Testing the Waters--WHAT no marshmallows?

Today is raining. I am tired and worn out and we have no rain gear or umbrella's. I think we will stay inside today and try to sneak in some laundry and read a few books. Our rain gear and other things are on their way to Singapore the to Australia and then to Auckland and then to Wellington-BAD NEWS-we will not be getting our things until February 18th probably. 5 weeks longer than it was supposed to be here. The shipping company said 8-10 weeks. That will make it 15 weeks :( We will really get to be minimalists now.

I have been testing the waters the last couple of days to find out how my kids are emotionally. Are they OK and if not why?

I asked them each if they are enjoying our adventure in New Zealand or if they would like to go back to the USA. Enoch said he was enjoying the adventure, but Ezra most definitely wants to go "home". I told Garrett and he very quickly replied "this is our home". He has so much on his plate right now he doesn't really have the capacity to worry or care for anyone or anything else. That is my job, so I talk with Ezra and console and see if I can help him in any way. Today was the clincher though. He almost had me in tears...over marshmallows.

I was drowning my sorrows in a hot cup of Chocolate and the boys smelled it and asked if they could have some. They are supposed to be cleaning up their room so I said if they did a good job they could have some. I said there wasn't any more left but when the cleaning people came I would ask for more. Ezra said "oh yea! can you ask for some marshmallows too?" I said well I could but they don't have marshmallows like we do in the United States. He asked what I meant and I tried to explain that their marshmallows are not like ours and he was SO SO SAD!! His lip stuck out about two inches as he tried to gulp back the tears. He managed not to cry but I almost cried just feeling sorry for him. It was so cute and so sad all at the same time. Poor guy-he is going to miss marshmallows like I will BBQ and root bear :(

BUT-on the flip side he will get really great chocolate and ice cream :) Much better than we have in the States. So hopefully that will be helpful to him.

Ethne is happy. She is talking so much since we got here. Her newest thing is saying the words Peek-A-Boo and she says it really well. I am going to try to get it on video but she NEVER preforms on demand. Another new thing for her is answering questions. I say Ethne do you want to go to bed? She says nah-uh, I say Ethne do you want to go sleepy-sleepy? She says nah-uh! I say Ethne do you want to nurse? She says nah-uh. Anything I ask her at bed time that gets her closer to bed is NA-UH or NO! She is really cute as she scurries around never looking at you just answering questions.
The one time that she seemed to miss home was when the boys saw someone that looked like her cousin Brigham. At the mention of his name she went nuts trying to get out of the stroller. She wanted her Baby Brigham. Then another time She was frantic trying to find her Oakley. So those are the people she misses most-Brigham, Oakley (and CA Grandparents). She has also had a few moments of wanting Grandma and Grandpa as well when they were being talked about. She used to be very afraid of Garrett's dad but when we lived with them for two weeks before moving here she loved Darryl and Gwenn both. She would walk up to Darryl and put out her arms for him to pick her up. So CUTE! Gwenn's daughter Jenny was also a target of Ethne's affection as well. Gwenn taught Ethne to say Grandma and Grandpa.

She says eat, more, apple, snack, night-night, bye-bye, Peak-A-Boo, Grandma, Grandpa, Ezra, daddy, mommy, ball, cookie, Ethne, cheese, princess (as per Ezra's request), hat, meow, woof woof, roar, cat, ooh ooh ooh (for monkey), bird, bread, drink, water (doesn't sound much like water though), food, banana-nana, and more.

She is the queen of dancing and she is starting to add a few new moves to her routine. She sings gibberish as well and it is very endearing. She is really the light of the family. The boys love to play with her but usually end up hurting her when trying to wrestle and play with her. Enoch knocks her over ALL the time while running after her. Makes me crazy but I am glad they adore her. While I was writing this on the blog they were trying to get Ethne to say things so that I could write them down. lol