Happy 24th!

It’s been a week of happy occasions in the immediate and extended family – definitely enjoy writing and thinking about these kinds of weeks. The kids as well were up to their usual antics, but we’ll keep that for later :)

Last week we finally finished off our last birthday of the spring – we went from Hunter to Collin to Kelli and then mine. Poor Savannah is out on her own there at the latter end of the calendar. At least the new little one will be coming along to join her pretty soon! Well, relatively soon. Actually, it’s a long, dreary 180 days to go – but who’s counting. Guess you can tell who hasn’t proof read the blog entry yet, eh? So the birthday was ok, but the biggest news is that our extended family (Jacob and Robyn) had a new little baby girl the same day! Her name is Rya (R-I-A) Afton Jones. We are all very excited for them … now it’s double the cake, ice cream, party hats, pin-the-tail on the donkey. Just exactly what someone needs who is now moving through their 30’s … a little niece who will keep the lighter side of birthdays going.

Jacob and I also both found out the very same day that we’d been offered jobs. That was a lot of stress and anxiety gone for the both of us. We are going to end up at an aerospace company near Brigham City, Utah and Jacob is more than likely going back to the old stomping grounds and will teach math at the high school our PARENTS went to. So, yes, it was a happy day all around!

I do have to talk about one down side to the day. We decided to go eat out to celebrate the birthday and job. We don’t go out too much down here because there aren’t any Applebee’s, Outbacks (go figure), Olive Gardens, etc. If you want to eat out you generally go to a pub – yep, family friendly even. Our kids are generally monsters when we take them in public, so we rarely venture out so as to avoid even the slightest possibility that they will embarrass themselves and us. But, there is this nice looking restaurant near the city park where we live. It’s even called the Family Restaurant on Civic Park. Now how can you go wrong with a name like that? Well, we did. You walk in and you’re immediately hit with a nose full of seafood and Chinese food aromas. It was a pretty busy night and they were pulling card tables and whatever else out of the closets to accommodate anyone and everyone who walked through the door. As Kelli mentioned, I’m sure we surpassed the quota for the fire code regulations. But, it was a buffet and not very classy, so the kids pretty much could do what they wanted and no one would notice. The kids ate chips (French fries) and meat pies (which they probably bought from the local store and stuck in the microwave) and Kelli and I ate some of the greasy Chinese food. The bonus was the dessert rack which we let the kids go crazy on. I definitely had a headache by the end and it was one of those times you just couldn’t leave fast enough. We figured it was at least a memory to take with us.

As usual the kids have been full of it. Ever since we took Collin to the footy game he’s been playing all the footy he can. He uses the couch in the living room as his ‘goal’ and has to kick the ball over the couch to get points. Luckily his little leg can only carry the ball just over the couch, so thus far he hasn’t broken anything. Savannah has to temper her aggression a little more. We had one picture knock-down with her aim, but luckily it didn’t break. Hunter has also been sporting his athletic side. Every time he gets dressed (regardless of what he gets dressed in) he has do the ‘Collin dribble’ which is basically putting both hands in front of you and doing a jig while bouncing both hands up and down. It’s pretty hilarious. Hunter has also turned into quite the musician and will play Collin’s guitar while bobbing his head up and down and walking around the house.

We also bought season tickets to BYU football games. I’m a die hard Utah fan, but it’s more for the atmosphere then anything. Immediately after buying the tickets I made sure I found the UofU hats and told the boys that they need to keep their priorities straight even when going into ‘enemy’ territory. I’m sure they won’t mind wearing red. Collin just likes the uniforms and has a fancy for whatever color looks the best at the moment. He does like red, though.

A few one liners and funny happenings from the past week: Savannah went to a birthday party for a girl from church. It was only for the ‘big girls’ and Collin was upset that he couldn’t go. Kelli tried to distract him by telling him that when we get back to America he can have a party with his Grandmas/Grandpas/aunts and uncles. His response to that was, “NO!! I don’t want a party with them – I only want big girls!” Need I say more? Collin has also been watching too much TV lately. He’ll just come up with some of the most random sayings. The other day he told Kelli that, “Dad is clever because he can put on my missionary tag.” And then he said, “Ready and Action!” when we ready to start playing Guesstures. And lastly, from Collin again, we were asking the kids at dinner what we should call our new baby. Collin perked up and said, “SHICKEN!!” Kelli looked at him with disbelief and Savannah responded, “Who would call there baby CHICKEN!!” To which Collin retorted, “I didn’t say CHICKEN, I said SHICKEN!!” So, we’ll just call it the week of the Collin. He did start his first full week of kindy (3 hours a day except he ‘has Fridays off’ – as he puts it.) The kid is a kick in the pants … literally!

Culturegram #1

We thought we'd take advantage of these last few weeks to document some of our lasting impressions of Australia ... there were so many things that impressed us and took some getting used to when we got here ... and now are just life as usual. So, for the first few thoughts ...............

LANGUAGE

Although they do speak english down here, it's their own unique version different than the Queen's or that from back home. The sentence structure is obviously the same, but it's mainly the vocabulary. When I was working with the young men in church there was a rarely an evening or Sunday meeting that went by when they didn't snicker at something I said or there was something they said that I had to ask for clarification on. And for those words that we do have in common, they tend to pronounce a lot of them differently. Just today I heard someone say the word, 'advertisement', but it was not prounounced 'ad-ver-TISE-ment' it was pronounced 'ad-VER-tiz-munt'. They also like to shorten everything that can be shortened; and even those that can't be shortened. An example, in their local footy games they have 'spectacular' plays but call them 'specky' for short ...

BIRDS

This is something I am truly going to miss. We walk outside of our house and it's literally like being in an aviary. Just this morning we had 1,000's of white/yellow cockatoos flying around the trees across the street. They were making their 'caw' sound and flocking this way and that and then landing in the gum trees. They occasionally play with each other by hanging upside down and spreading their yellow wings as far apart as they can. Then there are the lorikeets that are bright green, red, blue, yellow and are very fast. They love to sit in our little bush tree outside and munch on the seeds ... they also like to hang out in pairs like little love birds. Then there are the galahs that look like cockatoos but are pink and gray. They make a less than pleasurable noise and love to chew up the grass looking for whatever. They are still pretty to look at. And then finally are the gigantic magpies that dive bomb you while riding your bike and the little robber birds that look like robbers (they're called miner birds and make a sound like a ringing cell phone), and are also pretty adept at kamikaze tactics.

FOOD

Can't have a culture gram without food now can you. Ok, so for the biggest thing to miss -- TIM TAMS!! Those delectable chocolate covered wafers sandwiching a smooth chocolate cream. And then bite off a corner from each side and suck in some hot chocolate through the cookie (sorry, biscuit) and you've got a little piece of heaven. Lemon squash is like carbonated lemon juice and is sour, but refreshing. We also like passionfruit crush, and the kids like ginger beer. And what would be a summer drink without some cordial (something like very concentrated liquid koolaid that is diluted directly in water.) We love the aussie barbies, especially the kids and their sausages (hot dogs) on white bread with ketchup (and grilled onions for the adults). There aren't many choices for ice cream here, so we'll be happy to get back to that action!

Going Private

Well, you did it! Everyone going private has made me nervous and so we're going to jump on the bandwagon. I don't know who would want to find us ever, but I guess that's only one of the many reasons to have a good idea of who is looking at your stuff. So, if we don't have your email and you'd like to be invited, let me know and I'll send out invitations in the next two weeks or so.

PS--After all the complaining about how stinkin' hot it was around here, I should be fair and rave about the gorgeous fall weather we've had for the past three weeks. It's about to turn colder here in a couple of days, but you can't beat the sunny, crisp-cool fall days we've had lately!

FOOTY!!!

We are one step closer to making our move back to the States. We somehow managed to get our house in pristine condition to pass our pre-moving house inspection. That included washing all the walls (pen and pencil marks gone!), scrubbing the carpets with water/white vinegar (that stuff is amazing if you’ve never used it), vacuuming, and organizing all of our stuff. The first moving company came to do an estimate for all the first load of stuff to go on 7 May. The rest gets moved on the 12^th. We also got an estimate for getting rid of our vehicles and had a ward party at the church for another family and ourselves that are moving shortly (still 3 weeks out and they are already trying to get rid of us!) It’s been frantic … but it will all be over soon … hopefully J

The kids have been doing very well. It has been school holidays for the past week so Kelli’s been dealing with them all day, every day. Except Friday when Leanne, Keely and big Savannah took the two older ones downtown--more later on that one. They were in swimming lessons at 4 every afternoon which knocked them out for the evening. That was good, but they still haven’t managed to get used to the time change. Hunter got up at 4 this morning and kept giving us the ‘I wan’ go downSTAIRS!!’ We finally just put him back in his crib and after 5 minutes of crying he was willing to go to sleep in our bed.

Collin had a special day at church today. He was asked to give the scripture in primary and did an awesome job. He was dressed to the hilt. We didn’t realize he’d outgrown his pants, but he really wanted to wear his matching vest and orange tie (which was too big for his vest), but alas he won over the argument. He also got a haircut the night before and was very particular that it was combed just right. He was very handsome sitting up there on the front row waiting for his turn. He kept sneaking a peak at Kelli and I in the back row and giving us a wave and a smile. When it was finally his turn he went up the microphone and as I was kneeling down to help him with the words he put his mouth right up to the microphone and as clear as day said, “Good morning, brothers and sisters!” Who knows where he picked that up, but maybe they are paying more attention in sacrament meeting than we thought! He proceeded to give an excellent scripture and we were very proud of him. It was one of those moments as a parent that you wonder how your kids are getting so big so fast. Kind of brought tears to the eyes.

Savannah has had a productive week. I wouldn’t say that she is enjoying being home because she really loves school. She’s been a big help around the house. I would say also that she must be growing because she is eating like a champ these days. She had one and a half sloppy joes (and asked to have them the next night), and double and triple helpings of lasagna and shepherd’s pie (which is her favorite.) Savannah has been doing incredible at swimming. She has a wicked backstroke, but her freestyle is starting to catch up as well. In fact, she did a full length of the pool and back (~35 meters!) all by herself. Collin graduated from the platypus and spent a full week with the starfish group. The teacher took his floats off and let him flounder in the water. He did a pretty good job of trying to keep himself afloat. They are both turning into water mongers!

Hunter is full of his usual antics. We are just trying to keep him from destroying the house until we leave. We don’t know how we’re going to survive on the airplane, but hopefully somehow, some way it will all turn out ok. He’s full of one liners right now and it’s hard to keep up with the kid. The other morning we were reading scriptures and talking about how if the Lamanites didn’t repent then they would be destroyed. Well, Hunter was repeating after her and instead of destroyed he said, “FRIED!!” Ok, that works, too. We’ve also mentioned in week’s past that he is our little inquisitive and creative one with getting in to things. That has a good side as well, though. We have some of those building blocks of different shapes. One is an arch with another block that fits inside the arch. Kelli said that one day he was sitting there looking at both of the blocks and had this studious look on his face. Then it was like a light came on. He looked over at Kelli with this sort of ‘Eureka’ look on his face. He then looked back at the blocks, picked up the two of them and placed them right together. Right now he’s sitting on Kelli’s lap with his lips sticking out trying to figure out how to button up his pajamas. He’s pretty determined. One other funny story with Hunter – the other night we were watching the move, “An Unfinished Life.” He was dozing off towards the end, but then there is a part in the movie that is kind of scary where a bear comes walking down a path and face to face with this guy. The way the lighting and stuff is done is quite amazing and sends chills down your spine. Well, all of us are sitting there watching the drama unfold on the TV and then Kelli gets my attention and points toward where Hunter is lying on the floor with his head propped up on one of those foam chairs. His eyes are wide open and he is literally petrified looking at the TV. His face was all scrunched up and lips were sticking out. He did not move from that position or change his facial expression while we looked and talked to him until the bear was out of the scene. I think we definitely scarred the kid for life in terms of bears. I guess we’ll have to get a camper or something if we want to venture into the woods.

We also went to our first full-fledged, professional footy (Australian football) game between the Adelaide Crows and another team from around Perth (Fremantle). Collin was counting the days down all week until we would go. They did pretty well through the first half, but it’s the type of game that isn’t real good for kids because the pitch itself is enormous and the seats and stands are not at a very steep incline relative to the field. So, unless the action is right in front of you, it’s hard to keep track of what’s going on at the other end of the field. Nonetheless the kids did well through the first half. The 3^rd quarter they lost complete interest and were just goofing around with each other. We decided to leave at ‘three-quarters time’ to beat the rush and get to the ward party. The kids were okay with that until Collin realized that nobody else was leaving with us and were still in there seats. That’s when we started the floodgate of tears and the, “I want to stay!” It didn’t matter that the he hadn’t watched any of the 3^rd quarter, the game was still going on and he wanted to be a part of it. (Sound familiar?) Of course, even though I was getting my own dues for what I pulled on my parents as a kid, at least Collin had clean language throughout the tirade :)

So, yea, that’s us for another week. We’ve been told that an official offer is in the final approval stages and should be forthcoming early next week. We'll keep our fingers crossed that all goes as well ...

Our "TERRIFIC KID"

This time change has definitely thrown us for a loop. While it is proving easier to get the kids to bed quicker because it’s darker earlier, I didn’t take into account the other side … the getting up an hour earlier as well! So, Hunter has taken full advantage of the situation and gets up at 5:30 every morning. He’s pretty funny about it, too. You hear his crib creaking next door and sure enough, a couple seconds you brace yourself for, no, not a cry or scream, just a simple, “Dad!” or “Mom!” (for whomever he’s having a hankering for at the moment.) He’ll even give you a couple of minutes to get your senses together before he starts getting perturbed and upping the volume a bit more. Of course, it’s then not just a case of bringing him in to bed with you and going back to sleep. He gathers whatever toys from his crib (he sleeps with two dolls and their blankets, a dinosaur, an elephant, and a bird) … his next line is always, “downstaurs?” … actually, it’s more of a demand than it is a question.

While we are on Hunter, just a few things out of the ‘ordinary’ with him for the week. He’s still in the mode of throwing anything he can get his hands on. He’s also got quite the creative and intuitive mind. If he can’t reaching something, he learned early on that a chair will do wonders. And then if the chair doesn’t get you high enough, you just find a stick somewhere (one of Collin’s lightsabers, aka golf clubs usually does the trick.) Whack it a few times and voila!, there you go, whatever it is you are after … plus a few other minor things. But who’s counting? The funny thing is that he knows what he’s doing is going to get him in trouble and he’ll often go punish himself by sitting on the stairs. Of course, as soon as he gets on (and he’s learned this from his two older siblings) he’ll let out, “Can I get down now?” To which we’ll say yes and he’ll keep repeating if he can get down now until he’s ready to get down. All on his own time :) But, you can’t help but love the little scrunch bean and his happier moments.

Collin can’t wait to get back to America. A lot of things that the kids keep asking for (roller skates, dog, etc.) we just use the excuse, “When we get back to America.” I don’t know how good their memory is but we might be in trouble if they remember everything we’ve used that line on. One thing he’s stuck in right now is ping pong. We played it a few times at the church and his uncle Chris showed him his ping pong paddle over webcam. Since we used the ‘wait till America’ line, he decided to take matters into his own hands and had me draw a picture of a ping pong set. We then cut it out and after it was all cut out, he seemed a little confused at what to do next. He figured that if he could just draw a picture then everything would work itself out. He had Kelli make him a paper guitar last week, as well. I think he’s been watching too much “Little Einsteins”. We did the same thing with a footy tonight. He did a cut-out of a footy and then played footy around the house. He’s decided that he wants to play footy when we get back to the States. We told him that they don’t have it back home and soccer might have to do for a bit :) He’s ok with that. Speaking of which, Hunter has a nasty left foot.

Savannah has been the princess of the week. At school we found out that at the whole school assembly she was awarded with something called the ‘Terrific Kid Award.” It’s a big deal, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club and everything, and given out once a term. Apparently they have the students in each class vote for their peers to select someone who they think is a terrific kid. Savannah was voted the terrific kid (girl) from her class of about 25! Brings tears to a parents eyes, sniff, sniff. We also had a new experience as parents. Our first child just lost her first tooth. It happened pretty darn quick, too. One day it started wiggling and then the very next she comes home with the same tooth in a little pouch. The tooth fairy made a special visit and must have known that she valued the tooth at around $1 (the tooth fairy increased it slightly to $1.10 – something with the exchange rate between here and America these days :) She also got a meat pie and chocolate milk from one of her friend’s Mom. You can’t buy the meat pies at school any more because the schools have decided they are making the kids obese (of course, you can buy pizza still, but whatever.) Meat pies are the Aussie food Savannah loves most and she used to order one every Friday from the canteen if she had behaved well that week at home. It was so easy to say, “Do you want a meat pie this week?” when she was acting up. It doesn’t seem to work so well with, “Do you want a half a hot dog this week?” It might make her think, but doesn’t get the instant results.

Hunter, by the way, downed 2 hot dogs (or Aussie sausages) by himself at dinner tonight. The kid is a tank. Not sure where he gets his appetite from, but it’s ferocious.

Kelli and I are busy getting the house ready for inspection and prospective tenants to look through. We’ve pretty much finished the big stuff outside and are now working to tidy things up on the inside. The agent for the home is still giving us a hard time about breaking our lease and doesn’t want to let us use the military clause that is in our contract because we are getting out of the military and not moving to another assignment. When she found out that we’d be moving before our lease was up regardless of whether we were getting out or not it seemed to appease her a bit. We’ll see what she does with the bond money, though.

Other than that we are relaxing without church callings to take a lot of our time now. I don’t think we realized how much time and effort went into the callings until we didn’t have them anymore and now wonder how to occupy our Sundays and such --- of course, there is the house work to take care of that little ‘problem’.

The job search is more or less over. I’ve got to be cleared through the legal details of moving from the government to contractor side, but once that’s complete it should all be smooth sailing … which will be a huge relief to have done and over.

Well, we’ll leave you with that for now. Till next week!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KELLI!!!

So it’s only 8 at night and we’re already enjoying the fact that we just hit daylight savings time. Fell back the hour, got an additional hour of sleep last night, and now the kids are in bed before 8! That is of course except for Collin who is our regular night owl regardless of what time of year it is :) (I wrote this last night … and little did I know that they would be up at 4:30 this morning! Geez maun … name that movie :)

By the calendar we are 5 ½ weeks away from returning to the States. A lot of people have been asking if we excited to go back, and most of the time we give the politically correct response that there are a lot of mixed emotions, which is the truth. But, the fact that it’s somewhat imminent gives a sense of urgency to wanting everything done and over with. Just considering that, yes, we are excited to be going home. We do have a lot of good friends that we’ve made here (and good friends that we knew in the States that are now here in Oz), so there are many ties that we are leaving behind. The beauty of technology and such, though, is that we can keep in touch and enjoy one another’s experiences even from far away. The obvious draw back to the States is the chance to see and spend time with family again. I watch a lot of the families here who have Sunday dinners together, grandparents playing with their grandchildren, and just a lot of family time that we don’t have the opportunity for. Although we’ve thoroughly enjoyed moving around and having heaps of new experiences, we feel good about it being time to settle down. Speaking of which, there was talk of a job offer last week and an interview this week, so hopefully that ‘little’ piece of the puzzle will soon be in place.

The kids are more or less unaware of the stress their parents are going through right now. They are continuing with their usual routines which is good. Of course, after this week we go into school holidays (2 weeks in between terms) and that’s where things can get a little hairy! But, Collin and Savannah will be in holiday swim lessons which gets rid of all excess energy and helps to keep them manageable during the day. Hunter on the other hand...there’s little to no hope with that kid.

So while we’re on the little monster, let’s share a few. The other day he got a hold of this mini flashlight that takes one AA battery. He figured out how to open it up and then amused himself by taking it apart and then putting it back together … then stuffing pieces down his onesie and then pulling them out again just to start over. Well, during one cycle he got the battery in backwards and it heated it up so that it was very hot to the touch. He took the flashlight apart and as before, stuffed it all down his shirt, only this time it wasn’t quite so pleasant. The hot battery ended up giving him burn blisters on his tummy. OUCH!!! He has also started throwing everything he can get his hand on. He’s got an awesome arm! But that’s neither here nor there … it’s the fact that he throws things against the windows, computer and TV that is the problem … did I mention his brother and sister as well? And what’s worse is that he has this little smirk on his face as he’s doing it. He gets punished but it doesn’t matter and he keeps on doing it knowing full well that it’s wrong. He’s a motor mouth as well. Now that he’s started talking he repeats pretty much everything he hears. Some things don’t exactly come out quite right. The other day Kelli said she needed to take her pre-natal pill. Hunter, being the gracious kid that he his, offered to get it for her. His response though came out, “I want to get your poo!” The other thing he does funny right now is use the letter ‘b’ for everything. It’s not a vacuum, it’s a bacuum. It’s not a ‘very high’, it’s ‘berry high’. Just a little quirky thing he’s going through.

Collin’s a goof as usual. Today we were at the pond and he went and collected some rocks for Hunter so he could have some fun as well. When Collin laid the rocks in front of Hunter, Hunter got all excited and as Collin walked away he put his hands in the air and said, “It was my pleasure!” Where did he get that from? Grandpa Jones said it reminded him of Little Rascals and that fits the bill perfectly! He’s our little Alfa Alfa :) The other night I was wearing some slippers around the house, which I normally don’t do because it’s so stinking hot. Collin noticed the change in attire and asked why I was wearing flippers around the house.

Savannah has some quirks as well. Today for some reason she was talking about the difference between kids and adults and she called the adults, ‘BADults’. Nice to be in THAT category, eh? We were also trying to fix some kites that Grandma Whetstone sent them and we had to resort to duct tape. Savannah soon learned the miraculous wonder of duct tape and lovingly started referring to it as ‘duckling’ tape.

The past two weeks have been quite entertaining, needless to say. The processing of our move is coming along very well all things considered. We did get our flight itinerary back to the States and that’s going to be a nightmare. Economy class all the way, and we start at 8 in the morning 0f 16 May from Canberra to Sydney (we fly to Canberra from Adelaide the day before to do some outprocessing at the Embassy.) We then board the international flight in Sydney around 1:45 pm (16 May) and arrive in Los Angeles around 10 in the morning (still 16 May). We then have to fly to Denver, yes Denver, getting in around 4 pm (you guessed it, 16 May) and then finally board a plane to Salt Lake City and get in around 7 pm (16 May!!) It will be the longest day of our lives … literally and figuratively. (In case you're not a time zone expert, that's 27 hours of travel.) The government has to fly us through Denver because we are on United out of Sydney (unfortunately …) and thus have to fly to Denver because there aren’t any flights out of LAX to SLC during the day. We could fly to San Francisco from Sydney, but United doesn’t have a government contract for that route, so we’re stuck with the monster long itinerary. At least it’s all paid for, but it’s going to be CRAZY!!!

And a big happy 31^st birthday to Kelli!! She had her pumpkin-type cake and the kids couldn’t resist throwing a Shrek cake topping on top. The kids love birthdays and right now they just can’t get enough of them … good thing, too!

And one last happy moment … Collin the other night came into our room because he’d had some nightmares. Being the sympathetic Dad, I just pulled him in bed with us and rolled the other way. He couldn’t sleep so he kept talking Kelli’s ear off. I was half in and half out of sleep as she tried everything to get him back to sleep (think about happy thoughts … cars, balls, friends …prayers) Nothing worked. Finally after quite a long time of hoping he would go back to sleep Kelli suggested I give him a blessing. So, more than half asleep I sat up in bed, gave him more or less a 3 sentence blessing and went straight back to sleep. Kelli the next morning said that after the blessing he rolled over, curled up against her back and went straight to sleep. Pretty cool, eh?

OH, and we had a Huntsman visit us the other day -- a 5-legged one at that!

Oh Give Me My Home...

Jessy mentioned in the last entry that I was having some cravings, but oh my!! I just got an email from Sonic (I must have registered for something and put my birthday down), and can I just say that while I will miss friends and wildlife and Tim-Tams and the fish and chips shop, I will be SO HAPPY to be able to go to Sonic during happy hour and get an ocean water!!! I have craved that with this one and Pub Squash just isn't the same. Maybe I'd get a toaster sandwich, too, and Savannah would think she had died and gone to heaven when she tasted tater tots again--she loved those! Also, some good Mexican would be great before I get to the heartburn stage (maybe too late for that one already!). And is Big Mac Monday still around??? I really wanted funeral potatoes the other day, but frozen shredded hash browns are unheard of here. And the other night, when we were making some super-duper burritos, I said, "These are better than 7-layer burritos at Taco Bell." The kids' reply, "What is Taco Bell, mum?" I think more than anything, I miss the options--fast food choices and family-friendly restaurants here are few and far between and I appreciate them when I am hungry but can't stand the thought of touching chicken or making anything over a hot stove. Are my kids deprived? Probably not, but I do hope that as we introduce the kids to good old American fast food (in moderation, of course), Savannah will drop the habit of calling dinner "tea!"