I am...

I am here.
I am painting.
I am preparing for homeschooling 2 girlies this year instead of one. (We start Monday)
I am praying a lot for my family, as my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer this summer.
I am wanting to get pics of our amazing trip across Europe posted for myself and others.
I am praying more.
I am exercising less.
I am reading more.
I am planning a trip back to the States to visit my mom.
I am spending lots of time with my friend Dilek.
I am no longer sweating everyday.
I am making a cardboard superhero house for my son.

I like my blog and always like coming back to it. Writing is such a therapeutic thing to do. :)

I will be back again soon.


"Teach me your way Lord that I may relay on your faithfulness give me an undivided heart." Ps. 56:11

"Yet true godliness with contentment is itself of great wealth." 1 Tim. 6:6

In my little west corner. Good night from my corner of the world to where ever your corner is.
Becky

Europe, a van, three kids and a tent.

Oh the places we will go.... Yep one of the perks living here in Turkey is being so close to other countries. We have a conference we need to attend in the middle of August in Europe. So instead of flying we decided to pack up our van, three kiddos, a tent and head out.  We leave tomorrow. :)

We will have a few long days in the car. :) We are planning most of our time in Austria and Germany. We will be doing lots of camping and staying in what they call a "Farm Holiday" in Austria for a few days as well, before our conference begins.  Here are the countries we will be seeing as we drive.
Bulgaria
Serbia
Hungary
Austria
Germany
Czech Republic

Here are the ROAD TIP ideas I am working on for my kids:

diy dvd colouring travel case

Travel Bingo:

Travel Bingo- black and white

Travel Bingo

Guess who littelest pet shop:

Guess who character pages

Just click on the link and then click on the icon of the kind of character you want. 

There is my littlest petshop, silly monsters etc. It prints out two pages. 

Road trip activities for my little boy

I am finishing putting together a 3 Ring binder Activity Book for Isaac. With dot-to-dot pages, mazes and some stickers. I used contact paper on card stock and then put it all in a three ring binder so he can put the stickers on and off.

Also I love this bingo card for a boy...I really think he will get into this. 

Road trip colored car bingo-Oopsey Daisy blog

Road trip activities for my little girls

For the girls I am going to print off paper dolls. Here are a few I am looking at. 

Patty Reed paper dolls

She has a selection of little sister and big sisters. 

These are FREE. 

These are the ones I am leaning towards...and they too are FREE. 

Tipjunkie garden theme paper dolls

This is by far my fav...

Etsy Paperdoll

This adorable little thing is $3.50. You print it out and all you need is a glue stick and scissors.

I love this idea for  long trip...however I think that we will be grabbing the free dolls this time. ;)

Also we downloaded a few more Adventure in Odessey's and bought a Where's Waldo game for $2.99 on my Ipad. 

Of course there is the coloring book/pages and plenty of books for reading and a movie or two.

So there you have it my ideas for traveling across Europe with our kiddos!! 

Who knows, maybe I will post pics along the way??? or maybe I will ignore the computer the whole time. :) We shall see.

Popsicles and poetry. :)

or Thursday. ;)

Simple instructions here: Chocolate kiwi pops

These were our homemade popsicles today.  Chocolate frozen kiwi pops. They were simple, worked like a charm and the kids and adults loved them.

We also enjoyed our Homemade popsicle day with  friends. :) 

Here we are together reading Shel Silverstein "Where the Side Walk Ends" and 

Favorite Poems old and new selected by Helen Ferris

One of my favs: 

By Shel Silverstein

Looking for something to add to your Homemade popsicle day? 

 Here is a GREAT link called Summer Series #3 that I found delightful and has several fun and colourful ideas for kids that could be enjoyed by different ages. Enjoy.

Summer-series 2013 In His Grace

In my west corner.

 Enjoying poems about beards and licking the spatula full of chocolate. 

Becky

My lived in home...the messes about.

Last year I signed up to take a photo class call the SLICE of LIFE unfortunately I had to cancel and so over a year later I am taking Darrah Parkers class called Lens Mama. 

Day 2 of the Class:
Focusing on the mess.  There are times that the messes in my house the cleaning and re-cleaning can really get to me and then there are times where I enjoy a lived in home. A home where my kids can make messes and I am not hounding them to clean up all the time, a home where legos can be left out for days as they work out heir building skills. There are those days where the messes can send immediate stress signals through my body...but today I take these pics and enjoy a life being lived knowing that it will all get cleaned up eventually.

My bedroom. :) 

A bit of a mess I would say. Marker all over the leg. :)

Day number 5 of legos in the living room. 

Drying my sons sheet on our front room chair. 

Laundry on the Balcony. 

Laundry to me is comforting. However those folded clothes have been there

for 2 days now and the laundry is dry...very dry. 

to all you Mamas out there enjoying a very lived in home, I hope you enjoy these pics and they 

bring some sort of comfort that homes are meant to be lived in and you can relax in it a bit more. :)

In my west corner,

Becky

Working out my mommy-hood

I have now lived in Turkey for 8 1/2 years and my oldest child is 9 1/2 years old. That tells me that of the 9.5 years of parenting I have parented 8.5 of those years overseas in a different culture, with children who have embraced two cultures and languages. Yet in all these difference there are times I still try and fit into the mould of something I am not "a typical American mommy" and I try and force my kids into a mould that they are not "typical American kids."  Learning to know who our family is and our unique thumbprint takes time and disicpline on my part not to compare myself with great intentions/books/families that don't even fit our life here. Also that I would let go of old ideals that need to be laid to rest. (I think one of my ideals looks a bit to much like perfection. :))

I am struggling these last few weeks being a mama, doing this job and giving 100%. Wondering so much if I am doing any of it right, seeing more negatives in myself and my kids then are healthy.
SO I have been looking for ways I can give thanks, and not just the obvious ones like... my bed, home, husband etc but really find how to be grateful in the hard situation I may find myself in today.  There are days I just have to stick it out until I can find something to be grateful for in the situation, and not stop until the well breaks and I can't stop thanking God for all his benefits.

Today I offer my sacrifice of thanksgiving for: the constant challenges of raising these three kids. If these challenges were not here that would mean my kids and their unique persons would not be here either, and I am without words when it comes to my gratitude to God for giving me these three kiddos and there specific personalities that give our family that unique thumbprint I am talking about.

"I will praise the Lord @ all times. I will constantly speak his praises." Ps. 34:1

"Be thankful in ALL circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."
1 Thes 5:18

"Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God..." Ps. 50:14a

Here is a verse that I have been re-reading this week:

"The steps of a good woman are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in her way. Though she fall, she shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds her with His hand. " Ps. 37:23-24

In my west corner working out my mommy-hood in this culture,
Becky

and I am thankful for knowing two languages, that my children know two languages, that my children accept different types of people, that my children are not intimidated by others beliefs and are confident in their own, that we are together a lot seeing each others weaknesses and strengths and loving anyway, that we always have what we need and my children are not surrounded by the constant excess in the States, that I have to run to Jesus all the time for wisdom, grace and patience, that I am not alone in the challenges of motherhood, that my husband is an amazing sounding board and Baba..... 

"put off" or "put on" - what to wear?

My quick little piece of quiet time art for today. :) 

My choice for today.... :)

In my little west corner...choosing gratitude. 

~Becky

DIY Dollhouse play helped soften a heart. (new pics)

I knew I needed to talk to my daughter. She had been angry and venting her anger through out the day.
We had been working through a few things over the past week and today seemed to be a breaking point.

As I was praying and thinking about her, I felt like I knew what I needed to say and was hoping that it would really hit her heart not just be words. My thought was to go into her room where she was playing dollhouse and have her stop and sit on my lap and talk with her. Just before I went to her she came in and wanted her brother to get out of quiet time to play with her, only he didn't want to play and she didn't want to play alone anymore and she again started to become easily frustrated.

I grabbed her by the hand and off we went to play dollhouse. As we played polly pockets I was able to share with her and I know she heard me and we were able to laugh and talk about truth in not such a heavy context. Her heart softened as we moved the polly pockets dolls from room to room being silly and pretending.

I don't always have these moments of knowing that I met my kiddos need in a way that hit their hearts but today I did. I met her where she was at and not in the heat of the moment. I took time and it gave her the time she needed and me the ability to respond in love and not just trying to fix a problem.

It makes me want to listen more carefully to the Lords leading with kids, not be in such a hurry to fix them up. It is NOT about changing their behaviour or making the hurt go away it is about leading them to the Truth and their need to relay on Jesus for every thing.

~My sweet daughter has a need we all have. We want to be loved and accepted and feel significant. However the truth is no one not even our immediate family members can totally satisfy that need. Even at 7 years old I want my daughter to know that Jesus says she matters to him that she is valuable to Him  and throughout life that is the truth she will need.

Below are some pics of our updated Scrapwood DIY Dollhouse.

We updated the dollhouse from this post and this post to what it is now some time ago. The kids are constantly moving furniture around and a few of the rooms I didn't take pics of.  I finished this refurb of the dollhouse months ago...but hey I am posting them now. :)

This little treehouse addition to the side of the dollhouse was given by our friends to Lydia for her b-day. It is super cool and a polly pocket toy so fits our situation perfectly.  

I love this room. :) How do you like that Turkish carpet. That is a remnant of a 100 year of Turkish carpet. :) This dollhouse has culture. 

We still would like to add color to the doors and pictures on the walls. Maybe next year. :) 

Again that is what makes a doll house so great, always changing and gives the 

girls fresh excitement for it as each little change happens. 

This beginning of a mural has been in the workings now for a several months. I just haven't been able to get to it and honestly I was running out of my little bottles of acrylic paint but a team from the States just came and brought me a few new colors that have inspired me....

(Here is the original post of the table I painted that you see in the pic)

Hope you enjoyed this post of honesty and the simple DIY dollhouse pics.
Grateful today that my children are still young and there is time to live life so close together.

In my little west corner,
Becky