Fall Fun Night 2017

We always love hosting a big gathering in our backyard this time of year to celebrate all things FALL and to enjoy some good fun as a community. This year did not disappoint: we had so much yummy food and many good friends, we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores, the kids did sack races, we line danced, carved pumpkins, had an outdoor movie theater, warmed ourselves by the campfire and set off paper lanterns! What fun!

The pumpkin winner: President Trump! Can you see it?!?!? Haha!

October 2017 in pictures

Oh this girl and her bunnies!

My two littlest boys being silly while waiting to pick up their older siblings at school one afternoon.

Vienna was able to bring her bunny to school for World Animal Day on October 4th. Two of her classmates were so kind to help me carry the cage back to my van.

One of Vienna's favorite things to do is to rock baby Mikail to sleep.

A Sunday morning breakfast date!!

It's that time of year again. Time for all the neighbors to bring us big bowls full of Aşure (or Noah's pudding). It's believed that when Noah's ark landed on Mt Ararat (located in Turkey) they wanted to have a celebration, but the food supply was next to nothing, so they mixed all their remaining ingredients together - and voila - Aşure! Turks will make a huge pot of Aşure and then give it out to all their neighbors. Every year I look forward to it!

Isaiah with all his kindergarten classmates.

We make many trips to school throughout the day. The kids all get dropped off at school at 9. Then Isaiah needs picked up from kindergarten at 12:30, Vienna needs picked up from elementary school at 2:30 and Yohanis and Colson get picked up from middle school at 3:20. I'm thankful that the elementary school and middle school are combined, but as a one vehicle family, some days are a logistical nightmare! What I usually do to make one less trip to school is pick up Vienna at 2:30 and then wait in the schoolyard until 3:20 when the oldest two get out. Vienna will usually do her homework and the little boys will play while we wait. Or some days if the older boys stay after school for soccer or guitar they will ride the public bus home. Anyway, Brooks has made MANY friends with his older sibling's classmates. They all adore him and he just loves the attention, not to mention the special treats they sometimes give him.

A fun Saturday family day at the park!

Tuesday mornings with Brooks are my favorite! We usually stop in to visit some friends and then head to our local bazaar!

Celebrating Yohanis' 12th birthday 😳😳!!

Yohanis invited some friends from school and he picked cheeseburgers, french fries and cheesecake for his birthday dinner!

And the next day was Vienna's 9th birthday!!

The birthday girl chose chicken fettuccine alfredo for her birthday dinner and she wanted a bunny cake.

Having fun playing Dutch Blitz with a friend who was staying with us for the weekend.

What happens when the little boys beat me downstairs in the morning!

Enjoying some lokma (they are very similar to donuts). People hire these guys to make lokma and give it away in memory of lost loved ones on the anniversary of their death.

We love stealing this little girl from her family for an hour or so. She's a delight to have around and it gives her mama a break for a bit!

Getting all the pumpkins ready for our fall fun night!

One Saturday we went to the mall to pick out Isaiah's bike for his birthday. I think the bottom right picture says it all!

Visiting a neighbor and meeting her sweet new baby for the first time. Brooks was spoiled with his very own cup of coffee during our visit.

We absolutely love our Norwegian friends' tradition of drinking hot chocolate on rainy days. One rainy evening they invited us over to drink some with them! What a fun time! We love these guys so much and we're very thankful for their friendship!

 

A fun morning at the kids’ school celebrating Republic Day!!

Couples that macrame together stay together :) Joel and I love learning new things and doing projects together.

We took the kids to a nearby horse racing track one evening to ride bike. We all had a blast - especially Brooks who ran one and half laps around the track with hardly a break!

I got to have a coffee date with this girl on her birthday! I'm so incredibly thankful for her friendship in my life - what a gift it is! It’s hard to believe we met online and now we are real life best friends!

Parenthood

I feel like there are a lot of things I would love to process through writing, but it's so hard to sit down and find the time. I will at least try to start. Here goes!!

In some ways, parenting has gotten easier as the kids are growing up and becoming more independent. Their needs aren't as all-consuming and parenting isn't as physically demanding, but in other ways it has been really heavy and emotionally draining and we are dealing with bigger issues as the older kids are entering the preteen stage. And honestly, in this season I have felt like such a huge failure as a mom. I feel completely out of my element with parenting older kids. Babies are my jam!! I love the nursing, the rocking to sleep - sure it's exhausting, but problem solving is so much easier. They are usually either needing fed or needing a nap. Haha. 

As the kids are growing up I've felt so inadequate in knowing how to be a good mom to them and knowing how to get to the root of things, to find out what is really going on inside their hearts - to teach them, to be FOR them, to champion them, to really invest into them and take the time to get to know how God has uniquely wired them, to know how to listen well to their hearts and above all to point them to Jesus! 

I have screwed up with my kids more times than I can count - I've yelled, been too strict when I should have had compassion and grace, not really listened, been quick to judge, not practiced what I've preached to them, acted out of anger, the list goes on. Parenting is all so overwhelming and so hard at times! I have put so much guilt and pressure on myself and compared myself to other moms and that has just been so unhealthy. I have made plenty of mistakes, but I'm so thankful that my kids are quick to forgive me when I ask and I hope they can see Jesus working in and through me.  And the Lord has been challenging me to stop viewing myself through other's eyes, but to view myself through His eyes. To let the truth of how he sees me pierce my heart. Parenting in this season has definitely not been easy, but it has made me run to Him. I can't do this on my own, I need his wisdom, his grace, every single hour of every day.

And I have been so thankful for my husband!! I feel like I have seen him thriving in parenting in so many ways. He is strong where I am weak. We complement each other so well. He has always been an amazing dad, but the way he is leading our family and parenting our bigger kids  - I am just so thankful for! He is such a great dad that is really investing into our kids and going the extra mile. For example, there are so many nights around bedtime where I am just DONE, but he knows that those are such precious, teachable moments and their hearts are open. He spends the time and energy even when he's tired and seizes those moments. He listens well, he speaks truth to their hearts, prays for them, encourages them, tells them failure stories from his own life and what he's learned about God through it all. And I am just so thankful for a husband who is completely involved in every aspect of parenting!

So despite it being a hard season on the parenting front, I feel like there are so many things I am thanking and praising God for. That I don't have to figure this out on my own, that God is with me and more than ever I am experiencing his mercies being new every morning. Thank you Jesus that there is hope and I can be confident that he who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion!! AMEN!

September 2017 in pictures

We got to visit some of our very good friends in the village for Kurban Bayram (or the Sacrifice Festival) at the beginning of September. During the festival an animal is sacrificed and its meat is given to the poor and shared among family members and neighbors. Our friends spent all day cutting and cooking up the meat from a cow. Good times :)

There is nothing quite like being in the village. I love how we are welcomed in and treated like family - and we never leave empty handed. We are always loaded down with fresh veggies from their gardens and this time meat from their cow :)

Celebrating a dear friend's 40th birthday!

It was a peach shortcake in the backyard kind of night!

These two besties were happy to be reunited again after a summer apart!

A Saturday night out on the town with my love!

To moms of littles: Hang in there! There will come a day when you will find yourself waking up to a hot breakfast and coffee all ready for you. All you will have to do is sit down and enjoy and marvel at how your kids are turning into such amazing people!

Celebrating at Aasta's baby shower!!

Yay for sleepovers with Sawyer!

A yard full of neighborhood kids! Love it!

Joel was in Istanbul for some meetings one weekend and this is the treatment I got from my big kids while Joel was gone. I am one lucky mama!

An evening with good friends. S'mores and tea made by the campfire!

We got to hang out with two special little girls one Sunday while their mommy was at the hospital giving birth to their baby brother!

Finally meeting sweet baby Mikail. We love him like he's ours :)

First day of school! Yohanis is in 6th, Colson in 5th, Vienna in 4th and Isaiah in kindergarten. Isaiah's kindergarten teacher is even letting Brooks come two days a week. TWO WHOLE MORNINGS a week I have time to myself - it has been AMAZING!!!

Celebratory first day of school campfire dinner with "stick dough", which is dough that we wrap around a stick and cook over the fire. When they're golden brown they slide right off the stick and we fill them with a big slab of butter, some cheese and sucuk (kinda like sausage). YUM!

Also, I love the fact that our backyard is the gathering place for the neighborhood kids and two of Vienna's friends showed up right at dinner time and joined in on our stick dough tradition. Later two more kids came just in time for s'mores! Love our neighborhood!

The cutest little helper!

Vienna loves snuggling with Snowball.

You can always find this boy in the mud!!

Had to snap a picture of these two accidentally twinning one day!

We had lots of overnight guests in September - what fun . . .

Every day after school Vienna asks if she can go hold baby Mikail. She is so sweet with him!

The boys worked hard one Saturday to make some storage boxes to sell to a friend. They love working alongside of their daddy and they have been learning so much from him!