Christmas

Here is our tree with all our many gifts and packages from afar.

I found these cute stockings on Taobao (the Chinese ebay) from Pottery Barn for $5! They were a bit bigger than I realized- almost as tall as Bennett.

We had egg casserole and green cinnamon rolls for breakfast- enjoyed by all.

Here is the new train table- now covered with even more train sets than pictured here.

Here are the boys coloring on their new easel.

We had Christmas dinner at our place with our neighbors and a few other friends- lots of appetizers, pork tenderloin, potatoes and green beans. And I made a Key Lime cheesecake (thanks to my sis Charlotte for sending the flavoring!) with raspberry sauce for dessert.

If you look close you can see that Bennett colored red marker all over his face. He disappeared for awhile and we found him next door at Angie's coloring ...

Austin's Christmas Play

Austin the shepherd, getting ready before the play. He did not like the shepherd head covering, so they made him a special one that was just a headband.

Bree, the beautiful angel.

All the kids watching a video while they waited for the play. Most of the kids (not Austin and Bree) had been at school all day and didn't perform till almost 8 pm.

Well December has gotten away from me, but here is what many of you have been anxiously waiting for...Austin's Christmas play performance. We spent Christmas Eve at what only can be described by as the most "re nao" (loud and crazy and lots of energetic atmosphere) Christmas Eve service I have ever attended. Austin did a great job- he remembered his line and sang his songs, though he had a very serious look on his face the whole time. He also probably was a bit overwhelmed by the crowd and noise. Bennett had a minor meltdown during Austin's line, but the good thing about "re nao" Chinese performances is that no one could really hear him or be bothered by him, other than several grandma's shoving candy into his hands to help him stop crying. So, here is Austin the shepherd. He is one the three shepherds whom the angels appear to spread the good news of the birth and his line roughly translates as "It seems like something big is about to happen!"




We had a great Christmas as well. The boys were showered with gifts in the 7 packages we received from our loving family members. They enjoyed presents, SKYPE calls with family, our breakfast of egg casserole and cinnamon rolls, we hosted our 2 neighbor families' and a couple of friends for appetizers and dinner and finished the night with a game of cards before falling exhausted into bed. More Christmas pictures and pre-Christmas celebration posts to come. Somehow I got so behind with blogging but hope to get back to it as the new yea approaches. We love and miss all our family and friends at this time.

Naughty or nice?

My friend Tammy took these pictures and more...be on the look out for a card in a few weeks.

These faces are so precious aren't they? And they can be SO sweet. Austin often helps Bennett with things he needs lately. Bennett is really quick to share when asked. They both love to "help" me set the table. Today I asked if they wanted to help me fold towels and they were so excited. However, while they can be very sweet, both have had some discipline issues lately.

Austin got in trouble at school last week and had to stay in while the other kids went outside. Apparently, since he has been at school he often will run around and do what he wants during the lesson or song time. I never knew till now. I guess in the beginning they knew he didn't understand as much, so the teachers just let him. But now they have decided (and rightly so in my opinion too) that he should be treated the same as the other kids. So last Wednesday they were practicing for the Christmas play (that is a whole 'nother post- but they are having a Christmas Eve play and Austin is in it) and singing and Austin would not sit down. The teacher asked him 3 times to sit and finally gave him a choice to sit or to not go outside that day. Guess what he chose? He stayed in. So the teacher explained all this to me when i picked him up. I felt like they did the right thing. When I asked him if he stayed inside, he said "No one went outside Mommy". Wow. So now he was lying. However, we got home and Chris was home and we all talked about it. After a few minutes Austin started sobbing that he had sin and he was sorry. It was a great talk in the end about confession and forgiveness and the truth. The next few days he did great and the teachers encouraged him a lot and he got a sticker at the end of each day. I do love this school and the way it has been handled.

So we have talked a lot about following the rules at school and obeying the teachers. Then Friday he didn't exactly get in trouble, but he cried a lot at one point because there is a new kid in school who cries a lot and Sun Laoshi (his teacher) had to spend a lot of time with him and couldn't play with Austin and he was mad. Apparently he also sort of monopolizes her attention. So he needs to learn a little more independence. And then he found a big stick outside and wanted to bring it in the classroom and they wouldn't let him. And he cried and made a big fuss about it. So we had to talk again about obeying the teachers and rules that might be different from home. Sun Laoshi also has said he is very clever at getting what he wants. Apparently sometimes they would ask him to do something and he would sort of laugh and say "Ting bu dong, ting bu dong"- which means "I don't understand" but he clearly did and has learned already that as a foreigner you can sometimes get away with things by saying this little phrase. Today he got a sticker and they said he did a good job. Except that when he got home he confessed to me that he peed in the bucket that has water from washing your hands, not in the "toilet" bucket! What! The water isn't used to wash hands, thankfully, but catches the water from this big container that has water and a spout. He also did not tell the truth about why he did it and got some sassy (aka tabasco) sauce after dinner. He first said none of the teachers saw him and then said one of them did, so I am not really sure how that happened but I was pretty appalled.I am still not entirely sure if he really had to go and someone was using the other one or if he just thought it would be funny, but I think the latter. He never would really say why. SO...overall they still say he is kind and growing in obedience, but...I thought Austin was pretty much a rule- follower, but not always. Also, he has new shoes and always seems to have trouble getting them on for me...but today his teacher taught him to do it himself and now he can.

Today Angie was at my house and Jesh and Bennett were coloring at the table. Suddenly we look up and they are both coloring with crayons on my red wall. Bennett definitely knows this is not allowed. He got a time-out. Then I went to get him out and he had crawled out of his bed and was playing on Austin's bed. So he got another time-out. Then I went in to get him and asked him to say he was sorry. He refused...rather defiantly. He definitely wanted out but he would not say he was sorry. So he had to stay in a while more. Went back in...same thing. This happened about 5 times over 30 minutes. After the second time I told him that Jesh was eating a sandwich he was almost beside himself to eat one too and he FINALLY said "I sorry" while sobbing. He has a stubborn streak too but I was determined to win this one. I got most of the crayon off the walls but not there are big white streaks over the red.

So those are our naughty tales of the week. Wow, I can't imagine what having rebellious teenagers must be like. This week was as a lot to handle.

In the Christmas mood

Chris had to work on Friday after Thanksgiving, but was off Saturday and we had a fun family day. We decorated our tree and house. I always idealize the decorating and it was fun- but it is also a bit of a challenge to try to decorate as a family when certain little people want to open and pull apart everything they see in the decoration trunk. We all worked together for awhile and then later Chris played with the boys in the bedroom so I could finish in a little peace. Then we splurged and had a nice lunch at Peter's Tex-mex (I got pumpkin soup and a turkey sandwich. I wasn't really in the Tex-mex mood). Austin and Bennett have already watched the Charlie Brown Christmas video several times and Austin goes around quoting it. He loves to say "Hello in there" "Rats" "Lights please" and "Eeew! I've been kissed by a dog". Bennett is starting to say them now too.

In other news, we are trying to potty train Austin at night. He is pretty motivated and will go right before bed, often after going to bed and first thing in the morning...but still wakes up wet every night so far. I guess it is hard to learn something you are supposed to do when you are asleep. Oh well, I know it might take awhile but we are trying it (with Skittles as motivation). Here are some pix of the decorating.

There was lots of squealing and excitement when we got the "Little People" Nativity scene out . It is still the main attraction these days and sits out on the trunk for easy access. We went out the other day and Bennett said "Bye" to ...the donkey, the camel and Baby Jesus before we left. It is a great toy. I love Nativity scenes and have several sets- one from China, one from Kazakstan and one from...somewhere else in Asia.

Bennett "helping" to get the tree out. We have this fake tree and I still sigh sometimes when I think about not having a real one...however, it is not a bad tree for being a fake, China tree. So I am thankful.

Austin mostly just wanted to put the star on top. I tried to tell him we usually do that last...but it ended up being about the, oh fifth ornament we put on. It wasn't worth the whining and fight. He was pretty proud to get it on there (with a lot of Daddy's help).

Here is the nighttime look. I actually completely rearranged the living room on Friday night. I wasn't sure where I would fit the tree where it wouldn't look crowded the way it used to be. I split up the entertainment center pieces and put the love seat opposite the couch. I actually really like it this way- it opens up the room more. We will see if it stays this way in January or not.

Today we made "Christmas cards" or at least Austin wanted to. Hopefully we will get some of these mailed off soon. I went out of the room and came back to find Bennett coloring with my headband on...he loves that thing and puts it on whenever I happen to leave it out. Silly boy.

Happy Thanksgiving

I am currently stuffed to the gills. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with our other 2 family friends in the neighborhood plus a handful of others- 13 adults and 6 kids. I had my fill of turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, stuffing and 3 kinds of pies. We miss family of course at this time of year though and wish we could be close.

There are SO many things I am thankful for this year, but some of the top of the list are my Dad's health after a big scare with his tumor this spring, my own health after a few unknowns this year, our new home and neighbors, who have become really good friends, Austin's beginning to really pray and seem to understand a lot about the Lord in really sweet ways, his wonderful preschool situation and the joy both boys bring us daily. Thank you Lord for your many gifts!

Here are some snapshots of the day. The pictures say it better than any more words...

My handsome little men! So cute, i had to take a picture this morning after getting them dressed. We SKYPed with my parents and Bop- my Dad- had a "work shirt" ( as Austin calls it) and a sweater vest on. Austin thought that was pretty cool.

This morning we went to the Staege's (our hosts and neighbors). The kids all watched Charlie Brown Thanksgiving video (which is very informative, by the way- the Mayflower episode). Everyone ranges in age from 1 to 4.5. They were clearly pretty into it, which helped us momma's get some cooking done. We went home for naps and came back around 4 for the big meal.

The kids busy chowing down.
Bennett pretty much ate a piece of cornbread and sweet potato casserole. Oh and cranberry sauce. He loves to eat but has gotten rather picky lately. He didn't even really like his dessert (which was fine, because I ate it instead!)

Austin and Bree tried to break the wishbone...but couldn't do it. Then Austin tried it with Chris and finally it cracked and Austin then broke it apart. He technically "won" I guess. Mostly, he saw Snoopy and Woodstock do it on the video and wanted to try it. Austin and Bree have had lots of fun playing all sorts of creative things...tonight we went to the playroom, where they had been for hours. They were playing "heaven"- they were in heaven, it had a pool and Elmo. Hmmm.

Bennett and Jesh wrestling. Bennett loves to wrestle- usually he tried to pin Austin, who whines and wants me to make him stop. Jesh was a pretty willing partner tonight though and they had fun. Bennett kept wrestling him again and again...fortunately, Jesh was a good sport.

Family picture...this was the best one we got. Austin had the threat of losing dessert if he didn't look or made a mean face. He said this was smiling, but I am not sure I agree.

Here are our next-door neighbors, the Hunemullers. We are so thankful for them! We talk about them a lot, so I thought you might like to see them all in person.

These are our other fun neighbors and hosts of our dinner, the Staeges. We are really enjoying getting to know them this year and thankful for them. Notice all the very German sounding names in our neighborhood (and another family with a German name comes back in January). Also, all four of these German husbands LOVE Lord of the Rings. WE wives think its pretty funny :).

Happy Thanksgiving! We miss you all family and wish we could be there. But hopefully this long post will help a little.

Gran turns 90!

Happy Birthday to Nana/Gran! My Nana (my mom's mother) or Gran as my boys call her turned 90 yesterday. She is an amazing woman who has lived through a lot of hard times and good times. She is a wonderful cook and still lives independently in her own apartment. I am sad to have missed her big birthday celebration, but my mom and sisters and aunts were all with her. Here are a few shots of her with Austin and Bennett during our trips back. We love you Gran!

So sweet! Bennett just sat so still with her this past summer when we visited.

Austin giving her a kiss - brought lots of smiles.

I am thankful...for this happy ending.

Well, I know I promised more photos of Austin's birthday, but I have been a bit distracted with a crazy week. I normally might be hesitant to put this personal of a story on the blog- but am so thankful for God's very specific answers to prayer that I feel like I must.

This week I started having some pain on my lower right side that felt similar to pain I had experienced 5 years ago when i discovered I had endometriosis (that I had surgery for in 2005). So I went in and they did an ultrasound to see if they could discover the source of the pain...and told me that I was pregnant...with twins. Whoa. BUT that it did not look good- there were no heartbeats and I had bled so it seemed that I would miscarry. Then later that afternoon they called and said that my pregnancy test was negative...in fact so low it was definite I was not nor could have been pregnant. But they were worried about what it was they saw on the ultrasound- so they said they would probably need to have a minor surgery this coming week to see what it is and to probably remove it.

SO- this created quite a mix of emotions- from thinking I had this mysterious pain to possibly being pregnant with twins (both exciting and rather overwhelming) to knowing I am not pregnant but have a mysterious thing inside me. I was rather annoyed at the thought of having surgery (not as anxious as I normally get for some reason) but definitely praying a lot. This all happened on Thursday. On Friday I got a call back from the doctor asking me to come back in Saturday for another ultrasound and probably to schedule the surgery for next week.
Usually I am rather negative and pessimistic about my health- since it is an area that seems to follow me with this issue or that. However, this time I really felt like I should pray that on Saturday the thing would be gone. I felt calm, not especially hopeful but not too anxious.

Well, they did the ultrasound and the technician stopped halfway and said- "I need to go get the doctor". Well, this made me really nervous. But he came back in, looked at the screen for a minute and said "Good news! It's gone". I teared up just at the exact answer to prayer that it was and knew that the Lord was being good to me. The doctor still is not exactly sure what happened- he said it probably was some kind of blood clot that just happened to look like twin embryos. Neither he nor his colleagues had ever seen anything like it.

So, there is no need for surgery or really any other medical treatment. But I am really thankful for the Lord's sweet reminder that He takes care of us and does answer prayer. He might not have answered in that way and He would still be with me, but as Thanksgiving approaches, I am very thankful for not just my health but the specific ways the Lord showed goodness to me this week.

Hard times

More birthday posts are coming, but for now I will just share I am feeling really burdened for many friends. And Austin woke up throwing up last night and is still throwing up this afternoon. Poor little guy. We cannot seem to stay well in our house this fall.

You can join my in praying for 3 friends facing great difficulties. My friend and former neighbor Meg flew back to the States last week to be with her mom. Her mom has battled cancer for 10 years but went downhill really quickly a week or 2 ago. We are thankful she got there in time to talk with her mom while she was conscious and spent time with her 6 sisters, who all came in town. Her mom is still holding her own, but they are not sure how much time she has left. Meg will fly back to Asia tomorrow, which will be very hard to do I am sure.

My good friend Emily (Sydney's mom) got a call Friday that her father had suddenly passed away. He was very healthy and young (I think not more than 60) but was running and had a massive heart attack and died instantly. I went to see her that day and out together a few things for her kids on the plane ride. It is so hard to face things like this, much less from half way around the world.
My good friend Laura is in the States this fall and they have been hoping to adopt a baby in the US. They have had heartbreak after heartbreak of getting placed with a child and then having the birth mother back out or change their mind or some other reason it has not worked out. This past weekend it seemed so promising- they flew to Baltimore to pick up the baby, met the baby and birth mother and then left without a baby. They are grieving this loss and wondering if they will have time to get a baby before their time in the States is up. Laura reminded me through an article she has been reading that sometimes God "breaks our bones" in order to keep us in his grace and walking in the place that is truly best for us...but it is often very hard to walk through and see others walk through.

So...today I am praying for my friends- and for Austin- and ask you to join me.

Austin's safari party

We had Austin's birthday party today, one day before the actual day. I am so tired I can barely write coherently, so I will do a more complete birthday post tomorrow. But he wanted a safari theme (though i am not sure he was very clear on what a safari was before the party)- so we had a few animal inspired games, stuffed and blow up animal decorations and of course...a violin cake. What? Yeah, he wanted a safari party and a violin cake. He has many interests. Here a few preview pictures and I will do a more complete job tomorrow.

Grilled hot dogs and mac and cheese for kids...hamburgers and steak/veggie kabobs for adults.

I bought animal masks for kids to be safari animals (masks are really common here- people wear them outside and on public transportation a lot). So...they weren't all technically safari animals (ie Bennett the panda) but close enough. Austin wore his for about 10 seconds and then decided it wasn't comfortable. Oh well. They were part of the games played.

Austin's delight in the a remote control car ...ie crazy car...from Bree and Jesh. It had big lights and the wheels spun so it flipped and flopped about. Everyone wanted a turn though and Austin had trouble with all the commotion and lack of patience with all the kids wanting to hold his new toy.

The cake...I actually used his little violin to trace out the shape of the cake.

Everyone wanted to be close to watch present opening...a little chaotic but fun.

Hearty Halloween

We spent a quiet evening at home tonight but it was fun and meaningful together as a family. Halloween costumes and pumpkins make a few scant appearances here in stores but mostly is unknown. We don't feel like it is a holiday we want to make a huge deal about and yet a little celebration is in order. Some of our friends had plans so we just had a simple night at home. Chris and Austin carved a pumpkin, Bennett mostly watched, colored a little pumpkin and screamed for more popcorn and I made homemade pumpkin soup. It turned out pretty well, with beer bread on the side and I think I will try to make a tradition out of it. Pumpkin is plentiful here and cheap and I was pleased with the result. Then Austin (followed by Bennett) pulled some outfits out of the dress-up box, I gave them some M and M's and we watched The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown to finish off the evening. Both boys slept at naptime and were pretty wired but happy this evening. We are hoping we will not have a repeat of last year's Halloween night- snow! It was in the low 60's today so it would be quite unexpected.

Uh-oh: We just had a new development. Austin just ran in our room (it's 9 pm) "Bennett just crawled in my bed!" followed by a grinning Bennett "get out of bed mommy!". This is a first - Bennett still sleeps in a pack and play. Maybe not for long.

Roaster surprise

Today we went back to one of our local parks as a family. The weather was beautiful (it has continued to be either horrible or beautiful...no in between) and enjoyed a nice day and getting into nature. See the pictures for explanations of it- but it was good to let our boys explore and get a little dirty and discover things God has made- thankful for good parks in the city.

I have had a full couple of weeks, which has left me little time to blog. Bennett had a stomach bug- throwing up and diarrhea- for almost a week. It started while Chris was out of town (an up- all-night beginning of course) and then just lingered with a couple of bad episodes a day for almost a week. In the midst of that, I had a mom's weekend in the city but away overnight. So i had Bennett sick for 2 days, then Chris got home the day I left and he got to be the solo parent. We had to miss our planned anniversary overnight because of Bennett, but we could not get a refund on the room so I stayed by myself for a night! It was really nice (and weird) to be by myself in a hotel for 24 hours. Now I am back, everyone is well and Chris is around (minus 2 nights next week) until January. Yeah!

The setting...a sandy beach with a big hole dug in it, a lake, lots of rocks and reeds.

Austin loved this big whole and completed the challenge of climbing out of it.

The victory dance...imitating a good friend of ours (and every Chinese person who has ever been in a photograph).

What a cutie pie! Bennett is talking more and more and speaking quite a few Chinese words too. Now he likes to count- but he starts in English and finishes (1-10) in Chinese...one, two...san, si, wu, liu, etc. It is very cute and gets him even more local attention than he already commands.

The reeds...we found these reed tops on the little beach. Austin called them "roasters" (and hot dogs too) and played with them for a long time.

And Bennett- pretending it is a hot dog. He was a little too good at pretending though!

And then...the discovery. Chris accidentally stepped on one and suddenly hundreds and thousands of little seeds came out- just like a dandelion that you blow away. The rest of the time was spent pulling them apart and watching it. You just pulled a little bit and it sort of exploded out like in this picture.

whoo! Austin was entertained completely by this and we had to drag him away after there were no more "roasters" left to disembody.

poor buddy

Bennett and I did not sleep much last night- poor Bennett had diarrhea and threw up a lot of the night. Don't know where this came from, but it got him. He still cannot really keep anything down today. And Austin had a hard time with me holding or attending to Bennett most of the day and Chris is still gone. Thankfully Xiao Chen was here and did about a zillion loads of laundry today. Pray with me today (my night) that we all get some sleep and heal. Also I am supposed to be gone this weekend with some mom friends...hoping that I can still keep my plans, which I am really looking forward to! Thanks for your prayers. Off to bed while everyone is sleeping.

Bennett's 2 year check up

Today we went in for Bennett's 2 year old check up. Everything looks good and he is continuing to grow nicely :). He weighed 28.3 pounds (right at 50% percentile for weight now) and was 35 inches tall (65% percentile or so)...still shorter and lighter than his brother, but not sure how long that will last. He did a great job and the doctor commented on his talking- he was impressed that he is speaking in short sentences already. I told him he followed a VERY verbal brother, but still manages to get his share of talking in. Bennett will repeat anything you say these days and while he has his "2 year old moments" he is mostly a really sweet boy who likes to snuggle, LOVES his older brother and people in general, loves playing with trains, Legos and his giant Doggie. We are missing Chris again but this trip is short and he will be back before the weekend. Blogger has temporarily disabled photo uploads, so no photos today.

Happy Birthday Grandpa (belated)!

Happy Birthday to Grandpa! Sorry this post is belated though we did get to SKYPE with him on his actual birthday. Austin has drawn 2 cards for Grandpa, though I have not made it to the local post office yet...but be on the look out. We are thankful for Grandpa's sharing his love of trains and cars with our train-crazy boys, for the many ways he helps us with details we cannot take care of while living overseas and for the many treats he gives us.

Riding Thomas the Train at Tweetsie this summer...the boys had a BLAST, thanks to Grandpa's discovering and treating us.

Playing baseball at Aunt Diana's this summer- batter up!

Thank you! Love, Bennett

Thank you everyone for all the great birthday presents and greetings you sent to Bennett. See for yourself how he liked them!

Thank you Grandpa and Nai Nai for the fun puzzles and book. Bennett loves to do puzzles and is at the perfect stage for them. And Happy Birthday to Grandpa! More on that later.

Thank you Nana and Bop - for the fun Wedgits set and the Bob and Larry book. Austin is also managing to get his fair share of time with Wedgits and they have been building pyramids and robots together.

Thank you Aunt Emmy and Uncle Mark - for the really fun Vegetales coloring book and Elmo book/magnadoodle pad. It arrived at the perfect time- we have one small magna doodle drawing pad that both boys LOVE right now and the night before the package arrived I had to go in their room at night to take it away because they were fighting over it. Now they each have one and are both very happy! (And Happy Birthday late Uncle Mark).

Wow- a train! Thank you Aunt Char and Uncle John- for the great puzzle train. Bennett has spent quite a lot of time since he got it driving it and rearranging all the pieces. It is also a big hit with the neighbors.

This is the only video we managed to take, though we did get to SKYPE live with Grandpa and Nai Nai. Thanks to everyone who loves Bennett and made his birthday special. Just a clarifying statement...Austin's comments continued after the video ended to clarify the Wedgits were really fun...not TOO much (I think he thought there was such a thing as too much fun) but just the right amount of fun - more than a little :).