Fun at School on the Weekend

We are thankful that the boys go to such a nice school. We really like the education they are receiving, they both have wonderful teachers, and they are making nice friends. The school has great facilities, to include a pool, large soccer field, multiple playgrounds, basketball court, and rock wall. And, it is open on the weekend to play, which is what we did last weekend. This first picture was from Caleb's Spring show the week before.

Caleb and Nathan playing basketball, yes, that is Benjamin climbing the rock wall with his cast, and Eliza and I watching from the sidelines.

Races on the soccer field. These boys are fast, like their dad.

View of the field.

Caleb practicing his pull-ups on the soccer goal.

It was a nice day to be outside and play for a couple of hours!

Our Loves

Love, love, love these 3. We had a week of fevers and coughs, but everyone is on the mend and feeling pretty good now.

Benjamin is doing great with his cast and he only has 2 weeks left. We are amazed with how well he has adapted to using his right hand to do everything, including writing, and it looks just about as good with this right as his left hand. He has had such a great attitude, despite some of the limitations, and this has definitely challenged him in new ways. We asked him which hand he plans to use when he gets his cast off and he said, "I'm not sure?" Maybe we have a truly ambidextrous kid. 

Caleb loves being around Eliza, reading to her, and especially dressing her up! He wants to see her all the time and give her kisses. She in turn is a great sport about it, and she gets a big smile pretty much any time her brothers are around.

Our love ;). He is such an incredible husband and father, and so engaged with the kids. Nathan and the boys have been enjoying a book written by a Navy Seal, on how to be a Warrior Kid. 

Sweet Valentine's Day flowers :)

Just a girl and her cat. Eliza keeps a good eye on Twix, and Twix is very patient with her. 

This past weekend, we went to a furniture workshop to look at a piece of Syrian style buffet table we are having built. They boys enjoyed wandering around the workshop looking at antique furniture and seeing where they do the work. Benjamin may have stayed if we let him!

Later that day, we took the boys to a trampoline jump park. I didn't get any pictures inside, but here's the view from where it is located, looking down into our neighborhood area.

Afterwards we went to this really large home goods store that I've been wanting to check out, and they had a lot of random life-size dinosaurs and other zoo animals around the store for kids to climb on. I really love that about this part of the world, it's so kid-friendly!

Hope you all had a Valentine's Day full of love and sweetness :).

Caleb's Writing Celebration

Last week, Caleb had a writing celebration at school, which is when the kids showcase stories that they have been working on. Caleb wrote two stories, one about virtual reality and another about maps. They had to create a table of contents and write on each topic. He did a great job and was proud to read his stories.

Caleb has such a great imagination and is very creative in the things he thinks and writes about, and we are glad he has a teacher that embraces and encourages him in his work.

And one day during rest time, where he was supposed to be laying in bed reading a book, I came to find this goofy kid. Magic merlin hat, snorkel mask, sheriff's badge, baseball mits, Christmas necklace, and night slippers. We truly love Caleb's imaginative and fun spirit.

Eliza Rose: Five Months Old

Eliza Rose turned 5 months old last week. She lights up our days, and is full of smiles.

This month she has learned to do a lot of new things. She reaches and grabs for toys and brings them to her mouth, and still intently studies her hands. She is getting strong on her tummy and can now easily roll from back to front and occasionally from front to back.

Eliza is enjoying her bumbo seat, and recently began sitting in her high chair. No food yet, but she likes being part of the crew at meal times.

She loves bath time with daddy, and even cuts him a break by not pooping in the tub as often these days. And she has found her voice and loves to use it!

She eats 5-6 times and loves her milk! She continues to be a great sleeper and will sleep 10-11 hour stretches at night, though as I write this about a week later, she began waking at night but I think it's a growth spurt because she is starving and has outgrown some clothes this past week! She takes between 2-3 naps a day, and is usually awake from the mid-afternoon until bedtime. It's hard to miss out when there is so much excitement around her. Eliza weighs somewhere between 16-17 lbs, she is in a size 2 diaper, and 6/9 month clothes.

Eliza adores her brothers and the feeling is mutual. They love seeing her first thing in the morning when she wakes up, playing with her and reading her books. We have no doubt that she will get right into the mix as soon as she is able!

The boys can make Eliza laugh better than anyone. We can tell she will look up to her big brothers, and pray for them to have a strong bond as they grow up.

Happy five months sweet girl, we love you!

Snow Day

As I write this post, our lows are in the upper 40's and highs near 60 some days, but a little over a week ago, it snowed in Amman! Since living in Jordan the past 3.5 years, we have only had a dusting, but this was legit snow. Soft, heavy snowflakes, the nice pretty snow. 

The boys were already asleep when it started falling. We contemplated waking them up, and probably would have if we knew that school and work would have been cancelled the next day, but we let them sleep. They were super excited to see the snow when they woke up the next morning, and even more excited that we all had the day off together!

Backyard covered in snow.

We enjoyed the little bit of snow while it lasted. It sure seems to be done for this winter season, but you never know!

Broken bones, round 3

Benjamin fractured his left arm arm at school last week. He was playing with some friends at recess and fell on the concrete. Since arriving in Jordan, this is his third broken bone. A couple of years ago, he fell off the couch and had a severely broken right arm. Shortly after healing, he jumped off of the same couch and over a cardboard wall he built, and fractured his right ankle. So, we are getting to know the various hospitals and orthopedic doctors around here!

When I picked Benjamin up from school, he was in good spirits and had a smile on his face. His teacher told us that he never complains at school, so when he was holding his arm, she knew he was in pain.  The school nurse advised taking him to the hospital for an x-ray, and sure enough he fractured both bones in his forearm. Benjamin is a very good patient and was really brave.

Nathan met us at the hospital and the orthopedic followed shortly after.  The doctor was trying to talk to him and as he was wrapping his cast, and he asked Benjamin if he likes soccer. Benjamin thought he said sucker, and told the doctor, "you are a sucker!" We laughed and were glad to see his feistiness, despite his discomfort.

He had a nice welcome back at school the next day from his teachers and friends, and the Principal called us to let us know how proud she was of him for being brave. Benjamin was excited to show us all the signatures and pictures on his cast.  Since he is left-handed, he is already working hard to get proficient with his right hand - everything from brushing his teeth, eating, combing his hair, getting dressed one-handed, and even writing! Of course we will help him when he needs it, but he is very independent and a hard worker, and is proven to be quite efficient in the few days he has had his cast on.

Here is a funny re-take of a picture from when he broke his right arm a few years ago:

January 2016

January 2019

Just 5 weeks, then Benjamin will be good as new again!

A visit to the King Talal Reservior and Scandanavian Forest

We took a day off work to spend the time with the big boys, and ventured to the King Talal Dam and Scandanavian Forrest. It was beautiful weather to be outside and explore. This was our first visit to the dam and it was interesting to see. The dam is about 45 mins away, in the northern hills of Jordan, across from the Zarqa River. It is used to store winter rainwater and treated wastewater from Zarqa and Amman and to irrigate the Jordan valley. 

On the shore, the boys had fun throwing rocks and collecting bamboo sticks.

We even saw a guy rowing across the dam using shovels as oars, haha!!

It was nice to see something different and to be outside.

Our next stop was the Scandinavian Forrest. It is one of our local favorites to hike around and only about 1/2 hour away. I love the view of the city from up top and how clean and fresh the air feels.

Setting off on the hike. 

The hike is a loop and you get beautiful views all the way around.

Benjamin collected a lot of pine cones on the hike. They filled our pockets and the backpack!

And Caleb found some sticks that looked like bones. They like to go on dino bone hunts on this hike :).

And of course they thought it was funny to hike in a forbidden area...part of the sign says it is forbidden to enter, in Arabic.

Nathan ended the hike by surprising the boys with hot chocolate in camping mugs. It was a fun day :)

Eliza: Four Months Old

This sweet girl turned 4 months old this week. She is changing so much and we love every moment with her. Her neck is getting very strong and she holds it up well. The past couple of weeks, she has enjoyed her sitting in her bumbo seat and exploring the toys. She is starting to grab onto items and bring them to her mouth. The boys say she is tasting the world :). 

This month is started giggling a lot when you tickle or startle her. I think one of the things she enjoys most is watching her brothers play and talk to her.

Eliza eats 5 to 6 times a day.  She is in 3-6 month clothes and size two diapers. At her appointment earlier this week, she weighed 16lbs (50th%) and was 24.5 inches long (80th%). We are so in love with this little girl, and are so thankful for her.