The Boy

Jace has probably had the hardest time with our move to Singapore, with him declaring almost daily that "This is the worst day of my life!!"  

But this afternoon has been pretty great. I hopped in the pool with Jace and Brighton to give him a "swimming lesson."  I started out having him swim from one side to the other, just to see if he could make it.  He thrashed around, face in the water, slowly making his way to the side.  I lifted him up about 3/4 of the way through because it looked like he was really struggling. As soon as he gulped in some air, he said, "Whoa! I am really good at this!!"   I love his confidence. ☺️

 Jace loves going under water and today he discovered diving for stuff.  I helped push him to the bottom over and over again to retrieve rocks, loose tiles, used band aids, you name it. 

After the hundredth time doing this, Jace surfaced gasping for breath and declared:

"THIS... [wheeze, splutter] IS THE BEST...  [cough] DAY... [choke] OF MY LIFE!!

That just warmed my heart.  I love that boy so much.  

After we were done and he had changed into his clothes, he came to me and said that his nipples hurt.  I explained that was probably from his rash-guard being wet and rubbing against them.  He then said he wished he had a rash guard for swim trunks, because he doesn't have nipples on his legs. 

Es Car Go!

Kate had her first snail!  Her friend showed her how it was done first.  14 times.  

I had to try one too, of course. The texture was firmer than I had anticipated. Unfortunately, this did not help the tastiness factor. 

Another young and naive friend decided he would hide a snail in Mike's burrito (Yes, he ordered a burrito) while he was away from his plate. I was able to avert this suicidal disaster just in time.  Or maybe it was homocidal, because if Mike found out he had accidentally eaten snail, I honestly believe he might have died. 

Welcome Year of the Goat!

So Chinese New Year happened.  It's a big deal here that lasts 2 weeks.  This year's mascot is a goat/ram, which just happens to be my Chinese zodiac sign!  I thought this was pretty cool until I found out that every year your animal comes up will be an unlucky year.  However, one can stave off this unluckiness by wearing something red that was given to you by an elder.  So feel free to hook me up, older friends and relatives!

I took the kids to China town to see all the decorations and hopefully catch a lion dance.  It was a mad house.  They closed several streets to accommodate the masses, but many cars didn't like it, so the tried to drive down the streets anyway.  Usually in "man vs. car" the car wins, but "car vs. hoards of people" results in a stalemate with a lot of honking and yelling but no movement.

So I took some pictures and got out of there. Behold:

 

Kate and Faith's Chinese teacher helped them make some New Year decorations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For CNY day, we went to the zoo and watched a lion dance:

 

Probably the kids' favorite part of CNY is that adults hand out little red envelopes filled with money to kids.  :)

Crime and punishment

Jace disapproves of kissing.  Whenever he sees Mike kiss me, he threatens to tell our parents so they'll spank us.  We make a point to kiss in front of him often, and he makes a point to cover his eyes and make gagging noises. 

Just now in the car, the loathsome topic of kissing came up, and Jace said, 

"If you guys kiss, I'm going to punch you in the face!"

We all laughed, then I told Jace he really shouldn't say things like that, even if he's joking.  He replied:

"I'm not joking. I'm really going to do it."

County Fair

Yesterday was the local school's carnival, which they call the County Fair.  Since it had been almost a full day since I'd done some really profuse sweating, I decided to take the kids on over!  I told the kids to get shoes on so we could go to the county fair, and Jace complained,

"But Mom! Why we hafta go there? I already know how to count: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,16,17,18,19,21,22,23,27,29,20.  I can count to 20."

County Fair. Tee hee!

Faith getting her flirt on.

Egg painting

When I saw that egg painting was on the agenda for art today, I thought we would be painting eggs. Silly me!  Turns out that during the Byzantine Empire, egg yolks were mixed with minerals to make the paint shiny.  

Thank you, Byzantine Empire for teaching me yet another use for the fabulous egg.

Javan Mynah

 

This bird is everywhere in Singapore.  Not this exact one.  It's not like he travels the island with lightning speed.  But about a million birds just like him are everywhere.  I hope that's clearer.  Brighton is constantly shouting "TWEET TWEET!!" everywhere we go.  They are pretty used to humans and seem relatively harmless.  Until today.

 

Today we witness our first act of gang violence in Singapore. 

 

We were just sitting at the table, doing some homework, when suddenly we heard what sounded like a flock of birds enter our house.  They were actually just outside the window on the patio, but they were LOUD.  We went to see what was happening, and I could scarcely believe what I saw. 

About 8 of these birds were in a group.  One was being pinned to the ground by 2 other birds, and another bird was beating the tuna salad out of him.  The rest were gathered around to watch.  It looked like they were going to kill the poor little guy, so we ran out there yelling and waving our arms.  They all flew away, including the beaten one, so he must have been okay.

 

Brighton yelled at the fleeing birds and summed up what we were all feeling:

 

"Bad tweet tweet!"

A Day in the Life

A typical day for us here in Singapore isn't too different from back home.  

Wake up, get breakfast for the kids, clean up the kitchen, kill as many flies as possible, then throw in a load of laundry.

Don't forget to check for lizards.

Then we might take a trip to the market so we can eat something other than peanut butter sandwiches for the next few days.  It's best to go early before it gets too hot.  Remember to be prepared for inclement weather!

I am also supposed to water the plants. Every day.  This isn't going that well.  I thought I could get away with watering every few days since it rains often.  I've killed two trees.

This non-dead tree is my favorite:).

The other night we walked over to KFC as an upgrade to PB&J.  Pretty thrilling, I know :). 

In between these things is a lot of home school.  And fly killing, of course.

Wrap up the day with some time in the pool with friends.  

Life is good!

Foreigner

The best way to beat the heat (beside cranking up the AirCon) is to go swimming.  Thus, Kate and Faith swim in our little pool just about every day.  All that chlorine is doing terrible things to Kate's hair.  While we were at the markets yesterday we passed a salon, and she asked if she could chop it off. Yes please!

I opened the door to the tiny salon and squeezed inside, leaving the kids to wait outside.  Eight clients and as many stylists stopped what they were doing and turned to watch me.  I asked if they took walk-ins, and was answered with uncomprehending looks.  I eventually managed to convey that I wanted my daughter's hair cut, and they pointed to a seat.  Eye brows around the room raised further as I ushered 3 of the kids inside.  (Jace preferred to sit and sweat outside.)  There was dead silence, which continued throughout the entirety of our stay.  I shushed my kids in vain as they made embarrassing comments, like, "There is black hair everywhere!! Why don't they clean it up?" 

One nice lady smiled and gave my kids suckers.  Most of the others stopped craning their necks to look at us, but a couple openly stared at us the whole time.  It was weird. 

Singapore is a very diverse country, and I hadn't yet felt out of place or unwelcome.  But walking into that salon yesterday, I think I crossed some sort of unmarked boundary, or broke an unwritten rule.  Or maybe it was written.  After all, I can't read Chinese.  Though today I did learn how to say eyebrow in Mandarin! :)    Anyway, here is Kate's new 'do.

SINGAPORE!

The flight of misery is over and we are here at last!  Though I really shouldn't complain about flying in a jet with individual tv screens and occasional snacks and bathrooms.  When I think of how oceans were crossed way back when, I count my blessings.

We should move into our house today, even though the belongings we shipped haven't arrived yet.  Our landlords seem awesome, so that's good.  We discovered a costco-like warehouse here, so I know everything will be okay.  

The weather has been amazing so far.  On our first day here, it was actually a little too chilly to go swimming! That didn't stop us, though.  The locals said this is not typical.  They say it usually rains evey afternoon, but we hadn't seen a drop of rain yet.  Until yesterday.  When we exited the aforementioned warehouse, rain was thundering down.  The drve home felt like we were driving through a waterfall.  It was SO hard to see!  This brought me to a very important conclusion.  I need to get me an umbrella.

Moments to remember...

I just went to brush my teeth, but found only emptiness where my toothbrush should have been.  I asked my dear children what had happened to it.  Jace piped up, "I took it!" [without remorse]

Me: Why?

Jace: For my hair experiment. [runs his hand through his hair]

Time for a new toothbrush.

Funnies Come in Pairs

1. Kate will curse my name for sharing this, but so be it.  It must be recorded.
I was doing her hair before school the other morning when she suddenly, and very loudly, cut the cheese.  Let's add lengthily to that list of adverbs.
Appalled, I said, "Kate! Come on!"
Then she sang, "Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I tried."  

You've got to give her props for comedic timing.  (Those are lyrics from a song in Frozen.  If you don't have young girls in your home, you may have not heard it 5 billion times yet.)

2. While reading a book about chickens and eggs, I asked Jace, "What's your favorite way to eat eggs?"

Jace: "Using forks.  Dat's my favorite."

Wait, spring?

The last few days have been BEAUTIFUL!  My daffodils are 6 inches high and it's still February!  I know it won't last, but that's okay!  We love it!  

We went to the zoo after kindergarten and brought Faith's buddy Braiden.

We had a wonderful time with all the fake animals, which are always more popular than the real ones.  This was Brighton's first interactive trip to the zoo!  She could actually walk around, pet goats, eat bark, etc.

On the first day of semi-warm weather, I took the kids for a walk to the mailboxes.  Brighton almost exploded with excitement at being outside.  I hadn't realized it had been so long since she got to play outside.  The stroller could barely contain her waving arms and kicking legs.  She alternated between giggles and squeals of delight the whole way there.  It was precious. :)

Winter

We have had the coldest and snowiest winter I can remember here.  But we made the most of it!

The white snow, bright sunshine, unskilled photographer, and abundant winter gear make it hard to see who these people are, but I assure you, these are not stock photos.  They are various family members.

When simply allowing gravity to take you down the hill isn't thrilling enough, you can use 2 uncles and a rope to catapult you down the hill and halfway across the [mostly] frozen lake!

We could all use a little more Faith

We just finished a very delicious dinner (thank you Pad Thai House take out!).  I ordered the kids' favorite: Pad See Ew.  As Kate was helping herself to thirds, she said,

"I'm a bottomless pit when it comes to Pad See Ew!"

Faith asked what that meant, and we explained.  Once she grasped the meaning of the expression, she said,

"I'm not a bottomless pit.  I'm a bottom pit."  

Well said, Faith.

This talk of bottoms reminds me of another Faithism.  She got Little Orphan Annie for Christmas and all the kids love it and quote from it often.  They haven't watched it enough to quote it very accurately, but that makes it all the more fun.  A little while ago I overheard Faith singing:

"The sun'll come out, tomorrow...  Put your backside up until tomorooooow..."

It seems that idioms containing the word 'bottom' are rather tricky.  I'm sure Faith will eventually get to the backside of them.

Setting the Bar Low

It's only Wednesday and I'm already running out of dinner ideas, so tonight I made scrambled eggs and toast.  The kids came downstairs and beheld the banquet on the table with glee.  Then Faith exclaimed,

"Scrambled eggs!!!  And NOT-burned toast!?!?  That's my favorite kind!!!  Thanks Mom!!"

These are the moments that make all the extra effort of not burning the toast worth it.

Great Minds

We woke up to snow this morning.  I knew I should have finished putting up the Christmas lights yesterday, darn it!  Kate is out happily playing in the snow, and Faith is in here with me happily watching her.  She just turned to me and said,

"Mom... are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Me: "I don't know, what are you thinking?"

Faith:  "We could get a really big marshmallow [holding up hands in the shape of a baseball], and then, and then...   we could put it in some hot cocoa, and have a contest to see who can drink the hot cocoa and eat the marshmallow at the same time [elaborate imitation of trying to drink cocoa around an enormous mallow], and whoever finishes LAST wins! (Faith is good at playing to her strengths.)  What do you think, mom?!"

Believe it or not, that was exactly what I was thinking.

The Boy

Jace is thoroughly enjoying being 3, and I LOVE this age.  3 year olds always say the funniest things!  Here are a few nuggets he uttered recently:

Upon returning to our car in a parking lot this week, I noticed we were parked next to my friend's car.  I said, "Well look at that, we're right next to Abby!"
Jace's face lit up, "Downton Abby?!"

Yesterday we were talking about foods that are good for our bodies.  Jace held up a picture of bread and grains, pointed at the wheat and said, "That's BAD."  
Suzy: "Actually, that is wheat, and we grind it up into flour to make bread, so it's good for us."
Jace:  "Oh.  Like an octopus."
Suzy:  "...Umm... not... really..."

Jace was king for the day at preschool yesterday, which meant he got to wear a crown and talk about himself a bit.  He told his classmates that he loves cows, and wants to be a cowboy with cows when he grows up.  I asked him what he wants to do with his cows. He has said before that he would ride them, but this time he said he would put them in his red cowboy car.  His teacher praised him for modernizing the vocation.  He will change the face of cattle drives.

Brighton Crawling!

First Day of Preschool!

Jace started preschool today!  Some friends and I are doing a co-op once a week.  He is super excited to be a big boy.  Ever since he turned 3 he talks all the time about being a big boy.  He wants to buckle himself up, put his own shoes on, etc.  He tells everyone he talks to that he's 3.  Then he asks them, "What's your number?"  He asks this mostly of strangers, because he already knows how old his friends and family are.

This little guy is growing up so fast.  He is so sweet, so funny, and so busy (Faith uses the word "destructive").  I'm so glad he is in our family!