Guess....

Alright, alright. Let's see if you can guess where we're going from the pictures here:

A Cruise Ship there:


A Road block made of giant reindeer:


The LDS temple there:


The National Museum:


The National Bird:


The National Theater:


The National Cathedral:


Ice Hockey:


The Flag:


Yep!! It's Helsinki, Finland!!!


We are beyond excited!! :)

Drumroll, Please!!

Well, we found out where we're going. Before I tell everyone, does anyone want to change their vote? Just leave me a comment with a guess! I just love to milk these things for all they're worth! :)

Here are your choices again in alphabetical order:

Bangkok, Thailand
Cairo, Egypt
Dakar, Senegal
Guayaquil, Ecuador
Helsinki, Finland
Moscow, Russia
Nassau, Bahamas
Shenyang, China
Yerevan, Armenia

Help!

So, today, at one point, I had Peter screaming in my arms, Andrew screaming in the kitchen about something, Josh being needy about something to do with homework, and Claire moving all the chairs and etc. stuff around the dining room for our listening pleasure (and this was after the multiple accidents of Andrew's potty training, and Claire beating up everyone she saw all day and then crying hysterically and Peter refusing naps, and no housekeeper/nanny...)... I just put Peter down and sat down to breathe for a minute with my head in my hands, and Claire asks me, "Mom, do you not like taking care of children?" I cried.

Vultures

J: When we die, Vultures will come. Do you know why?

C: Nope.

J: Because do you know what Vultures eat as snacks?

C: Nope.

J: People that DIE!

C: Oh! That is SO bad!

Sleep Deprived

I must be REALLY tired. Devin now hears the kids before I do! I heard Andrew get up the other day around 6am, and was sort of jumping up when Devin said that he'd get him--that Andrew had already been up for 1/2 an hour and Devin had put him back in bed! Why didn't I hear any of that? Or the times when I hear Peter crying, and go in his room to find that Devin has already beaten me there! What a bad mom!

All this tiredness is definitely bringing on some interesting dreams... Like the one where I'm a Spanish speaking Smurf (La la la la la la...Que tienes, pues??), or the one where I live in a roller coaster (Woohoo!!), or my all-time favorite: I dream that I'm looking for somewhere to go to sleep!!

I've run into my fair share of walls this week, I've slipped down the stairs, I've walked crookedly through the kitchen, I've collapsed into bed exhausted at 8pm... It's time to pull out the big guns: earplugs.

Making Cookies

Claire and Andrew helped me make Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies!! Mmmm...





They turned out SUPERB!! Even the ants liked them. :( I was so SAD at the end of the day to find that the last dozen of them were completely and totally covered with ants. I guess I'll have to make them again and this time use a container that has an actual cover. The plastic wrap didn't cut it.

Some Fun Times

Here's a nice picture of me and Peter doing email together:



And here is a nice candid of the kids after playgroup. Yes, I let them watch a little movie. Andrew isn't even in the picture. He's sitting all the way across the room on another couch! A few of our friends stayed for a moment of Wallace and Gromit fun! :)

Where's the Butter!?

I went to the fridge to get butter to make banana bread, and this is what I found:



Looks like someone had a little snack! Although I don't know how yummy a big bite of butter would be... "Gromit, have you been peckish during the night?"

Earth Day

Happy Earth Day!

We had story time today and based it all on Earth day. It was fun! Even Peter enjoyed it:



Here's a bit of the people who were there:



I didn't quite get everyone in. Sad. There are people off to both sides of the pic.

We read stories about the Earth, sang some songs, and planted some seeds! Then we ate food from the Earth (fresh fruits, veggies, banana bread and granola). I think the kids enjoyed it, even though it was a little bit crazy!

Deep Thought

Has anyone ever noticed that newborn breastfed babies' messy diapers smell like microwave popcorn? What does this tell us about microwave popcorn?

Infestation

Devin just caught TWO MORE MICE!! They were in an 'empty' box (well, it was full of packing peanuts). They were apparently enjoying themselves in the peanuts. Must have been like a little ball cage for them! Ha! But, he heard them, closed the box up, and he and the guard dumped it out in the trash and found that there were two mice!! Oh dear. So, that makes our grand total of mice for the week of SIX! I feel like a homeless shelter for mice.

Devin was continuing his search for mice in the basement and found this:



(Yes, it's the same picture...one with the flash and one without. In my current state of fogginess, I can't decide which one shows the mice trails better. After I post this I'm going to bed.)

I guess the mice like white chocolate chips almost as much as Claire! The bag was EMPTY!!! And they had started on another one! Oh gross!!!

Peter Poses

My Mom mentioned that she wanted to see pictures of Peter away from his silly Easter glasses! So, since I'm sure EVERYONE wants the same thing, here are a plethora of Peter pictures (love the alliteration!) for all to enjoy! :)

We were outside and he did NOT like the sun...He refused to open his eyes...and wanted to eat his hand instead!





Inside...HAPPY baby!!

The Tale of Despereaux

Here is a real live tale of the Tale of Despereaux:


(That would be a mouse stuck to the FLOOR of our downstairs pantry!)

My housekeeper tried to get the mouse un-stuck so she could throw it away...poor little guy. You could hear him squeak and it almost made me sad for him! He was a BIG monkey!! He was so stuck, and struggling so hard to get free, that by the time I saw him, all his fur had been ripped off by the sticky stuff on the floor. Yes, it was super gross! But, hey, it works!

This was the fourth mouse we had caught in two days...one Devin caught INSIDE of a FULL box of whole wheat spaghetti (so sad, as it was a 10 pound box of it...), but when he took it outside to dispose of it, he and the guard were not fast enough and it jumped out and ran away--toward the Algerian embassy across the street! He he he... The other was the one Devin caught on the floor and ended up smashing with cardboard and looking at it with the guard. Before we caught this one stuck to the floor, Devin caught another one as it was running across the counter! He somehow trapped it, then used the sticky mousetrap and smashed it on top of the mouse to make him stick to it! He was so proud of himself! (I was still half asleep as it was around 5:30am.) Then this one makes four. I think there are still a few floating around, but they seem to be a little more on their guard, I think. They were just getting too bold and they paid the price! We will triumph!!! No more mice allowed in the pasta!!!

The Land of Make Believe

We had the most hilarious story time today! It was themed: "Make-Believe" The kids had a ball! We pretended we were animals, planes, ballerinas, Indians, Carpenters, etc. We read stories about people and animals pretending they were someone else. For our craft, we made bunny ears and pretended to be bunnies...and for our snack, I had the kids make their own 'Pigs in a Blanket'! I made the dough, then had them pound it flat and wrap it around their hot dog so they could pretend it was sleeping! Everyone got a kick out of that...especially the nannies! :) My only sad thought...I didn't take any pictures! But we had fun, so I thought I would share! :)

Snack Time

Here are some fun snack time pictures:

This day, we had flavored ice cubes...it was Josh's request. We poured juice into ice cubes, and the kids ate it out of cups. They thought it was really cool. I wondered why they didn't just want popcicles... :)


Yes, they're eating raw Ramen.

Master

The kids and I were eating Ramen Noodles. I heard Josh and Claire giggling hysterically so I went in to find out. This is what I found:




"I'm Master Shifu!" Hmmm... Now I guess we watch too many movies!

I Often Go Walking

When we still lived in Virginia, we made it a goal to ride our bikes on long bike trails every weekend. We had a blast! We saw some beautiful country and enjoyed the outdoors so much!

Here, of course, we don't have our bikes. I wouldn't ride my bike on these roads anyway...too scary and WAY too many NASTY hills!! BUT, we CAN walk! We have 2 double strollers, hats, sunglasses, tennis shoes, and lots of sunscreen! So, this Friday and Saturday started our weekend walks! Here are some photos from the fun:

Here we are in the car on the way to the Round Point to get the car washed while we walked... :) (the kids thought it was hilarious to sit in the jogging stroller while in the car...)



Josh near the top of the summit that we didn't quite make it to...good gravy it was HOT and STEEP!!!! (I'm trying to make excuses for myself, when I'm just really out of shape...)



A pretty view:



Andrew and Claire at the bottom of a cool flight of stone steps that I'm glad we didn't have to climb!



Another view of the steps with people on it (and Andrew in the corner):



A Super cool termite mountain!



Another Super cool termite mountain...I put the kids in front to show how big the thing is:



Another view with everyone (well, except yours truly...):



It was a nice day! We went swimming afterward! It was a great way to spend the day together! :)

Happy Easter

Happy Easter, Everyone!!

We had a rather hilarious day! First, Devin and I filled the Easter baskets (last night) and hid them (this morning--so the ants/mice/geckos, etc., wouldn't get to them first). The kids found them first thing in the morning and enjoyed them.

We always try to not have too much candy, so we put little toys in their baskets. Josh got a puzzle and a magnet set, Claire got some marker stamps and some magnetic letters, and Andrew got a dinosaur and some sunglasses. Well, I guess Claire got some sunglasses, too:



All the kids got those funny glasses+nose things (including Peter...who wasn't very pleased about it!):





We also did the Resurrection Eggs (I did them last year).

At church, I taught the primary kids a new song:

Did Jesus Really Live Again?
Yes! When the third day came
He wakened and He left the tomb.
He called Mary's name.

And there were nail prints in His hands
And a spear wound in His side.
Did Jesus really live again
After He had died?
Oh Yes! And so shall I!

It was fun teaching it to them. I had pictures for all the kids to hold up for each phrase of the song. I wrote the words of the song on the board and then threw a bean bag. Whomever caught it got to erase a word or two from the song and then we'd sing it again and see if we could remember it without the word. We continued that until all the words were erased and everyone knew the song very well!

Our Sunday School lesson went very well. Part of my lesson today was an object lesson on how we were spirits before we came to Earth--my hand was the symbol--then we came to Earth and received a body--that's where I was supposed to put a glove on to represent a body, but I have no use for gloves here, so I used my toe socks and since I have SO MANY of them, I brought enough for everyone to have 'bodies' too!--then we die and the body and the spirit separate--take off the glove--and then we are resurrected--put the glove back on. My kids liked that a lot! :)

Then came the time we were to sing it! We were the special musical number for Sacrament Meeting. So, when it was our turn I got a few surprises. Most of the primary kids were miraculously missing...? I told my kids to come up, and they did so very grudgingly...he he he. Josh came up to hold his picture and was wearing toe socks on both of his hands (it appears that Josh's arms were resurrected because he wasn't about to part with those toe sock-gloves!) Claire came up wearing her sunglasses on her face and with a Winnie The Pooh backpack on (how did she manage to get that past me this morning??) and when I told Andrew to come up and hold his picture, he was reading a book and said to me, "Maybe next time!" What have I done? I did finally manage to get him to come up. So, it was my three children (Peter wouldn't hold up a picture) and Pascaline. It turned out nicely, but we did get a few laughs at the beginning! :)

All in all, it was a nice day!

And let's always Remember The Reason for our Easter celebration:



"He is not here for He is Risen as He said!"

Easter Around the World

Here are our little men from Finland:


The faces didn't quite make it, unfortunately, but they've grown pretty well, I think! It's only been one week! :)