It's Mothers Day, as if you didn't already know.

While many of you are just starting out your Mother's Day, we're ending it over here.  Mine was filled with such encouraging affirmation from my husband and my children, each of them sharing and doing something special to show their love for me.   I felt loved and appreciated and ready to tackle another round of dishes and another week of homeschool.  Certainly, to have even made it this far in my motherhood journey, I have been the beneficiary of much grace.

But I think what's amazing is the number of single moms who go on doing the laundry and picking up the spilled cheerios and taking the kids to school and tucking in, and kissing boo-boos, and changing diapers- all the same stuff I do - but without the affirmation and encouragement.  Certainly, the grace they receive must be staggering, and I know it must be because the Lord promises He will give us all that we need for every good work.  And Motherhood is a pretty good work!

In other Mothers Day news, did you know that my very own mother is coming to visit us in one week?!? My dad is coming too and they'll be staying long enough to actually enjoy it over here instead of being jet-lagged the whole time!  We are so excited to see them and are eagerly counting down these last few days.  Happy Mothers Day, mama!  We can't wait to see you!

I also have a fabulous mother-in-law and grandmother too; I strongly believe that if word got out about how incredible they are, they'd never be able to live their lives in peace because there would be lines a mile long of people wanting to be their friends.  They're truly that awesome.  Happy Mothers Day, Debbie and Nana!  You are loved so dearly!

My last piece of Mother's Day news is passing on a link to a great post I read today from the desiring God blog.  (Are there ever bad posts on the dg blog?  Hmmm...I didn't think so.)

May all you moms get a chance to put your feet up and not have to cook or clean today!

Yeah, right....

We won't be disappointed

I interrupt the vacation posts to bring you an epiphany I had tonight.

Many of my friends can attest to the fact that I have my most brilliant thoughts while doing the dishes.  I can't even tell you how many emails I start by saying, "I was thinking of you while washing the dishes tonight...."

Some people have their brilliant thoughts in the shower; since showers don't come as regularly in my world as other people, I've found that doing dishes gives me plenty of opportunities for time alone to reflect, pray, and wonder.

So, back to that thought.  I may have forgotten to mention that I've been on a Coke diet.  As in, I've not had a coke in almost six weeks.  I may write soon about what prompted all this (and the gracious way the Lord has taken care of me) but that's still not the point of my great thought.

While I was washing dishes, I started wondering if there would be coke in heaven.  I was imagining the delightful way a sip of cold coke bubbles around in your mouth, and I thought that surely such a model of perfection would be present in heaven.

I know that lots of people have joked about their favorite things being in heaven, since heaven is supposed to be perfect, yadee yadee yadee.  So it would only make sense that there would be a freezer full of Coke sitting in a corner of my mansion.  =)

Then the thought hit me - whether there's Coke or not, I won't be disappointed.  I may not even remember that there was such a thing as Coke that brought me such great delight.

And if that's the case, I still won't be disappointed.

Heaven will not disappoint.  Whatever is there, whatever is not... it doesn't really matter.

It will be better than we've imagined.

Happy Birthday, Abby!

Emma and Abby usually have the unique privilege to spend their February birthdays in warm, swimsuit weather.   They usually like this arrangement - I point out that they get to eat donuts on their birthdays, whereas the rest of us to not.  But sometimes it gets tricky because many of the friends they'd want to spend their birthday with just aren't available if we're traveling.  

I try to plan something to do for each of their birthdays before we've ever even boarded a plane.  Because, let's face it, who wants to plan something (and figure out where to get what you need) when the beach is just out your window?

Adding in the requirement that it needs to be packable notches up the challenge a little.  For Abby's birthday, we packed candles and birthday decorations - thanks to josh's uber-organized sister, Kristen!! - and a load of balloons.  Balloons have got to be one of the most versatile toys on the planet.  Fill them with water and the possibilities are endless!

So on February 17, we celebrated Abby's 3rd birthday.  It was a few days early, but we were actually going to be in planes and splitting up as a family (the big girls and I were headed to the homeschool conference) on her actual birthday.

Plus, doing it a bit early meant that all those friends we've been hanging with at the beach could celebrate with Abby. And if there's ever been a girl who loves a party, it's Abby!

That morning, I filled up a bag of water balloons and had a few games planned for the kiddos.  

But since cakes don't travel well internationally, I was at the mercy of the local grocery store when it came to a vehicle for candles.  I ended up buying some questionable looking Swiss-Cake-Roll type of thing.

They worked fine for candles, and Abby was thrilled.

I remember when Abby was a baby and I had such difficulty handling her boisterous and rambunctious personality.  I told myself that if she lived to be five years old, I would have succeeded.  The girl was always toppling, sliding, falling, and tumbling from all places high, low, safe and extremely dangerous.

Three years later, she's still alive and still so very rambunctious.  She's the one who runs around the house on tiptoes, crashing into the door to enter a room, jumping off the top of the little slide in the living room.

She's the little three year old who thinks she can zip around on the scooter just because her big sisters can.  She's the one who would love to hang by her knees from the top of Samantha's bunk bed if she just didn't get punished for it quite so much.  She's the one who maxes out the speed limit on her Dora tricycle.

She's also the one who wants me to lay my cheek on her cheek when I sing to her and tuck her in at night.  She's the one who wants to grasp my fingers in her hand when we're walking to the market down the street for fresh strawberries.  She's the one who kisses me so much that it's usually me telling her to stop.

She says "How Cloot!" when something is cute.

She tells us she's "hung-ly" when she needs a snack.

She sometimes gets Silas's head involved in her drum obsession.

She knows that right now, the prime spot on my lap is hers during any story time.  {and how the girl loves being read to!}

She loves chinese dumplings, tofu, yogurt, pasta and Flooty Pebbles cereal.  (The rest of the world calls it Fruity Pebbles.)  She dislikes chicken and beef and potatoes.

She got some clickety-clackety dress up shoes for her birthday and she proudly exclaimed: "Mommy, I'm a lady now! I can get married like you!!"

With all of her energy and stubbornness, I know that I'm eventually going to be the most sanctified mother out there.  =)  But if she weren't that way, she wouldn't be Abby.

All of us over here sure love Abby-girl.  She makes us laugh like no one else in the family, and we're hoping we can keep her alive long past five.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Abby!

Monkey Island

The first few years of our married life - in other words, before we had kids - when Josh and I went on vacation, we went to do.  If it could be done near where we were, we did it.  We loved exploring, lining up activities, and trying out everything that was offered.

Four kids later, our idea of fabulous vacation is not doing anything.  

That's not entirely true; I'm just exaggerating for the sake of contrast, but you get the idea.

Ten days at the beach with just a few things we hoped to get around to sounded wonderful.

So we took a break from our normally scheduled vacation to make a day trip out to Monkey Island.  Monkey Island is so named because a large group of wild monkeys lives out there and tourists pay money for local fishermen to take them out there and feed them bananas.

Sounds crazy, I know.  A pack of wild monkeys that no one is responsible for.  

Why did we sign up for this?!?

Well, anyway, paranoid as I was, we went.  The hotel arranged a local fisherman to drive us out there, and he supplied the bananas for us.  The whole crew of us went...

...even though it meant putting Silas in a life vest that was bigger than he was!

Local Fisherman Dude had obviously done this many times before.  He walked right up and gave the monkeys water to drink from a water bottle.  Meanwhile, I'm instructing my children to throw the fruit far form them so when the ravenous monkeys try to get the banana, they'll be running away from my children.  I'm the model of calm, collected mother.  I assure you.

I'm also barking instructions about staying close to Daddy and don't wander off.

They can't stay close to me because I'm still on the boat.

Someone had to protect Silas, after all.

The girls watched diligently as LFD doled out treats and drinks.   They had a fun time throwing their own, and were thrilled when two mama monkeys ran down out of the trees with little baby monkeys on their backs.

It was pretty cute.

I could see just fine from the boat though.

We were out of bananas, but LFD was still chillin with the monkeys and the water bottle.  After Josh gave the girls a lesson in skipping rocks (there were great ones on the island) we signaled to him that we were ready to go.

We thought he was just going to make a quick trip around the island, but instead he went around the island and then drove another half hour to a local fishing village.

Being out on the water in this tiny boat with all my precious people was breathtaking.

As we sailed past huge cliffs, waves pounded with their awesome and unstoppable force, gradually eating away at the rock on bottom.  The girls were truly awestruck as they started realizing that huge boulders in the sea had fallen from the tops and sides of cliffs - from the force of the waves.

The open sea is equally frightening and beautiful.  The rhythmic movement of the boat by the energy of the water makes you feel awfully small and awfully helpless.

While we sat on the boat, looking toward the vast fields of blue all around us, Josh quoted Isaiah 40:12-

"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and marked off the heavens with a span,
enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?"

He told the girls to cup their hands and hold it out, helping them imagine how much water they might hold in their hands.   Then he compared how much more his own hands could hold.

Then, we marveled together that our God measures the waters in the hollow of His hand.

That day on the boat was a special one for our family.

We headed back after a quick cruise through the fishing village.

On the way back, we saw a pink dolphin - a rare, but occasional sighting in this area.

On the way back, the girls wanted to sit at the front of the boat.

On the way back, Silas fell asleep.

On the way back, I was thankful to those weirdo monkeys - because without them, we might not have made the trip.  And I was so glad we did.

The day we had school at the beach

Day 6

After naptime, we headed out to the beach to see what was going on.  The tide was out.  

Far, far out.  A merry band of curious children and parents were prowling the shores to see what interesting things could be found.  

Emma found a starfish.  She was so excited.

Then she found another one.  She gave it to Samantha.

Wow!  A third one was found. I told her to give it to Abby and I'd take a picture of all three of them holding starfish.  

Abby did not like my idea.

But tried her best to obey.

As the afternoon meandered on, such amazing things were found - huge crabs, sea snails, sea cucumbers, jellyfish, loads of starfish, sand dollars, anemones, and a few other things that I'd never seen or heard of before.  

C. S. Lewis remarked once that when we comment so frequently about "how fast time flies" and just "wanting to slow down", that even those are markers that God has set eternity in our hearts.  Because we are eternal creatures, living in a world marked by time creates in us a longing for our eternal home where we'll live forever.  

When I watched these children and adults discover ocean treasures they'd never before seen, I felt some of the same way - that the curiosity and wonder in them is reflecting back the idea that God has put eternity in our hearts.  Our world is more than what we see; the things created reflect back the glory of an infinite and awe-inspiring Creator.  

In some ways, each new floating starfish and scuttling crab was a spiritual experience.  

Abby, armed with a sifting tool, became quite the little explorer too - even if she never did get over her squeamishness of the starfish.  {In sympathy, I think I'd have to agree with Abby - they've got LOTS of wiggly little legs!}

For a while, I thought Silas was going to get used to life on the sand.

                         

But, it seems that his time has not yet come.

By the end of her exploring session, Emma has collected about 14 starfish.  We tried to get them all on her arms and legs, but once we got past eight, they were crawling off faster than we could add new ones!

                                          

I put Silas on a little beach chair and gave him some clean sand toys and hoped he'd be happy to sit for a while while we lingered at the beach.  We were having such a wonderful and relaxed time.  None of us were ready to go in.  

Sitting by himself with his little toys must have made him feel comfortable enough to get over his sand issues.  This is his first smile on the sand.  

Abby coming over helped some too.  =)

Then when Samantha came over, Silas's chair became party central.  I'm sure they're drafting an agreement on World Peace or something equally important. 

At some point, I may or may not have demonstrated to Emma the proper form of doing a cartwheel.  

One by one, all the families left.

Only we remained on the beach.

As the sun went down, we kept digging, kept playing, kept laughing together

We had unwound so much and were so relaxed that we were unwilling for such a wonderful day to end.

Finally, we reluctantly called the troops to go inside, obeying the ever-louder commands coming from our bellies, and reminding the kids and ourselves that we still had four more days just like this.

Thailand Day 5 - Birthday party

Pretty much every day between the first day (that you read about in the last post) and this current day (which happens to be day 5) was mostly the same.  It went a little something like this:

Breakfast.

Pool.

Lunch.

Nap for littles.  Quiet time or pool for bigs.

Beach.

Dinner.

Showers.

Family time.

We did have some fun things planned for family time.  We had just received Apples to Apples Jr. from our friends that are basically like family, and we spent several fun nights playing that together.  I had also made a photo book for each of the girls, filled with photo memories of the last two years that I knew they probably didn't remember.  We spent three nights (one night for each of them) looking at their book, reliving some of the memories that are unique to them, and celebrating their precious lives.  We brought some new movies, and one night we took everyone to the pool for a night swim.  {The night swim left such an impression on the girls!  The pool was lit up with blue lights, you could see the moon, and it was really quiet - but...there were lots of mosquitos!  And, of course, going for a night swim means a late bedtime for everyone!}

There are no pictures of the preceding four days because I'm freaked out about getting my too-expensive-for-my-own-ability camera wet or sandy.  So just trust me.  It was really fun.

Now back to Day 5.

Day 5 was a break in routine because a new friend of ours was having a birthday party!  I can totally relate to this sweet girl's mom, because I too have to plan birthday parties away from home.  Emma has had more than half of her birthdays in thailand!  Fun, cause you get to eat donuts.  Not so great when there's not a special cake or your close friends to celebrate with.

So we were thrilled to be a part of E's special day!

E's parents bought ice cream for a crowd of kids and adults, and our resident ice cream connoiseur was pleased!!

Then before the kids were let loose to jump in the pool together, we snapped a group photo together.

Later that afternoon, our kids wanted to play in the grassy courtyard area before heading out to the beach.

The resort had hotel-type rooms, one room bungalows, two bedroom apartments, and also three bedroom private apartments.  We stayed in the two bedroom apartment and it was so perfect for our group.  The rooms were huge - much bigger than we needed, even putting lots of kids in one room.  Silas's pack-and-play was situated in the extra bathroom, which was just private enough that he couldn't see us when he woke up early.  =)  We were on the bottom floor over there on the left - yeah, that room with all the towels and swimsuits draped over the rail.  Yep, that's us.  

                                     

There were just the right number of swings for my children, but it sure is hard getting a good picture when four people are swining!

                                      

Abby and Silas loved the swings...

                                                       

...but it turns out, you're never to old for a good swing!  (There were often adults seen on the swings, too!)

Emma felt so important being "in charge" of Abby and Silas on the swings.

A train wreck was narrowly averted.

In this picture, you can see Emma the night before she lost her first front tooth.  It was so loose it was starting to look a bit...um....ready to come out!  Daddy pulled it out that night and Emma got to choose a new pair of shoes to commemorate the occasion when we went into town a few days later.

I ask:  what is vacation if not picking flowers with your baby girl?  Then obediently tucking them behind your ear when she asks?

What is vacation if not walking with a handsome boy on the grass with no specific destination in mind?

Ah, yes.  This is vacation.

These people I love, and nothing else to do but be with them.  

Thailand

Let the vacation posts begin!!

The week before we went on vacation, we spent several days brushing up on our Thailand stuff.  There's plenty of fun stuff to talk about - from the flag, to SongKran, to it's nickname as "The Land of Smiles."  We bought stuff with Thai money, painted Thai flags, and reviewed our basic Thai greetings. We were SO excited to get there and see the sand and sun!!

Leaving a place with freezing rain and arriving in a place with temperatures in the 90's...with four children, lots of luggage, and the anticipation of bringing home much more luggage is always a challenge.  

We dress everyone in an extremely planned way - everyone had on one pair of pants, except for emma and samantha, who only wore tights under a skirt.  One short sleeved shirt was covered by a light jacket, and for a very brief few hours, we all wore socks with sandals.   Listen, packing is serious business, and packing an extra pair of shoes for six people is no good.  

Once we arrived in Thailand, the girls could make a quick stop in the restroom to shed the tights and jacket while Daddy picked up our luggage.  Phew!  Now we can enjoy the balmy temps!

Our carraige 12-passenger van awaited us.  After a three hour drive, we made it to our beachside resort.  It was past 10:00, so all we did was find beds for the kids and crash.

 After a three hour drive, we made it to our beachside resort.  It was past 10:00, so all we did was find beds for the kids and crash.

The next morning, we walked down to the restaurant and ate breakfast.  Everyone was interested in eating quickly so we could change into swimsuits and hop in the pool.

Abby mostly stayed in this shallow end unless she wore her awesome Puddle-Jumper, and then she was allowed in the deep-end with the bigger girls.  I don't think she minded at all staying here!

Silas hung here in the turtle for the first few days.  After a while, he got tired of that and wanted to start walking around in the little kiddie pool a bit.  One super cool thing about the place we stayed was the abundance of other western families there.  There were tons of kids there to play with, and for the most part, they're the kind of people you're happy for your kids to play with.

Emma and Samantha particularly enjoyed this one sweet little guy, S.  He's just in the middle of the two of them age-wise, and was a perfect playmate for the week. {and beyond, since we tend to bump into his parents often!}

After a bit of time at the pool, the bigger girls were anxious to hop over the green grass and try out the beach.  Silas and Daddy hung at the pool a bit longer while I took Emma and Samantha to the beach.

This beach was wonderfully suited to young children!  During low tide, there was a pretty large tide pool that left behind lots of interesting shells and things.  During high tide, the water all around was still really shallow for nearly 100 yards.  I felt perfectly comfortable with my kids running loose in any direction; I loved the large range of freedom and the low amount of supervision they needed there.

 My girls and S and his sister started trying to bury large amounts of their bodies.  It was some messy business!

After a while, I felt like I should go pick up Silas and let him enjoy the beach with us.  

Turns out, he was not a fan.

I mean, really.  He hated it.  

 So back to the pool he went with Daddy, where he was perfectly pleased walking along smoother surfaces.

During naptime that first day, I walked down the road in front of our hotel to see what might be available.  Cheap and fast laundry facilities were closeby (such a must with a family that dirties up clothes as fast as we do!) and some good restaurants that we'd try out later in the week.  

I loved that this beach is so quiet.  Their website advertises it as being far from the crowds and neon lights, and they're totally right.  

Being such a family friendly resort, I also noticed that during traditional nap-time hours, the pools were quiet too!

After I got back from my little excursion, the little ones were still asleep.  I decided to take the big girls to get their nails painted.  The "salon" was in the apartment right above ours, so we weren't going far. 

Samantha chose a sparkly light pink:

and Emma read Charlotte's Web (for what must be like the fifth time!) while she waited for her turn.

When it was her turn, she chose a dark sparkly purple.

After naptime, we played outside on the grounds a bit, then had dinner.  After dinner we walked out to the beach - in our clothes - just to walk and play.  I got all the kids together, and Emma really looked like the Big Sister holding Silas in this picture, don't you think?!  

                                     

There were all sorts of sea creatures, and much of their time was spent exploring.  I don't think I can count the number of times I heard, "Mommy, look what I found!!"  It was a precious time.

                                     

Several of the prized treasures were these spindly little shells that made perfect "chalk" for writing on the sand.  Our little artist, Samantha, made quite a few masterpieces with that little shell-pencil. 

                                      

I joked to one of my friends that I should have given the girls a spelling test right there, because they wouldn't have even realized they were "in school".  I take this as further proof that in order to be a better homeschooling parent, I really need to move to the beach.

                                     

Since Abby can't really write anything, she just grabbed a sand rake and started "writing".  I'm pleased to announce that this visit to the beach was much more successful than her last visit to the beach.  

                                     

Silas thought the beach was perfectly lovely...as long as someone else was holding him.  I loved being at the beach at this time of day; it was sunny, but not hot and everything just had this general sense of peacefully winding down for the day.  We'd would end up spending every evening swimming, playing, or walking on the beach after dinner.  

                                      

These girls love their daddy.  

But I'm glad they love their mama too!

On our way back in for showers and nighttime fun - this is vacation, after all! - one of the girls spotted a starfish in the tide pool.  This was just a tiny bit of foreshadowing for what was to come a few days later...