Oh to be in a country where you just go to the public school closest to your house!  It’s a bit more complicated here.

First you have to decide if you want to English or French educate your children (yep, those are the choices – no Arabic!  Although it is taught as a separate class in both French and English schools).  For us, that’s a pretty easy choice, as neither of us speak French and we’d like to actually be able to help Isla with her homework past kindergarten.  Within those mediums, there are several programs that you can choose from: French baccalaureate, International bacc, Lebanese bacc… there might be more, this is all a bit confusing for me, honestly!

Then you have to consider your budget.  If we wanted to send Isla to the best English schools in Beirut, we’d be looking at $9-11,000 for her first year… and it goes up a little each year.  We’re definitely not heading in that direction – although I’ll admit, the playground at those schools (rare in Beirut) makes it tempting.  Ok, not really that tempting, just makes me sad that you have to pay that much for a 3 year old to have a nice playground at her school.

Anyways, we’ve found two good options that we are looking at for Isla.  They are much more in-line with our budget and we’ve heard good things about both schools.  One is within walking distance, the other just a mile away… which means about an hour to get their and back with traffic.    We’ve visited both schools and the next step is to fill out an application, and then, get this, Isla has to go in for an interview!!!  I’m really curious how a 2 year old is interviewed and evaluated… I’m sure that will be another blog post all on it’s own.

It’s been hard to get “real” information, actually.  Obviously, Isla is very strong in English, and we’d love for her to be in a context that would really help her progress in Arabic.  But there is a sense of pride when talking to the administrators that, “NO!  We speak English in our classroom!”  (except the hour a day that the kids have Arabic class.)  But I know for a fact that it isn’t a complete immersion situation, or you’d have kids at the end of their first year speaking in English, and that’s just not the case… at least in my experience working with the girls.  So I know they are speaking Arabic to the kids.  It’s just hard finding out how much exposure Isla would get… because we are hoping it’s a lot, but the schools are standing by their program and telling us what they think we want to hear… that it’s all English.

So, we are weighing our options… considering our values… and filling out applications and setting up interviews for our two year old who tells me, “I don’t yite school.  It’s not very fun.”  It’s quite overwhelming, honestly.

To be continued…  :) :) :)

Here are my favorites:

10.  ”One two fee dubba vee” (when she was learning to count at the beginning of the summer)

9. Caleb: Does Daddy love you?
Isla: NO!
Caleb: Who loves you?
Isla: Elmo loves you!

8. Isla saw a few minutes of So You Think You Can Dance on TV.  She then wanted to dance and “almost fall down” like the dancers on the show.

7. “Booty bears” (blueberries)

6. “Shoo fly, don bama you” (she thought that meant bug)

5. Waking up crying in the night, “Isla’s room said bonk!”  (I think maybe the neighbors upstairs were moving furniture or something)

4.  She adds “es” to any word to make it plural, including Arabic words: “hillses, bookses”

3. “Throw it up.”  (Blow it out)

2. Caleb: You will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
Isla: Lion in a manger!  RAWR!

1. While talking about how God is with us when we are afraid (Isla is afraid of the car), “God is not in Mommy and Daddy’s car.  Silly God!”

Eh, I thought it was a fun idea and didn’t get around to it with all the busy-ness of the end of holidays.  So, to continue… here are the ten most read posts from our blog in 2011:

10. Flash mob Beirut: Easter edition

9. Isla spells her name

8. Switching normals

7. Good numbers, bad numbers

6. Isla in America

5. I wish they all could be California girls…

4. Advent 2011

3. The culture shock that no one tells you about

2. You are fat.

1. I have a dream… (interestingly, I wrote this in 2010… but it still gets read more than any other post!)

Thanks for reading… hope to keep more fun and interesting posts coming your way in 2012!

The other day I was waiting by the side of the road for a friend to pick me up.  The traffic was terrible, so I was out there for quite a while.  The sweet old man in the carpet shop I was standing in front of brought me a chair and covered it with a rug for me to sit on.  Super sweet.

It also brings some great laughs from the girls.  Today one was talking about how belly buttons grow when you have a baby in your belly.  I showed them mine and she oohed and ahhed… not about my belly button, but in her words…. “Wow.  It’s so white.”

Another of our girls hasn’t been eating her lunch at school, but has been eating chocolate and candy that her friends are giving her (as evidenced by candy wrappers found daily in her backpack).  One of the housemoms told her that she can’t eat so much junk food or she will get a fat belly.

Her response?

“I wanna be like Miss Nicolette!”

10.  Awkward Family Photos

I imagine most of you have seen this already… if you haven’t, make sure you aren’t drinking anything when you check it out… unless you want to be cleaning coffee off your computer screen!

9.  Enjoying the Small Things

I’m not sure how I stumbled across this blog, but it’s so sweet.  A mama to two little girls, who is an incredible photographer and has quite the zest for life.  Start with Nella’s birth story… amazing.

8.  in real life with Jamie Jo

One of Women of the Harvest’s current blogs exploring life as a woman serving cross-culturally.  If you are a gal working overseas, I’d definitely encourage you to check out Women of the Harvest… a great resource!

7.  “Stuff” my Kids Ruined

Title says it all… pictures of the creativeness of children.  (Technically, the title has a swear word in it, but the site is clean!)

6. Beirut Spring

A Lebanese blog about life, culture, politics in Lebanon.  Since I don’t like to read the news, this keeps me up to date on what’s going on without all of the threats and “war talk” that you find on the news.

5. Blog Baladi

Another popular Lebanese blogger.

4.  The Meanest Mom

A funny funny mom blogger… basically just stories about her kids and all the shenanigans they find themselves in.

3.  I Heart Faces

A really fun photography site.  They do weekly contests and photoshop tutorials.  Photography is a hobby of both Caleb’s and mine, and it’s always fun to get new ideas!

2.  I Heart Organizing

I want to live in this woman’s house.  She’s seriously amazing.  It’s a good thing we don’t have Ikea, Home Depot, etc in Lebanon or decorating and organizing could easily become an addiction.

1.  The Livesay [Haiti] weblog

I started reading this blog just after the earthquake in Haiti.  They were there and were giving really good updates from the ground.  And then I continued reading… they have an incredible ministry in Haiti and some really insightful thoughts on short term trips and trans-racial adoption (which has great principles on the issue of race that I’ve been working on with the girls).

So any great blogs out there that I missed??

Happy reading!

10. Airplanes

This child will probably grow up to be a pilot.  Her excitement about airplanes leads her to do crazy things, like stay awake for 26 hours straight so as not to miss a minute of going up, flying, going down, running through airports and going through customs.  Even drugs have little affect on Energizer Isla when it comes to airplanes.

9. Animals that you can touch (aka not street cats)!

Cats are at the top of her list, followed closely by dogs, donkeys, horses, cows and butterflies.  Pretty much anything but ants.  And snails.  She’s terrified of snails.

8. Swimming

Taking swimming lessons this summer was definitely a highlight of her year.  She loves the water!

7. Family

Isla had so much fun with her family this summer.  Grandpa Dave, Grandma Jane, Aunt Charity & Uncle Nathan, Uncle Cody, Zippy, Grandpa Bill, Grandma, Uncle Adam & Aunt Jade, Annelise and Uncle Evan….  she loves and misses her family so much!

6.  The Beach

While the sand took some getting used to, Isla had no problem running straight into the water!  No surprise there.  :)

5. Being a Flower Girl

Having a one year old as a flower girl can be risky, but Isla did amazing.  She was so excited she ran down the aisle.  She’s blurry in all the ceremony pictures :)

4. Turning 2!

What child doesn’t love having a birthday?  Isla was totally into the cakes, parties and presents this year!

3.  Music Class

Music class is the highlight of Isla’s week.  Play dates with her friends when we don’t have music class is an added bonus to her life. She loooves her friends, loves to sing and dance, and loves her teacher!

2.  Snow!

If you can eat it, Isla likes it.

1. Playing with the girls

This year Isla has been going with me to the girls a few times each week.  We have two new girls, one is just a year older than Isla, so she has such a blast going to play with them while I study with the older ones.  It took her a while to get comfortable, but I love how she just walks right in and heads straight to where the girls are playing.  Ahhh, life with 11 big sisters… Isla is loving it!

The Christmas displays in and around Beirut are quite extravagant.  Santa’s village, polars bears playing hockey, lights and trees, nativity scenes.  There are also shows for kids in the evenings.  We headed down to the new souks one night with pretty much the rest of Beirut to watch some kids dancing.

We also stumbled upon the most bizarre Christmas program ever.  There was a large boat filled with people in the middle of the road, a small marching band, and this… carriage.  After Santa rappelled from a building nearby, we were treated to a firework show in the middle of the city, and then everyone just left.  Strange.

We had fun looking for the perfect spot for our Christmas card picture this year.

The girls’ Christmas party is always a highlight of the season for us… we have a few new girls this year who’ve never celebrated Christmas before, which makes it extra special.

I was excited for Isla to enjoy it as well, but she had other plans.  She cried when I put on a blindfold to pin the nose on Rudolph, cried when the girls decorated Caleb like a Christmas tree, and then of course, there was Santa…

On Christmas Eve, we opened some presents.  We decided we really like spreading the gifts out over a few days… takes the emphasis off of presents, we felt.  Isla was thrilled with her goldfish… and they’ve come in super handy with our potty training project this week!

We had dinner with our dear friends the Costas and their family… a Christmas tradition we are so thankful to be included in!

Christmas morning we had cinnamon rolls and for the first time since we moved to Beirut, they were actually edible!  We opened some more presents and then headed to church… where a good friend was baptized.  What a great way to celebrate the gift of life… with an expression of a life changed!  Isla thought it was the coolest thing ever… Miss Grace got to do “ducky dives” at church!  Of course, the cake was a bonus as well.

We hope your Christmas season has been full of love, family and celebration over the greatest gift we could ever receive… the gift of a baby who would save the world.

Merry Christmas!

(I don’t expect anyone to actually watch this entire video except for grandparents and aunts and uncles as it’s 5 minutes long :))

We’re having a traditional Thanksgiving dinner with some friends next week, but we’ll have a mini-meal with our small group tonight… it won’t be quite traditional (chicken, stuffing, pumpkin soup and cranberry chutney) but it will be fun!

I’m so thankful for my amazing family – an incredible husband, goofy little Isla (who is currently licking her finger and wiping it on an imaginary owie on my arm), and sweet baby girl spinning in my belly right now.  And for our families in the States who we love and wish we could celebrate with today!

I’m thankful for friends near and far… for your support and encouragement and fun!

Most of all, I’m thankful to the Lord for saving me and for allowing us to be doing exactly what we’ve always dreamed.  It is truly a privilege to serve Him!

Isla wants to thank God for “this computer, the pictures up here on the wall, Mommy’s camera, Isla’s water, Daddy’s desk and coasters!”  (basically everything in her line of sight right now!)

I hope this day is filled with family, food and thankfulness… wherever you may be!