March - The Month of Mother's Day in Macedonia

I cannot believe that it has been 3 1/2 weeks since I posted on this blog. Please forgive me. When we returned to Macedonia, we had the Mother's Day celebration at the kindergarten. Then Arville and I both were ill with a terrible case of the Macedonian "flu". Darrell & Kathy Smith, our colleagues in ministry in Skopje, announced their resignation and started making plans to return to the States. They will be relocating to a suburb of Atlanta where Darrell will be working as a Consultant for an environmental firm. Even though Darrell has to leave early (May) to begin his new work, Kathy will stay until Alex finishes school and the kindergarten school year ends in June. We will miss them terribly - but certainly wish them the very best in this new adventure.

Now we are making preparations for our Team Meeting in Athens, Greece next week. So I have been rather busy - but no excuse for not posting sooner. I will try to do better from now on.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day happens earlier in Macedonia than it does in the States. March 8th is a day of celebration form the mothers of our kindergarten children. It is a day "out of the house" and a special day of socialization that they do not experience very often.

This is Habibe Iseni, the director of the "Future of the Family" kindergarten in Skopje. We now have proof that she "talks with her hands".





Kathy Smith speaks to the mothers about our desire that their children know how much they are loved by the time they leave the school.





Advije and Nexhibe listen to what is being said. Advije helps with all the meals for the children and cleans the school building (she is Habibe's sister) and Nexhibe teaches alongside Habibe.

These are Advije's daughters (Belinda and Elmira). Belinda attended the kindergarten until she entered elementary school this past year.


Belinda and Elmira

The following pictures are of the mothers and some grandmothers that attended the day's celebration. Some of the mothers were not able to come because of the flu, so grandmothers or older daughters attended in their places.











Leaving the celebration:



We forgot to make a new picture all the teachers, staff, and consultants (Kathy and I) - so I am using one we took in the fall.



Happy Mother's Day from Kathy, Habibe, Advije, Nexhibe and Shelia

FAMILY PICTURES

These are the family pictures I made today. It took a lot of tries to get everyone with their eyes open and smiling. HA! Thought you would like to see the results. We leave in the morning early for Macedonia - and will arrive on Tuesday afternoon.

These are the African outfits that Amy bought when they were in Ethiopia.

The next posting will be from Skopje

Shelia

WHERE HAVE I BEEN??

I know many of you are wondering what in the world happened to my obsessive blogging ??!!! Well, we have been so busy --- with Nathan coming home, working on CBF matters, enlisting partners (volunteers) to work with us over the next year, meetings, speaking, etc., I have let my blogging go for a few weeks.


I will try to catch up a bit (in pictures, anyway) before we head back to Macedonia tomorrow morning. So here is an abbreviated version of what has happened since February 20 (can that be just 10 days ago)?


Nathan Arrives in Louisville - February 20:













Souvenirs That Amy Brought From







(Of Course There Are Baskets for Me !!!)






Candid Shots After We Got To Jasper:












And Then There Was MORE SNOW !!!














Even Nathan Enjoyed His First Snow



The following are photographs that I made last week (a new hobby I am trying out) . I had lots of fun, and I think I am now ready for Sammi (our photographer in Gostivar that we have known for years) to work with me to improve my skills. He has offered to do this for some time now, but I didn't know whether I was ready or not. This was almost as much fun as watercoloring and quilting. HA!


I also intend to take Zlatko up on his offer to teach me framing. If I can do the framing myself, I will not have that extra expense if I decide to sell my watercolors or frame photographs later on. We will get to know Zlatko and his family on a more personal basis, as well --- not just as someone we do business with.


Nathan Mussie Breedlove





Sophia Rose







The Many Personalities of Anna Grace










Elijah James







I also took pictures of Arville




I even tried a self-portrait, but I think I may need a shutter release before doint that again. HA!




Hopefully, I can get back into more frequent blogging when I return to Skopje.

Shelia