Uncle Herschel Comes East

Since our time in the States, Uncle Herschel started talking about coming East to visit us. We nailed down some dates, he got his visa, and it all came together for touching down right before Christmas. 

His first time in Asia did not disappoint. We loved exposing him to our world, daily life around town, family life in our home, and enjoying Christmas traditions with him. Herschel dove right into experiencing the sights, tastes, and smells of small town China and was willing to try anything. The kids were ecstatic to show them their school and life and welcomed him with signs and a dance at the airport. Though his delay out of LAX caused him to consecutively miss other flights, he still arrived only 5 hours later than originally planned. 

On day one we took him to our wet market (he handled the gore very well, but I will spare you the pictures.)

And he even tried a fried bread snack dipped in sweet soy milk.

Here is our nearby market. The other kiddos were at school.

 

I couldn't believe he was actually here. 

The other kids couldn't wait for him to arrive at their schools. Tobin's was first, but we were distracted by Christmassy things and missed good pics (like our friend, J dressed as Santa with a scraggly white beard, I would post, but I will let his wife embarrass him in that way).

Sophia's classroom:

And Bella's:

Here is one of our fave kids again. Herschel told him that he came from America just to get his picture taken with him. He laughed and laughed. (love the photo bomb there, that was the son of one of the administrators).

For lunch we went to eat 'Over the bridge noodles', where you put the stuff in your pot of oil/broth and let it cook it bit, then add noodles and spices.

This really is delicious.

Herschel really liked it. (and was already a pro chopstick user, Sophia was concerned and asked him about this)

After lunch we did some finishing up of our Advent book, Bartholomew's Passage, read our advent readings, and then walked Herschel around our neighborhood.

We decided to try the exercise equipment...we needed it.


We rested  a bit in the afternoon and then took him to a nicer restaurant that tends to host weddings and government parties. They were getting ready for some officials by the time we arrived.

We were trying to introduce Herschel to all the local flavors that we love.
He was willing to try everything.

Next we drove downtown to a small park to get a dessert/snack that is one of our faves. This particular vendor did not do a fantastic job of making it, but we had fun nonetheless.


And for a special special treat, a local park had an event going on for a few months where they put up a ton of lights. This was for us quite spectacular, as we never get to see 'Christmas lights'.

 They were beautiful.

 And thus ended Day One....so much more fun to come!

Best Buys of 2016

This is purely subjective, so you may laugh at some. We were also stateside a bit in 2016 so I was introduced to some fun new things. Here are some new things I love....

1. Homeschool room table caddy. TJ Maxx clearance rack. This was not a 'need' but I LOVE it, it spins. I have mixed emotions about it because I bought this while David and I were passing the time waiting for some friends who were at a very difficult doctor's appointment. David found me at the back of the store with this in my hand and tears down my face. 

2. Bean bag thing, with corn kernels inside to be heated or cooled. My sis-in-law introduces me to the grandest things, I am not kidding. Many things on this list come from her, thanks Laura!!! She has had one for years and swears by warming it and sticking under her covers for her feet at night. When we first got back in Oct, it was SO HOT, so I froze it and cooled myself down. Now, with it low 60s in our room I heat and enjoy. I also use it for my back, etc. too and love its size and how it holds temperature. You can buy these on  etsy like the ones here.

3. Hoka running shoes. Yes, these look crazy. I have been running hard for many years now. I started in Asics and swore by them. Then Brooks were awesome and had a lower drop, not minimalist, but lower. I was pleased and plugged many miles on those Brooks. But then as I near 40, pains come faster. Knee pain, foot pain, hip,etc. A friend (BEC girl) told me about these. They are pricey and I had the guy at Omega sports tell me ALL about them before I took the plunge. I can't give you all his selling points now but I do love these. I just had to admit that my joints are aging and I need CUSHION. Real runners may scoff, but I need to be able to walk after a run. LOVE these.

4. Wal Mart Tennis Shoes. So much more durable than the cheapo shoes here in our town, and for a great price. Our kids all love theirs, and I didn't drop 50 bucks a kid on shoes that they will out grow in a year. (and really Tobin just wanted me to take a pic of his shoes, but they were a great buy)

5. LulaRoe Leggings. This is another Laura thing. She is bound to keep me in style and I love her for it. She let me try hers on and I was in love. You can't buy these in a store, but here is a link to how to find them.. I don't love that leggings are back in style but I could live in these!!! They have some wild prints, I stuck to two solid styles.

6.  Contigo Water Bottle. I did buy essential oils and use them too, but I am still not 'sold' fully. I do enjoy them, but mostly I love the water bottle I bought to drink them in. Target on sale. LOVE.

7. Hot water heater for dishes. We don't live in a village but almost no one in our town has hot water heaters. We use solar water for showers and this has done well for all of our years here (2x a year or so we heat water for baths when there is no sun). But this winter we had some problems. David fixed a leak on the roof, but still, to get all warm showers and have hot water for dishes we were boiling water daily. For Christmas David bought me a heater for under the sink and I do love it. Except that per our experience here the guy installed it and then David realized he didn't do it with a ground wire. Our experience with electricity here made David say: 'absolutely not'. So it is not fully installed to our specs yet, but it is safe. And it gives some hot water in an instant rain or shine without wasting the gas it takes to boil water on the stove. LOVE.

8. A BIG trampoline!!! This is perhaps our best purchase of the decade! Every family needs a big trampoline. This was the kids Christmas present and I will detail how it unfolded when I do my Christmas posts, but it is amazing for our whole family. Go get one, now.

Best Books of 2016

I read more books last year than the year before. (I had really slowed, which was needed!) My genres are sometimes all over the place. I read some on exercise, LOVE historical biographies, the 'marriage and family' genre is a must, and homeschooling helps continue to overwhelm. Of these books, what I think would interest and benefit others the most are the following (in random order):

1. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. This started showing up every where once I started it. I couldn't put it down, but at some points had to. It was compelling, tragic, and at the same time a teeny bit hopeful too. I really appreciate the author's hard work and his telling the story without simply 'going off' on what is wrong with American judicial processes and biases. He fought them tooth and nail, displaying great patience and perseverance. Every Person should read this book.

2. The Hardest Peace: Expecting Grace in the Midst of Life's Hard. I cried my way through this book. Kara Tippits, who wrote 'Big Love' and 'Just Show Up', tells her life story and how God brought her through tons of growth in life's hard. At death's door she continued to be real about pain, joy, and helping her family go on without her. Plain-spoken and challenging, this book really has helped me be so much more aware of the way I interact with my children, and has me say 'yes' to more time with them than I ever have before.

3. The Chosen.  The depth of friendship between two Jewish boys from very different backgrounds is masterfully written of here. This has a ton of historical detail of certain traditions and how those traditions affect the daily life of two particular American Jewish teenage boys and the choices they must navigate. I loved this book from cover to cover.

4. Studies in the Sermon on the Mount. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones is one of my new faves. And he should be yours too. This volume is almost 600 pages and I am just over half way through, but God is using his studies to deepen my studies and seriously change my life. I read this during my quiet times so I am taking my time, but I LOVE it. I can't wait to dig into more of his sermons/teachings on other parts of scripture.

5. George MacDonald: The Wise Woman. This is a parable of an obstinate princess and how her heart is changed. I love MacDonald's mix of fantasy and teaching through deep truths. He is a wordsmith that continues to wow me. Like PG Wodehouse, I think MacDonald will be on my yearly reading list.

6. Marriage as Manifest Glory and The Christian Home. Audio sermons by Doug Wilson. I cannot find the link to the Christian Home series, which is a real game changer when it comes to your own Christian walk and how to parent. But the marriage series (linked to here) is deeply convicting and fun to listen to. Wilson has really helped our home through his teaching. I link to the marriage series, which is 6 different downloads, totaling a bit of money but worth it, they are excellent! It is over 30 hours of marriage topics and I am not done yet. But every time I listen I am convicted, challenged, and hopeful.

Welcome Uncle Herschel

This morning Gabrielle asked: "where is Uncle Herschel?"

"He went back to America"

"Oh, I want him to come back to our house!"

This sums up how our kids feel about my older brother, Uncle Herschel. 

Though delayed a bit (NEVER EVER fly through LAX), he did arrive and enjoyed six full days taking in our life here-- all the sights, smells, sounds, and tastes. It was his first time in Asia, and that made it all the more fun. Our kids were SO excited to show him their world.

He dove right in and eagerly participated in all we had planned! 

It was certainly not your tourist version of China! 

Here the kids spent the afternoon making welcome signs, which they held up and even did a little dance to at the airport...

 The spent a lot of time on these....

Though you can't see it, Tobin had a whole story scene going around his sign.
His visit was a great Christmas gift to us!
Details to come!

Just for fun...

Gabrielle at 3+ years old...

 Helping momma bake Christmas goods (aka, eating raw flour and anything else I can get my hands on)

I am not sure if I ever did a G at 3 post, but even so she deserves another.

This girl is beautifully spunky and strong willed.
But her softer side comes out when she realizes her wrong and says: 'okay, momma, I won't do that anymore', She is funny on purpose and clever with it to, though sometimes it turns to spaz.

She recently likes to tell stories, narrate her life (tall tales too), and pretend she is reading.
While she can match colors she can't name them (except pink, her fave).
She really wants to go to school like her siblings but is unaware mommy won't be there.

She has the normal misspeak of the 'r'  and 'b' for 'v' which makes her speech quite cute.
She loves to suck her thumb at night and twist her sheet between her fingers.

While watching me write this, Gabrielle came over batted her eyelashes and gave a pose.
She is a ham.

We have not started any tot school yet (maybe March???), but she does some catechism questions with Tobin in the mornings, can hold a pencil almost perfectly, and can also bounce a basketball.

I love her answer to "Why did God make all things?"
"Because he DID" as if I am dumb for asking (that is not the right answer btw).

She has no concept of time so she always says 'yesterday...I swam in Poppy and CCs pool' (which she did months ago) or 'yesterday I hurt my face on the trampoline' (which had happened an hour before).

Gabrielle is super fun-spirited and each of her siblings love to play with her, until they are bothered by her. But they always come back around.

Our night time routine is precious to me. She doesn't like me to pray for her until Tobin comes in (later than her), then I have to sing 'Amazing grace....the sun one'....which is the last verse. She loves the 'bright shining as the sun' line.

I mentioned to David that I get to enjoy Gabrielle in a way that I didn't get to enjoy the others because I don't have another baby I am taking care of. I notice so much more of her cute little intricacies.  But I am busier in a different way with schooling the others so she sometimes gets left out a bit.

 We will see this week if they let her in Kindergarten in March. "Watch out classmates, I may be small  with long lashes, but I have sharp teeth" . (I am actually nervous about this).

There you have it, the not so much "Baby Gabrielle" anymore, but precious nonetheless.

Solar Systems, how small we really are

As we got into the second six weeks of Cycle 2, science turned to Astronomy.

I showed the kids this pretty cool video.

Next we painted a little model solar system (taobao, my friends)

 They loved this and it really did help put things in perspective.

 This may be all the Science we do this year but it is something!

 Tobin painted the sun.

Gabrielle sat in a toy box and caused mischief

I did love this project, this week we did edible moon phases with oreos, again.
This year we bought the birthday cake flavored ones. YUM.