For Miriam on Her First

Preparing for Christmas

These are our latest pictures. The boys and Miriam had a wonderful time decorating the Christmas tree with Christmas music playing in the background. The next few pictures are from our walk to the Market or "Reenuk". It was zero degrees, but we were all warm in our winter attire.

Update

Wow, I am so far behind in posting, so I'll just quickly give an update and post a few recent pictures.

This has been a couple of very busy weeks. Language classes are going well, though Russian is still very difficult to learn. Jonathan is spending more time at the Seminary, so that means I have to get the boys and Miriam out by myself, which is always a challenge, but very important, just the same. We got our van last week and have enjoyed being able to go places without having to take the Tram or a "MaShruteKa," or walk many miles in one day. Nahum and Isaac are doing great with Homeschooling. I have really noticed a difference in both of them from just last month. Nahum's writing and reading is so improved with just a little practice and some much-needed one-on-one attention. Isaac is learning to sit still and only talk when he is allowed to do so. He loves writing all of his letters and numbers and has finished all the Curriculum that I had for him already. Jesse and Jonas are their usual active, vibrant, often rambunctious little selves and Miriam is pulling up on everything and has said her first word outside of "Mama" and "Dada": "WOW".

And that is about it. We are so looking forward to a visit from our Pastors back home this week and can't wait to catch up.

The pictures are of Jesse drinking hot chocolate, all of our team's children coloring after our Thanksgiving meal, Miriam and Nathan Rehurek getting into the tea drawer, and Jesse with one of his favorite BabySitters (Roma).

The Excellent Husband!

Ladies, don't get jealous. I was blessed with a husband who loves to cook, and so I let him. And he is very good cook, too!

Little Miss Stand Up and Mr. Birthday Boy

Miriam has reached a new milestone: she is standing up and walking along everything. This is the latest picture of her new feature.

Isaac turned 5 on Nov. 11th and we took a trip to "Crazy Park", which is very similar to your local Chuckee Cheese. We all had a blast and enjoyed being together for this momentous day in a little boy's life.

A Little Boy's Prayer

Every night when we pray together, Isaac starts his prayer off with, "Gahver in Heaven". When translated this is, "Father in Heaven" and "God in Heaven" all rolled into one. There is nothing better than to listen to our children's prayers. What a blessing!

Photo Essay From Russia

These are some of our first pictures from Russia. The first is from our first Team Meeting at the Rehurek's. The second is of the boys watching a movie on the computer before we purchased a table, couch or TV. The third is Miriam's bath in the kitchen sink. The next is of Jesse and Jonas in their bath. The next is of Nahum after he busted his head open and had to get a butterfly band-aid put on the back of his head. The next one is of Miriam in her pink high chair and then of Isaac and Miriam getting into the tea drawer. The last two are of all the Moorhead children getting into my clean pile of laundry and of Isaac getting his first Russian haircut, from his Daddy, of course.

First Russian Meal

I am very blessed to have a new Russian friend who is also my Nanny. Her name is Oksana and she comes during our Russian lessons and on Wednesday, she stays until the evening so that I can get more done, like getting groceries. She stayed late today and after getting groceries and taking the children outside, she taught me how to make the most traditional Russian meal - Borsch. We had a great day and now I am enjoying another Russian tradition: tea and chocolate.

Saturday

Our morning started around 6 when the Buds climbed up in our bed. Thankfully, they rested with us for about another hour. For breakfast I made pancakes and I even made syrup. It was yummy. We hung out at home together, had lunch and then took naps. After naps, we took a long (20 min.) walk to a nearby park, walking through open air markets and crowded sidewalks, busy streets and even busier intersections. The boys had a blast playing at the park and on the way home we stopped at a mall where there was a grocery store. We bought onions, because Jonathan wanted to make his famous meatballs for supper. We arrived home, bathed, had a scrumptious supper and then put the boys and Miriam to bed. We had a long, but wonderful family day. How different this week will be with Russian lessons, many trips to the market, Jonathan away at the Seminary and the start of Homeschool. We covet your prayers for strength and stamina for the week ahead.

The pictures are of our little messy eater and the boys on their new bunkbeds.

For GreatMother

This is for GreatMother, Jonathan's Grandmother, who went home to be with the Lord about 5:45 this morning.  She had been struggling with altheismers for years.  She was a wonderful woman and a perfect example of what a servant should be.  Please pray for all of our family.  Thank You.

No Place To Sit

This is our little home in Huntsville, Alabama.  We just got rid of our furniture in our Living Room.  I have to admit, having no couch to sit on is quite a bummer.  We will be sitting on the floor for the next few days and on Saturday, we will move back with Jonathan's parents until we leave on Thursday, Sept. 4.  Isaac keeps asking when we will move to Alabama.  He hasn't quite figured out that we are moving to Russia from Alabama, but he will understand soon.  Or then again, he may not, but he is still so excited to be moving to a new home.  We all are and consider ourselves very blessed to be chosen to go to Russia.

Bare Walls

Jonathan just finished taking all of our precious pictures from off of our walls and so our house looks extremely bare and not quite like a home anymore.  It looks sad, but promising since we will be leaving in about a week and a half now.  

We had to box the picture of Jesse and Jonas's baby feet sitting very snugly in Jonathan's one hand and the collection of black and white sleeping baby pictures.  We put away Jonathan's prize Rembrandt of Simeon holding baby Jesus (sadly, not an original) and my picture of Ruth that we bought in Israel that is fashioned entirely out of the words from the book of Judges.  All of our family pictures that were in a row, the first was our family of three, then four, then six, had to be put away (The family picture of 7 never quite made it on the wall).  Then there was The Lord's Prayer that was cross-stitched by Jonathan's sister Katherine; that had to be boxed up as well.  Thankfully, all of Jonathan's many diploma's had never been framed, and so these sit neatly in a folder.....somewhere.  

So these items will go to Jonathan' parent's house and await the day when we need them again.  And when we arrive in Russia, we will start to take more pictures, and even more memories will line our walls in our little apartment.  And someday, hopefully soon, our new house will look like our home.  

Update: Russia

We got our Letters of Invitation on Wednesday, so it is off to Russia on Sept. 4.  That is 2 weeks from today, and now that it is finally here, I am not sure I will be ready in time.  I guess there is just so much to be done, it seems like there is not the slightest possibility that we could ever even get close to getting everything done, but......... at least I am not in control.  That is one thing that I have learned through this whole process and I am so glad that God is in control and that He is not only in control of the really big details, He is also intimately working out even the small ones.  And so I am off to bed, with even a spirit of calmness about me.

To live without Mac N Cheese

So, we had John and Natalie Rehurek and their two boys, Josiah and Nathan over tonight for supper.  We will be joining them, actually in the same Apartment building, when we move to Russia.  I had asked Natalie to make me a list of things that I should bring to Russia - things that I will not be able to find there.  The first few items on the list made me shudder: vanilla extract, brown sugar, chocolate chips.  Aside:  I LOVE TO BAKE!   These are some very important ingredients when baking and without them, you have no Blueberry muffins, no chocolate chip cookies, no pound cake....  Think of a world without blueberry muffins!  I cannot!  

So I will be on my way to Sam's tomorrow to pick up these very precious and necessary ingredients.  I have taken these things for granted for way too long.  I know that there are many things that I will miss deeply, but this I know, there are also many things that I will enjoy there that I have never had in America.  I will have to wait until I get there to find out what those things are.   In the mean time, I have to figure out how to pack a year's supply of Mac N Chz in my suitcase.  

Raising Tadpoles

We have had a busy week, to say the least.  Nahum started 1st Grade and Isaac started Kindergarten.  They both love school, but scheduling their lessons around twin toddlers and a 7 month old has been a bit of a learning process for us all.  Since I had nothing else to do, snicker, I started this blog, am potty training Jesse and Jonas and even had the opportunity to go on two separate outings, the first being a date with my hubby of 9 years and the second, a meal with our fellow missionaries, the Rehureks.  All this to say, I am thoroughly enjoying a container of tadpoles that sits on my kitchen window sill.  What does this have to do with my week - absolutely nothing.  

We caught some frog eggs about a month ago and they have been eating and growing and doing all the other little tadpole things that tadpoles do.  Each day we clean out their water and feed them some lettuce that I have boiled (I found that out online).  The boys love them and if they were not out of reach, they would have killed them, accidentally of course, long ago.  So why do I allow about 3 dozen little swimmers in my kitchen, you ask?  They are so cool!  Really!  Have you ever watched tadpoles develop?  It is amazing how God made these little creatures to go from egg to tadpole, to legged tadpole, to froggy.  And although we may not be here long enough to see them become frogs, we are enjoying watching them grow for as long as we can.  We are so blessed to be able to enjoy the simple things in life and teach our children about how great our God is - simply by raising some little hoppers.  

So, if you are reading this, and you live close to us, and you want to adopt our little pets when we can no longer take care of them because we are on a Big Bird Hot Tail to Russia, please feel free to let me know.  If not, we will simply let them go in the little stream that runs through our backyard and in a few weeks our little neighborhood will be just a little bit noisier thanks to our frog raising skills.

One of Those Days

The title says it all.  Some days are just not even worth writing about.  Oh, please don't let me bore you.  I will mention other things.  

Isaac asked, "Mommy are we having Lucky Joes for supper?"  I am guessing that he got Lucky Charms and Sloppy Joes mixed up, both of which, we did not have for supper.  

There was a wasp in our house that I stealthily killed with bug spray right before bedtime.  After which, I took the Buds to bed and Jonas turned around and said, "Bye fly, Night, Night," and he blew him a kiss.

We started watching "The Chronicles of Narnia," since we just finished reading it, but Jesse didn't like it.  He sat in my lap and remarked, "Scary for me".

Now I am off to have some Century Sundae Bluebell Ice Cream.  Everything is better with ice cream.

So, this is a blog about our family and I can't forget that I not only am a Mother, but a wife as well.  I have been married to the most wonderful man alive for 9 years.  I love Jonathan even more today than I did 9 years ago when I said, "I do".  I am so blessed to have been given such a loving, thoughtful, kind-hearted, compassionate, disciplined, devoted and affectionate man to share my life with.  I thank God every day for giving me my Beloved.

A Day In Our Home

We wake up around 6.  Have breakfast. Play. Have a snack.  Play.  Eat lunch. Jesse, Jonas and Miriam take a nap.  Nahum and Isaac start school at the table.  Younger ones awaken from nap.  Eat snack.  Go outside to swim and play and have a popcicle.  Bath.  Supper.  Chores.  Jammies and teeth.  Sing.  Read Bible with Daddy.  Pray.  Read The Chronicles of Narnia.  Bed.............

What could be more simple?

In this blog, I will fill in all the spaces in between.