Sensational Sunday

Tomorrow we are driving about 3 hours away to see this...
Cappedocia, where the rock is so soft you can carve homes into it.

I can never go there without thinking of the Christians who once hid from Nero there.

We are staying (all 7 of us!) for a few days in a room carved into the rock. Nice homey Turkish breakfasts made by the owner's wife. Lots of hiking in a rustic terrain. A few board games and math flashcards. Should be a good Spring Break! I'll bring you details and pictures when we return. But for now, I must tell you about Sunday.

We had such a nice day. It was warmer and sunny. The girls got to (finally) wear some Spring dresses.

As we loaded into the car, I wanted to get a picture of each of them (lots of grandparents reading this, thus the overload of grand kid photos). Eva clearly accessorized herself that morning. (She is not a risk-taker, so her bent-over, old lady pose was based on her theory that she was about to fall).

Still leaning, but that's better. Told Ross that morning, there's nothing cuter than a girl with braids and bows.

So after a wonderful Palm Sunday worship and lunch together, I asked Ross to drop the big girls and me off at the pazaar. What do you need? he asked. "Oh, just stuff." I told the girls they could choose 1 thing each. Amazing what you can find for 1 lira (6o cents). Mary Erin chose some hair clips. Annika chose a little glass doll with a big magnet on her back. Esther chose a fuzzy bird that, when squeezed, makes an awful noise.

Just as we were leaving, I happened to notice a small table of hats. I am a hat girl. Ross' first memory of me was of a young girl who wore hats to church. As I stopped to look at the little hats, I realized it was one of those interesting times when I sense God is speaking to me through a circumstance. They were Easter hats. This isn't a country that celebrates, or even realizes, that it is Easter. And yet, the week before Easter I find Easter hats at my pazaar. Sometimes I just sense He reminds me He is here. I asked the man how much they were, with a friendly smile and the announcement that I had not only these three daughters, but one more at home, for which to buy. He said he'd sell them to me, 4 for 10 lira. Deal. Now we have not only some matching skirts to wear on Easter Sunday, each of my girls will have a hat. And I just happened to be wearing this when I bought them.

Waiting

When I wake up in the morning, I go get Benaiah. First thing. He is usually already awake, but he doesn't cry for me very often. He just talks. And sucks his blanket until I get there. Then I feed him milk. Then I change his diaper. Then I put him in his high chair while I get everyone else breakfast. At that point, he has to wait, just a little bit, for the rest of his breakfast. This is what he has started doing while he waits. Sucking his high chair. Is that pitiful or what? Can you tell he has accepted his lot in life to be a 5th?
The girls are trying very hard to do what I told them to do...act natural, don't laugh at Benaiah sucking his high chair.

Here's a video of it to further tear at your heart strings.

Signs of Spring

As a kid growing up in Indiana, winter was my favorite season. I never drove in the snow, I only played in it.
We built snow forts, snow tunnels, snowmen. We drove our sled in spinning patterns on the iced-over creek behind our house. I even had a friend who was given the option of a television in her home or a snowmobile. She chose the snowmobile.

When we moved to the South, I missed the snow and the winters. Spring became my least favorite season. Allergies. Not quite summer. No harsh winter from which to recover.

In the South, Fall became my favorite season. Football games. Bonfires. Jeans and sweatshirts.

Then I moved to Singapore, where it was 90 degrees year-round. I remember scrubbing down my balcony in the heat on Christmas Day. Summer didn't become my favorite season, it was my only season.

But now I am back in a land where winters are harsh. We've heard it has snowed in May here. Sometimes it snows and doesn't melt for months. I remember Ross wearing a jacket that first June here, we had become so accustomed to Singapore's heat.

But this week the snow is gone, the ice is gone, the snow tires are off. We've opened windows for a time today. Eva and I found a bird's nest and watched it. I think Spring is my favorite season here.

Haybat's Bridal Shower

This weekend some friends and I co-hosted a bridal shower for this sweet Iraqi refugee girl. I've known her for the 6 years we've lived in Turkey. She calls me "mom."

She's become a sister to my girls.

She's engaged to a wonderful Christian guy, and is waiting for the green light to immigrate to America. It's one of those times when you are so happy for her that she is finally about to go, but you realize as you smile and tell her to 'go', a piece of your heart will rip out and go with her.

Her shower was lovely. She was the picture of beauty and grace. This mama was proud of her.

April Fool's Day in First Grade

This is Esther's adorably cute first grade teacher, Miss Stevens.
This is Esther's wicked April Fool's Day teacher, Miss Viola Swamp. Evidently, she showed up as a sub for Miss Stevens and wrought havoc on an otherwise peaceful (well, relatively so) class of first graders. She moved everyone's clips (which takes recess time away) when she couldn't find the one clip she was looking for. She allowed no talking all day and pretty much made them all miss Miss Stevens immensely. Rumor has it that 'someone' snuck in her room and wrote Miss Swamp is a BIG MEANIE on the whiteboard, but I have absolutely no idea who would have done that. I was at home most of the day...only at school for a few minutes....

Unreached Milestone

Benaiah turned 6 months old this week. All my girls sat up alone at 6 months, almost to the day. But he just topples like a weeble-wobble. I opened my What to Expect The First Year book, just to see if I was remembering the month-age correctly. I read, "Another factor that might interfere with the development of early sitting is overweight. A roly-poly baby is more likely than a leaner child to roll over when attempting a sitting position." So, what do you think? By "roll over" do they mean the weeble-wobble thing he does? Do you think he is roly-poly?

Tourist In My Own Town

Our school recently underwent an accreditation visit, a time where a team visits our school and probes into all aspects of school life. We will find out the final recommendation of the team later, but we really enjoyed the time with them while they were here. One gal flew in from Cameroon, Africa. Her flights were only available once a week, so she came a few days early. I took her down to Ulus. This is the 'old part' of town. I decided that day to take my camera and become a tourist. So many things have become normal to me here, but I found it interesting to view it through the eyes of my blog-readers. Here are a few photos I took...this gentleman was outside his house scrubbing some huge kettles. I asked the lady if I could take a picture. She was so touched, she found me later on in the day and thanked me again.
This is a mosque in Ulus. The law here requires that a mosque be within walking distance of every resident of this country.

Scarves, pashminas, and old style shoes...

The Turkish women dry vegetables each summer like this. Then they re-hydrate them, stuff them with rice/spices/meat and enjoy a delicious Turkish food called dolma (which means 'stuffed')...the purple is eggplant, the reds are peppers.

This is a dry foods vendor...nuts, fruits, etc. I usually try at least 1 thing I've never tried before when we go by these shops. Here you get to taste test. I have to remember to tell my children not to sample fruits when we grocery shop back in America!

The most beautiful spot, to me, in Ulus is the old castle. You can see the 500 year old wall snaking through the town. Houses have been built right into it, but there are still remnants of the wall.

This is looking down at houses and a mosque from the castle.

You can see the roughly-built homes, called Gecekondus. This means, "Night house." As the law states, if you can put a roof on a piece of property overnight, you can call it your own. Many times we spy kittens jumping roof to roof here.

Annika is showing us the old part of her town. Don't miss the satellite dish!

You can see the old mixed with the new. Gecekondus are gradually being replaced with new apartment buildings. I will miss the little old shacks when they are all gone.

The big sisters enjoyed a day on the town with mom. I told them I'd buy them 1 thing. The original choice of a bag of candy-coated nuts at the dried fruit stand was quickly replaced by a little porcelien box as their treat for the day. The store owner was quite entertained when I told them I had to buy 4 boxes for 4 little girls and that Benaiah did NOT get one. He laughed until he cried. Little did I know that Papa had pulled Esther's tooth while I was gone. She used her box to hide the tooth for the tooth fairy that night!Come visit us! We'll take you to Ulus. I might even buy you a bag of candy-coated nuts!