Mondays can't get more fun

J has been working on a small machine for a few days and every night he comes home saying ... 'I wish I could take the kids with me and let them sit on my lap to try it out'. So this moring we hopped in the van and took a drive out to the country ... and I mean to the middle of nowhere to the construction site he is working at. The children knew why we were going and could hardly wait for Daddy to take care of all his responsibilites before they could get to work.

BUT ... out of the three who will get to go first? I told them they could go in the order they arrived to this world ... Lutza thought it would be nice if the boys let 'ladies go first' - either way she was the lucky one who got to have some serious fun first.

J mar jo nehany napja egy kis aso gepen dolgozik es minden este azzal jon haza hogy 'barcsak kivihetnem a gyerekeket es az olembe ulve kiprobalhatnak'. Igy ma reggel beugrottunk az autoba es kimentunk a 'hatarba' ... es nem viccelek, a semmi kozepen ahol J most dolgozik. A gyerekek tudtak hogy hova megyunk es alig vartakhogy Daddy minden reggeli tennivalojat elvegezze mielott elkezdhettek dolgozni.

DE ... a harombol ki lesz az elso? En azt ajanlottam, hogy menjenek olyan sorrendbe mint ahogy megerkeztek a foldre ... Lutza meg azt ajanlotta hogy azert csak a lanyoknak illene eloszor menni. Igy is ugy is o lett az elso.

The obligatory cheese (by the way she is working on it lately to not to have it too cheesy - this one is pretty natural ;o)

A kotelezo 'cheese' (egyebkent igyekezik mostanaban nem tul sajtosra csinalni - ez eleg termeszetes mosoly lett ;o)

Thumbs up for that big rock she got to dig up.

Buszkeseg ... nem semmi kovet asott ki Lutza.

Vidor in his element... He can play with the toy ones at the park forever so he got right on Daddy's lap and knew exactly what to do - he could have stayed on this machine all day.

Vidor teljesen beleelte magat. A parkban az ilyen markoloval naplementeig tud jatszani ugyhogy csak beleugrott Daddy olebe es pontosan tudta hogy mit kell csinali - szerintem egesz nap elult volna rajat.


They dug a trench for a water drainage pipe along side the new addition to a house.

Egy vizelvezeto godrot astak az alap mellet az uj hozzaadashoz.



Oh, my little Guzie ... today he was not fond of being the last born - but finally it was his turn. I love seeing his face doing the real thing. He was pretty good with those controls.

Oh, az en kis Guzim ... ma nem igazan tetszett neki hogy o szuletett utoljara - de vegre o volt a soros. Imadom az arcat latni amikor tudja hogy nem jatek a dolog. Ugyes volt azokkal a karokkal.



Needless to say it was hard to peel them off that machine.



Mondanom sem kell, eleg nehez volt hazamenni.

Best day ever .... every day

We went camping again and well, we had 'the best days ever' again. For our first camping trip we went to Disneyland. And now if we mention to word camping, of course the children think we are going there again. On our first trip J and the children would sit down every night and discuss the plans for next day, check out the map and the route we would take and tell stories about their favorite part of the day. Vidor, without fail, every day concluded the day as 'this was the best day ever'. Since than this became our motto, our goal to make every day the best day ever. And what could be any better than ....

Nehany hetvegevel ezelott megint satorozni mentunk es megint a 'vilag legjobb napjat' toltottuk egyutt. Az idei elso satorozos utunk Disneyland-be vitt. Es most mar akar hanyszor kiejtjuk a szankon azt a szot hogy 'satorozas', termeszetesen azt gondoljak a gyerekek, hogy megint oda megyunk. Az elso utunkon Jeff minden este leult a gyerekekkel es megbeszeltek a terveket a kovetkezo napra, tanulmanyoztak a terkepet, es elmeseltek egymasnak a nap legelmenytelibb esemenyeit. Vidor, gondolkozas nelkul, minden este azt mondta hogy 'ez volt a vilag legjobb napja'. Azota ez a celunk, azt akarjuk hogy minden nap a vilag lejobb napja legyen.
Es mi lehet annal jobb mint ...

... crawling in the warm sand. (Kalaloch, WA)

... maszni a meleg homokban.

... saying cheese in a cheesy way.

... azt mondani hogy 'cheese' nagyon sajtosan.

... watching a beautiful sunset.

... nezni a gyonyoru naplementet.

... being the first ones on the beach in the morning.

... megelozni reggel mindenkit az oceanparton.

... finding cool stuff (even if it stinks like crazy).

... talani super kincseket (megha borzaszto budos is).

... climbing really old trees barefoot.

... megmaszni nagyon oreg fakat mezitlab.

... exploring the coastline with the brothers and sis.

... felfedezo utra menni a tesokkal.

... learning how to make a good campfire.

... megtanulni tuzetrakni.

... eating dinner on a riverbank.

... folyoparton vacsorazni.

... being amazed by the beautiful work of God.

... elamulni Isten csodalatos munkajatol.

Vidor the Conquerer

I am so proud of this boy ... more than words can express. In the past few weeks he has grown so much on so many ways. Vidor is the most loving and kindest person who loves people but also appreciates that special world where he can be alone with is imagination. He builds the most amazing things out of the oddest things he finds around the house but he has hard time trying out new things - even if they look fun. He wants to be a big boy - and he wants that really bad. And of course that means taking chances ... We have taken an amazing camping trip just recently and those 10 days changed our boy's life forever - he took a lot of chances.

Olyan buszke vagyok erre a fiura ... szavak ki sem tudjak fejezni. Az elmult nehany honapban sok teren nott, foleg az onbizalma. Vidor olyan szerettel teli, kedves es szereti a tarsasagot, de nagyon ertekeli azt a vilagot is ahol a kepzeletet szabadjara tudja engedni. A legerdekesebb dolgokat tud vickek vackokbol epiteni amit a haz korul talal, de valahogy nehezen megy neki hogy uj dolgokat probaljon ki. Vidor nagy fiu akar lenni - es azt nagyon akar. A satorozos utunk Disneylandba, 10 nap az uton es a sok uj kornyezet es kaland megvaltoztatta az eletet orokre.

He would never jump off of high things before ... something that he just did not do out of principle ... it had nothing to do with trust. But on the tail end of our trip he climbed this monument and without thinking for even an instant, he flew right into his Daddy's arms.

Vidor soha nem ugralt le magas helyekrol ... valami amit csak elvbol nem csinalt ... semmi koze nem volt a masokban valo bizalmahoz. De az utunk vegefele megmaszta ezt az emlekmuvet is gondolkodas nelkul az Apukaja karjaiba repult.

He is more a big brother than ever. Even though he is younger than Lutza, he is a BOY and he knows that comes with responsibilities. Taking care of both of his siblings just warms my heart ... He is in the middle after all, middle children are pretty cool (just ask me ;o)

Most mar jobban nagy teso mint valaha volt. Bar fiatalabb mint Lutza, o azert csak FIU es tudja hogy az a cim felelosseggel jar. Ahogy gondoskodik a testvereirol elolvasztja a szivem ... O kozeppen van, a kozepso gyerekek azok eleg szuperek (csak kerdezz engem ;o)


For a person who doesn't even get on the swing, Disneyland can be an overwhelming place. My goodness, it overwhelmed me! But where is my Vidor? Riding on the Pirates of the Carribian and LOVING IT with that joyful smile on his face 'can we do it again' (especially the fast slide part that he just thought rocked).

Valakinek, aki meg hintazni sem szeret, Disneyland eleg rettenetesnek tunhet. Oh, mindenhato, meg nekem is rettenetesnek tunt. De hol van az en Vidorom? A Pirates of the Carribian hajoban es IMADJA MINDEN PILLANATAT azzal a fulig ero mosollyal az arcan 'mehetunk megy egyszer' (foleg a gyors csuszda resze, szerite az a vilagon a legjobb volt).

And that Waterbug ... that is my boy who would dive into my arms and into neck deep water after he discovered that playing in the water is actually pretty fun.

Es ez a vizibogar ... az az en fiam aki gondolkodas nelkul ugrott a karjaimba es nyakig ero vizbe miutan felfedezte hogy a vizben valo jatszas az bizony nagyon jo szorakozas.


His life was changed after our trip... We got home and the first thing he wanted to do is try to ride his bike. This bike has been waiting and sitting in the garage for 'when he is ready' and finally he was ready. He got on it, got a 'mighty push' from Momma and off he went. He is actually riding standing up now, hopping curbs, going way too fast and scaring me to death.

Ez az ut megvaltoztatta az eletet. Amikor hazaertunk ez elso dolog amit csinalni akart az volt hogy megtanuljon biciklizni. Ez a bico mar regot ult a garazsban es arra vart hogy 'Vidor keszen alljon' es vegre Vidor elszanta magat. Rault, es egy jo lokes Mamma-tol ... mar oda is volt. Most mar allva tekeri, utszeleket ugral vele, tul gyorsan megy es halalra ilyeszt.

The best day ever...

I know that life is good when my son tells me that 'this is the best day ever' as I am scrubbing dirt off his feet and trying to wash out dried marshmallow from his hair. Life is full of fun and fun is always the best when you have loved ones to share it with.

This Easter - and a few past ones and for many more years coming - we went to see Uncle Dave and Auntie Cindy at Sequim. There is just something super special about their place ... probably because it starts with a ferry ride and always ends with loads of fun with cousins, amazing food, and dirty feet.

The ferry ride is always full of excitement. Having the wanderer and adventurous blood in my boys should have taught me by now that you can't travel on a huge body of water without wanting to throw rocks in it. My darling Vidor was devastated when he realized that there are no pebbles and rocks on deck. He was searching for anything, and I mean anything (which ended up being a dried up chewing gum) to toss in - just to satisfy his urge of watching something disappear in a vast amount of water.

Arriving after a 'long drive' (which is kind of a funny thing to say since the cousins drove over 8 hours compared to our 2 and 1/2), we had an amazing dinner and campfire ... who would not want to settle in and stay a while. There is just something special about the first roasted marshmallow of the year - especially when a puppy is tugging at the other and of your stick. Oh, and shoes are optional here ;o) even if it is only 60 some degrees (one of my favorite things).

Next day we checked out Uncle Dave's boat he has been rebuilding for the past few years. Being on the water, we could not pass by this beach without throwing rocks or picking up shells. The beach we usually go to in Mukilteo has only broken shells so Lutza was not really sure which direction to run and which shell to pick up when practically all of them were intact.

Finally we had enough rocks (some even made it to the van - for the ferry ride home).

It's funny how the Easter Bunny comes by the morning and has baskets full of goodies for the children and then leaves ... just to return later to scatter the garden full of eggs. Why does he do that? Why doesn't he just do it all at once? And why do bunnies lay eggs anyway??? -- Oh, little minds working, I love that our children are so pure and innocent and every thought just comes right out of their mouths. I wish they could stay like this forever!!

I hope one day they look back at these pictures and still remember that this was the 'best day ever'!!!

How they became pirates

Once upon a time there were Three Little Rascals who loved to wonder on the streets of their village. They loved to poke their noses into the bakers and smell the fresh bread, feed the hungry ducks and chickens, throw rocks in the pond or sneak into the toy store to play with trains. Most of all, they loved to climb and swing and play in the grass. But the Magical Garden where they always did that was guarded by the Vicious Gray Rooster. He was a big and strong bird who walked back and forth at the entrance and stared scarily at the people passing by. The Three Little Rascals were brave, braver than the last time they were trying to enter the Magical Garden. They waited for the right moment and sneaked in behind the watchful eyes. But the Vicious Rooster noticed and he started to chase them.

The Three Rascals run as fast as they could when one of them spotted an anchored ship. They quickly climbed up the stairs and found safety on deck.

The Vicious Rooster jumped and hopped and struggled to get up, but he couldn't. The Three Rascals friendlily waved bye to the guard of the Magical Garden and set sail.

The oldest Rascal assumed her position at the wheel and became the Captain. Only once they were at open sea they realized that they were on a pirate ship.

They cheered happily because they knew that pirates don't have to brush their teeth, eat their broccoli or make their beds every morning. They wanted to be pirates forever.

But then the Captain noticed a person on shore ... in a distance a set of waving arms. "Oh no, our Momma! We did not say goodbye! She does not even know where we are going!" She quickly ordered her officers to turn the ship around and to return to shore.

It took hard work from both officers, but they managed to anchor the ship and could not wait to have their Momma's loving arms around them. They promised never to go anywhere without letting her know. That night they all ate their broccoli, brushed their teeth without complaining and snuggled up into their little beds. They had an adventurous day but they were grateful to be home after all .... maybe one day they set sail again ... one day.

A one incher

Our 'relaxing' nature walk was cut short by an emergency - an inch long splinter from a wood bridge. I thought I have seen big tears before ...

My little Rapunzel

... our little Lutza as a long haired princess. Tangled is her absolutely most favorite movie right now ... the dancing, the singing, the humor, the romance .... she gets it all and takes it alllll in. This is her version of dressing up to be Rapunzel, she lets her hair down, kicks her shoes off and spins and twirls across rooms singing her favorite song. I have so much love for this little girl, I think my heart will explode. I treasure her for her imagination and innocence, I love that she is happy and free. I don't think I can ask for more as a mother! We will have all the time in the world for math and reading .... the 'right-now' this 'very moment' is what matters.

Pew!

Well, it has been quite a month so far. I don't even know where my memories of these past few weeks start ... maybe by getting in an accident with three children and crashing the van, followed by injuries to two more vehicles in the family, getting the the flu first ... topped off with the stomach flu. Oh, it has been quite a month.

When mommies go down, they go down big time. I don't recall being sick in recent history this bad, to the point that I did not even want to get out of bed but still had to because my little ones needed me and felt the same pains as I did. But we made it. Lutza and Vidor are such troopers and unfortunately know the drill when tummy troubles come. But little Goo-Goo just wanted to be hugged .... when I could not even stand my own clothes touching me. I did not make - or at that matter ate - a square meal for days and got the puzzled looks from my children that 'you did not feed us dinner' after I served them toasted bagels (that's the cooking part) with cream cheese and strawberries. And when I thought things can't get worse, the washing machine quit - QUIT! When I had piles and piles of sheets, blankets pillows and towels to wash ... why could not just the dishwasher quit?? So I officially declared that it was family emergency and my darling husband (who has been working and living out of town) drove home and took care of business .... and peace returned to our house. There is a reason why God gave two parents to each child and a man for a woman!!!

So this past week has been a blur but we still got a little green spirit going. Before we all got sick, we made green salt dough for evening activity. Whoever thought about the idea of giving children dough to play with ... I owe him/her big time. Without play-dough I would never have dinner made. Lutza made this happy green witch that we dried. We also made shamrock cutouts that we painted and glittered to use for further decorating. We embellished an outside door hanger with it and I used them at school to make St. Patrick's day pins by adding a pin to the backs with hot-glue-gun.

I also found random green card stock that we cut into shamrock shapes to string on the mantle.

Since Daddy has been out of town through the week, we made the traditional St. Patrick's day dinner a week prior. Being gentle on the recovering tummies, I stayed away from fancy desserts, instead we made healthy banana muffins and decorated them to be rainbow muffins. They were pretty good. Oh, I was brave enough to cook something yesterday and I could not stop with only the main dish. So I made tapioca pudding by using coconut milk, hint of cinnamon, raisins - sounds pretty good. Cracks me up even if I just think about the faces that my children made ... Vidor - bless his heart - says "Mommy, thank you so much for making this wooonderful dessert! Is it okay if I don't eat it?". So tapioca was not a big hit in our house ;0) and I did not even have to go as far as coloring it green.

Their present - a marble racer - was greatly appreciated. It has been keeping them busy for hours every day.

And this is our St. Patrick's day portrait without Goo-Goo. He refused to participate sadly. In spite of all the troubles and challenges of this past few weeks - as Jeff said - we are still blessed and fortunate that we have not been swept away by a tsunami or fear radioactive exposure. May God bring peace to all the people in trouble around the world.

Crafty Saturday

We love Home Depot. We sometimes go to Home Depot just to walk around and look at stuff ... finding things we can't live without ;). Jeff has a spot with his name on it (Contractors Only), and oh, we like to use it ... it's like rolling into an expensive hotel and walking right into the action.

This Saturday was the first time the children attended the Home Depot craft hour. They offer this one hour activity every Saturday at 8 am and the participants - smaller and bigger kids - get to bang around to their own enjoyment and create something cool. There is a group of 'regulars', children with numerous pins on their aprons, who have been attending for a long time. And there are the rookies, like us, who were also so warmly welcomed. The children all received an orange apron - just like the Home Depot employees - customized with their names.

I though this would be a great way to get the family going on lazy Saturday mornings and it was a complete success. Lutza was not hesitant, after putting on her apron and safety glasses, she got to choose her tools and nails, pick through the wood pile and 'warm up' by banging around and trying to build something. Vidor was not so sure if this whole affair was for him. He even pulled his neck into his coat and just watched, which was rather surprising since he lives for tools.

Lutza started to build a 'Birds Welcome' sign and did excellent with driving her nails in. I pounded the nails in just far enough that they would be standing stable and she did the rest. Tongue has to be just right!!!

Vidor finally took his coat and cap off and got busy ... he was so gentle and precise. I think the possibilities almost overwhelmed him. There were so many things he could do.

After about 20-25 minutes of 'warm-up', the Wood Doctor gathered the children together. I just called him the Doctor because he was wearing white work gear and glasses - a perfectly grumpy but funny character for the job. He reminded the children to the rules. The most important was to always wear eye-protection - unless any of the children wanted to borrow that extra eye-ball he was carrying around in his pocket.

Eventually the real builder, Daddy, joined in too and showed us some tricks.

Lutza said that it was okay that her house was a little crooked, the birds wouldn't mind it (I was her assistant and I am officially the Queen of finding knots and missed nails). She was very proud of her job!!!

It was a perfect way to start the day and have some family time together. Next week we are making race tracks. Do you think Vidor is excited?

Thanks Presidents

Lutza has Show-and-Tell every Thursday at school and they always follow a monthly theme, this time Italy. But as usual, I forgot to find something in time. As we were scrambling to get our shoes on, I spotted the last box full of pictures and frames that I failed to unpack in our new house yet. YES!!! (And NO too in the same time, because I just got reminded again to all the 'picture-stuff' I have been planning to do). But YES, because on the very top was sitting a framed picture of Mr. and Mrs Bush! There you have it, show-and-tell for this week. So in the car I tried to explain Lutza who is the president. It's a tough one! Try to choose your words and concepts in a way that an almost 5 year-old understands the importance of this position.

Momma: What is the name of our country?

Lutza: The United States of America!

Momma: Good deal! You know, the president is the leader of this country, like in the old days we had kings, today we have presidents who guide our country toward making wise decisions and to protect our people.

Lutza: Does he know the Queen of England?

Momma: Oh, yes! They meet sometimes to discuss important things.

Lutza: Do they have tea together?

Momma: Yup, you are getting it now ... over tea you can talk about important stuff. But he is a person who is also responsible to provide you with laws so you can have health-care (oh, deep stuff so... I had to make is sound more down-to-Earth), so you can go to the doctor, and you have schools and education, and we have soldiers who protect us.

Lutza: ... and he makes you eat healthy food and brush your teeth all the time ....

.... And our short drive is over. I think the only thing that I drilled in her that on the picture is President Bush who is our old president.

So at the end of school I talked to her teacher. Miss A. thought it was wildly funny what Lutza said at show-and-tell "Yupp, these are my daddy's friends on this picture!" - and that's it. THAT'S IT??? (Jeff always says 'my Buddy the W' when he talks about President Bush. S0 Lutza pays attention to that .... but my speed lecture on the importance of our president was probably never processed).

Being President's Day, we decided to celebrate by taking it easy and enjoyed our freedoms and privileges without limitations. Thanks to our great leaders for this great day!

On the above picture is Bendeguz, making a fashion statement (and enjoying his privilege of being able to wear anything regardless of race, gender, social-, economic-, or ethnic status). For snack he consumed one jelly tortilla roll, a bowl of rice with peas and chicken, 1 1/2 bananas and two oranges .... and out of the leftovers he made a nice 'soup' in his milk cup that he proudly stirred and showed off.

This is my lovely Lutza who found a new box of markers and loved every minute of her coloring.

Vidor (marker lines on his face) finally allowed me to wash and refurbish his cuddly bear. He willingly put 'Brumy' in the wash and kept him company so the bear is not scared and held his hand while I stitched up the hole after we put fresh stuffing in him.

Bendeguz is obsessed with seeing himself in my phone, so we made some silly pictures, too.

So Dear Presidents, thanks for all the great stuff you do for us, and thank you for letting us spend a fun day together.