Outings and Our Crazy Kids!

Blogger is putting the pictures in backwards order, so these are all messed up as to when we did stuff. But, here's what we've been doing lately.

Levi playing in the fountain at Clark Quay. We ate at "The Tent" Mongolian restaurant with our friends, The Stunz's. It was so yummy! Our kids adore their kids who are 18, 16, and 10. And they've been babysitting for us, which we so appreciate. There are so many things here that it's just easier if the kids are not with us, like shopping for tvs!
Caleb picked out his own outfit...could you tell? He wears his Batman cape that Mimi made for him ALL.THE.TIME. He got A LOT of attention with this get-up, so he eventually ditched the hat. The cape stayed on, though!

Sign in the MRT station. Don't jump on the tracks, people!

After church this morning, we headed to Holland Village for lunch. There was a group of kids there and one girl stopped and told us they were playing a game and asked if they could take a picture with our cute kids. She called them cute, so we couldn't refuse. I wouldn't let them leave until I had a picture, too. The kids didn't know what to think!

There's a koi pond here where we're staying, and one of the guys let the boys feed the fish the other day. The fed the fish and then threw big rocks at them. No matter how many times they get in trouble for that, they keep doing it.

Our family on top of Vivo, Singapore's largest mall. Not a great picture, but the only one we have of all of us so far. Caleb wouldn't stop moving, so he's blurry. Notice the cape. Again.

Singapore is having its River Festival right now. Justin and I had a date the other night (YAY for date nights!), and we walked down by the river. They had a strange float parade going on that we didn't exactly understand. All the lights were pretty, though. And there was a cool breeze, too, so that was nice and unexpected here.

So, that's what we've been up to. We're so ready to move to our permanent place and have our own furniture and belongings. Today I was scrubbing crayon off the wall here with laundry stain remover. It worked really well, but we need to get out of this place before the boys destroy everything!

And, lastly, here's how a conversation with Levi goes lately. He's really picking up sentences...using two and three words together. But he's also asking lots of questions.

Me: Levi (calling to him)

Levi: Wha? (what?)

Me: Come here

Levi: Why?

:-)

Random, Unconnected Thoughts

Sunday we ventured out to church again. It was about a 15-minute taxi ride, which was MUCH better than the sweaty, long walk we had to church the last time! This one started at 9am, then at 10:30 had a fellowship break (snacks, drinks), and resumed for the Lord's Supper at 11:00. The break was too much for the kids...they thought it was over and they became very hyper. They had been good until that point.

When we went back into the service for the Lord's Supper, someone was up front reading a Scripture passage and Caleb took off from our seats at the back of the auditorium, ran up the side aisle, up onto the stage, jumped off, continued running across the front, then ran down another aisle. All this time Justin is chasing him to no avail. Caleb finally came back where we were sitting and was headed up for another round when I was able to reach out and grab his shirt to stop him. Justin and I were mortified!



We went to a waterpark recently called Wild Wild Wet, and it was "Transformer Day," apparently, because this guy was walking around. Caleb saw him and ran around the corner. But this was as close as he'd get.

Levi's learning to ask questions. His favorites, which he repeats all.day.long are:

What?

Where'd it go?

Why?

Really. Another why child. Caleb asks enough questions for 5 kids, and now Levi's asking questions, too. Pretty much all day long I answer the same questions over and over and over.

We got to see my friend, Bui, at church on Sunday. She and her family were on vacation in Singapore (from Thailand). I hadn't seen her in almost 8 years, so a lot had changed in my life since then! We're hoping to make it to Thailand in October, so we'll get to see her again!

Blogger isn't letting me upload any more pictures right now (and for the past 2 days), so this will have to do.

Oh, I wish you could have seen me

I got my workout in for the day. Just a little while ago the boys and I returned from lunch and the grocery store. I had Levi strapped to the front of me in the carrier, two grocery bags in one hand, and holding Caleb's hand with the other. And then it started raining.

It was a LONG walk from the grocery store to the MRT, then from the MRT to our apartment. Needless to say I was soaked with sweat (and a little rain, too), and my arms are still shaking from carrying almost 30 pounds of Levi and two heavy grocery bags. Probably should have taken a taxi home! (My husband would be proud of me for trying to be thrifty.) :-) I've already lost 8 pounds since we got here from all the walking and sweating, so maybe today will help a little more!

We're going to a Mongolian BBQ place for dinner (SO yummy...surprise, Justin!), and Caleb has been asking for a week to go to the restaurant with the fountain you can play in. Better remember to bring a change of clothes for them!

I'm wondering if my friend, Andrea, who just arrived in Singapore this morning has realized why I only wear mascara and lip gloss now. The rest just sweats right off my face. Plus, the heat and sweating gives you a nice "glow" and "rosy" cheeks naturally. At least that's what I tell myself.

Bad News & Good News

The bad news is that I dropped my camera tonight and it's not working. I'm hoping it's able to be fixed. *fingers crossed*

The good news is that when I signed up for cell service here in Singapore I got a really expensive phone for a not-so-expensive price (about 1/4 of the original price). That phone has a great camera and I'm able to upload from my phone to the computer. Ah, technology is great.

Here we are walking to dinner, and Caleb is giving his "face." It's pretty common these days. I love age 3.

"Singapore Litter Free" :-) It IS clean!

Here's where we're headed for dinner...The Newton Food Centre, aka "The Newton Hawker"

Here we are. This is one of the nicer food centers, and, therefore, more expensive. Our dinner was S$29 for three plates of food and 4 bottles of water. Not too bad, but expensive for local food.

Our yummy food..chicken fried rice, sweet & sour chicken, and fried buns (not pictured). Levi LOVES rice. Caleb is our picky eater and won't try anything that looks "suspicious." Once he takes a bite, he almost always likes it. Getting him to take a bite is hard work.
This is the stall where our food came from. What you can't see inside that little cage are live crabs. Fresh seafood, indeed!

And just for fun...Caleb asleep with his sock monkey. I was testing out the flash on my camera. :-)

Levi in the Baby Hawk baby carrier at the train station. I really need to get a Beco or Ergo Baby Carrier because this one ties on instead of snaps on and it's hard to get it right.

Vocabulary and The Swine Flu

Caleb has a whole new vocabulary now that we're living in Singapore.j

"Are we going to take the MRT?"

"There's the Newton hawker."

"Where's your hand phone?"

And he knows that we tell the taxi drivers that we're staying at "The Orchard Scotts on Anthony Road."

:-)

Even Levi has a new word, "taxi." And Levi has three new teeth.

They are VERY serious about the Swine Flu here (H1N1). There are signs in the taxis and MRT stations and just about everywhere warning that if you came from an H1N1 infected country or are going to an H1N1 infected country that you should avoid large crowds and take your temperature regularly. Oh, and if you have a fever plus cough/congestion, call and ambulance. When I'm in the taxi with the kids by myself the drivers who speak really good English will chat with me, and one of them asked where we were from and then also asked about the Swine Flu and the economy. (It sort of feels like when I was in Thailand in 2001 and all anyone would talk to me about was the World Trade Center. Now it's the economy and the Swine Flu. I guess they're just trying to make conversation.)

We went to view a condo last week and at the guard's gate they had a sign that said all visitors and contractors must stop at the guard gate to have their temperature taken before entering the complex. They didn't make us, but I thought it was funny.

They were serious about it on the airplanes on the way here, too. When we stopped in Japan, they had fully masked inspectors come onto the plane to determine if anyone was sick. We had to fill out little health questionnaires that asked whether or not we'd had a fever in the last 10 days.

Well, we found a condo that we really like and have submitted the LOI (Letter of Intent) to the owners. We should find out today or tomorrow if they have accepted our offer. They are replacing the air con units in the whole complex, so they don't want us to move in until July 15, but I'm hoping they'll let us go ahead and move in a couple of weeks when our furniture arrives. We're ready to sleep in our own beds and have our own stuff!

The boys were up late last night, so it's after 9am and they are still sleeping! They have finally returned to their normal sleep habits, so we are thankful for that!

The Other Earth

Caleb: "Mom can you buy me one of those pools in the other earth?"

Me: "Is Texas in the other earth?"

Caleb: "Yeah. Can you buy me one of those pools when we get back to Texas."

Me: "We'll see, Caleb, when we get back to Texas."

You've seen the pics of our corporate apartment, and now for a few pictures that are distinctly Asia...

These are light switches, a water heater switch, and the big thing controls the air con in the master bedroom. Each room has its own air con unit, and you only cool the rooms you're in (otherwise you're electric bill is HIGH). The two sets of switches on the right are for the sink and toilet areas. I can never remember which set goes to which, so I'm always turning on the wrong ones.

If you can tell, the kitchen is enclosed behind a door. In most cases, you don't cool the kitchen. It's gotta be lovely to cook in a hot kitchen with no air conditioning!

Shoe rack. Our temp apartment has a little closet for shoes right inside the door. You always take off your shoes when you enter someone's house. The maids, delivery people, and anyone else leaves their shoes outside our place when they enter.

And our air shipment arrived today. They asked me if I wanted them to unpack it, but where in the world would we put all this stuff??? (and Levi's giving you his "cheese" face)

That's about all for now. Its quite an adventure living here! We haven't ventured to local food too much because of the boys. We're trying to get them adjusted to living in a new culture before we go places that don't have spaghetti without sauce (Caleb's favorite) or chicken nuggets. Caleb's a pretty picky eater, and we've found that if they don't eat a good dinner they won't sleep well.

The Things Caleb Says

I'm seriously going to start writing down things Caleb says, especially now that we're in a foreign country. And, for future reference, if you have a child that asks about 1000 questions a day, DO NOT take them to a foreign country. You cannot imagine the number of questions that child has. Naturally, of course, but I think I'm going to start counting and limiting him. There's only so much a mama can take! :-)



Here are some things he's said recently:


"Is Singapore in the world?"


"Can we take a taxi?" (he's really tired of walking everywhere!)

"When we were at our hotel in the world..." (he means the one in Houston)

And Mr. Independent wants to do everything himself. He wants to scan his own MRT card, ride the escalator w/o holding anyone's hand, and JUMP off of every surface he can find!

Our First Worship Service in Singapore

This morning we went to church for the first time here as a family (since Justin and I have both been to church here in years past). We took the walk to the MRT station, rode the train, and then walked to the church. A walk Justin had advertised as a 5-10 minute walk. Oh, he has a lot to learn about being in Singapore with a family. About 15 minutes and two VERY cranky kids and a VERY sweaty wife later, we arrived at church. We were late, but thankfully they do not start on time.

When we sat down and started singing, I was so glad to be back in an Asian church. The singing was beautiful and we even sang one of my favorite worship songs, "In Christ Alone." Their voices were so full and beautiful and the room just echoed with praise.

And then all chaos broke out as our two kids started behaving like we haven't seen them behave in a long time. They were AWFUL! They whined, cried (both of them), screamed a little, and just generally ruined the worship for most everyone around us. And if you don't believe me about how awful they were, here are the comments we got after church (from some of the sweetest, most gracious people you'd ever meet):

"Don't worry. We all (the people in the two rows behind us) have two boys. We understand."

"How old is he (Levi)? Yeah, I thought he was in his twos." ;-)

"Are they jet-lagged still?"

So, needless to say we didn't stay for Bible class since it was 11:15 and Levi had been up since 6:30 (AGAIN!). We tried to get a taxi, but couldn't find one that would stop, so we made the sweaty walk back to the mall to grab some fast lunch and GO HOME for naptime. The kids and I all took naps, and if you know Caleb, you know he doesn't nap EVER. We're all pretty tired.

Even though the kids were cranky, I loved being in church today. It was a small church and the people were incredibly sweet. We had so many offers to help in any way...keep our kids, help us find our way, etc. Hopefully our next church experience will be better for everyone involved.

Going To Breakfast...Quite An Adventure

(Click on the picture to make it bigger. This is the best way I could get all these pictures on the blog.)

Top Row: We start walking to breakfast, walking, walking, Levi takes a detour, we arrive at MRT station (note the stairs)
Second Row: See that white building across the street--that's where the elevator is, take the escalators down, walk, wait, ride train
Third Row: Get off train, ride escalators up, come out of station and this is what we see, eat breakfast at Burger King, view across from Burger King
Last Row: Repeat process...escalators, view outside MRT station by hotel, walk, arrive hotel, Caleb looks longingly at pool that he cannot swim in today because he got in trouble so many times yesterday.

Whew. I'm tired. Are you?

Singapore, Day Two

I'm going to start with something positive because today has been a really hard day and it's only 3pm.

Our boys get lots of looks here in Singapore. While we're walking around people are always craning their necks to see them. More than a few people have stopped to ask us if they are twins. We tell them that the younger one is just big. :-) We're also very aware of just how LOUD Levi is! You can hear him from a mile away...probably why people are always staring at us.

Caleb now knows who President Obama is; apparently it took us coming to Asia for that to happen. We never really discussed it with him before, and we don't generally watch the news with him, but here in Singapore Obama is on tv all the time! (and there are tvs everywhere...sometimes even beside elevators.) Apparently this part of the world is very interested in his recent trip and report on it all the time. At breakfast this morning, the tv was on and it was showing Air Force One arriving in Germany. President Obama got off the plane and Caleb said, "Obama." I was shocked that he even knew who that was.

Levi woke up at 3am this morning. Caleb quickly followed. Both of them were so tired from jet lag last night that they didn't eat dinner and were cranky beyond belief. We had planned to go to the grocery store to get a few snacks but decided against it because they were spent. At 3am when they were both hungry, we were wishing we'd made that trip. So, in the middle of the night, my children were eating rice krispie treats (thanks, Kimberly!) and fruit snacks. The grocery store was definitely high on our list of things to do today. So, from 3-5am, we had a little party. The boys wanted to watch cartoons, but we don't get any of the cartoon channels here at the hotel. We tried to get on nickjr.com to watch them, but apparently you can only watch those if you are in the US or its territories. Big bummer.

Going to the grocery store (Cold Storage) was a reality check, too. We'd taken the MRT up one station to get there, so we could only get just a few things (whatever we could carry back with us). We got some fruit and a few snacks so we'll be prepared if they kids wake up in the middle of the night hungry again.

It is quickly becoming apparent to me that unless the boys and I take taxis everywhere, we won't be venturing out much without Justin. Singapore is a walking city with great public transportation. It's ideal and pretty easy if you don't have small children, but trying to get two kids (that get tired easily and must be in a stroller most of the time) up and down out of the MRT stations where only one entrance has an elevator is difficult. It seems like the elevator entrance is always across the street from where we want to be and crossing the street is not always easy. Just going to McDonald's for lunch was a huge undertaking. First, we went to the wrong building. So, we had to go down two escalators (balancing 60 lbs of children on one escalator step in the stroller) to the underpass, walk through the underpass, repeat balancing of stroller up the escalators to the street level. Walk down the street to McDonald's. Realize that there are about 20 steps down to the McD's. Get kids out of stroller. I hold Levi while Justin carries the stroller down and Caleb walks on his own. In McDonald's, Levi threw a huge fit and literally threw his box of chicken nuggets and apples across the restaurant. Then he threw his toy and nearly hit a lady.

Later, he threw my drink on the floor in another building while Justin was taking Caleb to potty.

We're so proud.

And I thought getting in my car in my driveway in Houston, strapping the kids in their carseats, driving down the street to Target, parking close to the door, getting them in the cart and walking inside the store was hard. I'm so naive.

So, we're finding our way around and trying to figure out how it's all going to work. Thankfully Justin has been here enough to know where some things are. We're all tired still and hoping to get a good night's sleep tonight.

Singapore, Day One, Part Two

Pics of our temporary apartment, continued from last post...

The view from our apartment:Caleb looking outside and telling me which pool he wanted to swim in:

The other half of Caleb's room (see last post), which I'm calling "Suitcase Central." We brought 12 suitcases--the max allowed for a family of four traveling in business class. We also have an air shipment arriving next week and a sea shipment in a few weeks. You just don't know what you're going to need and wish you would have brought!

Master Bath:

This pic is for my sister. She appreciates a good shower head. This one is incredible. Of course it could have felt so good because I hadn't showered in over 24 hours.

Dining table:

Caleb's room, complete with sock monkey!

Here's me trying to get a pic of my super curly hair to show you. Caleb's saying "cheese" if you couldn't tell. Look at those blue eyes!

Singapore, Day One

Our first day in Singapore is going well. Our plane landed about 1am this morning and we were settled at the hotel with kids bathed and in bed by about 3:15. Justin and I got to bed around 4, and then were both wide awake at 7 since our body clocks are seriously messed up. We've had a busy morning, which started at the Ministry of Manpower getting Justin's employment pass and our dependent passes (like green cards, and they're actually green!). We've walked around all morning, so now Levi is napping and Caleb and Justin are headed down to the pool. The boys are doing so well!

Here are some things I've noticed about Singapore in the half-day we've been here:

1. Getting around with a stroller is difficult, especially at the MRT (Singapore's subway system, stands for Mass Rapid Transit) stations and various other buildings. Lots of escalators and not always a convenient elevator.

2. I don't wear a lot of makeup, but what I had on this morning was running down my face in about the first 30 minutes. Sweet. Add tissues to the things I'll be carrying in my purse.

3. I have to get used to the signs they use here. I didn't recognize the one they use for elevators...my sweet husband had to correct me when I thought I was headed toward the elevator and was really taking us all to the bathroom.

4. They call elevators "lifts." Singapore used to be a British colony, so their English is more British English with an Asian accent. And with their own special additives, of course.

5. I love it here. It just feels right. What a blessing that peace is!

And now, a few picures.

Levi at the airport with his harness monkey looking over his shoulder:

Our corporate apartment we'll be staying in for the first few weeks, until we find a permanent apartment. It's swanky!

Living Room:

Kitchen and Laundry Room:

Master Bedroom:

Less Than Five Days

In less than five days now, we'll be on an airplane headed to our new home. If we weren't going 90mph to doctor's appointments and last minute errands I would probably be an emotional mess. Our to-do list is shrinking, finally, but it's still long. We've got to change our address on about 50 things, forward our mail to my parents' house, finish packing the suitcases, probably buy another suitcase, get 3 months of my prescriptions filled, go to one more doctor's appointment this afternoon, have the power of attorney signed and notarized for our house sale (for whenever that happens), get international driver's licences, set up lawn maintenance for the house, go to the bank, finish cleaning the house, clean out the car, and have the oil changed in the van. I'm sure I'm missing some things. Once we get on the airplane, I might just pass out from exhaustion. At least that's my hope at this point! I'm hoping that's what the kids do, too!!

Our neighbor, Shelley, is making us what she calls "our last supper" tonight. Fried chicken, corn, mashed potatoes. Yum!

The kids are adjusting to our life here in the hotel now. Caleb is always asking when we're going back to the hotel. It's our new normal. Next week we'll have a whole new normal, and I'm sure the kids will adjust to that as quickly as they have this. Poor Levi wakes up from his nap in a different place just about every day because we're visiting friends and family during the day.

My mom is coming into town today to help my sister with Ava. Kimberly's on bedrest at home and Ava has been pretty sick this week. I wish I could have been more help to Kimberly during this time and in the weeks to come. She needs a lot of help at this point because she's not getting the rest she needs and is basically in labor all the time. She's still having contractions, but, thankfully, it doesn't look like Audrey will be coming really soon. She's still expected to deliver early, but hopefully not in the next few weeks.

We're off to the doctor in a couple of hours to get my thyroid medication refilled. So much to do...

Living in a Hotel

Well, we're officially all moved out of the house. It's been a rough week. Caleb's been upset about his playroom tv not making the trip to Singapore with us, and Levi has been just plain cranky all week long. They are really feeling the stress of the move. It's hard since they don't know that's what they are feeling. Every time I take Levi somewhere, he fusses loudly the whole time (it's really more like screaming). I don't know if he's not feeling well, or if he's just not sure what to feel since his little world has been turned upside down.

So, for now, we're living in a hotel. Caleb is sick (he's thrown up twice today and is running a fever), so today has been especially hard. I'm taking him to the doctor in the morning to see if it's a virus, strep throat, or maybe his ears again. If it's not one thing, it's another.

We've been talking about moving to Singapore for so long that it hasn't been real until this week. It hit both Justin and me once the movers started packing up our stuff that this is really happening! (And, by the way, I would highly recommend moving with professionals. They are amazing! And fast!)

Now we're living in this weird limbo phase for the next 12 days. It kind of feels like we don't have a home, which is really weird since our house is only 15 miles away. We haven't sold the house yet, and don't really know what's going to happen in the next couple of months with that. We're just taking it day by day, which I guess is best anyway.

I don't have a lot to say other than this week has been really weird and really stressful, but we're glad that this move is finally here. Oh, and we're exhausted.

We're planning on visiting family this weekend, but that all depends on how Caleb is feeling tomorrow.

That's all. We're just trying to tie up loose ends and get all the last minute things done. The list is still pretty long, but we're checking things off.

After the Day I've Had...

I need a bath or a hug or maybe some ice cream. Or maybe all of the above.

After I dropped Caleb off at school this morning, I went and picked up Ava. My sister hasn't posted on her blog about what's been going on with her, so I won't post all the details here, but suffice it to say she's on the couch. A lot. So, I went to grab Ava for the day and run errands with my friend, Kim. We were in search of necklaces for her and the other bridesmaid to wear in a wedding this weekend. We did that for a couple of hours, had lunch, and tried to get Ava and Levi to fall asleep in the car because our house was being shown from 1-3pm (the worst possible time for a family with toddlers. Oh, and apparently our house doesn't have enough natural light and the screened in porch makes the living room too dark. Ummm..they're called trees. We have a lot of them. You'll appreciate that when it's 110 degrees and the sun is beating down on your house. I'm loving the comments we're getting from potential buyers. *sigh*). Levi and Ava didn't fall asleep until 2pm, and then I picked Caleb up at 2:30.

When I picked him up the teacher said he's been coughing non-stop all day.

He gets in the car and says, "What's making my ear hurt?" Your ear hurts? "Yes." I figured we'd just wait and get into the doctor in the morning since it was already 3pm and he didn't seem too bad.

10 minutes later he was screaming in pain and I was on the phone trying to get an appointment with the pediatrician. I drove to drop off Ava (30 minutes away), then drove the 45 minutes to the doctor's office with Caleb screaming and crying because his ear hurt. In the meantime, Levi woke up (imagine that), and started crying himself. It was a lovely, leisurely drive through Houston traffic.

Caleb has a blister on his ear drum; the doctor even let me look at it through the scope. That's what was making his ear hurt. They gave him Motrin and the pain subsided. The doc said it may go away all on its own in 2 days and the Motrin will keep the pain at bay, but he gave us a scrip for antibiotics just so we don't end up in the ER on a Saturday night for an ear infection. We love our pediatrician!

So, now Caleb's in bed with Vicks and socks on his feet hoping to make the cough go away. His lungs were clear with no wheezing, so we're not sure why he's coughing.

It's been a LONG day!

FIGHT!!!

Caleb and Granddad got into a nerf ball fight. :-)

NM Trip--Bandelier

Yesterday we went to Bandelier National Monument with Granddad. The boys had a great time. Caleb did get tired of walking, so you can see Justin carrying them both at one point. :-) The one where they are both bending down they are checking out a dead bug.

 

NM Trip--Park

 

Friends are GREAT!

My sweet friend, Hol, designed this new header for me. I absolutely love it! It definitely represents the next stage of our life...Singapore! And the verse is quite appropriate for this time in our lives as well.

Tagged

Here are the rules for "eight things": Mention the person that tagged you. Complete the list of eight things. Tag eight of your wonderful blogger friends.

Eight things I look forward to:
1. Heaven!
2. Moving to Singapore (29 days now!)
3. Being done with the plane ride to Singapore
4. Seeing my boys grow up
5. My sister having her baby this July
6.Visiting Justin's family in New Mexico this week
7. Vacations!!!
8. Levi being done with diapers (won't be anytime soon!)

Eight things I did yesterday:
1. Went to church with my mom (dad was sick)
2. Bought a "My 1st Scooter" for Caleb with Nana's money
3. Went shopping with my mom--stocked up on makeup
4. Stopped twice on the way home from my parents' for a certain 3yo to potty
5. Listened to "Scooby Doo" in the car on the way home (boys were watching in back)
6. Tended my farm on Facebook (my mom totally got me hooked)
7. Emailed a sweet Singaporean lady who wants to help with our transition
8. Watched The Unit last night with Justin.

Eight things I wish I could do:
1. Sew
2. Play the piano well
3. Bring my family and friends to Singapore
4. Dance
5. Be organized
6. Sell our house
7. Teleport myself
8. lose the weight

Eight shows I watch:
1. NCIS
2. The Unit
3. House
4. The Amazing Race
5. Dancing With the Stars
6. The Office
7. Bones
8. Dora, Diego, Backyardigans...

Camping Trip 2009

Here are just a few shots of our camping trip from last weekend. Is that a dirty face or what?

Top Left: Levi's seriously dirty face--he had a GREAT day!
Top Right: Caleb playing in the mud pit the kids made
Bottom Left: Levi and Caroline--aren't they so sweet together? (they were born two weeks apart)
Bottom Right: Our tents. Levi slept in the green one all by himself in the pack-n-play. The boys slept great. Us...not so much.

Flooding Pics

If you've never been to my house, this won't mean much to you, but here are some pics of the flooding here on Tuesday AM. This was about 4:00am when Justin and I were awake because of the noise. They are blurry because the rain was coming down so hard. The water level was up to the middle of our neighbors across the street's driveway and halfway up our yard/driveway. The "For Sale" sign in our yard is on the street, even though you cannot tell where the street is!

The water is gone from here, but we are still dealing with the effects of the rain because there is still a lot of flooding to our south. It has taken Justin at least an hour to get to and from work each day because he's had to bypass the flooding and closed roads.

Under Construction

Just ignore the design of the blog for a while. It's under construction until I can figure out what I want to do with it. I thought about starting a whole new blog for our Singapore journey but then I decided that was dumb. I'm just needing a fresh look to go with our soon-to-be fresh new life on the other side of the world...

Singapore Zoo

Ever since we saw Camille's post about the Singapore Zoo Caleb has wanted to go. So do I! They have a new kids area that looks really cool! I'm just about to jump out of my skin to get to Singapore!

As of May 19 we'll no longer have any stuff in our house. The movers will come the 18th and 19th and pack everything up. Our belongings will either be on a ship bound for Singapore or in storage here. The only stuff left in our house will be what's going to Singapore on the airplane with us. Not much.

Our to-do list is finally shrinking instead of growing. We're slowly crossing things off. A big, time-consuming one is our valued inventory list. We have to give a replacement cost value for every.single.thing we're shipping to Singapore. Awesome, huh? Wanna come help?

Monkey Madness

These sweet monkeys are on their way to our house! I ordered them for the boys and plan to save them until we are on the airplane bound for Singapore. I know they will love them, and I hope these guys will help my little guys to snuggle in on the plane and in their new home. Thanks, Barb!

The Boys' Sizes

This is a post I'll keep updating while we're in Singapore so the grandparents know what to send them. ;-)

current as of July 14, 2011

Caleb:
Shirt: boys 5/6 or XS (S works, too)
Shorts: 4/5
Undies: XS boys
Shoes: US size little boys 12.5
Pajames: boys size 6
favorite things: applesauce, pudding, costumes, juice boxes or Capri Sun, PopIce popsicles,

Levi:
Shirt: 4T
Shorts: 4T
Undies: XS boys
Shoes: US size toddler 11
Pajamas: 5T
favorite things: Nutri-Grain cereal bars, pudding, cars, fruit snacks, and doing whatever Caleb's doing :-)

Sweet Moments

I was having a sweet moment with Levi earlier. I went to get the boys and tell them lunch was ready, and Levi grabbed my hand and wanted to hold it as we walked into the kitchen. I basking in this moment and was in the middle of telling Levi how much I like it when he wanted to hold me my hand when WHACK...my older son threw a ball at me. Moment over.

Hold onto the sweet moments...they don't last long. It's kinda like life...you're cruising along enjoying the serenity and good times when life throws a ball and whacks you in the back when you weren't looking.

Here, for your reading enjoyment, are interesting things Caleb has said lately. (The list is ever growing!)

1. "On my birthday I want to get a window tatoo." (ooooookay.)

2. "Mom, on your birthday, I want you to get a new washing machine and dryer." (this was after we saw a commercial about Tide. I wonder if he wants me to get the front-loading kind because that would be awesome. But how about the birthday after we get back from Singapore, Caleb?)

3. "Mom, after we go to Singapore, I want to go to China and meet Kai Lan." (sure thing, Caleb. I'll put meeting cartoon characters on my to-do list right after winning the lottery.)

4. Looking out in the backyard, I see Caleb playing with our honeysuckle vine.
me: Caleb, what are you doing?
Caleb: I'm trying to swing.

5. "Mommy, when is our car going to be a racecar?"

6. "Mommy, how fast are we going?"
"40, Caleb. That's the speed limit."
"When are we going to go five-ty?"

7. We've been trying to explain to Caleb that toys cost money and that Daddy goes to work so we can have money. He didn't quite get the whole concept.
Caleb: "I want a monkey that plays with play-doh." (the Coco-Nutty Play-Doh Monkey)
us: "Well, we don't have money for that right now."
Caleb: "I want to go to the store and buy some money."
us: "That's not how it works. Daddy has to go to work to earn money."
Caleb: "Daddy, when are you going to work?"
Daddy: "We have to buy food first, Caleb, before toys."
the next day...
Caleb calls Daddy at work.
Caleb: "Daddy are you done with food yet?"

8. "Mommy, why did I come out of your tummy?" (he asked this one as I was typing this post.)

Never a dull moment around here!

Could we just get a good family picture?

(notice how Caleb isn't bothered by our attempt to get a family photo...he's just enjoying his candy the whole time...)

Attempt 1:

Attempt 2:

Attempt 3:

Attempt 4: Result...no, we can't get a good picture!