hot in a hurry

Hello summer!  I mean, when it gets hot here, it's gets hot ..... and in a hurry too :)  All kinds of things to learn about this new city we call home. 

We're not the only ones enjoying these warm temps, our garden is growing like crazy.  Every morning we are all excited to see what popped up during the night while we slept.  Our 小白菜 ( little cabbage) is looking more and more like supper-potential.  The hundreds of buds on our vines are opening faster than we can count.  Our tomato plants get taller every day.  And we've got weeds .... everywhere.  I'm hoping to get out there and dig some tomorrow.

Luckily, I'll have my professional dirt-digger alongside, and he loves to use his little trowel :)  Today I went out to take a few pictures of the flowers and turned around just in time to see Isaac doing a little early harvesting of the 小白菜 .  Oops.   

He's so fun and loves getting in our garden.  When he isn't digging in the dirt he is often busy looking for ants.

Good news is..... ants aren't too hard to find.

I did get a few pictures of the flowers too.  I'm not really sure what these are called, but they are all over the place these days - and just beautiful.  Our first bud opened Easter Sunday morning and now they are popping open all the time. 

We have these vines growing on all three sides of our courtyard and hope that by next summer they wind through and cover almost all the fencing. 

We've had a good friend from our old city visiting the last two days and it's been so fun to see Zhang Man.  Today as she said goodbye Julianna asked me when I met her and I started thinking.... it was Christmas 2004!  One thing I love about Zhang Man is that she is soooo great with kids. 

It's a holiday weekend here which means Matt works and I'll do my best to stay home and avoid crowds and traffic!  Fun times and soooooooo glad for warm weather.

visa run

Our current Chinese visa only allows us to stay 90 days per "entry" (ie 90 days after we cross the border into China).  Well, our 90 days was almost up and we needed a new entry so Easter Monday morning we headed for a border crossing.  We went to a city right beside Hong Kong ..... yes, although technically 'one country', HK requires a border crossing and would qualify :)

Except for the hour or so we spent waiting in lines (exit China, enter HK, u turn, exit HK, enter China) it was almost like a mini-vacation.  We got a great rate at a sweet hotel that was walking distance from the border crossing.  We spent every spare minute at the hotel pool!  Seriously, it was our very first stop arriving (the kids were in their suits before we got our room key) and our last stop before heading back to the airport!  Thankfully, the weather was wonderful, sunny blue skies, warm temps, and lots of fun!

more pics of my swimming bunnies enjoying the water....

This little chick-y L-O-V-E-D it.  She knows how to have a good time :)  And I quote: "I don't want to leave this place and go back home"

I had to agree with her.  After a challenging 90 days we needed a little time away.  Such a blessing that it came in the context of a necessary trip to the border.

oh, and obviously this every 90 days visa run to the border is not a long term solution :) We're hoping to move to a different visa sometime this summer.

Easter Sunday family pic :)

our easter garden

One of the coolest things we did this year to prepare for and celebrate Easter was make an Easter garden.  Earlier in the week the kids and I filled a aluminum pan with dirt and added little plants, rocks and flowers to make a miniature garden.

On Thursday we added a pipe cleaner Jesus, praying in the garden.

Friday morning we put our Jesus on the cross

and then that evening we wrapped him in a little piece of white fabric, laid him in the (potato) tomb and shut the door tight.

All day Saturday we waited, and by the end of the evening, everything in our garden was withered or dead.  We talked about how hopeless the disciples must have felt, and tossed all the dead stuff, leaving behind a pretty hopeless looking garden.   

Then early Easter morning I ran out to clip some flowers growing around our complex and transformed our Easter garden.  The stone was rolled back, the tomb was empty, and an angel stood announcing the news!

When the kids ran out to the living room Easter morning this was the first thing they saw and they LOVED it!! 

This morning we joined Julianna’s class for a little strawberry picking.  Julianna and all her little classmates (along with their parents) drove out together (in a long – very unsuccessful – caravan of cars) to the south side of town where there are TONS of strawberry patches.  Believe me, we walked a looooong way (usually carrying at least one kid) through all kinds of fields to get to the patch of ground that Julianna’s class was responsible for picking.

There were moments that were pretty stressful, and I was drenched in sweat when we arrived, but the strawberry patch delivered!  Our kids were pumped to be there and had a great time collecting their strawberry loot. 


(Julianna with her favorite teacher)

On the drive there (which was very stressful and well…. just typical crazy China difficult in every way)…. Anyways, on the drive to the strawberry picking Isaac said “I’m not sure I’ll be able to find any strawberries for me”.  [He loves the word ‘sure’ like “I’m not sure I’ve ever been here before” and “I can help you move those shoes Daddy. I sure can.”]

Matt and I both reassured him that it wouldn’t be too hard to find them (maybe he was a little confused because we’ve been playing Easter Egg Hunt in our living room this week and was thinking that finding strawberries was going to be a bit like hunting eggs??)

So then we get to the strawberry patch and there are strawberries EVERYWHERE.  Isaac was thrilled.  He was definitely our most dedicated strawberry picker though he tended to leave a path of destruction behind him :)  This pic pretty much sums up his morning – too busy picking strawberries or admiring his basket of berries – to look up at the camera. 

Later in the afternoon we hosted some students for a little Easter egg dyeing.  We do this almost every year and it is always so fun.  This year was a little more relaxed for me since the girls are old enough to do pretty well with little supervision, and Isaac was still snoozing during the egg-dye portion of the afternoon's party (sleeping off the morning's berry hunt). 

Our international church is able to meet this week so we'll be worshiping tomorrow morning and then celebrating Easter lunch with some foreign friends tomorrow.  Happy Easter!!!

buds

My kids are in one of those sweet spots .... they just like each other.  A lot. 

Unfortunately, this isn't always true :) 

But for right now, it seems that God is giving me this little sweet spot gift.  In the midst of a challenging season, I am so grateful. 

daddy dates

All three kids enjoy going on "dates" with Matt.... now that Isaac is in the mix we are hoping to change the name from "date" to something a little more gender-neutral, but it's a term that works.

Isaac (and the girls) know exactly what a date is thanks to my sweet husband who consistently takes ME out on dates :)  Isaac is not a huge fan of date night, but our dear friend and #1 babysitter is irresistible...

"Mommy, tonight Daddy going to take you on a date and Susan Ayi will take me to eat a bang bang tang [lollipop] and help me change my pajamas" he asks.  Yep, the promise of a lollipop is enough to keep any tears at bay :)  

Well Monday Matt took Isaac on a date.  Actually, it was glorified errand-running, but it kept the two of them occupied for house most of the day and involved lunch out, a trip to the home improvement store, and - get this! - a visit to a construction equipment retailer.  Seriously! 

One of the stops was the car dealership for a 1500km car check-up.  And while they waited for the car the two of them browsed front end loaders and excavators.  Little man was LOVING it!  Matt even called me so that Isaac could tell me first hand that he was standing in the bucket of an excavator :)  He talked and talked, so excited to tell me what he was busy doing on his date with daddy!

And he brought home photographic evidence of his outing. 

Even today he is still talking about "sitting in the cab of the excavator" and the big wheels on the front end loader.  It definitely made an impression! 

The girls and I loved our girl time at home.  I had really high hopes for dyeing Easter eggs and thought I had a perfect plan when I realized Isaac was out for the morning.  Surely the girls and I could whip up some beautiful eggs, right?  And then I realized that on its cross-Pacific trip my egg dyeing kit hit a rough stretch and all the little color tablets had pulverized into one big grainy mess at the bottom of a ziploc bag.

"Oh no, all our eggs are going to be one yuck shade of brown" I warned the girls.  But they were undeterred, and as it turned out, the eggs weren't all brown after all. 

They were all green :)  Guess who didn't care one lick?  My ladies!  "Oh, so beautiful"  One impressed little lady even pronounced them "gorgeous" :) 

[A friend has an extra kit and I'm hoping to try again later this week, but even if we don't get to round two this year's egg dyeing was a (memorable) success.] 

late afternoons

We've gotten into a habit of late afternoon bike rides and it really is such a treat to be outside in warm(er) weather.

Plus chasing kids gives me a nice work out :)  The girls have gotten fast ... if I get the chance to go out with just the two of them they like to keep me moving!  They dash off and look back over their shoulders, making sure they are riding fast enough to make me run.

Isaac, well he's on a slower vehicle, so it slows us down a good bit! The girls do lots of u-turns and circles and we stay together pretty well. 

This particular day two of my three were in college apparel - Isaac calls this "my North Carolina shirt" and Julianna is sporting some Appalachian State gear courtesy of her chief wardrobe manager and second cousin Caroline :)  [I started to list all my ASU-affiliated family here but got nervous I would leave someone off so I quit... you guys chime in if you want and claim your alma mater!  The bad news is that my UNC family list is WAY too short - alas, only the few, the proud choose so well, right Aunt Beth?!?!]

We almost never have any sort of destination in mind, but some days we do end up at this little 'supermarket' by the front gate of our complex.

I do quite a bit of shopping here, which is especially remarkable considering the entire store is smaller than our apartment.  It helps that they use their space well (or not-so-well, depending on what your particular shopping preferences are!)  The aisles are too narrow for my umbrella stroller to navigate :) 

On the best days we arrive home from our adventures about the same time as Matt!  Yeah for Daddy!  But not always.  Usually the kids stay outside in our courtyard while I start supper, but earlier this week I caught this sweet photo of Isaac sitting beside the screen doors, waiting for his Daddy to come home.  He's not still very often so this was an especially precious moment. 

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Today is one of the prettiest days we've had since moving here.  And I am so grateful!  We'll be out riding bikes again this afternoon, I bet.

seedlings

Yesterday afternoon we got some seedlings in the ground.  Xiao Ren (our current helper) is the one who helped us buy them (actually, her mom found them for us - 16 seedlings for a dollar) and she was definitely in charge of the whole shebang, me and the kids just followed her instructions.

I'm not sure she was prepared for "planting with children" and one poor tomato seedling got trampled on several different occasions, but she stuck with it and I was grateful. 

This is such a fun project for us.  Isaac loves anything that has to do with dirt, so he's a natural fit :)  We chose to get a 'mop sink' in our courtyard which is proving to be a very wise move.  Everyone can clean up before they even come back inside.  The mop sink is low and accessible which means lots of hand washing (aka getting really good and wet) for Isaac. 

The girls and I are still reading through the Little House on the Prairie series. (We started last fall, took a long break while we traveled and transitioned, and decided to go back and start in book one again.  We are flying through them, the girls always begging for more chapters.)  So between hearing about Laura (in the Little House books) and Almanzo (in Farmer Boy) we're getting lots of exposure to planting and farming and 'living off the land'.  And now to have our own little patch of dirt to plant it just plain fun. 

 

So our garden is really shaping up - little cabbages (growing like crazy) plus tomato, winter melon, pumpkin and cucumber seedlings. 

I still have pretty low expectations for what might actually grow and thrive, but we are all having a great time and I will consider our garden a success, even if nothing produces edible crops :) 

newsy tidbits (and really, they are BITS)

Fun times today - I do love our Monday (which is like most people's version of a Saturday).  The kids found a "secret hideaway" at the end of a seldom used path in our complex.

The good news is, there's lots of water to splash :)  The better news is that the weather is warm and sunny ... water splashing is actually a good idea, not just a quick way to create freezing cold hands!

Another bit of news?  Our little cabbages are sprouting!  Seriously!  They've been in the ground less than a week and little butterfly shaped sprouts are peeping out of the dirt. 

And in other breaking news, Isaac legitimately won a game of hide-and-go-seek for the first time ever!  The little ladies had quite the celebration, jumping and bouncing and shouting, incredulous that after months and months of give-away-giggles and running out of his hiding place before anyone even spotted him, he finally won!  Isaac LOVES group games - ring around the rosy, hot potato, red light green light, duck duck goose.... he plays them all.  But he doesn't win much :)  So this is a big deal indeed!

See, I told you this was newsy tidBITS :)

into the countryside

The kids and I joined a bunch of our foreign friends and headed out to the countryside today (Matt was on campus).  We drove into town to meet up with the crowd and all caravan out together.  The drive was less than 90 minutes, and we LOVE getting outside the city :)

I knew the final stretch would be narrow and curvy and very mountain-y .... and it was.  So grateful for my friend Sonya in the passenger seat who helped manage the 5-kids-under-the-age-of-five in the back seats just as the drive got long and the road got a little hairy!

We got to the very top of the road, the very end of the road, right where it dead ends at our friends' home and I had this ugh-feeling when I realized there was no way to back out of there, and a u-turn would be a little tight.  So we unloaded all the kids and I handed the keys to our local friend (a professional driver/office assistant) who turned the van around for me :)  

The day was just gorgeous and we had so much fun!

We visited the home of a local friend built in a really traditional style (for farming communities) - a two story structure built around a central courtyard.  Various rooms open onto the courtyard... a wood-fired stove kitchen and bedrooms and even (currently uninhabited) pig sties.  This is the view from the rooftop looking down into the courtyard area.

So bummed that I forgot my camera and had to settle for a few pics with my phone, but the quality is really bad.  I did just realize that I can set my phone to take better quality pictures, oh well... maybe next time :(

A big group of folks went hiking - younger kids needed to each be paired up with an adult for the hike, so our sweet friend Amy (who my kids really enjoy) went with Julianna while I stayed back with the littler two. 

Julianna and Lydia are still learning their way around this group of friends.  Lydia (sporting the purple boots again today) is becoming buddies with Sydney (the little blondy in the back of the photo) and Julianna really enjoys the two girls on her left - Madison (8) and Hailey (6). 

Isaac had a blast.  By the end of the day he was one dirty, happy little boy complete with scratches on his face and a pair of pants that will never be the same :)

He loved watching these "big boys" throw the football and they were so kind to him - every few minutes they would stop and toss the ball to Isaac and wait for him to toss it back. 

In this picture Isaac is looking down the road that leads away from the house, back down the mountain and eventually towards the big city.  The hikers climbed up to the left of this road and got to the top of the mountain (at least that's how Julianna tells the story).  The drop off on the right side of the road is pretty steep but it's amazing how much they are growing up there - right on the side of a mountain.

So, it was a REALLY fun day that left us all REALLY exhausted.  On the drive home Lydia said "I really liked it up there but I'm not even crying."  In other words, "I'm holding it together better than my big sis, who lost it when it was time to get in the car and head home."  He he he.... sweet Julianna, when she gets tired she has zero emotional control :)  We pulled in a little before six and I was SO grateful to see Matt waiting for us!  He's promised to go next time... Isaac is begging him to "come and take me up that mountain".  You know Matt can't resist a request like that!

purple rainboots and little cabbages

On nice weather days we practically live in our little courtyard.  After years of upper-floor apartment living I just can't get over how much I love having accessible outdoor space.  We are in and out all day long.  The kids go out by themselves, I can be out with the girls waiting for Isaac to wake, I can run in and out while cooking supper, and on and on and on.

Monday we planted a few vines (to spruce up our fence) and a bush in the corner of our dirt-strip-garden-to-be.  We even sowed some seeds!  Our first attempt at "growing something" is a very common Chinese vegetable. I have no idea what to call it in English, but the translation means "little cabbage"....  though it looks nothing like a head of cabbage.

Anyways, apparently it's pretty fool proof, which is definitely what we are looking for!  So after lots of work preparing the dirt (and one dirt-caked little boy) we tossed out some seeds on Monday afternoon.  Tuesday was the coldest rainiest day we've had in a very long time, and I wonder how our little seeds handled the temps - but Wednesday was so hot and sunny I'm sure some life must have been coaxed out of them!

The girls also purchased strawberry seeds, and after a little wise counsel (from a neighbor) we decided to wait to plant them.  I think our chances of success are pretty slim, but if we manage to grow even one fingernail sized berry the girls will be thrilled.  We are also in the market for a few pumpkin and cucumber seedlings, and Xiao Ren has a few leads on where to buy them, so we hope to get some in the ground soon. 

While we wait for our own flowering vine to produce some buds (one very friendly upstairs neighbor promises we'll see something within a month!) we love gathering up other flowers growing in our complex.

And my snazzy spunky little Lydia?  Well she's been wearing these purple rain boots nonstop for the past three days.  Her fashion sense makes her big sister proud!

Sundays

Sundays are feeling pretty strange these days.  Our international church is still having some logistical problems and not meeting.... perhaps for another month or so??!!??  We are considering pursuing some other options for Sunday morning since our family really depends on Sunday morning not just for fellowship and worship and teaching but also for a chance to hang out with some other foreigners!

And this afternoon Matt had an obligation which took him away from home for a good chunk of the day.  Thanks to nasty traffic he arrived home a lot later than he hoped.  Ugh.  The traffic can be attributed to a local holiday (most people have Monday and Tuesday off this week).  We don't really celebrate the holiday, but it does mean the girls won't have school Tuesday morning and our helper won't be here until Wednesday. 

This afternoon I decided to keep things simple and make pita bread with the kids.  (yes, you can definitely start laughing at this point!)  Last night we had dinner at a western restaurant and the pita bread sandwich left me thinking "I can make pita bread that tastes a least this good, maybe even better".  So I found a recipe and there was lots of rolling out dough, which sounded like a pretty kid friendly activity.

 
They have these miniature rolling pins in their kitchen toys collection and I knew they would enjoy an excuse to use them on real food.

So in the early afternoon I made up the dough (super easy) and when the time was right we pulled up to the table and started rolling.  I think I made a crucial mistake when I let this guy have a hunk of dough.  He was a flour-covered dough-y mouth disaster before it was all finished :) 

I really do love cooking and baking with the kids.  The end result was so tasty too - we scarfed down three huge pitas while they were still warm from the oven.  Sure, they were a smidge misshapen, and it took me fifteen minutes to clean up the kitchen table, and the chairs they sat on, and the floor underneath them. 

But it was totally worth it. 

it turns out I get a little restless...

The last three days Matt and I attended a Red Cross sponsored training (here in our city) where we learned how to teach a life-skills curriculum here in China.  I LOVE the curriculum.... I think the content is right on target and has lots of potential to really enhance and encourage many of the things we already engage in while we are here.  But, the three days of trainings have been quite the shock to my days!

I hesitated to even commit to the training, because I just didn't know who would be available to watch my kids while I was gone - remember, we are in a new city and don't have a lot of established relationships!  But, the Lord quickly provided three different people (one for each day) to help out, and I signed up.  (I must have the certification in order to teach on the university campus, and even though I am not sure that I will have opportunity to teach in the coming months, this was definitely the best opportunity for me to go ahead and get certified.)  

And, in addition to the material and content, I learned a few other things....

1. ..... I have apparently forgotten how to sit still for long periods of time :)  By mid-morning I was like a restless first grader in the back of the classroom!  I once leaned over to Matt and said "I just never really sit like this, I'm so restless, this is so out of my 'normal' day that it feels weird!" 

2. .... My respect for moms who work outside the home deepened considerably.  To spend all day away from home and come back to dishes and supper and housework was no treat!  I was switching clothes from the washer to the dryer at 10pm.  Not my favorite way to close out the day!

3. .....I really do love to be home.  Just LOVE it.  So, while I am glad that I will soon be a certified lecturer for this course and it was really neat to be able to spend some days with Matt and I really do hope that I get to teach the course (maybe team-teach with Matt??!!) one day..... I am also glad to be spending my days at home with my kiddos. 

The kids were super stars.  In a very abnormal week they did GREAT!  So grateful for that, since it would have been hard for me to concentrate if I knew they were struggling. 

So tomorrow starts back-to-normal for us after a few weeks of not so normal (Matt traveling, family visiting, this Red Cross training).  Matt will be working and a friend is coming out to visit for the day.  If you're looking for me I'll be right here.  AT HOME :)