When she is good she is really really good........

We have had quite the day. Since Ha-Na's birthday is tomorrow I made cupcakes for her class last night (school goes Sunday through Thursday). Today was also he 30th anniversary of their school so they were having a big celebration which was great, Ha-Na was convinced it was all for her. Well, they bring out the kids for the presentation and the cake and start to sit them down. I had given Ha-Na a cup of water and she proceeded to go with her class to sit. One of the teachers decides that she shouldn't have the water (I know, I don't get it either) so she attemps to take the cup from Ha-Na. Any person whom has worked with kids ought to know that it is not best to just grab something from a child, it just becomes more valuble to them. So, with the entire school waiting for the program to start Ha-Na keeps hold of the cup with all her might. The water spills out and that is it. She proceeds to scratch, kick and shriek at the top of her lungs that she wants her water. She flings her legs and kicks her crocs at the kids who are watching. I tried to get involved to help. It is never a sure thing whether the teachers want you to intervene or stay out of it. Her teacher got her to sit down by dragging her to her spot. Every time she sees me she starts again so her teacher asks me to stay out of visibility. I had to watch the whole thing kneeling down in the sandbox hiding behind two of my friends. When the PTA gathered for a photo after it was done and the kids were walking out Ha-Na sees me and starts again. Her teacher has her by the hand and Ha-Na drops and proceeds to be dragged off to class. As this last episode was occuring I hear several of the ladies in the PTA ask "who's child is that?" And you know what? After all of that I could smile and say proudly that she belongs to me. I have really come to appreciate and love her for her independence and determination. She is a hoot. I just wish I had brought my cameral with me to capture it all.

When I went to pick up Ha-Na from school Carl's teacher met me and asked me to take Carl home (he gets out after the girls). He was complaining of a bad headache and he was pale and droopy. I brought him home and watched him get continually worse. I search the house for childrens tylenol or the like since he was burning up and of course we are out. I am so thankful for good friends. I called my friend and she picked up some for me and brought it over. Carl asked for a blessing and luckily when she came her husband and another friend from church were with her so Carl got his blessing. He said it helped him feel better and he is finally sleeping. He keeps muttering in his sleep but at least he is sleeping.

Sick Day

It amazes me that when my kids are home I seem to have more time than when they are at school. Without the driving to and from to pick up, especially since my kids get out at three different times.

Ha-Na woke up in the middle of the night last night sobbing about her throat hurting (of course this happens while Carl is away in Germany) so the girls are staying home with me today thus giving me time to give attention to our blog. We have been looking through pictures picking out which ones they would like to add to past posts (they of course think every picture is great and should be included.) In doing so I came accross these pictures from last easter and it reminded me of something Carls sister was lamenting about, children posing for pictures. If you have more than one child the chances are slim (or less than looking at my childrens record) that they will all look at you and smile at the same time. As soon as one child smiles one of the others look away. It makes for a frustrating time for the parent and for desperate looks and increasingly bizarre faces from the children. Sometimes I think they do it on purpose for their great ammusement, children are more clever than we think. In trying to find the perfect picture with all the children I am thankful for photoshop. Carl and I have become quite adept at moving heads arround to create a passable photo.


We have added some new photos, as soon as I figure out how to do the slideshow then I will add one but I would not reccomend holding your breath.

I will get back to our lazy day of wearing pajamas, watching Dora and giving lots of comfort and love to my little sickie Ha-Na.

Swike or Bim?

We have been enjoying the cooler weather by playing outside quite a bit now. Carl set up cones and the kids have been having fun being timed on the obstacle course. He has been teaching little carl how to throw a football and catch it correctly. Little Carl has been working on learning to ride a bike although we don't have much room for him to practice. Carl had the idea that the tile around the pool gave a nice track for him to practice on. All was going well until he tried to get arround the hose that Carl was working with, one of the training wheels went over the pool and that was it, he went right in the deep end bike and all. He swam right up and we had a good laugh over it (once he was dried and warm) and decided we could make it a new sport, but what to call it? Swike or Bim? After we figured we better get the bike out. Carl decided he would make the sacrifice and got into his suit and stood by the cold (really, really cold) pool. I thought he ought to be spared that so I used the pool net to bring up the bike. We later thought we should have taken a picture for rememberance but little Carl was not amiable to the idea of recreating the situation. He did say that he now knows he will be able to handle the cold water for his baptism.

Our little boy is growing up

Madison started off the Birthday season for our Family on the 30th of December. Next is
Ha-Na on the first of February and then Carl's is on the 9th of February. This will be his eighth and he is sooooo excited. Eight is his favorite number he says it is holy because it is when he will be baptised. We met with the Branch president today and started planning all the details. We are doing it on his birthday in the evening per Carl's request (he was quite insistent that it should occur on his birthday). We will be having it at our villa in our pool outside, which is not heated, brrrrrrrrr. We spoke in church today, including Carl and it really hit me how grown he is getting, my heart swells.

In other news we have been DDR fanatics at the house, at least the kids and I. The girls love to mimic the dancers and Carl is dedicated to the Lessons with the DJ. I challenge you all to a DDR dance off when we are blessed to be together again (Yes Andy, I think I can take you, better start practicing hard).

Dolls and booby traps

Carl came into the room yesterday laughing and told me I had to go speak to Madison and see what she had done. I panicked in memory of coloring on the walls, painting the floor, even eating the contents of her diaper and I was surprised to find her standing over a star shaped box quite protectively. She was really excited about this box and what was inside. Madison proceeded to enthusiastically tell me about the booby trap (a star shaped box) and the captive (her sisters new barbie she got from Santa). I guess this comes from having a brother who loves to play all the boy games and a sister who loves dolls. Madison is quite in the middle. She loves to battle Carl (he is generally not aware of her game and finds it most annoying but she thinks it is great) and play tea with Ha-Na. At this exact moment there is intense high pitch screaming (Madison) and maniacal laughter (Ha-Na) as Ha-Na is trying to release the prisoner from the trap (The prisoner today is light up poo bear). As the dispute ended in a slap from Madison to Ha-Na she was then sent to time out declaring "It's not fair" our three year olds' favorite new statement. Madison sure is starting out her third year with gusto.

For new years eve we played (Wii of course) with the kids all day and after their healthy lunch told them we were having a junk food night. They declared that New Years Eve is the best day ever. They got to play games and have chips with dip and soda. We did not give them naps so we could put them down early and at 6:30 proceeded to toast in the new year with them and put them to bed. Carl and I then made fondue and played games the rest of the evening (yes Julie, I know we are old and boring) and had the best time.

New Years day was another day of games and we made Carls favorate dinner, RIBS (he sure does miss Sticky Fingers in SC).

We really had a great holiday season and we are looking forward to the new year.

Wii-nerful Christmas

A wonderful Christmas has come and gone in the Agren family, which was not too bad for being in a Muslim country. We also found out that it looks like more presents if your tree is only 2 feet tall. As the title suggests the family got a Wii, which has been the hit for all. April enjoys the DDR, Carl loves Mario Galaxy, and Ha-Na and Madison like bowling and DDR. Madison loves to shake and boogy to the DDR, although has yet to hit any arrows. Yesturday was Madison's big third birthday! She had a great one. We went and saw Alvin and the Chipmunks, which was suprisingly amusing. Then we came home to cake, ice cream, and presents. The picture is the cake the Carl baked for Madison. Carl did the whole thing, with a little help from April. April deserved a baking break after creating a ton of other creations throughout the holiday season.

Chirstmas Caroling and Tear Gas

I have come to understand that the blog is only useful if we use it (thanks Julie), so we are back, and hopefully in full swing. If there are any excuses it is that we have been crazy busy, and when I say crazy busy I mean partying like a rock star in Bahrain. We have had a bazillion little parties for the kids and for the branch. The kids, who are beating each other up at the moment (Ha-Na and Madison), have had more Christmas excitement than ever.

Since the last post we had a visit from Carl's sister Stacy and her lovely family, who came from Germany (insert Leiderhousen joke here). They came for a week and we had a tooten blast. We ran all over the island. One of the ladies from the branch took all of us around to different historical sites on the island. We also found out how wussy we are since their kids were swimming everyday in the pool that we refuse to go in because of the cold, brrrr. It was a brisk 80 degrees (brrr, break out the down coats).

After they left we broke into a fit of sickness, which we passed around the family like a Christmas fruitcake.

During that time all of the kids had a holiday concert. Madison was a rock star dancing and jamming to Rocking Around the Christmas Tree, she can really move and shake.

Then Ha-Na was a fairy princess, and despite the 103 temperature, was truly amazing for about the first half of the dance and slowly slipped and the energy went away. She was brave, but really sick. Carl's presentation was a Halloween presentation for Christmas (Brits never did get everything 100 percent correct).

We went from concert to class parties, the next week all of the kids had different parties on different days. Each class required a different food creation. There was also the obligatory class presents for each member. April went truly over-the-top creating Snowman cakes and Christmas Tree cakes. She also created gifts for the teachers and other friends, which was a teapot with Hot Chocolate Mix and Biscotti.

After that off to more parties. The kids have not been to sleep before 11PM all week. Which has lead to some rather nasty behavior --- turd sized piece of coal might be coming to one if they do not shape up.

Now to the title, most of you were probably wondering what Christmas Carols and tear gas have to do with each other? Well we would have thought the same thing until this year. Here is how this shook down:
We made these fantastic plates of cookies and then headed out for an exciting night of caroling. It got much more exciting when we went to a friend that told us to go another route, besides the normal because "there is something going on". Something going on to us might mean an accident or a small chipmunk in the street. In Bahrain, apparently this means a violent protest. We drive up to a street by their house and the police had blocked off the street and there is a gaggle of riot police, well-equipped. We finally make it to our friends house and go inside. The entire time there we can hear the sounds of a helicopters flying overhead. As we go out to get in the car I notice a burning pain in my eye, April too. Turns out that a copious amount of tear gas was being dispersed in the village next to our friend's compound. I am not big on tear gas, it hurts. So we left that area for more peaceful areas.
**** MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL ***********************