My 'Lil Pill Popper

Since Haley just had strep, we have been giving her antibiotics. They do not have a syrup for her, so we have been opening the capsule and putting it in applesauce for her... this has been pretty time consuming and it tastes pretty gross (apparently), so we challenged her to just swallow the pill with water. She did it on her first try!
We have been cheering her on ever since.

This was what she told me this morning after taking her medicine:

"Our body is like a potty because I put the pill in my mouth and flush it with water. I need the water so that it doesn't get stuck. And if it got stuck, then it would just stay there until I die. And then I might just get strep again. And THAT would be really boring."

Vienna!!

These pictures are in no particular order since I am a lazy blogger tonight and I need sleep to get up and watch the nuggets game with B at 3:30am. Woohoo!


I asked Steve to take this picture for me. It's just cool. Thanks Steve. Since our wonderful camera was stolen in Venice and they had the same camera that I used to have, I commandeered it on more than one occasion.

Sure Bobbi, we can take you around Vienna. We've been here before and totally know where we are going. Dang Wendy... (our GPS) ... she kept getting us lost. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. (That's the GPS right above my head next to the yellow tree.)

On the hill overlooking the city of Vienna. Right now while the boys were taking this picture, I was probably kicking a duck.

B in front of some really cool column thing in Vienna. Hey, come yourself and YOU can figure out it's real name.

My favorite picture of their whole trip. Dylan found his binky and there was NO getting it from him and we just wanted him to look at the camera, but guess who forgot to look while trying to get Dylan to look while he was already looking? Silly parents.

My cute cousins in front of the gargantuan pond where we found my abused duck.

.
The other side of the 'Summer Home' castle. It could be it's real name. I'll look it up later.

We are glad that Steve's favorite city on his mission was Sopron. We were able to go to the city together and get the personalized tour from the man who opened the city to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Budapest, Mission and started the first Branch there.

The Andersons took us out to an Argentinian Steak house named Pampas where I had one of the best steaks I have ever eaten. Thanks! Oh man was it delish! This was a great night bc we were able to go back to the Palachinta Haz again. mmmm. The meal, though we were at an Argentinian place, was still slightly Hungarian since we had five different types of potatoes as our side dishes.

The Chapman Fam (minus the girls) in front of the Sopron lake.

Bobbi and the girls when we visited Fisherman's Bastian. This is the big church right in the center of the Bastian.

The classic shot of us in front of the castle at night. Did I mention that I love having three babysitters living on our compound?

For some reason taking pictures on a park bench seems aesthetically pleasing to me. Work with me here. I don't see too many of these in the States anymore. They are usually more high-tech and/or sterile in the US. We are more rustic here in Hungary.

The 'Eternal Flame' of Budapest just outside the Parliment building. Every communist/former communist city can't live without one. How romantic!

Look how HUGE this statue on Gellert Hill is. And do you want to know the history behind this hill and why it was named after the missionary Gellert? Let's just say that there was a barrel with nails stuck in it, it rolled down this HUGE hill, and I don't think he was dizzy for very long. What an awful way to die! He definitely deserves a statue...

The cute couple in Veinna. We are glad that we finally got to know my cousin, Bobbi's, spouse.

The first couple of days we were trying to keep Bobbi and Steve awake long enough to beat the jet lag, so we went to Gellert Hill that overlooks the whole city. It's always a great intro to Budapest.

We were planning on taking the whole family, but my dear friend Monica basically twisted my arm (I love great friends) to let Haley and Maleia stay at their home while we ventured to Vienna and Sopron with my cousins. Dylan got some much needed one-on-one time with his parents!

THE ABUSED DUCK
Now this is a story to tell:
We got to the big castle and went to the gargantuan fountain and found a mallard duck attacking this poor female duck. (No, they were NOT mating. Unless you think taking big chunks of meat off your head is foreplay.) And everyone was just watching away and thinking this is all normal. Um. no. I will not have natural selection happening (if it even was that) when I can prevent it. So when the mallard duck got close enough, I kicked it and took the female duck out of the water. The female duck staggered a bit and then mallard came back and started attacking it again. I kicked the mallard again and then some people thought it would be nice to take a picture WITH the injured scared to death female duck, then they placed the duck back in the water where the same mallard started attacking it again. I was not okay with this, so I kicked the mallard, took the female duck out again, and went on a little walk with it to find a peaceful resting place. Some people even clapped for me. Too bad I didn't know how to say, "Your welcome, lady that just took a picture of the duck and started laughing as it was being abused," in German. (Thank you Bobbi for tending Dylan while this was all happening. B and Steve were walking up the hill taking pics and weren't around to stop me.) Now, this duck is probably going to die, but I put crackers around it and put water in a little cup for it just in case. Poor thing. I REALLY wanted a gun to shoot that mallard.
Where's my .22 when I need it?

Good Quotes I Have Read Lately

"There should be no yelling in the home unless there is a fire." - David O. McKay

"Kites fly highest against the wind, not with it" - Sir Winston Churchill

"You can't base your life on other people's expectations."- Stevie Wonder

I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much. Mother Teresa

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other. Mother Teresa "

"Nothing you do for children is ever wasted. They seem not to notice us, hovering, averting our eyes, and they seldom offer thanks, but what we do for them is never wasted." gk

Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right." -On a poster in my HS locker room...in which I spent every sports season for four years. :)

"Obstacles are challenges for winners, and excuses for losers"

"Women don't want to hear what men think. Women want to hear what they think - in a deeper voice." Cosby

"We cannot afford to become wards of the government, even if we have a legal right to do so. It requires too great a sacrifice of self-respect and political, temporal, and spiritual independence." Marion G. Romney, 1984, Ensign.

"Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants." - John W. Gardner

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. ~T.S. Eliot

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. -- Melody Beattie

"A woman is like a tea bag -- you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water." - Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) Former First Lady, U.S. diplomat, and reformer

Sunday, Random Sunday

We've eaten a lot of ice cream this weekend.

Haley won an Art contest this week at her school. (She does NOT get it from me. It must skip a generation.) There was an Arts Night where the whole school was able to display their art and people got to vote to see who they thought was the best art. Haley won the Kindergarten award. She got a prize as well and has enjoyed making magnets for everyone with her "Make a Magnet" kit. We were very proud of her, though we weren't notified that they were going to present the award during the Friday assembly, so we weren't there to see her receive her award, but everyone told me how grateful and poised she was when she received the award. Good going girl!

Maleia's story: Once upon a time there was a little piggie and a little goat and a little crocodile and they went on a hunt for some money so they can buy some popcorn to watch a movie. And so they all went up to see their bunny friend and got some candy to go to the movie, but they wanted another treat. There was a place that was so so full of cars and they had to go around and around to put their car in the lines, so they finally put their car somewhere and watched a movie. THEEE End.

Dylan has been talking up a storm and it seems like this week has been a burst of learning opportunities for him. He has been trying to tackle his sisters whenever possible, so that has been fun trying to tell him not to pick on his 3 and 6 yr old sister. Really? Already? He also has a "grab and run" thing going on where he will just come up to his sister playing with a toy that he wants, tells her "I want that!" (sometimes there is even a "peez" in there) grabs it and runs as fast as he can with the said toy. He has been sitting in time out this week for the first time and when it's time to get out, he yells, "Thank you, mommy!" and runs to the victim and gives them a great big hug and says, "Thank you, Hay-ye" or "Thank you, Yuh-yuh." (It's his way of saying sorry.)

Fun experiences of the week that will never happen when they are teenagers:

1. Maleia and Haley argue over who will answer the phone.
2. Maleia and Haley argue over who will help wash the dishes.
3. Maleia and Haley argue over who will vacuum the floor with the dust buster.

But I'm sure the arguing will continue unfortunately...

QOTD:
B- "What's with the grapes on steroids?"

Preface: I have been very fortunate to find seedless grapes here whenever we go to the store (at a HUGE price, mind you and it's only in the last year or so that they have been available) but this last time I had to settle with the BIG grapes with seeds. B doesn't know any better and it was a rude initiation as he crunched into his first seedFULL grape. Not his favorite. :)

Zoo Unit

My little monkeys at Preschool were awesome this week... We talked about Zoo "Aminals" (as a few say it) and they all brought in some GREAT show and tells. They are now pretty proficient at show and tell and they are even getting better at asking questions to the person showing their item. Okay, so maybe still only half the time they end up as questions, but they are great at raising their hands and saying something. Whether it is pertaining to object being presented or not, that is another story, but still. They are some pretty cute kids. We missed Sky today and I only remember things from today, so sorry she's not in these. Ava was concerned about Sky all day. She kept asking if I was SURE that she wasn't sick. :)

Show and Tell:

Ava: This is my giraffe. He's a good runner, but when he runs in the street I have to protect him.
Steven: What's his name?
Ava: Giraffie, but his friends all call him Ritaxis.
Mimi: I've seen a giraffe!
Ava: Yea. It's right here!

Carlitos: This my monkey. Monkeys swing from trees. Listen! (pushes the foot and it does a monkey sound.)
Maleia: Is he speaking English, Spanish, or Hungarian? (hey. It's a question. That's pretty good for Maleia.)

Opposites:

You can see that these might be some new ones for you...

Jenny- Pink and Not Pink
Maleia- Good and Time out
Ava- Nice Horsie and Bad Rataxis
Steven- Busy and Bored
Carlitos- Wet and Swimming
Mimi- Funny and Sad

Animal noises:

What does an Elephant say? Ava- "Babar says things, but I don't remember."
What does a Lion say? Maleia- "Moooom! Lions don't talk!" Jenny- "Silly Miss Monique!" Carlitos and Steven- ROOOOAAR!!! Girls- Scream! Ava- That makes me scared. Make them stop! (I'm not sure if it was the roaring or the screaming that scared her.)

We quickly moved on to something more intriguing. I just thought it would be fun. :) Apparently not so much.

Snack:

We have been eating a lot of peanut butter sandwiches lately.

Here have been the ones we have eaten lately:

Cracker, PB, and raisins
Bread, PB, and Jelly
and then today... Cracker, PB and Apples!! I just had them on the side with the PB and crackers, but they insisted that they go on top. (It's amazing what a little peer pressure and/or PB will do.)

Hand washing:

For the first month or two I would have to watch and help with the hand washing and they have been independently washing their hands for a few months now and today I walked in and there were bubbles filling the sink to the point that it looked like a big ice cream scoop of bubbles.

They used the whole bottle of hand soap... the hardest part was that the main culprit was MY CHILD. sigh. Her excuse: "Mom, we had lots of glue on us and need a lot of soap. The more bubbles we have, the cleaner we will get." That sounds like a commercial or something. . .

THE WINNER OF THE DAY:

During Show and Tell-

Mimi: I have three puppets which means they are not real. Crocodiles eat people.
Jenny: oooooooo. Scary!!!
Me: Weeeell, they just eat meat. That means they are carnivores.
Steven: My dad used to be a carnivore! Now he's in the Air Force.
Jenny, daughter of a Army father: (click of tongue) That's too bad.

I had to take a timeout after this one... oh my sides hurt from trying to hold it in! I'm considering turning this one in for the Reader's Digest.

I'm thinking he was thinking "civilian." ?? Either way, it was GREAT and I know Jenny's parents have indoctrinated her on the joys of Army-dom. I've been around enough military in my life to know the "playful banter" that goes on between the services. heehee!

Good girls go to heaven, Bad girls go to Vienna

We saw this dumb quote on a T-shirt in every country/city/village we have visited so far. (Just replace the last word with the country/city/village you are in.) I mean, really, how many people would wear a shirt with a saying like this?? You thought we did something bad, huh? We did jaywalk a few times and even walked in the bike lane a few times... tisk tisk.

Anyway, my cousin, Bobbilyn and her hubby, Steve, have been visiting from Utah and we have had the best time. They have done a lot on their own, but we have found some treasures here that I am eager to show our future guests as well. Like our Palachinta House that sells the BEST Hungarian dessert (like French crepes) and it is open 24 hours! (We have gone there twice.) Then there is this amazing Ice Cream that we found in Vienna that was to die for. The minimum you can buy is two scoops and the scoops are a lot bigger than the Hungarian scoops they give you. And you can't beat the flavors! I got Stratiatella (like Chocolate Chip) for Dylan and a 3 scoop medley of Raspberry, Strawberry, and Blueberry which all taste like biting into a mixed fruit smoothie, but better. Too bad Dylan didn't want all of his... yumm!

Here are just a few shots of their trip, but these pics are just of Bobbilyn and I, so there will more... LOTS more. I've been having issues uploading to my blog from photos already on my computer for some reason. oh well.

Uber cheesy pose in the Vienna Gardens... sniff... it seems like only yesterday that your mom (my aunt) got mad at me for dying your hair while she was away and taking you out to lunch in Jr. High. Being a parent makes me cringe at many things I did as a young adult... My bad.

Us in front of the most famous (and oldest) bridges in Budapest with the castle to the left.

Us with the "dude" facing Parliament standing on a cool bridge over a fountain. Next stop: Palacsinta Ha'z!

Nice bootie shot... when in Venice, right Bobbi?
(Yes, I know it's Vienna, but I would use the two cities interchangeably on accident and they wouldn't even notice... my hubby on the other hand, noticed every. single. stinkin'. time.)

Blood

I never thought I would have to tell my daughter that the only time you say "bloody" is when you are talking about something that has blood on it.

Dang English friends...

On a similar note:
All three kids have scraped their knees already this spring so that means that we are in full swing of short season! Hooray!




I remember a friend growing up who's son had MS and cried when her son's last scab healed because his body had deteriorated so badly (and quickly) that he eventually was restrained to a wheel chair and would never be able to run and frolic like kids do.

So, I am grateful for bloody knees and healthy kids.

"Not all that wander are lost." -J.R.R Tolkein

I see this quote often when I email a friend of mine, it's her email signature, and it always leads my thoughts to 2 things:

All those who might not be in the path that they want to be on in life, but are there for a reason.
And then there are thoughts of people like me who are placed in a foreign land away from what they know and are comfortable with (by choice).

And since I am tired of being frustrated that I can't upload any pictures of when my cousin came to visit (any suggestions of why this might be?) I would like a thought or 2 about what you think this quote means to you.

Oh, and just for the record... it was B that was driving when we got in our accident. And yes, I know that I was the obvious choice, but alas it was my dear, sweet, calm, and collected husband who sideswiped a little teeny car on the way to Margit Sziget on Mother's Day.
We are now even, 1:1.

Here is a new site that I have been enjoying lately. It's a Latter-Day Saint Channel and has been launched. There's songs, talks, cute commercials, and just some good information.

Haley special Haley

HALEY IS SIX!!

These are pictures that I took before going to school today.

She is such a little lady.

I just love that sweet smile!

Her Happy Birthday Oreo Pie! The roses she got from the boy today are on the left. 2 yellow and a red. So sweet. All I did to spruce the pie up is put the pan in the middle of a flower wreath.

Today is Haley's Day to shine. She is 6 today and I cried during our morning prayer... my first baby is 6!!! I just can't fathom it. The real kicker is that she is a little lady now. So for the life of me I don't know how she found out that she can drive in ten more years!! That was one of the first things she told me when she got home from school today. Now that was just cruel. I keep telling her that she needs to stay little and all I get from her is, "Don't worry mom, I'll still be cute when I am older." Where does she get this stuff?

Her day was great, if I do say so myself. She woke up to her favorite breakfast, eggs, sausage, and cinnamon bread. And she got to open one of her presents. Then off to school and she got chocolates from one boy and three roses from another... sigh. What?!!?? She was queen for the day at school and even got to be the line leader all day long. Pretty cool! I brought in Rice Krispie treats with sprinkles all over them. When she got home, she wanted to watch Mamma Mia with me. (She saw it in the theater with me for a mother-daughter date and from then on both of us have loved it. She got it for me for mother's day.) Then we went to McDonald's for her birthday dinner and she got to play in their HUGE play place. Then we went home and had her Oreo Pie and open her other 2 birthday presents. Life is good for this little/big girl.

Now let's get back to the chocolates and roses... for real? And they were from two boys that I hadn't even heard about before... for the love!

Dylan's quotes as of late:
I wan a teet peez. (I want a treat please.)
I wan a gum peez. (I want a piece of gum please.) He gets gummy candy for that one.
See da bike? My moto! (Moto is Hungarian for motorcycle.)
No. I. don't!
When he hands something to me, he says, "Thank you!"

Maleia's thoughts for the day:
We were watching "Meet the Robinson's" (Disney) and Maleia chimes in. "Oooo, mommy. That mean guy is following Satan's plan. He will NOT be happy. But we followed Jesus' plan because we are happy and make right choices, huh mom?"

Maleia- "Mommy? Can you please put more water in the apple juice?"
Me- "But, if you put too much water in it, it makes it not taste good."
Maliea- "No. I love it. And when you put water in it, it makes more apple juice."

Where's Mo?

I want to document the places I have been in the world so that I can look back many years from now and compare. It's exciting that I have been to exactly half of the US States!! I had no idea. (And I only counted ones that I actually stayed overnight in and/or visited.) I have been to a lot of the Midwestern states, but I only drove through them to go from MD to UT with my cousin or traveling with family.

We are hoping to add a few countries to the list by the end of the year... Chech Republic, France, Romania, England, and Germany are in the horizon so far.

States in the US:

California
Washington
Wyoming
Nevada
Nebraska
Colorado
Utah
Idaho
Arizona
Kansas
New Mexico
Illinois
Pennsylvania
Virginia
Florida
Georgia
Maryland
Wash DC
Maine
Massachusetts
New York
South Carolina
Kentucky
Texas
Missouri

Countries:

USA
Canada
Mexico
Brazil
Hungary
Italy
Austria
Slovenia
Slovakia

My wish list of Countries (outside Europe) include:

Australia
Japan
China
Egypt
Russia
and any other country in Africa - I've always wanted to go to South Africa, but that is a little dangerous at the moment, so maybe Nigeria?? I'll take what I can get...

On a funny note:
Dylan was playing with our new vacuum and accidently turned it on. I have never seen him run so fast! It totally scared the bejeebers out of him! Poor guy. I held him while he cried for about 5 minutes until he calmed down. I was trying not to giggle too much. Poor little man.

Not Your Typical Mother's Day

It was an eventful Mother's Day for me. B made some amazing cinnamon-rolled muffins, we went to Stake Conference, transported kids to and from the Stake Building for said Conference, got in a car wreck, we picnicked at Margit Island, I got a nap, and we had my favorite dinner: Steak, potatoes, corn, and homemade bread.

The day was mostly good. But why do bad things happen to us on Mother's Day when people are visiting?? Maleia got lost two years ago when my in-laws were visiting, and we got into a car accident this year while my cousin was visiting with her husband... we'd appreciate no visitors next year on Mother's Day. :) Kosonem.


Our knights in shining armor to come and save the day. aka: translate, talk to the police, and help us work it all out.

No one was hurt. Besides maybe an ego or two. The kids were really good and had a little pow-wow on the ground outside the car for an hour. Thanks Bobbi and Steve for entertaining my kiddos.

The car we hit. Not too much damage, but we flattened the tire, dented and scraped the side of their car, and scraped some of the car door.

It's only a scratch!
(Our van/"mini-bus" - what the Hungarians call our car)

The people in the car we hit. They were really nice and cooperative. Let's face it, they could have had every right to be mad, but they weren't.

All in all, everyone was fine. We were driving down the road and realized we were in the wrong lane and when we tried to move over, a car zoomed 'out of nowhere' in the lane we needed to be in and we didn't see them until it was too late. Look at that little baby car!

Happy Mother's Day!!! I have a great Mother and have been blessed with a stellar Mother-in-law and many wonderful examples of people who help me be a better mother. Whether you are a mother or not. Thanks for all you do.

(Can you guess who was driving our car??)

FAT MULAN

Maleia: Mommy, look at Dylan! He is pretending to be Muwan! (Dylan had an umbrella and there is a part in Mulan where she is holding an umbrella.) But mom, that lady called Muwan a bad name.

Me: What lady? What did she call her?

Maleia: That mean lady called her FAT Muwan.

Me: Oh no, she said FA Mulan. That is her name.

Maleia: Um, no mom. Her name is just Muwan. And she is really really REALLY mean! Did you know that she didn't even talk with an inside voice?

Intruder!

Did I scare you? On our wireless network when someone other than our two computers are using it, it tells us that "an intruder was detected." And we are happy to find out that it is our guests in our home!! Our summer calendar is already pretty busy around here and I love it!! I love having my cousin here for a week with her husband who served a 2 year Church mission here. It was our first time meeting him and we (especially Dylan) dig him. Dylan tolerates going to a total of 4 people: B, Me, Mr. Mark (our Branch President) and now Steve!! What a great time we had getting to know them and just having so much fun with them. Cousins are fun!

Just say NO to crack!

We have had these sightings lately. Do they NOT make pants for kids with little bums? She has sprouted legs, so she is in 4T, but they just fall off of her. Even with a belt and even with the adjustable waist.

This just CRACKS me up!

P.S. This is Maleia's take on the Swine Flu:

"It's bad to throw up, but when I'm sick, I want to be sick with the Piggy Foo. Please, mommy?"
And then B chimes in with a good one, "I pitty the foo who get's the Piggy Foo."
I married him for his humor. :)

Swine Flu

No. no. nope. uh-uh. Negative. Negatory. Nem. Nincs. No. No. NO!!!

We do not have swine flu!
Thank you for your emails and your concerns, but we are just fine and no one has the flu. We have had a few illnesses, allergies, and teeth coming in, but no swine flu.
Gracias.


(Oh and I know you were wondering about us.)

We just got back from Mexico (3 weeks ago!!) and everyone thinks we have swine flu... brother. The gestation period is a few days to 14 days. Thousands of people died from the regular flu since January and this flu has killed just over a hundred. Only one reported case in America and the toddler was Mexican. The media and their scare tactics are driving me nuts!! My parents both live in Mexico and the Mexicans are totally laughing at the crazy Americans... life goes on.

We went into the Med Unit yesterday and the doctor there said that people were calling him about us! I went in to figure out what to do about Dylan's allergies and they made him wear a mask!!! Poor guy. Then they made him take the test to see if he has the swine flu and it was negative, but just to make sure, they "strongly urged" us to keep that mask on him just in case.
Lame.
And we didn't even get any allergy medicine out of the deal.

Do you think I feel like a leper?
If you would like an update or more info on this flu check it out here.

Look how sad he looks. We made it to the elevator with the mask and then took it off.
He HATED it and there was no point in my mind to force him to wear it. And I'm usually the one with the illness issues of people bringing their sick kids around and canceling on people if I don't know what my kids have or if I know they are contagious.

Oh, and Dylan is WAY into trains and airplanes and I can't find any here. (I miss Target and WalMart.) We have the IKEA train set (pictured) and one James the Train (from Thomas' series) from a friend, but that's it. If anyone finds any plastic ones, please let me know and I will PAY you to send them! And I have checked Amazon. They are wood.