Journey To Barcelona (Part 1) - On Our Way!

There is so much to tell about this amazing adventure, that it wouldn't do it justice to try and tell it all in one post.  I plan to break it up into parts.  I don't know how many there will be, but I suppose you will know when I get to the last one.  Enjoy the journey with us!

What is an adventure without some drama?  After we arrived back to Manila in August, we had to immediately turn in our passports to immigration for our visa renewals.  This comes up every two years and can take several weeks to process.  Our visas were due to expire on September 18, so giving them six weeks in advance should help, right?  Well, they actually like for you to submit everything two months in advance but we were not back in country yet.  For all of August, we didn't worry too much.  Even September was OK, although after the 18th we began to ask about the status. Into October, it was getting a little too close for comfort.  We were beginning to wonder if we would need to pull the passports and get a special letter that allows us to travel and then submit them again when we return.  This had become the plan, but we were still praying for a miracle.  Three days before departure we heard that the passports may be released with the visas.  However, a jeepney driver strike (public transportation) for two days meant that no government offices were open since the majority of their employees rely on public transport to get to work. Things were not looking good.  I won't leave you holding your breath for long though.   On the evening before our departure, just eight hours before we left for the airport, we picked up our passports and they were complete with visas.  What a blessing (miracle) that was.  With passports finally in hand, we were ready to go, and this trip began to feel like it was really going to happen. 

The day finally arrived for Noah and Dad's big trip to Barcelona.  It would start with an early morning flight to Hong Kong, so we left the house before 2am to make our way to the airport in Manila.  Because this flight was a separate ticket from our frequent flier tickets onward, we had to give ourselves a big enough layover to account for possible problems. Fortunately, there were none so we arrived as scheduled, and there was time for breakfast.  Should we eat like locals and have the noodles?  We ended up at McDonalds.  As long as there was coffee, Dad was happy.  Because we were so early now, we could not yet check in for our flight.  We had to wait and watch the Departures board to see when our flight would open for check-in.  We would be flying FinnAir to Barcelona via Helsinki, Finland.  This was kind of exciting because we would have twelve hours in Finland to maybe look around, and of course adding a new country to the list of places you have been is always fun.  It seemed like forever that we waited to check in and board, but we eventually found ourselves on a plane headed for Europe.  It still hardly seemed possible.
FinnAir was a new experience, and was a good one.  They had very good service and we felt well taken care of.  It was about ten hours to Helsinki, so we were thankful for it.  Upon arrival, the first thing we noticed was that it was dark already.  Hadn't really thought about the time of year, how far north we would be, and how early the darkness comes.  Looking around would not be an option.  Since we had twelve hours here, we opted to book a hotel nearby.  We found that the easiest way to get there was by shuttles that came ever fifteen minutes or so.  We had just missed one.  We went
outside into the darkness to wait and realized that we had also not anticipated just how cold it would be.  Living in the tropics, it doesn't take much to feel cold. I think it was around 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit).  In just our sweatshirt hoodies, we huddled together to stay warm.
Once we were at the hotel, it was

Outside the Helsinki airport in cold morning air

to the room and under some blankets.  Dad went downstairs to the restaurant in the lobby and ordered dinner for Noah.  We ate in our very small room, where we had a better chance of staying warm.  On the television, we found some of the original Batman shows from the 1960s.  These were quite entertaining (and interesting) to watch.  We needed to leave for the airport by 3:30am, so the lights soon were out.  At 3am, Dad got up to take a shower and start packing.  Shortly after closing the bathroom door, he heard what sounded like crying.  He came back and found Noah in tears.  He had woken up and found Dad not in bed and thought he had been left.  Poor little guy.  Concerns of whether we were crazy for thinking an eight year old was ready to  be sleeping away from either of his parents for eight nights at a soccer training camp were running high. He bounced back though and we were ready to keep going.  We ran from the hotel to the heated shuttle bus that morning and were glad to be back in the airport.
Since Finland and Spain are both part of the EU, leaving Finland was like a domestic flight.  Everything is also automated so that you never have to talk to an actual person.  We were able to self-check our bags and send them on their way, but when we went to enter the passenger security check area, we ran into a problem.  You are supposed to scan your boarding pass and then some glass gates will open for you to walk through to the security area.  Only one person at a time can go through. Dad made the mistake of going through first. 

Cinnamon Rolls and coffee, what more can you ask for?

Once through, it was Noah's turn.  He was not able to get his boarding pass situated correctly, so the gates never opened.  Dad tried to reach back across to help, but this sets off a buzzer to let you know that you are not supposed to do that.  Before any panic could set in, a very kind stranger came along and helped Noah to scan his boarding pass and we were reunited.  I think Dad is used to traveling by himself or with Mom's help too much.  Once we were into the gates, there was nothing to do but wait, and of course find some yummy Scandinavian breakfast foods.
Due to the darkness and the cold, we don't have a lot of photos documenting any of these experiences.  We had hoped that we might even get lucky and see the Northern Lights.  This was around the time of year that they are usually seen. No such luck though.   We could only capture a few moments at the airport before we left.  It would be a four hour flight from Helsinki to Barcelona.  We still couldn't believe this was really happening, and yet feeling so blessed for the opportunity.

Barcelona, Here we Come!

Exploring the Helsinki Airport

Big News from Barca!!

And now for the big surprise that followed the FC Barcelona Soccer Camp...

After the camp was finished, Dad and the boys had a lot of driving ahead of them.  There were a couple of family visits to make before leaving Oklahoma, and then the long drive back up to Indiana.  We planned to make the trip over two days, which we did, but as always the boys pushed to get a little further.  It is about a 12-hour drive, and I think we drove about 10 hours on the first day.  On the next day, we finally came to Indianapolis and reconnected with Mom and the girls.  It is always nice to have the whole family back together.

While spending time at Uncle Kevin's house and sharing all about the soccer camp experience, we received an unexpected email from the FC Barcelona Camp USA.  Below is what it said:

We knew from the previous year that they select players to train at their academy in Barcelona. Last year, they selected just two kids and they did this at the closing ceremony of the camp.  This year, no selections were announced, so we thought maybe they were not going to do it.  This email came as quite a shock.  Everyone cheered and celebrated the news.  Noah was chosen to go to Barcelona and train at one of the top academies in the world!!  Of course, reality had to set in sometime, and we eventually had to break the news to Noah that this is unlikely to happen.  There were numerous challenges that would have to be discussed and worked out:

1.  School - the trip is not on a school break, so he would miss around 8 days.
2.  Work - Dad would go with him so needed to have the time available. As it turns out, he had annual meetings to be at that same week.
3.  Finances - this is not an all expense paid trip. There is a package price for Noah's participation, a package price for Dad to get to be involved in some of the events with Noah, and of course airline tickets for both of us, and hotel and food for Dad (since Noah would sleep and eat with the team).
4.  Response Time - the email said that we only had two weeks to respond. This didn't seem very long so we were not sure we could figure everything out in that short time.  A few days later, they wrote again and said that they had made a mistake as we really only had one week!  If we needed extra time though, we could let them know.  We needed the extra time, but it only got us back to the original two weeks.

This was enough for us to think we should not consider it.  We decided it was quite an honor to be selected, so let's just celebrate that.  Of course, walking away from such an opportunity was not going to be easy.  The more we talked about it with others, the more we realized what a once in a lifetime opportunity it would be. We had to at least try to see if it could work.

For school, we found that there are a couple of holidays that will come up during this time, so he would miss a total of 6 days.  Since he is only in 2nd grade, we felt like that was not as much as it seemed.  He is a good student and could easily work ahead or catch up afterwards.
For work, we needed to see if Dad could miss his meetings.  He hadn't really considered it as a possibility because these were important meetings that he was always a part of. It was when someone said to him that 'meetings will be there every year, but a trip to Barcelona with your son may not. You should ask.'   Our director is a good friend and fellow fan of soccer.  He was even our neighbor when we lived in Africa and would often come over to watch the big matches with us.  That is all good for our chances.  The problem is that he is a fan of Real Madrid, the biggest arch rival of Barcelona on the planet.  This was not going to be easy.  Noah was able to talk to him about it, and only had to make the promise that he would only learn from Barcelona and play for Real Madrid.  Dad's absence from the meetings was granted.
While we knew this would make a dent in our savings, we were willing to consider at least crunching the numbers.  It would be significant.  This could be the deal breaker.  The first breakthrough came when we realized Dad had enough frequent flyer miles to get us there from Hong Kong, so we would only have to get tickets from Manila to Hong Kong and these can often be found quite cheap.  The big breakthrough was when family and friends said they wanted to help us make it happen. We felt quite overwhelmed by their generosity, and very blessed.
On the day that our response was due, we finally responded to them that Noah would be attending.  It all seemed quite surreal at that point.

Reality is sinking in and the planning is underway. The trip will take place in October, so time is short.  Maybe the hardest part of the decision that I didn't mention was the one to not take any other members of the family.  I know how much the other two boys would like to go, but there were just too many factors to consider.  We are hoping that a family trip through Barcelona some day can happen.

Check back for more stories on Noah's incredible trip.

FC Barcelona Camp - traditional victory celebration

Trips, Transitions, and Training

The boys have always looked forward to our long flights across the ocean, and this time was no different.  First of all, we were using an airline that we had never been on for the first leg of our trip, and that would take us to a new airport and country that they had never been in.  You almost have to travel with us to experience why this is such a big deal.  From the minute we touch down, these guys are scanning the tarmac for new logos on the airplane tails to report to each other.  Mom even made them bingo cards of airplane tail logos to keep them busy.  By the way, Air China was the airline of choice this time and it was the Beijing airport that we experienced.  The next leg was a twelve hour flight to Chicago.  The boys quickly settled into three seats together on the side.  The problem was that the rest of our family were on the other side of the plane.  It was the same row, but we had two people and an aisle separating us.  While the boys were good with this arrangement, the parents were not quite sure about it.  We shouldn’t have worried though.  Halfway through the flight, one of the flight attendants caught me in the galley trying to settle Audrey, and asked if the boys belonged to us.  She wanted to tell me how well behaved they were and how they always knew exactly what to do.  I thanked her and explained how they have literally all been flying since they were born.

After arriving in Chicago, we drove a couple of hours south to stay with family and start the time acclimation process.  It is a struggle, but always made more fun at Uncle Mike and Aunt Karen’s house, especially when cousins show up to spend the day.  Many memories were made in that short amount of time.  From there, the family split up. Mom and girls were off to Indiana and Ohio, while Dad and the boys were headed down to Oklahoma.  The rest of this story will be that of the boys. 

After having the opportunity to participate in a soccer camp sponsored by FC Barcelona in 2016, the boys were excited for the chance to do it again in 2017 even it meant an extra 20 or so hours of driving to get down to Oklahoma and back up to Indiana.  They knew what to expect and were ready for it.  The camp is always well done, with a group of coaches who come from the Barcelona team, and several other coaches who are not from the Barcelona club but are working with youth soccer all over Spain.  These guys are good and it shows.  They make it clear to the parents from the beginning that the camp is more about teaching the Barcelona values of Humility, Effort, Ambition, Respect, and Teamwork, but it is going to look a lot like soccer.  All of their training drills and even their break times had some very intentional efforts built in to encourage these things. 
The boys were split up into their respective age divisions and assigned to a coach.  There were usually about 12 kids per group.  Each training event was shown and explained to three or four groups by one of the main Barcelona coaches.  They would then go back into their smaller group and work on it with their coach.  After about 15 minutes, they would come together again with the other groups and add on to what they had already learned.  This was primarily what took place each morning, so that by the end of the week they had built on quite a bit to what they had been learning.  After the lunch break, they spent time scrimmaging against the other groups trying to put what they had learned into practice.  This was always a fun time as the scrimmage session always started by having the Barcelona theme song played and the kids walking on to the field to stand and wave at the crowd just like the pros do.  True to Barcelona's style of play, the training was all about short quick passes and control.  I think the boys learned a lot from the experience and are growing as players. 
What was Dad doing during all of this?  He spent the entire day walking between the three age divisions (as they were spread out with two on opposite corners of one field and the third on a completely different field) trying to get pictures and watch each boy perform.  He was also taking notes on his phone of as many drills as he could so that the boys could continue doing some of them once the camp was over during our 'family sessions' back home.  He also got to know some of the Spanish coaches, and especially one that we had met from the year before who spent the year between as the coach of the National Under 23 team of the Solomon Islands.  He had never been there before he went, so last year Dad was able to help him know what to expect. It was fun to hear about his experience a year later.  

Overall, it was an amazing experience and the boys (including Dad who has followed FC Barcelona as his favorite team since 1994) loved every minute of it.  All of the kids at this camp play in recreational leagues, school leagues, or on teams that travel and are much more intense. The extent of the boys experience is an annual parent run community league that plays on six Saturdays each Fall and has no training time or practices, playing on the playground at school, and playing with their Dad on the weekends.  To watch these three boys, who live in a country where all the fancy leagues are not available, hold their own against kids that do was incredible and made this Dad incredibly proud.  What an accomplishment.  Well, it didn’t end there, much to our surprise.  Check back for the big news that was to come.

Much Ado About Poo

A few months ago, there was a frog in the shower. There wasn't much to-do about it, as Dad was the one to find it, and the boys were taking showers. Had it been the girls, there likely would have been lots of screaming and running and crying. So it almost went unnoticed. Then, a couple days later, Mom found this in the guest room (adjacent to the bathroom):

Mom's suspicions were instantly aroused, and a vague memory rekindled from days in Papua New Guinea. The last time she had seen droppings like that, it was on our back porch in PNG. She had asked our helper, who said it was a mutmut - a very large rodent. (Those R.O.U.S's of Princess Bride fame are real!) The helper had reassured mom not to worry because the mutmut lived in our bamboo in the backyard and only came out at night so we would never see it - not the most comforting thought, but we really did never see it and over time it was forgotten. . . .

. . . Until we found rather suspicious-looking poo in the guest room in December. Mom found the Australian name for the mutmut - bandicoot - and began scouring the internet for photos of bandicoot droppings, and researching if such animals are found in the Philippines. She was sure this was exactly what she had seen before. With a large, gaping hole in our screen door, anything was possible. If, perhaps, it wasn't bandicoot, she began to wonder what it could be. It was too big to be rat, but could be a small cat. Plenty of those roam around the house, though we certainly would have noticed a cat inside. She also checked photos of bat, snake, and monitor lizard poo.

Meanwhile, as Mom fretted and weighed the possibilities, Dad was much more logical in his approach. He was certain that we would have heard a small animal and would have seen (or heard) more evidence from most of those than one single dropping. For him, there was only one possibility, so he looked only for images of frog poo. To Mom's complete surprise (after all, frogs are much too small to leave behind something that large!!), Dad was right.

After a short time, our 'guest frog' was forgotten for a few months - until last weekend. Mom again stirred the pot, making everyone think twice about what they find lying around. Late Friday night, when no little noses were awake to smell the chocolate, Mom baked a batch of brownies. Just before we headed out the door for basketball Saturday morning, she carefully shaped and strategically placed a few brownie pieces. When we came back in after a few hours, the dining room was littered with 'droppings' and we called on the boys to help us investigate. Our boys had learned well from the previous incident and immediately guessed frog or small cat.

As they searched the house for the animal which was likely still around somewhere, Noah voiced his doubts - it certainly looked a lot like chocolate, and it was April Fool's Day, after all . . . Mom challenged him to taste it and he didn't hesitate long before popping one in his mouth - and then reaching for another. Even after seeing that, Aden held one in his hand gagging a bit before taking a bite and Wiley psyched himself up repeating the phrase "it's chocolate, it's chocolate..." 

They had so much fun with it that they requested their brownies be shaped into poop to go with  their ice cream that night! And, we were sure to caution them not to eat such things they may find around the house in the future!

Tooth Trauma ... and Drama

A couple weeks ago, Aden told us he had a loose tooth. This seemed a bit unusual to us, as Dad had convinced everyone after the loss of Aden's eighth tooth that he was now done losing his teeth. In fact, several times over the last few years he has reminded us of this. So now at age ten, for Aden to have a loose tooth, perhaps connected to being hit by a soccer ball, we began to prepare, at least mentally, for what may happen. We hoped it would somehow magically stop wiggling and fuse back into his gums; we tried to prepare Aden for possible scenarios that might play out, depending on if the tooth fell out or not and when we would get to the dentist. We already had appointments scheduled for November for all five kids, so were really hoping there would be no serious fallout before then (pun intended).

This evening at dinner, Aden bit into a soft dinner roll and felt something snap. His tooth was suddenly much looser (we even had Dad give it a wiggle to check it), and against our better judgment we watched him eat another roll and even offered him cake and ice cream for dessert. It seemed soft enough, and Aden was visibly becoming more and more concerned about the potential of his tooth falling out, so we figured he was eating cautiously ... until just before he finished his dessert he cried out that there was blood in his mouth. As we rushed for a cold washrag to help him, the tooth fell out. Thankfully, Dad had just googled what to do if a tooth falls out - put it in milk or saliva and get to a dentist as soon as possible. (Literally, even as the children were eating their dessert, he was on the computer looking it up.) We frantically put the tooth and some milk in a glass while we tried to sort out what to do next. 

Aden was in tears, terrified of what might happen at the imminent and dreaded visit to the dentist who would no doubt drill a hole into his gums and try to reattach the tooth. He compared it to losing a baby tooth, and the joy of having the tooth out and finding fifty pesos under his pillow ... now he might have a false tooth or a hole, and no P50 for comfort. Mom asked the other two boys to stop and pray for Aden; meanwhile she texted every contact she could think of who might possibly be able to help us find a dentist well after hours. By now it was 7:00, and finding an available dentist was proving a daunting task indeed. It seemed we were racing against the clock, with the tooth soaking in milk, and regretting all the food we had continued to offer Aden, knowing his tooth was so loose.

While Mom was frantically texting, Dad was back on Google, searching for what to do when a canine tooth falls out at age ten. It seemed that most of the results he found were either about dogs, or informative pages about what ages children lose their teeth. At one point Dad found a site that allowed a live chat-consult with a dentist. After answering a few simple questions about his age and the tooth, he gave up when the site required P1000 to move forward with the conversation. Mom got on a local moms' group on facebook and put out a plea for dentist recommendations who might be available after hours; then she kept texting. She texted friends in the US (one of whom had worked for a dentist for years and might have some advice for things we could do if we did not find a dentist immediately) ... a missionary nurse who has lots of medical contacts here ... Grandma Karen (mostly for moral support - she would be praying) ... and our local pediatrician, who informed us that there would be emergency dental care at the ER at two of the major hospitals here. We opted for St. Luke's, knowing their ER would have the better care, even though it can take significantly longer to get there.

In the midst of these decisions, Mom heard back from another friend, currently in the US, but with excellent dentists here locally, so she also texted them. Before Dad and Aden left the house with the tooth and the milk, Mom prayed with them and sent them on their way. She was helping the other four children get ready for bed when she heard back from one of the local dentists. Returning the call, she found a very friendly, helpful voice on the other end of the line. "Tell me what happened." Mom explained that her ten year old son had lost one of his cuspids at dinner, which had been loose for a couple of weeks. "It's a baby cuspid, then?" There was a brief moment of silence. It took Mom a moment to process what she had just heard, so she repeated it. "It's a baby cuspid? You're supposed to lose those?" The dentist kindly explained that those teeth are generally lost at age 11, but sometimes at age ten. "He didn't have pain?" "No." Mom reviewed the scene with the dentist. No roots came out with the tooth; there was no pain; it simply got loose and then fell out. To be extra helpful the dentist offered, "You could send me a picture so I can see where the tooth fell out." Mom laughed out loud as she explained that Aden was already on the way to the ER with his dad. Thankfully, that was one hospital visit we were able to avoid before it happened. To help compensate for any emotional trauma experienced, the tooth fairy was extra generous ... and in the end, Aden was able to have his cake, and eat it, too.

Aden's new smile

The Dinner Game

While we lived in South Africa, Grandma Karen sent us evening entertainment in the form of "The Dinner Game." It's sort of like an "Ungame", with opportunity for each person to push a button and receive a random challenge or icebreaker question to answer, all around the table over a meal. It is a great way to engage each one at the table in a creative way, from the youngest to the oldest. The boys loved it, often wanting to play when we had company. When we left Africa we put it in our shipment, so it was quite a while before we saw it again. We rediscovered fun of The Dinner Game when we found it in our shipment on our Home Assignment and brought it to the Philippines with us.

We've pulled it off the shelf a couple of times, and have enjoyed the sharing and laughter that naturally come with it. One question last week challenged the boys to invent a meal to make in the next week. Without too much consideration they combined two favorites and came up with Mango Pizza. Mommy planned to make a fruit pizza of sorts, and prepared ingredients, also wondering if the boys might forget about it in the meantime. But through the week, they continued to talk about mango pizza and they eagerly anticipated Friday night pizza more than usual.

When Friday afternoon came, Mommy had lots of helpers in the kitchen and the creative wheels began to turn. There was some discussion over whether the pizza should be savory or sweet, so we decided to make half sweet and half savory. For the crust, Mommy had extra pie dough in the refrigerator so we used that instead of traditional pizza dough. Aden made the pizza sauce to spread on the savory half of the base, and we topped it with diced mango, some nice feta cheese we had on hand, and a sprinkling of mozzarella. We weren't sure how that would turn out, but everyone loved it! It may soon become a new 'Filipino Specialty' for our pizza nights. The sweet half of the pizza was basically a fruit pizza using only mango, and Noah had the idea to drizzle chocolate over the top. Again, it was a huge hit!

It was so much fum to work together, to seee the boys' creativity blossom so successfully and to see their pride in their creation - another great memory from our summer.

Overheard (VI)

As we look at our latest installment of kid quotes worth remembering, we're noticing a definite shift in the contributors, passing the baton from our older children to the younger ones. It may also be worth noting that this list covers the span of the last year, so some of these are a bit old (but worth compiling anyway). I've tried to list them from oldest to most recent, as best as I can remember.

Mommy was reading Richard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day? with Noah. At the end of the book is the question, "What do your mommy and daddy do?" to which Noah responded, "Mommy, you bake, rest, and read books."

N (in heavy traffic in a downpour): Look at that car. It's just dripping wet.

N: Why are you writing on that box?
Mommy: I'm not writing on it. I'm using it for a hard surface under my thank-you note I'm writing.
N: Yeah, that's the hardest puzzle we have. 

N: We have pits everywhere. Eye pits. Hand pits (inside knuckles).

E: Noah, I made (an) A! 
N (correcting her scribble): No, Emma. Here's a real live A.

A (attempting to touch his nose with his tongue): Daddy can do it because his nose is so close to his mouth.  *Actually, it's Mommy who has the acrobatic long tongue. 

E (on seeing Audrey's leaking diaper): Oh no! She spilled it, stinky diaper!


N (choosing a game to play with his sister): Emma do you wanna play this one (chess)?
E: Yeah.
Mommy (cautioning): Emma doesn't understand it.
N: I'll teach her.

E: Pooping.
Mommy: Are you?
E (sing-song): Yeah. It's like, pooping, pooping.

A (licking a candy cane): Look, Wiley. My sins are being washed away. (We had just discussed the history of the candy cane.)

A: When you get a headache its not really fun, but it's kinda fun because Daddy gets headaches. So I just hold my head like Daddy and its like, 'Oh I'm a Daddy.'

W (remembering a handwriting lesson): That was in London Bridge. (*Cambridge)

N (flying a homemade paper kite): I think I need wind as strong as a typhoon to make my kite go.

A (on seeing Mommy's homemade gift for his cousin Madelyn): Aunt Keri will say "Where did Jill learn to sew like this?!?"

E:  Traffic!  I like traffic!

E, moaning in back the backseat ...
Mommy: Use your words, Emma.
E (spoken very clearly): No, I don't want to use my words.

N: How did you know it was an Indian? Did it have feathers?
A: Not all Indians have feathers.
N: Some Indians can be human beings.

E (entering the kitchen, visibly upset about something, with a few tears): I need chocolate!  *She was barely 2 1/2!!

E (wanting Mommy to pat her back as she fell asleep): Burp me.

E (folding clothes, carrying excitement in her voice): Is this mine?
Mommy: No, it's Audrey's.
Emma, without hesitation: Audrey's going to share it with me. (And so it begins . . .)

E: Can you open my cow poop? ('cow pie' chocolate candy)

E: More flamingo, please. (*mango)

Making Fun

I've often been thankful for our children's ability to entertain themselves. They have great imaginations, and the things they can come up with amaze me sometimes. When Aden came to me this week and asked for something to do, I responded with my usual list of the housework begging to be done. Not surprisingly, he chose to invent his own fun instead. Inspired by a series he's been reading lately, he came up with his own restaurant, named Aden's Pirate Ship. He spent quite a long time making signs and creating themed menus. Then he gathered a stack of plates and cups and set up tables and chairs in the boys' room. When all was ready, he announced the Grand Opening, the moment his brothers and Emma had been waiting for. The best part for them may have been that every child who came to the restaurant was given a toy car. We placed our orders, and I was a little worried that Emma might expect a real serving of macaroni and cheese, but she did just fine with the pretend fare. Aden was beaming as he took orders and filled them, proud to have his restaurant operating and every table filled. And I was thrilled to see the children spend their time playing together in a creative way. I celebrated the success by paying Aden a gold coin (chocolate) and gave one to each of the other customers as well.

Two days later, Aden's 'business' was the "Daily Report" newspaper, chronicling the highlights of news in our household. Perhaps that will provide the inspiration for a few posts on the blog . . . or perhaps Aden is setting himself up as a future contributor.

Emma's Epic Potty Training Adventure

Since all the boys took a turn on the blog with a day in potty training limelight, this one is just too good not to post. Emma's first day was an Epic Adventure.

Apparently our little two year old has a bladder of steel and really has the mind-over-matter thing mastered. When we tried to train her after Audrey was born, she would poop in the potty every time, but stand next to it and pee. So we were certain it was a battle of wills. And, if we want her/ask her to do something, and she doesn't want to do it, she usually comes around in her own time, maybe on her own terms. We had told her Friday (two weeks ago) that soon she wouldn't wear diapers anymore. We kept reminding her, getting her excited about Monday. When Monday came, we put her in underwear as promised. She peed in the potty once that morning. In the afternoon she peed once on the floor. She held it after that. She did very well sitting on the actual toilet, not the little 'trainer potty' we have (which she calls the 'baby potty'). And she can be quite funny about it.  Through the day at various points she would shout, "I'm peeing in my underwear!" Mommy would come running, take her to the bathroom, get her underwear off, and it would be bone dry. But she was definitely aware when she needed to go, or was about to. And, as already mentioned, most of those times she didn't end up going in the potty.

Where it really got interesting was late afternoon. We needed to buy paint so the painter could start in the living room on Tuesday. The plan was to go to the hardware store around 3:30 or so after Daddy came home early from work. But he wasn't able to get away as early as we hoped, so it was 4:30 when we were finally moving toward the door and 4:45 by the time we left the house. In the rush of getting out the door, realizing it was rush hour and wanting to move quickly we made several mistakes. First, we did not grab the potty chair. Second, we did not think about what this would mean for our evening in reality. Third, Mommy did not grab the diapers (after all, we were only going on a quick errand to get paint and get home for dinner, right?).  Then, she grabbed a bilum that did not have hand sanitizer, and also - equally or maybe more importantly - did not have tissues. So, we left the house with a girl on her first day in underwear who had not peed in at least two hours, and we were pretty much empty-handed to help her.

Sure enough, when we got to the hardware store, it was after five already, traffic had been pretty bad, and it all took longer than expected (I'm not sure why we expected things to be quick, in Manila, at that hour). And sure enough, while we were there, Emma had to pee. On our way into the bathroom Emma said, "Did you remember that I'm on the potty train?" (Her first of many classic one-liners.) Thankfully, this place amazingly had really nice bathrooms, done up in their finest interior decorating hardware, etc. That meant nice sinks, well lit, full toilet, etc. . . . But no toilet paper. Mommy just prayed that she would not catch anything lingering there on the seat, and had Emma hold onto her while she held on to Emma. Of course in those circumstances Emma couldn't go. She didn't seem too upset by it, mostly just sang at the top of her voice, listening to her echo. When they walked out, they washed hands at the beautiful sinks with soap and everything. We left the store with paint (and even a light fixture) in hand, and Emma still had dry underwear. And we realized that since it was already after 6:30, we would have to eat out.

We ended up driving to a mall, and discovered a new Subway restaurant . . . And of course, after dinner, Emma was still holding it, but a bit more ready to let go. Mommy had already gone on to the grocery store (with Audrey) to grab a few things, so Daddy had attempted on his own in the men's restroom. But there was no seat, so he had to try to just hold her there and as soon as she was up there she was done and wanted down. They found Mommy in the grocery and related what had happened, and amazingly, Emma was still dry. So, as we were walking through the grocery store picking up the last couple of items, we (and most of the other customers) heard things like, "I need to pee!" and "The pee is coming!" in full voice. And, perhaps the favorite of the day, singing at full volume as she went down the aisles, "Don't pee on the floor . . . " over and over. Even to Tagalog-trained ears, those words were pretty clear and we got some interesting looks. There was pretty much nothing we could do but laugh. 

By the time we were done in the grocery store, it was definitely time for another attempt. This time Mommy took her, as she had now acquired napkins from Subway to use for t.p. But by the time she realized that she was still holding Audrey and should have passed her off to Daddy, it was too late. She didn't even have the baby carrier to free up her hands, even if it would have been awkwardly close quarters. So she just hoped that the women's restroom was not quite as bad as the men's. It was. No seat, no t.p. Mommy was putting two Subway napkins over the rim, when she saw Emma sitting down on the floor to take off her shoes. Yuk. But it got worse. Mommy set her on the rim, she held on to the napkins, and it looked like we were going to make it. Then Emma tried to shift around, which is not a good idea when you are sitting on a rim. She fell in. And cried. Mommy wiped her with a third napkin, and pulled out the last two napkins. Emma sat for only a second holding on, but she was (understandably) done by then. They went to wash hands. No soap. And, it was one of those faucets where the water only comes out while you are pushing down on the knob. It did no good since Mommy was still holding Audrey with one hand and only had one hand free. She gave two attempts to pushing and quickly getting that same hand under the drip, but it didn't work and would've only been a water rinse anyway so they went on. Emma was still dry, but we weren't sure how much longer she could hold out.

However, we were already at a place where we wanted to shop for curtains and didn't want to have to make the drive again so we kept shopping. Poor Emma was walking through the department store talking about her pee, while we picked out curtains for her bedroom. We were finally checking out as the mall was closing at 9, and Mommy said to Emma, "Ok, Emma, let's go." The clerk said, "Bye, Emma," to which Emma responded (in her 'roaring' voice), "Bye! I'm going to the bathroom!" We nearly lost it. And we couldn't believe it when we got home and she was STILL dry. Needless to say, she went almost immediately when we helped her get on the potty at home. And you can bet that we washed our hands very thoroughly when she was done.

You would think that with all our unpreparedness and mishaps and the things we put her through, that maybe it was our first time to potty train someone, too. Emma is one tough cookie, and in this case that was a very good thing.

A Poem for the First Day of School 2014

'Twas the night before School, when all through the house

the only creatures stirring was a family of geckos;

The backpacks were hung from the closets with care,

And uniforms ready for children to wear;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds;

While visions of the playground and recess danced in their heads;

And Daddy in his jammies and I in mine, too,

Were talking of the next morning and what to do. 

But when morning came, it just didn't matter,

The boys awoke on their own and arose with a clatter.

Away to the kitchen I flew like a flash,

Turned on the oven and hung up the 'sash.'

The sound of the rain didn't get anyone down,

There was so much excitement, none wore a frown;

With homemade pop tarts we bowed heads to pray,

Celebrating school and ten years of marriage to the day.

When breakfast was through we had some more fun,

Seeing the goals and ambitions of each one.

More rapid than eagles they dashed from the table,

Eager to brush teeth as fast as they were able. 

Then we whistled and shouted and called them to come: 

"Now, Aden! now, Wiley! now Noah and Emma!

To the top of the stairs, to the end of the hall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

So down the stairs, putting shoes on, they flew

With backpacks, lunches, meryendas and water bottles too --

And then, just as they were heading for the car

They stopped in their tracks when we called them once more:

"Just one more picture right here on the steps,

Before you get dirty and come home a mess."

The next thing I knew, nearly before I could blink,

The school day was over, as quick as a wink.
They talked of their day - new teachers, new routines, new friends and fun,
Of recess and soccer, who lost and who won.
Their backpacks they quickly flung onto the floor
And we sat and listened, only wanting to hear more.
When papers were read, and they had emptied each pack,
I went to the kitchen and whipped up our 'traditional first day snack'
They all sat at the table with cookies and milk,
Dipping each one - Emma learned a new trick.

When dinner time came, their energy waned
Their eyes told the story -  their brains and bodies were strained.
When dinner was done, we helped them into bed
Their minds full of fresh joys, their tummies well-fed.
Quickly they drifted right to sleep
And from their room we heard not a peep.
 But I had to exclaim as I turned out the light:  
"Happy School Year to all, and to all a Good Night!"