christmas

Yes, you read that right. I've already got Christmas on the brain. Mostly because it is the best holiday EVER, but also because this year I'm hoping to start a couple of new family traditions which will need a little preparation. For me the hardest part of Christmas is to make sure our focus stays on Christ and not get caught up in the rest. Don't get me wrong, I see no problem in giving gifts, having parties and all the other fun things but we want to be making an effort to teach the boys that Christmas is first and foremost about the Christ Child. Christmas is many things to many people but to me it is the celebration of Christ's birth. A good friend, who also served in a country that doesn't celebrate Christmas, gave me a couple of good ideas of things to do to help keep the focus of Christmas but also make it fun for children.

St. Nicholas Day-

This is the traditional spin on Santa Claus. We have never done Santa with our boys but I always wanted to be sure to teach where that tradition came from. The main reason I didn't want to do Santa was because I feel like it emphasizes gifts rather than THE gift. Of course I think there is a definite way to teach this and make it a part of our tradition without taking away from Christ's birth. St. Nicholas Day is traditionally on December 6th so we can do the whole treats in the stocking thing (the tradition calls for shoes but I want to use the boy's stockings) and have it be totally separate from Christmas.

Jesse Tree Advent Calendar-

There are several versions of this on the internet but the one that I like the best uses the Geneology of Christ as the basis for an Advent calendar. I am going to get a small tree and each day the boys will unwrap a new ornament for the tree. Each ornament will represent a different person in the geneology and we will read their story from the Bible and show how it points to the coming of Christ. I'm really excited about this but I'll probably have to make most of the ornaments by hand so I need to get busy.

Epiphany-

This is a small thing but I think it would be really neat to celebrate the Magi coming to see Christ on January 6th, the day of Epiphany. In the past this has been a day to commemorate their visit to Christ. My friend told me that in their family the Wise Men in their nativity set starts at the total opposite end of their house and throughout December and the first few days of January they slowly make their way to visit Christ in the manger.

I'm really excited about how we can use St. Nicholas Day to have fun and teach about several traditions that lead to what is now the modern Santa Claus in American and the Jesse Tree and Epiphany to teach the truths of the Bible. Most of all I'm really excited to get an early start on the most wonderful time of the year!

mommy meals

I had one of my first memorable mommy meal moments this week. You know what mommy meals are. Those evenings when you get to about 5 o'clock and either what you planned to make isn't going to happen due to time or you just had a crazy busy day and didn't plan at all or both. So what you end up doing is scouring the fridge and cabinets and coming up with something quick and easy. I'm almost positive that shepherd's pie and such things originated from a night like that. Sometimes you get a big hit that becomes a family tradition and sometimes you get raspberry vinaigrette chicken (sorry mom, you know it is true and has become the measure of a truly bad meal...at least that and the sweet potato filled oranges are your only two meal mishaps in the almost 30 years of my life). This week I had one of those times. I tried to be so organized and make up a weekly menu but when I went to WalMart they didn't have ground beef, so that meant the only other place to get it was to go to the large market, buy a cut of beef and have it ground myself. Well with no helper and a sick bunch I just didn't get in a second trip to the market so the spaghetti and meatballs that I had planned weren't going to happen. I thought about doing plain spaghetti but as I scanned the fridge I saw some things that needed to get eaten. Hmmm....here comes the mommy meal. I ended up combining some cut up chicken, rice, green chili with chicken sauce (I have no idea where it came from, most likely from someone cleaning out their cabinets when heading back to the States), a little milk to make it creamy and a packet of taco seasoning. It wasn't the best or most nutritious (note: I usually try to incorporate a green vegetable) meal I've ever made but not totally inedible either. Plus the boys like almost anything that has rice so they didn't really care. It filled our bellies and some nights that is the most important thing. Anybody out there make a mommy meal that has become a family favorite? I'm always looking for new ideas!

my big sister

(This is the traditional dress of her minority people group.

She wears this each day, as do many of the women of her generation.

The younger generations do not continue this since many of the minorities are assimilating into the more popular culture and many traditions and languages are being lost.)

This is Da Jie (pronounce Da with a short A and Jie like Geah), meaning big sister. It's traditional that I would call her this but everyone calls her Da Jie. Her whole family, even her actual older sisters. The boys call her Da Ma, Big Momma. But no matter what you want to call her I call her a blessing.

Whenever I talk to anyone in the States and mention that I have a house helper I feel slightly guilty. I'm afraid that they won't understand why and I always feel the need to justify it. Because we do what we do I always feel like it gives other people the impression that I'm sitting here watching movies and eating bon bons (you know, like all SAHM do ;) while someone else is doing all the house work and taking care of the boys. I also sometimes think to myself, I could do it without help, having her here is just making me lazy...until this week. It is Mid-Autumn Festival and harvest time so she stayed in her village to help her family. After the last few days I am absolutely reminded that Da Jie plays an important role in our day to day life.

First of all, if you ever get the chance to come and visit we have to sit down and let you hear her amazing story. She came to know the Lord about 6 years ago, when she worked for some friends of ours that are now back in the States. She has strong faith and a servant's heart. So when our friends were leaving they asked her if she would like to work for us. In this culture anyone that has status (which we do by default) or is well off is expected to have a house helper. For us we find that it saves me time in the little things--this week the shopping process seriously took almost an entire day between the actual shopping and then the washing of everything, usually Da Jie helps and it goes much faster, mostly because she has been doing it her whole life. The time I save allows me to spend time with the boys and study, hopefully when the boys are older it will allow me time to get out and do work. The bonus of having a local in our home is that she helps me with culture and language learning. Anyway, some of you may still think I am lazy and I'm ok with that. What I really wanted to do is give credit where it's due. My big sister has become such an important part of our life here. We feel so completely blessed to have her in our home, to partner with her in work and to be her friend.

Autumn Apple Salad

Thank you to everyone who gave exercise and healthy eating suggestions. I even had a friend who has lived here and knows what's available, thanks AnnaLee! Keep any suggestions you have coming. I'm always looking for new ideas with meals because dieting can get awfully boring without trying new things. I found a good recipe at allrecipes.com for a fruit salad that didn't include mayo, cream cheese or whipped cream. Usually those things turn a perfectly healthy snack or side dish into a tasty but high calorie option but this kept the calories low without losing the tastiness. Bonus!

Autumn Apple Salad

(for 4 servings)
4 Granny Smith apples
1/4 cup walnuts (the recipe called for slivered almonds but I can't get those here)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup raisins (called for dried cherries but raisins are easier and cheaper)
8 oz. low fat vanilla yogurt (I can't get low fat here but I think low fat yogurt in the States tastes better anyway, plus I had strawberry flavored on hand and used that.)
a drizzle of honey to taste

Chop apples into cubes and stir all together until all fruit is evenly coated by yogurt/honey mixture.

Simple as that. Next time I will add some banana in there too just because we all like them so much. Really you can add just about anything you want. The tartness of the apples was just so great mixed with the sweetness. This went great with blueberry pancakes and bacon when we made breakfast for dinner. The boys LOVED it. Any other healthy fallish dishes out there? Send them on!

nursing

OK, first of all let me start with saying that I am not one of those women that has a huge emotional tie to breast feeding or feel that I am intensely more connected to my child due to breast feeding. I have been blessed to be able to nurse my babies with relative ease. I do not practice attachment parenting. It is fine for some families but what has (and is) worked/ing best for our family is using the PDF method set forth in Babywise. I'm a scheduled person, I like knowing what my day will bring for the most part and how to get everything done around my baby's eating and sleeping schedule. But, as I step on my little parenting soapbox, I can in no way understand why we as mothers continue to place judgement on and criticize other mothers. Each of us knows the struggles and internal conflicts that come with being a mother. Should I work outside of the home or be a SAHM? Cloth or disposable diapers? How many children is the right number for my family? Public, private or homeschooling? Does he/she have a fever? Do I call the doctor? Has he/she eaten enough today? Oh no, another blow out! Ahhh, the only pair of comfortable jeans I own seriously smell like spit up! You get my point. We are in many ways all in the same boat. I'm just as guilty of the next mom for judging but I have to tell you I am seriously praying for my mind to stop that horrible mess. We should be more encouraging and supportive of each other. Especially now that there are far more serious things our children are facing at much younger ages. When it comes down to my children making important choices, like whether or not to except their friend's offer of drugs, it's not going to really matter if they were breast fed or not. Enough on that, I just got totally side tracked but I had to say it. I'm changing my thinking and praying so hard to be an encourager and not judger of other moms.

My real point is that this time around nursing is posing some new obstacles. With Kirby it was easy peasy. He was my only child so once we got the actual process down it was nothing. Then came Bennett, still not such a big deal. Kirby was 19 months old when Bennett was born so still very much at an age where I could keep him occupied for the time it took to nurse. A snack or short video was always a good option, not to mention the fact that at that point he was awesome at independent play. But now we have Judah. He is just as much a good nurser as the other two but Kirby and Bennett are at much different stages. Almost even more demanding simply for the fact that they are much less easy to occupy. Yes they do ok to play on their own, yes they can get their own snack if need be, yes Kirby can go to the potty unassisted. However, if you factor in the brotherly squabbles, the 'hey, I want to paint/play with play dough/go outside/etc.' and so many other things that only they can think of I find myself saying so very often...'I'm a little busy right now, you will have to wait.' I do not at all mind telling my children to wait but patience is not something they are very good at so I then have to endure whining, which is not so good for my patience. So we have resorted to watching much more TV than I had hoped and much less of the other activities that I would much rather the boys be doing. I am quite honestly putting off potty training Bennett because I know I can't give it enough attention. The preschool things I wanted to do with Kirby and Bennett will have to wait a while. Judah is ever so slowly working to extend his schedule so hopefully that will make life much easier on us all. I refuse to stop nursing just because it would make my days easier. The advantages, both for health (his and mine) and financial (formula is even more expensive here if you can believe it), far outweigh the inconvenience. But I definitely never thought that something that never really posed a problem two times before is now an issue. Alas, Bennett will eventually be potty trained and both will eventually know all the same things other preschool age children know. The added bonus is we will all continue to get a lesson in patience. Although in many ways this is a difficult season I don't want it to pass too quickly.