The report of the Bomb's flight to America from Hungary

Just a few quick airport notes before I get back to my 115 new messages in gmail...sigh.

Our dear friend, Rachel, took the bulk of our luggage the night before along with Avot to sleep at her house so Rachel could drive the stuff out the airport to meet us in the morning.  Rachel is an amazing friend :).

I got up earlier than the alarm, which was set for 5:15 am, and walked around, teary-eyed.  The morning was the usual perfect hungarian morning,...a little misty, birdsong everywhere, quiet, calm,...beautiful and peaceful.  I took a bunch of pictures, but they are in the camera with Q-dawg, so hopefully I will post them later.  The peace and the people and the land are the three things I will miss the most here.  The peace was palpable.  I kept asking my darling husband if there was anyway to package up that peace and calm and bring in home with us...sigh.

The Goob, Liliputian, Chugger-dude, Pipalicious, Spooner and I got ready to go with Q-dawg's help, and the 7 of us hustled off for a last dash to the busz. :)  Navigating public transportation, snuggling with kids, listening to the hungarian in a low murmur around me, seeing the red roofs nestled in the green hills flashing by, talking to Q-dawg...sigh again :).  I know that I feel peace about the change, but to bid farewell, even temporarily, has brought to the surface many deep emotions in my heart.  I love this place.

We made it in time to the airport, with Rachel bringing our good buddy Aiden for one last hug for everyone for now.  Q-dawg made sure we made it up to the counter, and he was off!

Let the newest adventure begin!  Here are the highlights...and I am not going to preview it before posting (remember those 115 emails?) so I hope this makes sense!
--We got through security, put our bags on, made it through, and then saw that Pipalicious's backpack was in the "naughty" zone.  After getting all our other luggage off, the kids patiently waited while I watched the security people check out the bag.  Pipalicious had her little sledge hammer in her pack, probably her favorite Christmas present :(.  A definite no-go.

--I consoled Pipalicious, got to the side for a head-count/baggage-count: failed. All the kids were there, but we were missing a piece of luggage already.  I told the security people that, and they found it...outside the security place where we had originally got it off of the dolly.  No less than five security people encircled it, some facing out, some facing in.  Nice, Mary. :)

The security people walked it through with me in tow (the kids were still sitting in the far end of the room, but I could stand on tippy-toe and see them.  They put the bag on the scanner, and then I had to do the ultra-invasive pat-down, even though I had nothing metallic on my body anywhere,...just because I had left the suitcase behind.  I know, security reasons.  Sigh.  All the while, I watched my awesome kids in the distance being their wonderful selves, patiently waiting.  They were sweet.  After I finally joined them, they suggested we pray.  Good idea!  We made it to our gate before our flight just long enough for me to change Spooner's diaper.  Whew!

--We flew from Hungary to Poland with only wonderful flight attendants and no memories...a good thing while flying with five kids.

--Flight from Poland to Chicago: surprisingly good, except for an initial mix-up that ended up depriving a woman of her window seat.  I still feel bad about that one. (I thought I had certain seats, traded them with someone else, and had accidentally traded that woman's away.  I tried to fix it by giving them other seats so the woman could have it, but I had other people saying, "Just let the lady sit by her kids!" to the poor woman, so she insisted on taking the middle seat on the far side :S...argh.)

I met a woman born in Poland who had lived in America for 26 years and who was just returning after nursing her father through the final stages of cancer and had just watched him pass away.  She was so darling!  We had exchanged so many words and so much emotion even before we knew each other's names!  In her conversation and another with the gentleman in front of me, I was reassured of the goodness of people as they both mentioned God and heaven and Jesus Christ as important figures in their lives.  Loved it. Anyway, back the Deedee (for that was her name), she had helped right up front by holding sleeping Spooner, who had passed out after fussing all through waiting in long lines to get on.  Wonder baby!  She took him from me after saying, with her darling Polish accent, "I have 3 boys of my own.  I know how to do this!"  She helped hold him off and on throughout the flight whenever I had been walking with him for a while.  Most times, it was just good to be up and holding him so I could stretch, but she seemed to know the perfect time to step in and take him for a while.

The kids once again enjoyed the blessed endless stream of mind-numbing entertainment that comes with the over-seas, 9 hour flights.  I enjoyed it too, for it left me free to think, read, snuggle with Spooner, and even sleep a bit.  Technology definitely has its up-sides:)!

The best part of this leg is this:  after getting off, Deedee apparently adopted us, and, after getting a go-cart for the entire group to drive us to immigration, followed us through until our paths had to part.  She was like a mother hen, steering us all over, and I didn't mind in the least.  It was so comforting and loving...until we met the Italian.  Apparently, he didn't want to stand in a long line, and was darling, in his insistent Italian way, as he tried to convince my new Polish guardian that he could cut in line in front of us.  "Here is a line, there is a line, everywhere there is a line..." he said, as she berated him up and down in her darling Polish accent.  If I didn't feel so awkward for the pointlessness of the contention, it would have been more enjoyable at the time :).

Needless to say, with Deedee's loving care, we made it through that point and, when the Italian ended up being behind us in the next line and kept complaining, she shut him up with, "See here, mister.  I am just trying to help this woman who is traveling by herself with her five children."  He was quiet.

--Moment of tears: when the security man at the customs checking point getting into the next leg of our journey told me, "your tickets are for tomorrow..." (21 hour layover)  "...and the airport closes at midnight.  You can't be here."  As I walked away, tears coursing down my cheeks, kids in tow asking what was the matter, me telling them it would be fine, I knew it would be fine...eventually :).  I just didn't know what the next step toward that "fine" was at the moment.  With a quick prayer in my heart, I had a momentary glimpse into my memory of when I had stood in the streets of Budapest on a rainy night, no money, pregnant, and with 6 kids in tow...and felt the love of my Heavenly Father telling me, "It's alright."  I knew then, and I know now that, while life is not meant to be perfect, those things that refine us don't have to define us.  This too shall pass...it just hurts in the moment :).

Thoughts flashed through my mind as I got the kids settled on a bench with all our heavy carry-ons, grabbed fussy Spooner, and headed off to find possible solutions: call cousin somehow, whom I haven't spoken with for 20 years...not knowing the phone number or really having a phone; find and pay for a hotel; go to the desk to find out if there was some area of the airport that stayed open, knowing that people had to stay overnight at the airport all along.  When I reached the counter top of American Airlines, they told me that, because I was ticketed already, I could just stay there in the lobby.  Awesome!

It was a long night of trying to stay awake while the kids slept on the floor behind a bench on the blankets we had brought.  It was reassuring that when I did doze off while they were all sleeping, I was right next to where the TSA checks baggage through.  Here is a little of what I wrote on my facebook timeline to fast forward and get me back to my emails:
"Okay, szeretem ezt a face-book! I LOVE facebook! I felt like I was able to wake up and celebrate my születésnapot with so many dear, kedves friends from America és Magyarorszag...what a wonderful feeling. Thank you so much to everyone for your love, and to those of you who, like me, think, "Oh! I should post a 'happy birthday'!" and quickly forget, thanks for your love, too .

I spent the day in Chicago (21 hour layover) sleeping on the floor under the watchful eye of the TSA (yes, they are good for something), eating delicious bagels at the highly overpriced stand in the airport (and it was worth every penny), and getting a tökéletes ajándék, a perfect gift from my darling daughter Tova. She was not with me, but had sent it with Drew: a small painting of a beautiful Hungarian house.

I then was welcomed at the airport by some of the most darling, wonderful people on earth. Really, seeing the dear people I missed are the only thing that brings me joy being in the States right now...(not even the fry sauce can compare, eh,Zsuzsanna Bajó ?) People are truly the most wonderful parts of life !

To top it all off, dear Quinn sent me some flowers that were here in the table, waiting for me. Thanks for celebrating with me. "

--All in all, I was surrounded by good people (like the darling German couple who sat behind us for the last leg of our flight, who worked at the Freiburg temple and were going to Salt Lake for their first time), the kids were safe, and we made all our connections.  

It is good to be with family again.  A special surprise was that Heidi and her kids were here, whom we haven't seen in so long.  Unfortunately, I passed out on the couch around 8 pm so didn't get as much time with her for now as I want, but hopefully will see more of her and the others in the near future.  So many good people...so little time :).

Packing and Classics

So....I officially began packing on Monday.  At the end of the day, as the kids snuggled down to sleep between piles of things and garbage and what not strewn all over the floor, I told the kids, "For the record, I absolutely hate when my house is like this."  Just so they know :).

Tuesday (yesterday) I came up with a plan:  all the suitcases would line the walls of the room that no one really uses for things other than wandering into, changing in, and playing in now that our official school year is done. (It used to be where the boys slept and the study room.)  Then, I would go ahead and pack everything, with the understanding that things could come out and then would be put back where they came from.  I know...an ideal.  But at least everywhere has a place to be put and I can start weighing things for the way home.

We brought over two or three extra paid bags of luggage, as I knew I wouldn't be able to get the books I wanted over here for homeschooling and I didn't know how long we would be over here for.  Right now, we are looking good with maybe only one extra if that, but we will see.  We lost a couple of our carryons to wear and tear while we were here, but I think I can doctor them up enough to get us home :).

Q-dawg and I have been busy with maintaining our usual primary roles of providing and nurturing respectively and still trying to do things like pack, get things ready to give away here or sell, and set up things in America.  We are both a little harried and not as patient, but I think the kids are so excited to see old friends, they are turning a blind side to that.  I have most of the stuff we are bringing home packed, and the pretty much everything in the house (except for Q-dawg's and the kitchen) sorted or packed away.  I am giving away most of the kitchen items, so that won't really matter.

We will probably bring our new tents home that we bought, as well, but for now the kids are "airing them out" by sleeping in them at night until it is time to go home.  Liliputian was sick last night, so she and Pipalicious stayed inside, but all the other ones the Goob and younger are out there.  We had the missionaries over last night for a final time (Liliputian stayed in her own room), and kept trying to get the little girls to go outside to play rather than climbing in their laps and pepper them with questions, but were only marginally successful with that.
*****************
Avot, Lek, Q-dawg and I are all reading Bastiat's "The Law" (super cool!), Whitehead's "Intro to Mathematics," and Kiyosaki's "Cash Flow Quadrant." (The first and last one go surprisingly well together.)  The idea is that we will have a book discussion over ice cream on Friday when we finish them.  While all of us are enjoying them, Avot seems really to have taken to "The Law" ("This is so true, mom!  I love how he puts things!") and Lek is eating up "Cash Flow Quadrant." 

Refering to that last one, in the book it talks about four different ways, or "quadrants," that you can get your money from.  One of them is the "Business Owner" one, where you set up a business, delegate it to others, and, if you do it right, you can step away from it for a time and come back to find it even better than it was before, having left some of the stewardship over to the genius of those you placed in decision-making positions.  Lek read this part and came to me, his eyes alight, "Hey!  That is what you did with Vanguard!  You left it and now it is even bigger and better than before!"  It's nice when mom looks cool every once in a while in her 15 year old's eyes, although it is far deeper than simple gratification for me.  He can see me fulfilling my mission, following the promptings, and serving and learning even when it is hard.  He can see me in all my imperfections (and, believe me, he sees those as every healthy youth does in their parents), but he is starting to see the fruit, which will help him trust the path more.  

I told him, "You just find your own mission, that thing that you are passionate about, follow the directions of the Spirit, get a leadership education, and you will do the same thing."  It was a great moment.  After years of healthy (albeit trying) testing of "what really works," it will be nice if he finds that at least a little of what mom says might actually be alright to try :).  I don't want him to imitate me or do what I have done specifically--he is a man, and a warrior, and has a completely different role than the one I fulfill.  However, I try to act on principles that are true and eternal, and it will be cool to see what he can accomplish with those tools of spiritual guidance, trust, work, sacrifice, dedication, and passion!

First thoughts in Hungary

We're heeeeeeee-eeeeeeere!

Some matches were made in heaven...some were not.  You can decide which of the following is which:


2 year old + jet lag + single bedroom apartment = no sleep

7 cats + 8 month of pregnancy + severe asthma allergies to cats = no sleep

1 pregnant woman + 8 children + 6 security checks + 1 irrational, ornery stewardess telling her first that her son could not come on with all the carry-ons he was carrying (for all the other tired kids on the last leg of our journey) and then that he wasn't even cleared to come on at all since he has no ticket =....well, words cannot describe what that one equals!

9 people in yellow shirts + 7 hours of layover time in Dublin + blankets + quiet airport gate = blissful sleep for a little while for most of us

At baggage claim in Budapest: 11 50# pieces of luggage + 9 carry-ons + 9 backpacks/bags + 8 jackets + 6 blankets + 3 stuffed animals + one untrustworthy looking, non-English speaking Hungarian trying to move my luggage for me (I am sure he was trying to be nice, but couldn't be sure) - (yes, that is an underlined, emphasized "minus" sign, indicating his absence) Hungarian-speaking husband (important one) + 24 hours of travel= panicky pregnant woman

Finally out of the airport with all our luggage and with Daddy, once again!

Q-dawg had to wait outside an outer set of doors--I could tell he was frantic with not being able to help me!--, not allowed into the baggage area...ahhhh!  I just couldn't figure out if the aforementioned Hungarian was trying to make a quick buck off an unsuspecting American woman, so I felt that I could not accept his offer to help.  I did understand a little of what he was saying, as he did of what I was saying in my broken Hungarian, but it wasn't enough...sigh!  I was just afraid to follow my instincts and rush to my Honey, just in case I wouldn't be allowed back to my kids and luggage...I had had my fill of irrational, over-zealous airport security, and knew better than to rely on any chance of mercy.

Full disclosure of airplane experience based on notes to come :)...

Daddy welcomed us home (in stages...three trips with a rental car to get us all home with our luggage) with a wonderful Hungarian feast:

Papaya looks great for having just endured all those flights!  The sandwiches were a success, and the bread looks like the one we got at a bakery later...all that bread for 50-75 cents, depending upon where you go!

As for here, Q-dawg picked a beautiful home for us to rent.  We just need to wait for a month until it is available, so for now we are enjoying a beautiful one-bedroom basement apartment beneath the future one until it is available on Nov. 10.  For those of you who are interested in numbers, yes...that is 6 days before my due date.

Chicken coop behind the house

Gardens and orchards above

The actual house (once we get to move in)

Is this an avocado plant outside our window?

The front gate--all four sides are fenced, and every other house has at least one loud, barking dog...ours? 7 cats (The kids love it.) Thankfully, they will move out with the renters upstairs.

View from the street

Avot cooking our first Hungarian breakfast

Other view of the kitchen (sorry they're sideways)

Hava--sideways again, sorry!

Walnut from the tree out back

view out the back yard

Papaya sampling the apples from the trees in our yard--delicious, down to the seeds, apparently...                                      just like her uncle Cody :) !

Our pile of luggage again...all moved in now, though!

View from the base of our backyard

The good news is: the flight didn't put me into labor and my cool anti-embolism tights did their work and prevented me from getting any blood clots.

So I am counting my blessings :).

The neighbors upstairs are super nice...Tamas has cooked a delicious meal already (he is a cook at a restaurant).  It was pork cooked in bacon grease (they sell the slabs of fat separate here--specifically for cooking), garlic and onions, with paprika, salt, and marjoram.  It was served over french fries (deep fried) with a cucumber salad (absolutely delicious):

This is for you, Grandma!

Papaya lovin' it....well, the french fries at least :)

Lek said that if this is how Hungarians eat all the time, he is going to love it here!  Avot even liked it :). (We love to tease her about being picky, although she is really pretty great about trying new things these days.)

Update on Q-dawg and packing

My darling made it safely in Budapest, after a long, complicated layover in England trying to see the Windsor Palace "just 20 minutes away," and enduring a flight from England to Hungary with a group of belligerent young people.  Other than those highlights :), his experience has given me great peace that we can do it next Wednesday, and that certain concerns I have should be alright.  (I'll let him grace you with his version if he wants to another time :)...)

He arrived safely in Budapest around midnight, went to his hotel and to sleep almost 2 hours later, slept for 5 hours, then headed out to pick up a rental car and see some houses :)!  He was able to eliminate almost all of them, with one very promising one, and a couple other potential back-ups.  I can't wait to see the final one :)!

He ate an apple and a roll for lunch (for around 30 cents), and then a Snickers bar for dinner.  Nice, honey.  When I got after him about that, what should he reply? "The hotel I am in tonight provides breakfast in the morning...I'll eat then."  Oh my!  When I talked to Shara last night about this, she was on my side...most unhealthy, but most characteristic of my fiscally-conservative husband :).  Hopefully he makes it until I join him next Thursday :).

Lek finished up the garden yesterday, and did an excellent job, even sprinkling Preen over it to keep down on the weeds for spring and raking it nicely.  He sure does good work!  Papaya took a nap while he was busy working here with me, and Avot took the rest of the kids to the "duck pond park" while I packed and organized our food and some more luggage.  They actually got bored towards the end and were all sitting on the bench waiting for me when I got there.  Okay, it was 4 1/2 hours later, but I got so much work done!...even with Papaya sprinkling Lawry's Season Salt over the bottom few stairs and floor of the basement.  A new aroma of carpet freshener?

The bags are almost all packed...I just have to do a final weighing today with all my "hopefuls" to include sitting on the side.  Sigh.  From things to favorite, well-used cookbooks to math flash-cards to bread pans, it has been amazingly challenging to know what to pack...and what not to pack.  Actually, looking at what I just wrote helped me eliminate a few more things.  Like Q-dawg keeps saying: "They have most of this stuff over there, too, Mary."

I know, I know....just trying to plan ahead can be a little crazy, right now :).

The Goob and Chugger-dude have been helping me with a project: putting all our Legos together into a massive block so it fits better at the bottom of Papaya's carry-on/"diaper bag."  Last night, to make it more fun, they have started "burying" lego guys in the wall in coffins--kind of like the Great Wall of China, I guess. They even have those legos with holes in the side that let you see into the tomb where some of the "fallen" are buried.  Nice :).  I just wanted the Legos to take up less space, but it is amazing how much heavier they feel when all put together!  I know, mentally, that they have the same mass and weight over all, but it just seems so much heavier that it seems to defy my logical senses :).  I know, "more compact", so per amount of space it takes up it is heavier, but still...
We are all using our talents for this move!

Speaking of talents, the kids have been awesome at getting rid of even more things, and we have packed away 11 rubbermaid big blue totes full of "treasures"--kids toys, memory blankets, pictures, heirlook stuff, more pricey kitchen items--which my parents have graciously consented to store for us, along with the fabulous triple, massively heavy duty bunk-bed my brother made for us and my parents "commissioned."  Liliputian even gave her porcelain doll "back to the DI" for another girl to have.  Unfortunately, with the broken off fingers and foot, it is something of a safety hazard, so it didn't make it to the DI, but the gesture was very sweet.

Of course, among our packings, I have my collection of "Great Books of the Western Civilization" there, too--grateful that I didn't have to get rid of those--and some of our favorite family games like Scrabble, Alhambra, Carcassone, and Trivial Pursuit.  (That last game has an ongoing track of Q-dawg's and my victories from years ago, when I first picked it up for him at a garage sale for his birthday or Christmas or something. We have noted on there that, on his birthday maybe about 8 years ago, he either tied me on victories or passed me up...one of those two.  See?  Fun memory, eh?)

What to pack, what to pack...

Stress. Stress. Stress. :)

As we go through our things, deciding what is really worth shipping and what is not, I have been discouraged.  At first, I was so impressed with myself and what I felt we had whittled it down to.

Apparently, it was not enough :S.   The good news is: his appraising firm will keep him on as a data-entry type employee to help out the other appraisers via remote communication.  The not so good news is that we need to ship over our computer to accommodate it better.

Do you know how much space and weight a computer takes up :)?

Ah, me.

As I explained to Q-dawg last night--to bring or not bring books would not be such an issue if we didn't apply an educational philosophy for our homeschooling that operates based on the principle of surrounding our children with classics to inspire them.  Now, multiply "inspire on child on one principle" times nine times however many principles/topics I want to inspire them in: math, science, literature, nature, history, etc.!!

With a prayer in my heart and a trust in God that He sees the end from the beginning (not to mention the next two to three years for my kids), I am packing.  I am praying for mercy for a couple pounds give or take, or a  confirmation of what to bring and what not to bring.

This whole situation reminds me of what the second counselor in the Relief Society presidency said at the women's conference last weekend: too often we try to put too many things into our handcarts...what do we have in our handcart?

What do I really need in my suitcase? :)

Weekly news...

Hopefully, I will find some of my pictures to go with some of these "articles" later, but for now...

each moment is precious, and I want to cherish them all :)!

Papaya in the Buff

Papaya has officially decided that “buff is better,” and streaks naked regularly through the house and yard.  We also lost her again once this week, until we found her at the park with her brothers at their early morning work-out….apparently they had decided it wasn’t worth the fight of leaving her, and had left us a note we had missed.  Going back to Papaya's "free-ness", when we realized her “state in the buff” was her official new modus operani, we resorted to duct tape for the diaper last night.  Before the duct tape, she would come up to us, naked, and say, “Poopy!” pointing to her cute little cheeks, and we would have to find the poopy diaper wherever she had left it.  Not so fun! She also thinks she know how to go potty, so will start stripping in public, if she finds a public bathroom to "try out."  Ah, me.

Hiking Mt. Olympus

Avot and the Goob (aka Mountain Goat boy) hiked Mount Olympus yesterday with their Aunt Shara and some of her friends.  The Goob would take short breaks with everyone and ask, “Are you guys ready to go again yet?”  Avot said she had a nice, hour-long conversation with Zeus at the top, so the two of them are on great terms now.  Watch out, world! (Thanks to Shara for the pictures!)

Lek--Eagle, Patriarchal blessings, and male bonding

Lek has been madly working on his Eagle this week, trying to get it before we go.  Famous words, “I wish I had worked harder on this during the summer,” remind me of his mother J.  It’s genetic, I’m sure.  He’s made great progress so far, and should finish, if not get awarded it, before his father leaves in two and a half weeks.  Lek also is getting his patriarchal blessing today…I am so excited!  He wanted to get it in English, and the Bishop suggested it, too, so it is all good to go.  He also got to see a couple great friends this week from our old area, which filled his friend cup.  The icing on the cake of his awesome week was football scrimmaging with his dad and uncles yesterday, and a fun time watching the big rivalry game last night while eating some of the fresh salsa his dad and Uncle Aaron made…yum!

Go BYU!

We had a fun BYU/Utes rivalry this week with Aaron and Niesha.  Monday night, we left the old, broken and bleached toilet seat we replaced in the upstairs bathroom on their doorstep, open, with a sign that said, “Utah Football is Poopy” and a plate of no=bake cocoa cookies (we call the “pooh cookies” at our house, thanks to Q-dawg).  Saturday morning, Avot came in and said, “Aaron has been here.”  Sure enough!  We had a bunch of red duct-taped “U”s up the front steps of the house, a huge one in the driveway, and a bunch of “loving” messages scribbled all over Q=dawg’s car window. (It was fun to hear the comments about “Go Utes” and “Graffitti!” during the day when we drove it places.)

Pipalicious added the perfect finishing touch to Aaron's families decoration of our yard (check out the better details on Q-dawg’s Facebook page).  We went to “the castle park” yesterday, where they have a tire, spinning swing, and she spent too long on it and, when we arrived back home, "lost her breakfast"... all over the steps….and, all over the U’s J.  Nice timing, Pipes!

Move to Hungary and pregnancy update:

I packed up most of the bags this week, and all of the backpacks are set with treats and entertainment for the airplane ride…and I think they can all even carry their backpacks except for Papaya, whose pack also includes the family supply of Legos.  Legos can be formed into guns…do you think they will let us check those? J

We have found a couple houses that we are interested in renting in Hungary, now; Q-dawg’s job arrangements for working online for his current appraisal company are solidified; and I have started deeper cleaning and restoring the house we are in now to its previous state (I had put away towels and dishes, etc. when we moved in to keep them nicer).  We have dental appointments set up, we have some last days planned for visiting family and friends, and I have my final OB check here in the US scheduled (we found participating providers and a hospital in Budapest….go figure! What a miracle!).  I found out, after a 3 hour glucose test, that I do not have gestational diabetes—thank goodness!—so now I just need to keep my blood pressure down.

I just need to not have any stress in my life, right?  What could I have to be stressed about J?

Exercise!

Chugger-dude and the Goob went out on their own several times this week, running and exercising.  Speaking of running, we had a break-through for Avot to help with her painful running…she runs in first position, a ballet position with the heels together and toes at 45 degree angles out from that!  She said that it is like learning to walk again, but has already cut 15 minutes off her 3-mile time after just two runs.  Go Avot!

For one of our exercise times this week, we went to the Jordan River Parkway and biked/walked along for a ways.  Liliputian and the Goob had fun trying out their heelies they bought at the DI.  The Goob would go sailing by on a speeding bike, heelies extended and rolling on the ground, yelling, "I can't stop!  The brakes don't work!"   Liliputian was a bit more reserved, walking by me, and holding onto the stroller whenever the heelies threatened to fly out from underneath her.

Papaya loved the park...she takes delight in swinging in the most dangerous places and causing me, even after years of dealing with her adventurous father and all his and the other kid's daredevil schemes, to have my breath catch and my heart stop.  I thought I had developed nerves of steel, but, apparently, this latest edition of our family, is going to test those in every way she can.  She knows nooooooo fear.

Liliputian brought a book to read at the end: "I always read how in stories, people read by the pond, and now I get to do it!"  We need to do that more :).

Boys and Girls Nights out

The boys headed out on Friday night for Fathers and Sons camping with our LDS Stake, armed with marshmallows and catapults…and a huge  box of firewood.  They came back tired, happy, and smelling of smoke, with tales of victory at the tug-of-war and other manly conquests and, of course,  no sleep. (The firewood was completely gone, surprise, surprise.)  

The girls, at home, walked up the street to the Macey’s tailgate party, had 25 cent snow cones and hotdogs, free samples, and the younger ones bounced on the bounce houses and slides they had there.  Papaya wouldn’t get off the slide, throwing herself off headfirst, Superman style down the tall slide.  Pipalicious wouldn’t go down after getting smashed into accidently in the bounce house, only trying once with Liliputian the brave with her, and deciding “I am shy” and not doing it again.  Hava had no such reservations.  Of course, Hava is the one who will “jump hug” to Q-dawg from 8 steps up the stairs every morning with him at the bottom…footage to come!  Anyway, we walked home, the girls watched a Veggie Tale movie while Avot made chocolate cookies, I read to the girls, and then Avot and I watched the fourth sequence of “North and South,” a Pride and Prejudice-type movie not about the Civil War J.  Ahhhhhh…..so romantic! I watched the last 10 minutes at least 5 times this week, probably more J.  What a great girl’s night out!

Library, biking, and donuts

The Goob, Liliputian, and Chugger-dude had a great time looking at books at the library while I was at a friend’s house for a couple hours, looking at books.  We rode our bikes there, so the ride home was hard, laden as we were with all our new picks.  My tummy is getting a little too big, I think, for bike riding, as my legs start getting numb from having the circulation pinched :S.  Oh well.   I wanted to pack all our books up, to see how the weight would fit in our suitcases (close, but I think it will work!), so the current plan is check out a new bunch of books each week from the library, hopefully not lose any, and keep the bags packed.

On the way home from the library, I marveled at the kids' endurance--a summer of bike riding has really gotten them in shape!  We stopped by for a snack at Macey's, and, due to a sale, I decided to get a whole dozen donuts instead of just the few we were going to get.  Boy, did my kids think they had died and gone to heaven!  Chugger-dude has decided, somehow, in our "coconut-less" house that he loves coconut and went for the toxic-dyed hot pink coconut topped one.  Weird.  He is his Grandma Susan's grandson, to be sure!  Hava is taking after her sister...anything chocolate.  Scary.  I asked Avot the other day if she really likes chocolate that much, or if it is just fun to be that way.  Without hesitation, her answer: "I really like chocolate that much."  Crazy.

Hava and Obedience Practice...a match made in heaven

Hava has taken to saying “definitely not!” as her phrase.  She also has had a huge transformation in listening after we incorporated some of the Dugger method called “obedience practice.”  I had often heard of people having their kids “practice obedience” after being disobedient, typically a painful process of bending wills.  Well, the Duggers make it a game:  the parent asks the child to do something fun or silly: “Go and jump up and down on the chair and say, ‘I love you, Santa!’”  The child says, “Yes, ma’am” or “Yes, sir” and runs and does it.  The instructions are fun and quick, the children are applauded for their obedience, and, typically, they keep asking for more until I say, “just one more, okay?”  Well, Hava, this week, was having a hard time sitting still and being quiet during devotional.  Normally, all the kids except Avot have a little difficulty here and there with sitting still and listening, but Hava had been singing and humming all through it on that day.  So I sent her to "time out" on a chair in the kitchen.  Her usual storm clouds gathered around her brow as she prepared to battle, and then, magically, it all vanished as she said, “Wait!  Yes, ma’am!” in the same happy way she does during obedience practice and practically flew to her "time-out" chair.  Wow.  Awesome!

Family fun

Yesterday was blessedly filled with grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles at football, the park, and hiking, and we also had a surprise visit from Misty and her family for the afternoon and evening…it was awesome.  We are soaking up all this family time and loving it!

Silly mommy

I was foolish and stayed up until 3:30 am reading another book—something about those calm, late night, early morning hours and a good book are so calming…I just have to work really hard the next day at being nice and coherent J. Fortunately, it doesn’t happen often.  I hadn’t read “Seer and the Sword” for a while, a fantasy book, and I missed the genre, apparently, from my inability to set it down last night.  Ah, me. 

Music notes

Avot has been working hard on a violin-harp duet for the past month and a half with another girl in our ward for Standards Night tonight.  With that, her violin performance last month in Sacrament meeting, a beautiful trio with two other young women of “I know that My Redeemer Lives” last week, and her harmony vocal part on “Maybe I Will Be There” when the YW sing in Sacrament Meeting in two weeks, she is getting some great chances to enjoy her musical talents…as are we J!

Too bad the other kids are going to miss out on their chance to be in the Primary Program…we leave for Hungary a week or two before they perform—and I’m the senior primary chorister….oh, well.  Didn’t plan that one too well, did I J?

Hava sings all day long--through dinner, quiet time, while playing, during prayers--and does it quite well.  Her exuberant, exact singing reminds me of her cousin, Teyla, which is awesome, since Teyla is such a cutie. And they are both determined that they know what is best :).  Some things are pretty strong in the gene pool, I guess.

Newest "members of the family"

 With a prayer in my heart, I went out looking for the 14 more pieces of luggage we needed to go to Hungary yesterday. I had looked online at KSL for prices, and, after wading through hundreds of purses (who knew people loved purses so much!), found a few, but was discouraged at the cost.

Well, with my mom and that prayer, we went garage sale-ing yesterday, and then hit a DI I hadn't been to before and found the treasure trove below.  From "the tank" (a huge red, 70's suitcase we could use for a boat) to a green one with paint smears all over (but working!), they are as full of personality as our own family. 

My idea (Spencer Jensen would love this!): DUCT TAPE....bright yellow, attached to all the handles so we can recognize our "new," unfamiliar luggage on sight at the terminals.  My mom said we should do alternating yellow and black duct tape to make it more "bee-like."  Cute!

They will match our yellow, matching shirts we will all be wearing at the airport.