The Children's Museum

Last week I enjoyed a great visit with an old friend...one of my first friends I made here 10 years ago. She was in town for her work and we had dinner. While she was here she mentioned a friend of hers was starting up a children's museum in town and could maybe get us free tickets. It turned out that the official opening is this weekend, but the 2 weeks before they were giving away free tickets. So Thursday our playgroup (or the families that are still in town) went. I went with Austin and Bennett stayed home with Chris because he is still fighting a cold.

It was great! It was modeled after children's museums in the US. They had a play grocery store, a real jeep you could get in and pump "gas" into, a big water display with pumps and buckets and toys in it, a castle connected to a maze with a bridge and a big slide and a big blocks you could build a building with, among other things. I could barely keep up with Austin, he was so excited and kept running from one thing to another. Here are a few pictures.

Filling his cart in the supermarket. It was funny, he mostly wanted to "buy" vegetables.

Checking out- you could scan your own items and they would show the price on the computer.

Getting ready to pump gas.

They had a "fun house" type mirror- you know the kind that makes you look really short and fat or tall and thin. Austin kept looking at himself in this outfit and smiling.

Austin and Bree in the maze.

Waving happy

Well, I have not posted anything in days because I keep thinking I will sit down and figure out how to reduce the size of our photos on my new camera...and I never get around to it. I still haven't, so no pictures but I will post anyway. All four of us have colds and they are not fun. The boys are feeling better, but still have runny noses and some coughing at night. Chris felt terrible today and stayed home from meetings (he still did work, but from home). I think I am getting it, though I don't seem to feel as bad as everyone else does.

We got Austin a book for Christmas called "All Kinds of Feelings" - it is a lift-the-flap book about different feelings with a spin- game at the end with about 20 different feeling words. It is a great tool to try and help him learn how to express himself and his many feelings. They also have lots of pictures and there is one of a girl waving and it says "friendly" (I guess that is a feeling). But Austin insisted on calling it "waving happy" so we now have a new feeling word. I am not sure that Austin feels friendly very often...but he does feel happy and will sometimes wave at others. The other funny thing he did this week was pretend that our large exercise ball was a stone...the stone to the tomb where Jesus was buried. Then we made a tomb in his bed and he got in it and then came out alive. Always the active imagination. Today he made a train rocket and went to South America (he recently received the movie "UP" as a Christmas present and they go to South America). He packed a backpack full of play food to take along.

Bennett has been pretty clingy lately and even more so since he has been sick. He seemed happier this morning but is never far from my side or my arms if he can help it. His new word is "no"...but he mostly just repeats when he hears other people say it to him (which is often if you combine Austin telling him no a lot and me for touching or getting into things he shouldn't). It is really cute right now, though I am sure it won't stay cute for long. He will say "no, no, no" and smile.

Well, here is a happy wave to all my readers for the night!

what would you name your son?

This will be a short post...I was out shopping tonight with a friend. We are both looking for a brown, medium length down jacket to go with this cold weather...and both came back empty handed. It was fun to be out with a friend, but now it is after 11 pm - definitely time for me to go to bed.

Tonight after dinner Chris asked Austin when he grew up, would he like to have a son or daughter like we have and Austin said, "Yes , Daddy when I'm old". Chris then asked him what would he name his little boy if he had one. Austin thought for a second and then said "Jesus". So cute. Today we were playing with the resurrection eggs (12 plastic eggs with small toys inside that tell the Easter story). So maybe it was fresh on his mind, but we both just smiled. Well, good night!

New toy

Mommy got a new toy today...my Digital SLR camera, that was a Christmas present from, well, just about everybody! Thanks! I have only had a little bit of time to play with it and begin to learn. It is fun but also a little overwhelming. I took a photography class in high school and loved it, but have not kept up so I feel like I am pretty much starting from scratch. I do remember a tiny bit about aperture and shutter speed, but not much. There are SO many features on the camera it will take a long time to figure them out. But here are a few shots of the boys I took today while playing around. These are still in mostly auto mode...but even so I impressed with the quality. This will be a fun hobby to learn I think. Chris has so many hobbies and I, well, I like to read and cook and...sleep lately. So I am excited to add something a little more interesting to my (very limited) free time.


These photos are so large...3.7 mb each. I can only post 2 in one post. I need to figure out how to save them in a smaller size for the blog. In other news, Chris got back safely Friday evening. We had a relaxing day together on Saturday. We went to the mall and the boys played in this kids play place...they both loved it. I should have brought the camera (this was before the new one) but I forgot. Don't worry, we will go again. In this freezing weather, that is one of the best (though not cheap) ways to burn off energy and stay warm. Austin has been learning a lot about sharing and being UNselfish. It took awhile for him to figure out the difference between selfish and unselfish...he would get them mixed up. Now he knows and emphasizes the UN very clearly. While still of course having times of pushing or hitting or being frustrated with Bennett, Austin has tried really hard to share and be kind to Bennett as well. I guess all the discipline this week is starting to make a bit of an impact. He even built Bennett Legos "so he can knock them down". I have been proud of him these past few days. Well, I hear the temperature may get up to a roasting 42 degrees F tomorrow! Whoo hoo.

Haiti

Today was the first day I actually read any in-depth stories about the earthquake in Haiti. I know it is such a big news, but I couldn't really bring myself to read about it before now. I think after the Sichuan earthquake, I got SO absorbed by it- watching news and reading on the internet all throughout the day and felt it so deeply, since it was in a place I had called home, that I just burned out on news and images. It was good to grieve for people and it moved me to action- being a small part of helping bring wheelchairs to children crippled by the quake-but was very draining. So when I heard about this, I just sort of avoided the news. Just did not want to go there again. But, it is real and there and I finally involved myself in a tiny way by reading news tonight.

It is of course so sad and heartbreaking it is hard to absorb it. I thought it both good and embarrassing when I heard that China rescuers beat the Americans there. Good in that as China rises in power they are also taking some of the responsibility that comes with wealth and power to help those in need (a value that is somewhat foreign to this culture. Here you help your family and those in your inner circle, but helping the far away stranger is, well, strange). But embarrassing as an American that we were slower to help a country that is in our hemisphere than a country half a world away. Regardless, it seems help is always too slow and never enough for a country as destitute and in need as Haiti was and very much is now. I will pray and give something to help. And will feel sad for all the loss. But I may not stay glued to the computer about it this time around. It is sort of hard to function. Not sure if that is right or wrong, but those are my thoughts at the moment.

Is he Chinese or English?

According to Austin, there are 2 types of people in the world...Chinese and English. Austin does not have a very clear concept of race or ethnicity, but I realizes the way he categorizes people he knows here is not so much by how they look as by what language they speak. Xiao Ji is definitely Chinese to Austin. But my friend V, who is Chinese, came over for dinner last night. She has babysat the boys before and Austin really likes playing with her. I said something about her being Chinese to Austin last night and he said "She has good Chinese but she is English". So I said she does speak English well, but she is Chinese. Today we had playgroup and I was talking about this with the other moms. We asked Austin what Angie ayi was (she is Chinese-American) and he said "She is English. But she is a little Chinese too". He does know one African shu shu, Glorie, who plays bass with Chris sometimes. I am pretty sure he refers to him as "English", though we have told him Glorie is from Africa (and speaks Rwandan and French best, followed by Chinese and then English, though all of his languages are pretty good). I guess that is what happens growing up in the often confusing world of a "third culture" ("Third Culture Kids are those who grow up in a culture different from their parents, so neither their parents home culture nor the host culture where they live are completely theirs...they move into a third culture, identifying most with kids like them who are in between cultures). But also not necessarily a bad way to understand one's cultural identity in some ways, since language is so tied to culture. But it is funny to hear how Austin perceives people and the world.

In other news, the toilet water was a false alarm. This morning both toilets flushed fine...I think it must have been some other issue with our apartment complex. So our $12's worth of toilet water paid at the end of 2007 continues to keep us well supplied.

One more day without Chris...about 24 hours from now he will land. Yeah! Thanks for your comments...keep them coming :)

Leave your comments

Well, I was having blog block and not sure what to write about it. Then I was just talking with my sister Charlotte about how I love being able to share our life with whoever of you out there that takes the time to read our blog...but it feels like such a one way street. I don't get to see or hear your reactions. SO, this post is a plea for more comments on the blog. Charlotte pointed out that she just learned that you can comment on each post recently. So, in case you don't know, under each post in little script on the right, it will say 0 comments, 1 comment etc (usually 0). Just click on it and you can leave a comment. Just a sentence or two will do. Just something to let me know...hey I am out here reading this. OK, this is my challenge to you readers...let's see how many comments I can get in one post :) Everyone practice leaving a comment (if you have not done it before).

Otherwise, we are doing fine and hanging in there with Chris gone. We have SKYPEd with him most days and had friends over or seen someone at least once a day. Tomorrow is playgroup at our house. Austin has really been pushing the envelope with behavior lately- mostly directed at Bennett (hitting, pulling hair today was a new one) and getting lots of discipline. The only other really news worthy thing today is...remember my post from over a year ago where I paid the maximum amount for our toilet water bill (if not, search for the post titled Bills from...I can't remember when. sometime late 2008)? Well, tonight, we ran out of toilet water. For the first time since that post. Perfect. Kids are already in bed and so it will have to wait till tomorrow when XIao Ji comes so I can run out and pay it. Well, it was nice while it lasted. Guess we will have stinky toilets for one night. Pray I will sleep well tonight...I had a great night last night but not so good sleep (laid awake till 3 AM one night) before then.

Plugging along

Well, we are into the third day of Chris being gone and all doing ok. It is still so so cold. Today felt like one of the coldest yet because it was really windy and the windchill is brutal. While we miss Chris a lot, I was really thankful for a fun night last night with my friends and fellow playgroup moms. We are reading a book together about parenting and every once in awhile meet in the evening outside of playgroup so we can have extended conversation for more than 30 seconds without interruption. It was a fun night of conversation and prayer and I am thankful for them. We also had dinner last night with the Shaffars, which was nice. Xiao Ji made jiaozi tonight and we had pancakes Sunday night after Chris left, so I haven't really had to cook a real meal in days.

Tomorrow is my small group Bible study in the morning and a local friend will come over to eat with us for dinner, so these things help the week go by. Tonight I think I am going to watch my new movie Emily sent me for Christmas..."Julia and Julie". I am excited for a girl movie to watch!
I have not slept great since Chris has been gone so am praying for a good night's sleep tonight. Sorry I have not taken any pictures lately. But my new Digital SLR camera (my CHristmas present) should be coming in a few days, so there should be plenty of pictures to come whenI figure out how to use it.

Gearing up

Well, I am gearing up for a week without Chris. He left this afternoon and will be back Friday night. It shouldn't be too bad, but it still is always more challenging to do everything alone. And we will miss him of course. Saturday Austin and Chris got to have some bonding time at the donut shop and the pool. And I got an afternoon at Starbucks to myself to try to fill up a bit with the Lord. Despite my nap post yesterday, both boys went down this afternoon. Bennett actually slept and Austin stayed in the room about an hour, but made repeated appearances after that and was done.

Austin has been saying some really funny things lately. He has watched a lot of the Grinch and Charlie Brown Christmas video and it's funny the things that come out. I kept hearing him at nap singing Jingle Bells, and then talking in a very bossy voice saying "That's not Jingle Bells. I mean Jingle Bells!" imitating Lucy talking to Schroder. Then tonight he had his drill and said "Mommy, I am drilling you because your not screwed on right" (as in, The Grinch's head wasn't screwed on right). Austin has these funny "rules" he makes. A lot of them have to do with what someone can or can't do or say. I "cannot" say a lot of things that Chris and Austin say as jokes. For example, Chris often calls a diaper a "dipe". He and Austin will joke about it, but if I say "Austin, let's put on your dipe for nap" he will say "Mommy, you can't say that. Daddy says that." Well, somehow today I earned the right to say dipe. At nap I was about to put his diaper on and he told me I could say dipe now.

Well, that's it for now. Wish me well this week, a long,cold week without my husband. I do have my mom's playgroup moms coming over Monday night, a new movie from Emily to watch another night and plenty of cleaning and organizing the house to keep my busy. Oh yeah, and two active little people who don't like to nap!

The beginning of the end of nap time?! No!

I am afraid we are nearing the end of afternoon nap for Austin and I am not ready! He has never been a long napper. He ended his morning nap by about 10 months old. He has regularly had days where he did not sleep since age 2, but the past few months he rarely sleeps in the afternoon. We still have naptime every day, but he plays, talks and sings the whole time. Since sharing a room with Bennett, he usually "naps" in my room and often the room is a disaster by the time I get him up.

Well, up until now he has not been able to open the doors to his and my rooms. They stick really badly in the door frame and are really hard to open, so like it or not he has stayed put. Until now. Now he can suddenly open all the doors and we are having repeated appearances during nap. Today I had just fallen asleep on the office bed when in pops Austin. I told him he could get up if he played quietly in the den, but later he went in his room while Bennett was napping.

Bennett is starting to only need one daytime nap. I still put him down twice, but this week he has not slept any in the afternoon after sleeping in the morning. I have been waking him after morning nap in hopes that he will sleep again in the afternoon. I would drop his morning nap, but he really needs it. If he doesn't nap he is cranky by 10 am. Very. He is also cranky if he doesn't sleep in the afternoon by 5, but there is not much to be done about that. SO...how will I survive without some down time in the afternoon? I often use that time to rest, read my Bible, prep dinner and twice a week I meet with people during that time. I will have to make some new plans. I am still hopeful I can get Austin to rest in a room with books for an hour, but it has been uphill going so far. As much as he likes books, he cannot or will not sit still that long at naptime. We will see- this is not happening without great effort on my part to keep a naptime- but the inevitable may be here.

A living, breathing tissue

Well, that is what I have been today...a living, breathing tissue for Bennett. All four of us have colds. Bennett just seems to have a dripping nose throughout the day. He is constantly trying to climb up on me on the or snuggle on my shoulder when I hold him (which he frequently wants) or be close and he always manages to wipe his nose on my hands, jeans, shirt, you name it. He actually tries to blow his nose...he keeps seeing the rest of us do it. He tries by sticking a tissue in his mouth and blowing. Not too effective. Or if I wipe his nose and he manages to swipe the tissue from my hand, he will rip it to shreds and have a great time doing it. So much for trying to not share germs.

It has been a long day. It is too cold to go out and we are all getting stir-crazy. Chris is gone most of the day and night on Wednesday. Today he tried to get home earlier by taking a cab instead of the subway. Big mistake. Instead of an hour on the subway it took him 2 hours to get home because they got stuck in a traffic jam and then when he was close to home they got in a fender bender. They were just a bit too far to walk home in 8 degree weather. Poor guy.

One redeeming part of my day was this. As I was fixing dinner, Austin came in the kitchen and said "mommy, you are really good at making dinner." Wow. A 3 year old noticed that I make dinner most days and thinks I am good at it? I was impressed...I am not sure Austin has ever given me a compliment before. He has been in a pretty disobedient phase again lately, but that little sentence sure helped give me more patience.

Bunny Sitting

Our neighbors the Shaffars are away for a few days and we are bunny sitting their rabbit, Spots. Both boys are enjoying this a lot. Austin will regularly have conversations with the bunny (despite the fact that it has a name, he mostly calls it "Bunny").

"Bunny, do you want some carrots? Do you want me to play my violin for you? Daddy, the bunny wants to listen to 'Abraham's burden'" etc.


Bennett will make animal noises at it and follow it around the entire time it is out of its cage. He tries to pet it and is surprisingly gentle (though the bunny is also pretty fast). It definitely is entertaining. I don't know if I am quite ready for a pet (ie, another living thing for primarily ME to take care of) but it is nice to borrow one. The rabbit is pretty hardy (living with 3 other boisterous children has prepared it for a little rough handling).

Bennett was almost successful at stealing the piece of apple the bunny was eating and chowing down...fortunately I snatched it away in the nick of time.

In weather news, it is currently 10 degrees F. The sun was out today, but I am not sure anything melted with a high of 16 degrees. The airport was up and running again and the roads were clearer...Chris was out all day recording one of his songs. A company is paying for the recording and it may end up on the web for free download...if so we will let you know.

Wedding and snow, snow, snow

I returned safely late last night from my 24 hours away. I am SO glad I decided to return last night instead of today. We are having a really big snow. Flights are mostly cancelled today out of here and if I had waited I most likely would not have been able to return today ( or maybe for several days). It is currently about 13 degrees Fahrenheit and will hit below zero before the night is over. Tomorrow and Tuesday temperatures are expected to be the coldest it has been in 40 years! I am thankful for our heat and praying for many, especially poor migrant workers, who don't have any.

I cannot find an accurate report of how many inches fell, but I am guessing close to a foot or more. It literally snowed all day long. In fact, I got home close to midnight last night because my flight was delayed and it was snowing lightly when I got home. Austin and I went out to play for a little bit this morning (we stayed home from church because of weather) but it didn't last too long. He was ready to come in and have hot chocolate. Both boys are starting runny noses and just a little cough, but I am hoping it will be a mild cold. They don't seem to feel too bad.

Chris survived his 30 hours without me fine. They did order pizza one night and Chinese food the next, but they did well. I had a great time. I am so glad I went. My friend had a great wedding and I got to see lots of old friends...more than I expected. Lots of former students and other friends as well. I helped the bridesmaids put on make up before and got a lot of time with Kitty, my very close friend for the past 7 years. And Nancy, the bride, was beautiful and very happy. She is marrying a guy that Chris knew pretty well also. Here are a few pictures.

Here I am with Nancy (the bride) and Kitty (bridesmaid) after I helped with Kitty's make up. I can't believe they are so grown up and getting married.

The happy couple.

My good friend's daughter was one of the flower girls. She is a year older than Austin and LOVED being a flower girl. I later was able to visit her parents at their home and see their newest addition...a little boy.