Road trip to Goa

This year we decided to road trip it to Goa for some annual meetings. We've never made this trip before so we were unsure how the roads would be for the second half of the trip and very uncertain about the bathroom and petrol locations along the way :) We took a different route going and returning and because we did, we got to see some beautiful views along the way. Besides the challenge of finding toilets and petrol, I love driving through rural India. You experience and see so much that the big cities can't offer. We took the longer route on the trip down, so we could stop for the night in a small town on the coast of our state. The beach was clean and the water warm! It really is a gem and hard to beleive it's in the same state as some of the other places we've been. It's like a whole different culture and has a very different feel to it. We wanted to linger longer the next day and go see a fort on an island, but it just so happened to be Holi (the festival of throwing colored powder on people) and call me a grump, but I have NO interest in participating in that tradition :) We we found a quiet place for breakfast and stayed in our car as much as possible to avoid being 'colored'. 

Too busy to take a pic with mom.

Cricket on the beach.

A local beach in our state.

Kids + Sand = endless fun

He would hate me putting this up, but he's too handsome not to :)

It was fun to watch the locals on the beach for a change, rather than feeling like we are the ones being watched. :)

Sweet Discipleship Time

One of the things I am enjoying most about homeschooling my kids is the daily bible study in our routine. It is J's favorite part of school and he and H have different activity books that go along with the story we read that day. I'm using Positive Action bible curriculum, the pre-k and kindergarten work books along with the God's Love bible storybook. I LOVE this bible storybook and think it's the best written kids bible I've come across. The pictures are beautiful and large and each story weaves together in the theme of redemption and need for Jesus' sacrifice for salvation.

Today we were totally off our routine so J and I did homeschool while H napped (we usually do it all together in the morning). It was a really sweet time together and he loved the one on one attention. During bible study, we read the story about the little children coming to Jesus and the disciples trying to turn them away. We talked about why Jesus said all must come to him like these little children in order to go to heaven. That we need to realize our need for Christ and depend on his sacrifice for our sins, not our own ability or good works. He responded with, "well I know I need Jesus, do YOU know you need Jesus mommy?" "Yes, I know I need Jesus." I said. "Well I hope daddy knows he needs Jesus too. Does Hudson know? What about Jeremiah and Tirzah?"

I love the sweet discussion that we get into from the reading of these bible stories and that it makes being intentional in discipling my kids, easier on a daily basis. It's a perk of homeschooling, to just include that time in their day and I hope I can continue to find good material at each age level and that all my kids continue to have enthusiasm for God's word.

If you're looking for a good bible curriculum for your kids, whether you homeschool or not, check out Positive Action. They have curriculum for all ages and are made for churches and home use.

Grandpa Visit #2

Leaving the hotel in Mumbai where G-pa made friends with all the workers! 

After Mumbai, we hung out in our city for a few days while daddy had a work trip to the capital. The boys spent a lot of time playing with Grampy Pampy and their newest train set he brought from the US. One of the trains even had Hudson's name on it!

For the last part of Grandpa's trip, we headed to Goa. We needed to go down for some work meetings the following week anyways, so Grandpa decided to treat us all to a legit beach vacation. It was an a very restful and fun week! We slept in, swam all day at the pool and beach, and enjoyed good food and entertainment in the evenings. 

Finally got Hudson into the floaties and unglued to mom's neck. He's much less afraid of the water  now.

A Rajastani performer at dinner.

To beat the afternoon heat and rest some of crew's sunburns from the harsh sun, we hung out in a pavilion to have some ping pong battles and the kids play room to make some crafts.

Playing in the shady sand.

Brotherly love display

Saying Goodbye to Grandpa. Goodbyes are no fun, but we are grateful for the time we had with him.

Grandpa's Visit #1

We had a really great two week visit from Grandpa, in which he got to experience a little more of our country then last time. The culture shock factor on the second trip was much less and even his willingness to try various local foods was greatly increased.

We started the trip off in Mumbai, where he flew into. He treated us to a 3 day stay at his favorite hotel, where we met friends he had made on his last trip. (Including the real Denzel Washington, who looks a little skinnier than I remember him in his movies).

We enjoyed lots of swimming, good food, site-seeing, the beach, and a local "ferry" ride in a surreal fishermen village in the middle of a mega city.

Here are a few pictures from the first leg of his trip.

I

At The Gateway to India. I'm guessing Jackson said something funny.

How do I love thee?

I usually do not do much for Valentines Day, other than getting my hubs something small. My birthday happens to be the same day, so I guess that usually becomes the focus of the day. But having kids is making me want to do more for them. Not because I have to, but because I want to take the opportunity to focus on making them feel loved and special.

This year, one of my favorite blogs (see below) gave me this great idea for extending Valentine's day from Feb.1-14.  You basically cut out these cute hearts and write something you love about that person on the heart. There is one for each day leading up to Valentines day.

I started it tonight and the boys both seemed really happy. Giving "cards" is Jackson's love language. Just the act of handing him a heart shaped card (that he saw me make earlier) and saying it was for him, put a huge smile on his face. Every time his dad or I go out of town, he promises to make us a card while we are gone. And making cards and scanning and emailing them to family is his favorite way to show someone he misses and loves them.

I made little envelopes out of construction paper (nothing fancy at all) and put their names on them. We hung them up on their wardrobe before bed and I explained that I'll put one in their everyday until Valentines day. Hudson's reaction was "Oh thanks for the mail-time mommy!" (his favorite show is Blues Clues)

Here is the link to the blog if you want to check it out. She always has cute and free printables to offer.

Jones Design Company- How do I love thee

Thailand 'Top 10'

Probably one of the things I was most grateful for at Christmas, was the fact that I was not dying to leave S.Asia when it came time for our visa run! Unlike last time, I was really looking forward to the rest and fun with friends (and the meat that moo's) but I wasn't about to explode from cultural stress leading up to take off. (Well, minus one 'highway pit-stop bathroom incident' on the way to the airport, where I chewed a lady out for pushing and shoving me and my son to cut in "line").

It was such a refreshing time away, a needed break to a milder culture, some good comfort food, sweet fellowship with friends, beautiful scenery, lots of out-door fun for the kids, and shopping for mommy! But, I was actually not fighting back tears on the plane ride home, and was looking forward to returning home! I came back so refreshed and excited for all that God has in store for us this year, the work He has for us to do, and the new chapter of life in S. Asia minus formal language school. (Insert some hoops and hollers here!) But what 2013 has in store for us is a 'whole-nother' blog entry to write.

Back to Thailand... I could go on and on, but to spare you, I will give our TOP 10 of What We Love Most About Thailand to put our trip in a nut-shell and to show lots of pictures. (These are in no particular order of importance b/c they all rock!)

#10 Elephants! The boys loved feeding the baby elephants the most.

Oh I wish I knew what was going on inside Hudson's head here.

That baby elephant kept giving me vacuum suction-wet-stinky kisses on the cheek!

Oh yeah, taking a bath!

#9- Zoos! 

"Look mom, turtles!"

Petting a pony with sweet friends.

#8- Our Friend's Yard, Swingset, Dog, etc! 

#7-Tuk Tuk's- We rode one, but didn't get a picture of it. Jackson kept calling Bangkok, "My city" and saying, "I ride a Tuk Tuk b/c I'm a Thai boy!" (He was born in Bangkok) So we had to get him a Tuk Tuk shirt.

 #6-Indoor playgrounds! They are in abundance and are cheap. I tried hard not to covet these and just be grateful that our city finally has a few.

#5-Hot Dogs & "King Burger" (aka- Burger King)

#4-Donuts! (Sorry we ate all these too fast to take pictures)
#3-Candy, Fresh cut cheap fruit by the road, Cherry Coke & Soda Manoa

#2-Seeing our friends, the Tidwells...why in the world do I not have any pictures??? Probably b/c we were too busy chatting, eating, and shopping! We'll just have to come back ASAP!

#1-Happy kids & Great family memories!