The Clements Family Life: 3/9/08

Friday, March 14, 2008

Lost Tooth #5

Terence's 5th tooth just came out today. He has been playing with it for ages. It's been forever since he's been able to eat an apple without having to have it cut up for him. He was so excited as he managed to pull it out himself. What a relief and excitement for us all! Even the girls were jumping up and down clapping. Ali kept laughing everytime he showed her the gap in his teeth where the tooth once lived.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Thanks Nana and Papa

Thanks Nana and Papa! Terence loves his early birthday presents that arrived in the post today! The solar system is ultra cool! He cannot wait until dad gets home (on the 21st) to help him hang each planet up in his room.

PS Yes, that's Mia's thumb in her mouth

The books are also fantastic! How perfect for Terence! He is so planning to be a scientist / inventor / engineer when he grows up! We read several of the questions and answers tonight during bedtime.

Thank You

Thanks to my relo team for the beautiful birthday flowers. They are still looking gorgeous!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

Or, in 2008 it seems to be that February showers bring March flowers. Look at our garden. All the bulbs that the kids and I planted in the fall are popping up. The crocuses are beautiful! It feels like Easter...

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

A Package in the Post

The kids get so very excited when we receive a package in the post. Yesterday the delivered package was from Karen and Mark in Chicago. Thank you so much for all the wonderfully thoughtout b-day presents for Terence, Emilia and Alexandra! They were overjoyed!!

Beautiful wrapping paper and fun bows

Lidstrom's hockey jersey is so cool for T!

The girls love the dolls. I've never seen this brand before - they are so beautiful!

Below is Ali's attempt at a smile for the camera. She looks like she's in pain... ;-)

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

More Good School News

Last night Terence brought home this week's school lunch menu. He pulled it out while I was cooking dinner and told me that his teacher, Celine, told him to practice reading it. This is where I'm useless at helping him as I cannot pronounce French words properly. Even if I tried I do not want him learning to pronounce anything French from me as it wouldn't be correct.

So, I told him to start practicing and when I had a minute I would sit with him to listen. He practiced by slowly sounding out the words and reading them out loud. When I sat with him finally, he told me that he and Julia (from his 1st Grade class) were chosen to read to the Kindergarten kids the following day. I know Julia is very smart so I worried as Terence is really struggling with reading and writing... and speaking for that matter! It's only his 2nd year at the French school and he hears French no where else outside of school! Wait, I take that back. He plays on a French football team on Saturdays. Anyhow, it's minimal...

We practiced and I thought he sounded okay. I knew he had trouble with a few words like mushroom which is really long and sounds like 'champion' but seems to have about 5 too many letters in it!

This morning when I dropped him off I wished him luck. He wasn't nervous to go to school like I thought he may be. Instead he was very excited as Tuesday is one of his favorite days as he has gym on Tuesdays (and Fridays) and he loves gym. He's also signed up for an extra hour of sport on Tuesdays after school (3-4pm) which he also thinks is great. When I picked him up at 4pm I didn't say anything as I wanted him to bring up the reading session. After we were on our way in the car he told me he did it without making any mistakes and Samuel (the K teacher) told him he did very well. He said that the best part was that when he read the dessert of the day 'Danette au Chocolat' (Sheila - did you know there was such a dessert with your name in it??) the entire class cheered with excitement. That must have been a nice way for him to end his menu reading. He said it was really funny.

Phew! So glad he did well. The last week has been great for his confidence!

Monopoly

Our son, Terence, is absolutely addicted to Monopoly. Santa brought it for our family and he loves it. We played twice this weekend and I had to end it early each time as I had to get to other things (i.e. Mia and Ali). On Saturday we played for 2 hours but on Sunday we played for about 4 hours! I had to sell my houses twice as he was just clever at buying and purchasing houses and even hotels!

The funniest is he saves his one 1,000 GBP note for Knightsbridge every time. It's his strategy. Knightsbridge is the most expensive property right before GO. I landed on it twice and was almost in bankruptcy but managed to just barely survive... It's so fun to play these board games with him. It's even more fun to see how well he does at them!

JACUZZI TIME

Our hot tub has been out of commission for a few months due to us traveling so much and forgetting to put the appropriate chemicals in regularly. We finally had it drained, cleaned and refilled with all the proper chemicals so we are back into hot tubbing. Curt is the biggest fan of the hot tub and goes in most evenings after the kids are in bed. I must admit that I haven't been in that many times but decided to go in last night with the kids (Curt is still away for another 10 days or so).

It was so great. It was a beautiful, clear night. The air was chilly (for wearing only bathing suits) but the water temperature was 40 degrees C. We had a great time and probably spent 45 minutes in there splashing around, talking, counting the stars, etc. We ran into the hot shower and bath afterwards then into bed. The kids have never fell asleep so quickly! I must remember to do it every night after dinner...

Monday, March 10, 2008

Progress Finally

Good news about Terence at school. One of his teachers who hasn't been grading him very highly came out on Friday after school to congratulate us. He told me that T is doing really well ... suddenly. And, "He just went from 1st to 2nd gear". Terence was smiling ear to ear. I started crying (just teary eyed) and kissing him which was definitely NOT cool! It was the best news...

Yeah T! Keep up the good work!

Rock Climbing

Yesterday we went to an incredible rock climbing gym in Budapest's district 10. My brother and Janos joined us and it was great to have a few other hands to help belay both kids while Ali and I watched and took photos. It's been years since I rock climbed and I definitely look forward to going back with my rock climbing shoes! This gym is incredible! The kids loved it and climbed for 2 hours! Everyone there was really nice but not a kiddy place. This gym is big league. Check out the overhangs!

The kids hadn't climbed since summer time in Kiawah. Terence quickly learned how to clip in and out by himself.

Mia was wowing all the guys in the gym as she just flies up with ease. They couldn't believe she was only 5 years old and already such a good climber. Terence was also a good climber but a bit more careful and a bit more analytical.

This guy below just kept us amazed at his ability to climb up the overhangs without hesitation. If you look at the first picture, he climbed all the way up to the center of the ceiling. We called him Spiderman!

Some videos of our rock climbing kids. The first one is of Mia goofing around. She loved repelling and bouncing off the wall. She loved swinging and spinning and being silly.

Uncle Robert

Snack time

2 hours later they were still wanting to climb!

Thrillville

In past blogs I have posted stories, videos and pictures of us enjoying our newest toy: Wii by Nintendo. This weekend was the most fun we all had thanks to George Lucas' Lucas Arts creativity! Don't know if I ever told you but he used to be a neighbor of mine. I'd see him driving around Marin County in his big blue Hummer - before any of the other celebs bought Hummers and before Hybrids were invented.

Anyhow, back to my story... Terence has a game called Thrillville that he really likes but hasn't been able to figure out completely by himself. This weekend when Riley (11 1/2 years old) and Liam (9 years old) were over, they helped him out with the Thrillville challenges. The object of Thrillville is to build an amusement park that you can make money at. You have to make clever decisions on what to spend money on to attract more customers. As more customers come, pay admission and buy things (ie at the gift shops or restaurants), you make more money which can be spent on more things. They had the most fun building roller coasters. After a roller coaster is successfully built, we get to experience it. The kids were all screaming. I too was feeling a bit nauseous at times as they made them really extreme! It was so fun for all of us to help decide what tracks to put next and how to connect it all together. We'd cheer when we completed a successful roller coaster then scream while riding it! It was so funny. Here are just a couple of photos of the R&D team. Kerry got the real action on video which she will share with me. Of course, it will be posted on my blog!

PS the girls were all upstairs playing with Mia's doll house and playing dress up...

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Movie Time

Terence, Mia and Ali are finally able to sit together and enjoy a movie suitable for all three. Tom and Jerry is always a favorite. I know we all grew up with it but it is shockingly violent at times. Nonetheless, Curt and I turned out okay (some of you may disagree) so we let our children share in the same childhood entertainment that we had.

They invented a favorite new game while watching it. They start by picking a character from the episode to represent themselves. Then, while they watch the episode they laugh and shout "look what I just did to you" or they cheer themselves on like, "run, run, run". Even Ali gets into it and always wants to be the 'cica' which means cat in English.

These pictures were from our hotel room in Austria in Feb.

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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