January 19, 2014

The boys are both back in school and things are returning to normal after a long Christmas break.  Justin was nervous about going back and it was like the first day all over again.  He was even concerned that he wouldn't know where his cubby was or who was in his class.  Since his birthday was during the Christmas break, he was able to take cupcakes in on the first day back.  That meant that I carried them and went all the way to his classroom with him.  That helped him to settle down a little bit.

Ryan was jealous that Justin got to go back a day before he did.  He was also excited to take in birthday cupcakes.  I got pretty sick of making cupcakes, but at least that is done with for awhile.

Friday the 10th I was able to finally get Ryan's hair cut.  He no longer looks like an unloved dog.  Of course with the dry air and the need for hats, his hair is still quite interesting much of the time.  We went with Jack, Charlie, and Nune (their nanny) to get their hair cut while Nune's sister watched Justin at our house.  When we were done, Charlie got to play Skylanders with the boys for awhile and of course they had fun.

This week the boys had a snow day on Tuesday!  We got 6-8 inches of snow and the roads were deemed unsafe for staff and students.  Luckily they have the teachers call in such cases because I never would have thought about a snow day.  Since we walk to school, road conditions are not a thing I think about.  I also don't know what is and is not unusual snow accumulation here. 

Rob had a two hour delay to work, so he did the driveway. 
Good exercise, but his back paid for it later.

Ryan wanted to run around the yard and look for buried toys.

This is the plow that comes around our community to do off the roads. The nice
thing is a little tractor (the one that pulls the garbage trailer) comes by later and makes
sure the driveway isn't blocked from the snow the plow has moved.

I have no idea what Justin was doing.

I made a path through the backyard so it would be easier to cut through
on the way to school on Wednesday.

The kids can sled on the hill during recess so Justin has been taking in a sled each day.  It is kind of a pain to drag it back and forth, but the kids have so much fun.  When we go to pick Justin up, I try to go a bit early so Ryan can get some sledding in. 

Justin's class was studying world religions as part of their social studies curriculum.  He made a little book about Islam with illustrations that are, in my opinion, priceless. Rob and I cracked up over the charity and the fasting pictures.

Faith: Muslims believe in Allah and love Allah.
Drawing says I love Allah!

Prayer: Muslims pray to Allah 5 times each day.

Charity: Muslims give things to poor people.
Drawing shows someone receiving a car!

Fasting: Muslims do not eat when the sun shines during Ramadan.
Drawing shows sad faced figure looking at drumstick in the day,
smiling figure looking at drumstick at night.

Pilgrimage: Muslims go to the holy city of Mecca.
 

Justin's class has students from many different countries and of many different faiths.  I like that he gets that exposure.  One day he was asking me which country is the best and I told him that people usually love the country that they are from.  During our discussion it seemed to click with him that just as he loves to visit family in the States and spend time there, his peers have other places they like to go.  He has friends from the UK, Russia, Armenia, Germany, Vietnam, Korea, India, and other countries.

Wednesday I went to my monthly book club.  I dread going out in the cold dark night, but I always have a good time when I am there.  I volunteered to host in March so I need to choose out a book soon.

Thursday was the PTO meeting.  Again, not a lot of fun to go out in the cold dark night, but it is a super short walk at least.

Friday we got my teaching supplies and some other stuff that had been in storage since Rob and I left Maryland for China.  Now I get to go through it and see what I want to keep.  I think that there will be a lot of things that I am ready to throw out or donate.  Yay!  Less stuff!  We didn't know how this overseas lifestyle was going to work for us so we pretty much put everything in storage since it was paid for.  Now all that is left in storage is our furniture.  I think a lot of that can be donated too, but we really don't want to get that all shipped out here.  Perhaps someplace we will. 

This week I also finally put up my fourth shadow box.  The nail has been waiting for it since about August.  Oops.  I have another empty one and think that in the future I will group them differently.  Two have things that belonged to my grandparents, one has things from Namibia, and the last has things from China.  I have some things from Japan to put in one and some things from Zimbabwe for another.  I have some smaller frames that I want to put some Thai things in.  Not sure how I want them displayed in our future homes, but for now I am happy to be putting small keepsakes and souvenirs somewhere besides a box.

August 18, 2013

This week at church we learned that some of our friends will be returning back home to the Philippines.  While this is good news for them, we will miss them.  The Hansens decided to host a little get together for them on Monday so we could have a chance to spend some time together and say goodbye.  Justin and Ryan were thrilled with the news that they would get to go over to Cyrus' house to play.

Monday morning I received a call from Sienna.  She had caught the stomach bug and was not feeling up to having people over at her house.  She asked if we would be willing to have it at our house instead.  We have a big enough house and live across the street, so it made sense and I could see no reason why we couldn't have it here.  Sure the boys would be going to bed a bit later than usual, but no big deal.

It was nice to have everyone over and have the chance to talk.  The Reeses decided to wow us with their mind reading ability.  We put out nine DVDs on the table and had Elder Reese leave the room.  We choose which DVD we wanted to be "it" and called him back in.  His wife would point to different DVDs and he would have to say when we got to the chosen DVD.  I knew how it was done, so I went out next.  As people caught on, they would go out and take a turn reading her mind to determine which was the chosen DVD.  Finally, Justin shouted out that he knew how it was done.  People were pretty impressed with him until he explained.  He told everyone that it wasn't really mind reading, but some kind of trick like a magic trick.  Everyone laughed and laughed and he didn't get what was so funny.

Next we played fruit basket and the boys had so much fun.  Justin had such an expression of joy and triumph on his face when he would get a seat ahead of someone else.  He also enjoyed being it, so really he couldn't lose.  Ryan laughed and had fun too.  In fact, the next day he asked if our family could play the game.  I told him that four people really wasn't a big enough group for that game and that he could find a different game that we could play instead.

On Tuesday I got up early when Ryan came in to get me at about 4 AM.  He said that his stomach hurt.  Sure enough, later that day he was puking.  Joy.  At least he seems to know when it is coming and was able to get in into something rather than all over the floor like Justin does.  He needed a lot of extra cuddles that day.  He seemed back to normal by evening except he wasn't hungry. 

Wednesday Cyrus came over to play for a couple of hours.  The boys had a good time, but Justin sometimes gets frustrated with some of the things Cyrus does.  Cyrus is often guilty of the offense which boils down to the fact that he acts like a three year old.  Since he IS a three year old, there really isn't much to do about it.  After about 2 1/2 hours they were getting to the point where there was going to be a meltdown soon. I called Sienna to come get Cyrus so they could part on good terms.  Of course when she came Cyrus did not want to go and my boys did not want him to go.

The rest of the week was pretty much routine.  We aren't very exciting people.  We spent time playing outside in the back and riding bikes and scooters in the front.  I can often get yard work done while the boys entertain themselves.

Friday I got a call from a woman who just moved here with her family.  She said that she has a 10 and a 7 year old and wanted to know if my kids were interested in meeting her boys.  Well of course they are!  Justin heard me talking on the phone, so even though we weren't getting together until Saturday, he wanted to walk to find their house.  I wasn't exactly sure where it was, so we ended up walking the long way.  It was about a ten minute walk and you would think that I was torturing my children.  It was in the 90s, but there was a nice breeze.  We were able to walk back in just over half of that time because I knew where we lived and had no trouble getting back.

Saturday morning the boys were anxious to meet their new friends.  I was a bit less optimistic because of the age difference of the ten year old.  Can I just say that the four of them had a blast!  The boys are going over there on Monday, we will see them at the Embassy kids' outing next Wednesday, and then they will come here again on Friday.  Once school starts the older boy will likely find friends his own age, but I think that at least Justin will still spend time with them at school and probably at other times too.  I sure hope so.  It is nice for the kids to have other people to play with.

Saturday afternoon I told the boys to show Rob how they have gotten better on bikes and the scooter.  Justin rode the balance bike and I was able to convince him to let me take the training wheels off of his bike.  Guess who rode down the hill and then back up!  I was so excited.  He has a ways to go before he can do it without having to think about it so much, but I am just thrilled that he can do it.  I didn't think he would ever learn because he doesn't like to take risks in front of other people.  Both boys are getting better on the scooter too.  Yay!

Ryan was in desperate need of a haircut.  Rob assured me that even if I really messed up that Ryan is only four years old and would not be scarred for life.  I got off a lot of hair and think that he will feel much better.  I am still not brave enough to just shave it off like Justin's.  I think with his big forehead he would look strange.  I also worry that it would make him look even older.  Ryan's hair isn't bad enough that people will stop and stare, but Rob said that he would be really upset if he had paid money for a cut like that.  I agree.  Maybe next month when it has grown out a bit I will take him to the Embassy for a haircut.  I got a picture of the hair I cut off, but I forgot to take a pic of him before bed.

Before and After

Justin really REALLY needed a haircut. He hates getting it done, as does everyone involved in the process. My dad took Justin to Barber Mike. When it became obvious that just a trim wasn't very practical (didn't take long to discover that and I wasn't surprised), we just shaved it off. I think he looks older!

I Love the Slide!

Justin has refused to go down the green playground slides for some time now. In the dry, winter weather he got a zap thanks to static electricity and decided to shy away from the risk. Well this week he decided to give it another go. Not too suprisingly, he loves it. He tells me that he loves it with the kind of attitude that sounds like he has known all along he would, but that I was the one holding him back. My silly little Justin.

Here he is on the playground with his friend, Ellington. When he first met Ellington he thought his name was Oxygen. That makes no sense. Everyone knows that Oxygen is a girl's name. :) Now he often says it as if it is three separate words. It is so cute. Ellington is such a good natured little boy. He is a bit younger than Justin and Justin sometimes gets overexcited and knocks him over or runs too fast when they are playing scream and chase. Ellington just keeps smiling. (Note how Justin is in DESPERATE need of a haircut!
The cherry blossoms are out and absolutely beautiful. Gentle breezes blow some of them down like soft, fluffy snowflakes. It is pretty and not cold like snow. I was standing out on the playground with Justin and Ryan. We were the only three people there. Ryan was asleep and Justin was actually being quiet. As the blossoms floated up, down, and around in the slight breeze I felt like I was in some sort of artistic foreign movie scene. I didn't see any cameras or hear any music or sound effects, so I am pretty sure it was just a rare, beautiful, quiet moment in my life.

Do you think he looks any different with glasses? I think they make him look older and more distinguished. He has a lot of fun with them. It also took away from how desprately he needed a haircut.

Today we got that haircut. He screamed the ENTIRE time. I had to use my legs to keep him seated on my lap and my hands held his head in place. Grandma was in charge of his arms and upper body. Truly a horrible experience. I don't know what his problem was.

I also bought a stroller than I can use with him and Spare. Of course Justin insisted on helping me. He loves tools. Thanks to Papa he knows hammer, screwdriver, wrench, and a few others. It took a lot longer to get it together with his special help. At least it kept him occupied.