Boredom

My poor kids! Yesterday had to be one of the worst days of this whole transition time. I have vowed to make today better! I don't think they even noticed that I was in the room! It was rather funny at times though (now, of course, not at the time...), especially when I let Josh watch Scooby Doo. He sat with that blank look on his face. I tried to talk to him multiple times, and he just stared at the screen. Finally, I had to break the spell (turn off the tv) and he looked over at me like he didn't know what was going on. Then I made him sit at the table to eat lunch. I told them if they sat at the table, I'd even let them finish their show while they ate lunch (bad mom, I know)! So, I got them all settled, and placed their sandwiches in front of them, and turned Scooby Doo back on...and Josh 'went away'! It was hilarious! He all of a sudden didn't move a muscle--just stared as hard as he could! I told him he needed to eat his sandwich or I'd turn off the tv...and he didn't even so much as blink! I repeated the same phrase to him about 5 times before I turned off the tv. At that point, he continued to stare, but started to blink! Then he looked at me, and asked me why I turned it off! I couldn't believe it! Sufficeth to say, it took him half an hour to eat half a sandwich, and it was most definitely NOT a pleasant experience for anyone involved!

After Scooby Doo ended, Claire wanted to watch Muppets From Space. Since Andrew was still sleeping, I said ok. As soon as I turned it on, they started to 'dance about and burst into song' (I love that show...) and act like crazy wild maniacs! *sigh* Once again, they didn't even acknowledge my presence, but pretended I wasn't even there. Although, this time they were much more animated about it. It was very frustrating.

Here are some cameos from the day of boredom...

Josh found a new place to 'sit' while watching tv:


Here is Josh actually WATCHING the movie!! That cannot be comfortable!!And here's Claire vegging out (I have no idea why my font is now bold and underlined...)And here is Andrew...this is his favorite thing to do: Wedge himself between the wall and the nightstand and push the power on and off on the alarm clock! Crazy kid! He sure seems to be enjoying himself, though!! :) (Again, I can't figure out why this is all underlined...)
Devin got to come home early because I went in for my next appointment at the dentist. Ah, the root canal process continues. I got my temporary crown put on yesterday. Ok, I feel pretty stupid. I always thought that a 'crown' on a tooth was just like what the word implies. A little cap on or around the tooth. I did not know it was the whole visible tooth in its entirety!!! I was a more than a little freaked out when the dentist stopped for a moment, and I felt that my tooth was shaved all the way down to the gum! WEIRD!!!!!!! Then she makes this funny little temporary tooth, and glues it on!! It felt like I was getting a prosthetic limb! What a strange sensation! Especially that she could shave my whole tooth off, and I had no idea! Nice that I didn't feel anything, though. I get my permanent crown on Monday...the day before we fly out. Oh boy.

While I was being crowned, Devin took the kids to get Andrew's last rabies shot. Poor little kid! But, now he's done! Well, he does have to get a few more routine shots, but not for another month or so, and we can get them there. Josh and Claire fell asleep in the car. *blah* That set bedtime back by a few hours.

After the coronation and vaccination, we turned in our apartment keys. I am so sad to say good bye to our rental manager, Aldine. She has been SO nice to us! She was the whole reason we even got into our wonderful apartment! I know the kids will miss her. They always asked to go visit Aldine. She is a gem, and we'll all miss her a lot!

We ate dinner at the kids' favorite restaurant: Old Country Buffet! That's always a fun dining experience. I like to take the kids to buffets, as they can eat whatever they want, and the atmosphere is much more relaxed. I will be sad not to have buffets anymore in Africa, but, hey, what can you do? At least we'll not be tempted anymore! Ha!!

Bedtime came late, and everyone was sad. But, we survived another day with a promise to do better the next one. Today I have lots of plans, and I hope they all turn out ok! I would love to have my happy, loving, obedient children back! I guess we're all stressed out...but we'll survive!

***I suppose normally, I would write two different posts, but since this one hasn't been published by me yet, and I wrote it this morning, I'll add on the rest of today!

We had a nice day. In my housekeeping post I already mentioned our laundry fun...that took up all our morning! Yea!! Andrew took a nap after a quick lunch of tuna sandwiches (but Josh doesn't like tuna, and since Devin took the Peanut butter to work today, Josh got a jam sandwich. He didn't complain.) and Josh and Claire got to hang out on the floor with lots of fluffy hotel pillows and blankets and watch Scooby Doo. Today was NOT as bad as yesterday, even though Josh did zone somewhat. Happens, I guess.

After Andrew's nap, we went to a place called Frying Pan Park. It's a working farm that you can walk through and see all the animals. It was so fun!! I didn't know it was a self-guided type thing, so at first I was somewhat wary of entering, but I finally did, and we had a ball! We saw newborn calves, TONS of pigs--some of the biggest pigs I've ever seen!!!!--and they STINK!!! We saw sheep, goats, chickens, roosters, ducks, cows, turkeys...even a peacock!! Are those normal farm animals?? The peacock cracked me up! There were horses over by the tot-lot, so Andrew and I stood and pointed at the horses while Josh and Claire ran around playing. The horse must have been hungry because he kept trying to eat the fence. Andrew LOVED seeing the animals!! Josh and Claire enjoyed it, too, I think, but not like Andrew did!! :) I could have kicked myself for forgetting the camera!! They would have been fun pictures!! It was pretty cold and 'spitty'--that nice foggy/rainy/sprinkly stuff. We had fun anyway. We got to take the hotel shuttle there since they take you anywhere within a three mile radius! And the coolest thing: The hotel shuttle is a Hummer!!!! Sweet!!! I'll take pictures tomorrow. I'm planning outings to the local library and also to the Air and Space museum, so we'll have more coming!! :)