Christmas Outreach

 

Thank you to everyone who receives our newsletters, and who knew to be praying for our recent outreach event.  This was, for us, a late addition to our holiday season of activities.  The initiative was taken by those within our group to request the participation from the children's group, reserve the theater and distribute over 500 flyers at local schools and shops for this event.  We are so thankful for the willingness of the workers and performers from our mother church in Torino to add this second performance to their schedule.  It was afterall the 23rd and the first day of vacation for the children, and yet a full participation was given.

This was a first for us in Caselle, so we really had no idea how this was going to go over or how many to expect.  We did discover that that same night was the live nativity followed by Mass in Caselle.  We had many say they would like to come but that they were going to Mass that night.  Definitely a schedule conflict we want to avoid for next year!  The theater holds 140 and to give a rough estimate, we would say it was about 80% full.  It was a great facility and a place we will keep in mind for future events, considering it was a free rental to us as an association.  Many from the church in Torino were present, however, we were thankful to see a handful of new family faces from the community.  Please continue to pray as we try to faithfully make our evangelical presense know to our community through love, service and sharing of the Good News.

A very much before shot of the atrium area where we had two tables of food and one for gifts for all who attended:  Scripture calendars, candles, balloons, panetone from Compassion and a Manga booklet of the story of the Messiah.  The ladies of our church provided all the food--and there was plenty of it!  I failed to get any during the event shots, as my hands were completely occupied pouring drinks and blowing up balloons to give to very anxious recipients.

Waiting for the program to start and the arrival of more people.

"Jesus-the only Savior"

Jonathan was able to give a 5-minute presentation of the gospel at the end of the program.  He did a great job tying together the pieces from what was presented in the program and making clear the reason and importance of celebrating Christmas.  Again...no picture of him as I got up to catch a new family as they were leaving and then to ready the refreshment tables.  Our kids jumped right in to serve along Mamma and hand out balloons. They did a great job!  By the end of the night they were shot--we all were.  Thankful for the night and most of all for our Savior who gives us His great message of hope, love and peace!

All in a Week

We started off this past week just a wee bit on the tired side, but with the busy week ahead we couldn't afford to dwell on the fact.  Emma was pretty well layed up on the couch all throughout last weekend.  We sent her to school on Monday and she seemed to be hold up great for the morning so sent her back for the afternoon.  She did, however, get sick two separate nights this week.  I had my last class of English for the fall trimester and I am quite looking forward to a little break.  All my students are returning for the winter trimester, so I guess that is a good sign.

After Monday, it was party prep for Jonathan's English students who were coming over to our house on Wednesday.  Between baking and cleaning it was a full couple of days.  All the while I just kept praying no one else would get sick.  My tiredness kept playing tricks on me as waves of uckiness would come and go.  We made it to Wednesday night and it was a lovely evening with 11 of Jonathan's students.  Not all came due to illness.  The kids were quite interactive and chatty and it is always fun to see them in "Italian mode" in our home.  Samuel and Emma even willingly obliged them to a mini piano concert.

I saw this idea and knew it must be made!  My rosemary bush, turning tree, needed a trim anyway.

The students lavishly showered us with an enormous gift basket again this year.  They brought cakes, plants, chocolates and warm embraces.  After 3 years of teaching most of the same students, you can really see the students' respect and appreciation for Jonathan.  I enjoy having my moments of interaction with them as well at least twice a year with these parties in our home.

Loving my gorgeous Bicajoux plant!

Please continue to pray for these friends and that they will come to put their faith in Christ.  We gave them each a scripture calendar to take home and pray they will read them.

After Wednesday, it was recooperate time for me.  Or at least that is what I was hoping for...

...However, Luca came down with the stomach flu on Thursday night.  Unlike Emma he started to get sick at 8:00pm so we had a few hours jump start on the 15 minute rushes to the bathroom.  It still warranted another night of sleeping on the couch so that is where I woke up on my birthday morning.  Samuel, bless his heart, woke up on his own at 6:30am because he wanted to make me breakfast in bed.  He was SO upset I was on the couch when he came down.  I told him he could still make me breakfast and that I would be very happy to eat it on the couch--after 7am!  He seemed to finally understand that it was not my choice to be sleeping on the couch at that moment in time.  When dad woke up, he helped Samuel and Emma fix me my favorite: fresh persimmon, yogurt and granola and a HUGE cup of coffee.

I made the grain free chocolate coconut cake and the kids decorated it.

Obviously, the birthday celebrations have been postponed.  I did enjoy some gifts and cake and lots of phone and skype chats with family.  It was just one of those years and nothing you can do about it.  I still felt special and honored even with the unglamorous job of cleaning up after and caring for a sick child.  God has given me so very much and I am so thankful for each breath of life!

So for the third week in a row I have missed church.  The kids and I worked through Act 2 of the Christmas story for our church time today.

 Shepherd

Angel

Luca is doing much better but still recovering and it is most noticeable in his emotional reactions to his siblings and small intake of food.  When he gets energy he exerts it and then he will just crash.  He wasn't desirous of dressing up today, but maybe we can convince him to be a shepherd with Samuel come next weekend.  He layed down for a nap this afternoon and immediately went to sleep.  Here is to praying that no one else gets this stomach flu one week from now over the Christmas weekend.

Vacation Days

The kids currently have a 4-day weekend due to the celebration of the Emmaculate Conception holiday on December 8th.  I've been trying to keep the kids busy with crafts and giving them special projects to work on.  The kids really want to help wrap Christmas presents, but that is just not an option considering all the gifts on hand are for them.  We found a compromise in which I would wrap the gifts in paper and they could help top them with bows and tags.  Luca and Emma enjoyed making pom-poms.    

I suggested to them a few days ago that they should work together to put on a Christmas play for us.  I told them to read Luke 2 and think of how they could retell the story.  After rest time yesterday I heard them still playing upstairs and moving chairs around.  I went up to investigae and this is what I found.

I could not help but laugh outloud!  They creatively solved the problem of making a manger out of chairs and the Batman-Jesus was just too much.  Samuel had his blanket wrapped around his shoulders declaring he was Caesar.  I just had to join them in the fun, so I stepped in and helped with costume design and this is what we came up with for Act 1.

Caesar Augustus

Mary

Joseph and Mary

Bed sheet, rosemary, scarfs, mamma's dress, dada's undershirt, scraps of fabric, head bands and paint mixing stick pulled off the convincing cast of characters.

That was yesterday and this is today...

Emma woke up at midnight vomitting.  She was running to the bathroom every 15-20 minutes all night.  She and I camped out on the couch with small short intervals of dozing.  At 5:30 Jonathan came to send me back to bed and continued the shift of insomnia.  The 3 of us are completely exhausted today.  The fatigue from lack of sleep is making us feel pretty whoosey.  The intestinal flu has been running it's course through the schools.  I should not be surprised Emma got sick considering two kids threw up in her class on Wednesday and at least one from Samuel's class went home sick too.  If we fall off the radar for a few days you can probably conclude we are enduring a cycle of the flu in our home.  Prayers for added strength and healing would be appreciated!

Family Pictures

Merry Christmas (almost)!

Jonathan was gone for a 3-day conference last week, so to provide some distraction I got the kids dressed to take some Christmas pictures.  They were very enthusiastic on round 1.

Round 2, came today when we included us parents to the mix.  They were way less than enthusiastic with much complaining and tears, but at least there are a few reasonably good shots (all with the self timer).  I guess that was not on their list of "fun" activities to do for their day off of school.  Family pictures are painful!  I keep thinking they will get better as the years progress.  Maybe one day!

Book Reading

What happened to my book of the month postings?  Um ya, well that goal obviously was not fulfilled over the past few months.  Never fear though, I am still reading just more like at a snails pace.  Since my last book of the month posting in June, I have completed 3 books.  I just never got around to writing a review about them.  So here goes before 2011 comes to an end.

Real Food by Nina Plank

A book that started us on our family food revolution.  All thanks to my brother and sister-in-law!  I started to read this in the spring and was quickly convinced and challenged to consider what and why we eat the things we do.  I was more than thrilled to learn that butter and whole milk are great things to eat, and that whole milk actually helps curb those sugar cravings.  All vegetable oils have cleared our shelves, along with any processed treats for the kids.  There is a lot of science behind Plank's writings and it was a real eye opener for me in so many ways.  Being raised in a family where everything is made from scratch is a super helpful foundation and so most transitions weren't so bizzar to incorporate in to our family routine and diet... 

...that is until Jonathan got a hold of the book by Mark Sisson called Primal Blueprint this past June.  (sidenote: for both of these books you have to skip over their ideas of the whole evolving human stuff and just consider the logic and science of the eating habits promoted).  I have not fully read the Primal Blueprint, but rather some select chapters.  Now, transitioning to a primal diet was way more of a leap and struggle for me!  Jonathan's 30-day primal challenge (meat, veggies, fruit, nuts, seeds and some dairy) left him feeling the best he has ever felt and there was no turning back.  Full of energy with no sluggishness in the mornings, no sicknesses, a better flow of things, weight loss while eating even more than before, food tastes better, more balance with no highs and lows from sugar or lectin spikes etc.  He was convinced, and so began my personal challenge to join him.  A grain-free diet is now how Jonathan and I prefer to  eat.  I try in general to provide less grains for the kids too, but not a complete elimination.  Not saying we have arrived on this journey or find ourselves thinking we are in someway above those that eat differently.  This is just something where we have seen signficant changes for the better in our own lives.  You might think we are nuts, but a 30-day challenge to yourself might just convince you as well.  :) So we have had a lot of new ideas and things to "chew" on the past six months.

For Women Only: What You Need to Know about the Inner Lives of Men by Shaunti Feldhahn

This was an easy and quick read.  Insightful observations about men and their general thought processes and how our reactions as women are interpreted.  The book provided some good discussion points between Jonathan and I.  I guess you would have to read her other book For Men Only, to see all pieces of how a healthy marriage is encouraged and generated from both sides.  For me there was nothing totally shockingly new in this book, but some great reminders about some areas I had forgotten about.  I did read this during the summer too, so my memory is a bit foggy of my initial impressions.

The Mission of Motherhood:  Touching Your Child's Heart for Eternity by Sally Clarkson

A wonderful encouraging and inspiring book on motherhood.  A very practical book on how to serve and minister to your children, always with the intent of directing your children to God.  I was challenged by this quote "It's the way I respond to my children in everyday moments that gives me the best chance of winning their hearts.  If I have integrity and patience in the small moments of life that are so important to my children, and if I approach them with a servants heart, then I have a far better chance of influencing them in the larger and more critical issues of life."  It is the little moments in life, those everyday moments that I often forget the importance of.  How taking time out to cut a paper, admire a drawing, fasten a coat, respond in gentleness, tell a story, all mean so much to a little heart.  "When we are joyful and see each minute with our children as an opportunity to worship God through our service of him, our children sense our joy and feel secure and happy."  I appreciate that she has written discussion questions with scripture references to work through at the end of each chapter.  Definitely a good read. 

Another First

Yesterday Luca lost his very first tooth!  Kind of makes me sad to see my little baby not so little any more.  He eats at least one apple a day, so the past few weeks his apple eating has been done with great caution.  As I was watching him eat his apple at lunch his tooth kept flipping forward indicating it was hanging on my a thread.  I told him I needed to pull it or else he was going to swallow it.  He agreed (probably having no idea what I was about to do).  One little tug and it was out.  He was delighted but a little surprised by the blood.  No worries--he is a tough kid.  Now we have to get used to him speaking with a much greater lisp until he adjusts to the new change in his mouth.

Luca - 5 years and 7 months

After lunch he put his tooth in a bag and said he "had to go lay down in bed now, so I can get money from the tooth fairy."  His two siblings informed him that she only come at night "like around midnight when you are sleeping."  And yea, for the tooth fairy remembering to drop in last night.

Piano Lessons

Cultivating skills in our children that will serve them the rest of their lives is of great importance to us as parents.  Granted we may not necessarily have a plethora of opportunities available to our children in this culture, but there are many things in which are and must be taught from the home.  For example, how to be a hospitable host and serve others within our home.  How to be a gracious guest and engage in meaningful conversation with adults and peers.  Encouraging reading both individually and together as a family.  Providing cultural experiences through travel, museums and interactions with different cultures.  All those things on top of our greatest emphasis and desire for them to know, love, and serve Christ.  The list goes on and will continue to grow as we are contstantly learning as parents, and see the unique talents and interests develop in each of our children.

All that to say, we have enrolled Samuel and Emma in piano lessons to provide them with a basic knowledge and experience in music.  With the musical talent given to their father and the continual prescence of music in our home on a daily basis, we hope this will be a launching point for them to develop musically, whether they stick with piano or specialize in another instrument.

We have been talking about this venture for a while now.  The big problem being we did not have a piano!  We inquired about lessons from the music association here in Leinì and got the kids signed up even before we had the piano.  We are so grateful for the Lord's provision to be able to purchase our first digital piano.  And the kids (so far, after 2 lessons) are very excited about it all.

The music school is on the upper level of the red building located in the main piazza of town.

The first lesson the kids did together.  However, they now are having separate half-hour lessons each. They like their maestro, Mauro.

We had to shuffle around the living room to make room for the piano.  Poor Mac was so discombobulated each time we moved his house, but I think we have found the ideal solution--until we need to make room for the Christmas tree. :)

And as a side note, Jonathan too is taking classical guitar lessons from the same school.  I find it hard to believe that he NEVER has taken a guitar lesson in his life!  What did I say about God given talent?!  The lessons are two-fold in wanting to learn a new technique and style (he loves a challenge) and also so he can get his foot in the door with the music community.  We pray that through special events for the kids and future opportunities we might make a new circle of contacts in our community.

Here is a video I got away with taking only because it was their first lesson and possibly the only one I will get to.  Jonathan takes the kids as I need to have dinner ready to go when they arrive home at 6:15 so Jonathan can be out the door again an hour later for English on Wednesday nights.  Not really ideal to add to his marathon Wednesdays, but it was the only opening available.  I guess beggers can't be choosers!