Fall Flashback

Last night we had a fall festival at our apartment complex for all of us "foreigners" who live here. We bobbed for apples, pinned the stem on the pumpkin, had a cupcake walk, and of course....."trick or treated" the foreigners in the area. There were a lot of happy children last night...including my two. It was a fun evening with friends of all ages, whom we dearly love.

As I was looking at pictures tonight, I remembered one of my favorite pictures of my two kiddos from one "dress-up" night at EHC. It was 2001 and Rob had just returned from this side of the world for the first time. He had brought back each child some local costumes. They were so excited to wear them. Actually, Hannah was excited, Hudson could have cared less, he was 18 months old.

Then.

Now.

Last night Hannah and her friend Katy dressed up like they were going to a masquerade ball, and Hudson....well he was an OU football player again. When you are 9 years old and love the Sooners, there is no other option. The funny thing about Hannah and Katy was the planning and preparation into making their outfits perfect. Katy has been coming over for the last 2 weeks trying on clothes, bringing clothes over for Hannah, etc, etc. The girls started getting ready yesterday, about 2 hours before hand, putting on makeup, doing hair, etc....and finally putting on their mother's tall black heeled boots. After 15 minutes at the party, however, the boots had been replaced with flip-flops, the masks and scarves were too hot....all that preparation, for 15 minutes of glory. Girls.

I couldn't pass up this last picture. This is the Hudson I know and love. I think he had just pinned the stem perfectly on the pumpkin.

The Results

Well, the winning prize is buying you dinner in our town....but since none of you guessed correctly...... no dinner. I think each of our pumpkins fit our personalities....if that is even possible. Tell me what you think.

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Fall Family Fun

Wednesday night was my family night! I love family night, especially when it is my turn! Just kidding, every week is fun as it brings out the personalities of each one of us.

This week I couldn't decide what to do. I didn't want to watch a movie or play a game, but wanted to something fun as a family. So, I went to the market and bought 4 small pumpkins and decided we would put on some good music and each carve our own pumpkins.

When the pumpkins arrived home, everyone was thrilled with the idea, especially the kids who were going to get carve their own for the first time. Hannah really enjoyed cleaning out the insides, which was good because her dad made it clear that he DOES NOT!!And when would Hudson ever pass up an opportunity to get messy and dirty? We quickly ate tacos, cleaned off the table, and started carving. Here are our finished pumpkins. Can you guess who carved which pumpkin? See if you can figure it out. (none are masterpieces by any stretch)

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Come back tomorrow to see if you were correct!!

Babies R Us

We love babies around here! No, we aren't having one of own, so we just borrow them from time to time. Our friends oblige us every once in a while and let their girls come over to play! Hannah loves her little friend, and loves to play with her. Last week she came over for about an hour while her parents and big sis were out. Shouldn't that big girl be about the same size as the little one?!?!? Yikes! Even Hudson got in on some baby playtime.

We are so thankful for our "family" on this side of the world. We couldn't ask for sweeter "aunts" and "uncles" and "cousins" to fill in for the ones we have left behind! They are some of the blessings we never dreamed we would receive once we moved here.

The Vomit Comet

Last weekend was a holiday here. We were invited to spend it with some local friends in their hometown. We accepted their invitation, got up early Saturday morning and took a 2 hour bus ride to meet them, then another hour ride with them out to their hometown. We had a great time with them and their family all weekend. We shared meals, talked, sat around with the neighbors, the boys went searching for snakes and frogs (which Hudson loved), and we ate fruit that I could never tell you what it was nor describe it to you.

We discovered that there was one bus that went directly from our friend's hometown directly to our city in less than 3 hours, without changing buses. So we decided to see if it would get us home quicker then the normal 3-4 hour trip. All of our fun, however, ended as we boarded the bus to come home.

Things seemed fine as we found our seats about 3/4 of the way back. Then the bus started moving. 15 minutes into the trip and I realized we had made a big mistake. The bus driver was driving at record speeds on small roads with lots of curves and potholes. Up and down, around and over. And we were sitting towards the back.

One of the interesting things about living here is you discover that most people are not used to long car travel. They walk everywhere. Maybe they will take a 10 minute bike ride somewhere or a quick taxi ride, but very very seldom do they take long car/bus rides. It is hard for us to imagine what it might be like, since as my teacher says, "Americans are practically born in cars aren't they?" I have met so many people who just can't leave their city becasue it is too uncomfortable for them to ride anywhere for any amount of time. The motion is too great.

So, back to my story. 15 minutes into the ride I start hearing the rumbling of plastic bags. I look down and see that every seat has 2 barf bags. Not a good sign. There was a poor girl sitting behind me that had her head in the bag the whole 3 hours. Then the poor young couple with a newborn who kept passing her back and forth so the other could....well, use the barf bag. Friends, I couldn't turn my ipod up loud enough or stop breathing long enough to avoid the array of smells that were infiltrating my space. On top of this, I, myself have been known to need to "sit where I can see the road ahead" as to avoid sickness. I was fighting to keep myself from being sick just trying to stare straight ahead and listen to my music VERY loudly.

About an hour and a half into the trip, more and more people were being allowed to get on the bus as we passed them on the road, filling up the aisle of the charter bus with people sitting on little plastic stools......themsleves getting sick and causing the temperature on the bus to rise. About that time the man behind Rob let loose of all he had been keeping in and at that moment I hit my low point. Between gags, I felt the tears coming. Tears of denial, laughter, and lunacy. Rob was truly concerned, saying we would get off at the next town and flag down another ride home. He was very compassionate. I pulled it together, and could do nothing but laugh at the situation.

This is the view from Rob's seat. Please notice the guy in front of him, he was practically leaned in Rob's lap as his seat was broken in the "fully reclined" position. Needless to say we exceeded the number of seat that were actually on the bus.

Thankfully we made it home just under 3 hours. The best part was watching everyone file off the bus with their barf bags all tied up ready to deposit in the trash can. Rob said next time we could ride in the front of the bus. NEXT TIME??? I am taking the 3-4 hour bus that uses the nice, new, paved highway!

The new "do"

Yesterday, we took a big step and cut off 9 inches of Hannah's hair. For girls with very thick, curly hair, it was a little bit of a mystery how it would turn out.

We armed ourselves with pictures of the hairstyle we wanted and our good friend who is a local to help us with communicating EXACTLY what we wanted. It is very difficult to find people here who will cut your hair the way you want. Many times, especially because there is no one with thick, coarse hair like ours here, they don't know what to do with us. Thankfully we have found one lady who listens and will do the things we want. She works in a "salon" that looks more like a "hole in the wall" than a salon. But, we only paid $2.75 for the cut and wash. And we were pleased with the outcome, which is the most important thing. So without further ado......
And I just really like this picture. This girl LOVES to read!

The Cut Off

Somthing changed in our household today. It was drastic. I will give you 3 guesses.....

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3. Hmmmm.....wonder what it could be. Check in tomorrow!!!