My Pedo

by Amy

It seems like we often tell you about Savannah and "the boys." Well, this post is all about one boy, Pedo.

First of all, I'm so excited to report that we have been her for almost two months, and Peter has done great going to the potty "like a big boy!" I potty trained the boys last September. After a couple of weeks, Alex was done. But we still had a long road ahead of us with Peter. When we were in Virginia (Feb - March) he would go through spurts....He would have a great week followed by 4 or 5 accidents the following week.... But, since we've arrived here, he has done great! I've been hesitant to mention his success to anyone, afraid this was only a phase. But, I think I'm convinced....He's really potty trained! Way to go Pedo!

Those of you that have spent much time with my kids know that Peter and Alex are as different as night and day. Peter is very intense. I have come to appreciate this trait in my son more and more. Why? Because he is the best cleaner-uper I have! Often the kids like to dump and scatter.... Dump their mega-blocks box; dump their wooden train box; dump their geo tracks out; scatter books all over the floor; scatter puzzle pieces (to multiple puzzles) all over the floor....I could go on and on, but I'm sure you get the picture.... Yet, it's OK because when Peter gets in his clean-up-mode, watch out! He gets this really determined look on his face and he doesn't stop until the job is complete! "Complete" is defined as everything off the floor, out from under the bed, lid on the box, etc. So, I've learned that I have to be careful how and when I instruct him. For example, before nap time I'll often tell the boys to clean up their room, meaning, clear a path to the bed and pick up the big toys. That drives Peter crazy! He doesn't want to only pick up the big toys, he wants every thing put away before he can sleep, and he has even been known to disobey my command ("Get into bed, now.") to keep cleaning. So, now I'm learning to tell them to clean up 5 min. earlier than before so he can have time to clean it the way he likes. He's also a mad-man with the dust-buster under the table! No crumb goes unnoticed. It's great!

Another fun fact about Pedo: I think everyday since we got home from our weekend trip a few weeks ago, he has asked if we can ride a train again. He LOVES choo-choo trains! Even the other day he prayed, "Dear God, please help me obey Mommy and ride choo-choo today. Amen."

Finally, in America when people would first meet our kids, I would help them tell the difference between Peter and Alex by pointing out that Peter has a longer name and longer hair. (That hasn't been so helpful here as Peter and Alex are such abnormal names in this world.) That trick no longer works! My poor son had so much hair, it just had to be cut or buzzed, to be more exact! His little face would get so red just walking to catch a taxi because he'd be so hot. And, to top it off, I often get asked if he is a boy or a girl. So, I decided today is the day! What do you think!?

Alex got his hairs cut too! Aren't my boys cute! When Brad came home today, Peter hollered, "Hi Daddy! I'm cute!" as he pointed to his head!

Providence and Protection

Brad here. He is so good and faithful, I need to share how. Well, we've been happy to have a kitchen and to avoid those twice a day decisions...where do we eat. We thought everything was great with the kitchen until Amy brought it to my attention last week that it is not uncommon for her or our kids to get a slight shock when they touch the oven (this is a great story to give you an idea of how things work here). I tested the oven and found the same to be true. So we called the 'oven people'. They came out and quickly noticed that the outlet the oven is plugged into was emitting too high of a voltage. So they happily bolted and we called up the apartment maintence people. They came up, worked for a while and supposedly fixed something on the outlet. After they were done, they touched the oven with their tool and there was no voltage on the outside of the oven when it was off. Great...they're ready to bolt. Ummm...guys, can we turn it on?.. I say sheepishly (you learn to examine people's work here after they're done). We turn it on, touch the instrument/tool to the oven and they notice there is still voltage on the oven. Hummm...what now? A little electricity isn't a terrible thing, they reason...it's really not all that bad. Um...wrong answer friend, try again. Well, they determine they've fixed the outlet and there is nothing more they can do. So we call the oven people again and they come out the next day (by the way, my local friend is over my house constantly talking with them, helping me through this). The oven people conclude the oven is bad and they will replace it. "Don't turn on or use the oven," they say, "very dangerous". :) Gotta love the different answers one gets, based on the situation. So we wait a week and I forgot to mention, it was annoying to learn that oftentimes when we would be cooking on the burners (gas...right above the oven), and then turn on the oven (electric), it was only a minute or two before the burners would shut down. What connection could that be, we'd ask. Oh well, if the new oven doesn't solve the problem, we'll call the kitchen people and let them figure it out.

Fast forward to today when the new oven comes. The oven guys install the new oven and say, "its great". I put my hand on the oven (when it's off) and immediately notice a current. My response, "not good". They say, "no problem, its good". Amazing how they convinently forgot their tool/instrument to determine if there was any voltage on the oven (isn't that why they're here?!). Again, I protest, this is not fixed, please get your instrument to verify my observation. 15 minutes later after they got the tool, they're wondering why the new oven has the same problem, and are now telling me 'a little electricity is not a bad thing'. (the same guys who last week said, 'very dangerous'. :)

But this is where the providence and protection come into play. As they were pulling out the old oven, I noticed that the rubber gas line (for the burners above the oven) was touching the oven at a number of points. Apparently, as the oven would heat up, the gas line would increase in pressure (due to the temp.) and cause a backflow of some sort which would signal to the burners that something wasn't right, causing them to shut down (think I'm right there, but new country and all, plus I'm not an electrician/gas guy, I could be wrong). Long story short, this was a disaster waiting to happen. It seems like the gas line could have easily melted or sprung a leak next to an extremely hot electric oven...not a great scenario. But how did we find out about this? Due to the malfunctioning oven. Even my 'outside the camp local friend' (who is getting close to entering) told me that Someone is taking good care of me.

So we call the kitchen guy who says, for another hundred US bucks, he can move the oven to a more suitable location. We inform him we've paid him enough already and this was his design to fix. He agreed (I suppose for him there's no shame in asking) and Monday plans to fix the problem with no extra charge.

Finally, the oven problem. Apparently, the ovens were fine after all. The problem was the power strip that the kitchen guy bought to plug the oven into...too small and poor quality. So when he comes out on Monday, an electrician will meet him here and run a suitable extension cord for the oven.

I'm thankful nothing terrible happened and more thankful that we're getting this all straightened out. So don't hear me sound frustrated. In 6 short weeks, I feel like I've adjusted well to the 'I'm going to do the minimum and get out of here fast as I can regardless if its right or fixed' attitude that so many workers here have. Its a part of life here and I'm learning to examine their work closely and ask when something isn't right. I wonder if I worked for a dollar or two per hour if I'd have the same attitude. I hope not b/c of the One I ultimately work for in all things, but maybe that's explains their approach to work.

What's Cookin' Tonight!

by Amy

I love to cook. When I got married, 8 years ago, I had no idea how to cook! But, suddenly, I had a husband that wanted to eat ~ who was tired of eating hamburger helper and pasta-roni all the time. So, with the help of many women around me, I learned how to cook. Now, I love it! One really fun thing about living over here is that I have to make more things than I used to. I have previously mentioned the tortillas and salsa that I made, and just the other day Savannah and I made banana bread and homemade English muffins. (Did you know that English muffins are not baked in the oven, but the dough is cooked in a skillet! Who Knew!?!?) It has been tons of fun for me to learn how to cook new things in this new country. And, I hope that when we get a house-helper, she'll teach me how to cook Asian food. (Yes, I'm still liking the food around here, although, I am very thankful for my own kitchen so I don't have to eat it everyday!)

When cooking new things like English muffins, I was very prepared for failure. After all, I'm not even sure I bought the right kind of flour at the store. Plus, I've never been too successful at making breads. So, when they turned out, I was super excited! Well in the past few days, we made two purchases that (I thought) would make my life much easier. We finally found a mixer and a crock pot. When I lived in America, I used both of these items regularly, often several times a week. So, I have been hunting all around to find these items, and with the help of a local friend, I'm happy to report that my new, wonderful kitchen, now is home to a rare mixer and easy-to-clean-kind of crock pot. So, all that to say, with the recent success's in my kitchen, nothing prepared me for what we had for dinner tonight!

I meet with my language tutor on Wednesday afternoons, so I was sure this would be the right time to try our new crock pot. And, when we went to that big city a couple of weeks ago, I bought 5 precious cans of cream of chicken soup. So, I just knew tonight would be the perfect night for Creamy Italian Chicken. (If you've every been a guest in my home, there's a good chance you've eaten this dish!) This meal is so easy! You just put your raw chicken breasts in the crock pot and cover with 1/4 cup of water and a package of Italian dressing mix (imported from the states, of course!) Then, you let your chicken cook for several hours. 1-2 hours before eating you mix (with a delightful mixer) cream of chicken soup and cream cheese and pour it over the chicken. Served over rice with warm bread....mmmmmm..... It's comfort food at it's best! Well, as I'm finishing up my language session, Brad calls me from the kitchen, "Aim, you better come look at your crock pot. I don't think this is what you are expecting." He was right... At that time we noticed my lid had a small little hole to let steam out. Therefore, my chicken was dry and starting to burn on the bottom of the pot. Oh no! And, there's this really thick black burnt goo on the sides of my pot. I know it will take forever to clean.... Well, after picking up the chicken and having Brad taste a bit, we decide he caught it just in time! I add some more water and finish my tutorial session. Then I add a little more water to the crock pot along with the cream of chicken/cream cheese mixture. As I stir the chicken, it begins to fall apart because it's so tender, as all Creamy Italian Chicken should be. I'm relieved! I put rice in my new rice maker and assume all is going to be great. About 20 min. later, I check the crock pot only to discover that all the caked on burnt stuff on the side is melting into the cheesy mixture, turning it brown. My husband, who actually likes things a little on the burnt side, assures me it will be OK if we just transfer the food to the oven. So, into the oven it goes..... About 45 min. later we open the rice cooker to discover crunchy, even a little burnt rice. I soon find out, it's the perfect complement to the burnt tasting Creamy Italian Chicken..... We did also have green beans and fresh, hot bread that I made in my new bread maker.... It was pretty good, but had a hole in one side.

So, to sum it up, I've had a blast cooking new things in this country, but when it comes to simple favorites, I've got to work on them a bit! Brad thinks I had unrealistic expectations since I was using three new appliances for the first time. (Crock pot, Rice cooker, and Bread maker) Maybe I'll take them one at a time for the next few meals and closely monitor as they cook.

Large Video Below

Okay, this video is pretty large, I think about about 40 meg. Broadband users shouldn't have a problem, but dial up may want to start the process and come back in about an hour or so. I tried a higher quality, but I'm not sure blogger was able to capture the higher quality video. We'll play with it in the future and find out.

Our New Home Video

Pink Asian Girl

From Brad. Well, the little girl is adapting well to her new culture. She is still pink through and through, but this silk dress was a treat she bought in the big city last week. I have a feeling she'll be wearing it quite a lot. She already asked if she could wear it to our Sun. AM get together. The answer is yes! since its a very small crowd and I don't think there will be much 'comparing' going on. She's sitting on our new couch. A comfy couch that Amy picked out about a month ago, yet came just about 2 weeks ago. Most of the couches here are extremely firm, but we were thrilled to find one that was quite a bit softer.
Peter seems to be enjoying himself although the chair which came with the couch swallows him up. We've found that the chair is just big enough to fit 1 adult and 3 kiddos, although it can get a bit cramped. Its great for stories (Peter is holding what else besides...a choo-choo train book), and for youtube videos.

Amy is thrilled to be done with this old kitchen table...and so am I. Old knees on hardwood floors is just not that comfortable. So much for horsey rides from Dad...at least until we get a rug or two. Hopefully soon we'll have some picts or a video up of our whole place.

Finally, at dinner the other night in a restaurant, I met a guy who spoke pretty good English. He had studied in America and you could tell. Most of the more savvy English speaking locals here give themselves an English name. Oftentimes, they'll pick one that is close to their Asian name. In this case the guy went for the gold (or maybe I should say goldfinger). He introduced himself as Bond...James Bond. How great is that. So I was considering Yao Ming. Why not...I am from Houston after all!

Well, goodnight until next time.

Every day life...

by Amy

Well, we've been here for 5 weeks and yesterday is the first day that I didn't have to go outside once - the entire day! It was delightful. Brad took the boys out to run a few errands, while Savannah and I stayed home and painted (while sitting at our wonderful, new kitchen table.) Then, in the afternoon, Brad cooked some tomatoes(for salsa) while I mashed and froze 30 avocados. Yes, you read correctly, I bought avocados! Our friends here found a place to buy them in bulk, so we placed an order together. It is delightful! And, after our special deliveries from the states last weekend and a trip to an import store, we had tacos for dinner last night, complete with fresh guac and homemade salsa! What a yummy treat!

I always heard that life outside the US takes longer, and now I can attest that it's true. But, longer isn't always worse. Let's take salsa for example.... Rather than opening up two can of diced tomatoes, Brad cooked 11 tomatoes. First he blackened them a bit in the skillet, then crushed them in the blender, and finally, heated them in a sauce pan to cook off some of the extra liquid. So, what usually took me 20-30 seconds, took him 30-40 min. But, the flavor was great (so I'm told, since I don't eat salsa!) Also, laundry here takes longer. I have this cool, front-loading machine that will wash and dry my clothes. But, one load takes about 4 hours from start to finish. The great thing is that at night before we go to bed, I can start a load of laundry, and it the morning, it's dry! I didn't have to flip it in the middle of the night! But, when you have a family of 5, laundry is always piling up, and 4 hours per load doesn't seem to make much of a dent.... (maybe that's why people here often wear the same outfit 2 or 3 days in a row ~ less laundry!) I think we're going to try that pretty soon!

Well, I'm off to put my nightly load in the washer before we head to bed! happy sleeps!