Happy 2nd Birthday Zarah & Keziah!

The week before the birthday celebration another twin mom (whose twins are grown up now) told me that she felt life got a little easier once her twins turned 2 . . . SO HERE WE ARE!  Our lives are about to turn "easy", right?!?  If only life were really that simple.  The truth is we are still in a busy time of everyday learning and growing up.  I want to share with you our family birthday celebration this week.

Having a good time eating their Strawberry Shortcake, opening presents, and going out to Swensens for ice cream.  At this point both girls are excited about cake and ice cream, but when the time comes to eat...not so much into it...are these really my daughters?

 Here are our 2 beautiful daughters!  They are so delightful each in their own special way.  

Please check out my post from last year when the twins turned 1 year old.  It's amazing to see how much they have grown and changed (especially their hair!).  Their personalities are still very different when it comes to food and actions, and now those are just showing up in different ways.  Last year Zarah wouldn't get messy with her cupcake, and now that has evolved into activities like finger painting.  She really gets upset when she gets paint (or anything "messy") on her hands.  Recently I have been working on getting to know their Love Languages, and I think I have found for Keziah she needs physical touch from mommy every so often to be okay.  It is very nice to feel so loved.

As most of you probably know, I didn't grow up with any sisters (now I am truly blessed with 3 wonderful SIL).  Being a mom of 3 girls who are growing up with sisters is a new joy in my life. {insert tears forming in my eyes here}  I love to watch them interact, play, talk to each other, love each other, fight over toys (for now), and giggle together.  From a sisters point of view I probably have no idea what I am doing each day, so I am immensely thankful for the Lord's guidance! What I do know is that there is almost never a dull moment with 3 sisters, and I can say that I am learning to find the FUN!

And this is my life as a Traveling Mother,

Jennifer

What's been going on?

Again, it's been awhile since my last post...I think I'm just going to use the excuse that's it just been too darn HOT!  My western Washington bones are melting and aching for a good rain!  

So, what's been going on with us lately?  Let's start with our youngest girls.  As I write this it is 1 month until their 2nd birthday, and it is so hard to believe that they really aren't "babies" anymore.  Lately they have really been becoming little girls by saying words we actually understand, being able to ask them a simple questions and having them answer yes or no, playing at the play area on their own, less nap time sleeping, figuring out how to play with their more 'complicated' toys, loving to go swimming at the pool, and giving the cutest smiles at just the right moment!

Hope is just finishing up the 2 week holiday and heading back to school on Monday (Yea!). This 2 week break is for the water festival called Songkran here in Thailand, it's also about the same time as the American spring break.  We were able to keep quite busy these last 2 weeks mostly going to local pools to cool off or taking a dip in our little blow up yard pool.  To get me through this break from school I came up with "Hope's Daily 20's", which was a list of activities for Hope to do when she was "bored" or watching too much TV.  This is what the list included:

• 20 minutes reading books
• 20 minutes doing activity books
• 20 minutes practice riding bike
• 20 minutes cleaning/organizing/straightening
• 20 minutes of exercise (swimming or Wii)
• 20 minutes of resting

Although I do have to admit that she did NOT have 1 day of doing them all, it was a good idea to start this up and I can see it in the future this summer to get me through 2 months without going to school. Hope also recently lost her 2nd tooth by Sheraz pulling it because it was just hanging there...oh boy, there was blood and there was dramatic screaming!  The funny thing is that when her 1st tooth was loose and we started to discuss the tooth fairy, she said "God didn't make fairies, they're not real!"...oh boy we have taught her too well about the Truth!  So we (Hope & I) decided we would make believe and play the tooth fairy so she could enjoy the fun of putting teeth under her pillow at night and getting some money.  So far the tooth fairy in our house pays 35 Baht per tooth (that's about $1).  I think it's fun that she gets her money in Thai Baht for now, what a fun memory for her when she grows up! 

As for me, my last post was all about my cooking skills, but since the hot season of at least 100F has been going on, unfortunately the kitchen is the last room I want to spend any time.  To get me back into the mood of cooking, I've been trying to find recipes on Pinterest that Do Not include turning my oven on.  (If you have any favorite recipes that fall into this category, please share them!)  I'm thinking...Rice Crispy Treats!  Also, I have been trying to improve on my eating and exercise habits lately and this has been a great week.  The trick is that I have to get up early, before 7:00am to get a workout in before the temperature heats up too much.  May is a busy birthday month for us with Sheraz's on the 1st and then the twins on the 20th, so that will probably be taking up my time for the coming weeks.  

And finally Sheraz...well, it's probably the same as always...schoolwork, schoolwork, and some more schoolwork.  Currently he is researching and writing for his thesis paper, which is a good sign that he is at the end of his master's program for the TESOL degree.  

As I mentioned above, it is summer time here and at least 100F everyday, so a water festival that is a giant water fight was very refreshing!  Here are some highlight pictures from our adventure into the fun of a city-wide water fight.

Thanks for checking in on us!  Have a great week, I hope to keep my momentum of another post soon ;-).

(P.S. The air quality has improved with a few good breezy days/evenings and less burning, thank you for your prayers for our families health!)

From Miraculous to Magical?

On Friday night our Advent calendar had us watching a Christmas movie and eating a salty bowl of popcorn. The 2 kids movies that I had available were Ice Age Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas.  After watching both short movies with the girls I realized you couldn't get any more different ideas about the meaning of Christmas.

First was Ice Age Christmas, which is a very cute movie and Hope really loves Scrat and his acorn.  Throughout the movie they refer to the magic of Christmas and believing in the magic of Santa.  

Second comes A Charlie Brown Christmas with the famous Charlie Brown searching for the true meaning of Christmas.  Then Linus explains to Charlie Brown using lines quoted from scripture:

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, 

keeping watch over their flocks at night.  

An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory 

of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  

But the angel said to them, 

"Do not be afraid, I bring you good news of 

great joy that will be for all the people.  

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born 

to you; he is Christ the Lord.  This will be a sign to you.  

You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying 

in a manger."  

Suddenly a great company of heavenly host 

appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace 

to men on whom his favor rests."  

~ Luke 2 v.8-14

There are so many miracles surrounding the birth of Jesus, Christ the Lord...

     A pregnant virgin, an angel of the Lord appeared, heavenly host appearing, wise men being led by a star and traveling many many miles, and even the situation in which Jesus was born.  We tend to glamorize the idea of the 'manger', but really it was the lowest form of a crib that we wouldn't even imagine putting our child into today.  

It is so wonderful to see our 5 year old truly excited about Christmas because it is the time when we celebrate Jesus' birthday.   Of course there is excitement about presents, she's a kid after all and loves gifts.  The important part to us as parents is for her to understand that ALL of our gifts come from God and not from anything 'magical'.  And she truly gets it and has genuine excitement for all that the Christmas season has in store!

So, how do we change back from magical to miraculous?  Take time this Christmas season to rediscover all the miracles that surround the birthday of Jesus.  How His life relates to your life and the relationship we have with the Son of God!

Happy 5th Birthday Hope!

My little girl celebrated her 5th birthday today!  Since Hope just started Grade 1, she will be learning to read and about books having a beginning, middle, and end.  So here's how her day went...

Beginning:

We hung balloons as she slept last night (yes, Hope is that little bump at the head of her bed)

Happy Birthday banner.
Amazing what you can do with just a few craft supplies & of course...Cardboard!

Middle:

Cupcakes ready to go to school for the party.
Hope & I have been watching Cupcake Wars and here is the product of our inspiration ;-)

Hope at school doing her work.

She caught a glimpse of mommy, love this picture of her!

Singing Happy Birthday with all her friends.

Blowing the candles!

YEEEAAAAAAA!

Friends. Eli, Hope, and Abella

More birthday friends; Nong Iy, Janina, Square, Mikey, Jhan

More birthday friends; Phena, Phosa, Kate, Eli, Alize, Angelique

The "boys" and Ms Jenny; Jonas, Spencer, and Oscar

Birthday certificate presented to Hope from Miss West!

Ending: 

And her choice for dinner....McDonalds!
A true American 5 year old in Thailand, Ha Ha.

Playing in the play area at the new McDonalds

Birthday chocolate sundae!

And sisters enjoying Hope's birthday
Keziah was actually pushing the stroller with Zarah cracking up sitting inside.
They brought a little joy to the people sitting around us!

The End

& 

Goodnight!