All I want for Christmas...

...is cereal? Brad here. I asked Peter one day what his favorite thing in the world is. After a moment or two of pondering this heavy question, he responded, 'Cereal.' As a family, we do love our morning cereal and living in Asia isn't very friendly to that habit. I often hear the locals say they eat dumplings, bread, or even 'dinner-type' items for breakfast. I don't think they even have a word in their language for cereal besides 'oatmeal'. In our city we have about 5-6 different kinds of cereal we can buy on a regular basis and some of it is quite expensive. So when we find ourselves on a trip to a big city, its not unusual to come home with 20-30 boxes of cereal, especially when we can find some buy 1 get 1 free. After a trip this past summer, we thought of a way to use those cereal boxes before we consumed them.

The Gingerbread House

By Amy

When Brad got home, he asked how many hours I spent on this house. I told him I was afraid to add them up! Those of you who live in America don't know how great you have it! You can just walk in the store and buy a kit!


So, after making a replica of the house with poster board and making dough with an altered gingerbread recipe, I baked the walls. I used a ruler and knife to cut the dough to the exact right size. I had lots of dough left over, so I made some gingerbread men too. The kiddos thought they were fun!

When the kids woke up on Wednesday morning, this is what they found waiting for them on the table:
Needless to say, they were pretty excited to get started! But, with a full day ahead of us, we waited until after our candle light dinner to begin.... Thanks to some friends from the states, we even had gum drops and candy canes to use as we decorated!



And, thanks to Rachel's run to the big city and her generosity, we had colored marshmallows to make a chimney! (Aren't those little cars fun, too!?!?)




Savannah especially enjoyed designing and decorating the door and walkway. We finished decorating on Thursday right after lunch. Brad came home on Friday morning. So, after he saw the finished product, we let our kids dive in!

Making this house was tons of fun, even if it was a little time consuming. I'm thinking this is going to be a new Morello Christmas Tradition!

The Best Laid Plans....

By Amy

As I looked ahead to this week, the week Brad would be gone, Monday - Friday, I made tons of fun plans for me and the kids. I decided that staying busy would help the time pass faster. In our home Brad is definitely the "fun" parent. He chases the kids through the house, carries them on his shoulders, tickles them until they're blue in the face, and is just plain fun. I love my children dearly, but I tend to be more structured which often equals, not as much fun. But this week, I decided to have fun -- structured, planned fun!

There's a new play area near our home, so I thought I'd take the kids over there to check it out one morning (instead of homeschooling.) I also thought it would be really fun to pack a picnic lunch and head to the park one afternoon, if it's not too chilly. Then, maybe we could also meet friends at the new DRIVE THROUGH, huge, really nice, KFC in town (definitely the finest dining establishment we have!) Then, on our times at home, we'd finger paint, make a gingerbread house from scratch, and maybe try making some carmel popcorn balls, all on top of the fun school activities/crafts I had planned.

But... the morning Brad left, Alex and Peter had a fever and complained of a sore throat and ear ache, respectively. So, we stayed around the house and played a bit. That night we enjoyed a candle light dinner, and the kids thought that was pretty fun! Tuesday, both boys were feeling yucky, so we watched a movie (They picked that over finger painting!) I stayed up late baking the walls for our gingerbread house that I was determined to make with them. By Wednesday, we were all beginning to feel a little stir crazy. So, I gave the boys a hardy dose of Motrin and we met Rachel, Emma, and Samantha at the new KFC. Wednesday afternoon, Savannah started complaining of a sore throat, and sure enough, she too was running a fever. But, a little Motrin and hot shower can work wonders. So, after a pancake dinner, we started decorating our gingerbread house. But, we couldn't finish before bedtime, so we finished it up this morning. (more on the house in another post.)

Thursday morning, (this morning) Alex woke up looking and feeling much better; Savannah seemed OK; and Peter looked and felt miserable! He didn't even want to eat cereal -- his all-time-favorite food. And to top it all off, my throat is a little raw and sore feeling today as well.... So, all that to say, Brad comes home tomorrow (hurray!) and we've hardly done any of the fun things I planned. But, even with all the sicknesses, I feel like the week has gone remarkable well. My kids have been really quick to obey; they have not had complaining hearts, and seem to have really enjoyed the few fun things we've been able to do. I feel like my heart has been content and joyful, even after having been the only one "on call" for 24 hours a day. So, if you've been thinking of our family during this week -- thanks! I can tell! Our home has been full of grace and peace (and a few germs.)

Thanksgiving Fun

by Amy

I can hardly believe we're into the second week of December. Where has the time gone?!?! So, before it gets any later, I've got to post about our Thanksgiving fun. Actually, this year, we decided to celebrate Thanksgiving on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Some of our friends here have a slingbox and TEVO, so if we waited until Thanksgiving came and went in the US, we'd be able to watch some of the fun football games on our Thanksgiving afternoon. It was great. I think that's the first football game Brad's watched since we've been here, and it was super fun for him. Our friends borrowed a huge projector thing and projected the games up on their wall! It was great!

Last year we celebrated Thanksgiving at our home; this year we went to Josh & Rachel's house.... We won't be celebrating here again!! They had tons of fun decorations, so her their house look totally festive! Rachel made the day so special, especially for our kids. Between our three families, we had 8 and a half kiddos.... She had tons of little games & stations set up for the kids to rotate through. The did a color-by-number turkey; they cut sparkly paper out and glued them on huge turkey feathers; they each made their own turkey from foam and feathers; and they played a rockin' pin-the-football-on-the-goal-post game; (notice Savannah in the pic below.) Not only that, but she made some fun football cookies and Pilgrim hat cookies for them to enjoy as well as fun Indian headdresses for us all! Like I said, we won't be hosting Thanksgiving at our home again! (I think I'm on for New Years....)

Well, I'm sure you're all wondering what do we eat when we celebrate Thanksgiving half way around the world.... Turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, mac'n cheese, green bean casserole, rolls, cranberry sauce and more! Isn't it amazing we can get all that stuff here?! (or have it mailed to us!) It's pretty exciting! The three ladies divided up the menu and spent a day or two cooking the feast ~ and it was a FEAST!! I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but I think, on top of all the food I've already mentioned, we had more desserts than adults.... It was crazy, but quite delightful!

The Cooks...

The Feast....

Rachel also has a rockin' really fast and big camera, so we decided Thanksgiving would be a good time to take some family pics....

Aren't our headdresses really cute?! The girls had braids and the boys had feathers! So fun!

After we ate lunch and watched some football, we decided to pull out Settlers of Catan! It's a really fun game that we all played together while the kids watched a movie using the big projector. And, that night, I got to go home with a winner! Brad was pretty proud of himself to defeat us all!
Here's a pic of all the kids.... 6 kiddos 6 and under...this is as good as it gets! (Baby Christin was sleeping so didn't make it to the photo shoot! )
What a fun Thanksgiving! Although it is hard to be so far away from family during the holiday season, I am so thankful for the wonderful family of friends we have here! What a blessing to be able to celebrate and give thanks with them!

The Heat Is ON...

by Amy

In most apartments in our city, heat is government regulated. That means they turn it on on a certain date and turn it off on certain date. Most homes do not have a thermostat so individuals cannot regulate the temperature of the home. The cost of heat is based on a flat, per-square-meter rate.

Last year when our friends were explaining the fee, etc, we considered not paying for heat at all. Everyone we talked to thought we were crazy! The insisted we would definitely need heat. And, if we didn't want heat, we still had to pay about 33% of the cost. So, we decided to go ahead and pay the full amount so we could have heat. So, on Nov. 5, of last year, the heat came on! It was on in our home for about 4 hours, then, Brad (who had watched the maintenance man flip the "on" switch after we paid) turned it off and opened the windows! It never came back on again.

This year, we felt a little more experienced in the heat arena. We didn't ask for any advice; we decided we weren't waisting that money again! And, thankfully, the people who didn't want heat only had to pay about 15% of the heating fee, instead of the 33% like last year.

It is absolutely amazing how toasty warm our 13th floor home is! It is about 35 degrees F outside right now, and I was sweating in my "unheated" home until I opened the window. Brad woke up the other night at 1am, burning up and couldn't get back to sleep he was so uncomfortable and hot! It is crazy! We will have no problem teaching our kids the concept of hot air rising!

On a different note, though, you may remember last year this country had a huge snow storm at the end of January and many travelers were stranded in train stations and airports for days and days. This storm lead to a shortage of coal. Well this year, the government has cut back the number of days they'll provide heat and increased the price. Our "turn on" date was delayed 10 days and our "turn off" date will come 1o days earlier. And, the price went up about 75US cents per square meter. In a country where an average job pays less than $200/month, that's a HUGE increase! Although our family is happy for the 20 less days of heat, and only had to pay less than $80, many people here are not in the same boat. Their windows leak and are poorly insulated. Their homes are too cold without paying for heat, but they cannot afford the increase....

The Perfect Gift

by Amy

Not long ago my dad told me he had a surprise he planned on mailing me. I tried to probe and figure out what it could be, but his lips were sealed. Well, last weekend a box arrived....My dad mailed me the manuel and supplies needed for a Wiltons' Cake Decorating class!! I love to decorate cakes for my kids' birthdays or special occasions, but I've never taken a class. I've never even had the cool icing tips or know how to use them. Now I have the instruction manuel!

So, this past week the kids helped me make some sugar cookies. I figured cookies would be a great way to practice many of the techniques in my manuel, since flowers, stars, bears, shells, and bows might not all make it on one cake. So Wednesday night, Brad took the kids out to eat some local food and I decorated cookies for them to eat when they came home. It's definitely not as easy as it looks in the book, but it's really fun! Then, yesterday, we made half a cake and I decorated it as a rainbow. We shared it today with some friends that came over.

So, here are a few pics ~ Thanks Dad!!

A New "Du"

by Amy

The other night in a taxi, Savannah was chewing gum and it fell out of her mouth. She couldn't find the gum, but she figured it was OK. About an hour later, we found it -- in her hair!! So, when we got home that night, I cut the gum out before she went to bed. The next morning I had to even things out a bit and here's the result! I think she actually looks pretty cute with shorter hair! It can still be put it up into a ponytail, so that's helpful.

About 2 years ago, before we moved out here, we spent the weekend with my college roommate Lori and her family. Savannah is convinced that since her hair is shorter now, she looks just like Lori and insisted that we email her a picture! Sure enough, it's pretty close!

A Minor Miracle!

by Amy


When Savannah was 3 or 4 years old, she did not like to eat broccoli. So, Brad and I would make sure we didn't have company over when I served broccoli. The rule was - she had to eat the one or two pieces I put on her plate. She wasn't allowed to be excused from the table until she did. This rule worked well... There were several instances where she cried a bit and ended up spending an hour at the table, but she would get it down. Now Savannah likes broccoli.

When Peter and Alex started eating solid foods, we implemented the same rule. But Peter would often sit at the table for 2+ hours. Actually he often sat there until bedtime. Then, I'd put the same food in front of him for lunch the next day. If he didn't eat it, he wouldn't get anything else. That usually worked. Only once did I have to reheat the previous day's food it for lunch and dinner on that second day. Then, Peter added a new element to the "game." He would often put the food in his mouth, but not swallow it. I remember him sitting in his high chair for 2 hours with a Mandarin orange in his mouth! (Do you remember that Dan Brown?) It was crazy! We tried everything we could, but there's no way to physically force a kid to swallow. (You can bend his legs and force him to sit, but we couldn't figure out how to make him swallow.) I remember one day we were at a party and I gave Pedo an oreo. About 45 min later he was running around playing with that oreo still in his mouth! He didn't want to swallow it!

Well, when we moved here, we decided to change the rules a bit.... We figured all of the food would seem strange, so we weren't going to make him eat it for dinner if he didn't eat it for lunch. (We eat local food for lunch and western food for dinner.) But, he had to swallow what he put in his mouth or get disciplined if he had to spit it out before nap time. Then, he wasn't allowed to have an afternoon snack, if one was provided..

Well, one of my favorite veggies is broccoli. So, at dinner I often will steam broccoli and melt a little cheese on top -- mmmmm!! Peter, of course, wouldn't eat it (or swallow when we made him take a bite). So, I would often plan to have broccoli on dessert night so he'd have a high incentive to eat it. Well, I'm happy to report that now my son likes broccoli! Tonight Peter came into the kitchen to watch me make dinner. When he saw the broccoli and rice in the soup I was making his said, "Mmmm! Mama, that broccoli looks good!" The he was the first one to finish his serving of soup!

So, all you mom's out there! Don't give up the food battle! If I Pedo will eat broccoli I'm sure your kid will too! It may just take 3+ years of persistence!

A Smart Cookie

By Amy

The other day Savannah and I were doing math together. I asked her a question and was surprised she could figure out the answer. I looked at her and asked, "Savannah, how did you get to be so smart?" I was hoping she say something about having a great teacher, but instead she replied with complete sincerity, "I don't know. I guess maybe it's because I live with Daddy." Who knew Brad was so smart that it just rubbed off just by living in the same house with him!

Thankful for Odyssey

by Amy

We love our kids' new kindergarten for many reasons (it's close, all my kids can be together, 3:1 kid:teacher ratio, etc...). But the one thing that I don't like about it is that there are no other kids Savannah's age. She's the oldest one in the class. So, even after living here for 1.5 years, Savannah still does not have a good, local friend her age. She has never complained about it, but I wish it wasn't this way....

One of the things that has helped Savannah not feel lonely is Adventures in Odyssey, a radio theater production put on by Focus on the Family. She LOVES to listen to Odyssey! She talks about the characters a lot -- quoting them and laughing at their experiences. Eugene, Connie, and Whit have become her best friends. Although, they are not real people, I'm so thankful that Savannah has them! And, she has really taken to heart many of the lessons/values the stories try to teach. They have led to many good conversations!

All I Want For Christmas

By Amy

This post is long overdue... the grandparents have been hearing about the new smile for a couple of weeks now, but I haven't had a chance to post pics. About 3 weeks ago Savannah's dangling front left tooth finally fell out. We had been anticipating that for close to a month! She liked to wiggle it (and gross her mother out!) but didn't want to pull it. Finally she was eating and it couldn't stay put any longer!

Soon after that first tooth came out she began talking about her other front tooth being loose. Then, when playing on an inflatable moonwalk-type toy, Peter accidentally kicked her in the mouth and made it a bit looser! Sure enough, about a week ago when biting into a sandwich, Savannah's other front tooth fell out! So, now our sweet girl has a new smile!

The Farm

By Amy

Last week in school we had a farm theme. So, we made tractors using different shapes I had cut out. We used this activity to teach us how to say circle, square, triangle, and rectangle in the local language. We sang all 9 verses of The Farmer and the Dell when some friends came over. Then, we studied how to say the names of different farm animals in the local language.

But, the most fun thing we did was make a farm-puzzle-cookie. In the morning for our first school activity, we made sugar cookie dough. Then we rolled it out on to my cookie sheet. After that we created a farm scene with cookie cutters and a knife. Later that night, we had fun icing it. They kids had to tell me how to say tree, fish, bird, cow, horse, and duck in our local language before I let them eat any! That was a pretty strong motivator! They all did great!

Clearly, Brad found the cookie and took a bite before I could take the picture! He said he wanted the fishy to swim away!

Up Close and Personal

by Amy

When Sue came to visit, one of the things she really wanted to do was see the main venues for those big games last month. It just so happened that while paraolympics were going on, we were able to get tickets. The day we had tickets for didn't turn out to be a very pretty day, but at least it didn't rain on us, and it was a little cooler than normal. We had a great time. The grounds/greens were really well done, with tons of flowers and water fountains. And at night all the lights on the different buildings were really beautiful.

We had tickets to go into the bird's nest. That place was huge!! It was fun to be there and to be able to watch several different events going on at one time. One of the most interesting was the blind 100m dash. Most of the runners had a guide who ran with them. And, I assume because there are varying degrees of blindness, all of the competitors had to wear a mask over their eyes.

Can you find Sue, Brad and the boys? Savannah and I walked to the other side of the stadium to check out the long jump, and we took their pic. They're over there somewhere! I was so surprised at how full the stadium was.

I really enjoyed being there. It was fun to understand people as they talked about us, then to turn around and answer the questions they are asking..."Yes, they are twins, No, she's only 6 years old. Americans are tall. I know he's cute -- he's MY husband!" -- OK, so that last one didn't' really happen.... It seemed to make people so happy to hear us -- especially the kids -- talk in their local language.

You cannot even begin guess how many people were standing around taking pictures of my kids (and me) climbing on this 'piece of art!' It was crazy how many camera were flashing! After this some dude ran chased us down and offered my kids some tattoos. Savannah loved hers and kept it on for as long as possible - hence the tattoo her model pics in the previous post. Peter didn't want his, so I got it! Alex and I had matching tattoos.



The Greens were especially beautiful at night... We really enjoyed waking around and seeing so many of the things we had seen only on TV. We obviously took A TON of pics! Sorry to overwhelm you with so many in this post.

Strike a Pose

by Amy

While Sue was here, she was constantly taking pictures of our kids (until she threw her camera into the pool, that is!). So, before she left, Brad and I went through all the pictures on her camera so we could copy them to our computer. We were laughing so hard at all the "model-type" pictures of our daughter. I'm not sure who taught her to strike a pose, and I promise she doesn't read teen magazines or watch questionable things on TV.... So, here's the fashion show!

Enjoy... (and try not to notice all the bruises on her legs! She loves to play outside!)