First Impressions

So, we've lived in Asia for over four years.  My boys were 2 and Savannah was 4 when we moved there.  We came back to the States for a 3-week vacation about 2 years ago, but that's it.  Needless to say, things have changed since the last time I had a home here.  These are some of the fun/funny things we've noticed:

You can pause your TV.  Yes, you're watching a TV show, (not a DVD) and you can pause it to run and get a drink.  That's crazy!  I've heard of this TEVO thing where you can record your TV shows w/o a recorder (I've never done it), but I didn't know you could pause it.  Crazy!  

Peter was out riding his bike one day and came in to ask me for a towel.  When I asked what he needed a towel for he replied, "I was riding on the sidewalk and those things that are cleaning the bushes outside got my bike wet.  Sprinklers....I guess we don't see sprinklers in Asia! 

Laundry Detergent....Oh my!  In Asia, I don't buy my own laundry detergent.  My helper always did that for me.  So, after not buying detergent for over 4 years, I was overwhelmed.  They have liquid and powder, tons of scents, and lots of sizes!  I literally spent 20 minutes in laundry detergent isle, trying to decide what was the best value, what flavor I liked, and if I wanted energy saving detergent - what in the world?!  

Sidenote:  On our first morning in America, I woke up at 2am.  After laying in bed for an hour, I got up and was out the door by 3:30, on my way to super wal-mart!  By 6:45am the only people I had seen in the store were the stockers.  How strange for the grocery store to be open, but not full of people!  Then, I went to through the checkout, with my 199 items (I had 2 carts!), and they rejected my credit card.  I gave them another one, and it was rejected.  Then, I pulled out a check (I hadn't written a check in 4 years) and they rejected that too.  I borrowed my checker's cell phone to call my dad, but he couldn't come help me.  Finally, I called the number on the back of my credit card, and got it squared away.  I told my checker that if I had to walk away without my groceries (after shopping for 3+ hours) I was going to cry.  Thankfully, no tears were shed that morning!  

The sky is blue and clouds are lovely!  

Finally, I think the most surprising thing is how people drive!  They notice my kids!!  Parking lots and streets, are safe!  People driving cars stop way back to allow us to cross the street.  When my kids are riding their bikes on the sidewalk, drivers slow down to a crawl.  It's amazing!  I really don't think I'll ever get used to that!   

I'm sure I could go on and on....but I won't!  Maybe I'll write about a few more things we've discovered in another post.  

My boys are 7!!

Yep, on June 8, 2011, my little, baby boys turned SEVEN YEARS OLD!!!  Oh, my, how time fly!  Their day was fun!  We started off by meeting their cousins at Shipley Donuts.  Mmmm!  they're the closest thing to Krispy Kreme in Houston.  Then, we piled the girls (Savannah, cousin Emily, almost 5, and cousin Amanda, 6 1/2) in Grandma Sue's car.  They boys, (Peter, Alex, and cousin Travis, 10) hopped in our car, and we all headed downtown to a free production of Camp Rock 2 at an outdoor theater.  It was a warm June day in Houston, but we were sitting in an open-air, covered theater and it was perfect!  (My kids all love Camp Rock 2 and loved singing along with all the fun songs!)

Emily, on the left is my brother's daughter, and Amanda, on the right, is Brad's sister's daughter. Aren't they cuties?!?

Then, my dad met us at a yummy Mexican restaurant for lunch.  (I tried to talk him into attending the play with us, but I just couldn't convince him!)  Mexican food.... you gotta love it!  We had 10 people, and including tax and tip, the whole meal was $60!  Granted, we weren't at Pappasitos, but it was pretty great!  After will filled our bellys, we went down the street to Chuck-E-Cheese.  My boys played and played and played!  They had a blast running around with their cousins and collecting tickets.

After playing for a few hours, we pulled out the birthday cake.  This is the first year in their whole lives that I didn't make their cake.  We had been in America for a week and I just couldn't get my act together. ( Last years cakes took about 8 hours to make and decorate.)  Peter was crushed when I told him I couldn't do it this year.  My husband assured me time and time again that he'd get over it.  He was right.  When Sue took him to Sam's and let them pick out what ever cake they wanted, there were smiles all around!  Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the cake they picked!  It was a small Toy Story themed circle cake with cupcakes around it.  

 
So, there you have it!  Alex and Peter are really seven years old!  I praise the Lord for each of them!  They are unique and fun!  What a blessing they are to this mama!  May they have many, MANY more birthdays to come!

I've fallen....

and I'm trying to get up!

Yes, I know it seems as if I've fallen off the face of the earth!  Technically, I just relocated on the face of the earth.  And, even though WiFi and Internet are FAST on this side of the world, so is everything else.  I tell you, we got off the plane on May 30 at 6:30pm and I have hardly stopped running since!  These last two months have been full!  And, I plan on blogging about it and posting fun pics, at some point, but the next 6 weeks are FULL as well.  So, here's a quick recap and preview:

Recap:
June 8, Peter and Alex turned 7!
June 9, we drove to OK to spend a long weekend with dear friends before they moved half way around the world, again.
June 14, precious friends from Colorado came to spend 2 weeks with us!  We did: NASA, Aquarium, VBS, Children's Museum, Dates, Swimming, Boating, Zoo, Cars 2, and much, much more!
July 4, Fun with family!
July 8, 9, and 10, Brad and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary, without kids, thanks to my awesome mother-in-law!
July 12 (and 13), Savannah's Brithday ~ Splashtown and circus
July 15, we went to Bryan/College Station to see friends, share about out life in Asia, baptize our boys, and preach.
And, this week, my kids have been at a rockin' VBS each morning.
On top of all that, my mom has been in the hospital twice, Savannah's had an ear infection, I've joined a women's Bible study, kids have been trained in chores, Brad's been writing his dissertation, and we've loved seeing our family as much as possible!

Preview:
Next week, I'm attending a Homeschooling Conference in the Woodlands (north Houston).
Next Saturday we'll spend the day at Lake Conroe with one of Brad's friends from 20+ years ago.
Sunday we'll share about our Asia-life at a local church.
Then, on Aug 4 we'll take off for Louisville where we'll spend almost 3 weeks re-connecting with friends there, while Brad meets with professors and continues working on his dissertation.
At the end of August, we'll travel to South Carolina to participate in a conference, and head back "home" to Houston sometime after Labor Day.

Whew!  Life has been rich!  And, the next month will be full as well!  So, my goal is for you to hear from me again before Sept. 15, but I can't make any promises!

Now, for a few pics....  These are from my boys' first Astros game!  (Savannah was 3 weeks old when she attended her first game!)