Oh...regular school days...how I miss thee...

This is what it looks like when we go to school…

What you can't see is the mom smiling on the other side of the camera.

We work hard and have plenty to do.

This is what it looks like when we don’t…

No explanation needed.

These are potato chips for the American Girl doll made out of dried glue...yes, we have time to sit around and watch glue dry.  They are quite amazing though...only my Brookie could come up with this.  

Mice up our sleeves.

Time to experiment with the hair.

I truly love my new life here in my new home.  I live in a beautiful city with generous and hospitable people.  We are surrounded by amazing foods, a rich history, and new experiences.  As we’ve learned about our new language and culture, God has taught us a lot about ourselves and about Himself.

Here’s what I’ve learned about myself…

I LOVE making schedules and lists and having a plan.  Okay, I already knew that about myself and you did too if you’ve been around me for more than 42 seconds.  (I also love the number 42 by the way.) 

What I’ve actually learned is that I have a sad and alarming dependence on schedules. 

The school schedule here has been the hardest thing for me to embrace.  I’m an old dog and can’t seem to learn this new trick.  I love the school the kids are in.  It is filled with wonderful people who love education, and more importantly, love my kids.

The teachers have been on strike here…full and partial strikes…sometimes no school, and sometimes shortened days.  If I can just complain for a second here…when they are only in school for three and a half hours anyway, when you shorten it you’re left without much time.

I’d love to have a full understanding of all the reasons behind this strike and I’m sure the teachers deserve what they are asking for, but I don’t have enough time to learn the language that will help me understand the reasons behind the strike when the kids don’t go to school long enough for me to study and practice. 
Samo kažem…(Just sayin...)

Okay…so that’s what I’ve learned about myself…

that I am weak and tired…

that I need a schedule too much…

that I depend on my need to control things more than I’d like to admit…

that I cry when the schedule that I’ve neatly written out gets changed three times in an hour….

Clearly, I have issues.

Here’s what I’ve learned about God…

His strength is made perfect in my weakness.

He wants me to need Him most of all,

  and depend on Him for everything,

  and cry out to Him.

He knows my issues and loves me. 

He knows your issues and loves you too. 

A year of firsts...

This is a picture of us the morning we left Carrollton, January 25, 2010.

We left Carrollton for a long time, for the first time.
We met some amazing people for the first time, who we will always have our hearts tied to.
We saw snow that was more than 2 inches deep and lasted for more than 2 days for the first time.
(It was in fact 2 feet deep and lasted for the better part of 5 weeks!)
We were without a car for the first time.
We were without a TV for the first time.
We came to Europe as a family for the first time.
I blogged for the first time.
We stepped foot on Serbian soil for the first time.
We got long term visas in a foreign country for the first time.
We enrolled our children in foreign schools for the first time.
We began living life on about a 10% level of understanding for the first time.
(I am happy to say that we are now tottering between a 42% and 59% understanding level.)
We live in an apartment building for the first time.
We have ridden cabs, sleeper trains and city busses for the first time.
We have ridden in ambulances for the first time.
We saw the church where Jill and Grozio got married for the first time.
We have sent 2 of our 3 kids on international trips without us for the first time.
We have eaten meat from a tube for the first time.
We have seen Roman ruins for the first time.
We buy fresh bread from a bakery daily for the first time.
We have made friends who speak no English for the first time.
We buy fresh produce from the market for the first time.
We celebrated birthdays and holidays away from family for the first time.
We saw the Black Sea for the first time.
We've been mistaken for Russians for the first time.
We have said things like:
     "I don't know why they hate for me to pull out a thousand when I go to the store."
     "That graffiti was really cool."
     "Tomorrow is second Christmas, so don't be alarmed by the sounds of things exploding outside...it's just the fireworks."
     "Yes, I did make the sausage from scratch."
    "Yes, that was my family that you saw on the news."
              ....for the first time.
As well as things like:
     "Ućim Srpski jezik.  To je težak."  (I am learning Serbian.  It is hard.)
     "Ja sam iz Amerike, živim u Novom Sadu, i imam troje dece."  (I am from America, I live in Novi Sad, and I have three kids.)
     "Štetali smo na park"  (We did damage in the park...I meant to say we walked in the park...I was only one little letter off.)
     "Volimo naš zivot ovde."  (We love our life here.)
              ...for the first time.

We have, for the first time, learned what it means to miss what you had while, at the same time treasuring where you are, what you are learning and who you are becoming.

A Three Week Holiday and Three Great Trips

On Christmas morning our kids opened up three surprise gifts...well, two of them were surprises.  Connor had asked everyone to send money for his Christmas gifts so he could go on a trip with his soccer team.  We decided that we wanted to give Brooke and Kyle each an "experience gift" rather than a "thing gift" also.  Brooke got to go to Macedonia to visit with some great friends for a week and Kyle got to have some special Daddy time on an overnight "you are the boss of what we do" trip to Belgrade.

I think we'll go with the ladies first idea and share a little about Brooke's trip:

Spencer, Janae and Kate came to visit with us for a few days between Christmas and New Year's.  Brooke was able to ride back to their town of Prilep, Macedonia with them for a fun filled week.

Here are the highlights:

Brooke put some of her "mad cupcake decorating skills" to use when she and Janae made cupcakes for friends in Prilep.  Chocolate with mint frosting....yummy!

They had a movie night when she enjoyed some pop corn and a very special Dr. Pepper.  I think that can has been from London to Bulgaria and on to Macedonia...an invaluable treasure that her generous hosts shared with her.

Janae taught her to make hairbows.  She loved all the creative fun she had on her special trip.

Brooke was able to do some shopping, play with her favorite two year girl friend and have some extra special girl time.  She started her own blog and is looking for followers...

http://briineurope.blogspot.com/

She spent some time with another dear family who brought her home to us, safe and sound, 8 days later.

Kyle got to go on an overnight trip to Belgrade, our capital city, where he got to choose what he and his daddy did for two days.  He was in heaven...he's very seldom the only kid.

Even though this is blurry I had to include it.
The guys slept on air mattresses at our company's office and made one of the conference rooms into an indoor soccer field.  This was (strangely enough) one of Kyle's favorite parts of the whole trip.  An empty room, a soccer ball, and his daddy's full attention.  What a blast!

They went to the military museum at the fortress in Belgrade.  Kyle LOVES the fortress but this was the first time he'd been able visit the museum.  Happiness is...a boy and his gun.

Kyle got to pick what they ate for every meal too...
They ate 5 meals in Belgrade.  Kyle ate pizza once and McDonald's FOUR times!!!  I'm sure this will never happen again.

They went down on a Thursday morning and came back Friday night.  They got to eat a lot, play some games, go to a movie in a real movie theater, go bowling and meet the cutest little strawberry blonde bundle of joy that Belgrade has ever seen.  (Our new friend Wilson had just come home from the hospital.  I'll always be jealous that Kyle got to meet him before I did.)

And finally, Connor's "super great awesome once in a lifetime trip"...

He was able to go with his soccer team on a whirlwind 10 day 6 country trip to play ball, sight see and watch some professional games.  The went through Croatia, Slovenia, France, Italy, Monaco, and Spain.  He spoke a lot of Serbian, got to see some really cool stuff, and make memories that will last a lifetime.

Here is a picture of his teammates walking around the stadium in Fiorentina, Italy on their way to watch an Italian league professional game.

This is a picture of the Mediterranean coast taken in Lloret de Mar, Spain.  It is a city near Barcelona where they stayed.   

Here is C man in front of one of the sites they visted while in Barcelona...a church that has been under construction for over 100 years.  (and some of us thought our churches had long building programs).

We are all back in town now and back in school.  The kids got a three week break and Trey and I had two weeks off from language study.  We loved our "odmor" (rest) and are are happy to all be under one roof again and getting back to "real life".
We hope you all had a happy new year.  Blessing to you all.

Santa Comes to Serbia

Well, we've just concluded our first holiday season away from home.  It has been bittersweet.  We miss our friends, family and traditions from home, but were blessed to share some of this with our new friends and family here in our new home.  The last post was about a favorite tradition that we brought to Serbia...the Gingerbread House competition.  Today I'm sharing pictures of our Christmas Eve and Christmas day as a family.

Kyle wanted to leave carrots and water for the reindeer out on the terrace.

We frosted cookies for Santa and left him some milk just like we've done every year since Connor was one.

Sure enough...Santa found us here in Serbia...just like the tooth fairy did.  Kyle was never worried because we sent him a letter.  

Kyle got a new bicycle...It started snowing the day after Christmas and hasn't stopped yet though, and so he hasn't been able to try it out yet.

Brooke got a cake/cupcake decorating kit.  I can't wait to see all that she creates.

Connor got money for the trip he is taking with his soccer team...They will be traveling January 8th through the 18th and going to play and watch games in Italy, Spain and France!

The boys busting into the Lego love.

Brooke practicing on parchment paper.

After the fun of the morning our American friends joined us for Christmas dinner.  It was a super day to share with friends and family.

Amy's YUMMO yeast rolls!!!

All our favorites...dressing, greenbean casserole, mac and cheese, broccoli, cheese and rice...we had roasted chicken instead of turkey...it was just as good, and much easier to get ahold of. 

Trey's favorite "Anna Potatoes"

The crew around the table...Trey took the picture and Kyle looks a little drugged, but this is the best one I've got.  

Although we missed our loved ones (that sounds like something an old Baptist preacher would say, huh?) it was a blessed day.  We know Jesus is the same in Texas and in Serbia.  He loves Serbs and He loves Texans.  He came as a baby for Serbs and He came as a baby for Texans.   He is fully in both places.  The joy of His gift of salvation is the same wherever you are...Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.

Annual Gingerbread House Event Comes to Serbia

We enjoyed bringing a favorite Israel family tradition to Serbia this year.  Several years ago we began building gingerbread houses as a family.  We started inviting friends and it grew into quite an event.  This year we skyped into the one back home and got to visit with some great friends while they built their own Christmas village.  Here in Serbia we enjoyed sharing our tradition with three families.  We started with a little bit of sharing about what our Christmas traditions are (in Serbian), read the book Santa's Favorite Story (in English), talked about our Savior and the gift of His birth, prayed, ate, and built.  I hope you enjoy the pictures...  

All the guys working hard.

Trey and Dragon building their fudbal stadium.

Đorđe, Kyle and Boris building their cottage.

Dali, Biljana, and Snežena working hard on our fairy tale cottage.

Brooke and Anja working...they inspired the rest of us...there was a lot of idea stealing!

Notice the detail...Nice field and bleachers guys.

Connor and Aleksa working on their northpole scene.

We had a great time and can't wait to share it again next year.  American friends reading this...are you jealous of the new building materials...we will kick bootie in winter '13 when we come back with our new secret weapon...watch out!

Lego Party

We had Kyle's "friend party" on the 11th.  He had 8 boys from his class at school and  some American colleagues came to share in the fun.  KK and Pop Pop were the surprise guests.  It was a great day.

Here are a few shots:

Check out this AWESOME cake that Jen made.  She made the cake from scratch and Kyle made the Lego creations for the decorations.

These are the results of the "Highest Lego Tower" game.  Way to go guys!

Silly boys.

Lego relay race.

Pin the "nub" on the Lego.  I'm sure there is a technical Lego term for this, but I have no idea what it is and an too lazy to look it up.

Srćan Rođendan Kyle...We sang in both languages.

Sturdiest pinata in history!

Check me out in the background...I was very afraid someone was going to be seriously injured.

It was a super party!

Enjoy...

Kyle Turns 7!!!

Yesterday was "MyKyle Jackson's" 7th birthday.  I can't believe it has already been seven years with our little man.  We had a great day.

We had orange pancakes with chocolate chips and orange whipped cream for breakfast and sang Happy Birthday.


Then we went to church and to Kyle's first soccer game as a 7 year old.  He passed candy out to his friends at church (Serbian tradition) and they sang Srećan Rođendan to him.

We came home and Connor went to get Birthday Pizza bez šampinjona (with out mushrooms).  We sang Happy Birthday again.

Trey helped some friends move and I took a nap and the kids watched movies in the fort they've built in the boys room.

We had cheese quesidillas and birthday cake that his sister decorated for him and sang Happy Birthday again.

He got to skype with Nana and Grandaddy and Aunt Robin and Cooper and they all sang Happy Birthday to him.

 He opened some presents and got to talk to KK on the phone.

Thanks Nana and Grandad

Thanks KK and Pop Pop

Thanks Aunt Robin and Cooper

We read the chapter titled "Everybody's Birthday" in the Box Car Children book we are reading right now and sang Happy Birthday one last time and kissed our 7 year old boy good-night and thanked the Lord for the blessing he is and the man of God he is going to become.

We will be having a LEGO party on Saturday celebrating with his Serbian friends and some surprise guests.  Look for pictures next weekend.