Mouth Washing

I finally did it! I had to wash out one of our children's mouths with soap... Can anyone guess which one? It was THE hardest thing I've ever had to do but I truly think it was necessary and will have the impact to make him / her stop ... or at least think very hard about it before doing it again!

Terence's Thoughts

Last night at dinner we (Curt got home from work late so I ate with the kids) got to talking about family. Mia was complaining about having an older brother or something silly so I reminded her about the fact that I had TWO older brothers. She always finds that so funny but also feels a bit sorry for me for having had to grow up with that. I asked them if they could name my brothers. It took a while but Terence managed to name both! Then, I asked them if they knew what Mia's kids would call Terence. Terence quickly answered, 'Dada!' I said, 'NO!' I asked them to guess again but they didn't know so I told them that Mia's kids would call Terence 'Uncle Terence'. They thought that was the funniest thing ever. Terence then said that his kids would then call Mia 'Uncle Mia'. Again, I replied 'No!' I said they would call her 'Aunt Mia'. They again laughed so hard that they almost fell off their chairs. Then I asked them if they knew what their kids would call me. They were still laughing at the Uncle Terence and Aunt Mia comments so I answered my own question and said, 'Nana'. They thought that was the icing on the cake. Terence then asked, 'Will you say For Goodness Sakes all the time?'

Tonight after bath Terence declared that he now wants to be a teacher when he grows up. It's a bit of an odd thing as he always reminds me that he does NOT like school. He still wants to be a scientist AND an engineer. He emphasizes that he wants to be BOTH! In fact, two days ago he told Curt that when he grows up he wants to invent (this is a word he uses often as his dream is the invent something) the cure for cancer. He wants to invent something that won't be poison for the body. He's referring specifically to John Heisler who just returned home on Monday after 1 month of being in the hospital undergoing chemo in a sort of bubble environment. Terence said that his 'invention will still have to hurt a little bit but it won't be poison for the human body'. I don't know where he comes up with this stuff! It's just incredible. He then called John on the phone to tell him about his invention so that John didn't have to worry about fighting this cancer thing again...

Ali with Baby Photo of Mia

This is a video of Ali looking at a baby picture of Mia. She loves baby's and everywhere she sees them she tries to cuddle and kiss them. She did it the other day in the sand box at the playground. She was going around to all the 'babas' and kissing them. I got some funny looks from the moms but a lot of them thought it was sweet.

Anyway, this is a funny video of Ali looking at a photo of Mia and thinking that it is her. She's the first of our kids to not refer to herself in 3rd person. I remember teaching Mia and Terence to say 'me' was such a challenge. If I said, 'that's you', they'd repeat, 'that's you'. If I said, 'me' they would still say 'you'. I've never went over this with Ali and she knows 'me' ... well, it sounds more like 'my'. Regardless, isn't she clever?? Says the bragging mother!

Half way through the video she tries to come over to my side as she loves to look through the camera and pretend to take photos. She also kisses herself at one point when I flip the viewer which hangs off the left side of the camera. She's clever and vain! ;-)

Kiawah Party - July 2007

Here's a video of Ali dancing during Rick Hubbard's performance in Kiawah, South Carolina. We spent most evenings at this park where there was always free evening shows. Rick's was every Sunday night and always fun for the entire family. Ali cracked me up dancing in the front row.

Here's Mia dancing on stage with all the 4 year olds!

And, of course, I had to include these of Terence. He was chosen to go up on stage by Rick Hubbard to demonstrate these hippy sticks. Not sure what they are really called but Terence was incredible. At first I was worried as I think Rick was trying to pick out an 8 or 9 year old who could manage to toss and catch. Terence, only 6, is as tall as a lot of 8 and 9 year olds (he's about 130 cm) but coordination levels are maybe not as advanced in all areas. The funnier part was when Rick leaned over and asked Terence his name then said, 'Everyone give Terence a big warm welcome'. Then, he leaned over and asked Terence where he was from. I was nearby and could hear the conversation which went something like this. 'Budapest'. 'Where?'. 'Budapest'. 'Where?'. 'Budapest, Hungary'. long pause then Terence said, 'It's in Europe'. I didn't even know Terence knew all that but Rick just ignored the city part of his introduction and got on with the stick tossing. Very funny! Kerry, this can go on your blog about American's lack of geographical knowledge. The conversation has been a main topic of ours ever since Miss South Carolina attempted to answer why do so many Americans have a bad sense of geography.

Anyway, here are a bunch of shots that I couldn't decide on so had to include all. I was amazed at how well Terence did at it!

Terence Finally Got Pokemon

Thanks to Erik Hemphill who just returned from meetings in the US, Terence finally got 40 (10 cards come in a pack) Pokemon trading cards. He is obsessed with looking at them and learning about their powers. He still cannot really read so I have to read the names that are almost unpronouncable like Bidoof, Spheal, Pichu and Bronzor. There is a Pokemon cartoon on Nickelodeon that he can watch and learn about the characters too.

I had to look up Pokemon in Wikipedia and learned that it was created by Nintendo in 1995 as a video game. The creator is a Japanese electronic game designer.

It's so strange that it is so popular at the French school when there is not one store in Budapest that carries these cards! Everyone has family members in the UK, US, France and Belgium sending them over for their kids. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge!