous ladies who sent me the fabric, you know who you are.  I’ve been saving some of this for the perfect project and I finally found it. It’s always so nice to have a stash to work with.  I really don’t like shopping for fabric here because I usually can’t find what I’m looking for, or if I do find something I like it’s over $15 a meter.  Thank you for helping me bless our neighbors.*

Slink

Do you ever find yourself using words your kids have made up, as they are in fact actual words?

Case in point, a slink.  What is a slink?

According to Calvin “it is something you swing on, kind a like spider web.”  Apparently Spider Man uses a slink.

The other day the words, “Calvin please come pick up your slink.” Were uttered from my mouth.

Countertop Adventures

I’m growing tired of the easy accessible countertops, thanks to Micah’s discovery that he could simply move a kitchen chair.  It’s opened a whole new realm to explore.

This morning I found him standing on a chair at the counter playing with my box of sewing needles, and he also had turned on our chainik (electric kettle).  When he saw me he quickly grabbed my cell phone, got down and ran.  Nice.

Other favorites of his recently have been dumping out the entire pitcher of water.  Trying to play with the tea cup saucers, playing with the salt and pepper shakers and eating any food he may find on the counter.  Oh and then there is that ever tempting knife block, which has now found a new home on top of the fridge.

Sometimes his curiosity is overwhelming.  But every time I catch him in the act he looks pretty proud of his newfound skills.

I miss those old days when we only had to worry about him climbing on tables.

Ka-Boom

Calvin’s been home a lot more than normal the last two weeks due to illness, no water at school, and holidays.  Our streets and sidewalks are a bit on the muddy/icy/disgusting side so we’re going a little stir crazy indoors.

Marvin picked up a tunnel at IKEA a couple weeks ago, so we’ve been alternating between that and our little indoor pop up fire truck (thanks E, the boys still love it!).

There have been days I’ve been so close to walking over to the mall and buying a trampoline, but then I must figure out how to get it home.  Plus then I’d have to figure out a place to store it.  But my little monkeys need a place to bounce. 

The other morning I needed to fold laundry and to hang up the wet laundry.  The boys had gone in their room and closed the door and were playing peacefully, which rarely happens.  It was beautiful.  I decided to seize my opportunity to get the laundry folded and hung up in peace.  I was able to fold all the laundry without my piles being disrupted, my tubs of clean laundry were not dumped out and I hung laundry without any of it being taken off the rack.  It was beautiful.  Then I opened their door.  This is what I found.  

Apparently a bomb exploded.


Sometimes things like this are totally worth it for my sanity.

Spring Menu

If you’re curious here is my spring menu.  The items in red are things I’ve never made before.  I hope this list helps your meal planning endeavors.

March

Baked Spaghetti

Borsht

Sesame Broccoli Chicken

Brinner

Tandori Chicken

Chicken & White Bean Enchiladas x2 (Freeze Extra)

Hearty Beef Stew

Kuru Fasulye

CP Minestrone Soup

Pizza x2 (Freeze Extras)

Beef Curry *from Freezer

Chili *from Freezer

Beef-N-Noodles from Freezer

Chicken Tacos (Cook meat in CP)

Rice Bowls

Best Beef Broccoli x2 (Freeze raw meat with sauce ready to cook)

CP Honey Chicken x2 (Freeze two bags, one chicken, one additional ingredients)

Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups

Sandwiches

Chicken Gyros x2, Pita Bread

Hummus

Sweet-N-Sour Veggies

CP Red Beans and Rice

Chicken Salad

Caitlin’s Chicken Curry

Bow Tie Stovetop Lasagna

Cornbread Taco Bake

April

Beirocks x2 (freeze extras)

Vegetarian Chili in CP

Stir Fry w/ sauce packet

Chicken & Black Bean Tostizzas (using fat lavash)

Easter Ham, mashed potatoes, green beans

Dal Palak

Orange Chicken in CP

Korean BBQ Chicken

Simple Risotto w/ Salad

Catherine’s Chickpea Tangine

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches cooked in CP

Bean Burritos x2 (use two bags of beans instead of one, cook in CP)

BBQ chicken Pizza Wrap

Pizza

Hawaiian Haystacks

CP Santa Fe Chicken

Something from the Freezer

Brinner

Olive Garden Pasta E. Fagoli Soup (CP cook noodles separately)

May

Sandwiches

Greek Chicken Dinner

CP Stroganoff

Tomato & Feta Pasta

Mega Salad Night

Beef Carnitas (in CP)

Meals from the Freezer Week

Baked Potatoes

Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken

Café Rio Chicken

Spaghetti in CP x2 (Freeze Extra)

SW Chicken Pile Up

Stir Fry w/ Sauce packet

BBQ meatballs in CP x2 (freeze extra uncooked meatballs, and sauce separately)

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos x2 (freeze extras)

Slow Cooker Tiki Marsala

Seven Layer dip with chips

Strawberry Salad 4 Sunday large group gathering

Noodles w/ Peanut Sauce

CP Salsa Chicken

Chicken Salad

Cuban Chicken Salad