Birthday Girls and train rides

We have a lot of summer birthdays in our family.  Natalie and my dad have June birthdays, mine is in July and Brianna and Charlotte have August birthdays.  Natalie's birthday was on father's day this year and we went swimming and had dinner with just me and the family.  On Saturday, my sister planned a joint party at a gymnastics place for Natalie and Charlotte, their friends, and their cousins. Obviously, it had a Hello Kitty theme!  The kids had a ball!  Most of the kids were 4 and over so they could do all the things the instructor set up.  Nat and one other girl are only two so they couldn't follow all the directions, but they had a blast just running around and doing their own thing!

I got them both tiaras

On Sunday, Ben and Brianna made burgers for a family party for Natalie's birthday.  So we had a house full of aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

Natalie blowing out her candles. 

Charlotte helping Natalie cut the cake.

They LOVE their uncle Joey.  Charlotte is playing with one of Natalie's new toys. 

Brianna is reading one of Nat's cards to her.

I will already be in India when Charlotte's actual birthday rolls around so we had to do her birthday trip early.  I took her on her first Amtrak ride.  We went to Springfield, Illinois, which is about an hour ride. The train was about a half hour late so we had to wait patiently.

Bri took these for use.  I love how Natalie hugged Charlotte goodbye.  When Natalie gets older, I will take her someplace :)

On the way down, the train was full of people sitting by the windows with their devices plugged in so Charlotte and I had to sit across the aisle from each other.  It made it difficult to read books and she felt a little uncomfortable sitting next to a stranger.

When we arrived, we started walking to the Illinois State Museum. It was probably 7 or 8 blocks away and she is a SLOW walker.  She fell down and scraped her knee in the first 5 minutes right in front of the capital building.  My first thought was "Crap, I didn't bring any bandaids or wipes."  It didn't break the skin, but she was crying.  I nice construction worker saw it happen and brought over a wet paper towel for her knee :)

I was a little unsure of how suitable the museum would be for a 3 year old, but it was awesome!!  lots of information for older kids, but enough interesting model and things for her to touch that she enjoyed it.  She got to touch a real beaver tail and beaver fur.

Her hand is the same size as a bear paw print. 

That is a mastadon leg bone and she is pointing to a model of the whole animal.

We stopped at cold stone and she ate every bite of this bucket of ice cream and the waffle bowl!

On the train ride back, we got seats next to each other so we got to read and talk and she got to look out the window.

First week home

I left India on Saturday, June 13th and flew to London where I spent the night, then flew to Chicago on Sunday. Breaking up the flight like that helps my jet lag greatly!  My cousin, Jerry Lee picked me up from O'hare and took me to his house to I could eat lunch and visit with his family.  Then he drove half way to Bloomington-Normal and my sister drove up to meet us.  I was easy to pick up since I didn't have any luggage.  My luggage gets delayed often so it doesn't bother me too much.  Usually it is when I am flying into B-N and my luggage gets stuck in Dallas or Chicago and I get it the next day.  I was a little frustrated this time though because I only had one layover and it was 13 HOURS  - how the heck did my bag not make it?!?!  I didn't get it until late Tuesday night.

Charlotte and I went to eat lunch with Christa, my cousin's wife on Tuesday and my aunt Connie came to visit me on Saturday.  On Wednesday, my dad and I drove up to Dearborn, Michigan to see the Henry Ford Museum and Greenville Village.  It was great!  When he first told me that''s where he wanted to go when I offered to take him someplace, I was wondering how boring a museum of Fords was going to be, but it was interesting.  The museum and village is more about innovation and inventions.  It had exhibits/houses from Heinz, Noah Webster, the Wright Brothers, Edison, and Ford.

Ford's kitchen sink engine recreated by university students.

Blair and I 

The chair that Abraham Lincoln was sitting in at the Ford Theater.  You can see the blood stains.

JFK's Presidential car - the one he was shot in

Reagan's Presidental car - the one he was shot in

Bus that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat (it has been restored)

We stayed at the Best Western about 2.5 miles away and I had no idea it was the Pink Palace when I booked it, but it was FABULOUS!! The people were super nice and the restaurant had home cooked comfort type food.  My friend Blair lives in Detroit so she came to have dinner with us on Thursday.  Blair and I spent two summers being roommates in Ireland while we were at Grad School.  One of our other roommates, Janine is going to see her in late July, but I will already be heading back to India so I won't get to see her - bummer.

On Sunday June 21st, Natalie turned 2!!!  She was Due on July 21st and June 21st was my last day in the US before I went to Ireland for grad school.  I took Charlotte to the zoo while Brianna went to the doctor.  Everything was fine and they were hoping she would turn in the next month (she was breech).  My sis and her husband came to pick Charlotte and I up from the zoo and Bri's water broke and Natalie was here a few hours later - a full month early!  so I got to meet her before I went to Ireland.

Her birthday was also Father's day and she kept saying Happy Daddy's Day more than she realized it was her birthday.   Ben, Bri, the kids and I went to the pool to swim.  The girls went down the slide over and over. 

Brianna took this awesome shot at the pool!

 Brianna made pancakes with bacon inside!!!  delicious!  Charlotte and I iced Natalie's cake :)

It was a great 2nd Birthday and a great father's day!

Where is Home?

It is the end of the school year and many people in the international teaching world are talking about "going home".

People can mean a lot of different things when they say this.

Home means several things to me.

Right now when I say I am going home in less than a week, I mean central Illinois - where I grew up.
I means my Dad's house in rural Illinois surrounded by cornfields, cow pastures, and dirt roads.  The bedrooms, bathrooms, and sheds that I helped build.  The woods we went hiking in.
It also means my sister's house in the city about 30 miles from my dad's house.  Where I spend the days with my sister eating breakfast with the girls, taking them to the park, zoo, children's museum, and playgrounds.

Home also means Houston, Texas, where I lived for 11 years before I moved overseas. The place where I had my first real teaching job and where I bought my first house.  Where I made a lot of friends and found Jesus.  I hang out at Karin and Brendan's house a lot where I am "aunt Bob" to their 5 kids. Karin's gracious parents who let me stay in their house, use their laundry machines, and let me use their car.  My friend Stacy whom I met in college, was my roommate when we first moved to Houston together, and is from the city my sister lives in. My precious friend Jamili whom I met while working for the Girl Scouts in college.  My adorable friend Norma who makes me laugh more than anyone else. HOME.

After a few weeks in the US, I will be talking about going home again.  This time it will be home to Mumbai. Mumbai - my first international residence.  My flat that will smell like monsoon and have pigeons and crows constantly bothering me my flapping against the window and getting stuck in the air conditioner. Mumbai-where I can walk to nearly everywhere I need to go.  Mumbai - which will be my home for 6 years - which is as long as I lived in my house in Houston.

I am blessed that I have so many places that are home to me. 

End of year 4

It is crazy to believe that I have lived in Mumbai, India for FOUR years!

I had another exciting year teaching amazing 6th and 8th graders!  I had some of the 8th graders in 6th grade so it was interesting to see how they have changed. I was an 8th grade advisor again this year and was partnered with Aanchal and we had a fun, crazy year with our bizarre group of kids :) We went on a new Week Without Walls trip to Gujarat this year and next year Aanchal and I are going to be responsible for planning it next year.  That will be an exciting challenge!!

I finished my Math Specialist in International Teaching program and got to go to Poland, France, and Croatia for my last classes.  I am going to miss the teachers in the program - I have learned a lot from them!

I got to coach Math Counts again this year and the competition was in Abu Dhabi, next year it will be in Dubai.

Next year I will be the first Middle School Math Coach at the American School of Bombay!  I am really excited for this opportunity!  I get to mix my three favorite things - curriculum planning, mentoring teachers, and teaching.  Normally, I teach two 6th grade classes and two 8th grade classes.
Next year, I will only be teaching two 8th grade classes and I will be mentoring the novice teacher that is coming to teach the 6th grade classes.  I will be helping the teachers plan in all three grade levels.  I will also be pushing in and pulling out in classes to help kids who need more support and kids who need more enrichment.  I am really looking forward to starting this new position.

Because of my new position, I will be staying in India for two more years.  I have mixed emotions about that.  I love my job, but Mumbai is not my favorite place to live :)  That just means I have to plan some fabulous vacations to take my mind off it! For fall break in September, my friend Evelyn and I are going hiking and castle spotting in Luxembourg.  :)  If anyone wants to visit India while I'm here, you have a little more time!

We have a week left of school and I am headed straight to Illinois.  I have reapply for my Indian Visa because I am starting my 5th year so I have to go to Houston at the end of my break to pick it up.  I am going on a road trip with my dad to Michigan to see the Ford Museum.  I'm taking Charlotte on her first Amtrak ride to Springfield Illinois.  Our little adventure is my birthday present to her - we are both excited!  I get to spend a few weeks staying with Brianna and Ben and it will be spent taking the girls to the pool, park, etc.  Then I will head to Houston to spend some time with my friends and get my visa.  Then I am flying to Barcelona with my friends Norma, Stacy, and Stacy's mom so we can go on a cruise to Rome, Florence, Cannes, Majorca, etc.  After the Cruise, I am staying in Barcelona a few days to sightsee, including going to Andorra - my 31st country!!! Then it is back to Mumbai the end of July to start year number 5.  I am blessed!