Not Necessarily in the Dictionary

Boy:  A noise with some dirt on it

 

Isaiah and I got to play with his friend Lydia earlier this week.  Lydia and her parents live near a really great park, and Isaiah decided that he was no longer content to sit in his stroller and watch or to have me carry him around the park and sit on different things, oh no!  He wanted to get down and move around on his own!  Unfortunately, I didn't have the camera close enough to capture his first moments of playing IN the sand, but here's the "after" picture.  I think he was really proud of how dirty he was.  (I wish that you could really see the whole effect, complete with little twigs sticking to his pants and everything!)

Well, Isaiah had so much fun, that I thought we'd try it again at our own park this afternoon after my lesson.  He sat for a while, but then he got serious!  He even had a little friend, Dema, to play with.

Dema was showing Isaiah some of the best ways to play in the sand.

Getting a lesson in shoveling

And I went home with a very, very, very dirty but very happy little boy!

Lappeenranta, Finland

Here are most of the pictures from our trip to Finland.  We really enjoyed the great weather and just hanging out as a family.  There wasn't really anything to see as far as tourist stuff goes, which was just perfect!  

Toyless Tuesday

On our trip to and from Finland, I thought I was prepared with plenty of books and toys for Isaiah's entertainment.  I could have left everything at home (well, he did enjoy his books).  His favorite thing was playing with any type of bottle that I happened to have with me.  He loves plastic bottles, even the great big 2 liter bottles!  Go figure...

Oh, and notice how well he's sitting on my lap.  I'm not holding him at all.  My hand was just there for "spotting" purposes as needed.  He's getting really good at this! 

A Few Takes

As I already mentioned, yesterday was Easter in Russia.  And what would Easter be without lots of pictures of the family?  Well, we did manage to get a few pics.  I already posted the "best" of the family shots, but now I just have to share "the many faces of Isaiah" that were revealed while Aunt Luda held the camera.  I would love to know what captions you think would work for these expressions! (oh, and it's very important that you notice that the shirt that I am wearing has SHORT SLEEVES!  We are currently greatly enjoying weather in the 70's with tons of sun!)

Christ is Risen!

He is risen indeed!

Today was Easter in Russia.  I'm glad that we got to celebrate Easter again because, to be honest, I completely missed the first one, and I really like Easter!  Having returned from Finland so late on Saturday night, we were all pretty tired.  Thankfully today there were 2 services at church, the regular service, and the English service where Thomas preaches a simple sermon for people who would like to practice English.  Wanting Isaiah to be able to get as much rest as possible (thereby enabling me to actually follow what is going on during a service and not having to constantly correct him or make sure that he's doing what he's supposed to),

 Thomas suggested that Isaiah and I come later for the English service.  I'm so glad that we did!  I missed being with everyone for the regular service, but Isaiah napped really well, and we still got to worship and celebrate the Resurrection! 

We also had a special treat when we got home.  Our church in Yazoo City, MS is having a special month devoted to missions.  During their Sunday school hour, we were able to present how our work is going thanks to the wonderful technology of the internet and Skype!  Being able to see everyone again was so much fun!  We've enjoyed doing that with my home church in NC on a couple of occasions in the past.  This time we actually were involved in the Sunday school class, which was very special.

Well, tomorrow is a big day for us.  I have my language lesson as usual, but then I get to come home and cook a very special dinner for a very special man who will be a little bit older.  So, ni' ni'.

We're Back!

Just a quick post to let anyone know who would like to know that we made it back safely from Finland a few minutes ago.  We got home about 10:38pm (St. P time, of course), and Isaiah was in bed by 10:50pm.

We had a wonderful time doing pretty much nothing at all.  The town we were in was very small, which was absolutely perfect!  I'll put up pictures soon, but tonight I'm just too tired.

Taking a Trip

We have to leave the country again for paperwork reasons, so this morning we're going to Finland.  I'm sure that when we get back I'll have lots of fun pictures to show you of Little Man in his FIFTH country!  We'll be back sometime on Friday, hopefully a little rested and relaxed.

Toyless Tuesday

Bowls are so great.  Things can go inside bowls.  Bowls can be hats or masks.  Thankfully he usually doesn't try to play with them while there is still food inside.

Sleepy Little Man

For those of you who haven't heard, Isaiah has not always been the greatest of sleepers, especially when it comes to taking naps.  In fact for some reason Friday night, he woke up around 1am and almost every 15-20 minutes after that.  I tried putting him in bed with us at last, so that we could get some sleep, but even then, he didn't sleep.  We think that he might have been having some kind of nightmares through the night and just couldn't go back to sleep, or maybe didn't want to.

The next day, of course, I tried to get him to nap, but I was terribly unsuccessful.  He was happy all day (except when I laid him down to nap) and played nicely and ate and drank well, so we ruled out physical issues.

So Saturday night during supper, here's what happened:

Sitting in the Sun

After a week of clouds and rain with only more such weather predicted for the next week, we were pleasantly surprised to see the sun shining brightly Saturday morning! Isaiah and I took advantage of the wonderful weather that afternoon after his nap. We walked and walked and enjoyed the sunshine before ending up at a little park across the street from our house.

We rode the merry-go-round a little bit until I got really dizzy. Isaiah kept asking for something that I didn't understand. Eventually I got the idea, and took him over to the slide. And here he is, sitting on the top of the slide, quite proud of himself!

He just sat there for several minutes enjoying the view, while I tried not to panic that he would fall backwards or start sliding and bang his head.  But he did really well, he even let go and clapped for himself without falling!  I was pretty proud of him, too.  I'm learning how to let him do for himself without worrying too much.  He's a strong Little Man and does all kinds of things for himself.

He's Here At Last!

Our newest nephew, Luke Rachal joined the outside world Tuesday afternoon at 1:31 pm (I believe) weighing in at 9 pounds!  

We look forward to getting our arms around him (and everyone else in the family, of course!) in a couple months!

Dilemma Solved

Well, as you might recall I sewed an outfit for Isaiah that needed a little tweaking.  I rallied my courage and decided to go ahead and try buttons and therefore, buttonholes.  Here's the not-perfect, but completed result:

Not the best picture of me, but Isaiah looks pretty cute, I think.

"I'm gonna get you, Daddy!"

Lots of Memories

The last three years have been full of changes for our family.  There are the obvious changes like Isaiah being born and moving to Russia.  Then there are changes in our extended family: weddings, births, moves, new jobs, fun trips...the list goes on and on.  We've made some pretty grand memories over the past 3 years.  In God's providence one member of our family wasn't a part of making all these memories.

Mary Harvel Mitchell my maternal grandmother went home to be with her Lord 3 years ago today.  She had endured a great deal of physical pain the last years of her life, and while she longed to be relieved of her pain, she always faithfully praised God and reminded the rest of us in the family to do the same, in her own tactful way.

When Isaiah was born, I confess I struggled with some strong feelings knowing that he wouldn't get to know my grandma the way that I wanted him to be able to know her.  She had been constantly telling me that I needed to have a baby, in fact one of the very last things that she said to me was, "you go on and have that baby now".  God has helped me work through some of the yucky feelings I had about a "lost future" with my grandma and my son.  I do wish that I had

 the opportunity to make memories with them together, but I'm so thankful for the memories that I have with Grandma.  She is one-of-a-kind!  To explain her in one short blog is impossible, so I scanned in some pictures that I have of her to try to help me.

Mama and I loved to love on Grandma!  Grandma was a very loving person.  Sometimes she might have seemed rough or tough in her love, she could scold with the best of them, but we all knew that she loved us and would do anything for us.  

This was taken my Senior year of high school.  Growing up I spent a large portion of every summer on my grandparents' farm in southern Illinois.  I learned to work hard by helping them "pick" potatoes or strawberries or pull weeds.  Grandma worked really hard all her life, but she also knew how to take time out and play with me (or anyone else who wanted to)!  During my senior year she and Grandpa lived with us while they were looking for a house.  Many evenings she would play cards with me or color with me or do any number of silly things that I remember very well!

Grandma was a fantastic cook!  When they lived near us in NC she would help my mom with the Christmas candy making and baking.  Nobody could roll a peanut butter ball like my grandma!  I have tons of memories of her cooking and baking.  She could make a coconut pie that was out of this world, though she didn't make them often enough according to Grandpa and Daddy.  Now whenever I'm making a pie, I always think about Grandma, and I hope that it will be on her "average" as Grandpa always said.

Grandma was just about as thrilled as anyone about me getting married.  I don't know if she thought it would never happen, or what, but she was pretty excited about the whole thing.  Here we are at one of my wedding showers, where she gave me the quilt that she and my mom had made for us--a beautiful double-wedding-ring quilt!  

Grandma and Grandpa had over 50 years together.  They started out with an apartment and a coffee pot, which is still in their home now (the coffee pot, that is).  I love hearing stories about how they started.  One thing's for sure, they were a perfect match, Grandma's fiestiness, and Grandpa's steady determination made for some good stories.  

And this is the way that I often remember Grandma.  Every day she read her Bible.  She read through the Bible more times than I can remember.  I would often walk into their house and see her curled up in her chair reading her Bible.  When she was done she'd pray.  Then she'd either pester Grandpa about something, go cook something, watch one of her favorite shows or an old movie or go in the other room and work on one of her beautiful quilts.  But always, she would read her Bible.

I miss her, but I know that she's exactly where she longed to be for so many years, with her eyes on Jesus and singing His praises!  I thank God for all the years and memories that He gave me with Grandma!

Who's There?

Thomas, Isaiah and I were getting ready to head out to a friend's flat for an afternoon, when I head the doorbell.  Our doorbell does not ring that often.  I did the safety thing, asking who's there and looking through the peep hole of our steel door with four different locks on it.  

"Pochta."  Responded a male voice through the thick door.   I opened the door and looked at him curiously.  Normally when we receive a package, a slip is placed in our mail box, or occasionally a lady will give us the slip personally.  This time was different.  

Much to my bewilderment the man at my door was actually holding a package and asking me if I was "Cristy Slo-oo-son".  To which of course I responded in the affirmative as my excitement and curiosity increased--who in the world could this big box be from?  We weren't expecting anything that I knew of.

Before I could sign for the package I had to show my documents to prove that I was, in fact, me.  Then I noticed the return address, and all my trusty Russian phrases left my head, I was so surprised.  Thankfully Thomas came to the door by then and told me what to do.

One of my dear friends from grad school had surprised us with such a sweet package.  There was something for everyone, some seasonal sweets that we'd never find here, chapstick, lip gloss, and 2 incredible books for Isaiah, with which he is now quite enamored.  Such a special treat!  Thank you Guitta and David!

And I just have to add that we have felt so loved by so many people since we moved away.  I mean, we have always felt very loved, but sometimes you move away from people and things change and you lose touch and such.  I realize that those things are still possible, but during this first year with all its ups and downs and really strange feelings, knowing that there are people at home who love us and pray for us and think about us, as represented above and through countless emails and special phone calls...well, I wish that I had the right words to tell you all how much you have encouraged us and lifted us up and kept us going.  I'm not as creative as I would like to be at such times.  But I will say that I have rarely felt so humbled and honored to be part of the body of Christ, and that my understanding of the universal church has so greatly increased, that no matter what, I wouldn't trade this year for anything.  I pray that God will continue to draw us all closer to Him and thereby to each other and that we can lift each other up for many, many years to come!

Here's Isaiah enjoying one of his new books--I couldn't distract him even to look at the camera!

He finally looked up from his reading to smile his thanks.

Why Buy Toys-II

Ok, so I've really being enjoying watching Isaiah discover the world and play with all kinds of things, so inspired by my cousin and her Wordless Wednesday, I'm occasionally going to post a "Toyless Tuesday", showing Isaiah playing with something other than a "toy".

So for the first installment, I give you...

Isaiah is really getting into "taking out and putting in".  He loves putting little things in bigger things, like cleaning up his toys!

He also really likes his medicine box because not only can he put things inside it, but he can also try to open and close it, another favorite activity.

Sewing Projects-II

Well, I have completed my first full garment for Isaiah.  I must confess that I'm quite proud of myself.   Without directions or an official pattern, I muddled my way through to make this little romper for Isaiah.

I'm already thinking of how to adjust it, of course, or how to make the next one better.  The snaps on the shoulders aren't really strong enough for his crawling style, so I'm trying to come up with a better idea.  Unfortunately it will probably involve buttons and therefore buttonholes (oh well).  For now, I think that the outfit is big enough for me to actually sew up the shoulder straps and just slip it on over his head.  Any suggestions?

The work in progress--oh yeah, and my sewing machine

The adorable model in his new outfit--it's light blue, in case you can't tell.  I didn't make the shirt underneath.

Striking a pose, while going for the toys

What are Your Favorites?

Isaiah has finally learned (at least for now) to be more gentle with books with paper pages.  He even has some favorites.  I would love to know why these in particular are his favorites; maybe someday he can tell me.

His current favorites are:

Green Eggs and Ham

Oh the Thinks You Can Think!

Daddy and Isaiah (a picture book that I made for Thomas a couple Christmases ago)

I would love to know what books y'all are enjoying on your own or with your little people!

Isaiah reading Aunt Luda "Daddy and Isaiah"

Give Us This Day Our Daily, Cereal?

We had another "wish somebody had a camera" moment the other day.  Every morning Isaiah and I have pretty much the same routine, which works well for both of us, I think.  I'll give him some dry cereal and drink until I can get his oatmeal made.  Once the oatmeal is done, I sit down with him, and we pray for his breakfast.  

All was going as usual the other day as I sat down to pray with Isaiah.  While I was praying I felt something going into my mouth...Isaiah was feeding me some cereal!  I mean, it makes perfect sense, my mouth was open, I was leaning close to him, he had cereal on his tray, what else was he to do?

I somehow managed to finish my prayer before I burst out laughing, which of course, prompted Isaiah to laugh, too.  

Just so you know, Isaiah is usually really good and patient during prayer, but I did think that this was really funny.  I don't plan on trying to reproduce it or anything, but I sure do wish we had captured that moment!

Family Outing

Today was a good day.  I didn't have a language lesson again because my teacher is sick, but I did get to practice a little bit at one of the markets.  The weather was beautiful!  We all headed out for a couple hours to find some material for me to line our curtains in order for our bedroom to be darker--it's still light at 9 PM!  I can hardly believe that I'm typing that, but it's true!  We also found a couple other things.

I cannot explain to you the difference that we are beginning to feel emotionally just from seeing the sun more regularly.  I knew from my studies that darkness definitely influences your emotions, but WOW!  I had no idea how much I could be influenced!  I praise God every moment that I see the sun right now!

But back to the outing...we were able to spend so much time outside, that Isaiah was completely hyper when we got home.  After being cooped up for so long, he probably forgot how wonderful life is outside.  I get to take him again tomorrow while we go help a friend do some souvenir shopping.  I'm excited to get to use my russian some more.  Being able to actually communicate with people, even if it is on an elementary level, but on my own without having to depend on Thomas has been such an encouragement to me.  Thank you for those of you who have been praying, and please keep it up!

Sewing Projects I

So as I mentioned before, I got a sewing machine!  I was on the lookout for some patterns, but I still haven't found any here.  Thomas asked me to hem some sweat pants for him, so I began my first project.  Thankfully everything went well, and the pants are now the perfect length.  Whew!  With that encouragement under my belt, I really wanted to get into a serious sewing project, but I still didn't have a pattern.

Well,  I thought to myself, surely sewing a small garment for Isaiah can't be that hard, I mean I did  go to college and grad school (and graduate), surely I can figure this out!  I searched the internet for tips on making your own patterns (still hoping to find a print-at-home pattern for a boy's outfit).  I did find some good tips, and tons of girls' stuff that wouldn't work.  But even better I found an old romper that is now a makeshift pattern...we'll see how it turns out...