A Taste of Turkey

These pictures were all taken from perhaps the most beautiful stretch of road I have ever traveled in Turkey.  We were on our way to Pergamum and found this road off the main way somewhere after Balıkesir.  This little road took us through some great countryside, mainly pastureland with little villages here and there.  It was hilly and green and not a lot of traffic outside of herds of sheep with their shepherds.  It was not an intentional choice of roads, but because we didn't have a great map and it's where we ended up.  More often then not, the best surprises are off the beaten path. 

Yavaş, yavaş (Slowly, slowly)

 You know I've been talking about Spring for a long time now, or if I haven't been here on this blog I have been everywhere else.  We have been waiting and waiting for Spring to fully arrive but it is coming soooooooo slowly!  And so I keep telling myself to be patient.  I took these pictures I'm posting here today a week ago.  We had this beautiful sunset coming and I wasn't going to miss it.  We don't get those beautiful Midwest sunsets very often, where the whole sky is full of clouds and there is that dramatic blue in the East.  Istanbul mostly gets those big orange ball sinking sort-of sunsets.  They aren't bad but I love when the atmosphere is heavy enough for that soft orange light to linger everywhere.  I kept watching out my kitchen window and knew something special was coming.  It was worth the wait.  It made me remember to wait for Spring too.  And sure enough, after being gone for a week (I'll post on that later) I came back to signs of Spring.  I have to say the thing that was the most telling was seeing the view outside my living room window.  We got in late last night and when I peeked in the living room this morning I felt like something was new in the room---it was the view.  All of a sudden I had some new color in the picture, green trees to spice up the otherwise pastel concrete apartment buildings.  It was so nice!  So, even though the weather is still a little cool, Spring is slowly, slowly coming.

Sonora's Birthday-a week later

Here's our beautiful five year old girl the morning of her birthday, showing off her new toy.  She was full of cheer and excitement!  She had a little party at her school and you can see pictures of that here.  Like Malachi, she invited the neighbor kids from our building and had some ice cream with them after school.  That too was a success.  And then she went to bed and woke up sick at 1:00 in the morning!  That was a bummer.  She stayed home for the next two days but was well enough for a party on Saturday we had planned the week before.  Yeah!  We also had a very beautiful morning for it.  Four other families came and the kids played at the park, played some fun party games, opened presents, ate lunch and cupcakes and then proceeded to make a "chocolate factory" in a spot near our picnic tables where they found a little mud.  I think Sonora got the muddiest but it sure was fun for them.

 Here is Sonora blowing out her candles with her friends nearby.  The party at the park was lots of fun and we were so glad to have both sunshine and a healthy girl that day!

Happy Birthday Sonora!!!

Spring Tree-Part Two

Well, here is the finished spring tree I've been talking about.  After we made the little flower buds and other flowers we hung them up by our tree to create a nice spring scene.  

Here is Sonora working on taping on the spring flower buds.

 A nice smile and spring tree.

The finished project complete with an egret bird from Sonora's school (who have been doing fun spring crafts as well) and some Bible verses for our family to work on.

Taste of Turkey

On the water of the Golden Horn.

Happy Birthday Sonora!

Sonora, we can't believe you are five already!!!  You are growing up so fast.  We thank God for you and all the ways you bless our family.  It's been fun to see you make new friends this year and to see how you are getting to be such a great artist.  You are such a blessing to our whole family.  We love you Sonora!!!

Love,

Mom and Dad

The Care Bear in both pictures really shows us how much you have grown!!!!

Spring Tree-Part One

Though spring is warming up slowly here we have been doing some Spring projects inside.  Namely, making flowers for our paper tree in the kitchen (the one that housed the bats and owls a month ago).  I decided to make some flowers from napkins and this project turned out fun because we (Sonora and I) kind-of figured out the best technique as we went.  This time Sonora had the best idea.  I had started by forming a flower out of a napkin for her to paint with water colors when she said, "Mom, it would be easier if we painted it first."  So we started there and came up with this even easier way of watercoloring a napkin.

To start with I cut the folded edges of the napkin off so one napkin turned into four squares.  Then we worked with them in pairs (two squares at a time). To give the flower some color in the center we drew a star in the center with pastels.  The napkins tear easily so we had to draw slowly.

 Then we filled our brushes with the color we wanted and painted right unto the table, adding more water and paint until we had a good wet spot of paint.

 Then we took our napkin and set it down on top of our painted spot on the table.

 With her brush Sonora dabbed the napkin until it soaked up all the paint on the table and was completely covered with paint.

 This is what it looked like after it came off the table.

Then we hung up all the napkins to dry so we could then make them into flowers and tree blossoms.

Here is what one of the flowers looked like when done.  When the napkins are dry all you do is pinch the center of the napkin (easier for an adult to do) and tape that base of the flower together.  Then you just fluff out the napkin and leave it like that or give it some shape with a scissor.  Add a stem and leaf and it's done.  We cut some of the napkins after they were dry into quarter squares and then used those little pieces to make tree blossoms.

Recycling Clothes

I really enjoy crafting from scratch and recycling old clothes into something new.  One has to be creative in using what you have.  This is a little snail Sonora and I made from a pair of her old tights.  It didn't take much effort and it was fun to do together.  I believe there are endless possibilities in old tights with their colorful patterns and bright colors.  And it seems Sonora goes through lots of tights as she favors skirts over pants.  Even after mending the holes I at some point have to retire them for all their wear.  So I'm growing a stash of old tights and maybe on a rainy day more little creatures will emerge from our imaginations with needle and thread.

Taste of Turkey

          

March Birthdays-Coming to you in April

The end of March is always exciting around here.  It means "birthdays" start, first with mine, then Malachi's and then Sonora's comes the middle of April.  Thanks everyone for the nice birthday cards.  And Cari, your cards made it on time leaving me to be the only one who isn't getting this birthday card thing together ;) !!  Really, I'm kidding and so enjoying hearing from all of you.  Thanks so much family!

Ok, I have to tell this story of how our "birthday's" started.  One day when our neighbor boy knocked on the door to come and play Sonora came with me to the door and announced in Turkish to him and his mom, "Tomorrow's my Mom's birthday!!!!!!!"  She was so excited.  Well, the next morning our neighbor boy comes to our door with two presents.  One big, one small.  Somehow they had misunderstood Sonora and thought she was announcing her own birthday so they went and bought a present for her and a small gift for Malachi as well.  Before we knew exactly what was happening she was already opening her gift (a few weeks early) and then I was explaining that is was really my birthday and it was a little awkward :)!  They were so thoughtful though.  So, there was a little distraction over this early present (a large doll) but it worked out OK.  I took this picture while she was sleeping.  It's half her size and we are dragging this poor doll places I'd rather her not go because it often means that I'm carrying her.  Anyway. . . .

For my birthday Aaron surprised me by creating a little work space/desk for me in our bedroom.  The picture to the left is before his work and the picture to the right the finished product.  The kids took me out for breakfast on my birthday and Aaron stayed home to work on this.  I love it and I think he loved putting it together.  Thanks Aaron!!

For Malachi's birthday we grilled hotdogs on our balcony!  The kids are plugging their noses because it's pretty smoky getting the charcoal fired up.  

 

Then after supper Malachi had an "ice cream cake" and our neighbor boy came over with his mom.  We celebrated together and the kids played.  It was a good day.  I saved his real cake for the weekend, where we were able to be in Edirne with our friends and celebrate Mal's birthday with them.

 Here is a random picture taken during one of the birthday games we played while in Edirne.  It's kind-of a fun shot.

And here is our birthday boy holding his cake.  I saved a box of angel food cake and it was a huge hit with everyone!  

Thanks to everyone who made Malachi's birthday so special with the cards you sent, the phone calls you made, and the special emails.  During birthdays we miss being able to celebrate with all of you family members but we are thankful for friends and neighbors here who are close like family.

Family Picnic

As many of you know we love the great outdoors and can't seem to get enough of ditching the city for the woods.  I believe one of the biggest blessings of our new apartment (when we moved last May) is that we are on the edge of Istanbul.  We can see the forest from our balcony and walk into it from our home.  Living in this city of 15 million it makes a difference for me.  We also have found a way through the neighborhoods to drive into the woods.  It gets us past the littered part of the forest and then we walk from there.  This is a picture taken from where we usually park our car.  You can faintly see the city through the smog, sprawling past the green. 

 We got Spring fever two weeks ago when it was nice and set off for a picnic.  I picked up this fun bread from the local bakery and with some fruit and sandwich meat we made a feast.

With those two front teeth missing it's hard to eat an apple!

Taste of Turkey

Spring seems to be taking its time in coming.  We get a taste and then it turns cold for a few days again.  I know it is just around the corner though.  I look forward to the warm temps staying.  Anyway, thought I'd post a few more pictures from Turkey.  These are again from the southern part of Turkey, in small towns along the Mediterranean coast.  Enjoy.