Language lessons

Just some of my recent photos of our boys. They are just so precious. Nathan has been really absorbing German lately. We're hearing him talk to Micah in German... hearing him speak to his friends when we pick him up from school... or hearing him repeat stuff under his breath while watching 'Diego' or 'Dora' or the "Little Einsteins" in German. it's awesome! Now with that being said he did throw me off a bit the other day. We were grocery shopping and he puts his hand up and says "esperar" while he walks over to the toy section. I had to think for a second where I had heard that word before... then I realized it was from Dora... but the English version. The interesting thing is that when they play Dora here, it's obviously in German, but the parts where she would say words/phrases in Spanish on the English versions-- she says it in English over here. hahaha! Nate doesn't even realize it but he's got so many languages bouncing in his head. I say phrases periodically or sing a few songs from my childhood in Tagalog too. Sometimes I don't even think about it... it just comes out. haha! They'll either get it or be more confused than ever!

Tomorrow I teach English again and have my lesson plan ready. The kids have been calling me "Ms. Krista" all last week instead of "die Mama von Nathan" (Nathan's mom). It's too cute. Micah has had a few 'boo-boo' moments this week. He just gets so excited and ahead of himself when he runs or jumps off of things... so he's looking rough today. Ahhh... boys.

English

Last Tuesday was my first day to teach at Nate's school. It was fun and the kids are hilarious. Andrea (Nate's teacher) and I have decided to split the group to 3 & 4 yr. olds and then 5 & 6 yr. olds. The older group has a couple of kids that know a few words. The younger group just stares at me. haha. Nate is in the younger group and this will be interesting.

I wanted to get a feel for what they knew and to not overwhelm them so I started with just basic 'What is your name?"/ "Nice to meet you" and "Good Morning"/ "Good Bye". We played 'duck, duck, goose'. I would say the words in German and then show pics in case they were still confused and then told them what they were in English. This game was a good ice breaker, got them moving a bit, and we all said "DUCK, DUCK, DUCK, DUCK, DUCK..... GOOSE!" together. They loved it.

When I was doing introductions for the younger group I had a helper :) Nate, of course was sitting next to me on one side and after he told us his name we went to the next kid. Nate speaks up and says, "That's Christoph, that's Steffan, that's Hannah, that's Maya, that's ...." you get the point. I gently said, "Thanks Nate... so glad you know everyone, but I want them to practice saying "My name is..."". LOL! He smiled and got so tickled when the kids were repeating the phrase... I think the parents are right. This will be just as good for Nate to see his friends learning something and being confused like he was/ is with German at times.

In the older group it went much smoother. The cutest moment was when I got 'round to a little girl who I know (many of these kids are from last year) as one of Nate's first friends. She says the phrase in English with her name (Victoria) and then in German says that Nate is in love with her!!!!! LOL! I kinda knew that... Nate is not shy about his girlfriends. When I've tried to get clarification that they are his friends that are girls... he says, "no, she's my girlfriend". By the way, the "girl" changes quite a bit.... haha! We have a charmer on our hands.

-Krista-

Mr. Spicy

Ok... I was going to write about teaching English, but I'll wait till this evening or tomorrow when I have a chance to sit here longer. But I am going to tell you about something hilarious!

Micah has always leaned toward spicier foods. Earlier this year (so a few months after his 1st birthday) we were eating nachos and Micah leans over to Danny's plate and picks up a jalapeno. He puts it in his mouth and makes the expected face and spits it out. He takes a drink and looks over at the pepper and you can see it in his eyes... he's just GOT to try it again. He tries again and it stays in his mouth a tad bit longer... but then spits it out. Mr. Micah goes for a THIRD time... this time he chews it up and goes back to what was on his plate. No drink or anything. A couple months after that he throws a fit because he wants this hot sauce on his rice. He eats it and says his word for spicy-- "pice!". Recently, he wanted to try the white shredded stuff Danny had on his plate. Danny says, "No Micah.. it's not cheese. It's spicy horse-radish." Micah steals a small half-inch or so piece. He licks it and shudders with the face you can imagine. We laugh and make sure he drinks his juice. There. Hopefully that settled his curiosity. Five minutes later --THE CHILD ASKED FOR MORE--and ATE IT!!! So you get the picture... he likes to try new things and he eats almost anything you put in front of him. He is definitely Danny's child.

Here we are today. Danny's eating an Austrian style open face sandwich. He's got a pile of horse-radish with the smoked meat and cheese on it. Micah sees food and takes action.... gets near you and gets comfortable. He asks for a bite and Danny says, "this is too spicy for you, buddy". Micah keeps asking. Danny gives him a piece of cheese and Micah eats it... then he leans in and takes a bite out of the sandwich. We watch him expecting spitting and coughing to occur.... nope. He eats, swallows, and leans in for another bite as if he were eating a PB&J sandwich! He nearly ate the whole sandwich. I told Danny anything that happens in the vicinity of the diaper... is his department today. I want nothing to do with this.

Nate and I are clearly two peas in a pod when it comes to food. He's not near as picky as I am (thank goodness!!). When either of us smell the horse radish we move. I'm not totally against spice... just not to the level Danny and obviously now Micah likes to eat spicy foods. haha. Nate can't stand anything spicy. He's accused me of making some foods to spicy. Hmph....ME!?!? haha.


-Krista-

Monday, the 22nd.

It's a very cold, cloudy, fall day. I like to call it a "Baguio" day. Baguio City is one of the cities we lived in while in the Philippines. It's a great city. It's up in the mountains and is a big vacation spot for many people because it does have such cooler weather during the Fall months. It's due primarily to rain, but our family has had to pull out sweatshirts before and if you've been to the Philippines you know that it's hard to imagine ever needing anything longer than a sleeveless shirt! haha. So today I've been switching out our seasonal clothing and doing laundry.

Tomorrow I start teaching English at Nate's school. I'm so excited and a bit nervous. It's been awhile since I've been in front of a class. Kids can be scary! LOL :)

Oh... just a minute ago I was listening to Danny & Nate talk.

Dad: Do you need a spankin'? (at this point the conversation is very light and Daddy has a twinkle in his eye.)
Nate: (as serious as can be with a sad voice) No, I'll be ok. (as if we asked "do you need a kiss because you fell and hurt yourself!!) hahahaha! He didn't catch on to Danny's joke.

Just a cute pic of me and Micah:

What a nice surprise!

Can you believe it?!?! People read my blog and thought it worthy of an award. I was honored by Cassie. We met the summer of 2006 while we were back for 3 weeks for 2 weddings on Danny's side of the family. Cassie & I were both prego with boys. Cassie & her hubby, Russell are the youth directors at our sending church. As if that wasn't great enough, Felicia gave me the award too! Her wonderful clan attends are home church as well. She is one funny lady. You would have to be if God blessed you with 3 kids and a surprise 4th pregnancy that would give you a total of 5 kids (yes, twins!). So thank you ladies!

I'd like to follow suit and thank the people who make it happen. Nathan--without your whit and wisdom... what would I write about? Micah--your crazy antics and cuddly ways. Danny-- well, I'd write about you but that blackmail deal we have keeps me at bay ;) To our friends and family both near and far, thanks for praying for us and keeping in touch. We are in awe of how God has blessed us with friends here in Austria that we can't imagine life without them now. Our old friends are those who help keep us sane and make sure we feel like we're still part of their lives. Our families remind us that they love us and though they miss us- know that it's better to be over here in God's will than next door and out of it.

So to honor the rules of being given an award I am going to nominate some other blogs. In no particular order:

Amy. We go back ions it seems! Her Dad was the pastor of my family's sending church when I was a kid at Hallmark. As adults we seem to have found a sweet friendship in the midst of our grief. God replaced her in my path not too long after our miscarriage. She has gone thru the loss of a few babies and it was during those times we found a bond. You have to find a bond when you're raising boys too. She has 3 handsome guys!
Val. She is a friend from high school, Faith Academy in the Philippines. She is hilarious!! She wins this award I think even more so for the baby boy... well, almost 2 month old that she delivered about 2 weeks ago!! haha! Deacon is adorable and so are her 2 daughters.
Amy A. We met in college. My 2nd year there she was my RA and was the best one I had. Her door was always open and who would've thought that we'd have so much in common?!? They live in France and have 2 girls. Nate & Kirianna are just about 2 months apart. We were due 1 week to the day apart with Micah and Aliyah, but ended up being 5 hrs. apart. There are birthdays, anniversaries, little bits of information on relatives and just our life and lifestyles in general that are eerily similar :)
Patty. We graduated together from Faith Academy. Her sister lived in my dorm the 2 yrs. that I boarded. They are seriously 2 of the kindest, most tender-hearted, loving, ladies you'll ever meet. Thanks to technology we can keep up though we've not seen each other in 11 years! She has an interesting story and perspective on life with the path God placed them on when He blessed them with Abby. Also, not to forget handsome Josiah. He is clearly their reminder of keeping life fun and makes sure there is time to laugh.

Now, for you recipients of this award, here's the deal:

* Display your award.

* Link back to the person who gave you the award.

* Nominate 3 other blogs. (oops, I did 4)

* Put links to those blogs on yours.

* Leave a message on the blogs of the people you have nominated.

* Enjoy your award!

Bedtime

We got a package this week from Danny's parents and these matching 'jammies' were in it. Nate is all about super heroes. He likes Batman, Superman, Spiderman (though he's never seen a movie or cartoon with Spiderman in it). Micah doesn't seem bothered by it. It's really neat to see him start being more of his own little self. He's into cars the way Nate was/still is... but not because Nate is playing with them.... he's showing us that he likes to play with the cars in a different way. He likes to gently drive them around and try to put riders in/on them. He likes to connect things together and see it become something. Mr. Nate is all about the destruction of a project. haha. Oh how I love having boys.

Funny story:

Last week Nate was playing quietly in the playroom and I could hear him talking to, well, er, umm... himself. I know... he gets it from me. LOL! I was intrigued by the dialogue so I peeked around the corner and I saw him in a cowboy hat with his cowboy pistol, a red bandana wrapped around his face, and a bag. He was telling people to "back up" "put all the money in the bag" "ok, man... thanks". I was so tickled by his version of a bank robbery. I have no clue where he saw it so he could imitate it. I'm not really into old Westerns so they aren't playing on the t.v., the cartoons he watches are along the lines of Little Einsteins, Dora, Diego, and well, wait... we do get a channel with lots of Flintstones & Jetsons (yea!!), Bugs Bunny, and Tweety & Sylvester... maybe on one of those...??? Either way it was just too funny.

-krista-

Early mornings...

**I forgot to post this. As I wrote Nate got up and our morning took off!**

Now that school is under way we find ourselves getting up with the sun. I'm not much of a morning person (don't talk to me for a few minutes and no one gets hurt--haha). But if I get a good night's sleep (which I did last night) then I'm ready to face the day and the happy faces of my boys. Danny is on an early morning bike ride, Nate is still asleep (not for long though), and Micah is drinking his milk and playing with a tape measure (Danny is supposed to hang a few pics for me today) while I sit here with my coffee and type away.

What can I say? I love the life God has allowed me to live. There are times I wonder what He was thinking when He placed me and Danny in Austria. I'm used to a more fast pace ministry (growing up in the Philippines) where people were accepting Christ after one visit to church sometimes. I worry at times about what people in the States are thinking. I shouldn't. I believe that we are where God wants us and we're being diligent with what He gives us in terms of ministry and opportunities. It takes a bit of creativity and it definitely challenges us at times and even though you'd think we ARE out of our comfort zones living here... trying to do things that make the people we've met here interested in the Gospel is sometimes a challenge. Many friends we've made here aren't accustomed to 'church' or what they know of it--they don't like it and don't want to have anything to do with it. So our "thinking caps" have to go on and as long as the Gospel is presented what more can we do? Now with that said, we do have a few friends that are not against studying the Bible around the table at our house or at theirs. I meet every week with one friend and she's such a great woman. But she won't go to a "church". So meanwhile we study God's Word and explain the love of Christ to her and in time she will work things out with her Creator. Until then it's not my place to force her to attend a 'regular' setting. Another family we dearly love has so many questions for us that at times my head is spinning :)

I don't know what got me on that topic.... I guess I'm asking you to pray for all areas of our lives. I must admit sometimes the Devil has me doubting if we're doing ministry the 'right way'.... and so before my Heavenly Father I go and listen to His heart. I get up feeling refreshed and desire even more to get busy! Just in case you're wondering--today I'm feeling refreshed :)

On to the home front:

Nate is doing really good in school. I had my first Parents meet the Teachers meeting last night. We couldn't find a sitter so Danny got to stay home. Normally, I'd jump at the chance to get out of the house alone, but he didn't want to go and I didn't want to go either ..... because I didn't feel like my German was going to hold up very long. I was partly right. They speak a dialect here and when they get to talking fast.... it's all I can do not to fall over because my head is spinning! But I did pretty good. During the course of the evening the topic of English came up. Last year a parent taught basic English to a small group of kids privately. Her child has moved up to Elementary and no longer has to be at the school (obviously). The parents are very happy that Nathan is in the class. They think it's only fair that their kids learn another language too. They said they want their kids to be able to interact with Nate and understand what he's going thru with hearing two languages everyday. Isn't that awesome?!?! My heart was touched. I was told how Nathan is liked and how they (the parents) all hear about it when Nathan speaks in German. The kids are so proud of him when he starts making strides in his language skills. Soooooo.... I was "volunteered" to help teach English (I do hold a degree in Early Childhood Edu.). The teacher was ecstatic! But it looks like I won't be "helping" but being the actual teacher. haha. We're going to get thru the first few weeks of school and let everyone get used to a routine then I'll go in the mornings about once a week at first and teach English. Wow. The opportunities God is giving me is unbelievable! Just another chance to share the Gospel, meet the parents more often, and get to know Nate's teachers even more. I do pray for them a lot. I pray they accept Christ one day.

Micah is great! Yesterday, I was not getting a lot done with him wanting my attention for the duration of Nate's absence. So I put him in the kids seat on my bike and we rode to the grocery store. He really liked it. He pointed out all the cars and the houses that had toys in the yards or dogs that barked. Most grocery stores have these little kid shopping carts and since I only had a backpack for carrying stuff I let him push it around (so I wouldn't over shop). He was so adorable. He talked to people on every aisle and tried to do his own "shopping". His taste is quite different from mine--or was he just getting stuff he could reach? The bike ride home went to fast for his liking, but I reminded him of the treat we bought and he gladly went inside.

Danny has been locked away in his office this week (well, every week, but more so with the school routine back in place). We see him at breakfast, briefly at lunch, and in time for dinner. He works on prayer letters, financial reports, updating websites that he has created for us and others, studies for Bible groups, and creating videos for ministries -just to name a few. Danny is also in the process of getting some very creative ministry projects together. He has been in contact with a few people and it's fun to see him get excited as the Lord leads. He is doing our landlord a favor this Saturday and I'll let Danny write his own post on that subject. Sunday he'll be speaking to the Browns Bible study group that meets every week at 4pm. The next few weekends are packed with activity as well. We may not have a formal setting, but we do meet with people every week sometimes a few people at one time and sometimes many one-on-one studies.

Thank you for praying for us. Thank you for your support. Thank you for the cards, packages (Dads & Moms), emails, and phone calls. Hope you're having a wonderful week.

-krista-

1st day back

Nathan was so excited this morning! He woke up saying, "Today is the day I get to see my old friends and my new friends". He did so great! I chatted with his teacher at pick up time and she said he was so good. She said that they were going around the room and introducing the 4 new kids in the class and then talking about how the rest of the class was the same, but how everyone has grown over the summer when Nate announced that he was almost 5 yrs. old and a big boy (his birthday isn't till next May!!). He also said that he'd teach the little kids how to be nice. What a kid, huh!?? Sounds like someone is talking from experience ;) haha!

Micah did good. I am really going to have to find something that interest him or get better at having a shadow. If I left a room... there he was right behind me. He likes going to pick up Nate because unless it's raining the kids are all outside and he gets to play for a short time.

Thanks for praying for my guys! Keep it up.

-krista-

Getting ready

On Monday, Nate will begin Kindergarten (more like preschool) again. If you remember, he started this past January '08 and really liked it. He had a couple of rough months with the language barrier, but by the end of the school year he was saying little phrases in German and getting along quite well with the other kids. We are so proud of him. There's just no better way for him to be a LIGHT in his own world. Who else is going to tell those sweet kids and their parents about Christ? Our kids can reach people Danny & I probably will not-- without their presence in the school. The opportunities are endless. God really placed some fantastic teachers in that school. Please pray for Andrea and Ruth. Those are the teachers Nathan had last year and will have again this year. Also, pray for Nathan. His speech is getting much better and I'm hoping that the summer break didn't take too much of his German. When he watches t.v though he always requests for it to be in German. That's not too hard since we only get German cartoons. haha. It's nice to know that he desires to hear it though.

I can't forget our Micah... pray for this adorable little guy too. He's nearly 2 yrs. old and will really miss Nate. They've spent the summer together playing, wrestling, laughing, getting into trouble, and now sharing a room together. I have no idea how I'm going to entertain him all morning! haha.

Have a wonderful day... we're off this afternoon to get a few things for school.

-Krista-

On my mind...

I'm not sure how well you'll be able to see this... hopefully when you click on the picture it'll be bigger. It's a 31 days of Prayer guide for praying over your kids. I thought it was a nice way of reminding me to pray for specific things. It's been on my mind with Nathan going back to school next Monday.

It wasn't Labor Day weekend here... everyone here was actually "laboring" haha! I had a Bible study with a friend and she's so full of questions that I feel so inadequate to be here. God is working on me and I just pray, pray, and pray that I don't get in HIS way.

-Krista-

This is taken from a ParentLife magazine. I've never read one, but I got this 'page' from a friend. It's from a January 2007 copy.