Summer, summer, summertime...

I am so thankful to live where we do on days like today. We live in a complex near the beach and in the summertime it fills up with families. The boys have been swimming like crazy, everday, all day! They get out once in awhile to play tag or futbol (soccer) with their new found friends. There are about 10 other boys now living in the complex that the boys get to play with and have fun with. I am so thankful that they went to school this year and have learned to adapt to new language and new culture. It is such a joy to our ears hearing them running around with their new found friends and speaking 3 different languages; Spanish, Arabic, and ofcourse, English! It's pretty cool.

Evan being silly!


DJ and Evan


Mr. Jules...He LOVES the water!

DJ, going in backwards! The boys are doing flips and diving like crazy!

I'm 30!

Well, I turned 30! I actually turned 30 before Julian, but am just now getting it posted! LOL...On my actual day, the boys made a cake for me and treated me super great! Then for the weekend, Dom took me away for a little gettaway. It was so needed. It was the first time we got to get away alone in over a year and a half. It was so nice! They say the 30's are great, I am looking forward to them! I hope to grow closer to the Lord and become a better woman, mother and wife!

Julian is 4!!!

Happy Birthday to my baby boy, Julian! He isn't so much my baby anymore, he is quite big! I cannot believe he is 4 years old sometimes! It blows my mind how fast time has gone.
For his last day of school, we took some cupcakes and celebrated with his class. They were very glad to have homemade cupcakes!!! Then the next day for his actual birthday, we just kind of chilled at home. We had a really nice mellow time with him. We took him to our traditional birthday spot for dinner, McDonalds, and then went home and watched a movie. It was nice and he had a great time. Isn't he soooo cute!!!??? ;0)

Getting birthday kisses from all his classmates, one by one :0) it was sweet. They sang "Happy Birthday" in 3 different languages; Arabic, Spanish and English. They were dying to eat!

Look out, he means business with his goggles and new water guns. This is my attempt at a football cake, only the white part was melting quickly and spreading out. Ugh...

McDonalds, Baby! Such a treat for them!

Last Day of School pic's...

Julian and his teacher, Miss Sonia. She loved him and he really liked her too!!!

Evan and his teacher. She was...ok. Liked to yell a lot, but for the most part did well with him.

DJ, with his teacher, Miss Angustias. She was a great teacher and it was nice because she spoke a little English and that helped him to learn so much!!!

Already a ladies man...;0)! They play a kind of cops and robber game on recess, boys against girls...well all the girls seemed to go after DJ!

We finished the school year!

My boys are truly wonderful boys!  I am so blessed to have been given them and to watch them learn and grow.  We started out two years ago homeschooling the boys in preparation for our move to Morocco.  I was pretty certain when we came here that I would be homeschooling them.  I brought all the materials with me that I would need. (It took up most of the weight in our luggage, man the things I could have brought had I known ;) )  But, after getting here and seeing things a bit more clearly and God totally opening up my heart to a different option for them we pursed putting them into the Spanish school in our city.

 

What a journey it has been since those first days of registration, nerves of mine on edge because it was hard enough for me to understand and communicate and we were about to drop our 3 young boys into an environment that we really didn't know too much about and that they couldn't communicate in at all.  Everyone told us that they would get it and learn because they are young and their minds are small.  I was still nervous.  We went through a few months of a lot of tears, not just theirs :0) , and decided we would stick it out until the end of the year, that we would push through and do whatever it took to help them become successful.  That meant at first spending about 3 hours a night with DJ doing homework and talking to the boys when we could with the Spanish we knew.  We had to teach the boys what to say when someone would bother them, was fighting with them, or teasing them.  We had meeting after meeting with their teachers and now, THEY FINISHED!!!

 

We now officially ended the school year.  They did it!  We did it!  I am so very proud of my three boys.  They are such troopers.  They are so brave.  They have courage that  inspires me.  They are my little warriors.  I am thankful that God put such amazing little hearts in my hands.  They have taught me  a lot!  Despite all the challenges, frustrations, anxiety and learning curve, they did it!!!

 

DJ has grown so much this year.  He by far had the most challenges to overcome.  He was going into the second grade.  Most kids his age are all in third grade, but I pushed hard to let him go into second grade because of his birthday and how it falls in the States, he would be in second.  By the States standards, I thought he was doing great and right on track for entering the second grade in a Spanish school.  After day two, I realized just how far behind we were compared to what I thought.  I am proud to say that after literally hours of studying, working hard, having to redo papers, my son has successfully finished the second grade and had a GREAT report card!  I am SO proud of him!  He learned to write in small cursive handwriting, knows all of his multiplication tables, can read, write and talk in Spanish.  He knows all the right accent marks and how to pronounce things correctly.  He is helping me even!  He has worked his little booty off this year and he has done amazing.  He made a ton of friends and even got to play basketball.  I think that was the highlight of the year for him.  Also, on top of learning all of that, he has managed to learn some Arabic and really enjoys it.  He can write it, and also has begun reading it!  Amazing!!!

 

Evan had been so brave this year.  His personality is so different than DJ's and he struggled a lot in the beginning.  The way he dealt with his frustration of no understanding the language or what was going on was to act up.  We had a lot of working with him to do.  Kids are not always nice, teachers here act way different than they would in the States, and we just had to push through and teach him what to say and what to do when he got in those situations when he wanted to act up.  He improved a lot over the course of the year.  He has done amazingly well.  He went from not knowing anything to understanding and knowing a lot.  His teacher is amazed at how well he does in mathematics!  She actually sent him out of class a couple of times to do math with the first grade class.  He is bright in that area and really likes it.  He is shy about speaking Spanish around people who can speak English, but when we listen from a distance while he is talking to his teachers or friends, he just goes and goes!  It is quite impressive what he has learned.  Today we got his report card and he improved A TON from the first trimester, which consisted of mostly C's.  This time,  he got mostly all A's and worked really hard for being only 5 years old when he started!  He will soon be reading too!  I am so proud of his brave little heart.  He really had a rough few months and we were ready to pull him out, but he pulled through and really enjoyed going towards the end.  His teacher told us he is a very intelligent little boy.  We knew that, but it was good to hear!!!  He will be moving to first grade next year!  He has grown so much this year!

 

Julian.  Wow.  He had done so great this year.  When we moved here to Morocco, he hated to leave me and had major separation anxiety.  It was hard to even go on a date with Dom and have someone watch him and then we moved here and for the first few months of being here all he was around was me all the time.  We would go to friends' homes and he wouldn't leave my side even when all the other kids were playing in a different room.  The first couple of weeks at school were heart wrenching watching him go into school with huge tears in his eyes and not really being able to comfort him until he got home.  I mean, he was 3, that is when all the kids here start school.  It was tough, but we continued and really thank God for his teacher.  She was really great with him and worked really hard at helping him to adjust and feel safe.  Within a few months he was waving goodbyes to us and even woke up ready to go to school.  He got used to it slowly but surely and he has done amazing.  He speaks Spanish really good and understands almost everything.  There are now even some words that he knows in Spanish that he doesn't totally know in English!  He learned all his colors, numbers, shapes, letters, and many songs this year in Spanish.  He is also doing really well in Arabic.  And speaks all three languages sometimes!  It is cute.  He is so awesome and his teacher was so impressed and happy with how well he did this year.  He had an amazing report card as well that showed major improvement from the first trimester!

 

So, that was long, but I am really truly so proud of these three boys!  They not only finished a year of school, but they did it in a completely different country, different culture, and a different language without ever complaining or wishing they were somewhere else.  They are such incredible boys and I love them so much!

 

DJ's end of the year field trip!

For his last field trip, DJ got to go to a really cool water park! It's called Smir park and it has a couple of huge pools, water slides, and a really cool kiddie playground area in the water! The entire first and second grade classes went and he totally had a blast! What a way to finish the year out! I am so proud of this little guy! It was a much deserved trip for him. He has worked so hard this year. He learned a new language, a new culture, how to write in cursive, his times tables and everything in between all while learning a new language and making new friends! He is such a trooper! I am glad he was able to go to the water park and have some fun with his classmates!

Today's thoughts.

 

"Will I believe you when you say, your hand will guide my every way?  Will I only see the words you say every moment of every day?  Well, I will walk by faith, even when I cannot see.  Well because this broken road prepares your will for me.  Help me to end my endless fears. You've been so faithful for all my years.  With one breath you make me new Your grace covers all I do…..well I will walk my faith even when I cannot see.  I am broken, but I still see your face, well you've spoken pouring your words of grace. "           –Jeremy Camp, Walk By Faith

 

This song really touched me yesterday as I went for my morning jog and I have had it in my head ever since.  I thought I would share it.  I am constantly learning what it means to walk by faith and am really trying to learn and live what walking by faith means.  It is a  hard thing to do when your mind tends to go to worry and fear rather than faith.  The bottom line is HE has me in his hands, He knows my desires, my fears, my struggles.  He has given me much grace.  My challenge is to walk by faith in every moment, even when I cannot see,  and to trust the Lord in my life no matter what happens, what comes my way, how little or how much we have, how much has changed or is changing.  We have God and that is what keeps me moving forward on this journey.  He sustains me, He guides us, His grace is a mystery to me, and his faithfulness is overwhelming at times!  So undeserving.  He is so good!

Evan is fearless...

So we have had a couple of incidents here with Evan and his lack of fear. It is either his lack of fear or his desire to test everything that mom says. If I say it is dangerous, he wants to know why and usually won't believe me until he tests it himself. The other evening he decided to climb a tree in the back area of our complex, well, he didn't just go up a little ways, he went to the top. Dom was out there and decided to snap some pictures as he guided him back down. He hasn't done it since though! He must have figured out that mom was right and there must have been some fear entering him a little as he had to figure out how to climb back down.

Can you see him hiding in the leaves???? LOL Thank you Lord for keeping him safe. Boys will be boys!

Family night and weekend.

I just absolutely love family nights!  They are just a little piece of heaven.  We normally do it on Friday nights, but this week we had to do it on Saturday night instead.  Friday night was spent at a meeting for one of our friends to support him and his business.  So we chose to do it Saturday evening.  We spent the day down in Tanger at a little basketball tournament that DJ was in with his classmates.  It was so cool to see him out there with his friends and playing so  hard.  He did his best and is really learning.  We just wish there were more opportunities out there for them to practice more and play more.  There aren't many or any good public hoop places.  At least he is learning with his friends and Dom.  Dom helped coach the team and the kids all enjoyed the day. 

 

After the games, we went to lunch with some friends and then drove back home for dinner and family movie night!  It started out looking like it was going to be a lame evening just because the kids were so tired and whiny as I was getting dinner together.  But, once the movie got started the whole mood in the house changed, the boys and us all snuggled together and we watched the movie.  The best part is just sitting there being together and then when there are funny parts in the movie, hearing the boys cracking up, especially Julian!  He seems to be so small to me to get really funny things, but when he does and cracks up, it just touches my heart.  Also hearing DJ and Evan enjoying our time together was awesome, it was so great! 

 

Now today, DJ and Evan woke up with fevers and not feeling well.  I woke up fine but now am struggling with a nasty tummy ache and Julian is kind of grumpy...poor Dom!  Hopefully we will be better by tomorrow!

Challenges.

There are great days and then there are rough days when you live overseas. Today was one of those days that was just rough. There isn't any real explanation, it just was. My attitude started last night and continued throughout today. Gosh, I want a fridge that doesn't drip water because the freezer doesn't work and is just filling with frost, I want a washer that works and doesn't take 3 cycles to get the soap out, I want things to go smoothly... I want, I want, I want...all what I cannot have right now! It is humbly and very stretching but also so good for me. In the midst of thinking about those things, I have to stop and be so thankful that at least I have those things to use and that our life here is overall pretty simple. A lot of the people here live very hard lives and work hard for everything they do. (have to handwash everything, no fridge, etc.) Really, at the end of the day I have nothing to complain about. HE has been so good to us thus far! I am blessed with a wonderful family! Today was just a challenge and need to get the right perspective! Just keeping it real!

The latest.

Well, It's June 1st.  I can hardly believe how fast time is going by.  We have 23 more days left of school and then are off for summer break.  I am sooooo ready for the break.  This month is going to be nice because the boys will be going from 8-1 instead of 8-12, home, then back from 2:30-4:15.  Needless to say, I spent a lot of time in the car when the siesta is in effect!  But this month I will be able to breath a little.  The boys are doing so incredibly well in school.  It is quite impressive at times.  Both Evan and DJ are one of the best students in their classes with mathematics and they are speaking and learning so much Spanish.  DJ is also learning and reading a little bit of Arabic too.  They are able to hold their own with their friends and are gaining more understanding everyday.  It shocks me at times when I hear them playing with their friends and how much they know.  Julian is a little ball of fire.  He has grown so much this year, going from a clingy 3 year old who wouldn't leave my side, to being excited to go and be with his friends.  His teacher has been great this year and he is understanding A LOT of Spanish.  It is really awesome to see the boys thriving.  We were really worried at the beginning of the year, because it was so difficult, but we have pushed through and so glad we did.  It is paying off for them and they are adjusting so much better to life here.

 

So, we may be having to move again.  We aren't certain, but it is looking that way.  Dom's office moved to Tanger and they are wanting him out there.  It is about an hour and a half drive and he does it now at least 3 days a week.  We have tried to get the kids into the Spanish school there, but it is a lot more competitive.  We had to be interviewed, the boys had tests that lasted an hour and a half and we had to turn in a bunch of paperwork.  We should find out this week if they are accepted in or not.  Once we know, we will begin the house hunting.  If they don't get accepted, it is likely we will stay where we are at and keep them in the school they currently go to.  It's a lot of unknowns, but that seems to be how life is since moving here!  There are pros and cons to both options so we are just praying that God would open the right thing and know what is best for the boys so we can make the right decisions we need to make.

 

My highlight, since we are unable to come home this summer for a visit (sigh) is that a friend of ours is coming and bringing her son with her (YAY).  Her son and the boys are really good friends so it is going to be a blessing for them to have a familiar friend and such a blessing for me to have a girlfriend to hangout with!  It will be a breath of fresh air for us and we are so excited about it.  She is coming in August and we can hardly wait!!!

 

Business, well is business.   It has it's highs and lows for Dom, but since he has taken all the management responsibilities there is a lot more on his shoulders.  The company is still fragile and the economy and everything is still effecting things, but all in all, it is good and Dom is learning a ton. 

 

Me, well I am doing well.  I go in and out of lonely spells, wishing I had something and someone familiar nearby but I am so thankful for the internet and Skype.  It is such a blessing having those things and makes me feel somewhat connected to family and friends.  My latest focus is my health.  I am trying really hard to lose the weight I have put on over all these years.  Since January, I have lost about 15 pounds and have another 30-40 to go.  It is a slow process and gets discouraging at times, but I am super motivated and trying really hard to do it.  I have been working out again and it feels so good.  Once we know were we are going to live, either here or there, I will then start taking language lessons and focus more on learning the language.  But for now, I am thankful for the time I get to workout a bit and focus on my health.  I feel so much better!

 

Well, that's it for now.  I will let you all know when and if we get accepted into the other school and what our plans are next!