The Not So Secret Lives of Bees

Our Caterpillar Friend

Relocating the Caterpillar

Gourd Class

Class Favorite (Note the guy in time-out on couch)

Cutest Tiger Cub Ever!


We have bees. Apparently quite a lot of them are living in our gutter near two of our bathrooms. For the last several weeks we have found bees in our bathroom and some in Nathan's bedroom. They aren't angry, attacking bees. It seems for the most part they don't have much life left in the once they get into the house, but it has kept evenings interesting as the kids enjoy counting how many bees are in their bathroom each time they go in to brush their teeth. Wouldn't you know that since yesterday when we called our landlord's son to tell him about the problem, we haven't had a single bee in the house? He came to inspect our claims yesterday evening, "Can you show me the bees on the floor?" Ummmm, no we generally pick them up and throw them into the toilet and our house was cleaned today (by our lovely housekeeper) so, sorry, no proof. You'll just have to take our word for it.



So he listened to our stories about bees in the "water closet" and the downstairs toilet that continues to drip as if it might start leaking again and left with his usual mantra, "I call my mother!"



Wouldn't you also know that before Joe called this guy I bumped into his mother and father at Carrefour (almost like Wal-Mart, but not) and as they asked me in French how the house was and how the garden was, I smiled and nodded, "Ca va bien!"? I don't know how to say we have bees and I didn't want to think too hard about how to say that I would call their son. I just wanted to find the correct vacuum cleaner bags and get out of there.



I'm sure they are very confused as to how things went from "bien" to bees and dripping, but what are you gonna do...



I have to say I prefer bees to mice, so this hasn't been nearly as disturbing as the last time we notified them about unwanted guests.



Sarah also has some rash of unknown origin. I kept her home from school yesterday because I found some little blisters on the palms of her hands and soles of her feat which were suspiciously like the ones Nathan had when he had Hand Foot Mouth Virus. The rash doesn't seem to bother her at all, which is what I told the pediatrician during 1 of the 3 phone calls I made to him. His response, "If they do not bother her, she is fine". Well okay then. The rest of the rash doesn't fit the diagnosis of Hand Foot Mouth and I can't decide if it is better today or not, but she does seem fine...



Though we might be less than helpful to bees in our bathroom, we did "rescue" a caterpillar today. Hannah and Sarah were wading through the piles of leaves at school this afternoon when we stumbled across this lovely fluorescent guy holding on tight to one of the leaves. Hannah decided we had to rescue him from the sidewalk because someone would step on him and squish him, and she thought it best if we brought him to our own garden so that she could look after him.



"He doesn't even have his mommy!" She was very concerned about leaving him in the rain, but I convinced her that he must be used to it since he is from Belgium.



Hannah has also spent the afternoon playing with a group of gourds that we purchased at our church's Harvest Festival auction on Sunday. She has been playing school with them and she had them march in line from the kitchen to the family room. One was even put into time out for not staying in line properly. It is like Veggie Tales, Live!





Fast forward 7 hours....we had bees. Or rather, we will have had bees in 3 days. I had to leave this post to go to our second cub scout den meeting. It went very well. Much better organized this time and we actually had five 6-year-old boys "scrap booking"--this is scrap booking in the traditional sense, not in the beautiful, amazing masterpieces that many a friend of mine has become famous for. It was fun. Challenging, but fun!





We came home to find the bee guys in our driveway in the biggest orange ambulance looking vehicle. I was expecting someone, but this wasn't what I was expecting. I saw them spraying the hives and when they were done, they asked something that I did not understand. When I explained that I did not understand and speak poor French, one guy nodded and said, "Three days", then motioned the universal sign for dead bees, a finger across his throat...then said, "No?", then motioned the universal sign for call me holding his hand to his ear like a phone. I know that lost a lot in typing, but it just goes to show how language barriers can be beaten with a little sign language. It also made me laugh because it was the Belgium equivalent to ghost busters. All they needed was a giant Bee in a circle with a line through it painted onto their van. If I had not had to corral 3 children up the driveway in the rain, I could have gotten a picture for proof, but alas, there are 3 children living here.





The kids are out of school tomorrow for parent/teacher conferences. Nathan has already told me that "If you need to see my French teacher, you should know that she has a bad list." When asked if he is on that list, he replied, "Oh no. But she does have a small list and that one is erased at the end of the day." Again, I had to ask if he had been on that list. His reply, "Well, once, but it is erased, Mom." Isn't that the most cautious confession ever?


Friday I am cooking with Hannah's class and I am the experienced one. Scary. Not to worry, we're making "Easy Nachos" from our Silly Snacks cookbook. Would you believe that my daughter asked, "What is a nacho?" Oh no! What have we done?


We are also attempting to organize a Parents' Night Out at the church on Friday night. It will be a night with kids for us, but we are excited about it. Soccer and a birthday party on Saturday. It never stops!


Time to go watch Grey's from last week. Thank you iTunes being so prompt in making this available, not even a week late!