Where are you spring?

 It is March and still snowing here just about every week! Turks say that March is half winter and half spring...but we have not seen signs of spring yet, with lows still in the teens and highs in the 20’s and 30’s.  The forecast says we will be warming up to maybe the 40’s this week, which will be a welcome change. In the meantime, we are enjoying the prettiness of the winter season. This is Nathan’s view of Lake Emir by our house, when he walks in the forrest. 

We are thankful the kids love to play outside, especially when it is snowing!

This little girl had a fever for a couple days earlier in the month, and wanted to hang out on the couch and watch TV.

She loves to color, draw, and paint. Looks at these cute smiley faces!

Benjamin loves origami and watching videos about how to make different things. This is a giant pop-it.

One day the kids came to the Embassy for routine vaccinations. They all needed a PPD skin test, and poor Caleb needed 3 other shots. Everyone did great, though Eliza won the prize. She wanted to go first, she watched the needed go into her skin and said, “that didn’t hurt at all”. Caleb, who usually has to be pinned down by two people did a great job. He was scared, but let the nurse give him the shots, we were so proud of how far he has come in the doctor’s office. Benjamin, who used to be the easiest, got pretty worked up before the shots, but once he got it, he was fine. Three happy kids done and done....till the other shots arrive and we come back for more.

That weekend, I came down with a bad cold, that to my surprise ended up being COVID. I did not feel well for a few days, but was able to rest in bed while Nathan took care of the kids and the house, and he took time off work to care for Eliza when I wasn’t feeling well. Eliza loves her daddy and having a few days at home with him to herself was a treat for them both.  I would hear them playing and reading throughout the day, they have a very special bond. On any given day, you will catch her finding him around the house to give him a hug and a kiss. Nathan is a saint and I am so thankful for how wonderful of a husband and father he is.  

Kadem and her whole family had similar symptoms as me, and their entire family also ended up with COVID. Thankfully everyone is feeling better now! Then, on my day 5 the Embassy required the family to test, and it turned out all the kids tested positive, and Nathan was negative. Thankfully the kids have had no symptoms and feel well, and Nathan either had it, is Superman, or he will get it within the next week or so, but thankfully he feels good.  The kids now have a week out of school before they are allowed to go back. They are mostly having fun considering they are cooped up inside the apartment, however they definitely miss being outside with their friends as they watch them play from the window. One of their friends brought them a big goody bag of candy and cookies one evening and sweet note to say they missed them. 

We had a lot of take out this week, since I wasn’t up to cooking, and everyone enjoyed ordering multiple times from our favorite Chinese restaurant, Quick China. That evening, the boys kicked me out of the kitchen and set the table and put food on everyone’s plate.

After Benjamin cleaned up and did all the dishes.

Then, he surprised us and made dessert. He cut apples, strawberries, peeled oranges, and topped it with whipped cream.  He loves to be helpful and it was much appreciated this day!

We watched it snow throughout the weekend!

Back to homeschool for just a few days, which seems so easy after having done it for almost an entire school year, and it brought back nice memories for all of us, of doing school with last year. Since it’s the end of the quarter, the kids fortunately do not have a lot of school work, so they have enjoyed a lot of time to play. We have been reading more books, but the kids have been playing really nicely together so we just let them do that. Eliza said she loves having the brothers home and does not want them to go back to school, haha. Caleb is wearing a mask because it came with a new set of Managa character keychains and necklace/bracelet we ordered for him that he was waiting for weeks and just arrived. He loves Manga, which is Japanese anime comic books, and this set is from one of his favorite Manga books. 

I’ll leave you with this sweet video I meant to post last month. Eliza likes to rock me and sing me a song before bed, yes, she even wants me to sit in her lap! Then she gets in my lap and I rock and sing to her. She usually wants Twinkle, twinkle little star, but this night choose Mr. Sun. She has such a sweet little voice. Love this little girl so much. 

Thankfully everyone feels good now, and we have asked both COVID and winter to kindly leave and spring to arrives so we can enjoy some sunshine!