When the number of lizards in my bedroom is equal to the number of children I have...

...I'm primed for a mental break down, like any minute! Doug Tomlinson better hurry home before I lose it!

Day 59:

Today was another day we tried to fill without Daddy (Doug) with us.  We are used to having him handy, so it's quiet and somewhat boring without him here.  We ate breakfast and then Kees helped me clean everything up.  Then we played in the kid's room.  Kees sold me a bunch of cars.  They started out costing $100 and he wouldn't bargain with me at all. He said (while pointing to the dresser), "The sign says $100".  I did talk him into trading my plane and $75. Then the price hiked all the way up to $600!  It was a lot of fun.  We went to the school room, I did some laundry, then made us lunch.

Would you like to buy a car?

Kora with a tiny umbrella

Kees made a monster. He also went to the bathroom about 4 times in an hour because he drank a lot at breakfast. That's why his pants are wonky.

Kora riding her horsey. Kees was helping her make it go.

In the school room building with blocks.

She's a crazy lady, like really short attention span.  I'm always trying to come up with new things to keep her entertained, but most things only last about 10 minutes. Except swimming, she does that for quite a while, but she does get in and out of the pool a lot.

So many things to see and do.

My chicken wrap obsession.

Okay, this chicken wrap gets it's own paragraph, cause it's just that good.  If you read my blog regularly you know that I have recently been over-zealous about a certain chicken kebab, which is basically a tortilla with crazy yummy chicken meat, some veggies, and a cream sauce.  So here's my at home version which is shockingly good and quite addicting. I'm kind of embarassed to share what's in it, cause it's pretty simple, but I did make the tortilla from scratch...which explains the odd shape, so I feel like that makes me seem a little more legit. (Legit is my word of the day, my dad totally used it on facebook and it made my heart happy).  Okay, so it's shredded chicken.  I usually make one skillet full of boneless skinless chicken tenderloins.  I put a smidge of oil, then sprinkle hoarded ranch dressing MIX (that I brought back from the states and am running low on now), some garlic salt, and cayenne pepper.  I am also obsessed with cayenne pepper, but that's another post for another day.  Anyway, back to the chicken.  I cook it until it's done, shred it and keep it in the fridge (for up to 3 days, I googled that a while back, so you're welcome).  My kids eat chicken in rice, or with noodles or whatever and I like to have some on hand ready to go, there are many weeks I've forgotten to serve it and had to trash it.  I'm ashamed of myself, but now that I'm making this wraps...never again!  So I warm my pre-made tortilla in the skilled, set it aside, warm up the shredded chicken. Turn off the heat, chop one small cucumber and throw it in the skillet that's cooling down. I'm not trying to cook it, I just don't want it to make my chicken cold.  I'm a snob about my food being the right temperature, I blame my dad. He is the king of re-heating dessert and other foods in the microwave. He has it all timed to the second, like random amounts 12 or 8 seconds for certain things.  No one in their house can trust themselves to warm food without first asking him, he's pretty much an expert. Anyway, so my cucumbers are chopped thrown in the cooling skillet then added to my chicken, I add a dollop of mayo, sour cream or yogurt....you choose whatever makes you happy.  Add some onion powder mix it up and throw it in my warmed tortilla.  Uh-mazing.  I had one for lunch, then ate rice r dinner and had to have another wrap as a "snack".  I eat every 2 hours, let's not forget.  Thank you for reading this somewhat LONG side note, but make this wrap and I promise you'll thank me.  Unless you have no tastebuds or you are in general a stick in the mud, in which case, I can not be held responsible for your failings. ;)  (Teasing, love you all!)

Okay, back to your regularly schedule blog post.

Both kids took a nap and Alicia came over to hang out between her lunch and dinner appointments...she's just saying good-bye to people left and right.  Hate to think that we're next on the list.  She already sold her motorbike, and Doug has our vehicle. So we walked together to the main road. She hopped on a blue song taow, and I took the kids to eat at the Ka Moo place.  We at the meat with rice this time. It was $1.

Ka moo, it's pork roast, really tender yummy meat, a broth, and rice.

After we came home, Kees wanted to go back to school! :) This made my heart happy, and I was missing Doug, so I was happy to fill the time somehow. He used his tools and Kora did more art work. Then they wanted to swim. It was almost dark, so I mentioned to him that it was getting dark and he said, "I'd love to swim in the dark!" So we did!  I figured I'd either be showering them or letting them swim.  Swimming is more fun and doesn't get our whole bathroom wet.  I also keep their shampoo outside for situations like these.  So they got a bath instead of just a shower like they usually do since we don't have a bathtub.  Kora was fascinated by the bubbles!

Might be getting lazy about putting their swimsuits on, but I do laundry ALL the time, so who cares if their clothes get wet, just gonna wash them in an hour anyway.  These are laid nicely outside awaiting other clothes to join them.

He was doing a magic trick.  He would fill his cups, tell me to close my eyes, and then dump them. When I opened my eyes the water disappeared!

Poor girl doesn't know about real bubble baths, but when I filled this bucket with bubbles she knew just what to do.  She is SO my kid. Bubble baths are my favorite!

So fascinating.

She's so bossy sometimes.

Tiny frog!  I have since seen 2 lizards in our bedroom and I am extremely displeased. They were shockingly close to me.

We came inside and I fed them late night oatmeal because neither of them at much rice. Kora has been a great eater for me, but the last week she hasn't been wanting to eat.  I'm guessing it's all those teeth she's getting.   I sure hope they stop hurting soon!

Now the babies are sleeping and I am anxiously awaiting Doug's arrival. Last night he got in just before 10, then left this morning around 8. :(  He still has 2 more full days, but Alicia wanted to do some shopping in the Nimmenheimen area as part of her Thailand bucket list, so we'll be joining her and staying at a hotel very near Doug's conference.  Just staying the one night. I love how cheap hotels are here because it makes little getaways affordable and the website I booked through gives me points so I ended up getting a crazy good deal, we'll be closer to Doug and get to eat dinner with him tomorrow on his break and he won't have to drive to get home, just walk over. The final day, Friday, is my last day to hang out with Alicia. When Doug's conference is over, he's meeting us at the airport to say good-bye. Then he'll get up early the next day to help one of our co-workers move into a village. It's 12 hours away. So thankful God provided an awesome truck and we are able to pay it forward.  Then I have approximately 2 weeks to prep for my language evaluation, then 4 days later we are going on our first ever family beach vacation!  I've had this on my mind for months now, so excited!!!

Okay, here's a little gem from yesterday, right after I posted my blog my mom updated her facebook status.  Love it!

That "comment" is mine, asking why she called us "critters", pretty sure it was auto-correct and should have said "writers"  I got a great laugh out of it though!