Double Dipping: Dia dos Pais (Father's Day)

My father-in-law calls it "double dipping"--the fortuitous circumstance that Father's Day in the U.S. and  Brazil do NOT fall on the same date thereby allowing American fathers living in Brazil to enjoy the admiration and praise of their families TWICE a year.  Mother's Day is, of course, on the same day in both countries.  (Just my luck!)

In all honesty we usually celebrate only one day or the other.  However, this year, perhaps in an attempt to make up for years when both dates passed by unnoticed, the boys and I decided to give Nathanael the full double-dip treatment.

I wrote about our superhero-themed celebration for American Father's Day here.  As Father's Day rolled around for the second time in August, we decided to piggyback on a gift Nathanael received from friends for his birthday in July--a Nespresso machine.  We knew we couldn't go wrong in pandering to his addiction love for coffee.  We bought two sleeves of Nathanael's favorite Nespresso coffee pods and dressed them up with our own "Nespressions of Love."  (If you know my father, then you'll forgive my corny sense of humor.  It's genetic.  I have no control over it.)

The boys each shared several things for which they admired their dad, and I threw in a few as well.  We wrapped each pod in a nespression and put them in a bag which received a manly makeover as well.  We bestowed our gift to him at an amazing Italian restaurant in Sao Paulo along with some homemade gifts the boys had made during the week.

For a couple of weeks, every time he decided to have an espresso he was reminded of why we think he's so great.  Twenty different reasons.  A few of my favorite offerings from the boys:

• Thank you for making breakfast every morning and for including lots of bacon in the rotation.  (Micah)
• I am proud to share a love of good books with you and hope I know as much about literature as you do someday.  (Ethan)
• I enjoy going on fun outings with you like the arboretum and sledding.  I even enjoy running errands with you because you get me snacks.  (Micah)
• I learn a lot about Scripture when I hear you preach.  I'm always excited when it is your turn to preach.  (Ethan)
• You are a kind father--except when you don't let me do media.  (Micah)

We love you, Dad!

Working Vacation

In July, we left the barking dog behind with an unsuspecting brother-in-law (see previous post) and traveled to Anapolis, Brazil where Nathanael spoke at the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) conference.  SIL, a division of Wycliffe, focuses on Bible translation for indigenous peoples here in Brazil.

I already shared the details of this trip in our Fall newsletter, but wanted to post a few more pictures of our time there.  It was a wonderful experience for our whole family.

Swimming almost every day

Ethan on the waterslide

Micah ready for the ropes course.

Ethan was chosen to narrate the children's presentation during the family talent night of the conference.  He was very comfortable in this role.  The apple doesn't fall far from the tree . . .

The Apple

The Tree

Micah even got in on the action.  Here he wraps Lazarus in strips of cloth.

The Raising of Lazarus

We had a wonderful time as a family and were very thankful for the opportunity to be a part of the conference.

Poinsettia bushes under palm trees.  

The Great Dog Experiment

I should have written this post back in July when we first welcomed Maurice, the border collie, into our lives--in those first weeks of honeymoon bliss when he was a puppy-sized, fuzzball of love and complete compliance.

See how happy we all were?

But the honeymoon's over . . .

He grew.

He barks.

He chews.

He barks.

He nips.

He barks.

He jumps.

And, did I mention? He barks!

Who me?

Nathanael and I broke our "NO PET" policy to accept Maurice from our neighbors whose five-year-old daughter hadn't taken to him.  Micah had been praying faithfully for nigh on a year for a dog and a baby.  We figured we had more control over the dog than the baby at this point.  So when the opportunity to adopt this adorable border collie came up, we took it.  (I think I might have been trying to fill a baby-sized hole in my heart with a dog.  Big mistake.)

All was great for the first two weeks until he suddenly discovered he could bark.  And bark he did!  ALL.  NIGHT.  LONG.  For nights on end.  Now, I accept getting up with an infant at night, but if I can't have the benefits of a beautiful baby in my home, I do NOT want to be getting up at night with a border collie.  After weeks of lying awake as poor Nathanael went up and down the stairs, in and out of the house, over and over at night to try to get Maurice quiet; we broke down and called a friend to see if they were still interested in getting a dog.  (An option we are quite honestly still considering.)  But, we decided to try one more thing--bringing him up on our bedroom balcony every night to sleep near us.  We would be close for disciplinary measures, and he would be close for comfort.  It has worked--sort of.  He seems happy, and more importantly, he is quiet (sort of), and we are sleeping (kind of).

Maurice reacts to each of us differently.  He respects and adores Nathanael as the alpha-male who is in control of the household.  Ethan is second in command--a stern disciplinarian balanced by a lot of affection and play.  Maurice views me as the tender-hearted (read "lazy") pushover who would rather bribe him with treats than have to train him.  And Micah?  He sees Micah as a wild thing that needs to be tamed and herded by nipping and barking.  He's pretty much got us all pegged.

So, three months into this experiment, the verdict is still out.

Uh oh!

If You Wanna Walk On Water . . .

I remember hearing it in a sermon and seeing it on a book:  If you wanna walk on water, you gotta get out of the boat.  In other words, if you want to have an even deeper experience with God, you have to let go of your comfort zone.  To be honest, I feel like I live outside the boat.  Not because I'm such an amazing Christian, but because I tend to be an anxious, type-A worrier whose comfort zone extends about an inch beyond her little personality.  So, you see, it takes very little to push me out of my comfort zone--just about any new person or situation will do it.

So, when the day came to take the Alliance Bible Church youth work team to visit Lar Efrata, an orphanage here in Sao Paulo, I wanted to call in sick in advance for the migraine I knew I'd be getting. However, my husband who has a comfort zone a continent wide encouraged me that I could do it.  He promised me that my Portuguese was sufficient, and a still small voice reminded me that God is sufficient.  I took three Tylenol and got in the car.

The group from ABC with some of the kids from Lar Efrata

An hour later we arrived at Lar Efrata with a bus-load of Texans ready to work and play.  The first thirty minutes were torturous as I stammered broken Portuguese trying to translate for people.  My attempts to engage some of the children at the home seemed lame and forced.  I felt like I was drowning in inadequacy, and all I wanted to do was drag my deflated self back into the boat never again to dip my toe in those risky waters.  Then, a little hand tugged at my arm and pulled me toward the basketball hoop.  Little Anna asked me to lift her up so she could dunk the ball.  I've never been so happy to see a basketball in my life.  I lifted her; she dunked the ball; we laughed and did it again.  Over and over until my strength was gone along with my inhibitions.  A five-year-old orphan with a precious smile threw me a lifeline--humbling. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around?

Anna

It was an incredible day full of many graces.  My Portuguese improved as the day went on.  I helped Darlene with her English homework for school, played Uno with shy Milena, ran around with Erika and Bruna, chatted with girls who were getting their fingernails painted.  As we pulled out of Lar Efrata at dusk, I felt as if I had been given a gift.  Again, this bizarre upside-down reality.  My feeble attempt at giving had resulted in receiving the greater gift.

Playing Uno

Song and Sport Fridays

Over the past few years, we and our home-educating friends, have started a homeschooling support group that meets on a regular (okay, semi-regular) basis to discuss various topics and offer encouragement for the journey.  The homeschooling scene is pretty small here, so our group consists of just a few families.  Without a lot of the resources and opportunities that are available in other countries, enrichment opportunities can be difficult to come by--although we have discovered a few gems.

So, earlier this year, a friend had the vision for Friday afternoon enrichment activities.  Another friend bravely offered to lead the first month-long series of drama activities.   The kids loved it, and a program was born!  Following the drama workshops, we had nature study and art activities led by the other two moms in the group. Like I said, our group is small, so it was suddenly my turn to offer an enrichment series.  I felt like the most boring, unskilled, untalented woman in the world.  What could I offer to teach children ages 4 to 10?  Hey, kids, would you like to learn how to fold a load of laundry?

With fear and trepidation I decided to offer a composer series knowing full-well the kids might want to tar and feather me and run me out of town on rail for trying to force them to learn about the likes of Bach or some other ancient music maker.  But I underestimated our homeschoolers!  They were fully engaged in the series on J.S. Bach.  We discussed Bach's life and music adding in some extra juicy details about the time period in which he lived.  We all had a wonderful time together.

Eager beavers ready to answer a review question.

Learning a dance in the style of early 18th century dances.  Look closely and you'll notice one little boy bottoms up while the rest are bowing down.  Guess whose son that is?

Naturally, we coupled our study of Bach with the study of . . . soccer.  Logical, right?  Actually, I took advantage of Nathanael's day off to teach some soccer skills to the kids for the second hour.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed playing soccer--especially when moms and dads joined in each Friday to play.  Overall, "Song and Sport Fridays," as we called them, were a big success.

Beehive ball at its best!

Micah makes his move.

Ethan takes a shot on Dad.

Just hanging around.  Again, whose son is that?

Aye, Aye, Captain!

Each night after Nathanael reads to the boys, we send them upstairs to get ready for bed--a process that should take less than 5 minutes, but often takes significantly longer.  When the boys are ready to be tucked in, they call us from their beds.

Last night, after finishing a chapter in Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, a novel about the real-life pioneer of modern navigation Nathaniel Bowditch, the boys went up as usual.  A few minutes later, we were summoned with a hearty, "All hands on deck!  Topside!"

Aye, aye, Captain Ethan!

Momster 2012

When we were preparing to move back to Brazil after our year on furlough in the United States, I somehow with my sister as witness, finagled a promise out of my dad that he would fly me up for a visit every year for the rest of his life . . . at least that's how I remember it.  Right, Kelley?  I'm sure he'll rue the day he made that promise, but I recently cashed in on the first plane ticket and spent two weeks with my family in Texas.  I had been looking forward to that trip for months, and immediately began to feel the time ticking away as I stepped off the plane.  My twelve days in Texas flew by despite my attempts to slow it down.  We still managed to do a lot of fun things, and I managed to have quality time with each member of my family.  We even continued the tradition of Momster Weekend (a two-day getaway with my two sisters and mom that we started six years ago).

We kicked off Momster 2012 at our traditional lunch spot, Hungry's in Houston.  Then we traveled to Galveston, Texas where one of my sister's clients has a great condo on the beach.

We settled in and began relaxing--eating and shopping.  In fact, a certain Vegan got caught with her hand in the non-vegan cookie jar.  Exhibit A:

But, then again, the rest of us weren't doing too great on our diets either.  Exhibit B:

On Saturday we shopped the historic Strand and ate a delicious lunch at Yaga's Cafe.

Our weekend was about more than food.  There was reading . . .

And memory book organizing . . .

And Downton Abbey screenings . . .

And Phase 10 torture . . .

And, of course, a lot of laughter and fun as well as a few mild irritations (i.e. Kelley's oversensitivity to a certain backseat-driving sister).  Hey, we are a family after all!!!  Strangely, there was no beach outing involved in our beach-side stay.

It was wonderful to spend time with each of them and catch up after almost a year of being apart.  I treasure the relationships I have with them--each unique and different.  It is hard to maintain a feeling of closeness when we are continents apart, but email and Magic Jack help (well, Magic Jack isn't always so helpful).  And, of course, my Dad's promise to fly me up TWO times every year helps.  Right, Kelley?!?

Until Momster 2013 . . .

Is It A Bird? Is it a Plane? No . . .

It's "Super Daddy!"

This past Sunday, Father's Day, the boys and I decided to have a little fun with a superhero-themed celebration for Nathanael a.k.a Super Daddy.  A special delivery from The Hero Supply Company Corp. appeared at the door after church addressed to "Our Real-Life Hero."

I could tell you what was in the box, but then I'd have to kill you.  Just kidding . . . The box contained special treats necessary for heroes to maintain their super powers:  Hero Juice (sparkling water), Energy Chips (salt & vinegar chips), Hero Vitamin Pellets (M&Ms), Secret Identity Bar (chocolate bar with hazelnuts), Hero Nosh (Spicy Peanuts), and X-Ray Vision Pellets (Hershey's Kisses with Almonds).

After Nathanael opened his hero kit, we showered him with homemade cards and a Smilebox card we put together with a few fun photos of his adoring fans:

Things went a little wrong when Lizard Boy appeared to wreak havoc on our photo shoot, but luckily Bat Brother was there to rescue the damsel in distress . . .

In the end, all was well, and our Father's Day plans were complete.

Truly, I am so thankful for Nathanael and his amazing example to our boys.  I admire and appreciate his faithful teaching of the Word in our home (it's like a mini seminary course after breakfast every morning) and his tender discipline of our boys that is always under girded with love and a desire for their growth and maturity.  From the time they were infants he lovingly served me and them by being a very present, involved dad from diaper changes and nighttime feedings to soccer coaching and guitar lesson driving.  And most especially, as both boys mentioned in their cards, reader of many, many bedtime books from board books to chapter books.  We love you!

he-ro:  noun  A man admired for his achievements and noble qualities

P.S. Hero Kit Idea found here.  Super Dad printable signs found here.