The Clements Family Life

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

1920s Costumes

Here are just a few photos from our fun Saturday night. As I mentioned in an earlier post. We attended a surprise birthday party for our friend David. Judit, his wife, set the theme as 1920s. It was fun and everyone dressed up! These photos are off Kerry's camera as mine is being repaired. I will get more from other friends but had to share these with you asap. I think the style suits Curt actually!

The 2nd photo is me with Kerry. She has a fab black wig on. I think she looks great with black hair. She's naturally blond.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Mia School Work - Feb 2008

This is an example of what Mia is working on in school. She's doing well with at school and seems to get an A on everything. I thought this was neat how she had to use a different design from the left column for a different section on the dress. She's also doing a lot with letters and numbers. All in preparation for primary school.

Weekend

I'll be posting photos very soon from our weekend as all the photos were taken with friends' cameras. Friday night was a wild one as we had 9 friends for dinner and the last 4 stayed until 3:30am in the morning! We started the evening at 8pm. I guess it balanced out the amount of time I spent in the kitchen cooking!

Saturday was a surprise birthday party for my friend Judit's husband. Judit set a 1920s theme on the party and it was so fun as everyone got into costume. Thanks to Curt's sister Lisa I got my costume in the US with her forwarding it to me here in Budapest. As part of the surprise, Judit asked 4 friends (including myself) to dance the Charleston for David and all the guests. We practiced a few evenings at Catherine's (where the party was held) prior to the party. It turned out fantastic! I must admit I was nervous and not very positive at times about how we would look but we turned out to be mini celebrities amongst all our friends - and David, of course! Kerry's husband got our 3 minute dance on video so once uploaded onto You Tube I will forward it to all of you for a good laugh. The guests at the party consisted of Judit and David's family and 50 friends who were all parents of children at the French School in Budapest. Even our headmaster and his wife attended. He danced non-stop! As did I and several times I danced with him which the kids got a kick out of when I told them on Sunday morning!

Sunday consisted of brunch at the Corinthia Grand Hotel. It's one of our favorite brunch locations as there are lots of activities for the children. On Sunday they even had a Chinese dragon / drum show to celebrate Chinese New Year. The kids loved it. During Sunday brunch they also provide 2 babysitters to keep the kids occupied with arts and crafts in the kids corner. It's really great. We went there to meet our good friends Christine and Torbin Lang who moved away from Budapest with their 3 kids 2 years ago. They are now back in Denmark. They are visiting Budapest for the week and staying in the flat that they bought just before moving away. It was great catching up with them and seeing how much their kids have grown. Photos of our reunion will also be posted soon.

Lastly, Sunday night was a business dinner. Phew. We are tired!

We have one more hectic weekend coming up as our semi-annual sales conference begins on Saturday and will go through Tuesday. Then, we are off for a week's ski trip to Austria with all three kids. So looking forward to some fun family time! Terence is really interested to get Ali on skis during this trip. There are some unusually coordinated 2 year olds that can pick up skiing but I don't think Ali will be one of them. Maybe we will stick to sledding this year and wait until next winter to start ski lessons.

Ali Home Sick

Yesterday Ali stayed home from nursery because she was sick. I canceled all my appointments to stay with her. She started getting sick with a runny nose on Saturday. Yesterday she also had a cough and was really grumpy and tired. We did have a very, very busy weekend so that probably didn't help. She first woke up at 6:30am but fell asleep after I cuddled with her for a while. She woke up again at around 7:30am but by 9am she was really clingy and grumpy. She kept grabbing my hand and saying 'home' over and over again. I kept telling her that we are home. I think she wanted to go to a friend's home but didn't know how to express herself. She insisted I put on her hat and coat. I asked her if she wanted to lie down with mama and she nodded so we went into our bed where she fell asleep quickly. She slept soundly with her coat and hat on for 4 hours! She wasn't too hot as the window was open. She woke up starving and in a much better mood.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Farsang for Ali

Farsang is the Hungarian word for Carnival (aka Mardi Gras). Yesterday was Ali's celebration at school. I sent two costumes for her to choose from: 1) a ballerina; 2) a frog. Guess which one she chose? The Frog! Mia wore this exact costumer 3 years ago. Terence wore a matching one the same year when they went to the same nursery school as Ali.

When Ali came home she modeled the frog costume for us. She insisted that I take a photo of her feet, too. Not sure why but maybe it had something to do with the fact that she only recently learned the word 'feet' and wants to use it.

I just found this photo of Terence and Mia from Feb 2005.

Terence insisted on trying on his frog costume again. It obviously didn't work!

Terence's Traumatic Day

Yesterday Terence and Mia finished school at 3pm (regular time as they had no after school activities). Ali was to be expected at home at 3:30pm as she gets driven by the director of her school on their little nursery school bus.

As parking is hard at the school unless you get there 15 minutes early, I parked across the street. The school is on Mariaremete which is a busy 2 lane road in district 2A. There was a huge opening in traffic so Terence, Mia and I ran across the street to where my car was parked. As I was getting Mia in the car, Terence was walking around the front of the car. He got near the street when I noticed him and shouted to him to be careful. At the same time a huge bus was roaring near and beeped at him. It looked like he was in one of his daydreaming moods and just not paying attention. It gave us all a huge fright. I still am not sure if Terence would have walked out into the street or just to the curb. Regardless, it was too close for comfort. Initially, after the bus had passed and he walked back to where we were, I yelled at him. I was very angry at his absent-mindedness and told him that I would expect that from Ali but not him.... etc, etc, etc. We both then started crying. It was a really good scare!

Once safe at home we had a long cuddle and I told him that even getting near a busy street is dangerous as a driver can easily sway off the road if they aren't paying close attention. After our cuddle he went up to his room. I went up to check on him and asked him if he wanted to talk more about it or if he needed some time alone. He said he needed some time alone.

When I went up to check on him 15 minutes later, I found him sound asleep. Terence absolutely NEVER naps. Even if he's had little sleep and really needs it. I especially think it was sweet that he fell asleep with his legs up in the air. The day's drama obviously took it out of him...

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Update

It's been a while since I've put down some interesting information into our blog. What can I say, it's been a busy couple of weeks. Work is keeping us very busy with our newest product: viaRelo and Radix which many of you have heard about. Then, there is India and our expansion into this part of the world.

Additionally, the kids are full of energy and all seem to have a packed agenda filled with birthday parties, French tutors, Farsang (aka Carnival / costumes) parties, football, dance, tennis lessons, haircuts, dental appointments, play dates... It is a wild rollercoaster ride every week with double loop after double loop. My car definitely gets a lot of use and is always filled with children, laughter, bubble gum, spilled drinks and sometimes tears (that would be mine... just kidding).

Ali is growing up too fast and I want to keep her little. She's 2 years old now and making dramatic improvements in speech, physical movements, etc every day. She loves to sing even though she knows no songs. She loves singing Happy Birthday even though her version goes like this 'Happy... Happy... Happy... Happy'. Happy usually comes out sounding more like 'Hoppy'. Every time she sees a candle she sings it. Every time I pull out the mixer to make a cake or cookies she sings it. It's really sweet and once my camera is fixed (always something seems to be falling apart and needing repair) I promise to get it on video to show you.

She's going through a funny stage of 'mama, mama, mama' at the moment. She only wants me to help her with ... everything! At the playground she won't even let Terence help lift her onto things or push her on the swing. His help is always received with a loud 'NEM! MAMA' She's even like this with Curt and the babysitters. I know it's just a stage but it's a bit difficult at the moment when I need to help Terence or Mia with things or get dinner ready. I only have 2 hands.

Terence is working hard at improving his reading and writing and has been getting into his exercises every evening. I help him and often sit with him during his homework. It's good that he has a bit of a competitive streak as this gets him trying harder so that he gets my praise and good marks.

Mia is still Miss Social Butterfly. She receives playdate and birthday invitations ALL the time. She is, however, starting to get a bit moody. I wasn't prepared for moods at the age of 5. It's too soon... Let's hope this is also a stage. If not, we have a long road ahead of us!

Finally, I'd like to end today's post with a big Happy Birthday to Jon Harman! Enjoy your first birthday as a dad and your 3rd (or is it 4th?) birthday in Budapest!

Monday, February 4, 2008

Finally - Curt's Birthday Photos

Not a lot of photos from Curt's birthday but here are the ones that Szilva just sent me.

Above, us. Below, friends

Thursday, January 31, 2008

Last Photos of Ski Trip

Slovenia House

I loved this little house on one of the canals in between our pension and the ski resort.

More Slovenia Skiing

Such a princess. Wearing mom's sunglasses to keep the sun from stinging her eyes while eating Doritos (yes, we have them here now!) with her perfectly polished fingernails. Too much! At least she rocks on the skies!

Snickers are our snack of choice while skiing. Mia loves them and never gets them any other time of the year other than on the slopes. So, they are a special treat.

All bundled up and ready to go. Then, taking a break with dad.

Boys Skiing!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Ski Videos

I figured before our next ski trip (in a couple of weeks), I would post some videos and photos from our last trip. Terence and Mia are doing so well. They really enjoy it and most days begged to go back for night skiing with Curt. Curt was amazing as he often took extra kids along to the mountain for night skiing. The lines were not so long for the lifts so they got a lot of skiing in after dark.

This was one of the first days. I think I was trying to get the surroundings on video. Hope it doesn't make you to dizzy.

I love this video. Mia actually out-skies her instructor!

Terence loves to catch speed at the bottom of the hill after he's come down.

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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.