Snow, snow and more snow

 This winter has been so much fun with how much snow fall we've had. I hate winter, but I love snow. I think we had three storms before January ever hit. Last week we had about 13in. of snow. It was a Tuesday; Lilia got out at noon and there was no school the next day. So we went sledding at Clark Park. It was a lot of fun! We've lived here for 4 years and this was the first time we did it. The kids stayed for about an hour. They had the best time!

 This family came over to where we were sledding and they had a real toboggan. He said he bought on Amazon, but it was hand made in Colorado. He let us go for a ride down the hill. It was very cool. We went slow, but it went far.

Nature in Winter

I went walking yesterday at the Wissahickon. It's my absolute favorite place. I crave nature and this place is only 20-25 minutes from our house, from West Philly. I love it!
Yesterday was incredible! As all these runners would pass by me here and there I realized I could never be a runner. First of all I hate running, but second I would stop every 20 feet to admire nature around me, and take pictures.
The river was flowing but there were icy spots along the banks. The picture above (the first one) was actually where the river completely stopped flowing and just froze until it rounded the corner 1/4 mile away and wound along Lincoln Drive.
I had fun throwing rocks onto the ice to see if I could break it. First of all, most of the fist sized rocks were frozen to the ground. When I could break one away and throw it onto the ice, the rock only bounced away. I know I'm not very strong, but I think the ice was also sorta thick.
It was a perfect morning of getting outside and enjoying the incredible beauty that God creates in the winter!

Horses and Hikes

My brother got Lilia her very own horse brush for Christmas. She brought it to Tony and Patti's house on Saturday. Crem was nuzzling up to Lilia (right).
Promise (below) let her get close with the brush a few times, but quickly walked away.

 Tony and Patti's home sits on 23 acres of land. Twice a day Tony walks their three dogs on the property. We joined him for an afternoon hike. The dogs stayed really close to the kids, protecting them.
As soon as Alex finished running across this plank bridge (below) he went splat right into the mud. He tripped a fell and his knees and hands were covered. Thankfully Dave is a planner and keeps extra clothes in the trunk for such occasions.The day was saved!

Merry Christmas 2013

 Lilia is SO patient! She waited a good half an hour before Alex woke up to open presents.

Merry Christmas from the Brindley Family!

 I know this picture is blurry, but I couldn't delete it. The kids each spent their own chore money of gifts for one another. They were so happy after opening their gifts. They gave one another a hug and said thank you to each other.

Matt, AnnMarie, Ellie (left), Olivia (right).
AnnMarie is due with twin girls in February, but she will give birth some time in January.

This Christmas was a bit lonlyer than past ones. Traditionally Dave's parents come to my parents house and we all have Christmas dinner together. Well the Brindley's are in CO. for good so my mom invited Tony and Patti over to join us. In the spring I asked Tony if he would make me a garden bench.  

 Dave and I went out for a walk Christmas day. As we were coming back down the street I saw this bench sitting next to my car. From about 5 houses up I saw it and started running. I couldn't believe it! It was beautiful! It is so rustic, think and perfect. I hugged Tony with tears in my eyes. What a beautiful gift! I never imagined it would look like this. I decided it is too nice and it is now in the kitchen at the table. It's perfect!

Three generations

Ellie (almost 2 1/2 yrs old) always has such a big smile on her face. She came over to me and asked, "Where's Uncle Dave?" Uncle Dave put on some silly antlers and they sat together. Ellie is such a sweet heart!

English Class

   
     So both Dave and I have the same job. It looks different for each of us - at least it does after having children. We are technically missionaries. We work for Cru (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ.) We worked at West Chester University, our alma matter, for 4 years. Then we went overseas for a year with Cru. After coming home from a very difficult year we switched lanes from traditional American undergrads to working with international students who come to America to study. So we still work for Cru, but now we work for a division of them called Bridges. It's such a perfect fit for us; especially Dave. He's doing what he's made for!
     I had such an incredible summer taking seminary classes in Colorado. I loved everything I was learning! This summer I began praying how God would use me this semester (fall 2013).
     Lilia goes to The City School with five Chinese Christian kids. All of them had come to her birthday party in March including some of the parents. One of the moms, Shiqiong (shir-chi-ong), saw me do a craft with the kids. She was impressed with how I "taught" the kids as we went along. Well she asked me at the beginning of the school year if I would teach English to the children and moms of visiting scholars. A visiting scholar may be a doctor or a professor in their country and they come here to do research and learn from how we do things in America.
     As far as teaching, things were really silent on Shiqiong's end for a while. She knows the needs of the Chinese community. Whether Christian or not, the Chinese hang around and know one another. Just before Thanksgiving she asked me again and we worked out the details. My first class was just after Thanksgiving. We had 5 kids and Lilia and Alex came to work with me to help the kids. It's totally free and my goal is to also help the moms with their English.
     We have only had 3 classes, but our last one was a week before Christmas. I went to the $1 store and found some awesome books. Of the three kids who came two of them are in Kindergarten and the other is in first grade. So I wrapped these up as presents, brought in a table top fake tree and we played a game. We played "freeze dance." When someone won a round they got to pick a present. I made sure everyone won.

We talked about the Christmas story in a very simple way. Then we filled out a coloring sheet where they had to label the pictures. Mary, Joseph, lamb, Jesus, manger, staff, star, etc.
I had them sound out some of the letters/words and they had to write them on their own paper.
I love teaching. I did get a degree in Elem. Edu at West Chester. However, outside of student teaching, Sunday school and now this, I've never taught a day in my life. It just comes natural to me. I teach my kids when I interact with them, when we hike and when Alex helps me cook. I'm so excited about how God wants to use me this semester, and next. And Lilia is an excellent helper. She is a natural teacher. I let her explain a game or check the kids work. She loves it. She would want to run the whole class if I let her!

Alex's Christmas Quotes of the evening

Picture the scene:
We are in church, it's Christmas Eve. We had brought things for the kids to do, but they are already bored with them. The service is short, only an hour, and it's time for a short message from the pastor.
Tuck stands up front and begins to ask the kids in the audience questions about Christmas.
Keep in mind, there are only about 50 or so people in church. Most people are out of town visiting family. Also note that the pastor and his wife know us well. We've been going there for about 4 years and have been involved early on.

"What are we celebrating on Christmas Eve?" asks Tuck our pastor.
"Presents!" shouts Alex.

"What present are we celebrating?" asks Tuck.
"Me!" shouts Alex

"Was it a good time for Mary to be traveling?"
"No," says Alex and many other children.
"Why not?"
"Because it was cold." again shouts Alex.

Laughter, laughter, and more laughter ensue with each response Alex gives.
I had to write down what he said because it was just so funny.
One day, Alex, you will read this and laugh so hard at your four year old answers to one of the greatest stories ever told.

Alex's Holiday Concert

 One of my kids loves the stage, the other gets stage fright. I'm pretty sure you could guess who is who.
Tuesday morning Alex sung at his preschool's holiday concert. That morning Dave and I were getting him excited for it by quoting lines from Elf. "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear." Alex was self-conscious about his singing. Again we quoted Elf, "Any one can sing. I'm in a store and I'm singing!"
None of that worked when he walked through the door to the sanctuary. He burst into tears. I quick run up and gave him Stinky Bear. Honestly, what would he do without that bear!

 This picture is of Alex looking on to his music teacher to see what the motions were.
He knew all the songs, he had been singing them around the house for weeks. I had asked him which were his favorite and he had two favorites.
Alex began to warm up and slowly let the bear hang to his side while he sung along. He kept looking at us and we would wave, smile big and give a thumbs up.

I love the picture above. He would not put down that bear so Stinky did all the motions to the songs too.


By the end he was smiling.

Afterwards Dave and I told him how proud we were of him. He did have the option of sitting with us, but he didn't. He stayed up there, toughed it out and warmed up enough to enjoy the songs. We are so proud of our little man for persevering!