Repurposing and Resourcefulness

I had to choose a character assembly to present to the upper elementary this year. I chose "Resourcefulness," and it's not 'til Spring. But it has gotten my brain cranking over how I can be more resourceful. (I think using a Barbie-sized fridge most of my overseas life is pretty resourceful!) Over Fall Break, we fixed up our terrace a little. Firstborn and I found this fun fabric remnant for a couple of dollars. I dumped out my button container and found a use for some buttons that used to be the extras for little girl dresses.

And I made two of these pillows.

Happy Thanksgiving from Turkey!

Hope your day was wonderful!

Firstborn and Phaselis

Recently Spotted

CC and I were recently out in a parking garage and spotted this sign. I think I'll entitle this sign "Exceptions."

Krispie Kremes

We don't have a Krispie Kreme or Dunkin or anything like it. But Istanbul does. And they will ship doughnuts down to our city for a reasonable price. The Senior class occasionally sells them to the kids before school to raise money for their senior trip. And someone, who shall remain anonymous, (B!) spoils my kids with one sometimes when they are shipped down.

Here is Big Ben licking his box. Wouldn't you, too, if you only got them a couple of times a year?

Twinkle Toes' 13th Birthday

I've missed blogging! It's been a busy season with many things to do and little bumps in the road all along the way. God is good, all the time. There's no doubt in my mind of that!

Last month, my sweet baby girl...the one born with so little hair and so lightly-colored hair that she honestly looked bald for 2 1/2 years...turned 13. (She got her first haircut at 3. The Turkish barber refused to let me pay him, he was so touched he got to do it.)

She's grown up. And she's an absolute joy to us. She's hitting some milestones. This year she began Secondary school. She walks out the door in her cute-looser-dress-code-than-elementary-school clothes with a big binder in her hand, braces on her teeth, holding the hands of her little brother and sister, ready to face the day. And all I can think about was her sweet little self when we discovered she had hearing loss at 4 years. She sat with big earphones on her head, listening for the 'beep' from the audiologist. She was told to say, "Yes." when she heard it. Sweet baby kept saying, "Yeth." One day she'll get it as to why I want to tell her all these stories. When she's got kids, she'll understand why we are so head-over-heels for her. I remember when my first daughter was born, my dad said to me, "Now you see how we loved you so much?"

I ramble. Anyway, the birthday was fun. We always have a family dinner, just us. I made homemade pizza and she chose whoopie pies for her birthday dessert.

We opened gifts together in the den.

And partied a little.

The next weekend I took her and a few friends to see the Thor movie and to get ice cream sundaes. The years are clicking too fast. I am determined to enjoy them. Happy 13th year, Twinkle Toes!

Halloween Over Here

There's no Halloween over here in Turkey, but we've come up with a fun tradition. It is an absolute highlight for the kids!
To begin, my friend Kim had all with-children staff members over for dinner. We all brought big pots of soup.

Twinkle Toes did not have a costume as of the day before. We hopped on the internet and decided she'd make a great angry bird. I had a red sweatshirt with room for a pillow. Her papa turned my dark sunglasses into an angry bird mask. Sweet Cheeks donated some orange striped socks to complete her look.

Firstborn made her own costume. We found a tiger striped mop head at the pazar for $1.50. You really never know what you will find there. Papa helped her get the TY sign just right, and she was an adorable beanie baby.

The little gal turned into an Ewok. Believe it or not, this was found entirely in my closet. No comment.

Big Ben had perfectly good Batman and Spiderman costumes, which he plays in on a regular basis. But he got in his head he wanted to be a jedi knight. Then his dad got in his head he wanted to be a jedi knight. All costume pieces came from the teen girls' or my closets. Here are all the kids in the Star Wars theme.

I wanted to take CC's picture with his matching jedi knight in training. CC kept suggesting new poses ...like, "Ok, now serious.... Now with light sabers." I think someone enjoyed this a little.

Miss Middler (this is classic for her!) went out to the street and found a piece of ripped styrofoam. Her dad helped her turn it into a partially eaten Hershey's bar. Brown paint from my bathroom accent wall. An artistic husband who could get the letters just right. Foil. Perfect.

The other kids were adorable, too. We had a Roman soldier. (from a church play!)

 We had Braveheart and another scary warrior. I think it is so cute and fun that these kids are pushing 18, but they can't wait to dress up. There is so little peer pressure to be too cool to do fun things! I love that about here!!!

And yet another scary guy! SI! 

 And so they all took off and trick or treated at the staff apartments. Some teachers shocked them and dressed up, too! Libraries who kept saying, "SHHHH!" The little old lady who lived with shoes (and had shoes pinned all over her). Nerds. The kids love it! Simple, but special. 

I was home alone for a solid two hours! I enjoyed the quiet and even got to have a nice long chat with  my mother-in-law! But it was sure fun to answer the door and see these precious kids having fun. When Big Ben arrived, he said, "Look, Mama! I'm a jedi knight and so it Papa!" (Right son, we've been putting this costume on for a week now! So cute!)

Here's our amazing 2013 staff kid lineup! 

What was your favorite costume you saw last night?