zufelt zoo

Watch Out Grandpa!

2012-01-20T20:43:00.001+08:00

Tomorrow we are going fishing. We don't fish. Don't worry. It is at a fish farm where I believe the kids stand in a concrete stream and use a net to scoop them up. Brian told Ben that he'd have to tell grandpa Zufelt about our adventures since he's a big fishermen. Ben suggested that since we will be prawn fishing next weekend with the boy scouts we will have plenty and maybe we should mail one to grandpa. Watch your mail grandpa. By the time you get our present after a few weeks in transit it's gonna be something to remember!!

Tired Today

2012-01-19T18:08:00.001+08:00

Fieldtrip to Chinatown with Ben and tag along Jacob. Picked up Maddie from school. Walked home in a wildly heavy downpour without an umbrella. Put a movie on for Jacob hoping he'd fall asleep on the couch upstairs and take a much needed nap. I think he did...but I wouldn't know because I fell asleep downstairs on the other couch. Woke up to a crash and cry from upstairs - too tired to get up and check. I think he fell off the couch but the crying was short and we both went out again. Quality parenting here these days.

Bed Bugs Eradicated...We Think

2012-01-17T07:53:00.001+08:00

According to the reliable internet searches I did, a bed bug bite can show up as late as 9 days after the bite occurred. I had a bite appear 10 days after our extermination attempts. It had me pretty nervous that we hadn’t nipped this problem in the butt quite yet and that the next few days I’d be waking with more and more itchy miserable bites. And the worst part of that scenario? Knowing I was still sleeping with weird creepy bugs IN MY BED!

Luckily now we are on day 18 post treatment and I have no signs of more bites and I haven’t seen any on Maddie. Of course every time I feel something I mentally turn it into a phantom bed bug bite and the mind games begin again until I can confirm there is no raised bump on my body. My overall conclusion from the entire experience? Bed bugs suck. Bad news is I have zero confidence level we won’t get them again someday. It’s either that or lice. Pick your poison, eh?

Christmas in Cambodia

2012-01-16T21:50:00.002+08:00

Though I always want to do good and help people, I'm skeptical by nature. Used to massive government waste in the US I raise an eyebrow when I'm asked to donate to a charitable cause, particularly one far away. I recall my junior high school raising money to buy land in the rainforest to save the world. As nice as it sounded, I couldn't make myself go out and sell magazines to raise funds because I really felt like it was a scam. Who from Bonneville Junior High School was going to hop on a plane and go verify we actually bought land and didn't just give all that money away to a scam artist? No one.

The kids school here has a very close and involved relationship with Caring for Cambodia. I liked what I saw and felt that donating items instead of funds made lots more sense to me. There is lots less chance of a scam when you are giving bars of soap and toothbrushes instead of $10 bills. Then I found out that the way they get the supplies to the people there is to ask people traveling to the area to bring along extra luggage. I loved the idea so when I put two and two together and realized we were booking our last minute Christmas holiday trip to Siem Reap Cambodia I was excited to see just what Caring for Cambodia was all about.

I contacted them and got the details, then paid the airline for two extra bags on our departing flights so we could haul 30 kg (60 lbs) of hygiene kits to the Cambodian people, all donated by the families at Singapore American School and other local community groups. This being our first true exposure to a country with poverty I took the opportunity to get the kids involved and we set up a time to serve the children at one of several of the Caring for Cambodia Schools.

Bright and early at 5:30 am a tuk tuk driver showed up at our hotel to take us out to serve the children breakfast. They arrive as early as 6:00 am to eat the free breakfast provided by the school.

Maddie with one of the cooks at CFC School. The children wash their own dish and spoon after eating so the next child can eat because they have only about 60 bowls and spoons and 500 kids though we didn't see that many come this morning so I think that number might be a total for all the kids in all the schools.

Jacob playing peek-a-boo with the cooks, a game that seems to cross all language barriers. This is the entire kitchen with two huge pots of rice porridge for breakfast, a gas burner to cook with and a shelf to put the full bowls on for serving.

Maddie serving the children. When the school first opened they found that the children got restless and couldn't concentrate well in school. The learned that most children didn't get breakfast before they came to school. To help the children be ready to learn, they began providing breakfast and the children did better in school.

Two rows of five or six long picnic benches for the children to eat breakfast and lunch.

Jacob loved serving breakfast. He was so wildly excited to get the next bowl and deliver it that he had to have an adult help slow him down and steady the bowl so it didn't end up all over the floor.

The entire time we were there the monks were chanting next door. The man in charge of the school that greeted us explained that they were doing a ceremony while they cremated the bodies of people who had died.

There were constant drum beats and chanting over loud speakers and traditional worship music. It set quite the authentic mood and made me feel very much immersed in Cambodian culture as I looked at the children, the school, the temple and listened to the music.

The kids were so cute. They were excited to have their pictures taken, but so shy around my older kids.

Finally some of them warmed up enough to stand near Ben though they were obviously daring each other to do it first and playfully pushing their friends close to him.

Jake, of course, had no trouble with the kids. He knows just how to play with everyone and made loads of friends easily. The kids loved his light skin, blonde hair and thought it was so funny to see glasses on such a little baby boy.

These boys were smiling and friendly from the time they arrived at breakfast. Since they are not wearing uniforms we know they weren't students attending class, but breakfast is free to any children that come. Notice how one boy has two jackets but no shirt. He didn't seem to care. He was happy to have a full belly and a swingset to share with his buddies.

This guy couldn't have been much older than Jacob, my three year old, and he was a tiny little guy. I thought he was so sweet. He had uniform shorts and short sleeved shirt with mittens that had holes in them. It is winter in Cambodia and the people feel cold, though we wore shorts, t-shirt and flip flops the entire trip. We would often see people with scarves, gloves or jackets, sometimes even coats I wouldn't have considered wearing until it had dropped at least 20 more degrees. I suppose when you aren't used to snow, their winter could feel a bit nippy.

These guys were our tuk tuk drivers. They picked us up at 5:30 and waited for us to finish before returning us to our hotel. A tuk tuk is just what you see there and they pull it with a motorcycle. It's a pretty fun way to travel and the kids loved it! The sweet guy on the left hung around our hotel the entire five days we were there hoping to be hired for any of our trips downtown or out for dinner, etc. He was really a nice guy.

After breakfast we were ready to go, but were asked to stay so as not to disrupt the morning flag ceremony. The older children lead the younger children. The manager explained simply that they teach of the history of Cambodia and the horrible death and destruction in the last 30-40 years so that the children know the history and can make sure it is never repeated. Most of the adult population lost family members that were murdered during that time.

An average home just outside the school gates. Most the children probably come from homes like this.

More average homes in the school neighborhood.

Man fishing and repairing his net to catch food for lunch or dinner that day. The fish were so small it would have taken a long time to catch enough to feed a whole family.

In October we were asked to donate supplies for hygeine kits. We sent in toothbrushes, toothpaste, washclothes and bars of soap. A week or so later I noticed as I passed the soap box in Maddie's school lobby that it smelled so strong! I peeked into the big box and noticed the children had unwrapped all the soap. I thought it was a bit odd to spend the time to do that.

Ben's class actually did the assembly of the kits for families and he reported that his class had done the exact same thing. They unwrapped everything! When I asked why, he explained that the people just threw the wrapping on the ground and it made a big mess in their cities. My first thought was totally American, "Why would you do something so irresponsible? What a mess!"

Once in their country, I began to understand. It's so simple to think they should just throw it away. But where? There is no garbage man to haul stuff away. We feel inconvenienced and over run when the garbage man misses because of Christmas Day. Imagine if they never came at all. There is simply no where to put the trash in Cambodia. I saw a woman walk to the shallow, nearly stagnant stream behind her home and literally dump a big bucket of trash right in the water. I couldn't believe my eyes, but in her defense, the water would take it away eventually. What other good option did she see?

Next time I want to complain about laundry, I will try to remember this guy. Two buckets and a string. That's all he had.

Finally, since we knew we were going to be in Siem Reap, Cambodia on Christmas Day this year, which fell on a Sunday, I searched for a Christain church to attend for worship services. We ended up finding one or our own denomination, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We were invited to their congregation Christmas Party on Thursday afternoon. Of course we couldn't understand the language. They had a short speech/lesson then the youth group acted out the nativity story. My friend Gretel put it best, "At least we knew the plot of the story so we could follow along."

Our friends left on Saturday, Christmas Eve but apparently bought the last tickets out that day. We stayed on through Sunday evening. We forgot to ask when services began so after no success calling the empty building on Saturday decided to just show up at 9am. If it was later, we'd come back. We were greeted at the door and quickly realized the service had started at 8am. The only seats left in the building were the very front and center five seats so we attempted to sneak in an hour late. Again, we couldn't understand the language, so maybe it wasn't all bad that we didn't have a long service. We listened about seven minutes, sang a traditional Christmas song to close the meeting and then the fun began.

They had purchased a Christmas present for all the children. Each child was given a Coke and one small piece of candy. It was a fantastic treat for all the kids there and they were all smiles to have been given something so delicious. I felt bad allowing my children to get anything at all but they were so eager to make sure our kids were included that I couldn't turn them down such genuine kindness.

This is nearly the entire LDS ward primary with our kids included. Such a happy bunch on Christmas morning. Their open arms made it a Christmas to remember.

Who would have ever thought a little girl from Utah would spend Christmas in Siem Reap Cambodia? Not me but here I am living my dream of travel and sharing the world with my children. I hope they remember what they saw in this gorgeous, lush green country and felt in their hearts the difference they can make when they give and serve people who have less than they do. It was a fantastic trip.

Idaho Potato

2012-01-13T18:53:00.001+08:00

Just wanted my sister in law to see that her potatoes are worth lots more than regular potatoes even in Singapore.

Angie's Purse Problem and the Doctor Report

2012-01-13T15:59:00.001+08:00

A purse is where a woman is supposed to keep her arsenal of gear to handle any and every emergency of life.

It should hold things like:

· mobile phone

· keys

· wallet

· makeup

· umbrella

· gum (or if you live in Singapore where gum is illegal – mints)

· cash

· extra emergency cash

· change

· credit cards

· sunglasses

· hair brush

· compact mirror

· tampon

· lotion

· lip gloss

· tissues

· hand wipes

· pencil

· a few pens

· notepad

· lots of old receipts and trash

If you have kids, add to that:

· goldfish

· diapers

· more handwipes

· antibiotic cream/spray

· Nintendo DS or comparable item for entertainment value at the doctor office

· goldfish

· Bandaids

· Hard candy

· Hand sanitizer

· Hair ties

· goldfish

· Tide to go

· Little toys

If I were properly stocked, I bet I could do about as well as MacGyver in most situations. Alas, I’ve never been able to force myself to carry a purse longer than a week. It’s just a nuisance to me. I have been carrying a camera case for about a year now. It fits (barely) my drivers license, cash and cards plus my phone. That’s about it. Anytime I try to put my keys in it I can’t zip it shut.

Today I had my regular doctor appointment to check on the baby. Report is basically the same as last the last one two weeks ago. Back in two more weeks for another baby scan. Anyway, when I was checking out they prepared a packet for me in addition to all the regular check out stuff they do. As I left she handed it to me and said, “Just keep this envelope in your bag all the time.”

“Huh?” I queried.

“Just keep it in your handbag.”

Fairly sure I was still displaying a totally blank stare.

“In case something goes wrong and you have medical problems you will have all our emergency contact numbers to call, the direct line to the ambulance* to Mount Elizabeth Hospital and if emergency responders need it then your entire medical history for the pregnancy is all included here.” (*You have to call a specific number for an ambulance to the hospital you want to go to, you don’t just call the 911 equivalent to take you to the closest hospital where you are at the time because they may not take your insurance or you may have to have cash on hand to pay.)

“Oh. You mean like a purse. Oh. Okay. But seriously? I’m supposed to keep this with me all the time, everywhere I got until I deliver?”

The answer came back in the affirmative and I just had to laugh inside. A purse. I guess I can shove it in the make shift diaper bag I’ve been using lately. Maybe I’ll relent and get a purse. Then again, in eight weeks I’ll have a diaper bag super glued to my body for another two years. What’s the point in converting now? I’ll enjoy these last eight weeks of my purse-free life.

Maddie is Pregnant

2012-01-11T17:22:00.000+08:00

Maddie is only five and I just got the news she's pregnant. Dr. Ben just took an xray with the metronome (for the piano) and it says she's going to have 216 babies! They will all look just like Ben's Precious Moments doll Potsy as you can see on the tv monitor and they will all be dressed in blue pajamas with white stars on them. I was anxious about having just one in a few weeks. I'm such a wimp!

Then I hear the c-section surgery begin by our neighbor, Dr. Allen. He is using a neon orange chainsaw and his assistants have other useful tools. I'm hoping my doctor has a smaller knife ready for me in March. Of course they all switched jobs when I tried taking a picture but I love the way Maddie is laid out on the top of the fouton couch and how Eun Seo is unscrewing her belly button. Imagination play days are so much more fun than video game and cable tv days at our house!!

Small Moment of Celebration

2012-01-09T10:14:00.001+08:00

Not knowing quite what to do with myself after dropping my three kids off at two different schools I decided on a whim to follow Kristi Pitman's lead from last week. I hit McDonalds for breakfast! I wished Brian could have been with me to celebrate together. That would have made the morning absolutely perfect.

Wasn't bad just as it was though. Three smiling happy kids. All ready for school and learning and friends again. Late start today made for plenty of time for morning chores without tears and no frantic morning rush. Good bedtime last night meant no tired kids today. Brian even got up early and took the car to fill the gas tank at the station and was back as I got out of the shower. He is too fantastic for words, especially considering how physically exhausted I am after the great four days of house guests, late nights, hiking and biking. Today I'll just try to forget that the clock resets the first week of March and we have a new baby with diapers and middle of the night feedings on the horizon. Today I'm free for a solid two hours and going to make the most of it!

Bed Bugs

2011-12-31T10:09:00.001+08:00

We have had more "stuff" here than I've ever had to deal with. Today we have a confirmed case of bed bugs. Brings a whole new meaning to the "Sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" little ditty people say. Before we left for our Christmas trip I had three bites in a row across my belly and they itched like crazy!! Like itchy, stretched out pregnant bellies don't itch enough I though I was going to go nuts. Of course I didn't know what was going on so I used hydrocortizone cream and happily went on my way and all was well.

We returned on Sunday night and by Tuesday I was itchy. Wednesday I told Brian how I felt and showed him the bites that looked like big, tall mosquito bites. Problem was I rarely get mosquito bites where my clothing covers. I don't know what made me think of it (other than the misery of itchy bites all over the midsection of my body, but I had the random thought we had bed bugs. I made an off handed comment to Brian about it and he grabbed his phone and googled it and within minutes we had concluded we probably did in fact have bed bugs. We inspected our bed but found nothing. Changed the sheets and went to bed. The pest control guys were coming on Friday anyway and I'd talk to them about it.

Today my good pest control buddy Thomas came to save the day. Oh the up side, he found one bed bug, confirming what we wanted to know so we have a clear path forward to solve the problem and it's not a major infestation yet. On the down side, Maddie had a few bites I found this morning so he had to treat the kids room too instead of just ours. Hopefully I'll get some relief really soon.

Bed bugs just add to the running mental list of Singapore delights along with pinworms, rats, cockroaches, geckos, ants. Luckily we have thus far avoided lice and hand foot and mouth disease which is incredibly common at the school. Ben's class has had multiple infestations of lice over the last two months. Lucky for us only the eleven girls have had it, no boys yet. I'm hoping that this three week break gives everyone a chance to clear it up and no one brings it back to school in January.

Magic Passwords for Dealing with Credit Card Companies

2011-12-29T07:47:00.001+08:00

I guess we’ve been here long enough to make a few things permanent. We have two credit cards we can’t use here without international fees and even when we visit home we have another card available. I called today to cancel those two credit cards but had delayed the call for weeks and weeks because I hate the typical high pressure script they read to try to get you to stay a member, offer new cards, entice you with junk.

Today I had the perfect get out of the call fast and efficient solution. I began the call by simply explaining I have been living overseas for a year and can no longer use the card. I also do not get paid in US currency so I won’t be using the card. Only question she asked is if we were returning soon to the US. I told her not for many years. Done. Over. No pressure. No “let me just let you talk to my manager about this decision” excuses or delays. She just cancelled the accounts and I was off the phone! I may be using this excuse the rest of my life no matter where I live!!

Successful Potty Training

2011-12-28T17:29:00.004+08:00

Third day of successful toilet using for Jacob. Then I hear this...
Ben: "Mom Jake is trying to stand up potty!"
Maddie: "That's okay. He has a p____ so he can."
Jake: "Yep. Sure do! I go like this."
Maddie then interupts him running in the bathroom and proceeds to try and teach him how to do it. At this point I had to intervene. From what deep well of knowledge and experience is she drawing in order to qualify her as the teacher?

It's A Short List

2011-12-22T08:12:00.000+08:00

Sitting at dinner on Tuesday night in Siem Reap Cambodia with seven children between two families, Chris said it best. It's a pretty short list of people you can call up and ask to meet you in Cambodia in a couple weeks over Christmas break. It's true. Everyone has friends, but not everyone has friends like that. We love the Patches!

The Patches are some fantastic friends we still keep in touch with from our days in Fairfax. We both moved into the ward there on the same day, along with eight or nine other couples. When we went around the room introducing ourselves during the womens meeting that Sunday I tried to pick out who might be living nearby and be my new friends and neighbors. Turns out eveyone was my neighbor, they were all trailing spouses of pest control sales people or capitol hill interns. A whole bundle of short timers and when I announced we were there one to two years I actually got a round of applause. Then there was Gretel. She was sort term, probably. They were a new Foreign Service here (DC/Virginia) for quick training, then their assignment would ultimately decide how long they would need to stay to do any language trainng, etc. They lived walking distance from our apartment on "the Wegmans side of the ward." It didn't take long to become close friends. She had a daughter, Bronte, just a few months younger then my 12 month old Ben and a cute son, Ravi, about 3 1/2 years old.

Somehow we started doing things together and she was just what I needed to help me through the transition of the move. Soon we added Cara Glassett, pregnant with her first, to our group and we would sit and let the kids play while we made Family Home Evening kits full of cute and colorful ready to go visual aids and googled stories and scripture verses and put together laminated lesson plans to use to teach our kids about Jesus, the church and scriptures.

I couldn't even guess at how many hours we spent together. Anytime I needed someone to watch Ben, Gretel was there. Whenever she had something to do, Bronte and Ravi were at our house. They even kept Ben for five days so I could meet Brian after a business trip and explore London together. When we came to pick him up, he was completely not interested and clung to Chris's neck for fear we were really going to take him away from his new, happy family. I kept their cute kids while then spent time in NYC. Our kids were the best of friends.

I remember the day Gretel went with Chris to the big reveal meeting. Everyone was so excited, I waiting at home with the kids to see exactly where in this big wide world their first assignment would be. When she finally made it home, she told me, "We're going to Djibouti!" "Wow! Congratulations! That's awesome! What continent is that on?" was about my response. So it was off to do some major Costco shopping and then a short six months later they were off to a tiny, tiny, hot, hot, hot country in Africa that earned them a plethera of hardship points.

We only spent a short nine months together but they left their mark on our family. We kept in email contact and when blogs came about, I followed. After two years in Djibouti they had a quick stop in DC for Chris while the kids and Gretel stayed with her family about an hour from Brian's parents in St. George, Utah so we got to see everyone again before they were off to Sydney for two more years. Then back to DC for a year of language training. This time we left first. In January we moved to Singapore and they joined us in Asia in July when they moved to Nepal.

About a week before Thanksgiving I got a message from Chris asking if we'd be around Singapore for them to drop in and visit the first week of January. Of course we would! I sent them our US phone number and we talked about his plans that morning. They had a big one month plan for their State Department R&R to tour about all of South East Asia while the kids were on Christmas break. They were heading to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia and Singapore.

Feeling bold, I asked if they would mind if our family joined them for one of the country stops. Making our best estimate with his tentative flight schedule, my kids school schedule, Brian's vacation days left for this year and wanting to be home on Christmas Day for Santa we selected Cambodia and waited to hear when he got final flight details.

In the end I sacrificed Christmas Day because all flights were totally sold out for a Christmas Eve return but we're all happy about it. I think the Patches took the last six seats out on the 24th so we'll be here Christmas morning. I've found a church to attend though so it will make our experience all the more rich. Hopefully the program will have lots of familiar Christmas tunes since we won't understand a word of the speaking.

Santa made his delivery as we were leaving while dad locked up the house and I walked the kids to the neighbors to deliver thank you cards and we had called a taxi to go to the airport. Brian said he was RUNNING the entire twelve minutes we gave him. Good thing I had everything sorted, bagged and organized for a dump and run variety spreading of the loot. One treasure each and a stocking stuffed should be awaiting our late night Christmas Day return for the kids to disover if they aren't already asleep in the taxi ride home from the airport.

We are so excited that we could meet up with the Patches again! Our kids are having a delightful time and Maddie (5) has found her new best friend in Bronte (7). They are inseperable. Ravi (9) has a fantastic imagination that keeps the kids busy in games of good and bad teams, princess and robbers so Ben (7) loves playing with Yared (4) and Jacob (3) and Addie (2) just love to trail along all the adventures and be included.

I'm grateful for "the short list" of friends.

Simple Arithmetic

2011-12-19T21:30:00.001+08:00

Just look at the size of that drink and the size of Jakes tummy. We had to use the toilet three times during the ninety minute movie today. After the first trip I realized I had a problem on my hands. I thought to myself that if I just hurried up and drank most of it we wouldn't hit his high level alarm again. But he loves "daddy drink" as we call soda in our house. The second trip to the bathroom I remembered that I'm pregnant and my bladder space, like Jake, is limited at the moment. My racing him to drink all the soda had consequences.
When we got back to Ben and Maddie in the theatre I tried hiding the drink from Jacob. He searched. So I swapped his for an empty cup. He popped the lid off and ate ice for a few minutes before he wiggled down off his seat and went to trade Maddie for her drink, which was nearly full. All told he had a super successful potty training day!

Alphabet Soup Traffic Jam

2011-12-19T11:46:00.001+08:00

Waited for rain to ease a bit before heading downtown. Almost cancelled the morning plan in exchange for picking up dad from the MRT so we could all go to the IMM and shop the big Daiso ($2 store).

I was heading on the BKE to the PIE when the GPS said take the SLE to the CTE. Of course there was more heavy rain and a big accident at the SLE-CTE-TPE interchange. Finally we got past the CTE onto the AYE and on to Plaza Singapura but instead of having time to shop we went strait to the movie. This is the first sit down movie for Jake and we are potty training. No success before we went into the theatre. We'll just have to see how this goes.

Slave Labor for Holiday Cards

2011-12-19T09:30:00.001+08:00

This overseas stuff throws a wrench into everything “normal” I try to do. I thought I was doing great. Got our family pictures in October. My friend who took the picture designed a custom card in November. Check out her website – she’ll be here for another year, then back in Utah. Then I had to write the letter with updates on everyone in the family.

Finally I tried to print our holiday cards here in Singapore first of December, but that cost plus international stamps gave me heartburn. I considered. I waited. I found a cheaper option (stamps go on sale here). I patiently waited for the stamp sale to start. Then I find out people who used sale stamps the last few years have the cards arrive in the US in February. Plus delivering the cards to me IN Singapore FROM Singapore cost nearly $50 and took 3 weeks! Seriously? How big is this island? Or a “rush” delivery still takes 5 days but costs $100.

So I shopped online in the USA to have things automatically stamped and mailed. Headache. I have a custom card ready to upload and no one will take it without adding their own border/holly berry/snowman/ribbon/text on top of my already designed card. Eventually I went into denial mode. If I wait a day or two things will get simpler/cheaper/easier/better, right? And here we are…Christmas in a week. Nothing ordered. Leaving tomorrow on a short trip tomorrow while our kids are out of school for holiday break.

I finally ordered the cards this morning for bulk delivery on Saturday. Then I sent off an email seeking slave labor from my nephew and maybe his siblings to stuff the envelopes. Not really slave labor I guess, since I’ll pay them. He’s trying to earn money to go to Washington DC on a school trip. Of course we lived there six years and he goes after we leave…but still, he’s going to go see a pretty cool place and I’m all about helping that happen! Don’t worry, Brian’s mom will do it if the kids won’t. She’s great like that. So they may be late (my fault), but they will arrive, hopefully by New Years. For now, here’s the preview of the card.

Merry Christmas!!

He Loves Me

2011-12-17T21:54:00.001+08:00

Brian just spent a few house finishing the project I started at 5:30am. He hung a spice rack out of sight. He's the best. Not a simple task since we had to rearrange lots of stuff and reengineer the thing we bought from ikea. It included making parts from one hanging system fit on another so we could get the functionality we need but don't have to crack all the wall tiles in the kitchen. Then drill and tap the shelving units stainless steel holes to make the shelves fit spice bottles. See why I didn't finish earlier? Brian is the best!!

Happy Birthday Jesus Party!!

2011-12-17T21:09:00.000+08:00

We had a super fun Happy Birthday Jesus Party at the Reeves place today. Kids had a blast. I was incharge of the games and thought I would share in case others are doing the same this holiday season. Enjoy.

Angie

Here are the things I pulled together for the Happy Birthday Jesus Party today. Maybe it’ll save you some work!

Snowman Race –

Supplies: toilet paper, carrot felt nose with elastic, three felt buttons, roll of tape, scarf, hat.

Directions: Give each team a roll of toilet paper and have them race to wrap the snowman in white. Then they must decorate him with items provided. Cut orange carrot nose from felt, snip holes in each edge of carrot triangle and run elastic through it big enough to go around a childs head. For buttons supply a roll of tape and three colorful felt button circles.

Christmas Symbols Memory Match Game –

Supplies: print book from here http://ministry-to-children.com/free-printable-christmas-book/ or in the attachment, make cards by cutting clip art pictures on cardstock or gluing onto cute Christmas scrapbook paper squares (see attachment for clipart I found in Word, I also included the characters of Christmas which you could make into memory cards and use as well)

Directions: Play memory match game. When the child gets a match read the meaning and scripture associated with the symbol.

Pin the Tail on Mary’s Donkey –

Supplies: print 4 page donkey then cut and tape together, donkey tails, tape, blindfolds

Attached from internet search.

Candy Cane Pass Relay –

Kids must hang the candy cane on their index finger, run from one side of room to the other side and pass it to the next team mate without using their thumbs or other fingers. Continue on until everyone has had a turn.

Snowball Relay –

Supplies: Pom poms, cups and plastic spoons

Directions: each team must take turns carrying pom poms across the room on a plastic spoon and dump in a cup then race back and pass the spoon to the next player

Christmas Pictionary –

Play Pictionary with icing bags on big sheets of paper and Christmas themed items or titles of holiday songs.

Shepard and His Sheep –

Play Marco Polo with slight variation. Instead of calling out “Marco” and responding “Polo” the shepard will call out “Sheep” and the sheep must answer “Baa”. Because this is likely to be played indoors without running space, tell the sheep they can vary the volume of the “Baa” and move their upper body to duck and move but cannot move their feet.

Recess

2011-12-15T13:31:00.000+08:00

What exactly is it that makes school children scream, squeal and run wild when they hear the bell to signal the end of recess? It's loud and shrill and hurts my ears at the same time it makes me smile both inside and out.

It is genuine surprise over what a boring adult would call a highly predictable bell? Is it excitement over who they will stand by in line? Who will be the line leader today? Is it joy knowing they are off to another fun lesson inside? Or is it just releasing one last voluminous yelp because in the building they know they can't run around like the wild monkeys that they are? They are so free to express themselves. When does the desire to be cool supersede the natural instinct to be loud and wild and crazy?

Hard Day Today

2011-12-13T09:44:00.001+08:00

I’m having a rough day. You see, Brian found a corn dog on July 2^nd at the Navy Base Independence Day celebration. I wanted one so bad, but I’d already gorged myself on an incredible heaping plate of Pilipino food and just couldn’t eat another bite. I’ve been on a hunt ever since.

Saturday night we were at Tanglin Mall and after we got on the escalator going up the little snack stand on the side had two sitting right there. We were heading to Chili’s for a fun family dinner, but I was so excited I turned around really fast and exclaimed while pointing, “LOOK!! A corndog!” Unfortunately for the woman who chose to insert herself in the middle of my family got whacked in the face by my hand. I was a bit embarrassed, but still, A CORNDOG!! I almost chose to forego the amazing Chili’s quesadilla for a cheap corndog.

So any expat can now understand why I’m having such a hard day. I need a corndog! Today I’m half way wishing I had the corndog on Saturday night. It might be time to swing past Tanglin Mall today for a quick errand.

Little Lady

2011-12-10T22:29:00.001+08:00

Maddie is becoming quite the little lady. I caught her crossing her legs today in the car. She loves to wear jewelry any chance she gets. Changes outfits often because she wants to wear all the pretty things she owns everyday. Most recently she got a pair of cute black buckle shoes that, according to her, have high heels. Not a day goes by that she doesn't want to wear those fancy shoes to school. Never before has this girl been willing to wear boring black. Things with ribbon, lace, glitter and sparkle always catch her eye.

Maddie spends hours creating and has a great imagination. Her skill is really developing and some days I think she is better at art than Ben despite him being two years older. It's probably also because she tries so hard to make things perfect and he rushes through to be done with it and do something else as fast as he can. The other day she used up almost an entire ream of colored paper making gigantic flowers with full sheets of paper glued in circular shape. They were all about fifteen sheets big and she was so proud. Her life is just like those flowers. Colorful. She loves spice in her life. Variety. Change. Mostly she loves beauty.

She has told me lots of times lately that I'm the best mom is the entire world. When I ask why she always says its because my clothes are so pretty that day. I think she is a big fan of my maternity wardrobe. I admit it's a nice step up from the old, worn T-shirt selection I am otherwise found wearing. Maddie loves pretty clothes, dishes, jewelry, art, toys, shoes and everything else. It's fun to have someone notice and appreciate when I do put extra work into making something special. We love her in our family.

Hungry? It's Friday Night - Pizza Night at the Zufelts

2011-12-09T18:07:00.001+08:00

Brian’s been gone all week working in Malaysia. Phone woke me up at 4am this morning after I was up doing cub scouts until 12:30am. I’m tired so it’s pizza night. I logged onto Pizza Hut to get delivery and saw a new pizza option for the holiday season, “Jolly Glee” pizza. Curious what this holiday offering was I clicked. Tell me if you are salivating…

JOLLY GLEE

With a cheese-stuffed crust sprinkled with parmesean cheese, the Jolly Glee Pizza is baked on a bed of mashed potato and cranberry sauce. Topped with turkey bacon, roasted chicken, capsicums, pineapple and onions, it comes with cheesy pastry strips and juicy cherry on top.

Yikes! I’ll stick with a the Hawaiian or maybe a supreme. Even supreme has some interesting additions (and a few sad subtractions – we miss American pepperoni). Actually, those are the only two pizza flavors I will order here. Makes selection pretty quick when you don’t want Chicken Curry Pizza, Ocean Catch Pizza or Chicken Supreme (chicken ham and spicy chicken chunks with onion, capsicums and mushrooms).

Oh yeah, we tried the stuffed crust pizza last weekend in Malyasia. Imagine a tube of velveta off the shelf. Open packet, squeeze the rubbery wanna-be cheese around the pizza and fold over the crust. Don’t need to try that again!

Wiggly Baby and the Grey Period of Pregnancy

2011-12-09T08:19:00.000+08:00

Fourth time around but it still gets me. Just how long is pregnancy? And how far along am I?

Pregnancy = 40 weeks

Month = 4 weeks

Therefore pregnancy is 10 months, right? I know, the 29^th, 30^th and 31^st ‘s of the months throw off that simple calculation. Plus you’re not actually pregnant the first two weeks and I’m delivering two weeks early this time, so this time really is 9 months. Still, here is where I have trouble.

I just finished my 24^th week. I’m showing. People are asking, “How far along are you?” And, “How much longer do you have?” Well if I’m 24 weeks then I’m six months, right? But if I’m supposed to answer how much longer then I have to say 16 weeks and that’s four months. And it’s depressing to have four months left.

I noticed three days ago, Dec 6, that I’m three months from my scheduled delivery date of March 6 (two weeks early because it’s the fourth c-section). Boy did that ever make my day! There will be an end and it’s in sight.

I thought, for the kids sake, that I wanted this baby to move like Ben did so the kids could feel him/her and get excited. Maddie was turned wrong so she kicked my pelvic wall and bladder. Jacob jabbed sharply at my rib cage and upper body for months on end.

Well, he/she is properly aligned to entertain the siblings. And sometimes it’s a bit obnoxious. I’d forgotten that part after eight years. My laptop gets kicked (effectively pinching my skin between the baby and the keyboard) and I see my belly move out of the corner of my eye sometimes and it catches me by surprise.

What a wiggly baby! I sure got what I asked for so far. The kids are totally connected to this baby. They hug and snuggle and kiss my belly and talk about how to make it happy when it “comes out.” Ben is still quiet and reserved when talking about it. Maddie plans things for the baby. Jacob tells me all the things he will to “to make my baby happy.” I didn’t realize how excited they would really be and it makes me happy.

Worms. Again.

2011-12-08T05:28:00.000+08:00

If my count is correct this is four times in about eight months. Grrr. Pinworms seem to be plaguing Jacob here.

Rain Delay is Over

2011-12-07T08:31:00.000+08:00

I'm calling it a rain delay but even that is over. After the original ban Ben was caught THREE times in the same offense. On the third strike of peeing without lifting the seat during the ban I added another week. At least I never caught him doing it in the banned convenient toilet. What is a mom supposed to do? Requirements are not new. He's been doing the same thing for five years. No surprises.

Maybe I need to cross stitch the rules and hang them on display.

1. Lift the seat.

2. Flush the mess.

3. Wash your hands.

4. Wash them again because we both know you didn't use soap, you little punk. Love you.

What Do You Think About Singapore?

2011-12-06T15:18:00.000+08:00

Today we were reading Chris Patch's blog about their family adventures in Nepal and showing the kids who we will be spending a few days with in Cambodia in two weeks. We were noticing all the things that are different there and I thought to ask the question of Maddie what she is enjoying about Singapore. She couldn't immediately think of what she likes (as opposed to the USA) so I began suggesting things.
This is the face I got, accompanied with a dramatic eye roll, when I asked if she likes the squatters.

Buddies After Swim Lessons

2011-12-05T22:57:00.000+08:00

What do you do after swim lessons while your mommy talks to another mommy and the coach for almost, well, FOREVER? Spread out your towel on deck and giggle with your cute friend while you catch some sun and pass the time.

Mom! I Did It!!

2011-12-03T16:14:00.000+08:00

Someone is bored. Immigration leaving Singapore this morning took an hour. Then shopping. Then we got lost coming back. Followed by an hour waiting in line in the car for immigration again. Ben found something to do. He has been thinking a lot lately about how he wishes his legs would grow but his body should wait a few months to catch up. Then he could finally put his legs behind his head. I told him he should stretch and practice in his bed every night. Maybe he's been trying because he did it today while we waited in the long, long line.

Malaysian Adventure

2011-12-03T10:10:00.001+08:00

We got hit by someone just getting in line to go through immigration. This could be a real adventure!

Lemonade Stand Finances

2011-11-30T23:15:00.000+08:00

Teaching our children can often be fun, but sometimes it is hard. We've taught our kids about the scriptures, in particular, God's commandments. Some of those lessons have been excruciating this week. Two posts. Two examples today.

There are several places tithing is mentioned. We are to pay a tithe, or a tenth, of our increase annually to the Lord. Not because he needs our money, frankly he'll be just fine without it, but because I need to learn to give it and recognize what is mine is really the Lords anyway.
When all the lemonade stand sales were done and the pitchers were empty Ben brought in the dishes and was off to play. Now comes the hard lesson. Sunday morning he reminded me that in the craziness of the day I hadn't paid his allowance on Saturday. True. We handled that and as he put his "Fun Money" into his piggy bank after paying his bills (tithing and savings) I remarked how he sure had a lot more money than I remembered him having last week. He is saving for a Nintendo DS and is keeping meticulous track of his progress and reports it proudly to me each week. He had about $22 last week. This week, after allowance he had about $32. I asked where it came from. The lemonade stand. Of course. I forgot. He had made $7.50 selling lemonade.

Now what? Yuck. Parenting can be rough. I mentioned that he hadn't yet payed his bills on that money yet. He was dumbstruck. What bills? Tithing. Of course he had to pay on the money I give him. I guess it's just part of the deal in his mind. I pay him and then I take his money back. He hadn't ever thought about it before that you had to pay tithing on other money. Luckily this time Brian was around. I asked, "Dad, what happens to your money when you get paid from work?" Sensing exactly where I was going, he gave an appropriate response about tithing first, then taxes, then bills, then fun. I explained that the Bible says we play on our "increase" and increase means what more we have than we had before. Did he have more on Sunday than he had on Friday? Yep. So the Lord expected that he would need to pay a tithe on that money.

Life lessons are hard, especially when you are seven years old. He took it well, after the shock wore off. He still came out ahead. The piggy bank flashes a bigger number today than it did on Friday. And hopefully it won't be a surprise next time he does a lemonade stand. I think he'll be happy to honor the Lord next time, you know, when he's mentally budgeted for the expense. Hopefully by learning the importance of tithing now will make it easier to be faithful and diligent when times are tough in college or later in his life. Those are the times that the blessings of obedience are really seen. This much I know to be true: the windows of heaven shower down blessings on those who consistently, deliberatly obey Gods laws, even when it's hard to do.

Lemonade Stand

2011-11-30T23:05:00.001+08:00

Ben and Maddie had been asking for months if they could have a lemonade stand. They always ask at the wrong time. Twenty minutes before dinner is served and I'm rushing to get it on the table. On our way out the door to a swim lesson. When it's pooring down rain and half an hour from bedtime. Every time I tell them it's a great idea but we have to plan it. Thanksgiving weekend they finally got it right. Friday night they came to me and asked if they could have a lemonade stand on Saturday. I knew already it would be a hectic day since we were hosting 22 people for a big dinner but they had done exactly what I had asked them to do. Make a plan. I couldn't refuse.

First thing Saturday morning (I was up at 4am thawing the turkey, they came down about 6:45) they wanted to get started. It wasn't a good time and we had limited supply of ice because I had party plans for most of it. I suggested that most people would probably want to eat breakfast and get dressed before they wanted lemonade. We formally scheduled the big event for 10am. They quickly polished off a bowl of cereal each and bounded up the stairs to the craft area to make the signs they would need. By 7:30 they were ready, but the crowds, I assumed, were still in bed on a lazy Saturday morning in the middle of a four day weekend. Maddie asked about every 30 minutes if it was 10 o'clock yet and Ben asked about each thing to make sure we were ready.

As the clock ticked the minutes away, Brian peeled potatoes, I washed green beans and we both realized we needed to pick up the deep fryer to make absolutely certain our monsterous turkey would fit because going strictly by weight, it was oversized for the pot. If this plan wasn't going to work, we needed to get that bird in the oven immediately or there would be no dinner! We took the family and the wagon to get it at about 9:45. We verified it would indeed fit and headed to the grocery store to get lemonade stand cups and a couple other random groceries for the afternoon.

Beep, beep, beep went the scanner at the checkout counter and as we looked out the window into the courtyard my heart sunk. It was a downpour the likes of which are hard to explain to a Utahn. We got home from the store and unloaded the car. Ben knew it wasn't a good time so started to play and do random clean up tasks to get ready for our guests. Somewhere along the line the rain stopped but it was soon approaching 1:30 and that meant turkey time. I snagged the three little people to come and see just what we were going to eat. Everyone needed stools and it took a minute to get all situated so everyone could see the show. It was totally entertaining for me to snap photos as Brian explained the anatomy of the headless, footless bird to three wide eyed kids. Then he pulled out the neck and the innards and showed them what they were and explained the jobs of the parts.

Then it was into the pot for Mr. Turkey and within minutes the rain returned full force. Knowing my patient Ben had had enough of the months of waiting only to have to keep waiting today I suggested we make up the lemonade and have it all ready to add ice when the rain stopped. He was keen on that idea so he picked two flavors, I threw in the sugar and he happily mixed them up. Then he got a toy bin and his signs and tape and got ready to wait.

About 2:30 he'd had enough waiting. He set up shop in our driveway under the cover and waited. And waited. And waited. See, we live on a quiet, dead end circle of a road at the extreme most back corner. And it was RAINING! No one was going to be walking around. He had made signs for the main road, but didn't want the rain to ruin them so he hadn't posted them up on the light poles and trees. Finally the rain slowed to a medium sprinkle instead of a full on downpour. He opened the door and yelled, "I'm going to know tell people I'm selling lemonade!" And off he went to knock the doors of the neighbors.

Soon enough he had his first three customers and made $1.50. In a while he got two more kids to come over and at S$0.50 (US$0.38) he felt like he was getting rich quick. That was of course his last customer other than all our dinner guests who began arriving at 2:30. John and Jenna, the British couple, only had a $50 bill, which Ben couldn't break, so I loaned them $2.50 and they and their three kids all had a delicious warm cup. The ice melted instantly in the Singapore heat so nothing was cold. They thought it was such fun to buy lemonade from a real lemonade stand. It's something they had literally only seen in the movies. That made me chuckle. Silly Brits. Really though, Silly Americans, sitting in the driveway with juice and cups on an old cardboard box.

Sabbath Day Birthday Parties

2011-11-30T21:41:00.001+08:00

Teaching our children can often be fun, but sometimes it is hard. We've taught our kids about the scriptures, in particular, about the 10 commandments. Some of those lessons have been excruciating this week. Two posts. Two examples today.

Exodus 20:8-11
8 Remember the asabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it

If we aren't to work on the Sabbath and we shouldn't cause other people to work either then I can't justify shopping on Sunday or sports events or amusement parks or the like. That much we've been firm on. The keep it holy is a lot more subjective and I genuinly struggle with what is in the spirit of keeping the Sabbath a holy day. We give the green light to family dinners and inviting friends over to dine with us but keep it low key and only if it's a full family event for both us and our guests or inviting someone over in need. We try not to go to parties and such where, though it may be loads of good pool party/laser tag/moon bouncing fun, we won't be drawn closer to the Lord through our attendance. See what I mean? Hard line to draw.

Now that the kids are getting older we are having to deal with this commandment more and more with our kids. Ben just accepts as a given that we won't join a sports team that has Sunday practice and games, we left the cub scout campout as soon as we woke up instead of staying for the days events, so we could get packed up, showered and to church on time (and even that attendance was debated before we decided to go). We don't have playdates with neighbor kids on Sunday unless it is a small family event where their entire family is invited to enjoy time with us our entire family.

The kicker at our house these days is the birthday party invites. He knows from the time he sees that invitation come home in back pack mail that if it says "Sunday" it's the kiss of death for him. Ben has not yet ever complained, but that doesn't mean his sweet, innocent heart isn't broken and that we haven't had tears.

We said no to a birthday pool party this week because it was on Sunday but he held onto the anticipation of another party on the calendar. Two weeks ago he brought home an invite to a party for one of his very favorite classmates. It was a Laser Tag party and it was on SATURDAY!! I was about as happy as he was that he could go. He has been anxiously waiting for the big day this weekend. Early this week my heart felt like it was being ripped in two pieces as I read my email. The mother of the friend sent a note out that went something like this..."Oops! We are so sorry, but we put the wrong date on the invite. The party is actually on Sunday, Dec 4. We hope the schedule change doesn't mean you'll miss the party." What am I supposed to do? I know what I have to do, but I'm chicken. I waited two whole days to tell Ben. Finally I knew I had no choice but to break the news. He cried and threw himself on the couch. Not a single word of protest emerged though. He knows it's God's law, not mom's rule. And he is an obedient child.

I wish so much that other Christians felt the same as I do. I wish I didn't stand alone so often. I wish that more Christians chose not to do things on the Sabbath so that when I'm questioned and I explain my religious belief is based on the 10 Commandments my friends of other faiths didn't question me saying their (fill in the blank other Christian) friends do things on Sunday. I know. I know they do. But I don't. I wish so much that there were more people that remembered. It would make for so many less birthday party heart breaks in my home. For now I accept that we are peculiar. I know someday Ben (and Maddie and Jacob and #4) will hate me for our stand. But I feel like it's the right thing to teach them. I pray I have the faith and stamina to stay true. Because it's hard to make your little boy cry. His broken heart in turn breaks mine.

Insurance - Explanation of BEN-e-fits

2011-11-29T16:50:00.001+08:00

Today we got a copy of the insurance company Explanation of Benefits. My first thought was, "Weird. I have a monsterous stack of things to submit but being international means NOTHING is automatic. How could they have known about an appointment we had this year?"

Upon further inspection I saw that the service date was August 2007. Yes. 2007. That's over four years ago for a surgery Ben had. Seriously? Four years later? What rotten book keeping!! Ben was reading over my shoulder and I laughed as I realized how OLD this thing was. Wondering what was so funny, I explained to my 7 1/2 year old that I was reading a bill, for lack of a better explanation, for something that happened when he was 3 years old.

He started reading to figure it out and saw in big bold letters across the top of the page and read to me, "Explanation of BEN-e-fits. Is that about me?"

"Well, yeah, but not exactly how you think." Laughing out loud I asked him, "If it was for Maddie do you think it would say, 'Explanation of Maddie-fits?'"

"Of course."

Quote of the Day to Make Me Smile

2011-11-28T10:39:00.000+08:00

I just logged onto Flylady.com to check how bad shipping would be for a 2012 calendar. The quote that came up on the screen was perfect for me.

"You can't organize clutter....you can only get rid of it!"

Baby steps. That's what it's all about and I'm making a lot of them these days. Having the kids home from school was fun and good for everyone this Thanksgiving weekend even if I started to resent ExxonMobil for keeping my husband away from the family and having him work late. While the kids played and kept Jacob totally engrossed in their imaginitive games I got through so many boxes! I was beyond proud of myself for tidying up and throwing out and organizing the things we did need to keep.

One time as Ben passed the office and poked his head in the room I stopped him. I happily exclaimed, "Ben, LOOK! I got all this cleaned up and unpacked!" I motioned to the nicely arranged shelf. He sweetly looked around the room and smiled but couldn't come up with any words for me. Gazing at him I realized he wasn't impressed and didn't know what to say. I turned my head back to where I had been pointing and then I noticed it...I had unpacked and emptied two huge moving boxes of their precious cargo, but in the process my sorting piles of "recycle," "trash," "computer shelf," "cleaning supplies for the storage closet" etc. things were piled all over the floor and other boxes had simply been pushed out of the way.

I started laughing and Ben looked relieved from the akward position in which I had placed him when I said, "It doesn't really look that great, does it?"

"No." Then he smiled and charged into the room. He motioned with his hands at the three foot by three foot square piece of real estate that had previously held a pile of boxes as tall as my head. Making a square with his hands and pointing to the floor he said, "But this spot looks REALLY good mom!"

I gave him a hug and sent him on his way, thanking him for helping me feel good. Sweet kid.

Too Much Singing

2011-11-28T08:34:00.000+08:00

The big kids are off to class and Jacob finished his morning chores so he can watch a movie. Diego is his usual favorite on cable. I get lots done in those thirty minute blocks. Now he's complaining about the show though and I'm cracking up at his critique.

"Mom, why rescue pack is singing all the time?"
"I'm not sure. Do you like it?"
"No. He is just singing TOO much every day he does sing."

Success

2011-11-26T20:17:00.000+08:00

I'm calling thanksgiving a success. Twenty two full bellies. Twenty two happy people. Lots and lots of dishes. This is the kitchen after two loads of dishes had already been done. Yikes!

Cranky Jake

2011-11-26T08:20:00.000+08:00

From the second he came downstairs Jacob has been crying about this, that or the other thing. Thought I'd snap a photo of his angry face since I don't put enough pictures on the blog. This is how he felt about getting his picture taken.

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree

2011-11-26T07:35:00.001+08:00

For dinner today we are having:

6 Zufelts (I'm including the fluffy yittle doggie baby for fun - then I can eat more)

5 Brits

4 Koreans

3 Utahns (and 3 more Americans from where I'm not yet sure)

2 Chinese interns from ExxonMobil

and I think I'll have to go find a partridge in a pear tree to round things out

Actual grand total: 22 people

Brian had to work both Thanksgiving Thursday and Friday because it isn't a holiday here at all so we rescheduled our festivites to Saturday afternoon. So while you are sleeping at 3 am after a long day of Black Friday shopping, we'll be stuffing ourselves with turkey and, well, stuffing.

Maddie has been listening real close to her lessons from Ms. Kiran at school and has been calling our celebration "The Feast" all week. Every single day she asks, "How many more days until The Feast?" or "Is it the day of The Feast yet?" She is sort of making the pressure and expectation level for me to perform go up don't you think? I hope I can deliver. At 6:45 am this morning the kids (Ben and Maddie) got up and started crafting table and wall decorations for the big event. Ben's only request is that we find A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving movie so everyone can watch it. I think that's a splendid idea...now if we can find it that'd be perfect!

The run down on our guest list:

Jenna, the Brit, is super excited. She's always wanted to go to a "proper Thanksgiving dinner." Say it with a British accent and it'll make you smile even more. Think of the fact that she associated Angie Zufelt with the word proper and you may fall off your chair laughing. I promised her a fantastic traditional spread of Thanksgiving food but made no committments on the "proper" part of the request. I'll do my best, but I left all candlesticks and the nice dishes (that I don't own) in storage in the US. We'll make due with Corelle dishes, everyday silverware and neon colors of Ikea cups. We did save our Halloween pumpkins for decorations since we were in Australia and never got around to carving them. Yesterday she sent me an SMS (that means a text message) saying she'd been dieting all week in preparation - I think she's got this holiday down already!

Nahyun, the Korean, has lived on our street in our little American neighborhood for three years so her kids can go to the American school. Her son Allen is one of Ben's very best friends. They had the same teacher last year and again this year. Maddie and Eun Seo are now great buddies too. Nahyun is extremely interested in all my American cooking. She has a helper that does most of the cooking but often she will make Korean dishes and bring me some to try. She seasoned some pork for me to fry up one day that was to die for! She often happens by around dinner time to pick up her kids and I introduced her to a new, exotic and strange ingredient last week. Cream of chicken soup. I had to giggle. She had never seen it in her whole life. I'm not sure I could cook anything without a can of cream of chicken or mushroom soup. My recipe book would be stripped of nearly half the recipes instantly. She loved a simple rice and chicken oven bake I sent home with her.

When I invited her family to Thanksgiving dinner via email she replied and then came over the next day literally giddy with excitement. She has never in her life tasted turkey and is honored to be invited to an American Thanksgiving. After three years of learning about this holiday she is finally going to see what it's all about. At least Zufelt style. She asked what she could bring and I suggested a fruit salad. Then I had to clarify. She couldn't imagine putting salad dressing on fruit so asked which kind. Our American-ness sure can mess other people up. I explained it just meant to put it in a bowl, no dressing required. Then she asked what kind of fruit my kids liked so I asked Maddie. "ROCK MELON!!" came the enthusiastic reply. "What is rock melon?" I translated from Singaporean to American and gave it a shot. "Cantelope?" I queried. Nope. So we went to google. She'd never seen it. She knew watermelon from living in Singpore but in Korea had only ever had honeydew, which they simply call melon because there is only green melons sold. I've never liked honeydew so I asked, neither did she. We both agree, it's never sweet enough. I told her rock melon was not required but showed her with online pictures what it looks like and how to prepare it if she wants to try it. If not, I'll get her one next week. I bet she'll love it!

To keep things interesteing for the American contingency attending The Feast today we are breaking from regular oven baked tradition and going Southern. Our neighbors are from Houston and have a deep fryer they used on Thursday for their big dinner. We'll be taking a wagon over this morning to get the fryer and the oil. This is our first year actually doing the deep frying and I'm hoping it works out really great. My brother fries a mean turkey so I'm hoping we don't disapoint.

Our Chinese guests are two college interns that have been working for Brian at ExxonMobil and, well, they have no idea what they are getting into in the first place. This whole holiday is brand spanking new to them so they are just along for the ride. I need to tell Brian to remind them we don't drink. Sometimes I forget that and it's akward when people show up with a lovely bottle of wine as a generous gift but we allow let alcohol in our house for us or others. Better nip that in the butt before we get surprised by it. Another guest offered to bring wine yesterday, otherwise I wouldn't have remembered at all.

Finally, for the partridge, I found some bird seed when I was unpacking boxes yesterday. Yes. I'm still unpacking from when we moved here in January and got our shipment in April. Just the random stuff that could be tossed and no one would actually miss it so it wasn't urgent. You know, stuff like birdseed.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

The Turkey is STILL Frozen...and We Eat at 3:30 Today

2011-11-26T06:30:00.001+08:00

I checked online and saw I needed four days to fridge thaw our turkey. It was delivered with sufficient time to be ready for our Saturday "feast" as Maddie has been calling it all week. I stuck it in the fridge and forgot about it until Friday afternoon. I thought I'd check it out and to my dismay there was still a thin ice layer on the outside of the turkey. What am I supposed to do now? We are supposed to eat this bird in 24 hours!! And we've got 21 people coming over to share it.

I set the alarm for 6 am because any earlier was beyond my comprehension. Then, because I'm pregnant, got up at 4 am this morning to pee and just went ahead with it. I have commenced the cool water bath method of turkey thawing. In the wee early morning hours I also found a support community online telling me it will all be okay. I can have this turkey ready. It's possible. Of course in my planning to get up at 6 am I had read it needed 12 hours of water baths. A little short on time but it had fridge time. Perfect. But wait...I didn't back calculate that it needed 4-5 hours to COOK. Ugh. At this point I'm counting on the four days in the fridge to have done SOMETHING major to help me out. The outer layer of turkey was kinda squishy when we began the thawing marathon in the pitch black hours of the night fumbling around in a tired stupor.

Hmm... It just occured to me that I set that alarm for 6 am. It's now 6:30 am and I've been downstairs since 4 o'clock. Sorry Brian for my alarm waking you up. My bad.

That Was Not a Roast

2011-11-25T22:30:00.001+08:00

I don't know why the package said "pot roast". It was NOT a pot roast. It was plain terrible. It was cooked through but still reddish pink. Like the crap hamburgers I occasionally get on accident. Now I'm ticked. Wasted $30 on junk meat. Gross.

Singapore Life

2011-11-23T11:18:00.001+08:00

Did I post this already? Cracks me up the things they have to warn me about at Sentosa Island.

Movie Snack Bar Selection

2011-11-23T11:12:00.000+08:00

Wow. Tough choice but I'm gonna pass on the fish and stick with M&Ms.

Grateful

2011-11-23T11:09:00.001+08:00

I'm grateful for the cleaning ladies. They are fantastic. They are totally reliable. Always on time. Clean things I would NEVER get around too. (Who washes their windows inside and out every single week?) They find little things all the time that make my life better.

Scout campout was this weekend. It rained. The mud was so bad I lost my shoes in the suction cup action more than once. Literally used a scrub brush to clean my legs in the shower because it would not come off my shins. Clean up has been a long and slow process because I spent so many hours at the school Monday and Tuesday. Everything had to be hosed off, scrubbed down and dried out. Then packed and stored.

When Mary and Auntie arrived this morning to clean we still had leaves in the living and dining room despite vacuuming twice as we dried and folded the tent inside. The tarp was a quarter clean and a pile of nasty mud caked croc sandals lay by the hose awaiting round two scrub downs. I wanted to cry tears of gratitude when I glanced out the window and saw Auntie, who in America would be nearing retirement age, squatting and scrubbing a pile of crocs. Then I noticed she had finished and folded up the muddy tarp. They are angels to me. Life is good. I am blessed.

Today's Project with Jake

2011-11-23T10:06:00.001+08:00

Tower Building with Colors and Shapes!

Field Trip to the Wet Market with Maddie Mae

2011-11-22T23:55:00.000+08:00

Today was a big day for Maddie and fifteen of her favorite friends. The kids had their first field trip this year. From the looks on their faces at the coffee shop after doing their vegetable shopping, picking flowers to secretly buy for the teacher and buying a cool lime juice at the hawker stalls it was a smashing success. Maddie absolutely adores her teacher Ms. Kiran and their aide Ms. Fitzah.

When she saw the flower shop she first wanted to buy flowers for me. She picked chrysanthemums that were dyed nearly neon green because, she reasoned, I like the color green.

Looking around I showed her what I thought looked like my moms favorite flower that she always has in the front flower boxes in the front yard. Then she decided I didn't need flowers but Ms. Kiran did and chose what I had pointed out as grandma's favorite. Two other girls joined in picking to buy the teacher flowers too. One cute girl has a tendency to boss Maddie around and either make her choices for her or copy whatever Maddie does so they are always exactly the same (from walking exactly next to each other to coloring a butterfly the same on every single stripe and polka dot).

After a bit of time with her friend at the flower shop she finally whispered in my ear that she was changing her plan and giving them to Ms. Fitzah. I was proud she was thinking on her own and being so selfless in her thoughts because most days she would have only wanted flowers for herself.

Jake of course isn't quite there yet. We now have chrysanthemums dyed neon blue in the middle of our dinner table. The kids all love them and I'd say they were totally worth $0.80.

Asleep

2011-11-22T19:03:00.001+08:00

Jake had a messy diaper and was too uncomfortable to sit on the ride home from the play date. Too tired to stay awake for two blocks. He was dead asleep when we got home kneeling in the stroller like this.

Can't Reach

2011-11-22T16:25:00.001+08:00

Jake is always so sure that if he holds the remote really, really high I won't be able to reach it and turn the tv off. Hasn't worked yet but he still keeps trying!

How You Know Mom Has Had Enough

2011-11-22T13:06:00.000+08:00

Nothing else seems to be working. Maybe this will have an impact. I know I'm not the only mom sitting in surprises due to lazy boys. Thought some of you would appreciate this post.

iPhone HELP!!

2011-11-21T15:09:00.001+08:00

My iPhone just started emailing me anytime I update anything I put in my "Notes". I didn't change anything and it never did it before since I got the darn thing in February. Kids must have changed something but who knows what or how to change it! It's making lots of junk mail in my inbox. If you are an iPhone wizard, tell me, what am I supposed to do?

Scout Campout Damage

2011-11-20T14:43:00.001+08:00

Ten minutes into the drive home from church three kids are asleep in the car. Victims of a late night at the cub scout campout last night. Too bad we can't leave them in the car and go enjoy a lunch and a movie on the couch while we watch them in the driveway.

Primary Program Today

2011-11-20T14:31:00.002+08:00

"What are those kids doing?" "Singing about Jesus in French." "Oh. They saying, 'Oui oui oui oui!'" ("We we we we.")

Maybe I've taken too much creative license with my translation/interpretation thinking he automatically switched into French, a language he absolutely does know. But the timing was fantastic and I started laughing.

By the way, Maddie and Ben remembered their parts and did great.

Brian in Pink?

2011-11-18T17:17:00.000+08:00

Brian's flight landed from Tokyo about 3am on Thursday morning so I left the
dead bolt unlocked and went to bed. He came in about 4am and was as quiet as
humanly possible...but I'm pregnant so even the slightest noise makes me
wake and then have to get up to use the bathroom. He went to sleep and I
surfed the web on my phone laying in bed. Finally it was time to get up and
shower. As I walked out the bedroom door to face the day I saw his suitcase,
unzipped but still closed, with just a touch of pink plaid like fabric.
Immediatly I was puzzled.

I knew his subwoofer went out (a certifiable male emergency) so he had been
shopping two nights in Tokyo. Japan runs off 100V power which is close
enough to the US 110V to make it workable. He didn't want to buy a 220V one
if we will only be here two more years. Since he had been out shopping were
my eyes playing tricks on me? Was it a salmon colored plaid work shirt he
had picked up? I opened his bag and was giddy with excitement!

THANK YOU HEATHER GILLESPIE!! (And whomever Brian knows from Fairfax that
was traveling to Tokyo the same week!) No, Brian did not buy himself pink or
even salmon colored attire. Heather sent us a boat load of hand me downs
previously destined for Dani's Duds. I love you. I love you! So cute. You
are the best, and she got it all together with a adorable four week old baby
keeping her up at night. You rock. Shopping here is either beyond expensive
or Chinatown quality. This is a real blessing. Thanks a million!

I Can't. I Busy

2011-11-17T12:13:00.000+08:00

English

2011-11-12T15:54:00.001+08:00

I like this sign. I glad we safe even if our English suck.

Derailed - By My Own Darn Self

2011-11-11T12:27:00.001+08:00

I had the best of intentions today. Jake was going to watch an hour to hour and a half of kid shows on cable while I caught up on finances. What did I actually do this morning? Got sidetracked on facebook after seeing a note about the Patches visiting us in Singapore. Then I talked with the Patches in Nepal about meeting up with his family on their US State Dept R&R leave. They are doing a tour of S.E. Asia and all the sites are close to us. I’m thinking Angkor Wat the day after the kids get out of school for break. I’ve always thought if there would be anyone to travel with it would be the Patches. They are always ready for adventure and ALWAYS know about cool things I would have never found out about. I can’t wait!!

Then I got messaged by some of my old church youth girls who are away at college and another new Singapore friend called to plan out our Thanksgiving plans so we searched online for all the required dishes and planned who is bringing what.

Jake? He got two good hours of Diego/Dora/Bubble Guppies/Little Bill/Max and Ruby and whatever else came on. I tried to get him to go on a walk together, ride bikes outside with me, play games but he has no interest and I wasn’t overly motivated since I had made no progress on my own tasks so I let him be. I still only put in five receipts put into Quicken for the day. Guess he gets twenty more minutes of tube time and then we’ll go pick up Maddie – officially ending the so called productive part of my day. What a laugh that is today. Productive. Ha.

Hey Elevator Lady!

2011-11-10T13:52:00.000+08:00

We took the elevator down to Maddie's school today just like every other day. Usually when the voice inside the elevator says, "going down" Jacob gets agitated and tells me he wants to go up. Today he yelled out at the elevator voice directly, "HEY Lady!!! (pronounced yea-dee) I want to go UP!" He is so funny to spend my days with. I love it!

New Twist On B-I-N-G-O

2011-11-10T08:45:00.000+08:00

Jake really enjoys singing the song Bingo with Maddie. They belt it out. Today she’s at school so he’s doing the very best he can do. “F-O-Angie-O”

Negotiating with a Two Year Old

2011-11-09T20:50:00.001+08:00

Jacob is weepy. He needs a nap. We have friends over for the day while their parents are away on holiday and Jacob just came downstairs crying. I asked what the trouble was and he told me, “Maddie says Micah is this many,” showing me three fingers.

I replied that he WAS that many.

“NOPE!” He’s this many!” showing me two fingers again.

This went on for a bit and I tried to remind him how we had blue cupcakes at Micah’s house last week and now he was three. All to no avail. He finally ended by telling me Micah was NOT Ben and Maddie’s age and left the room. I think I lost the argument.

Switching Places

2011-11-06T21:10:00.001+08:00

We had the Pitman kids today it was so much FUN!! Sitting in church together was fine but they were pretty chatty and happy to just be together.

On the way home Ben and Corbin switched places and Tia and Maddie did too. The girls switched as much as they possibly could switch on a car ride - hair bows, clips, sweaters, shoes and glasses. Funny part was that neither Tia nor Corbin could keep the glasses on. I'm sure they gave them headaches after two minutes or less. Of course my kids didn't understand what the problem was. I can't wait for the day they have contact lenses and then try glasses. Then they will totally get it.

Mini Refinery

2011-11-04T17:12:00.000+08:00

Ben was busy this afternoon building with legos and made a mini refinery he was quite proud of.

Time for a Haircut or Dye the Roots

2011-11-04T15:02:00.000+08:00

Jake is getting about old enough to need his first haircut. I put a pony
tail and bow in it at Shon's house. Today I noticed how when I do cut it
he's going to really darken up. All the blond must be baby hair because his
roots are much, much darker than the bleached blond hair he used to have.
That makes me sad. Not only do kids look much older once they get their
first cut but he'll no longer be my solo blond kid. Maybe he'll actually
look like my kid now.
Just for kicks I'm waiting to cut it until his birthday in a few weeks.
Seriously, who hits the three year mark and has never had a cut yet? That's
just plain nuts.

I Don't Want to Walk to School Today

2011-11-04T13:44:00.000+08:00

Jake was not feeling like walking to school this morning to drop off Maddie Mae. Poor guy.

Sleeping In, Toilet Talk and Foreign Languages

2011-11-01T06:57:00.000+08:00

Usually we get the kids up at 6 am so they are ready to leave for school at 7:30. We do morning reading and one house helper chore like empty the dish washer before school each morning. Plus they are often pokey about getting ready. Last night Halloween was wild and fun and sugar filled and LATE. This morning I'm making the executive decision to let them sleep a full extra hour. Think they can be ready in 30 minutes?

I decided it was better to scrap everything but get dressed, eat and brush teeth and let them rest. We got up twenty minutes later yesterday and no one had reading time because they were dragging too much. They did wake naturally though. I was going to give them thirty minutes but someone got up to use the toilet. They are all sooooo tired still from our trip and to put Halloween on top adds up to a risk situation of potential tears and tantrums at every turn.

It that weird of me to say "use the toilet" instead of "go to the bathroom"? It's one Singapore thing I've picked up on. Makes lift easier here to be sure. What the heck is a restroom anyway? I don't nap and rest there. And bathrooms at the mall? Aren't any bathtubs there to be seen.

In Australia, and I'm pretty sure British people too after having my friend Jenna over last night to trick or treat, say wee or wee-wee instead of pee or tinkle. Translate that for the poor people at South Bend Park in Brisbane. We had eight kids and a merry go round late on a Friday night at the boardwalk park along the river. As they spun round and round and round they would all squeal at the to of their lungs "Wee! Wee! Wee!" over and over and over. The Aussies probably think there were a bunch of crass American kids at the past last weekend. I think it's funny.

Then there were the young twenty something's on their way out clubbing. Dressed to impress this group of six or seven were saying f-this and f-that and f-her and lots more of the same in fine Aussie accents as Maddie and I crossed paths with them along the boardwalk. After they had passed us up Maddie, holding my hand as we walk, looks up in my eyes and says, "Funny how grown ups in Australia always talk in another language here, right?"
I smiled and simply agreed. Between the curse words she had never heard and the accent she had no idea what they were even saying. How can I capture that innocence and hold it forever. Maddie who began as an angel then grew into my biggest challenge for three long years has become one of my sweetest delights again in the last six months. I love being friends again with my sweet girl. She is beautiful. Her smile contagious and freely gives. She is spontaneous and oozing with love to give away. She is wonderful.

And now it's time to wake the beasts.

Still Recovering

2011-10-31T11:51:00.001+08:00

Jacob appears to be still recovering from vacation mode. At our house in Singapore we have a rule you can't get up before the sun. Being so near the equator it works out well. It gets light about 6:45 every day of the year.

In Brisbane Australia the sun was up and it was bright as noon by at least 5am. Problem. Add to that the time zone is two hours ahead of Singapore and my kids were up and wide awake before their cousins ever were and it was only 4am by their body clocks. Jake had three, maybe four naps the entire trip because he was having too much fun to slow down and bedtime was always at least an hour later than it would have been at home. All told they behaved incredibly well for the massive amount of sleep deprivation they were suffering.

Our eight hour return flight left at 2:30am and landed at 8:00am. Maddie and Jake both had a solid six hour sleep. Ben said he didn't sleep at all though I think he got three hours. I got one hour which followed my four hour night the day before. Not cool.

When we got home I took Maddie to gymnastics only to discover it was closed for fall break. Bummer we rushed. We came home and Brian was getting everyone showered. I was too tired to use my nice words so he took them all downstairs so I could nap. Maddie fell asleep at the tv and was down more than 4 hours. Jake slept only about an hour but was one hundred percent lethargic in front if the tv for over six hours. Brian took Ben to a birthday party and he fell asleep on the drive home then slept eleven and a half hours that night.

Looks like Jake needed just a little bit more. Isn't he cute?

Baby Boy or Baby Girl?

2011-10-30T22:30:00.000+08:00

My big ultrasound is this Friday (or maybe Thursday). We’ll be able to tell if it’s a boy or a girl. But I’m hoping to have baby number four be surprise number one. What do you think? We packed all our baby girl and boy clothes, so it really doesn’t matter one single bit to me which we have. Okay - my obsession with fair does make me tend to want a girl, plus Maddie really, really, really wants a sister and I think everyone ought to have a sister. Other than that though it doesn’t matter and thus far the boys have been loads easier to figure out than our little girl so maybe, just maybe all boys are easier than girls.

When we were having Ben, we decided to have a surprise. We discussed. We decided. We were totally on the same page. Plus, I hated the color pink and it would prevent a Pepto Bismol colored baby shower with pink, pink, pink gifts everywhere to be seen. We show up at the ultrasound and I’m laying on the table when the tech asks, “Do you want to know the sex?” And in that instant I changed my mind. I HAD TO FIND OUT. This lady knew the answer and I needed to PLAN!! Of course we (I) want to know. I am fairly sure that when I looked at poor Brian sitting in the chair beside me I shot evil, fire daggers out of my eyes at him threatening him to even dare to go against me. He just said, “Okay.” When they said it was a boy, we were both excited. It’s what we had both wanted to start off with.

With Maddie we decided it would be nice to know if we needed to get anything different for clothes than what I had stowed away in bins of Ben’s old clothes. We thought it would be cool to have a girl so the pressure would be off if it was a girl and we chose to have any more then it wouldn’t matter. We both wanted to know this time. They told us it was a girl. We left the holding hands but were both pretty quiet. Brian was driving out of the parking lot when I finally couldn’t take it anymore, “Are you disappointed too?” “Yep.” “Okay. I was feeling bad about being sad it was a girl.” In my head I was thinking, “What are we going to do with a girl? I’m not fancy or pretty. I don’t even wear makeup. How will I raise a GIRL?? And what if she is artsy and likes pink and lace and dolls, not building with blocks and trains and science and math? I can’t do GIRLS!” We talked again the next day or maybe two days later and all our stupid fears about having a girl were gone. We were both REALLY excited to have a beautiful little girl.

Jacob was supposed to be my first surprise baby. The big ultrasound comes at 20 weeks and it’s supposed to be hard to tell before that, right? I had a regular appointment at about 15, maybe 16 weeks. My doctor was a fun older guy and did a quick ultrasound every visit in the beginning just because he had the machine in the room. So without Brian there he asks, “Do you want to know the sex?” “Isn’t it too early to tell?” “Yeah, usually it is, but I think it’s fun to take a look and guess, then see if I’m right, either next month or when the baby is born.” Thinking it sounded fun and like it would be a totally shot in the dark guess, I agreed. My answer came faster than I had expected, “Well, usually it’s a guess at this stage in pregnancy, but this baby is DEFINITELY a boy. Not shy AT ALL.” My first thought was, “OOPS!! Brian was supposed to be here for this! Stupid, stupid me! Why can’t I resist the temptation to know!?!? Dang it. Do I say nothing and act surprised? No. I can’t keep my own secret that long, besides, that’s wrong to not tell him.” Probing for more info and assurances of exactly how sure he was I came out with a 90-95% chance it was a boy. So I called Brian when I got home from the appointment, apologized and announced it was a boy. We double checked at the 20 week and sure enough. Jacob was still a boy.

Right now my resolve is strong. Very strong. This baby is a surprise. I totally realize it’s a surprise either way, we find out the surprise on November 4^th or March 6^th. Maddie is disappointed that I’m planning to wait. So is Ben. Jacob doesn’t care. He already knows it’s going to be a doggie and he’s even getting really sweet and likes to hug and kiss the “fluffy yittle doggie” in my tummy which melts my heart. Check back next week and see if more fire daggers shoot out of my eyes this week at poor Brian as I cave under pressure of the chance to find out. I think I can do it this time. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

Pumpkin Carving

2011-10-30T21:59:00.001+08:00

Is it bad to carve pumpkins a week after Halloween? Does it take away from the fun of doing it? Will my kids still enjoy it in the same way? Because we bought the darn expensive imported things before we left for Australia before they sold out. We had about twelve total to choose from in the store – no pumpkin patch fun for us this year. Then we didn’t carve them but preserved them in the fridge so they wouldn’t be moldy when we returned. But on the drive to the airport for our flight to Brisbane, Daddy was booking a flight to Tokyo for the day after we returned. Bummer. Now daddy is gone and all our friends carved theirs tonight. But mommy didn’t have the energy to take on that project solo. Plus it didn’t sound like fun without dad. Just chaos and asking, begging, needy children all needing something hard and time consuming to get it to look just right and all at the same time.

I think they’ll have lots more fun doing it as a whole family and who cares if we set them on the porch after the fact? It probably just means that all the mischievous kids that go around smashing pumpkins will have had their fun and won’t think to come and get ours. Or I could save them all for my amazing pumpkin stew. Yum. Maybe we’ll just color them with sharpies and skip the carving. Hurry home daddy. We miss you. Trick-or-Treating won’t be the same without you this year.

Monster #4 Has the Wiggles

2011-10-30T21:41:00.001+08:00

The baby in my belly has been wiggly for a while, but while we were on the boat in the Great Barrier Reef things seemed to change a whole bunch. I began feeling the baby move all the time, and with all that laying around time started to notice that I could start to feel it from the outside too. A few weeks ago I kept trying to have Brian feel but I don’t think he ever really felt anything at all. Not wanting to be pushy I quit trying, knowing full well that the time would come soon enough.

Well, today the baby has been wildly busy. Enough so that I even gave it a shot to have Maddie and Ben feel it. Sure enough, they both felt it within two minutes. It was so cool to share it with them. I feel rotten that Brian wasn’t the first one, but how exciting to let the kids share in the baby with me! They though it was cool and weird. In time the movements will get bigger and more obvious and I hope this baby cooperates with us. This time it matters to me. A lot.

Ben was positioned right so that we could feel him move all the time and see his entire body move inside of me as my belly would lift up and a hand or foot would visually move across my belly from far right to far left. It was mind boggling to watch for the first time in my life. Maddie spent basically the entire pregnancy with her back laid across my belly and feet in the floor of my pelvis. I could feel her kicking just as much as Ben but we literally saw nothing. We were sad. We hoped to share Jacob moving around with the kids like we had seen Ben moving but he was also a bit of a stinker like Maddie was. His back stayed most the time near the front bottom of my belly with his feet and hands using my inner rib cage as a punching bag. Boy that kid could cause some major discomfort when he pushed and stretched and pushed and stretched right into the bones on my left side.

So I’m asking this little one to please cooperate. We want the kids to see you wiggle and move and know how real you are. Plus, if memory serves correct, it’s a whole lot more comfortable to have you kick my belly button instead of my rib cage or pelvic floor.

Dancing Lessons from the Pros

2011-10-30T18:59:00.000+08:00

Halloween Candy Overload

2011-10-26T18:57:00.000+08:00

There weren't many kids in our immediate Virginia neighborhood so we went out with the Arveseths and Miles families in their neighborhood one year when Ben was 3 1/2 and Maddie had just turned 1 year old. We got a serious load of sweets over there and then came home. Ben had promised all the neighbors that he would show them his costume so we did a quick trick-or-treat on our little street. Not many kids had come at all that year, in fact one neighbor said she had only had four people knock the entire night, so everyone completely UNLOADED their stash of candy onto cute little Ben.

All together I think we came up with the equivalent of three and a half gallon ice cream buckets full to the brim with candy. I put it all in the pantry cupboard in the kitchen not knowing what else to do with it all. We have never been on empty since. I tend to ration it out so tightly that even four years later my two year old Jacob doesn't ask me for "candy," he asks for a "Trick-or-Treat" in the middle of July. Of course the bucket doesn't still have Halloween candy from 2007. It holds Halloween, then we add in Christmas, then Easter candy, repeat...

It's about time to reload our stash. Happy Halloween everybody!

Halloween Decorating

2011-10-21T13:54:00.000+08:00

We’ve had some fun the last two weeks showing our American roots. Halloween didn’t use to be celebrated in Singapore but is sure catching on. We are expecting a massive crowd in our neighborhood this year. Last year a family on our street gave out over 4000 pieces of candy and ran out before the kids stopped coming. This year the American trick-or-treating tradition was featured on the front page of the Sunday paper with a three page article and full color photos. It’s going to be a madhouse. We've all contributed money to hire police to properly close the roads and security guards to monitor the mayhem. People come from all over the island to enjoy the excitement and collect some free candy.

I knew about this so I bought candy for about 750 kids. Good, yummy things. Somewhere between our move in January and when I checked the bags in September the bags burst their air tight seal letting the humidity in. We didn't realize the candy mix had Jolly Ranchers and they effectively melted all over EVERYTHING. I tried in vain to wash the candy but we probably had more casulties lost to the water than I had hoped. The kids had a fun afternoon eating a massive bucket full of soggy candy. I figured it was a free for all for two hours and then it all went in the trash. They loved their early Halloween even if it was soggy.

I then bought enough candy for 2000 kids to get the equivalent of 5 Jolly Ranchers each individually sealed to be air tight. Looks like I’ll need to reduce my offering by a lot so we don’t run out in the first half hour. On the up side (if you can call it that) Brian will be out of town on Halloween night and I can’t take the kids out and hand out candy at the same time. I’ll only have half the time to hand out if I take my kids out. We won’t want to stay out too long I hear. The roads are so jammed with people that you have to keep a hand on your kids so they don’t get swept away in a moving crowd. I’m stressed already about keeping three kids together.

All around the streets by the American school there are decorations popping up thanks to all the American kids that are excited. We pulled out our preschool pumpkin garland and hung it in the house. We taught our fun Aussie friends, the Pitmans, how to make paper plate skeletons while Brian made rice krispie treats for them to try for their first time (they are fans). Then Kristi and I went to the market to buy more paper plates, other Halloween craft supplies and boxes of rice krispie cereal while the kids played at the house with Brian. Later that night I stumbled across something that jogged my memory about how to color and shape the rice krispie treats into pumpkins. They tried it that weekend and they looked delicious. The Pitman house is definitely spooky these days.

I scoured the internet looking for waterproof décor for the yard. We ended up buying some pumpkin sparkle garland for the fence and the kids made ghosts and a giant tarantula for the front gate out of white and black trash bags. Jacob was beyond proud to help me tie the spider to the gate. At first I thought it looked funny but he's growing on me. The kids of course love being all decorated and ready for Halloween and trick-or-treating.

God Bless the USA

2011-10-20T14:31:00.003+08:00

There are days that I am reminded of how great it is to be an American. Sometimes in very profound ways as I think of our freedoms. Today because we were just told "No problem. Just come back in thirty minutes." at the check in desk at the airport ten minutes ago. We are off to see my brother and sister in laws family in Brisbane today and I forgot to apply for visas to enter the country. Blast! How did that slip my mind? I'm grateful that the USA is good buddies with our friends down under so the visa application is super quick. Otherwise this could have been a major disaster! Only down side is it would have been cheaper if I had done it. Now it's my $250 mistake. Half that cost is for the express service fee for my mess up. Oops. I'll take it over canceling the trip though. Just better not forget again because next time I may not be so lucky.

2nd Grade Spelling Sentences

2011-10-19T21:45:00.001+08:00

Each week Ben gets fifteen words to study for his spelling test. He writes sentences and alphabetizes them. Here are the sentences he came up with this week. They have me cracking up and totally embarrassed.

1. I wrapped the balloon around and poked it so it popped.

2. I needed to fix the toilet so it would not overflow.

3. My frend is little so he wanted to walk.

4. I like isc cream so I licked it even more!

5. my dad wanted a baby so he made one.

6. my Mom seemed to walked to the school to ger hr bran sukt out.

I’m just shaking my head knowing he’s going to turn this in to his teacher. How embarrassing. This on top of him telling the entire cub scout den that his little brother keeps getting pinworms a lot and that it comes from our poop.

Mr. Lim

2011-10-18T12:40:00.001+08:00

I’m pretty darn sure that everyone that does anything in this country is named Mr. Lim. Mr. Lim services air con systems, sells school uniforms, teaches gymnastics classes, is a swim coach, drives a taxi, delivers dry cleaning and is an electrician. Are there any other last names in this country? Makes me laugh when you ask a friend for a referral and they say, “I use Mr. Lim.”

Just for kicks I searched our neighborhood yahoo group just to see what Mr. Lim can do. Here is the list of the most recent posts:

Teaches gymnastics
Dry cleaning (delivered to your door)
Sells oriental rugs
Dentist
Handyman
Notary
Jewelry repair
Blackberry repair and spare parts sales
Pest control
Pharmacist
Beginner calligraphy classes
Owner of a fantastic air conditioned dog kennel

Now I’m off to call someone to service my air con. This time I only have a phone number. What do you want to bet his name is going to be Mr. Lim?

Driving Test

2011-10-11T21:54:00.000+08:00

Here is one of my favorite road signs in Singapore from day one. Most days I don’t notice them anymore but every time they catch my eye on the expressway I have to smile all over again. Did it make you smile too? What exactly does it mean? Umbrellas this way? Umbrella store to the left? Didn’t take too many downpours to realize it is signage basically saying “Shelter from Rain”. It is telling the poor motorcycle riders where to go for shelter in the rain, either to wait it out when it’s really bad (there could be 50-100 men just waiting under cover of the bridge) or to suit up in their rain gear and keep going.

I’m studying for my driving test today. Here is my favorite actual question to date:

When you approach a “zebra crossing”, (that means a marked crosswalk with stripes painted on the ground)

A) Always stop before the stop line before proceeding.

B) Slow down and be prepared to stop.

C) Slow down and let the zebra cross the road safely.

I’m going with C. What do you think? Will I pass the test? I figure it’s always best to err on the side of caution when a zebra’s life is at stake. For heaven sakes who wrote that question? We live in the tropics sure, but not in a wildlife refuge!

Other questions that actually could flub me up would be things like “How many expressways are there in Singapore?” Does that actually need to be knowledge I internalize to be a safe driver here? And what is the legal limit for the blood alcohol and breathalyzer tests? I don’t care. I’ve never had a drink in my life. It doesn’t affect me. Except for on test day when I do need to know. So I will study up and make sure I know it all. Most things are totally reasonable and need to be learned so I’ll just take the zebra question and smile as I click the box for my answer – protect the zebra at all costs!

Hey! I Know Dat One!

2011-10-08T09:49:00.000+08:00

General Conference weekend comes a week late for us here in Singapore but it's still just as good. We are currently watching session one of four. The big kids have been coloring and crafting on the living room floor. Jake has surprisingly wandered the house without complaint (usually he hangs right by me all day long, rarely even leaving the room I am in). He has been loving the Flip Flop Faces today and matching the colors to the beanbags. After nearly half an hour solo he meandered downstairs to join the other four of us. When the Tabernacle Choir sang "I Am A Child of God" he eventually stopped to listen and enjoy and let me know he knew "that one" and then sing along with the chorus. "Lead me, guide me, walk beside me. Help me find the way. Teach me all that I must do, to live with Him someday." What a charge to two average, everyday parents from a two year old of pure faith.

Stinky

2011-10-05T10:58:00.001+08:00

The last two days Singapore has smelled like the stinky trash that sits on the back of the houseboat at Lake Powell in the heat for five days until you can dump at the marina. Yuck!

Getting Ahead of Schedule

2011-09-30T14:52:00.001+08:00

Who doesn’t want to get ahead in life and do more than they had set out to do? I’m so excited to report I am making significant progress in one area of my life which has suffered severely in the last fifteen years.

When I was a kid I read all the time. I first loved Boxcar Children, then The Witch of Blackberry Pond, Hatchet and everything by Gary Paulsen, any Jack Weyland book I could get my hands on and the list went on and on. I don’t think I really stopped enjoying reading for a long time by I always took a very rigorous class schedule with several honors, CC and AP classes each year. There just wasn’t time to read.

Eventually I finished high school but the homework load didn’t let up in college by any stretch of the imagination. My recollection is that I read the Children of the Promise series in those years and that is it. By the time I finished my degree I had completely stopped reading all together. The thought of opening a book made me want to roll my eyes and fall over to take a nap.

I remember we got four books for our wedding, halfway through our college years. I never read a single one. Finally I donated them to the good will after about six years, with the thoughtful notes of those well-wishers thoughtfully inscribed in the cover. Each one had been about how to raise good Christian families or have a healthy marriage. It wasn’t that I didn’t want those things but I sure wasn’t going to read about it. I would rather have wed the garden in the hot Texas sun without mosquito spray.

I once had a friend loan me Harry Potter. I hadn’t asked for it, but she insisted that if I would just read this book I’d be hooked on reading again. I warned her of my history and promised to return it but made no promise on timelines. Harry Potter #1 sat on my night stand for a year and a half. After a year of me having it her husband was home and was organizing their bookshelf on his Christmas break. He asked where the book was. She made him call me. I was mortified to admit I’d had it over a year. He said he’d just buy a new one. I said I’d just return it. She intervened and told me to keep it another month and for heavens sakes, READ IT!! I tried. That’s probably when I made it to page 100. When they moved six months later I crammed to finish the book but really didn’t enjoy it one bit. Her husband just shook his head when I returned it so they could pack it in their boxes.

My time in Fairfax exposed me to some brilliant people that I truly stood in awe to watch them live their lives. They were so smart. So cultured. So well spoken. So perfect. (Catherine comes to mind.) I luckily by this point was well grounded in my personal worth and knew I had unique and special gifts to share with the world but still I wanted to be more. Over time I came to conclude that basically everyone that fit that Super Woman Mold I was aspiring too went to book club and read on their own to learn, to grow and to expand themselves. I determined to go to book club. Maybe that could expand me and stretch me in a way I would be pleased with myself.

For four years I wrote down the title of the monthly book. For four years, almost every month, I would look up which library had the book on the shelves. For four years I would even occasionally make it to the library and check the book out. For four years the books set on my counter/bookshelf/passenger seat of the car/nightstand. For four years they went unread an I stayed the same old little me.
One New Years I set a resolution. Read ONE book a year. Most years I failed. Not even one measly book a year could I churn out. I failed and I felt like a failure.

Finally, with our impending move upon us, I determined that I would NOT move without attending book club a single time in four years. I was busy preparing for the move so looked at reading the December book. It was supposed to be Little Women. Gag me. I can barely watch the movie. I’m not reading a 1,000 page book. Again, I choose weeding in Texas. Despite my schedule I determined I would have to do this in November.

The book for the month of November was A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute and it was available, unabridged, on CD. I got the CD and listened in the kitchen everyday as I made breakfast, lunch and dinner, washed dishes and cleaned kitchen counters. I hand sewed on all of Ben’s cub scout patches the a needle, thread and thimble (it would have taken thirty minutes on the sewing machine but I swear I spent six hours by hand). In the end, I finished the book and though I hadn’t actually read the book, I had finished it. I was ready for book club.

I felt a little foolish coming to book club. I felt such an amazing sense of “I DID IT!!!!” I wanted to shout as I entered the door to the Proctor home, “I RULE THE WORLD!! I READ A BOOK!” Of course I didn’t do that. I socialized like a normal educated and cultured woman here to discuss a great book. When it came time for the group discussion I didn’t know what to expect. It was a good “read” (listen) but what is there to talk about? I had no idea. Within twenty minutes I was ready to sneak out the door. Seriously? Who cares what so and so said to that person and how it would have been written differently if the book was written through Mr. X’s eyes instead of Mr. Y. Question like this seemed to really perplex the women and they had serious, deep, thought provoking discussion. Only the only thought I could provoke out of my pea sized brain seemed to be, “Why the heck to I care????”

My conclusion? I’m me. And that’s okay. I will never write a novel, but I can change the oil in your car. I may not be able to recall and recite verses from the Bible but God has blessed me with a strong, strong faith in Jesus Christ. I don’t have to read books to have value as person.

Crazy thing is, I’ve read five books already in 2011. Not much for the average adult but a total miracle for me. I read The Help, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mom, Children of the Killing Fields of Cambodia, Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea and one more something I can’t recall. Five books. So I’m proud of me even if they aren’t classic literature or adding to my value in any way.

By my reckoning, I don’t have to read another book until 2016 if I don’t want and I’m on target for my one book a year.

Cub Scouts at the Naval Base

2011-09-29T20:44:00.000+08:00

We got to take the Wolfs to the naval base this week to do their flag achievement. It was pretty cool and despite how wild and unruly they can be in my living room they were perfectly behaved when the big tough men in uniforms with big voices taught them about flag ceremonies and how to fold a flag and other things like that. Maybe I need to invest in some camo duds to get some respect around here.

After the sunset retiring of the colors we took them all over to the Terror Club for ice cream. Who named it that? Who knows. But when ships pull into port here I hear they can have upwards of 400 people relaxing and swimming at the pool side restaurant and bar. Luckily that night there were only about three tables occupied. I felt bad for those people who probably came for a nice relaxing beer at the pool to relax after work…then in walk twelve wild seven year olds playing freeze tag poolside and practicing for a pack meeting skit.

I ordered Ben two scoops of ice cream. They brought a massive bowl. I was a bit surprised. Then another mom asked where her order was. She only ordered one scoop and it was a large bowl too that was WAY too much to possibly be hers. Finally what we came to understand that we expected Singapore portions of ice cream and ordered accordingly but we were in mini-America with real American portion sizes. Ben couldn’t even finish his treat it was so much. I got a REAL cheesecake. It tasted great even if it was plain because they forgot the strawberry topping. Life is good.

The check for our treats came in US dollars. Uh….I ran out of US bills a long, long time ago. Though I admit when we finally caved and just ordered new keys to open our fire proof safe last month we found a couple bucks stashed in the bottom. But I wasn’t about to run home to get it. I just gave them more Sing than it should have cost when converted and they brought back more change than expected. Sweet deal.

Jacob Can Be a Challenge

2011-09-28T22:09:00.000+08:00

Today.

The kids hadn’t cleaned up the toys very well despite being told to do it last night and basically messing around instead of working. Mary was coming to clean the whole house today so the floors needed to be picked up at a minimum. After they finished their breakfast cereal I sent the big kids up to do a five minute job in the play room. After fifteen minutes I told them to come brush their teeth and finish their regular morning chores. Whatever wasn’t cleaned was lost for the week.

Since that is how the morning began it should have come as no real surprise when I sent Ben to wake up Jacob with two minutes left before we had to walk out the door to get Maddie to her shuttle bus on time. Ben quickly returned and reported that Jacob had climbed up to the top of the loft bed and was hiding in the back corner where I couldn’t reach him and was refusing to come down. Stinker. I ended up making Ben walk Maddie to her bus stop and then texting the other parents I knew would be there to make sure she had made it onto the bus.

Jacob finally came down and was upset that the big kids had left without him seeing them off or getting his morning stroller ride to the school and back. He wouldn’t eat breakfast. At least not more than two bites of cereal. Just claimed he was too full and could only eat candy or marshmallows. Um, that’s a big fat NO from the mom. Offers for toast, eggs and bananas were also turned down. He wants to watch TV. Not until he eats breakfast. Finally he wanders off to play games and invites me to join.

Brian left us the car so we could get out today and go to the museum with playgroup. When it was time to go to playgroup he wouldn’t budge. I totally gave up. I turned on Diego on cable knowing full well that it could be trouble to begin the tv “game” with him. The last two weeks when I try to turn off the tv he grabs the remote and runs away from me screaming, “I will turn it on all by myself already!” I’ve had to resort to putting remotes on the top shelf where he can’t reach them at the far end of the room. Then poor Brian can’t ever find it when he gets home in the evening.

I resigned myself to staying home instead of seeing the museum I really had wanted to go to, instead I tried to start the laundry. Of course the washing machine wouldn’t turn on. Called Brian to see if he changed anything since he did all our laundry last week. (I know. He’s the best husband ever and he is NOT for sale or even rent.) He didn’t do anything. Checked the breakers. Everything was fine. Reset all the breakers and plugged the rice cooker into the outdoor outlets to check them. Neither washer or dryer plugs are getting any power to the rice cooker. I let the dishwasher finish running its load and ran the laundry washing machine cord in the kitchen window and started a load of laundry.

At some point we had our quota of cable for the day and I turned off the shows and immediately put the remotes up high. “I get a stool, mom!” comes the reply. Having already tried to reach them before Jacob knew he couldn’t reach but he’s a smart kid. “I need TWO stools, mom.” At first I was worried he’d break his neck. He brought two Ikea stools to the shelf and I figured he would stack them sideways from each other to gain the height he needed. Fortunately for me he stacked them so they nested nicely inside each other gaining him all of two centimeters of height. I happily watched with a smirk and then took some pictures until he got mad at me for the photo shoot in which he had no interest in taking part.

An hour later I went to rotate the loads and it was still full of water. In my monkeying with the buttons I had left the “do not drain” button engaged. Who the heck doesn’t drain their laundry?? Worthless button. I fix the switch and set a timer for thirty more minutes when Jacob shows up and says, “Look. I’m going to lock you out.” I warn him but it’s too late. He’s standing, proudly I might add, looking at me locked out of the house through the sliding glass door.

I ask, then tell him he better unlock it or he is in trouble. It’s not the first time we’ve had this issue with him. He happily refuses to unlock it. I start the countdown to the promised “time out” on the steps. Three. Two. One. Nothing. I climb my pregnant body on top of the washing machine, step through the kitchen window onto the dishwasher and over to the sink and counter, down onto the stool and am secretly grateful I had to open the window to run the power cord through it for the washing machine. I grab my rotten two year old in my not so happy state and deliver him to time out on the steps. He shrieks and wails and screams at me. I’m tempted to return the sentiment but leave the room and set a time out timer instead.

Jacob runs off the steps and I force his little body back in position where he screams and cries but doesn’t budge, probably because he fought me and now has bashed his back on the step and is too scared to fight anymore.

It’s only 1:30 in the afternoon and Brian won’t be home until 9:30. Jacob is for sale today if anyone is interested.

Dragging

2011-09-27T15:34:00.001+08:00

Must.
Find.
Willpower.
To.
Start.
Homework......
Want to sleeeeeeep.

Ward Splits are the Pits

2011-09-26T10:58:00.001+08:00

Nobody likes a ward split but sometimes it just has to happen. Our church building was bursting at the seams. Bens age group born in 2004 had 24+/- children, mostly rambunctious boys, making two classes of twelve which really should have been three classes of eight but there aren’t any ROOMS for them to meet in. The hallways have so many people I just pray Jacob doesn’t sneak off between the legs of the adults because I may never see him again. Parking was a mess and we tried to arrive at least 20 minutes early just to get a spot so we didn’t have to walk from a neighboring shopping center on the busy road with little children. Everything here in Singapore is small, including the space in buildings and parking.

The time finally came and the ward was split three weeks ago. Yesterday was our last week meeting together before we actually separate and it is sad. There are now two English speaking Expatriate congregations on the island. We get the new chapel which should have its perks but logistically it’s harder to get to – it takes three trains and two transfers to get there instead of direct from our neighborhood to the building. Sort of a bummer. I’m grateful we have a car in our package but not everyone has that luxury and when I say luxury I mean it because the cost is more than a mortgage in many places in the states.

Mostly I hate to say goodbye to good friends and the kids don’t want to lose their friends either. Not that we can’t be friends still, but the truth remains that those people you cross paths with often tend to be your inner circle of support and those you don’t see in your regular path of life often fall out of close contact because logistics and busy schedules keep you apart. This morning I downloaded the updated roster onto my iphone and was sad to see I had been moved to the Singapore 4^th Ward and the Singapore 1^st Ward is planning to carry on without all of us Woodlands folks and everyone else on the East side of the island.

In the end the split will be just fine. What it really means is that more people are hearing the message of Jesus Christ and accepting Him. So is there really anything to complain about? No. It’s a happy day to see Christ’s church grow in Singapore and we can always make new close friends who believe the same things we know to be true and share the love of God with others in their everyday lives.

Best Week Ever and It's Only Monday!

2011-09-26T10:36:00.001+08:00

Yesterday we went to church and were surprised when someone grabbed Brian’s hand from the side to shake it and it was Fred from our days in Houston! They carpooled for several years to work at ExxonMobil in Baytown and I had his daughters in Young Womens. We had our regular primary teaching obligations during the meeting yesterday but jumped at the chance to have him come to dinner and catch up. It gave me some much needed ambition to get together a nice home cooked meal beyond leftovers. Brian made pandan chicken and grilled it on the barbeque, Ben wanted to help and peeled ten potatoes and three carrots ny himself so he got mashed potatoes, I made home made dinner rolls and chopped a fresh and delicious watermelon. So much better than the original plan of ikea frozen meatballs (which is probably what we’ll have tonight). Fred came bearing gifts of gorgeous Asian deserts he picked up at the bakery by his hotel.

We had a great time finding out what everyone in Houston is doing and Fred told us that Trevan, another great Houston friend was flying in that very day too. Looks like Trevan will make a quick stop by our house on Wednesday night. He has a few more stops to make though as his family actually lived here on our street just three doors down from our home a couple years ago so he has lots of old friends to visit in Singapore and one night to do it in. Can’t wait for Wednesday!

My Front Yard On An Average Afternoon

2011-09-21T17:37:00.000+08:00

I LOVE that my front yard is W.I.L.D. after school. The theme is usually race cars and they draw the track with sidewalk chalk complete with pit stop area and parking lots. Today it's swimming without water and scooter races to win the title "Princess of the World".

Picture Day!!

2011-09-20T08:30:00.001+08:00

Remember school picture day? Everyone gets all fancy. I always had to wear a nice Sunday dress and lights and cool slippery shoes that make neat clip clop noises in the hallways. Except for maybe fifth grade when I must have begged and begged because I am wearing a pastel blue sweatshirt with an embroidered duck or goose or something. I bet I fought hard, but now twenty five years later I wish I had lost that fight. I have no shame. If it wasn’t in storage somewhere in DC I’d post it for you. It’s awesome. Sorry.

Yesterday was picture day for Maddie Mae and she woke up on the wrong side of the bed. This girl is froo froo to the max and loves fluffy dresses and fancy everything. But not yesterday. Brian pulled about every dress in the closet out for her and we have a TON thanks to having five girl cousins supplying us with hand me downs. In the end she was finally persuaded to wear something that wasn’t my favorite but certainly acceptable.

Then her hair. She almost never lets me fix her hair. Brushing it out is mandatory and beyond that she can choose what she wants. Nineteen times out of twenty it’s, “Nothing today mom. Just down.” That can look just fine, but right now she is growing out her bangs. She asked for braids. Wincing I replied that I would do my best. I ended up with a half pony tail then braided as best I could approximately three quarters of an inch and threw another elastic in her hair at the back of her head hoping nothing would actually show.

Next we sat down to do her morning reading on the couch. She is every bit of five years old this kid. She wriggled and twisted, twitched and wormed her way around on the couch as she read me the story. In the end she succeeded in rubbing all the nicely secured hair on the sides into a nice mess. Realizing I could fix it now but in two hours she’d look exactly the same…I just let it go.

In the end she revealed to me that her entire goal was to make herself “look like someone not in our family.” How am I supposed to take that? She reassured me that it was okay though because her teacher Ms. Kiran would be able to find her on the playground because she has glasses and she’s the only kid with glasses so she could be tricky and everything would still be fine if no one else knew who she was because of the braid in her hair.

Ben’s picture day is today. Or not. Or yes. Wait. Let me check the email from his teacher. Yep. Today. Nope. The other one says sorry for the mistake it’s Thursday. Hey, the next email says the first one was wrong. And this one says the other two emails were in error. Hey, there is another email sent today after most his students are on the bus already – it says yes it IS today. Then after my kid left on his scooter for school the new email says on Thursday. School has begun. One last email. Oops again. It is TODAY…but only half the kids sitting in the classroom are dressed for it….hold on…he’ll talk to the administration and see if the whole class can be redone on the Friday makeup day. Poor, poor man. He’s just trying to do his job but what a mess. Frankly I’m glad I have a boy. No fancy shoes, tights to get runs on the playground and nice dresses to prepare and making the hair just right. Just slap a collared shirt on the kid and his hair should mostly stay put since he has a fresh new haircut. Heaven help the moms of the girls. And bless the poor teacher. I think he needs a weekend break. At least in the teacher stuff that matters, Ben thinks he is doing a pretty great job and that is way more important than picture day.

Maddie Quote of the Day

2011-09-18T13:15:00.001+08:00

The kids are all playing upstairs in the play room. Maddie rushed downstairs to get a paper out of the printer drawer. “Mommy, I really have to rush this art. I have to rush this art because Jacob’s giraffe is really cold and I’m making it a blanket.” And off she went to the office to find scissors where she cut out a 3”x5” piece of paper to wrap the plastic giraffe. “Oh. Thanks,” says Jake.

Phew. Another crisis averted.

Power Tools for Primary

2011-09-18T08:39:00.001+08:00

Two more weeks of teaching primary before the ward split goes into full effect. Brian hasn't technically been called to a teaching position with me but he helps me every week. I affectionately call him the bouncer. With a guaranteed capes size of ten and last week hitting a record of eighteen kids I can teach a lesson just fine but for heavens sakes I need a little help with crowd control. Mostly it's the twelve rowdy seven year old boys stuffed into long pants, button up shirts and fancy shoes. That recipe just screams trouble. Mostly though we have a great time. We learn about Jesus and God and the scriptures each week and when they are listening they are sweet kids.

After being together for six months now I asked Brian if he were the teacher would he,as a man, he delivering lessons straight from the manual or adding crafts and games and atttention getting object lessons from all the online sources noting that www.sugardoodle.net is my favorite. He though only just a second before he replied, "Nope. That's not manly at all. I would defiantly go to Power Tools for Primary though." he said the border of the page would have to be decorated with cool power tools and man stuff. He cracks me up.

All Dressed Up to See the Doctor

2011-09-16T09:27:00.000+08:00

Maddie got a Little Mermaid costume for her birthday yesterday and was pretty sure it was appropriate to wear to her eye doctor appointment today. I made her put on pants and a short underneath but why fight the creative soul God sent my way. A mermaid it is. She couldn't feel more pretty and confident in her outfit and that is all a girl wants out of life anyway-to feel pretty.

Pregnant Tired Isn't Over Yet

2011-09-15T09:58:00.001+08:00

Those energy filled days are amazing after you’ve wanted to sleep for months on end. It felt great to have washed, hung, dried, folded AND delivered ALL of the laundry to closets, wardrobes and drawers last week. I was so excited to have a burst of energy and to know that my poor husband didn’t have to go to the backyard to get his clean clothes every morning before he showered.

As nice as those days are, sometimes they feel like a slap in the face when you get three days in a row when all you want to do is crawl in bed again. Frustrating. Today is Maddie’s birthday and all I want to do is spoil her and make cool stuff and have a great day…but all of that after a three hour nap, okay? Jake is watching Word World on cable while I answered emails. It is Dog’s birthday and Pig pulled out his cookbook to make a cake. I had to laugh. All he needed was a “C”, “A”, “K” and an “E”. Then you push them together and magically a CAKE appears. Where can I get those ingredients?

I already got up at 4am (because I’m pregnant not because I’m a fantastic mom). Put her presents together all cute because presentation matters more to this kid than to anyone else in the family. Baked brownies to take to school before we walked to school at 7:30am. She wants cupcakes for dinner because I’m not making a castle cake until her birthday party…which doesn’t fit into our calendar for the next three weekends. Poor girl. At least she doesn’t seem to mind waiting for a party and castle cake.

Right now I think I’ll shut off the computer, settle Jake in for another 30 minutes with his Red Rocketship buddies and close my eyes because we have an appointment tonight at 8pm so I know I can’t crash early. Is it Saturday yet?

Jakey Learns His Numbers?

2011-09-12T12:28:00.000+08:00

Seriously? I worked with Maddie, who turns five on Thursday, almost every single day the entire summer to help her recognize her numbers. We played this game tons of times. It's called Zingo and you match the number of objects in the picture to the proper numeral.
Jake, 2 1/2 years old, hung out next to us and I thought he was just enjoying the slide action of the number dispenser. It's been four or five weeks since we last had it out and today he asked to play. That kid knows 1, 2, 8, 0 and 10. Maybe next summer he can tutor Maddie for me. There are advantages of being he oldest because your parents have more time and energy to teach and do things with you. Looks like we are starting to see the benefits to being younger. You learn stuff just by random exposure.

First Doctor Visit

2011-09-09T16:00:00.002+08:00

What You’ll Care About:

Baby looks great. Delivery date of March 6 +/- four days depending on if I’m superstitious of different numbers. I love this country. Stuff like that cracks me up! I never would have thought of it unless the date was 666 or something like that. Two weeks early since this is c-section number four. **Funny story about 666 below.

My Ramblings of Medical Care and Family Planning Here in Singapore:

I think of myself as low key in a lot of respects (I admit that I do get high strung over the stupidest things). That, combined with my exhaustion level, not having anyone to swap babysitting with over the summer for all three kids caused me to delay calling any OBGYN to schedule the first visit. Oh yeah, and even though I have a zillion doctor referrals I had a heck of a time getting a referral from women that have had a c-section. It’s a totally different ball game than the regular method and I wanted a good surgeon.

Yesterday I called up the one I had ultimately decided to try. The two ladies who used her referred her as being a good match to my blunt and open personality. Perfect I figured. I called up and she had a five week wait to see her for first time patients. She asked how far I was in the pregnancy and wasn’t pleased when I said at least twelve weeks. She couldn’t see me the first time until I was about 17 weeks along. Even relaxed me knows that’s waiting a bit long. She referred me to another doctor and I was feeling totally defeated to be shot down after finally making a commitment when I had been procrastinating for so long.

Not having any better ideas of what to do I called Brian to see what he thought. No help there. So I called the doctor referral. They could fit me in in an hour. Umm…I don’t have a car and have to pick my kid up at school in two hours and you’re all the way downtown. They suggest tomorrow and I just say fine. Arrange a babysitter for Jacob.

Today I went down to my appointment. I knew parking at the hospital would be messy so I left twenty minutes early just in case. Most of that time got swallowed up in road construction on the PIE on the way downtown. I arrived at the hospital and missed the little access road for the parking lot. I ended up in a dead end along with twenty other delivery trucks trying to do seventeen point turns on a tiny residential street. All of a sudden I’m glad to be in a little car. Then the curb is higher than it was supposed to be and I hear CRUNCH!! Suck. I’m already late. No point in checking it. Seeing it won’t change anything now. I finish my turn and backtrack to the hospital parking lot. It’s full.

I creep back in tight traffic onto Orchard Road to attempt parking at Paragon Mall. Nope. Lot is full. Try Cairnhill Place. As I finally back into a parking spot the doctor office is calling my mobile phone to see if I’m still coming. Honestly, I’m only six minutes late by my clock and think I’m actually doing great all things considered. I tell them I’m parking and rush to the parking garage elevator and down to the street. Now where? I’m two blocks away but not sure how to get there from here. I cut through the mall and make it to the doctor about fifteen minutes late.

Nurse: “This is your first pregnancy?”

Me: “No. Fourth.”

WIDE EYES! “Oh. Wow. You very fertile!”

Umm…thanks? What am I supposed to say to that?

“I think four could be enough. I’m getting tired.” I smile.

“You got to close that factory!!”

This lady is seriously cracking me up.

Later when she draws my blood I ask if she has children.

“Oh no! And I’m NOT planning to either. They make too much noise. I like my nieces and nephews. I play with them for a little bit and send them back to my sister. I like that much better!”

Doctor was great. Just my style too. Open and frank about what is medically going on and what my choices will be. He advises delivering two weeks early because of the uterus scarring on a person who is having the fourth c-section. He’s my new favorite person on the planet. Who doesn’t want their pregnancy cut short by two weeks and the most miserable uncomfortable weeks at that.

I ask about tubal ligation if I were to opt for that. He looks excited and supportive. Tells me frankly he recommends it for anyone who has had four surgeries. Explains risks fully of having more children in my medical case. Then tells me it’s my choice and he’ll address it a few weeks before delivery and will ask the same questions of me as anyone else and the four c-sections doesn’t mean I have to do it. In fact after he reconsiders my age he says if I was two years younger, even with four kids, he’d support not doing it quite yet. Now I know he’s my kind of doctor.

He’ll tell me my options. Not let me do anything stupid but give me my choices beyond that. That was why I loved Dr. Knudsen in Virginia.

Oh yeah. For those worried about me having a baby overseas get this. He quickly read my post-operative report and asked me specifically about a particular part of the stitching up procedure. He wants to know if I know anything about it and do they REALLY still use THAT? It’s so old they haven’t used that in years. Of course it didn’t hit me until after I left that my last doctor has been delivering for over 30 years and could have just have preferred the old stuff.

I’m going to be just fine here. Medical care is great, expensive, but great. My bill was S$ 830.15 today, about US$ 625. I brought S$ 500 cash just in case…glad I had a credit card on me!! Delivery alone estimate is S$ 13,000 if everything is easy and simple but will only go up from there. Tying my tubes is sounding like a better idea all the time. Babies are way too expensive. All three of my first cost less than US$100 each from start to finish. Thank you for great insurance plans.

***Did I write this story down already? I spent the summer between my junior and senior year working for Packard Bell Computers on the customer service line. After tech support finished trouble shooting the problem they got transferred to me. I set up home service, service center delivery service, ordered CDs to fix problems, etc. One day a poor guy had been on hold for hours, worked with tech support for hours and was convinced his computer was possessed by the devil. Seriously convinced of this. He gets transferred to me. I input all his info, name, address, machine serial number, etc. After the poor man has been on the phone call for almost four hours we are about done. The entire time he is telling me over and over that the devil is possessing the darn thing. Literally the last part of the call is giving them their problem ID number. It is something-something-something-6-6-6. As bad as he wants off the phone he demands a new number. I didn’t pick the number. It’s chronologically assigned. I CAN’T change it. He is convinced that number MUST be changed and there is nothing I can do. He remains adamant and trying not to laugh I tell him the ONLY thing he can do is to call back and start again. Then he’ll get a new number assigned. He concedes the fight, not having another four hours to waste today. He writes down the devil computer ID number and we end the call so I can laugh my head off.

Lantern Festival at the Chinese Gardens

2011-09-08T20:06:00.004+08:00

It is Mid-Autumn Festival here in Singapore. We met up with friends we met at Great World while we were living in interium housing and spent the evening walking through the light displays.

The kids had lots of fun running around the pathways looking at the oversized creatures.

Brian had fun trying to figure out the night settings on the camera, especially trying to get cool pictures.

It's been a long, long time since either of us actually tried to use the full functionality of the fancy pants camera. Most days it's full "auto" mode for us.

There were several full lighted scenes.

Of course nothing in Asia would be complete without the chinese birth year symbols.

The light was so low we couldn't get the camera to focus and get a good shot of the kids with their real candle lit lanterns.

They were so excited and antsy to run with their friends.

Of course as soon as we let them go the camera worked again. But no pictures of Ben.

Maddie liked this butterfly scene and had to be photographed.

Ben and Maddie with twins Grace and Georgia pointing at the HIGH VOLTAGE sign.

Sharing Taken to the Extreme

2011-09-08T20:04:00.001+08:00

Do you ever grab the camera and download the pictures then look through them later? Sometimes I find surprises that make me laugh right out loud. Apparently Brian caught this one on film while I wasn’t around. This takes the concept of sharing to a whole new level. I’m thinking future wedding video shots here.

Highlights

2011-09-07T15:57:00.001+08:00

Maddie forgot her class book today so I had to walk over and deliver it to her class. I decided to go eat lunch with her. I respected preschool/pre-kindergarten teachers before but seeing two women get the proper lunch for sixteen children. Choose the right vegetable for each one, right drink, fruit all according to the parents marked order sheet each week was fantastic. Plus they have to open water bottles, Tupperware bins, Ziploc baggies. Rip open those little straw packages and put them in drink boxes, open those little milk cartons, deliver napkins. Remind children to eat instead of giggle, talk and play. Then help the “home lunch” kids pack up their gear and clear the table of all the littered wrappers and trash. Line the kids up and head back to class to wash hands. I was exhausted just watching the show. Oh yeah. The teachers eat too. There did seem to be about a two minute lull in which the poor women dash off and grab a plate of food. Then they eat, standing, as they continue to manage the short people. Amazing I tell you. Simply amazing.

Ben walks home, or rather rides his scooter home, each day. I’m typically somewhere in the vicinity that I hear the gate creak open and see him come through. He is all smiles every day. He holds his scooter with one hand and pushes the other hand to the sky in triumph as he proclaims, “HELLO!!” He is loving his new found independence and is home within three minutes of when class lets out.

Jacob gets a nap because I don’t have to pick up Ben at school anymore. And we had one fantastic success this morning sparing me the fullest diaper that would have been. And all I had to do was flush. Happiness can be simple in my book these days.

Other Stuff Not a highlight of my kids but I got a chuckle out of this one. By the looks of things at the high school it is time for the student body elections. Signs litter the cafeteria and several key places on campus. The one that got me was a simple neon yellow post-it note on the hallway water fountain. “Free Water. Provided by Michael.” I’m voting for him now for sure.

Come On, Follow Me

2011-09-06T19:37:00.001+08:00

Jacob just woke up from his nap on the third floor and came all the way downstairs to the kitchen. “Come on, follow me. I going to show you where Ben and the two Nickys are playing Wii.” Ben plays with at least one of his best two friends Allen and Nicky almost daily. Poor Allen. He comes over all the time but Jake just thinks there are two Nickys.

Jacob and the Clock

2011-09-04T16:13:00.000+08:00

Jacob pulled Maddie by the wrist over to the couch this afternoon and pointed to the clock. “See that wock? It say six eight. Dat mean it gonna be your dinner time.”

He’s so random and yet wanting so much to be a big kid. I love having him around. He makes me smile everyday.

Today - A Day in the Life of Mom

2011-09-01T12:53:00.000+08:00

It’s just about noon. So far today I have:

· Packed snacks

· Packed lunches

· Reading drills with Maddie Mae

· Potty training

· Walked to the school (okay, ran to school pushing a stroller we didn’t miss the shuttle – when I say get your teeth brushed I mean NOW not in twenty minutes)

· Delivered kids to class and shuttle bus

· Took Jacob to a play date

· Watched Jacob and his play date buddy here after they finished there

· Registered for my driving test to convert my license (stress!! – took me over fifteen minutes to find the stinking button to register – have I ever mentioned that Singapore is not an internet friendly place?)

· Studied for the test for about an hour

· Researched the math program at school to know if I should buy any supplemental materials for our summer homeschooling routine (mostly I found hate mail variety youtube posts about the program our school uses, I mostly like what I see, it’s mostly parents angry they teach different than they learned so it MUST therefore be the wrong way – still no resolution on if/what to buy)

· Gathered dental records and sent off to new dentist here ( how exactly did I forget that I had a bit of a complex situation going on in my mouth and the poor doc might just need to see that kinda stuff? Hello, McFly!)

· Emailed the new owner of the house in Virginia answering questions about “stuff”

· Made lunch

· Negotiated with Jake to eat lunch

· Packed up to return uniforms that will fit Brian not Maddie (hello? XXS please, you know, like the rest of the shirts in the bag, not XXL for the petite four year old standing next to me who just tried on those same shirts in the dressing room while you waited on us)

Realistically that’s not that much for six hours but I’m exhausted. Now we’re off to return those darn uniforms and maybe buy some socks for Maddie.

Just asked Jacob to get his pants on. He accidentally grabbed a navy blue uniform skirt out of the clean laundry pile to return to Maddie’s drawer upstairs instead of his navy blue shorts. Too funny. I’m gonna let him wear it and see if Maddie notices.

Hungry?

2011-08-30T11:58:00.000+08:00

Maddie Writes Thai

2011-08-30T07:11:00.000+08:00

I found this video today from our July trip to Krabi Thailand. Maddie thinks she can write Thai. Love it!

Short Cut Through the HDBs

2011-08-29T13:55:00.000+08:00

Today I took a short cut through the HDBs. A HDB is a housing development building where most of the Singaporeans live. They are eleven stories tall in our neighborhood and we live way out of the city so you can imagine most are much taller. The ground level usually has an open air cement plaza under the building and breezeways at the stair cases. Today the breezeway I walked through made me laugh. There I found something fantastic. A vending machine that sells loafs of bread. I love this country!

I Broken

2011-08-28T18:36:00.001+08:00

Jacob has decided that a totally legitimate excuse for not working around our house is to simply say, "I bwoken." The kid is two and a half. I therefore expect certain things of him. He can take his stinky diapers the twelve steps to he front door trash but he is starting to refuse. It's totally time to wrap up this potty training. Today we had about five successes. I think we are getting close.

Tooth Fairy Oops

2011-08-27T08:06:00.000+08:00

Warning: Brian don’t read this one to the kids.

The tooth fairy fell asleep on duty last night. We had a wildly fun kiddie party last night with make your own pizzas, juice and watermelon. Then marshmallows and freezie lollies for the Aussies, otter pops for the American crowd and I can’t remember what the Swiss kids called them – some kind of lollies though.

Brian cleared the kitchen, I had the kids literally shove the toys against the wall out of the stairway path so it was safe to walk in the night and I got pj duty and teeth brushing. Brian read scriptures and we said nighttime prayers then I popped Ben’s tooth out. He and I laid down at 9 o’clock for bed and I was out cold. Didn’t even brush my teeth or wash my face.

There is a reason I usually set an alarm on my cell phone to remind the tooth fairy of her duties but it was ALL THE WAY DOWNSTAIRS and I was way too tired to go get it. Good thing he’s not too heart broken. He figures she’ll come tonight. Good sport. Now I’ll go set that alarm right now for 10pm.