The best laid plans....

by Amy

Well, after much anticipation, Savannah's birthday is finally here, but it's going a little differently than expected.... After webcam-ing with Papa and Nana and eating a yummy birthday breakfast of eggs and bacon that her daddy fixed, while talking on the phone to the Kimbells, my daughter threw up. My poor girl... We had a fun day planned including going to a local lake, eating hot dogs for lunch and pizza for dinner followed by a butterfly birthday cake. Instead, Savannah is sitting on the couch, covered by a blanket, watching a movie (Cinderella III, a gift from Peter.)

I have to admit I have been a little concerned about this birthday. Last year, Savannah had a princess birthday party with several of her fiends, her grandma, and a castle cake. This year, I didn't plan a party, mainly because Savannah doesn't have any friends (besides a couple of American little girls--2 and 4 years younger than her-- that are out of town). To be honest, it breaks my heart. On several occasions, Savannah has tried to make frinds with other girls that live near us. She will say "Hello" in her new language and the girls often ignore her or laugh at her. I don't blame them... I'm sure she sounds funny to them, but it breaks this mama's heart. I've been afraid that Savannah would compare this birthday to her last one and feel sad, so, we planned lots of fun family events, hoping she would not feel something was lacking.... Oh well.... we'll have to pick up the celebration in a day or two.

I do want to mention that I am more worried about Savannah not having friends than she is. Brad and I were just discussing the other day how well she's been doing here. She's getting along great with her brothers and seems to have a very postive attitude towards this new culture. And, I know that getting Savannah in a school will give her the language skills and opportunities she needs to make friends her age. We've had a little problem finding a school that will allow foreigners to attend. Currently, our house-helper is looking into a school that's not too far away. If that one doesn't pan out, we have two others that are further away, but willing to take foreign kids that we'll pursue.

All that to say, in a day or two, we'll post birthday celebration pics....

Much Maligned Monarch Melts (see previous post)

I was outvoted by the family 4 to 1 (although Savannah did pull a sort-of Jedi mind trick on Peter to sway him..."Peter, you don't think we should wait till Thursday do you!?"). The comments flowing from America were devastating. The ‘gratify me now’ generation has won as this head of the home has lost all courage and strength. After allowing her to ride her bike approximately 1 hour after the post last night, I had a difficult time looking in the mirror. Savannah, in these pictures, is not so much excited about riding her bike as she is about triumphing over her father.



Peter and Alex were watching closely as they now have spotted an obvious weakness in their Dad that they plan to exploit in the not-so-distant future. I overheard them in bed last night discussing a plan to open Christmas gifts in October. Savannah was calculating that February wasn’t too early to open next year’s birthday presents. Even my wife was pondering the possibility of celebrating our anniversary on a monthly basis rather than a yearly basis. Yes, Pandora’s box has been opened and all I can do is watch helplessly as the masses chart the future and the Astros lose in 17 innings.

Minor Controversy

From Brad.

Well, a minor controversy has erupted in the Morello home over the past few hours. As the Morellos were shopping today, we landed upon the perfect birthday present for a sweet little girl who is about to exit the 'little' stage. She turns 5 on Thursday and so we bought her a bike today. However, should she be allowed to play with and ride her bike before Thursday? Do you open Christmas gifts on Dec. 19th? Certainly not...or do you? Mom has sided with Savannah and wants to grant permission immediately. Furthermore, Mom has informed Savannah that they are a team in this one and Daddy is the bad guy. Am I really that bad for wanting the day of her birthday to be the special day when she gets to actually ride on/play with her bike? I think not. In fact, I'm pretty well persuaded that Savannah will eventually see the wisdom in waiting and thank me for it later, despite how her Mom might seek to distort all that is sacred and holy. No, I'm sticking to my guns right now and doing the right thing. Way to go Dad. Way to lead in the face of tremendous opposition. Courage, bravery...any other adjectives come to mind?

4th of July Party

by Amy

My week has been fun! Our American friends that live in our city are out of town this week, so their house helper came to my house all week to teach my helper (Leigh) how to cook American food. They cooked our lunch and dinner everyday this week -- And we have eaten some great food, including chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and gravy; chicken salad in fresh, homemade pita pockets, chicken fingers and mac 'n cheese, as well as many other fun things (chocolate chip cookies, muffins, and tortillas to name a few....). After spending so much time cooking American food, Leigh has been dreaming of cooking each night!

Yesterday Brad and I hosted a 4th of July party for some of our English-speaking college friends. The 7 people from Brad's twice-a-week English study were here as well as two of my girl friends that are graduate students. It was great! After everyone arrived, we passed our a 4th of July Trivia Quiz. It was a fun way to explain a little of America's history. The top four winners received a Good Book. We also ate hot dogs, potato salad, chocolate chip cookies, and watermelon. (I didn't prepare any of it!) After that we played four on a couch and "the number game" from our Colorado days. It took them a little while for everyone to catch on, but it was fun. We spent a good part of the evening laughing. After having such a good time last night, we hope to have new friends in our home often!

(Don't miss Brad's post below. He posted right before I did!)

Teaching English

Brad here.

Well, I got roped into teaching a gaggle of high school kids this past Monday & Tuesday (gaggle right?). My friend had been applying a good bit of pressure and I figured this would be an easy way to say yes (and pay him back for some kindness he has paid to me) and be done with it. I hopped into a car at 7:30 Monday morning and 90 min. later, found myself walking into a large classroom of 125 high school students who promptly applauded for me (never remember those youth kids from Colorado doing such :). For the first 1.5 hours, I introduced myself, my family and practiced some English phrases with them. Then to fill the other 1.5 hours in the morning, I introduced them to the American fourth of July holiday. Then I repeated this for another 125 students in the afternoon. In the evening they watched the movie "Forest Gump" in English. The majority of the time, I was the only adult in the room...Wow! and there wasn't a problem (did I mention the room was around 85 degrees...and I was the only one who thought it was hot). The next day (Tuesday) was very similar so I explained some of the other American holidays, such as Christmas and Easter. It was really a wonderful time of sharing the origin of these holidays and their real meaning. The kids were mostly attentive and seemed to enjoy reading aloud the story as I would project it up on the screen via powerpoint.

Some of the more noteworthy moments of these two days are as follows:

• I was asked to sing an English song. When I politely declined (because I cannot sing well), they insisted. I offered to play a song from my laptop, but they would not have it. So, Rich Mullins, here we go, "step by step you'll lead me, and I will follow you all of my days." At the end, they clapped and cheered.
• At the end of each class, I was mobbed by students wanting autographs. I heard this doesn't happen to all foreign teachers, only the good-looking ones. :) jk
• I was served pig-intestines for lunch...didn't taste like chicken. :( It went great with the 'milk-apple juice' combo that was sitting on the warm countertop all morning.
• I had them read an article (in English) from their textbook on American students protesting a new dress code in a certain school district. The overwhelming consensus (among the students I was teaching) was that school is a place for learning, and not for looking at the opposite sex.
• In the aforementioned article, I was asked to define 'bra strap' by a 15 year old boy. I think 95% of the students blushed (as I'm sure I did also). All I could say is that boys don't wear these, and by their laughter, I think most of them knew what it was.

All in all, it was a great experience and I was thrilled with the ability to choose the topic of my choice. But it was tiring and I was happy to end my new experience after two days.

Introducing New Product #2

From Brad.

Nope, didn't buy this one. Savannah and I went out on a date this morning to the only place in town I know of where one can sit down for breakfast...McDonalds. As I ordered two value meals for us, on my tray was placed two bonus items. They were the same and one is pictured in this post. It's probably obvious that it is toothpaste. What may not be obvious (I couldn't get a close enough picture to capture the words) is that it is Eucalypus flavor with the exciting additive...bamboo salt. Why these were being handed out with a McD value meal is a little confusing to me, but that's small in comparison to why one would put bamboo salt in toothpaste (I didn't know salt came bamboos?!). What tops it all off is the english writing on the box which advertises it as "refresh breathing". :) I'll let you comment on how you would interpret that. Anyway, I did try it and well...not going to do that again. I did brush for a little extra longer to try to compare the taste to something familiar and I struck out. I have nothing to compare it to, but it was a tad bit salty. I think it will be handed down to the three munchkins. :)

Speaking of them, I did have a 'treat' for them today. As expected, it took Alex about 5 minutes today to see and ask for coffee gum. I cheerfully consented.











There was a bit of shock at the beginning but he shared that he liked it. Probably not because it tasted good, but because gum always tastes good, right? The other two had to have some and were all smiles after it was all done. Phewy! Didn't get the reaction I hoped for. :)

For all you coffee lovers

From Brad.

And you thought the US had cornered the market on coffee products. Here, we can get the incredible, unique, exclusive, distinctive, rare...coffee gum. Yep, saw it at the store the other night and for a quarter, I couldn't pass it up! Amy and I took the plunge tonight and our thoughts: ahhh, probably not again. Our kids ask for gum all the time. I've been foolish enough to give gum to my 3 year old boys with clear instructions...only to have them swallow it within minutes. Maybe if we hand over this gum the requests might not come as frequently. I thought when I became a parent I would leave behind my childish days of playing pranks and being filled with delight as others (particularly my family members) suffer. I don't think it has happened just yet.


On another coffee note before I sign off, Amy and I enjoyed a nice dinner the other night on our anniversary. It was at a fancy hotel that serves Western food. At the end of the meal, I thought it would be a nice treat to order some decaf. This not something I would typically do b/c I don't enjoy paying $2 for a drink at the end of my meal. However, I felt like splurging that evening, so I ordered the drinks despite the fact it cost $7 US total for the 2 decafs (at most restaurants around here I can feed my entire family for $7 US). My lovely wife is worth it after all, right? Yes, I am happy to spend $3.50 for a cup of coffee for my wife, but not when it is NESCAFE INSTANT COFFEE. Good grief. I took one sip and dreaded paying the bill. I think I could see the waitress out of the corner of my eye laughing and being filled with delight as she watched me suffer. I guess I deserve it.