Pocky

We found a new snack here a few month's ago that originates from Japan. It's name is Pocky which comes from the sound it makes when you bite into a stick...or something like that. The BEST part? NO NUTRITION LABEL ON THE BOX!!! Which means I can eat an entire box!!! We like the chocolate and strawberry flavors the best...

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Another picture compliments of Wikipedia

Durian

So, yesterday I was brave and went across the street armed with my camera, intent on taking pictures of the market across the street without appearing like a "tourist." I came home feeling confident that I had managed to take pictures on the sly without anyone really noticing and sat down to upload them. To my absolute surprise, THERE WAS NOT ONE PICTURE ON THE CAMERA!!! I'm not sure what happened...maybe the battery was low so it didn't save the pictures? The flash was going off and the picture would appear for a few seconds on my screen but apparently they weren't being saved!

Anyway, I went onto Wikipedia to at least show everyone a picture of what the lovely fruit, durian, looks like. This is being sold on every street corner in Singapore.

Poll Results

Okay, so according to popular opinion I'm going to hang onto my stuffed puppy awhile longer! Sorry, Katie!!! Thanks for the votes:)

Ugh! Singapore weather has been HOT and HUMID the past few days! It's still the second monsoon season of the year so we do get a break when it's cloudy. Today was sunny so after a trip to the school library to return books and lunch with friends we hit the pool for awhile this afternoon! It was refreshing when we first got in and than not so much after awhile!

It is officially DURIAN season! I will try to get a picture of this LOVELY fruit to post so that you can see what it looks like. Apparently the Singaporeans love this fruit but the rest of us think that it smells bad. Ryan actually tasted it and he wouldn't have it again...now that is saying something of the man who has been known to like saganaki (sp?) cheese!!! Durian is banned on the subways, on the buses, and in taxis because of the smell and there is a fine if you are caught. You can smell this fruit long before you hit the market across the street from our house and in the elevator outside our front door and I've smelled a few neighbors cooking it:(

Maybe tomorrow I will try to get a few pictures of the market across the street from us since I haven't posted any pictures of this yet...

Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday and had a good weekend - we spent the day Saturday just hanging out here playing "tennis" with the twins and swimming. Saturday evening we had our friends Brian and Fay and their two kids Reese and Jake over for the evening and supper.

"This world is not my home, I'm just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue! The angels beckon me from heaven's open door and I can't feel at home in this world anymore!"

This song has been in my mind today as we've heard of the heartache of several families in Fairbury, IL losing loved ones the past few days. I'm reminded that we are just passing through this world and to not become too attached! We heard in the sermon this morning as well that we are like a vapor when you look at the whole timeline of the earth. It's a humbling thought...and yet we are thankful that God knows us so well he knows the number of hairs on our heads!

New Friends

Last week at the library we met some new friends, Ashton and Cate. Yesterday we spent the afternoon at the zoo with them to kill some time. Ryan was in Adelaide, Australia so we were on the prowl for things to fill our time!

This picture is a little overexposed (I STILL haven't completely figured out my camera!) but I posted it anyway because it was fun. I asked Ashton, Kenton, and Kaitlyn to pose by the waterfall thinking "Cute Picture" and this is what they did!
It's so much fun now that they can read! Kenton and Ashton are reading about the giraffes. Did you know that they can kill a lion with just one kick? But if they are kneeling down to drink water they are more vulnerable to the lion's attack.
Kaitlyn took Cate down the "slide." This slide is made up of a bunch of rollers. Ryan and I laugh because you would NEVER find a slide like this in the US. The first thing I said when I saw it was "Oh, they are going to pinch their fingers!" Which both twins have!
Kenton likes to "skate" down the slide...

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How's this for something that you don't hear in the US much? I've spent the morning listening to gun fire pops and machine gun fire. Supposedly there is a military training ground across the road from us...that's what they tell me, anyway!

Thanks KC for the singing this morning!

If anyone has a sermon that they would like to share with us we have an online file folder that can be used. Just send Ryan or I an e-mail and we'll send you the directions on how to use it. I think that it's fairly simple although it may take some time to upload to the folder.

Poll Time!

It's time for another poll! A few years ago my mom gave me my old stuffed animals from when I was a child. I have held onto them and "passed" them to my kids. Today I told both of the twins that we are doing a major cleaning out and they needed to pick which stuffed animals they want to get rid of (they have WAY too many!) Kaitlyn right away grabs my pink dog and says, "I don't like this one so we can give it away." My heart is torn! Do I hang onto something I've had since I was a baby or do I give it up? HELP!!

Puppy Love

I have been sorting through and cleaning out (deleting!) pictures that we took while we were home. Thought I'd share this one even though it's a bit fuzzy. Last Saturday Ethan was introduced to Milo. It was love at first sight!! Well, for Ethan anyway!

I was trying to tell some of you about the "treasures" that Ryan has picked up on some of his travels so I thought I'd post the pictures so you can see for yourself. It's been interesting to see what he brings home!

Ryan brought these bowls back from Indonesia - the pattern is called Batik
This drum was also made in Indonesia
These three vases were made in Thailand out of Mango wood. They cover them in ash and seal them with a wax and then etch designs in them and add grass rope to the top and bottom of them.

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I managed yesterday to keep the twins busy all day without taking a nap...YEA! One of our afternoon activities included Play-Doh. I don't know if there is another mom out there like me but I tend to not like Play-Doh - or the mess, rather. I feel bad because when the kids ask to play with it I usually respond, "NO!" So yesterday I thought why not and we all played together for quite awhile! It sure helps that there is not carpet under the table - makes the mess easier to clean up!
"Princess" Kaitlyn making her creation - berry and tomato topped French Toast!
Kenton making white "berries"
All three kiddos playing at the kitchen table
Ethan likes to sit on this stepstool in the kitchen and watch!
By the way - the NUK has got to go! I figure that once we are over the jetlag it's going to be confined to the pack-n-play. I look back at the twins from this age and am a little frustrated that all the pictures of them are with Nuk's in their mouths. Makes it hard to really see their faces:)

Jetlag, UGHH!!

Kenton and Kaitlyn entertaining themselves at the LA airport
Ethan entertaining himself at the LA airport
Me enjoying looking at the sun through the clouds:)

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Well for some reason the trip that we made in January with the kids didn't seem too bad as far as jet lag goes. Within a day or so we were on a reasonable schedule - even if that meant waking up at 6am! THIS time we haven't been so fortunate! We arrived home on Tuesday morning at 6:30am. Kaitlyn fell asleep somewhere around 8 - 9am and slept until her mom remembered that she was still sleeping at 2pm. So guess who wasn't tired last night? Kenton fell asleep right ahead of supper at 5pm and I let him sleep thinking maybe he'd go all night. Ethan was able to take a short nap but was dead tired by 6pm so he and I went to bed around 6:15pm. He woke me up (I really wasn't in a deep sleep) at 3am and I discovered that Ryan and the twins were up and had been since 1am or so! Ryan was able to sleep some more and Ethan and I got in another hour or so before we were up for the day. Ethan's been taking a nap for the past 3 hours so as soon as this is posted he's in for a rude awakening...I'm not sure that his little body doesn't think that it's night time right now. I took the twins to the school library this morning to check out books and we met another mom there who has a 6 year old boy and a 2 year old daughter. Since none of us had anything to do we let the kids play together at the playground for awhile before we all went home for lunch. After I put Ethan down for his nap I took the twins to the pool for a few hours. My prerogative is to make sure that neither one of them takes a nap today in hopes that they will sleep through the night tonight! Once E is awake we may take a walk or do anything that won't make them fall asleep on the couch!! They are playing up in Kaitlyn's room together right now...

Farming! (Again!)

Ethan's new favorite words are "Tractor!" and "Combine!"...Well, actually "Bom-BINE!" Oh yeah - and "Truck! BIG Truck!"

We're Back "Home"

We made it safely back across the ocean this morning...about 4pm Monday evening Illinois time. I will post more later when I'm feeling a little bit more refreshed:) Thanks for the prayers for a safe trip!

The Great Chase

Let me set the scene...

Kenton and Ethan are in the office at my in-laws. Kenton is playing Legos up on a table were Ethan supposedly can't reach. Ethan is circling, circling, circling the table trying to see what's going on. I walk out of the office and start up the stairs. From the office I hear Kenton yell, "ETHAN!!!" I turn around in time to see Ethan running as fast as his little legs will take him across the basement with Kenton in hot pursuit! They disappear around the corner and I hear tussling. They reappear just as I saw them before - Ethan in the lead! Kenton tackles him and wrestles the Lego piece away from him. They both go back into the office where I assume that they resumed the earlier position...No words or sounds were spoken except for the "ETHAN!"