The Charmatz family adventures in Paris: November 2013

I have never taken part in a thankful list before. But after having such a tough year, I thought it would be the perfect way to reflect on all the wonderful blessings I have in my life. I will try to update it daily.

1. I am thankful for Jesus and my faith. I have been saved, enough said!

2. I am thankful for my amazing husband. Not only is he a great husband, but he is an amazing father. He loves his family and supports us in any way possible. He would rather spend time with us than anywhere else.

3. I am thankful for my 3 boys. God has given us these 3 blessings and we try our best daily to live up to the responsibility he has given us. Our apartment is insanely loud and crazy and most of the time I feel exhausted. But each morning I get to wake up to a goofy 4 year old, a silly 2 year old, and a kissable baby!

4. I am thankful for my parents and in-laws. These 4 people love our family unconditionally and support us anyway they possibly can. They send us love through care packages, advice, and visits. We could not ask for better parents!

5. I am thankful for my brothers sisters in law, and new brother law. I don't see or talk to them nearly as much as I should but I know they care so much about our family.

6. I am thankful for the kindness in others. We are in the rainy season in Bogota right now, which means that most days by 2:30 ish it starts to rain. Today it started at 12:15, on our way to pick up Caleb from school. I had the rain cover on the stroller, but it was pouring and Elias' socks and bottom of his pants were soaked. So I stopped under a covering for a garage of an apartment for it to lighten up. But after 10 minutes it was still pouring. A lady saw me standing there and asked me if I wanted to wait it out in the lobby, so I explained to her I had to pick up Caleb. So she offered to drive us and then take us home. It was such a blessing. Both Elias and Caleb just got over colds and Ollie is battling an infection. Our van still does not have plates, so we would've been soaked by the time we would've gotten home! I am so thankful she went out of her way to help us!

7. I am thankful for the US and the US government. A lot of people have been complaining lately about how it works or does not work. Colombia is the 3rd country I have lived in outside of the US and I have travelled in Asia and Europe as well. There is no country like the US. Plus our government really does take care of us there and abroad. I am very grateful I am American!

8. I am thankful for my friends. It is difficult maintaining friendships when you have moved as much as Brian and I have. I have a few very close friends in Maryland that I have known for years that I know I will always have a close friendship with wherever I am. Also an advantage of moving so much is now I have friends all over the world! I am been blessed by the people brought into my life!

9. I am thankful that Brian has a secure job that supports our family with an added bonus of helping us see the world!

10. On that note, I am thankful I have the opportunity to stay at home with my boys right now. We can only afford this when we are abroad. I love spending my days watching them learn and grow!

11. I can't believe it has not come up earlier, I am thankful for coffee! Plus now I live in the coffee capital, seriously the coffee here is amazing!

12. I am thankful for the opportunity to improve my Spanish while living here in Colombia. I am starting class once a week for 3 hours. Yay!!

13. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to have a relationship with all 4 of my grandparents. Both my grandfathers died when I was in my mid-20's and my grandmothers are still living.

14. I am thankful for the sunny days in Bogota. We are in the rainy season now, so having a sunny day is wonderful and means we can get out and go to the park!

15. I am thankful for the friendship that is growing between Caleb and Elias. Elias adores Caleb and Caleb is learning that it is handy to have a little brother who will play with you!

16. I am thankful for the teachers Caleb has had so far. They have been very loving and patient with Caleb. I am thankful there are teachers who love this age!

17. I am thankful for the health of my family. Oliver has had some issues this first year, but in all, I have healthy kids and a healthy husband!

18. I am thankful for the growing friendships I have here in Bogota. It is tough always having to make new friends on moves. So I am thankful for the ones that are starting here! Now one just needs to come back from R&R, you know who you are!! We miss you!

19. I am thankful for books! I love to read and getting lost in a book! Now that I am a stay at home mom, I love spending my evenings reading after the kids are in bed instead of grading papers!

20. I am thankful for the silliness of my kids. I know it is similar to #3, but it is an adjective now, not the noun :) They make me laugh everyday!

21. I am thankful for the technology that we have now. We skype every week with my parents and Brian's parents. It is so nice to be able to "see" them!

22. I am thankful that we have been able to find a church family wherever we have lived. Each has been perfect for our stage of life and has blessed us in so many ways!

23. This was my Dad's birthday. So I am thankful for my Dad! He has been and still is an amazing father and has been a wonderful grandfather (Gramp) to my boys!

24. The 23rd was also Oliver's 11 month birthday! I am thankful for my baby boy who soon will not be a baby! He has improved so much over the past month and is sleeping almost through the night! He also took his first steps on Friday, so he seriously is not a baby, now he is my toddler!

25. I am thankful that we have been able to find a good empleada here. She is such a huge help and my boys love her!

26. I am thankful that the plates for our car finally came. Hopefully now we will not be caught in the rain picking up Caleb from school!

It is always interesting navigating holidays in another country. Halloween was the first big one for us here. Last Friday the embassy had a Halloween celebration. We attended the ones in Canberra when we were stationed there and they were lots of fun. It was a bit of America while abroad since Halloween is not really celebrated in Australia.

My empleada helped me dress the boys and I hired a driver to get us to the embassy. We have our car but no plates yet. The embassy did a great job of decorating. Every section did something different and had different levels of scary so we knew where to go trick or treating with our little ones. One section was Disney, one was candy themed, one had a little box maze foe them to crawl through. They also had a little train ride. It was a lot of fun. Very different from Canberra which was a small affair. This one estimated 700+ kids, all of the Colombia and American employees were able to bring their families.

So Colombians love Halloween, well at least Bogotanos. A lot of the stores and restaurants have been decorated for weeks. Caleb's preschool did something special for it all week. Monday was crazy shoe day, so we decorated Caleb's rain boots with stickers. Tuesday was crazy hat day, so I let him choose whatever hat he wanted to wear (I know, not so crazy, but still fun). Wednesday was crazy hair/painted face day. Caleb did not want to do anything with his hair and I don't have face paint, so we put temporary tattoos on his cheeks. On Thursday he got to wear his costume to school. He had a lot of fun!

On Wednesday, Elias, Ollie and I went to the playgroup Halloween party. It is an English speaking playgroup we have just started attending. It rotates locations. All the kids dressed up, played, had treats, and they hired a photographer. It was lots of fun.

For Halloween day we got together with another family and decided to have a picnic in the park. I had heard that the businesses might do some trick or treating. So after naps I dressed up the kids, got some sandwiches and juice boxes together and we headed to the park. We figured even if there was no trick or treating the kids would have fun playing in their costumes. Both Brian and the husband of my friend were working late, so it was nice to get the kids out for a bit! The kids played for a bit and then we had the picnic with our friends. Then we went to a restaurant for ice cream. After ice cream we saw a restaurant very decorated and kids with bags going in, so we thought we would give it a shot. They were giving out candy. So we went around to other restaurants, we were passing a pub and some people were shouting for Woody to come over and then saying, "canta, canta". Apparently there is a song that kids sing to get the candy. I apologized and said we were American and didn't know the song. I asked my empleada today and she said it is "tricky tricky Halloween, quiero dulces para mi, y si no me das se te crece la nariz" Which means, I want candy and if you don't give me some, your nose will grow. haha! Next year I will teach them to sing it :) Anyway, we went to about 10 places and then headed home. In all it was a really fun night! Here are some pics of our fun Halloween!