Habibi

This is a term in Arabic that means "my darling" or "sweetie" and one that they use for the children. So now Caleb and Judah here "habibi" all the time and no longer "oh nani". It is a sweet term that almost everyone uses in reference the kids.

A bit busier...

Well, life has definitely picked up the pace since our school has started and it has been so nice. We are meeting lots of new people, challenging our brains and the kids are able to get to their daycare and play with friends. Tonight we just got back from someone's house for a night of fellowship and potluck, which was SO nice. It is about 9 in the evening, the kids are finally in bed and I thought I would say a little something here. Although I should be studying.....
School has been going really well and we are learning some of the common greetings and simple little things to say, like where is your mother, how are you?, bag is big, where is the cup, etc, etc.....
The boys have been doing good at daycare, after about the second day I think they are used to the idea and haven't grabbed on to my legs and cried again. That was hard....but now they are adjusted and will go in and go right to the toys and start playing and blow us a kiss goodbye. Ahhhh.....relief!
Also, I am doing good after my burn incident. It is really amazing how little I was touched by the whole experience. I have a little sore on my nose and had some dry skin that peeled off, but other then that I am good. Praise the Lord!
well, I must get going and study. I will try and write more soon.
Ma'asalaama....which means goodbye in Arabic....

A Brush with Death

Do you ever have something happen in life, that you only realize after the fact how lucky you really were? Well, yesterday I had something like this happen. I was in the kitchen cooking dinner and making some cookies to take to the neighbor's house, because they had invited us to come for tea in the evening. So, I have the cookies in the oven and dinner on the top of the stove. The stove that we have here is a gas stove...and Mike had just changed the new tank for me, because it had run out in the middle of everything.

Anyway, I dont think that really has anything to do with what happened, because somehow the flame in the oven went out....so while I am cooking something on the stove top, I remember I need to check the cookies inside. The inside of the oven which has been filling up with gas for I am not sure how long. So I open up the oven, and within a few seconds this huge blast of flame comes flying at my face and it sounds like a bomb goes off. One of those instances that happens so fast you are not really sure what happened. Luckily, Mike and the kids were in the other room, so the kids weren't touched. And Praise God, I just got minor burns. A little bit of my hair was singed around my face, my eyelashes are little nubs, I have no hair left in my nose, but amazingly if you look at me you cannot really tell anything happened.
WOW! I could have been blasted through the wall, I could have had my face melted off....had I waited another 10 minutes to check those cookies who knows what would have happened? It sure makes you appreciate life and be thankful for the little things. So, all in all I am ok and just amazed and thankful! It makes you realize how vain you can be too, because I was worried and thinking about how I am going to have to go to my second day of class with a big burn across my face, or big blisters on my face, but none of that happened.
So, we were able to finish dinner and then go to the neighbors for tea, and they didn't notice a thing. I was too embarrassed and it was too fresh to say anything to them. But we had a good visit. Although it is so challenging here because they invited us to come at 8 or 8:30 and the kids normally go to bed around 7:30 or 8:00, but we went for the sake of relationship. Then they proceeded to offer and give our kids every sugary thing imaginable. Ugh....we didn't end up leaving there until about 10:30. Caleb and Judah were great! Probably because they got to eat so much junk and then they just crashed. It was a good time to get to know our neighbors though....although I think next time we will work something out better.
Ahhh.....life in other cultures.....

Chocolate Chip Cookies

So, my chai didn't seem to be so much of a hit the other day, but I was determined to not let that discourage me. So, I made chocolate chip cookies to share with the neighbors. Who can resist chocolate chip cookies, right? Well, they were a hit. The one lady that seemed the most against my chai the other day, really loved the cookies. In fact, our immediate neighbors asked if we had any more, so that opened up a door for me to go over their place.
It was kind of cool....I felt like I was let into their world. A place where they were laid back and didnt have their heads covered. We talked about all kinds of things, from weight, to religion, to cooking. Actually at one point, I felt like they were trying to convert me to Islam. It was interesting. It was a great experience and Mike was encouraged when I came back home with big smiles.

1st Day of PreSchool

So, a new chapter in our lives has begun. The boys will be out of our care for about 4 hours of the morning Monday-Sat. The first day went well and they did well . They were not too sure about it once we were going to leave them there, but the teachers said that once we were gone, they were fine. Whew.....I was a little anxious on how it was going to go. Especially with Judah because he is definitely a "momma's boy". We'll see how it goes when he has to go back on Monday. Mike and I will start our school on Wednesday.

Caleb's singing debut....

Venturing Out

The other day we just had to get out of the house. After a week or so being couped up in the house and not getting out, we were about to go crazy. So, we packed up a lunch and headed to a nearby park. It was great to get out and we wore the kids out, so that we got home and the both napped for about 3 hours.
Here are some pics....

Some local girls that came to the park to meet boys....

Introducing Chai...

The other evening we went downstairs to visit with the ladies who sit outside to drink tea. This time I thought that I would bring some chai and some popcorn down to share. I don't know if they have ever had chai before, because they normally drink just black tea with lots of sugar! But I thought it would be fun for them to try. So, the first lady that happened to come down this day is a lady that doesn't speak too much English. She is also one of the kind of ladies that is friendly, but you know that once you leave she is talking about you. She is hard to figure out, but still friendly....She is actually the one that was the most resistant to me taking a picture....
Anyway, so I offered my chai and she tried it, but it was very very evident all over her face that she didn't like it. She then asked me, "You like it?" Well yeah, otherwise I wouldn't bring it down here to share. But I wasn't going to let her discourage me..... So when the other ladies came down, I offered to them as well and some actually seemed to like it. It was a humbling experience that I definitely had to step out of my comfort zone for, but I think all in all they appreciated me bringing something to share....

some recent pics

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I thought I would just post some recent pics and you can see what we have been up to.
I tried to take a picture of me having tea with the ladies outside our apartment building, but they declined. Not sure why, but maybe sometime we will get to, or we will secretly take one. :-)


Caleb and Judah in our TV room watching cartoons.

Outside in front of our apartment talking to one of the neighbor boys.

Caleb and his new friend Madelyn. She is the same age and a great match for Caleb. She doesn't let him get away with anything.

Mike, Caleb and Judah passing the time with some wrestling.

Caleb and his "big boy scooter" He loves it SO much and most mornings rides it into our bedroom to wake me up.

Judah and his black eye. These days we call him "bruiser" because he is always climbing something and falling and getting a big goose egg or a black eye. He is not so cautious as Caleb was. This black eye happened because he was throwing a tantrum and threw himself down on the ground right into a step. Ouch! He got over it quickly and the next day fell down some stairs to add a goose egg right in the middle of his forehead to go with it. Right now I think he is bruise free, so we are probably due for another one soon....

Caleb helping Mike fix our toilet.

Needing a Change

I have been feeling a little bored with my old blog, so thought I would try something new. Let me know if you like it. I am always up for a change.

Anyway, things are going well here. We had a family over for dinner tonight that have two little girls the same ages as Caleb and Judah, so that was fun. We actually have some friends here. Yippee! It was great to visit and see the kids go wild and play together.
Also today in Jordan you can hear the sound of people letting off firecrackers, shooting guns, yelling out the windows of cars and riding outside of the car windows, all in celebration of their test results. I am not sure on all the details, but I think that they are college age kids that have just taken a very important test and the results determine what kind of occupation they can pursue. So there is much celebration going on in the city. Right now as I type this I can hear music, some fireworks and people clapping in celebration.

alright, I need to get some rest....take care....