The View from Here

We're HERE!

The boys did it - it was actually only a 9 hour flight

and they were really, really good.

And Happy.

And then fell asleep AFTER we landed. Naturally.

Have you ever?

Kids....we are not in Kansas anymore:

This process made Nate sweat - oh the presha!

But after 3 days in an airport, a long flight, a Train and a Taxi ride,

We landed here:

And here:

And this here, "cooker" (oven), pretty much sums up how

comfortable we are here:

More to come from this broad living abroad.....

Borat cleaned my teeth

Today, at the dentist office, I waited in the lovely waiting room with three white-haired ladies. As I fiddled with my iphone, they all three stared at me as if I was chewing my own toenails, and then eating the by-product and then was going to try to chew theirs.

I've always had the same hygienist, Amy. She is a pleasant mother of three and we always talk kids between scraping, polishing and flossing. She always asks about my life and I was sure she was going to ask if I had summer plans and for the first time EVER, I have pretty cool summer plans and I was excited to share.

Today, however, I was greeted with a "Rrrrrrr-be-ka?". I look up and see a dude, with a very thick accent who introduced himself to me as "your hygienist". Is it just me, or does lady always come to mind when you hear hygienist? Someone with pretty eyelashes and groomed eyebrows that you can look at as they work, who hums pleasant motherly songs and whose stomach doesn't make man-grumbles in your right ear. Is he a man-gienist? It really caught me off guard today. He reminded me of Borat.

I used to hate cleanings. They hurt and were usually littered with lecture. But I kind of like them now. My dentist is fabulous and I am always praised for my excellent gums and easy-to-clean teeth. "Horse teeth" as Nathan lovingly refers to them. They are large. This means that they have a lot of surface area which makes them super easy to clean. Like wiping down a windshield, I suppose. You should see when they take the "polisher" to my front windshields - they actually go back and forth and back and forth and back and forth - on ONE TOOTH! And I just smile because I can hear Amy's thoughts "man, these are a hygienists dream!"

But Borat was not like Amy. First, he spoke broken English, so (a) he talked very little, which meant no praises and (b) he said things like "I suck your mouth?" when it was time to suction. I'm not kidding. I would have laughed when this happened, but Borat had large gloved hands and any movement from me would have resulted in my dramatic hyper-gag reflex. Amy had petite hands - like a little dental elf. Oh Amy, where have you gone?

In the end, there were no praises. There IS a cracked tooth. Yes, another one. And a deep cavity. Yes, another one. But seeing how they are getting me in emergent-style tomorrow to fix it, I suppose I shouldn't tease about Borat's large man-hands, man gurgles and semi-inappropriate instructions. For all I know, he is entertaining his family at the dinner table with stories of the girl who had chicklets for front teeth.

No cup required

Pee'n in the Dirt

Higgy is sick again. He has bad ears that cause him all kinds of systemic problems.

He was seen by the vet yesterday and started a pharmacy of medications. Of course there are a long list of side effects that come with his pharmacy of medications. One of which, we learned tonight is dripping feces throughout the house. I'm not kidding.

And then Henry stepped in it.

Which led to a conversation between Nate and Henry about where it is appropriate to poop.

Hmm...never in a million years did Nate ever think he'd have to have a conversation about where it is appropriate to poop. But here we are!

And then Henry offered up a story from today that went something like this:

"Oliver and I were playing outside and Oli had to pee, but were were playing, so we pulled our pants down and peed in the dirt!"

Which consequently led to a second conversation about where it is appropriate to pee.

May There Always Be You.

Friday night, Henry officially graduated from Nike's

Preschool Program. Throughout the many months of planning

for this ceremony, I really didn't think much of this

day, I mean, it's PRESCHOOL, right?

It completely snuck up on me as one of the most

emotional experiences I've ever had with my children.

Our Henry made us so incredibly proud.

Seven months ago, Henry would never have been

comfortable in front of a crowd of 500+, would never

have sang and smiled on a stage.

But Friday, he was like an angel on earth.

Truly, an ANGEL on EARTH.

And I unexpectedly pulled out the "ugly cry".

I had no control over myself, and Nate

got it all on video.

Walking to the Ceremony

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these sweet boys.

Henry's Board - where we learned his favorite song is Gangi, Gangi

and his favorite lunch is waffles - yep! That's my boy!

Henry and his friend Luke:

Henry and Alia:

Henry's beautiful teachers, Jamie, Lacey and Audree:

Lacey rallying the "Dynamotion" class:

I can't even caption the next two photos because nothing

can describe how sweet these two can be to one another:

Yes, they are forehead to forehead:

Henry wanted Charlie to join his class:

They had face/body painting for the siblings:

Leaving for their ceremony:

Henry on stage with Luke, Anna, Catie and Jared.

Nervous?

And then he spotted us:

The Butterfly Song:

After the hour long ceremony, they had food and drinks

and candy and bouncy houses, slides, clowns, magicians

and hundred and hundreds of people!

Here is video of the songs...and where I went to the ugly cry.

The last song is especially difficult.

Go ahead, try it.

May there always be sunshine

May there always be blue skies

May there always be children

May there always be you.

May there always be stories

May there always be music

May there always be teachers

Who take care of you.

I love you so much Henry Barton.

Daddy and I are so proud of you.

May there always be you.

Happy Father's Day

(The boys dictated the following to me):

Dear Daddy,

Thank you for being our Daddy.

Thank you for always putting us first.

Thank you for our regular "boy" wrestling matches, making lego guns ALL of the time, building indoor forts, cutting our food in small pieces, spending countless hours pitching wiffle balls, shooting hoops, riding bikes, having rules, cleaning our crusty noses, teaching us manners, doing our crazy nighttime kitchen dances, making our car drives like Star Wars missions, teaching us how to treat ladies, always saying good night to us after we are sleep, being good to our Mommy, asking us about our day and most of all, letting us be little carefree kids.

Thank you for always putting us first.

Thank you for being our Daddy.

We love you.

Happy Father's Day to Nathan, My Dad - who will hopefully see this despite being 1/2 way across the world, Grandpa Stan and Grandpa Mark who all in one way or another helped shaped someone important in my life.

Sunny Day!

Last summer's duct-taped water guns had

seen better days, so we upgraded to the $9.99

Target-special.

These guns somehow, someway, tickled their funny bones. There was a lot

of hysterical belly-laughing going on this day.

Four, going on Nine

A couple of weeks ago, Henry just decided it was time.

He is a big kid now.

And he wants to go to sleep in his own bed.

Huh?

Bedtime has always been a battle for us and Henry.

We didn't really fight him....we actually liked snuggling

with him. Or, we'd let him fall asleep in our bed and then

move him to his own in the middle of the night.

Because getting him to fall asleep in his bed could take

2 hours. Alternatively, it would take 30 minutes in our bed. I'm not a woman of leisure

and choose the 30 minute route.

But tonight, something changed.

Not only did he want to go to sleep in his own bed,

he wanted to read a book, BY HIMSELF, and then turn

his own light out.

After Henry proposed his idea, Nate and I exchanged looks.

A mix of scared, suspicious and probably sadness because, HELLO???

How old ARE you?

As I tucked him in, we talked about the "plan".

He repeated:

"I will read my book, The Dangerous Book for Boys,

but big kids can read it too, then I will put my book away,

then turn the light off, then go to sleep, then wake up, then

go to school!"

Good Night, Henry

Good Night, Mommy

Thirty minutes later, we found the light was off, the book

on his bedside table and our big boy under his covers....ASLEEP.

Which means we are just one step closer to total independence.

Thankfully, the microwave is up high, because when he can cook

his own chicken nuggets, I am no longer needed. Oh stop, I'm kidding.

Actually, I hope this means that amid all of our chaos, we, as parents,

are maybe, possibly doing something right.

Chieber

Charlie + Justin Bieber = Chieber

or "Baby Bieber". Either way, he is rocking the Bieber hair.

And his "Puppy", which is actually not a puppy

at all. It's a lamb.

Puppy is Charlie's sidekick.

And Charlie is my sidekick.

Which means Puppy is also my side, sidekick.