Wow, that is ugly and that, is scary looking...

I have been sewing quiet a bit lately. Smocks for Sammys preschool class, capes for friends, tunics for Abby and one SUPER ugly dress for Abby. I don't know what went wrong, the fabric by itself was cute, but when all put together I put it on her and nearly gagged. I should have taken a picture but it was too hideous to leave her sitting in so off it went and into the donation pile, for some poor unsuspecting local child to wear. I also wanted to make something to keep Abby's door open. It automatically swings closed and that drives me nuts. I had seen THIS guy but didn't want to pay for him and wait for it to get shipped here so I gathered some remnant fabric and went to town. When I showed Chris the final product his response was classic "Oh that is perfect! She will be to terrified to ever leave her room with that guy guarding the door." HAAAA! I thought it was scary, but cute at the same time, he sort of has "angry eyes"

Well it keeps the door open anyway but Abby does eye it rather warily whenever the boys pick it up to play with it

I feel awful because the other day a mosquito got INSIDE her bed net and "hid" (I don't think they have the actual intelligence to hide, but I didn't see it) in her bumper pad. When I went in to get her I almost started crying, then when Che Che squashed the bug and blood dripped down, siphoned from poor Abby's face, I felt sick to my stomach. You can see some of them in this pic i took at the pool

aww she even looks sad...
This weekend something totally clicked in the boy's heads and they decided they could swim. They are now NUTS and it is terrifying. We got a fun video of Liam but I have no idea how long it would take to upload but I will try. They both love swimming with "gobbles" and Sam always puts his own on. Liam ventured first and I think when Sam saw how ecstatic Chris and I were about him swimming Sam felt up to the challenge. Yesterday I taught them to yell cannonball before they jump in. It is so cute because Liam yells "camel ball" and then belly flops-- every time. We also had a very fun Earth Day last week. We have a fantastic playgroup at the Australian pool and playground every Thursday. One person is assigned to each, Parents tea, Children's tea or to organize the activity. Nicola was in charge of the activity on Earth day and she brought everyone little flower pots (old yougurt containers) and some great soil and seeds. The kids got to fill up there pots, dig little holes and plant the seeds then water them! After Sam and Liam "builded" their flowers we jumped in the pool. When we got out Sam ran to his plant and was shocked and disappointed that something hadn't grown yet. On the way out we grabbed two flowers and plopped them in each. Then they were left on the front porch to actually grow.

Lemers added the Timor flag, so patriotic. I love this picture because it shows how crazy humid it is here. This was taken after I waited 15 minutes for my camera to defog after stepping out our door and onto the porch. I got impatient and just took it. So on a funny side note, yesterday after school Sam had his buddies Noah and Katie over to play and have a go on the slip n slide. Chris and i were having so much fun listening to Katie and Noah talk. Noah kept putting his slick board on his head and saying "I have an awfully big hat", and Katie kept telling Sam he needed to slide "properly". Sam has already started using a few of the words like "mates" and "porridge" (instead of oatmeal) I LOVE it! Next time I will really try to get the video of Liam swimming up and will have to tape Noah and Katie talking.