Amalie decided this summer that she does not believe in bears. Not that she is afraid of them, but she does not believe they exist. Before we left Russia in June Colin asked me a few times if bears were real. I was so confused by this question. Colin has been to zoos all over the world and seen bears. Of course they are real. I finally understood his question while we were in the US and I was driving in the car with the kids. I heard Colin and Amalie arguing over the existence of bears. When I questioned Amalie about this she just shrugged her shoulders and said she does not believe they exist. Later on in the summer she amended her statement and said that polar bears exist, just not any other kind of bears. I cannot tell you how often I laughed about this over the summer.
My parents were a huge help to me this summer (babysitting the kids, cooking food, checking our mail and letting me use their printer) and I wanted to take them out for dinner without the kiddos. So, I hired a babysitter from a nanny service in Hilton Head that I have used before. The woman was very nice, but this is the situation she walked into: Kathleen never uses the i-pad. But for some reason she had it while the babysitter was walking in the door and was blaring "I'm sexy and I know it". How many times have I asked Jesy to erase that song, and doesn't it just figure that Kathleen would choose that moment to play it. Colin was on some type of sugar high and was bouncing around the living room talking about mega mansions and dancing to Kathleen's music. Amalie was asleep on the couch at 5 in the evening with her mouth hanging open. And John took one look at the babysitter and started screaming at the top of his lungs. And here is the best part: I asked the babysitter is she had any trouble getting into the community. (It's a gated community and you need to call in a pass for any visitors). She said no, it was very easy, but the guard had stopped her at the gate and told her "good luck with that family tonight. The mom was crying when she called in the pass". WHAT???
I promise you, I was not crying. We had had a very nice day at the pool and playground. Can you imagine what this woman thought after she heard the comment from the guard and then walked into my circus of a house? She came back two nights later to watch the kids again, so it must not have been that bad. I hope.
There are many items you cannot get in Russia (pancake mix, syrup, decent salad dressing, fruit snacks, and the list could go on and on). We have learned to do without, but sometimes I need items from the US. For example, I refuse to use Russian saran wrap. It is one of the worst products I have ever used. We pack that in our suitcase and bring it to Moscow. One thing I learned last year is that as the mother of four kids I still have to do some baking here in Moscow. Birthdays, class parties, etc. I have tried to go homemade, but the sugar and butter are just different here, and it doesn't taste the same to me. So, this summer I decided to be proactive. My mom and I went grocery shopping one night so she could buy ingredients to make her signature desserts for Colin's First Communion/John's Baptism party. I decided to buy four tubs of Betty Crocker frosting, two cans of yams and some pecans. No pecans in Moscow. They don't even know what they are, which is a real shame because pecans are delicious. No cans of yams either and even though I found some fresh sweet potatoes last year, they went bad after one day. Anyways, when I got to the checkout the cashier looked at me and said "doing some baking tonight?" He was really perplexed by my items, which I suppose I would have been too. Summertime in the US is not just for fun, it's time for stocking up.
Once again I have told a fib. Not to the Catholic Church this time, but to you, my reader. I do have a few fabulous pictures of my siblings with their families.
That's a lot of people. A lot of fabulous people!
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