When you grow up...

When Chris was putting CJ to bed last night he was praying for his future. In specific he was praying for his future wife. When he finished CJ turned and asked, "Hey, Dad. How much does a marriage (wedding) cost?" Chris answered with a question, "Why do you ask?" "Well, I don't want to spend all the money that I save for a marriage." "Well, CJ, it's pretty expensive but usually Mommy's and Daddy's help pay for that." CJ's response, "Oh, Ok".

I love to hear my kiddos talk about the future. I love to hear about their desired occupations and schooling. But my favorite is their relationships. On a handful of occasions CJ has talked about getting married and a couple of times he has even pointed out to me who he wants to marry. He'll also talk about the number of children he would like to have and what sex they should be.

Sometimes I'll also inquire of Miriam about her future and boy her story of family is much different. A few months ago CJ shared with her some of the facts he learned about child birth (some from us and some from the home school books that we have lying around the house- they have LOTS of pictures). Well, Miriam was SCARED to death after her little biology lesson. She has said many times- "Mom, I'm NEVER having babies. That hurts WAY too much." Another time she said, "I really don't want any children. Daddy said it was Ok for me to JUST have a husband and no children." Poor thing. I usually just respond with, "Miriam, it's ok! You don't HAVE to have children." This usually calms her and you can see her physically relax after a stressful few moments of thinking about child birth.

Giggle, giggle. I'm curious what Eliza will say when we ask about her future?! I never tire of the answers!

Children's Day 2010

This is the first year that both CJ & Miriam have attended Chinese school on a regular basis (that is 5 days a week from 8:30 till 11:30). CJ transitioned pretty easily but for Miriam it was a little more difficult (she is SO shy). They began in October and had been doing pretty well. They were gradually participating in class activities and after about a month Miriam wasn't crying when we dropped her off. Around March CJ was struggling with a new stage of Culture Shock (quite normal reaction) when he started asking, on a regular basis, to go back to America. Well, we were ecstatic when mid April came around and he successfully passed through that stage and now seemed pretty happy with our current home. He had a new friend (Wang Zi Long) and was beginning to "lead" the exercises at school. (All children usually participate in school exercises at the beginning of the day. This is one of CJ's favorite things about school.) Both children were beginning to talk more in class and their comprehension levels were growing.

I was so excited to go to the Children's Day Program at their school this year. CJ was counting down the days till Mom & Dad could go see him lead his class in a march around school. He had the honor of carrying the class sign. Even Miriam participated (and I loosely say "participated") in the program. Miriam is so shy about attention that she mostly just likes to watch what is going on around her, at least in a public setting. (Attention at home- that's a whole nother story). I guess it is because she already draws so much attention being a foreigner that she doesn't want to add anymore unneeded pressure. She doesn't want her teacher to see her putting away her book bag, or her teacher seeing her do exercises... she once said that "it's just too embarrassing".

Anyhow, I love these pictures. They capture the joy that I've seen in them the last few months. I'm so thankful that Father has blessed them. We had been praying very regularly for friends, language acquistion and our new place to become a "home". He has been so faithful to answer. Please continue to pray for them... friends & language will forever be a request in our home.

The children wore green shorts and shirts to school. We thought it would be fun if Eliza could match. Here she is posing in her green.


Here is CJ and his best pal, Wang Zi Long. He is also a neighbor, which is very exciting for us.


Miriam was also able to stand at the front of her class line (though she wasn't as excited about it as CJ was about leading his class). Her class is called the Xiao Ban- which is equivalent to the 3 year old Kindergarten Class. Notice how tall she is? One day upon returning from school she said, "Mom, I'm the tallests girl in all the world." She is the second tallest in her class- the boy next to her is the tallest- I think that is why they were chosen to lead the class.


I love Miriam's smile here- no one watching her and she could just be herself and smile.


Here CJ, with pride, explains to Eliza that he is in the Da Ban- 5 year old class. (He is the tallest in his class but that is because he is a full 2 years older than his classmates. We chose to put him in Chinese kindergarten to help him learn spoken Chinese in a "low pressure environment" and also so he could spend time learning to read English (at home with Mom) and not get confused learning another written language at the same time in the Chinese 1st grade classes).


CJ participating in Morning Exercises.



Here Miriam is "participating" in morning exercises but would rather be watching. She walks along but won't squat, jump, march... with the rest of the class.


This picture makes me giggle. She is about to crack a smile but doesn't want anyone to know that she is enjoying herself so tries to "wipe it" off.


What can I say? I think I have the 3 cutest kiddos ever.

"Opa, look! See me?"

Each of our kiddos have done this at around two years old and Eliza is no exception. While talking on the phone they would walk around the house and use the phone as a remote pair of eyes for whomever they are talking with. This morning Eliza was talking with my Dad (whom we call Opa- German name for Grandpop). She walked around the house holding up the phone and saying, "Opa, look! See _________? Isn't that cool?" After Opa mentioned my sister's recent exciting news of pregnancy, Eliza ran to her baby book and proceeded to show Opa pictures of herself as a baby. I giggled as I heard Opa ask, "Did you say your Mommy has a baby in her belly?" Eliza replied, "Yes, she has me in her belly". Opa, "She does have a baby in her belly?" Eliza, "Yes, I'm in her belly". Hee Hee! I let them go on for a while before I leaned over and told my father that I was NOT pregnent and that Eliza was showing pictures of her baby album where there is a picture of Mommy 9 months pregnant with Eliza.

"Opa, see the baby in Mommy's belly?"

Pulled Noodles- Yum!

Some friends from the states are visiting for a few weeks so we have been trying to give them some opportunities to REALLY experience the Chinese Culture. Whenever possible I would try to take the kids along to enjoy some of the cultural learning opportunities. One such activity was pulling noodles at a local noddle restaurant. These noodles are from the Western part of China and are kneaded and then pulled by hand. It is amazing to watch the owners of the restaurant do their thing- they were able to pull their noodles as thin as a human hair and they can do it all without breaking them. My noodles were about as thick as my pinky and were breaking like crazy- I guess I'll have to take a few more lessons. :)






Our hosts couldn't pass up an opportunity to take a picture with the little foreign kids. :)

OUCH!!!!!

Recently CJ has been taking Badminton lessons- that's another topic I can discuss in a future blog. Anyhow, every Friday evening during CJ's lesson there are gymnastics lessons that run simultaneously in another part of the gymnasium. I couldn't get over how flexible the girls were and asked another mom that was sitting nearby how they accomplished that. She said, "They stretch for an hour on chairs." I thought, "There I go again, I have obviously have misunderstood another Chinese word- stretching on chairs for an hour?" Well, about 1/2 hour later I realized that I actually did understand the explanation. Each girl ran into an adjoining room and came out with a chair in hand. They then placed the chairs in a circle and hoped up... my eyes bulged, my jaw dropped and I crossed my legs. The girls ALL proceeded to stretch on the chairs- split/ straddle- I'm not sure which one it is but boy I was in pain for them. The teacher played some classical music and they held the position for about 15 minutes. They took a short break and back at it. 15 minutes later they took a break and up on the chairs again. This time they stood erect on the chairs and raised their leg beside their head and held that position for 15 minutes. Holy Macaroni. I couldn't believe my eyes.

See what I mean? :

Happy Mother's Day!

This year for Mother's Day Chris & the kids sat down and chatted about what they noticed I did around the house. The kids imitated me doing my house hold duties and Chris took pictures. They developed the pictures, wrote little notes on the back and gave them to me with small gifts. I loved the pictures and wanted to share them with you. What a joy to be a Mother. I'm so thankful for the time that the Father has given me to be a mother of these 3 sweeties.

CJ's imitates Mama doing the laundry. Yes, I always have a huge smile on my face when I'm doing house chores :)


Eliza takes a swing at home schooling her sister and brother- I think that her classes may be a little more difficult than mine :)


Miriam just loves mopping the floor. Yes, she too knows how happy Mama is when she mops the bathroom floor- whatever! This is one job that I can't stand because it never stays clean or dry. I have to mop multiple times a day because the tubs here are rarely stationary and/or caulked and therefor whenever you shower the water pours down the wall and onto the floor. But I will strive to have a Happy Heart and Smile like my Dear Mirsy when I mop.

Let me see your silly face!

When I was a kid I remember my parents saying, "Karen, let me see your sad face. Now your happy one. How about an excited face?" I should ask them some time how that all got started but I have a feeling it was because of my tendency to bare my emotions on my sleeve. Throughout life my overly dramatic faces have often gotten me in trouble... but I guess as a kiddo they also provided much entertainment.

Anyhow, we recently purchased a new camera and I was experimenting with it on my own kiddos. I found myself repeating the same things I heard my parents say: "CJ, let me see your _____ face. Miriam, your turn. Eliza you too." This is the final product... some fun shots of the kids.