Thankful Turkey and a Solar Powered Christmas

After we arrived home to Budapest, we slowed down to think about all the things we are thankful for. So we made a thankful turkey. Here's Claudia doing her "presentation of turkey". She reenacts the "presentation of Simba" (Lion King) scene with just about every inanimate object in the house. When I asked Claudia what she is thankful for, I got an interesting response. In this order, it went: (1) Oatmeal - her teddy; (2) Carsten - her best pal; (3) Mommy & Daddy - maybe we'll crack top two next year; (4) food; (5) seeds - we've been reading the lost Suess book, the Bippolo Seed; (6) elephants - not sure where this came from; and (7) toys & goodies.

Thankful turkey's feet were made by tracing Claudia's hand. She loves having her hand traced. She also signed her name. See that line?

Claudia is starting the grasp the concept of being thankful. It was a great time to sit down, thank God for everything we've been given, appreciate each other and give thanks to all those around us who love us and do so much for us.

I am thankful for my family. I am thankful for their health. I am thankful to be adding another little person to our family. I am thankful that, although we are away from our family and friends in the US, we have made friends here and that it really feels like home. Bop looks pretty mischevious in this picture. I'm thankful that I didn't know what she was up to at that moment.

I took this photo right before we went to Houston. It was definitely fall... leaves on the tree, changing colors and football in full swing. Mandi, Claudia loves her LSU dress... it took a while for the wee one to fit into it, but it was worth the wait! She calls it her "LSU gown." The leaves were all changing colors and it was beautiful to watch. This is the window outside my kitchen. When we got home, all the leaves had fallen off. Its just a boring old wall now.

Now that turkey day is over, it's time to start getting ready for Christmas. The first line of business was to get a tree and some lights. They don't chop down trees here. No, they sell them, roots and all, so that you can plant the tree in your yard after Christmas or resell them back to the nursery. I opted to get a fake tree (its about 5 feet tall and was one of the biggest I could find), but wasn't spared any of this eco-friendly-Christmas nonsense. Here is what I found when I opened the box of Christmas lights (minus one Lego man).

What's that you ask? It's a solar panel. You stake it out in your yard during the day and then connect it to a battery pack in the evening. Apparently a lot of people (not me) chose to power their tree lights with the energy of the sun. A lot of people (not me) think this is just a great idea. It took two trips to the hardware store before I finally found a somewhat normal strand of lights that uses good old fashioned electricity.

After we got all that light nonsense out of the way, Claudia had a real hoot decorating. And look how big my tree looks... when my toddler stands next to it!!

Over the Ocean and Down Interstate, to Gram's House We Go

We're over here in Budapest, getting all set to watch the LSU - Arkansas game... which has got me somewhat nervous, as Arkansas has, in the past, gotten the best of the tigers in this last game of the season. We're also getting back into the swing of things, after a pathetically short trip home for the holidays. We had to jump on our one opportunity to fly home before the baby is here... which unfortunately meant cutting short our time with our dear Budapest guests, Rachel and Ryan!

We were so excited to have these two cherished friends come see us. It was fun showing them the sights of Budapest and getting some quality time with my precious Rachie. Claudia is especially in love with Rachie and Ryan and can't wait to visit them in Chicago one day. We had to leave Budapest before they did, to maximize our last minute trip to the states, so that part kind of stunk!When we left Budapest, it was below freezing. When we arrived in Houston, it was 85 degrees. I was not prepared for that, but I certainly appreciated the brief break from the cold. Claudia capitalized on the opportunity to plant flowers with Pawpaw.

Then we drove on to Louisiana... where it turned out to be freezing! Claudia got to ride on Paps' fine red tractor, which made her day. Pap's also gave Claudia lots of lessons on life in the country, e.g., how to crack pecans, where corn comes from and how to feed horses. Paps and Mama Kate even got Claudia her own little, red Case tractor. She was very pleased. We also visited the McLendons in Oak Ridge and the Morris family in Bastrop. It was a busy, but very fun trip.

We stopped in Shreveport to spend some quality time with Memaw and even got a special visit from the Mann family who were in town on a weekday... what luck!! Memaw made us lots of country cooking and gave Claudia a piano lesson too. I think this is Claudia's favorite activity with Memaw.

Back in Houston, we had a couple of Thanksgiving dinners, including one at Aunt Debbie and Uncle Matthew's house. We also celebrated Aunt Debbie and Mandi's birthdays. Claudia always manages to blow out everyone's birthday candles. She's collected about twenty different person's birthday wishes this year. Mine's coming up in December; I bet she gets that one too!It was also a treat to see all our friends in Houston. It was pretty funny to get Claudia, Audrey and Max together again. They grow up so fast, but they manage to remember each other and pick up where they left off. Daddy, CC and Paps in Mer RougeClaudia with Daddy and her hair twin, Uncle Otis Lee, in Bastrop

Claudia and Daddy with Greatgrandma and Greatgrandpa McLendon in Oak RidgeCC with Gram and Grandpa in Houston

And finally, our flight home to Budapest.

We managed to squeeze in visits to a bunch of relatives spread out over five cities, the farthest being about seven hours apart, over seven days. It was exhausting, but fun. There were so many more friends and family we wanted to see, but we will just have to wait until next Spring... when we bring our newest McLendon to visit!!

Tutu Time

Claudia started taking ballet last month.

Every Wednesday, for thirty minutes, she gives Miss Rachel her full attention.

The girls reach and stretch...

... they wiggle and hop...

... flex...

... and point.
I have as much fun watching as she does dancing. =)

Candymonium

Last year, we were just settling in to Budapest, where Halloween isn't really celebrated, so we didn't have any Halloween to speak of. Specifically, we and the Stanteens drove to Szentendre on Halloween night and watched about fifty kids throw down over a measly bag of candy. It was a pretty pitiful evening and left a lot to be desired.This year, Claudia has reached an age where she generally understands the concept of Halloween and trick or treating, i.e., dress up in fun costume, get candy, be happy. I didn't want this year to be a bust like last year, so I made a self declaration... This year will be different. Depend upon it!

There are no pumpkin patches in Budapest... at least I didn't find any. So we bought a bunch of pumpkins from the produce shop by our house, took pictures with them and carved them up right. CC helped me carve a pumpkin. We named him Jonathan. He's the happy looking fella. Daddy carved two pumpkins... Darth Vader and Jack the Pumpkin King. Tragically, Darth Pumpkin withered and collapsed within a few hours. All the kids that came over said things like "that pumpkin is sad" or "that pumpkin is broken."

To celebrate Halloween, we had Claudia's closest pals over for a little trick or treating. We made cupcakes and whoopie pies and served candy to each children in an amount sufficient to put them each in a sweet little sugar coma.

The kink in our trick or treating plans ... people in Budapest don't trick or treat. Solution: I passed out candy at the front door, while Russell passed out candy at the back door. The toddlers then toddled around and around the house... each time shouting out "trick or treat!" and "hurry, next house!" They did about three rounds of this before we ran out of candy. My sweet Claudia dressed up like Minnie Mouse.

We watch a fair amount of the Clubhouse, so she was pretty excited to be Minnie.

Claudia and her bestie Carsten had a grand old time attacking each other and then sharing candy.

The highlight of the evening proved to be the pumpkin pinata. These kiddos are all well under three, so the pinata was actually a sad, droopy paper sack pumpkin... it worked like a charm. The crew of candy-crazed toddlers beat the pumpkin with croquet mallets until the pitiful thing finally burst.

It was an eventful night for all and it also marked the beginning of my last trimester! Only three months to go!

Campfire Stories & Housebound Halloween Crafts

The weather's nice and chilly here, so we lit up our fire pit this weekend.Claudia was very helpful roasting weenies, until she wasn't.

Distracted by the marshmallows, she let Daddy do all the work.

Five minutes later... an entire bag of marshmallows disappeared.

Sweet girl giving Daddy a smooch by the fire.

And look here! I did something crafty.

I asked Claudia if she would pose by the pumpkins.

She wandered off. Went back inside. We'll try that again.

Poor thing has been sick all week, so we've been quarantined, sitting inside all day.

Making glitter ghosts.

... and Q-tip skeletons, paper pumpkins... and lions.

When she regained her strength, she tested baby brother's bed out.

She commented that "it's a crummy bed, but it's fine for him."

What a sweet big sister.

After a week of indoor isolation, she's generated about fifty original works of art...

...and has made about a dozen glitter bats. They're made out of egg cartons.

We have glitter all over this house.

It really gives this place the glimmer and shine it's been missing.

Thankfully, Claudia has turned a corner, so I think by tomorrow she will be officially healed.

And we can finally leave the house!!

Busy Body

We haven't been up to much around here... just chasing our wild banshee daughter around the house and wherever else she may roam. We got the potty training thing down. This is a picture of Claudia, post-potty, feeling victorious, taking a victory lap around the dining table. Party streamers in hand. Sans pants. Little lady has also been taking ballet class for the past few weeks. This is Claudia with her teacher, Miss Rachel. She gives Miss Rachel her full attention for thirty minutes every Wednesday afternoon. It's pretty impressive. I'm going to videotape the next lesson. I still can't believe how focused these girls become at the lesson. Very cool.

We bought Claudia a bunch of winter hats. Despite the dropping temperature here, Claudia insists that these hats have a very narrow purpose... head warming while she lounges on the couch. She puts her hat on and gets cozy on the sofa... reviewing her latest coloring book masterpiece. Hats are also worn while she watches Olivia and munches on popcorn.

Thus far, the hats are only worn on the couch. The hats are often found discarded in the school yard... you know, where it's like 50 degrees. We've also been cooking. Claudia gives everything a thorough smell test before tasting.

I wish I could say that I discourage this type of behavior (drinking sugar milk after polishing off cereal), but really, isn't this an essential part of being a kid? I think it is... so it goes!