Fruit Fungus Anyone?

by Amy

So, the other day we had a sweet friend come over for lunch and to learn how to make chocolate chip cookies.  As is pretty normal here, she brought us a gift.  It was a box of what looks like little fruit cups.  The English on the box says, "White Thick and Frutifungus Soup."  Mmmmm!

Supposedly you pop a straw through the lid and drink it cold.  So, the other day at lunch I served it to my kids. (We didn't have any guests that day.  I've learned to avoid feeding my kids the "treats" friends bring in front of the giver!)  Alex took one sip and reported that it was pretty good.  But, after another sip, he asked for water and said he didn't want to drink the rest.  Peter and Savannah tried Alex's before opening their own cup -- their own cups never were opened!  Fungus and fruit....  that combo just didn't do it for us!

sidenote:  my precious house helper drank Alex's leftovers.  She loved it!  She took home a box full of 8 more that afternoon!    

Summertime Symmetry

by Amy

This summer, since our kids are not attending local schools, we can spend all day home schooling, instead of just 4 hours in the afternoon.  That has meant my kids get to spend extra time reading, playing educational games online, and doing other fun activities.  This past week I taught them about symmetry.  We had fun doing a different activity each day.  On the first day, after having some fun with a mirror, I had my kids paint on half a sheet of paper, then fold it so the wet paint could rub off on the clean half of of the paper.  This is what we got..

On another day, we pulled out LEGOS and used the block to create symmetrical walls.  Then, they thought it was extra fun to make something almost symmetrical and have someone else find the flaw.  Our third day, I gave them a sheet of graph paper and had them use markers to draw symmetrical designs. But, on the last day, we made butterflies!  I thought they turned out really well!  I gave each of the kids a butterfly and some foam pieces.  They could chose to use already cut shapes to to cut their own.  Here's the final result:

I'm so thankful to have this extra time with the kids in the summer!  This week we have friends from America visiting, so I'm not sure how much "extra" fun stuff we'll be able to do, but next week, we'll be back on track! Here's one more cute pic I snapped this morning!

Savannah's Day!

by Amy

I can hardly believe my daughter is eight years old!!! I remember exactly where I was when I found out I was pregnant (finally!). I remember how swollen my ankles got as I traveled to Louisville, Nashville, and Texas a month before she was born. I remember being 38 weeks along and going to a youth retreat at the YMCA camp in Estes Park and falling down because I slipped on some loose gravel. We ended up at the hospital just to make sure everything was still OK. Then, I remember holding her for the first time on July 12, 2002 (after working for over 15 hour to get her out!)

Although I could go on and on retracing Savannah's eight years of life, I won't. I'm afraid even her grandparents would get bored! So, we'll move on to this year's festivities! When we were in the States last year, I found a crown cake pan to use on Savannah's eighth birthday! So, that what we used. This year she asked for a yellow cake, not chocolate (crazy, if you ask me!) And, she wanted to help me ice it, until her hands grew tired of squeezing, that is!

I think it turned out OK. I prefer brighter, bolder colors, but this is OK too.

On the morning of her birthday, after eating coffee cake for breakfast, we opened a few gifts. Then, while the kids played, I packed a picnic lunch so we could head to a local swimming pool for the day. This pool is about as good as it gets here. It's outdoor, so the water's not freezing (like most hotel swimming pools here.) But, being outdoors means it's pretty dirty. (One pool was so cloudy that even though it was less than 3 feet deep, we couldn't find the goggles Peter dropped.) But, my kids don't seem to mind the dirt or hazy water! They love it! Savannah's favorite part is the big "speed slide."

They only turn the water on the slides for about 10 minutes every 2 hours, but Savannah was quick to run over there and slide as many times as she could in 10 minutes! Peter and Alex did it a few times too, but they definitely didn't love it as much as Savannah did. They preferred the smaller slides. These slides didn't have water running on them continually either, but when they came on, they usually stayed on for 20-30 minutes.
They enjoyed making a "train" on the way down, but all three kids' favorite way to ride down was....

Yes, my boys are each sitting on Brad's back, riding down the slide. Crazy! What a great daddy! After sliding they had fun trying to catch the ring or ball as Brad threw it and they jumped in.


I think we stayed there for over four hours. Clearly fun was had by all!

When we got home, we showered up and ate nachos for dinner - Savannah's choice. Then, we enjoyed birthday cake and opened a few more gifts. I praise the Lord for my dear Savannah Lea. She's growing into quite a godly young woman!

Love is in the Air....

by Amy

For the last several months, we’ve had a budding romance on our hands…. Actually, one has turned into two.... As I look back, I’m not exactly sure when it began, maybe around Christmas? I began to notice Alex and Emma often choosing to sit together; Alex would tell her how pretty her clothes were and hold her hand as we walked places together. Then, he began to make comments like, “Mom, I really like Emma….I like to protect Emma, like I’m her big brother….Emma’s pretty….” And, from what I understand, Rachel was hearing quite a few comments at her house as well! (At first Emma claimed she liked to sit close to Alex because he had warm skin! -- it's true, he's my little heater!)

Over the last few months, as Emma and her family were preparing to head back to the States, our families have been spending extra time together. You know, we gotta get the play time in while we can! About two months ago, Rachel and I took our kids to a play place and out to lunch. I began to notice that not only were Emma and Alex walking and sitting together, but Samantha was calling after Peter, asking him to hold her hand, and sit by her. It seems that while the girls were at home, Samantha wanted to write notes and color pictures for someone special like Emma was doing for Alex. So, naturally, she chose Peter. (Thankfully, Savannah is taken with helping Aunt Rachel watch one-year-old Abby, so it all works out.) Peter happily went along with it all.

I cannot even begin to explain how many times the four parents have sat back laughing so hard as we watch our kids together. I guess the fact that they're all between the ages 4 and 6 make this kind of behavior funny, not concerning. Give them a few more years, and we'd have to set up some serious boundaries!

So when Rachel took pictures at the birthday celebration, she got quite a few cute ones of our kiddos together. These will give you a glimpse of what we've been seeing over the last several months..
This is our favorite! She didn't even see Alex and Emma in the background as she snapped this shot of Peter and Samantha! What cuties!
While most of the other kids sat on one row together behind the parents, Alex and Emma decided to sit together in front of us.

Even when we went to the park with all the kids, our kids chose to play together. It was sweet seeing them all laugh so hard together!

I know it's a long way off, but if I could somehow sign on the dotted line right now to insure that these are the girls my boys would marry, I'd do it in a heartbeat!

Birthday Fun

by Amy

On Monday, two of our dear friends went back to America. One family will be there for a year or so. The other family will come back in a few months, but then just a few weeks later, they’ll move to a new city. So, before everyone parted ways, we decided to have a party! This party was actually in honor of all the kids’ summer birthdays. We celebrated Peter and Alex turning 6, Savannah turning 8, and Chloe and Samantha turning 4. Makaria’s also turning 2, but she opted for a nap instead of the party!

The party began last Tuesday afternoon when we all met at a movie theater that was showing a 3D version of Toy Story 3 in English! What a great flick! All 10 kids and 8 adults thoroughly enjoyed it! I think Becky gets the reward for laughing the hardest! It was a super cute movie! Peter, Alex, Savannah and I enjoyed decorating brown paper sacks for each of the kids and filling them with movie treats before we met together! Fun times were had by all!

Here the kids are doing their best, Buzz Light Year imitation!

To Infinity and Beyond!

After the movie we headed across the street to play at the Five Dragons Park. Since it was a Tuesday afternoon, the park was fairly empty. This park is super fun because the kids can play in shallow spring water. (Our family went here last year to celebrate Peter and Alex's birthday.) After singing Happy Birthday and eating some rainbow cupcakes, the kids (and a few brave adults) enjoyed spraying each other and splashing around!

Here are a few pics of some precious kiddos! Our lives are so blessed by these families!

It was a super fun day! I’m thankful for the sweet memories we were able to make before our friends left town.

**All pictures on this post are complements of Rachel and her fancy, high-tech camera. I guess I'll have to start using my own camera now that you're back in the States.... ;)

The Things Kids Say.....

by Amy

So after taking our kids to see Toy Story 3 earlier this week, Brad asked each of our kids, “If you could only take one toy with you to college, what would you take?” Savannah thought long and hard, and finally decided on Amanda. Amanda is a baby doll that Grandma bought her when she was 2.5. Savannah named her Amanda after her newly born cousin. Alex decided he’d take Ringo the raccoon, his favorite little beanie baby. Peter had a hard time deciding and finally said, “I think I just want to take Alex. I like playing with him best!”

And, just a few minutes ago, when Peter finished playing with Legos, he came to tell me that Legos are his fifth favorite thing. Intrigued, I asked what was first, second, etc… This is the list I got:

1 1. God

2. 2. Snuggles

3. 3. Samantha

4. 4. Astros

5. 5. Legos

6. 6. His bike.

I’d say that’s a pretty good list!