Today's Funny Finds

Ali can entertain herself all day. She plays and talks to herself and is always busy, busy, busy. If she's not trying to clean something, she's taking care of her babies. She's also really into her iTouch and Leapster (small video game unit). It was actually Mia's but she's outgrown it so Ali's inherited it. She was playing with it this morning in our bed. When I went in later, this is what I found. I think she had more fun playing with the game cartridges then playing the actual games on the Leapster. Very funny...

Then there is Terence. He was supposed to be doing his homework this afternoon. I was cooking in the kitchen but then went downstairs to do something. When I returned, this is what I found. He has so much trouble concentrating for long lengths of time and ends up rolling all over the place. He loves sitting upside down and does it often on the couch while watching TV. The strong reflection is off his backpack that is on the floor underneath him.

T's Teeth

Terence is now 8 years old and has about 8 adult teeth that are already grown in (+ his 4 adult back molars) . His top teeth, luckily, are growing in quite nicely. However, his bottom teeth are sort of looking like the mouth of a shark with rows of teeth. He especially has one tooth that is growing inwards as it has no room to go anywhere else. Fortunately, we took action early enough. With the help of a great English speaking dentist, he referred us to his colleague (in the same location), Dr. Dora who is an orthodontist. After viewing his teeth she gave us the solution of an inner wire on his bottom teeth that are attached by fitting around his back 2 adult molars. The wire will then be tightened once every month or so until his teeth fit in properly. This will also help his future adult teeth and hopefully prevent the need for any major braces, but who knows... One step at a time.

For those of you that are absolutely curious about how this went.... well, you are in luck. I took videos!!! The orthodontist speaks perfect English but speaks to T in Hungarian as he speaks Hungarian perfectly so it works out. She then, however, speaks English to me (even though I understand a lot of the Hungarian too).

Showing off his new wire (above) and trying to get used to speaking with the new piece of metal inside his mouth. PS He has his bank card in his hand (he's such a big boy!)

Terence's School Work

As parents I think we are always trying to predict what our kids will end up doing with their lives, how they will make decisions and, of course, how they will do in school (and eventually their profession). At 7 years old and only in 2nd grade I cannot tell which direction Terence, our oldest child, will go with school. He is right now completely on the fence and can either turn out to be an excellent student or a student who barely passes through school. Of course I hope he (as well as our 2 daughters) will excel but let's face it: school is not for everyone. The best sign so far that we have that he will do okay is that he loves to go through his school work with us, with family, with just about anyone. He loves to explain the exercises in his work books and how he did with each of them.

He insisted that we bring ALL his books back to the US so he can share them with Nana and Papa (Curt's parents) but we could only manage to fit about half of them into our suitcase without going completely over the airline's weight limit. Here he is with them in Kansas going through some of his books.



Sometimes he doesn't even notice if who ever he is with is not paying much attention as he is always fully engrossed and examining each page carefully.

Just a Few Notes

Had to jot these down to remember.

Last night I was doing sit ups while the kids were watching the movie, Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (I think this is the name. It's a funny movie in which Steve Martin plays a dad who is married with 12 kids). Ali must have thought I was trying to hold my head up so I could see the TV. Suddenly, she stuffed a pillow under my head while I was going up on a crunch. I came down on it and thought it was so sweet of her to be concerned about me.

Recently she has also learned how to push the stepping stool in our kitchen (always have one open for the kids to step on and help with cooking) up to the fridge / freezer. We have an American GE Profile which has an ice / water dispenser on the freezer door. She has figured out how to get herself a drink and does so often. The other night she brought all of us a drink of water. She's so overly careful about spilling that she now just fills the glasses up about 1/8th of the way. It's funny when you get a big (plastic) cup with about 2 sips of water only. Of course we all are very appreciative and say, "thank you Ali!"

On another note, today Terence had a big brother talk with Mia. I don't think he knew I was listening. It was really funny to hear him talking all grown up to her. He said to her, "Mia, I think there are 2 issues that you need to work on. 1. Cumi-ing (this is a Hungarian slang word for thumb sucking or a pacifier. it's pronounced 'tsoomi'. Mia still sucks her thumb *). and 2. Kissing Boys." He proceeded with, "Mia, I think you are addicted to both and you really need to stop as you are too old for cumi-ing and too young for kissing boys. I don't even kiss girls yet and I am 7." It was really adorable. I especially thought it was funny that he used the word 'addicted' as I just recently explained what this word meant. I thought he did well by using it in context...

* Note to Aunt Sally about Mia's cumi-ing. Terence and Mia both remember the deal that was made at the beach last summer. Mia and Aunt Sally made a deal that Mia would quit cumi-ing when Aunt Sally quit smoking. She and Terence are hoping that Aunt Sally makes it to the beach again this summer to see who won the deal!! hint, hint, nudge, nudge...

Kids are very excited that today was their last day of school for 1 1/2 weeks as they are on spring break!! 4 days until we leave for Disney Paris!!!

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

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!

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!

Other Updates

The desktop returned home last night, set up at 9pm by our IT Director, it was working like a dream but when we started it back up this am it wouldn't start up. Ugh! Thankfully we have a laptop. A very old laptop that has a big bubble in the center of the keyboard after Greta, our dog, got caught in the electrical cord and pulled it off the table. It works but is stubborn. One of these days I hope to have a computer for Curt and I that works well and one for the kids that they can play their online games (Club Penguin is still a big hit for Terence). One day...

I never got to Terence and Mia in my last post so I will try to now. First, for Wendy, who always takes the time to write nice comments on my blog, Coconut Chicken Curry. I know it by heart, however, some of the ingredients are not so easy to find. This is what I do:

heat up oil in a wok or big pan; add green curry paste and a large diced up onion; cook for about 3 - 5 mins; add chicken and cook - while turning - for about 6 minutes; add a can of coconut milk and 2 or 3 fresh kafir lime leaves (I get at Culinaris and always have a stock in my fridge - they last about 2 weeks); bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer for about 3 - 5 mins; add green beans - you can probably substitute with asparagus or broccoli even but I always make it with green beans because we love them (be aware that they cost a small fortune this time of year but I do find them at Budagyongy); cook for a few more minutes then add fish sauce, lime juice (I use 1 lime); 1 tbs brown sugar and a ton of fresh koriander / cilantro; cook for another minute or 2. I serve with brown rice. Delicious!

Okay, back to the kids. Terence and Mia are now amazing skiers. They both really enjoy it too. Recently while we were skiing Krvavec, Slovenia, Terence decided he was ready to go all the way to the top of the mountain and ski down with me, Kerry, Riley and Liam (Riley and Liam are 11 and 9 and have been skiing for 4 seasons now). He did a great job. While going up on the double man ski lift we both found the view magical. We were actually above the clouds. There was a sheet of white clouds below us that prevented us from seeing the parking lot or even the top of the gondola. Terence told me that we must be near heaven. It was beautiful and I promise to get the photos uploaded soon. In the meantime, here is the mountain map:

Terence managed red runs (no black) and lots of blue. Black in Europe is the most extreme, red is medium and blue is for beginners.

Terence and Mia had instructors in Kobla (the resort closer to our hotel) but they didn't here in Krvavec. However, if we ever manage to go back, I will definitely send them to ski school as it looked so FUN! Anyone with kids near Krvavec (10 mins from Ljubljana airport) that need to learn to ski, I strongly suggest this place. The instructors all looked really professional and played lots of games with the kids. Terence and Mia found this learning area fun as they loved racing around the obstacle course and skiing through these horseshoes.

During our trip I tried to teach Terence about New Year's Resolutions. I explained that it was something that you wanted to try new or different in the new year. He had a long think about it and then said, 'Mama, I have a New Year's Resolution. I have something I want to try in 2008.' When I asked him what it was he answered, 'I'd like to be able to lift a car'. I told him that wasn't so realistic and maybe he should make a resolution like to be nicer to his sisters or to try harder at school. He looked at me very seriously and said, 'I don't want to do either of those'. Oh well, maybe we'll have better luck in 2009!

Mia is still my best eater. She really likes grown up foods - like Coconut Chicken Curry. When we'd go out to eat in Slovenia, all the kids would order pizzas or sausages and Mia would order a tomato soup. It's really funny. She's still a girly girl and always has to have lip gloss in her pocket ready to be applied. Her other pocket is usually filled with sweets, gum or chocolate that she seems to always find and stuff away. I think this is the reason she has so many friends at school! Not only does she like sweets but she also likes to share. Curt and I laugh whenever we drop her off or pick her up because while walking in or out we hear every minute 'Mia!' or 'Bonjour Mia!' or 'Szia Mia' (hungarian). She's like a little celebrity. She always smiles and waves back but sometimes when I ask her who the child was she'll say 'I don't know'. She is so different from Terence who is still a loner and a lot less sociable. By the way, Nana and Papa, he likes that Albert Einstein book you sent for him. He's had me read it to him the last 3 nights at bedtime.

Mia's newest funny expression is 'For Real?!' I think Curt and I joke so much that she never knows if we are serious or not and somewhere she's picked up this 'For Real?!' question that is so cute. She always asks it with such a funny look - like she's not sure if she should laugh or remain serious.