Feelings update

We have been back from vacation for 3 weeks. Matt felt the need to point this out to me today. He said he feels like it has been the longest 3 weeks of his life. I looked at him and said "3 weeks?" He said "yes." It was one of those situations where you either laugh or cried. Unfortunately I did both. That will give you my current state of mind. I can not believe it has been only three weeks. I would agree with him that it feels much longer. They have been three hard weeks!

We are doing our best getting about getting out and about, and I am sure that is helping, but oh.my.word.

I don't even know where to begin, but if you happen to think of us, pray for us. We are all have a hard time.

Elijah is having serious anxiety issues. This has made it rough in school, not in school, at bedtime, during the night. I am not going to embarrass him by listing his behaviors, but I have seen regressions in so many areas (no worries, not bathroom issues!), and so many obvious ways he is anxious. Unfortunately, I can't get to what exactly is causing him to be anxious. Yesterday he said it was hard to make friends his age (yes, it is, it is hard to make friends period!). But, other than that, I don't know what is causing him to be anxious.

Kayla seems to be doing fine (right now), occasionally she gets quiet and just kind of looks at you, without saying anything and I can sense her sadness, but she's not talking either. Other times, she seems totally fine. 

Matt's job is going well. He enjoys the work, but he is stressed and not happy living here either. I think it's more our unhappiness that is affecting him, but he has not settled into this post like he normally would.

I feel like this move was a mistake. I feel like it was too much, too soon, with Matt coming off of Baghdad. Hindsight is always 20/20.

Although I feel like the move was a mistake, I know we will not regret it once we leave. We have made some friends, who I am sure we will stay connected with. The move will be good for us financially as well. Also, we have had a lot of time to reconnect as a family unit. We love being together and doing things together. Elijah asked Matt today if he could just stay home tomorrow. It was really sweet. And, Greece has an amazing History and it is really neat exploring all of it and I would be totally remiss not to mention it.

We are all exhausted and I know that is currently affecting our frame of minds, so again, if you happen to think of us, pray for us. 

Flisvos Park Playground

On Saturday Matt took the kids to a new park. The point was for him to spend some quality time with the kids, while I spent time cleaning the Home School room and planning. He took them to Flisvos Park Playground in Faliro.  It is said to be the biggest and best playground in Greece. It didn't quite work out how we planned, it started raining and they had to come home earlier than anticipated, but I did get some much needed time to myself. It might have been short, but it was very much appreciated. The kids had a blast and were bummed that they had to come back early. The only downside was that it was hard to find parking. I will let the pictures speak for themselves...did I mention the park was on the waterfront?

Corinth

The entrance to Acrocorinth, with its three gateways

We all have good days and we all have bad days. It's the same with Homeschooling. Yesterday, we went to Ancient Corinth to explore the sites and we had a great time. Today we watched Drive Thru History: Greece, Ancient Corinth for History, which gave us more information than we learned at the actual site yesterday. But, it was a great follow up to our field trip. This is one of those times that I love Homeschooling!!! Corinth wasn't in our History plans for the day, but with Homeschooling I had the freedom to change our plans and do what we felt like doing today (watching a video!).

The view from the parking lot

We started at the bottom of the Acrocorinth and hiked up. It was quite a hike!! We were in multiple layers, but by the time we reached the top we were all pretty much down to t-shirts, it got hotter as we went higher up. It was a great day, with the weather being very beautiful. It only felt too hot from all the hiking! We were blessed to be able to go with friends, Paul, Donna and Addi Lupton, with Donna acting as a tour guide. It certainly made the hike easier having friends to talk to and enjoy the experience with.

The remains of a cannon

Chatting, enjoying the view with Donna

Queen of this wall!

Elijah climbing into the window area....

The girls were not far behind :)

                            Old Market place with the temple dedicated to Apollo in the background.

Where Paul was brought for judgement... 

Sitting in the area was Paul was brought for judgement!!

Lechaion Way, this marble paved road once linked the port of Lecaion with the city

Playing at the park after exploring for hours! I was the first adult the kids asked to be the fourth, then Matt and finally they asked Paul, I think he was the funnest and lasted the longest!

The Corinth Canal

We ended our tour of Corinth with a trip to the Canal....this project was started in by the Emperor Nero in AD 97, but was finally finished in 1893 by the Greeks. It is over 200 feet to the bottom. It connects the Aegean and Ionian Seas. If you are feeling brave you can Bungee jump into the canal!