A few days ago, we worked on making thanksgiving turkeys (see photo above)- a craft project that I found here. When we had completed it, Will shouted out with glee: "Just like on the computer!" I asked the kids what things they were thankful for and Will came up with a whole list, which we filled up the fingers ('feathers') with. Annie only had about 5 words to offer me and then her attention span was all used up. But here at our house, we are very THANKFUL to GOD for so many wonderful gifts that He gives us.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving
A few days ago, we worked on making thanksgiving turkeys (see photo above)- a craft project that I found here. When we had completed it, Will shouted out with glee: "Just like on the computer!" I asked the kids what things they were thankful for and Will came up with a whole list, which we filled up the fingers ('feathers') with. Annie only had about 5 words to offer me and then her attention span was all used up. But here at our house, we are very THANKFUL to GOD for so many wonderful gifts that He gives us.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
2
Will was a great helper. He helped me wrap presents, helped me put candles in the cake, helped bring the cake out. He helped Annie unwrap presents (!) and blow out her candles (!)... he's a good helper.
Matching dresses for her and her doll. The doll's dress fits great, but I have to make some adjustments on Annie's dress (but she DID wear it on her birthday- it just needs some hemming mainly). Since I wanted it to be a surprise, I didn't try it on her as I went along, but oh well. It was fun to do and she seemed to like it.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Celebrating Christmas
(I'll post some pictures hopefully later today or tomorrow.)
But while the kids are napping and the house is quiet, I've been browsing around the internet and have found a wonderful blog with lots of thoughts and ideas on celebrating the Christmas season and wanted to share it here. It has a number of posts with many ideas of ways to keep Jesus Christ as the center of our celebrations throughout the Christmas season. I recommend it! :)
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Henna Hand
Friday, November 20, 2009
HALT!
That's how my days were this week.
The bad days... when I feel so lonely, discouraged, frustrated, unproductive... bad days. I don't know why I feel so lonely so often. Is it the mountain setting? or the fact that I've never lived near another mom-friend during my whole mom-experience? Is it that I have no real home anywhere- nowhere that I can go back to where I know many people and they know me well? My poor correspondence? What about choices- have they made us walk a lonely road? In any case, the more I think about it, I imagine that although I feel lonely, I'm most likely not alone in that! I imagine that there are many lonely people around me, or far away, but people I have known or interacted with in the past. Often when I'm lonely, God reminds me of this:
HALT!
Hungry
Angry
Lonely
Tired
Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
All of them??????
All of them!
Isaiah 40:11 "He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young."
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Train Ticket Purchasing
Even though we're very thankful that we can get the tickets online, the website is rather quirky - but you would have to do your own searches to fully understand what I mean when I say that!
A few funny things that I must mention anyway:
-the site regularly logs you out or changes your date details in the middle of searching for tickets, so PAY ATTENTION and DOUBLE CHECK everything! - and if you don't have your password memorized yet, you soon will!
-at 11:30 pm I was about to purchase my last ticket and instead a screen popped up saying that purchasing tickets can only be done between 5:00 am and 11:30 pm Indian Standard Time. ummm... we figure it's because each time I order a ticket, some poor chap in a run-down office has to manually scribble down my details on his list so that my ticket is officially reserved and at 11:30 pm he gets to go home. Ok, maybe not exactly like that, but, what a funny way to run an internet booking site!
-So the next day, when I was about to again try to purchase my last ticket, I now had a screen pop up that said that I was only permitted to make 10 transactions in a month, and I had now reached that limit, so would not be allowed to buy my last ticket. Hmmmph. Solution: set up another user name and buy the last ticket under that account! FINALLY DONE.
It could be very frustrating if you don't see the humor in the system. And in the end, we have to just remind ourselves that -hey, at least it works, and it IS less hassle than it used to be!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Growing up
At 3ft, 5 inches tall and 42 lbs, Will is a big boy.
Annie has only just reached 20 lbs and is 2ft, 7 inches tall. She has filled out a lot in the past few months, which makes her seem healthy, but she's still way below the average growth curve as she'll be 2 years old in a couple of weeks. I imagine that she's just petite and that's the way it is. :)
The best toys these days are:
-blunt kitchen knives to cut playdough with (ours have the same thickness for the handle and the blade!)
-playdough
-markers
-plastic people of various shapes and sizes, especially the duplo people and the favorites have hats and hair and can sit or stand - these are prized items at play time
-biggish vehicles that can be piled full of plastic people :)
-Sher Khan, the jungle book tiger (who is known as 'tiger' in Will's world of make-believe where he's a main character along with all the plastic people)
-Will's little blue monkey that keeps getting lost and Annie's two favorite dolls
-cricket bats and bowling pins that are both used primarily for banging on things to make a lot LOT of noise
-a bucket of water (but I rarely let them play with water because our water is a bit dangerous and it's messy and cold)
-a wet rag (Annie carries around a wet rag almost incessantly - she uses it to rub her chapped face, suck on, and wipe down furniture and tables)
-blankets
-backpacks (they've got 4 kid ones that they use all the time to tote toys around the house)
-keys... my keys.
I guess this post is probably not more interesting than my last one. Oh well. I think it's such a precious gift to watch my kids grow up and become who they are.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
nothing new
-Will can now recite Psalm 23 - he includes a few comical errors from time to time, but his pronunciation and intonation are adorable and it's rewarding to have completed this 6-week project. Quite a feat for a 4-year-old.
-On Sunday we made wordless books for our little family 'church' time. I let the kids use staplers for the first time and they loved that! Will mostly understood the story too, I think.
-Will often says things like: "When I die, I will see God." and "Let's pray I'm gonna die in Korea"- he has a fascination with death and soaks up Bible stories and knowledge about God like a sponge. I am amazed at his interest and understanding. And Korea is all he knows besides India-smile (although sometimes if you ask him where he's from, he'll say Canada because we have friends who talk about Canada).
-Will now colors things in! It was an exciting breakthrough when he figured out that it's not so bad to stick with a project and color the whole thing in instead of giving up after a minute of trying.
- Annie likes to use markers - but her marker usually ends up on her cheeks, chin, clothes, walls, chairs... you name it. She also likes keys and changes her clothes about 50 times a day (usually putting on other people's clothes instead of her own).
-My most recent declaration about Naptime: "Naptime is for sleeping. And being quiet. And leaving people alone!!!" - I stated this to my almost 2-year-old who insists on getting out of her bed as soon as I leave her room every nap and bedtime. Replacing her every 5 minutes makes MY 'naptimes' very exhausting.
Perhaps that's enough for now. I'll try to think of something interesting to write about next time.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
the single-mom life
That said, this week was a tiny bit like being a single-mom for me since my dear husband was out backpacking for 8 days with students. I have had a very busy, quite productive week.
1. lousy meals! wai-wai (like raman noodles), packaged soup mix, rice and dal every lunch (much to Will's dismay), leftovers for supper (much to Annie's dismay), breakfasts of cornflakes... but I managed to serve lots of ice-cream to make up for it.
2. lists! I'm learning that I get much more done when I write a list. So I did. I managed to:
- make numbers 6-9 for Will to color in
- bake muffins before Bible Study on Tuesday
- knit a bit on my snowman
- write a newsletter that might get sent soon
- move all my email addresses to my gmail account so I can start using that
- make and purchase a photobook of our best India pictures
- email my sister-in-law on her birthday
- wash a sweater that's been sitting in a pile for months
- wash and fold lots of laundry
- bake pumpkin bread and remember to give some away and eat the rest!
- drop off my computer (but unfortunately I forgot to pick it up- at least Nate's is around)
- give Will all his meds
- pay my househelper (only a few days late)
- finish a batik that's been sitting around for a year
- order groceries
- order firewood (finally!)
- go to the clay center with my kids
- join the pre-schoolers on a day trip in town
- bleach some table cloths
- wash Annie's nasty babydoll, which now looks good as new!
- lots of other odds and ends that I don't remember right now including keeping my kids alive and mostly well :)
3. Much un-finished. I did NOT manage to work on Annie's quilt or any other sewing projects, but that's ok - I got lots of other things done that needed my attention.
4. Anxiously waiting... By the second or third day, we were ALL ready for Nate to return. "BAPPA?", Annie squaks frequently. When I had run-ins with Will (usually over rice and dal), he'd sob: "I want my Pappa!" And it's too quiet and lonely here when my honey is gone- especially at night. But we made it.
5. Last comment before I get lunch for my kids. Nate called me (NO WAY! HE NEVER CALLS! - WHAT A GREAT SURPRISE!!!) last night to say he'd finished his hike and would be back tonight after a long long drive. He said it went well and he sounded like he had enjoyed it overall. What a great husband! I'm SO thankful he'll be coming home soon to end my 'single-mom-stint'. Hats off to all who do this regularly.