Fun Day Monday

Fun Day Monday!

Today we took the kids to the beach.  Mondays and Saturday are our days off.  So we try to do something fun on either Saturday Family Adventures or Fun Day Monday. Mondays only work while the kids  are on break from school. Otherwise Josh and I will use it as a date morning when the kids are in school. 

Back to the beach...It was a sand beach in Cassibile, Sicily about an hour and 20 minutes drive south from our house.  Some friends of our told us about this beach.  We normally head north to the small pebble beaches. Josh wanted to try a sand beach.  I for one dislike sand beaches.  I dislike that sand get everywhere.  I dislike it more now that I have kids with sand everywhere.  Despite of my bad attitude towards sand beaches we had a good time.  Enjoy some pictures.

The view from our umbrella

Rest time after eating lunch

Titus knows how to do the beach

Josh getting the sand off of Ryleigh Joy

Our Dog

Libby, Ryleigh Joy, Macy and Kaya
Christmas 2009

Josh and I both had dogs growing up. We wanted the same for our kids.  So for Christmas 2009 we got Kaya.  Kaya was my dream dog. A german short haired pointer that lives for 18 years and really good with kids.  She was a great dog.  I looked and looked on craigslist and petfinder.com for this breed. I prayed every time I would get on the internet, "Lord I really want a German Short Haired Pointer."  And He answered that prayer.  I found her on Craigslist.  She was the runt and no one was buying her for $2000.  So the breeder put her on Craigslist for $50 and we brought her home for Christmas.

Ryleigh Joy and Kaya both 5 Months old

In 2012, once we knew for sure that we would be moving to Sicily, we knew that we couldn't take her.  The transition with 4 kids was our limit. Also we didn't know where we were going to live or if we would have a yard (which is a must for German Pointer). We gave Kaya to some wonderful friends of ours that wanted her the moment they heard that we weren't going to take her with us. She is well loved and taken care of. It is fun to see pictures of her on Facebook.

In December of 2013, Josh and I started talking about getting a dog since we are settled here in Sicily. We knew what we wanted.  Again trusting that the Lord would give our family the perfect dog for us. We wanted a female dog, young but not a puppy, kennel trained, spaded, medium built and most importantly really great with kids. We started with looking on the US naval air station in Sigonella, Sicily. They have a Facebook page and since so many people are leaving and coming there seems to always be pets up for adoption.  We saw a dog that we were interested in last December and contacted the man through Facebook.  We knew we were going to be going back to the States for Christmas so we would not be able to take her right away.  The man said he had friends that could watch her for us until we got back, so we decide to go and meet her and see if she was a match for our family.  The morning that we were suppose to go see her we got a message saying the couple that was going to watch her for our time in the States decide they wanted to keep her.  So that made it easy that she was not the dog for us.  

Margo

We did keep looking at the Facebook post of other dogs for adoption but none of them seemed to be what we wanted.  Until in June 2014, Josh saw a post for a golden retrieve/beagle mix and he contact the man.  Which if you know my husband he likes to take his time making decisions.  So it was very unusual that he made contact and then told me about the dog.  The man called us back that night after many missed calls. We made an appointment to meet the dog.  Two days later we arrived at their house with the kids.  We told the kids that we were going to meet some new American friends of ours and that they had three kids and two dogs that they could play with.  We got there and this couple was so sweet.  We sat and talked about life while the kids played with the dogs.  Our kids really enjoyed the dogs and being able to talk to other kids in English. By the end of our time we decide Margo was the dog for us. 

A boy and his dog

Margo is a bit timid and afraid of men but the perfect dog for us.  She is so sweet with the kids.  She prefers to be with them over Josh and I.  If the kids are playing in their rooms the dog is in there with them.  She sleeps outside their doors and waits for them to wake up every morning to play more.  She really does let them do whatever they want to her. Which is nice to know she is not going to hurt them but also I dislike seeing them mistreat the dog.  

Margo has been wonderful addition to our family.  The neighbors all comment on how sweet she is.  She has become my running partner.  She does very well running on a leash and doesn't freak out as cars pass us.  No sidewalks here so I run in the street. She is a companion to the kids when they are upset and crying, Margo goes over to offer comfort.  We are grateful!

Summer part 1

Ms. Susan's birthday

This summer we had a wonderful teacher, Susan Nylin, from the United States come to work with our girls on reading and writing English.  Our girls have been in the Italian public Schools for 2 years now. Their first year was in the preschool/kindergarden. Macy and Liberty's second year was in the 1st grade at the elementary school. First grade here starts the year your child turns 6. Macy is a year behind for her age. We wanted her first year to be in the smaller school with her sisters learning Italian. 

Last year at the Italian school was full of learning for the two older girls...they went from writing block letters to writing in cursive, doing basic addition and subtraction, making friends and learning and understanding many new words in Italian. Macy and Liberty both had their ups and downs being in an Italian school but they did great!  We are so proud of them.

Josh and I wanted this summer to get the kids evaluated to see where they would line up with kids in the States with education and what was expected from their grade.  With living in Italy and not totally understand the school system or curriculum it has been difficult to know if they are at par.  

Titus and Susan

We are very thankful for Susan and her willingness to spend almost 7 weeks of her summer teaching and loving on our children.  She left Sicily 5 days before she had to be back at her teaching job in the States.  Susan spent an hour to an hour and half with each one of the girls.  3 to 5 hours every morning were spent teaching. Every week day my girls would look forward to spending their time with Ms. Susan.  She did an amazing job with each of them.  She left me a lot of material so that we can continue to give them activities to do that will help them improve. 

Saying good-bye at the airport

While Ms. Susan was here we also did Family Adventure Saturday.  We wanted the chance to show her the island of Sicily.  We were able to travel to Agrigento, Syracuse, Aci Castello, Aciareale, Catania, Mount Etna, Taormina and Cavagande.  We very much enjoyed our time in each one of these place.  Click on the link to see more about each place.  I will do another post on the different locations once I download our pictures from the camera.

The girls really miss Ms. Susan.  They learned so much from her.  Good-byes are hard but we know we will see her again next time we are at Waypoint Church in Omaha! 

Yesterday, Today and Forever

Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same Yesterday, Today and Forever."  

There is such comfort in those words.  They have come to my mind a lot since moving to Sicily. That although most things have changed for me and my family.  He has not.  What peace in knowing that He is the same.  That I can know Him and experience Him here.  In some ways I get to experience Him in a fresh way.  I am desperately dependant on Him and He is near.  Life has all changed but He is the same.

We have a house.  Praise the Lord!!!  We get to move in Oct. 1.  We counted it up and we looked at 17 houses before finding this one. This house is a four story house.  The lower level consists of a garage, bathroom and a storage room.  It is a tiled garage and we are going to use it as a playroom for the kids and a place to host people when they come to visit.  So come visit we have room for you!!!  The main floor has a living room, bathroom, laundry room and kitchen.  The 3rd floor has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.  The kids will share rooms.  The Boschult's will be living in it with us.  They we be living on the top floor of the house and will have a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and living area.  It is like a studio apartment. They also get a great view of the volcano and the sea!

Houses here in Sicily are a little different.  Here are somethings that are different.  We have to outfit the whole kitchen.  It is an empty room with the rough ins for the water and gas.  Yesterday we went to Ikea to design a kitchen for the space.  The girls went in to the free play area.  They loved it.  It was their first time away from us in over a month.  It was good.  Good for them and good for me.  As for the kitchen we found one we love.  Little more money than we want to spend right now with the house in Omaha not sold yet.  So we have down sized it and will get the basics until the house sells and then will add the island and some other features.  Josh loved using Ikea's design studio. The other things is all the light wiring is there but no lights.  It is just the wire hanging from the ceiling.  We will also purchase lights fixtures and bulbs to be able to see in the dark.  

We are looking forward to being in the house and settling into our home.  Josh went to the school to register the girls.  They told him it was full but three of the children have not showed up.  So if those kids don't show up by the 14 of October our girls will get their spots.  So please pray that those children have moved or decided on private school.  We are looking forward to feeling what the new normal is going to be for our family in our new home with the girls in their new school.

Tomorrow the plan is to go to Ikea and purchase the kitchen (including refrigerator, stove/oven and dishwasher), table, chairs, couch, washing machine, beds, bedding and lights.  I am sure I am forgetting something. Please pray that we are able to find everything at good prices and that it would be fun and not stressful.  So far we have had our ups and downs emotionally.  Pray that it would be an up day.  The hardest part for me has been to have to spend money on things that we already had but sold or gave away in Omaha.  It is hard to feel like you are starting all over again.  But once again I am reminded of what hasn't changed.  "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever."  That is my peace.

3 weeks

Somedays it feels like just yesterday we arrived here in Sicily.  It has been three weeks since we said goodbye to family and friends and moved our family of six to Italy.  We have days where we are homesick and wondering why.  Most days we are trying to figure out life here.  Like grocery shopping, finding our way around and filling out paperwork to stay.  We also have been house hunting since we got here.  We found a house we thought would work but the owners backed out due to us wanting another kitchen put in.  Since then we have been able to see more then 8 houses.  Some we knew right away it wouldn't work for us and the Boschult's.  Others we looked at had potential but not enough to say we wanted it.  Yesterday we saw a house that was everything we wanted.  Right price, right number of rooms, right area for the Boschult's and a pomegranate tree.  Only problem is that a couple saw it before us and also wanted it.  We hear tomorrow if they sign a contract. If not then we have hope to get it.  

We would like to get into a house soon.  For a couple of different reasons.  The first being to feel settled.  Transistioning is hard and we are want to find a place to call home.  Establish a routine.  We also want to find a house so we can get the kids signed up for school.  School starts this week.  So our kids will start late.  We have decided to put Libby and Ryleigh Joy in preschool and Macy in kindergarden.  This will help them to learn Italian and give me a chance to learn it also with a tutor and rosetta stone.  We will start out slowly putting them in for a couple hours everyday and eventually work up to the full time of four hours.  We would like for that to happen soon.  We have been teaching them some words and phrases that would be good for them to know.  Like "bathroom" = "bagno", "what is your name" = "Come ti chiami" and "my name is...." = "Mi chiamo....".  They think it is fun when we practice it but freeze up when an Italian asks them their name.  

We feel lots of grace but ready for this time of being unsettled to be over and for things to seem normal.  We also have some lose ends in Omaha.  We have our house that still needs to sell and our van.  Please be praying that those sell soon.

Hike

Yesterday we decided to take a family hike. Josh had seen this hiking trail when we were in Pedara.  It seemed doable for our kids.  So we gave it a try and it was fun.  The weather was perfect and we enjoyed just being outside.  For our kids it was a perfect adventure that they were capable of doing without it seeming like just a walk.  Josh got to push Titus up in the umbrella stroller.  The wheels are now all wobbly.

Hike up a mountain in Pedara, Sicily. 

Pedara, Sicily

Old ruin

More of Pedara with the volcano in the background

The mountain we hiked

Ryleigh Joy "just resting"

THE BEACH

On Tuesday, we decide to take the kids to the beach.  It was already late afternoon and Josh and I had been working most of the day on the paperwork needed to get the Permit To Stay.

 Which brings me to something you can be praying for.  We need to get the Permit To Stay even though Josh has already been given a visa.  The Permit To Stay requires more paperwork and money.  Wednesday we ran to two different place, one for a stamp and another one for a signature.  Things run slower here and many stops in the process.  And language has been a big barrier for us.  Josh has an interview for November 11.  Which is 10 days before my 90 day tourist visa is up.  It looks as if I will have to come back to Chicago to get my accompany a family member visa.  Pray that Josh gets this permit.

Okay back to the beach....
I googled Cataina Beaches and found a blog called Lost in Sicily.  She writes all about the beaches here and has some amazing pictures on it.  She recommended the Lido Playa for children.  It was beautiful.  We told the kids they could just put their feet in since we knew that the beach closes at 8pm.  Well that was a lofty though thinking they would only get their feet wet.  Here are some pictures....