Almost there

So, I am almost a US citizen. I had my naturalization interview in the beginning of January. By the way, what's up with the term "naturalization"? Am I an unnatural creature until I get naturalized? But I guess I have to be naturalized if I am an alien. Anyhow, I received my summoning letter ordering me to show up for an interview and plan for two hours. The interview was in Salt Lake at 8 a.m. So I packed toys, diapers, clothes, snacks and a kitchen sink to keep Danny and Erin happy.

We arrived, went through the metal detector and got seated. Let me tell you, Erin got a kick from sending her purse and jacket through the X-ray machine! Oh and so you know! immigartion services employees do not smile. It must be in their conduct code-smile and get fired! Even cute babies do not affect them.

Anyhow an immigration officer called my name, told Andrew to stay where he was and watch the kids. I was to follow him with my pile of documents. The interview was over in 10-15 minutes. The officer verified some of my info and said he was going to administer writing and reading test as it seems that I can speak. Let me tell you it was hard-NOT! I had to read a sentence "The White House is located in Washington DC " than he had me write that same sentence. The guy by the way was native Russian with the last name Kapriyelov. So after that I was told to wait for a letter telling me when and where to show up for the Pledge of Allegiance ceremony. At that point (keeping in mind that I was told to budget for 2 hours) I asked " Is this IT?" And that was it. No one put me and Andrew in separate rooms and grill on location of the furniture in the house, color of tooth brushes and our laundry detergent choice. See, this is exactly what I hoped for so that I can have a fun blog post, alas. I was asked no ridiculous questions so I can't poke fun at that Mr. Kapriyelov. I guess they figured that 8 years and 2 kids later you are married for real. Anyhow, I am almost citizenised . On February 23 I'll be sworn in and live happily ever after.

By the way, after the interview we went home and as Andrew took half a day off we had enough time for some breakfast. We finally did it! We found Denny's where it does not smell funny and where the waiters actually come by and bring you the correct order. American Fork Denny's rocks (comparing to the two in Orem)!

PS: Should we make Erin and Danny wear tacky matching stars and stripes outfits to the ceremony?

Bob the Builder

We have been working on potty training Erin for a while now. I used to be stressed out about it, because it had to be done and, I was told, should have been done a long time ago. It is actually kinda funny. My parents began talking about leaving the diaper behind around the time Erin turned one. According to them not only was I potty trained by my first birthday, but I could also read, recite the Periodic Table and play banjo! Just kidding, just potty trained!

Hence a potty was purchased and I expected that Erin would inspect it, figure out what it was for and begin using it immediately. Well, that did not happen! Pook decided that her throne was an excellent toy and if she pushed on its bottom music would start playing.
Seeing that nothing was happening on its own I began educating the babe on what the potty is for. At that point Erin pretended to not understand me and held on to her diaper tight. To make the long story short Erin's second and third birthdays came with no underwear in sight. Well, actually underwear was in sight...just not on her bum-bum, she preferred putting it on her head like a hat.

When Danny turned a couple months and I began getting more than one and a half hours of sleep at a time I swooped on Erin in an attempt to start saving on diapers. So it began for real, the dreadful potty training! We put Elmo underwear in her sock drawer and added to her collection a pack of Minie Mouse undies. I discovered that I have a low potty accident tolerance, mostly due to the fact that our house is carpeted. So we wore undies and diaper, diaper and undies. This is where Erin decided that diaper makes her life easier! No need to stop playing in diaper though undies require a trip to the bathroom or shower and who has time for that.

During our Christmas trip to Gemma and papa Niel in Idaho we ran out of diapers! Oh no, whatever shall we do! Gemma came to the rescue and found a pair of underwear with Bob the Builder (formerly property of cousin Tarran) and asked Erin to keep old pal Bob dry. I threatened that if she did not, than Bob would ran away (why do moms always over do it?). No accidents till evening when all of a sudden Erin stopped in the middle of Gemma's kitchen, pull her pants down, looked at the underwear and proclaimed "Bob the Builder ran away!"

Bob went home with us as Erin wanted to try harder to keep Bob dry. I checked, no one makes girl underwear with Bob the Builder. Though will she care if she has boy underwear on? Maybe like her mama in childhood, she will think that boy underwear is cooler than girls, because it has a pocket for a hanckie.
Anyhow we are still working on it; Bob, Elmo and Minnie run away occasionally, but we are being patient. Erin does not always want to take a break to take care of them. She even came up with a way to "make pee-pee go away" and postpone her trip to the bathroom. I noticed one day that she was running in circles around the room yelling "Scramble!". She explained that this way she does not need to go potty anymore. Please, do not test that method! It does not work!

Ta ta for now!

Sunday picnic!

Theoretically this post should have been about our Christmas vacation, but I want to do it justice, which ain't happening this late at night. So here is the recap of today.

Erin began attending Primary! My baby is growing so fast. She was excited to become a Sunbeam (the youngest class in Primary, which is LDS church's organization for children) and bravely marched into the Primary room and sat herself in the front row. I could not believe my eyes, but she actually remained seated for the entire time she was supposed to be there (as a devout mother I stood guard by the door peeking through a crack ready to bust in if necessary). At the end of the day's meetings she told me that there were no snacks and no toys, hence could she grow down and return to nursery. Unfortunately it does not work that way! Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could actually grow up or down as desired.... (Actually, I am staying 29 for the rest of my birthdays, so you CAN artificially do that, he he).

After church I did nothing, and let me tell you, I enjoyed it! Danny went to the home office to hang out with papa in his new exercise cubicle.


Erin went to turn her room upside down. I, on the other hand, locked myself in the bedroom, climbed in bed, turned on the TV and watched PBS documentaries (I love them! perhaps this is why some people might find me boring). Ahh! What a lovely break it was! Later I napped and cuddled with Danny. It was a perfect afternoon!

So, Sveta, why did you put "Sunday picnic" as the title? Hold your horses, I am getting there.
For the desert tonight we had chocolate fondue accompanied by a movie ("My Neighbor Totoro"-Miyazakis anime film. Andrew was not too impressed, however Erin and I gave it thumbs up, but than again, I love PBS documentaries, he he), hence we picniced and it went well. We did not spill the chocolate and no one got poked with a fondue fork! It was scrumptious! You can tell by Erin's face smeared in chocolate!


We had Granny Smith apples, bananas, pretzels and marshmallows. Apples were the hit, at least with me. Danny hung out with us in his Bumbo chair and observed. He could not fondue with us so he chewed on his toy tray.

So there you go! This was our Sunday picnic-a perfect ending to a perfect day!

Ta ta for now!