Outsider

If you have left your homeland and now dwell in a new land perhaps you have often encountered feeling like the outsider.

We learn, we grown, we do our very best to "fit in". And yet then again comes one of the stupid moments when the whole charade comes tumbling down and again you rise above all the locals as the outsider.

I have now lived in this land 8 years. I like to think that being half Latvian makes it easier for me to "fit in". . . But who knows if that is true.

I like this land, most of the time. I like these folks and their country, after all I do have roots here.

But you know, there are some things I really do like about America too.

I miss friendly cashiers- as weird as it may sound. And every time I go to the States I am tickled pink by how friendly cashiers sometimes are- even to the point it makes me laugh wondering how genuine or fake they are. Or perhaps it just how uncommon they seem after the quiet ones here.

I miss feeling "normal."- I have never been one that fits in, even in the States. But at least there I more or less fit in. Here when people find out I was home-schooled they look at me like I must have grown up and been educated on some alien planet.

I miss fast food choices-that is not to say I was ever a big fast food eater. But we don't even have a single fast food place in the city I live in. And now and again I sure would love a slice of Pizza Hut pizza or a taco from Taco Bell.

I miss hearing English- I realized recently that I can say the exact same thing in English as I told someone in Latvian. But only when I hear myself say it in MY language do I really hear (as in my heart feels and understands) what I am saying. I so miss going to an English speaking church- and actually hearing the sermons. I understand Latvian fine, but between trying to keep kids quiet and all the distractions one normally has I don't seem to really hear much of a sermon- or it goes in one ear and out the other.

I miss family- By far the thing hardest about living an ocean from your family is the fact that you rarely meet. Keeping close is hard work and holidays are sad when you can't be together. If you are close enough to give your loved ones a hug- then DO IT!

But then there are those things I love about this place.

I love that all health care for my kids is free.

I love that it is more normal to eat healthy here and finding local products is not difficult and not pricey.

I love that my kids speak 2 languages fluently.

I love that having a vegetable garden is normal :) (When we visited my parents last time in the States we walked all over the city and saw only one garden. We were shocked). 

I am proud that I can carry on the Latvian line in my family.

I am thankful that I now have dual citizenship (As of the last couple weeks).

I  am blessed to be a part of two worlds.

Little Hands to Heaven

Over the past year and a half I have been working through the first book of the Heart of Dakota homeschool program with my oldest child.

I was delighted when we finally finished it just before the year ended. We have had so much fun using Little Hands to Heaven. And I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a Bible based, easy to use homeschool program. It is for ages 2-5. We began it when my son turned four and finished it when he was 5 and half. It took us while, since we were in no hurry. He has learned so much, and I have so enjoyed teaching him. One thing I would say though is that you should definitely get the Bible The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes. The first year or so we used our own children's Bibles, we had three of them. But there were a lot of stories that the teacher's book said to read that are not in other children's Bibles. The New Bible has all the stories needed it seems :)

I had all the materials ready to go for us to start up again in 2014 with the next program using Little Hearts for His Glory and even though it takes a lot more time and might be a tad hard (at the moment) for my 5 1/2 year old we are already really enjoying it. He loves the science book and also is very into the story of Reddy Fox.

I have also started the Little Hands to Heaven program with my 3 year old daughter, and she is enjoying that so far. We are still on unit one, but I am looking forward to a great experience with her as well.

Thanks to Heart of Dakota for these great materials with a focus on the Bible, we are so enjoying them.

Play Kitchen- We did it!

I wanted to get our girlie something special for Christmas. But play kitchens are so expensive. And the  more I searched the Internet, the more I fell in love with the idea of us making one ourselves. I gleaned tons of ideas from Pinterest. and finally convinced my very handy husband that we should do it. 

So we started out with this piece of furniture. TV stands here in LV are hard to find like ones in the USA, and this is what we ended up with. This was after my husband had taken the back off.

We had so much fun working together on this project every free evening down in the basement. This was the first time we have ever done something like this together and it made it even more special because of that. Hand made Christmas gifts are always the most special because they are made with so much love and thought. 

Her kitchen has a light in the oven, and a phone with a real dial tone :) It all looks so real that she asked why the water doesn't work. I had fun making her some felt play food, but there are so many great ideas on Pinterest and I can't wait to get some more felt and make some more :) 

She loves her kitchen, and now finally has a play area that is girly: ) 

My Cookie Craziness

I love going all out with cookies at Christmas. Clicking on the photo will take you to my cooking blog for the whole deal :)

7 Years

7 years ago and now a day or two past I married this man.

3 children later and we are now 5 strong! These 3 little blessings are teaching us more life lessons than we could have ever have imagined.

We have shared so many special moments over these last years.

I will never forget how we went skating when my dear friend J was in Latvia. Mr. G and I had just started getting to know each other and I still remember the music that was playing when we skated together.

Then we were married, not once, but twice, in both our countries.

Years passed.

 Memories were made. 

Babies born.

We laugh, cry, quarrel and make up.

And through ups and downs we have become a family.

Crowded

Her time had come and together with her new husband they were trudging along towards a crowded Bethlehem. 

Between contractions and bumps they made their way towards that noisy city; full of travelers there to register. 

This young woman with her story no human could ever believe without faith, was carrying a babe that would change the course of history. 

They searched from inn to inn and house to house for a place to rest their weary bones. 

Between signs and pains of birth this crowded city ignored. 

Then at last they found a place to shelter them from the night. A stable, small and meant for beasts. 

Yet, here in this humble place of crowded slumber. 

A King was born. 

- - - -

The other day we were building a Lego manger scene with the kids. For the first time it struck me how very crowded that stable must have been. With animals, and later shepards there would have been little to no privacy.

But Jesus came to be with the people.From the very first hours of his life he was with the people- born in an overflowing city and crowded stable.

Later in his life he was always compassionate to the people, never pushing them away for the sake of his privacy.

In our times we sometimes fret and complain because we have no space, no worldly mansion, no place of our own.

Yet perhaps we need to look beyond that to the one who came to prepare for us a home that will never fade, and learn a lesson from him who didn't even have a place to lay his head.

Advent Calendar

I had never done an advent calendar with my kids, and am not sure that we ever did growing up either. But since this year we had our big calendar on the wall that I had made for the kids, it just seemed like we MUST have an advent calendar.

I really didn't even know what that meant. . I did some research. I decided I didn't want my kids just to get treats every day. I want them and myself to be prepared for the real meaning of Christmas by doing something meaningful. I searched Pinterest and found lots of ideas.

The one we ended up doing was found here, and here is our version of that.

Thanks to my friend Ieva and her amazing Sizzex I made these little envelopes and ornaments. Each day has an assignment to help us prepare ourselves for Christmas. Some of those are: make a manger scene from play-dough, help someone in need, bake Christmas cookies together, read the Christmas story, get a Christmas tree, etc.

So far the kids are really enjoying this and I like that it keeps us in a mood of preparation for the birthday of the KING.

What are you doing for advent?