a big accomplishment, part 2

You should have known that the peacemaker in me wants everything to be even for everyone, so while Emma was working on her tower, Samantha's goal was to learn her letter names, her letter sounds and her colors in Asianese.  

Funny thing is, samantha would have finished her train weeks and weeks ago had it not been for the pesky E and M.  Maybe hearing emma's name being spelled so much traumatized her letter recognition, but thanks to all her hard work she's starting to recover and keep them straight.  

Samantha loved adding letters to her train.  She loved having "work" to do (ie -learning her letters) and often in the afternoon, I'd catch her sitting by herself in the corner looking at her ABC flashcards.  I loved watching her dance on tiptoes over to her train to add her new letters and colors.  

Adding the last two items to the train:

aaah! My big girl! I can hardly believe it!

Samantha's special prize couldn't be a bike like Emma's (because we were already planning on getting her a bike for her birthday) but she had expressed TONS of interest in rollerblades.  This was probably more out of admiration for the older boys and girls she sees rollerblading than an actual desire for she herself to have them, but whatever.  

We ordered them off of taobao.com (the local version of ebay - and a very easy and convenient way for me to spend all my money) and the set included knee pads, elbow pads, hand guards, a helmet, a pink bag to store everything in, and of course, the skates. 

What color could everything possibly be in?  Yellow of course!


She loves her skates.  I mean, really loves them.  Even though it's hysterically difficult for her to use them, she still loves them.  She looks so big and grown up...and i think back to when I rollerbladed countless summer evenings away...and I want to hug her a bit tighter and urge her to stop growing up.  

a big accomplishment

Since Emma has been out of preschool during the summer, my language-lover husband has tried to think of new and interesting ways to help emma keep up her Asianese.  He decided to take on the task of starting to help her learn reading the local script.  He's ambitious, that man.  I have to publicly confess my doubts.  I mean, I can read basic stuff in the local language, but not a ton.  His plan to teach her was met with a healthy dose of skepticism by me.  (Plus, I have all these images in my mind of local kids here who sit in classrooms and have to memorize by rote, hundreds and hundreds of characters...so that they can grow up to be geniuses and make their families proud and yadee, yadee, yadee.)

But, I must confess again - I have been proven wrong.  Hubby found a way to make it fun, interesting, and a special part of Emma's day with her daddy.  We made her a tower with 100 windows.  She got a special prize when she learned 50 characters, and then a big special prize when she learned 100.  

Her 50-character prize was a Leapster cartridge that teaches her how to write in the local langauge.  (technology...it's unbelievably amazing!)  It's one of her most favorite games that she has!  

Here she is, putting on her very last character for her 100-window tower:

Can you see the joy? the sense of accomplishment?  or maybe it's just a sense of relief?  Anyway, whatever it is made for a good picture!
She looked up at daddy, whose beaming face tickled her heart with joy:
Way to go, Emma!  You rock!  You almost know as many as mommy!  (Not quite, but it might not be too long!)

So what was the special prize for 100 characters?  I'll give you some clues:


Oh yeah!  A bike!  Emma thought she was getting a puppy, because we had really been talking up the prize a lot - It's something really special! You've never had one!  It will be so much fun!   - and she was sure it was brown and furry and could be named Rosebud.  

But she liked the bike too.  She especially loves her little bell.  

Ding-ding!  Here comes Emma...!

shady spots

Several weeks ago - actually the day I took abby "swimming" - we found this nice little shady spot tucked away just off the road.  

The girls and I were by ourselves, so we just meandered along and played for a bit on everything we found.  

There were nice swings...

And high climbing bars...


After we had played til we were all hot and sweaty, we were headed to a taxi when we saw a major event in the square ahead of us.  We stopped to join in the fun.

There were lots of grandmothers, playing in drum club:
I really liked this one.  She smiled at my girls a lot.  During the break, she came over to say hi.  The band leader didn't approve, and clanged her cymbals at her to get back in line.  I was offended for her.  Look how cute she is!


Grown ladies in tights.  Sequins.  Playing big drums.  Yep, welcome to my life.  
Break time...but don't linger too long or the band leader will clang her cymbals at you too!
What a fun surprise we found that day!  At the same square, there was also a traveling bus set up, full of information on the National Athletic Games that our city will be hosting in a few months.  The idea of the bus was to tout all the "green" reforms that the city has made in preparation for these games.  We were enthusiastically invited to come in and tour the bus. There were all sorts of tiny plastic models of turbines and electric systems and whathaveyou.  They also interviewed me for the evening news, but when they realized just how little environmentally-friendly vocabulary I know, they quickly ended the interview! ha!

the winner is...

Good morning everyone...I've got a contest winner here for you. 

So everyone who guessed correctly (Abby, Mantha, Emma) got written down on my paper.  Yep, no fancy computer models for me...just a pen and paper.  

then I crumpled them up, so everyone could have a fair chance.  Because you know, when they are strips, they can get clumped together.  We wouldn't want any of that.  So, there you have it  - almost every friend I have in the world, symbolized by a little white ball of paper.  
into the bowl they go...
it's early, people.  It wasn't such a long time ago that I woke up...
the suspense...the suspense...

and...it's CASSIE!!  Congrats, newlywed cassie!  I'll shoot you an email with more details.  
So, I'm totally digging the contest. I thought it was great fun and I'll probably do another one.  thanks for entering and participating!

Happy Friday, everyone!

tough love

Emma has taken all the new adjustments to "baby-life" in stride.  She generally knows how much pressure is too much when she gives hugs, and usually doesn't get offended when abby's spastic, stray movements connect with her cheek.

Samantha, on the other hand, has some adjusting left to do.  She thinks abby is sometimes out to get her.  She feels sad and offended when Abby kicks her.  She gives love to Abby with the same intensity that she gives love to mom and daddy.

Abby's not always sure how to take it:

She tries valiantly to hang in there:
...but sometimes, it's a bit much.
She's really not trying to do any harm!
Alone at last, abby gives big smiles:

how well do you know my kids? A free giveaway--

Free! Free!  Yes, who can resist free, I ask you?  Hopefully not you!

I'm having my first ever - and possibly last ever - contest on my blog.  For you, my dearest and most faithful blog readers.  For you, who actually read all these mundane posts about my life.  It's time to be rewarded for all your hours in front of that computer.  

Here's how it works:

I'm going to post three pictures of my kids. wimming in the freaky little baby pool that all the locals here use for their kids.  **Note: If you've never seen this, do not be alarmed.  But you may want to sit down while you are examining pictures. It can cause disorientation and a strange urge to itch your neck.**

You must correctly label the pictures - Emma, Samantha, Abby.  (sinister laugh - hahahahahahaaaaaaaa!!)

Go with your instinct, don't overanalyze.  The surroundings are amazingly the same even though these pictures span nearly four years.  

One winner will be drawn from all the CORRECT entries.  If you guessed but were wrong, sorry, your name won't make it in the hat.  (And yes, we've got a highly professional gig going on here.  Your name will probably be thrown in a hat or a pot and I'll close my eyes and draw.  Very highly sophisticated, I know.)

Here are the pictures:

So what's in it for you?  I'll tell you:

The winner will receive one picture from my picture guy.  My picture guy rocks.  I take him all my pictures, he tweaks them here and there, and then after I tell him the size and color, he'll somehow mount them on a thick peice of something (not wood, not plywood, not plastic...the words fail me. I'm a bad describer.) and they can be hung on walls or displayed on shelves.  

Here are some things I've done before:

Little pictures (about 4x6) that sit nicely on shelves:

The big kahuna - I've got three of them on my walls.  These measure about 2feet by 2.5feet.  Nice and big.  

Then, he also can do amazing collages.  I do these frequently for gifts and nice displays at my house.  This is the most recent one I did; it's about 2feet by half a foot.  

Ok - so a quick recap:

-correctly guess which kid is which in the comments section of my blog.

-correct entries get entered in the contest.

-one winner will get to choose ANY size of ANY picture they want.  Collages are also up for grabs.  

-I'll take it to my picture dude and when it's done, I'll mail it to you anywhere in the entire world.  Turkey.  Thailand.  Valencia, CA.  Wherever.  

 

Contest ends Friday morning 9am my time, Thursday evening at 8pm CST.  That's six whole days, folks.

Good luck!

Nine years and two days

This post was originally intended to air on June 17, but seeing as how there's always a lot going on around here on that date, it just didn't happen.

After a full day of celebrating Samantha's 3rd birthday, we somehow summoned a little extra energy and laid on the bed Wednesday night and tried to relive each of our anniversaries. We tried to remember the things we had done and places we had been - from dessert at Olive Garden our very first anniversary to a bad western-imitation chinese restaurant on the third one, Paris on the fifth one, a hospital delivery room on the sixth...yeah, there are some crazy places in there.

When I woke up Wednesday morning, I fought all my motherly impulses and made sure that the first person who got a kiss from me was my husband (who was already up and getting emails out of the way). I noticed it was raining, a soft but steady rain...and I remembered how it was raining on my wedding day. Not a lot...but there was rain.

Even though I don't have a video of our ceremony, I still have lots of special memories -

I remember spending the night at my friend kim's house the night before we got married. (Now that I'm a mom, I can't beleive my parents let me do that! I'd want my baby girl's last night to be at my house! But anyway, thanks mom and dad... i don't even remember you being upset about it!)

I remember my best friend becky making a special trip to be the maid of honor. I'm ashamed to admit that now I can't remember if she was flying in from overseas or from college, but I knew she made a special effort to be there. (Now that I live overseas, I can't believe she was so willing to do that for me! anyway, thanks becky...just a few years late!)

I remember someone bringing me my "high-school" favorite lunch of a Grandy's chicken nugget meal after I was already dressed up in my finery. Does anyone remember who was responsible for that? I'd like to give a big shout out to whoever made that possible. Long live the Grandy's kids meal!

I remember meeting josh in the auditorium a few minutes before we took the official pictures before the ceremony. I remember the two of us giggling about how wild it was that we were about to be married. I remember the auditorium was empty - we had posted the groomsmen at the door so we could have a few special moments together - but somehow hudson had gotten left behind in his infant carrier... =)

I remember seeing my dad's misty eyes and him trying to pretend that he had nothing of the sort! =)

There were so many special people and things that happened that day. When I look back at all of that, I think - wow! we were so young! we were so idealistic! we were so crazy!

and some of that is true, but it's also true that we have had nine very special years together. We have grown together and laughed and cried and traveled and hiked and studied and had babies and painted and moved and I could go on and on.

I'm so thankful that God has matured our love and deepened our commitment to each other and to him. I'm thankful for a husband who loves me, but who loves God more and hears His voice. I'm thankful for a husband who pushes me on to be better and who encourages me when I don't feel like I want to be better. I'm thankful that he takes his responsibility to our family so seriously.

Josh, I love you. I love watching you laugh. I've learned to love watching you think. I love laughing with you and sharing our lives together. I love how you throw yourself wholeheartedly into all your endeavors. I've learned to warn you before you step with your socks in a puddle of water. I love the little things you do for me that show your love. God's plan for our lives to be joined together is so truly, wonderfully, divinely good.

Happy 9th, babe. Can you even believe how much we've done together? And there's so much more ahead...

papa piccolo

A recent book in our Five in a Row series is Papa Piccolo.  It's the story of a tomcat (in Italy, no less!) that "adopts" two kittens and teach them all baby kittens need to know.   They learn how to eat spaghetti and then lick themselves clean (ew.  yuck.  gross.), how to jump from high places and land on their feet.  They also "learn" how to drink milk from a saucer, as if they need any help lapping up the milk.

We thought it would be fun to pretend that we were baby cats.  (Ok, I didn't pretend.  They did.)  I set them each a bowl of water out and the whole day if they were thirsty, they had to drink from their water bowl.

They thought it was grand fun.  

We watched videos of cats jumping from high places, of cats licking themselves clean (again, ew.  yuck.  gross.) and drinking milk.  How did people learn anything before youtube and wikipedia?

Anyway, I'm glad to say that now there are only little girls in my home now, but they sure had fun pretending to be kitties.  

a little change

hey everyone, 

just wanted to let you all know that we don't know ed.  "Ed", who commented on my "today" post, is my first spam comment on my blog.  I'm not sure how I've survived so long with no spam comments, but I'm glad this is only my first.  Anyway, I changed the setting on my blog to ask you to type the word-verification thing before a comment will post. 

I feel a strong obligation to apologize, because I really hate word-verification things. I never can seem to type them right, no matter how many times I try...

But, it was either that or ask all you anonymous commenters (who always end up leaving your name!) to register with blogger and that seemed a little bit of a hassle.

So please forgive me and keep commenting, even though I really stink at responding to questions you may ask inside your comments. (My husband has reproved me and I promise to try harder to be a more considerate blogger who answers questions.)

Just a quick recap - when you click to leave a comment, you will be asked to type a series of letters or numbers to prove that you are a real, live person and not a spam-computer-something-or-other.  

sorry for the hassle.

rachel

puppy love...again

Emma probably asks us every day when we will buy her a dog. She dreams up solutions to the problem of where he could live. She encourages us to move so he will have more room to play. She tells us names she would choose. She wants a puppy so badly.

We really want to get one, too. Just not right now.

Don't laugh at me now when you hear this. I told josh that if we ever got a dog, little pup would have to wear booties every time we went outside. There's just too much outside-nastiness that I don't want his cute little puppy paws to bring inside. So, it would be booties in a big way around here.

but anyway, that's a long way off. But the girl can dream, right?

So do you remember that trip we took to the animal market a couple of months ago? here's the cute little guy emma wanted to bring home - and seriously, if we had a place for him, he would have been bought on the spot.

Samantha wasn't so excited, but she held him anyway:

But emma! Oh, you can feel the love. She was in the middle of a squeeze in this picture:
The animan market itself was a little on the chaotic side. There were lots of dogs sitting around, not tied up or anything. This guy barked some serious bark at us. I was nearly convinced to never think any more dog-thoughts for the rest of my life.
The puppy love didn't start when we were in thailand, but it definitely blossomed there. My friend alicia had two chihuahuas named Mocha and Latte. It was love and bliss and happiness.
They were really cute.


Are you feeling this love? Hallelujah, the tiny pup survived the love.
...and survived this love too. That's a lotta love.
Cute dog carrier? Check.
I guess he loves her too.
But that's all the puppy news for now, at least til we move and abby is not scrounging around on the floor for things. And those things won't happen for a while. Sigh.