Daybook: 13 December 2012

Outside my window...the sun is shining, the neighbors are taking a break from setting off firecrackers (firecrackers and loud Christmas music are 2 of the main celebratory activities during the Christmas season here), and my laundry is drying nicely. Happy....

I am thinking...about the 101 things I need to do before we leave for Bali in 4 days. Yes, 4 days!!! We really need some time away from the stresses of life here. And my dad, Joann, and Kristina are going to join us there for some sightseeing before we all come back here for Christmas. :)

I am thankful...for Christmas music, our simple Christmas decorations, A/C, the water and paint brushes that kept my children busy for 30 minutes as they "painted" the side of our house.....

In the kitchen...2 pans of brownies are cooling for J's computer class tomorrow, the dishes are washed, but alas, I have no idea what's for supper

I am wearing...red T-shirt, khaki skirt

I am creating...doll clothes for Abbie's Christmas present. This is my first sewing project in years--all by hand, since I don't  have a sewing machine--and I'm happy with how the clothes are turning out.

I am going...to Bali! Wait, I already mentioned that.... ;)

I am wondering...will there again be a time when I can get something useful done and NOT have a huge mess in my entire house afterward? will there? really?

I am reading...City (on J's recommendation)

I am hoping...to send out an email update with pics before we leave. That's long overdue. :(

I am looking forward to...some good food in Bali. And good coffee. I hear there's a Starbucks there. :)

I am learning...to be satisfied with the less-than-perfect. Or...I'm trying to learn that. I'm doing better at coping with a less-than-tidy house. That should count for something. :)

Around the house...are scattered new clothes, videos, candy, and other exciting things from the packages we just got today! (Thanks, Grammy and Grandy!)

I am pondering...what exactly I am 'called' to do in this season of my life. I'm coming to the conclusion that it's best stated: "Care for my family." 4 simple, little words, but oh, the breadth and depth of the task!

A favorite quote for today...(Me, speaking to Abbie): "Yes, Abbie, that's baby J*sus. Don't pull his head off."

One of my favorite things...having computer time while the Littles are napping :)

A few plans for the rest of the week: Mum's group tomorrow; pick up a tiny, new-to-us Christmas tree (and maybe even decorate said tree?); finish the last doll dress; pack for Bali

A peek into my day...

Abbie opening one of her birthday gifts from Grammy and Grandy

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A Day in the City

It's naptime for the Littles, and I have bread in the oven, making it simply too unbearably hot to be in the kitchen (don't worry; I set a timer and have it here with me), so here I sit in the A/C. =) Since moving to a third-world country, I've been slowly learning to deviate from my deeply-ingrained teaching of "work first, then play." Our motto now is "electronics first." The reason? You never know when the power is going to go off and how long it will stay off, so if you have a chance to use electronics, DO IT. I can wash my dishes later, electricity or no electricity. =)

We went to the capital city yesterday for an appointment at immigration. Since we had to hire a car and driver, we made a day of it. We shopped at the new and very impressive supermarket, ate a quick snack/lunch at KFC, went to our appointment (which went smoothly except for the official being, um, rather late for our appointment and Abbie refusing to stand on the chair to have her picture taken), and enjoyed an amazing meal of grilled fish at a restaurant on the bay. It was a long, exhausting, fun, rewarding day.

Toby and Abbie behaved very well, especially considering that we totally ignored their naptime. Abbie loves riding in the car and snuggled down happily with her blanket and puppy for most of the morning drive. Toby sometimes gets carsick, so he sat up front with Papa. At one point Jonathan told him to keep his eyes on the road to keep from getting sick "unless you see something interesting." 2 seconds later, Toby exclaimed, "Look, Papa! A red car! I saw something interesting." He kept leaning back to look at me, saying, "I want to see Mama. Mama, what is Abbie doing?" He seemed really concerned that we were doing OK. =) And he made it the whole day without getting sick. Yay!

We were really excited about some of our 'finds' yesterday. Some of these things are treats rarely found here; others are items we've been looking for ever since we moved here. Here are the top 5:

• a stepladder
• a bathroom mirror (it's amazing how excited one can feel over a bathroom mirror when one has been without such a luxury for 2 years)
• ricotta cheese
• Starbucks frappaccino
• good quality dark chocolate

One of Jonathan's priorities for the day was getting some good 'ikan bakar' (grilled fish). He'd had some before on an outing with his co-workers, but I wasn't along that time. Guided by suggestions from people who knew the area, we found a little place on the bay. Upon entering the restaurant, we were guided to the grilling area where they showed us fresh fish packed in a cooler with ice. We chose the fish we wanted, and they grilled it to order. It was so good! They served it with 3 different hot sauces, napkins, bowls of water for hand-washing, some vegetable sides, and fruit juice. We were delighted with the meal and definitely plan to make it a regular stop on immigration days.

Jonathan and Abbie, waiting for our food

Toby loved his mango juice.

View from the restaurant

One of the people who made the day a success was our driver. We've hired him for this trip before, and he does an excellent job. He's really friendly and enjoys the kids. Toby warmed up to him throughout the day and enjoyed looking at the ships with him at the restaurant. Also, our friend Rachel joined us for the day. Our kids really like her, and it was fun to have her along.

Ready for the feast. =)

Dominoes!

One of my challenges these days is finding something to do with Toby during the LOOOONG hour between the time Abbie lies down for her nap and Toby lies down for his "rest time with books."

Side note: Some days it's very important to assure him that he doesn't have to sleep; he just has to stay on his bed and look at books. Some days he actually looks at his books for a whole hour without falling asleep, at which point I take pity on him and let him get up since he obviously doesn't really need a nap. And yesterday I took a nap during his rest time When I got up, I saw that he--bless his little heart--had looked through all his books and gotten up very quietly to get more books, then quietly went back to his bed and continued looking at those books until he finally fell asleep. That made me really proud and happy, although I'm guessing he was careful to be quiet lest he get in trouble for getting out of bed. :)

I think it's important to put some thought into this hour because it's one time of the day when Toby can play with "bigger kid" things without having a little sister messing things up or handling things she really isn't old enough to handle. So some days we do puzzles or play with cards. He's not really interested in actually playing card games, but he loves to strew the cards around the room or make up stories about the different trains on his Thomas Uno cards. Last week I had the brainstorm of getting out the dominoes, and he thoroughly enjoyed that.

He thought it was really fun to stack the dominoes criss-cross. It was a pretty neat stack, too!

I love the look of concentration on his face.

He was so pleased with himself for successfully making that stack with the lone domino on top. :)

Since then, I've brought out the dominoes about twice a week. We have made roads for his car to drive on, a ch*rch with a tower, and various other buildings. and yesterday he wanted me to make a tractor and lawn mower with them. Fortunately, he wasn't too picky about how they turned out! I am no artist. :) It's been really fun and a great way to play with him.

Do you have any ideas of things you like to do with your preschoolers? Any websites you can recommend for good (simple!) activity ideas?

End of Summer

We started out the summer with some ideas of fun things to do, a stay-cation to enjoy, a lighter work schedule for Jonathan, and some happy news to share. Things have not gone as planned, to put it mildly.

Jonathan did have a lighter work schedule this summer, but it seemed that our weeks were still full of doing normal things just to keep life going. So all our plans for picnics and trips to the city got lost in the shuffle.

We did make lots of time to play outside. Dirt pies are a favorite activity. :)

We took our stay-cation as planned, but Jonathan was--unknown to us at the time--dealing with an ulcer. He spent a great part of the time lying on the bed in excruciating pain. This, as you might imagine, made it hard to do fun things and greatly diminished the pleasure of making and eating the special foods we indulge in when we're celebrating. :(

One of the special food we managed to make was "chocolate mud dip" from a Sesame Street cookbook. We dipped marshmallows and fruit in the chocolate. What's not to like?

This summer also included a chapter that we never wanted to be part of our story. I got pregnant in May, had horrible morning sickness for 6 weeks, and lost our baby at 12 weeks. I am still reeling from all of that. I may post more of the story later, but for now, it's enough just to share our sadness with you.

Life really does seem to be an incongruous mix of sadness and joy right now. The grief seems always to be lurking around the corners, jumping out at me at unexpected times. But my children are here as well, giving me hugs and kisses, saying funny things like "Abbie is a copycat, Mama; I'm a copy dog," and generally bringing sunshine and frustration to my days. It really does keep me off balance.

We've had hours of fun with play-doh.

How can I not smile at that face?

New Wheels

After being in the country for almost a year and a half with no vehicle, we are enjoying our new wheels! Actually, it would be more accurate to say that Jonathan is enjoying our new-to-us bike.

While it is quite common here to see a family of 4 or 5 riding on a single motorcycle, we haven't attempted that--nor do we plan to try it. Eventually we would love to buy a family vehicle, but for now we are so happy to have the convenience of a motorcycle. Now Jonathan can zip up to the school to fix after-hours internet problems instead of walking back and forth. It also makes his trips to the grocery store or the hardware store much quicker and easier, leaving more energy for other things (like gardening). :) And we always have the option of borrowing a school car when we want to go out as a family.

Delving into Dip

A friend of mine treated us to some real Ranch dip, made from a mix brought straight from the States. It was yummy! I need to put that on my list of "Things to Bring Back". :-)

I served it to the kids with cucumbers for a snack. Toby wasn't overly impressed, but Abbie could NOT get enough. See for yourself....

 She started off thinking the cucumbers were just a handy tool for bringing the dip to her mouth, but I convinced her to bite off bits of cucumber as well. She caught on pretty quickly and thought that was lots of fun. Then came time to clean her plate....

Such a silly girl. :-) Thanks, Nancy, for sharing your Ranch. What a treat!

Daybook - June 20, 2012

Outside my window... I hear hammering at the neighbors' house, shouts of children playing, and delicious silence coming from my napping children's room. =)

I am thinking...about a playdate with friends coming up tomorrow morning. We always have a fun time chatting, snacking, and watching our kids play together. These ladies encourage me so much!

I am thankful...for friends. Earlier this year at a women's retreat, one of the speakers encouraged us to seek out all kinds of friendships instead of looking (consciously or unconsciously) for one do-all, be-all friend. It's neat to see how different friends satisfy different parts of me: some encourage me to be a better mama, others challenge me spiritually, others help me to relax and have fun, others indulge my English major self with good conversations about books. There's room--and need--for all!

In the kitchen...are 3 loaves of freshly-baked bread, 2 small papayas picked from our yard, 2 pineapples I bought from a lady who came to my gate this morning, and a whole bunch of dishes. Need to start thinking about supper....

I am wearing...a comfy shirt, khaki skirt, no shoes or socks. I do love skirts in warm weather. :)

I am creating...not much of anything these days. I'd like to get back into crocheting and digital scrapbooking soon.


I am reading...The O'Malley series by Dee Henderson again; Blue Like Jazz with Jonathan; Go, Dog, Go with Toby; a well-loved nursery rhyme book with Abbie. I love it that our kids have picked up on our love of books. :)

I am hoping...for some motivation and energy to tackle my project list. Things are slowly getting checked off, but it's hard to get much done with 2 Littles vying for my attention.

I am looking forward to..."together night" with Jonathan tonight. Dates are hard to come by here--not much to do, not easy to leave the kids--so we've taken to having "together night" once a week instead. Maybe we can finish Blue Like Jazz, then watch a show together. We still have some episodes of White Collar to savor. :)


Around the house...we're making progress on our yard. Oh, yeah, that's another reason I haven't spent much time on my project list. We finished de-jungling our side flower bed, now I need to fertilize it and plant some seeds to fill in the gaps. Can't wait to see what it looks like in a month or so!

I am pondering...how to tune in to my kids' needs and how to be productive when they're awake. Seems to work best when I can find little things for them to do nearby--little things that keep them busy, helpful, or at least not destructive. :)


One of my favorite things...hard-boiled eggs and toast for breakfast. My kids love them, and it's an easy, do-ahead meal.

A glimpse of my week: spent some time Monday and Tuesday helping my friend prepare for her birthday dinner; enjoyed Mexican food, games, and good conversations at the birthday dinner Tuesday night, quiet day at home today; playdate tomorrow; shopping or work day at home Friday; hope, hope, the guy comes by this week to take a look at our ailing water pump

A peek into my day...Toby reading in his tent before falling asleep. He loves his new bed!

Want to join in? Go to http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/.

Abbie at 18 Months

It's hard to believe my baby girl is 18 months old now. She's such a delight to our family with her silly faces, big smiles, and developing personality. I'm often amazed at how different she is from Toby; her feminity is coming out in so many ways.

Abbie at 18 months

 Abbie is wearing 12 month shorts (she's a skinny little thing!), 18 or 24 month dresses and shirts, and size L diapers. Her size 4 shoes are really too small for her, but she loves them so much, I haven't had the heart to put them away yet. Her hair is dark blonde with a reddish tint in some lights. It's very fine and curls up at the ends. It's long enough now that I can put it in a ponytail, although it doesn't take long for her to pull it out. :)

Cute little ponytail

She loves pink, her blanket and pacifier, books, her "Favorite Children's Songs" DVD, animals, papaya, cookies, muffins (breads of any kind, actually), rice, my camera, my cell phone, her flower sandals, playing outside, helping Mama bake, looking at pictures on the computer, imitating Toby, and drinking out of a "big girl cup".

3 of Abbie's favorite things: her pacifier, her blanket, and books

Abbie is all girl! She loves shoes, hats, necklaces, and sunglasses. She has a definite favorite dress and nightgown (both pink). She started out this morning wearing a red shirt and jean shorts, but I wanted to change her into a dress because 1) she's so skinny that her shorts fall down unless she's wearing a cloth diaper, and 2) we were going up to the school, so I wanted her to wear a pamper while we were out. I took her to her closet, and she searched through her dresses at least 5 times, looking for her favorite dress (which happened to be in the laundry). Seriously! Since she couldn't find it, she was heartbroken at the idea of having to change out of the outfit she was wearing. I ended up pinning her shorts so they wouldn't fall down. I did NOT expect clothes to be an issue this early! To her credit, she (almost always) happily wears whatever clothes I pick out for her; it's just on the rare occasions when I let her pick out her clothes that she gets so particular. I can't really blame her for that....

Her favorite dress

On the not-so-pleasant side of this age, we often find ourselves in a battle of wills with our sweet little girl. She knows what she wants and has a hard time giving up. She can also throw a masterful fit when the occasion arises. We have finally gotten to the point where the threatening sight of the "spanking tool" often convinces her to obey. I have to be really consistent with expecting obedience from her because she pushes the line as far as she can.

She's slowly adding words to her vocabulary. She communicates a LOT through signing, grunting, and pointing, so I'm often surprised at how few words she really says. Her signs: milk, eat, more, help, no, drink, all done, hat. She also does lots of sound effects: dog, cat, horse, cow, car, turkey, duck, lion/tiger. Words (in rough chronological order): papa, bah (referring to our house helper), enak (yummy in the local language), mama, yah (yes), wa-wa (water), please, cheese, ball, and most recently, kakak (meaning older brother; Toby referred to himself in this way for a long time).

Signing "All done!"

Other fun things about Abbie:

• When Abbie gets really excited about something, like when Papa made a swinging boat for them out of blankets, she yells eeYEAH! eeYEAAAHH! eeYEAAAHH!
• She laughs and laughs when Mama jumps out from behind the wall and startles her.
• She loves it when we chase after her and say, "I'm gonna get ya'!" Even funnier, she runs away for a while, but then--as if she can't stand the suspense--she turns and runs straight at whoever is chasing her.
• She loves to ride on the back of Toby's bike and is learning to "hold on tight". :)
• She has this funny trick of rolling her eyes up as far as she can when she's holding out on obeying. She knows I can't help but laugh when she does it, even though it doesn't get her out of whatever she's supposed to do. 
• She has just learned that she can stick her leg up all the way to the top of her pack and play, hook her foot over the top, and climb out. Scary! Guess it's about time to move her to a toddler bed....
• She loves her bedtime stories with Papa and cuddle time with Mama.
• Favorite songs/nursery rhymes: Pop Goes the Weasel, The Wheels on the Bus, Jesus Made the Rainbow, Pat-a-Cake, Yankee Doodle
  

  

  Riding the bike around the yard

My happy girl, never staying in one place for long, especially if the camera comes out :)

Mud-luscious and Puddle-Wonderful*

We've been getting a LOT of rain this week. Not so surprising--we do live in a rain forest, after all--but it's a change from the fairly dry weather we've had for the past month. I love, love, love the rain, especially since I'm a stay-at-home mom with a flexible schedule. We can just stay home and listen to the rain pounding on our tin roof while we read books together. =) What a life, huh? It works for a while...until I have to deal with damp laundry and energetic kids who have been cooped up in the house too long. =)

 

One afternoon this week we had a torrential downpour during the kids' naptime. It was fantastic! There are few things I love better than sitting in a quiet house, drinking coffee, and listening to the rain. When the kids woke up, I snuck outside to finish trimming up one of our bushes when I noticed a massive puddle in our yard. So I summoned the playful, carefree mama that hides way deep down inside me and invited the kids to come out and play in the puddle.

They were thrilled! And a bit worried that I didn't really mean it.

Toby must have asked me at least 3 times, "May I play in the puddle, Mama?" (He knows he's not supposed to play with water unless he has permission, so I guess he wanted to make absolutely sure he wasn't going to get in trouble for this.) Once he had been sufficiently reassured, he went wild. I couldn't get any good pictures of him because he would NOT stay still. 

He had several good falls in the mud, of course, since he was tearing through the puddle at full speed. He complained the first few times but got over it pretty quickly. Then he completely cracked me and Jonathan up when he warned Abbie, "Hati-hati" ("be careful"). He had just learned the word that morning when the kids and I were out walking. He says it very carefully and precisely, and it sounds so funny!

Abbie was mainly delighted by the game because her brother was making such a big deal of it, I think. Between her frequent face-plants and sagging diaper, she was quite a sight.

They had a grand time. I don't think I've ever seen them so thoroughly dirty. Playful Mama was glad they enjoyed themselves so much, and Responsible Mama was glad that all the dirt (I think) came out of their clothes after a good scrubbing.

*Compliments to e.e. cummings for this delicious phrase. If you've never read the poem it comes from, you really should. It's delightful.

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of everyday life ~

Every Thursday at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

 

{pretty}

Hawaiian ginger

We've been working in our yard a lot lately, and part of that project included getting some plants from friends of ours. This lady grew up in the Philippines and knows a LOT about gardening in this part of the world. She was very generous with her plants and gave me some good advice and ideas.

I was especially excited about the Hawaiian ginger plants she gave me. The flowers smell amazing! I cut one and brought it inside, and its incredible fragrance filled my whole dining and kitchen area. Smells like a cross between gardenia and honeysuckle. Mmm! Pretty and fragrant--can't beat that. :) I planted some right outside my dining room windows where we'll be able to enjoy those flowers to the max.

{happy}

Nothing makes my kids happy like a trip to the library. We loaded up on books, and I even found some fairly recent copies of the Reader's Digest. :) My kind husband even stole away from the computer lab for a while to take the Littles on a tour of the school grounds so I could browse the shelves in peace. He's a keeper, for sure! :)

{funny}

Abbie threw a massive tantrum when she was asked to put away the water bottle she had been playing happily with. Unfortunately for her, Jonathan was nearby to document the whole thing. ;-)

After Mama said she could take one more drink, she cheered right up. Can you see the tears in her eyes even as she smiles? (No, I do not make a practice of giving in to my kids' tantrums. I had my reasons, OK?)

{real}

This is what my patio looks like after three days of clouds and rain. We hang the clothes on hangers, put them outside when the sun comes out, and rush them back inside when it starts to rain. They will dry out here eventually, even if I can't put them outside. So thankful for this indoor clothesline!

Saturday Gardening

We've started to give our yard some much-needed TLC. The kids love to be outside and I love messing around with plants, so it's a good fit. :-) One of my friends came over last week, looked around, and gave me some good tips and ideas. I'm not real experienced when it comes to jungle gardening, you know? 

Last Saturday was a perfect day for working outside--cloudy and fairly cool for this part of the world. We planted some cuttings and starts from our friends. Jonathan also began de-jungling one of our flower beds. Incidentally, he broke 2 shovels working on this flower bed (tools are not all that sturdy here). :-(

Toby amused himself by pushing or riding his bike around the yard. Abbie happily played with some toys and a bucket of water until her late night the day before sent her to her bed for an early afternoon nap.

Just after Jonathan got home with our second shovel purchase for the day, a gentle rain started to fall. Toby and I made several last trips to the brush heap with branches and discarded plants while Jonathan planted one last ginger plant. Then we headed inside for showers, lunch, and naps. Gluttons for punishment that we are, we headed outside again later that afternoon for more work. I think we all ended up taking 2 showers that day. On the up side, we got a lot of work done and didn't even mind that the electricity was off most of the afternoon. :-)

We've still got a lot of work to do, but I'll try to post pictures of our progress.

In Toby's Eyes....

Now that Toby's talking more and using his imagination, we get to hear some of his perceptions about life. It's so fun!

A few nights ago Jonathan built a little house for Toby with his sticky blocks. The winning feature of this house was a door that swung open and closed. Toby played for a long time with Papa Alligator, Mama Elephant, and Baby Bear in this house. The game mostly consisted of Papa Alligator and Baby Bear going out of the house for pizza, walks, etc., while Mama Elephant stays inside. Jonathan asked Toby if Mama Elephant is coming too, and Toby said, "No. Mama stay home." (Guess Toby is remembering all those times Jonathan has taken him and Abbie outside so I can get a few things done in the house.)

A little later we heard Toby say, "Papa Alligator loves Mama." At that point he made Papa Alligator lean over and kiss Mama Elephant. (so sweet!)

*************

Have you read the Llama Llama books? They are some of our favorites. In one of the books, Llama Llama gets scared of the dark and calls for his mama. When we were reading the book recently, Toby pointed to the picture of Llama Llama hollering for his mama and said, "It's all dark. Mama turn the generator on!" (He and Abbie often wake up when the power goes off at night and cry because of the dark. Toby knows the lights will come back on if we turn on the generator.)

Post-Taxes Celebration

I finally--after banishing the project for weeks and dreading its inevitable return--finished our taxes! We get an automatic extension because we live overseas, but I worked really hard back in April to get it done by the 17th. When I realized it wasn't going to happen, I put it aside for a few weeks. And today I finally pushed through! I still have to print, sign, and mail the returns, but that's the easy part. :-) Feels so good!

We wanted to have a celebratory meal at our favorite restaurant in town, but the kids were so grumpy I couldn't bear to take them out (ha! I punned without even thinking about it). So we made Mexican rice, refried beans, and papitas, and savored every bite! Come to think of it, maybe I'm even a little bit glad that the kids were bears and kept us home. :-)

So now that taxes are off my mind, I'll give you a peek at what we've been doing over the last week or two.

****************

Abbie somehow managed to chip her two front teeth without my finding out about it. Seriously? How do things like this happen? She definitely has her share of falls, often with the "help" of her rambunctious big brother, but I don't remember a particularly traumatic one. I have a picture of her with perfect teeth, and 3 days later, I noticed they weren't perfect any more. Here's what she looks like now. Can you see it?

I took the kids outside for a surprise "picpic" one day. Toby loves surprises and he loves to play picnic, so it was a hit with him. Abbie thought it was great fun, too.

Yes, I know this is a weird angle. I'll do better next time, I hope.

Toby is smashing ants, his new favorite hobby.

Abbie discovered a new game: running under the clothes on the clothesline. Such sweet, simple, innocent fun!

I've been experimenting with different breads lately. We can get whole wheat flour here...sometimes...when it's available in Papua New Guinea and flown in here on special order. It's a bit pricey, so I'm trying out other options. This is my first attempt at soybean bread. The recipe is fairly simple; you just use cooked, mashed (or pureed) soybeans instead of some of the flour. I really like the flavor, but I think I'll increase the yeast next time so it rises a little better.

And--just so I don't end this post with a picture of boring old bread--I snapped a few shots of the kids peeking around the corner of the house. Love how they turned out!

Snails, Spaghetti, and Shades

We had a fairly eventful (for us) weekend. We started it off right with a long playtime out in our yard on Friday. A snail shell in the grass caught the kids' attention, but we weren't patient enough to see the snail emerge. =)

"The snail is over there!"

Toby is showing Pooh the snail. =)

Friday night Jonathan treated us to a spaghetti dinner. In honor of the occasion--and the messy meal--I declared it a "nakey supper" (for kids only, of course). lol. Side note: I hadn't realized how much I use the word "nakey" until Toby started talking. When he started gleefully referring to himself and Abbie as "nakey children" and took off his stuffed gorilla's clothes so he could be "nakey," I figured I must use the word more often than I had thought. What's even more fun is that he pronounces it "achey"-- which always makes me laugh.

The "nakey supper" was a big hit!

Our little "lefty" cleaning her plate

Saturday morning we tried something different for breakfast. As is often the case, our kids were exceedingly hungry and grumpy, so we fixed them a quick breakfast. Only this time we fed them and sat them down to a movie (hey, it's the next best thing to Saturday morning cartoons!) while we enjoyed a delicious black olive and feta omelet with toast. The peaceful breakfast was a great treat, and I'm thinking we might turn it into a Saturday morning tradition.

The community put on a classical concert up at the school Saturday night. This was a subject of much debate in our household. Jonathan and I have many happy memories of going to classical concerts during our dating months, and it's something we have missed. However, we still do not have a good babysitting option (but we're getting there!), so I finally decided that Jonathan should go to the concert while I stayed home with the kids. I took the opportunity to invite my friend Rachel to join me for Downton Abbey after the kids went to bed. (Yes, I really love that show. There's a small bit of objectionable content, but I appreciate the way it's treated, i.e. you don't get the feeling that it's perfectly acceptable to do things that are morally wrong.) It was a winner of an evening all around.

We had a busy day Sunday. We went to church in the morning and were pleasantly surprised when our kids behaved well enough that we could actually listen to the sermon. Toby was well-entertained with a toy my dad fixed up before we left. It's a long screw with several nuts on it. Toby can screw and un-screw those nuts to his heart's content. What a beautiful thing! Abbie has become fascinated with zippers and doing the put-things-in-and-take-them-out process, so I put a few little toys in my small zippered change purse for her. It's amazing how long that occupies her!

Our afternoon was short but relaxing (meaning the kids took long naps, which left us free to nap or play computer games--you can guess who did what--ha!). We headed up the hill again at 4 for an org meeting where we had childcare duty. Incidentally, we visited with a new couple and learned that the husband is from Myersdale, PA, and knows my aunt and uncle who live near there. It was just a bit weird to make that connection in this faraway place. We ended the day with popcorn, Dr. Pepper (my first in over a YEAR), and an episode of Law and Order UK.

Monday Jonathan graciously watched the kids, allowing me to do a bit of work on the computer. In the evening we joined some friends for pizza at the mall--a rare treat and one we really enjoy! We were also able to stock up on groceries since our friends were giving us a ride home (as opposed to our lugging the groceries home via backpack and stroller). =) Thanks, guys!

If you made it all the way through this post, you deserve some more pics. Here are my cool kids with their shades. =)

{pretty, happy, funny, real} - Playground Edition

~ Capturing the context of everyday life ~

Every Thursday at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

I took the kids on a walk up to the school this morning. Abbie was due (OK, about a month overdue) for one of her immunizations, so we needed to make a trip to the clinic on campus. I figured we might as well make an event of it, so we packed a little lunch and headed up. We took care of the immunization business first, stopped at the computer lab to see Papa, got some new books from the library, ate our picnic lunch, played on the playground, and came home sweaty and ready for naps. On the way home, Toby kept saying, "My knees are very tired!" =)

{pretty}

I never get tired of the view from up on the school hill. This morning it was cloudy, bringing out the deep green of the trees. Pictures just don't do it justice...

{happy}

Abbie just started going down the big slide by herself. Today she managed to climb the little ladder, position herself correctly, and go down alone. She cackled with glee every time she got to the top and was ready to start down.

Flashback to a year ago...here's Toby trying out the same slide. I remember we thought he was so big and brave for attempting such a big slide. I would never have imagined that Abbie would be going down this same slide just one year later! =)

{funny}

I got such a kick out of watching her climb the ladder. It took every ounce of willpower and concentration to pull herself up. Just look at that face!

That's a big slide for a little girl!

No fear!

{real}

From earlier this week...Toby loves to play in the dirt and make dirt pies (we haven't graduated to mud pies yet). After playing for a long time outside, he came in saying proudly, "My dirty! My need a shower!"