Worms!

We went to the park and dug up some worms to put in our plants to help them be healthy. Selah thought they were really neat and got close until she saw them move.

More stories on Selah...

Selah and her cousin, Sara Kate, are getting to be pretty savvy Skype chatters. The other day, Sara Kate asked her mom to call to talk to Selah but she insisted that no moms could chat during the call. This is some of the silliness that ensued…



The other day I had baked some cookies for dinner guests. As they were cooling on the rack, Selah reached past them to grab the banana in the fruit bowl. I felt very proud of my little girl for making a good food choice—especially since the goal of her day (everyday) is to get as much candy, chocolate or sugar as possible. I say no almost every time and almost every time she says, “Why?”

Entertainment

Eden is now almost 11 months old. She is big enough to sit in the kid swings and swing next to Selah. If she is feeling extra crazy, she’ll even let Selah push her a few times! I have discovered sand in Eden’s shoes recently, so I think she is also enjoying the sandbox when she goes to the park with Zeynep Abla. Zeynep told me that Eden has also stopped eating the sand!

Selah is starting to play with Eden a lot. She takes the time to explain the rules of whatever activity “they” will be playing and then slowly tries to teach her how to do it correctly. Selah still gets very irritated with Eden for taking things that Selah does’t think Eden should play with, like her headbands. Eden is a pro at leaning over to hug Selah, then swiping the headband off of Selah’s head in an instant. It doesn’t matter if a chunk of hair comes out with the headband, Selah is only upset about the headband.

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Consistant Inconsistancy

Isn't this how a lot of moms would describe their life? Their emotions?

I try to take comfort in knowing that I am not the only mom out there that can't seem to get "it" together quite like I want to. Although, I hope I will look back on this season of life with fondness and no regrets. I'm pretty sure I won't turn 50 and wish I'd kept my house more organized instead of enjoying my time with my kids. These are the things I try to keep in perspective when I'm trying so hard to just get my house picked up, keep a consistent routine, get dinner on the table, update the blog, add photos to the baby books, make a grocery list, study language, have a quiet time, exercise, spend time making friends, teach my girls about our Savior, love my husband, spend quality time with each child and husband, get enough sleep each night, put make up on (sometimes), do my hair (even less) and....well, I think I've made my point.

All that to say, usually 3 days don't go by that I don't think "I should update the blog" at least 1 time. Being that it has been 6 weeks, I've thought about it a lot of times. I've taken pictures with the blog in mind. But, here I am, with too many pictures and a small window of blog-updating time. So, here's hoping that I get back around to doing more tomorrow.

We got to a butcher shop in our neighborhood to get all of our meat. When we first moved here, we bought meat at the grocery story, but I found the quality to be inconsistent and really hated it when my beef smelled of lamb meat. Ryan started going to Hakan Kasap (butcher) to make friends with the guys, but started asking why the prices were higher than the grocery store. Up until that point, I didn’t want to go to the Kasap because it was more expensive. Bulent (the employee that does all the cutting when we specify our request) told us that his meat was fresher and tasted better. We found that we agreed with Bulent and have been faithful customers ever since. As a bonus, they even deliver!!

Hakan on the left and Bulent on the right