The Clements Family Life: 9/9/07

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Saturday morning quick update

It's Saturday morning and I haven't added anything to my blog in a few days. I've taken a few photos and video clips but my time on the computer for personal matters is slim. It's been a long work week and juggling work and 3 kids (and trying to run a home and keep it organized) is the toughest challenge I've ever experienced. For all the working moms out there, do you ever feel like you do anything 100%? I'd even settle for 80%. Last night we came home from work (we had had a drink after with clients) at about 9pm. Ali was fast asleep but Terence and Mia were in bed and almost drifting off. I had to go up and spend an hour playing, talking and catching up with them as I hadn't seen them since 7:50am when they left for school.

Mornings are not pleasant here as there are too many mouths to feed. Our morning routine is usually Ali wakes up first between 6:30am - 7am. She shouts from her crib 'Mama! Mama! Mama!' until I come up. Occassionally Mia gets her out of her crib. But 9 out of 10 times I get to her first. Actually, 7 out of 10 times I get to her first; 2 out of 10 times Curt does and 1 out of 10 times Mia is the first to get to Ali. Ali is the first to get a bottle of milk. Then, Mickey the cat gets fed (almost always by me). Curt usually feeds the dogs. 50% of the time it is with the help of one of the kids. The fish often get fed by one of the kids but every so often they get completely overlooked. Then, it's Terence and Mia's breakfast time. Wait, actually, it's coffee time first. Curt or I make coffee lattes with our espresso maker. Then, we move on to the kids as they take a while to get moving and into breakfast mode. It's often oatmeal with milk (we don't make instant nor do we make it with water as I am a huge fan of oatmeal and believe this is the ONLY way to make it). If we wake early enough I make a dutch baby which is a giant souffle type pancake. Terence's favorite. The kids are not big fans of cereal but Mia does enjoy her Special K. Terence sometimes likes Corn Flakes but with no milk, sugar, or anything on it. I haven't taught them about sugar on cereal nor do I buy sugar cereal. The last 2 choices for breakfast are yoghurt (Terence loves vanilla flavoried milk rice and Mia likes Danone fruit yoghurt) or 'Daddy's special toast'. The latter is toast with butter, cinammon and a little sugar. They like it cut into triangles.

Must run now as I need to make a trip to Auchan for some groceries. Being a working mom makes it difficult to stay on top of grocery shopping so I will take Terence and Ali with me to stock up. Curt is with Mia at dance lessons. They got picked up by Bill and Keira. Keira is one of Mia's favorite little friends. I will post photos of them very soon.

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Our visit to Somlo Hill

We went to Sue and Peter's Somló vineyard the last weekend of August. It is an incredible place. Somló is in the North-West of Hungary. Most of the region is situated on the slopes of an extinct volcano, crowned by the ruins of an 11th century castle, overlooking the plain. The wines of Somló are exclusively white.

The photo on the left is of us coming upon the extinct volcano and the other is of Peter and Sue in front of their gorgeous weekend home.

The Dogs in Somlo

We brought Blue (left) and Buko (right) belongs to Sue and Peter.

In the photo with Blue, Ali is playing with a bunch of wine corks. The kids were entertained by them for at least an hour. Much different than life back in Budapest!

Curt is Right at Home in Somlo

After a nice big lunch of antipastos, Curt relaxed and took a 2 hour nap. It was so nice to see him like this after a very grueling week at the office.

Natural Rock Climbers

The kids loved climbing anything and everything. Terence is a great climber but very cautious and careful. Mia is fast and accurate. She started on this rock wall after Terence but finished at the same time as him. So far he hasn't noticed her advanced skill and we are trying not to make a big deal out of it.

Ali always has to try everything she sees them doing.

This is a good one of the three of them up in the grape vines. I especially like that it captured Terence being a good big brother - holding on to Ali so she doesn't tumble over.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Fruit Trees in Somlo

Ali loved all the fruits within her reach. The pear and apple tree were her favorites. She didn't even bother picking the pears off the tree. She just walked up and started munching on it while it dangled in front of her - perfect reach!

Summertime in Kiawah

Here are some photos from our summer in Kiawah with all of our different friends and family. What a great 3 weeks it was!

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Sept 9 Intro

Had to put today's photos onto a blog as there are so many things worth commenting on. We had a really slow start to the day. Last night Curt and I went to Rav's surprise 40th birthday party so were extra tired this am. The kids were also tired after staying up until 11pm last night after going to the Solymar carnival with their babysitter, Brigi, her brother, Kriszt, Linda, Riley, Liam and Keira. Curt went out to pick up Indian food for lunch and also to drop by John's hospital to drop off some essentials that he needed. He's spending a month in the chemo bubble but just got the best news today - the chemo has worked and their is no more sign of his cancer! He called me and we both broke into tears over this amazing result.

I'm absolutely rambling. After Ali's super long nap (3 hours) and our fantastic lunch we got ready for our long hike. Why does getting ready with little ones take so long? Mia had to try on 4 pairs of shoes before we found a pair (her rain boots) that fit. She does have 3 new pairs for school but it was too muddy to wear these in the field. She would have chose flip flops if I let her but on this 20 degrees C (in the sun) day I thought that was ridiculous. Why do their feet grow so fast?!!

Back to the topic. After the getting dressed up and shoes on ordeal, we were ready for an expedition. We packed apples and pears for the horses that are kept out in the field near Echo Church. We call it Echo Church and I'll explain why in a minute. Our journey took 2 hours and here are the photos to show how incredibly fun it was.

Ali's Head Nodding

Ali still is slow on the speech. She still doesn't say yes or no in English or Hungarian. Yesterday at lunch time was the first time she'd ever said 'nem' when Terence tried to take her drink away. We all laughed and tried to get her to say it again but wonder if it may have been accidental. She does, however, nod! She doesn't shake her head so much for 'no' but instead waves her hand for 'no'. I do believe she understands A LOT!

Wagon Time

The kids always start out in the wagon but end up jumping out after a while. On this day, they were all in and out. Even Terence at the end had to sit for a while. 2 hours of hiking is a bit excessive for these guys.

Curt was really innovative with the dog leashes. He made a harness to wear over his shoulders so pulling was an easier task. He's not just good-looking!

In Deep Conversation

This picture is another favorite. If only I could have heard what their very serious conversation was about. They were walking side-by-side talking and looking so grown up. They adore each other so much but still have fun picking on each other daily!

Bug stomping Ali

This is really funny. Ali found this bug crawling around on the ground. This type of bug looks a bit like a ladybug but much bigger. They seem to be everywhere here. When she noticed it crawling on the ground she first tried to pick it up. After not succeeding she went after it with her foot as if she were angry that it didn't crawl onto her finger or hand. She's the first of our kids to be a bug stomper! The other two are still more interested in picking them up and keeping them from harm's way.

Random Shots During our Hike

Video of us Feeding the Horses

Gorgeous Horses

The beautiful horses. The sky was amazing today.

Ali Exploring Around Echo Church

Ali is exploring on her own.

I love the one of her and Kiraly looking off in the same direction. The other 2 are her funny little expressions. She has so many!

Echo Church

This is 'Echo' Church. We've nicknamed it Echo Church because the old wooden door it used to have on it had little holes that the kids loved to peak into but even better, scream into. There was always a huge echo. It's a beautiful old church and it's way out in the middle of the hills near our home. The door in the above photo is brand new. If you want to see more of it and view it from Google Earth then click here: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/33790. I've heard they actually perform church services inside.

Holding Hands

I love this photo of the 3 of them. It was completely unstaged. Ali had fallen behind then lost her balance and fell over. She shreiked at all of us in hopes that someone would come and get her. She wouldn't budge and I didn't want to run back as the last thing I want her to get used to is scream out and mommy comes running.

Terence and Mia both decided after a couple of minutes to go and help her back over to us. It was so sweet. They caught up to Curt, the dogs and I all holding hands. Love these moments of sibling kindness.

Wind Blown Mia

It was the windiest day ever and Mia wouldn't let me put anything in her hair. I think she feels more grown up with her hair wild and free.

She was too tired to walk so rode along with Ali in the wagon. She always starts out like this then about 10 minutes into the hike she gets a burst of energy, jumps out and runs around with Terence.

.

QUOTES OF THE DAY:

Today, July 1 2010 while driving through McD's drive through Terence and I got to talking about what a job at McD's would be like. I told him that my brother worked there and that was one of his first jobs. I explained how he was in charge of the french fries and used to come home with lots of grease burns. T told me that if he ever worked at McD's he wouldn't be able to work on the Big Mac assemblies as they would all end up disappearing. The Big Mac is his favorite!! He's not a french fry kind of guy, just a burger boy!

June 10, 2010. Ali has been a bit curious about dying lately. Fortunately, she doesn't remember anyone close to us that has died but she hears Mia and T sometimes talking about it. The other day, she came up to me very sad and said, "Mama, I don't want you to die." I told her that I don't want to die either and this is why I have to exercise and take care of myself so that I can stay alive and healthy longer. She nodded in agreement and then, while playing with my pink wallet on the table, she followed up with, "Mama, if you DO die, can I please have your wallet?" Glad she jumped back so quickly...

Today, May 24 2010, is a public holiday (Pentecost). Ali woke up - only at 9am - and since she had no idea of the time I reminded her that there was no school today. She smiled and said, "Yeah! I'm going to stay in my pjs ALL day". Later she asked me about the cat's birthday. I told her I did not know. She then asked me when Blue, our border collie's bday is. I told her it was in August. She smiled and said, "Let's have a birthday party for him. What kind of cake do you think we should make for his party?" We decided to make him a dog food cake! However, she is now trying to figure out if it is better to give him a cake with or without candles...

This Saturday morning (April 17, 2010) I am at home with Ali while Curt is doing the dance and football taxi service. My main responsibility is to work on our US visit travel schedule (flights, rental cars, hotels, etc.) It always takes a lot of coordination but it's all worth it as we love our summer returns to the US. Anyhow, I was telling Ali what I was doing and she asked me to remind her who we were going to see again. The main people I mentioned were Nana, Papa, Aunt Sally and Uncle Mike as these are the first people we will visit. I asked her what we should take to Nana for her birthday present. She thought for a second. Then, her eyes grew wide as she thought of a great idea. Her animated answer (she always uses lots of hand motions when talking - is that from me?) was, 'A nice hat, a scarf and if you have a dress that you out grow then we can take it for her!'. Funny little monkey... Don't worry Nana, I won't be bringing you any hand-me-downs! x o x o

Yesterday (Feb 24, 2010), while Ali went to visit her old nursery school, I took Terence and Mia for lunch before picking up T's new passport at the US embassy. There is this little cafe that I really love and they have great wraps, onion rings (I have a weakness for good onion rings), burgers, salads, smoothies, coffees, etc. Terence decided on a plain burger with onion rings and Mia decided on a bacon cheeseburger with onion rings. I got a smoothie and hoped for some bites of both of theirs... When the burgers arrived, they both lifted off the top bun and frowned. T grunted, "I asked for a plain burger. Not a burger with this sauce!" The sauce was sort of a 1000 island dressing type of tangy sauce. Mia pouted about this matter, too. I immediately got upset with them and told them not to judge it until they tried it. Then, I followed with, "you both need to become more adaptable." After a second of silence, Mia told me she was going to tell dad. I asked her to clarify and she told me that she was going to tell dad what I had said. Again, I asked her to clarify as I hadn't said anything rude or even a bad word (I sometimes have trouble with the latter). She then told me very angrily, "I'm going to tell dad that you want us to be adopted!" Adapted ... Adopted ... Pretty close!

During our ski trip to Schladming, Ali and I often spent some time together in the afternoon (after her morning ski school) drinking hot chocolate at the top in one of the restaurants. One afternoon she made a funny observation. Actually, she made 2 observations that went like this: "Ma!" she began. After I responded "yes", she asked me, "why are there some teenagers working here?" Before I had time to answer, she asked me another question. "And, why are there so many teenagers kissing?!" I looked around and there were 2 young couples nearby kissing... on the mouth! She was very interested. I answered to her that many teenagers worked when they were on break from school and regarding the teenagers that are kissing, they must love each other. She took this in and thought for a while. I told her that I'd like it if she also worked when she became a teenager and asked her what she thinks she'd like to do. The response has had us giggling for a few days. With little hesitation, she answered that she wanted to be a penguin when she was a teenager. I asked her where she would work as a teenager and who would pay her money. She thought for only a second and then answered, "the Four Seasons Hotel. They will pay me and I'll work there." I bit my tongue and asked her what she would do in the Four Seasons dressed as a penguin. She looked at me like I was an idiot and said, "Ma! I would swim!" She said this with a slight roll of her eyes like I was born yesterday. What else would a penguin in the Four Seasons be doing???

Just yesterday (Sept 18, 2009) I heard Ali saying to Mia, "drink me". I had to turn around and see what they were talking about. Mia was holding Ali's cup while she sipped out of it. Ali must have thought 'drink me' was the way to ask to be fed (?) a drink. We do say 'feed me' but what do we say if it's a drink item and not a food item?

The other day (early June 2009) the girls were taking a bath together and Mia blurted out "Oh Man" about something. Ali thought she was referring to her as a 'man' and shouted back at Mia, "Me not a MAN, me a LADY!" For obvious reasons I have never called her a 'lady' but she's somehow picked the word up. Loved how she defended herself as being a lady...

Yesterday, March 31st 2009, Terence, Ali and I were sitting at the table and talking. Terence made a joke about going to jail. After Ali laughed, I asked her if she knew what 'jail' was. She answered 'yes'. So, I asked her if jail was a place for good guys or bad guys. She correctly answered 'bad guys'. Then, I asked her, "How does Brigi call 'jail'"? I know this is correct but this is the way Ali would understand me asking how would she say 'jail' in Hungarian. Brigi, by the way, is her Hungarian nursery school teacher who she has a very close relationship with. Her answer to my question, "How does Brigi call jail?" was "with a telephone".... Very clever she is...

This afternoon (Jan 28, 2009) Ali pulled out a DVD and asked, 'we watch this when dada come home?' I looked at it and said, 'Ali, that's not a good one for you. It's a little scary.' (it was Men in Black II). She had recognized it and was ready with her quick reply: 'Don't worry (pronounced woowwee) Mama. Me cover my one eye with a pillow (piwwow).'

On Ali's birthday (Jan 24, 2009) while we were driving to Aquaworld, I turned around and offered the kids a stick of gum. I guess normally I / we say a 'piece' of gum. Curt then followed up with a joke asking if any of them wanted a 'stick of dynamite'. The girls were a bit confused but T, without missing a beat, said 'we can't buy dynamite, only people like miners can buy sticks of dynamite.' This is something he got out of one of his books that he loves to read. I believe it's the Richard Scarry What do People do All Day book that he has practically memorized and still goes to bed reading it and examining all the detailed pictures every night.

This morning (Jan 27, 2009) when we were hunting for Ali's shoes for school she looked outside and said, 'Mama, it's raining'. I turned to look out the window she was looking out and replied, 'Ali, I don't see rain'. She then followed up with something in Hungarian that I didn't understand. When I asked her to repeat it she looked at me, switched back to English and said 'It starts snowing after Halloween'. Not sure what this meant, why she said it, how she even remembered what Halloween was as that was ages ago in her little lifetime. Very sweet.

Mia's newest line (as of this first week in Sept 2008) is "I'm having the worst day ever". She's also been saying, "I feel like an idiot". She tends to say the latter when she's feeling a bit shy or lost for words. The first one is usually after she falls, stubs her toes, gets hurt or drops something. I have no idea where either lines have come from. Very funny to hear a 5 year old talk like this...

Every summer we take our 3 kids back to the US to re-familiarize (I'm sure this isn't a word...) them with their American roots. They were born in Europe and have only lived in Hungary their entire lives. Terence, our 7 year old, knows he's American. However, sometimes when he's asked 'Are you English?' he answers 'yes'. I think I've finally gotten it through to him that just because he speaks English doesn't mean he is English. In America (and several other countries), English is spoken... He now gets it and corrects people if they guess he's English. You may think that they would recognize his American accent but I think this misunderstanding usually happens when he is speaking Hungarian or French.

Mia, on the other hand, thinks we are Hungarian. When we were talking about Hungary beating America for the gold medal in water polo, she shouted out 'Yeah, we won!'. We had to explain that Hungary won and not America and we are American. She answered something about us living in Hungary which makes us Hungarian. Needless to say, she is a work in progress.

Then there is Ali who is only 2 1/2 and is still trying to not mix up English with Hungarian in her speech so she has no idea where she's from but will in time.

Anyhow, going back to our trips to the US. Curt and I like to give them an all-American cultural experience whenever we are in the US which includes baseball games, summer camp, carnivals, dunking machines, donuts, bagels, catching lightning bugs, looking for Cardinals and Blue Jays, spotting alligators in the lakes in Kiawah and this year a rodeo and a demolition derby. In addition to introducing our American favorite pastimes to them, we also have to teach them how to talk about it. For example, when our plane was landing in Kansas City on July 4th 2008 we had a perfectly clear day and could see everything. Terence looked out the plane's window and in his loud voice shouted to me, "Look at that baseball court mom!" I could hear heads turning wondering why the American accented boy who should be in at least his 3rd or 4th year of little league just called it a baseball 'court'. Well, that was at the beginning of our US summer trip... ;-)

Tonight (July 11, 2008) on our way home from the Sedgwick state fair (hee haw), Ali shouted from the back seat, "Mama, home now! Me tired!" It was about 9:30pm so way past her bedtime. I told her that we were on our way home (or at least Nana and Papa's) and would be there soon. I followed up with something about daddy is driving as fast as he can. Then, she shouted, "Dada, faster!" She is so funny and so expressive. It's funny to hear her bark her commands. And, when she is tired, she tells us....

This morning (June 24, 2008) as Mia was changing from her PJs to her school clothes I noticed her PJs had several holes in them. I mentioned it to Mia and suggested that maybe we just toss them in the garbage as it was so torn and damaged (plus small on her) that it wouldn't be easy to repair. Mia nodded her head in agreement but then asked me to do one favor for her. She asked, "Mama, can you please just toss them after I go to school? If I'm not here, I won't see it and then I can't get sad."

One morning while we were near Notre Dame in Paris (May 29, 2008), a group of school kids walked by where we were sitting. I heard T say to Liam, "Don't they sound like the kids at the French school?" Gee, I wonder why? haha

Two nights ago (around March 27, 2008) while Terence was getting ready for bed he said, "Mama, you know what?" He always begins his stories like this. After I asked 'what?' he proceeded by telling me the sweetest thing. He said, "I really like being a kid". I have no idea where this came from or why it occured to him at this point but I think it was really sweet. I know earlier in the evening his stomach was hurting him a bit and I was nurturing and taking care of him. I think maybe that is why he decided that being a kid and having a mom (and dad) take care of him when he needed it was okay!

Mia woke up crying 2 mornings ago. She was actually whimpering. I gently stroked her back and kissed her face while whispering in her ear "Mia, you're dreaming. Wake up. It's okay. I'm here. It's mama and I'm here". I repeated these soothing words over and over until she half opened her eyes and started mumbling. I leaned in to try and hear her better. I asked her what was upsetting her. She then said a bit more clearly, "The Easter Bunny pulled my hair!" Oh no. Poor Mia. "Why did the Easter Bunny pull your hair?". "He came in through the bedroom door and pulled my hair while I was sleeping in bed!" I reassured her that the Easter Bunny would NEVER do such a thing. I explained how gentle and giving good ole EB is. However, this morning (2 days later) she asked me how many 'night-nights' until Easter. I told her it was 2 weeks away (aka about 14 night-nights away). She then looked relieved and then asked me if she could get her hair cut short!!

I've been wanting to add another funny Mia quote that occurred over our New Year's (Dec 2007/Jan 2008) ski holiday. One night when Mia was having trouble falling asleep she crawled in between Curt and I as we were still awake talking. She explained that she couldn't fall asleep so we told her she could stay in our bed until she did. She closed her eyes for a couple of minutes and then started smacking herself in the head with both hands. I asked her what she was doing and she replied that she couldn't get it to stop. Curt and I were confused and asked her to elaborate. She said, 'I can't get the voices in my head to stop'. It was so funny as I immediately knew it was her thinking that was in her head. Curt asked her what the 'voices' were saying and she said it sounded like 'blah, blah, blah, blah, blah'. Curt couldn't resist by saying that he knew the feeling!

Last week (January 10, 2008) Mia came with me to the Indian Embassy in Budapest to pick up Curt's and my passports with Indian visas. She always makes me laugh as she's full of questions but never discreet. One of those kids that have to announce to an entire room that she has to go to the bathroom - even though she's only talking to me. While at the Indian Embassy she looked around at this new environment taking everything in. She had so many questions, "Mommy, what's that for?" or "Why is that over there?" She then noticed two paintings. At about the same time as she noticed them one of the consulates sat down next to her and said 'hi'. She returned the gesture with a shy 'hi' and then turned back to me to ask me who those people are in that painting. I had no clue and didn't want to embarrass myself in front of this Indian embassy employee. So, I asked him if he could answer my daughter's question. He looked at her and said, "That's our president". So then I showed Mia the map of India and told her that was the country we were going to. She returned her attention to the man and the woman in the painting and asked who the woman was assuming it was the man who was the president (reminder - she's still not 5 years old). The nice man had to explain that it was the woman who was the president and the man was the prime minister. Then Mia had to ask why the president had the red dot on her forehead and the prime minister had the pretty blue scarf (turban) on his head. She then saw a statue of Ghandi and asked me who he was. I knew that answer but had trouble explaining in 5 year old language why he was so famous. On and on and on she went... She had all the employees listening and entertained as not only was she interested but she was extremely complimentary. Many kids would say, 'that's weird or strange' but Mia found it all interesting and beautiful. They loved that she thought the turban was pretty, the red dot looked nice on the president and in another very Indian photo the traditionally dressed Indian woman looked so pretty with her gold bangles, henna covered hands, and gold outfit. Phew, I was on the edge of my seat nervous she would say something that might not be so kind. Instead she left them all with a smile on their faces and a very proud mom!

Yesterday (Nov 23, 2007) Terence came up to me and said, "Mom, I know America is one of the newest countries in the world but which is the oldest?" I said, "I'm not really sure but what do you think?" This kid is too much. He replied, "I'm not sure either but I would guess China." Not sure if this is right or wrong but it amazes me that he can even come up with something that is a really good guess. Will google it tonight for sure! If anyone knows, please send me the answer.

Last night (Oct 19, 2007) Terence asked me the loaded question: Do we come back to earth after we die? We spent a long time after the girls went to bed talking about it. I explained how different people believed different things and what I believe is that we do. He then asked me if we'd still come back as a family. I realized he had tears in his eyes with worry that he'd have to be part of another family so I answered 'yes'.

Terence asked me the other day why so many ants were eating our tree. He asked how they got onto our property when we have a fence all around it.

In first grade Terence is working on days of the week and months of the year. I asked him to recite what he's learned in French. After he said the days of the week perfectly I asked if he knew them in English. He couldn't think of them but suddenly I heard Mia's voice without hesitation say, 'Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday... etc'

Ali's word of the day was purple yesterday. Okay, so it didn't really sound like purple but it did sound like 'poopoa'. We were both wearing purple shirts and I pointed it out to her. That's how she repeated it after me.

The Clements Family Life