4th of July Kids Carnival

Cannot believe it has taken me over a week to blog about our big Carnival that we hosted on the 4th of July.  After being inspired by Pinterest, I thought it would be fun to do it for Hope and her friends so they could see each other in the summer.  But I didn't get serious until my friend Tammy said she sounded like fun too AND she would help!  So here are the pictures of our good time!

Sign out front, made from paper plates & paint!

Hope excited for the day to start!

Decorations of balloons and fabric banners

Game Signs.

made from cardboard boxes & paint

Fish out of Water

Hit the Target

Karla working her game booth

Spray Away

Spray Away

Clothespin Drop

Ring Toss

Tattoo

Tickets = Prizes!

Prize Table

Twins enjoying the Carnival out on the lawn (Thanks Gook!)

Popcorn!           Popsicle!           Popdog! 

Delivering POP-Dogs  (best way ever to serve hot dogs!)

Wet & Wild

Water Balloon Toss!

Have to say that one of the funnest parts of the day was watching the kids at the 3-legged races!

Congratulations to the winners Kate & Abella!

What a day! 

 Even as exhausted as I was the 2nd half of the day...I would do it again in a heartbeat.  

So much fun for the kids!!

P.S. A BIG THANKS to everyone who helped prepare and during the event.

Life

Where to start?
        ...had a bad "mom" day to start today...
...living the house hunting life...
                  ...constant fundraising for survival...
    ...planning for the 4th of July...
         ...finding coupon-ing deals to pack my mom's bags 6 months away...
 ...constant battle of the budge...
                  ........oh, and did I mention that I have a husband in full-time master's degree school & 3 kids??

I think when you have a lot to do and think about, a calm moment comes and I really cherish that time.  The other day I had one of those moments just watching my husband feed the dogs and talking with him, instead of having my head in the computer, and it really made me think "how would life be if computers and internet had never been introduced to us?"

Being so far away from friends and family, I tend to be near my computer more than I should.  Getting to see what people are doing are getting to chat gives me the comfort of home.  The downside to that is that I feel like it literally takes me away from friends and family here.

What did people do before computers?  More involved with each other’s daily activities, more uninterrupted conversations, in general more time together?  I definitely think that I would spend more focused attention with my husband and kids if I "unplugged" myself from the computer.  For sure this is an area that is taking away from my kids.  I thank God for showing me this time stealer before it is too late.  Years from now, when the girls are grown I don't want to regret wasting the time I have with them.

And on the flip side it is hard, because we are so thankful to have such amazing resources to keep in close contact while living halfway around the world.  I guess like any other worldly possession (i.e. money, food, clothes, shoes, etc.) computers and the internet are all about moderation, and not letting it overtake your life.  

For me it is TIME to make a change...I would love to hear your thoughts and struggles on this issue!  Please leave a comment.

This is my life of as a traveling mother!  

Jennifer

Summer fun with the kids

Week 1: Zarah's 1st visit to a play area, she loved it!

Week 1: Keziah's 1st slide!  Weeeeeeee!

Week 1: Hope playing on the swings, she loved having her sisters with her!

Week 2: Fruits & Vegetables, this is Hope's craft.

Week 2: Fruits & Vegetables, Tuesday Time to Cook Day!

The was a great snack to have a helper, Hope washed the vege's,
scooped out the bread to make bowls, and put the ranch dip in.  

Also helped put the vege's in the bowl & of course eat them!

(The best part about this kitchen time was that I couldn't get Hope to think about eating celery & peppers.  But...once we made it "fun" she ate them all with joy!)

Week 2: Combined "friend day" & "theater day". Hope & her friend Janina on the way to the movies!

Watching Madagascar 3 in 3D, great movie!

So far so good this summer, it has been fun playing with my daughters!

Will keep you posted as we go...

~ Jennifer

Raising up "Third Culture Kids"

Moving to a foreign country last Fall was of course challenging for our family, and can be especially hard for our children to understand.  Leaving friends & family they have bonded with of course impacts them.  From a few people I have heard the term "Third Culture Kids", this is a term taken on for children that travel with their parents either in the government/military or as missionary's.  Here is a video spoken from grown up TCK's, and it is very interesting.

One of my favorite lines is, "before I knew how to walk, I already knew how to fly."  This makes me think especially of the twins; what will they think or say when they look back at their life of flying to another country at 4 months old?  As you pray for our family, we ask as parents that you would pray for our children.  That the Lord will help them understand why they had the upbringing they do, and they would have wonderful relationships along the way.

Thankfully, one of the best parts of moving here has been Hope's school!  After arriving in October, she started class at the end of the month and she has grown so much throughout these last months.  A huge part of that growth has been going to school everyday.  She absolutely loves going, and I pray this love carries on throughout her life.

Ready to go on the last morning...

This is all of Hope's classmates and teachers (from around the world, Hope is 1 of only 2 Americans).

Hope and her Preschool/Kindergarten teachers.

This has been a great year of growth for our little TCK, and I look forward to the stories she will tell as an adult about growing up around the world.  Until then, here is a little peek forward...

New Classroom

Hope will be starting 1st Grade in August!  

Thanks to her school and a very hardworking daddy teaching her since she was 3 years old, she is starting to read and do arithmetic.   

And this is the life of a Traveling Mother!

Jennifer

Happy 1st Birthday Z & K

Last week we celebrated the 1st year of our adorable twin daughters, Zarah & Keziah.  Since the moment the ultra sound tech said out loud "there are 2" until this day we have had the joy of learning all the normal & quirks of having twins.  During my pregnancy at one of my many appointments, a nurse told me that even though I was experiencing one pregnancy, there were 2 different pregnancy's going on inside.  And this has continued on through the growth of these twins during the last year.  They will always be twins, but my little Zarah & Keziah are so very different...even down to their poop.  Yup, I said it!  But isn't that weird?  They eat the exact same food, and have 2 completely different "outcomes" (if you will).  My mom & I joked during the pregnancy that one would be light skinned & one would be dark skinned, and well that is even true.  Zarah is a bit darker than Keziah.

1st to pull to standing: Keziah

1st to figure out how to get down from standing: Zarah

Eating Chicken & Rice:

Keziah likes the Rice

Zarah likes the Chicken

Keziah is a little taller, and she is VERY cautious about getting  up & down.

1st to stand without support: Zarah

Zarah will try any food I give her, while Keziah

can be very picky.

1st to get teeth on bottom: Zarah

  and she has had 2 top teeth for a month before 

  Keziah just started her top.

Zarah is smaller, but she is "scrappy".

She has no fear of moving around, getting up & down.

And here is the funniest difference, eating their cake at their birthday party...

Keziah devoured her cupcake, while Zarah barely would touch it!

And here is a snapshot of their mood swings, Zarah is not good around large groups of people.  She becomes very clingy to mommy.  But Keziah, also has these fussy moments when we are alone.

There are probably more differences that I am forgetting, but I think you get the idea.  

But a couple things they do have in common are 

                                        every new toy went straight into their mouth for chewing....

...And they LOVE their Big Sister, Hope!

Enjoy getting to know our little angels, we have been so blessed as a family by these 2!

This is the life of a traveling mother!

Jennifer

Hair Part 2: There's more to the story

My last post felt a little unfinished in my mind, and on my head.  After 2 days of trying to make-it-work with my new hair cut, on Tuesday I was able to find another salon and get my uneven-ness fixed.

And the reason my post felt unfinished was because as much peace as I felt sitting in that chair watching my hair get chopped off, and YES I do completely trust God with my hair...that doesn't mean that the outcome was a good one.  This is the path that I walk by living my life following the Lord.  The extreme true life story that comes to mind is the about Joseph in the book of Genesis of the bible.  He had a dream from the Lord about his future and he completely trusted God to do HUGE things in his life, but what was the next step?  His own brothers sold him into slavery!  Then after being sold by his brothers, living in prison, and being accused of adultery; Joseph says this to his brothers: "But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance." (Genesis 45 v.7)

Yea, I would say that's a bit more dramatic than getting a choppy hair cut. But a similar lesson, that even when we trust in God for our life path that doesn't mean challenging situations won't happen.  It is the peace, love, and joy that I have from God that brings me through my life journey as I put my trust & faith in Jesus.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is a day that we celebrate Mother's in America (and a few other countries, but NOT all countries).  As a mom I do get to be appreciated by my wonderful husband (who doesn't appreciate me calling him cheap in my last post) and 3 beautiful daughters!  Here's a little look at my day:

Swingin' in the hammock with my girl :-)

And of course I think of my mom & my husbands mom on this day of appreciation.  Most of you know that Sheraz's mother has passed away, but today I took time to reflect on the mom that raised a wonderful son.  She did an amazing job of bringing up 4 very successful children who know the Lord in a country where you are less of a citizen because of your faith in Jesus.  Because of her persistence for Sheraz to attend a bible school in Cyprus 10 years ago, God blessed me.

And a very Happy Mother's Day to my M.O.M.!!!  The one thing I want to share about my mom is that throughout my life there have been many ups and downs that were hard for me to go through, and I'm sure hard for her to watch me go through.  But through it all, she was by my side giving me encouragement and emotional support.  The one thing I am eternally grateful for my mom is inviting me to a bible study 15 years ago.  I was at a time in my life of a huge down, but of course my mom was there for me.  Not only was she there for me, but she was praying for my salvation.  Thank you mom for all your prayers for me and our family.  I miss you every day and look forward to welcoming you to Thailand someday!  

We Love You Mom Gayle & Mom Akhtar!

Breakfast with the family

Do you trust Him with your hair?

I've had the same head of hair for 37 years now.  And probably just like you, have had hairstyles long, short, mid, layers, curly, straight, and probably more.  Recently I've been growing my hair long, but with the heat here in Thailand I just had to cut it. After some debating in my mind about if I should (and a little nudge from my husband) we went to the mall today with the kids to play & probably look for a hair salon.  Being that we are in Thailand & I don't speak more than a few sentences in the Thai language, I told Sheraz I wasn't going to get it cut unless the hairdresser understood English and I could explain exactly what  I wanted done with my hair.  Well, that was MY plan.

After walking away from Sheraz and the girls, I was headed to find a good salon with an English speaking hairdresser.  Knowing that I have a very "resourceful" (a.k.a. cheap) husband, I found a place that cost less than another that we had seen.  After sitting down, a few minutes later the shampoo lady took me to the back....but wait I hadn't talked to anyone in English about how I would like my hair cut.  As I was getting my hair washed, my mind was still debating whether to cut it all off or just get a trim & thin out the long hair.  Now I'm sitting in the chair to get my hair cut, my hairdresser walks up and I say, "'Do you speak English?",  she replies, "No" very sternly....my heart sinks & I think 'is this really happening?'.

As I point to a picture in a binder of how I would like my hair cut short in the back with some length in the front, her eyes grow about 10x.  She looks at my long hair & the picture with her BIG eyes (and still no smiling) and then starts yelling in Thai to one of the other hairdressers who apparently does speak English.  He talks to me about cutting my hair, then speaks to her in Thai and gradually her eyes return to the normal size.

While I'm sitting there watching her literally chop my hair, I begin to pray and talk to God about how I was feeling...a little nervous to say the least.  But this overwhelming peace came over me as God said to me, "Don't you trust me with your hair?"  It seems like such a small thing in the big picture of life (especially living life by faith).  Most of you women reading this can understand how much importance we get from our hair, and a bad cut can make a huge impact.  How many of you have cried after a haircut?  Me too, but thankfully not today.  I put a smile on my face and took the time to pray for the woman who stood behind me without a smile.  God had brought me to that place to sit in that chair and meet this woman, and I trust Him.

End of the haircut, and it's not exactly what I had in mind...but it's okay.  And after a few simple Thai & English words we were able to share, I'm hoping some of the Lord's Joy has rubbed off into her life from the smile and peace He gave me instead of fear and frustration that could have erupted.  I'm so thankful for GOD's plan :-).

After all that I figure you want to see my new hair cut, so here's a little peek

I am SO looking forward to having a cooler head of hair in this 100 degree weather!

This is the life of a Traveling Mother!
Jennifer