Happy Birthday, Andrew!!

My little boy turned Three! He had only two parties, though...

The first one was at playgroup! :) It was lovely! :)

("I'm Three!")

(Confuscious say: "Man who put face in fruit drink get Punch in nose!")

We ate some yummy snacks (ice cream and yogurt and biscuits):



I brought a brownie cake!

Then we had our Family Party:



(An oatmeal raisin spice cake...yum!)

Happy Birthday little man! (If Andrew heard me say that he'd reply, "I'm not 'little man'! I'm Andrew Gregory!!")

The Early Bird

I made it a goal a few weeks ago to get up BEFORE everyone else does. Now, in my house, this is an almost impossible feat. However, I’ve managed to do it! How, you may ask? I’m not really sure. My kids usually wake up around 6am. Peter usually wakes up around 5:30. Lately, Andrew has been getting up around 4am. Why? I’m not sure. Sometimes he has bad dreams, sometimes he has to go ‘potty’, sometimes he just wants to see if it’s morning yet. My favorite is when he wakes up around 6, pops his door open (literally…), sees me sitting on the couch reading and the light in the sky, raises his hands up high in the air and yells, ‘HOORAY! IT’S MORNING!!!’ The kid is so hilarious!

But, I digress. How and WHY (which, I suppose, is the better question) do I get up before everyone else. First, the why. I’ve felt that it’s really important for me to be able to have some ‘me’ time—to meditate, read the scriptures, and pray by myself. After reading this article in the Ensign, I felt the desire and resolve to do so even more than before. I’m not really a morning person. I don’t like getting up early. It is very difficult for me—especially after getting up multiple times with little kids. However, what’s more important? Sleeping, or feeding my spirit and soul?

So, I do it. I’ve found that it’s actually quite easy once you get past the first two weeks, and once you’ve been awake already for 2 or 3 hours… Devin usually starts to do this twitchy thing around 5am, so that’s ever so helpful as well. It really has been a blessing to me. I’ve been more alert during the day. I’m able to cope with little things that come up. You wouldn’t believe all the stuff I’m able to do before 8am!! I read my scriptures, pray, feed Peter, get Andrew, Josh, Claire and myself dressed, make all the beds, gather all the laundry, throw in a load, make breakfast, eat breakfast, do the dishes, clean the living room, read a story to Andrew, put Peter down for a nap and watch the kids play on their bikes outside…all before 8am! Seriously! Who would’ve thought that I could do all that? And I can tell you, it’s because I make that extra effort to get myself up in the morning. Some days are harder than others. If I go to bed after 10pm, my next day is very difficult, but I’ve been pretty good about going to bed between 9:30 and 10pm, and I really have felt so much better! Things don’t bother me as much as they used to. I’m happier. I’m more able to play with my kids and spend time happily with them. It’s great. I highly recommend it!

Music Floats Your Boat

Here is Claire during 'school':



She made a boat and was traveling to America in the Santa Maria! Ha! Interactive History always works well...

And Andrew doing one of his favorite things:



Eating! :) (Meusli, pineapple and walnuts. Breakfast o' champions!)

Another thing I often do is listen to music with the kids. We were listening to some Debussy this morning, and I asked them what the music made them think of or see in their minds. Andrew said it made him think of a pirate in a boat and a crocodile! Claire, though, said, "It makes me think of Jimmy Neutron getting the Cinnamon Bear out of a well!" Hm. Ok.

Chicken Feet

This has to be one of the seriously grossest posts I've ever done! :)

When I first got here, I couldn't even LOOK at the raw chicken, let alone touch it! And the idea that when you get a fresh chicken here, you get the WHOLE chicken, seriously freaks me out!! They stuff all the extra parts right inside (heart, liver, head, feet...):



I have finally gotten over my phobia of touching raw meat and handling all those strange (to me) parts that are included. I even played with the chicken feet today:
I was surprised how soft the feet really were. And isn't it uncanny how my hand and the chicken foot are almost exactly the same color?? :/ I think I need to go out in the sun more...

He's looking at me!!! Poor little chicken...
I was going to take a video of the feet 'singing some songs and dancing' and the eyes 'winking', but, lucky for all of you, the batteries died! Ha!! :)

Tell Me a Story

Story time is up and running once more! We had a great one all about the moon and sun and stars...

We read What The Sun Sees/What The Moon Sees (a really fun book that has a cool surprise), I Like Stars (Margaret Wise Brown--same author as Goodnight Moon), Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me (an awesome Eric Carle book, as all Eric Carle books are...), and, of course, Goodnight Moon! We sang some songs along with them, and had a good time! It was the first time that all the kids sat and enjoyed the books and even asked for more when I was done! (Until, of course, I told them is was time to make bread and have snacks!)

We made some fun little star and moon bread with cookie cutters:



And we ate carrot-, cucumber-, papaya-, and Nilla Wafer- moons, along with some yummy banana raisin bread!

I was going to have the kids make paintings using sponges that I had cut into star and moon shapes, but they were more interested in food and then playing outside. Who can say no to that?

A fun time was had by all. I think I'll do it again next week!

Ringworm

Yes, even the word brings shivers. So gross.





I noticed one day that he had some sort of mosquito bite on his back, and I thought it was pretty odd to get a mosquito bite there. Well, as I continued to watch it for a few days, it flattened out and turned into a beautiful telltale ring. Doh. AND, I noticed this weird bald patch on his head. Doh. So, in to the health unit we went just to have my fears confirmed. The kid has ringworm. Oh so gross. I absolutely detest skin infections. Right now he’s on this cream to help stop. But, if you’ve read the above articles about it, you will see that they say that scalp treatments can be extremely difficult to treat, and may need oral treatment. After talking with the health care practitioner, she mentioned that there are all kinds of side effects with the oral drug, so she’d rather try the cream first. Oh dear. So, all of you prayin’ folk out there, please pray for Andrew so his ringworm will go away and he doesn’t have to take more nasty meds!!

Parc D'attraction Mahima

Wednesdays are something I look forward to every week! Even if we don't decide what to do until late that morning... :)

We made a trip to the Attraction Park behind the 'New' Mahima this Wednesday.



There are Merry-go-Rounds:



Swings:



Slides:




Even an 'electric' ride!



And afterward...What goes best with a lot of running in warm weather?






Ice Cream!!

I think this outing was a hit with the kids. I didn't mind having Ice Cream, either, though!

Birthday Pics

Here are some pictures from my birthday...just thought I'd share...




(I'm 21 again...so Devin made a 21 with the candles! Ha!)


Make a Wish!!!

Euro Marche

This was a fun outing for us. We went to the Euro Marche to watch them make bread, pizza, and calzones. The kids loved it! And so did we, as a matter of fact! :)

We watched the man flatten the pizza dough, make it into perfect circles, put on the sauce and layer it with cheese. He also made Calzones! Then, the best part, putting it into the super cool brick oven! :)



The kids really enjoyed watching while sitting at the bar! Ha!








And even let the kids do their own!






After we enjoyed our Italian time there, we went back to 'Louis' house' and made some more bread!





Of course, that was more fun, as the other room had toys! :) We definitely look forward to our Wednesday outings! I think this is a tradition that I will have to keep always!

Birthday Thoughts

I thought I would share a little overview of my very untypical day:

I got up at the same time…5:30. Fed Peter, put him down, went downstairs to read, and heard Andrew in his room talking: “Once upon a time…” Funny. Read for a bit, then Andrew came out of his room with books in hand! So, I read to Andrew.

Then, we celebrated my birthday! I got 7 new sweaters, 3 rubber spatulas and some new cutting boards for my birthday! (Along with the requisite chocolate, of course…some junior mints and some cranberry almond Dove Dark! Mmmmmm) It was nice!

Then, Devin made me an omelette and we ate all by our lonesomes at the table while the kids played upstairs! We even got to listen to some nice soothing piano music. Then, down came Peter and the kids—so Josh helped me make some coloring books for the little kids at church today while Peter screamed on Devin’s back (‘helping’ him to make my birthday cake!) I put Peter down, sat the kids in front of some Little Einsteins, and ate d’jama d’jama for lunch! Mmmm…

We went to church, and since it was my birthday, I got a break—Devin scheduled our ‘general conference’ for today! It was nice not to have to prepare Primary. First time in months! So, I just sat around and watched the kids run in and out of the room and gave them coloring books.

Now, of course, since it’s my birthday, Devin and the kids are making me dinner (green beans, mashed potatoes and bbq-ed chicken). Peter is asleep. I am at leisure to write a bit in my blog. I’ve been thinking lately that I want to take a page out of Christa’s book, and start a blog with solely my recipes in it! I was telling Devin about it, and he thought that was a great idea! It would make a great family recipe book someday! So, be watching. I’m going to start working on it today. I am ‘one of those’ cooks, so writing recipes down is difficult for me. But, I will try and we’ll see what happens.

So, a really good thing that happened today: Peter is officially crawling! It’s SOOOOOOOOOO cute! I need to find some batteries for the camera so I can take a video!

A bad thing that happened today: The internet and phones were down ALL day so I couldn’t phone or email anyone—or even check my email, for that matter! Oh well. We do live in Africa, after all. I’m just grateful we even HAVE internet and phones!

So, all in all, it’s been a great birthday. The best part about my birthday today? It’s a palindrome! [1331] I mean, wait, I’m only 21 this year. Doh. Oh well. The secret’s out. Being ‘in my 30’s’ isn’t so bad, really, especially since I feel as if I’m only 16. They say you are only as old as you feel, so I guess you could say I’m a 16 year old with 15 years of experience. That would probably look really good on a resume.

Brilliant Birthday Bash!

I have 2 friends that have birthdays within a week of mine...so this year, we decided to be 'cheeky' and throw a birthday party for ourselves!!

So, what did we do, you might ask? What else would a bunch of grown women do for a party? We had pedicures!! :)











There was also a great deal of yummy food! Because, seriously, what's a party without food??




I personally had a great time, and I think we should do it again! Hooray for some time out for Mummies! :) I think we should celebrate someone else's birthday next month!