Computer Crash:(

Just wanted to leave notice--from my friends' house-- that our computer crashed on wednesday, was revived by an IT genius @ Brian's work--PTL! But since it is ancient, in computer years (8 yrs:), we are having to reinstall a driver to be able to connect to the internet. The IT genius is working on that too. It could be a few days or it could be tomorrow--who knows:) I'm thankful our computer is alive and just wanted to let anyone reading the blog know that we are alive too:)

Tea Time

I am officially a tea drinker. A year ago I would never have seen myself adapting to the culture of afternoon tea time. Yes, I've always enjoyed a cup of tea but maybe had it once a month in the states. The ritual seemed a bit victorian and stuffy. But now that I've bought into the practice I can understand and look forward to the "event" of it. Every afternoon when the boys go down for their naps I heat up a cup of green tea (trying to go healthy:) put my 3 tea biscuits on a plate...you have to include this accessory...sit down with my Bible and enjoy immense amounts of pleasure from my 3 minutes of tea sipping...i drink fast:) I'm not sure if the tradition originated with Indians or Britons but I'm thankful to whoever invented tea time and cookies to go with it:)

The Cast is History!

Corban got his cast off today!! Hooray! I'm not sure who is happier...him or me:)

I'm posting before and after pics. He doesn't look too happy in any of them but he is:) I'm really not sure that he knew what to make of the event. I think he was excited but there was the unknown factor...what will it be like without this attachment on my arm? There is also video of the cast being removed. He was very brave. I had Haddon and Kai there too so you can hear me trying to keep them in order in b/w cheering for Corban:) BTW...Kai wasn't crying b/c of the loud saw...he was crying b/c he wanted Haddon's toy:) I didn't realize when I stopped the second video that Haddon was feeling Corban's arm. I thought that was really cute when I watched it later and wish I would have known to keep filming:)

Corban says his arm feels like it's floating in space...i'm sure a cast can weigh you down after 6 weeks:)

The most amazing part about this...and I do mean amazing...is that after 4 doctor visits (to the chief doctor of the hospital), 8 x-rays, 2 casts put on and 2 casts taken off, the total cost was less than $100!!! Oh yes...compare that to the 1000's of dollars it cost for the uninsured E.R. bill and ambulance ride in the U.S. (We'll be getting travel insurance on our next visit:D) I'm not trying to invoke sympathy...the Lord is such a wonderful Provider and thankfully in America there is the "monthly payment plan"... but it goes to show the INFLATION of health care in the states. But you know I must say that in most of the he U.S. you are getting/paying for state of the art treatment and technology. I think the x-ray machine at the hospital here has to be as old as me (that's over 30 years old!:D). I prayed every time that Corban got one of the 8 x-rays that he wouldn't be "over-radiated".

I'm so thankful that his arm is healed and that in both locations, here and the states, we had great medical treatment. And,with 3 boys, I realize this is only the beginning of the injury list !

Part 1...the SAW!

Part 2...the finished product!

Date #2

Brian and I had our second date night in a year+ last night! Yes, when you only go on a date every six or seven months it is quite a treasure and you wish it could last a few hours longer!:) Our sweet friends suggested doing a kiddie trade-off so we went first and next Saturday they will get a date night. We chose Hard Rock Cafe as our destination and enjoyed looking at each other in the eyes and speaking in complete sentences without having to feed little mouths or tend to interuptions:) Brian got a gigantic juicy burger and I chowed down on chicken fajitas, topped off by a brownie sundae. A date and American food...can't beat that:)

Pacifier Blues

At 17 months of age Kai has had his pacifier retired....it went "ni, nite" forever. It was a sad couple of days of crying at bed/nap time but thankfully for his stuffed bunny (in the picture:) and friends that sleep with him he overcame:) It's one of those things in life that you know as a parent you should have done when he was 3 months old (or 6 months old, or a year old!) so it doesn't have to "hurt" so bad later. But you just keep giving it to him because it brings comfort. And we are learning that it also brought sleep! Since giving up the pacifier (he only used it for bed times) he sleeps 2 hours less in the mornings, which puts a damper on homeschool!:) and 1-2 hours less for his afternoon nap. Almost makes me want to give it back to him:) But the teeth are at stake here...really the only reason for the pacifier seperation...they are becoming "bucked":D

Strange Sights

There's never a lack of interesting scenery here in Bangalore. The latest oddity was this past week which was the festival of Ganesha. Ganesha is an idol (and a lord to Hindu's). I believe he is thought to bring success and from what I gather the festival is celebrated in South India. Well hundreds of little hot pink ganesha idols were for sale on many street curbs the past couple of weeks. Not that we aren't used to seeing idols living here but this one looks like a pink elephant man . It just made my stomach turn to see these little ceramic idols lined up by the scores. And scattered around town are shrines set up with life size ganesha's where people come to worship before it. From what I understand the idol is immersed in a lake or body of water before it is put in it's shrine/tent. Then as we drove around during the week, at different times, I saw tractor trailers with a large idol and lots of young men sitting in the trailer. I guess it's like a one float parade? Festival season is upon Bangalore which means the next few months will be one after another of idol worship so it shouldn't really be a surprise to see all of this...it's just very disheartening. I'm posting a picture of what a ganesha idol looks like...not to glorify it or make more of it than any other idol...but to show you how creepy the thing looks!:) I'm sorry to offend any Hindu's that may be reading this, but when you don't grow up around idols and you don't believe in them it's just a bit eerie.

Life Update

Corban: Just completed his first week of school minus one sick day (already--but it was legit:) He is eager to learn which is a great help. He is frequently counting to 100 for fun these days:) He's bending his arm and getting to bathe his elbow now:)

Haddon: Is getting the hang of the computer. He loves to play the "Smiley Ball" game, which is really just using my email to put different smiley face inserts that yahoo offers:) It's amazing how young kids can figure out how to use a mouse! It keeps him busy while we are doing school.

Kai: Is getting 2 more teeth. I call them the canine teeth--the pointed ones:) He is in "phase one" of potty training--which means when momma sees "the face" she runs him to the toilet, rips off his diaper and sits him down on it. It's working, when I catch it! And he loves the applause he gets for it. He is also beating up on his big brothers. He is not afraid to tackle, pinch and scratch their faces! He pays the penalty for being a bully but I don't know whether to laugh or cry inside. It's funny seeing a 17 month old taking down a big boy but I don't want my child to be a terror so we are working to put a stop to it!

Me: I just completed my first week of Kindergarten...again:) I loved it. One small little instance was when Corban was learning about cents in math. He learned about pennies and how many cents they are worth. Well I thought about that we won't have change lying around to show him what the coins look like. (He'll learn Indian rupees too) I went to get my "American" wallet that sits in a drawer and pulled out the few coins I had. Do you know that there was one of each type of coin in there! I was so excited:) A thoughtful gift from God. He sent us back to India with just the right amount of money in our wallet:) 58 cents:)

Not So Presto Pesto
Yesterday I made homemade pesto sauce for a pasta dish I was bringing to our church small group. I am all about shortcut cooking and you may know that I have joked about feeling like a pioneer woman here (in the states I would have bought pesto in a jar:). Well, the recipe called for toasted walnuts. So I did find some whole walnuts w/shells at the store. I don't have a nut cracker so I had to open them with a rolling pin all while the children are napping. It was quite loud and tedious. I was sweating by the end and only managed to get about half of the actual walnuts out of the shells. I was fantasizing the whole time of walking down the baking aisle at WalMart and buying a pack of chopped walnuts:) (There's that comparing again:) So I put them in the oven, started working on the pasta and then, oh yes, smelled the pungent burning coming from the oven. They were inedible. Ah, the joy of cooking. And though I know there are many American woman who prefer to make homemade pesto rather than use a store bought jar, I still feel like Laura Ingalls sometimes:D And really, don't let me fool you, I do have it easy here...I had a co-worker in MN whose wife had to wring their chicken's necks to get a meal when they lived in Africa. That's a pioneer woman!

Kai Helping Momma

Just the right height:)

Corbans First Day of Kindergarten

Monday was Corban's first day of school (homeschool) and he also had his cast taken off and replaced with a shorter one. He has two more weeks to go til arm freedom! Daddy went with him to the doctor for support and physical strength incase there was a need to hold him down:D Brian said he did remarkably well when the SAW was used to cut off the cast. His elbow hurt and brought him to tears since he hadn't straightened it out in almost 6 weeks. He is such a trooper. He never complains about being restrained. I can tell there are alot of things he is looking forward to doing once he gets it off.