Birthday Time!

I can hardly believe I've been a mom for a whole decade now! Jensen had his 10th birthday yesterday. The day started bright and early with sports at one of the international schools. Jensen loves football (I'm afraid we've become a bit more English as the boys never call it soccer anymore) and it's been a great outlet for his enormous energy tank!


We had a party for him later at the club and invited his classmates and a few other friends. They had a high old time splashing and laughing together.


While I don't regret the years I have had Jensen at home, it has been a delight to watch him grow and thrive in an international classroom. His enthusiasm and leadership abilities can sometimes be a bit much for his brothers but it seems he has put it to good use at school. He pours hours into his homework, not because he has to but because he is having so much fun learning. His teacher tells me that when the other kids start groaning about things they need to do, he shows so much excitement that it helps them to get excited too. It's been a blessing to me to see him reaching out to the really shy kids as well as learning to work through conflict with those who have strong opinions. He's not perfect and he definitely doesn't have perfect parents and we still have our moments... but he is a great kid and I'm glad to be his mother. My prayer for him as he grows older is that he would be able to hear the words the Almighty is speaking to him and that he would speak those words back to the world through the way he lives his life.

A Relaxing Weekend After a Crazy Week

What a week it was! Riley was sick for a couple of days and by the time he was better, Pruitt was sick. I spent nearly 2 hours in traffic on Thursday, going to and from the school to pick him up. He spent the next 24 hours in bed. We all stayed at home Friday and chilled out. By afternoon he was up and about, not hungry, but with enough "umph" to push his younger brother around in their homemade ambulance. We watched Ice Age 3 in the evening, much to the boys' delight! Pruitt woke up Saturday morning, fever gone and feeling good, ready to eat a good breakfast and wanting very much to go to Saturday Sports. The American School has a sports program for kids to play various sports on Saturday mornings so we headed over there to register and pick up uniforms. We missed Pruitt and Riley's time slots but they were fine playing with their friends on the playground and Jensen enjoyed an hour of soccer with his age group. In the afternoon they went to a friend's birthday party and had a total riot, riding bumper cars and roller coasters, while Austin and I talked more about our options for the future over cups of cafe mochas. We all hit the sack, happy from a good weekend.



The feeling didn't last too long though. Soon I got up to check on the boys, after hearing a suspicious sound. My nose soon confirmed that someone was sick again. Poor Pruitt was violently ill. We helped him back to bed and he is feeling much better this morning, though still not back to normal. Was it something he ate yesterday? A recurrence of what he had the other days? Who knows.


He's been through a lot lately but I'm glad to see him starting to bounce back. A little bit ago, he put on 2 pairs of socks and tied a variety of ropes around his ankles and tried to convince me to let him tie himself to the window grille so that he could hang upside down. I just didn't think a concussion was something I wanted to deal with right now so I persuaded him to leave that for professionals. He has turned his attention to trying to pull a loose tooth and stringing beads into a necklace.

Needless to say, I'm tired. I was hoping for a quiet, "normal" week but it seems as if normal has become a bit too crazy for my liking. At least being a mom of 3 boys gives me lots of opportunities to laugh!

Plumeria Petals

Time has been flying by and September is here already. The boys are really enjoying school. We were able to go and meet all of the teachers and are again so grateful for this opportunity for our boys to learn in such a positive and fun environment.

Ramadan is here once again. I'm still waking up nearly every morning when the loudspeaker announces that it's time to get up and make breakfast (so they can eat before dawn). I've been hearing new voices on the streets during the day, shouting out their wares or begging. The amount of vegetable carts coming through seem to have tripled and as the month goes on I expect to hear more and more beggars. After living on this street for over a year I am able to recognize the voices of the hawkers and beggars that normally come through so when I hear a new voice it makes me wonder who they are, where they come from and what kind of story they have. Prices in general are going up and dairy products are starting to dwindle as most of the milk is being turned into ghee or curds for mishti ( a unique line of sweets that are quite popular here). The office hours have shortened a bit and traffic is even more overwhelming than usual, as even more people are out and about, doing Eid shopping, etc.

Otherwise, life goes on pretty much the same as always. The monsoon seems to be lingering a bit, bringing some relief to the heat. Austin has been putting in extra hours to get the Source ready for re-opening. The Source is the local store that sells handmade paper and various handicrafts made by MCC partners and was recently renovated.

Since the boys have been back in school I have had a bit more time to experiment in the kitchen. My current project is making homemade mozzarella cheese. Lets just say that I need a lot more practise! Despite the fact that the boys are gone most of the day, it feels like I am cooking more than ever for them. There is very little that they all like (to eat cold, that is) so I often pack three very different lunches. One loves chicken nuggets or deviled eggs, one occasionally eats peanut butter and jelly and the other one loves parota and baji (fried spicy veggies with fried flat bread) and wants it every day. The only thing they agree on currently is hot dogs wrapped in strips of dough and baked so if I don't hear the alarm (which has been happening a lot lately), that's what they get.

I know this had nothing to do with plumeria petals, but since the photo is plumerias, I gave it that title anyway. I count myself blessed to live in plumeria country. Come to think of it, I have a lot of blessings!