Photo Bomb

Isaiah is officially growing too fast.  Crawling, standing up, and into EVERYthing!

Halloween cuteness.  They don't celebrate Halloween (or fall harvest or whatever you call it when you dress your kids up and give them candy --I don't want to offend anyone) over here. So we just dressed the kids up and toured them around the house to get their candy.

Sweet SWEET baby!

Go Pack!!!

Flying Baby.  This is how Brian plays with his kids. Someone is always flying through the air and jumping off of something onto a big pile of pillows (or Bri's belly).  

And the kids LOVE it!

They were chasing seagulls.  

Posing by the beautiful lake on a beautiful sunny day in a beautiful city.

"What?!"

Kate sits and reads her "big girl Bible" every morning. I love it!

Everyone loves music.

Most of the day, this is the position Isaiah is in--standing, hanging onto something.  

More to come...

FOUR!!!

Thomas turned four yesterday, and I am in denial. How are these babies growing so fast?!  

We had his party on Sunday. He wanted a "Planes" theme, but that movie hasn't made it over there yet. So we made do with what we had.

The BIG FOUR year old!

Another pre-party photo shoot with these little monkeys.

My Boy!

MUSCLES!

The cake was another easy one.  Chocolate bar for the runway, throw a few clouds on there and stick on the toy-planes. 

We played 'pin the propeller' on the airplane. I am pretty sure a few of those boys could see through the scarf, but no one owned up to it.  Boys will be boys, after all.

And I had each boy make a paper airplane and throw it down our runway (hallway with duct tape making the runway--behind Thomas). They had so much fun.  

And another homemade piñata.  After all the kids had a chance to break it with a normal stick, Brian gave Thomas one of his golf clubs and let him go to town.  Sweet mercy. It was terrifying.

This is how he looked the whole time we sang to him.  Sweet boy.

He is such an amazing kid. The most genuine, 'real' kid I know. You want his opinion, he will give it to you--there will be no sugar-coating from Thomas, which makes the "Thank You, Mommy"'s and "I love you"s SO very special. There is no doubt he means it. He is a golfer extraordinaire and pretty much rocks at anything involving a ball.  He is a talented artist, a kind, thoughtful and compassionate bother and son, and he is my little wild man. 

My little big man, Thomas, it is such a joy and pleasure to get to be your mommy. I love spending every day with you. You make me laugh and smile every single day. I love watching you learn and grow. I love seeing your determination in things and I love how passionate you are about life.  Remember that Jesus is your life. He went to great lengths to make you his own, and he loves you more than we could ever began to imagine. He is good, kind, strong and mighty, and son, there is nothing He cannot do.  Love him. Follow hard after him. May you be a warrior for Truth, a mouthpiece for the gospel, a servant-leader, a man who loves others passionately and a worshipper of our great God.  May the love of God compel you in all of your endeavors and may you bear much fruit for his glory. I love you, Boo Boo. Happy 4th Birthday!

She's 6

My little girl turned 6 today, and we have been celebrating Macedonian style for a couple of days.

Saturday night we invited all of her girl-friends from school and the neighborhood over for an American style birthday party.  We decorated her room up with tons of streamers and balloons and waited for the girls to arrive. 

Pre-party family photo-shoot. These two are best friends!

I love my girl!

Isaiah thinks she is the greatest big sister in the world. He may be right.  He is always super happy to be with her, and she loves playing little mommy.

I finished the cake on Friday. This is by far the easiest cake I have ever done for her.  I just popped off Cinderella's legs, gave her a good soapy bath, and shoved her in the cake that I had baked in a glass bowl.  The hardest part was having to cover her top half with frosting in the form of a dress. Everything else was SUPER easy! Yay for easy birthday cakes!

I also made some sugar cookies in the form of dresses and high heels for the girls to paint.  I mixed up some different colored frosting, washed some paint brushes, and let the girls go to town. They loved it, but none of them wanted to actually eat their cookies. So I sent them home with their plates of painted cookies. (The dresses aren't pictured here, and these shoes look a little rough. The others looked better.)

Our girl discovered the joy and fun of the pinata in America this past year, and she really wanted to have one at her party.  Well, pinatas are a foreign object here, meaning, they don't exist. So, being the awesome parents that we are (ahem...) we spent a week making this booger.  (For those of you who love to paper mache, I officially think you are weird.)  We filled it up with tons of candy and let the girls destroy our artwork in less than 10 minutes. 

We had to explain to the girls what a pinata is and we got some weird looks, but once I gave them their bags that they were to fill with candy, they were hooked. They had a blast trying to whack it and cheering one another on as they waited to see how much candy was actually in there.  I am sure they were thinking, "These Americans are kind of crazy, but who cares?! CANDY!!!!!"

We also played "Pin the Crown on the Princess" which was also a big hit.  These girls know how to party, and they are all quite competitive!

And then the cake.

We sent the girls home with tons of sugar, and I heard several girls tell their moms that this was the best birthday party ever.  Success!!! 

Sunday night, we had our church over for cake after service, and Kate got showered with more love.  

We did our traditional birthday pancakes this morning.  We have had a lot of fun celebrating our big girl! I still just can't believe she is six. She is an avid reader, a brilliant artist, a rock-star lego builder, a fantastic bike-rider and basketball player, a kind-hearted friend and sister, and a precious daughter.

My Sweet Kate,  You are such a precious and amazing gift from the Lord, and I thank God for you every single day!  You have grown into such a beautiful young lady. You are lovely inside and out.  I am so thrilled that I get to spend my days loving you, hugging you, teaching you, laughing with you, dancing with you, playing with you, and training you.  I am so thankful for the growth in your faith this past year. God is working in your heart and nothing makes me happier than to see you reading your Bible and hear you singing praises to Him.  Remember King Jesus is the lover of your soul, the one who fights for you, and the one who died to give you abundant life and fullness of joy. He is making you more and more beautiful every day that you walk with Him. You are loved and precious in his eyes. Your name is engraved on the palm of His hand. He loves you and cares for you more than you could ever imagine, and that love is a love that never stops and never gives up on you. It is everlasting love. True love.  I pray that you will grow more intimately in your knowledge and love of Him and that you will live your life to make Him famous.  He will give you everything you need to make it through every day. I love you more than you will ever know, sweet girl!!! Happy Birthday!

The Kiddos

The kiddos love it when I take pictures of them, and as far as I am concerned you just can't have too many pictures of these pretty faces. 

Life as of late has involved Kate falling more and more in love with school.  The girl loves to learn and loves to be with her friends at school. She has started speaking in Macedonian again, and I know she understands pretty much everything.  Thanks so much for praying about that with us! God is good. She has started playing basketball, and it is one of the cutest things ever. She plays with 6-9 years olds which I feel like is a big age jump, but the big kids don't seem to faze her. She is much braver than her momma. :)  

After a good start to preschool, Thomas has once again decided that he just can't/won't do it, and the hysterics that ensue at drop-off every morning have caused his school to suggest we find another option. Not. So. Good.  I have struggled over this...big time. But he has got to learn the language. But he won't learn it at home. But he needs to be with some other kids... But he is miserable... BUT God... (I love the "But God's" in scripture) Our great God has so graciously opened a door for a private preschool here (I didn't even know such a thing existed), and what's more is that it is very close to home (we can hear the kids playing from our back porch). The teacher speaks some English, and the group of kids is MUCH smaller which won't be so overwhelming for him.  He will be starting there next week. We believe that God's hand is in this. He heard our prayers, and He gave an obvious answer.  Thanks to all of you who have been praying for Thomas.  Pray that transition into this preschool goes much smoother. (Is it me or have I asked that before??? Ha!)  

 

In other news, Isaiah is trying is hardest to crawl and he has started solids.  He is one happy little boy as long as you keep that cutie little belly full. He gets that from me. ;)  

Thanks so much for praying our little family.  

It's Fall Y'all!

I miss fall in America. Every single year, when it starts getting a little chillier, jackets come out, cute boots go on, pumpkins are bought, carved and mixed into coffee, cookies, and pies, people sit around campfires on hay-bails roasting hotdogs and marshmallows, the fair comes and goes and football season brings out the competitive in everyone. It is the most wonderful time of the year.  I just love it!!!  But y'all fall is different over here.

While America is busy making pumpkin EVERYTHING (I even saw someone making pumpkin moon sand? Really!?), Macedonians are busy doing the work of the harvest.  The surrounding mountains are painted red and yellow and orange.  Sweaters, scarves, and boots are donned, and there is a fire of some sort going on in every yard in town.  It always starts early in the morning. Mostly women sit around their outdoor stoves on little wooden stools, and the smell of their roasting red peppers fills the neighborhood.

They are making ajvar or pindjur or they may just be roasting their peppers to stock their freezers.

 They are sewing peppers together to dry in the sun.

They are also busy making compotes and jams from plums, kiwis, peaches, even watermelons. The seeds that they sowed in the spring have brought forth fruit, and they are diligent making the most of everything on the vine.

The sound of the wood chopper driving around town is heard every hour or so, and piles of wood lay in the middle of the streets or on the sidewalks waiting to be stored up and burned.

This is a season of harvest and a season of storing up for the winter that is fast approaching.  It is a time when the wise man works from sun up to sun down so that he will have warmth and food in the cold and barren winter.

There are no football games and tailgate parties, cause, y'all, 'ain't nobody got time for dat.' ;) There are no pumpkin carvings (maybe because pumpkins are mostly green (some white) and kind of deformed looking). Pumpkins are for baking and eating by themselves for a snack... with no sugar, no cinnamon, and no pie crust. And no, they do not blend it into their coffee and top it with pretty whip cream. :)

So, while I always miss the delicious tastes and smells of fall in America, I LOVE fall in Macedonia.  So beautiful. So beneficial. So rich. Every year, God uses fall in Macedonia to teach me of making the most of the fruit on the vine. Working hard to plant, so that tomorrow there will be more fruit. Being diligent and serious about the fruit that He gives. Praying that the Lord will send laborers into the harvest to work along side us in the field.  The work isn't done when the tree yields its fruit. The work has only begun.

We are so blessed and thankful for the fruit that we have seen. God has done great things here! And I am confident that He will continue to do great things.

May we be faithful with the increase that God has given and that He will give in the future. It's harvest time, y'all! Let's get to work! 

How We Roll

This is how a family of five with a baby rolls.  

Baby on the back. Two big kids on their bikes and mom holding up the rear to take pics of of our adventure.

I am not sure why I let Brian talk me into letting him ride with Isaiah on his back like that. He insists it is just as safe, if not safer, than having him in one of those baby-bike-seat things. I'm still not sure, but Isaiah seemed to love it. 

Thomas likes to look at what he left behind as he rides his bike. He did it all day which meant lots of falls off the side of the road. Bless.

We rode a little over a mile and made it to the beach. So beautiful!!!

Sweet snuggles.  Man, I love my little family, and I love spending my days with them. I am so blessed!