Porto

Since Henry was the one who had most recently been sick when we arrived in Porto, we let him chose what we should do that first day and he chose “Sea Life”.  It’s a really nice little aquarium (albeit small), but the kids had a lot of fun.  They even got to feed the stingrays and complete a little “quiz” at the end of our time which won them an awesome medal   Afterwards, we walked along the beach for a little while and I snapped a few pictures, we grabbed lunch at McDonalds and then everyone was worn out so we went back to our friends apartment and just watched movies and played games.  Nice and relaxing.

Coming out of the fog…

Oh man folks.  I don’t know WHAT has happened, but our family has been passing around something for over two weeks now!  First it was Cal with an ear infection, then Mg who basically passed out for two days, then Henry followed suit…then we attempted to go ahead with our fun “mini-vacation” plans this past weekend but they were cut short and we returned home because they saved what seems to be the worst of it for yours truly.  I came down with something Tuesday and am STILL trying to recover…I can’t WAIT to feel myself again!  Lily also said she was sick here and there, but she never seemed to actually have anything…I guess she just didn’t want to feel left out, but if she only knew…she wouldn’t want any part of this

I am way behind on any and all blogging, so I thought I’d go ahead and just post what I DO have from the moments we’ve been more “lively” these past two weeks.  (Thank goodness I’m not still doing a “photo a day” though…I’ve got nothing but piles of kleenex from the past few days!)

Let’s start with Valentine’s Day…shall we?!  One of my friends got me this mug as a gift…isn’t it cute?!

And it wasn’t right until bedtime that I got to give the kids their gifts (Tuesday’s are busy days), but they each got a new shirt (as modeled above their p.j.’s), some candy and a deck of cards with 52 things I love about each of them.  Of course Cal doesn’t really get it yet, but I hope they’ll all appreciate it some day…it was fun to sit and reflect on all the unique ways I love them (for their own uniqueness).  Henry was cute…Henry went straight to bed and read them…and then the next day…and the next…I think this boy loves words of affirmation

Valentine’s isn’t really celebrated much here in Portugal, especially since the thing THEY are looking forward to during this time is Carnival!  The kids at Calvin’s school were all given a black hat and asked to decorate it.  Lily took over that job for him and created this adorable masterpiece fit for Cal :)

And here’s a few of the other hats…there were lots of cute ones.  One thing that amazes me about Portuguese is how resourceful they are…they use recycled materials (including coffee capsules) for everything!

Carnival is a big day at the schools (kind of like our Halloween) where the kids go all out and dress up at school and then parade around the neighborhood with confetti.  It’s super cute…I was just super bummed when I got up there to watch and snap pictures when my camera died after about 5 pictures   I only got one, not even a good one, of Henry who I was SO proud of.  If you SAW the prices of costumes here, you probably wouldn’t blame us for not purchasing them, so he woke up that morning, dug through their dress up clothes and created his very own “Darth Vador” costume.  He looked super cute and I was super proud that he didn’t mind wearing old stuff!  And Lily seems to always fall back on Snow White…she wore the same thing last year…and a few years before that…it’s kind of funny.  I think next year when we’re in the U.S. these kids will all have earned some new costumes!  (And Cal, well, I say he went as Mr. Cranky Pants because this kid never wants anything to do with dressing up, but his teachers were sweeter.  When his friends asked what Calvin was, they just said, “An American”   )  All the kids are super cute though…my personal favorites are always the cowboys and indians.  It’s amazing to me how many of the kids here dress like that and I love telling them that they’re dressed up like “my land”.  Anyway, here’s a few pics…

And, well, really, that’s about as animated as we’ve been these past few weeks.  I’m telling you…these illnesses have been brutal!  I have a few pictures from the little bit of time we were in Porto, but I’ll do those seperately…since I don’t have much else to report lately   Here’s hoping next week will be better…it’s GOT to be!

Valentines Party 2012!

This was my second year to host a Valentine’s themed party for Lily’s little girl friends.  I figure it’s a great excuse to do girly things and just to celebrate them…every little girl should be spoiled and celebrated from time to time for no reason, right?!  Last year I was a little discouraged when only three little girls showed up, but this year 11 (out of 20) showed up to party alongside Lily!  I was thrilled…I believe it is a testament to how good God has been to us in the friend department…we invited some of her old friends from last year, her classmates from this year and some neighbors and other little girls we know from various events.  I also invited three of my friends (without kids) to come and help me out.  They LOVED getting to play with all the girlies!  We kept them busy with lots of activities…coloring and making valentines, decorating cookies, playing bingo, etc.  They still found time to dress up though (as you’ll see)   Anyway, here are a few of the pictures I was able to snap…such a fun day!

My cave

I’ve been doing quite a bit of reading lately.  It has been so cold here that I have been retreating to what Mg lovingly calls “my cave” where we have laundry hanging (since our dryer broke ) and a little space heater running to try to help dry them faster.  It’s a little room, so it gets nice and toasty and I LOVE it!  I even recently gave it a facelift and am thrilled with the “happiness” the room portrays.  It’s a great place to retreat with my cup of coffee, my Bible and some other books and the smell of fresh laundry blowing in a warm breeze

I’m smiling just thinking about it.  It is filled with old maps and postcards from our journey’s taken and I can’t wait to add to it over the years…I’m already excited thinking about our March…London, Spain and Morocco!  Not to mention new postcards from any travels we make while in the U.S.!  Anyway, that is “my cave”.  I’m not sure what the owners original intent was for this room…it has some closets for storage and leads to the laundry room, but we use it just as our room to kind of hide everything during parties, but now it’s a little more functional.

And, like I said, I hide in there and read books.  I recently finished this one…

It was really wonderful.  She described me so perfectly sometimes it was creepy and yet SO nice to hear that there are other “good girls” like me out there!  It was a great reminder of the grace that God has already given to us and to let go of our too  high expectations of ourselves.  I highly suggest this book to any of you out there who are too hard on yourself…because you have a God who loves you a lot, a lot!  You don’t have to keep “trying” to please Him…He’s already pleased.

Mg and I also just finished reading…

We both really loved it.  We had been recommended this book by some friends and so I asked my mother for it for Christmas.  It’s comical/sad that I had to preface with “no mom, our marriage is not in trouble”.  It seems like most people think these books should only be read when marriages are in trouble…when most likely, it’s too late for this book to help.  People should be more “pro-active” in keeping their marriages, parenting, etc. healthy and not waiting until they are “sick”.  Anyway, it was great and left us up talking several nights about the insights we learned.  It’s wonderful!

And, my dear friend Andee suggested this one to me…

I’m not normally one for “Christian fiction”, but I trust Andee’s taste, so I read it and got hooked and thoroughly enjoyed it!  It’s a bittersweet story about wealthy families of Atlanta surviving the great depression.  If you’re looking to get lost in a good book for a few days, I think you’ll find this one to provide just that!

And, lastly, right now I’m in the middle of reading…

This book makes you think.  As a matter of fact, I hesitate mentioning it because I think it would “rock the boat” with lots of people, but it raises some GREAT questions about the way we “do church” today.  I am really enjoying it…I always enjoy something that challenges you to think.  Like I said, I’m not finished yet, but at the half way point, I would say I am in full agreement with Mr. Viola, I’m just not sure how to reconcile it with how the church is…I’m hoping he’ll get to that in the next half.

So, that’s what I’ve been up to in “my cave” recently…staying warm, doing laundry, thinking happy thoughts about travels, filling my heart with God’s Word and reading these other fun books.  You should all have a cave…it’s a pretty cool place to hang out

1,000 gifts (numbers 250-300)

255.  seeing evidence of God wooing someone

259. mailboxes

262. bookshelves full of books

263. cowboy boots (especially on my Lily)

271. a kindle full of new books

277. cute, organizational baskets

281. Portugal yellow

284. yellow flowers dotting green grass

287. sledding

290. seeing parents swoop their children into big hugs

291. Bibles in every language = beautiful

295. maps and postcards from journey’s taken

296. teaching my children to find shapes in the clouds

299. the Irish accent

300. pigeons descending upon a city park

The Bread Museum

As promised, here are some pictures from our visit to the “museu do pão”.  The adventure started right away as we tried entering the parking lot and a guy with a walkie-talkie told us to wait as there were cars descending.  The lane up to the place was literally that tiny…they had men manning the road at the entrance and exit   Michael wasn’t thrilled about having to parallel park nearly perpendicular, but he did a fabulous job…and thankfully, our parking brakes did a wonderful job as well   Here is Henry trekking up to our final destination…

The first room just had examples of all the equipment used to make and store and sell bread through the years.  I like this little old “bread delivery bike”.

Then there was a room for “bread in Religion and Politics”.  At first I thought it was kind of strange, not gonna lie, but I guess I get it.  It is used in many religious sacraments AND in lots of old political campaigns…I mean, what do people want most except assurance of their “daily bread” (food).  They had all kinds of old posters and such using featuring bread, but I just felt wierd taking pictures in this room, so, moving on.  On our way to the next room they had this wall with the word bread in every language…pretty cool.

There was then an ADORABLE cafe inside, but we were out of money at this point, so we didn’t stop, nor did I get a picture (which is a true shame).  Here is a beautiful old calendar though (from 1946 obviously) depicting the different phases of harvesting wheat and/or grains.

Then they had a special section showing off ALL the different types of bread in Portugal.  Every region/city has a specialty…it’s kind of crazy how many different types there are for such a small country.  One thing they have LOTS of variety in.

 And several other little “bread tidbits” here and there…blah, blah, blah…but it really was interesting to see what an important role bread plays in everyday life all over the world.  Then, we headed off to the little kid section where each of the kids got to make a little bread souvenier.  They loved it.

I just love when Calvin is working hard and has the tongue out   They also had an adorable little “general store” looking gift shop where you could buy bread and honey and jam.  It kind of reminded me of cracker barrell.

I’m not sure how old this building is, but they way is was done up was really beautiful.  I was highly impressed with the attention to detail here.

One last pic of all our happy kids…I mean, what a day…snow, puppies AND a fun museum!  They are such cuties!

Serra da Estrela

That is the name of the highest mountain in Portugal.  And, the only place in the country that occasionally gets snow.  I had always wanted to go and last Sunday we were given the perfect opportunity as some friends of ours invited us for a day trip.  When we told Henry he started jumping up and down and said, “are you serious?  I have ALWAYS wanted to go there!  Alexandre told me it snows there.”  It is common knowledge that it is the only place in the country with snow, but I found it comical that my seven year old also knew this.  I told him not to expect snow right now though…it has been unseasonably dry and pleasant outside.  It was a stunning drive (about an hour and 40 minutes or winding roads and charming old Portuguese villages).  My friend said their was snow there, but I was a sceptic the whole way…I didn’t see a drop.  Thus, I was STUNNED when we rounded a bend and there were people actually snow skiing down a little slope!  Really, my jaw dropped.  Henry (and the others) were elated!  It was really fun to see so many people out playing in the snow…something I have obviously never seen Portuguese people do (due to lack of snow), so it seemed so out of character, but fun!  We enjoyed about an hour of sledding and playing in the snow with our sweet friends…

It was SO much fun…I had forgotten how exhilirating something like that can be…for an afternoon at least

And below are just a couple pictures I snapped while riding along in the car.  I’m pretty sure they don’t do the place justice.  We have decided we want to go back sometime in the summer and just stop and climb and rest and picnic and take pictures all along the way….

Then we stopped in one of the small towns for lunch…

and to check out some of their souvenier shops which specialized in wool and leather products, sleds, pottery and…

….puppies!!!

 It is a dog that is native to that area and super cute.  My kids  enjoyed seeing them sitting out front of EVERY gift shop (which was the funniest thing to me…I’ve never seen a gift shop that sold live animals before) and were even more thrilled to get to pet and be kissed by one!  After that, we actually headed off to a “bread museum”, but I’ll have to post about that later…I’m tired just reliving this fun filled day!  Amazing what all we can pack into a day when we have Portuguese friends to be our tour guides

Cool Kids Party

I know that every parent probably feels this way about their kids, but ours are REALLY amazing.  They have handled the life “given” them SO well that sometimes we just stand amazed by them.  I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised.  When we felt God asking us to move overseas we also felt like He wanted to use ALL of us.  Our conviction on that played an integral part on the country we chose…we did not want to go somewhere were children could not be seen or heard, or where we would have to home school or where it would mainly be the “man” doing all the ministry.  We felt too strongly that we should all be involved…and God led us to Portugal.  I’m so thankful for that.

Our children have handled this move (two moves actually) with so much grace.  They do a wonderful job “sharing” us and our home with others.  Mg and I (taking turns) are often gone at night.  We also often have people over and thus they are constantly expected to pick up, but they also do an incredible job welcoming people into our home and loving on all the students that come in.  They have also been the ones to open doors for us…through their schools and extra curricular activities.  We are so thankful that they are friendly kids because that causes others to have a desire to hang out with us.  I truly see God using their little lives here.  I am one proud momma.

Life is SO busy right now that they hardly ever have any “down time”.  Mg and I get some during the day while they are at school, but they go to school, go to their extra-curricular activities, come home and do homework, eat dinner, take baths and then bed.  And weekends are CRAZY…that is the only time we really have to hang out with other families, so we are ALWAYS on the go.  I get exhausted sometimes, so I really marvel over the fact that they don’t melt down more.  They aren’t perfect of course…(they do have their moments of whining, etc.)…but overall, they are truly wonderful.

So, their sweet daddy came up with the idea to throw them a party, just because.  It was to express to them how much we love and celebrate them.  We chose a random Thursday (the one day they all come home at the same time and we have no night activities) and decorated the house and set out snacks and crafts and surprised them after school.  It was a fun day together and it was sweet to hear the big two say, “this is the best party ever!”  When asked why they said, “because it’s just us.”  I am thankful that they still enjoy family time.  We just hung out all afternoon blowing up balloons, throwing confetti, eating, building train-tracks, doing crafts, etc.  They woke up this morning and said, “can we have another party today?” 

Gumballs and m&m’s, popsicles and kooaid, rice crispy treats and cheetos are going to make for some happy kiddos Reading their invitations (well, except for Lily, but isn’t she adorable in her brothers old cowboy boots…her new obsession )

Ha.  We had confetti EVERYWHERE, but it was fun!

The guests of honor

Can you tell they were enjoying the party?!  If not, below is a “before and after” shot   All in all, I would call it a success!I hope they ALWAYS feel loved by us, but this was an extra fun way for us to express it to them AND they were really receptive to it.  Yesterday, pretty much anything went.  We even ended the night with a movie on the “big screen” and popcorn (a LOT of junk food was consumed yesterday).  It was great.  In my opinion, they really did deserve this little celebration.  They are some of the most loving kids I know.  They truly are “cool kids”.

A DAY date

Last Monday, Mg and I dropped the kids off at school and headed south of Coimbra about an hour.  We were going to meet some friends of ours who live close to Lisbon for lunch, so we met half way.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of us with our friends, because we met at a mall and I didn’t feel the need to drag the camera inside, BUT, we had a lovely lunch date and enjoyed “Subway”, which I had no idea was there…it was a pleasant surpise and a nice treat (there are not many in Portugal).

Before we met them though, we decided to venture to a little town we’d heard was home to an impressive old monostary.  It’s amazing to me that for such a small country, Portugal has SO much to see…no doubt more because of it’s years of existance than it’s size.  This particular monostary (in a little town called Batalha) was started in the mid-1300′s but took several centuries to complete.  It’s crazy to me to think this monostary was around before our country was even on the map!  Inside, several famous people were buried (like kings) but also Henry the Navagator…if you remember him from what?, 10th grade world history.  Anyway, here are a few pictures from this beautiful, stain-glass filled building.  Enjoy.

It’s always fun to get out of town and explore a little with my husband, even if it is just for an afternoon.  We also love getting to know our new country better and better, so it’s fun to learn more history and such through these outings.  Here’s to several more in the next few months

Are you wondering where the kids went?!

They’re still here, but they are busy and I have been “resting” and so I’ve hardly taken ANY pictures so far this year.  Oops.  But, I did take some pictures of Cal’s little school birthday party.  They are a few weeks old now, but better late than never, right?!  I incorporated it into our “English story time” and took some books about birthday parties.  Then we sang to him in English and had cupcakes and Cal got to give each of his friends a little present.  All the kids were super excited…probably why I didn’t get the best pics, but anyhow…Calvin felt special and that’s what matters to me.

Ha.  I love little Diana on the right…she is the cutest little thing, but this is always her sleepy hour and she looks so bored in this picture   And don’t you love Cal’s smile in the one below?!

He’s so cute and happy to give out gifts to his friends!  They each got a little travel, crayola coloring kit.  And below is not the best picture, but you can see the kids showing off their gifts to their teacher…they all loved it!  It made me happy to hear some giddy squeels even!

We’ve yet to throw a “real” birthday party for the little guy…it truly is just an awkward time for a birthday , but I think all and all he had a great birthday this year and felt plenty celebrated.  I sure hope he did anyway, because he is…we love having him in our family!