Playing Tourist....

6 weeks in and we are somewhat settled....

We're finally starting to hit the tourist spots of Singapore. 

 The Singapore Flyer was one of our first choices 

for a Sat afternoon...sans Oscar.  

We are finding this city, although completely baby friendly in spirit

(as in they can't get enough of talking to and entertaining Oscar), 

it is NOT stroller friendly at all.  

(or handicapped accessible for that matter....

but that's a whole post or private conversation for another time)

The big boys enjoyed the panoramic views of the city.

You can see below they are already setting up for the Grand Prix.

I think I have some map lovers on my hands!

And we enjoyed one of our new found favorites....

ice cream between toasted bread!

Shaken....

It only takes a second to remember
how little control we have over life.  

Our reality check came crashing down on us
(literally) at lunch this past Sunday.  

We were eating at an out door restaurant...under a tin roof awning...
a huge storm was brewing and with it
a nice cool breeze was developing.
Jeff & I were commenting on how great it felt to be cool for once.
I was busy navigating the boys with their menu selections
when Jeff screamed..."watch out...here it comes!"
Jeff had heard the crack of a tree breaking....
and he dove to cover up Charlie.
My reaction was too slow and just as I reached over to grab Oscar
the huge tree crashed to the ground.
Inches away from Charlie and Oscar.
We were crying and screaming.
Picking tree parts out of our hair and faces.
Shaking.
Amazed at the closeness we'd just had
to our life changing drastically forever.

Jeff and I went back today to the restaurant.
(Oscar & I stayed in the car)
Jeff went in to take a picture of the tree.
I'm not sure when I'll be able to eat there again.
But we'll have to go soon so its not a big deal for the boys.
Today while furniture shopping with Jeff
some metal table legs came crashing to the floor behind me.
My heart started racing and tears immediately came to my eyes.

I haven't been able to look at Oscar yet
without thanking God for protecting him.
Protecting his sweet adorable face from scars
and his little body from harm.
I'm thankful that Charlie never even saw the tree fall
and doesn't have the picture locked in his mind.
Thankful that Max was completely out of harms way
and actually doesn't seem to even remember much of what happened.
Other than checking on me to see if I'm still crying.

I'm incredibly thankful for the Protection granted to us on Sunday.

and to end on a high note....Here's Oscar.
Proof he did actually accompany us to Singapore
since we never take photos of him.
He is getting BUSY...
quite the climbing monkey and
he loves to move his little dancin' legs:)

4th of July....or Christmas...take your pick!!

It's our first time doing the 'school uniform thing' around our house.  

I have to say we all love it.  They are adorable in them.

Charlie sports the red, white & blue every day.

Max on the other hand looks like an English boy 

ready for Christmas tea in his hunter green hat 

with red & green plaid shirt. So cute both of them!!  

Charlie in his patriotic colors looks like 

a happy American kid off to 2nd grade every day!  

Charlie is loving the independence of riding the bus every day 

and even has a new swagger to his steps.  He's off to a good start.  

Max on the other hand has had a bumpy first week.  

It's an adjustment for him in so many ways.  

And I've mentioned here and there that Max deals with change 

and his emotions in ways that are very unexpected.  

Sweet boy is missing California, his blue house, his Bing school 

and his list of toys that were left behind.  

We're trying to just take things a step at a time with him...

give him extra hugs, book reading time, 

game playing time and lots of sleep.  

Surprisingly Max completely embraced his 'costume' 

as he called it...by day one of school.  

I think he looks absolutely adorable...Jeff is still warming up to it:)

I haven't mentioned Oscar for a bit here and don't have a photo.  

But he's definitely coming into his own..

keeping up as boy #3 around here!  

He's desperately sad when his brothers leave (or Mom for that matter)...

crawling frantically to the front door where he hangs his head and just wails when they (or I) leave.  He's already ready to be out there with the big boys and does NOT want to be left behind.

I'm very much looking forward to spending some more one on one time with this last baby of mine.  This new lifestyle of lots of help around the house and the big boys in school will provide amble amounts of time for Oscar and I to be together...and I'm thrilled about that part of it!

and maybe I'll even find extra time to take a PHOTO of this cute boy #3 sometime!!

a post in bullets...

It's the best I can do.  I've started about 3 posts...they are in my drafts bucket...but life keeps getting in the way.  And just in case we do have a 'following' I'd like to keep you updated.

*We drove about 30 minutes out of the city to visit Charlie's American school earlier this week.  It's a bit of a 'campus' of a school.   300 2nd graders, 12 2nd grades....that's a whole Palo Alto school!!  I'm excited for Charlie but wishing he was going to school a little bit closer to home.  I loved walking him to and from school each day in Palo Alto and picking him up to find out immediately how his day went.  He'll be riding one of three full buses from our complex for about 40 minutes each way...(bus leaves at 6:58am....yikes!)

*Max loves peaches.  I've been buying them without really checking the price...since he loves them so much.  I realized today that his four peaches were $15.  too bad for Max...he'll have to find a new love:)

*To celebrate Singapore's National Holiday/Indpendence Day yesterday...like our 4th of July...we attended a bbq at our complex. Complete with rice crispy treats and hot dogs....and even red solo cup wine glasses (all the rage on pinterest this summer!)  Not sure that was quite the Singaporean celebration we should have had....but it was nice to meet some more of our neighbors. And Max hasn't stopped talking about those 'square things that have glue in them' (rice crispy treats...Max's first taste of them)

*Max goes to school about a 10 minute walk...door to door....  perfect:)  We did our visit today with his teachers.  I'm not sure they knew what to do with our Max.  They were a bit taken back by his exuberance for life!!  Hopefully he and they will settle down a bit when Mom & Dad aren't in tow.

*Tango is the new method of keeping the extended families in touch.  It's working pretty well...and yet the families feel so so far away.  I try to keep that idea and emotion in check more than any other.  But its probably the biggest sacrifice of them all in this adventure of ours.  We need our families and they need us.  So thankful for the support and positive encouragement that is always ready for us in each 'Tango' call.

*We are loving our temporary helper..Edilyn. She's like a second set of my hands.  Seriously...she magically appears when Oscar is fighting me with diaper changes, swoopes in when the phone rings and makes sure the boys are occupied....Supplies the boys with their never ending request for snacks (I want cut up apples, sliced peaches, a hot dog!  I feel like we have suddenly hit the teenage years of eating around here!!)  She's cleaning, mopping, doing laundry, putting away groceries, prepping dinner....it's amazing.  And yet I'm happy when she leaves at 5 and we have the house to ourselves.  Not sure I'm going to be able to embrace the 'live in maid' when she comes.     I'm sure I'll adjust:)

*The woman and families we are meeting in our complex are so nice, really friendly.  And I'm a social one by nature....and yet at this late age of mine (almost 40) I'm craving more than anything all my wonderful and loving friends around the globe:).  I already have the most wonderful friends and neighbors.  It's been an emotional thing each day to wake up and gear up for being part of this new expat community.  I do know that friendships don't always come with rules about how long you will be there or where you are from or how many kids you have, etc.  I AM looking forward to being surprised by these new friendships in my life here.  But I miss my well seasoned friends so so much. xoxo

*Charlie & I have discovered a new love for carmel popcorn...when we are out and about together it's been our treat of choice...and today we found a Garrettt's popcorn stand.  Charlie couldn't quite believe that in downtown Chicago you wait for over an hour for a bag of popcorn when today we walked right up and had a taste of the best popcorn ever!!  Charlie kept saying...'and I was born in Chicago..this popcorn is perfect for me!"...so cute!  who would have thought we'd discover it together in Singapore!!

Next post...first day of school photos...costume and all!!!

It's time to embrace the new....

I've spent the last 5 days trying to make life feel 'normal' for our whole family.   I think it has helped to have many of the familiar favorites from home...spiderman sheets, cuddly blankets, Peets coffee, & scrambled eggs in the morning.   We've had Prego pasta for lunch (Charlie's favorite) & Nando's for dinner (Jeff & my London fast food favorite).  We've shopped at Ikea & ToysRUs.  We've watched some of our favorite movies on our new tv & the iPad.  But after 5 days of trying to make this life feel like that life...I'm realizing it doesn't taste or feel the same.  And trying to make it feel familiar isn't working anymore (at least for the lone female in this story:)

It's time to embrace this new life.  We need to find our new favorite yogurt (Yakult drinks here we come!)...since yoplait costs $20...even Max laughed at that one in the grocery store!!  Sadly for me, a tiny container of hummus also costs about $10.  My daily staple just became a luxury for special occasions:(

So to embrace the new and good....here are a few of my very first favorite things about our Singapore life....

Our new travel game (or small space living game)...Rush Hour Jr...Charlie is my 'game lover' so it's been a fun past time for him...and me too:)

 Of course Oscar is one of my favorite things but this gorgeous 'Baby Einstein' view of the city is going to be such fun for this crawling, toddling little boy over the next year.

 Here's one view...of a quiet little neighborhood tucked amongst the high rises...so fun to see kids playing in their backyards, adults doing tai chi in the mornings, trucks, cars, bikes riding along...

 View outside Charlie's window...the building of a 33 story high rise.  (Although loud in Jeff & my opinion) the boys LOVE it.  What could be better than a real life construction site outside their window.

 This little silver beauty of a door is my absolute favorite thing so far.  

It's a trash chute for the building. 

LOVE being able to toss the trash (& smelly diapers)
 several times a day and only have to take a few steps to do it! 

 Our new 'backyard' is the swimming pool.  We've been there at least once a day...sometimes twice a day.  It's the social hub for our three high rise complex as we've already met several neighbors and new friends.  (even a family from Iowa!)

and to keep it real I should add our days have also been full of tantrums, hitting, kicking, fighting, screaming ( and that's just me:)  j/k....seriously we're a bit in the trenches right now but doing our best to adjust and find the positive at the end and beginning of each new day.  Thanks for coming along with us.  Love to hear from you if you're reading along:)

From California Pizza Kitchen to Little India's Wet Market...

Quite the contrast from our first lunch at CPK... salads, pizza and mac & cheese...to lunch at Little India's wet market...our meal consisted of interesting i.e yellow hot dogs for Max (its a slow transition to new foods for him), yummy chicken rice & several new fruits for us all to try.  

We have an orientation person who assists with bank accounts, transit cards, community info, and my favorite so far... intro to the best wet & dry markets around!   Max was hesitant (as we expected) to stay behind with an unfamiliar temporary babysitter.  Charlie & Oscar, on the other hand, had a fun day at home playing with their new friend while Max came along for opening our bank accounts (took 3 hours), some first grocery shopping & a visit to the wet market.  

It was fun to have some one on one time with Max.  He's our boy who needs that more than the others in transitions like this.  So I was glad this day outing provided some time for him to hang with Mom & Dad. 

23 hours door to door....

 We survived!! 

 Our last goodbye before we boarded the people mover.  

Can you say style or what???  

With 13 bags, boxes, stroller, pack-n-play to check plus 5 persons...

the people mover was the way to go!!

 Oscar tried out a new mode of transport.  

Wheels on the carseat... worked great and we loved it!!

 The travel 'bridge' between our two worlds took almost 24 hours total.  

Our last hours of packing up our CA home 

and the hours of checking in at the airport, etc 

were so tiring we were happy to be seated for our first 

connecting flight thru Seoul of 12 hours. 

Although Oscar was our toughest traveler, 

he was also the biggest charmer.  

Our most beautiful flight attendant Farah, 

(who warmly gave me her # and FB address 

to keep in touch in Singapore!), 

took Oscar around the plane for introductions.  

 Our first night and days have consisted of three simple things... unpacking & finding all the familiar things from home that we packed (like Max's Lakeside tshirt & Charlie's Zapped tshirt:), 

swimming and walks to get coffee & food!  First lunch CPK:)  

No worries we'll all be more adventurous in our eating soon enough!

We are taking things one day at a time....even a moment at a time.  

Overall we are all doing well and adjusting as best we can.  

Jeff compared this stage to having a newborn...

completely tiring emotionally & physically 

and completely worth the investment of both.

Just never thought we'd be having the 4th 'kid' quite like this!!

Singapore Fling....A last send off....

We are in that 'in between' living.  Those of you who move often know exactly what I mean.  It's a balance of emotions and lives.  Trying to savor each day of life we have here in CA...a life we love so very much, with people we love so very much.  And looking forward and preparing for a new life & adventure at the same time.  We started off our final week with a fun send off party (hosted by ourselves:) that was a ton of fun and great to have one last chance to see so many friends and neighbors all together at once.  It was a lovely al fresco evening with an Asian food truck and good company!

And we're off to pack and sort and organize....

we'll see you on the other side!

In less than two weeks we are leaping into a new adventure with our 3 boys....

We're heading to Singapore to live.

We'll do real life like school, church, time outs, potty training...

We'll do the surreal life like travel to Thailand & Japan, eating new foods, and maybe even learning some Mandarin.

We're nervous, excited, sad, thrilled, you name it...we feel it right now.

Most importantly we BELIEVE in what we are doing, love the adventure of it all and look forward to learning more about how our world 'ticks'.  

We'd love to have you follow us on our blog....and even come visit!!!  Here's to 12 days and counting....

Happy 4th of July!!

Love this day of red,white & blue,

fireworks & flags flying

and playing with my

own little Yankee Doodle Dandy's:)

Two posts in one day!!!

I'm stealing a post because its where my thoughts have been so often lately...

Taken from http://www.lifeingraceblog.com/

But what about all those ordinary days? Where is God then?

He always chooses the ordinary things to do his greatest work.

He chose bread to feed us. Water to wash us. A baby to save us.

He is no despiser of the small days.

It is in them that we see the key to life.

Not in falling in love but in loving everyday, with clean socks and warm soup.

Not in that one blissful day of childbirth but in the birth of each day, one a time, where the daily routine teaches us to depend on our Father, who has made no provision for tomorrow—but only today, in this daily bread.

Perhaps this thing I’ve come to dread—-this daily drudgery—-is in fact my greatest teacher, in disguise.

Teaching me to live in this moment. With these children. And this sacred work. It’s really all there is.

Today is the day of salvation.

So, I hold on tightly to little hands. And I stir the soup. And I fold the towels.

And I say thank you for this work.

And for this blessed ordinary day—where grace and mercy rain down and turn water into wine, drudergy into vocation, and curse into blessing.

THIS is what I have been doing since my last post in April....

Growing, delivering, feeding, cuddling, chasing, and keeping these 3 monkeys safe and healthy each day!! Perhaps someday soon I'll get back to more frequent postings...

New Life...

I love Easter.

Such a lovely day to remember new life,

both in creation and of our Creator.

After a rough Sat that had me going to bed in tears,

I had very little hope left for an Easter day of peace and happiness.

But what a gift today was...

this was one of the best holidays I can remember in a long long time.

We were truly a happy family today.

Today was a tangible reminder for me of 'new life'

even in our own little family.

It IS possible to start fresh and

there IS always room for hope at the end of a hard day.

Easter 2011

Happy Spring!

We had a moment of sunshine in the midst of all our rain....

Merry First Day of Spring!

And after hearing about this cute idea TWO years ago,

I finally did Muffin Tin Monday for dinner.

I didn't make anything out of the ordinary for the boys.

But they did get excited about how it was served! Cute idea...

Daddy's School....

It's been raining A LOT lately.

More rain than we are used too....

So Jeff got creative over the weekend.

And instituted Daddy's School...in the garage.

The boys loved it!

Maybe Mom's off the hook now...

after 18 years of attending 'Daddy's School'....

Sweet Max is Three!!

It was all about cupcakes.....

A new train from Charlie...and a train table from Mom & Dad....
Riding the train for Sat breakfast and fun at the park...

And a birthday snack with Max's little playgroup...

A fun and simple birthday for our big boy.

Summer excitement....

We've been planning to plant flowers in our front yard. We've never done this before and Charlie is so excited. We've been picking out our favorite colors from neighbors yards on our way to school each morning.

We got to talking about the summer the other day on the way to school. Charlie was saying how exciting it would be to finally have our flowers planted. I reminded him we were also going to have some more excitement by having a new baby this summer too.

Charlie made me laugh saying..."Wow!... a new baby AND new flowers, I can't wait."

Not sure which one he's more excited for.

probably the flowers:)

Babymoon...

How LONG will it be before this happens again?

We had a wonderfully relaxing time away!

A moment...

Picking up Charlie from school.

'Ever running away' Max has a choice each day...ride in the stroller or hold Mommy's hand. It's pretty much 'hold Mommy's hand' every day but WHEW what a battle that is the whole time. The other day Max decided after we picked up Charlie and started our walk back to the car, that he wanted to hold Charlie's hand not Mommy's.

Most of you Moms may see this daily or even several times a day. It was a first for me. With my rough and tumble boys, I have never seen them calmly holding hands, walking together. They even had a little conversation about the toys they wanted to play with when they got home.

So simple but wow... I truly felt my heart expand in that short little walk:)... the mental photo keeps running through my head as one of my greatest blessings right now.

A great combination....

Max is particular about a few things.

His shoes. (Can we say just like Dad or what?)

And his love of RUNNING, not walking.

In the shoe department it has always been less is more for Max. He has pretty much lived in Crocs for his entire 3 years of life. In the winter, we just add socks on the coldest days. That is until Max discovered running shoes! A old pair of Charlie's hand me down Adidas shoes were put on Max's feet and it was like peanut butter & jelly....bread & butter....Love at first sight!

Two of his favorite things combined.....comfy shoes that can make him run even faster.

I'm having an even harder time keeping up now.