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.