Transition (ing)

I added the "ing" to transition in the title because I'm realizing that it's something that is never truly done.  In this crazy life we lead (who signed me up for this anyway?!), there is always something to transition from or to, whether it be a new living situation, a new language (or even a dialect shift in the current language), a new school, etc etc etc.  The list goes on!  

In the midst of the craziness, one thing that has remained constant, is the resiliency of these 4 amazing little people and for that I am super thankful.  The transitions of our life that still have me kicking and screaming (on a good day), have become very normal to them.  No, that does not make goodbye easy.  Pretty sure that part gets harder every time.   

But the flexibility and resiliency required for this life we lead- they've got that part down.  And that is such a blessing from the Lord that I do not take for granted for one minute. 

 It's the days leading up to and from the transition that get me.  The packing, the sorting, the "mom can i keep this bag of rocks?" type questions.  The days where every room of my house look like this.  Footlockers piled everywhere, "give away, throw away, keep" piles on top of the footlockers.  

And did I say "my house"?  Because I guess in reality that is not the case either.  It's a temporary dwelling that we call home simply because the 6 of us are there, and most days, that is enough, but in the midst of transition it often makes me want to pull my hair out!  

And, of course, in the midst of transition days, there is usually some sort of crisis, medical or dental or otherwise, that leads to additional stress in one way or another.  One year, I had to have a 3 procedure root canal on an abscessed tooth that delayed our return for almost a month.  Another time, we were scrambling to get Naomi's "tummy issues" taken care of in a timely manner.  This year was no exception.  

At a last minute dental visit, my sweet Uncle Tom pointed out that sweet Anabelle had a smile that was more than a little crooked.  Not because that's just the way she smiled as I thought...

No, my sweet little thumb sucker, had quite a severe crossbite that needed to be corrected fairly quickly.  So off we went to the orthodontist to get a spacer put in to correct that bite (and hopefully end the thumb sucking)

We talked it up big the night before explaining that we were going to fix her teeth and that sucking her thumb was not good and the spacer would help her stop doing that.  Sweet angel called me from her room that night and asked me if she could suck her thumb "just one more night".  How could I say no?!

At the orthodontist the next day, she was SUCH a champ!  Didn't blink an eye as they messed with her mouth, took impressions and got everything set up.  And she hasn't sucked her thumb since!  She didn't even try.  She even explained to people that sucking her thumb messed up her teeth and that's why she has a spacer.  

Over the next few weeks during all the packing and craziness we had 3-4 more visits to the orthodontist (stupid thing kept falling out) and she traveled back to Jordan with spacer intact and just got it out a few weeks ago.  Bite fixed.  Thumb-sucking fixed.  All in the midst of craziness.  I'm telling you these girl are champs.  

Returning to our overseas home always has lots of mixed feelings.  We're truly happy to be back in our home with our stuff and reunite with friends and Mia puppy!!....

 but there is also the bittersweet-ness of missing American family and friends.  And jet lag is never fun...

The biggest adjustment for me is usually figuring out how to cook and clean again.  Until you've lived here, you can never truly understand how different cleaning is.  It's different on a regular day, but add a dust storm to the mix and whew!  I'm ready to head back to the states where doors and windows closed mean that they are actually sealed.

A storm like this coming in overnight...

 combined with the American family not checking the weather to know it was coming and leaving all windows open through the night to keep the house cool, does not equal a happy momma!

The above picture is about day 3 when we could finally see across the street again.  But each fan definitely had to be taken apart and cleaned!  

Figuring out cooking always takes me by surprise a bit as well.  Yes, we've lived in this part of the world for almost 13 years but how quickly you forget when surrounded by American conveniences! 

In case you missed it, my post from last year HERE addresses most of my complaints with the grocery store here.  But, ah, how quickly we forget...

Thankfully I have some great helpers.

(a requirement when you have more than one cart- again see previous rant  post about the push-ability of  grocery carts here)

And oh how I miss massive Costco bags of triple washed spinach!!

Washing of fruits and veggies is a massive undertaking.

It took some time, but we got the kitchen organized and back in working order.  Pretty much just in time to discover that we needed to try a gluten free diet with Naomi.  Good thing we got the kitchen in working order, because I have spent A LOT of time in there this fall!!  

Thankfully I discovered some great freezer-crockpot recipes that have helped with the crazy evenings and dinner prep...

Naomi is feeling great now.  Bottom line, we've discovered that gluten combined with stress is not a great combo for her.  She does ok with gluten during school breaks and low stress times.  N has also started swimming this fall which she has LOVED.  Mom and dad don't necessarily love that all extracurriculars here tend to occur in the evenings but we are making it work!

Another part of our transition back to life here was school for all.  Abbey and Maddie were (freakishly- yes, I'm raising nerds) excited about receiving their homeschool books in the US and they took up one entire trunk coming back.

They've done great getting back into the swing of things.  

I was a little more concerned about Naomi and Anabelle having been in English speaking school in the states and having to transition back to school in all Arabic.  

I should clarify that i wasn't too concerned about Anabelle.  She has been talking about going to "Naomi's school" for almost a year and was super excited.  

The first day was just an hour visit where I got to go to.  She loved it.

The next day, the REAL start of school, she was bouncing off the walls excited.  Naomi was tentatively excited as well.

"THE BUS, THE BUS!"

(almost forget to say goodbye to mom.  Oh my heart!)

Naomi has done GREAT transitioning back to Arabic.  She works twice a week with her tutor and is speaking and reading more and more.  I'd say being able to label the parts and systems of the body in Arabic is not so bad!

(her teachers also sing her praises as having some of the best Arabic script in the class)

And Anabelle came home a few weeks ago having written her name in Arabic for the first time and was quite proud.  She even pronounces it with an "Arab speaking English" accent.  "AH-NA-BEEELE"

They were very excited for "costume day" on Halloween.  No, it's not celebrated here overall, but some school get in on the fun...

Anabelle was apparently one of several Elsa's in her class....

In the middle of our craziness, we had the blessing of having Annie (my mom) come for a visit so I could accompany Jason to a meeting in the US.  Knowing she was coming definitely made the goodbyes a bit easier in August!

She didn't exactly have a smooth flight and her suitcase arrived several days late (like I said, whose idea was all this transition?!), but she did make it!  We discovered a new local restaurant together. Yummy!

And of course, we had to let her experience IKEA in Jordan...

It's been a crazy busy, hectic, transition-y fall, but by God's grace we are surviving and the younger ones in the house even seem to be thriving, praise the Lord.  Me?   I'm getting there, but the older I get, the more I think this transition business is for the birds!!

I guess in reality though, as believers, we are constantly in a state of transition and the true worry should come when we begin to see this world as our permanent home because it is not.   That doesn't necessarily make the transition easier, but it does help me keep an eternal perspective and embrace the moments with these 5 crazy people I'm doing life with.  Wherever they are- that is where my heart and my home is at that moment.

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself."

Philippians 3:20-21

This month...

 Is tomorrow really April 1?!  How does that happen?  We've been busy- how 'bout you?  Here's a quick recap...

Ikea opened in Jordan!  Can I get an amen?  So excited that not only are they opened but their prices (at least on some stuff) are actually reasonable!  Our family of 6 ate dinner there for 13 JOD-WITH food leftover- that's less than $20.  See the orange sign below?  That's posted on all the table-curious if that's at Ikea stores in other parts of the world or if it's just necessary here, where NO ONE clears their own table ANYWHERE.  We've already made our first big purchase (and made our first Ikea faux pas...).  Bought a trundle bed (or so we thought) for our guest room, but when we got it home and put it together, we realized the trundle piece came separately.  Oops- no wonder it was so cheap!    

The super great thing about Ikea is that even though it's kind of on the road out of town, it's literally 2 minutes away from the baseball field, which is another thing that started this month.  Naomi moved up from coach pitch to t-ball this year, and Abbey and Maddie are still playing kid pitch on a team with all of their buddies.  Springtime in Jordan means Fridays at the baseball field.  And of course, there are camels in the outfield....

Miss AB has officially dropped her nap.  IF she naps, she's awake way too late at night.  Granted, she's still in the phase of getting pretty grumpy by 7 or so but it means an earlier bedtime and a better night sleep so I'll take it.  Of course, there are days when she does still take a nap.  Sweet baby fell asleep watching for the big girl's bus to get home...

We discovered that one of our favorite burger joints (meaning good American style beef- not weird flavored lamb type meat) has a Sunday deal where you get a burger, hand cut fries and a drink for 3 JOD.  It's kind of become a regular thing...

(not sure why Naomi is sporting the gangsta' look- sometimes I just don't ask....)

And in case you missed it, the girls and I ran a 242 km relay race from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea.  Here and here are the before and after descriptions of that craziness.

It was a weird weather month.  It hardly rained all winter until the last couple of weeks (just in time for our crazy race!).  There were several times where it literally rained mud.  Ick.  Believe me when I tell you this is not a phenomena that you want to experience.  The picture below does not do it justice....

As a family, we love entertaining and having friends into our home to share meals together.  It doesn't happen as often as I'd like with our crazy schedule, but we try to open our home at least several times a month.  My mom gave me the Southern Living cookbook for 2014 (kinda/sorta a tradition) and I tried 2 new cheesecake recipes.  This one was amazing!  A perfect combo of lemon bars and cheesecake and yummy homemade lemon curd.  

This one was surprisingly not so great to me.  The crust was a bit off or something.  I think maybe just a chocolate crumb crust would be better.  

(technical question- can you tell on these posts that you can click on the word "this" above and go to the link?  Not sure why they aren't showing up as a different color....  anyone?)

Spent a morning at the children's museum with some good friends.  Anabelle and her little buddy had a blast.  

Naomi was in her first play at school.  This was a HUGE deal to her since her big sisters have had their share of plays.   They did an Arabic, and English and a French play.  She was in the English one but sang songs for all of the others.  She was Marnie Mole, the cute little Mole who had been harmed by the recycling habits of humans.  A great start to her acting career!  

Here (hopefully) is one of the 847 songs that AB sang this month...  

I'm having trouble uploading videos directly to the post so I'm going to try a few different ways to put links on here and see if anything works.  

Here is another song- she's working on covering all the Frozen songs.

And here is one more...

There's no shortage of singing in our house!

Happy April everyone!

Do the Next Thing

"Fear not tomorrow, child of the King, trust that with Jesus, do the next thing."  

I love this poem that I first heard quoted by Elisabeth Elliot.  These words have truly defined my life lately during a season when I barely have time to get clothes folded, meals on the table, and little ones tucked into bed, much less actually sit down to write about it.  It's a precious reminder when I begin to feel overwhelmed to simply put one foot in front of the other and attempt to accomplish the next task before me, of which there are usually many.  

I do miss blogging and recording our memories and processing through the written word which is so therapeutic to me, but it has taken a back burner in this season of life and that is ok for now.  I have written many a mental blog post in the shower or while cooking dinner or folding clothes but none of them have actually made it on to the computer...  Oh well.  This is a season and one that I am actually very thankful for in the midst of the busy-ness.  Today, I am thankful for my husband who has gifted me with several hours to myself during which I do hope to peck out some thoughts on the keys of my computer and post some pictures to catch up on what has been going on in our lives.  

My days are filled with the companionship of this little mess-pot.  She and I both miss big sisters now that they are off at school each day.

She is in such a fun stage and I assure you that our days are anything but dull.  As the 4th (and yes, slightly spoiled baby of the family), she has a plethora of role models in her life to parrot.  Some of her favorite phrases lately include (but are definitely not limited to....)

"Are you kidding me?"

"I sure do!"

"Of course"

"Mom, what are you doing here?"

Her favorite songs include a wide selection from "Whom Shall I Fear" by Chris Tomlin to Alicia Keys' "Girl on Fire".  Sadly she's also mastered Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato and Lady Antebellum to name a few others.  Thankfully she also can belt out "Jesus Loves Me" and "If You're Happy and You Know It" so maybe she's not completely ruined...  She has her daddy's perfect pitch so it's really fun to listen to her sing.  

Miss Naomi is still doing amazingly well in her new school and I am so very thankful.  I was nervous about her being completely immersed in Arabic but she is loving it which is such an answer to prayer.  She has also FINALLY lost a front tooth at almost 8- better late than never.  Our doctor hear tells me that they later they lose the teeth, the stronger they (the teeth) will be, but considering they also tell you to drink a glass of warm water before you go out in the cold so you won't get too cold, well, you never know...

Here's that toothless grin...

Abbey and Maddie are doing very well in school as well.  It's a little more challenging to be the "new kid" in 9th and 7th grades, but they have done great.  They stay very busy with good friends outside of school and between band, basketball, drama, youth group, sleep overs and, and, and, they are never at a loss for something to do.  

Youth group...

First school dance of the year...

It's been a season of firsts for Miss Anabelle as well.  

First night in her big girl bed...

She made the transition from crib to bed so amazingly well and we seem to be moving in the right direction as far as night time sleep habits.  She started out as such an amazing sleeper, sleeping all night at 2 months, napping like a champ etc.  Sadly, ear infections, erratic schedules, and finally 2 year molars brought good sleep habits to a screeching halt but I think we are finally on the up swing..

First movie at the movie theatre...

Popcorn was definitely her favorite part!

(and first pony-tail that actually stayed in along with the movie)

Somewhere along the way, Anabelle decided that fixing daddy's hair was a fun game.  For a time there, every time he walked in the door, she wanted to brush his hair and put a crown on him.  So thankful for my man who will do anything for his girls!

I ordered silhouettes from an Etsy shop and LOVE the way they turned out.  I  love that they capture each of our girls so beautifully

As I said, in spite of the busy-ness of life right now, I am so thankful for this season.  I am so thankful for each of my girls unique personalities that cause me to pause each day and consider how I can be better.  Better at loving them for who they are, better at showing them how precious they are in their individuality, better at modeling for them what it means to be a wife who loves and respects and adores her husband, just better.  

Obviously, this is not something I can even begin to do in my own strength.  I am thankful to serve a Saviour who leads me in completing one day at a time, one task at a time, and even enables me to learn a thing or to along the way.  I pray each day that I will find joy in whatever "next thing" life brings my way, and I pray that in doing so, I will teach these 4 a thing or two about the love of a Saviour who gave Himself for them- not in my strength, but in His.