Fried Twinkies

I'm not actually going to blog about twinkies, except to tell you that I did try one two weeks ago and I thought it was disgusting. For 150 calories and 5 grams of fat, I want something tastes good! And a fried twinkie? Just gross upon nasty.

Actually, what I wanted to blog about was our preparations for our move to Egypt. I'm trying to be more pro-active with the girls this time. My strategies include, showing them pictures on the computer, talking about it with them and letting them help us decide what goes and what stays and working through the sorting process with us.

Currently, our "Egypt Box" is in the living room. This is filled with the most of important items we have been gathering to take with us. Among the list: new coloring books, wash cloths (apparently, Egyptians don't have them), new socks, Ranch dressing mix, children's tylenol, bandaids, pencil erasers (can't have too many of those), school books, new puzzles, new "jamas" for the girls.

Speaking of new 'jamas, evidently, I have a thing for new pajamas. And I just realized this. I buy new pajamas for the girls for every momentous occasion. Move to a new state = new pajamas. Christmas = new pajamas. Birth of a sibling = new pajamas. Move to a new country = new pajamas. Interesting.

Anyway, we talk about moving to Egypt a lot.
     --- Savannah is obviously catching on because twice she has asked me, "Mommy, are we in Egypt yet?" humph.
     --- They are excited about not taking car seats with us, I am less so. And not for the reasons you think. I should be worried over safety issues, instead, I'm worried about making everyone sit still and not fight over the window...
     --- Emily is worried about walking too much. When I told her we wouldn't have a car, she asked me if we could fit their bikes into the suitcase. Then she wanted to know if we could pack a stroller for her.
     --- I asked them what the most important thing to take with them would be: Emily: "Why can't I take all my friends?" Savannah: "I need to take my happy duck and my mad duck. Even though mad duck is mad, he needs to come with me."
     --- We were getting ready to run errands last week and Savannah started begging me for mad duck. Me: "Honey, why do you need mad duck? You have happy duck." Savannah: "I need to take mad duck to Egypt with me!" Me: "Sweetheart, we aren't going to Egypt today, just to Target." Savannah: "Ok, Mommy!" and off she ran.

Its fun to talk to them about it, they have such fun perspectives. And we also have to deal with the worries as well. Yesterday I asked Emily, "Honey, what are you worried about about our move to Egypt?" Emily, "Oh, nothing. *pause* Nothing except being killed." Me (concerned because I have no idea where this came from): "Honey, Mommy and Daddy are going to keep you safe, but why are you worried about being killed?" Emily: "Oh, I don't know. I just don't want to die." You just never know what is going on inside those little heads.

Last time we all painted our toe nails, we talked about what colors we wanted to take with us. We sorted through our favorite colors and what we had duplicates of. I think the sorting and packing process is going to be important for the girls to be involved with. Not just of their stuff, but ours too. They need to see that we are leaving stuff behind too.

And that it isn't all about stuff. Stuff is nice to have and we want to be wise with what we fit in our limited space. But what is important is that we are all going to be there together.