David's trip to Jordan

David spent a week in Amman, Jordan in January working as an Educational Consultant on a USAID project.  It was a lot of fun, and so nice to actually get paid to do this stuff.

This is the group of Minnesotans (pronounced Minn-ah-sooo-'-uns) that I worked with, while eating at a really cool cafe overlooking the old city of Amman.

 The view from the hotel.

ummmmm.....shwarmas. 

The abayas in Amman are much more colorful than in Oman 

 Revolutionary chicken anyone?

Water trucks and Carrefour...Ethan would have liked this. 

Our fearless leader, Greg.

The vegatable souq 

 The cute kindergarten kids we were working with.

 The church in Amman.

 A really nice taxi driver I spent my day off with.

Amr took me to as-Salt.

They made me pose this way. 

(Dawnell says this looks like one of the activity stations for kids at Epcot.)

 As-Salt was the provincial capital during the Ottoman period.

 Playing soccer with youth by the citadel mosque, as-Salt

 The old Roman ruins in the Balad, Amman

 Looking down into the Jordan Valley.  If there was no haze, you could see Israel.

 All the king's horses....

and all the king's men.... 

 Me with the Imam of the King Hussein Mosque.

Jordan, snow, primary, PT

January was kind of an exciting month.  Remember that educational consulting company in Minnesota that David interviewed with in November?  The one whose owner he met in Oman last year?  They are starting up a new project in Jordan, and invited David to join the team as an independent consultant on the initial trip to Amman.  In other words, David was PAID to go on a trip to a part of the world he loves, gaining experience in learning design while practicing his Arabic skills and eating falafel and shawarmas every day.  (This is the kind of opportunity that graduate students usually have to PAY for!) 
Meanwhile, the kids and I stayed home and experienced a Southern snowstorm.  It snowed 8 inches the day after David left, and melted into ice that lasted all week.  School was cancelled and many businesses were closed for 5 days in a row, since cities in the South are not equiped with snowplows or de-icing trucks.  We felt very fortunate to not lose power as we did during the snowstorm two years ago.  Instead, we played in the snow/ice, drank hot chocolate, and enjoyed new Christmas toys and movies.

David called by Skype nearly every day to tell me about his adventures in Jordan.  He thought a lot about what souvenirs and treats to bring home to us.  I joked that he needed to bring home 30 shawarmas in his carry-on luggage, the way our housekeeper Edna used to bring shawarmas from Oman to India when she went home to visit her pregnant daughter.  ("If someone wants something and they are pregnant, you have to get it for them," Edna told me.) 

David wanted to get something special for Ethan that would remind him of Oman.  In the end, he got European chocolates shaped like hippos for Ethan and Claire.  After Ethan bit into his chocolate, David asked expectantly, "What does it taste like, Ethan?"  Ethan responded, "It tastes like any old cookie." 

David brought home some pretty Palestinian-style ceramic bowls and tiles.  He also brought me a box of dates, Galaxy chocolates, and Nutro wafers, some favorite treats we used to buy in Oman. 

Other exciting things in January:  We held a Saturday activity for the primary kids to introduce the 2011 theme, "I Know the Scriptures are True."  We did a Hula Hoop pass to teach the concept of a "challenge," and challenged the kids to write down one thing per week that they learned from scripture reading at home.  We then rorated the kids through 5 activity/learning stations and ate some very cute cupcakes.  A lot of work went into preparing the activity, and I think it turned out pretty well. 

Also in January... I graduated from physical therapy!  I attended about 4 visits during Dec/Jan for hip pain and diastisis recti (excessive separation of abs).  The PT initially scheduled me for 12 weekly visits, but by the end of January she said I was looking great and could stop coming.  I've had a lot more pain and fatigue during this pregnancy compared with the last two, but I'm blessed with a very helpful husband who mops, cleans, puts groceries away, carries children, picks up toys, and tells me every day how much he likes my big 'ole belly.  "You are SOOOO cute," he tells me.  "I wish you were pregnant all the time." 

Speaking of being SOOOO cute, here's a fun photo of David from the "Locate your leader" activity the church youth had at the mall.  David didn't shave for a few days, dressed in black, and wore big headphones.  He must have looked like a lost soul, because a nice couple handed him an invitation to their church.

The 3 Days of Christmas

For the first time in our nearly 10 years of marriage, we were "home" for Christmas.  Not that we don't love visiting family over the holidays...mostly this was a necessity, since David plans to graduate in May, and holiday breaks are a chance to get more writing done on that dissertation! 

Day 1: Christmas Eve

Decorating Sugar Cookies.  Funny story... we loaded all our decorated cookies onto two cookie sheets to let them dry before making plates to deliver to friends.   That afternoon, Ethan grabbed one sheet of cookies, and before I knew what had happened, he delivered the entire sheet to one house.  Then he ran back home for the other sheet, and I caught him as he was running up the porch to another neighbor's house.  So if you didn't get a plate of cookies from us this year, now you know why!

 Candy-covered pretzels

Panetone, Sicilian-style

The Porcaro tradition is to have an Italian dinner on Christmas Eve. David made Panetone (an Italian fruity cake) and melanzane (eggplant) which we ate with tortellini and ham. YUM! 

NATIVITY.  Twelve years ago, David and I began collecting middle-eastern items so that we could use them in our own family's Christmas Eve nativity reenactment.  This year we were so excited to use it for the first time!  A baby blanket made in Bethlehem, a shepherd's (camel) staff from Oman, authentic frankinsence and myrh from the Dhofar region, and a bunch of fun Arab-style headdresses and gowns.  As it turns out, a good nativity reenactment requires willing participatin in addition to cool costumes... we'll hope for better luck next year. 

Dawnell-pregnant mary, Ethan-Angel, Claire-Shepherd

David-wiseman, Claire-shepherd

Ethan-wiseman

Ethan-shepherd. 

(He couldn't make up his mind about which costume he wanted to wear,

but he eventually settled on the one that came with a cool staff.)

David, the Grinch, and Panda - 3 Wisemen

Claire-Mary, Bunny-Baby Jesus

Claire in box (Baby Jesus? This is where she spent most of the time).

David played Christmas hymns and read scriptures to tell the Nativity story.

Day 2:  Christmas Day

Christmas at our house is a laid-back day to spend time as a family, enjoy new toys, and eat leftovers. 

After Santa's visit

The Grinch was a gift from my dad and Diane several years back.  I love "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!"  Our kids hate the Grinch, and throw him off the couch and onto the floor everytime I replace him by the Christmas throw pillows.  Apparently, Santa couldn't resist playing a little prank on Ethan.

Ethan loves his new bike!  Check out those 16" wheels!

Both kids love Claire's new cash register.

Claire reading her new princess book from G&G Jungert.

Ethan playing with his new "inductive cars" from G&G Jungert. 

The battery-operated cars follow lines drawn with thick black marker. 

David and Ethan both enjoyed playing Cootie, a game David remembers

from when he was little.  (Thanks, G&G Porcaro!)

Claire's new whiteboard & stencils from G&G Haberman.

Ethan's new art kit from G&G Haberman.

Day 3:  Snow Day!

Christmas night it began to snow, and we awoke Sunday morning to a beautiful, white day-after-Christmas.  Church was cancelled due to slippery road conditions (no snow plows here in Georgia!).  Ethan was very happy about church being cancelled (maybe we need to do something to add more interest to our Sabbath days??).  David and I both agreed that this was the happiest of our 3 Days of Christmas. 

David and the kids were outside playing in the snow by about 8:30am, long before any of our neighbors ventured outdoors.

Ethan is wearing his winter coat from two years ago, since we didn't need to buy one in Oman.  Claire is sporting Emery's old snow gear!  I remember the first day Emery wore these boots and mittens in Richland, WA when she was 2.   

Maybe it's just the outfit, but this picture reminds me of little Emery.

  Pretty impressive snowman, given the few inches of snow!

Check out that snow shovel... only one in the neighborhood, I bet.

Ethan didn't ride his new bike on Christmas due to the rain. 

But here are my boys, riding throught the snow...

Gingergread Houses.  Our $10 store-bought kit made 5 small houses instead of one larger one... perfect for our family.  Claire won the prize for using and eating the most frosting and candy.

Ethan really got into this project, and impressed us with his creativity!  He built a really cool Christmas tree out of frosting and gum drops, and put a yellow star on top.

David's awesome A-frame.

The girls :) 

Ethan-Ethan-David-Daawnel-Claire

(By now we've eaten all but Ethan's... he says we can never eat his)

Getting our Christmas on

We put up our Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving.  It's fun when you've lived in one place for a couple of years, and you already know where the decorations should go. 

 David and Ethan picked out a Douglas Fir from Lowe's and did not request to have the bottom branches trimmed.  Instead, David trimmed them at home and made an awesome wreath from extra branches and wire!  (We got the idea from our grad-student neighbor whose house is pictured in the back.)

How cute is this?!?

Winterville has an annual Christmas Festival that we love to go to!  We can walk from our house to the park.  The Methodist church has a live Nativity.  Three years ago on this spot, Ethan was bit in the leg by a donkey who smelled Oreo crumbs in his lap/stroller seat. 

Ethan started composing his own music this month.  David taped letters on the piano keys, and Ethan makes up simple songs and asks us to play them.  It's so cute!  Zoom in on the photo to check out those music notes!

Remember our unsuccesful dentist visit last month?  We rescheduled with a pediatric dentist.  A few days before the appt, the kids and I went to the store and shopped for presents, cupcakes, and chocolate milk to be enjoyed at our "dental party" which would follow a successful visit and cleaning.  This dental office was much more child-friendly, but the kids were still very reluctant to have anyone near their mouths.  They each cried and fought through a 30-second examination.  About 15 minutes later we were about to give up on the cleaning, and then I casually mentioned how we'd have to return our party supplies and presents to the store.  Ethan hopped in his seat and had a great cleaning, inspection, and even x-rays!  It was a happy day for us all.  After 4 years of fighing the tooch-brushing fight each night, it was so nice to be reassured that the kids' teeth looked good!  Here are the kids playing with the gifts they picked out for themselves-- a Go-Fish game for Ethan and a Fur Real meowing cat for Claire.

Happy Birthday Dawnell.  We had a low-key party this year, which was fine with me.  I had been sick for the previous 3 weeks with a bad cold.  David asked all month what I wanted for my birthday, and I told him that my present was the 3 weeks he had acted as a single parent... doing nearly all the cooking, cleaning and childcare (plus teaching a class and working on a dissertation!) while I coughed and sneezed and took extra naps. 

I recieved lots of nice birthday cards, and some funny presents from David's sister Jenny!  The best one was the t-shirt from Mysterio, predicting that our unborn child is destined to be... a Flamenco Dancer! (BTW, this lovely picture was taken at about 28 weeks)