Thanks Uncle J

The kids super awesome Uncle Jarod gave them each a little money to buy a toy once they arrived at their new home. They have eagerly anticipated the day that they could pick their new toy. SK is always very decisive, no matter if she is picking a snack or something of greater importance. She went straight to the shopping cart and was done. J had a little more trouble but she had her eye on a barbie for awhile so her decision was also fairly simple. N, though, can never make up his mind. He analyzes each pro and con, always wondering if there will be something better to come. Oh, the commitment to a decision is agonizing for him and I often help him by doing elimination games to narrow the options. In the end, he decided on a gun which went well with his army costume that he had just re-united with after having to go without for the few weeks that it was packed in a bag.

The new toys were such a treat and they had such fun picking them out. Personally, I’m just thankful that SK had already bought her stroller when we arrived at the next store where N was still agonizing over his decision. It would have been a real bummer if she had picked  scary baby in a body bag. This thing was huge and so heavy too! It was all vacuum-smashed in the bag and was just plain scary!

I mean, look, it is as big as she is, even though it is crumpled to the bottom of the bag! If anyone else sends toy money, I know I’ll steer clear of the scary baby store, for sure! We can’t take any chances that little Ms. Decisive won’t decide she wants that thing!

Trip to the Park

There is a fun park in our city at the foot of an ancient castle. We went last week to investigate. The weather was perfect and the fall leaves and grass were so refreshing.

I wish I could say that it was a perfect outing but someone (likely teenage kids) had put animal poo inside some of the slides. As you can see, they aren’t for the faint of heart. This also means, there’s no turning back once you’ve committed to the slide! We ended up with poo on clothes, crying kids and frustrated parents! All in all though, it is a great park and we hope to return!

N’s Hair Cut

We all need hair cuts. We needed them when we left America but things were so hectic that we decided it would be good to wait. We thought it would be a good way to discover the culture and meet new people. Well, we’ve been here a month and we are just now getting to those hair cuts!

Salons are either only for men or only for women. Baba found one and the guy did a great job on his hair. It was an 18 year old kid from a neighboring country who had been cutting hair since he was 13. That child labor stuff really gets to me, especially when I see children selling cigarettes. But, in the case of the barber, his experience meant that he could give a good hair cut.

Baba took N back the next day. It was a fun bonding experience. The kid took about 40 minutes for each hair cut, taking his time to make sure everything was just perfect, even throwing in a head massage. Afterwards, he styled N’s hair too. Just like a local. And of course, N who is quite style conscious for a 7 year old,  loved it. It is also funny to me that the aprons in the all men’s salon were lavender! We warned N that we just wouldn’t be able to style it the same way at home. Too far out of our league but assured him that if he had somewhere special to go we could take him by the barber who would, no doubt, gladly style it for him!

SK’s Favorite Foods

It has been fun to watch our kids enjoy trying new foods. SK has been an great sport when it comes to trying new foods. Here are a few of her faves:

Fried fish that a neighbor brought over when we were staying with our friends, before we had found an apartment- she is holding it by its tail

Cay or tea which is served everywhere. All 3 kids love it and have learned how to understand the offer in the national language so that they can be sure that we don’t answer “No thank you” for them!

She also loves ‘choco bread’ that we sometimes have for breakfast. We buy fresh bread each day from a nearby bread store. I’m sure the novelty will wear off at some point but for now, it is a treat!

Carpenter Castle

We have drug our kids in laps around this city in the past month as we have set up our home. Many days, I’d whisper to them, “I bet you never thought you’d be _________ when you woke up this morning!” They have enjoyed the adventure, for the most part. On this particular day, we went to a carpenter to have a desk and wardrobes made. This was a tiny work room with a very roughly build loft above. The carpenter invited us to is loft for tea. We all climbed the steep rickety stairs and all balanced in the loft with a plywood floor and no railing. There was just enough room for a small dirty table and a couple of stools that we shared while keeping our eyes peeled on our children to ensure that they didn’t make a sudden move forget they were suspended above a workshop! This was such fun for N who felt as though he was in something better than a tree house.

The carpenter produced chocolate cake for the kids and tea for all. As we were being served, N leaned over to me and whispered, “Mom, the question is: are these glasses clean?” Good question, N. Let’s not think about it right now. And so the kids learn to receive hospitality graciously and eat what is put before them.

After the precarious tea party, we all, thankfully, moved downstairs to discuss our order in his brother’s workshop. The kids rummaged through scrap wood and built  the most amazing castle.

The carpenter let them keep the blocks and cut more our to scrap wood and put them in a bag for them as we were leaving. He also left his shop to give us a ride home. We had intended on getting a taxi but he wouldn’t hear of it. Now that’s hospitality.

After searching and searching for furniture we liked with a reasonable price, we were thankful to learn that it was the same price to have furniture made. It was such fun to design our own office desk and wardrobes for the kids clothes. They should (supposedly) arrive tomorrow! I can’t wait to see how they turned out! And, I doubly can’t wait for the kids to not be living out of duffel bags anymore!

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was so close to our arrival that we could hardly get our minds around the fact that a major holiday was approaching. I am so thankful for others in this city who worked hard and prepared in advance to make it such a special day. The night before, our stove caught on fire due to a gas hose that wasn’t properly connected when our stove was hooked up earlier that week. The timing couldn’t have been worse as no one else knew that the next day was THANKSGIVING and I had things to COOK! I brought my ingredients to our host’s home and it all worked out just fine. Take a look at this crowd!

These kids had a busy, fun day. There were crafts to be made.

Games to be played.

Plenty of girl time

And guy time too. They even fit in a little outdoor football game without drawing a crowd.

The food was amazing.

We missed our family on this day but were so thankful for others to celebrate with!