can it really be possible? my child is a 2 year old little boy! gone is the baby that needed to be carried and cuddled, and in his place i have this super-independent boy who dances at the drop of a hat, hugs the cats to death and loves to give his mommy and daddy kisses and hugs. i can’t complain!!
1. my very own minivan – thankfully inherited from mom and dad, i’m now the proud owner/driver of a ’95 Pontiac Transport! i’m the queen of the road!! and Josh loves that he is up higher and can see lots from his carseat.
2. Thacher State Park – a beautiful place right in my own backyard (well, almost). we drove up there today and could see forever… we could see the towers of downtown Albany, the Green Mountains of Vermont, and the highest mountain in Massachusetts. on a clear day, you really can see forever.
3. The Home Front Cafe in Altamont, NY – walls and tables covered with WWII memorabilia, menu with items appropriately named, good food and good prices. what’s not to like? oh and they have a box of toys at the back of the restaurant for restless kids!
if you know our family, you know that while Josh “talks” a lot… A LOT!… we still have no idea what he is saying most of the time. i have been joking to Brian that when the missionaries arrived here for our conference at church, maybe one of them would be able to translate for us…
haha! i am SMRT… we have a missionary staying at our house from Israel, and he says that Josh speaks Hebrew. for the past few days, he’s been making sounds that sound like the words for daddy, teacher, and a few other things. guess Brian will have to bone up on his biblical languages again 😀
we live in a country where Smarties are not made of chocolate!! (with Hallowe’en approaching, i thought this was pertinent… but now i realize that i cannot write a post of any significant length on this topic!) alas, i cannot get REAL Smarties here – so i am thankful for Bulk Barn and the import van (aka my parents) that arrives every couple of months!
that’s right! Wiggle along with me!!
i love the Wiggles 🙂 they are such happy guys, always eating healthy food and hanging out with a cool pirate and all! oh, and did i mention the Aussie cool factor?
Josh loves them too, which is why we have shelled out some dough to take him to a Wiggles concert here in town, just after his 2nd birthday. Not only that, but Brian actually sat on the website until the ticket sales opened so we could get decent seats… how does 2nd row floor sound? pretty decent imo! i know – Josh won’t remember and may not even care all that much. but we will remember – we’ll remember the look of excitement that i know will be there when he realizes that the characters from his favourite tv show are right in front of him! it will be so much fun!
tonight i had an amazing opportunity. right here in Albany, i sat down to dinner with people from all over the world – i think that at least 10-15 different countries were represented at the Horizons International Student Welcome Dinner. The dinner was held at our church, Pineview Community Church, as it has been for a couple of years now.
this was the first year of my involvement with the dinner, and i have to say it was a really pleasant evening. it felt like “home” again being around so many people from other cultures. the multicultural aspect of the Toronto area is something i have really missed here, and being part of the ESL program at Pineview has provided a little taste of that for me. tonight i met a girl who is originally from Romania and was adopted at 8 years of age by Americans. i met students from Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Nepal, Niger, Germany, and a few other countries that i can’t quite remember right now.
one of the cool things Horizons does is hook up international students with Americans – this helps them to feel at home while they’re here, and opens up a whole new world for both the student and their friendship partner. i’m hoping that we can do this in the future, as i would love for Josh (and us) to be thinking more globally.
one of the most rewarding experiences i had last year was hosting a bbq for my ESL class at the end of the year in May. many of my students were heading home to China and Korea, and we wanted to spend some time with them outside the “classroom”. we ate hamburgers and sushi, and other Asian dishes, and watched as Josh played with a couple of little boys who came with their families. my own prayer is that as those students are going about life in their home countries now, they will remember their experience with us at Pineview and become more curious about the spiritual things we talked about. so, tonight, i’m looking forward to a new year of ESL classes, and seeing what will happen with a new group of students!!