Six Months

 We had fun taking these today.  Not many words needed to along with these pictures...just so cute!

Bits and pieces

This post is just a bit of this and that news, since I have not updated in awhile.  Lucy is now 6 months!  I have not taken an official monthly picture yet, but she is getting so big.  We had her (officially 4 month check up we never had) last week.  She weighed in at 7.2 kilos (15.8 pounds), right at the 50th percentile mark.  Like her brothers, her head is big (97 percentile) and I can't remember her height.  I will have to go back and look it up.  She loves her toes right now, is babbling dadada sounds (probably not an official word yet) and "talking" all the time, is getting closer to sitting up though still falls over after a few seconds.  She is a joy to have around and loves, loves, loves to smile.

She grabs her toes whenever she can...and check out those cute rolls.

How sweet is that?

Austin is sick this week.  He came home from school Monday seeming listless and started running a fever.  We ended up at the doctor's office Wednesday after he complained of his neck hurting...scared me it might be meningitis.  Thankfully, he got a clear report from the doctor and his neck pain was actually gone by the time we got to the doctor. I think he just slept on it wrong. He had been laying on the couch at a weird angle earlier that afternoon. He is definitely better now, but coughing a lot.  I am not sure if Bennett might be coming down with it now.  He fell asleep at 11 am this morning on the couch, surrounded by all of us noisily being around.  Then he slept 3 hours this afternoon. No fever yet but we will see.

The weather is finally nice!  Close to 60 degrees or a little over this week and blue skies.  We did manage to play outside once in the middle of sickness but hopefully there will be more of that to come.  It looks like we probably won't be moving, unless something really unexpected happens in the next week.  Angie and Jason still have not decided where they will move, but just today a nice apartment opened up just above us in our building on the 10th floor.  We are hoping it will work out, since then they would still just be an elevator ride away.

Pre-sickness pictures...lots of silliness in this house, especially involving underwear

Nightly wrestle-fest on our bed with the boys.  Bennett still considers underwear as being fully dressed.

 I recently went to see some neighbors of ours who are practiced in some alternative health practices and regularly help people around here (American neighbors).  I have still been having some weird nerve issues over the past few years with no medical explanation.  Anyway, they suggested I try a special diet over the next couple of weeks as a de-tox, including no gluten, no dairy (except plain yogurt), no sugar among many other things.  I decided to skip the Chinese medicine they prescribed for now since I am nursing, but am going to try the diet.  So I am trying a lot of new recipes and eating a lot of rice (good thing I am in China ha).  We will see if anything changes.

Finally, Mom, Dad, Char and Em...I ordered a food processor finally!  This was a birthday present and I had been trying to decide which one to get.  I finally ordered it at 9:30 last night on Taobao (the Ebay/Amazon of China) and it arrived at 3:00 this afternoon!  Gotta love Taobao.  Used it for dinner to make zucchini "noodles" (gluten free you know) for soup tonight.  THANKS!  I love it already.

Brackets and blue skies

This post is a little late, already past the Sweet Sixteen, but we did have a fill-out-your-bracket time as a family before March Madness began and I am proud to say I am in the lead (among the four of us).  Austin is getting pretty into it this year and had some strong opinions about who he picked.  Bennett...well, not so much.  It was sort of like torture trying to get him to choose anything and he probably picked 6 teams out of the entire bracket.  Chris filled in the rest for him.  But we are watching the games that are not in the middle of the night (today's Carolina win started at a nice, reasonable time of 7:49 am for us today).

Decisions, decisions...it is hard to decide.  Except for the Heels, who we all choose with ease.

"Umm, I don't know Daddy" was Bennett's normal response to each bracket choice.

Here are the brackets, posted on the kitchen door.  Did I mention I am beating the men in my family? You can't tell from the picture, but the bottom bracket is Bennett's.  While he didn't care much for filling his out, he did want to write and color on it.  Across the middle in pink marker, he wrote LeHigh in really big letters.  So he did choose one team well!

In other news, we had beautiful blue skies and warm-ish weather today!  Made me finally feel excited for spring.  We had a picnic lunch on the back porch and spent time playing outside today.  No moving news yet...Hunemullers have still not settled on a place and we are sort of waiting to see what they decide before making a final decision.  There are two possibilities in our neighborhood for them, though both have some less than desirable things about them.  Nothing close together where we both could move.  So we will see.

Snippets of dinner conversation

Last night at dinner we had about fifteen minutes of both sweet and hilarious conversation- perhaps the interjection of the random in between the serious maybe it funnier.  Here are the highlights of how it went down (the letter before indicates who is talking, if that wasn't obvious).

C “Austin, you heard that Bree is moving?  And we might have to move, but we don’t know for sure”

A “yeah, I know Bree told me we were moving too but maybe she didn’t know.  But why does her (our landlady’s) mom want to move there and not here?  Why does she want all those toys?”

L “well, those are bree and Jesh’s toys, if they move they will take them with them.”

A “Oh. if we move can we take our wall stickers with us?”

L “Yes, of course”

A “ok.” (deep in thought)

L “Do you want to move austin?

A “Yes.  b/c Bree is moving”

L “Austin do you want some milk?

A “No, I’m not drinking milk for lent. Daddy's not drinking coffee but milk is my favorite”

L “really are you sure?  Do you understand why you give things up for lent?”

A “no”

Chris explains it reminds him to think of Jesus when he thinks about coffee and helps him feel closer to him.

L “DO you really want to give up milk?  You can, but you don’t have to”

A “But milk has protein.  Does juice have protein?

L “Well, no”

A “well, maybe I will do something else.  Like ice cream or treats”

L “Wow, that could be really hard, but really special”

A “well, I mean not EVERY day”

L “well, that is what people usually do during Lent, but you can decide”

A “well, I think I’ll just wait till I’m a man”

we are then interrupted by Bennett

B “Is ‘blah’ onomata-pita?”

L "Yes Bennett it is" 

B "Is bleh onomapee-a?"

L "Yes"

Austin “Mommy, why aren’t dragons real?”

Bennett "Do turtles have mirrors?

This was the progression of the conversation, I kid you not.  Life is never dull! 

I will end with some photos of the boys' recent artwork, which has been requested.  These boys can draw some pictures...I think they have drawn over 50 pictures in the past few days.  I cannot keep up with the paper, but they really love it and spend quite a bit of time doing it, especially Bennett of course.

By Austin ... our family on a train

Austin again...the solar system and a rocket flying though.  He has been learning the planet names at school...we had to teach him the English names b/c he didn't know them all but had learned the Chinese ones.  We had to guess at which ones were which.

The last by Austin- train tracks and trains and his Chinese name written at the bottom.

Bennett, obviously.  He has started to like numbers and this is I think a rocket at the bottom.  He likes to count backwards from ten to blastoff.  He writes many numbers backwards, but hey, he is only 3.  Sometimes I can't tell his pictures apart from Austin's, but the red sun with the six rays is a signature Bennett these days- if it has a sun with 6 rays (of any color) it's by Bennett. Notice he always writes the first "t" in his name lower case and the second one a capital letter.  Chris and I decided if he ever becomes a famous artist maybe that will be part of his signature.

By Bennett- not sure exactly what it is.

We learned about coal recently in our homeschool book and ever since Bennett learned how to write coal and writes it randomly on LOTS of pictures (that have nothing to do with coal).  I think it is the only word he can spell other than his name. He also randomly likes to write letters all over his art these days.

There had been a LONG absence of Bob and Larry drawings by Bennett, but last week they watched a video of it (it had been a long time) and this week...they showed up again.

Also not sure what this is, but I thought it was interesting.  Notice the face of the blue thingamjigger on the top left.  That face shows up a lot, as well as lady bugs lately by Bennett.

We recently got a new book called "Tommy's Art Lesson", an autobiographical story by Tomie dePaola.  He is so excited for his first real art lesson b/c he draws ALL the time and is disappointed to learn you only get one piece of paper at school- the perfect story for our little artist Bennett.

The Train Museum

We discovered through another friend here that there is a train museum in town.  Had never heard of it before, but it is tucked away in a corner of town, was pretty cold but almost EMPTY of people and the kids had a blast.  Angie and I took our kids last Friday, trying to resurrect a tradition of doing something out on Friday mornings that had gone by the wayside.  It was a perfect trip - could be done in about an hour there (the attention span of 3 year olds at least and worked well for this nursing momma) and what could be more fun than trains?

The sad news to report is that our (as in us the Gaertners and Hunemullers) landlady called us last week, saying she wants her mother to move into Jason and Angie's side.  We probably don't have to move but she is raising our rent rather significantly.  So we are really sad to lose or best buds next door, though hoping they can find something affordable still in our neighborhood.  We don't want to move, but are at least looking around.  It seems we probably can only stay another year and if we found something we liked that would let us sign a longer lease, we will look into it.  But we are thankful we have the option to stay, we think.  Our landlady made some mention of possible other relatives that might want our place, but seems willing to rent it another year.  Such is life here in this bubble of a real estate market that keeps going up and up with no sign of bursting, combined with a place where contracts are rather meaningless.

But onto happier things, here are some shots of the train museum.

The trains were all in this big hangar-type building. Aren't they cute holding hands?

Being Mr. Conductor

The oldest train was from the late 1880's, the newest was a subway train.  Most were from China but there was one from America and one from England.

A bit blurry but these kids are in motion, jumping by the subway car.

Looking at the train lines and where they go on the map.

Do I dare climb up with the bigger kids?

Carolina girl

I have waited a long time to have a March Madness picture like this!  Thanks to Nai Nai for sending the outfit.  I did not get up at 1 am to watch it, I have to confess.  But I woke up VERY early in the morning to realize I was the only one in the bed...soon was joined by Chris, who had woken up and had to check the score.  Controversy and all, I am glad we won.  Probably won't get up at 1 am again tonight, but hope I wake up to another win.  Either way, is she not so stinkin' cute?

Oops, Mommy.  I'm done holding her.

I love my toes these days!

My turn to hold her..."I won't drop her"

I will be sitting up soon...

Go Heels...how could this face not cheer you on to win?

Granddaddy

Granddaddy with Austin as a baby...his first great grandchild.

Granddaddy, my paternal grandfather, passed away on Monday and I sure hate being halfway across the world at times like this. Granddaddy was diagnosed with ALS last year and was taken a little quicker than expected but he lived his 82 years WELL and was well-thought of by everyone who met him.

The only grandfather I ever knew, Granddaddy was kind, always learning new things, always looking for ways to serve others, gave great bear-hugs, was passionate about his alma-mater Penn State, was the model citizen.  As I was thinking of the many memories I was able to share with him, I started with a theme of ice cream and breakfasts.  It started when I was really little and he would take us to McDonalds for a chocolate sundae (which was a really big deal since we were rarely allowed dessert at home).  I remember once he tried to get me to guess where we were going by telling me about "The Golden Arches" and I tried and tried but never could guess what it meant till we pulled in the parking lot.  Then we moved up to Dairy Queen - I am pretty sure I had my first blizzard with Granddaddy.  Then after he and Grandma moved to State College after retirement, we got the deluxe treatment with trips to Meyer Dairy and The Creamery.  When I was really little, I remember getting up early to eat breakfast with Granddaddy (he was always up early)...especially I remember eating Frosted Flakes at their house, asking for donuts and later no trip was complete without a trip to the Waffle Shop of State College. I remember how we all made fun of him for drinking skim ("blue) milk, though now I would drink nothing else.  And he was an amazing cook- we have his famous ham glaze recipe in our family cookbook to pass down for years to come.

Not all my memories are about food of course.  Granddaddy was always learning- he was passionate about the Civil War and led us on trips to Gettysburg, learned to frame pictures after retirement and framed several things I own, compiled a detailed history of the Haney ancestors, gifted me with many classic books I was excited to read, kept up amazingly with technology, a true friend to Amish neighbors and respectfully interested in their way of life; he always had something to teach and share about.  He also was a quiet model of a servant- spent many hours delivering meals on wheels, serving his church, volunteering and serving alumni of PSU, was an EMT with Grandma when I was very young...was never flashy about his service but it was a part of life for him.  I googled his name the other day to see if there was an obituary out yet.  There wasn't, but I came across several articles about him, including one from 2009 when he won an outstanding alumni award from Penn State.  I learned quite a few things about him I never knew...awards he had won and services he had given in many places throughout his career in the Forestry Service and Department of Agriculture and as a very active alumnus of PSU.  He was always quietly doing many great things and I admire his humility and care for others.

I am so thankful Austin and Bennett got to meet him, though far too briefly.  Bennett is named Bennett Price after Granddaddy (Glenn Price Haney) and we are so proud to pass on his name.  I will miss Granddaddy greatly, but am so thankful for so many years with him with such good memories.  As I turn 35 tomorrow, was thinking that I have few friends my age who have enjoyed as many years as I have with my grandparents (both my grandmothers are well and active still).  So I am both sad and thankful and glad I will see Granddaddy again one day.  I will miss being there on March 17 for his memorial service, but glad I have many fond memories to ponder over even from this side of the world.

Five Months

Lucy is five months...she actually got to have an official five month day this leapyear... February 29.  She continues to amaze us with how sweet and easy she is.  She rolled over at 4 1/2 months, though she has only done is a handful of times since then.  She cannot sit up but you can tell those muscles are getting stronger and I am guessing that will be the next milestone.  We traded in her swing for an exersaucer and she can actually sit in it and even move around.  We haven't done her four month check up yet...too much sickness around here to make it to a "well-baby check up" but she has the cutest rolls on her thighs and seems to be gaining weight nicely.  Enjoy these pictures.

Flying the English Channel

This week in our homeschool we are reading The Glorious Flight, the true story of Louis Bleriot, who was the first to successfully fly from France to England in the early days of flight invention.  We have taken two weeks to finish it, since I was gone and people have been sick.  It was a new book to me and very well written...we have learned about France, England and the English Channel, onomatopoeia, Roman numerals and Ordinal numbers, parts of an airplane and the history of flight (mostly the Wright brothers...we are even getting in some NC history) and the lesson of persevarance.  Today we made paper airplanes and practice flying them across "the English Channel" (A blue blanket). Then Austin proceeded to make France and England out of Legos on either side.  It was fun...though Bennett has had a bit of a hard time lately with everything and got pretty frustrated with the airplane.  Overall I would say we are all enjoying Five in a Row.