special school days

The girls just left for a special day at school.... today each class has a performance for Children's Day.  The events start at 9am - Matt will go to Lydia's class and I will go to Julianna's. 

On Monday night Julianna is in a second, larger event.  Some students from the school were chosen to be in a dance performance and Julianna has been practicing for months.  It was a huge win for her, since she loves to dance and loves school.  At least twice a week since March she has left her normal class (with a few others, including one of her good buddies, Li Yu Ke) and gone to dance practice.  I think she'll be really bummed when the performance is over and she goes back to being a "normal" student.  

The Monday performance is in the city's entertainment center, complete with large stage and auditorium seating.  Dress rehearsal is Saturday morning - I want to try to stick around and see how it turns out, but with Lydia and Isaac underfoot I might not get to stay for long.  Regardless, I'll see the whole event on Monday night! 

my birthday

What a way to re-enter life as a family of 5!  We LOVE birthdays, and the kids don't even really care whose birthday it is... presents, cake, candles = fun. 

Sunday (the day before my birthday) we skipped out on church and lazed around the house all morning.  The kids were rarely more than arms reach from Matt or me (we knew that Lydia and Isaac would both panic if we attempted to leave them at Sunday School) and it was fun to mostly just hang out on the couch and catch up on some good ole family time.

(attempt #1 at a decent birthday photo!)

In the midst of all the hanging out, Matt and the girls baked a birthday cake.  

For lunch we headed downtown to a new-ish Papa John's for pizza.  Yummy.  Papa John's is in a huge new shopping area, and it is pretty cool.  The girls marveled at the 'skyscrapers' and we rode plenty of escalators just for fun.  

The long wait for the cake ended at supper time :)  We even managed to get a good family picture (well, except for the fact that Isaac is reaching for the cake instead of looking at the camera). 

It was a GREAT day!  I've never been quite so thankful to be with my family on my birthday! 

home for now

Matt and I got home on Saturday at noon.  It was an emotional, joyous reunion with the kids.  On the whole, everyone (including me!) did okay with the separation.  But no one handled it exceptionally well.  

Lydia struggled the most and let me tell you, listening to your sobbing almost-three-year old beg you to come home is not the happiest way to end a phone conversation.  1300 miles has never felt quite so far :(  

But we are home now, and everyone seems to be settling in to the idea that Mom and Dad are not leaving again.  Except Matt actually flies north on Saturday for a day of house hunting.  We are definitely moving locations for our next term here, and hope to secure housing in our new city before returning to the US.  

Big stuff on the horizon.  We took a little break yesterday to celebrate my birthday and had a blast!  I'll post some photos soon.  

 

day five

for Julianna [April 2010]

for Lydia [April 2010]

for Isaac [April 2010]

day four

for Julianna [December 2008]

for Lydia [February 2009]

for Isaac [December 2009]

day three

for Julianna [July 2008]

 for Lydia [April 2008]

for Isaac [February 2010]

day two

for Julianna [Feb 2007]

for Lydia [July 2008]

for Isaac [July 2009]

day one

Julianna [December 2005]

Lydia [August 2007]

Isaac [March 2009]

five days away

In just a few hours Matt and I leave for a five day leadership retreat.  We are incredibly thankful for the opportunity to participate.  

But it is really hard to leave our children.  

I wanted to help them track the days we are away, and I wanted to do a little something special, soooooo, I came up with a plan.  

I left a little 'gift' for each child for each day we are away, and part of the gift is a photo.  And  then I made a poster for each child, with a spot for each day's photo.... as a way to "count the days" til Mommy and Daddy come home.  

In theory, as they open their daily gift, they'll stick the photo on the appropriate slot, and visually watch the days go by.  We just hung the posters on the wall above each child's bed.  

Even Isaac has a poster, though he doesn't know what to do with it.  I did laminate the photos to try to make them as 'Isaac friendly" as possible :) 

We also made a little video to accompany each day's set of gifts - one segment for each day - the video is mostly us talking to the kids, explaining the gifts, showing them the photos we selected, etc.  Xiao Li is all set to give the gifts and show the video after lunch each day.  

I won't be posting to the blog while we're gone, but I did set the photos to post each day, so if you're interested, you can check in.  

when the cat's away the mice will play

Every day of my week has a different rhythm.

On Tuesday and Thursday mornings both girls are at school, so it's just me and Isaac at home. I like to load him in the stroller and run my errands without 'help' from the girls.  

On Fridays Julianna is at school and I have the morning with 'just the little two' and spend my free time answering Lydia's "is it time to go get Julianna yet?" questions.  

On Saturdays we almost always do a picnic lunch out on the town (usually because the pantry is bare, the leftovers look boring, and I am trying to spice things up a bit as we head towards the weekend). 

I enjoy the change of pace.  It makes each day of my week a little different, each day has a unique 'feel' to it, each day has it's own blessings and challenges. 

Isaac certainly loves to hang out with his big sisters, but he also enjoys having run of the house on the days they are at school.  I watch him and think "when the cat's away, the mice will play". 

Except in this case there are two cats (Julianna and Lydia) and one mouse (Isaac). 

He loves to get in all their stuff....  He totes around the pink baby dolls - a behavior that on other days of the week brings shrieks of "oh no, he's got my baby" and scrambles to place the precious pink bundles high up where he can't reach them.  

He pushes the stroller, drags around the baby cradle, pulls all of their books off the shelf, drinks out of their water cups.  In other words, he enjoys having free reign over the house :) 

This past week he started 'asking' to carry Lydia's backpack.  [He 'asks' by bringing it to me and attempting to get it on his back, hoping I'll notice and help him.]

Once he's got it on he takes off on a tour of the house, with the pink backpack dragging the floor behind him. 

I especially like this picture with the 'half guilty, half delighted' look on his face as he peeks around the corner.  He knows he's into his big sister's stuff.  And he's enjoying every minute :) 

On Tuesdays and Thursdays the cats are away.  And I have one little mouse who loves to play :) 

a winner

I really do like doing crafts with the kids.  Some days I get half way into something and question my sanity, most days I end up wishing we had a porch or a yard where we could "craft" away and not spend so much time controlling mess and cleaning up behind ourselves, and occasionally craft time ends up in an all out selfish brawl with hurt feelings, sad faces, and confiscation of the "best pink marker". 

But lots of times it is just plain FUN.  The girls are easy to please and Isaac is happy to chew on the markers.  Unfortunately, he's pretty adept and getting his hands on the ones without lids, and ends up with Crayola covered lips.  I clean him up best I can and let him wash it down with milk :)

On Wednesday morning I traced the girls' bodies on big sheets of paper and let them decorate.  The tracing itself was pretty hilarious because Lydia is super ticklish!  She would squirm and squeal as I tried to trace her body.  We were all laughing so hard by the time I finished.  I did manage to get her "traced" but she had visible brown marker streaks in her hair, and the proportions of some of her limbs were a little off kilter.  

Once we were done with the initial tracing, the girls got down to business.

(Note Isaac making his move.... looking for markers without lids, no doubt.  My friend Jaci once asked "when it says non-toxic.... does that mean safe for daily consumption?"  I think about that and smile every time I see Isaac with the craft supplies!)

 

When they were finished, we taped them to the walls above their beds.  When naptime rolled around Lydia insisted on laying in her bed in such a way that she could look at herself!  The girls even went back later in the day to add more detail to the drawings.  

I might try to figure out how to save these two tracings, and I'll definitely be doing this again soon!  Maybe we'll decorate our home in the US with tracings of the whole family!

Lydia + Isaac = ?

Early on I had my doubts about this little relationship.....

But it turns out they just needed a little time :) 

Mother's Day

What a great day!  Matt and the kids continued a breakfast in bed tradition....Each year I lay in bed listening to the chaos in the kitchen, amazed at Matt's ability to create breakfast from bedlam.  Each year it seems that his task is exponentially harder!  But one day soon, probably sooner than we imagine, the kids will be cooking and serving on their own.  And until then, I'll marvel at Matt's ability to stand back and smile while his 'cooks' proudly tell me all about how they "made breakfast for mommy". 

With this crew piled around me, I read my Mother's Day cards.  Matt interviewed the girls and wrote some quotables on the cards they decorated in my honor. 

My favorites from Julianna:
"Mommy is good at serving me."  "It makes me so happy when you hug me."  and "I like to hold your hand while we walk to the balls [indoor play area in our town]."

And from Lydia:
"Mommy is good at writing my name."  "Thank you, Mommy, for doing my hair." and "Mommy is my favorite person." 

Nothing from Isaac this year :)


So by the time I finished reading the cards, it was abundantly clear that any attempt at actually eating my breakfast surrounding by the children was going to end in disaster.  So we all retreated to the kitchen table :)

After church and naps we loaded up on the electric scooter and Matt's bike to go to a new neighborhood about twenty minutes from our home that is full of playgrounds.  It seems that every time we go we find yet another playground area. 

Julianna's new favorite playground activity is to create a mini challenge course for herself and race the clock.  She'll say "I'll do all the ladders, all the slides, through the long tunnel, ride the see saw and run back to you, ok?  Tell me when to start Mom.  Are you looking at your watch?"

After all that running, she chowed down on our picnic supper.

What a fun day! 

Only small bummer was that Lydia woke up from her nap feverish and crabby, and got significantly worse through the evening and night.  Tylenol helped some, but at lunch when her fever was 105 I called the clinic.... doctor thinks it is probably roseola. 

In honor of Mother's Day, I'm hoping that we'll escape sharing the virus with the rest of the family!  I can certainly dream :)

Happy Mother's Day from one blessed Mommy!  How I love my job! 

summer laundry

Laundry is a sticking point for me.  Small washer + slow dryer + plenty of dirty laundry means I have to maximize efficiency and capacity to prevent piles of dirty laundry from overtaking my life!  Toss in frequent power and water outages and laundry can become one big headache. 

But this line of summer dresses hanging in my window almost makes up for all the frustration!  When the sun is hot and the wind is blowing line drying is almost as efficient as our electric dryer.  (This load of dresses dried in six hours.) 

To me, this picture pretty much perfectly represents hot sunny summertime days.  I enjoy all these little dresses (and the gobs of others hanging in the girls room), and I love the little girls who wear them :) 

This cute little scene almost makes all the laundry struggles worth while! 

sour patch kids

Last week we hosted a friend of Matt's for a few days.  Michael brought some American goodies, including sour patch kids candy for the girls.  It's the first time they've ever had anything so sour, and I tried to warn them that it was going to taste a little different.  

Their initial reactions were pretty funny  :)

Like every single other piece of candy to cross their lips, sour patch kids are a new favorite.  Sure, they might pucker their lips and squint their eyes when they bite in, but the sweet middle wins their taste buds every time!

We are talking a LOT about America, preparing for the big transition.  The last time we were in the States Julianna was 20 months old, Lydia 4 weeks old.  There was a season when Julianna frequently spoke of things and events from our time in the US, occasionally shocking me with the details she was able to recall.  But that has all passed, and the memories have faded, and I think America will essentially be a brand new experience for all three of them.

It's going to be fun to watch them experience it all.  Sour patch kids are just the beginning of a host of new things to explore!  

[The purple bruise on Julianna's forehead is from a nasty fall during a picnic lunch last Saturday.]