http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4513076.stm
The Tamaki Maori Village is where we attended a Hangi during our New Zealand trip.
Lesson: Do not laugh at the Maori.
Friday, December 9, 2005
Thursday, December 8, 2005
There's excitement in the air, 6 months out.
First round draws for the World Cup being held next year in Germany will take place today. The exciting part: "Among the most intensely interested nations will be those competing for the first time, including four from Africa -- Ghana, Ivory Coast, Angola and Togo. Ukraine and Trinidad & Tobago are also debutants."
#10 on the Togo team has a daughter in Rebecca's class, so it's big news around school too.
Go Hawks! Allez éperviers! Hmm, I think that's right. I need to get a t-shirt.
#10 on the Togo team has a daughter in Rebecca's class, so it's big news around school too.
Go Hawks! Allez éperviers! Hmm, I think that's right. I need to get a t-shirt.
Another unscheduled day at home
I've been home with a sick Katherine and a sick Jonathon, now it's Nicholas's turn. This morning he came in moaning around 4:30 a.m. By 6:30 he was feeling warm, had a headache, a tummy ache and a cough. I asked if he wanted to stay home, but today is karate day and he really wanted to go to school. As his eyes watered and he lay like a lump on the couch, Rebecca convinced him it was OK to miss karate so he could get better at home. So, I'm hear finishing up Christmas cards, while he slept until 9 and is now snacking on some graham crackers and watching cartoons. Later on I'll have him take another nap.
Ok, who does that leave? Rebecca? Earlier this week she had a headache and felt bad but she didn't tell me until after she came home from school. Maybe that was her day? Let's hope we're done with this cycle.
Ok, who does that leave? Rebecca? Earlier this week she had a headache and felt bad but she didn't tell me until after she came home from school. Maybe that was her day? Let's hope we're done with this cycle.
Did you hear me?
Probably not, because I was on 95.5, Radio Nostalgie in Lomé, Togo. I just got back from a radio interview in French and Mina. (Thankfully, I brought one of my coworkers to translate into Mina.) When I asked for an honest assessment of my French, I got "Not bad, but you sounded American." I guess I can't avoid that.
Wednesday, December 7, 2005
Christmas is Coming, the Goose is Getting Fat
I put the tree up today, which is always an adventure.
Not all our lights are 220, though I -did- think to check before plugging them in. Otherwise I'd be cleaning up lots of little pieces of glass from blown bulbs, or dealing with wires that want to catch on fire. Of our 220 lights, one string tore in two and another works, but when plugged into another string all the lights quit working. Something wrong with the plug there. Only one string of blue lights work, so I nixed the blues this year, which leaves us with enough strings for 1/2 the tree. And each string blinks. I don't like blinking lights, I didn't know they blinked when I bought them, but it's what I have. Thank goodness the tree is in a corner and only needs to be half lit. This afternoon when the kids get home, they'll decorate with ornaments and it'll look very pretty no matter what.
Just about all the Christmas cards are done, just waiting for my last stamp order so they can get mailed out. A bunch need two stamps, which is why they are late, I miscalculated how many I'd need.
In non-Christmas news:
I used my laminator today. Very exciting, my laminator. I've wanted one for ages and ages, finally took the plunge on a no-heat model and it works beautifully. My trial runs were on signs for the library, one about book checkout and one about the encyclopedias. They look so good! I can't wait to use it on the kids' art work, those few cherished pieces I'd like to keep, helping me release all the other ones that are good but not meant for posterity.
We've received all the travel books we ordered to plan our trip to the Baltics, and we've received e-mail from the CLOs at several of the posts, loaded with tips and suggestions that will be invaluable for our trip. In the next week or so, we should have enough information to choose a departure date, and then we can really dig in and plan. We're so excited!
OK, it's going on noon here while those of you on the East Coast are just getting your day going. I'm going to wade through the master bedroom and try to bring it to some semblence of normalcy. It's the staging ground for holidays so currently the table is covered in cards, the decoration boxes are open, the wrapping paper is pulled out, there are gifts laying about. I still haven't finished the laundry or completed the ironing and now that I've largely finished the New Zealand scrabook (keep your comments to yourself) and want to take a break before doing this past summer's trips, I'm debating making quilt squares from all my old t-shirts. No, I've never quilted anything before, but hey, I have nothing but time, right?
Not all our lights are 220, though I -did- think to check before plugging them in. Otherwise I'd be cleaning up lots of little pieces of glass from blown bulbs, or dealing with wires that want to catch on fire. Of our 220 lights, one string tore in two and another works, but when plugged into another string all the lights quit working. Something wrong with the plug there. Only one string of blue lights work, so I nixed the blues this year, which leaves us with enough strings for 1/2 the tree. And each string blinks. I don't like blinking lights, I didn't know they blinked when I bought them, but it's what I have. Thank goodness the tree is in a corner and only needs to be half lit. This afternoon when the kids get home, they'll decorate with ornaments and it'll look very pretty no matter what.
Just about all the Christmas cards are done, just waiting for my last stamp order so they can get mailed out. A bunch need two stamps, which is why they are late, I miscalculated how many I'd need.
In non-Christmas news:
I used my laminator today. Very exciting, my laminator. I've wanted one for ages and ages, finally took the plunge on a no-heat model and it works beautifully. My trial runs were on signs for the library, one about book checkout and one about the encyclopedias. They look so good! I can't wait to use it on the kids' art work, those few cherished pieces I'd like to keep, helping me release all the other ones that are good but not meant for posterity.
We've received all the travel books we ordered to plan our trip to the Baltics, and we've received e-mail from the CLOs at several of the posts, loaded with tips and suggestions that will be invaluable for our trip. In the next week or so, we should have enough information to choose a departure date, and then we can really dig in and plan. We're so excited!
OK, it's going on noon here while those of you on the East Coast are just getting your day going. I'm going to wade through the master bedroom and try to bring it to some semblence of normalcy. It's the staging ground for holidays so currently the table is covered in cards, the decoration boxes are open, the wrapping paper is pulled out, there are gifts laying about. I still haven't finished the laundry or completed the ironing and now that I've largely finished the New Zealand scrabook (keep your comments to yourself) and want to take a break before doing this past summer's trips, I'm debating making quilt squares from all my old t-shirts. No, I've never quilted anything before, but hey, I have nothing but time, right?
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Happy Saint Nicholas Day!
Did St Nick fill up your kids' stockings or shoes last night?
Last night we read the story of Saint Nicholas (always a hit with our own Nicholas), and our stockings were hung, waiting to be filled.
After the story, Nicholas had some questions. Like, How does St Nicholas get in the house? It's a valid question. Our girls know who plays the role of St Nick and the Easter bunny and the tooth fairy, and in fact the boys know who plays everyone too, but for some reason Saint Nicholas is real to them.
So, how does St Nick get in the house? Through the door of course. "But wait" thinks Nicholas "isn't he dead?" I remind him that the bishop Nicholas lived about 1700 years ago, so yes, he's dead now. The girls chime in with "He's a ghost," which leads to "Then I guess he doesn't need to come through the door because he can just come through the wall."
Nicholas ponders. Nicholas walks over to dad and climbs up next to him. Nicholas whispers to dad "I think I'm a little bit scared of Saint Nicholas, because I'm a little bit scared of ghosts."
This morning, all thoughts of ghosts were banished. The kids got new t-shirts, new goggles (hey, it's like 90 degrees outside), the boys had coloring books from an aunt, the girls had hairbands from great-grandma. But more special than all that is what Ian and I discovered as we played St Nick at midnight last night.
The girls had already come out and placed their own little gifts and candy treats in everyone's stockings. Rebecca had written a card to me:
Dear mom,
Happy sante Nicholas Day! I'm so glad that you are my mom. Thank you for washing my cloes, feeding us, helping us when we are sick. I thingk about Sante Nicholas day I thingk of you in a good way, of how you represent my mom.
Love, Rebecca.
Her spelling is bad, her phrasing is a little off, and none of that matters. Her heart is much bigger than I give her credit for. When I think of Saint Nicholas, I see his giving traits in my Rebecca.
Last night we read the story of Saint Nicholas (always a hit with our own Nicholas), and our stockings were hung, waiting to be filled.
After the story, Nicholas had some questions. Like, How does St Nicholas get in the house? It's a valid question. Our girls know who plays the role of St Nick and the Easter bunny and the tooth fairy, and in fact the boys know who plays everyone too, but for some reason Saint Nicholas is real to them.
So, how does St Nick get in the house? Through the door of course. "But wait" thinks Nicholas "isn't he dead?" I remind him that the bishop Nicholas lived about 1700 years ago, so yes, he's dead now. The girls chime in with "He's a ghost," which leads to "Then I guess he doesn't need to come through the door because he can just come through the wall."
Nicholas ponders. Nicholas walks over to dad and climbs up next to him. Nicholas whispers to dad "I think I'm a little bit scared of Saint Nicholas, because I'm a little bit scared of ghosts."
This morning, all thoughts of ghosts were banished. The kids got new t-shirts, new goggles (hey, it's like 90 degrees outside), the boys had coloring books from an aunt, the girls had hairbands from great-grandma. But more special than all that is what Ian and I discovered as we played St Nick at midnight last night.
The girls had already come out and placed their own little gifts and candy treats in everyone's stockings. Rebecca had written a card to me:
Dear mom,
Happy sante Nicholas Day! I'm so glad that you are my mom. Thank you for washing my cloes, feeding us, helping us when we are sick. I thingk about Sante Nicholas day I thingk of you in a good way, of how you represent my mom.
Love, Rebecca.
Her spelling is bad, her phrasing is a little off, and none of that matters. Her heart is much bigger than I give her credit for. When I think of Saint Nicholas, I see his giving traits in my Rebecca.
Becca had a great birthday.
Rebecca turned 8 last Friday. I didn't write about it right away because around here we tend to celebrate birthdays for a few days rather than just the big day. Pouch mail arrived today and she received her birthday card from Jeff. She knew it would silly, but did not find "Tu as une queue! C'est vrai!" to be nearly as humorous. (translation: You have a tail! It's true!) It's a long standing joke between Rebecca and Mr. Jeff.
Thursday we spent the evening making mini lemon cupcakes with chocolate chips, covered in vanilla icing. At school, the middle school teacher stopped me and said Rebecca is a remarkable girl. Earlier when he'd asked her what kind of cake she was bringing, she replied she didn't know yet, she had to ask her friends what they'd like, because she knew not all of them liked chocolate. He said "I don't know many other kids with that sort of answer."
Rebecca has grown up so much, even in just the past 3 months, I don't know where to start. OK, I'll start with her relationship with her sister. One evening Ian came home and whispered in my ear "Did the girls fight today?" I replied "Not at home, I don't know how they were at school, but nothing I've seen." He said "This is weird."
And that's how it's been for the past few weeks. It's like she's consciously realizing that Eight is a big deal. Her birthday was so packed with anticipation, fun (I brought water balloons for in the schoolyard, and afterwards her girlsfriends, sister and I played hot potato, Tarzan the jungle man and red light/green light), attention (the entire school knew of her birthday) and gifts, she became totally overwhelmed with making the slightest decision, weeping on daddy's shoulder about all the responsibilities she's not ready for.
But on the flipside, she no longer begs me to help every step of the way with her homework. She has confidence in her reading and generally more confident in herself. She takes pride in her belongings and her appearance. She's a leader in her classroom and, while she has her difficult moments, she's becoming a peacemaker at home. What? you say. Can this be? Well, she's a stickler for rules and the more they are held up at home, the more pleasant she is in general. She's maturing largely in part to her teacher at school, who allows her to take the lead when it's fitting. I do worry a bit about next year when she becomes "low man on the totem pole" in a classroom, but for this year, she's really proving herself and she shines.
She's smart, she's funny, she's beautiful, and she's ours.
I can honestly say, I'm so proud to have her as my daughter.
Thursday we spent the evening making mini lemon cupcakes with chocolate chips, covered in vanilla icing. At school, the middle school teacher stopped me and said Rebecca is a remarkable girl. Earlier when he'd asked her what kind of cake she was bringing, she replied she didn't know yet, she had to ask her friends what they'd like, because she knew not all of them liked chocolate. He said "I don't know many other kids with that sort of answer."
Rebecca has grown up so much, even in just the past 3 months, I don't know where to start. OK, I'll start with her relationship with her sister. One evening Ian came home and whispered in my ear "Did the girls fight today?" I replied "Not at home, I don't know how they were at school, but nothing I've seen." He said "This is weird."
And that's how it's been for the past few weeks. It's like she's consciously realizing that Eight is a big deal. Her birthday was so packed with anticipation, fun (I brought water balloons for in the schoolyard, and afterwards her girlsfriends, sister and I played hot potato, Tarzan the jungle man and red light/green light), attention (the entire school knew of her birthday) and gifts, she became totally overwhelmed with making the slightest decision, weeping on daddy's shoulder about all the responsibilities she's not ready for.
But on the flipside, she no longer begs me to help every step of the way with her homework. She has confidence in her reading and generally more confident in herself. She takes pride in her belongings and her appearance. She's a leader in her classroom and, while she has her difficult moments, she's becoming a peacemaker at home. What? you say. Can this be? Well, she's a stickler for rules and the more they are held up at home, the more pleasant she is in general. She's maturing largely in part to her teacher at school, who allows her to take the lead when it's fitting. I do worry a bit about next year when she becomes "low man on the totem pole" in a classroom, but for this year, she's really proving herself and she shines.
She's smart, she's funny, she's beautiful, and she's ours.
I can honestly say, I'm so proud to have her as my daughter.
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