Luca's Party

Sunday we celebrated Luca and the three years of life given to him from God. We are so thankful for him and for the blessing and joy he is to our family. It was funny because I don't even think he realized it was his birthday. We kept wishing him a happy birthday but received little reaction from him. I guess he was saving his energy and excitement for the party. When he woke up from his nap and saw the balloons, cake and presents that's when he started to make the connection.

We celebrated with four other families and once again had a wonderful time of fellowship. It was a little loud to say the least, 6 boys and 2 girls, can make quite a racket in confined quarters. It was a rainy day which brings a question to mind. Seriously, is there a explainable reason why on stormy, rainy days kids seem to be more agitated? Or maybe the extra agitation was due to the springing forward in time and everyone was thrown off? Or maybe the more obvious reason was the sugar?!
The "Tow Mater" cake (for those who are interested) took to my best guess over 10 hours to make. The whole thing was edible. Marshmallow fondant covered the truck, melted white chocolate chips for the windows, cookies for the wheels, licorice rope for the cable, kit-kats for the boom, gum for the teeth, and a fondant formed Cars symbol with Luca's name in the middle. The "Auguri" on the side of the truck means "best wishes" more or less in Italian. "Tanti Auguri" is equivalent to "Happy Birthday."




I had intended to blog more this past week but with the party preparations, packing and preparing things here before my departure to Dallas it just didn't happen. Jonathan's dad was supposed to arrive around noon today but was delayed on one leg of the trip thus making him miss his connecting flight. We now anticipate his arrival around 4:30 this afternoon. I depart tomorrow morning at 7:20. Please keep us all in your prayers if/when we come to mind this next week. I don't have time to list all the specifics ways you can pray as I have much yet to do, but I think it's enough to say "Mamma will be gone for 6 days" and all that that implies. Have a great week everyone!

: : Luca : :

I've gotten some grief for not posting much about the kids lately, so I will take some time to give you a more in depth look at each of them (including recent photos).


Luca turns THREE on Sunday!! We're still trying to wrap our minds around that fact. Luca is very precocious always trying to sneak in to my purse looking for gum or candies. If something goes missing the first place to start looking is under beds or tables as these are his favorite spots for hiding and playing with things he shouldn't. If it's quiet that's when you start to wonder what he's up to.

He is a great little buddy to hang out with one-on-one and is well behaved in those settings. Jonathan has been enjoying his special times with him while I am at language school and we enjoy giving him the extra attention in the mornings before Emma comes home school. However, as soon as you add another sibling to the mix, his energy level jumps up and being a pest becomes his primary job. Samuel and Emma play very well together; role-playing, imagining and such. When it's just Emma and Luca together they just like to annoy each other. We think it's because Luca is not as verbal that the others view him more of pest right now than a conversive playmate.

Luca is also very physical and tough. He loves to wrestle and ram in to things. His front chipped tooth is continually missing more pieces. Rarely does anything phase him, his pain tolerance is abnormally high in my opinion. For example, one time I was cutting his hair and trimming around his ear when I began to wonder why the scissors were not cutting. Squeezing harder they still were not cutting, I looked to my horror to see I was cutting the top of his ear! He never said "ouch" nor flinched. He just looked up at me and with his hand patted his head and said "hair. hair." He sat perfectly still for the remainder of the haircut even though I had to continually stop to apply pressure to his ear until the bleeding stopped. That is just one of many, many stories regarding his toughness.

Luca is also extremely determined. If he sets his mind on something it is very difficult to convince or persuade him otherwise. This has become particularly frustrating for us in regards to his eating. Of course, it's not anything new as we saw this from the age of 9 months when he weaned himself from nursing in one day. He just decided he had enough and never looked back. In addition he refused to drink milk even with chocolate. He goes through phases where he'll eat things and then he'll just flip the switch and refuses to touch that food ever again. Many of meals you will find Luca sitting at the table by himself until he either finishes what he is told to eat or it's time for bed. We are slowly making progress but it's one of our greatest frustrations. I guess it's not a totally abnormal toddler trait, we just never had to deal with it to this extreme with the other two kids. He's obviously not starving, but could use some more variety in his diet.

One thing we find amusing is how he gives himself time outs. When he gets upset he gets this angry face and says "RRRRR". He is told to watch his attitude and how he responds (usually to his siblings) and if not then correction is worked through with him. Lately, when he gets upset he just goes directly to his time-out spot to sit, and then gets up with a transformed attitude.

He is potty trained now with only an occasional accident at night or when he is playing outside. Why would he want to stop playing just to take care of business? He still loves his 3+ hours of nap time in the afternoon and goes down with no problems again at 8:30pm. He plays hard and sleeps hard!

On a final note, Luca loves to sing. It's so precious to hear his voice from the back seat singing as we drive along. The words are lacking most of the time, but the tune and pitch are right on. He chimes in during our family worship time each night as well and we just love to hear all the kids sing. A family band or choir is in the making.



I'll post more pictures of Luca and from his birthday party next week sometime.

This & That

Spring has arrived and maybe because of the temperatures being close to 70, I have been pulled more to being outside than to the computer. We have another 10 days yet before we "spring forward" but it sure is nice to have increasingly longer days. Along with the spring blossoms emerging from their dormant winter homes, people once again are making themselves visible after the winter months. Our bike path is now constantly occupied with joggers/bikers/walkers, lines of laundry now provide splashes of color from the balconies, flower boxes too are gradually making their appearance on balconies and as mentioned previously we once again see that indeed we do have neighbors who actually live here.

The past few weeks have been busy. Nothing new yet to report on the ESL front, still working and waiting on that. Weekly guitar lessons continue to go well for Jonathan. To my pleasant surprise and excitement Tuesdays have now turned in to a cooking exchange for me during Jonathan's lesson time. Two mothers, Silvia & Maruska, stay at the church while their kids attend lessons. It provides me with a wonderful opportunity for more conversation time and to develop deeper relationships with these dear ladies. After inquiring about what Italian dishes I make or know how to make, Silvia suggested that they teach me how to cook some Italian dishes--the right way! Last week I had my first official lesson in pizza making! So yummy when done the right way!! Next week I will teach them how to make Mexican rice and the rotation will continue.

The kids are doing well and I will have to post some more pictures of them soon. The daily montra from the kids is that they want to stay home from school. However, they always come home so excited about their days and said they had a fun time. The excitement and anticipation for the weekend is already present at their young age.

We are told that Emma does not talk much at school either in English or Italian. However, Italian is just starting to explode from her mouth when she comes home. She is our silent observer, always listening and always learning. When she speaks it is with clarity and preciseness. It was the same way when she began to speak English. Samuel on the other hand always has to be talking, whether it's gibberish or intelligible. He'll talk non-sense until his mouth catches up to his mind to then produce what he wants to say. So in Italian he'll speak non-sense with his Italian words coming clearly at the end of his phrases. So interesting to watch their learning styles.

Luca on the other hand is more physical than verbal. His facial and body expressions are a clear indication of how he is feeling. His siblings are really proud of themselves when they get him to repeat them, saying "I'm helping Luca learn how to talk." He's getting there but for almost 3 years old, he definitely is lagging compared to his siblings at the same age. Each child is so unique and it is a joy to watch them grow and learn given their individual personalities. We thank God for our precious children--they are such a blessing!

March Madness

So although we are not huge college basketball fans, the title for this month of March only seems fitting for our lives. The first week of March has already zipped by us and the intensity and speed just seems to be picking up. We are truly excited for the new opportunities and happenings in our lives.

I'll try to give you a quick glimpse in to the schedule that now fills our weeks.

Mondays

• 8:45am - Drop Samuel & Emma off at school (M-F)
  
• 9:30-10:30am - Noella has language lessons with A. in Cirie' (20 min. away)
  
• 11:50am - Pick Emma up from school (M-F)
  
• 4:00pm - Pick Samuel up from school (M-F)
  
• 8:00-9:30pm - Jonathan goes to the gym for his Thai Boxing class

Tuesdays

• 5:00pm - Jonathan teaches a beginner guitar class to 15 students (ages 12-16) in Lanzo, which is about 40 minutes away. We all tag along as it provides Noella another opportunity to converse in Italian with the other parents.

Wednesdays

• We are keeping this day (or Monday) open in the hopes of soon filling it with two ESL classes. It is also a study day for Jonathan as he prepares for Thursday night.
• Opportunity to attend another Thai Box class in the evening if Jonathan is not too beat up from the previous session.
  

Thursdays

• Catherine comes over for dinner prior to our Bible study.
• 8:30pm - Bible study at the Farina's house. We usually return home between 11:30 and midnight.
  

Fridays

• 9:30am - Language lessons for Noella
• 8:30-9:30pm - Thai Boxing for Jonathan

Weekends

• 11:00am (Sat.) Jonathan meets with A. for English conversation
• We try to get together with neighbors and other friends as schedules allow and just spend some quality time together as a family.

Last weekend we were thrilled to finally get together with our neighbors C. & A. and their daughter L. (almost 2 yrs. old). We had a wonderful time getting to know them and we really hit it off with each other. We anticipate future times together as C. really wants to show us around the area, especially the mountains of which he has a great passion for visiting. It was so precious when we were saying good-bye to them because L. kept calling me "Zia" (Aunt). She is the same age as my niece so it just reminded me of her and made me miss playing an active role in my niece and nephews' lives. Maybe I can be L's adopted aunt!

Some more exciting things are in the works as well. Antoinetta is closing her shoe store in Caselle in another month and we are working at transferring her lease to our group. Although the locale is small it is the perfect starting point for our group as the rent is affordable and the location is good at the city center. It would allow us the opportunity to make our presence known in the community as we would seek to use it as a community center offering various classes and having our Bible studies there as well. We would appreciate your prayers as we work through these details over the course of the next month with Giancarlo.

On a closing note in regards to the month of March. Jonathan's dad will coming for a visit/work trip March 30-April 8. How is it work related you may ask? Well, he has offered to come and help take care of the kids so that I can then make a trip back to the states to attend my brother's wedding. I missed my sister's wedding in 2007, so it means a lot to me to be able to attend my final sibling wedding. Cody & Michelle get married on April 4 in Dallas, Texas. Therefore, because of the graciousness of my father-in-law (and my dear husband) I will be making a quick trip overseas April 1-6. I've never left the kids for more than a day, so this will be a HUGE stretch for all of us. Your prayers for 3 days of traveling mercies, stamina for the men with the kids, and understanding for the kids as Mamma won't be around for 6 days would be greatly appreciated.

That will wrap it up for now. Just wanted to give you an update on the major points of our week. There are many more things that fill our time but those are the regular occurances as we press on here in Italy. Ciao-ciao!