Recent News

Some recent happenings from the past month, or so.

*One of my good friends, and her family, moved back to the states last week. So sad. They have three young kids who spent hours every week playing with my kids. They also lived very near us so I was often going over to her house to borrow sugar, baking pans, humidifiers, etc. I have been so thankful for her friendship during these past 2+ years. I cannot imagine not being able to just send her a text to ask where to go and get patches for jeans, or to tell her that Emma has a new tooth. I am definitely missing something in my routine with her now in the states, yet am excited for their move and what Father has for their future.

*We have changed things up a bit for our Sunday meeting times. With our good friends move last week, we decided to have the kids sit with us during our entire meeting time. In the past they stayed with us for singing and prayer, and then would head to another room with one adult during the study time. Josiah and Jacob now come to the time with their notebook, kid's Bible storybook, and pencil case. During our study time they can look in their Book, and can take 'notes' in their notebook. I am working to prepare them before hand in order to listen to what we are reading and studying. It definitely is a training time but now seems like a good time to start. At this point Emma is taking a nap during our meetings, it will be interesting once she stops with morning naps.

*No more pull-ups!! Yes, Josiah and Jacob have graduated to wearing underwear to bed. This has been huge, in many ways. I don't have to remember to change anyone before naps, they are getting up by themselves and going in the morning, and we are saving big bucks by not buying the imported, expensive pull-ups. Way to go Josiah and Jacob!

*Boys have been going to school now for almost two months. It is going okay. Josiah is now past the 'fighting it every day' stage. And has entered the 'looking forward to it until he walks in the room' stage. He has somewhat bonded with his teachers and does have a respect for them, an answer to prayer. He has learned some basic phrases used every day in his class and we are right now working on learning the names of the other students (something he is currently very interested in). Jacob is still not willingly going to class, I think it will be a while yet. He was moved, a couple weeks ago, to a smaller class with only 5 students (the previous one had over 20). I think this could be a better fit for him. The boys have been going Tuesday through Friday mornings but with Jacob I have been treating Thursdays as optional. I meet with my tutor on Tues., Wed., and Fri. morning and try to get out and talk with people on Thurs. mornings. If Jacob is having a hard week and I think some time with him would help, I keep him with me. I hope to be able to report more on school as we continue to adjust. I can tell you that all this studying definitely makes us ALL tired! The boys and I are often reminding each other "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Philippians 4:13.

*My oven and crockpot are out of commission. The crockpot 'died' about a month ago and the oven followed a couple weeks later. Since I make just about everything from scratch, no cans, or packaged stuff here, these things get used constantly. It also has been a little tricky because in our current apartment we are having issues with our gas, meaning sometimes we don't have it. An interesting dilemma. Our bread machine has been getting a workout and we still have our microwave. Jared spent a couple days trying to get both appliances fixed but, because they are such uncommon appliances, our only option seems to be to buy new ones. So, I am now on the search for a new oven, the crockpot will then follow.

*Over the past six months, or so, the food prices in our city have gone up dramatically. I keep thinking back to what I was paying last year for strawberries compared to this year. The prices for produce, eggs, meat, seafood, all are up. It definitely makes a difference in how much of our budget goes to food. With this increase, I have been trying to use more local food, and less of the special, import food. When we first arrived I was having such a time making any of my recipes. Now not only have I discovered lots of easy new recipes but also am digging into lots of my old ones. I have been learning how to make from scratch a lot of the stuff that I always thought I would have to buy, and substituting other stuff that makes it just as good. It also helps that I am figuring out how to actually buy stuff here, that at first I didn't know existed or not. I don't think we will ever do away with imported cheese, butter, pancake syrup, oh and those absolutely wonderful care packages full of goodies we get from the states, but at least when it comes to day to day stuff we are saving a bit.

*I am now meeting with my language tutor in the mornings, while boys are at school and Emma is sleeping. This has been a new era in language learning for me. (In the past I had always studied in the afternoons while kids were, supposed to be, sleeping.) It has been a great change. I am awake for my study time, I am not focusing on kids and studying at the same time, and I now have afternoons open. It is wonderful to catch up on stuff in the afternoons rather than being up at night, after kids are in bed, making breakfast, doing dishes, cleaning the house, checking email, etc. Now I use the afternoon time to do all those things, and maybe even take a nap. It makes my evenings so much more relaxed. I have even been studying in the evenings, now possible because I had a rest in the afternoon. A few afternoons last week I also pulled out my sewing machine and worked on some projects, something I had not even attempted since we moved.