The Greatest Bathroom Signs Ever!

Last week while at a children's play area I ran across these beauties!! The whole area seems to be specifically designed for children (although I've mentioned it before, it is still one of my favorite things about Turkey-they LOVE kids:) so anyway, on the bathroom doors were these signs. So, if you were a wee one, who happened to need to wee...they want to make sure you can find your way without needing to read I guess! So, if you'd made it this far, and happened to be in a posture similar to one of these, you could look up and say to yourself, " Yup, this is the place for me!" Although it is hard to tell with my pictures, the boy's is a great blue color and the girl's is a nice shade of purple to help them out even more. It's all in the details, gotta love the details. So anyway, made my day...hope it makes yours as well!

Kindergarten King and his First Day of School Feast!!

I had wanted to do something fun and special for the big milestone of starting school, well Kindergarten for each child. I think every year I will try to do a great breakfast and of course all of the other things that normally go with back to school, but this year it will be special for them. I finally settled on the Kindergarten King, and letting him get to pick anything he wanted for dinner that night. I told him I would make or we could get anything, ANYTHING.... and he chose McDonalds! Silly kid?! Even though I reminded him that it doesn't even quite taste the same here...nuggets it had to be. So we picked it up (and some kepabs for mom and dad) and headed home to enjoy our feast. I made him a special crown, which to my delight he really loves and he felt very special. He walked in the door to see it sitting on his plate, and said "oh mom! Did you make that for me??!!" happy boy= happy mommy.

Ronan just had to be part of the action. I love this one though, with his goofy grin and tongue sticking out!

I also decided to make it special by giving him a couple of little "big boy" treats...kind of like an initiation into big boyhood. I'd been wanting to work on some new skills with him, like doing more chores, and starting to earn an allowance, etc. We've tried different methods over the last year, but haven't quite stuck with any of them. So in addition to a fun new push up pencil and notepad (he loves notepads and trying to spell out words and things), I decided it was a good time to give him his first real wallet! I'm hoping this will be good motivation to start earning, saving, and learning about money and give him something to work for. We hope to be taking some trips here in the near future, and told him he can now start saving for spending money on the trips. I found a super cool wallet in his favorite color, and he really has seemed to love it! I remember my first wallet, it was white with little blue hearts on it, and blue trim. but I digress. So anyway, I don't know, and Noah thinks I am hilarious...but it seemed to say "big milestone" to me!

Either way, I think he had a fun dinner and definitely felt like it was his "special day". Love you buddy, congrats on becoming a real big boy!!

First Day of School

It has finally happened. I had to send my first baby to his first day of school! sniff, sniff. I must admit though, that he looked so stinking cute, I could hardly contain myself! He was so excited to go, and his first report of the day as he stepped off the bus was "that was AWESOME mom, really, really awesome!" Makes my heart happy. He loved every second of it, and was happy to report that he got to go to recess "two times!!" On the first day, at his school it is required that a parent bring them, then they ride the bus home. I would have come anyway, but it was nice because they had a separate parents orientation meeting after the kids are dropped off. I am so far VERY impressed with the school itself, and happy with our choice to send him to this particular school. His principal has the greatest Australian accent, and his teacher is just awesome! He loves her and everything else so far. I knew he would, but still -just a huge milestone for mommy and son!

Porter outside his classroom. (Kindergarten is called Prep here)

Showing off the table/workspace

Porter and his cute as a button teacher!!

Porter and Mommy, before goodbyes were said

They let them pick out their cubbies, he picked the first one closest to the door. Don't know why- but he definitely wanted that one, not any other! So here we have it, backpack hung and ready for the day...guess it's time to go for mom:(

I always felt like this was such a long time away, but it really came so quickly!! He has already made some cute little buddies though, and has loved every second of school. Now, if he can just ace his Turkish classes, we'll be set! (and the sooner the better, I need a translator!) Love you buddy! You are such a big boy, and I can't wait to watch you continue to grow and have more fun milestones! Congratulations on a successful first day of Kindergarten!

Keeping me Sane by driving me Insane!

As we've gradually gotten settled into our new life I've enjoyed multiple conversations with friends and family, and the common question emerges: "How are you handling living in Turkey?( insert anywhere but the USA) I could never do it, you are so brave!" Well, as I've pondered this topic it comes down to some basic things. Things like Legos spread all over the floor. Moving to the other side of the world has been quite an adventure so far, and I'm sure will continue to be so. I'd also be lying if I didn't say it definitely comes with some challenges. Overall, we are loving it here. We do realize that we got extremely lucky with Istanbul though, so I am trying to master some basic coping skills to take with me wherever this life takes us in the future. No matter where we go though, there will always be the new challenges (for me anyway) , of most likely a language barrier, getting used to the traffic and bad drivers(which let's face it, is going to be bad most everywhere we go) getting settled in to a new space, and finding our way around. Throw on top the task of flying around the world with children and making new friends and we've got our work cut out for us! Now as I am taking into account the awesome places we get to see and once in a lifetime things we get to do along the way, I am fully willing and thrilled to be doing this. I wouldn't trade the things we are experiencing for anything-yet I am grateful for my basics. Back to the Legos. So in answer to everyone's question, I am handling this by living my life. The life I love. It is the little things- throughout my daily routine that might in some ways drive me crazy-that are truly keeping me sane. I love that I get to stay at home with my boys!! I understand that this is a luxury that many people do not have, and I am truly truly grateful for it. There will always be times though, when the messes, bickering, wrestling and good old rearing of kiddos has it's moments! A lesson I've learned quickly since being here is to love these moments. As hard as it may be to believe, after two seconds of irritation-I am now learning to love each of these moments that make up my everything. Instead of getting mad (well, most of the time anyway:) at the giant reappearing mess- I can grab the camera. I look at it now and say to myself, "see my kiddos make a mess wherever we are! my life is still my life".

The above picture, taken after one of their better "boys will be boys" fight sessions-(yes I'm a mean mom and put them in time out in the corner-so as they not even look at each other for a minute) was a reminder to me that " hey, this lifestyle could make for some great time out pictures! Let's see all the fun places we can gather through the years. Look, it's a double corner! The timeout possibilities will be endless moving to different homes every few years!"

(Ronan-informing me that "he was full", then wanted a popsicle for a snack!)

And, no matter how much I try to disguise the "different tasting" bread by getting the closest thing to wonder bread I can find and cutting off the crusts for them- they still won't eat when I want them too! My boys are still the same, they have their quirks, pickiness and personalities that they had before. My most important task is still raising these kiddos and letting all of us learn from each other. Being a family, the same family we were before-in short. This is our life and we love it.

Lovin our visitors and the Grand Bazaar

This last week we were thrilled to have our very first visitors!! Noah's relative's were in town just for a day from doing a Mediterranean Cruise. Even though it was only for a day, we were so happy to take whatever time we could get! They have promised to come back to visit now that we live here to do just Istanbul, so we didn't feel too much pressure to fit in everything under the sun. We met them at their boat, and then decided to try our first attempt at public transportation! We took the tramway into the old city, and settled on visiting the Grand Bazaar as the big attraction for the day! I was apparently too distracted looking around once we got in though, and have since realized that this was the only picture I got of our first Bazaar experience! It was everything I hoped it would be and more. Beautiful, amazing, overwhelming, historical and fun all at the same time! The two main things I was hoping to get pictures of that I did not this time were the awesome ceilings and the twinkling lanterns. Next time FOR SURE though. We will be making many more trips, that I am sure of.

After the fun downtown, they wanted to come back to our place to see our house and we enjoyed some delicious Turkish Kepabs at a fantastic place nearby! The best part of all though was letting the boys get to have fun with their cousins. After all the upheaval and change in the last few weeks, it was so great to let them just play! And let me tell you, all the boys just LOVE each other! The older boys are always so great with my little guys. We also just love getting to be with family.

Porter was in absolute Seventh Heaven!!

I'm still working out the self-timer setting on our camera, but we still had a great time with the whole crew! Can't wait to see everyone again soon.

Seriously?!

(Rumeli Hisari-"Fortress of Europe" Castle Ramparts)

Ever have one of those moments where you say to yourself, "Seriously? Are we really getting to do this right now? How did we get so lucky?!" Well, this weekend Noah and I had one of those times. We have, essentially, the most rockin neighbors and friends on the planet; who graciously invited us to come along on our very first Bosphorus Cruise! The boat was so beautiful, the food was amazing, the weather was perfect, and the company was fantastic! The best part of it all though, was seeing this amazing city from the water. We went on an evening cruise, and it was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. We cruised by amazing sight after sight, with thousands of years (no offense America) but yes, THOUSANDS of years of history!! We were definitely left wondering to ourselves, "can you believe we are getting this opportunity right now?" Maybe after we've done it a few times I won't be so awestruck, but it was so hard not to be. It was just one of those perfect evenings. Aside from a brief taxi ride through the Old City (on which the driver was just taking us the extra long way to get home, so definitely not intentional) this was the very first time we have seen most of these sites! We will be getting much more up close and personal with all of them here in the near future, but for now it was exactly what we wanted.

Hagia Sophia (I think)

Suleymaniye Mosque and Grand Bazaar

Rumeli Hisari- we will be taking the boys here soon-but watching them VERY closely. Not too many guardrails we hear!

just a beautiful little palace-nothing super special-but gorgeous

The Topkapi Palace

Dolmabache Palace

Here we are on the front of the boat-tackling some pretty decent waves and sporting the fabulous "windblown" hairstyles!

The FSM Bridge

We had a terrific time, and are dying to do it again soon! Thanks again C&B!! Here is one new must do for visitors....we're ready and waiting!

Kendi

So when I was little, my nickname was Kendi. This is the distinct way you can tell how long someone has known me. In fact, when I went to Kindergarten they had our names spelled out with tracing paper on top, so that we could practice writing them. The name the teachers had spelled out was Kendra. I protested. I full on, did not know that my name was Kendra. I was positive that it was Kendi, and that was that! When I got home, I remember the discussion with my mom about a whole name and a nickname...wow. I was shocked! Anyway, after being here for just a short while I have started to notice my nickname (kendi) . A lot. I have seen it on signs, many times in subtitles of TV shows that are on, and in newspapers. It got me thinking, I better see what this word means! So for probably no one else's interest but my own I looked it up. The google translate definition is technically "own". I think mostly it is referring to a definition of one's self. Also listed were:

self

sıfat respective

zarf of one's own

zamir own itself its self himself him herself oneself

so now we know. I personally think it is a pretty profound use of my favorite nickname. well, in the sense that it could have meant snail or beach towel or something! you learn something new every day, and now you all have as well!