Happy Thanksgiving Back

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We had it twice. Back in October, some of our friends found out they would be leaving for three months, so we hurriedly planned an early Thanksgiving (partly so they could use their turkey before they left and partly, because, well hey, who doesn't want Thanksgiving dinner in October?) Then, on "real" Thanksgiving (which was a day before "real" Thanksgiving--if you haven't figured it out yet, we get to have every day before you folks in the US.) we did it again, only this time I cooked two chickens (decided to save MY turkey for Christmas). Everything else was usual, though, even to the imported cranberry sauce,mmm MMM! Not as good as at Grandma's house, but...

I have been meaning to post here a lot more than I have. I had a migraine when I woke up Thanksgiving Morning and got another about 3pm. I cooked through the pain and we had our dinner. I had gone for several months without any migraines and just recently started getting them again. I did make salsa the night before (Thanksgiving Eve). Tomatoes are my main trigger. I did not touch, smell, taste or in any way contaminate myself or my food with said tomatoes, but... a migraine nonetheless. Ben has decided that I need a hazmat suit in order to work around those evil fruits.

The picture has nothing to do with Thanksgiving or migraines. It has everything to do with the beautiful Henna designs the girls had done in Singapore. We even bought some Henna to try out at home. I'll let you know how it goes.

Dog

We have this dog...Jazz.

He is a very obnoxious part of our lives here. You see, at the end of July, our big German Shepherd dog, Sasha was stolen. More than likely, she became the daily special at one of the many eateries here in Wamena. A friend, when she found out that we were minus a dog, gave us a very naughty puppy.

Every time I go out the back door, he comes up all lovey, with his toy (thanks, mom :) ). His favorite toy is a blue squeaky Hippo. He likes to play fetch.. (when I say "fetch", I mean I throw it and he grabs it and runs around the yard like a maniac). Before I can throw it, however, he needs to squeak it the correct number of times. This requires him getting it into his mouth just right and biting several times in a row. Then, and only then, will he let me have it to throw.

The two youngest kiddos are studying Astronomy this semester. As I write this, they are making a model of an ecosystem as it might exist on Mars (if it were ever to be colonized). I am excited to see them excited about science. Ev is studying Physical Science this year and Han is taking an overview of General Science. We are loving it all. Maybe it is genetic, this love of science and learning about the world around us.

On a Tuesday

I have been inspired by my sister-in-law to blog. Here goes...

Last month, we went to Singapore and Bali. In Singapore, we found a new favorite place. The Botanical Garden. What a HUGE park. It is a totally free place to spend the day in a rather expensive vacation spot. We spent 2 1/2 hours strolling through and didn't even see half of it. We took #2 kid with us--the others were tired of walking and wanted to read.

Little India is still high on my list, though. Bright colors, bartering, Cheese-stuffed Naan... Tired kids didn't make it for long, so I (the short one) stayed and shopped alone for most of the day.

I went to my doctor while there. It was all good. (and when I say "all good"--I mean I get to skip next year's check--WOO HOO!)

Today, we did school. Wow, I guess I could write that every single day and it would be a very boring blog. I'll try to be more creative tomorrow.