Birthday Kisses

At Emma's preschool one of her classmates had a birthday. This was our first time to experience a birthday party at preschool, and I was excited that the teacher welcomed me to come. We had the cake, cookies, and juice boxes. Then, they played several versions of musical chairs. Lastly they made a special chair for the birthday child. One at a time, each student was called to give the birthday boy the heart that he/she colored and each child said, "Happy Birthday"(see above picture). After he received the heart, the child kissed the birthday boy on the cheek. Then, the birthday boy gave his friend a goody bag and the child responded with "Thank you." Next. Same scenario. Next. They all knew the drill. Emma was dreading it. She whispered to me, "I don't want to kiss him." The time was quickly drawing near for the teacher to call Emma's name.

Emma was the very last one to be called. I had been coaching her on what to do. I agreed to walk to the birthday boy with her...all eyes on us. We got up there, and Emma refused to kiss the birthday boy. She handed him her heart, but she was not going to kiss him. And Emma can stand her ground. He was stunned. Every other child in class had kissed his sweet little face. He even knew how to turn his cheek to help out each little friend. He had his precious cheek turned for her, but no smackeroo. I leaned down and kissed his face and told him Happy Birthday. He handed Emma a present, and she was still in her mode, and she was too shy to say thank you. I told him thank you. Above is a picture of Emma and the birthday boy she refused to kiss. Below is an interview with Emma about the episode.

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Final Thanksgiving Act

The last thing we did on Thanksgiving was watch NFL football! At the Wii house, there's also a satellite tv that has a Fox Sports channel. We watched the Lion/Packers play football. It felt like an all-American Thanksgiving. This is a picture of David and a friend enjoying the football game.

Wii boxed after the meal

After we had desserts, we broke out the Wii. It's an interactive video gaming system that allows the player to control the moves with his/her body. We started a round of boxing, and this little petite friend from South Carolina who's not aggressive at all said she'd be willing to box someone. Knowing she'd be such an easy target, I volunteered to get in the ring with her. Well, after the match she confessed to me that she has a kick-boxing DVD. She conveniently left out those details before I Wii-ed her in boxing. We had a group of wild Americans cheering us on, and all were impressed at how the 'lil South Carolinan whipped up on me. I got a knock-out punch in the third round. Here's a picture of us boxing with Wii. As you can tell, I'm dodging a punch and her right hook was so fast she's just a BLUR in the picture. I know never to mess with this gal again. I will always stay on her good side.

Thanksgiving Meal

For our first Thanksgiving overseas, we celebrated with 27 other American folks. Because of the numbers, we split into two groups for the main meal and then all gathered for dessert. Though we're very much aware of our foreign status here, it felt a lot like home at the dinner table. Some items on our table were purchased in our country: turkey, bread dressing, cornbread dressing (though the cornmeal was from America), corn, strawberry pretzel salad, mashed potatoes, and homemade rolls (there are no other kind in this country). Other special items were brought to us by a friend from America who put them in her suitcase and delivered them to our home. These items included ham, cranberry sauce, ingredients for green bean casserole, and ingredients for sweet potato casserole. The meal was fantastic, and we did the all-American over-eating. After the meal was complete, the boys went outside to play football, the younger girls played dress up, and the older girls sang songs. The adults sat around on the couches and did impersonations, talked about how we ate too much, and wondered what was for dessert.

For our progressive Thanksgiving dinner, we went to another house and became a group of 33. We had American coffee, pecan pie (pecans brought in from US), pumpkin pie (not from a can), Derby pie (the KY addition...without the bourbon), chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin candy corn (brought in from the US), apple cake, and cider on the stovetop. It was good to celebrate such food and special time with our overseas family.

Who's Luis?

Annie has a new favorite necklace. It's a silver charm of Luis.

Luis is Payton's old best friend from America. Now that she and Annie are buddies, Payton gave Annie the "Luis charm". So Annie wears the necklace of Payton's former best friend and loves it!

I crack up every time I see her wearing it.

Frogger wannabe

This is the froggy that didn't live up to Frogger who could cross the most perilous road. It's also the prized item my children found several weeks ago on the street and brought to the house. To my surprise, it was still on the balcony when I returned from the states. Abby was going to mail it to a friend in America, but we haven't gotten around to it yet. This froggy is flatter than a pancake, and the kids put it on a plastic plate since I got on them about touching it with their hands.

Turn Down the Air

I'm back to blogging after a long hiatus. However, I will have to say I have friends who have taken a 1 1/2 year hiatus from blogging, so just a few weeks isn't too bad! This past month, Mike and I have spent a total of 25 days in the states due to various family concerns. The time with family was invaluable, but it's very good to be back as a family and back into the groove of overseas living.

While in Kentucky one of my most precious memories is taking my mom for a ride in a convertible. I was borrowing my father-in-law's car, who is restricted from driving due to his recent heart surgery. It was mid-November in Kentucky, and we had unusually warm weather the day I visited with my mom. Since I didn't think I'd be taking the top down in mid-November, my father-in-law never gave me instructions on how to do it. But as it warmed up, I was sitting in the car reading the owner's manual on how to get the top down. After figuring out I had to do a maneuver in the trunk, I was good to go.

My mother is in the mid-stages of Alzheimer's Disease and is in an assisted living. The progress with Alzheimer's has taken its toll on her sweet mind and body, but she continues to be in good spirits most of the time. I felt a drive along the lake with the fall leaves in peak season was in order. So I got mom settled in the convertible and put in my Elvis Greatest Hits CD. We cruised to Hound Dog, Heartbreak Hotel, All Shook Up, Love Me Tender, and all the other timeless classics. My mom thoroughly enjoyed the music and the ride. We stopped by the lake and I got a picture of her. She looked really precious in the convertible.

On the way back it started to cool down a little, and I got a kick every time my mom asked me to turn down the air. I just stuck my hands in the air and told mom to look up. She'd laugh, and then she'd ask me to turn down the air 5 minutes later. We finally turned down the air when we pulled into the parking lot of her assisted living. I put the roof back on the car, and that fixed the air problem.

David: W's, L's and Life!

This past weekend finished up the fall soccer season for David. Playing every position but goalie, he had a great time with friends and a great coach who constantly encouraged and taught them (BTW - he is a colonel at the base where David plays. HUA, Uncle Jon!!). In the last 3 weeks, we saw David score a goal each game and get pretty animated! He saved his best for last as his goal on Saturday gave his team a 2-1 victory and preserved their undefeated season.

I hope this does not sound like parental bragging, but David has persevered through numerous horrible seasons. In every sport, he has played on teams that were on the other side of not winning a game all season. This is the first time to be on the "other side". But, much to my surprise, David gets it!!

When we were talking about the game and his winning goal, he said, "Yeah, but I'd rather be on a team that tries their hardest and loses all their games than on a team that wins all their games but doesn't really try." You see, David's team had a guy who is really good and scored quite often. David felt like his team depended on this guy to score and didn't give their best effort. His little heart felt for the other team who didn't win all season but tried their best every week, probably because he remembers exactly what it feels like to be on that kind of team.....this is my son, in whom I am well pleased.

The Sign

Last weekend, Lisa and I went out to a very nice restaurant to celebrate being together and our old Kentucky home finally selling! After eating at a great little restaurant, we walked around to take in some sights and sounds in a new part of town. At the end of the evening, as we were walking back, we passed by a lady who was closing up a small store. She was having trouble getting the door to close. She was slamming and pulling harder and harder. On the 4th or 5th slam, the sign above the door actually FELL off the building and hit her in the head. She was not very happy but thankfully was OK.

I knew it had been a few weeks since we had been on a date, but I don't remember seeing that before!! Maybe it was a "sign" that we should go out more often. (Rim shot please!!) If you have any strange date experiences, please email and we will post the winning story on our blog (with your permission). And, yes, we can change the names to protect the innocent!!

The Suitcase

With 5 anxious people waiting for me to walk through the door, I knew my first task would be unpacking a few gifts for each one. Lisa was smart enough to ask some kind family & friends to shop so I wouldn't have to while with my dad. My sister, Angie, was kind enough to shop for some groceries.

I, however, was NOT smart enough to put the grits in a plastic bag before putting it into my suitcase! Actually, it was 2 containers like the one in the picture (though not the Donald Duck brand). Upon opening the suitcase, I had a big surprise: grits were everywhere!!

Have you ever been to the beach and then kept finding sand for like 6 weeks AFTER you returned??? Well, the same principle applies with grits. ~~ On the positive side: a friend told me to be thankful they did not open my suitcase in any of the airports because my grits would have looked like a certain illegal substance and I might have missed alot more than a flight!

The Flight Home

Last Thursday as I flew out of New York City, I knew we were in for a long wait when we were served snacks and drinks BEFORE we left the ground. After about 2 hours, we finally were in the air. The only problem was the fact that I only had 1 hour to connect in Istanbul with my flight home. For you G'town alum: As Dr. Seay, aka "The Far Side" scientist-look-a-like, would remind us, "And the plot thickens!"

As feared, I missed the connecting flight and waited for 2 hours until the next flight finally brought me home. On the bright side - all my luggage made it safely and at the same time. BTW - If someone would like to do some research, I am curious if JFK Airport has the worst record for on-time flights. If there is an airport worse than JFK, please tell me so I can avoid it at all costs!!