random early December

• I feel like I can't move on to present day until I get a few pictures off my computer! With that said, I picked out a few of my favorite pre-France, early December random pictures. (Grandparents, you are welcome) :)

• I don't know what to call this. Help, please? All I can say is we do NOT lack for personality around here.

Here is blue-eyes herself. Based on how she's dressed in this picture, I can't believe I took this in early December. These days Trinity is running around like a sumo wrestler dressed in 3 layers all day long. It got COLD here. Well, cold for us. It's only like 45 degrees outside. But like, 52 degrees inside our house. I wish I was kidding. No central heat + concrete apartment = multiple layers. When we first decorated for Christmas, Grace wanted to sleep with her stocking that night.

On the night of December 13, I suddenly realized Grace was now 4 and a HALF! She's been so excited to be 4 and a HALF. So we celebrated with a little half-birthday hot chocolate. And I think it was her first ever hot chocolate. (I KNOW, what is wrong with me?) She was thrilled. We sang to her, we colored a picture of a cake. That was about it. But OH, to be four and a HALF!? Now, that's something in her book.

Don't they look like they actually want to make cookies here? One of them really did help. The other just looked super cute in her purple apron.

These sweet girls really got into the decorating at our cookie-making party! This picture is one of my favorites because my child looks like a local on so many levels: the locally-bought sweatshirt, the victory sign, the abundance of hair accessories...

This friend wanted to learn how to make cookies and has some fun plans for getting her very own easy-bake oven, er, I mean real oven sold here which may or may not resemble an easy bake. I love my 2 easy bakes. Put together they add up to half a standard size oven.

After our cookie party, Trinity watched me wash dishes and then decided to "wash" a few herself. I promise, she was at this for half an hour.

And this one is posted just because I like it...

And now, perhaps I will start blogging from 2011.

Remember the time we went to France for Christmas?

• I think we'll be saying that for a while. Thanks to the generosity of Kevin's parents, the entire Godin clan met in France for Christmas! I KNOW, France! I have a new appreciation now for many things French. Seriously, the people were nothing like the stereotypes I had heard, the scenery was gorgeous, and don't even get me started about the food! It seems like the four main food groups in France are bread, cheese, whole cream, and chocolate. (Note to self, I can never move there or I risk gaining 30 pounds!) Kevin's sister was a great hostess and showed us some wonderful highlights from Marseilles and Paris. Thank you, Kimberly, for being so great!
• Unfortunately, Kevin's mom, dad, brother, sister-in-law, and 2 nieces arrived 4 days late, on Christmas Eve. They originally planned to arrive on the 20th, but due to engine problems with their plane they missed the international leg of their flight. And because of the blizzards in Europe, the first time all 6 of them could get on another flight was 4 days later! They made the best of it while doing some fun things in the DFW area.
• While we waited for the Texas bunch to arrive, we got to see some of the highlights of Marseilles. One of our first stops was at Starbucks. I know, we were in beautiful France and ended up at Starbucks. But this is a highlight for us since we love coffee and live in the land of no Starbucks. All you Asia-dwellers will appreciate this...the baked goods were just as tasty as they looked! The French know their chocolate.

A huge blessing/bonus of going to France was getting to see our dear friends, the K family! They live in the same town as Kimberly. It's such a small little world. Kevin and Daniel were roomies all 4 years in college and stood as best men at each other's weddings. The K family rearranged their schedule and allowed us to hang out with them on several occasions. One day we all went to Aix-en-Provence, a charming touristy little town. And these two girls had SO much fun together. Grace got to spend one night at C's house. Afterwards, she told us she wanted to live with C. When Kevin reminded her she still needed to live with her family, Grace's matter-of-fact reply was, "Well, maybe when you die I can live with C." WHAT?! Kids say the funniest things. Here's Aunt Kimmie and Trinity on a carousel. Kimberly knew how to make Trinity laugh!

One day we went to a park near Kimberly's house, where we happened upon scenery like this. I felt like I was standing in a post card. Coming from the land of concrete-block buildings, we appreciated the beautiful architecture.

When the Texas bunch arrived on Christmas Eve, they hadn't seen their luggage in 5 days. It went on it's own little separate journey through Europe. And it didn't arrive in France when they did. So when the luggage had still not arrived by 3 pm on Christmas Day, these three went back to the airport to retrieve 6 pieces of luggage for the Texas 6. They were victorious! It was a huge relief since we were heading to Paris the next day and the luggage had most of their warm clothes as well as warm clothes they brought for our girls. There were huge sighs of relief at that point. And that evening we opened gifts.

The Eiffel Tower was our first stop in Paris. Here she is in all her beauty. It was more massive than I imagined it would be.

We discovered in Paris that Trinity does NOT handle cold weather well. She wasn't about to spend 2 hours waiting in line in 18 degree weather. So Kimberly and I took her back to the warm hotel while the rest of the crew went up in the tower. Grace did a great job walking all over Paris and traveled wonderfully this trip. She seemed like such a big girl. It sure helped that she had 2 cousins along which she adored!

And here's the Arc de Triumph...also much bigger in person than it appears in the photos.

Notre Dame was beautiful...

Alicia and Ariel were precious to my girls. It was wonderful to get to see them and have a vacation together after the cruise debacle of Christmas '08.

My sister-in-law Crystal is a great photographer, and here's a picture she took from Kimberly's back porch.

And a family photo courtesy Crystal.

Thank you, Nana and Pappaw for getting us all together. What a blessing! Until the next crazy family gathering...

in a bloggy mood tonight

• I am about to confess my html ignorance. "I know nothing about working html on my blog." Whew! I feel better now. So right now my blog only writes in single space and won't indent. That is, unless I use bullet points. Go figure. Do you mind reading about my life in bullet-point format?

• Grace still enjoys school. She's been a happy girl and often comes home with a sticker on her forehead for being "good." She loves to do the morning exercises with her class and wants to make sure we make it to school on time each morning because that's the first thing they do. Three days ago a boy ran up and hit her in the head a few times. The teacher saw Grace rubbing her head, but apparently no one saw who hit her. Grace said it was a "big boy" from another class. She said she didn't hit back but that she was "so frustrated." It was a teachable moment. You better believe we're watching that situation closely.

• We're having a little party at our house on Saturday for cookie-making. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it is to us. Why? Because when we moved here a few months ago I assumed we would make friends easily and host local friends all the time in our home. Sounds like a good plan, eh? To my surprise, making new friends has been a real challenge. Yes, we have local friends over for meals, but mainly ones we already knew. Yes, we have conversations often and can share Cool ideas. Kevin and I can get out separately and talk with people. But when we go out as a family Kevin and I often have to slip into "protect my children" mode because our kids are getting too much unwanted attention. So that's not always a natural way to meet new people. ("Hello, yes, we are foreigners. Would you please stop touching my child's hair because she doesn't like it! Please stop making her scream! By the way, would you like to come over for tea sometime?!") But last Saturday our family was enjoying a picnic when our girls began to play with 3 other girls in the picnic area. Then their mothers joined us. Then some more friends came. We had some great conversations with a family of 3 sisters and their daughters, all while our girls happily played together. They had us over for dumplings the next night. We're hosting a Christmas party for them. They are all from this area and don't plan on moving! Seems like we have some real budding friendship opportunities there!

• I've decided I like driving Kevin's motorcycle. I KNOW! Hey, a person can change. I genuinely enjoy it. Why? For one, with my helmet on it's one of the few times I feel like I blend in. People have to look closely to see if I am a foreigner. AND how great is this? Having a helmet on also serves as great acoustics for singing. You can provide your own radio and have the same acoustics as singing in the shower! Not to mention, Alicia and I could have some great girls' night outs as biker chicks, right? Oh and I can't forget we only spend about $3.50 a week on gas.

• My girls make me laugh every day right now. Sometimes they make me sigh. But laugh more than sigh. They have some pretty silly times together every night which usually culminates in one or both of them stripping off their clothes and running through the house. Be forewarned if you come visit!

• Guess where we are going for Christmas? FRANCE! I know! Kevin's parents have graciously provided a way for all the family to meet up in France, where Kevin's sister lives. We are excited! And nervously trying to think of ways to make the kids sleep on the plane. But mostly, we're excited! Should be great fun!

• We've had some highs and lows lately. We are trying to keep our eyes on Him and not what we see. He has been completely gracious and tender to encourage us. What an amazing God we serve!

• Until next time, I'm off to pick up some of the clothes my girls stripped off not long ago...

at school and on the balcony

My mom wants me to post pictures of Grace's school, so I had Kevin snap a few photos yesterday morning. Last week in class was rough for Grace but this week has been much, much better. Here's Grace at the front gate... and at the playground. There are no public playgrounds in town (besides outdoor exercise equipment) so Grace loves getting to play on this!

Wanna play Where's Waldo? Here are about half the students in class as they are finishing their breakfast of rice porridge. The other 20 students were lined up at the door to head out for morning exercises.

And for funsies, I thought I'd add a picture of our neighbor's balcony. Our neighbors just had a baby girl! The custom here for a new mom includes lots of rules regarding what she can and cannot eat. A new mom is generally required to stay indoors for 30 days after giving birth. And she can eat CHICKEN, lots and lots of chicken. As in a whole chicken a day. (My helper also said they can eat pig's feet.) So, camped out on our neighbors' balcony are 10 chickens awaiting slaughter. My girls have had fun looking at them each day. I asked my helper if it would be a good idea to give our neighbors a chicken as a baby gift, and she reminded me I probably wouldn't know how to pick out a good one. :) Guess I'll have to stick with getting the new little one some baby clothes instead.

What I want to remember

Something precious to my heart right now is that for the last month Trinity has been joining her big sister for the night-time routine of Bible story with Daddy. Currently our routine is bath, jammies and brush teeth, right after which Trinity usually yells, "BIBLE!" Sometimes she will go find Kevin and tell him "BIBLE!" as if to say, "It's time now, Daddy!" After Bible story Kevin always asks the girls what they want to thank God for and for the first several days Trinity usually said, "crackers." Sometimes we don't really understand what she's saying and she often wanders off during the prayer, but it's fun to see her growing up and joining her big sister in this nightly ritual. She also joins Grace and me for a book right after prayer time.

Something else I want to remember is the last few months of watching my girls interact. Sure, they have their moments of fighting. But overall I've decided siblings are just a really fun thing to watch. These two deeply love each other and I've treasured how much they are developing into friends. Sometimes if Trinity is awake from her nap before Grace (and if I don't want Grace to sleep too long), I'll have Trinity go in with me to wake her up. Here's a picture I snapped today of Trinity's attempt to wake up her sister. I want to remember that lately Trinity gives the BEST hugs. She almost always gives me one on command at this stage in her little life. Some nights she will play a game where she goes in between Daddy, Grace and me and keep giving us hug after hug. This girl is a snuggler. I want to remember that although the days seem long right now, I should savor every moment because my girls are growing up quickly.

I want to remember that Grace is a coloring fiend right now. She sometimes colors up to 6 pages in a day. Her mind is always working and thinking of a project we can do or a way we can pretend together. She loves to dress up silly and pose for the camera.

I want to remember that although kids at school still yell "foreigner" every day Grace walks in the school gate and at times make mean faces, the other day (after being home sick for a few days) she told me she missed her 2 teachers. And I've seen some progress in her language. And sometimes she comes home and tells me she made a new friend on the playground.

I want to remember how faithful the Lord has been thus far. And how confident I can be in His goodness. I want to remember to press into Him whether I'm having a rough culture day here or whether we're having the best family day ever at Disneyland. For some reason, the rough culture days remind me more to press into Him than the carefree days. Why do I forget to pursue Him so much when life is easy?

I want to remember that although there's not much that seems "easy" right now, I know these are some of the most blessed days of my life.

all on the 31st

I remember, even as a kid, generally not enjoying Halloween each year. Freaky, scary costumes just about did me in when I was young. But since my 4 year old already knows a bit about the holiday (read: dress up and eat candy) my plan for this year was to load up the girls, take them to a few houses to beg candy, and call it a night. But the young people with whom we work really got into the celebrating and made it a fun night for my girls and also for the big kids we know and love here. Here are my little ballerinas on our way out the door.

Daddy put on his Olympic hat and called himself a 2008 Beijing Olympic tourist.

Here's a fierce ninja, and eskimo, a baseball player, a Welsh emigrant, 2 ballerinas, and a mother who had to be in the picture so the small ballerina wouldn't scream.

We had some local friends who really wanted to participate in giving out candy to the kids. So one of our friends made the kids trick-or-treat into every bedroom in the house. TOO funny!

Aunt Alicia made cookies and remembered exactly how Grace likes them, sans icing. Could she BE any more thoughtful, that Aunt Alicia? I think not.

This Arkansas grannie and her little kid were HI-larious.

And ended up hosting a little fall party.

No, I don't really want to debate the merits of celebrating or not celebrating Halloween. I just want to remember that some sweet friends helped us make a memory tonight!

Don't tell them

because they've never heard that girls don't like to wrestle... In fact, it's almost become part of our night time routine around here.

These two are bound to be partners in crime for quite some time.