I'm still here!

I'm pulling this blog out again after what has to be a record summer in terms of being busy. After returning to the States in mid-May, we began traveling up and down the East Coast for two months as well as squeezing in some family time with both of our families. We enjoyed the time visiting several supporting churches and traveling around, and now we're enjoying some time to be at home until mid-October when we return to our other home in Thailand.

So now some pictures (of course!)...

I love this picture. Paul's eyes are so expressive! 

 As much as I want to think Ellie is staring into my eyes and thinking wonderful thoughts about her mom, she's probably really thinking, "This yogurt is so yummy! You should try some, Mom."

 We spent a LOT of time seeing this view.

 Playgrounds have been our go-to place. Big thanks to whoever invented the swing!

 While we were in Michigan we bought a science museum membership on a whim, and it has turned out to be a fantastic idea. We recouped our cost within three museums and the kids have really enjoyed the "hands-on" part!

  Nat and I also celebrated our 6th anniversary with a quick trip to Cape Cod. I'm so thankful for the wonderful husband God has given to me.

Life From The Camera.

We recently took a trip to get some paperwork done, so along the way we stopped at a fun coffee shop. Paul and Ellie love the fish pond, so what better way to enjoy it than from a rocking horse!

Ever since we came to Thailand, we've consistently played at one particular play place. It is so hard for me to believe we were at this same place two years ago with just Paul. Now Ellie enjoys running around and playing with him!

We found a restaurant/bakery that also happens to be a bird sanctuary. This was an extremely aggressive bird and completely entertaining for my kids. :-)

The other day I was driving to the Golden Triangle to buy a few things and I was once again awed by the beauty of this country. Now that the burning season is over, the mountains have returned in all their glory and truly display God's amazing handiwork. 

Today we met up with some friends for lunch and chose a particular cafe because it has a little place for the kids to play. Our two had a blast romping around with other kids their age, something they don't get to do too often!

Fun Visitors!

We have absolutely loved having friends of ours visit for the last week or so! It's been so much fun hanging out together, talking and laughing long after our kiddos are in bed. We've also enjoyed a couple of game nights, one of our favorite ways to spend an evening. :-) 

Our friends tend to be more explorers and adventurers than, shall we say, shoppers, so between the four of us, we discovered plenty of cool things to see in nature.

{The Readers and Nat explored a cave}

{Ellie experienced her first elephant ride near this river}

{Took a hike that led to twin waterfalls}

{New pictures were needed for a prayer card/Christmas card, so we snagged a few mommy & baby poses as well}

{Such happy smiles}

I'm so thankful for sweet fellowship and precious friendship. We're sad to see our friends leave in the morning, but we are so grateful they came and spent the time with us!



(Photo credit: Ilona Reader)

At Least I'm Consistent!

We've been having lots of fun in our new house and city, so here's a quick update via photos. (Again!)

We bought this rocking horse just before we moved, and now the entertainment is endless around here!

This is the way Ellie drives...

Nat has been busy scrubbing dirt off the walls and ground (the walls in the background show the difference), and Paul has enjoyed "helping" Daddy.  :-)

A couple of weeks ago I took a quick trip to Bangkok to visit with some friends. It sure was fun being in the big city again!

Nat did a great job with the kids while I was away, and he sent me this picture of Ellie's "daddy-do".

Apparently the back of our truck is loads of fun too... 

Check out this coffee stand we stopped at... That stepstool was helpful and the coffee was very good!

Our house is in this neighborhood.

These two love playing with each other and have the cutest giggles.

They are also huge daredevils and are constantly finding new heights to explore. 😳 

Paul loves a mango smoothie! That yellow thing in his smoothie? Yeah, that's NOT a piece of mango, but some kind of jello-like rice glop. Big disappointment when the expectation is a piece of mango. 

There aren't too many playgrounds here, but there are plenty of kiddie rides at most malls and big stores. The kids were finally bold enough to take their first ride together. They loved it, contrary to the expressions on their faces. 

As always, there's more to share but it's back to enjoying life with the kiddos!

These Two Little Munchkins.

A quick photo shoot last Sunday morning paused time for a brief moment -- one very brief moment!

These two munchkins kick the activity level up a notch around here and their giggles fill our home from before sunup until after dark. Even then, after two little bodies are safely tucked into their beds, we'll occasionally hear from a little boy adding his two cents to our conversations. Both of them are such adventure-seekers and Ellie delights in having us look for her, and then screams with delight when we find her crawling to the top of the stairs.

Of course dirt and mud beckon Paul's name and he simply can't resist. I often find him squatting over a pile of rocks, twigs, or dirt - intently focused on the important task at hand. 

And this girl. Whoa. Ever since her birthday, her little personality has really developed. Gone is "baby" and taking her place is a toddler who can't quite keep up with big brother yet --- but she is determined to try! 

My days are filled with childish laughter (and tears), food smeared on the floor ("oops!" I hear), training and teaching ("please put this away") and lots and lots of hugs and snuggles. Always, always worth it, although some mornings I don't hop out of bed with a bright smile on my face when I hear our bedroom door being slammed open by a very awake little boy. ;-)

Yep, I love my job!

Doing What They Love To Do.

While not the best quality, I love how this picture captures my two kiddos doing what they love to do: play with plastic containers and cooking. These two keep me on my toes and there are plenty of times throughout the day when the same lesson is taught over and over again (to me, haha!), but it's so fun to watch these little personalities grow and develop!!

Life From The Phone.

Yep, it's me again. Sharing photos because that's the way it is right now! So, for this week's pictorial update...

I was at the store recently and rummaged through the clothing bin to find Paul a new t-shirt. Of course the one *I* chose didn't have a price tag on it. I thought I would make things easier on the cashier by taking a picture of the price, but that was a no-go. Instead, she pushed a button to make a light come on and finally the guy on roller skates came over to price-check the shirt. A mere 5 minutes later he rolled up with another t-shirt for her to scan. I felt so bad making the people behind me in line wait, but when you find a shirt for your son that isn't too wild or crazy AND is under $2.00, what else can you do?!?

Several months ago on my morning walk, a lady driving by stopped me and in broken English warned me about "the dangerous insects" and asked me to please be careful when I walk down this little street. I thanked her for her kindness, but I really couldn't understand what in the world she was talking about... until a few weeks ago, when I saw this hornet's nest ON this person's house. Ok, yikes, got the memo now! 

You know (or at least I think you know!) of Paul's great love for bike rides, but perhaps you didn't know Ellie is just as big of a fan. Well, actually, she's tiny compared to Paul, but she sure loves zipping around the neighborhood on the bike. Of course those times are few and far between because Paul is such a bike hog. *Ahem.*

Chiang Mai is home to several malls, but this is the only mall (that I know of) that has a roller skating rink. It doesn't amount to very much, but it was enough to draw out the squeals of delight from Paul as he watched the few people skate around. His delight intensified when a young man picked him up and took him out for a spin. Wow, did that make Paul's day or what?!?

Fish, anyone? This is a great price: approximately 2 lbs for $3.66!

I think I mentioned we special-ordered a bedspread to be made for our bed (the other one was on its last legs). It was well worth the wait for our new bedspread and it definitely perks the room up. We're not planning on staying in this house very long, so I don't think the green carpet is going to be a clashing problem in a few months. :-)

Nat took Paul on a walk on Thursday all the way to the market (about a mile away). Paul was clearly tuckered out and enjoyed a nice, long nap in his stroller while we got some Thai language study in. It was a win-win situation! By the way, the second after I took this picture, he stirred and cracked his eyes open. I felt like a kid with my hand caught in the cookie jar. Thankfully he fell back asleep for another 30 minutes. :-)

Sweet Blessings.

In keeping with all the photo updates I've been doing recently, here's another small one!

Let me share with you a little bit about our youngest family member - our sweet, sweet Ellie-Bellie. This little girl has such a happy disposition about her and is often set down for "just a moment" as the adults in the family attempt to get dinner on the table, sweep the floor, deal with Paul, etc. 

She really is good-natured about the whole thing and is content to interact with the family from her spot on the floor or in her chair. Of course she wants to crawl and time and time again flops forward on her stomach, but hasn't mastered the actual crawl yet. 

She also dearly loves her big brother and tolerates quite a bit from him before she reaches a breaking point. My heart melts every time I watch the two of them share a brother-sister moment and Paul is very, very good about picking up Ellie's toys or bringing her a book. I sincerely hope they will be best friends as they grow up! My siblings are so precious to me and I think Paul and Ellie will have the same relationship.

Last year at this time we were anxiously anticipating our new addition to the family and now I can't imagine life without our little girl! What joy she has brought to our family.

One of the weekly blessings we receive from living in a tropical climate is an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables. I walked down to the store on Saturday night and picked out two kilos of mangoes - all for $1.68. These mangoes will take several days to ripen, but we have plenty since we bought some from the market earlier in the week. Mangoes are the perfect addition to the smoothies we make almost daily. Isn't the Lord good?!?

Returning To Routine.

I'm cautiously optimistic that I'm slowly getting over the first big hump in the Thai language. Cautiously optimistic. I do have my first story to write in Thai (due Tuesday) so I'll let you know how that goes!  However, I absolutely love our new school schedule! Last year, I was studying Monday and Friday mornings (8-10, sometimes 10-12) and that was brutal because Nat had school Monday, Wednesday, and Friday (1-3), so I felt like we were two ships passing each other. It also made for very long days. Nat's schedule has remained the same, but now I'm studying Tuesday and Thursday (8-10). I feel like we're in a good routine and we're doing a better job balancing individual study time for both of us as well as quality family time and couple time. Score! We've also added in some studies with other people, in addition to keeping up with our two active kids. We know we have a few time slots that need to be re-purposed, but overall we're pretty happy about getting back into the swing of things.

We also learned something important in taking the trip to the States: a 2-month trip really turns into a 4-month trip once you factor in all the upheaval in preparing and returning from said trip. That's good to know for when we plan our furlough!

In other news, we're extremely excited we'll be having some very dear friends come for a visit in April! We're looking forward to sharing Thailand with them and getting in some precious fellowship time. An added blessing was their airline ticket price was the cheapest we have ever seen for a flight to Thailand. Isn't that just like God?!?

A Sweet Treat.

Every Tuesday we make it a point to go to Swensons - a local ice cream parlor - for their buy one, get one free deal. We love ice cream and Swenson's has a flavor called Midnight Brownie that is just fantastic!

Everything is better when shared together, so Paul shared my ice cream with me. I think it's safe to say he enjoyed it. :-)

Choosing Gratefulness.

It's been quite the week around here, but I think anyone with little kiddos can tell you that! But you know what? God is so good and we're grateful we're finishing the week much better than we started. 

I put Ellie on her play mat this morning and within five minutes she had rolled over and fell asleep!

I unknowingly dressed Paul to match his daddy today so of course I needed to take their picture together!

Happy Friday. :-)

Goals.

I'm trying to be more goal-oriented, so one of my goals this weekend was to write a post. I just checked and I last wrote on this blog over a month ago. Oops. So in order to put a line through one of my goals for today and in order to share life from this side of the globe, I give to you a blog post... first one for July. (Double oops)

In early July we spontaneously decided to have a family picture taken at the mall. Quite the ordeal, I assure you, and not exactly what we were hoping for, but that's what spontaneity is all about, right??

Ellie was looking quite pretty in her sweet dress...

...and then there's Paul. :-)

That's what I love about my little boy. He keeps it SO real! At the end of the year we're hoping to get some more family pictures, sans the dove background of course. :-)

I have been pleasantly surprised with rainy season. Quick weather lesson: Thailand has three seasons (cool, hot, and rainy) and each one lasts about four months. When we first got here (coming from fall in Pennsylvania), we thought it was hot and we flipped the air con on if it was over 81*. We now know better and our bodies have adjusted to the climate. Right now our mornings are in the high 70s which feels "cool" to us and we don't turn the air con on until it gets to be around 90* with humidity. I was really expecting rainy season to be hot, humid, and miserable, but so far it's just been humid. :-) I think the worst of the heat was back in April/May so I'm glad we're on the downward slope!  I keep thinking to winter in Pennsylvania and am not looking forward to the sudden temperature switch. But I am looking forward to snow... I suppose that cold weather must come with snow!

My little guy is a month or so away from his second birthday and each day I see him growing. He is such a big help to me. He loves helping me hang out the laundry by pulling the items out of the basket, he's very good about picking everything off the floor, and even helps sweep and wash the floor! He's quite the determined little guy and has such a fascination with keys. Keys and Ellie's toes. I'm pretty sure he thinks they stick out just for him to pull on. :-)

Ellie is a really good baby and has graciously fallen into a great sleep pattern, for which we are extremely thankful! She's currently in the smiling stage and was even cooing while Grammie was on the phone today. :-) Of course she is a well-admired baby by many of the people here. Last Sunday night after church I went to a market with a couple of friends and brought Ellie with me in the stroller. I don't have a clue how many people peeked in the stroller and "oohed" and "ahhed" over her, but it was quite a few! Also I'm pretty sure our language school teachers are convinced she never does anything but sleep. Well she does sleep quite a bit, but she is awake in the evenings.... our teachers just never see her then!

Speaking of school... I started back to classes on July 4th, after a two-month pause. Of course Nat continued on during my pause, so he is now in book two of the reading/writing class while I'm finishing up the conversation class. Currently I'm reviewing lesson 6 out of 30 lessons. Since I got behind, I'm in a one-on-one class which I'm really enjoying. It's a bit of challenge (ok, it's quite the challenge!) to remember the correct sentence structure for Thai. For instance, adjectives come after the noun rather than before, so I'm forever switching that in my mind. I have made some progress in learning the vowels (25+), so now whenever we're sitting in traffic (a regular occurrence), I try to read the various signs and billboards around me. I'm excited because this world of language is slowly opening up to me and I do see progress being made, which is encouraging. I definitely understand more than I speak, but that doesn't cut it when a person is speaking directly to me and waiting on me to answer!! Practice, practice, practice!

One of my big goals (haha, back to that again!) is to start running, but I have to figure out the best strategy. I have a couple of factors to consider but the two biggest ones are the weather and dogs. I had been taking Paul on walks with me, but the last time I went kind of terrified me and I just haven't gotten up the courage to go again. Paul was in his stroller and I was clipping along when I turned down one street. Two of the homes had their gates open and before I knew it, this big scary dog came tearing out of the gate and heading straight for us. I immediately stopped and waited for the owner to call her dog off, but she spoke in vain and the dog kept charging. I always walk with a stick since we have tons of stray dogs in the neighborhood but in this case the owner was right there. She kept calling the dog and saying to me, "it's ok" but since the dog was heading for us instead of to her, I had a different opinion. :-) I finally turned around to head back the way I came, all the while waving the stick behind me and the dog finally retreated. So I'm not sure what to do. I'll definitely avoid that street and perhaps just muster up enough courage to get past the other stray dogs. Any runners out there with a suggestion? Ahh, life overseas... you never know what to expect!

Choosing Gratefulness.

My son set a record today: *no* nap at all and he was awake for 11.5 hours straight. He's been having trouble napping (at home) for the last few weeks and I thought it was because his aunt was sharing a room with him. Well it's been three days since Auntie left and still no naps. So I set really low expectations since I've being flying solo for the last two days. I was quite impressed I actually got a shower in, Bible read, and laundry started before the kids woke up this morning. I think that's because Ellie was only up twice during the night. :)

I didn't have grand plans for the day; I even told Nat I would be doing great if I just got both kids fed and changed! Paul has been extremely clingy since Ellie was born, so I expected my day to be very kid-centered, which it was. I did manage to take the laundry off the line and I even found a small window of ten minutes to work on Thai.

So now I'm sitting in the quiet of my living room wondering why I'm disappointed with myself after all. Between nursing a newborn and taking care of Paul, my day went as I thought it would and yet I still think I should've gotten way more accomplished.

The days *are* long but the years are short. This day is done and I can't relive it. Instead I'm grateful for time to spend with Paul. I'm grateful for a newborn who is a good sleeper and on a consistent eating schedule. I'm grateful I can stay home with my babies, freeing up my husband to make a trip and oversee some literature getting into the hands of those who can use it for God's glory. I'm very grateful it didn't rain today and knock out the power for two hours like it did last night. I'm grateful I could get by with salads for lunch and dinner. ;-) I'm grateful for snuggle times with my little girl and being able to sit down with Paul and watch a DVD. I'm grateful to hear my son's squeals of delight as he plays with the dog we're watching.

So with that perspective, I did get a lot accomplished today after all! I spent time with my two children and they will never be this small again. And even though the rest of the world didn't see me today, my little world did... and I'm content with that.

Family Time.

This year is just clipping by at a terrific speed! I'm coming out of the typical newborn fog of sleep deprivation just in time to say I can't believe my daughter is a month old already. Really?!?

My sister-in-law has been with us for the last month and flies home tonight. So now the real reality of two kids sets in! To add to the fun, we're also dog-sitting this week, but I'm hoping that will actually help with the transition for Paul. I mean, who doesn't love playing with a cute dog?

We went to a nearby waterfall on Saturday and this is what Ellie did for most of the time:

Apparently nature fascinates her. :-)

Paul was very adventurous and loved climbing up the waterfall:

We've had lots of fun family time, especially with my sister-in-law here. Now we'll probably stop doing touristy things until someone else come to visit. :-) 

Meanwhile Nat's been pushing forward in language studies and just finished the conversation module. Next up is the reading and writing module. I went to school up until a few days before Ellie's birth but I haven't been back since, so I got behind. Now we're hoping to find a tutor for me. My kids are small only once, so it's a balance I try to maintain with learning the language and taking care of my family.