Our Last Week!

Well, this is our last week here for a while and it's a busy one! I'm struggling to get going this Monday morning- I was going to do my Jillian Michaels DVD but after walking the girls to school with Addison in the Ergo (baby carrier), well, I'm worn out. I considered that my cardio workout for the day!

Cerys has her school Nativity Play tomorrow and Bailey has a Christmas party on Thursday. Her nursery nativity was last week, she was a sheep:

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Hilarious! She did so good and was by far the cutest sheep there!

We had a Christmas/Going Away party on Saturday night for our gap year students- it was bittersweet. We will say goodbye to them at the train station tomorrow around noon. It's not going to be pretty. The girls are sad and again we had the talk about how goodbyes are just part of our life, they are never easy and it's okay to be sad and cry.

Most of our house is packed away in the attic or in boxes in one of our rooms we use as an office. Our meals this week are extremely basic since I'm trying to clean out our cupboard and fridge. We have 9 suitcases to pack- not sure if we will need all of those pieces, 2 car seats and a stroller.

We are all fighting of some sort of cold/sinus infection. My face feels like it's about to explode and I'm doing my netti pot several times a day. I will be doping up on Tylenol 24 hours before we fly so my face can have some relief as we fly. Addison threw up this morning all over our bed, but I think it was because she's has had so much drainage too and she got choked when I was feeding her. Please Lord, let that be why she threw up.

Here she is in her new denim skirt and undershirt! Ha. She is so busy, so this is usually what I get to see- the back of her crawling away from me! She did have a first yesterday, when I went in to get her from her nap she was standing up in her crib! Marc just moved the bed down a notch last week just in case and I'm glad he did! She was so happy just standing there grinning!

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And here she is on Saturday night with a Christmas Cracker Crown on her head-

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So, if you think of us this week we would appreciate your prayers as we pack up and move to Texas for 6 months!

*for us all to be healthy
*safe travels- drive to airport, fly to Amsterdam, then to Dallas
*for me to be well organized so the girls will have a good flight- toys, snacks, etc
*for Marc and I to have PATIENCE with each other and the girls
*a supernatural peace to flood our hearts and minds on the day of travel
*for the friends and relationships we leave behind for 6 months

Have a wonderful week everyone! I'm sorry this post is so random.

It Feels Like Valentine's Day!

Instead of giving out Valentine's Day cards in this country, it's very popular to give out Christmas cards! You can buy cards for children at most major stores and the cards we chose this year were really cute I thought.

It's hard work to write everyone's name on the card and then sign your own! The girls worked hard this afternoon to get them done. I had to do most of Bailey's of course, but she did manage a few capital B's and it was so cute! Cerys did all of hers on her own looking at a class list. I was so impressed, but I'll be honest- it was hard for me not to grab the pen and write the name myself in a straight line! She did great though. If you could have heard me trying to pronounce some of the Middle Eastern names and Cerys correcting me, you would have laughed so hard.

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One more thing checked off the To-Do list!
packing, Christmas parties, packing, Nativity plays at school, packing, shopping, school Christmas parties, cleaning, packing...

You get the idea. Good news is that it must be done before Sunday, the 20th! Less than 2 weeks and we can enjoy some Christmas decorations, (our house is looking empty since our things will be packed away for 6 months! The girls can't wait to see a Christmas tree!) enjoy family and just chill out!

3 out of 5 of us are experiencing some sort of cold- we have got to get healthy before we fly!!! Addison is on her second round of antibiotics and is acting a bit better today. I'm fighting off something- sinus pain and exhaustion and Bailey woke up from a nap today with an oozing ear!

Let the countdown begin!

Fear

If any of you have known me long, you know that I have struggled with fear my whole life. Too many "what-if's" to even mention, but fear has been a huge part of my life up until the last few years. I've been aware of it and have made huge steps with God- and only through God in this area in my life. Last week as I heard about Matt Chandler, the pastor of the The Village church in Dallas, fear instantly struck me. I do me instantly. I almost felt sick. I had not felt fear like that in a long time, but praise God I recognized it and am refusing to give in to it. God healed me from Lupus when I was 15 years old and sometimes I wonder why I am afraid now, 17 years later! I will have to share that story with you all sometime, I don't share it enough.

Anyway, this morning I saw this video of Matt Chandler speaking before his brain surgery and the last little part about fear really got me. Go watch it now.

At first I was mad that he would say that, but as the morning went on I had to agree with him. It's all a lie. Fear is a lie. A lie that God is not big enough, a lie that He does not love me enough to care for me, a lie that anything could ever separate us from Him. It's a lie! Thank you Matt for speaking truth!

The Village church recently merged/took over, I don't really know the right terminology to use there, Northway Baptist Church that I grew up in. I think it's really great, though I have not been to Northway in years! I love that place and have fond memories- one main one was getting married there almost 12 years ago! I'm so excited for the people at Northway and the days ahead.

2 weeks!

Time is flying! We have packed some things away for the 6 months, cleaned out the loft (attic), bought most of Christmas presents for family, and have tried to remain calm. Addison is not feeling well again, we ended up at the doctor's office on Friday and she's got another chest infection. She is back on antibiotics and now has an inhaler to help her breath. Poor baby girl.

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This pic from earlier this week cracks me up. It was 30 degrees one morning and I was too lazy to changed her clothes, so I put more clothes on top of her pj's so we could take the big girls to school.

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Bailey and her ballerina moves....lovely hair, don't you think? This is what it looks like after she pulls out her bow from school.

So much to do...

It Was Absolutely Extremely Exciting and Fun

Cardiff Museum has a special exhibit right now all about the British author, Lauren Child. She is the author of the popular Charlie and Lola books. The girls love these books and enjoy watching the TV show. Sunday afternoon, we packed them up and went to museum for the afternoon. It's been pouring down with rain for three weeks, I'm not kidding. So, we are grateful for something fun to do inside!

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This was a giant magnetic wall
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The cafe in the museum was serving special Charlie and Lola snacks- in the books she drinks pink milk and calls carrots "Orange Twiglets" and tomatoes are "Moonsquirters" so that is exactly what we ate!

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It was too much for Addison so she took a little nap in the Ergo.
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Thankful

It's 10am here, which means 4am in Texas. I'm wondering who is up and around town shopping? Marc and I did that several years in a row and had such a fun time together.

We are having our Thanksgiving meal tomorrow with 18 gap year students, 9 Americans and 9 British. We are really looking forward to it. I'm in charge of the turkey and ham (gulp) and making two desserts. I better get off this computer and get busy! No, first Bailey and I have to go to a birthday party. Then I will cook this afternoon and evening.

We are thankful for our families and their support! And for Skype that allowed us to see each other via webcam- the girls sang and danced for my parents and put on quite a show! It was hilarious.

Happy (late) Thanksgiving and happy shopping!

9 Months Old...and 4 Weeks...

Happy 9 Months old Addison! I can hardly believe it!

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You and your silly faces! :) We love you sweet girl.

I took some of our gap year girls shopping yesterday and we had a blast! Have I mentioned how much I'm going to miss them? I found this card in a shop yesterday, actually, one of the girls saw it and showed it to me...I had to buy it. This is probably how Addison feels.

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4 weeks from today, we begin our stateside! I can't believe it's here already. I've got LOTS to do. Be back when I can! Have a great week!
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