Lily the Elf…what’s your favorite costume :)

My children are infatuated with the movie Elf.  I am SO proud.  Lily is especially smitten.  One day she was singing her heart out in the shower…it was really cute.  When she got out she said, “I was singing in the shower like the girl in Elf.”  And recently, their favorite dinner time song is “Baby it’s cold outside”….again, super cute when they’re both trying to sing.  She tells me often how pretty the girl in Elf is (she’s much sweeter than me :) )  Anyway, the other day we were in a store that was already putting out their Christmas stuff and they had little Santa outfits for boys and girls…for only 4 euros.  Couldn’t pass that by, and honestly, probably one of the most well spent four euros ever.  She’s been wearing her new attire pretty regularly as of late….

Personally, I think Lily’s a prettier elf than the girl in the movie :)

Ode to Papa

Henry came in tonight and said, “Here mommy, I made your dad.”  He built my dad out of Mr. Potato head….looked just like him, too :)  So, here I am in a picture with my daddy.

Isn’t it amazing daddy?  He hasn’t forgotten what you look like in the least…a funny hat, sandals, and a mickey ice-cream bar.  I really thought I was hugging you there for a minute ;)  Except…he needed a hawaiin print shirt, but I don’t think they make those for potato head…pity.  Love you!

Crazy tired

I am at a loss for how to describe this past week.  I am currently crazy tired…but the week has been really good.  Monday we went and hung out at Manuel’s cafe and had a great time talking.  It’s encouraging when we can talk over more subjects and understand each other and when he compliments how much better I’m doing in my speech.  He’s so precious.  He told us he wants to have us for dinner…he gave us our food for free again…and gave hugs and kisses and said he’s really missed us.  That just does a heart good…to have this precious man just love you for no real reason :)

Then Thursday I went out with one of Calvin’s little classmates’ mom.  We had a lunch date and hung out the rest of the afternoon until we went to get the kids.  It was lots of fun making a new friend.  We talked about half and half…she’s really good at English…but doesn’t believe me…so she wants to practice more.  She is incredibly nice and has since sent me some encouraging messages about how much fun she had and hopes to do it again in the future.  Yeah :)

Friday I baked and baked and baked and took sugar cookies to the kids’ school for their classmates to decorate with icing and sprinkles…kind of a halloween tradition for us.  It was hilarious…the Portuguese kids didn’t quite know what to think…they’d never seen/done anything like that before.  Some of them liked it, but many refrained from trying this “weird” creation :)  The teachers LOVED it though…thought it was so cute…so fun to decorate the cookies and thought they tasted great….they told me “we are so glad you’re at our school”….which was clearly encouraging.  I think they’re enjoying me being the crazy mom who brings her American foods and traditions to school (should I mention that the day before I took them pumpkin muffins…and last week I took them reese’s peanut butter cups…)  But, hey, I’m having a blast trying to bless them.

Last night, we went on a double date with my old teacher Ana and her husband.  I was really excited, but also nervous…I had no idea what we’d talk about and I knew my Portuguese had to be “game on”.  They took us to a really cute little Mexican food resturaunt.  I almost wanted to cry when I walked in at just how cute it was…it totally reminded me of home.  The ambiance was perfect…as well as the weather.  We sat outside right next to the river…it was lovely.  We all had so much fun…and we succeeded in speaking in Portuguese the ENTIRE night.  Four and a half hours later…my brain was definitely hurting :)  It’s a good hurt though!  They are SUCH a cute couple…about to celebrate their 25th anniversary and still very much in love although they were talking about their total differences in politics and sports teams…so funny :)  They even want to get together again…which really, my heart is just about to explode with the excitement over finally making some friends here.  It feels so good.  And, although it takes SO much more effort trying to speak in Portuguese the whole time…it’s a completely wonderful feeling when you succeed :)

When we were first learning…I remember Mg said something so true…”It’s like I don’t have a personality anymore…I don’t know enough to make jokes or be funny….or to even sound like I can talk about anything intelligent…I feel like a five year old.”  And it’s SO true…learning a new language is SO humbling….and we still have SO far to go…but when Ana was reminding me where I was six months ago…I really have come so far…and getting a little more of my personality back.  Mg’s doing great in this department…he had her husband laughing last night and ALWAYS makes Manuel laugh…it’s so cute.  I wish I had more pictures of all my business…but, frankly, I’ve been too busy :)  I guess that’s a good thing though.  It’s been such a crazy week….but well worth it as I sit and reflect today.  I’m thankful for all the extra language practice with friends :)

Don’t hate me

Please don’t hate me for changing the look up and taking the picture of the kids’ feet off.  I just wanted to freshen things up or change things up for a little while.  I’m always jealous of my friends that decided to go with blogger and change their backgrounds all the time…I wish I could do that, but haven’t figured out how with WordPress…but I don’t want to switch and loose everything I have.  So, this is the new page I’m going to try for a while.  It’s taking me some getting used to, too.  But, rest assured, the kids feet are still here…and may return to the blog in the future…but for now, I hope you’ll enjoy the beautiful picture of Lisbon and will continue to visit us on here, after all, I just updated my weekly prayer requests, and we could really use your continued prayers :)

I love this place

Where else could I take so many colorful pictures in one day :)

Mg ran in a 10-K this morning

This morning my wonderful husband ran in a 10-K.  What a great way to get out among the people :)  The kids and I had fun waiting and watching for him to run by.  He did great…accomplishing both of his personal goals…and got a cool new running shirt out of the deal.  I’m proud of him.  Here’s a few pics from our morning…

He’s not in this one…I just liked the blow ups they had to run through.  They ended the race running through this round-about…I love it :)  Only in Europe :)

Watching and Waiting…and enjoying fruit snacks :)

Not that the runners could stop and enjoy the view…but it was a nice one…right along the ocean.

Yay!  There he is and still able to smile!  It was fun for the kids and I … and I think Mg even had a good time :)

Banagrams

So, a while back my wonderful mother in law sent us a new game in the mail.  It looked kind of like scrabble tucked into a cute little banana bag.  But, it didn’t come with instructions…so we put it away for safe keeping until they came for a visit assuming they would teach us to play (since they are a big “gaming” family)  Then, last week my wonderful mother sent a package which included a ’southern living’ magazine and randomly, one of the articles inside was over this new game that is apparently sweeping the nation.  Luckily, it included a website where you could go and get the instructions.  Yeah.  It has been so much fun and Mg and I have really enjoyed playing…because we can really test our brains and switch back and forth between English and Portuguese :)  Here is a picture of one of the crosswords I made…

In Portuguese of course…I was so proud :)  So, if you are one of my M friends that uses the same alphabet…you should ask someone back home for this…it’s easy to pack and take anywhere….and if you’re in the states reading this and you know an M…maybe you should bless them with this.  It’s great language practice!

Idolos

I’m dying to give you a glimpse into my new favorite show.  It’s called Idolos.  Any takers on what this translates to?  That’s right, Idols.  As in “American Idol” but the Portuguese version.  Produced by the same people and everything.  I’m loving it.  If only I could understand the judges a little better so I can truly hear how they’re insulting people, but overall, we definitely get the gist, and it’s hilarious.  So, I’m including a few of my favorite clips and if you have a little time to kill…you can sit back and enjoy some Portuguese t.v.  And if you love it…you can always find more on youtube.

Actually, let me preface a few things.  I think this is a great cultural lesson for all of you.  You can hear the Portuguese language that we are so desperately trying to learn.  You also get to see what they look like and how trendy they dress.  Many times, similar to American fashion, but sometimes a little overkill :)  And, you get to see how much they love American music.  They honestly play English music almost more than they play their own.  And nowadays, many Portuguese bands record all their songs in English in hopes that they’ll be discovered in America.  Most of these people try out singing in English.  The judges sometimes have to ask them if they can sing in Portuguese as well.  Some of them sing beautifully in English, and others, well, you’ll see.  There’s even one guy I’ll show you that starts off in Portuguese, and he’s awful, so I think they were just tormenting him by asking him to sing a song in English…so he starts singing and they put on “English subtitles”…which is not English at all…they’re just making fun of how horrible his English really is.  It’s pretty funny.  Some of these people have made us laugh till we cry.

I’ll start with the poor guy I just described…(just click on the link)
Idolos 1
Sad, huh?

Then there’s people that are really good…and I think they train their English to sound JUST LIKE the singers…like this guy…(just listen to the first bit…it’s a longer video with lots of talking…just skip it)
Idolos 2
Pretty impressive…huh?

Then there’s the quick clip of all the bad singers…I personally love the guys that play air guitar…I suppose it helped :)
Idolos 3

But I better leave you with one more good singer…
Idolos 4
At the end you get a good glimpse of the female Ryan Seacrest…I have NO idea what’s up with her hair and her horrible shirt…oh well. And Portuguese people stay and live with their parents till they’re closer to thirty normally…so you see a lot of the contestants come with just their parents…it’s kind of weird. But sweet too.

Well, I don’t know how much these little clips get to give you an actual glimpse into the show and culture…but it’s actually pretty fun. Hope you enjoyed a little trip into our television set over here :)

My new favorite pictures of Lily

We dressed her like “Hannah Montana”…a cute scarf and hat.  She did look super cute :)

Our morning at the park

We had lots of fun at the park with Joao’s family.  They are very nice and we hope they had enough fun to want to get together more in the future.  Here’s just some of my kids being kids.  By the way…Calvin is definitely in the right country….this boy LOVES soccer (futebol) ….he’s going to be an amazing player :)