rainy days

 And how do we pass the time on these beautiful and yet sometimes insidious rainy days? Home gym! It works surprisingly well, so long as Moo doesn't sit on top of the cushion that Lu is crawling under.

 Another favorite, is emptying mom's jewelry drawer. There's not much in there, but it is worth at least a good hour of entertainment.  Thanks to Carine for the added pieces!

Rainbow!

We have had a handful of thunder storms since we moved overseas and yet lately we have had quite  a few. What a delight to see this beautiful rainbow last week, right over our park. There were actually two rainbows, but the second one was hard to capture on camera. PTL for refreshing rains, fun thunderstorms that make you curl up with your kiddos and silly books, and the covenant promise of the rainbow...reminding me of hope and security even in times of difficulty.

The Strawberry Gobbler

Lu's new nickname, deemed by Dad. She can pack away a pound of strawberries the day it comes home from the market... thanks Dad for cutting them all nice for me!

 And I can vividly remember a few years ago seeing a mom of two with a one year old eating a snow cone. I only had one child at the time and thought, "woah! That is some serious junk food for such a little guy." And hear I am now...mom of two...and my daughter loves pizza. Please refer back to the picture above to note that she does pack away the healthy food as well. :)

looking for fun

As soon as the kitchen door opens, the little one is scrambling to see what is going on on our street. Moo is happy to tag along and peek as well. Please note Lu's little tippy-toes. Another reason not to leave them alone. :) She is getting closer to walking this week. She has been crying nearly non-stop some hours of the day...but it all ceases immediately when someone gives her pinkies to hold and walks her around the house.  Hmmm. Batten down the hatches! (PS - I had to just look that phrase up to know how to spell it. How is it we learn these crazy phrases and use them w/o even knowing where they came from? Must be the movies. :) )

Baby Bird continued

Just wanted to give you a little update on our smallest family member.

 Yes, this was indeed a newborn chick. I don't know where the egg went.

 Momma keeping baby warm.

 Growing baby.

 First flying lessons: the pep talk. (Had to take these through the window as Mama kept flying away.) I was so convinced baby would fly. I sat with the kids for 20 minutes at the window waiting. Little did I know I'd still be waiting 5 days later.

 Baby tests out those wings.

 

 Okay...baby bird is getting seriously big. If he doesn't learn to fly soon, he's gonna bust our air conditioner.

 These are from today - Dad is watching from the street lamp while Mom tries to urge baby onward. I can just imagine how the conversation is going.

"Now Junior. There comes a time in all of our lives when we have to leave the nest. You can't just stay at home with Mom and Dad the rest of your life. You need to take a step of faith here. Have courage. Go get a job. Find your own food. I'm not going to be able to regurgitate food for you forever. You can do it."

stay tuned.

Pea season is back!

I love love love love our fresh fruit and veg market. I bought a local recipe magazine a couple weeks ago to get some ideas about food to make with the things that are in season. It is also good language practice. More of that in a future post as I spent this morning attempting two recipes. My kitchen is a disaster of dirty dishes and only half the food is done being cooked.

What better way to start off the day than a little fine motor skill practice?

 The only problem with soliciting the help of the wee ones, is that one is throwing the peas on the floor as she shakes them out of the pods...

and the other one is eating all the profits!

Mom's Day

I had a wonderful mom's day this weekend. Homemade pancakes (with a little bit of help from Moo and a lot from Dad), a beautiful potted plant (tiled by Moo at Sunday School), a glorious uninterrupted nap (graciously provided by my hubbie), and an amazing 20+ course dinner! Thinking about where I wanted to go,  my only desire was to go to a kebap restaurant that overlooked the sea. We hopped on a bus before 5 hoping to get there before the evening crowds. We found a nice place that offered kebaps and was along the water.

What we didn't realize, was that there was only one menu choice for the evening - the full 'fixed' menu! It usually takes us 15 minutes of trying to hold our kids together with fruit snacks and bread while we await our meal. However, at this special place, within two minutes of sitting down, we had 11 cold appetizers laid before us with news that the hot appetizers were on the way! Woah. Deciding not to think about the end cost of this adventure, we were happy to discover our kids happily discovering several appealing dishes - cucumber in garlic yogurt sauce, hummus, and lots of bread. The main course was a humongous mixed-meat (steak, chicken, meatball, ribs, etc.) kebap served on a special platter above the other courses. I was so bummed that my camera ran out of batteries after the first round! Just when we thought we would burst, they came to clear the dishes. This wonderful restaurant also had a kids play zone - just like burger king. Fancy white tablecloths, a professional photographer taking family photos while you dine, and a play structure complete with balls to jump in. We watched the kids play while we let our food settle. Just as we contemplated asking for our bill, 9 more plates arrived with various fruit and desserts. Oh my goodness. Delicious. And we had to waddle home.

I think this is a common way to dine out with family here for a special occasion as I often see people inside restaurants with platters and platters of food. Coming from the dutch financial tradition of only ever ordering an appetizer if it is instead of the meal, this was an amazing treat. We all went home happy and full! (Until the train ride when Moo asked what he could have...as if he hadn't already eaten two plates of food).

tee hee...Lu's professional shot from the restaurant.