Sunday, July 21, 2013

Play Dates and Learning our Wall

 We are so blessed to have such great people here on the island. We are especially grateful to have the Tamanaha Family as our friends! We went over so that Nenji and Rylan could play with Keido....but I didn't get photos of them! But here is a cute picture of Spencer and Emi! Aren't they so cute! :)




Since Rylan and Nenji are here, I don't really want them to miss out on anything so I've been teaching them things at home. For the past week or so we've been learning about butterflies and insects! I borrowed this theme from my 2nd grade teaching at YPSA. The boys now know what insects are, the 3 body parts, what an antenna is, an other kinds of insects! Ry is still pretty young but he does pretty good at pointing to the body parts. Nenji can tell me "head, thorax, and abdomen!" It was funny, the other day I was able to kill a mosquito without squishing it into smush, so I picked it up with a piece of paper and we inspected it's body. They held a tooth pick and and counted its lets, looked at it's antenna, saw it's little straw like proboscis, and the 3 body parts. The eyes were to small for them to see the compound eyes, but I googled a picture of compound eyes. They boys thought it was just the funniest ever! I thought it was creepy!



Here's a picture of our learning wall! We made the ABC cards and they gave me words that started with the letter, then they got to color the pictures. 

Here's a picture of our butterflies. We traced our hands and made the butterfly wings with them! The boys loved it. :)

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Nenji hurt my feelings...and Spencer hit me!

This reason was actually really sad, but he was so silly and cute I just had to document. Rylan often copies everything Nenji does and so naturally as the older brother, Nenji gets super annoyed. Nenji wanted to just play by himself. So Rylan started to cry. Then Nenji moved over to play with Spencer. Rylan also wanted to play with Spencer so he laid across the toys. Nenji yelled at him and at the same time Spencer accidentally waved a toy around and smacked him in the head. He started crying super loud and said, "Nenji hurt my feelings and Spencer hit me! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Oh, my poor Ry. 

So sad. :(

The three frienemies! 




Pesky little Nemesis

**I didn't realize how negative and crazy this post sounded until I reread it. So...read at your own will! haha.

When we first moved here to Dominica there were a lot of things that annoyed me. But since this new place was going to be our home for the next year or so, I made peace with the island. It only took me about 6 weeks to accept that, but hey better late than never. Sometimes I still get pretty annoyed about the humidity. Like right now, the kids and I are confined to our bedroom because it's so humid in the living room! But I am grateful that we have AC in our room. Sometimes  I walk around I don't even realize how hot I am until my arm starts dripping with sweat or until I just have beads of sweat dripping down my chest and face. Yuck! But the number one thing that I still have not gotten used to...mosquitoes!

I hate those little buggers with a passion. The first night that we got here it was pretty late at night so we didn't really have time to clean the rooms. That night my little family and I were eaten alive! I had 9 mosquito bites across my back and several more on my arms and legs. That night I vowed our room would be mosquito free! I cut up some of the mosquito nets that we brought and duct taped it onto out windows. Why the excessive measure? Well, the frames to our bedroom windows are all bent and does not keep out the mosquitoes so we had to get creative. We also taped a mosquito net around the frame of our door to keep them out that way too. And I am pretty proud to say that we've been mosquito free for most nights. :)

Does the job most of the time!

Super ghetto, but like I said before, anything goes here in Dominica!



This is the exact window my hubbs left open. 

See...bent up screen. Our landlord was supposed to replace it about 3 months ago.


A few weeks ago though, in the middle of the night, I was rudely thrown out of my dream by an intense itching sensation on my finger. What?! A mosquito is in the room! I half stormed and stumbled out of the room to inspect my itchy finger. Yup...the infamous swollen bump was there. So I ran into the room to find that little pest. When I came into the room I stood at the door staring into the dark corners, at the ceiling, under the bed...and then I saw it. Right next to my little Spencer where I sleep, there was a little dark spot...as I got closer it was the culprit. It was just sitting there in my spot...like it was savoring my scent. It was pretty freaky. And I squished it! (Ok, this part is a little graphic) There was blood! Horay! It really was the culprit. If I had squished it and there was no blood, that means there was another mosquito in the room. But since I had evidence, I happily washed my hands and went to sleep. 

So why this crazy rant? Well, yesterday my dear hubby aired our room out...and he didn't VELCRO shut the hole to keep the mosquitoes out!!! I came in the room and saw that gaping hole and I shut it really quickly hoping that they hadn't gotten in. We did our usually nightly routine. Went to sleep....and then I awoken by that same annoying intense itching sensation on my knuckle AND my arm. Oh no, I knew right there and then that they had gotten in. I went out of the room to inspect my bites and then came back inside the bed room. And once again...there was the bloodsucker...right next to my pillow. So I squished it and there was blood! Woo-who! Washed my hands and went to sleep.......only to wake up 30 minutes later to find the bottom of my feet itching like crazy! Oh no...there was another one. So I turned the lights on, this time Fi Dan looked at me like I was crazy. I was suppose to meet my friend at 7:30 to go to the market, so he told me to just go to sleep. How can I sleep with those annoying things biting me! This mosquito was smarter than the last one because he was not coming close to me. So I decided to hunt him down. Right as I was walking past the bedroom door it flew out. This mosquito was huge. I don't how, but I was able to squish it...this one had a lot of blood. That's probably why I was able to squish it...because it was so heavy with blood it couldn't fly fast enough! Yay, I thought...I can sleep. But I decided to check our room just incase there was another one hiding. I looked in their favorite places. The cubby holes of the desk. Sure enough 1 flew out but unfortunately I wasn't able to kill it! Ugh! I was so exhausted that I just had to go to sleep.

When we woke up to my horror, I wasn't the only victim. Rylan's little face was bitten 2 times and he has a few new swollen spots. And Nenji's forehead has a huge bump. Luckily, my little Spencer was spared and he doesn't have any bites! Fi Dan had a few bites too. So as I am currently typing there is still one more mosquito that I need to slay in a little bit!

Yup...wide open for them little pests to get in. :/

Excuse the gross crusty feet, but sandals are required daily and there's no time for pedicures!
But that red swollen part right in the middle of my feet. 

My scarred up leg and feet.

My other leg. But the tan is looking good though! 

My poor Ry's leg.

Yup...that would be the eye that was bitten.


I couldn't get him to just look at the camera. I love his face in this one. But you see his shiny little forehead...that be the bite right there.

This picture...just because he's so silly. 

And this is Nenji's scarred up little leg. Sad, huh?


Sometimes at night when the boys are sleeping and Fi Dan and I are out in the living trying to enjoy each other's time...we just end up spending at least 10-20 minutes mosquito hunting. We just sit using our legs and bodies as bait and when we see one we'll wait until it lands and then squish it. I think the most we've killed in one night is about 7! Eeek! And often times our conversations will be about how smart these buggers are! They fly super fast, they can do back flips, and they can disappear into thin air. Last semester when Fi Dan was here he would tell me this and I just thought he was crazy. Now as I tell you this...you probably think I'm the crazy one! LOL, well, at least I'm getting a good laugh out of it now. :) I can't wait to get back to the Sates where the mosquitoes are not as smart and where we don't have to worry too much about getting eating alive!

Friday, July 5, 2013

Petting Zoo, Screw Spa, and 4th of July!

This week was quite a busy week for us! As always Fi Dan was super busy with studying. This poor guy hardly gets a break to enjoy his time here, but we are so grateful for his diligence and perseverance! Go daddy, go! :)

On Tuesday we took Nenji out of school for the day. Instead we went on a little field trip with the Spouse Organization to go see a petting zoo and to enjoy the Screw Spas. Nenji, Rylan, Spencer, and myself once again packed ourselves up in a van with the other moms and kiddies and drove on the curvy roads of Dominica. It was a little crazy not having Fi Dan there to help so the boys were a little out of control! Nenji kept getting up and Ry kept turning around to look at Nenji. So towards the end of the ride Ry got super carsick and threw up, yuck. Poor little guy, he was not happy and he did his really loud scream-cry.

When we got to the petting zoo, the boys were so happy to get out. They really liked the animals there and they were so brave! I was super impressed that Nenji held a guinea pig!
SO happy to get out of the van!

Looking at the animal...I can't remember what it was called.


Fish pond and turtle cage.

Ginormous rabbit!


Guinea Pig. Look at Ry's face...he's like ew. 



So brave! 


It's an owl!


Eek! A possum!

Not an animal, but I thought it was cool. A baby pineapple!


Dominica's lush mountains!


Next we went to The Screw Spas. This place was amazing! It was like an outdoor spa in nature! There were several spas that you could just sit in. Some were really hot, some were cold, and then some were just right! It was just super cool. I love my kiddos, but I would have really liked to just enjoy and relax in one of the really hot spas. When we got back we were pooped. Spencer slept really early and woke up pretty late the next day.


So pretty!


Walking down to the spas. 

The "cool pool"


Jen and Charlotte with the kiddos. 


My sweet baby at Screw Spa. 



For the 4th of July, we had a Bar-B-Q with our Branch. I am just feeling so fortunate to know these people! All of the moms in the Branch are awesome and I just love their kids! The day before the 4th one of the moms had a birthday. So all of the other moms in the Branch made dinner, went to the playground and just hung out while the birthday mom and her husband went snorkeling. A lady come out and saw all of our kids and said, "Whoa! You guys could make your own school!" It was hilarious.

Anyway, on the 4th we all just had a Bar-B-Q, hung out, and then shot rocks into the ocean. Charlotte made this awesome sling with her exercise bands and all of the kiddos had a turn launching a rock into the ocean. It was actually really cool!

But being away from home has made me appreciate America so much more! The security, freedom, liberty, and opportunities are endless. It's not perfect, but I am really grateful that God led my family to the US so that we can enjoy the many blessings that come with it! :)


Happy 4th of July from Dominica!


Getting ready!



Bombs away! :)







Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Pho night By the River

Every semester the Asian club does "pho night". Fi Dan and I decided a few days after we got here that we would definitely be going. So when they started advertising we made sure we got on the list. If you know me, pho is among one of my favorite things to eat! I especially miss my mom's pho and Hoa Viet. I've also passed this love of pho to my kiddies.
Fi Dan took a few hours off of studying to have dinner with us. We also got to eat some spring rolls too! Yum. Although the pho wasn't as savory, delicious, and soul soothing as I had expected, I am still so grateful we got to eat some. The restaurant that we ate at had an awesome view of the river though. :)
Pho and strawberry shake. So good!


Nenji and his pho. He LOVED it!! 


Enjoying the view.


My little guy and me by the river. :)


I love all of these tropical flowers that I keep finding.