I wish I could

I wish I could condense it all, all the stories, happenings, life and be able to share it all as it unfolds, but I seem to always be running behind, pulling my scattered thoughts in my wake.
I wish I could think how to share the hard news in a way that conveyed the reality of the grace that enfolds us in every one of those moments.
I wish I could show you into the center of my heart...then you would know.
You would know what we felt when we were told eldest son has Asperger's.  Not surprise, more of a deeper understanding and insight into our precious son.  You would know that the beginning of this felt like being plunged into an ocean of information with a desperate need to swim through it all.  You would know the waves that came later, "What if...?"  "Why didn't we see...?" "What next?" .  Some of the questions are the same as they have always been when you consider your child's life and future, but rightly or wrongly they've become tinged with a deeper weight and concern.
You would know that we are held in the peace of knowing that the God who made our son, foresaw this before he was even ours.  Asperger's doesn't change who our son is, it isn't a deviation in the plan of God for his life, it is a piece of who he is and we are blessed, so blessed to be our son's parents.

And this is what it looks like...

When you announce that we will be taking our little family to the most magical place on earth.  Please excuse the random banana and comic book...it's a very candid moment.

Look out Mickey, we're coming for you!

Traveling thousands of miles to...

Kill my very first scorpion.  I kid you not.  I lived three years in a land known for deserts and scorpions and I had to come back to the states to come face-to-face with one.  Such irony--almost like teaching the plus3 to ice skate in a desert land.
All irony aside, we have loved being back and hugging necks and catching up on life and laughs.  We have eaten out and in more than is good for the waistline, but I feel like we're finding our pace now.  Sort of...but I have yet to walk in a Wal-Mart so maybe I shouldn't speak too quickly.
I have experienced some reverse culture shock even without Wal-Mart.  I'm kind of overwhelmed by how much people greet and talk to you in the store and the amount of enthusiasm they bring to a one-sided conversation in doing that.  In one grocery store I felt like I was being stocked (ha! that is a crazy typo/pun that I didn't intend to do!) ahem, stalked by a worker who kept meeting me on every aisle and asking me very cheerfully, "How are you today?" After the fourth time, I really just wanted to run from the store.
There have been many learning curves--I've had to give several water fountain lessons to my kids on how to make the water work.
But there have also been many beautiful moments.  Reconnecting with family, and just enjoying the love that so many have you poured out on us in welcoming us back.  Oh, and I am loving the new drink machines in certain restaurants where you look at a screen with every known soft-drink and press one icon and then wait for that drink to magically appear in your cup.  Makes me think of Willy Wonka--in a good way. =)

On the road again...

It has been a bustling few weeks, with a family vacation stuck in between, but now it's back to business and getting all of our things packed up, because in a matter of days we are making our first trip back to the states in years!
We are beyond excited, words cannot express how happy we are to see our loved ones after such a long time.  We are also tired and a little out of sorts, but traveling, packing, transitioning will do that.
Some of us in our family do not welcome change as much as the others, but we are learning, Husband Dear and I, on how to provide stability in the midst of change, how to accept, if not welcome, change as a chance to grow more into the person God has intended us to be.  A friend recently sent me a few links to some excellent articles relating to the expat life--how we can love two places at once and yearn for "home" even when we are there.
The articles were very insightful to our lives at the moment and so I'll include them here:
http://www.thecultureblend.com/?p=1444
http://www.thecultureblend.com/?p=1124
My apologies if these don't actually link, technology and I are still trying to come to terms, but please do copy and paste, because these are worth a read if you have any wayward expats in your life you'd like to understand better. =)
Can't wait to see you all!

Hitting the highlights

Well, I can see I have some catching up to do since April...
May:  I celebrated my birthday with dinner out with husband dear, thanks to some sweet friends who offered to babysit.  We continued on with swim lessons, school and beginning language lessons for the plus3.  And then, I got attacked by mango sap and spent a few weeks itching and being miserable. -( I would draw a sad face with two eyes, but that's pretty much what I looked like with one eye swollen from the reaction...I was a sad tomato.
June:  We took the plus3 ice skating for the very first time in their lives.  Ironic, isn't it?  Ice skating in a desert land.  Imp turned 6 and has been so excited about it, I love kids who love their birthdays, it makes it fun for everybody--except, of course, for the five months prior that she wept with bitter tears because, "tomorrow was not her birthday!" That part of the passion I can leave off.

 Thank the Lord for these metal walker thingys.  I don't know what I was thinking taking three kids who have never ice skated out onto the ice with just me loaded up on antihistamines to supervise.  Let's just say everybody taught themselves and I tried to stay upright. =)
It really must have been the best plan after all, because this is what Imp asked to do to celebrate her birthday. so we went ice skating again just for her, and this time they all graduated to no walkers.  Look out winter, here we come!

Catching up

Hello to all, while Imp is belting out an incomprehensible song about "everyone bowing down to her" (maybe Lion King was not such a good choice for her??), I am trying to catch up on the days that have flown by...
Here is eldest son, with the sunflower he sprouted as a seed back in January.

We all had such fun watching the sunflowers grow and then "harvesting" the seeds. =)

We stopped at a little white rock beach we found on the way back from our turtle watching field trip.  That was definitely fun, but we weren't allowed to take pictures when we were out on the beach observing the turtles at night.

 Then March rolled into April and we had fun dyeing Easter eggs together.

I thought the purple was particularly pretty. =)

We then held an egg hunt.

 If you look closely behind eldest daughter you might spy an egg...

Getting warmer...actually the temperature that morning was well to 100 by 9 am so we had to hustle a little.

 Then we proceeded to watch the plus 3 make this lovely bunny cake.

 I'm pretty sure eldest son ate his "contributions" while eldest daughter put the cake together. =)  Wait for it...

It's  a yellow, snaggle-toothed bunny, but he sure was tasty.


All egg hunts and bunny cakes aside, I hope you all had a wonderful, meaning-filled Easter.  I don't have pictures of our sunrise service on the beach from that morning, but it definitely made the day more beautiful for us here.

 We begin recapping this month with apple pie.  You might say that desserts seem to be the punctuation points between the events recorded here, and you might be very right. =)

 Eldest daughter in her dress made by Mimi.  It is so lovely, especially when you tie the belt a bit higher, but we were in a hurry to get a picture. =)

This one has a definite style all her own and, yes, that whole look is from her imagination.

Husband Dear had a birthday and I actually thought ahead to have someone bring 'Nilla Wafers to us so that he could have one of his favorites, banana pudding, to celebrate.  We don't wait too long to dig in around here!

I think it only appropriate that is was Imp who found this unusually striped beauty among all the other hibiscus.

An early trip to the zoo, part field trip and all to thrill and delight the plus3, especially eldest son whose 9th birthday is coming soon!

 Irish Soda Bread (so technically NOT a dessert =)) to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.  Along with a math game called "pot of gold" (basically Bingo), but I don't believe in gold foiled milk chocolate coins (I mean, I could believe in them if they were dark chocolate, but I digress) so we used dried fruit and a good time was had by all.

 Imp lays out an addition snake game to solve, and to my delight she stuck with it and found the sum.  We seem to be finding our groove with this whole school thing. ;)

Into the Wadi

This was part two of our trip to the desert, a visit to the wadi (that had just recently received lots of rain--adding a whole new level of challenge and fun to our trip =)).

My man in action. =)  This area was actually used for a cliff diving event at one point (but from a platform higher up).

 Still it was a pretty good distance, more than I needed to try out at that point in our trip (I climbed a waterfall (crazy!) and jumped from another ledge later) all with Husband Dear cheering me on.  He likes to remind me of my adventurous side. =)

Part of our hike included walking on/along/in the irrigation system that has been used here for hundreds of years.

The views were incredible and far beyond any pictures I can take; the hike was challenging and rewarding and a good time was had by all. =)  Can't wait to do it again sometime!

Desert

Husband Dear is channeling Duck Dynasty..."Desert Style."

 We had a chance to take a trip as a family out to the desert before the weather warms up too much and I had the opportunity to go dune bashing!  Of course we added in some educational aspects--constellations, animal tracks, patterns in nature.  And I actually saw a shooting star!

The sand is beautiful here, but extremely hard to climb--gives you a whole new perspective about crossing any distance of it on foot!  The Dune Bashing was fun, until the end when we went down this crazy tall dune and I looked out and realized how "vertical" we were sliding down the sand...
I was hanging on to the seat with all my might, so no pictures of this part of the experience, you'll just have to take my word for it--or come see for yourself! =)

Recap on January

It would be an understatement to say that January was busy...but I did manage to capture a few pieces of it with my camera.

 The long 10 chain (or the cube of 10) took every rug/quilt we have, but the eldest two had fun. =)

 A creative spin on recycling:  rag rug making.  I think the favorite part thus far has been the creating of the "rags."  Who knew tearing denim could be so much fun!

 Getting started on the rug...

 Making a galaxy...I will credit myself with a little bit of creativity on this one.  It was supposed to be an art project with glitter and paint to make stars and nebulae, but I couldn't find glitter in this country, crazy considering how many sparkly dresses I see here...but I digress.  So, what I did have was chocolate and SPRINKLES. =)

 We all had fun making different galaxy shapes...although to be honest, I think we were just aiming to put the most stars (SPRINKLES) possible in the chocolate, but oh well.

 Eldest son's galaxy quickly disappears into the black hole between his front teeth...

 My hazel eyed girl.

 I told Imp to smile and this is what we got...

 Showed her her funny picture, we all laughed and this is take two.

 Ahem, Momma's galaxy included tiramisu. =)  But don't tell the plus 3! ;)  Husband dear and I had a date night in with these beauties--I found the "deconstructed tiramisu" here (and it happens to be gluten free if that interests anyone):
http://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2012/02/tiramisu-chocolate-cups-low-carb-and-gluten-free.html

 Imp's work.

 We studied parts of the seed and then sprouted some of our own.

Hopefully, these sunflower seeds will grow and bloom before it gets too hot here.

 This moment was precious.  The Plus 3 made a carnival of sorts, with games for us to play, including musical chairs (thank you Mimi and Grandpa =)). This was a picture of the "Magic Show" part, where Eldest son with the help of his assistant, Imp, made one of his stuffed animals disappear.

We studied Europe and also a little bit about Impressionism and Renoir and Monet.  Here's our take on it.

 Imp plays catapult math, which I borrowed from this site:
http://deceptivelyeducational.blogspot.com/2013/07/catapult-addition-diy-math-game.html

The henna adds a nice touch I think. =)

Our catapult "buttons" are extras that have been liberated from the chair cushions, waste not...

Hope you enjoy our recap of a very whirlwind January!