Soccer Fe-vuh

I've (obviously) been highly interested in the World Cup, especially with it in our backyard. Todd was interested as well at the start, but after much debate and many poorly-called matches, he's "over it." Em, on the other hand, doesn't care who is playing, who wins, who looses or even about the calls. She just wants whoever has the ball to "Go!" and when a goal is scored, you'd swear she was impersonating a Mexican TV announcer with her long and boisterous screams of "Gooooooooaaaaalllllllllll!" The most amazing of all things World Cup has been the surprise realization that Em can blow a vuvuzela... well. This video doesn't do it justice because she knows she's not allowed to let it all out in the house, but you get the picture. She puts men 5x's her size to shame with that thing.

Toys-Smoys

I've always wondered why there are so many toys in the toy aisles at stores when so many "favorite" pictures by parents and kids alike are of little ones with pots, tupperware, dirt or the likes. We actually got a "walker" for Em's first birthday before we left the US. We figured we needed to get her something (besides a book or two). What we didn't figure on was her walking the day she turned 10 months or that brightly colored plastic things weren't her style. She was more of the grass-dirt-worm type of kid. Now it's Cooper's turn as he's desperately trying to walk with the assistance of anything he can get his hands on. I figured it was time to bring the walking toy out again. But alas, there it sits, all lonely and unused.

This, this right here is why you shouldn't waste your money. Get a small kiddy chair that slides on carpet or tile or whatever you have, and you're good as gold.

Coop also loves his sister's new stroller. Em isn't too keen but she's generally very good at letting him use it... until he pushes too hard... and falls on his face.

She actually demonstrated to him how to go down to his knees before doing the Superman dive onto the ground. I'm still surprised, but since her instructions, he hasn't had a head-first flop. Amazing what they learn from each other.

And all those toys for Em? Maybe I should have saved my money and just bought more dog food

Colouring Book

Normally, Saturday mornings are rather hectic with things that have to be done, places that need to be seen and so on, so forth. This past Saturday, however, we had a chance to spend a few minutes just hanging out as a family. Todd and I were cleaning the kitchen when Em, rather emphatically, demanded that Daddy come color with her. Not to be left out, Cooper tagged along. By the time the dishes were done, this is the scene I stumbled upon.

Cooper, making sure the quality and waxiness of the crayons were up to par.
Yes, that's really Emme's hair and no, I cannot tame it. The stuff is so fine and so feathery, some days are just like this... all... day.
Father and daughter fully intent on their pretty picture for the fridge.
Coop wanted to make sure he got to help with the picture, and by help I mean crawled on, sat on, and then ripped the paper.

Father's Day

Today, as most of you know, is Father's Day. One key person in our family apparently didn't receive information concerning this special day, and as a result decided it was Cooper's Day instead. Neither Todd nor I got more than an hour of sleep in one stretch last night and even that was doing really well. We hoped that since Coop just got his 9-month immunizations on Thursday that a bit of pain-reliever would do the trick, but no such luck. That left us both yearning for a nap at some point during the day.

Again, we struck out. Cooper didn't want to nap and Em woke up early. She did, however, recognize that her babies needed naps, and proceeded to put them AND Daddy to sleep. She added pillows and blankets to all parties concerned. Then, Daddy got 'extra special' attention. Pretty sure she thought the stool on Daddy's head was necessary to block out the external noise and darken the sunlight from Daddy's eyes. Not sure how well it worked out though.

Then she decided that the stool would be better served as an aid for her to kiss her Daddy to sleep. These kids kill us with their love, but seriously, how sweet is this?!?!

Birthday Girls

Today was party day in the Leslie household and it... was... AMAZING! We had such a great time with so many friends (oh, and Em seemed to have fun as well). Sorry there's no party pictures. I somehow forgot so I'll track them down from various places and get them to you.

Anyways, we had a joint party with a friend, Kallie and it was all things "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." We played pin the head on the caterpillar, and had a caterpillar-inspired pinata. The pinata was interesting here since many of the kids had never seen one. Robin did a great job bursting it open and all the kids really seemed to enjoy the goodies inside (Aunt Kia went a little overboard, but what's a party without too many sweeties?)! The girls were great, even when they were still up WAY past bedtime. Em finally received her coveted stroller/pram that Daddy brought back from the US a few weeks ago. Between that, all her new babies, and her beloved diva bag, I'm not sure she'll want to play anywhere but inside for weeks!

Uncle Phil modeling Em's shades and bag o' girlie goodies. This got a great big laugh from everyone!
Kallie and Em now have matching bags, sunglasses, and outfits. Prepare for "twin" pictures soon to come.
Em was literally in Heaven with the babies and her new stroller. She had ALL the babies in there at one point!!
The new mamas trying to figure out how to care for the new babies. Kallie was getting feeding advice from Em with this one.
Em LOVED her new house coat. Daddy joked that Mommy can be an abominable snowman and Emme Capri will be her cotton candy... hum, not sure if that's a good thing or not, but the robe is SO WARM and fuzzy. It'll come in handy with all of the cold winter mornings to come.

Curtains

I'm cheap. Some people are frugal, but I'm just a down-right penny-pincher. I loathe spending money when I don't have to and I refuse to spend money on something I don't LOVE. That would be why, even after we moved, we still had my WalMart special futon from college for nearly half a year while I decided on couches. To say it drives Todd nuts is an understatement. When we moved here, we left our plates in the States because I didn't want to have plates that, when broken, could not be replaced (and they were Target hand-me-downs that got handed down to another very worthy person- thanks for taking them off our hands future Dr. Wilson!). Anyways, we went hunting, and I mean hunting with a very obliging missionary here. She even drove us to the end of the city and back looking for plates. I found what I wanted, which I didn't know I wanted until I saw them, four months later. Like I said, I have to love it to spend money on it. Certain things, however, particularly grind on Todd's nerves... like curtains. He insists that they are a "must" and I feel draping a sheet or something of the sorts is perfectly acceptable while I hunt. So to compromise, I have a set of generic-colored khaki curtains that I have used in 5 houses now while I a) hunt for what I want or b) move before I find what I want. Either way, they serve their purpose.

We've been in the new flat for almost three months with these curtains as our only block from the outside world (they do have a pretty good view into our living room). They were about 2 feet too short, but that just ment everyone could see Cooper playing with the dog through the glass, and I was okay with that. But alas, the hunt ended when I went to coffee with a friend and saw the most AMAZING curtains. They were great but with a price tag of almost $125 per panel, and I would need 4 or 5, plus the overly-flowery top, I decided to see if I could DIY those same curtains. Two trips to the fabric store later, and burlap found by the plastic fencing (don't ask), I have my curtains.

Yes, they're more than a bit country. Yes, they're mostly burlap. Yes, I did just eye ball the cuts to the burlap and then fray them until I thought they "looked right." But I still made them ALL cheaper than I could have bought one. And besides the slight earthy smell in the house, I couldn't be more pleased. The best part? I can utilize the amazing sunlight that streams into this flat all day long without having people see into my house! Wahoo!!! Now on to clean the living room floor which looks more like the arts and crafts pavilion at a camp than anything else.

Ghana vs. Serbia

So I know many (okay almost all) if you come for one of two things: 1) to see pictures of the kiddos or 2)to get a good laugh. Don't think I can deliver on either tonight, but we'll see.

I went to my very first World Cup 2010 soccer game this afternoon and I must say, it was truly amazing. It was, of course, done in true South African glory. Translation: friendly exchange of pleasantries, very friendly pat-downs, my bag not being opened once. Hum, sometimes, things here don't make sense to me, although I'm sure they make sense to someone else! The crowd was so excited though, and the energy so electric that we soon forgot the five ticket checks and indecently close encounters with others as we tried to get through the white-tented security.

See, there's the white tents! That was check-point #1 of 4.

The playing of the national anthems were amazing. I was so impressed that the crowd of 83,000+ people could quiet that fast when, I'm guessing, not many more than 30,000 actually had a stake in the game's outcome... and everyone was STINKIN' EXCITED. These guys were SCREAMING the Serbian anthem, which still just sounded like half-dazed jibber-jabber to me, but again, it was being screamed rather than sung.

My biggest complaint? The earplugs which forced me to blackberry chat my friend sitting DIRECTLY next to me. Literally, I was in S-21 and she was in S-22. Second biggest? I didn't really know either team, nor was I particularly attached to who won. That was until the Serbian bench didn't hand back a ball to be thrown in by a Ghanian player. Then I was just frustrated and upset at their lack of ethics, morals, or just plain manners that my loyalties went from whoever-has-the-ball to Ghana-better-win!!!

The guys sitting behind us went off on Americans who (apparently ALL of us) "don't even know ANYTHING about soccer," which made me laugh. Our team may not be a powerhouse like Germany or Brasil or Italy, but that doesn't mean we know "nothing." Come on man! Have a heart, American kids today have everything from roller durby to extreme snowboarding to the traditional stuff. We've got tons of great athletes spread over hundreds of different sports. I still say for as young as our soccer programs are, we've done alright on the world's stage... and that's not even mentioning our women, for which there is NO comparison!

Anyways, back from my tangent. We were at Loftus stadium in Pretoria/Tswane. The vuvuzelas (aka horns) were louder I think outside the stadium than in it! We were in the nosebleed section, but seriously, none of these pictures are zoomed and they were all taken with my dinky point-and-shoot. Such an amazing blessing to have the chance to go. Amazing blessing. Who would have thought years ago when I dreamed of going to a world cup game how God would orchestrate for that to be possible! Amazing!!!

Let's Get This Party Started!

Tomorrow is the official kick-off of the World Cup 2010 here in South Africa. It's been a dream of mine to go to a wold cup for a long, long time... funny how God makes sure to take care of the frivolous and mostly improbable dreams you have! Anyways, tomorrow. The regional office staff and family members are having a P A R T Y ! ! ! ! (Can you tell, we're excited? Cause we are.) As preparation for the festivities, some of the missionary kids have been scouring high and low for all things fun, like face paint and finger nail polish in South Africa's colors. The girls asked if they could paint Em's nails, which I said was fine fully believing that my budding ADHD kid wouldn't be able to sit still long enough to have them painted, let alone let them dry. However, after much TV watching and bribery, the girls were able to accomplish the impossible!

All night long she was walking around saying, "Pretty finger. Pretty finger." Still having issues finding her a soccer jersey, but we'll give it one more go in the morning before giving in and buying her one that's literally 10 sizes too big.

Highlighters, Cooking and Letters

Fridays are normally the day of choice for all things random and hodge-podge; at least when I was teaching they were. Anything and everything that needed to be taken care of but was forgotten during the week was cared for on that day. As other SAHMs (Stay At Home Mom) or work-from-home-moms will probably agree though, just about every day feels like a Friday and a Monday all wrapped up into one. So even though it's actually "hump day" (I've been thinking it was Friday for three days now), I'm going to pretend.

Em has discovered a new art form. Not of coloring or drawing or the likes, no, no, no. She has managed to sneak and then hide until a later time, all things forbidden. For example, someone sent Em some play dough, which was sure to be found mashed into my carpet or eaten by Cooper, so I put it in the safest place I could think of- the stair case. Half-way up, so there was no way anyone would disturb it until I could find a more suitable location. I recently found the said play dough in Em's giant plastic pink purse, where I caught her looking for anyone around, then pulling it out and fighting to open the thing. Thanks Aunt Hilary for the temptation and thanks Oma for the wonderful hiding place. It's also where Em hid my Bible study highlighters for DAYS. Didn't know she had it, so like a trusting mother, I went to the restroom (I don't know when, exactly, using the restroom undisturbed became a luxury of mammoth proportions, but it seriously is these days). Came out to find Em's handiwork. Guess I should be thankful it wasn't on Cooper.

Also, have been attempting to reclaim my kitchen, but alas the sink, after much work and effort, was thought to be draining for a few hours, but is indeed still non-functioning. Which translates to three dishes or one pot washed, then 30-40 minutes of wait time to get anything else washed. It's disgusting, but I wanted to try out a recipe for chocolate chip cookie bowls. They looked great until they oozed off the pan and dripped into my oven, and then smoking the whole family out for almost an hour. Great thought, maybe I'll try again another time. At least Em got some "yummy"! (her name in the form of a cookie(s)!)

And lastly, we've been working on the alphabet with Em as she apparently has strong objections to counting past 14. So a few times a week, we watch "Learning About Letters" from Sesame Street. She is always very intense when the story about the king banishing the letter "p" comes on. Guess she doesn't like them taking his princess and pizza or something. She seems to always put this face on, which is hysterical to me but I'm not sure she'll agree in a few years time. Oh well, guess that's what she gets for highlightering my walls :)

Shower Curtain

Today was one of those rare days when both kids are asleep at the same time. Now, granted, it only lasted for about 30 minutes, but it was enough. I recently got a wonderful gift of material from IKEA. It's beautiful and intriguing and just down-right fun!

See, when we moved from the old flat, which had two tubs to this one, we had the glorious (divine really) privilege of getting a standing shower! Now, this may not seem like a big deal, but for those of us where were having to slouch more than slightly for over a year, this pleasure is one of those little things that help start the day off right. The only issue is, not many people have standing showers without the glass doors here. Thus, the saying "necessity is the mother of all invention" holds true!

So I took my 30 minutes and dove straight into the task at hand.

But alas, thirty minutes is nothing with such an enormous task at hand and Cooper decided he just simply HAD to come and help. The only problem is, my sewing area is more of a make-shift sewing machine on a chair in the living room. That mixed with Coop's love of all things wires and feet, so that when I was in need to reduce the speed of the sewing machine, I found myself with a helper on the foot press!

As I was nearly finished, I was remind of another helper who has displayed her LOVE for the thread and her want to string it around the couch a time or two, I ran out of thread with only 18 inches left to go. I'm rather sad about it all, but tomorrow is another day and maybe I'll finish... maybe! :

Treat

I often seem to find myself at the wrong end of a joke... usually at my expense. I'm an odd kind of duck I suppose. Always have been. My personal eating tendencies are more towards all-natural, unsalted, unprocessed whatever rather than a good steak or ribs (Todd's favorites). Call me crazy, but that's just me. Now with the kids, I realize that I'm VERY far to one end of the spectrum when it comes to certain things like making my own baby food or cloth diapering and such. I do these things because it works well for me and my beliefs and my way of life. I dont' really think it makes me any more or less of a good mom, it's just what we do here. Anyways, those tendencies have gotten me teased when I don't give either kid any measurable amount of sugar very often (as in almost never!). Todd, being Mr. Wonderful, is totally fine letting me do my thing, so needless to say I had to scrap his jaw off the table when I suggested that all (who could hold their own ice cream) go to McD's and get a treat.

Todd ate off more than half of Em's cone, but it was her very first cone all to herself and she was in HEAVEN! The cone-face mixed with her idea of... accessorizing her outfit was totally worth it and will be able to last me a good 6 months before I get weak enough to offer her something for dessert that's not homemade unsweetened applesauce :)

We teased Coop who just saw a spoon and went NUTS. I would have put the "after" picture here as well, but we were all rolling on the floor laughing at how mad he got! I know as a mother I shouldn't laugh when my kid is screaming, but it was so stinkin' funny to see him get his diaper all up in a bunch that I couldn't help it!!

Bath in a Bucket

It seems that we have had a streak of... mayhem here in the Leslie house lately. I had a moment where I stood back and said to myself, "Hummm. You know you're a missionary in Africa when ____." It's rather odd to me because for the most part, I'm totally spoiled since we're in a major metropolitan city and except for the conspicuous lack of siren noise (due to the lack of active policing), there's not much lacking. So when I came to a point where there were more things in a state of being repaired than in working order (hyperbole, but that's what it felt like when nothing seemed to be working at the moment) and we had no hot water at all, or water for that matter (told you I was spoiled- no water for a few hours, poor baby, right?!), I was rather annoyed. But we went off to dinner with friends in hopes to have warm enough water for the kids' bath in a few hours. No such luck. Em will be okay until morning although her sheets will be changed. Cooper, on the other hand, being the self-proclaimed high-maintenance person in the family, is battling a wicked diaper-rash/burn. Not sure which it is because it looks more like a sunburn than anything else, but he could be teething, so who knows. Anyways, he needed some scrubbin'. But, since we didn't have water, the day's dishes were all in the sink with no way to clear them out, or wash out the sink. The next best option (since all my bowls had been used to make food to go to the friends' house) was the mop bucket. Yes, you heard me correctly, the mop bucket folks! It was yet another time in my life where I was so grateful that we only use natural cleaning products because the stuff I put in my mop water to clean my floors is the same stuff that is clearing up his rash issues. Can I get a "praise the Lord!" from anyone? Scrubbed out the bucket just to be sure there was no lingering grunginess and in went boiled water and then Cooper. Can I just tell you how much that kid LOVED that bucket?

Em came in to see what Cooper and I were up to and wanted to join. It was hard explaining to my two-year-old that 1) she's too big without giving her a complex for the rest of her life and 2) she already had her pajamas on and Mommy doesn't like wet pajamas.

She did exceptionally well at helping Cooper take his toys out of the water. In fact, she decided he didn't need any of them and tried to keep them all to herself. But, alas, Coop is a fighter in more ways than one and was able to, er, obtain his toys once again.

With a face that cute, even in a mop bucket, what more could a person ask for?!