Today, to celebrate Thanksgiving in a foreign world that doesn’t celebrate Thanksgiving, we went to the beach.
And it was a lovely morning and early afternoon to “get away” together as a family.
How we enjoyed slowing down and exploring some hands-on science of checking out dead jelly fish on the shore.
Our Stateside swim lessons for the Littles also provided much joy and peace for the entire family.
Then we came home where two native Americans and two pilgrims joined us for Thanksgiving dinner 🙂
It was simple and it was also simply delightful to share in a thankful meal together. Each person went around the table and shared three things they are thankful for.
And even after the meal was finished, the sorority laughed and chatted on so.
Yes, it was another marvelous Mozambican Thanksgiving.
Today you turned 6, Eden! I still can’t believe it! I mean we all expect you to just keep on growing, by the grace of God, but at the same time it is so utterly shocking that you are getting SO BIG!
Today we celebrated you with letting you open those presents early this morning that you had been DYING to open for months now. Nope, we didn’t make you wait a second longer than we could drag Daddy from bed (sorry, Matt) because the rest of us were all up.
And yes, naturally the ducklings needed a front row seat.
And then we just let you play, play, play: dolls, house, princesses, magic wands – your morning was filled with much imagination and love. Breakfast wasn’t even on your radar once the gifts were opened and there were games to be played. Even the ducklings took a back seat to all the excitement… temporarily before they were introduced into your game. Ha! (Sorry, ducks- there is too much love for you guys.)
Our day held our online conference, a special birthday message from your kid’s class teacher, and an afternoon of more play fun (and even taking your dolls to the library!).
The birthday dinner of your choice this year was nachos, which left everyone enjoying the fruit of your great pick. Mmm.
“Did you only eat all the black olives off of your nachos?”
Eden’s silent response:
😂
Purple cupcakes, of course, and a side of moose tracks ice cream (ahh, one of the wonders of America, Eden!) and you felt thoroughly celebrated and honored as we went around the table and shared what we love about you.
Oh Eden-girl, you are such a wonderful kid. We all adore you and your genuine little heart. Life is so wonderful and has so much to offer in your joyful world. You utterly delight over the simplicity of being given a piece of candy when others wouldn’t think anything of it. You dance and sing at all possible occasions. And you are so snuggly. The world has all been the same playing field of a learning curve for you. Mozambique has so many layers of culture to learn for the first time and America as well. But you embrace both with open arms and much courage. I admire your willingness to try even when you hold Daddy or my leg for a little more reassurance in a shy moment. I’m thankful that you know our legs will always be there. We are in this together, Beeden! You are quick to say thank you, going out of your way to say it many times and in different ways in an outpouring of gratitude. And I absolutely love that you find just as much joy in homemade gifts as in store bought ones. You wear your heart on your sleeve, loving others deeply and intentionally. And you bust out silly dance moves when you’re happy with zero shame. Haha. Be your awesome “lost five teeth in two weeks” self, kid! I hope you never stop hugging ducks and squealing at how adorable every animal is that walks by. I hope you never stop laughing uncontrollably at absolutely nothing. I hope you never stop giving monster hugs to people you met yesterday, but have proven to be trustworthy in your loving worldview. I hope you never stop singing at the top of your lungs when you don’t know any of the words to the song but have 300% confidence that it doesn’t matter because you’re going to have a great time regardless. Eden, you are an absolute delight of a child and it is an honor to get to be your mommy. Thank you for being my little Eden-Beeden. And Happiest of birthdays, sweet girlie. I cannot wait to see what God continues to have in store for you in year six!
I am sure that when you recorded your Sunday School message for your Preschool/Kindergarten class you thought about each of the faces in your class. But four more faces wanted to join your class and were DELIGHTED to sit under your teaching again.
All on their own they gathered supplies, helped each other plan out and tape the scroll ends, selected extra Bible verses to add to their scrolls (because apparently one is just not enough), wrote all the Bible verses on the board so everyone could see, copied the verses onto their scrolls, lightly colored and distressed their scrolls (it’s all about affect, people), and helped each other roll and tie the scrolls (complete with cat supervision, naturally).
Our Abi may have long since graduated from your class (and our sixth grader, Rachael, even longer than that!), Hannah also skipped right over your class jumping from the toddler class to Africa to second grade Sunday school, but Eden was THRILLED to learn that she would probably be in your class when we, Lord willing, get to visit back to the States.
These guys may not have a chart in your class for a sticker, but they wanted to repeat the summary verse. (Sorry it’s dark)And Hannah wanted to look the verse up and read it from the Bible.❤️ We love you, Mrs. Susan, and thank you for a wonderful lesson and a fun project. We can’t wait to see you and hug you in a few months, Lord willing. ❤️
P. S. Thanks for ignoring our pajamas and bed heads. We do real life here and your lesson was too exciting to bother delaying while we got ready for the day. 😉
This year in school our first science focus was Anatomy and Physiology.
It has been a really fun hands-on learning experience with some learning tools, paper models, growth in artistic attempts (ha!), and fun videos making learning alive. (And yes, some of us learn just as well in our pajamas too. 😉)
The girls were sad to move on to astronomy after closing out our formal lessons on anatomy and physiology for the year, but one in particular has continued to study on her own. And the girls have been setting up medical clinics in our backyard and doing some “pharmaceutical” work to treat imaginary patients. 😉
Goodbye, intro to Anatomy&Physiology. It has been a blast. On to astronomy!
