I Think He's Gonna Like it There

(Please read the title to the tune of the song from Annie.)

On the second day of school I asked Aaron how his new teacher is.  He told me a bunch of things his teacher had said, in Polish, but with the addition of his own grammatical errors (which can't be translated because Polish grammar is far too wacky):

"'No, sweetie, you have to sit over there.'  She says 'sweetie' a lot".
"Don't run because you might fall down and get hurt."
"She can't whistle very well." me: "Does she try to whistle?" Aaron: "No, never.  But when we were being too noisy my other teacher whistled so loud it hurt my ears."

Last year's teacher, though presumably nice, was a bit of a screamer.  She barked orders.  She didn't seem mad, it was just the way she did things.  So the fact that he has a teacher that uses terms of endearment and explains why kids should/shouldn't do things and doesn't break his ears when she's whistling for them to shut up just makes me so happy.

During orientation she explained about how the kids would play and play until they learned everything they need to know.  She told us it's hard for her to see kids come to school with 7 Days (packaged danish) that expire in 2016.  She asked us to please just send our children with sandwiches and if we wanted them to have chocolate or sweets, send enough for the whole class.

She may be a tiny bit Bloomberg-esque, but I like her.

End of an Era (for us)

When Greg was at BYU he always planned to come to Poland “to help build the church”.  2 1/2 years into our marriage and soon after his graduation, he quite suddenly and unexpectedly got a job in his homeland. Nine days later, we moved to the other side of the world.

There was no branch of the church anywhere near our little city but it was kind of fun catching the early morning bus for the 3 hour drive to church in Cracow every Sunday.  Attending our little branch was such a different experience than I'd ever had in the church.  A missionary was the branch president and there were very few priesthood holders of any other sort. 

For probably 7 months we went.  Same routine, every Sunday.  It was a great experience.  Greg didn't get a calling.  Just about the time I started thinking that this seemed like quite a waste of resources (yes, I like to call my husband a resource), he was called as the branch president.

A few months later David was born.  On our first trip to church after his birth when he was 4 weeks old, a kid sitting in front of us on the bus vomited all over.  I gave his mother a handful of wipes and a sympathetic look and vowed to myself to never take my infant on a bus again.  

So we got a car.

We'd only had the little red Fiat for about a month when the new Mission President asked if we could drive to Katowice to meet with him after he held a fireside there.  So we went.  

The drive felt like forever and ever.  It was winter and it was very dark and we were very inexperienced in driving in Poland.  We'd never been to Katowice.  We got lost.  Over and over.  What should have taken us 3 hours took us more like 5.  We missed the meeting but were still able to meet with the Mission president.  

That night Greg was called into the Mission Presidency.  He was to oversee the branches in southern Poland, 2, 3, and 5 hours away from where we live.  And he did.  And he loved the President and his fellow counselor.

About a year later a District was formed and he was released from the Mission Presidency and called as the Katowice District President.

That was nine years ago.  Today he was released.

That nine years (10 1/2 if you count the time in the mission presidency) feels like our whole life.  

We drove and drove and drove.  We stayed in lots and lots of hotels some very scary, some quite nice and most completely serviceable.  We ate lots and lots of plain rolls and cheese (and fast food).  

Our family grew.  Our testimonies grew.  The branches grew.  We spent lots of time with wonderful members of the church.  I spent hours every Sunday talking to the missionaries while Greg had meetings and the kids played on the keyboard in the chapel or wrote on the white boards.  

It was our life.  We loved it.  It changed a little as the family grew, but it was pretty much the same routine for all that time.  

And we were blessed.  David proved to be a baby and then toddler who just loved being in the car, even for long, long drives.  The other kids never minded much either.  Greg was blessed to work with some really wonderful men and I had the pleasure of spending time with their even-more-wonderful wives as we waited for them to finish their meetings.  

We learned a lot.  We overcame some of our weaknesses.  We discovered new weaknesses.  We worked to make everything fit (suitcases in the car, school and church trips in our schedule etc.).  We struggled and we thrived.

Our kids grew up that way.  It's all they've ever known.  

Now they'll have dad sitting by them at church (I don't believe there is a single branch in our district where there is a row of 6 chairs together in the sacrament meeting room.  Hmm.  We'll have to work something out).  They'll maybe even have a Primary teacher.

We'll have new adventures.  We'll learn what regular weekends are.  We'll sleep in our own beds.  We'll eat fewer plain rolls with cheese (and fast food – glory be!)

It will be wonderful.  And we will always, always be grateful for the blessing of these past 9 (or 10 1/2) years.  

Home not-so-Sweet Home

I can't wait until tomorrow morning.  Oooooooh, how I can't wait.  I'm having chocolate for breakfast in the form of peanut butter chocolate chip scones.  Now, a week ago I would have given little thought to the pleasure of such a breakfast, but tonight, I can think of little else.

I prepped the ingredients so it'll be quick to throw together in the morning and as I chopped the chocolate I realized that -my gosh!- I'm out of practice!  I haven't chopped chocolate in over a week!

Under the inspiration of the Craig family, we've made the first week in January significantly less delicious than the other 51 weeks of the year by omitting sugar from it.  Some inspirations are, apparently, beyond the limits of my ability to follow very closely, because their family does it for a MONTH.  I can only assume that there is some genetic mutation of some sort going on in that family that makes that possible.  As our family does not carry this defect, we go sugar-free for a week.

Some of the surprising things that happened this week:

1) I didn't die.

2) I threw away a cupcake that was left-over from our New Year's celebration.  A delicious, cream-filled, chocolate topped hostess cupcake copycat (only waaaaaaaaay better).  It was on the table when I went into the kitchen in the morning and I picked it up and dumped it in the trash without even thinking.  I never, ever, ever throw baked things away. (remember, I prefer to let them go to waist?)

3) The first day, I went downstairs a little while after David had come home from school to see that for lunch he'd eaten leftover banana pancakes and buttermilk syrup and had then made up some jello to drink warm.  He was shocked to know that that didn't fit in with our sugar-free week.

I didn't lose a single ounce.  This was not the goal, but I was planning on not getting angry if I happened to lose a pound or two.  Or one ounce.

Spencer didn't ask every 30 seconds for a piece of chocolate/cookie/brownie and then scream if he couldn't have it.  Instead, he never even mentioned sweets until,  on day 4, he happened upon one stray chocolate that I didn't catch in the sugar round-up-and-hide-away.  He brought it to me and asked if he could eat it.  I told him that we weren't eating chocolate that day, and that I was sorry.  He said--and I quote--"Aaaaah.  But it's really yummy." And then shrugged his shoulders and went off to play as I took it away and hid it.  It was one of my strangest parenting moments ever.

Some of the not-so-surprising things that happened this week:

For the first few days Aaron kept asking "why can't we eat sweets!?!  I need something sweet!"

Our honey consumption probably quadrupled.

While grocery shopping I picked up 20 kilos of sugar.


The plan starting tomorrow is to not eat chocolate or candy plain, and to bake only three times a week (2 desserts and one breakfast).  I'd also like to work harder and using natural sweetening choices besides refined sugar in my cooking and baking.

Life is sweet, but I think mine will be a little sweeter if I keep it a little less sweet.

Thpenther Turnth Fee

It wasn't easy, bringing him into the world three years ago today, but my gap-toothed, platinum blonde, dimple-cheeked little lithper, Thpenther, was worth it all, a billion times over.

He told me what gifts he'd like to receive.  "I like blue presents, mom," he said.  This took me back to Aaron's delight with his Yellow Birthday Party when he turned three.  Three is a great age for simple gifts, I find.  From his grandpa he got an Imaginext Batmobile, which he calls his "cool car" (which, while blue, is not so simple, but is also not from his immediate [cheap] family) .  He sometimes pushes it around on the floor, but mostly he carries it in his arms and calls it his baby, like he sometimes does with other random objects, not including dolls and stuffed animals.

I remember the first time I gave Spencer chocolate, in chocolate chip pancakes.  He ate it voraciously and begged for more.  He seriously shook as he anxiously put each bite into his mouth.  Over the years he has become slightly less obsessed, but is still a major fan of chocolate, which must be stored out of his sight.  He asked for brownies for his birthday cake and then said, "I like brownies and cake and pies and muffins and cookies."  Me too, Spencer.  Me too.


In his personal prayer tonight he thanked his heavenly father "that I could eat my mint brownieth and that I could be (unclasping hands and holding up three fingers) three (re-clasping), and that I could be a liiiiiiiiiittle bit bigger."

I'm grateful for those things too, but only in a sort of resigned way because the truth is that today I wish he could stay just like he is now forever.

Stuck in a House Full of Weirdoes

Today felt like a long string of "whaaa?"s.  It was Day Two without Greg and here is why I felt like the only sane person in the house.

SPENCER (2)

Spencer, like his brother, seems to believe that a prayer should consist of a list of things that have happened or will happen during the day.   In one family prayer, I believe it was meant to be the blessing on our cheese sandwiches, Spencer was thankful "that we could put on the mask...and not put on the mask" (i.e. take it off).  (This in reference to the foam superhero mask Evie made for him earlier in the day.)

***************

I've taught all my kids that your brain is about the size of your fists held together (which also happens to look a little like a brain).  I'm not sure there is any great degree of truth in this, but I remember regularly checking on the size of my brain as I grew up by using this method of measuring and I'm not about to deprive my own children of the fun of it just because it might not be true.  Truth be darned.  I'm not googling it.

So, like I was saying, Aaron was explaining this to Spencer. "Spencer, look, this is how big my brain is!" he declared, holding up his hand-brain.  After getting little response he repeated himself and Spence finally came back with, "Yeah!  Do you like my bones?" while pointing to his shirt (presumably referring to the ribs beneath).

AARON (5)

I gathered all the kids on the couch and read The Spirit of Christmas to them, talking about Christmas and helping them find the hidden "spirit" in each picture. The book came to its touching conclusion about how Christmas is about the birth of the savior and therefore the Spirit of Christmas is LOVE.

As I finished the last page there was a moment's pause while, I assumed, we all processed the message.  Aaron broke the silence saying, loudly, "Oh my gosh!  Jack has really long fingernails!" (He was talking about the cartoon Samurai Jack, which we haven't watched for weeks.)

DAVID (11)

I heard the front door open and went to see who had come or gone.  Nobody was there, but Evie stood in the hallway holding the phone that connects to the intercom from our front gate.  I heard David call from outside, "Now push the gunshots." whereupon Evie pushed a button on David's cell phone she held, which caused it to burst forth in rapid-fire gunshot sounds, the speaker placed on the mic end of the intercom.  David then called out, "Now the hair clipper one!", and Ev pushed a button that made the sound of a head of hair being buzzed.

This went on for a few minutes and then David presented himself back in the house in long johns and slippers, no coat.  He'd gone down the freezy slippery stairs attired thusly for his experiment.

Later I heard Aaron call from the playroom, "David!  Nobody is EVER coming!" Apparently he'd been assigned as lookout so David could rush to the phone to frighten any poor passersby with his intercom antics.  David graciously relieved him of duty.

EVIE (13)

After Spencer's aforementioned prayer I looked up and noticed he looked like a little chimney sweep.

I asked what happened to his face and she said, "Oh! I colored his mask with marker!" I put on my "COMPLETELY OBNOXIOUS MOTHER" cap and challenged her response.  Repeatedly.  I couldn't get her to understand that his nose was not black because she had colored a mask.  She insisted that that WAS why.  Come on, Ev!  My nose wasn't black despite the fact that she had colored the mask.  Finally I had to inform her that his face was dirty because he had been wearing the mask that she had colored with black marker.  (Sheesh!)

At the time I sort of thought this last anecdote could be used as evidence that she is slightly crazy (to fit in with the theme of the post, you see), but now I realize that it really only proves that I'm annoying.

Which I think we already knew.

First Day of Kindergarten in Poland

Yesterday was Aaron's very first day of school.  Considering the fact that he has never been to preschool, doesn't speak Polish well yet, and his kindergarten class had already been meeting for a month (while we were in the states), we felt at least as anxious/excited about this first day as other parents do when sending their kindergartner off for their very first day of school (i.e. extremely).  Here's how the first 10 minutes of his day went, before we left him.

We got to his school a few minutes late and opened the door to his classroom where we saw all the children seated and working (coloring) in their workbooks.  His teacher, who strongly resembled a blond, short Tina Turner (husky voice included) said, "Oooooh!!  (to the class) This is the child I told you would be coming late!" then to Aaron, "Are you going to hang up your bag and coat in the locker room?  Are you?  Come, I'll show you how to do it."  She scooted past us and lead us out the door and down the hall to where the bags and coats go and showed us how it worked.

We returned to the classroom and Aaron just stood in the middle of the room looking around.  Greg came up behind him and said, "So this is Aaron, and he is going to be in your class, Aaron, these are your classmates!"  More standing.  The teacher made a few comments during this time, but sort of unimportant observations.  

Finally Greg asked if Aaron should sit down.  The teacher seemed to snap out of it and said, "Oh, yes.  There's a chair here for him... one with his name taped on it..."  she finally found it and offered it to Aaron, seating him at a table with 6 boys.  He sat.  We smiled at him.  The kids glanced at him and continued to work.  Pause, pause.  Greg again took the initiative and went up to the kid next to Aaron and asked his name and introduced him and Aaron to each other.  The kid smiled hugely at the attention and Aaron relaxed a little.

The teacher called out occasionally to the children, "We're working!" while she and Greg talked for a minute. We were ready to leave but Aaron looked really uncomfortable sitting there with nothing to do while the other children worked.  The teacher said, "Oh, yeah.  He can work in his books later."  We could only watch him sit there for a few excruciating minutes before Greg suggested that maybe it would actually be good for Aaron to do what the other kids were doing.  The teacher agreed and got out his book and colored pencils and showed him what assignment they were doing.  Aaron's face lit up and he got right to work.  

We told his teacher that we wanted this to be his orientation day and that we'd pick him up in about an hour.  She assured us that that he'd be fine, over and over.  I'm sure we seemed like real hover parents.

We walked away arm in arm and repeated to ourselves, "He'll be fine, he'll be fine."

The teacher hadn't introduced herself or anybody by name.  She asked no questions (apart from the cloakroom one), she actually didn't speak directly to Aaron apart from that one incident.  I think if Greg hadn't gotten him settled we would have come back an hour later and Aaron would have still been standing in the open area of the room and the class would have been going on with their day.  

Sonam Kapoor Biography,Photos

Sonam Kapoor (born 9 June 1985) is an Indian film actress and fashion icon who appears in Bollywood films. Born to Indian film actor, Anil Kapoor, Kapoor chose acting as her career and followed the footsteps of her father.

Kapoor made her acting debut in 2007 with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Saawariya opposite Ranbir Kapoor and subsequently featured in the offbeat drama Delhi-6 (2009). She earned her first commercial success with the romantic comedy I Hate Luv Storys (2010) and followed with such films as Aisha (2010) and Thank You (2011). She is known as a fashionista, she has been getting various accolades for her unique sense of style rather than her films.

In addition to her films, Kapoor has often been the cover girl for a variety of magazines. She is also the brand ambassador for cosmetics and beauty company L'Oréal.

Filmography:

Year         Movie                      Role                             Notes


2007 Saawariya                    Sakina                      Nominated–Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut
2009 Delhi-6                    Bittu Sharma
2010 I Hate Luv Story          Simran
2010 Aisha                     Aisha Kapoor
2011 Thank You             Sanjana Malhotra
2011 Mausam                     Aayat Rasool
2012 Players                     Naina Braganza
2012 Bhaag Milkha Bhaag                                        Filming
2013 Raanjhnaa                                                        Filming
2013 Milan Talkies                                                Pre-Production

Content Resources: 
Wikipedia

Image Resources:
Pintrest