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...

15 comments:

darci said...

welcome back to north america :) So fun to hear about how you're doing! We are big thrift store people here. I love a deal! :) How old is Ethan? I find my 8 year old comes out with such deep stuff sometimes..

Jen said...

Love hearing you talk about Texas. We live in Dallas. Eating fruit from our Farmers Market visit the other day!

Enjoy your time here!

Anonymous said...

Welcome back to Texas! Enjoy lots of Chipotle while you're here. : )

Kasey

Brenda said...

Well welcome back to TEXAS!!! :)

Johanna said...

Welcome back to beautiful Texas!! And you are just in time for all the great bluebonnets popping up along all of the highways! I'm surprised you didn't mention going to the library yet! :)

Catherine R. said...

Sounds like you're all having a really great adventure just being back home. I'd love to hear more about how you're seeing the US with new eyes after four years. Hey, I wouldn't be hangin around the computer if I had better things to do either. Enjoy these neat times and I wouldn't mind if you visited Portland! At the very least it will make you appreciate Texas even more : )

Jess Connell said...

Johanna! The BLUEBONNETS! It's been so fun to see them coming out this week.


And no, we haven't made it to the library yet... partly because we were sick off and on last week. I added a #8 to my list to tell why. I guess we caught some kind of virus literally hours before we were set to leave Turkey. Blegh. Glad that is over!

Thanks for the welcome back!

Unknown said...

Well, that was a nasty little departure/welcome back to the States gantlet you had to run, but, welcome back anyway!

sandra @ eastern journey said...

Ask your thrift store if they have any discount days. Most Goodwills have a 50% off day once a month.

Jess Connell said...

Sandra, isn't it amazing? Yup, the 3rd Wed of the month here @ my Goodwill. And another thrift store here does a %age off on Sundays if you spend money through the week, so you can come back on Sunday and save big. Crazy!

Ruth said...

Welcome back to Texas from a Texas friend! We are closer to the Houston area though. A little town called Fulshear. Anyway, I took my oldest to Dallas two weeks ago for a mother daughter trip to the American Girl Doll store. We had a great time. Enjoy every moment back home!

Jill Farris said...

Hi Jess,

I recently wrote a post about our large family and the comments we have heard over the years. I included a link to your post from several years ago on the subtle effects of the birth control culture.

blessins,

Jill Farris
www.generationalwomanhood.wordpress.com
www.jillcampbellfarris.com

Anonymous said...

hey i think u had a typo... it's U.S.A. not U.S.S.A. Don't let the Holy Spirit take over you so much that you misspell the name of our country!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jess Connell said...

Anonymous, I was referencing a Beatles song. "Back in the US, back in the US, back in the USSR..."

Lori said...

I'm so jealous that you're going to the Dallas farmers market - I still daydream about the pink grapefruits I bought there. Salivating...