Dead Eggs

By Amy

Around Easter time I asked Leigh if she could find me some white eggs. All the eggs I've ever seen/eaten here are brown. She said white eggs existed here, but she hadn't seen them at the market or grocery stores near my house. I asked her to be on the look out and buy them when she found them. Well, last week, she came home with white eggs! So, one afternoon while Brad was in a meeting, I busted out the Paas Easter Egg Dye that I had brought with us a year ago. I laid some wax paper down on the table, made the boys take their shirts off (a benefit of waiting until late May to dye eggs -- they were plenty warm without their shirts on!), and filled little rice bowls with dye.

At one point while we were dying eggs, Savannah accidently dropped her egg in the purple dye. She had been planning on dying half purple and the other half pink. She was not slow to express her dissapointment.... A few minutes later, when Alex allowed his egg to be submerged in the yellow, he asked me, "Is my egg dead now too, or does only the purple kill the eggs?" After hearing me talk about dying eggs, He thought Savannah was sad because her egg had died in the purple water....That definitely caused a few laughs around our table!

Anne Marie Would Be Proud

By Amy

Background:
When we lived in Colorado, Brad had a meeting with a group of men every other Thursday night. So, that gave me and two of my friends, Krista and Anne Marie, a good reason to hang out together. (Their husbands were also at the meetings.) Anne, a retired kindergarten teacher, often planned fun crafts for the three of us to do together. It soon became evident to all that I am craft impaired! I had never handled a hot glue gun and couldn't tie a bow to save my life. So, Anne Marie would often use my project as the demo; therefore, I couldn't mess it up and still could have a cool wreath, pumpkin, etc. to show Brad.

Today:
I am still not the craftiest person you've ever met, but I do own a hot glue gun and a rockin' kid's craft book. My daughter is now the one encouraging me to be crafty -- she LOVES to make things! Hence these fun clown faces we made after reading The Clown of God by Tomie dePaola.

And, these are not the only things we've made! As a matter of fact, my kids doors are often overflowing with things we've painted or created together. (The above door is in our dining room.) Their doors were starting to look pretty sloppy and too full of stuff. The boy's door....

So, I decided I wanted a cork bulletin board. I had never seen one here, but maybe.... I looked all over a huge market with tons of office/school type stuff -- no cork board. Then, I got on line and tried to figure out if I could have it mailed here. That seemed to be a pretty expensive option...So my crafty, creative friend Rachel off-handily mentioned that I could make them my self... I took the kids and let them each pick out their own fabric and ribbon. Then, I pulled out the handy hot glue gun and here you have it...

Pedo's

Alex's -- their door only had room for one.

And, Savannah's....

Aren't they cute?!? At Christmas time, we hung our stockings on our doors, so now all of our bedroom doors have hooks on them. I thought that would make an easy way to hang my new "cork" boards. I made them by hot gluing fabric over a 1-inch thick foam(ish) floor puzzle piece thing. I know that doesn't make any since, but aren't they cute anyway? I even made one for my bedroom door as Brad and I are often the recipients of artwork.

So, Anne Marie, I still can't compare to your craft skills, but I've come a long way in the last 9 years....Thanks for getting me started!

Baseball is Life

by Amy

The men in my life LOVE baseball! Everytime we finish a 2-liter bottle of coke, the boys yell, "A baseball bat!" and proceed to swing at invisible baseballs flying through the house! Since the weather has turned warmer, Brad has been taking the boys outside with our little tee-ball set. (We brought it from America, as baseball isn't too common here!) Peter will hit the ball for a good 40 min. straight. He loves it. Brad's even been teaching him to hit it when he pitches. Who needs a tee?


Well, in the boys' room, Brad rigged a ball so the boys can practice all the time! He hung by a string tied to the boys light fixture. They have a blast swinging as hard as they can and watching that ball fly. Even Savannah has enjoyed it quite a bit!

Curriculum!!

By Amy

Sorry for the leave of absence from my blog....Just over a week ago we received FOUR boxes in the mail -- Thanks Goodin! They were full of Savannah's kindergarten curriculum! So, I've spent quite a bit of time the last week going over the teacher's guides, organizing, scheduling, reading....It's been so fun! I'm super excited! I've also had fun going shopping! I found chalk, whiteboards/dry erase markers, new pencils, and other fun school supplies. I think our kids are excited too. We are using a literature based program, so most of our "curriculum" is children's books -- over 40! I put most of them up on shelves too high for them to reach, but a few books got swiped before I could put them up.

We won't actually start school until sometime in July or August. I want to finish teaching Savannah how to read first. (We'll be finished with before July 12.) I've selected a few things that Peter and Alex will do with us (Bible, Read Alouds, craft projects, etc.) and a few things that Savannah will do on her own (Math, Handwriting, Phonics, etc.). We think we want to send the kids to a local school in the afternoons, so that will give me the mornings to do home school.

Savannah has not been attending her local school lately because Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease is pretty common right now, and it has even caused the death of over 50 kids around the nation. That has given us the chance to do her reading lessons in the morning. I'm amazed at how much better she does in the morning compared to the afternoons. I know that's common, but she's such a motivated learner, I wasn't sure I'd see a huge difference in her, but I did.

Well, I guess that's just a quick summary of what I've been up to lately! More to come soon!

Savannah's Reward

By Amy

Almost every afternoon while the boys nap, Savannah and I homeschool. I've been teaching her to read. She's been doing a great job! I've been using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. So far, I've been really pleased with this curriculum. Granted, Savannah's almost 6 years old and probably should have been reading a year or two ago. (Things were a little busy then, so we decided to wait until now.)

As you can tell by the title, she has 100 reading lessons. Our goal is to be finished by her birthday, July 12. We usually do one lesson a day, but occasionally we'll complete two. I made her a book mark that has the numbers 1 through 100 on it. At the end of each lesson, she gets to scratch off a number. I also put a sticker over 5 different numbers. When she reaches a sticker, she gets a prize! Last week she reached her second sticker (lesson # 38). We decided getting her nails painted would be her reward this time. (Last time we went out for ice cream.) So, we went to a little nail shop in front of our grocery store. They let Savannah pick out about 10 different colors -- a new color for each nail. She had a blast! I also had my nails painted -- all the same color. :) The total bill was just under $3.

Way to go, Savannah Lea! Keep up the hard work!

Let the Games Begin!

By Amy


In the last month our kids have become super interested in playing games. Sunday was a rainy, cool day -- a great PJ day! So, we played games -- almost all day long! We went from Uno, to Candyland, to Pretty Pretty Princess -- then, after naps, we busted out the Pet Shop Game. We also often enjoy Great States, Jr., Memory, Go Fish, Crazy 8's, and Charades for Kids. They just didn't make their appearance today.

I've been really pleased at the ways my kids are learning to win and lose well. Peter has especially done well at this and often rejoices when his brother or sister win. Alex's attention span can only handle one game at a time (and not even that if we're playing a 70-card Memory game), but it's still fun! I'm surprised at how well they're doing (counting pieces, remembering cards, etc.) and at how much they are learning -- especially from the Great States Game. (Thanks Goodin!)

With birthdays coming up this summer, we have asked Grandma, Papa and Nana to send more games our way. :) I'm excited about what's coming -- and I'm sure our kids will be too.

Fried Squid

By Amy

In Asianeese, when someone is fired, they often say they are Fried Squid. Well, if you remember back in January I was fried squid! Brad officially fired me from cutting the boys hair. I have to say, I was quite relieved to be fired. Well, that was mid-January, almost 4 months ago. So, the boys haven't had a hair cut since then. Needless to say, they looked pretty crazy! (notice pics from the previous post.)

So Brad finally plugged in the clippers, pulled out the scissors and went to town. I have to say, I think he did a great job! I have no desire to ever be rehired! Look out ladies, here come some cutie little men!

If you want to compare these pics to my hair cuts back in Jan, click on this link: http://morellomadness.blogspot.com/2008/01/sunshine-here-we-come.html

Fun Times

by Amy

Once or twice a year there's this huge inflatable play area that is set up in our town. It's tons of fun! They have moonwalks, mazes, slides, castles, giant lions, and tons of other things! It's really great! Last weekend we went to check it out, but did not have time to buy tickets and let the kids play. So, we decided today would be the day.... But we didn't go alone!

I have a couple of American friends that also live here; both are named Rachel. One Rachel gave birth to her third baby just over a week ago. So, "the other Rachel" and I decided to pick up her older girls and spend the day enjoying this rockin' play area! Roll Call Please.... We had Savannah, age 5; Alex and Peter, 3; Emma, 3; Clara Anne, 3; Samantha, 1; and Chloe, 1. Yes, Rachel and I had SEVEN kids, ages 5 and under. It was a little crazy, but we picked a great day to be there as it was fairly cool outside, and most people were at work and school. It wasn't too busy at all!

Here are a few pics that capture the day....

The Big Girls

This was Peter and Savannah's favorite thing to play on. They spent a good 30 min. in that middle section being pulled back and forth. While they were playing Alex was begging food off of the grandmas. He ate cucumber, watermelon, and cherry tomatoes.

We ended the two full hours outside with a major game of Duck-Duck-Goose, orchestrated by Aunt Rachel. A few of the younger kids were a little lost, but the older ones had a blast.

The game ended as everyone tackled Aunt Rachel! She was "impressed" with the Morellos' tackling skills -- Daddy has trained them well!

Here's the whole gang, minus Samantha. She was hot and tired -- definitely not up for a photo shoot! The others look a little tired as well....

So, after we played, we walked down to the KFC. Rachel handled washing hands while I ordered the food, including 8 boxes of nuggets, 6 corns on a cob (or corn on a cobs -- how do you make that plural?) They kids did remarkable well -- all stayed seated, didn't spill their drinks, and only dropped 3 nuggets on the floor (3/48 -- not bad!). I'm not sure if you've ever had the ice cream at KFC, but it doesn't not even begin to compare to McD's ice cream. In my opinion, it's not even worth eating.... So, we decided to head into the grocery store near by and buy some rockin' ice bars. We had 2 carts full of kids (only 2 wanted to walk); we marched in, bought 10 ice cream bars (2 bags of 5), 2 bags of wet wipes, (and about 12 boxes of cereal that I found on sale...) As we were exiting the shopping area, we found 7 little stools and set the kids up.... They were a mess, but it was fun!

So, that about sums up our fun day playing on the inflatables. Rachel and I commented on how thankful we were with how well the day went. Being out numbered 7-2 wasn't as hard as we thought!

A Day at the Park

By Amy

Not long ago, Brad and Savannah had Friday off, so we decided to head to a local park. We packed up Savannah's kite (thanks Papa and Nana) and headed out. Since it was a holiday, taxis were hard to come by, so we squeezed on an already over packed bus. But, when you have cute kids like I do, all the grandmas and aunties take care of them, let them sit in their laps, so it wasn't too bad. It was a beautiful day to be at the park!

Clearly I'm not the one that helped Pedo get dressed this day...

After flying our kite for a while, we headed across the street to another park that is full of natural spring fed lakes. It was beautiful, full of blooming trees and bushes, but it was packed!

Notice, Brad's not the only one snapping a shot here! Was quite common throughout the day!

Funny faces all around!

Notice how dirty the boys' faces are! That seems to often be the case when if we spend the day outside.

We finished out out time by picking up McDonalds burgers and having a picnic. It was a fun day, but we were all a little beat when we got home!

Learning this Language

by Amy

Learning this crazy Asianeese language is not easy - even if you're 3! Brad and I would love for the boys to be able to attend Savannah's kindergarten next fall. But, we think that before they're allowed to go, they'll need to have a little bit of this language down. So, in order to help that, we've hired Miss Kate. Miss Kate comes to our house every Monday and Wednesday morning at 8:15. I give her a suggested schedule of activities for her to do to help the boys learn Asianeese. Some of the things I'll have her do is work on flashcard with them so they can learn animal names, numbers, colors, foods, etc. She also play games with them and teach them songs. I also ask her to spend about 45 minutes each day playing with them (their choice of activity) but she can only use Asianeese. Miss Kate has been coming for about a month, and I can see a little bit of progress. When she first started coming, Peter said he didn't like her and didn't want her to come back, but he has since warmed up to her. I'm thankful!

While Miss Kate is with the boys, I sit in my room and study. (I also listen in to make sure the boys are obeying!) I often listen to a recording of Brad's class and work through his textbook. Then, at about 10:00, I give the boys an activity to do while Miss Kate helps me for about 45 min. It's great to be able to study for a couple of hours and then get to ask someone all my questions! So, we're all trying to make some progress in this language! Slowly, but surely we'll get it figured out....