Still so much to learn

I’ve noticed about myself that sometimes I have a tendency to think that my culture is better than the culture in which I live. (I know, this is a sad fact to have to admit, but it’s quite true. And confession is good for the soul, right?) Anyway, I have to say I have been proven wrong two times this week.

For starters, I have been able to do nothing to rid my house of cockroaches. I have tried the little black forts already mentioned, arming myself with a can of raid each time I enter the kitchen, and various other techniques already described in this blog. So my house helper, who is very resourceful, meekly approached me with a suggestion. She didn’t laugh at me for my various other approaches, just quietly suggested something.

“How about I cut up an onion and leave it on the counter for a while? I heard that the smell of onion drives them away.” So we tried it.

She was right. The cockroaches have not been around these parts for a long while. The fact remains that WE also do not like the smell of onions and each time I open the kitchen door, I get a big whiff of the stuff. But the cockroaches are history, it seems.

The other area that my cultural norms have been turned upside down has to do with samantha’s skin, and interestingly enough, also my house helper. Again, I have tried various remedies (both medical and herbal, professional and amateur) to help samantha’s skin get to be nice and baby soft, not like the hands of Paul Bunyan who spent his whole life chopping trees and riding his blue ox. Homemade oatmeal baths, vasoline, olive oil, baby oil…you name it. If it is supposed to help, I have tried everything.

Or so I thought.

The other day, my little resourceful house helper again very meekly suggested I try the “local method” for treating eczema. She told me that the climate here is so dry, that lots of children have eczema in the winter. She said she’s never met anyone that wasn’t cured by this method. And, she commented, since the other things I have tried are not helping, maybe I should try this method. What was it, you wonder?

Snake fat oil.

It’s true. Ointment made from snake fat. Yeah, those slithery things that are responsible, in part, for so much evil in this world. And they were supposed to help my sweet girl? I was highly dubious. Scratch that. I was MORE than highly dubious.

But, out of respect for my house helper and my desperation to find a way to make mantha more comfortable, I emailed my doctor and asked what he thought.

“Sure,” he replied. “We certainly don’t have a corner on treating eczema in the West!”

So last night, I opened the bottle, squeezed out some of the maroon gel, and applied it very sparingly to only the worst parts of her body. And I spent half the night praying.

When I awoke, I was amazed to see that the worst parts of her skin were tons better. They were still dry and rough, but not red or bumpy. Maybe I should attribute it fully to the snake oil, but I also know that the Lord had hand in it. (and I spent the entire morning giving my sob story to my parents, who I’m sure alerted every person distantly related to me to start praying as well!)

But, I guess the moral of the story is that maybe I shouldn’t be quite to ethnocentric! I still have a lot to learn! And who knew that snake fat oil would be teaching me...

The sincerest form of flattery...

It's a true fact that Emma and Samantha are somewhat of celebrities out here in this country. (Emma more so than samantha, just because emma has longer hair and so everyone thinks she looks like a porcelain doll!) Every time we go out the door, large numbers of people come up to hold emma, feel her hair, pinch her cheeks, hold her hands, touch her just to see what a foreigner "feels like". Truly, people here hardly know how to react to her. We've even had other children point at emma and say, "Mama, what is that?" Undaunted, the mother said, "That's a child. A foreign child." I was about two seconds from giving that kid a swift slap for calling my child a "that", but such is life here. Adults and children alike can hardly fathom that foreigners birth children that look so different.

So I can understand Emma's hesitation towards Asians that she sees. She often turns away in protest when they try to hold her, pulls her hand away when they want to touch her, and usually offers a sharp "No!" to whatever request they might be making of her. But today's incident was pretty clever. I've always thought Emma was brilliant, but today caught even her doting mother off guard.

The three of us girls had gone up to josh's school; we were all going to meet when he got out of class and eat lunch together. As we were waiting for him to finish, the usual crowd of people came up to stare at Emma. One brave girl asked, "What is your name?"

Emma sat for a moment, looked around, then looked right at the girl and said confidently, "Clara!'

Who can blame her for wanting a bit of an escape?!

can you be too thankful?

Now that my macaroni and cheese leftovers are gone, I can't ramble endlessly about how I enjoyed eating them for the sixth time in a row. But, over the last few days, I have been thinking about how blessed my life is. So, if you'll indulge me one last time as I share my list of gratitute:

I am thankful that Emma loves me...and that I love her. I know that sounds so silly, but truly I have been prying that He would give me more love for her. Recent months in the eggroll household have been difficult with Emma trying to see how far her boundaries are, and then see how far she can push them. Consistency has been much harder than I ever thought possible! But recently, it's like we've had these moments where I feel like I am really connecting with her soul - when she laughs hysterically during my belly kisses, and then in that moment where she sighs and catches her breath, she looks at me with such adoration my heart can barely take it...when she willingly reaches up to give me one last hug before she drifts off to sleep, and then pulls my neck close to hers...when she says, "Mommy? hand?" and then reaches for my hand, no matter what she is doing...it's during these moments that somehow it feels like the whole world stops so we can linger in that special place. (ok, so I am the one who wants to linger; I'm sure emma is just ready to get back to her toys, but still....you get the picture)

I am thankful for a husband who loves being the best father he can be to our girls. Every saturday, josh plans special time to take emma to go do something fun...usually just the two of them. Last saturday, I got to be in on the action! Josh took emma walking around the campus of his school and they crunched in the dead leaves. How fun that kids don't know that dry leaves crunch until you tell them! Emma had a blast walking around with daddy and crunching to her hearts' content!

I am supremely thankful for my new piano! I love spending the evenings trying out new worsh!p songs, playing with josh on the guitar, and teaching emma about the high notes and the low notes.

Our sweet samantha has eczema, which affects the skin on her body by turning red, bumpy and rough like sandpaper a lot of the time. But, the palms of her hands are unaffected...and I am thankful for those special moments during the day when she curiously reaches up to touch my face. She usually lets her hands linger on my cheeks as she explores this mommy who loves her so much. This is truly one of the highlights of my day!

I am thankful for Emma's sweet spirit! She loves piping up "thanks!" when someone does something special for her, loves it when we are proud of her, and loves "helping" mommy do the dishes!! How can doing the ishes be boring when this is your company?

Have I mentioned that I am thankful for macaroni and cheese?

It seems like recently I have started feeling sorry for myself and samantha because of her skin problem. I've been frustrated at my inability to do anything about it, the way I feel like it makes her uncomfortable, and the fact that I feel like it adds blemishes to what is otherwise a very perfect baby. And then, in those low moments, I realize that just because she is Samantha I have so many reasons to feel thankful. Truly, she is a healthy and happy baby with lots of love to give! I am so blessed by her happy gurgles, gummy smiles, and her valued presence in our family. And I think she truly is beautiful...

I am thankful that I live in a city where I have friends, both foreign and now, more and more locals.

I am thankful that we have great families and friends back in the States. We are truly blessed that so many of you pry for us; you do so much to help us and show us that you care. Thank you. It isn't always easy living so far away from such great people. (Fortunately, Emma is getting used to keeping in touch with you! This photo is of emma "talking" to some of you via her little cell phone!)

I am thankful that no matter how many times I lose my patience, my motivation, or my faith, He is always willing to renew me and refill me. After coming to grips with my gaping shortcomings as a parent, I have a new sense of awe at the way our Heavenly Father instructs and shows His tender love for us. Oh, the quest to be more like Him...!

I am thankful that you are reading my blog! It really helps me feel more connected to you all.

great posts are like the missing sock

you know how sometimes you can never find the partner to some of your socks? how they somehow disappear in the dryer?

I'm convinced good posts are like that, too.

I just finished composing a great post - full of memorable anecdotes and gorgeous new pictures of my girls.

And I think blogger ate it.

I hope it was as good as my macaroni and cheese (which I have now eaten consecutively for five meals), because I'm not going to rewrite it until tomorrow. I've got a hot bath waiting on me...

until next time...

but just to whet your appetite, I'll post ONE of the pictures that got eaten...

crisis averted

Trying to celebrate thanksgiving in a foreign country, and trying to manage families with very young children was sure to bring some thanksgiving drama! Here is my list of thanksgiving crises narrowly averted this year:

-macaroni salvaged at the last minute: I have decided that homemade mac and cheese is my new thanksgiving tradition - creamy, yummy, and SO scrumptious! But as I was making it, I tripled the recipe for the pasta, cheese, milk and butter, but QUADRUPLED it for salt and pepper! When it was finished, I tasted it and was nearly blown off my feet by the level of saltiness. In the end, I just ended up making a 4th batch of it without salt and pepper to add to the other three. Needless to say, we had LOTS of mac&cheese!

-waiting on the stuffing: So, after planning the entire thanksgiving meal with exact precision, we opened the oven at 12:00 noon to pull out the stuffing (as everything else is ready and piping hot!) and we discovered that I had accidentally turned off the oven right as rachel was putting the stuffing in an hour ago! Yikes! We just decided to do our best to keep everything hot and let the stuffing cook. In the end, that one turned out ok, too.

-getting all the haizi's happy at the same time: this crisis was not exactly avoided, just managed. (By the way, haizi's is the way you say "children" where we live and we use it so casually, we have added it to our english vocabulary!) With two infants and two toddlers, there was bound to be chaos. We were able to manage them not ALL crying or fussing at the same time; they decided instead to take turns! So it added to the noise level, but we were so thankful this year to have such a full house of precious children!

-enough food: truly, as I planned the meal, I thought there would not be enough food. But, of course, it turned out to be a meal for an army and for days and days of leftovers. But isn't that what thanksgiving was all about?? Highlights of my t-giving meal this year were: the incredibly moist turkey (I've converted, officially), mac&cheese, apple cake, and the chocolate chip cheesecake ball which tempts you to mindlessly eat while you play cards. YumYum!


I decided to give mantha her first rice cereal today instead of thanksgiving - there was just a bit much chaos yesterday, but today she was surprisingly open to the new substances. Pictures and details to come later!

Let the shopping begin...

L, O, P, and the period

So somehow in the midst of my frantic thanksgiving preparations this afternoon, I managed to cut the fourth finger on my right hand. Truly, it was not a big cut. But as I checked my email this evening and got caught up on my friends' blogs, I noticed that L, O, P, and the period were quite difficult. Then, I realized it was that stupid cut. That's like, bLOgsPOt, eggrOLLmama, and LOts of other words that use those letters. Hmmm.

anyway, hope you all have a great thanksgiving. Even minus the ham, I think it will be a happy day for us all out here. AND...in other news, on Monday afternoon our house helper decided to make this year the best thanksgiving ever (even though they don't celebrate thanksgiving here...) and make the most important decision someone can make! Now, there's something to be thankful for! :)

Cheers! Eat lots of ham and other things for me!

sunday cuteness, thanksgiving drama, and the benefits of parenthood

I meant post this little diddy on sunday, but alas, time just got away from me. BUT...I just wanted to give some props to my cute girls. Even though we don't have a special place we go on Sunday mornings, we still get everyone dressed up and cute looking for little foreign fellowship time.
So here they are, in all their special sunday cuteness. Don't you just love emma's little maroon velvet dress with the girly pink tights? She's sitting there on the floor eating her raisins before everyone got to our house for worsh!p...looking cute and angelic as can be. Then, there's sweet little mantha, smiling at anyone who will give her the time of day, in her brand-new baby booties from mimi and G. Sunday cuteness. What's not to love?


In thanksgiving news, lots of you have been wondering if/what we will be doing to celebrate the big day out here. Though we do have a great plan, I'm sorry to say that just today our plan was made a tad less magnificient, due to some unexplained glitch on the part of the import store owners who were supposed to be ordering the ham and turkey for us. The turkey will be here on time (ie, today) but the ham, the yummy, salty, sweet, tasty ham will not be here at all. I know that most people think thanksgiving is about turkey, but for me, it's really the ham that makes it worthy of a feast. Ham. Ham leftovers. Cold ham. Warmed ham. Ham sandwiches. Can you really go wrong with ham? Oh well...maybe next year. Anyway, accompanying our ham, Rachel and I have planned quite a spread: stuffing, mashed potatoes, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs, dinner rolls, pecan pie, apple cake, hello dollies, and a cheesecake ball. Can thursday come any faster???

One of the benefits of parenthood is that I have now officially joined the ranks of people whose homes and refrigerators are wallpapered with toddler-scribbling masterpieces. Even today, Emma's activity was helping us get ready for thanksgiving by coloring a turkey and a cornicopia (I tried to get her to pronounce it, but it came out "corn-a-na-na-pe-o-pi-de-o" or something like that). Truly, is this not great? There was so much zeal going into each of those little scribbles. I loved watching her chunky little fingers try to add color to the shoes, the banana, and various other objects she can identify. My thanksgiving heart was warmed as I taped her little drawing to toilet paper rolls so they could be proudly displayed next to the dinner spread come thursday.

And in the thanksgiving spirit, we decided that mantha's first taste of "real-ish" food will come on thanksgiving day, thanks to another gift of a bib that reads, "Baby's first thanksgiving." I guess I figured if I didn't use it now, I'd have to wait until #3! :) so, we've been trying to prep her for the big day by giving her short amounts of play time in her new high chair! Ok, well I have a cute pic of mantha sitting in her high chair, feeling all happy and like a big girl, but blogger is freaking out on me and it wont post...so until next time, think happy thanksgiving thoughts! yum yum!

one of those days

Today was just one of those days. You know the kind I'm talking about.

It started out ok, but just progressively got more and more chaotic.

Our hot water heater went out again today.

The ribs I made for dinner yesterday somehow (unbeknownst to me!) spilled out onto the bottom of my oven; so as I was preheating the oven tonight to bake some yummy cornbread, all the rib juice got "cooked" into the oven, causing the oven to smoke all through the kitchen...and more importantly, no cornbread. Then, I had to spend an hour after dinner, after dishes, scouring the oven so that it would not leave smoky burnt rib residue on our thanksgiving feast next week.

My entire drawer that holds my silverware broke.

The water in our entire building went out.

The elevator was broken. We live on the 10th floor.

My veggie soup that I made for dinner tonight truly was awful.

The two redeeming points of the day were:
-that I am now sitting in front of the computer, at 10:42pm, drinking a coke (an American coke, no less...), eating a Dark Chocolate KitKat bar, and munching on Orville Redenbaucher's popcorn. Thank you, Orville. Gosh, I'm such a comfort eater.

-My parents sent me this huge care package and it finally arrived yesterday! Nestled in between the gazillions of clothes and Dora paraphanalia for my children were FOUR lovely bottles of bubble bath for me. How do these sound: Spiced Apple Rapture, Cinnamon Bun Heaven, Pumpkin Pie Paradise, and then Warm Vanilla Sugar from Bath&Body Works. I have been thinking of the hot bath I would take this evening all day...until I realized - with a sigh - that not only do I not have hot water, I do not have water, period! bummer. But the package was great - and there's Cheetos on there too. Who can resist cheetos? And chocolate. Those Dark Chocolate KitKats are good. Do they have those in the States?

Tomorrow will be better. God willing, tomorrow will be Spiced Apple Rapture!

special moments caught on film

It seems I have taken a bit of a break from blogging, but I haven't intentionally neglected my blog. We've had all sorts of random happenings here lately. For example, on saturday our hot water heater went out and was only fixed yesterday. So, since none of you need help with simple arithmetic, you can deduce that was FOUR days with no showers or baths or shaving or washing faces in this house. We were all heralding the entrance of the repairman.

Last weekend, we took emma to a local park to run around and play. Generally, there are very few play areas for kids here; even those that charge you to enter are few and far between. this one that we went to isnt' even really a playground, just a park with flowers and trees and a natural spring. We aren't too amazed with the bubbling spring that is the major tourist attraction of the city, but it gives emma a nice break from the dusty streets outside. It also gave emma a good chance to practice her newly learned colors! We had fun picking out the pink, white, yellow and red flowers. Gosh, she's smart!


My friend Rachel also decided to start potty-training her daughter (emma's best friend, clara) this week. Emma got to hear all about clara's potty training experience via mom, and I think emma secretly wishes she could be potty trained too. But, alas...her mother has decided that, due to unexpected difficulties, I will wait until rachel has all the secrets to share with me. Perhaps then Emma can begin her journey into higher bathroom functioning.


For now, though, Emma seems content to try putting on her own clothes. As you can see, she is having a bit of difficulty figuring out exactly how this shirt business works. I'm sure she'll get it after a while!


Maybe she hasn't figured out how to fully get dressed, but she sure knows how to entertain her sister! And, more recently, she has taken quite the nurturing approach with samantha! One morning, sure that samantha must be as thirsty as she was, emma even decided to share her precious milk (after emma had already drunk it dry!) with samantha!


Samantha is staying busy, too...her most recent feat includes rolling over and over and over. She's getting quite mobile, which means I should probably quit leaving her on top of the changing table now... this picture was taken yesterday as she was scoping out the camera during a "roll-over" session.


This amazing picture of my two favorite people was taken today as we were walking to mcdonalds for lunch. Granted, we usually do not eat at McD's, but today I had made no other plans for lunch and I certainly wasn't in the mood to cook anything. So, Emma shared her stroller with samantha in exchange for riding on daddy's shoulders. The street that leads to mcD's is not such a beautiful street, but the side walks are lined with huge leafy trees, spreading out, canopied, above your head. As the sunlight bounced through the leaves, I caught the moment - emma truly happy with her sky-high perch, daddy truly happy to be with emma on a unseasonably warm winter day.

On a final note, I will end this very rambling post by saying that I read online - but from a reputable source!! - that eating a little chocolate a day has been proven by researchers to help your blod clot, therefore bringing additional health benefits to the "fix" we all feel when we scarf it down! Long live the good stuff!

happy highlights

so today was a fun day for us.

we went and had our normal little sunday routine - which is anything but normal when four small children are involved. We've tried to do lots of things to keep the little girls involved in our worsh!p times, so we've given them little shaker toys that they can shake as we sing songs. Emma, who loves to sing with all her heart, will usually shout out "YAY!" and clap enthusiastically anytime a song is over. This usually gives the singer lots of pleasure and affirmation, knowing that emma has been sufficiently entertained.

But today, after one lively song, Emma shouted, "Praise the Lord!" Way to go, Emma!


Then, this evening, josh was playing on the couch with emma as I was holding samantha looking on. Josh and emma were having a marvelous time as he pretend-attacked her with dolphin. (yes, dolphin still has air and is still an important part of emmma's life) Emma's happy shrieks brought much concern to her sister samantha, who was sure that emma was in some sort of trouble. Samantha looked at josh and let out some angry, concerned shouts. I say shouts because they weren't cries. They weren't screams. It was the baby equivalent of "Hey, what are you doing? Leave her alone!"

Then, when she realized that emma was laughing, she started giggling too. To date, no one except emma has made samantha giggle. Not even Mrs. Food Supply. Emma is the sole title holder.


In one final happy evening highlight, we were putting emma to bed and josh was helping get her jammies on. Emma's usual favorite care bear jammies were dirty as were her other pair...so we brought out her super-warm and cozy footed jammies (a recent gift from her pappy and gigi). Emma was awed at the realization that jammies could have shoes. She was entranced with the shoes, barely making it one or two steps before stopping to look, touch, feel. She kept saying, "Jammies...shoes! Jammies...shoes!" over and over again. Finally, we got her in bed, but I think she was really happy that even jammies have shoes.

Where I am, there you may also be

That is Emma's motto when it comes to life with her sister.

Wherever Samantha might be, emma needs to be there. Whatever serious business was going on between emma and chosen stuffed animal is immediately put on hold so that she may go to her sisters' side.

If Samantha is in the kitchen with me, Emma will be shortly.

If Samantha is in emma's bedroom with me while I hang up clothes, it is only a matter of time until that becomes party central.

If Samantha is quietly playing by herself, emma invites herself to join.

Truly. You can see for yourself.

But how can I complain about this? When they are older, I hope they still have this attitude. I watch my sisters (a sophomore and freshman in college) and I see this principle in action. They still love each other. they still support each other through bad room mates, bad boyfriends, and all the other crap that life can sometimes bring.

I hope samantha will always have emma. Enjoy the pics!

You may not know...

I was writing an email to my new friend amy the other day, and i was telling her a little about myself and our family. As I was writing, I thought it was a good idea just to have an entire post about things you may or may not know about me. I know, this blog should be more devoted to the little eggrolls instead of the mama eggroll, but sometimes you just have to deal with me. :) so here goes:

I played the flute in junior high marching band.

I like to eat tofu.

If I have spare time, I like to blog, scrapbook, read, and write (and usually in that order).

I have drunk only six cokes from the 32-pack I bought on october 1.

Our biggest marital conflicts have revolved around how much sugar to put in cornbread.

I don’t like coffee. Not even starbucks.

I love holding hands with my daughter.

I didn’t learn how to cook until I lived in asia.

I have a strong addiction to anything chocolate – there is no dessert too rich for me.

I didn’t get on a plane for the first time until I was almost 18.

My daughter’s first plane ride came when she was 5 weeks old.

My grandfather died during our first year in asia; other than that, no one really close to me has died in my adult life.

My favorite restaurant (besides good mexican food) is Luby's Cafeteria. (When I go there with my grandmother, I'm sure all the other patrons think, "Oh, how nice...that girl is bringing her grandmother to Luby's!" ...when in fact, it's my grandmother taking ME to Luby's.)

Samantha's birthday is on our wedding anniversary.

I had laser eye surgery.

I TRULY hate cockroaches.

Before I die, I want to (among other things) 1) spend a month in Australia, 2) go to the pyramids in Egypt and 3) go on an African Safari.

I only take a shower every two or three days. :)

My jeans are still tight.

My first job was working at Chuck E. Cheese. (and yes, I really liked it!)

Well, that about covers all the random things I can think of to tell you. What are some random facts about you??

Home Invasion

I really do like my house in this county. It has plenty of room for all of us (though not quite enough storage space) and it is starting to feel really homey.

The problem is that we aren’t the only ones who think it feels homey.

That’s right; my kitchen has become home to a nice and thoughtful community of cockroaches.

I say thoughtful because they seem to understand that we human-types aren’t too fond of cockroaches, so they generally stay out of sight during daylight hours. When I’m busy baking cookies, muffins, and chicken strips, they are nowhere to be seen. They wait until they think I am safely done with my kitchen duties of the day before they begin their late-night parties.

Then, when I unexpectedly need a glass of water, or I need to put something back in the fridge and the light pops on, they run for cover. They understand I don’t like them, so they are thoughtful enough to scurry back to their homes.

Nice, thoughtful cockroaches.

Wanting to repay their kindness, I searched the internet for a non-toxic and humane way to kill cockroaches. I found this guy’s PhD report online that documented perhaps every known fact about cockroaches. In the FAQ section of his paper, he addresses how to humanely killcockroaches, but adds: Because I devote my life to the study of cockroaches, I cannot condone the killing of any cockroaches. However, since most people think they are an unsightly nuisance, here are some ways…blah blah blah.

What a life. Studying cockroaches.

So anyway, we were living out a sort of shaky co-existence when yesterday one brave cockroach has put the entire cockroach community in danger.

I was in the kitchen in broad daylight making lunch; Samantha was laying happily on the floor gazing at magnets. Emma was somewhere running around in the house, I’m sure. Perhaps that was when she unrolled the entire roll of toilet paper. I’m still unsure the exact time that crime occurred.

Anyway, we were all there, minding our own human-business, when along he trod.

A grandpapa cockroach, all fat and happy from months of nibbling on josh and rach leftovers. What audacity! Maybe he was scoping out special treats he could bring back for the grandkids, who knows…but in broad daylight?! And as if nothing were wrong with this? He was not in any such hurry, not aware that his human landlord was watching him, nearly burning a hole in the back of his shiny cockroach back.

I had previously bought these little black boxes made by Raid that are supposed to emit some sort of roach-killing odor. However, the cockroaches seem to have turned those against me. Josh calls them the “ little black forts” because instead of the roaches running from them (in order to escape the “deadly fumes”) they instead run into them for cover when the kitchen door swings open. Yes, granddaddy cockroach himself came sauntering out of the little black fort.

So, as you can see, something must be done about my cockroach community. They are no longer welcome to peacefully coexist in my kitchen. They are no longer welcome to nibble on my muffin crumbs. They are no longer welcome to hide under my stove, to scramble around on my counter.

Something must be done.

little white lies

I think we have officially made the leap from "little bed" to "big bed". Three nights ago, Josh gave emma the choice about which bed she wanted to sleep in. After walking over to each of them and carefully studying them, at last, she headed toward her big pink bed, and exclaimed, "Bed!" The choice was made.

The night went without incident. she did not get out of bed, she did not cry. (We do know that she played in her bed a few minutes before finally drifting off to sleep, but that is allowable here.)

When naptime of day #2 came, I lugged emma up and tried to put her in little bed. She would have none of it, and kicked and screamed to further back up her original decision to sleep in big bed. I put emma on the floor, sat down cross-legged with her, and we had a heart-to-heart. I told her that I understood she probably wanted to get out of her big bed and play with toys during naptime (not allowable). I told her that she probably wanted to read books (also not allowable), and I told her that just because it wasn't dark in her room and she could see all around, she still could not get of bed (most certainly and absolutely not allowable). She solemnly agreed with a very serious "ok, mommy."

I tucked her in, gave her a kiss and told her of my firm beleif that she is a good girl. I left the room as she was still smiling in the bed.

A few minutes later, I hear happy sounds coming from the bedroom. I decide to peek in the crack of the door (that I had left a little ajar so I could be a snooper-mom and spy on her). I saw her sitting on her bed (allowable, as long as she is not standing) and lining up all her animals on her bed, giving each of them some garbled words of affirmation. I couldn't help smiling, and I sat watching her, quite amused, for a good three or four minutes.

She must have had a sense that I was watching her, because she looked toward the crack of the door and carefully studied it until she could make out my image through the small opening. A huge smile crossed her face.

I opened the door, and wanting to tell her how good she was for staying inside her bed, I said pleasantly, "Oh, Emma, were you playing with animals?"

The smile dropped.

She looked hard at her animals, looked back at me and said quietly, "no."

No?

Did Emma just lie to me?

She did!

So young, so fun, so innocent, and yet still...so sinful! yikes!

fortunately for emma, she quickly recanted and told the truth, sparing her from worse punishment. Another fortunate thing for emma is that I was so jolted by the lie that her punishment was very light. We had another heart-to-heart about lying. Then, she went to sleep. yay!

Last night was another chapter in the big bed/little bed saga. Emma has been learning about sharing recently. After a fun evening of making samantha have happy and sustained giggles, it was time for brushing teeth, prayers and bed. But before bed, emma had the chance to practice her excercises in philanthropy.

We asked her if she would be willing to share her little bed with samantha. As samantha is one of emma's favorite people on this earth, emma quickly agreed that this was a good idea. So, little bed was moved out of emma's room and into the dining room so samantha could sleep in it.

Wow. Both girls, moving up to bigger beds.

with a deep sigh

** We interrupt your regularly scheduled happy-child-post to bring you this strange and depressing post. Your regularly scheduled blog will resume at a later date. **

I usually enjoy turning on the computer and seeing all the things I have missed while I slept during the night. What did my friends blog about? what encouragement might have come from across the ocean? what interesting news event might have occurred?

But you know, it seems that lately, turning on the computer just leaves me with a heavy heart.

I'm not a politician, nor do I care to be one. I am certainly not an analyzer of current events. I leave that to my capable husband and my capable friends paul and john.

but truly! Who can stand watching one more christian leader fall? Who can continue working through the emotional turmoil of deceit and betrayal? How many times must we grapple with issues of the faith that result from these situations? But I guess one question that surfaces in these situations that I cannot get out of my mind: where is the accountability?

Have we truly strayed SO far from being the body that we insulate ourselves from relationships in which we are genuine? Are we so afraid that our sin will turn others off, are we so paranoid that others will think less of us that we refuse to present anything less than a perfect front? Or is it that our platform of pride is so tall and towers so high above the rest that we think we are immune from a catastrophic fall?

What of those who placed so much trust in these men? What of their families? and their children? and the legacy of the gospel in their lives? and the call to holiness? and what of the fallen world that watches it all happen...?

Will people like my papa - who died at after an abundant 78 years on this earth being wholly faithful to one wife - be in the minority?

Yes, I take heed, lest I myself fall. If the people we have all seen fall are not immune, then certainly we ourselves are not.

My friends, I tell you honestly: we pray for you. We pray for your marraiges. We pray that your hearts would be soft to the sweet promptings of the Holy Spirit, nudging you to be more and more in His image.

And let this community of believers determine that in this year that has brought so much personal heartbreak and frustration of spirit to so many of us, we will lay down a milestone in the spiritual realm - we shall put on His armor, standing firm until the day of Christ Jesus, and take back the task of pursuing his holiness.


Whew. Now that that is off my chest, I'll post something a bit lighter next time.

sisterly love and other happenings

It is true that Emma and Samantha are sisters by no choice of their own. Fortunately, they are both young enough that at this point, they still generally care about the other - actually, Samantha adores Emma. It is evident every time she looks her way. No one can make mantha smile like Emma, even if Emma isn't even trying. Emma can so much as LOOK at samantha, and happy giggles burst forth. Emma is usually too preoccupied in looking after her other stuffed animals, or pulling all the cooking utensils from the kitchen drawer, or causing the terror alert to be raised in the household to be too concerned with samantha's whereabouts...but every so often, she takes an interest in samantha.

Yesterday was one such occasion.

Sometimes, if I am getting dinner ready and samantha sounds lonely and in need of some attention,I will bring her in the kitchen with me and lay her on the floor while I finish cooking. This seems to be an interesting perspective for her, and she enjoys the arrangement. Whenever this happens, Emma's radar immediately picks it up.

-beep, beep, beep. Someone other than me is getting a special privilege. beep, beep, beep.-

So Emma comes and lays on the floor next to mantha. Usually, this leads to quick and certain boredom for emma, who gets easily distracted by the colorful magnets on the fridge.

Yesterday, after a stream of happy giggles, mantha noticed that Emma was otherwise preoccupied and was not paying attention to her special treasures (blanket, in particular). Samantha very sneakily snatched blanket for her own while emma was meticulously arranging said magnets.


Then, as if acting upon her boldness, mantha noticed that dora, the highly honored mexican child, was also left unguarded. As you can see, Samantha was obviously pleased with herself and her newfound possessions.

I'm sure you can imagine that emma quickly discovered that dora had left her hands and she went looking for the culprit. Of course, samantha could not go far, and would not put up much of a fight. Dora was quickly reunited with her righful owner, but samantha sure made a run for it!


Then, what is this about? Right after snatching dora back from mantha, emma seems to notice for the first time that samantha has ears?! Oh, you think you're going to take MY toys, do you? Well, how does this feel, huh?!

Anyway, all that to say that even though there is little bit of unwillingness to share right now, they generally like each other and get along quite well.



I went yesterday to go check out the table that the factory made for me. I have to say that, though it is not the color I originally "ordered" (wanted black, but ended up with a chocolate brown), it is an unbelievably beautiful table. It is solid wood (something I could likely never afford in the States) and is perfect. Perfect. The wood itself is one of the highest qualities you can buy, and the grain on it is lovely. It's simple, classic, and...beautiful. Now, I just have to wait ANOTHER month while they finish up the chairs. But, at least now I know what I am waiting for! This darling picture of Samantha was taken at the factory while I was checking out the table.


This evening, Emma was being awfully quiet (usually a good cue to go see what mischief she has gotten into). I quietly looked in all rooms of our house to see where she was, and finally found her in the bathroom. She had opened a little wicker chest-of-drawers, and had taken the very bottom drawer out and put it on the floor. She had carefully put in her doll and bear, and then decided, "what the heck. I think I can fit in here too!" I walked in on her, all scrunched up in the drawer, and just sitting happily. "Are you in a little boat?" I asked her.

"Yep. Boat."

I kid you not, she was in there for 20 minutes, just sitting in her little boat.



Tonight we gave emma another shot at her "big girl bed". She had been sent back to the pack and play a few weeks ago for a host of reasons, the most important of which was that neither she or we were getting the required amount of sleep to ensure adequate brain functioning. But tonight, she laid in her bed for a long time (didn't actually get out of bed - yay! but just laid there and babbled to herself). At one point, though, the babblings became very clear and distinct to me. This is what I heard.

"God. Thank you. Momma. Daddy. Johnny (one of josh's new friends). Mantha. Ok. Amen.

"God. Thank you. Momma. Daddy. Mantha. Jesus. Ok. Amen."

Could the day have ended any better? With warm fuzzies in my heart, I sign off for tonight. Blessings to you all.

oh yeah, one more food post

I forgot to mention in my earlier blog that today I made BBQ sandwiches and french onion dip for lunch. Did you get that - FRENCH ONION DIP !! ARrg...it was so good. We had an asian friend over for lunch, and he finished his lunch WAY before we did. I'm sure he just sat there inwardly incredulous at how josh and I just kept stuffing our faces...bite after bite...chip after chip...with chips and dip. Even emma got in on the action - she learned how to "dip" and kept calling for more: "Chips, momma! Chips, momma! Wheeeeze!"

Dip, Dip, hooray!

fun times and happy days

I think a good principle to live by is doing your best to make the most of each day. That is particularly true when there are countless days that I do not see a shower, or make it into "going outside clothes"! But thursdays are fun to make the most of. Thursdays are Emma and Clara Anne's play-dates.

I never really understood play-dates before I had kids. I wondered why kids needed set-aside time to "play". Now, I realize that perhaps it is more for the mothers than the kids! Play-dates are where the moms can catch up on all the random things that are on thier minds, eat cookies (even peanut butter cookies seem good at "play-dates"!), drink coke and let our kids entertain each other. Ok, ok...so maybe its fun for our kids too.

Yesterday, was a fun play-date. We colored together, sang a new song, and painted with ice cubes that had been frozen with food coloring. This was actually a fun little experiment - when the girls "painted" with their ice cubes on a paper towel, all the colors ran together and created beautiful, stained-glass-type images. Oh, yeah...we also made peanut butter and banana smoothies. We can't forget about the food! :)

THEN...while the big sisters were napping, we left the house in josh's capable hands, and rachel and I took the little sisters SWIMMING! Most of you probabaly remember emma's swimming debut from her 1st year video, so I thought it only fair that samantha should get a chance to go too!

The whole scenario was incredibly convenient. We called the place to reserve a time, then they sent a driver to come and pick us up. They prepared the baby pools for us while we browsed the selection of imported baby items, and then it was time!

Well, I have to say that samantha did much better than emma's first time to swim. She quickly got adjusted to the feeling of total immersion, and then seemed to begin a regimen of pool calesthenics. She was fluttering here and there, pushing off the side of the wall, and thoroughly enjoying herself!

After about ten minutes, though, she had hit her limit. She started whimpering, and I took that as my cue to extract her from the water before the whimpers turned into an all-out cry. As we dried off and got clothes back on, samantha was full of happy smiles and I was happy that it was a fun day for her.

As we were returning home, a lady with a huge sheepdog got on the elevator with us. Knowing that emma would squeal with delight if she saw him, I asked the lady if I could bring my other daughter down for a visit. When emma and clara awoke from their naps, we took them down to meet the dog. (I actually never thought to ask his name!) Sure enough, emma was delighted to see such a big dog - and he was just about as tall as her! She loved following him around, and even was brave enough to pet him a few times.

Emma has also enjoyed our new purchase! She likes sitting on the bench (much more than she prefers sitting in my lap) and "practicing" by herself at the piano! We hope she grows to love it just as much as I have! The only problem is that every time I sit down to try to work out the rust of my own abilities, emma comes running from whereever she might be, thinking I have given her an invitation to sit and play - so she's getting in more practice than me! But what was I truly thinking, expecting to practice the piano with two little ones running around??

just like riding a bike?

Today was a big day for us over on this side of the world.

To begin with, my favorite pair of jeans (from J.Crew, if you must know) actually fit up over my hips and buttoned all the way. This is a miracle. It has been many moons since those jeans have been worn. Now, they are still a little tight (as in, I wouldn't wear them to play around with emma on the floor) but it certainly was a small victory that they buttoned.

The other major event of the day was that our piano was delivered.

Yep, our piano. We got a pretty good deal on a piano (a Kawai, if you must know) and the four mover guys brought it to its new home this afternoon.

It has been a long time since I have played the piano. In fact, I have not played the piano my entire married life (over 6 years). We never had the money before, and we also were never really situated in a long-term environment anywhere. I was a bit nervous about sitting down and tickling the ivories. But, my dad assured me that it was just like riding a bike (without the bruises). Well, I have to admit, I'm not as bad as I feared, but also not as good as I remembered! :) I guess time will cure that.

Buying the piano has really caused me to think deeply about my life. I know it seems strange, but hear me out.

Everyone I have ever known that has owned a piano has owned that piano for their entire life. If they have not owned it thier entire life, they have at least owned it for my entire life.

My grandmother's piano is in all of my childhood memories - recitals in front of the entire extended family on christmas eve, listing to the sound of my nana's soothing playing when I would spend the night at nana and papa's house, even fighting with the cousins over who got to go first (usually seniorty won out).

My dad's piano is also in all of my childhood memories. In fact, in the house I grew up in, the piano had its own room, meaning you could play to your hearts content. (actually, we were led to believe we could play to our hearts content. I have very vivid memories of me practicing the piano while my parents were making dinner and getting a very loud, "Quit yer bangin' in there!" retort from them! So what if I play a little loudly...)

So those two pianos brought me the sobering realization that a piano is not like a pair of jeans that you outgrow and give to Goodwill or the Vietnam Veterans. A piano is not like a rice cooker or a crockpot that you buy and just leave for the next foreigners who come to town after you leave.

No, no. A piano is not like that at all. A piano is like a family member. (ok, well, maybe that's a bit much...) but truly, a piano stays with you. A piano says, "I am situated here." But more than that, a piano says this is my home. Wow. Now, if that doesn't say it plainly, I don't know what does.

So, If I ever had cause to wonder, "can I really live here? Will I stay?" the question is answered. I bought a piano.


Another major event that happened in my life today was not nearly as pleasant as re-learning to play the piano. As I was doing dishes this evening, I was stacking my clean dishes on a dish rack that sits on top of my washer (yes, my washer is in my kitchen). Just as I did that, I knocked off the equilibrium of the tower of dishes I had so carefully arranged to dry. My beautiful - imported and expensive - glass pie plate (Pyrex, if you must know) went crashing to the floor. I cringed - but held out hope - as I heard it bounce around on the floor, but then finally, "smash!" The fall was just too much, gravity too strong. My Pyrex pie plate now lies shattered on the floor. It makes me sick just to think about it.

Ok, the final momentous event of the day. (I told you, it has been quite the day!)

We got a call from our landlord today, telling us that my table I ordered MONTHS ago is ready. I can't remember if I blogged about this or not, but I had a dining room table custom made out here. I searched in vain for one of those big, square tables that seats eight people (two at a side) but I knew it was a hopeless search. Fortunately, Ms. Resourceful brought along with her a page from a Pottery Barn catalog that showed this table as well as all its dimensions. And my landlord hooked me up with some factory that could custom make it for me. They even gave me a loaner in the meantime! Though it was cheaper than a PB table, it was still $500, and that doesn't include the eight chairs. Sooo... it was finished today, but I don't know when they're going to deliver it. We shall see how it compares to the table I "thought" I described to them!