Blog Hiatus

I have a break from school for the month of August so I am going to try and free myself from the computer for a little while. I will start posting again in September....unless I am inspired one day.
Love to you all.

This One is For You

To Daddy, with love.

More comparisons. This time, the difference between a summer-time splash pool in Canada vs. A.D.

School x 10000000000000

What have I been doing? SCHOOL!

It has been an intense couple of weeks. I am really enjoying this program but it has taken up all of my time. 1 more week to go.

Meanwhile, Neva has been having a great time racing around. Her new favourite things to see and yell at are dogs, cats, and horses. Too cute. She is really enjoying spending time with Nanny and Opa, and can't wait to go and see the rest of the Laughlin clan (2 weeks)!

First time on a swing.

Good time had by all (Neva, Opa, Teague, Amara and Michie).

Spaghetti meal (followed by watermelon). She decided that she wanted to reach in to the bowl and feed herself...and put it in her hair, and then spike it on the floor. We could really borrow someone's dog to clean up after mealtimes.

p.s. if someone knows the trick to editing photos to fix the "orange" of fluorescent light, please send me an email.

Oh Canada

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!

It is so wonderful to be spending this day IN CANADA (sorry Brucie).

My assignments are done and I have 5 days until I start the "face-to-face" portion of my classes.Yippee. 

Getting here was a bit grueling. It was a 20 hour travel day and I have to say that Neva was a super star. She wasn't so happy in the last 4 hour before we landed, but really, neither was I. The real excitement on the plane was the family of 6 (2 sets of twins) that were travelling in first class.  One or more of the kids would have a meltdown every 3 minutes or so, and this pattern lasted the entire 10 hour flight from Frankfurt. Needless to say there were some very unhappy people on that flight. 

It was all worth it. It is beautiful and green here. I was up at 5am (well someone woke me up at 5) and it was 4 degrees outside. I took a step outside and relished the feeling of being cool. 

Just as a reminder. This is what we came from - B. said it was 46 degrees and 85% humidity in AD. This is the view from outside of our villa. 

And now we are here. :) This is the view out the back deck. 

This one is for Grandma:

Just before we left, N. learned to pull herself up in her crib. She will happily talk away until I come in to get her...so darn cute.  

Curly Updates

Hi! Apologies for the lack of posts lately.  

Some updates:

- Neva is now crawling.  It is so adorable to see this little person cruising around the house. She has a bit of a tough time getting any traction on our tile (slippery marble like) floor so we can't wait to see her speed on carpet. 

- We had an exciting week when 3 of her top teeth were coming in at once. We had one pretty rough day but otherwise she is doing really well.  I'm still not sure if she is fighting a virus or dealing with teeth. Who knows with these little puzzles.  

-  She still LOVES to eat and will often cruise the floor looking for morsels. 

 

- Bruce and I are doing well. He is busy with work and I am busy with my courses. I have started up my masters program again after a year leave. I am taking an ethics course and an alliance course (counselling skills). They are quite interesting but I am finding it tough to get my rusty brain working. No comments from the peanut gallery please. :)

- We have had some great weekends away. Most recently we met our friends Anna and Brian at Atlantis to partake in the Aqua-adventure Park (waterslide type thing). We had a lot of fun and managed to keep both babies cool. 

Other stuff: 

We have had a lot of comments about Neva's hair. I thought I would post a few photos as an "Ode to the Curls." 

Here we have a picture just to show you how long her hair actually is (or was a month ago). 

Next we have a series of shots where I have combed out the curls. It is one of my favourite things to do...not really sure why. Perhaps I am curl envious. She really does get some great loft and yes she loves to eat blueberries. 

Here is a shot of her cruising around. She is not much into walking but likes to kick and stomp on things. 

I bought a cheap splash pool thinking we could enjoy a little time outside in the afternoons when we both need a change. The pool is fantastic and she loves it. There are rings that go on the these thingies on the side - she loves to rip them off and throw them around. Too bad I forgot about our lack of cold water in the summer.... 

Take care. 

Love the Laughlins

whaddya mean?

Whaddya mean these aren't a chew toy? (Thanks Auntie Christa for the glasses, and Auntie Michelle for the hat)

Whaddya mean I can't grab the camera ? 

Whaddya mean these aren't my clothes? 

Whaddya mean babies can't read? 

I LOVE to read. 

** Notice the picture under her elbow Karny? 

We are all doing well. I am working away on my 2 courses and just to "spice things up," decided to host the mums group this past week. Nothing says chaos like a living room full of mums and babies.  Forgot to take any pictures...sigh.

Water Man

Transcript of April 26^th , 2009

We have a water guy who comes every week to deliver the big bottles of water. He didn’t show on this particular week so they sent out another guy. The street numbers in our part of town make no sense at all. They are no particular order and the numbers can change several times as you drive down that same street. For people to find our place we have to give them directions and then stand outside to flag them down. 

Conversation between Andrea (A) and Oasis water delivery man  (O).

O: I come to your house. Where are you?

A: Take “A” road, turn right at 1^st roundabout and another right at 2^nd roundabout. We are beside big pile of rocks (random huge rubble pile). Call me when you are at the 2^nd roundabout and I will come out.

O: Okay, okay I be there in 20 minutes.

A’s phone rings once and then stops. 

**This is common practice done in this part of the world. The service or delivery man will call and hang up, just to let you know they are near by. Took me a while to figure this out :)

A walks outside to guide water man. 

A: Oasis man?

O: Yes, you see me?

A: No, where are you

O: wah?

A: WHERE ARE YOU?

O: I am driving, you see me?

A: No.

O: You see me now?

A: You turn right at first roundabout?

O: Yes

A: Right at next roundabout?

O: Wah? Okay okay, right at second roundabout. You see me?

Surprisingly I DO see him, driving the wrong direction. I am yelling and waving.

A: You just missed me.

O: Wah?

A: Turn around you going wrong way.

O: You see me?

A: Turn around.

O: Right or left? I turn? Where are you?

A: Stop van and go other way. 

O: Wah? I come to your house. Where are you? 

A: Where are you now? Tell me where you are and I can give you directions.

O: Wah? You see me?

This carries on for 5 minutes or so.  A is exasperated and ready to hang up when shockingly, sees him at the roundabout,

A: SLOW DOWN! TURN RIGHT!

O: Wah?

Driver goes straight through intersection.

A: COME BACK COME BACK

O:Wha?

A: COME BACK!

O: You see me?

A: NO TURN AROUND

O: You see me?

A: COME BACK

O: OH okay. I come back. You see me? – said 20 times.

A: I see you! SLOW DOWN. TURN RIGHT…no no RIGHT

Driver misses turn and goes around roundabout twice before making the correct turn.

Finally water is delivered. I think I drank 5 litres of it after standing outside in 40+ degree heat. I was a wee bit sweaty.