That Sneaky Tooth Fairy

So, as you can tell from the picture Miriam lost another tooth. Today was the first day back to school and she woke up so excited. She has told me she missed her spelling tests, timed math tests and recess. Her top front tooth, plus two lower teeth have been wobbly, and we've teased her about needing to pull the top one, but this morning she came downstairs and showed us that she pulled it out after we put them to bed last night. She was quite excited to come down and show us, especially since it was a surprise to us. She was getting ready to go up and see what the Tooth Fairy left her when Aaron called her over to talk to her for a second, so I could go up and put the coins in her tooth pillow. Thank goodness Aaron's wallet had some 100 forint coins in and I was able to get everything arranged before they made it upstairs. She was quite excited with what was left in her pillow and that the Tooth Fairy made it there. I know one day these things won't be so important, but right now it's a lot of fun watching them use their imagination.

Fall Festival

Last night we had our Campus Crusade Fall Festival. It is an open invitation so everyone in the community is invited to celebrate with us. Miriam and Zach had a good time dressing up, playing games and doing a candy parade collecting candy from Staff members as they sat in their offices. I was happy with the kids costumes this year. Instead of Miriam being a princess, ballerina or some other 'girlie' thing I suggested going as spiderwoman. She loved the idea and it was a huge hit. She looked so cute.

We got a little group pic of her with some of her friends.

Zach was going to go as a basketball player or a football player, but then we thought of something with a cape. With only an hour before we were supposed to leave we put together Underdog. Aaron tried to put black socks on his ears but they wouldn't stay.

Here are just some other fun pics:

Yes, she got an apple

Aaron and Zach waiting for a turn in line

A happy Zach putting candy in his bag

Destroying Pumpkins

You would think that at this time of year we'd be showing videos and pictures of decorating pumpkins and getting ready for the Fall, but that's not the norm here. Back in September Aaron had his school retreat, and on the way home they were able to stop at a pumpkin farm. He came home with one huge pumpkin and a smaller one. The larger one has been developing some nasty spores and not looking so pretty on the porch with big black spots all over. Aaron asked Zach yesterday if he would like to destroy the pumpkin yesterday. Zach's face lit up and he ran upstairs to grap his tools. The picture shows how much fun they had punching holes through with the mallot and kid hammer. They had to break the whole thing apart to find one of Zach's screwdrivers that was pounded into the pumpkin. You can see from the last picture what the poor pumpkin looked like after its demise. Miriam was amazed at how many seeds were inside.

Funny Moment

Yesterday we were in church and we were getting ready for communion. Zach turned around to watch others and saw one of the moms at church dressed for Scouts. Zach looked at me and said in a very loud whisper "Mom, I think that girl behind us is a cop!" I told her later and the best part to her was that Zach called her a girl:)

Zach's 5th Birthday

What a group of kids! We celebrated Zach's 5th Birthday last night with 12 other kids. We celebrated in a prehistoric way with a dinosaur theme. I attempted to make a cupcake cake in the shape of a dinosaur, became paleontologist's looking for dinosaur eggs filled with dinosaur shaped gummies, drew chalk dinosaurs on the driveway and had fun playing around the house. Zach opened lots of presents...I think we can definitely call him a lego-maniac, and he got some fun cars and a large box of dino-bones that when put together create 2 large dinosaurs.


The Dinosaur Cake

Miriam drawing her dinosaur

Zach opening some presents

On Zach's birthday on Tuesday we went to his favorite park and had some fun play time on the bike ramps.

ICSB Basketball Tournament

An Amazing Transformation Taking Place

We had been planning for some time to cut Zach's hair in a mohawk for the tournament this year, so it was growing unusually long for him. Thursday morning before school Aaron cut his hair and before we left for the games it was my responsibility to make it stand up as best as I could. The next two days didn't have as much height to them, but he had many people impressed with his hair-do. Needless to say, Sunday morning, he was stripped of his punk-look and back to a nice short haircut. We all had fun last weekend watching as our girls and boys team played hard and took second place.

Aaron's basketball season is also done and they completed with an undefeated record. Here's a pic from their last game.

By the skin of his forehead

So, this is my first day "blogging" and how strange it feels to be posting things to whomever would like to read them, but I thought it would be appropriate to share a story of how my son got this huge bump on his head. As some know we live in a small town outside of Budapest in Hungary. Most days we are at home, but some days we walk to the school to get the van and run errands. Since Zach has learned to ride a bike he gets to ride his bike to the school while Miriam and I walk. Yesterday was one of the first days I have ever let him ride without a helmet, but I thought with his winter hat it wasn't a big deal. Needless to say we went down a long hill and he started coasting and got about 10-12 houses in front of me and lost his balance. He stopped the fall with his head. I don't think I have run so fast in my life with such a purpose. He stood up screaming holding his head/face, and I had no idea what to expect until I got up to him. Thank God He was watching over Zach and all that happened was this bump. He was more frustrated with me for continuing to ask him his name and how old he was. The nurse at the school cleaned him up and reminded me to keep an eye on him. What a morning! God was definitely watching over us.

Miriam continues to amaze us with her social tendencies. She participates in a children's worship time at church and they performed 2 songs in front of the church. In one of the videos you can see how she enjoys the spotlight as she places the microphone right in front of her. She loves to sing and dance and must have felt right at home on stage. Click on the links below to see the videos. Miriam is obviously the one in the yellow and green:)

I've got to get back to some sewing. I'm trying to finish up a tablerunner for a friend. So, I think I will end here and leave this as my first post.