so long April

Late afternoon on the last day of April and we were playing basketball.  This hoop hasn't gotten any shorter, but we sure have grown many many inches since we moved into this complex almost 4 years ago.  

Luke laughed so hard he could barely keep a solid grip on the ball.  Also, check out his shoes.  This is his preferred arrangement and he wears them on wrong feet almost all the time.  sigh

exactly.  tough stuff right there!

April was a bit of a doozy in some ways - with some long days and weeks, especially for Matt.  But it is also our best month weather wise and the sun shone and shone and shone (except for the days that it rained - but still! - mostly sunny!). There is nothing like some good solid sunshine to put a smile on a face and spring in a step, and it sure did that for me!

And now we turn to May.  We'll finish up school, get hot and sweaty and good and ready for the pool to open, and start to turn a bit of our attention towards our big transition back to the States for the fall semester.    

our WRITING celebration

This year was my first small group teaching gig, Isaac and two of his buddies in a little writing class.  I taught a curriculum I used a few years ago with the girls.  Mostly, I really enjoyed it.  But there were a few classes that left me thinking "at least we only do this once a week!"

These boys made SO MUCH progress!  I think that was probably my favorite part .... seeing their confidence and enthusiasm for writing grow.  I'm a firm believer in the "people like to do what they are good at, they even like to do what they *think* they are good at" kind of motivation.  So my biggest goal for the year was to convince these guys that not only could they write, but they were good at it!

Anyone who wants to be a good writer is going to have to practice a lot.  Hopefully, we will be back at this again with these same boys.  And I'm glad to have my feet wet in the 'teaching other people's children' category :).

For our final class we invited the dads and each read a story aloud for the group.  Older siblings (including my girls) read too because, Why Not?

And then we ate cupcakes.

Later that evening - it was date night!  We explored a gorgeous new park and walked for miles.  so restful

Not too bad for a Friday!

oh these days

Three days after John Paul's stitches were removed I was back again, this time with Luke....

 for a foot x-ray.  He was climbing off the bar stool and it toppled, and his foot swelled and after three hours he was still in a lot of pain and the swelling was not going down.

But good news: no fracture! whew!  And I hope I'm done with little boy medical emergencies for a good long while!

Even with no fracture, he was not putting any pressure on his foot or walking at all, and the next day school was not an option.

I took this photo Tuesday morning at 10 am.  By this time I had...

1. listened to Julianna declare "I've never seen anything like this before in my life" - referring to a review page in her math book.  seriously?

2. worked alongside the little guys (minus immobile Luke) to clean up play doh (why is this such a mess-making activity??)

3. cleaned up a large tadpole spill (yes, much to my chagrin we are again raising tadpoles and yes, the entire bucket dumped, and yes, Isaac was crawling around on the pond-water-soaked floor picking up live tadpoles..... sigh)

4. coached Lydia through the tadpole crisis (it was her critters that dumped, and for a child who really detests pets of all shapes and sizes, she is remarkably attached to those tadpoles)

When these boys wanted to paint it took more than one deep breathe for me to squeeze out a YES.  ha!

Of course, every crazy hour is worth it.  But the calmer hours are a bit easier on this momma!

We finished early American History (Leif Ericsson through the Civil War) but I'm tacking a few more books on to the end.  I will miss this next fall, and I'm tentatively planning to jump back in to American History in the spring.

Home school is definitely on the down hill slope!  I can't believe we have another year under our belts!  We are days/weeks away from finishing several pieces of the curriculum .... it feels good to be wrapping up another school year.

stinky feet

These girls could write a book about life with little brothers!  We were *attempting* to sit together on the living room carpet and do our memory work.... Julianna commented on how one particular little brother's feet were stinky

and the next thing she knew, the other brothers jumped in on the action.

Who knew that "stinky feet" could be received as a compliment?!?!?

These five (not so) little people keep me laughing too.  So so grateful for stinky feet and morning verses and lots of laughs.

stitching him up

Precious John Paul earned himself a few more stitches in his face (where the little guy has already endured more stitches than anyone could ever count thanks to his cleft repair surgeries!)

A playground injury (unintentionally inflicted by his little bro) landed us at the medical clinic where - praise the Lord! - the American doctor was on duty!  I watched the whole accident occur and as soon as I got over to John Paul and managed to pry his hand off his eyebrow I knew we would be needing stitches.... a few phone calls and we were on our way.

I've been in this exact same room before with Isaac - also getting stitches on his face!

Three stitches will surely add a little "toughness" to this precious face!  So proud of this guy - he was a trooper and handled it all so very well.  I can definitely tell that he's put a little distance between himself and his medical trauma history and he's just more relaxed and trusting any time he is in a medical situation.  Now he's getting closer to another big surgery (sometime in the next few years he'll need more work done on his palate).  Oh John Paul, I wish it wasn't true but there are more stitches in your future.

In the meantime, we'll focus on getting this wound all healed up!

Easter 2017

a sweet day celebrating with friends... morning worship, an egg hunt, yummy potluck food, friends-like-family everywhere!

one little corner of the concrete jungle

Maybe this helps explain why my kids are so hard on clothes?

The number of pants per week that sustain significant damage (holes, busted knees, stains, etc) is higher than I ever dreamed possible.

Crawling, hiding, commando-style creeping... all on dirt and rocks and concrete.  ha!

egg dye

Late yesterday afternoon I boiled the eggs and sent Matt a warning message: "Egg dyeing tonight.  Prepare yourself."

Crafts with the kids is not Matt's forte.  He is an amazing daddy (while I was gone last weekend he took all five on them on bikes to the river and they rode beside him while he ran 6 miles. seriously.)  But his amazing-ness does not include crafts! ha!  So I knew he'd need a little fore-warning that it was time to dye Easter eggs!

the big girls, aka 'the least of my egg dyeing worries'

a record-setting year for John Paul.  he turned over ZERO cups of dye (beating his previous low by at least two overturned cups)

Luke.  dropped two eggs and both times asked, "Did it crack?"  Yep, buddy, it cracked. But he managed to end the evening with a few wholly intact eggs :)

Curls.  Smiles.  Eggs.

Julianna just about dipped those ponytails in the egg dye!

Isaac.  the patience award.  left one egg in the blue dye so long it turned a brilliant deep purple.  He still hasn't eaten that one.


I actually hope to dye eggs one more time, maybe Saturday, but we will see.  We do eat LOTS of eggs (scrambled, fried, boiled, for breakfast, for lunch, for snack) so it's no trouble to boil another big batch and they won't be wasted.  Why not?

another Bible reader in the family

In our little world, this is a really big deal.  John Paul read the entire Beginners Bible.  It's over 500 pages!  And he sounded out oh-so-many words.  Some of them over and over and over again!

We started late last fall, and it was challenging.  But I knew he would improve so much, and gain speed, and confidence, and ability as he read!  And he did.  Thanks to a month long break in February we got a bit off track but once we picked it back up he was motivated to get it done.  We read most every weekday for about 10 minutes, a chapter a day, day after day.

With this big milestone he earns his own real Bible (and unfortunately it crept up on me and I didn't have one ordered and ...... mom fail... but JP is willing to wait for his slacker mom to get her act together!)

I love so many things about this challenge (that we have now had 4 kids accomplish!).  I love watching their reading improve.  I love the stories planted in their hearts.  I love the sense of accomplishment and hard work and determination to get through a 500 page book!  But mostly I love all the cuddles on the couch, little heads tucked against my shoulder, reading the story of God's great love for His people.

For John Paul ... well, maybe I'm even a bit prouder than with my others.  For a kid who learned a second language at 19 months, couldn't speak a single meaningful syllable until after his second major surgery, didn't have an understandable expressive word until his 3rd birthday... You are a pretty amazing boy John Paul.  And I am so glad you are mine!

school porch school

Still doing school... but oh so close to the end!  We are looking to finish up at the end of May.  And we just bought tickets to America for the end of June!

Next fall there will be no home school (everyone - even LUKE!) will be at "real" school in ND.  So I'm determined to treasure these last weeks even more.

I'm also determined to convince Julianna that she can cut a few inches off that hair!

As usual, the spring months are flying by!

talking to Daddy

After a long stretch with Daddy in Africa we are all together again!

Finding good times to talk to Matt was a bit challenging - this is one of the trickier time changes we've navigated. And when we did connect, everybody crowds in close to see and talk.

But my favorite moments are the ones when one kiddo finds a quiet spot with the iPad and gets talking.  Luke was so intent on telling Daddy all about his red ninja lego!

And then one morning we woke up and we were at the end of our countdown chain!  And all his flights were early and even though I was the only one still awake when he landed that evening, it was perfect.  And now we are together all day today, no work, no school, before "real life" starts back tomorrow!

He came back with amazing stories of people and animals and John Paul said it best when he asked, "Dad, next time can we all go with you?"

Maybe one day, buddy.  Maybe one day!

catching turtles in the sunshine

A week of warming-up-weather and turtle catching.  Can't complain about that!

And these flowers, just in time for Easter.  

The grounds of our apartment complex are like one huge backyard (well-landscaped, and shared with 1000 other people - or more?).

I'm grateful for the management staff who keep this place in tip-top shape, and the flowers blooming right outside our building!  (also, thankful for the turtles!)