Aslan's delight

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Family time

Artemus greeting people in the lobby.

Love these boys.

Love this artwork.

A cold and windy path...

...a reminder He's with us always.

Sweet angel.

Our own hermit crabs...peeking through the cracks...to see what they can see...at the bottom of the deep blue sea.

Taking it in.

A few finds along the shore. Not much, but it's not the season.

Lunch, almost everyone looking at the camera...Silas is looking at his camera, does that count?

Hudson loves to stretch his legs in the car.

January's Roadtrip

The boys with some new friends in an old city.

Admiring the sharks at the mall.

Looking over the edge of a miniature "Noah's Ark" at a really cool park in an old city.

A bit camera shy.

More new friends living and working in an old city.

ffffffrrrrreeeezing in a doorway.

A very cool area of the old city. Houses are colorful and very old.

A shopkeeper showing Silas how to carve in meerschaum. This old city is famous for meerschaum.

Hudson posing with a meerschaum pipe-carver. He's just posing :)

Silas in the courtyard by the fountain.

The boys next to an old cart...that is probably still used.

Old part of the old city.

I wonder if the owner of the car planned to park there...

Silas captivated by the icicles.

Playing with friends in another city.

Cruising the kitchen.

Playing hungry hippo with friends.

Okay, so I've never posted videos before on my blog...eventually I'll figure it out. I can't seem to label each video, so I'll let you guess which label goes to which video:

~Silas with blue ribbon creatively praising Baba at open fellowship
~Silas and Hudson with ribbons in front of fellowship
~Silas playing "bottle ball" in his school's courtyard
~Hudson's funky dance moves in a public restroom
~Silas and Hudson jamming out to JC music with two new friends...doing "the train"
~Hudson loves rice, can you tell?

Hope you enjoy!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Seasonal reflections

Silas diligently working on his homework. The timer is a motivator to complete each line. This is our routine every morning - usually takes 1 1/2 hours to complete. Today he was making up for a 'sick' day so it took us nearly 4 hours in total. I wasn't quite prepared to spend my whole morning helping Silas, but I am so proud of his hard work!


Showing of his gummy grin. Sweetness!

New friends visited this weekend. Silas hid at the last moment.

"Seasonal" salad...


This salad was delightful to look at and to eat. As I savored every bite, I began to reflect on how the ingredients seem to represent a snapshot of life in this culture. ESPANAK (Spinach): One day our kapaci (grounds-keeper) showed Silas and I a near-by garden in our neighborhood where fresh greens grow. He told us we could pick there anytime and has decided to plant greens in our apartment's new garden. NAR (Pomegranate): it's now appearing in the markets. The fall season is one of my favorites with some of my favorite fruits and vegetables for sale. ERIK (plums): Silas helped pick out the red plums at the bazar. He LOVES the crunchy sweetness of plums, but has learned the hard way not to eat nine in one day. BEYAZ NEKTARIN (white nectarine): Silas wanted to venture out an try a 'new' fruit this week. We hunted together at the bazar and were delighted at this find. ARMUT (pear): sweet and crunchy, currently Hudson's favorite fruit. Must be gentle in transporting pears or they will bruise easily. FINDIK (hazelnut): roasted it's one of my favorite nuts ever. This country is the largest producer of hazelnuts. Got to mention Nutella which is found in nearly every store. LOR PEYNIR ('whey' cheese): We found the best and cheapest at a local farmers' store. One of the women who works there now recognizes us and greets us with kisses. HASHAS 'hashash' (poppy): This tiny seed is so much fun! Silas is very entertained by the tiny seed. This country is second largest producer of poppy seeds. Local pastry shops make delicious Hashas bread from the yellow seed (did you every watch the Mythbusters episode?). Salad dressing includes flower honey, fresh lemon juice, salt, apple vinegar.

Friday, September 16, 2011

First Day of School

Silas in front of his new school. He has about 20 kids in his 1st grade class, which is smaller than normal here. He will be in afternoon school and "looks forward to eating a 'normal' lunch at home" before he goes to school. LOL!He is so excited about his new clothes (uniform) and new school supplies.