July = rain. We're ready.

I'm not sure if there is an official start date for the rainy season. It's already been raining some... but I am pretty sure July is technically the rainiest month. I remember reading somewhere that the average for July is 29 days of rain. So, if 29 is the average, some years it must rain 31 days!!!

Of course, it doesn't rain all day long. Some days we are treated to magnificent late evening thunderstorms and I love watching the clouds roll in, feeling the breezes turn cool, and hearing the distant rumbling of thunder. And some days it only sprinkles briefly for a few minutes. But there are days when it seems like water falls from the sky ALL DAY LONG. Ugh.

This year we invested about three dollars in some sweet little rain boots for the girls, and I plan to get out and play, even on the rainiest days. Lydia was pretty excited when I finally found a pair small enough to fit her and wore them for most of the afternoon.



So, just-around-the-corner-JULY.... we're ready for you and all your rain!

the 100 days party

We celebrated last night and it was a LOT of fun! Isaac filled his role admirably, being passed from one set of arms to another and (mostly) cooperating with all the lovin' he received despite being tad bit hungry and staying up past his bedtime :) Such is the life of a 100-day-old celebrity.



The girls had a grand time, mostly hanging out near the snack table - they quickly realized I was unable to simultaneously host guests, visit with the many friends there, manage the "everyone needs to hold Isaac" melee, and supervise their snacking. With plenty of college aged "aunts" and "uncles" to join in the fun, they ate to their hearts content. I gave up counting when I saw Lydia eagerly biting into her third cookie. She hardly ate breakfast, presumably because she was still busy digesting cookie.

This morning when Matt asked these sweet devoted sisters what their favorite part of Isaac's 100 days party was they answered "cookies" and "M&Ms".

[As a side note, Matt also asked, "who is the most important person in the whole wide world?" Julianna's confident reply? "Me!!"]

Anyways, back to Isaac. We chose the name 柯庆永 ke qing yong. Qing means celebrate and yong means eternity, eternal. It is our deepest hope and desire that Isaac will know Jesus and join in the eternal celebration of saints rejoicing at the throne of the conquering King reigning in Heaven.


We love these fun friends who joined in the celebration, and we are so delighted to celebrate yet another 100 days party for one of our sweet children.

one busy Lydia

The girls helped with dinner. Lydia's face was full of evidence.....


The white smudges around her lips are bits of yeast bread dough :) She used the chopstick to help stir Jello and was busy sucking off the last bits of sweet goodness.

When she's not helping out in the kitchen she's a very attentive older sister. She pulled up a front row seat for prime Isaac-is-sitting-in-his-swing viewing.


All in all, her various duties keep her (and her mommy) pretty busy :)

100 days

Just in case you haven't been keeping track, I should probably tell you that today is Isaac's 100th day of life. Here in Asia, it is pretty typical to celebrate day 100 with a little party or get-together or something of that sort.

We had such great fun celebrating Lydia's 100th day.....


and Julianna's 100th day.....


that we couldn't resist doing the same thing for Isaac. The shindig is planned for this Friday, and I'll be sure to take a few photos to share :)

Traditionally, we've "announced" our little one's local names at their 100 days party. Kind of handy that when you've got to come up with not one but two names for each kiddo you get an extra 100 days to make your decision. We are notoriously slow at the whole chose-a-name thing anyways. Isaac Luther wasn't a sure bet until we were already at the hospital, about an hour and an half away from meeting our little guy :) True to form, we still haven't made a firm decision about his local name either, but we'll definitely be ready for Friday night!

Julianna's name is 柯庆恩， pronounced ke qing en. (ke is our last name, qing en is her "first" and "middle" name). Traditionally, all children in the same generation of a family share the same first name, only the "middle" name is unique. Lydia's name is 柯庆雅 ke qing ya. And Isaac will be ke qing ???

[Qing means 'celebrate'. En is 'grace' and Ya is 'beauty, elegance'. ]

Unlike most western cultures, Asians typically refer to one another using their entire name. At school Julianna's friends and teachers refer to her using all three characters of her name "ke qing en". Closer friends drop the last name and might call the girls "qing en" and "qing ya".

Stay tuned for some (hopefully) cute photos of little Isaac celebrating on Friday :)

my new dishwasher

Yesterday a friend asked about life at our house and said, "Can Julianna help much?" To which I answered, "well, she does help me a lot in some ways, but she is just 3 1/2".

And there are ways in which she is a big help - like running to get an extra burp cloth for Isaac or entertaining Lydia. And some times she even realizes when I need help and initiates it on her own, like when she hears Isaac fussing and runs off to sing him a song or get him a new toy. Or when Lydia asks for something she can't reach... if Julianna can get to it, she'll help Lydia out.

But she is just 3 1/2. And there is a lot she can't do. But she's learning fast. Today she really washed dishes for the first time (as opposed to the hundreds of times she has stood at the sink and played in the water and called it 'washing dishes').

We had just finished playing with food coloring and water and medicine droppers - mixing and matching colors - and the plastic bowls needed to be washed out. I got her a soapy sponge and let her go to town. They are possibly the cleanest plastic bowls in our cabinets :)

When she was finished rinsing she insisted on loading them in the drying rack 'just like mommy'.... even though that meant many trips up and down the stool, getting the bowls out of the sink


and carrying them over to the dish rack.


I am now considering switching over to a completely plastic table-setting, so she can wash after every meal :)

on the move

No, we are not moving (thank goodness!)... but two of our favorite families in the whole wide world are on the move this week.

Matt's brother Andy and his wife Kristi and their three kiddos, Connor, Carson and Kaelynn, load up this weekend and move 9 hours north of their current home. We are mostly excited because their new home is only about an hour from where we plan to spend the fall of 2010!!!! We can't wait for LOTS of cousin-time :)

It's been a while since we last saw them. Almost two years to be exact. Lydia and Isaac have never met their favorite cousins! Julianna and Kaelynn looked like this during our last visit.....


Sometimes I am really sad when I realize how long it has been since we've seen them. But I am also really excited about fall 2010 and how close we will be and how much time we'll get to spend together!

The other family on the move? Matt's sister Krisanne and her husband Paul - who just spent 40 hours on airplanes and in airports and ended up a mere 3600 KM (2200 miles) from us!!! Now, that might not sound close to you, but when you live on the opposite side of the globe from 99.9% of your family, that's CLOSE!!!! We are SO SO excited to welcome family to our side of the world, and have big plans for a visit this winter :)

PS - Andy, Kristi, Connor, Carson and Kaelynn.... on Sunday night you'll be sleeping 11,780 KM (7300 miles) away from us. But don't worry, we're going to come see you in a year or so!!

We love and miss you all so very much! Your moves are resulting in BIG benefits for our family and we are so grateful :)

I'm getting my distance info from this site, pretty cool, huh?

is this NORMAL??

Isaac just officially entered the "loves to blow bubbles" stage of infancy. I assume life with a constantly soaking wet t-shirt is a bit uncomfortable, so I pulled out his bibs to protect his clothing and reduce my laundry load :)

The girls promptly followed suit and selected a few of his bibs for their baby dolls. That I was expecting.

What I wasn't expecting was this:


I only caught Lydia on camera, but I think Julianna was actually the first to think up this creative use for Isaac's bib.

I mean, seriously.

3 months already!

Wow! Time really does go by quickly... Isaac will be three months old tomorrow.

I think he must be in the middle of a growth spurt because he is sleepier than normal and eats with such a determined look on his face these days :)


He's even started smiling at Lydia, which is a pretty recent development. For the first few months he had a very concerned look on his face every time she was nearby. And with good cause. Lydia has definitely been the source of more than a few injuries, mostly accidental or unintentional (like dropping things on him, tripping and falling on him, partially smothering him while trying to "help" him put on his hat, etc).


Of course, I am his favorite :)

All those hours of feeding and holding and cuddling are paying off! I enjoy getting him after a nap because he grins and squirms with delight when he hears my voice and sees my face.

I love being his hero!

paper plates and peanut butter

When Matt is out of town I usually go for something pretty low-key at dinnertime. And, honestly, it's a big hit with the girls if I whip up some pb&j with a side of cucumber sticks to dip in ranch dressing! When I've really had a full day and feel like another half hour at the sink washing dinner dishes is just too much to bear, I serve it all on paper plates :)

But last night was different. Erin Ashley made extra of her beef and veggie stew to share with us. It arrived piping hot about 5:30 and....


.... it was a hit.

I served her cornbread muffins on paper plates :)

big little readers

"Will you read me this book?" (Julianna)

"Mommy, read this one" (Lydia)

"After I wake up from my nap can you read to me?" (Julianna)

"Mommy, read the monkey elephant book again." (Lydia)

"Lydia, want me to read that book to you?" (Julianna)

Read. Read. Read. These little girls LOVE to be read to - and I just can't keep up. I am beginning to think I could never satisfy their desire. But I try.

After breakfast we usually get some pillows, camp out on the living room carpet and read books. This morning I asked the girls to get out the pillows and pick some books... a few minutes later I came back to this sight:





Needless to say, Julianna's stack was particularly ambitious! She's never brought quite this many before! I had to stop and take a photo before we dug into the pile (and no, we didn't even make it halfway through!)

Emma Grace is 2!!

When I say "birthday" my girls hear "cupcakes".

And they have been eagerly anticipating this day - Emma Grace's 2nd birthday - not only for the cupcake eating opportunities, but to celebrate the life of our sweet little neighbor.

Earlier this morning we broke out the craft supplies and decorated posters for the birthday girl. We also made some cute sunflowers with paper plates and colored construction paper, but I forgot to capture the moment on the camera, so you'll have to trust me when I say that Julianna is really getting proficient at using the glue stick :) [Lydia eats glue stick. Any thoughts on what that does to the digestive system? She's also colored her entire arm blue with a crayola marker. What can I say? She's a natural at thinking up creative uses for craft supplies!]


Emma Grace is such a blessing to our family. Our girls LOVE to talk about her, visit her, play with her, and hone their sharing skills with her! They make an impressive little three-some when they are out on the town :)


For months Lydia has referred to Emma Grace as "Drace". It was so cute. And so fleeting.

On Tuesdays Emma Grace and Lydia have a little playdate while Julianna is at school and the little brothers sleep. Yesterday was Erin Ashley's day to watch the girls, and after I picked Lydia up I noticed that she was muttering "emma emma emma" under her breath. Sure enough, this morning "Drace" was nowhere to be found. It's EMMA Grace, from her on out!


So to the little neighbor formerly known as "Drace", we sure love you! What joy and fun and laughs you bring to our lives! I love when you ask me to hold you. I love when you yell "Ju-nanna" on your way up the stairs to our apartment! I love when you walk in our house, take off your shoes, and dash straight over to the toys!

Happy 2nd Birthday Emma Grace!

"when you eat at home....

... you leave your bowl on the table."

As if learning basic table manners wasn't tough enough already... we're starting to realize the complex task of teaching TWO kinds of table manners: the local version of the rules, and the western version of the rules.

Of course, there are the obvious differences. Chopsticks or fork? Plate or bowl? All dipping into and eating from the same dishes, or dishing a serving onto your plate and eating your own separate helping?

But those are easier to solve (though Julianna does have a pair of kid-friendly chopsticks and she's used them to eat everything from fried rice to lasagna!)

The one that seems to cause the most problems around here is the ever-tricky "when is it appropriate to pick up your bowl, lift it level with your bottom lip, and shovel your food in?"

At school (where Julianna eats lunch twice a week) her teachers actually encourage this behavior - what better way to guarantee 3 year olds can get their rice successfully in their mouths and not on the floor? Plus, it's pretty much appropriate in many other situations - adults, children, at home, at restaurants.... when you need to get those pesky last grains of rice from your bowl into your mouth just pick up the bowl and use your chopsticks like a shovel! Hey, it works.

But, you know, it's just not my thing. I just don't like looking across the table to see my girls with bowls to lips, scooping up the last bits of soup and shoveling them in.

So we get "I know this is confusing, but when you eat at home, you leave your bowl on the table. At school it's ok. When we eat out (at some, not all) restaurants, it's ok. At home, when we eat Asian food, it's ok. But at home, when we are eating western food, you must leave your bowl on the table."

Do you think I should just give up?

And hope that the next time we are in the States the strangers at the restaurant table across from us will quickly jump to the conclusion that our kids are clearly navigating the tricky waters of a multi-cultural childhood and that explains their terrible table manners?

the origin of the buffalo

Julianna loves to "tell Isaac a story". She'll sit next to him and talk and talk - he adores her and smiles the entire time.

This is what it looks like - so cute :)


Anyways, for a while Julianna always included buffaloes in her stories..... Happy buffaloes. Mean buffaloes. Buffalo friends. Something buffalo tended to work its way into her tale. And I wondered where the buffalo theme originated. I had never really talked to her about buffaloes, couldn't remember a book about a buffalo, and though there are lots of water buffaloes working in the rice fields in our province, I don't think she's ever seen them.

Where did she get the buffalo from?

Well, we love to watch the little videos that our friends post on their blogs - mainly her cousins (Connor, Carson and Kaelynn) and my cousin Julie's kids (Caroline and Will). But our internet connection is slow. So we have to wait for the movie to "buffer". [I have no idea what "buffer" means, but I can tell you that I have spent a significant portion of my internet time waiting for "buffering" to happen!]

So the two of us are waiting for Lydia and Isaac to wake up from their naps and I am showing Julianna some of Julie's most recent videos.... and she says, "are we waiting for it to buffalo?" AHA! Buffalo! No, we've never watched a buffalo video, and I know that she knows a buffalo is an animal, but I'm pretty sure that the buffalo stories started with the "buffalo-ing" of little internet videos!

curls curls curls

Lydia's hair just gets curlier every day. It is super cute, a tad bit unruly..... and very unusual.

After all, naturally curly hair just isn't in the Asian genetic code. For years I have been repeatedly asked about my hair, and I have bewildered many locals by assuring them that my hair is, indeed, naturally curly.


Looks like Lydia will have a similar experience. A few weeks ago someone actually asked, "how long did it take you to get her hair to look like that?" As if anyone in their right mind would spend hours styling hair on an almost 2 year old!


Lydia is, of course, mostly unaware of the stir her hair causes, though she will tell you that she has "curly hair". Mostly, she just wants to wear pigtails like her big sister. She's at least an inch or two short of the necessary length she needs to pull off pigtails. But at the rate her curls are growing, it won't be long!

Maybe our common-curls are one reason she chooses to stick close to me. She's a true mommy's girl and LOVES to be by my side or in my arms or snuggled in my lap. Matt thinks she has an internal clock that goes off every fifteen minutes and causes her to say, "Mommy hold you". Sometimes she says "Mommy hold you" when I am already holding her!

I can't wait to see what her curls do this summer - the rainy season is slowly starting and I know those curls are going to go haywire in the rain! I'll be sure to take some pictures :)