Counting the Gifts

It has been a really rough stretch this past week.  My boys (and I) have been sick.  We spent several days in the hospital here with our little one last week.  I have slept very little over the past 7 or 8 days.
I am tired.  I have two little guys under 5 who alternate having sleep issues and are filled with crazy levels of energy.  I have moved twice in the last 2 years--one being to the opposite side of the globe.  I don't really remember not being tired.  But, I also don't think I've been quite this tired in quite awhile.  When I get tired, it is easy for me to focus on all that is or has been wrong.  Let's be honest, I'm a bit of pessimist by default, so even when I'm not tired, it's easy for me to see life in a less than flattering light.  I have written before about Ann Voskamp and her Joy Dare challenges to be intentional about counting the gifts and even used this blog as my means of recording those for some time. God used that to really reshape my heart and mind, by His grace, to live more tuned into His gifts and cultivating a heart of gratitude.  It is still a struggle and takes a lot of discipline from me and a lot of grace from Him.

I have a lot of thoughts to process from the last week, but I decided that this is a perfect opportunity for me to be intentional about counting the gifts, both for my own sake but also so that I can share of His goodness and share the blessings before I dump out all my thoughts and fears about the challenges here.  I have had a post running around in my mind about this place truly becoming home to me, and I don't want to cloud that with laying out a whole list of the hard things from the last week.  So, before any other thoughts or details from our experiences the last week, I shall count the GIFTS!

*  It was a Tuesday night that Ezekiel's bad croup symptoms hit.  To make this make sense, there is a clinic at Patan Hospital every Wednesday morning at which two British doctors have set aside time just to see expats and help them.  It is the easiest and best possible scenario, in my mind, for our medical needs...and it hit exactly when I most needed it!  These two doctors and the nurse that works at it were an invaluable help to me and so very kind!  One of these doctors has worked in that hospital for many years, is a tremendous physician, and interacts with the hospital system with grace and ease.  She is the one who diagnosed what Ezekiel had and what he needed, and the two of them proceeded to escort me to the emergency room, get me settled there, and then came to check on me several times each in the hours I was there, even after their hours were over for the clinic!
*  Expat community here that looks out for each other.  I am constantly amazed and grateful for the amazing people I meet who have come here from so many places around the world.  Particularly on this side of the city, we have experienced a real sense of community among the expats.  It's like a group of soldiers in the trenches together.  We all know that there are challenges unique to being in a foreign land away from family and friends and things that are familiar.  I have received an invaluable amount of support and advice from people who have been here longer or learned things that I am eager to learn about being here.  This time was no exception.  There was a woman and her daughter in the clinic when we went in that Wednesday morning. She is someone we attend a fellowship with and helped direct me to a prayer group of moms with little ones when we were here the first time, but she isn't someone we know well.  One of the doctors told me that this woman had called back to the clinic later to check and see how I was doing with Zeke and said she could come back and be with me, if I needed someone!  Plus, my moms' prayer group here, who have become dear friends, were checking in on me and offering help and prayed for us.
*  My friend Laurel.  Laurel's husband Mark is the CEO of the company we work for here.  We both live within a few minutes of the office, so I see her most days during the week.  She has two little ones of her own at home, both of whom have had colds, but she kept Isaiah at her home Wednesday afternoon, and he felt happy and enjoyed the afternoon, which was a huge blessing at the last-minute so that he had somewhere he could be and not feel anxious!  Then, she made dinner for us that evening and checked on us multiple times throughout our time, offering help with whatever we needed.  Mark came over to the house that evening once I put Isaiah to bed so that I could go back to the hospital and trade places with John for the night.  Friday morning, Laurel brought breakfast to me at the hospital and spent the morning there with me.  And, last night in the midst of a super full day for her, she brought over an apple pie for us!
*  Steve and Becky Thorson.  I seriously cannot even begin to express the gift that they are to us and especially that they were in this experience!  They are American but have lived here in Nepal for nearly 30 years.  Steve is a brilliant pediatrician who has worked at Patan Hospital for years in various capacities.  They came to check on us the first night (in spite of Steve literally getting hit on his leg by a bus that day!), brought us homemade cookies and pillows and blankets (since they aren't provided by the hospital), and Steve examined Ezekiel and really made things happen that we needed medically throughout the time we were there.  His expertise and his stature with the staff at the hospital meant that we really got what we needed for Ezekiel and put our minds at ease so many times.
*  The office administrator at our business has become a friend of ours, and we are really thankful for her and for the opportunity to keep getting to know her.  She surprised me Friday morning by coming to the hospital with her husband to visit Ezekiel and me.  It meant so much to me!
*  The most obvious gift, perhaps, is that my little Ezekiel is fine now!  He has some cold symptoms, but he is breathing well and happy as a clam again!
*  Isaiah's run with seemingly the same virus did not result in as serious of a situation, and we never had to take him in to the clinic or hospital.
*  John and I were able to make it through the sleep deprivation and at least take care of what was necessary, and our turn with the virus waited until the boys were mostly recovered.
*  Our home and family.  I was so eager to get home from the hospital and to have our family together again in our home.  I am so thankful to not just have a house here but truly a place that feels like a home.  I'm also so very thankful that I have a husband and two kids that I love and want to be with!
*  We have the resources to get the medical care we need.  The total bills seem so small to us compared to what we would pay in the States, but I know that it would be too much for so many people.  I am so thankful for the provision we have and that it isn't a factor that causes worry or impacts our decisions about getting the care we need for our kids.
*  We have family and friends around the world who love us and pray for us.  The notes of encouragement and confirmed prayers are an absolutely amazing gift.

I am sure I am missing some in my current fog.  There have been so many gifts and such huge ones in this experience.  I'll save the challenges for another day and another post.  I choose today to focus on the gifts!

Keeping Warm(er)

I wrote a post awhile ago about keeping warm here in Kathmandu in the winter.  I think it takes awhile to build up your arsenal of defenses and to know what works or helps.  We are chipping away at it.  The worst of the cold is actually past, it would seem, but we'll be ready come next year!  

We have added to our supply of hot water bottles, and we fill up three every night--one for Isaiah for his bed and two for John and my bed.  

 After I wrote the earlier post, John bought this really nice electric space heater.  The other one I posted is just so bright and barely warms up anything beyond the immediate foot in front of it.  We moved that one into Isaiah's room since he is a sounder sleeper, and this new one, which is little and not bright and absolutely amazing is in Ezekiel's room.  It was a splurge, but it works really well...when we have electricity, which is now only 10 hours per day total, though most of that actually is at night.  We saw a BIG jump in our electric bill, which we assume is from this little puppy, so we have to weigh that, but it really does make Zeke's room feel nice when it's on!

 We had been holding off and not purchasing one of the big gas heaters here, but we finally broke down and bought one.  They are so big and not remotely up to safety standards we think of, but you don't have to deal with electricity issues, and they really heat up a room!  We can't leave it on while we sleep because of the safety hazards, but we've been using it in the evenings, and it makes it much more pleasant!  It did seem sort of silly to buy one at this point in the season, but now we have it for next year, and we actually got it on sale (I guess because it is late in the season)!  Should have taken a picture while it was lit.  It actually does have the dual function to run on electricity as well, if you want.  The back view shows you the full effect of the safety hazard with our gas tank setting in there!

 We also added two more of the big fuzzy "Chinese blankets" to our collection.  We actually found some smaller child-size ones at a department store, and while it seemed hard to top, the kids' ones were even more hideous than the full-size ones.  This is the tamest one I could find.  Most have an odd combo of pastels and bright colors with creepy babies and/or distorted Disneylike characters on them.

I actually added a second one to our bed (mostly because I was waking up with no blanket on me frequently thanks to a cover stealer!), and I found a solid brown one!  Excellent find, in my opinion (though John was underwhelmed)!


 We also continue to bundle up in a ridiculous amount of clothes.  Here is what I'm putting on Ezekiel for the night tonight.

And, here are some fantastic new pants that I got in a package from my parents!  They are much brighter than my usual tastes, but somehow with the cold here, they kind of make me feel happy!  There is also a cup of apple cider in my hand, thanks to a care package from good friends Tom and Alana, and I'm wearing a GREAT and comfy pair of slippers that were sent for Christmas from my parents.  We are well cared for!

The cider is a treat, but warm beverages are a key part of my existence here.  I have never drunk so much tea in my entire life!

And, last but definitely not least, I don't think I included a picture of this in my last post, but it is the highlight of my day--our hot water geiser!  It is a gas heater for our water, so we can take hot showers!  It makes me happy and takes every ounce of self-control I have to shut it off at the end of a shower in the morning.

A Parable Kind of a Day

CRASH!  That's how my day with the boys got rolling this morning.

I had started to download an update on the laptop and decided to carry it upstairs open so as not to interrupt the download.  How many times have we told the boys NOT to walk with the iPad open?  They aren't even allowed to carry the laptop yet because, clearly, THEY would have an accident with it.

I grabbed a couple other small things to carry with me, and as I hit the second to last stair from the landing, I tripped on it, and the stuff in my arms--including the laptop--went crashing onto the floor.  

A moment of shock interrupted quickly by bursting into tears.  (Hopefully, nothing to explicit uttered that my boys will repeat later!)

What had I just done?!

I sat down on Isaiah's bed right in front of me and picked up the laptop, popped the battery back in that had fallen out, and tried to breathe.  More crying.  I prayed.  Yes, I prayed for God to please, please (Am I the only one who begs in prayer when desperate?) let it still work.  The frame around the screen had popped open.  Trying to assess the situation through the tears, I gingerly turned it on.  It worked.  Still, the problem of the split frame that wouldn't seem to pop back together, and I noticed that is because part of it was completely dented and not able to be bent or popped or anything back together.

I was crying.  A lot.  Maybe a little hysterical.

Isaiah put his arm around me.

I cried, "Oh, Daddy is going to be so mad at me!"

Isaiah:  "It will be ok, Mommy."

Me:  "Oh, I really messed up, Isaiah.  REALLY badly!"

Isaiah:  "It will be ok, Mommy.  Don't worry."  

Sweet boy.  It is only a "thing."  I know that, but I screwed up.  And, I felt stupid and ashamed and just awful.  And, it is an expensive thing!

I decided to tell John when we saw him at lunch.  

Unexpectedly, John stopped home to pick up the power cord for his laptop mid-morning.  I said, "I have some bad news."

Isaiah:  "Mommy broke the computer."  

There really is no hiding anything when a preschooler has witnessed it!

After explaining what happened and showing John the dent/crack and a very awkward and humble apology, he said it was just cosmetic, and he said, "It's ok.  Accidents happen."

Now, I don't really know why I was afraid or expecting something so different since my dear husband has shown great mercy for some of my worst blunders, but I still felt such a weight off.  Mercy.  It frees.  And yet, I felt almost embarrassed by it.  I deserved for him to be angry at me--really angry.  Yet, he wasn't.  

I was mad at me, but he had shown mercy.  

Seemingly unrelated, less than an hour later, a repair man showed up to service our water filter.  I had been intending to call because it had been 3 months, but apparently, our landlord (or the person he has working for him locally) had already arranged it with them to come for the routine service and filter replacement.  

I walked inside to point out where the water filter was and didn't notice at first that, as he had slipped off his shoes by the door (which is the usual expectation here), he had slipped on my wonderful new slippers that my parents had sent me for Christmas.  Now, floors here are cold.  Really cold right now, so I understand wanting something on your feet, but they weren't setting by any of the other shoes on or beside the shoe rack.  They were across from there at the edge of the living room.  We had other slippers or flip flops.  These were the nicest, softest, coziest pair (a replacement for which would be difficult to find here).  Um, and yeah, they are ladies' slippers!  I realized it as I heard water gushing and tinkering and went in to see him standing, in these new slippers, in dirty water all over the floor, dripping water all over the tops of them as well.  I was furious!  Who does that?!  I went and grabbed another pair of slippers and abruptly asked him to switch slippers!  He half-glanced and said, "Ok."  OK?!  "Um, no, these were getting ruined!"  "Ok, it's ok."  At this point, I was fuming.  I knew it wasn't just a language barrier because we had spoken English when he arrived.  How dare he?!  "Not ok!  You say sorry when you are ruining something!" 

"Ok."

I tried to calm myself down and explain it must be some cultural thing that I was being insensitive to, but I was ANGRY!

I avoided saying much else to him, and after a few more mildly irritating issues in the exchange, he was done, and the water filter was fixed, and he left.  I had been snippy, and I knew it.

I went to the office at lunch and vented about it to John and another friend, attempting to be quiet, as if that somehow would maintain some level of cultural sensitivity.

It wasn't until we had gotten home, and I had put the boys down for nap time, and I was starting to read the Bible for some quiet time that it hit me.  Hit me hard.  The "Parable of the Unmerciful Servant" (Matthew 18:21-35)--ever read it?  To paraphrase briefly, a king cancels the debt of a servant who owed him heaps and heaps of money, showing him great mercy, only to have that servant go outside and rail on a guy who owed him a teeny fraction of the amount.  Yep.  Laptop.  Slippers.  It is a little horrifying to find yourself smack in the middle of a parable...and not as the "good guy."  

I read these parables, and sometimes they almost seem like merely hyperbole to get the point across.  I mean, they don't really happen quite as obvious as that, right?  I nod at the lesson I have learned from the poor sap in the story who could be so blind as to miss the obvious truth right in front of him.  But, today, as I turned to read that story as it was flooding my mind, that page turned into a mirror.  Oh, have mercy on ME that I would understand the depth and breadth of mercy that I have already been shown. 

If only my biggest failing for the day had been smashing the laptop.  

  

Life in this Land--Baking

I have done a lot of baking over the past month or so here.  Baking here presents some challenges, but to avoid any misunderstandings, let me first start by saying that I really enjoy it!  There is a certain satisfaction I get in figuring out a way to make familiar or fun foods here and conquer those challenges!  Some people climb Everest here.  I figure out ways to make food and home work here.
Also, I should give credit where it is due, as very few of these things are my original ideas.  I soak up every bit of knowledge my friends who have been here longer are willing to share with me--tips, recipes, where to find ingredients or make substitutions, etc.  My good friend Lizzy has a great blog she has started called Foodies in a Foreign Land, which I have used a ton or have picked her brain more about food stuff here.
And, finally, let's be honest that one of my favorite parts about cooking and baking here is that someone else cleans up after me!  Seriously!  Unbelievable blessing to have a sweet young girl who works in our home and is so patient and thorough and cleans up after my kitchen adventures!  Really, really thankful for her!

Some of my baking adventures and victories...

The green bean casserole I made last week for a Christmas Eve meal...from SCRATCH!  I grew up Mennonite, and even Mennonites don't do that!  I'm talking no canned soup, no French's fried onions.  I totally ripped this one off from Lizzy (the one she lists as "Best Ever Green Bean Casserole"), but I still felt pretty pleased with myself.

Lizzy had blogged about using a local item called chaaku to make molasses.  I have been on a quest since then to find it.  Apparently, it is much more limited as to where you can find it outside of festival times.  Shop owners would bring me charcoal or chocolate or ask me if I wanted a knife (apparently, the Hindi word for knife sounds very much like this word), and usually after several rounds of trying to properly communicate the word, they would say, "Oh, chaaku!  No, we don't have."
Finally, one Sunday afternoon, my good friend here and I headed out to explore Assan Tole, an older market in downtown Kathmandu, to hunt down some chaaku and some soap nuts (which I use for laundry soap here).  The strategy is to go and just start asking and following the pointing until you find a little shop that has the item.  It was quite fun, actually.  When we finally located the chaaku, the shop owner spoke quite good English and asked us what we were using it for, and we told him baking cakes and cookies and such.  He said that only pregnant women here eat it, which would explain some of the confusion in my search, I suppose!  (My Nepali friends here have said that many people do eat it in special dishes during festival times, but outside of that, yes, only pregnant women.)
My plunder from the conquest...3 kg of soap nuts and three 500g bars of chaaku.

I followed Lizzy's instructions to add a little water and melt it in a pot and kept thinking that it was seeming very thick.

I tried to strain it, and nothing would even go through the strainer.  I considered skipping the straining (nothing seemed visible, how bad could it be?), though on future batches you can see why I was glad I did not skip that step.  (In case it is not visible, there are quite a lot of twigs and random bits of things that look like they belonged in my yard.)

Anyway, I realized that Lizzy had probably used a 250g bar (which were also available), so I had not added nearly enough water.  I had already tried to scoop it into a container, and I couldn't even move the spoon around, so I tried adding some boiling water to it.  Plastic here is not made to receive boiling water! :(

In addition to my quantity issue, it is entirely possible that I did not have it on a low enough heat, as it is hard to get a good low heat on my stovetop...and I'm not known to be a patient person.  So, sadly my first bar got wasted.

On my second batch, I realized the quantity issue, was extra careful to keep it on the lowest heat possible, and I got a nice-looking molasses out of it.  It took quite awhile, and I knew my boys would be getting up from naps soon, so I was really hoping it would be enough.

What I did not yet mention is that what I had decided to use the molasses for was a sextupled (Is that even a word?) batch of cookies, as a few of the other ladies and I had decided to each make 200 cookies for the CloudFactory Christmas party.  That meant I needed 3 cups of molasses.  The bar yielded about 2.  Of course.  So, I melted up my third bar and even had some extra to save for a future baking endeavor. 

With my molasses complete, I was ready to mix up my cookie dough.  Martha Stewart has a recipe for chewy chocolate gingerbread cookies that I think are so delicious, so I was determined to make those.

Now, one thing about Martha is that I always think she makes things just a little too complicated, so even in the States, I often roll my eyes at some of her steps or ingredients.  Perhaps there really would be a difference if I did those things, and those who are more hardcore bakers than I am would notice, but I think the stuff comes out yummy without some of the crazy steps/ingredients, so I short cut.  And, here, the thought of "best quality" semisweet chocolate or "Dutch processed cocoa powder," or in this case even the specificity on the molasses made me laugh.  I also always skip the freshly grated ginger because I don't love super strong ginger taste, and well, I'm a little lazy when it comes to things like that!  Also, since my kitchen in the evening barely feels warmer than inside my refrigerator, I wasn't too concerned about the multiple chilling steps!

I didn't yet have an electric hand mixer (though I ended up getting one as my Christmas present!), and with 12 hours a day without electricity anyway, I started off the cookies with my egg beater.  I am super grateful that my friend ended up letting me borrow her electric mixer later in the evening as this thing doesn't really cut it when you're talking about 6 times a recipe of cookie dough!

My oven is small, so a standard cookie sheet won't fit in it, so I've taken to putting the cookies on what I assume is supposed to be my broiler pan/tray and sliding that right in one of the notches for the oven rack.  I also have a couple of round pizza pans I bought here, the largest of which can hold about 9 cookies at a time.  (Remember I mentioned needing to make at least 200?)

Ooh, another thing that was fun about these cookies is that it doesn't have any eggs in the dough, so for the first time since getting here, I could actually eat the dough!  It feels like torture sometimes to restrain myself from licking the spoons and beaters and such!

Some of the many finished cookies.  I was really pleased with how they turned out!

Once I finished the dough, I still needed to make some more cookies and figured I would make some sugar cookies for the season anyway, so I mixed up some dough to make a few rounds of those.
This is my frequent kitchen "helper."  He cannot resist being right in the mix whenever something is going on in the kitchen!  Sometimes I have to remind myself that this is valuable because he loves it and is learning and is SO adorable, but it is a bit of a slowing dynamic and adds exponentially to the mess.  But who can resist this cutie as a helper?!

I pulled out some of my grandmother's cookie cutters I had brought along with me because, in addition to just loving food, it is also usually very nostalgic for me.

I skipped the icing and just put on sprinkles (which John had brought back from New York this fall, but I also have in the past used the large crystal sugar that is the common kind to find here and colored it with food coloring, which is also easily available here.)

Last thing I made for the party was Rice Krispie treats (or "Crisp Rice" as the generic of the cereal that is available here is called).  The marshmallows we can find here are in smaller bags that are pink and white (or sometimes rhombus-shaped and pink on one side and yellow on the other).

I decided to go with the tint and make them look festive, so I added some food coloring to the butter marshmallow mixture before I stirred in the cereal.  Then I decided to top off with some sprinkles, which in the case of red sugar on green treats ended up looking like chili powder or some other odd creation, but people seemed to roll with it.

Earlier in the month, we had a little "candy cane party" with a few friends because a great visiting friend from the States brought us a couple boxes of candy canes, which I haven't seen here.  I crushed up two of the candy canes (which had already gotten broken by my boys) and put them on top of oreos I had dipped in melted white chocolate chips.  Oreos are actually quite common here, though there are some made in India (not so good) and the good ones made in Thailand.  A friend tipped me off on this info, which I believe is the critical kind of information that should be included in orientation stuff here!  The treats didn't turn out super pretty because the white chocolate chips (probably not "best quality," Martha!) seized on me.  (Learned that term from my friend when I told her about this project.)  Still tasted delicious, but not a very practical one to remake.

The final one I'll post for now was English muffins!  Isaiah LOVES them and misses them, and one of John's favorite foods is Eggs Benedict.  Thankfully, my supplier (aka Lizzy) gave me a recipe to make them!  On Christmas morning,  Isaiah said to me, "What are those things that Grandma gives me for breakfast?  I am really missing those!"  Fear not, little buddy, I'm on it!
I had to plug in one of our electric space heaters (during a stretch we actually had electricity) so that the dough would rise.  Yeast is not any more fond of the cold than I am!

I made them too small and will use something other than our drinking cups to cut the rounds next time.  They didn't really have the nooks and crannies of Thomas's, but the taste was there, and Isaiah (well, all of us) gobbled them up.

And, thanks to a Hollandaise sauce packet (a little wimpy about making it from scratch, though all ingredients would be easy to get here to make it) sent in a care package from my mother-in-law, we had Eggs Benedict for Christmas dinner! :)

Our Life in this Land--Staying Warm

I have not kept up with blogging lately, and my emotional and mental energy is a bit low to write anything terribly reflective, so I thought I'd start a series of posts on some basics of life as we experience it here in Kathmandu.  I'll call them "Life in this Land."  There are many things that are different for us here than what we are used to.  Some are exciting, and some are a bit more challenging.  John and I have spent the last 12-13 years in Southern California, so the cold here is one of the things that we are definitely not used to.  During the day it is quite pleasant, even warm usually, in the sun outside.  But nights get quite cold.  And buildings here are all made of cement or marble, so even during the day, it seems to always feel cold inside.  It is a bit of a flip to go outside to get warm.  Even in places we've lived (and I grew up) where winters are really cold, you go inside to warm up.  So, we are trying to gather tips from people around us and build our arsenal of defenses against the cold here.  

One of the things we do is to put hot water bottles into the bed at night.  This is perhaps not foreign to many, but I had never done this before.  We boil water and then pour it into the bottles.  This has become John's job mostly, as I seem to have a knack for getting the boiling water on myself or dropping the bottle or other such things.  If we slip them into the covers we bought and then tuck them under our blankets, they actually stay warm until morning.  

Several of my friends suggested putting some flannel over the sheets on the boys' beds, as it feels more comfortable and retains heat a bit better than just laying right on the cold cotton sheets.  You can find flannel here in many little fabric/clothing shops.  This is the least "busy" pattern I have seen, and Isaiah actually really liked it.  There is a word/phrase in Nepali "rangi changi," which I love to say and means multi-colored (or many colors) and describes most things that are available here.  But, when you're cold, who cares about color overload?!

As you can see in this picture, Ezekiel also always sleeps on top of a quilt Grandma made for Isaiah when he was a baby.  It is soft and warm and cozy, and Ezekiel totally expects it now.  We drape it over the side of the crib closer to the wall to also help try to block some of the draft.

This is a space heater that we purchased to use in Ezekiel's room.  There is no central heat in homes here, so space heaters are the option.  There are larger gas ones that are much more efficient, but they are also much more expensive, and they are fairly dangerous, as they literally have a gas tank just setting on the back (think propane tank like you use for a big grill in the States), and you can't leave them running while sleeping because of leaking gas.  The downside of the ones like we have is that they are electric.  That seems good, but we are up to 10 hours per day without electricity, so that limits things notably.  And, they are bright!  So, it's pretty much like leaving the bedroom light on in Ezekiel's room.  But, it seems to help take the chill out of the room.

I didn't take a photo of it, but we have also tried to cover one of Ezekiel's windows with a big piece of plastic that we got when we bought some cushions because his one window felt as if it might as well have just been wide open.  The windows in general here in our home don't quite close tightly or fit quite right, so we are thinking we'll try to follow up on a tip to get more big sheets of plastic to put up on other windows, but Ezekiel's room was definitely the worst.

"Chinese" blankets.  These seem to all be imported from China, and they are big and fuzzy.  Again, they are nearly always very rangi changi, so in spite of the funky velour pattern look to this, it is the most mellow one I could find.  It is barely wider than the top of our mattress, so I recently bought a second one, as I was often waking up with the blanket all piled on the other half (um, my husband is a sound sleeper and a blanket thief!).  I actually found one that was all brown!  Those of you who know me can imagine my excitement! :)

We wear a LOT of layers and much of the time have our coats on in the house!

They make these great felt slippers here.  This is a picture of Isaiah and I showing ours off after we bought them a couple weeks ago.

Perhaps my "favorite" thing that is a new experience here (not specific to winter but used more frequently now) is lighting my oven.  I've taken a little video to let you in on this little task of mine.

Teaching

I spent 7 years before my boys were born teaching in the Los Angeles Unified School District.  There were so many challenges and so many joys in it.  I met some amazing fellow educators committed to the lives and minds of those who come through their classrooms.  I also came face to face time and again with limits of what I and others could do in the lives of the students, no matter how hard we worked or how committed we were.  I taught middle school, and while I loved that age and the subject matter (math), it was really hard for this introvert to filter around 180 students through my room in a day, having each of them for less than an hour a day!  The more scripted the curriculum became and the less freedom there was to really be creative and use my skills and insights as their teacher to adjust to what they needed, the more draining it felt.

Since I left teaching the year before my son was born, people have often asked me if I miss it, and it was always hard to answer that question.  I very much missed the idea of what I wanted teaching to be, but the gap between that and the reality was one that made me feel constantly dissatisfied, discouraged, and drained.

This isn't a comment on public schools.  That is another debate for another time and place.  This is about an unexpected blessing and delight in my journey as mom and educator.  I never expected to homeschool for many reasons, though as the time was drawing closer for my oldest to enter school, figuring out good school choices felt daunting.  Right at the start of this school year (with my oldest just turning 4), we arrived in Bhaisepati, Kathmandu, Nepal.  I had decided that, for the time being, I would homeschool the boys.  My oldest is just at preschool age.  With an August birthday, it might even be two school years before he would start kindergarten in the States.  My youngest isn't yet 2.  So, even the term "homeschooling" seems funny to me, as I never went to any sort of "school" until kindergarten.  There is a good international school not terribly far from us, and I have had in the back of my mind that once my youngest is school age here, perhaps I would teach there in exchange for some of the tuition for the boys to attend there.  I don't know what will come next or how long we'll do this homeschool thing.  What I do know is what is right now, and that is that teaching my boys here in our home is a huge blessing and so much fun for me and has rekindled my love of teaching!

Obviously, the more important question is whether this is good for my kids, and for now, it seems to be really good.  The oldest is loving school and loving learning and needs a transition point before jumping into something bigger in such a new and different place, I believe.  The little one is wanting to do what he sees big brother doing and wants to do school, too! :)  We are able to use the things they are interested in as vehicles for learning, and we can adapt easily to what they need to work on.

I don't know how long this will be a good plan for my boys, but I just know that I am incredibly thankful for the opportunity to do it now, and I'm realizing that, selfishly, this is an amazing fit for how I use my time and energy and passions!  I love learning, and I love teaching.  I have two boys to guide through exploring and learning and foster an excitement for learning and a curiosity and wonder for the world around them.  Two.  That is an introvert's dream.  Heck, I could take 5 or 6 and still be well within my "zone."  I love being able to be creative and decide on interesting ways to meet our goals.  I love searching and thinking and planning.  I get so excited as I put together our plans for the day or week.  I love to see them enjoying learning and thirsty for more!  I love the ability to adapt and spend more time or less time on what is working or not working or what is connecting with them or not.  I love being able to share my passion for learning with these two precious boys who are totally different from each other in ways that connect with both of them, and I just feel so privileged, for as long as it lasts, to be able to be the one guiding them through this stage of their education and watching them develop into what will hopefully be life-long learners!

Because I'm enjoying this so much, I've decided to start a separate blog to try to record at least a few highlights of our journey with school here.  I find and use and adapt a lot of stuff from a lot of other people who are a lot more creative than I am, so there may not be much original material in the way of the activities, but I for one am enjoying the journey of our teaching and learning at home here and the ways that living in a place far from what we've known as home are affecting that, so here is a start at sharing a bit of that:
http://mountainmamateaching.blogspot.com/

Missing Home

Isaiah has really been missing home lately.  The initial excitement and adventure of all the new sights and sounds and things to encounter has worn off a bit, and he has been struggling now with things just feeling a bit  uncomfortable.  As a mom I want to validate his feelings and acknowledge the challenges of such a transition while still keeping a healthy challenge before him to enjoy this place and cultivate a heart of gratitude (something I still need to be challenged on myself often!).

I had started writing this yesterday, and then last night Isaiah asked me how many years we were going to stay here.  I said I wasn't sure but at least 3.  I asked him how he felt about that, and he said, "I just want to go back to America," and he had a little cry snuggling up in my arms.  I fully believe that this is good for our family, and I know there are things that even he loves here, but it is so hard to see my sweet son struggling.  My heart hurts when he is sad.  So, I fight a battle inside myself--that tension between wanting to spare my children from all hurt and heartache and make them comfortable but wanting the richer and deeper and fuller things in life for them that often don't come from what is easy.

On a lighter not, since we've been talking about the things we miss from America, I thought I'd share a few of mine here:
*  milk (cow's milk that I don't have to boil myself and tastes the way I am used to)
*  cheese made from said milk
*  ice cream made from said milk (I'm a bit attached to my dairy products!)
*  friends and mentors from L.A.
*  family--while I haven't lived close to my family for many years now, this distance feels harder
(Sorry to put dairy products above people!  It's stream of consciousness not a statement of priority, I promise!)
*  fall (let's be honest, though, I missed this in L.A., too!)
*  Target (While it drove me totally crazy at times, it was so convenient to drive 2 minutes and be able to purchase nearly anything I wanted in one stop.)
*  having a car (I would never feel comfortable driving here, but sometimes I miss the convenience it brought.)
*  my comfy mattress
*  apple cider
*  clean sidewalks
*  a wide variety of tasty produce all year round (I got really spoiled on this in Southern California!)
*  Mexican food
*  our pediatrician
*  toilets that flush well and generally smoother plumbing systems
*  a clean supply of water that we don't have to worry about
*  knowing how things work and where to get things and where great places are (This is just part of adjusting to ANY new place, especially after having lived in one area for a long time before this.)

I'm sure there are more, and I have moments of feeling a bit jumbled still and missing people and things from "home," but this time has been a much easier adjustment for me personally.  I knew much of what to expect, and we have had so much help, and while I miss a lot of things, I am also really thankful for so many things here as well, so I shall make another list of some of the many things that I'm thankful for about living here:
*  amazing people (I am continuously blessed by the incredible people we meet here.  I had made some friends before who are still here, and there are more that have come, or that I am just now meeting.  There are people from so many places and so many walks of life who have come here, and I just find most of them to be really fascinating and wonderful people!  One family in particular that we had gotten to know just a bit the last time we are here are just a huge blessing and answer to prayer in friendship for us and for the kids and for just processing life with!  I'm also super thankful for my very, very dear friends Tom and Alana who we are thoroughly blessed to get to share life with in this season and place!)
*  the business and its office (We are really so thankful to be part of what we feel is a really cool vision in this business and a great role for John, and we love living close to the office and getting to know the workers and being able to share lunch there together with so many great people who work there and their families.)
*  our home (A blessing beyond what we could have imagined!  Even a yard!!!)
*  pace of life (Things take much longer here, and that can be hard to adapt to, but people just don't try to cram as many things into a day, and that is nice to have some release from what often can often feel too full and scattered and unfocused.  Life is a bit simpler here, in that respect.)
*  house help (Staying home with the boys and being able to really enjoy them and do the things I want to do with them, it is really SUCH a blessing to have someone who works in our home to keep it clean and take care of much of the daily tasks here.)
*  a new language and culture for our whole family to learn and live in
*  very kind and gracious Nepali people who are patient with our lack of understanding of their language and culture and dote on our kids and help us navigate life here

I'm sure there are more things on both lists, but those are a few of the things.  There will be ups and downs, challenges and victories.  We are learning (and sometimes more stretched than others) to make this our home.