1950's

The most exciting thing happened tonight. A neighborhood kid we know from the bus stop rang the doorbell. We've almost never spoken with him, the kids have never played with him. But, with the kindergarten confusion of what he actually wanted, he was able to make clear that he wanted to talk to Alex. And now all three kids have been running and playing outside for the last half hour. I thought such things only happened in TV shows and certain compound embassies.

Wordless Wednesday

Alex GI update

After barely two weeks she had completely stopped coughing, so we put her back on dairy. A couple of times she complained of heartburn after a meal that included dairy, but no other symptoms. We cut down a bit on dairy - no more milk at dinner - but stopped reading labels. I tested a hypothesis and gave her a glass of milk the other night and there was no heartburn, so we still have no real answers.

I'm working on a hypothesis that involves a structural issue plus a food intolerance issue. She may be catching Zoltan's cold as we speak so there may be more experimentation in the next week or so ...

An important week

After seven years, this was my very last week as a stay at home (or work part time) mom. I'm now just like almost all my friends, and like I would have been had we lived in the USA when having children. I have been reflecting constantly about how lucky I feel to have had this time. This week has also shown me, if I had any last lingering doubts, that this is a good time to get back into the work force and pursue a career. The kids are growing more independent by the hour as though they were simply waiting for us to give them the room.

Tuesday, the second snow day of the week, promised to be a frustrating one. I expected to have my children trailing after me while I tried to do three days' worth of errands in one. The weather was fine and the roads were clear, why would I not run my errands? The real question is: why wasn't school open? Instead, when Alex heard one of our stops was her after school care center to drop off some paperwork she decided to spend the day there. From then it was easy to convince Zoltan to go to sadik. They both protested when I came to pick them up that they weren't ready to go home yet. This pattern has continued through the rest of the week.

And there it is, folks. We are all ready to start our newest adventure - the first one for the family that hasn't included an international move (yet).

Wordless Wednesday

I do love my children, but ...

...we could all use a bit of a break from each other. I deliberately kept Alex home on Friday so we could have "one last special day". Four days later the kids and I have been each others' constant companions 24/7. And it seems that tomorrow is looking like another doozy of a day, made all the more poignant because Terry is having dinner with a friend after work. Yep, I'm alone with these cherubs from the moment they wake until the moment they fall asleep.  Here's a photo of them being adorable playing in the snow.

I still get a thrill ...

... out of letting the kids play outside without adult supervision. We lived in the center of a big city, in an apartment, for essentially their entire lives. A backyard is still thrilling to me. I get to stay inside and get something accomplished (even if it is just a blog entry) and they get fresh air and exercise. Win/win.

(edited to add photos: As you can see, they were chalking the deck and loving every minute)

СУП С ФРИКАДЕЛЬКАМИ

Every Tuesday, the soup at sadik is soup with "frikadelki". I'm not entirely sure what frikadelki are but as it's a soup with vegetables and meatballs and I know the word for vegetables, let's call them meatballs. Every Tuesday Zoltan tells me he had his very most favorite soup today.

As any good mom would, I went looking for a recipe for this soup. I found this one. I loved the photos to show step by step what it all should look like. I used Google Translate when I wasn't entirely sure what I needed to do. And I added breadcrumbs to my meatballs because they were not coming together without it.

It was fast - definitely within 1/2 hour. Zoltan of course didn't want any, but I took it for my lunch (in Alex's thermos) for after skating. It hit the spot! This is definitely being added to the roster ...

The final piece of the puzzle

I am thrilled to report that the final piece of the puzzle has been put into place. This week I hired a lovely lady to take care of the children in the morning and get them where they need to go. I am now free to be excited about the upcoming A-100 class!

Wordless Wednesday