Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Post-conference



Gregg with the tech team in the back of the conference room

International mix of volunteers for conference included LCC students

Unlike most posts this will not be about the boys.
Except to say that they managed pretty well with less of our attention than usual while we were both absorbed last week in the global leadership summit- Klaipeda. LCC hosted it along with Klaipeda City church with volunteers helping from the gospel church and a Catholic parish. It was truly an amazing event, surprising us all in the way it all came together and in the wonderful atmosphere among people.

The boys had some babysitters and went to a favorite friend's house they had not been to for a long time.


And when we all recovered for the weekend, then it was time to celebrate the birthdays that we basically had to overlook last week too- those were also Gregg and my birthdays.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

pasakos be galo - unending fairy tales

This week Erik was learning such little stories that go for a line or two and then repeat from the beginning. I had not really known of this literary style. But it is quite common for Lithuanian children to learn these funny stories. By memory.

Then the teacher told him he is supposed to learn one or make one up for the class. He told me about it and I did not really know what it was about. Friday the teacher told me I am to help him learn one over the weekend.

Fortunately you can find these on the internet. Nice to know through Grazina who stayed a couple of nights with us.

So he is learning a little story that goes: A rabbit was running through the forest, bump he hit a tree, he layed there, he got up and the rabbit was runnign through the forest...

Otherwise Gregg and I are gearing up for the first Global Leadership Summit to be held at LCC. people from all over Lithuania are coming and it will be quite a large production.

It also takes some organizing to schedule where the boys will be during those days when we are basically all absorbed.

We are having changeable weather- windy, cold, sunny, a little warm, but over all cold enough for the city to turn on heat in a couple of days- earlier than usual for the fall.
(But we have our own control on heat by natural gas- lucky us!)

We had an outdoor experience at Mc Donald's a couple of weeks ago...


Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Spirit and body

After great-grandma's funeral this summer, the idea of death was a little more understandable for Erik. The body stays there. The spirit goes on to heaven. So recently he asked, again about what happens to you when you die. And then followed with some more thoughtful questions... Do we see God when we go to heaven? but if we don't have a body, how will we see God? And if we don't have a body and brain, how will we remember people when we get to heaven?

(Some of these questions I have never thought of quite honestly. Then I remembered of course that we get a new body and that Spirit can communicate with spirit. And somehow Erik seems to be able to understand this at 6 1/2)

In other news:
Erik is being invited to a soccer team in town from what he said after the in school soccer practice the other day. Apparently he is showing some real talent, not a surprise though to us!

David is needing extra attention these days and occasional naps to deal with his behavior issues. The long day in school without nap and with structured activities from 3-5 PM seems to be bringing out resistive behaviors.

Both boys are improving in Lithuanian language beyond what they had last spring which is good to see. They often ask for evening stories from the Lithuanian language fairy tale book and that was not happening last spring. So, it seems this school is really jumpstarting their development in a number of ways.

Monday, October 4, 2010

"I'm not used to daddy"

From Wednesday of last week until Sunday evening Gregg was away in England observing the technicians behind the scenes of the global leadership summit in Bracknell, one of the premier sites for the summit in Europe. All this in preparation for the first ever summit in Lithuania- at LCC in 2 weeks.

This was the first for a long separation of Gregg from us, and the first for mommy to manage the boys for 5 days on her own. Granted 3 of those days included some time in school.

But, David had part days wednesday and Thursday because of signs of tiredness and difficulty coping with full structured days.

We did some special things, got some extra toys and they got to play at the Akropolis mall play area for a few hours. And it was actually surprising how well they could do- as long as I stayed vigilant and on top of any signs of trouble.

I also got to do a day away while they were in school- a 2 hour trip to Kaunas to a celebration of the Lithuanian physical therapist association where I was mentioned among others who have contributed to the establishment and training of the profession over the last 15 years. I was surprised at the number of people who seemed to remember that I taught the earliest seminars that they had back in 1996-97.
The trip was also a good time for reflection and time along with God!

The boys were aware of the days till Gregg would come back and yet they did not exactly bug me about it. I was expecting them to have more trouble keeping track of the time. On Sunday they knew that Gregg would be coming back. David seemed to be anticipating it but not with the craziiness that sometimes accompanies his waiting for something that never seems to come soon enough. He greeting daddy warmly when he arrived and was glad to spend time with him.

Erik on the other hand told me before daddy got back that he was not ready for daddy to come back and that he was not used to daddy, he just wanted to be with mommy. Granted he had started to swing back toward wanting mommy around all the time before daddy left. But this is the same kind of initial wall that he has given me too when I am away over night. The wall did not come down this time until the morning, though.

By tonight both were quite happy to absorb all of daddy's attention.