Sunshine, Here We Come!

by Amy

The weather in our city has been cold -- I mean in the teens cold! (Our house has been toasty warm, though -- no heat needed here! Brad and I still sleep with the window cracked!) And the wind has been blowing. Savannah and I went shopping on Sunday and we were both chilled to the bone when we got home! So, it makes us all so excited to think about heading to sunny, warm SE Asia for a few weeks! We have several things on our agenda while we're there. First of all, we'll attend a homeschooling conference. I think it will be really helpful for both Brad and me together to think through our goals for our kids' education and how to accomplish them. We also plan on spending several days in a big city playing. I've been doing some research on this city lately and I'm so excited! It looks like such a fun place to take kids! They have a great zoo, hands-on discovery museum, tons of indoor & outdoor play areas, a huge aquarium, and a Toys R Us! Although we haven't decided what we'll try to see this year, I'm sure it will be fun! I'll try to post pics, if we have reliable Internet access!

After we spend about 5 days in that big city, we'll head to a beach town. We plan to splash and play a for a day or two before attending some meetings with like-minded friends. Our kids will be in a VBS-type program. They're really excited! All and all, we'll be away from home for about 4 weeks!


And, since we're heading to such a warm and sunny place, I decided it was time for haircuts -- again.

BEFORE

AFTER

Brad knew haircuts were coming, but he had no idea we were going with the "Summer-Dos!" So, I'm happy to report I have just been fired from Family Hair Cutter Position! YIPPEE!!!!! I may occasionally be called in to do some contract work when Brad needs a hair cut, but he's agreed to take the boys to a real barber from now on!

Poor Pedo! It's a good thing he's too short to see himself in our mirrors! :) It'll grow, son!

Very Thankful

From Brad.


Today when I went to get online, I realized that my wireless router wasn't working. We brought it over from the States and it has worked great. However, not today. I suspected that the cord might be the problem due to problems in the past, but I wasn't sure. Well, this left me with no Internet since I couldn't just plug the Ethernet cord directly into my computer since it wasn't configured correctly. So we called the Internet company and they were shocked that we had a problem. Well they came, and I was able to explain what had happened.

Now a quick aside. I have complained before that many workers/servicemen in this country tend to take a minimalist approach to their work. For whatever reason, they want to do the quickest, easiest fix possible, even if it means they must come out the next day to 'fix' it again. This is not the case with the Internet guy (who came to our house today for the 3rd time since we moved in). In the first place, he doesn't speak much English at all, but was willing and able to work with my computer and get it online when we first got here. Today, he was willing to come out although it probably wasn't his job to. When he found out the problem, he got right to work and was able to configure my computer so I could surf without the router. Then, I asked him about replacing my router cord here in China. I mentioned it wasn't his job to do this and I would gladly pay him to check into it. He said he would do what he could. Thirty minutes after he left, he called me and asked if he could take the router and cord to a local store. He picked them up, went to the store, and returned with a cord that worked and the whole thing only cost $5 (the cost of the cord). He dedicated his whole morning to me and absolutely would not take a $5 tip, and mentioned that friends don't charge friends to do things. All this to say, I am very thankful for him and the kindness he showed. I'll hopefully remember this the next time a plumber comes to my house, grabs a brush, swashes it around in my toilet for 1 minute, tells me my toilet is fixed and asks for his $12 fee. :)

Pedo-isms

by Amy

Amy first...So the other day, the boys had both been having a hard time doing what I asked them to do. I gave Alex the job of picking up all the balls in his room. About 10 min. later he was in the living room playing with Savannah, balls still scattered all over the floor! Then, I asked Peter to pick up the puzzle pieces he dumped out in Savannah's room. Again, about 10 min. later I found him playing in my room, with only about half the puzzle pieces put away. So, that day, as we sat down at lunch, I began a semi-lecture on diligence. I told them they need to listen to me and do what I tell them to do. Being diligent is not stopping the job until it's completely finished. They need to say focused on the tasks I give them. Peter looks right up at me and says, "Focus, I am speed!" He's quoting Lightening McQueen as he's preparing for a big race! Clearly, I had lost him in my diligence lecture!

Then, a few days before that, we had read the story about Jesus calming the wind and the waves. We talked about the amazing power Jesus has that even the wind and water obey Him. So, as we prayed in response to our reading, Peter said, "Dear God, thank you for helping the wind obey you -- Good Job, Wind!..." I'm not sure he caught the intended meaning of the story!

Mint Cookies

by Amy

As you know, I LOVE mint! I found this recipe online (thanks to Jessica B!) and after tweaking it a bit, it's delightful so I thought I'd share.... Here's my version of Chocolate Mint Snowball Cookies:

1.5 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tablespoon cocoa
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
195 g. of milk chocolate (just over 1 cup of milk chocolate chips)
1.5 teaspoon peppermint extract
6 Tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
½ c chocolate chips
Confectioners sugar, optional

In bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; set aside. Over hot water, melt 195g. of chocolate. Stir in peppermint extract, stirring until smooth. In bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add melted chocolate and vanilla. Beat in eggs. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Refrigerate dough for about 1 hour (if planning on rolling into balls and coating with sugar.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; coat with confectioners sugar. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. (You can omit rolling through powder sugar.) Bake 10-12 minutes, until tops appear cracked. Let stand 5 minutes on cookie sheet. Cool completely. Enjoy!

Christmas Fun

By Amy

Well, this was our first Christmas in my 32 and Brad's 35 years to not celebrate with our family. Although there are some sad things that that statement implies, we did have a wonderful and blessed Christmas season. Living in a society that that has no idea why we celebrate Christmas provided some fun opportunities to share the real meaning with our friends. I actually was allowed/invited to teach about American holiday traditions in two schools -- Savannah's kindergarten and a friends' university English class. Both were really fun for me! In Savannah's school, we gave each kid a Christmas gift, The Legend of the Three Trees book in the local language. So, each of the 35+ kids in her class brought her a gift as well. And, our presentation was videoed by some local media and aired on TV a few nights ago. We also hosted a Christmas party for a couple of our college friends. They invited about 10 friends to come to our home to play games and hear the Christmas story. It was lots of fun!

Then, on Saturday, Dec. 22, we got together with our American friends here in town. We had fun singing carols and reading the Christmas story to the kids. Uncle John is by far the favorite story-teller in our world as he does tons of fun voices. Listening to him read is like listening to Adventures in Odyssey! Our kids love it! After dinner and singing, the kids watched a DVD, the guys played Settlers, while the ladies baked cookies. We baked TONS of cookies! The guys and kids went home around 10pm while the ladies kept baking... It was great! Of course we had the traditional sugar cookies that we iced and sprinkled, but on top of that we had 2 versions of a Chocolate Mint cookie, some orange chocolate chip Mexican cookies and a double batch of peanut butter stars (peanut butter cookies with a chocolate star melted in the middle.) I think we ended up heading home about 1am. It was a late night, (especially for a mom!) and I was really tired -- but it was great fun!

On Sunday, Dec. 23 we hosted the party for our college friends, and on Christmas Eve day, I went to Savannah's school. That evening we let the kids each open a present or two, read our Advent book -- all 25 days! -- and all crawled in our bed to watch a new movie together. Then, all the kids slept together in the boys' room. Brad and I sat next the the Christmas tree and enjoyed listening to Christmas music we streamed off the Internet from a Houston radio station. Christmas morning we at cinnamon rolls for breakfast! They were yummy!! Then, we opened more gifts. This year, we let our kids open a gift about twice a week during December, so as to limit the number of gifts we had on Christmas Day. But, I'm not sure it worked! They still had quite a few presents that morning! (We actually opened them next to our fallen down tree -- it crashed that morning, so all the lights and ornaments were put away before we went to bed that night! My mom would be so proud!) After letting the kids play for a while, we got bundled up and hit the street. We took all the cookies that we had made a few nights earlier and put them in little baggies to hand out to people. We had fun walking around our neighborhood giving cookies out to our friends and acquaintances. We also included a movie and little book that explained more about Christmas. Our kids loved it! Now every time we walk by the guards in our complex, the boys ask if we can give them more cookies!

When we returned home, we drank hot chocolate and ate a quick lunch. Then, the kids went down for naps while Brad and I hit the kitchen! Our special Christmas dinner was Chicken Parmesan and Green Bean Casserole followed by Jesus' birthday cake (complete with candles!) Brad made the sauce from scratch while I cooked the chicken and made the casserole -- using real French's Fried Onions, thanks to Sue! Also, while the kids were sleeping, THREE boxes arrived! So, after dinner (before cake) we opened more presents!

So, here are a few pics that capture the day for your viewing enjoyment:

Savannah's new dress from Sue! She just couldn't wait to put it on!

A new tiger and Nemo for the boys.

Clearly Pedo didn't have much help getting dressed this day. I guess he wanted to feel festive by wearing red and green! And, how 'bout those boots -- on the wrong feet!

About 87 people asked Savannah if she was cold since she wasn't wearing pants!

The two Thomas the Train engines sent by my parents was a favorite gift!

Jesus' birthday cake! We each got to choose our own color of icing and the topping. Brad and I chose some ROCKIN' Andies Peppermint Chips that my friend Sarah sent us. The kids chose chocolate sprinkles.

Chocolate in tummies makes for some happy kiddos!

Mmmm! Alex enjoyed his cake! After we blew out the candles, Alex, with such a concerned look on his face asked, "Why doesn't Jesus get a cake?"

Heat

by Amy

Brad is right...soon, I will post about our Christmas fun. But, I only have a few minutes now, so I wanted to tell you about our heater. We have radiators in every room that are 'turned on' on November 5 and 'turned' off sometime in March. This is the way it is in many homes all over our city. Now, if you know Brad and me very well, you know that we fairly warm natured, so not having control over our heat did not seem appealing. So, we talked to our apt. managers and told them we don't want heat this winter. They thought we were crazy! Our house-helper thought we were crazy, and our friends that translated for us also thought we were crazy.... We just couldn't see paying for heat, then opening the windows so it could escape. When it was all said and done, the apartment manager said we would have to pay 3000 local dollars if we wanted heat and 1000 if we didn't. Yes, you read that correctly....we still have to pay, even if we don't want it! That's crazy!

Well, having never lived here in the winter, and having so many tell us how cold it would be without heat, we decided to pay the 3000 local dollars. But, before we paid, we discovered the valve -- so we have the ability to turn our heat off and on. Most people do not have access to this valve in their home (so we've been told.) So, on Nov. 5 our heat cranked on, we quickly turned it off and opened the windows as it was a beautiful fall day. Since Nov. 5 the temperatures have easily fallen below freezing, but we have not turned our heat on ONCE. Our home is SOOO warm because we have 12 floors of heat cranking below us that we often have to open our windows to let their heat out. (Brad and I regularly sleep with our window open.) Even our house-helper and other locals have commented on how warm our home is. So, all this to say, we will save ourselves 2000 local dollars next winter!

My Christmas Gift to Myself (imitation Crocs)

From Brad.


Sorry for the delay, but again, this has been a very busy month. School ends for me soon and that will free up some time to catch up on things (like blogging). I'm sure Amy will soon give a detailed description of our activities over the last couple of weeks, but I thought I'd share with you my recent discovery. First of all, for the first time in my 35 years of life, my back has begun to hurt :( Not too bad, not hindering me from doing anything, but my lower back is a little sore when I sit down. So I've (like my wife) started putting little pillows behind my lower back when I sit down most everywhere. Where is this pain coming from? Hard to tell, but the main difference in my life now (compared to life in America) is I walk on hardwood floors and concrete just about everywhere. In my home, it is always with bare feet. I suspected this might be the culprit. My wife wanted to get me a $35 pair of Crocs. I was tempted to give in but just couldn't bring myself to pay so much for what probably cost them $2 to produce (somebody could get rich if they make a nice imitation Croc for about $10, one that actually looks nice). My tennis shoes are comfortable, but getting a little old. They were also a little hard to slip on and off, so I decided to switch to a new pair (which we had already bought and brought with us). Therefore, my old Reeboks became my new house slippers (after some renovation and a thorough cleaning/sanitation). They're now very easy to get on and off, and still comfortable, but I haven't noticed my back any less sore (but for the record Amy has 2 pairs of Crocs-one for inside, one for outside-and her back still constantly is sore). So...Krista...I don't want to hear any smart comments! :) For your viewing enjoyment...

I also couldn't resist posting a picture of the funny English on this bag of coffee beans. I'd love to hear your interpretation of what they are trying to say.