First Day of School!

Back Packs were waiting at the door. Clothes were picked out. Water bottles were full. Pencil case was loaded. There was excitement in the air. There were butterflies in their stomachs. Today was the first day of school for the Hanley kiddos.

We ate, dressed, put on our rain boots and headed out in the rain for kindergarten. The drop off went pretty well. CJ recognized a few of his classmates- there were lots of new faces. Eliza marched right in and sat her self down (though she did put her fingers in her ears because there were LOTS of crying classmates in her 3 year old class). And Miriam, with some help, made it into her class.

After a run to the grocery store I came home and I couldn't believe it- all three of my kiddos were gone for the morning. This is the first time in 7 years that I didn't have a little person at home with me on a school day. It was SO quiet. I'm glad they only go to school for 1/2 days :)

It hasn't always been easy for them to go to a school in a different country with a different culture and language but they are doing well. We are so thankful! They are gradually adding to their vocabulary and are becoming more and more accustomed to making new friends and playing in Chinese.






CJ goes to kindergarten in the morning to learn Chinese and to have some friends (it is a lot less pressure than Chinese Elementary School). He was so glad to be back in school. He likes being in the oldest class in the school.




















Miriam cried the other day... she didn't want to wait till Monday to go to school. She was counting down the days till she could see her teacher. (This year she has the same teacher as last year). She was still a little apprehensive- but had a great day!















Eliza has been ready for school since June. Whenever she saw her back pack she would say, "That's my school bag. I'm going to school." She too had a great day and is looking forward to tomorrow.











We're so thankful that HE gave them such a great day!

Shots from the Summer

There are only a few days left in our summer (Chinese school starts on Sept. 6). It has been a full summer & a great time together as a family. We've read lots of books, enjoyed some water relief in the neighborhood pools, eaten a fare share of ice cream and Popsicles, made forts, had puppet shows, learned lots about Ancient History (started History home school a little early) and had some good 'ol summer fun. But I do have to admit that the more time that we've shared together has also increased the times that I've had to have the conversations about treating each other with love.

Here are some fun pictures from our summer, in no particular order.



This is a picture of our friend Stacy with the kids. She was a History Major in College and one day was a "Guest Lecturer" in the Hanley Homeschool History Class. Fun! Fun! They are showing their archaeological dig find- M&M's.










CJ and one of his pals from the neighborhood. Fun in a bug tent!














"Aloha Miriam"... just one of the many dress-up outfits!




CJ poses with his best friend, Wang Ze Long. Wang Ze Long brought CJ a farewell gift- a hat that is worn by the people of his hometown in northwest China. We will all miss Wang Ze Long.








CJ shows off his "Graduation Certificate" from 1st Grade (Homeschool). We're so proud of his accomplishments this year!

We were able to go to a really great water park with our friends Stacy, Anna and Sarah in July. It was such a great day to have fun together. We're so glad to have some American friends in our city.






Do you call this swimming? I'm not sure! You think they aren't wearing much in this picture? You should have seen what they were wearing when I went to go and see what all the giggles were about! ;) I'm glad we live on the 8th floor and didn't have so many spectators.







I love this picture- we were taking a fast train to a nearby city where many American friends (with children) live. We didn't purchase a seat for Eliza thinking she could just sit on our laps for the 2 hour ride. Well, she informed us that she "needed her own space" and thought the window ledge was just perfect. We were able to make this trip twice- once for VBS (an unexpected surprise) and once for a little family vacation. Oh so nice to have some fellowship for the WHOLE family and some yummy western food (Mexican food and milk shakes)- oh how nice!




Eliza enjoying some time on our newly renovated neighborhood playground. (Don't you love the curls?)



















OK- now this may not seem like any big deal to you- but for Miriam this is HUGE! Miriam loves dressing up but usually her choices are things like a: Knight, Spiderman, Construction Worker, Golfer, Fireman.... See the theme? Well, the previous dress up picture in a grass skirt wasn't too big of a stretch since she recently saw a Barney video where HE was wearing a grass skirt. Well, when she came out of her room dressed in a "Dress" I carefully chose my words and calmly stated, "Miriam, you like very nice". Then I asked if I could take a picture. She agreed. She is gradually learning to enjoy the more dressy things (I think that is Eliza's influence) but it still is a bit embarrassing for her. I love her face- having fun trying something new but afraid to admit it.

The "Clip Clop" Birthday!

The day begins around 6:30 am for her. How do we know? The alarm. We know from a soft clip- clop sound that Eliza's day is about to begin. The sound gradually makes it's way to the door, across the hall, and searches out the adults in the home. Here comes Eliza donning her "clip clop" shoes- ready for the day. Eliza is truly learning the culture of her present home- China. She, like the rest of the ladies in our community, can do anything in her high heel shoes. She can walk for hours, ride a bike, chase a villain (aka- big brother and sister) and, if given the opportunity, could climb a mountain in her high heel shoes. For Eliza, a day would not be complete, without a pair of 'clip clop' shoes and a fancy dress.

Though Eliza has never seen the Disney Princess movies she is very familiar with these characters. She knows the colors of their dresses, their shoes, their hair and accessories. And after reading a older version of Cinderella (Translated and Illustrated by Marcia Brown) our kids fell in love with the story. So for this years birthday we thought it only appropriate to celebrate with a Princess Birthday. Cinderella was the leading lady and the theme of the cake.

There were gifts galore for Princess Eliza. PopPop and Mimi contributed clip clop shoes, princess clothes and accessories. Opa offered a copy of the Cinderella movie and Mom & Dad gave her some Cinderella figurines. Grandmom also added to the theme with a Princess book and other items. Friends from our city did not want to miss out and gave more shoes, makeup, play hairdryer, Princess pencils... What a day!

The alarm:


A shot of the Cinderella cake. I had lots of fun making the cake but it was a challenge in the 100+ degree heat. The icing kept melting and I had to apply multiple layers of blue icing to the skirt of the dress in attempts at making the coverage consistent.


Now she has a pair of shoes for everyday of the week. :)


Dress #2 for the day.


It's hard to believe that our baby is Three. It seems like just yesterday that she was coming home from the Hong Kong hospital. She is such a blessing to our family. She is so sensitive- she will break down into tears if she knows she has done something that makes Mommy and Daddy sad. She is a daredevil... doing stunts that make your heart race. And is a great communicator. She is constantly talking and telling us what is on her mind. This is a recent favorite. After a conversation about asking Jesus into your heart she said this: "Mom, when God comes into a persons belly it gets REALLY big." I think we have some more explaining to do. We are so thankful, to the Father, for the gift of our little Eliza Mae.
"How old are you?" THREE!

Some water relief...

Wow! It has been a scorcher here lately (as I heard it has been on the East Coast in the states). We've been running 100+ for the past week or so and are spending as much time as possible indoors, with the exception of early morning and late evenings outdoors. We recently found some water venues to help us cool off a bit. We were pleasently surprised to find out that we have a neighborhood pool. We didn't know it existed because it is hidden away on the 6th floor of one of the buildings in our complex. (Prior to the knowing about it we had to walk about 20 minutes to the nearby park for a swim). Anyhow, we have been glad to know that there is a nearby pool so we can cool off. The only thing that can be tricky is to manage the timing of going swimming. The pool is only open from 2-4 in the afternoon and then again from 6-8 in the evening.

Well, today I told the kids that we would try to make it to the pool to cool off a bit. We were about to get ready to go swimming this afternoon when I heard thunder and saw rain. They were disappointed but I reassured that we would try to go in the evening. Living in China for 4 years I've learned to say, "Lord willing we'll go..." or "We'll try to do..." about the events that we'd like to participate in because we can't always predict how things may happen in the future. (I guess that is true about life in general but the future here can be much more unpredictable than I experienced in the states). Anyhow, we ate dinner, Chris changed the kids into their suits and they headed to buy their tickets and go to the pool. Then came the disappointment of the unpredictable. The man who works in the office that sells tickets was off to dinner. They said that he would be back later but since the swimming time is limited already Chris didn't think it was worth waiting for the man and then paying for a really short swim time. The kids were crushed. Miriam and Eliza were crying by the time that they came back up to our apartment. I wanted to do something but we don't have a yard yet alone a sprinkler or a baby pool to swim around in. BUT hey, we do have a teeny tiny infant pool that I put on our balcony to work as a substitute "water table" that I thought the kids might enjoy pouring water in and out of buckets or pushing a small boat in during the summer months. The girls were all for it.

I never thought you could swim UNDER water that was only 6 inches deep. I never knew you could do "Camden Balls" into 6 inches of water. ("Camden Ball" is what Eliza screams when she jumps into the pool & holds her legs in a tucked position-Camden is the name of Chris' home town- hee hee). I never would have thought that googles would be a necessity.

I love watching our kiddos play together. Always a riot!

Our little Artist

For the past eight months or so Miriam has been writing notes and drawing pictures. She presently can write the words: Mom, Dad, CJ, Miriam, E (for Eliza), Pop Pop, Opa, God, Grandmom which is a new and very difficult name she wanted to learn how to write. Anyhow, Miriam is DAILY, literally DAILY, writing notes to our family. They usually include a stick picture of her and whomever she is writing to and the names of those in the picture. Lately she has been writing the words "I love (heart symbol for the word 'love') _________ (insert name)."

As many of you know, my mother was recently diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer and has begun treatment. It has been a difficult time for her, and as a family, we have been daily praying for her. Well one day as I was walking past Miriam as she wrote on her white board, I saw this...

I said, "Oh, Miriam. That is so cute. It's a picture of you saying, 'Grandmom'." She said, "No! Mom, those are thought bubbles. I'm thinking about Grandmom." I thought it was such a great representation of what is going on in her heart.

That picture was from about a week ago. Then yesterday I saw another original by Miriam. Do you know what it is?



It is a picture of Mary (on the left), Joseph (on the right- can you see the shepherds staff in his hand?) and baby Jesus (with all the hay sticking out all around him). There are two stars in the sky and Mary & Joseph are holding hands. I LOVE it! Especially because lately, for the girl's devotions, we have been reading through a children's Bible and this week we have been reading about Jesus' birth. I was so glad to know that she is really HEARING what we are saying. For the longest time she was in the room but not hearing. If you asked questions about what we read you would get the typical SS answers, "God!" or "Jesus" without an apparent understanding of what we just read. Well, I guess she is maturing past that stage and is now actually catching what is going on & hopefully is hiding it in her heart.

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.