Fasting and Feasting

This month, most of the people in our country are observing Ramadan, which means that for thirty consecutive days, they are completely abstaining from all food and drink (and cigarettes!) during the day. They begin fasting at sunrise (after waking early for a big breakfast), and they break the fast at sunset with another very large meal.

Last night we took a walk right at sunset and got to photograph a few of the interesting things that happen at Iftar (breakfast) time. 

The colorful cloth barriers you see above are set up especially for Ramadan. Charity toward the poor is very important during this month, so people set up special areas to serve meals to people who can't afford their own Iftar meal. We walked by here just a minute or two after sunset, and we could hear the sounds of people eating behind the curtains. There are tents like this set up all over the city.

Another thing that happens at Iftar is that people hand out food and drinks to people in cars. There's hardly any traffic on the streets at all during this time, but the few that are driving still get to break their fast with everyone else. In the photo above, a few guys with trays are handing out juice and dates to the men on their bikes.

This man and his son had their Iftar meal on the sidewalk of a usually busy street. They just spread out a blanket right there and ate.

Here you can see shoes lined up outside a mosque, where men are performing their evening prayer before eating their meal.

And here's another woman breaking her fast right out on the sidewalk. The vast majority of people eat the Iftar meal at home with their families, but obviously I couldn't get pictures of them while we were out walking.

We passed this mosque on our walk. There is another similar one just beside our house. Many people spend more time at the mosque during Ramadan, saying extra prayers and reading through their holy book. We've noticed that the one by us has been busier than usual, especially in the evenings.

And this last photo is something else that we only see this time of year. People love to decorate with these special Ramadan lanterns, so about a month beforehand, these little street stands start popping up all over town. The lanterns range from keychain size to six-feet tall or more, and people buy them to hang in front of their homes and offices.

An ER Adventure

Last week, we did something as a family that we've never done before: took one of our members to the Emergency Room! We're grateful that we've made it almost 10 years with these kids without any medical emergencies, and even last week's trip turned out to not be too bad. It was an adventure, though.

Sarah Claire was the patient in question. While we were dropping some things off at an office where we have some things stored, she accidentally caused a large, 30-lb roll of shrink wrap to roll off of a box onto her toe. The results were not pretty, and we knew immediately that we would need to get it looked at.

Healthcare can be tricky here. While we have some really great doctors that we love (like our pediatrician and OB/GYN), not all doctors and hospitals have such a great reputation. As a national doctor put it to Jason one time, "Here in our country we have some real centers of excellence, but also some catastrophic places." 

So, in an effort to avoid visiting anywhere "catastrophic," we try to stick with proven doctors and hospitals, and we know of several hospitals to go to in case of an emergency. However, in this case, the nearest hospital on our list was a good distance away, and having just driven from that direction, we knew that traffic was really backed up between us and the hospital. We really didn't want to spend an hour in the car with a distraught, bleeding little girl, so we decided to take our chances on a hospital that was just around the corner from the office. We hadn't been there before and didn't know much about it, except that it always seemed busy and looked nice from the outside.

We got there quickly, asking if they had an Emergency Room as we pulled up. They did, so Jason [carried her inside and straight into the ER. Within minutes, they were cleaning and examining her toe. Everything was clean and professional. They did some x-rays to make sure she hadn't broken any bones (she hadn't!), and then had two different doctors come and talk to us about what we needed to do.

Here she is showing off her hospital bracelet, giving the best smile she could manage at the time. She was in a lot of pain for a while, but thankfully started feeling better before too long. After they got the bleeding to slow down, they determined that she didn't even need stitches. They just wrapped and medicated her toe well, and told us to keep changing it each day.

In less than an hour, we were on our way home. The nurse pushed Sarah Claire to the door in a wheelchair, which she loved. The other kids decided to let her choose what we had for lunch, and she requested Hardee's, complete with a milkshake!

By the time the milkshake was gone, her smile was back!

When we got home, Sawyer used his new Lego hospital set to re-enact the whole ordeal. We're so grateful for all the graces of that day--a good, nearby hospital and doctors, an injury less serious than we first thought, and a tough little girl who handled it all so well. I told her that she was a tough cookie, and ever since, she's been reminding us that Mama says she's "as tough as a cookie."

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the most amazing part of the story for us grown-ups:  Our entire hospital visit, including the X-ray and consult with two doctors, set us back about $65! Total! That's not a co-pay or deposit or anything--that's the entire medical bill. It costs more than that to walk through the doors of a hospital in the US!

We're grateful for our tough cookie and the doctors who took care of her. And we're hoping this is our last ER adventure for a while! 

It's great to be eight!

Sawyer turned eight earlier this month, and we had a great time celebrating his big day!

Hard to believe it was eight years ago that we brought that sweet baby on the left home from the hospital. He's a little more active these days, but just as sweet as ever.

He chose to have a Lego-themed birthday party this year--quite appropriate since he spends a LOT of time building with his Legos. Of course, we played with them at his party, too, including this "Lego toss game." Here I am showing them how it's done!

I had fun making this Lego cake for him, and he really loved it, though I know he doesn't look so thrilled in the picture. I think he's just concentrating on his strategy for blowing out all eight candles.

He loved opening his presents, of course, especially when 

he saw that he got more Legos!

He also loved these cool snakes that Lee Anna made for him on her Rainbow Loom.

His actual birthday was on a different day, so we did some celebrating then, too. Here's his specially-requested pancake breakfast, on the "special plate," of course.

We love you, Sawyer! So glad you're a part of our family!

Creative Kids

Today was a really fun day!

Daddy is out of town on a little business trip this week, so we've been having lots of good "Mom & the Kids" quality time while he's gone. I decided to make today--our last day before he gets back, and also the last day of our school week--a special day. Yesterday morning, I gave the kids the invitation above, inviting them to "Be Creative Day." It said to wear their smocks for school time and plan to get a little messy creating with me. They were, of course, super excited!

This morning after breakfast, I sent them to their rooms for about 30 minutes while I got everything prepared. I set up different "creating stations" around our living room; there was a painting station, a drawing table, a building station, and a "get creative" station (for everything that didn't fit in another category). I don't have "before" pictures of the others, but here's the building station.

Each station (except the building one) also had a list of suggested projects they might want to try. I walked through the stations with them, and then turned them loose to create. We had so much fun making different things, trying new ideas, and just having fun together. I can't count the number of times one of them told me thank you for having "Be Creative Day."

Here's Lee Anna doing a tape resist painting project. They all three did one of these, and I love how they turned out!

Sawyer took breaks from drawing and painting to do some building (as I suspected that he would). This creation doubled as a jail for some Lego bad guys, and also as a home for some popsicle stick puppets that were created during the day.

One of the biggest hits of the day was this web site, which has simple tutorial videos for drawing lots of different animals. They all took turns choosing animals to draw, and even Sarah Claire was able to do a lot of them. I predict that they'll be visiting this site lots more in the days to come.

We made a couple batches of play dough, and then used some other props to make play dough people and monsters. 

This guy was one of my contributions.:)

When it was time for lunch, all of our tables were covered with "creating" supplies, so we had a picnic on the floor (eating anywhere can be fun if you call it a "picnic!"). 

Then, after some more creating, we took a smoothie break. We are loving all our fresh fruit this time of year!

Here's the completed gallery from the day. They each filled up a whole shelf (plus some) with their creations! They are all arranged and ready for Daddy to admire when he comes home tomorrow.

Lee Anna's favorite drawing was this koala she's pointing to. I'm not sure I have a favorite--they each made so many fun things! It was a great day of making memories, and we all really enjoyed it! I'm guessing this won't be our last "Be Creative Day."

A Walk Through History

One day this week, we had to make a visit to the embassy to renew Sarah Claire's passport, so we decided that since we were already going to be out and about, we would make a field trip day out of it. When we finished up our embassy appointment, we grabbed a taxi and headed over to a neat historical area of the city.

There's an old market area that has been around since the 1300s that is still very active with all kinds of stuff for sale, so our first stop was at our friend Mustafa's beautiful glasswares shop. I had something in mind for a piece of our bedroom decor, and knew that Mustafa's shop was just the place to find it. His store is full of gorgeous (and cheap!) glasswares, like perfume bottles, drinking glasses, decorative pieces, and tons of Christmas ornaments. With some trepidation, we took all three kids inside the store and let them help me look around for the right pieces. I was pretty nervous the whole time, but we found what we were looking for and made it out of the store without any broken glass!

That was the only shopping I needed to do, so after that we walked through the market area to a street just on the other side of it that dates back even further than the market area. This street was the main street of our city about a thousand years ago, and because it led to the palace, was the site of fabulous parades and processions. The kids had fun picturing the "Prince Ali" parade from Aladdin as we walked down the street.

There are some really impressive old buildings lining the street, so we admired them and heard some neat stories from our tour guide (a.k.a. Daddy) about how they came to be. He may have taken a tour group or ten down this street in the past.

The kids did great, but weren't really up for hours of touring, so after a brief walk down the main street, we turned around and headed back. It was a fun outing, and we ended it with lunch at a place that's a little newer to our ancient city--Auntie Anne's pretzels. We love this city and its crazy mix of old and new!

Wedding Bells

by Jason

Aren't they cute, all dressed up?

Today we went to a wedding. It was a lot like a bunch of American weddings you and I have attended through the years. But there were a few subtle differences, and that’s really what made this event interesting. So, I’m going to write about those.

The wedding in question was for the brother of a good friend of mine. We didn’t really know anyone involved other than the brother of the groom. My friend Adam told us about the wedding a few weeks ago, and gave us a printed invitation last week. The invitation said the ceremony would start at 1:30, and that’s where we started asking questions.

So I called Adam last night and asked what they meant by “1:30.” Like, is it really going to start at 1:30, or was that just a suggestion? He said really they call it 1:30 but it would probably be 2:00 before it started. This was helpful, because many weddings here don't start until two or three hours after the announced time, so we at least knew what time frame to shoot for.

We got dressed up in the early afternoon and headed to the church. The groom’s family is Roman Catholic, and the church was Episcopal, but the preacher today was Presbyterian.

I kept a timeline in my phone so we could keep up with what was happening when.

At 1:30, when the wedding was advertised as starting, we arrived at the church. We met the groom’s father out in the courtyard. We met his mother inside before we sat down. There were 20-25 other people already sitting in the church.
1:39, the musicians started practicing in the sanctuary. There was a keyboard and guitar, and both players were singing.
1:40, mother of the groom is walking down the aisle visiting with family and friends.
1:55, mother of the groom walks back up the aisle, talking on her mobile phone, giving someone directions to the church. For a wedding that was supposed to start 25 minutes ago.
2:00, the musicians do a sound check with the microphones.
2:05, mother of the groom gives her phone to brother of the groom so he could try to explain how to get there.
2:13, brother of the groom takes Sarah Claire out to the reception area to get some chocolate candies.
2:22, we heard people saying “wassalu” meaning “they arrived.” I think they were talking about the bride and groom. 52 minutes after the service was to start. You see, usually the couple will visit a photo studio before the ceremony to have portraits made. I guess they did that about 1:30.
When they arrived, the musicians started singing “How Great is Our God,” while the groom walked up the aisle greeting people. Now this looks like a fairly formal affair: the groom and his brother are wearing tuxedos; the ladies are all wearing black dresses and the men are wearing coats and ties; the preacher is wearing a long black robe. And the groom is just walking around greeting his relatives while the musicians sing!
2:27, the musicians start a second song.
2:29, the bride and her father walk in. At the back end of the aisle, he hands her off to the groom who escorts her to the front of the room.
2:30, a full hour after the announced start time, the brother reads from Ephesians 5 and prays.

Now the rest of the ceremony was pretty familiar. Well, except that there was this double throne thing for the bride and groom to sit on. They sat down for a little, but then while the preacher was preaching, they decided to stand up. He paused to ask what they were doing, but they just said they wanted to stand up. Also while the preacher was preaching, the groom’s father walked up and asked the groom something. And the photographer was wandering around the room taking pictures of everyone, and even walking up on the stage between the preacher and the couple if he wanted a better angle. I don’t think that was allowed the day we got married. Actually, our photographer wasn’t allowed to get any closer than the front edge of the balcony! Oh, and the bridesmaid walked out and back in down the central aisle during the first song.

When it was over, there was a brief, small reception in the courtyard area of the church. There were cupcakes and fancy chocolate candies. Because the wedding was during Lent, there was a separate table of cupcakes and candies for those who were fasting. Adam told us they were made without butter or some other products they can’t have while they’re fasting. I guess at a Catholic/Presbyterian wedding at the Episcopal church, you can eat cupcakes while you’re fasting.

Overall, it was a lovely affair. Our kids mostly played games on our phones, but Sarah Claire also kept a careful lookout for the bride the whole time. She was quite disappointed that there was no flower girl (or "petal girl," as she calls it) in this wedding.

Afterward, we celebrated Arab Mother’s day (21 March) by taking Beth to Outback Steakhouse.

It was a great day!

School Days

Tonight I just have a few random photos to share from some recent school days.

One day the girls decided to surprise me by dressing as "twins." Sarah Claire even wore her pretend glasses so she would look just like her big sis. 

 See, they matched from the back, too!

 Here's Sawyer hard at work on a math assignment...

and Lee Anna doing schoolwork in her favorite spot, "her" desk in the corner of the schoolroom. She has become remarkably independent with her schoolwork, which is wonderful since I've got two others who still need a little more attention and reminding to stay on task!

 Here's my little kindergartener having some letter fun with play dough,

showing off yet another completed workbook (have I mentioned she's flying through most of her KG stuff?), 

and posing for a pic after she surprised Lee Anna by reading this book to her at bedtime!

And I included this last picture because I don't have any others from our favorite part of the school day: Read Aloud Time. When everyone has completed their written work (math, handwriting, lang. arts, etc.), we all meet up on the couch for a snack and some reading together. Apparently, Sarah Claire had my phone with her during Read Aloud Time one day and snapped this picture of her snack. It may not look special to you, but those mini marshmallows are sent with love all the way from America! We can't get them here, so it's a super special treat when we get to have them!

And that's a little peek into our school day. Maybe I'll give Sarah Claire the camera again soon so she can document some more school day fun!