Zhu, Zhu Mess!

WARNING: Not For Children Under The Age 3

Keep Hair Away From Wheels

 

Never Leave Child Unattended
Em, only has a few hairs on her head as it is and YES, I did feel a little shame for making her hold still long enough for me to snap a picture. 

Some Things Never Change

Some things never change. I am surprised at how we can move halfway around the world and it doesn't throw these guys for a loop. Tate, who I thought would have the hardest time with the move, has actually done surprisingly well.  Right now he is in to dress ups, he wants to be a pirate or Batman every day of his life. I am not sure what part of the leopard skin hat reminds him of pirates but it really adds a nice flare.

It is melting hot here and the dude will wear this morning, noon and night...fortunately the cape and mask do not fit over his head. We have to rehydrate him often!

Good Day Mate! Syd ready to go for it. You know, it is probably best that our neighbors don't come out, I am not sure how they would feel about living next to the "A Team"!

 That leaves me with KOO, KOO KATCHOO! Baring a little skin. She is our Emmy and when she is screaming at the top of her little girl lungs and I get all of "the looks" I just want to say..."Hey this is totally normal!"
In many ways, I feel like it has been harder for Trent and I to adjust than the kids. I am amazed  that being stared at, touched, and dripping with sweat doesn't seem to effect them. They are 100% kids no matter where we live.

Lizard Love

One of the kids favorite past times, playing with baby lizards. One pet from Em's curious finger and we had a missing tail and a couple of bulging eyes, OOPS!

Before I knew it, Tate had moved the half dead lizard in to the doll house to show it what it means to be loved by "Tater".

See that tiny speck of life on the doll house floor?

This might be as close as my kids ever get to having a house pet. Although, I had to draw the line when Emmy was trying to give it kisses!

Part Timers

 Warning: This one is a little thick! Don't be jealous....I live in a third world country, my friend count is still at 0, and I have had to face the cold, hard, truth their is NO Diet MD.

You know how I mentioned I would share our "staff" with you? I feel like I need to be completely honest about a few things...this may sound a bit extreme,over the top, even unnecessary but I am fairly certain if you were living with the "Vanilla's" you would totally be on board.  I went from being a little embarrassed about someone else washing my dirty undies...to "Sweet, you think you could add a little more starch" and "I like my creases like so" and blah, blah, blah. I think it took me about a week to get over being uncomfortable. In fact, at week two I looked at Trent with a sheepish smile and said "How many times are we going to live in the Philippines? Can we hire another helper?"
Can I get a drum roll for Norma? She comes one day a week and does a few of those extra deep clean things and also does Trent's ironing (imagine choir of angels singing in the background). She speaks minimal English, weighs as much as Sydney, always has a smile and knows how to do a super fly cleaning job. Norma is married to one of our guards (Jonathon to be posted later). They have two children that they have not seen in a couple of months a 10 year old and a 5 year old. It is totally common for parents to both work and not see their kids for months at a time. Kind of sad. So here is the cute NORMA-NATOR!

Tate LOVES Norma and when she comes he has a smile like this all day.

I am also including a picture of Vince our relief guard he only works two days a week. I do not have too much to say about him because he is fairly quiet and kind of acts serious...which equals two strikes for me. I made more of an effort to get to know him this week and he actually is a nice guy. He is married with no children and he likes to paint his toe nails black...weird or"special"?

Our House...

Remember that song, "Our house in the middle of the street"? Okay, our house is not in the middle of the street actually it is on the end of a really quiet street. I think it has a kind of Big Bird look to it. This is a view of our home....Sweet, yellow, love.

 This is a view looking down our street. It is really quiet here. I am certain that we are the only family that makes noise, any noise. We have lived here for almost two months and I still have not seen our neighbors. I heard it would be major social bomb dive to take a plate of cookies over and introduce ourselves. Sometimes I think about doing it just for the reaction. Oh yeah, and that is Bat Boy on the left.

Sydney, coming home from school on her tour bus. Don't be scared the Haunted Forest is not set up next door but when a house is under construction they kind of like to hide it with tarp maybe it is so they can do a grand reveal when it is complete? This is looking up our street.

S&R/Costco

If you wonder what I do for my "American Fix" you can usually bet that I am walking the Isles of S&R. I am not sure but I think this is some how connected to Costco? I have found a few products with the"Kirkland" label on it. I can not tell you how this place makes me smile. One day I sat down on a pallet of Diet A&W, all the while hugging a bottle of Tide, kissing a bottle of Log Cabin Syrup and getting teary eyed over a jar of Skippy. Never mind the price....these items go home with me often.  I am pretty sure I do not need any more syrup or Tide but it just makes me so darn happy to see a few familiar items. 

The down side, I have not found a grocery store including S&R that smells....normal. And I am pretty sure that Costco in America would not dare have a "fresh fish bar" similar to this, unless of course they were ailing to be shut down by the health services. Aside from the bizarre smell and cost of American products this place rocks! They had a huge sale this weekend and I would say the check out lines rivaled with that of my Deer Field Costco in Ohio. 

Me, Emmy and Joan taking on the Asians.

G-Dog

I have decided to share with you the people that I see almost every day of my life....

G-Dog 

I will start with Gerald, one of our "security guards". His job is to sit at our house for 12 straight hours and come back the next day. Although this guy some how managed to talk his way in to sharing our drivers room so he never leaves....EVER! I am actually happy to have him, he is a great babysitter, grocery holler inner, and handy man. He is the funny one and I can always count on a laugh when he's around. He told me he was a Mormon for a few months....I'm still not sure I believe what comes out of his mouth.

He sits at this make shift station. Every 30 minutes he walks around the yard comes to the back door...I think just to see if I am baking or am feeling generous. Well, that and I am pretty sure he is  fond of our little Joan. He uses the book to write down when we leave, when we come home, etc. I am sure it would be life saving.

I saw him eyeballing Trent's drill for weeks, he would kind of get that "man stupor look" going every time he'd past Trent's tool box. Imagine how happy he was when I asked him to hang a few pictures? Except that it had not been charged so it left him....

Pounding nails in to the concrete and look still happy!

Finally the winner. I went out to wait for Sydney's bus and this is what I found. Gerald (off duty) making some furniture for his "bedroom". Super.

Really, it has been kind of funny to have security guards. I have never felt like they have been necessary but they are fun to have a round. They are always so respectful and eager to help in any way. They love our kids and have made our stay pleasant. We laugh because they salute Trent every time he leaves or comes home. Trent told them "No more saluting, just wave" but I do not think they understand him! I always say, "Why do you not salute me?" they just laugh...rude! That my friends wraps up our Gerald, we are happy to have him!

Two

Emmy McCall

Loves: Sydney, blankie, books, messes, gum, Woody, swimming and babies!

Favorite Sayings: "Hold You" (pick me up)"Not Funny Mom!""GUM!""Bye Woody""Joans... CEREALS!""Tweets?"

She really is our "handful" but I can not imagine her any different. We use to wonder if she was going to be our mild child....No chance!

Her prized birthday gift was a baby doll that sucks a pacifier. I think it brings back the good ole days

 (not too long ago) when she would rip off binkies from her younger cousins.....

I guess this is how it works for child #3, whatever gifts they get it is short lived. I do not think Emmy has had a toy in her possession for more than two minutes. 

I had a moment of dejavu from last year...

Going, going, gone!

Happy Birthday Emmy Girl! 

 I am pretty sure she eats, drinks and talks crazy!

We love this little bundle!

Service with a Smile

I am not sure you can find happier people than the Filipinos.  Every where I go I see smiling, happy people and most of the time I am wondering what about their situation is making them so happy? I saw a man riding on the top of a garbage truck (literally hanging on to bags of garbage with a big smile.) I see sweet little "nakey buns" (naked kids) with bare feet, no shoes, no clothes playing near busy streets with smiles. I see dirty, tired faces that seem happy and content with life. Sometimes when I hate my non-air conditioned kitchen, I remember these faces and I get over my kitchen pity pretty quick. It is a constant  reminder every time I leave my house, to be grateful for what I have. It does not matter where I go, I am sure to get a smile.
I went to get a pedicure and before I could sit down I had a whole pit crew working on me. I was not sure if it was because it has been a while since I have given my feet some proper attention or if they have never seen a 91/2 foot size? Regardless of why so much help, they were all swarming around me, smiling away. Sometimes I start laughing to myself like "is this creepy or cool?" Mostly just unbelievable.

This next one is of me and my gals okay, not gals....... pals!

After that last hair cut I decided I could not mess around. I needed the real deal. This is me trying to be serious....I can never pull that off. I think I spent all 3 hours laughing. When you get your hair or nails- actually whatever done here, you really have a few people working on you all at once. I kind of felt like the lion in The Wizard of Ozz, preparing to meet the wizard or maybe Loyd Christmas on Dumb and Dumber?

Life is Tough

Maybe I need to quit with the sarcastic blog titles...They sound more like brag titles, what do you want me to put? "My life is so rough in the Philippines?" Or "I hate all these great weekend get a ways?" What about "Yuck... sun, sand and sea?" or "Life is miserable with a full time helper?" I know, I sound a bit sassy in the moment but I hope you all know we just want to give you a taste of what our life is like here. It's not always rose colored, I am hot and sticky most of my life, I dream about Diet Mountain Dew, and if you do not count Trent, I have 0 friends....well, that speak English.

We managed to get away this weekend to a place called Eagle Point in Batangas. The trip was a blast, minus that one of my cameras bit the dust and my other one was completely out of batteries. It left us with Trents Blackberry. Excuse the few and not great photos. This place is suppose to be big time for divers, we did not exactly fit the mold with our slew of toddlers but we managed to have fun and we  pretty much owned the resort. The food was maybe the worst I have ever had to endure, we tried EVERY THING possible on the menu, hopeful that we could find some thing to get us through the weekend.  It was a bust, lucky for us we had our back up toddler snacks.

This is Arnie our car driver, he looks so happy doesn't he?  He is getting the boot here pretty quick, will save that for another post or not. Anyways, he has never been on a boat, if that is what you want to call this beauty. It is more like bamboo sticks with a motor tied to it.  We took this Sea faring gazelle to a little Island called Seapoc to spend the morning. The picture does not do it any justice for how pretty it really is. The water is crystal clear, the mountains surround you and their is plenty of snorkeling to be had.

My favorite part of the weekend was the boat ride. I am so glad I have Trent to look at and say

"Is this for real?" It is a great adventure and it keeps us both laughing!

Sharing a hammock swing

The swim pool has the coolest slide going from the upper pool to the lower pool. I am sure it has maimed plenty of kids in its day. We came home sunburned and tired so I guess we can chalk it up for another HORRIBLE week in the Philippines. Thanks for the fun weekend Daddy Doo!

And The Winner is.....

The English Branch

Which is only a short 40 minute drive from where we live (that is on a good day).  After struggling for a month on where we should attend church, I think we both feel like it would be the most helpful if we could all understand what was being said. Attending the local ward has really made me appreciate that we have an English speaking branch as an option.  Most of the members are expats, so it has a great melting pot feel to it.

Sundays are kind of our all day adventure! Picnic in the car, Trent driving us (he loves the Filipino style of driving a little too much) and a nice nappy time on our way home. I know that our "Sunday" situation could be a lot worse so we will learn to be grateful!

Makati Ward building

What a Nice Joan

This is our Joan

She is a big part of the reason our transition has gone so smooth.  Trent interviewed her before the kids and I got here so I was a little nervous to not be able to pick out my sister wife....Don't be scared I am only kidding.  Joan is like The Good Fairy that does all of the jobs that most of us hard working house Mommies dislike bathrooms, laundry, putting away laundry, preparing/sometimes making dinner, mopping, dusting, changing bed sheets, etc. She is also good for things like "Hey Joan would you mind killing that roach the size of Texas that is creeping around" or "Hey Joan we have a poo-pee on child #3". Okay, so she does not  clean up all of Emmy's treasures but she is really good at seeing what needs to be done and going for it. She is our built in baby sitter and we have been faithful in taking full advantage of that bonus. Joan speaks great English and often times she is who I turn to when I need some one to translate. She works six days a week from 5:30 am to some time after I have gone to bed (because I have such hard days:) She usually leaves Saturday afternoons and comes home Sunday night. Just typing this makes me tired for her.

On a more personal note, Joan is 47 years old. She is a single parent to a twenty year old son whom she has raised alone. She is currently putting him through college and like most mothers I can tell she is very proud of her son.

Every one wants to know if I like her, is she good with the kids, do the kids like her, does she like living with you? How can I NOT love someone that serves my family from morning till night? Having Joan makes it so I can enjoy all the best parts of being a Mom. I spend a lot more time with the kids with out the guilt of "all the things" I should be doing to keep a house up. I feel like I laugh more, am tired less, and have so much more quality time to enjoy my family. Yes, Joan is lovely.

She is more quiet by nature but I love making her laugh and I can see that she really is starting to love our little pack of punks. I would Say, Syd is more indifferent and it would not matter who was living with us she would go on with her happy little self. Tate...calls her all of the same naughty words that he calls me (I tell her to embrace those words) deep down he loves us. And Emmy loves Joan...She wakes up in the morning and marches down stairs and yells "Joan's....cereal...hungry!" Joan reads her books, rocks her to sleep and is pretty good at answering her early onset of two year old demands.

This is what I come down to in the morning. Do you believe it? I don't.

Now you know why I call her the Good Fairy. Trent is going to have some hard times adjusting when we go back to the states....so am I.

Pork Adobo

Tinola

I asked Joan to make us an authentic Filipino meal one evening. It actually tasted better than it looks. I was a little nervous when she had the guard pick some leafs to add to the tinola. I told Trent "Enjoy dinner, we are eating weeds from next door."

To make you rest a easy, our eating has not changed a whole lot. We just pay a little bit more than normal to eat our good American food. Joan has been great and I am so thankful that she has become apart of our family. It has been much easier than I thought it would be to have someone live with us. She works so hard and we appreciate all she does for our family.