There was a butterfly exhibit in town and I took the kids. It was SO FUN!!! I absolutely loved it!!! I've never really seen a cool butterfly upclose.

We got there right when it opened, for the day, and so no one was there and none of the butterflies were flying. I didn't know if it was because they were "just waking up" or because it was so calm in the room. I thought it was cool we were the only ones there. Later a HUGE class of kids swooshes in and suddenly the butterflies were much more active. It was cool to see them fly.

 The girl working would just get a butterfly with a stick and put it right on us. Really cool. We'd just point to a butterfly and on it went. It was really neat.

And these are all the cocoons. Is that cool or what?

 They were CRAZY looking. I felt like I was looking at something from another planet. Almost alienish.

We were supposed to meet the Boles here, but they were super late, so we sat around waiting.

There were some really cool butterflies. One looked straight up like a leaf. Green and all. It was crazy. Others were so big and almost furry, I wasn't sure if they were real at first. They were seriously like the size of my head.

A bunch of them were chillin' on orange slices.

So cool. We had fun.

B's been sayin' words left and right. He tries to repeat our words all the time. He was really slow to speak much at all so it's pretty exciting to me! He even said Thank You unprompted which pretty much blew my mind! I gave him water and after he took a drink he said, "tankuh". It was the best.

He's finally learning and listening to us. Time outs are WORKING. YES!

The eating thing- it is what it is. I don't know what's going on. He eats sometimes. A lot of times he doesn't. I've decided I'm not going to stress about it anymore. I can't force feed him, though I wish I could. I just hope our doctor doesn't give me too much beef about it. I just don't want to deal with that.

He's really into playing with toilet paper. It's awesome. Not. What a waste of TP, especially since it's not like they sell it here. Not US quality anyway. The TP here makes me itch. It's all scented and I'm allergic to fragrance. Not the place you want an allergic reaction! We brought a ton with us and I'm so glad.

Things have been really crazy lately. Lots of social events. Too many. It's worn me out. A lot.

I went to the market today (usually Pavel goes for me) and I saw an AVOCADO!!!!! Those don't exist here! At the SAME PLACE I saw ASPARAGUS!!!! Amazing!!!! I used to eat these things every week, sometimes everyday. Oh how I've missed them. I bought the only avocado they had for over $4. It was so worth it. I would've paid $10. It needed a couple more days ripening, but it was good enough. I wonder if I'll have another one while I'm here. A girl can hope, but you know, honestly- I won't. I guess I'll just have to wait for the good 'ol USA. I miss that place.

Yeah, I've been missing America a lot lately. I just have been. For a lot of reasons. I think it's been more this incredibly hectic few weeks that's just gotten me stressed out. I pretty much never talk to my family anymore, which pretty much sucks. It's just really hard to connect with the weird time zones.

We bid on our next post in January. There's a place we're gunnin' for, but the official list hasn't come out yet and we don't know when it will. I've been thinking about all the things that have been hard here and if they can be avoided in the next post. Like a learnable language, church, and transportation. All these things are hard on their own, but all combined can make real doozie days sometimes.

I feel so BLEH. I wish there was nothing to do this weekend. This is the last weekend where there's a big to do. We've had nonstop commotion the last 3 weekends and it's just been too much. I just want a low key day with my family- just ONCE!!!! Well a lot more than once :)

This weekend is the Marine Corp Ball. My dress never came in the mail. I'm so disappointed about it. I've been able to borrow a dress from a friend, thank goodness and a little jacket/throw thing to cover my shoulders and it works. It's not necessarily my STYLE, but it's at least not EMBARRASSING. Until 2 days ago, it was gonna be embarrassing. I'm definitely curious about what all the fuss is about.

I cut my hair AGAIN. I really need a decent haircut, by someone that can actually see the back of my head (unlike me). I'm just too afraid of being butchered. I so hate my hair. I've hated my hair practically since I cut it. I've never been so unsatisfied with a haircut and it's just been longing for longer hair ever since. It's been such a bummer. I feel so unattractive. I don't like feeling that way.

I sound like such a DOWNER!!!! I guess I've just been feeling that way this week. Is it weird to say, all I wanna do is go to Costco? I wanna go to costco, fill up my cart with produce. Like a monstrous amount. Take it home, and eat it. Just like that. Simple. I miss my simple life.