(exhale)

I had intended to post this at naptime today, but alas...my pictures are too big and I have to spend hours resizing so they won't fight with blogger...so now I've given the children a choice between two activities that will give me time to post these - a bath or a movie. And which do you think they chose? :)

Anyway, I am officially still wearing my pajamas adnd it is almost 7pm. Today was the first day in what felt like a long time that I didn't have anything that HAD to be done. We even had a fridge full of leftovers, so I didn't even have to think about meal planning or cooking. That rocks. This last week has kind of been a blur, and I suppose that's normal, what with it being December and everything. Except that we don't live in America and you think somehow we'd avoid that holiday rush or something, but it has seemed to follow us here.

I'm certainly not complaining - our holiday rush is a bit different, I suppose. We are definetly in the throes of the holiday season and yesterday evening hosted the first of three Christmas parties that will be at our home. And that's my subject for this evening - a Christmas party for asianese people. :)

The truth is, there are lots of ways that we are different from asianese people. Our ideas of "leisure time" provide one of the most stark examples, at least in my opinion. When I think of how I would want to spend an evening with friends, I'm imagining a cozy living room, a quiet coffee shop or bookstore, or an evening out at a restaurant with a few couples. All of these ideas to me offer quality time in an environment that is friendly to deepening relationships. "Time with friends" here usually means the loudest and liveliest way possible, often involving lots of alcohol or places that are packed to the gills with other merrymakes, thereby adding to enjoyment. These are situations we do not do well in.

I've hosted parties at my house before that would have fit in perfectly with my life in Oklahoma - quiet, just a few people whom I want to know better, brownies, candles, you get the idea. And they were flops. I mean, not that nobody had a good time, but they just weren't "asianese". I resolved this year would be different.

So this party was centered around my house helper, because so many of her close friends and family don't see Life the same way she does now and she hoped they'd have another chance to hear about it. New Leaf Issue #1 - I had her invite as many people as possible, no limitations. New Leaf Issue #2 - I didn't shy away from kids (something I have done in the past). New Leaf Issue #3 - I used group activities that would be loud and boisterous.

Might I say...the party was a great success? We're still awaiting results on the true measure of its success, but it looks on the outside like a success. There was noise, chaos, tons of people talking and shouting at once, kids running everywhere, balls flying across the room, an enormous mess...by asianese standards, definetely a success!! (Actually, we enjoyed it too, but don't tell anyone!)

So, the total body count was in at 12 adults and seven children, setting a record for the eggroll home. We had fab christmas decorations (thanks to josh's mom!) and napkins (that people opted to take home as a souvenir instead of using (!), decorated sugar cookies, we played a Christmas Trivia game, read the christmas story, sang carols, and somewhere in between those activities, every morsel of food I had on my table vanished.

Here's the photo recap:

Emma surveying the food, most notably the very tempting cookies begging for her artistic inspiration...

Emma finally giving in to a picture with our friend Amy's house helper, also a new sister (this was emma's first of 34, 859 requests last night)

Some of the kids decorating cookies...

Most of the women and most of the kids, crowded around the food...

...while the men sat in the living room and talked...

Several times throughout the evening I coudln't find emma at all...then I saw her over at the table, spooning the icing out of the icing bowls with her fingers and picking up the sprinkles and eating them directly...who needs the cookies when you can get so much sugar that way?

Playing our Christmas trivia game...

Getting ready for a group picture...

The group picture - a must, it seems. :)

Me and my friend (also my house helper)

And with emma...
My handsome husband and a little friend...

Finally, as the festivities died down and the sprinkles from the cookies had been satisfactorily sprinkled all around the house, everyone started making their way home around 10pm. Emma and samantha, full of sugar from their covert missions, acted as if it was 10am and not 10pm! We, on the other hand, were exhausted, but so thankful for the way everything went. We truly had a good time, and felt like we were faithful to the reason for having them. Next weekend we'll have another one, then our last one on Christmas eve. On Christmas Day, we'll go to our friend's preschool class to teach some songs and do some Christmas crafts. Whew, but what a great reason to be whew! about. :)

In other random news, here are cute cute pictures from recent days...

Last week, emma successfully used her chopsticks to actually get the food in her mouth, and I have pictures to prove it, but that will wait to another day. She was so jazzed!

ok, that's all for tonight.....

nativity, asia-style

I think I'm a pretty good planner, especially as it relates to planning ahead. My skill is especially obvious when it comes to entering grocery stores containing western food items; wow, I can plan ahead for an entire year. How many boxes of cake mix will I need? I'll just buy the HUGE carton of chili seasoning. Six boxes of graham crackers ought to last me at least...

You get the idea. When we were in the states, we had the responsibility of trying to buy those special items that can only be bought in the US - you can find cheetos outside the US, but Dora panties? No way. So, that's the priority of packing in my life. Velveeta and ranch packets and 3 Musketeers top the list as well.

Ok, I've made my case. I can plan ahead - but apparantly not when it comes to children's holiday activities. It never occurred to me at any point in my life before this December that I would want a nativity scene for my kids to play with and/or use as a teaching tool for the story of Christmas. That would be one of those things that will be VERY hard to find outside of the US. So, if you don't have one, the only option is to make one.

Thanks to Kristen's package (which served as the manger), wrapping paper tube trees, wooden spoon angels, some pipe cleaners, online color sheets and glitter, we now are the proud owners of a nativity scene fit for...well, fit for what, we're not exactly sure yet. I keep referring to it as our ghetto nativity, but in fact, the girls really like it and we made some special family memories making it together, so anyway, here it is. Nativity, asia-style:

I recant...

Over the years, I have not been quiet about my dislike for the capital city of the country in which I live. We have always been greeted with traffic, traffic, more traffic...unfriendly people, scam artists at every turn, and a barrage of mediocre food (perhaps the most offensive problem of all!) So when we went there with my parents several months ago, it was not with hearts of expectation that we boarded the train to go there. But, and I think I've mentioned this before, surprise of all surprises, we had a GREAT time! We had a fab place to stay in, ate great food, got around with very little difficulty, made some great purchases and had a memorable time.

So, officially, BcaptialcityJ, I recant all the negative things I have said about you. Your claims of modernity are much truer than I thought; your ability to handle the masses will go much more smoothly than the nightmare I have envisioned in my mind. BcaptialcityJ, you are now high on my list of places I like to go. It's a tooth-and-nail fight to make it on the list, and you are there. I wish you every bit of success in your big venture next year. I applaud you, and thank you for happy memories.

With that weight off my chest, I feel like now I can post the pictures from our recent trip there. We and our likeminded friends went there last week for time of special focus, and it was great, in so many ways. Good food was eaten, good purchases made (notably, crisco and a quilt for samantha - I know those are items high on your lists, too!) and the girls had a great time with all the friends that make our life feel very blessed.

One evening in particular, the men were all out doing "men" things (which I think involved pool?) so we women were back in the apartment that we shared with several hours to kill before bedtime. Being that it was December, we thought we'd try out the ol' Christmas play. Do keep in mind as you view the pictures that we were in a hotel/apartment room, so our props consisted mainly of plastic shopping bags and towels - that's not a costume designers idea of selection, if you know what I'm saying...

We've got shepherds....

...who were confused about what exactly they were supposed to do...

A Mary and a momma-Joseph....

A little white sheep....

A narrator with an angel attached...

By the time it was all said and done, everyone had participated, though we aren't exactly sure what parts some children were playing (I think at one point Clara Anne decided she wanted to be the hay in the back of the manger and just lay down, but that's neither here nor there...!)

There was also a nice play area for kids on one floor of the apartment building we stayed in. Obviously, you can tell we all had a great time...

One fun little find on our trip was a children's bookstore - full of tons of Asianese books, but nicely stocked with English titles. We ended up buying several new Eric Carle books, more adventures of Ezra Jack Keats' Peter (one of mantha's personal favorite characters) and a few others. One cool feature was several nooks around the store that were perfect for curling up with a kiddo and a good book.

there's the (Christmas) spirit...

This is not an endorsement of anything santa-related, nor is intended to be seen as complaining in any fashion, but it made me laugh (out loud) so I thought it merited spreading to all my hard-working momma friends!


Dear Santa,I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned, and cuddled my two children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground and figured out how to attach nine patches onto my daughter's girl scout sash with staples and a glue gun.

I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:
I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache after a day of chasing kids (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to carry a screaming toddler out of the candy aisle in the grocery store. I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year, I'd like a car with fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking daughter doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with one potty-trained toddler, two kids who don't fight, and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools. I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting, "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother", because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

And please don't forget the Playdoh Travel Pak, the hottest stocking stuffer this year for mothers of preschoolers. It comes in three fluorescent colors and is guaranteed to crumble on any carpet making the In-law's house seem just like mine.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container. If you don't mind I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely.

It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family; or if my toddler didn't look so cute sneaking downstairs to eat contraband ice cream in his pajamas at midnight.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the chimney and come in and dry off by the fire so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table, but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.
Yours always.....Mom

jackpot

Yesterday I had to take the girls out to buy a few things at the grocery store before heading out of town tomorrow (yes, there will be a brief slowdown in blogs...). Trips to the store with both of the girls are rare, because (ok, friends at home, don't kill me...) my house helper usually goes for and does all my grocery shopping. But there was some reason; I can't now remember what it was, but there was a reason.

Anyway, we got to the store and after a short debate between the girls about who go to sit in the front and who got to stand, it just so happened that one of the cool carts with the Car attached to the front became open. Jackpot. Both girls "drove" the car around the store.

Then, after a quick play time at KFC (their playland is much cleaner and hidden away from the crowds than the McD's), we headed out to get a taxi, and a lady at the door was passing out McDonald's coupons. Let it be known here that we don't actually use the coupons, because they are usually for strange items that we don't buy, but I always do feel left out because I never seem to be in the right place at the right time to get the coupons. It feels as though I'm back in junior high again, trying to be in the "in" crowd. Except the "in" crowd here means getting coupons. Anyway, forgive the rant; the point it,I got coupons! Jackpot #2.

Then we walked down the street to our local import store, and it was fully stocked with Tortilla chips. Need I even say it? Jackpot #3.

Tomorrow we head out of town for a few days to check out some stuff in another place. It should be a fun and happy time. Emma is jazzed because she gets to use her new pull suitcase that mimi and g brought for her, and it's loaded to the gills with snacks, books, and toys that could not - I mean, absolutely could not -be left at home. Oh, to be a three year old. :)

Adios and have a good day.

does God love January?

I was walking home from the store the other night, and in between shudders from the biting wind I had the thought, "Does God love January?" My line of thinking was that all these people make their new years resolutions to ... whatever. You know, be more consistent, pray more, read more, make more time to have a good and vibrant (gosh, I love that word. I just feels happy) relationship with God. So, all these people who settle for mediocrity the rest of the year have a rockin January, and so...is january His favorite month?

Well, anyway, the thought came to me because I was thinking that if I had to make a change next year, that's what mine would be. I really, honestly felt like this year in the categories of Learning How to Make New Foods, Creating Fun Things to do with Your Children, Keeping Your House Clean, Not Gaining Too Much Weight, Being a Good Hostess, Having Quality Time with Family and Writing My Life's Thoughts on my Blog, I should get pretty high scores. But when it comes to me being a faithful and fully-given-over-to-Him follower....ehhhh, I just felt like it was really mediocre. I look back with sadness to think that I can name very few times this year when I clearly saw and felt God at work in my life; I mean, more than just the general "God is at work" statement that we all know to be true. I miss days when we first came out here where every day brought answers to prayers, where each time we met with someone we were amazed at how clearly we saw His fingerprints all over it. I can name more times where I felt His leading and power from the first year we were here (almost four years ago!) than I can from this last year. Not so good, if you ask me.

But I'm tired of being mediocre. I'm hungry to see miracles again. I miss the whisperings of His spirit, gently directing and encouraging. No amount of contentment in motherhood will replace the security of a daughter resting in her Father's arms.

So I decided my new year's resolution would come in November, before the line to throne starts getting a bit longer and before the customary rededications and stuff like that. I even set my alarm this morning, for the first time in longer than I am willing to publicly admit...so that I could wake up before my children and enjoy the peace of the early morning.

But since it's 11pm already and I have another date with my alarm clock, I should probably be going. I just thought I'd share my thoughts for everyone, to avoid the rush on January 1. Maybe the server will be too busy with all the uploads of resolutions. :)

the turkey says it all...

We had really pumped the Thanksgiving holiday to Emma this year, telling the Thanksgiving story almost every day, making Turkey wreaths, elaborating on all the fun and unique details about what a big thanksgiving party includes (namely, the blessedly large options of desserts available). I was a little worried that the party, no matter how great, could never live up to the hype.

In fact, I was a bit concerned that the party might not come about for Emma. Since Friday night, she has throw up every night. Every night except one, these throw-ups occured in the wee hours of the night, waking me from already precious-little sleep...and then usually involved marathon loads of laundry on very hard-to-launder items like her comforter and rug. I had told myself that if she threw up Tuesday night, then I would likely not take her to thanksgiving. My first concern was spreading it to the other kids, my second concern was that if she lost her lunch while we're all grubbing on turkey and pecan pie, well...that just seems wrong. Wrong. Well, she threw up tuesday night, so I had to decide if I was willing to put my money where my mouth was, and so I thought long and hard about the source and reason for the vomitus (an actual medical word, I am told). I retraced all our steps over the last few days, and also took into account Samantha's vomitus on Saturday morning, and her and Emma's non-stop diarrhea since Friday. And what I came up with was that they have been drinking too much.

Bathwater, that is. It's a big no-no to drink the water out of the tap here; we all, locals included, only drink filtered water that gets delivered to your house in those little blue water cooler things. Many people are even told not to brush their teeth with the water, though both we and our children do that. But lately while the girls take their baths, I have noticed they play together and invent little "parties" together. And every party must have its share of good beverages, but when those beverages include bathwater, there's bound to be trouble. Friday night I put them in the bath and went in to check on them five or six times, and each time they were toasting each other and had little cups up to their lips. I think they ingested a serious amount of Asianese water via the bath. Hence, the little number it did on their tummy-tum-tums.

But wednesday, emma had no throw up and I decided to brave it and stuff my fear of a messy throw-up and take both the girls. We made pilgrim hats and bonnets for the mommies and daddies, and Amy made indian hats for all the kids. We had games to play and special thanksgiving books to make, not to mention our share of goodies which included FORTY rolls that I personally made myself. They were a nice nod to my Oklahoma memories, since the recipe came directly from my Luby's cookbook and tasted as though they were just picked up from there too. We had appetizers that melted in your mouth, a lunch spread that could have fed an Asianese army for days, and a dessert selection that left Emma (and here momma) open-mouthed and paralyzed, unable to choose which delectable items ought to grace her plate. We both ended up choosing Pecan Pie, a small helping of Blueberry Cobbler, Cheesecake ball, and Chocolate Mousse Pie...and that was only the first go-round.

little indians raiding the appetizer table...

All of our children - all seven of them - donked out for naps after stuffing their bellies to the max, and the adults lingered at the dessert table, followed all sorts of tangents on a wide variety of topics, and thew in a few rounds of Catchphrase. Once the kids finally woke up and were re-fed again, they played happily until almost 8:30pm, building houses, racing cars, feeding babies, reading books, dumping dump trucks and pretty much doing anything except get in trouble or ask for adult supervision! I couldn't have been more thankful!! We had a lovely evening, full of relaxed adult-time, happy play time with kids, and sweet fellowship.

Our family made it home by 9pm, which is really pretty late for us, since my kids are usually in bed before 8...but our special night didn't even end there - daddy kept both girls up and told stories to them, as they listened with big eyes, hanging intently on every word. By bedtime, our thanksgiving day was drawing to a close, but the sweetness of the day - time with friends, a life of contentment, happy time with our girls - left a more taste in our mouths than even the delicious turkey and pecan pie.

I mentioned in my last post that my list of gratitude would come later, and even though my list can be long (the usuals: family, friends, good health, etc), I think the major thing sticking out to me is that I am thankful for God's sovreignty in my life and in my family. The summer and the miscarraige left me with anger that was uncharacteristic of me, bitterness that is a little unusual. Fortunately, thankfully, God allowed me to see different perspectives and see His consistent and abiding faithfulness to me, even though I often have varying degrees of faithfulness to Him. He has taken that anger and bitterness, and has brought such a contentment and peace in my spirit, I can think of no other option but to be thankful. I look with deep contentment at my family - my kind husband and two tender-hearted daughters - and I realize that my family is just as He wants it. That makes me thankful. Thankful that He is trustworthy enough not just to deal with my questions, and my anger, and my inconsistencies, but that He is trustworthy with those things that are more precious to me than anything else.

Happy Thanksgiving, 2007.

extra, extra, read all about it...

Lamenting the fact that my kids are growing so quickly is SO an excercise in futility. Not only that, but as I've recently discovered, there are a few bonuses with those kids growing; ok, so as the years pass it becomes harder and harder to get a good, extra-long hug, BUT getting older means...

- you go through the night without making your mama change your sheets! Woo hoo!! My hidden meaning here is that phase 2 of Emma's potty training - dry allllllllll through the night - has now concluded. And not just now, but now as of like, two weeks ago. She had a little extra motivation because my parents bought her a brand new quilt when we visited the G r e a t W a l l last month. She knew that unless she went through the night for a week, that pretty butterfly-and-flower quilt was staying in the closet. Plus, there was a brand new package of glittery Dora panties. There's a chance I might do the miraculous for Dora panties, too. :) But, anyway, the days of buying expensive pull-ups (aka, nighttime panties) are over and Emma is officially a big girl in the potty realm.

I guess a follow-up on the potty issue is that we did away with the little potty, and she now uses the big potty full-time. We've been doing this for several months now, with no problems. Until today, when heard frantic cries coming from the bathroom. Frantic, panicked cries. She had fallen in. Not totally in, but legs cockeyed, bum down...much like what a cockroach must look like as it gets sucked into a vaccuum cleaner. I went in and rescued her, cleaned off her wet rear, and encouraged her that potty time does not equal play time, a fact she must have momentariliy forgotten when she was bouncing on the toilet. Yes.

- you lose the pacifier. Can you believe that Samantha is the same age now that Emma was when we moved over heere? Seventeen months and counting. We had successfully trained her to recognize that her pacifier was only used for sleeping (she had to throw it in herself before she was allowed out of bed in the mornings and after naptime) but she was always happy for sleep because "Paaaa-Ceeeeee!" would be waiting for her. Whilst I was being massaged into happy oblivion last Thursday evening, Josh decided paaaa-ceeeeee time was over and she went to bed without it. Today is Monday, count that, FIVE days with no pacifier. And she seems to be ok without out, though she still does ask for it, hoping it will pop out of its hiding spot.

I do feel that Samantha has transitioned into becoming a pre-big girl. She walks around with amazing understanding of what's going on around her, and loves playing imaginary games like the feeding/diapering/comforting baby routine I mentioned earlier. She is particularly adept at puzzles, anything that involves speaking or imitating sounds - the things she can say! - dancing.

The last few days here at our house, though, have left me little time to dwell on these great childhood milestones, because out of the mouths of babes comes....throw up. My girls are feeling fine, but they have each had their turns (and sometimes multiple turns) giving me extra laundry to clean up. I have no idea why their bodies are trying so hard to expel things...maybe they really did finally drink too much bathwater. Hmmmm.

I'm off to the kitchen to start preparing my attack of my thanksgiving responsibilities. I gracefully bowed out of the mashed potato honors, since every time I make them they always feel a bit gluey and never quite right, so Amy will take care of that. Rachel will make the turkey and stuffing again, as well as the pecan and pumpkin pies. So actually, I guess Rachel is the Thanksgiving and we're just trying to pay for entrance with our extras. I'm sticking to easy things that can't be messed up: deviled eggs, rolls, cheesecake balls, fruit/veggie tray, and my newest undertaking, blueberry cobbler. My Luby's cookbook has been working overtime on me, as last week the Chicken Tortilla Soup was chowed down in quick, soul-warming fashion. The fab dinner rolls were a big hit too, but with Luby's, you can always expect a good roll.

We've got thanksgiving decorations, games, lots of food - it should be a great and wonderful feast - with plenty of reasons to give thanks. What things are you particularly thankful for this year? My list to come...

the joy of cooking, take 3

I'm sort of wondering how many times I can title a post "the joy of cooking"...but it always seems appropriate. In a way, it's a little jab at the trusty little Joy of Cooking cookbook, because honestly - what joy is there in cooking brains and other insides? Can you believe a great American cookbook would have directions on how to serve up succulent brains? Brains and macaroni and cheese and cheesecake in the same cookbook? I think not. But, in all honestly, if I ever have a food question, Joy of Cooking is my first stop. For example, did you know that you can make your own chili powder? not chili pepper, but chili powder. Apparently, those good folks at Joy of Cooking knew, and now I know too. Not that I'll ever make it, since my parents just brought me the industrial-size shaker of it, but nonetheless...


Ok, back to the real joy of cooking. Two weeks ago, I sat down one evening and planned out an entire month of 20-30 minute activities to do each day with the girls. This was brought about by several factors, one of which is that there's usually a period of about an hour in between the breakfast/dressed/devotions routine and lunchtime where the girls are going bonkers. Since the weather is turning much cooler, I won't be able to just run down the street to the swings every day so they can run their energy off. Having a simple activity is a much better way to focus their attention for a while, then release them to play togeether (which always goes much smoother after a focused activity; why, I know not.) The other reason is that perhaps next spring, Emma will start going to a morning preschool thing for a few hours a day, and those thoughts make me green with envy that someone else will be sharing my morning time with emma. So, rather than mope about it, it seems much more reasonable to plan fun things to do each morning instead of lazing around looking at the window.

Yesterday's activities were all about cooking. We looked at the yummy pictures in my cookbooks and talked briefly about recipes. We talked about what a chef is, and thanks to the FAB Fat Angelo's Italian restaurant in Hong Kong, I had two little chefs hats for my budding chefs. Then, we practiced cutting bananas (with real knives! Don't report me, anyone, for giving samantha a knife to hold!). Samantha, of course, preferred eating the bananas, her #1 food of choice. But then, I hit an activity gold-mine the other day and wanted to pass it along to those of you with young kiddos for its ease of prep and enjoyment factor. I have also included step-by-step photos :) haha!


Make-it-yourself Pudding
You'll need -
baby food jars (for however many offspring you have, or however many offspring you will be caring for at that moment), put in the freezer for about 20 minutes.
Instant pudding mix
Milk

First, I gave each girl a jar and poured two Tablespoons of milk inside. Then, I put one tablespoon of instant puding mix inside. Close the lid, and shake until your arm feels like its about to fall off (which for me, was only about one minute). Open the lid, and enjoy!


So there you have it. And then, it was time for lunch.

here I am again, babbling about all sorts of things

I am here to announce, albeit with a bit of hesitation, my complete recovery of my no-blog-inducing ailment. The next two months on the calendar require only one small blip in what will otherwise be a very mundane and routine life, so hopefully that translates into more frequent blogs. It's not that I think you guys are a bunch of slavedrivers, waiting every day to analyze and devour my posts. Heavens, no...but it is that if I don't find the time to post, my memories seem to get caught in neverland. I do seem to be losing parts of my working memory, though I am nowhere near an age where memory loss ought to be a problem. Perhaps I can blame it on the pollution? :)

So anyway, Josh's dad left today; well, technically he's still here in Asialand and as I speak, father and son are chowing down on Hard Rock Cafe grub while I ate leftovers with the girls here in our home...but I was spared the 7 hours on a train with restless toddlers, so my leftovers don't look so bad. Plus, after I call to check on my sick friend Rach, I've got a hot bath, a slushy frozen coke, and a book I'm planning to re-read (note: I am NOT a re-reader, but I was inspired to re-read after my father-in-law finished this series while he was here.) After this last month of having FAB visits from our families, there were several things that I noticed in my children that I had not noticed before. Granted, they were out of their routine and allowed much (too much) wiggle room when it came to obedience issues (I mean, really, who wants to discipline their kids every five minutes in front of their grandparents?!) - AND when I noticed this morning that my homepage of msnbc.com switched the look of their page, I felt flustered all day...so maybe I should cut the girls some slack. But, here are a few things I noticed about them that I had not noticed before, in no particular order:

- Emma is a packrat. In a big and serious way. The girl is going to need some major organizational skillks if she will be able to cope later in life. As I make my way through the house, I find little "piles" of things that she has stashed away. This may not seem like such a huge problem, but the thing is I'm not allowed to move them or she freaks out. Those piles are for "my baby", she'll tell me. Or that jumble of puzzle peices and plastic fruit over in the corner is for her and mantha to have a "party" later on. Or it's a present for clara anne, or whatever crazy thing she can come up with. Just today I found a new, previously undiscovered pile under her bed. Sheesh.

- Samantha, like any good Asianese in this country, is a great imitator. She can copy with the best of them. If she hears Emma say something (in English or Asianese) she will chirp right along in there, even if it's a 10 or 12 word sentence. The flip side is if Emma wants to do something (ie, go to the potty) and samantha so much as hears a whisper of it, she will turn and scurry in that direction as fast as her stumpy legs can carry her, in hopes that she will be the one to arrive first. If Emma jumps on the bed, so must she. I'm sure this is fairly common in second children, but I've only recently started noticing it with her.

- Both girls are foraying into motherhood much earlier than I thought. Last Christmas, my parents and josh's parents both sent baby dolls for emma. At the time, I felt silly for not thinking ahead so that we wouldn't get two of the same thing, but oh! how that has worked to my advantage! Just like the dora dolls, each girl has their baby, and it is off-limits to the other, unless they are asking for babysitters. Last night, they spent a good 45 minutes playing "mommy" to their dolls, even samantha! They changed diapers, gave discipline, made some sort of dinner concoction in plastic bowls, carefully fed their babies, held them, hugged them, rocked them, pushed them around in various strollers and buggies...all the while making those female nurturing sounds and pleasantly talking to their babies. I just sat on the couch and watched them, fascinated at how much they mimicked my own life.

- I've always pegged Emma as our extrovert and samantha as our introvert, and while I still think that holds true a little bit, I've come to see where that's maybe not exatly true. Last year, we attended a function that had childcare and I stressed for weeks before it about how my sweet, clingy Samantha would live without me. I didn't give a second thought to Emma, who would be going to the pool and participating in many fun, planned activities with other two year olds. But, lo and behold, Samantha was the class favorite and emma spent much of that time crying and waiting for us to come pick her up. Fast forward almost a year, and the same scenario was still true when our families came to visit. Emma was much more hesitant about opening up and embracing new people, while samantha (if left alone out of range of momma!) would smile and ham it up with anyone! Eventually, on her own terms, Emma came to love both of our parents and truly enjoyed the time she spent with them, but it surprised me. The slowness of her acceptance of them saddened me a bit, too; I knew it wouldn't be the case that wham!bam! just because they were blood relatives, she would love them, but I expected it to be easier than it was. I reflected to my friend Kim yesterday that when we first moved over here, I didn't feel like it was a sacrifice to live here. We were young, adventurous, and had a full life of True adventure ahead of us - where was the sacrifice in that?! Even now, I look at many aspects of my life, and I am so content in my life that it seldom feels like a sacrifice to live here. But when our families were in town, perhaps for the first time, my heart counted the cost of this life.

Ok, this is not a realization about my kids...but did anyone else watch the CSI/Without a Trace crossover? We are SO without a trace fans, and were jazzed about the episode. Last night after we put emma to bed, we settled in on the couch to watch it, thanks again, seven million times over, to Tom's tivo...and just as it was about to start, we hear faint sounds of Emma crying. I go in to her room to solve whatever problem she might have, and I ask her why she's crying. here is a transcript:

Me: Why are you crying?
Em: Because I'm sad.
Me: Why are you sad?
Em: because you told me I had to go to bed.
Me: Well, it is time to go to bed.
Em: You mean, it's time for little girls to go to bed, but big girls get to watch movies?
Me: Er, well, um...yes, that's right, emma.
Em: That's why I'm sad.

Sheesh. Like I'm going to let her watch CSI. I think not. While Josh's dad was in town, she was able to watch CARS again (he had never seen it), so that brings our total up to about 34,675 times. Just in case anyone wanted to know.

Anyhoo, I've got all these pictures to upload when my internet and compute decide to both be fast at the same
time; until then...

arabian nights

These are not pictures from my parents' trip out here, because I'm just too far behind to start posting those already! Plus, I felt like I was obligated to post these from a few weeks before my parents got here...

A local friend of ours recently came back from a trip to C e n t r a l A s i a and brought back some great stuff for the girls. If they ever move out there, they will most certainly be the prettiest girls on the block

two weeks and a happy heart

It's been a while since I've had a quiet afternoon with my computer. Recent days here in our world have been full of fun and happy times, and even though I've wanted to blog just to force myself to remember the memories, I opted instead just to live in the moments and retell it all later. So here is my best attempt at recapping our life since the last time I wrote:

- Both of the girls were sick - nasty, truly pathetically sick - hours before my parents arrived here. I was disappointed that they weren't miraculously healed so we could make a group trip up to the airport, but that's ok. They took a few extra days getting over the nasties while my parents were here, but soon enough were back to their normal selves. Which is anything but predictable...

- By that, I mean that from the moment emma woke up on the first day my parents were here, she jumped right into my mom's outstretched arms. Nothing could have made my mom happier. The first day was a happy reunion and reintroduction - lots of hugs, curiosity, showing off favorite toys, etc. Even samantha, our usually very mom-centered Samantha, was willing to share some of her hugs with our new houseguests. BUT THEN, to my surprise and dismay, Emma seemed to turn into a different person. There were two days in particular that she was moody, gloomy, unhappy, unkind, indifferent and every other word you could think of to describe exactly how you DON'T want your child to act when their grandparents have made a rare trip across the ocean. We had all these fun things planned, all sorts of special activities, and her grumpiness soured several moments. I will admit, there were tears and anger and disappointment all inside me. While my parents spent one afternoon lounging at my favorite massage place, I went to our fellowship group and cried my eyes out. I'm thankful for my friends who prayed for Emma's heart and my responses. [I guess one X-factor in all of this is that josh had to be out of town for two days, so maybe that threw off her rhythym or something?]. Anyway, josh came home later that night and it was like the rainbow after the rain. Emma's sparkly smile and cheerful heart were back, and it lasted the duration of my parent's visit.

- In one sense, the two weeks they were here sort of felt like a marathon. I mean, there were so many things we wanted to do and celebrate and talk about, we were constantly doing fun and unusual things. Among the very special things we did, Emma's favorite was probably our big "Happy Birthday Party" where we celebrated everyone's birthday. Everyone had presents to open (of course, emma and mantha's presents made up the lion's share!), and the best part was that my dad found a Lightening McQueen cake pan and decorations! My two little chefs even got to squirt some of the icing on to the birthday cake and put the decorations on. Emma was talking about her special cake for days afterwards! In addition to fun new clothes, they each came away with their own Dora suitcases that they can take on our next vacation. Emma kept asking us to go on "bacation" so she could pack up her suitcase...

- Having my parents in was great for a lot of reasons, but one great bonus was that they are GREAT babysitters! Josh and I took advantage of such a great situation and left one afternoon right after the girls started their nap for an entire 24 hours by ourselves! What fun things are there to do here, you might ask? Well, more than before! We started off by checking into the 5-start Sofitel down the street then went over to Baskin Robbins, a sinfully delicious yet rarely enjoyed treat. From there we wandered through some shopping areas and ended up at a new italian restaurant some friends recommended. The low-lit, plush chaired atmosphere is so very un-Asianese, and we thoroughly enjoyed it! Our table even overlooked a grass covered meadow; coupled with the clear, blue sky that's been hanging around here, it looked beautiful! After dinner we walked down to an arcade and spent threee hours competing head-to-head on every imaginable game: Sega racing games, video basketball, real basketball,air hockey, even the dance machine. Later on that night, we watched TV until the wee hours of the morning - espn, cnn, and star TV (showing movies and US TV shows). For this one morning of the entire year, we were not greeted by the usual little voices hearkening the day (and asking either for milk or to be released from pack and play prison)...just the restful feeling that comes when no alarm clocks have been set and you decide it's time to wake up. The only bummer of the trip was that we woke up too late to catch breakfast at McDonalds... The girls had a happy time playing with mimi and G (my parents) and were a little indifferent to our arrival home. :)

- having my parents stay at my house was pretty unique for me. If I lived in the states, I would likely never get the chance to host them in the same way I did here. I really enjoyed having them here, eating with us, getting ready in the mornings, meeting our friends, seeing how life works out here. It was special to me to have the chance to do things for them that I wouldn't normally have the opportunity to do. And having your parents as houseguests is great because there's so much familiarity - I wasn't constantly worried about this or that, or wondering if I can ask them not to do this or to do that. It was just comfortable. And happy. And special. We talked a bit about the trade-offs that come with the life we have, namely how they will spend an intensive 14 days with us this year instead of a few hours every day or week. There are pros and cons to both, but definitely the 14 days together gave them a great glimpse of our life and gave us good time together.

- Emma's dream came true and we did get to go on bacation together! We packed up and got on the train and did all the must-see's that the city up north had to offer: T i a n e n m e n Square, the G r e a t W a l l (first time for both of the girls, unless you count when Emma was there in utero!) and a great shopping spree for the benefit of my collegiate sisters. We stayed in a big three bedroom apartment and ate at all the customary favorites: Hard Rock, TGIFridays, Outback, Subway, and on and on. Our goodbyes were said there, and we boarded the train and they took off for the airport.

The next morning, as was recent custom, the first thing out of the girls mouths were, "Mimi? G? Where's Mimi and G?" Yesterday, my friend Amy asked if it was hard to say goodbye. I thought about it for a minute, and I think I've decided that I was sad to see them go, but I couldn't have any better memories to take with me. Their time here was full of so much happiness that it was hard to feel sad when I looked back on it. My goals were accomplished a hundred times over. I wanted for my girls to love my parents by the time they left, and there is no question that they know and love Mimi and G.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then you probably don't want to read the novel that my 800 pictures wrote, but I will post some soon. In the meantime, I have a few messages to send out:

Katie and Holly - you better thank mom and dad over and over for the loot they brought back. Dad is a crazy-man shopper!

Brother - hope you like the things I sent; boys are hard to buy for!

Nana - I hope that talking to mom will convince you that you should plan a trip! :) Emma mentions you now as if you are a sibling - "...dustin, holly, katie, and nana!"

Pappy - you're next!! We can't wait to introduce you to the whirlwind girls at our house!

Mimi and G - thanks again for coming. And not just coming, but being so great about actively playing with the girls and not getting your feelings hurt in the beginning, and for the love and hugs and warmth they got from you the last two weeks. You are still being talked about around here!


**In a random little side note - So while we were on bacation, we found a little store that sells those newsmagazines we love so much: Time, Newsweek, and our most favorite The Economist. I was super excited about this edition of the economist because it's cover story was about the country we live in. Tempering my enthusiasm to flip ahead, I methodically worked my way through the magazine. Finally I made it to page 33, where the featured article was supposed to be. Yes, supposed to be. The censors of this country had RIPPED out the featured story. We've seen this in several other ways before (like the CNN screen going black all of a sudden for a few minutes during some "unfavorable" story) but never seen things ripped out of a magazine. Interestingly enough, this store also had chocolate donuts, of the hostess donettes variety (one of my personal weaknesses, along iwth ding dongs and a variety of other snack foods). They did not have the Hostess brand here, but the local brand was much more creative than the name Hostess...next time you see Bimbo Chocolate donuts, I'll vouch for them. They weren't bad! :)

yuck, yuck, and one more time - yuck.

I've got a symphony of coughers in my home this evening, their mucousy strains coming at me, surround-sound style from both bedrooms.

Samantha has been giving us hints for the last few days that things weren't so great for her - slight fever, irritable, you know. But then today, oh today, it was confirmed. Constant runnies, which she doesn't seem to mind...so it just looks like a steady stream of snot spilling over into her mouth. Yuck. A cough, the deep-down kind, that sometimes actually makes her gag. Yuck. And a drowsiness I have never seen ever in her...though it DOES give me some snuggle time I've never really had since she started crawling. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.

Before the night was over, she had passed it to Emma, who probably decided she wasn't getting enough attention. By bedtime, emma had a fever, cough, and runny nose of her own. Emma immediatly fell asleep (by 8:15! - unheard of!) but five minutes ago, just a little past 10pm, I see the handle of her bedroom door turn downward. A squinty-eyed, jammied girl pokes her head through the cracked door: "I'm done sleeping now," she matter-of-factly states. Yes, Emma, I'm sure you are. To the potty, cough cough. Check temperature. Sniffle. Back to Bed. Can I hold lightening McQueen? Yes, Emma, you may.

The bummer is that in two days - TWO DAYS - my parents are coming. Woo hoo!! but not so great if my girls are yuck.

We're all about to turn in, and hope that the night helps all of us feel a little better.

spring cleaning, except that it's fall

I had one goal this morning.

The chilly air has convinced me to pull out my winter clothes, and forced me to say an early goodbye to my summer clothes that have served me well. Goodbye, cute little capris and peasant shirt. See ya, sandals. Balmy sunny days are over. My goal was to get the winter clothes in, the summer clothes out. This is complicated a bit by the fact that you can't keep all your clothes in the same closet here because closets are not made for object-oriented, overkill shopper Americans. We pack all our off-season clothes in trunks to be stored in the most inaccessible parts of our home, and try our very best only to get them out twice a year. Today was the day.

And, my some strange stroke of luck, my children were playing together happily all morning. My clothes got switched. The third, catch-all bedroom got cleaned out. Drawers were organized. Baby toys that have been hanging around, unused for several several months, were finally put away in another very hard to reach spot. Granted, if you came to my house, you'd never know we spent the entire morning cleaning and organizing. But, isnt' that how cleaning sprees are? They are more like carthatic for the soul than cleaning for company. Drawers that were overflowing now open to reveal meticulously gathered pens and straightened papers. Oh yes. When you come to my house, look at my drawers. (but ask first...they haven't ALL been cleaned out yet!)

Josh even got in on the action and did a nice chunk of reorganizing work as well. And so now I can eat my hello dolly in peace during the highly honored naptime hour.

In other news, I must relay an important message to TOM - your record still stands, even after 30+ attempts to break it last night! Congratulations. You will live in infamy. Or something like that.

other funnies

here are two more funnies that came out of emma's mouth recenty:

- Lots of our friends (and occasionally me) call Josh Mr. Ke - Ke is pronounced "kuh", sort of like "duh", only with a k. Ke is josh and the girls' last name; I have a different surname according to asianese culture. Anyway, emma also sometimes calls Josh Mr. Ke. After a while, I began calling her Miss Ke, and when she started calling me Miss Ke as well, I corrected her and said that I was Mrs. Ke because I am married. I told her that when people get married, they become a Mrs. (Never mind that I was mixing two cultures - here, even when you get married you ALWAYS keep your own surname) A few weeks later, we attended a friend's wedding. Before the wedding, josh and emma were talking about all the interesting things they would see at the wedding, and emma brilliantly exclaimed, "After I go to the wedding, I'll be Mrs. Ke!"

-This story also comes courtesy of morning devotions, where we are currently in Exodus. Reading about the ten commandments brought further light to the topic of idols, which seems to fascinate emma, maybe because they are easily seen here and so therefore, easily imagined. How would I teach this concept tangibly in America where there is no local idol store to walk past?! Anyway, that evening, we were reviewing with josh about our devotion that morning, and when I asked emma what one of the commandments was, she said, "We don't supposed to make idols, we're supposed to make Hello Dollies!" May I never be accused of forgetting to teach my children the important things in life - not making idols and making hello dollies! That's my girl!

Tomorrow is the papa eggroll's birthday, so I think we're going to go our city lake in the morning (josh's class was cancelled tomorrow because of the birthday...not his. It also happens to be Confucious' birthday. Go figure.) We'll have the recent fave CFS for lunch, and then German Chocolate Cake for dinner. Yep, cake for dinner. It will be a first for all of us, thought I'm sure we'll be just fine! then...after the kids go to bed it will be fab thursday night TV, except for us it will be friday night - Survivor:China and Without a Trace! woo hoo!

will the full moon please go away? Please?

so tonight is the other side's turn - guys' night. My husband and all his buddies are gorging themselves on BBQ at this moment, and then off to watch a football game. Probably not too far off of what he would have done in the states. Anyway...

that leaves me at home with my two precious, lovely, charming daughters. Hmmm. And a very nearly full moon. Another hmmmm. I thought it would be fun to change up the routine and do something unusual with daddy gone, so we ate dinner under a tent. Namely, the kitchen table. Yeah, we ate under the table. It was fun for a while - the girls truly thought it was unusual - but once the novely wore off, they thought dinner was over even though neither of them had touched thier dinner. I, of course, also had not touched mine because our tent was severely understocked for such a festive occasion and needed constant trips back to the kitchen to restock it. Mantha started fussin to get down. Emma insisted she had to go the potty. Mantha starts wriggling, almost falling out in her valiant attempt to escape. Emma goes to the potty and then determines that she will not, WILL NOT return to the tent to eat her still-untouched food. Hmmm. All this is done to the background music of continuous whining.

In fact, all day it seems there has been a steady dull stream of whining. And it wasn't like I was preoccupied today with other things and kept brushing them off. We had fun activities planned today, I had not much at all to do and was with them most of the morning, but on and on the whining went. We made paper-sack puppets, made up stories so our puppets could have some amazing adventure, sang and danced, played a color game...and the beat goes on. I blame it on the full moon. Seriously. There is no other explanation for such bizarre and unexplainable behavior today. So. Please, full moon, go away.

now it is almost 8pm, and the kids are in their beds (though emma is continuing her calls for everything imaginable - another story, her blanket is lost, she needs more water, you name it.) It's almost quiet and I still don't have much to do - except eat those peanut butter fudge cookies I made over the weekend. Yum.

There have been funny moments recently -

such as, when emma was asking us the names of the various creatures on Cars. Most of them we knew, but she kept asking us, "Who's that green guy?" After repeatedly admitting my ignorance and apologizing, she finally sighed, "You're not very smart, are you?" Oh dear. I don't know where that came from!

today in our morning bible story we read about moses and the israelites and how in the desert, God provided all their needs, like food and water and shoes. Later on that day, we revisited that lesson about God's provision with our paper-sack puppets. One of the puppets (my pig) needed a friend because there were no other pigs in his neighborhood, so he asked God to provide him with a friend. When God provided, I told Emma again how God will provide for all of our needs, because He is God and He loves us. She paused, munching on this new bite of information, slowly processing how all these people told God all the things they wanted. I told her we could ask God about our needs too. Thinking over the offer, she asked, "Well, what does God have?"

Samantha recently learned the rhyme, "One, Two, buckle my shoe" and loved finishing the last word of each of the rhymes. At dinner, emma would often say, "one, two, buckle my ....." and then wait for samantha to fill in the word. After only a few days of this delightful little trick, samantha is already quite proficient at - and tiring quickly - of the little ditty. Tonight, emma tried again, and samantha filled in "shoe!" before emma even got out "buckle"!

Truly, these funny things make it easier for me look forward to seeing them tomorrow morning and wondering what funny things they will do...but in the meantime, does anyone else love bedtime as much as me?!

what is a gob?

That's a good question. I've been in Asianese hospitals where there are signs reading, "Please do not gob anywhere." I think my definition of gob is a bit different than that. Mirriam Webster has a definition that is a little closer to mine: a large amount, usually plural, as in "gobs of money". Well, gobs of money I do not have, but one thing is true: I have gobs of pictures for you in this perhaps never-ending post. But they are all cute, and since none of you (well, ok, most of you) aren't here to see the girls in person, a gob of pictures is ok every now and then. Right? :)

We shall begin with pictures from a few weeks ago, since I truly am that far behind. When emma was a bit younger, she loved playing with this toy that we gave the brilliant and unique name of "Shapes". If she had the opportunity to play "shapes", she would run from across the house to her room trying to reach the box. For our part, we kept the mystery alive by keeping "shapes" and a few other select toys high on a shelf, out of the "everyday range" of toys that are used often, but receive little TRUE love from the girls. "Shapes" receives true love. And now that samantha is getting old enough to play with the special toys, it's even more fun to plop them on the couch and watch them play together. Usually, daddy likes to bring out the big guns when I'm making dinner, but this time I got to play too. (and take pictures...)

This was like the classic game "telephone"...emma imitated me putting the stars up to my eyes, and then mantha imitated emma and put the stars up to her eyes...seems a little was lost in the process...

One afternoon, our house helper wrapped blankets around the girls. (And just for the record - each of their blankets are very highly treasured objects. They also each own a Ty Dora doll; mantha's is big and emma's is little. Property rights are clearly delineated between the two, and each knows not to mess with the others' blanket or dora. Even mantha, little though she may be, will walk over to emma's dora lying on the floor and announce, "Emma doh-dee!" So...mantha's blanket is a little pink knit blanket that actually has "Emma" embroidered on it, and emma has a yellow fleece blanket with a giraffe on it, as you can clearly see from the picture.) So, back to the blankets. Emma and mantha thought that was the coolest thing ever, and pranced around the house in their little blanket togas. Mantha even got extra brave, thinking she must be so cute in her little blanket that surely I wouldn't punish her for getting inside the forbidden drawer...

I have also mentioned many times about a small park that is down the street from our house. It's not exactly a park, like American-type park...but it's a place here that is sectioned off from cars, which sort of makes it like a park. It also has swings, so that's another factor that puts it in the park category. Anyway, emma loves going to the swings, and on our last visit (yesterday) they had HUGE sunflowers, growing high into the sky! Bright bursts of happy yellow lined the sidewalks, and the girls really enjoyed craning their necks up to the sky to see their blooms. Of course, yesterday, I forgot my camera...so these pictures are from a few days ago. Parks here seem to be more focused on personal health rather than play or fun, so that's where the assortment of bars and jungle-gym type things come in. There are also various other "personal health" equipment things that I had never seen before coming here, but i'll save those for another post. You'll be pleased to know that my kids will grow up being quite healthy after having such great tools available to them!

Now that my friend rachel is back, our house helper has been going over there on tuesdays and thursdays to help as they are getting back into life here. That means the three of us girls have been having our own little adventres on those days! On tuesday, we went and bought daddy a jacket at a new clothing-for-export store we found (Reebok: $6), we went on a walk through daddy's school and picked up assorted leaves to make leaf rubbings at home, and on our way out, the fountains were on at daddy's school so the girls got to sit and watch...and play...and eat dirt...and sticks...and rocks. Ok, emma doens't eat those things, but samantha's mouth is ALWAYS playing host to some foreign object. Then, it was lunch at KFC to play with another friend, and special rides on the coin-operated cars, another all-time favorite. By the time we got home, we were all dirty, especially the girls who were pretty much allowed free reign on our outing. I thought it would be a nice treat to give them a mini-foot massage. Emma was so excited, and kept saying, "Is this like mommy's foot massage? Is this what mommy does?" It was a fun - and very wet - experience. Thanks to natalie, those sweet feet were pampered with lemongrass salt rub and lotion! :)

Rachel's family coming back also means that when we all get together, it's a full house! We had a great meal welcoming them back - Chicken Fried Steak, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, biscuits, and a chocolate chip cheesecake ball! Here are the kiddos, minus samantha and chloe (also mantha's age), sitting at their own little table!

Last two, and then you all can go back to what you were doing...

These two were taken two weeks ago when we took the girls to a little play area outside. Manta has certainly gotten to the point where she holds her own when she gets around, so she has really started enjoying things like slides and big play toys.

Thanks for taking the time to look at all my pics! :) Mother nature decided that today it was time for fall to debut, so we are in a blissful period of blue skies, cool breezes and warm, but not hot sun. Our plan is to enjoy all these days to the fullest so that when the chilly winter comes, we have lots of warm autumn memories to get us through until spring!