So, it's Tuesday.

And nothing amazing or impressive has happened in the last few days. Just normal life. And as I've heard so many times, it's the normal things of life that we often take for granted. So... some blessings for today:

1. I got to go to Bible Study Fellowship again this morning. I'm really enjoying it. We're studying the book of Matthew. It's good stuff.

2. I took Lucy to see Barney on Friday. We had such a great time! And, to be perfectly honest with you, Internet Land, I actually teared up when Barney first came out on stage. Maybe it's that I was so excited for Lucy. Maybe it's that I've watched Barney movies since my sisters were little. Maybe it's that I, too, secretly love Barney. Not sure. But I made sure to dry it up quickly before anyone saw :)

 We sat way up high! But we were basically in the middle...so it was great! And the view beyond the stage!!! Wow. Right out to the ocean!

 After intermission, we moved down closer. Very cool. And much louder down there!

 After Barney, we picked up the boys and headed to the mall for dinner. Lucy got 2 balloons. So... Lucy's day was wonderful! Played with friends that morning at house church, went to Barney, got a Barney doll, went to Chili's, and got 2 balloons! What more could a 4 ½ yr old ask for? (unfortunately, a lot!)

3. I discovered the local vegetable and fruit market this week. I've been twice now. Once I heard that all the grocery stores get all their produce directly from this market, and knowing that this market is only 5 minutes away from our house - well, heavens. I'm sad that I've been in this country 4 years and never gone! Seriously, it is an amazing place! And I love "market shopping." It makes shopping such an adventure. So much more fun than a mall or a store! (Emily R...you know what I'm talking about!)  And I've loaded up on produce! I bought 12 peaches for $2.60. ((I have NO idea if that's a good price in the US, but here in our country, it's a steal!)) And then we bought 5 pumpkins - 5! Have you ever had 5 pumpkins in your house? I haven't! - for $9.62. (Pictured below, you see 6...that's because they gave me one for free!) I found this other pumpkin in one of the grocery stores here for $19.50 and it was the size of my hand. Needless to say, I will be going back to the veggie/fruit souq (Arabic word for Market) A LOT!

 This place is huge! This is showing about ¼ of the actual size.

 This is our haul of pumpkins for $9.62. 

2 pumpkins have gotten makeovers for the Fall Festival (see #5)

THIS is the ONE pumpkin that I found at the grocery store for almost $20. Are you kidding me? That's insane.

And my little 24 lb. Punkin with a pumpkin!

4. We also discovered a huge park next to us a couple weeks ago. We went back on Thursday night last week for a picnic and play time. Lucy loved it! Will was funny. Try to remember the first time you put your little one down on grass... Can you picture it? I remember Lucy's first experience. And Will didn't disappoint! He was NOT a fan. And because of it, we were able to keep him sequestered on the blanket! So that was a nice rest from chasing him everywhere!

 She made herself a sand beard. This girl loves some Duck Dynasty!

5. We're having a FALL Festival on Friday! So Lucy and I have been working hard on decorations! I've blown our budget on decor and food items...but I think it's worth it! We need regular fellowship. We need to feel "normal" over here and we need our kids to feel it, too. We've been able to avoid this "holiday" up until last year when we were in the USA and Lucy got the full dose of fall and halloween. SO... Fall Festival, here we come! (I'll post more pictures of that next week!)

I'll leave you with a few more shots from the past 2 weeks...

Love that smile!

 Nice to know that this guy was comfortable enough in the middle of the store to catch some ZZZs! 

 I love Feta. Thank you, Greece and MGW for that! 

But you'll never get me to love the mystery water that's in the vats of feta at the grocery store. What IS that water? (I promptly poured it out once I got home!)