43, 118, and Mother’s Day

A couple of weeks ago I took my 43rd revolution around the sun, and my mom took her 75th. This was our 118th birthday! I love that my mom and I share a birthday, it is a special gift. That morning I woke up to hugs and cards from the kids and Nathan, then we all went our separate ways to work and school.

At work my co-workers decorated my desk, and we ordered lunch and had cake, and they gave me this personalized Turkish plate.

I had these pretty flowers waiting for me at home from Nathan, and he got me a new watch.

We ordered dinner, had cake, boys had piano lessons, and we relaxed for the evening. It was a good day! My mom and dad spent the day celebrating in Ft. Lauderdale with a water taxi ride and they went out to lunch and dinner. I guess we both ate our way through our birthdays this year!

A little over a week after my birthday is Mother’s Day. I am so thankful for each of our children and for the best gift ever, to be called mom. I am thankful for my mom and mother-in-law, and for the wonderful example they have set as mothers for me, for Nathan for making it possible for me to be a mom and being right there beside me through it all. I am thankful for all my friends and family that are moms, and for the love and support we share with one another. Being a mom is such a rewarding gift. It’s not always easy and pretty, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. We celebrated a day early because we had plans on Sunday. We went to Turkish breakfast at my favorite restaurant near our house and spent the day relaxing around the neighborhood. On Mother’s Day the kids made me this sweet card, Nathan gave me flowers, and gifted me a massage that I look forward to using soon.

The boys and Nathan went to a birthday party, and Eliza and I enjoyed playing at nearby park and an ice cream date. That evening we ordered food and played some games. 

And after a rainy afternoon, we were left with this beautiful double rainbow. 

Lots of happy spring celebrations!

Visit with friends from Jordan

Our friends Cassandra (her husband had to stay behind) and her twins Sean and Ava from Jordan, who now live in Moldova, came to visit us a couple of weeks ago. They arrived in Jordan a year after us and left just a few weeks before we did. We decided to surprise the boys with their visit, and they were surprised. The kids talk periodically online, but when they saw each other in person, they picked up right where they left off a couple years ago, as if no time had passed. The first night we met them at their hotel and walked to dinner and to a nearby park.

The next day, we went to the old city to roam and see the castle. 

Great views of the city from the top and the weather was perfect.

Cassandra and I. She is a very sweet friend and it was nice to see each other and catch up.

We wandered the old city and looked at shops, then ate lunch at a nice outdoor restaurant, that I didn’t get any pictures of.

That afternoon, we went back to our house to let the kids play outside. Everything is in bloom, it’s so pretty!

The next day, the kids came over and we took them to play laser tag. Even Eliza got in on the fun, but she came out early because she said she didn’t know what to do, haha.

The weekend they were visiting was National Children’s Day, which is a big holiday in Turkey. They love children and celebrate them big, especially on this day. Throughout town there were large Turkish flags, pictures of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of Turkey, and celebrations in various parts of the city.

Our neighborhood had festivities during the day and a performance at night. Downtown, they had a big ceremony for the children to perform songs and dances, that the President Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends. We didn’t attend any festivities, but everyone enjoyed the strong Turkish nationalism on display everywhere we went.

The last time Cassandra saw Eliza, she was about 18 months old, and she has gotten quite big since then :). Eliza enjoyed lots of cuddles with Cassandra and playing with the big kids.

They were staying at the hotel we stayed in this past December for the plumbing renovation, so the kids were happy to go back to the hotel and enjoyed showing their friends the nearby parks.

 It was a quick but fun visit, a nice reunion for the kids, and fun to spend time with Cassandra. We are thankful they were able to come visit and for these types of friendships when living abroad.

Happy Easter!

 Happy Easter! We had a low-key Easter and celebrated with traditional egg dying, cookie decorating, and and egg hunt, leading up to Easter. On Easter morning, we went to church, the had lunch out and spent the day together. It was a good day, celebrating our risen Lord. I apparently didn’t take a lot of pictures, and we didn’t even get one of us all dressed up on Easter, but here are the few I have.

Hope you had a wonderful Easter!

Eliza’s First Haircut!

 This past weekend, Eliza got her first haircut! I took her to the salon where I get my haircut...here we go.

This is Haydar, one of the men who cuts my hair. He was so gentle with Eliza and gave her extra special treatment. Kadem and Ebru met us at the salon. They are like a second mother and old sister to Eliza and were excited to be there to watch. 

First he blew out her hair so he could get the knots out of it...she does not like getting her hair brushed at home and accumulates some impressive knots in the back of her head. For her hair cut, I thought about just cleaning up her ends and keeping it long, but I decided to get it all cut to the same length, as the front of her hair.

He chopped about 6 inches off her hair and put it in a ponytail for us to keep. 

Next, Eliza got her hair washed and he gave her a head massage. Without being asked, she shut her eyes, put her little head back, and enjoyed that massage. I wish you could have seen the look on her face, it was pure pleasure.

Ready or the rest of the cut and blow dry!

She looks so much more grown up with short hair! And they made her a ‘my first haircut’ certificate in Turkish. It was very sweet. Next, it was time for a manicure and to finish off her hair - she said she wanted it curly.

So many colors to choose from...can you guess what she chose? Pink!

Eliza getting those curls :).

Turks love kids, it’s really sweet to watch them interact with them so well everywhere you go. And our kids love the attention they get most the time. However,  shortly after this, Eliza jumped out of her chair crying and screamed that she wanted to go home. I was in the middle of a manicure, and she came and sat on my lap for a while and settled down, then got her nails fixed and was happy again. 

Big girl with new haircut and pink nails!

The salon made this sweet video of Eliza. Love our big girl.

Spring Break, April Fools, and New Places

 It has been a good last few weeks. We have enjoyed some warmer temperatures and beautiful weather, the boys had spring break, and they enjoyed pulling a few April Fool’s jokes on us. Just lots of normal life things :). While on Spring Break, the boys had the opportunity to attend the sports camp they went to this summer. I didn’t take a single picture of them, but it was a fun week of all kinds of sports, a couple field trips to a trampoline park, swimming, ice skating, horseback riding, and reconnecting with friends and counselors from last summer. We are so thankful for this camp! Eliza is always sad to see her brothers go in the morning, but she has a lot of fun with Kadem and Ebru, and she too will start pre-school this summer (pre-school is year-round here). The kids also wanted to make a football field on the table to play with their paper football puck, and it quickly turned into an exploding art experiment with lots of glittery paper, crayons, and other art supplies. They enjoyed the creativity area, and Nathan even let it stay in this shape for the week :).

The past couple years, the boys have had a fascination with April Fools, and they work hard to think of pranks they can play on us.  This year, we got beaned...apparently the bowl of bean was supposed to be on the floor so when we walk into the bathroom first thing in the morning with no lights, we would step into it, so we appreciated them having the discretion to put the bowl of beans on the counter!

Both of our sock and underwear drawers were replaced with pull up diapers!

And our toilet and shower faucet were covered with saran wrap....good thing we caught that!

And then we served the kids their frozen underwear for breakfast. It was a fun day of little pranks.

One day, Nathan took the kids to the forrest across the street for a hike. It’s Nathan’s happy place, and a fun place for everyone to be active and explore.

In early April, Nathan went to Algeria for work for a few days. He said it was an older, but interesting place to visit, and was glad for the opportunity to go there.

I work 4 days a week, and on my off day, I have a favorite cafe near the house that I like to go to for a couple hours to study and enjoy Turkish breakfast, then I get to spend the rest of the day with Eliza.

On this day, while I was studying, she was treated to the indoor play place near our house and a lunch date.

It was an extra special treat because Ezgi, Ebru’s older sister was in town for the week.

Kadem and Ebru do such a nice job teaching Eliza Turkish, she is learning so much! This is a cute song that Ebru taught her recently.

Lastly, this memory came up on my facebook memories earlier this week, from Easter in Kuwait in 2014. Long gone are the days that I can hold them both in my arms at the same time, but I loved this sweet memory of them so little:).

Happy Spring!