Terence Turns 7

It was 7 years ago on March 29th at 5:10pm our first child was born at Telki Hospital outside of the beautiful capital city of Budapest, Hungary. I told Terence the story about this afternoon last night at bedtime and he giggled through it all. He loves listening to the story how he stormed into this world faster than anyone anticipated. He loved hearing about how Nana was there the whole time and how daddy had to stop at every bus stop while I had a contraction. I tried to explain a contraction but that wasn't so easy but somehow he still seemed to understand. He loved how I had to rush Nana out of the store earlier in the afternoon when I felt he was ready to be born. Then, I had to drive to our office where daddy was waiting. His face looking happy, worried, disorientated, yet confident all at the same time. What a night we will never forget. Thank you Curt and Pat for being there through it to hold my hand (and legs)! Thank you Pat for being strong. After Curt started losing consciousness I needed the support ;-) Thank you to Dr. Margaret, who has become our very dear friend, for delivering this incredible human being. I still remember how calm and cool you were and how comfortable you made me feel. And how funny you were, when you first saw Terence's face, commenting on how he has Curt's lips.

Happy Birthday to our Terence Reed Clements!

Enjoy the videos below from last night.

Book Recommendations

Two recent books I have read that I really, really enjoyed! Thanks Lisa for recommending Eat, Pray, Love. Thanks Kerry for lending me the book. It was fantastic. And, Jodi Picoult's Nineteen Minutes had be glued. I read it in about 5 days which is really unusual for me as I have little time for reading. I would stay up late into the night as I couldn't put it down!

Terence Update

Terence is really an unique kid. I wonder if most parents think this way about their kids. He is our oldest child and he will turn 7 in 2 days. He's usually very easy going (like Curt). He's recently started showing a lot of interest in exercising. He sees me exercise often (we have a lot of equipment downstairs) and he also watches Lazy Town. I have never sat through an episode of Lazy Town but I am always nearby when they are watching it and know there is one character who is really in excellent physical shape. His name is Sportacus and he eats right and is very physically active. Additionally, I often talk about what vitamins are in foods and how our plates should be full of colors. We often even compete at dinnertime to see who has more colors on their plate. Terence has become very interested in how his body works, what muscles he has, what foods are best for him, etc, etc, etc. The funniest part about it is he really likes to exercise and he checks out his own muscles (mostly arms and thighs) in the mirror. He tells me about new exercises he has 'invented' (this is one of his most used words) and we try them out together. He cannot lift my dumbells / free weights yet but I found him a pair of light ones that he likes to use. I tell him he has to do them with me because I don't want him injuring himself. I think it is really funny to see him so into his health and fitness at such a young age. I hope it continues at a healthy pace. By the way, Curt and I are very, very careful never to use the word fat in our home so this is not a concern of theirs and we hope that it never becomes one - especially while they are young.

The other thing that pops into my head about Terence is his attire. He has never been like Mia about clothes but about 1 year ago he started preferring shirts and jackets with hoods. He likes to wear his hoods too. He'll wear other shirts (except with collars like golf shirts or button-downs) but he really likes the hooded ones. I've heard other mothers with sons around the same age say the same thing. Not sure where this sense of fashion comes from but think it's a funny quirk.Terence also refuses to wear flip flops. I've tried many times and he just refused. Before the invention of the amazing Crocs, it made beach vacations a bit difficult as he would only wear sneakers. The wildest thing about Terence is he has an European size 37 shoe. This is like a size 5 US! For a 6 year old this is huge!

Sportacus from Lazy Town

Great New Recipe

On Monday I tried a new recipe that I first watched Delia Smith (British chef) make on TV then I found it on the uktvfood.co.uk website. It was a huge hit and I will absolutely have to make this dish often. The large number of ingredients allows for many variations. When I made this Mexican Chicken Chilli (main ingredients include chicken thighs, beans, mozzarella, coriander, lime juice, etc), I modified it slightly. I excluded the Tobasco sauce and just served it on the side (mainly for Curt who likes food to be on fire). Also, I didn't use those small spicy green chillies but instead I used those long thin green semi-spicy (depending on the amount of seeds that go in with it) peppers so that it would be more kid friendly. I also cut the cheese and cream in half and doubled the coriander (aka cilantro). Lastly, I added chickpeas as we can never get enough chickpeas. The girls could probably eat nothing but chickpeas for dinner if I let them! Anyhow, the recipe was a huge hit. And, the best part was it tasted even better reheated the next day! Even Curt - who never eats left overs - enjoyed it a second time. I wish I made more so it could have lasted longer. Note to self: double recipe next time and add more green bell peppers.

Here is the direct link to the recipe on the UK TV Food website:

http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/530117

More Easter Fun

We had the most incredible Easter lunch / dinner out at Etyek winery yesterday. The food and company was lots of fun. The kids all had so much fun running around. We were really lucky as there was a break in the weather and the kids spent most of the day running around outdoors without jackets. It's a bit crazy that this morning we woke up to a white lawn! It snowed just enough to cover everything last night.

I love this photo below of Terence and Liam. There are such great buddies. Like brothers. Mia and Ali couldn't get enough of baby Aiden. Their mom also had lots and lots of cuddles with the little guy.
The bunnies. Wonder what will be on their menu next week?

Hill jumping (our newest sport) with Chef James

The girls on their motorbikes!

Another Easter Egg Hunt

Counting out their loot.

In 1 1/2 hours we managed to get up (kids were our alarm clock at 7am; EB visited at about 4:30am), hunt out our Easter Eggs in the garden, find Easter baskets, dig through baskets, open up eggs (they are plastic with surprises inside), play an Egg Picking game (Terence won), make and eat pancakes. Phew... exhausting. But, absolutely loads of fun!

Kids are now relaxing with a movie and playing with some of their goodies. Curt is on the treadmill downstairs and I'm on the computer (obviously). At 12:45pm we head out to Etyek to the Haraszty Vallejo vineyard for a fun / food / wine filled afternoon with a bunch of friends. They will have baby bunnies, lots of games, more Easter Egg hunting, etc. The sky is gray now and we are hoping that it will not rain like it did yesterday morning.

If you haven't seen these bunnies rapping yet then check it out. Very funny.

http://i.flowgo.com/greetings/rapeasterbunny/rapeasterbunny.swf