this week.

We’ve been playing with their magnetic dolls every morning.  Among other things, we took Maggie Leigh to the hospital to have her baby, then she joined us for a snowball fight and a pizza lunch at Joey’s house.

Summer is in full swing, and it’s hot here, people.  Today it is 34 degrees C (93 F), which I know is nothing compared to August in South Carolina, but, for some reason, it’s it’s own kind of terrible.  A dry, scorching, dust-in-your-eyes kind of heat, that leaves me feeling sluggish from about 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.  May is the hottest month here, after which, according to Priya, it becomes “very, very cold.”  Huh.  Not sure I would use that to describe any part of my life here.

Despite the heat, still drinking too much of this.  I am eternally grateful to those of you who send us Starbucks.  A necessity?  No.  A beautiful start to my day?  Yes!

We love getting care packages!!!

And letters!

Thanks Mom for the fun and creepy masks (Is Amie a kitten or a pig?  Is Judah a leopard or that scary tiger from Kung Fu Panda?  We’re still trying to work this out).

This guy.  He’s the bane of my King Street existence.  Pigeons love lurking on our balconies, and they really drive me crazy with their pooping and their waking my kids up at 6 a.m.  This particular fellow hangs out on our kitchen balcony (in the photo he fled to the upper ledge).  Priya cannot understand why I hate him so much, she pointed out to me that maybe I can show some mercy since he only has one leg (it is, gruesomely, true).  She’s a better woman than I.

This week we moved our bedroom into David’s office to make way for . . . wait for it: a homeschooling room!

The room will be finished in time for Judah to start school in June, but here’s a sneak peek of the reading corner.

And in the meantime, it makes a fantastic play room!

Tomorrow completes my second month of language study.  The glamor has faded, and now it’s time to face the reality that learning this language is going to require a whole lot of practice and a whole lot of sounding like an idiot.  I’m thankful for a patient and encouraging teacher.  Also, I’m thankful that David will be starting class again on Monday.  Our tentative schedule is three days a week at 4 p.m. in our home.   Neetu will also spend thirty minutes or so working with Judah and Amie after our class.  So fun!

Downloaded Little Dorrit for free on Kindle.  It’s hard for me to express what a comfort Dickens is to my very soul.

And one last pic of these two munchkins because they’re just too cute for words.

It’s been a good week!