Tuesday, April 01, 2008
A Little Time Away
We were able to get away for a few days from the craziness of city life and take a trip to the Mediterranean. Some dear friends came with us from the states and spent LOTS AND LOTS of TIME with our children. They taught them stories, songs, games, made many crafts with them and LOVED on them. It was a breath of fresh air in more ways than one! The last night the kids performed for the adults all that they had learned from the week. They even brought new clothes and shoes for the kids, presents for the parents and U.S. snacks!! Yummy! Thanks so much guys for EVERYTHING!!! YOU ARE AWESOME!!
Meredith and the Beaded Bracelet
Mariah came to visit this past week and we had such a great time!! While she was here we did several things. One place we decided to visit was garbage city. She had gone there with us last year and that is the only place she wanted to re-visit this year!! The recycling center is a great place to see Coptic girls and visit with them. They are so sweet and very talented!! Meredith had decided before we went that she would take one of her "beaded bracelets" and tell the story with it to one of the girls. As soon as we entered the loom room, Meredith spotted a girl and began to show her the "colored bracelet". She was able to do all of it in Arabic!! It was a great day. We will post more of our fun times with Mariah and our trip to the Mediterranean in the next couple of days.
Meredith showing the bracelet:
Meredith showing the bracelet:
Meredith and the girls cutting material to make rugs, blankets and bags:
Stacks and stacks of beautiful bags!
Mariah, Stacey and Meredith in front of the compost garden the recycling has created in garbage city:
The girls loved teaching Meredith to use the loom. They are all right around her age.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Ya'll Come Back Now, Ya' hear!!
Sorry everyone...I know it has been a few days since the last post. We do have things to share but it has been just a little busy around here. I took some great shots today in garbage city. I even got some video of Meredith working on a loom with some of the girls in the sewing center. But...can't do that right now. We are headed out very early in the morning for a trip to the Mediteranean Sea. It should be a great time getting away from the city life for a few days! I will post as soon as we return!
Thanks for visiting...ya'll come back now, ya'hear!!!
Thanks for visiting...ya'll come back now, ya'hear!!!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Stacey Joined a Mom's Blog
I recently was asked to join a mom's blog (www.prayerofhannah.blogspot.com). I had to write an introduction to our family and my life as a mom so far. Below is what I posted to that blog. I wanted to include it on our family blog because I have never written down the whole story and I wanted to be able to keep it in this "computer scrapbooking!"
I have been married to my high school sweetheart, Matt, for 16 years and we have 3 beautiful (and very animated :) children. Twenty years ago Matt and I began our romance. We married during our sophomore year of college and immediately began ministry together. Oh if we had known what God had in store for our journey together!!! It is so comforting to look back and know that even when we don’t know what our future holds, we can have confidence in Christ who “began a good work in us and will carry it to completion.” When Matt and I had been married for 3 years we decided to start our family. We thought that would be an easy and painless task. It turned out to be just the opposite. After trying for a year we finally conceived and soon miscarried. Two months later…a second miscarriage. We had so much sorrow and grief over the loss of these precious babies and wondered if God had children planned for us. Eight more months of trying and waiting brought us to the great news that we were expecting for a third time. At last, God saw fit to allow the pregnancy to be healthy with no complications!! Nine months and 70 POUNDS later we gave birth to our first born, Meredith! Obviously after losing two babies and gaining 70 lbs with the third, we were ready for a break.
When Meredith turned three we were ready for another newborn in the house. Again…waiting…waiting…third miscarriage…more grief…many doctor visits…waiting. At this point we thought, “Well God, do You just want Meredith to be an only child?” We decided that that may be the plan of God for our family but a bigger family was always a desire in the back of our minds. When Meredith was 5 ½ we conceived for the 5th time. This pregnancy was healthy, easy and caused only a 30 lb. weight gain which resulted in our second born, Madison. At this point in our journey to build our family, we became very relaxed in our thoughts of conceiving quickly. This relaxation turned out a surprise conception! I had been working out diligently and eating very little to lose all of the baby weight because we were planning a trip to Brazil when Madison was three months old. After returning from Brazil, I became very sick and thought I had some kind of parasite from bad food. Oh no…this was no parasite! Baby number 3 was on his way! First, shock…followed by more joy…followed by cancer resulting in more uncertainty in our lives. When I was 7 ½ months pregnant, Matt was diagnosed with liposarcoma in his thigh. The last two months of the pregnancy were spent with him in two surgeries and radiation. During this difficult time in our lives, God gave us such peace and reminded us that He is in control and our lives are in His hands. Our third child and only boy, Matthew Ray, came along just one year and two days after the birth of Madison! Whew! What a roller coaster ride!!!
These last four years as a family of five have been a whirlwind and a joy! And God has continued to lead us on new adventures with Him. Just 15 months ago, we began a new chapter in our lives as He led our family to move overseas. Being a mom overseas has its difficulties, but I love getting to see my kids learn and grow to love another culture.
Our oldest, Meredith, is now eleven. She is such a joy and always has been. She has always been quick to obey and has such a tender heart. It has been amazing to watch her approach these pre-teen years with such spiritual maturity and consistency! Our middle child, Madison, is five. She shows leadership qualities, is creative, verbal, photogenic, and our most strong-willed child. :) Our 4-year-old baby is Matthew Ray. He is a typical boy who loves running, jumping, climbing, sword fighting, boxing, sports, and making every sound to go with all of the activities listed above. He also holds his mother’s heart in his hands and can make her melt! :)
I have been married to my high school sweetheart, Matt, for 16 years and we have 3 beautiful (and very animated :) children. Twenty years ago Matt and I began our romance. We married during our sophomore year of college and immediately began ministry together. Oh if we had known what God had in store for our journey together!!! It is so comforting to look back and know that even when we don’t know what our future holds, we can have confidence in Christ who “began a good work in us and will carry it to completion.” When Matt and I had been married for 3 years we decided to start our family. We thought that would be an easy and painless task. It turned out to be just the opposite. After trying for a year we finally conceived and soon miscarried. Two months later…a second miscarriage. We had so much sorrow and grief over the loss of these precious babies and wondered if God had children planned for us. Eight more months of trying and waiting brought us to the great news that we were expecting for a third time. At last, God saw fit to allow the pregnancy to be healthy with no complications!! Nine months and 70 POUNDS later we gave birth to our first born, Meredith! Obviously after losing two babies and gaining 70 lbs with the third, we were ready for a break.
When Meredith turned three we were ready for another newborn in the house. Again…waiting…waiting…third miscarriage…more grief…many doctor visits…waiting. At this point we thought, “Well God, do You just want Meredith to be an only child?” We decided that that may be the plan of God for our family but a bigger family was always a desire in the back of our minds. When Meredith was 5 ½ we conceived for the 5th time. This pregnancy was healthy, easy and caused only a 30 lb. weight gain which resulted in our second born, Madison. At this point in our journey to build our family, we became very relaxed in our thoughts of conceiving quickly. This relaxation turned out a surprise conception! I had been working out diligently and eating very little to lose all of the baby weight because we were planning a trip to Brazil when Madison was three months old. After returning from Brazil, I became very sick and thought I had some kind of parasite from bad food. Oh no…this was no parasite! Baby number 3 was on his way! First, shock…followed by more joy…followed by cancer resulting in more uncertainty in our lives. When I was 7 ½ months pregnant, Matt was diagnosed with liposarcoma in his thigh. The last two months of the pregnancy were spent with him in two surgeries and radiation. During this difficult time in our lives, God gave us such peace and reminded us that He is in control and our lives are in His hands. Our third child and only boy, Matthew Ray, came along just one year and two days after the birth of Madison! Whew! What a roller coaster ride!!!
These last four years as a family of five have been a whirlwind and a joy! And God has continued to lead us on new adventures with Him. Just 15 months ago, we began a new chapter in our lives as He led our family to move overseas. Being a mom overseas has its difficulties, but I love getting to see my kids learn and grow to love another culture.
Our oldest, Meredith, is now eleven. She is such a joy and always has been. She has always been quick to obey and has such a tender heart. It has been amazing to watch her approach these pre-teen years with such spiritual maturity and consistency! Our middle child, Madison, is five. She shows leadership qualities, is creative, verbal, photogenic, and our most strong-willed child. :) Our 4-year-old baby is Matthew Ray. He is a typical boy who loves running, jumping, climbing, sword fighting, boxing, sports, and making every sound to go with all of the activities listed above. He also holds his mother’s heart in his hands and can make her melt! :)
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Happy Mother's Day
Yes, you have read the title correctly...Friday is Mother's Day in Egypt! Mother's Day here is BIG!! All children are expected to visit their mom, bring gifts and make this day VERY special for her. As we have been walking and riding around the city over the last two weeks we have seen so many "Mother's Day" signs all over store windows.
McDonalds has even gotten involved in the celebration. I called one night last week to order McDonalds for supper (yes, they deliver here and yes I know this is not the healthy meal that I NORMALLY cook for my family :). Anyway, I ordered a combo meal for Meredith and the man on the phone congratulated me and said, "With every combo meal you receive a McDonald's make-up bag!" I said, "Excuse me? You said MAKEUP BAG???" He responded, "Yes, a McDonald's makeup bag." Tooooo funny!!! We all had a great laugh over that one and knew that the story had to be added to the blog!
McDonalds has even gotten involved in the celebration. I called one night last week to order McDonalds for supper (yes, they deliver here and yes I know this is not the healthy meal that I NORMALLY cook for my family :). Anyway, I ordered a combo meal for Meredith and the man on the phone congratulated me and said, "With every combo meal you receive a McDonald's make-up bag!" I said, "Excuse me? You said MAKEUP BAG???" He responded, "Yes, a McDonald's makeup bag." Tooooo funny!!! We all had a great laugh over that one and knew that the story had to be added to the blog!
I believe the McDonald's makeup bag has to be one of the most unique gifts I have ever received for Mother's Day but I never get tired of the unique creations that my children make for me! "I love you, my sweet little ones! You are such GREAT GIFTS from God to me!"
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Maybe This is How They Built the Pyramids
The weather is so nice right now so we are able to open our balcony doors and feel the nice breeze the desert air brings. Tonight we opened our door to see something we had never seen before. Below you will see several men pulling a new sign to the top of the building with a rope to advertise a dermatologist's office. You will hear commentary when you watch the video that explains it all. We were watching this event with one of our Egyptian friends and she thought it was so funny that this sight was new and amazing to us. We explained that we come from cities with few tall buildings, much less cities where men pull signs up with old ropes for advertisment. I guess seeing such a thing gives us a slight peek into how Egyptians might have worked together to build the ancient pyramids!
We didn't stay up to see the finished product(they work late around here!) but we did wake up to see a nice, shiney new sign on an old, dusty building. (:
A Preacher in the Making
As many of you know our kids love to pretend and use their imaginations. Tonight's imagination time was centered around Matthew Ray preaching. We just happened to catch it on video. I am not quite sure what Madison's sign was about but I did notice that she had drawn a clock on the board. (Ha! All preachers need a clock nearby so they don't preach too long!!!) He was preaching from the book of Matthew where Jesus calms the storm. I think he might make a great preacher one day! What do you think? BTW: the music sound in the background is the "call" that we hear 5 times every day!
One of our favorite things to do....
We have a Chili's Restaurant at the end of street. We love walking down there when we feel the need for an American moment. However, we really don't feel very American on our walk there because we have to walk down a PACKED street of honking cars, people loudly speaking Arabic and we often dodge a donkey cart or two. Once we are there we love sitting in the outside eating area near the Chili's playground. The kids love the playground and usually make many Egyptian friends. Here they are with a group of little girls having a birthday party. No, they weren't invited but they were asked to be in every picture and Meredith ended up with several cell phone numbers of the girls she met! So, we call it an American night but now that I have written about it, it doesn't seem very American????
Saturday, March 01, 2008
My Two Handsome Men!!!
I just love these two handsome guys! Everyday it is a joy to wake up and see these two precious men in my life. What makes it even better is that they both love me so much and love to tell me all of the time! What more could a woman want???
Matthew Ray is the spitting image of his daddy. This top picture is Matt when he was 3 and the bottom picture is Matthew Ray at the same age. It is remarkable to me how much they look alike! If I hadn't actually birthed Matthew Ray I would wonder if I had anything to do with him!! :)
Matthew Ray is the spitting image of his daddy. This top picture is Matt when he was 3 and the bottom picture is Matthew Ray at the same age. It is remarkable to me how much they look alike! If I hadn't actually birthed Matthew Ray I would wonder if I had anything to do with him!! :)
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRAMMIE!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRAMMIE!! We miss you and wish we could be with you on this special day. As you can see, we can still give LOTS OF KISSES from this far away! WE LOVE YOU! Have a wonderful day!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Nile Cruise Weekend Part 3-Raining in North Africa
Kids have great imaginations. As most people know, it hardly ever rains where we live. The kids played so well together all day long. One thing that they loved to play today was "raining where we live." Here is a video of the exciting time:
Tomorrow we are going to the park! We will post those pics then!
Tomorrow we are going to the park! We will post those pics then!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Nile Cruise Babysitting Services Part 2
Today was filled with lots of eating and playing! We all got up around 7:30 this morning. The kids were ready for some waffles and juice. After making waffles and getting everything cleaned up it was play time. We played blocks, camping, pre-tend rain day (stay tuned for next video post), office and much more! We finally got dressed around noon! Then we ate mac and cheese and fruit for lunch. This evening we went to some other friend's house and ate and played some more. Matt told the kids a story and sang some songs while we were there. We returned tonight at around 8:30 to wrap up with baths and a little popcorn party!:) I just have to make a quick note here about Sawyer: He is a bottomless pit! His intake today...2 waffles, 5 cups of juice, 1 cup of milk, 3 bowls of mac and cheese, 6 strawberries, 1/2 apple, 1 1/2 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and 2 boxes of popcorn!!! I would definitely say he is a growing boy! :)
Here's a little slide show of the day's events:
Here's a little slide show of the day's events:
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Nile Cruise Babysitting Services Part 1
Yes, you have read the title correctly. We have officially added to our job description. Our company name? Nile Cruise Babysitting Services!! Some friends of ours won a 4 day cruise and decided that Valentine's weekend would be a great time for a romantic getaway.(great, romantic time for them :) And guess who has their kids??? You guessed it- US!!! We just fini
shed our first night of baths and brushing teeth with all 5 kids. (Thank goodness Meredith can handle herself!) So far, so good....no crying, no dirty diapers, no throw up, and no broken bones. We are about to attempt putting them all soundly to bed! We will keep you posted on our events as they unfold over the weekend. But for now, here are a few pics of all of them in their footey p.j.'s!
shed our first night of baths and brushing teeth with all 5 kids. (Thank goodness Meredith can handle herself!) So far, so good....no crying, no dirty diapers, no throw up, and no broken bones. We are about to attempt putting them all soundly to bed! We will keep you posted on our events as they unfold over the weekend. But for now, here are a few pics of all of them in their footey p.j.'s!
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Daddy Shoes
One of the greatest joys in parenthood is also the source for sadness. This last year we have watched as all of our children have grown emotionally, culturally and physically. As Matthew Ray has grown he has truly become a daddy's boy. He wants to be just like his daddy in every way. The other day we told him to put away his shoes. When we came into the living room we found his shoes as you see them in the picture below.
We started thinking about how much he has grown and took a picture and video trip down memory lane. We came across this sweet video of he and Madison! Hope you enjoy!
We started thinking about how much he has grown and took a picture and video trip down memory lane. We came across this sweet video of he and Madison! Hope you enjoy!
Fine Arts Festival
Meredith's school held a Fine Arts Festival this week. The kids have really been working hard on plays, poems, songs and art projects. Her class has been reading a book with the setting in Mexico. So, her room had a Mexican theme and they also sang a Mexican song. Such talented kids...English, Spanish and Arabic????
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Meredith with Coptic Friends
Meredith was invited to our neighbor's apartment this week for a birthday party. She had a great time with the girls singing with interactive TV and speaking with them in Arabic while mom had a great time talking with their moms! We are so glad she loves to make friends anywhere she goes! Here she is right in the middle of these precious girls.
The interactive songs were in English. The girls were impressed that Meredith could sing them so well!
The interactive songs were in English. The girls were impressed that Meredith could sing them so well!
Father/Daughter Dance
Meredith is now an official Girl Scout. She loves her troop and her troop leader! Last week the girl scouts sponsored a Father/Daughter Dance. Here's a picture of Father and Daughter on their way out to the dance. I don't have pics of the actual dance but you can just imagine the fun they had!(: Meredith said it was the most fun she had ever had and Matt said that 99% of the dances were fast dances and the music was a lot faster than when we were young! (hmmm....do you think the music is faster or the dancer is slower???)
Saying Goodbye to Mr. S
Last week was sad for our family. We said goodbye to a dear man, Mr. S. He has been our taxi driver during this past year. He was offered a job in a nearby country and decided it would be a good move for he and his family. He came by the night before he left to say goodbye. He told Matt that he dreaded coming by. He just didn't think he could do it. The kids all hugged him and then he started to cry. Then we all cried. We pray he finds just the friends he needs in his new country.
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