7 Quick Takes Friday - #19

7 Quick Takes-- let's go.

1. "Back in the U.S.S.A!" And more specifically, Texas. Yup, we're back. Loving things like family, seeing my kids play at parks I played at as a kid, Chipotle, the big beautiful sky, and virtually no traffic. It's nice being home.
   
2. I dubbed yesterday "Thrift Store Thursday," and we foundsome awesome deals. Thrift stores are so amazing. We stocked up on summer clothes, Fisher Price toys, baseball equipment, and books, and spent in total what would have spent on just three pieces of the clothing that we got (slacks, khakis, and khaki shorts for my husband). I love good deals.
   
3. And Thrift Store Thursday was followed up by... a trip to the ER! Yikes. Poor little Silas, he's my ER guy, I guess. He got stitches last January, and last night he got dermabonded. I knew that's what they'd need to do, but I just lacked the confidence. After watching it be done, I feel like I could do it in a pinch. Reminds me of my oldest son asking me, "mom, did you go to medical school before I was born?" Of course, I replied with a giggle, "no, why?" "Because you seem to know so much stuff about sickness and how to take care of people when they're hurt." Yup, that's what motherhood teaches you, my son. :)
   
4. Speaking of conversations with my oldest son, on Monday or Tuesday after their first time to church in America, Ethan said, "Mom, church here is really different from our church in Turkey." I asked him what specifically he noticed, and he said, "like, in our house church, we know everybody. But you can't know everybody in a church that big. And, sometimes, I feel like we're part of a small number of Christians, but being in that big church, it felt like there are so many other people who are Christians too!" Interesting observations. It is wild to watch our kids grow up so differently from how we did.
   
5. Sorry I haven't been blogging, doing the "Five-A-Month" goals I began doing at the beginning of the year, or even responding to e-mails much. I may be hit or miss for a while with computer stuff... we're just really trying to soak up all the wonderful things we've missed.
   
6. Four years is a long time. People who were single are now married. People who had toddlers/babies have school kids. Some people who were elementary age are now approaching or in high school. It's weird. Good weird, but weird. Keeping up through Facebook helped. But it's still weird.
   
7. Gotta go make a picnic lunch. I think we're going to take our bunch to the Dallas Farmer's Market & hit Dealey plaza for a picnic lunch today. Ethan & I have watched video and theorized about the JFK assassination for a couple years now (he saw me reading about it and is interested in history, so yeah, he knows quite a lot about it)... so now we're off to see the real place for his first time. Should be fun.
   
8. ETA: Didn't think of this earlier, can't believe I didn't mention it... you would not BELIEVE the flights we had. 2 hours before we were set to head to the airport, Silas woke up crying and then promptly threw up on me. That continued for several hours. Pretty soon, Maranatha was throwing up too. They each threw up at least 10 times. Then Baxter. And then, just as we made it to Texas and had our little ones in the stroller, ready to go get our bags, Ethan lost his lunch too. It was totally disgusting- the steward brought me a stack of those throw-up bags, and we used nearly the whole stack. And yet, somehow I honestly felt cheerful and strengthened through the whole trip. Only God could do such a thing, because it was flat out gross. OK, all for now. Just needed to share that. :)

Thoughts? How are you all doing? If you've written me an e-mail I will respond at some point... it just may be a while before I have mental space to sit in front of this computer for very long. Blessings to you all...

7 Quick Takes Friday - #18

Here we go- fast and furious "7 Quick Takes" this week...

1. Moving our stuff from our house into a warehouse to be stored while we're in the US- done! Phew! I'm so thankful it's all done. Th
   
   
2. All our bags are packed, we're ready to go! Not telling when our flights are... a wise bloggy friend (Attic24) reminded us of that a few months ago. Don't let the whole world, including strangers, know your travel plans. So sometime semi-soon we'll be heading out and seeing family and friends! Can't wait!!!
   
   
3. Gorusuruz, Turkiye! I hope I get a chance to practice Turkish from time to time in the US... I've worked too hard learning it to have it all whittled away in a matter of months.
   
   
4. While Doug was overseeing the move and visiting various offices, getting utilities turned off and such the last 2 days, I spent the days with the kids in a guest flat. Since there were "new to them" toys here (thanks, guest flat people!), I read Nicholas Sparks' book, A Walk To Remember. He says in the beginning that "first you'll smile, then you'll cry. Don't say I didn't warn you." I think I barely smiled once... I definitely did not cry. What a let down. Sorry if you liked it, but it seemed very predictable and flat to me.
   
   
5. Food. Food, food, food, food, food. It's the biggest thing (behind family & friends) that we miss about the States. Chipotle, Chick-Fil-A, Pappadeaux, Jason's Deli, Burger Street, Dickey's BBQ, Pappasitos.... mmmm, mmmm, mmmm, mmmm, mmmm! Did you know that Texas has some of the fattest cities in America? And the reason is very clear. We've got the best food there. Self-control falls flat on its face in the presence of such delicious food. I'm hoping the "No S Diet" has helped me be more disciplined in that area, so I don't gain 793 pounds during our time in Texas.
   
   
6. Cloth diapers. Don't know if I've mentioned it here, yet, but I did give cloth diapers a slight whirl with Moses, and it just never "took". I just don't have time and dedication anymore. I did with Maranatha, did with Silas, and just don't have it anymore. So now I'm using disposables without any guilt. Just wanted to mention that in case anyone out there remembered my old articles about it. I've never been militant about it, but even still, I try to be transparent here so there it is.
   
   
7. And did I mention food? Cheddar cheese, corn tortillas, peanut butter, A&W root beer, beef you can actually afford to buy, breakfast sausage, good sandwich breads... all of these are things I really, really miss. Not only are we going to enjoy our meals out while in America, but I'm going to enjoy cooking our meals IN.
   
   

So there's my week. How was yours?

7 Quick Takes Friday - #17

Let's get this 7 Quick Takes going.

1. Sorry I'm late to the party this week, posting my "7 Quick Takes FRIDAY" on Saturday. The country I live in blocked blogger for a while. I still can't access blogspot to actually tell what this post looks like. I can't even check through my feedreader to know if I've posted any of these pictures before. [ETA: Well, apparently, it won't let me post pictures at all. Oh well. These things happen from time to time when you live overseas.
   
   
2. We're packing, packing, packing. We're up to 48 boxes, and still going... Doug is being awesome this go-round and we're actually making a master list of what all is in each box, numbering each box, etc. Packing is not super-fun, but I'm having visions of unpacking perfectly sorted things, not having extra junk/stuff, and I like that idea. Sounds pretty great, in fact.
   
   
3. I've never had to feed this many people while packing up a house before. It's kind of tricky, keeping out just enough to keep the kitchen going, while packing up all those things like serving platters and glass bakingware that have to be packed oh-so-carefully.
   
   
4. Canasta. I love it, and totally forgot about it. We played a lightning round this morning to pass the time before hitting the packing, and it was superfun. Do you like Canasta? Other card games you love? I like that it's highly portable.
   
   
5. Love this quote from Gary Thomas' book "Sacred Parenting":
   

   I told one group of men that I wished I could start parenting now, at age forty-one. I feel more mature at this point, more settled in my career with a better perspective to begin parenting than when Allison was born to me at the age of twenty-five.
   
   But here's the rub: What helped me to become more mature? What has given me a better perspective? What has worked on my character over the past decade and a half?
   
   Raising my kids!
   
   I wouldn't be the man I am if I hadn't raised [our kids].

   
   
   
6. And this one, a page later, from the same book:
   

   God has created an institution-- the family-- through which He can shape, mold, and form all of us, parents included. We come into the family as imperfect people, and sin against each other every day; yet through rubbing shoulders and learning to ask for, and offer, forgiveness, we all come out the richer for taking part in this sometimes painful process.
   

   God adores your kids, *but He is also crazy about you*. You're His much-loved son or daughter. He has a direct interest in your care and your spiritual growth, and He sees your kids as valuable teachers and prophets to that end.

7. I shared this conversation on Facebook, and thought I'd go ahead and share it here too-- between my nearly-3 year old son, and my 4 year old daughter:
   

   Silas: "I want to go seep."
   Me: "You want to go to sleep?"
   Silas: "No, I want to go seep."
   Maranatha: "A sheep is eating you?"
   Silas: "No, I want to go seep. Under table."
   Me: "Oh! You want to go sweep?"
   Silas: "Yes, under table."

:) So there's a quick take of my week. How was yours?