Tobin turns 7!!!

Tobin's birthday falls between two big holidays around here: Tomb Sweeping and Water Splashing Festival. This always makes navigating dates and invites extremely hard. I finally got the announcement about when school would be out (and then the make-up day, which always on the weekend) and we decided to celebrate the night of his actual birthday. I planned this thing in 24 hours. David thought it was great because I was stressed for 24 hours not 4 days (LOL). I was thankful for this too. 

We already knew he wanted a 'Transformers' birthday party. I just hoped kids would show up. It was the last day of school before break, so many said they could not come. But we had our teammates' 2 boys come and then 4 other from his class and one from the neighborhood, so this turned out perfect.

Chinese school was bright and early but we still did some gifts before going: Iron Man costume (thanks to some friends!)

The girls got him a new skateboard that he really wanted.

The chocolate chip pancakes, of course!

And a big, new bike, that is quite snazzy! He loves it.

Poppy and CC got him a watch he has been wanting, and Granddaddy Johnson sent a real card with real American dollars in it (oohs and ahhs from the Coker kids)! Such blessings all around! We can't leave out the ever thoughtful Aunt Beth who consistently sends us cards in the mail or email, she sent an e-card that delighted Tobin, it was hilarious!

For his cake he wanted cream cheese chocolate chip cookie bars (yes, I will absolutely make you those!) We kept these for the fam since most locals do not like cheese or things real sweet/rich.

 We put the obnoxious music candle on it.

Before the party we decorated with Transformer stuff and as always, start with coloring pages.

The first few friends to arrive.

We had a few games. Always pin the part on the transformer (which incidentally are harder to draw than Yoda), and a sit on the balloon and pop it game. This was a relay that proved harder than most thought.



And then the best game...I gave each team a box of stuff (paper rolls, clips, paper, pipe cleaner, cups, etc.) they had to build a 'robot' or transformer, going for coolness of design. Little did I know that more than one team actually made something that could transform. They did awesome and everyone enjoyed it.

 
The crew at the table

The cake for the party was store bought bakery made, and I creatively (???!!!) put a transformer toy on top.

 Towards the end the guys found dress up clothes and we had good laughs.

Crazy loons...so much fun.

Tobin at 7 is growing up! He is in full swing of homeschool, reading and doing math with mommy, as well as history, Bible, and CC. He is also doing pretty well in Chinese 1st grade. He loves legos, building things, and riding his new bike. He makes friends easily, and this year signed up for after school soccer, and he's not half bad :). He is still a jokester and very well could be his class clown!

English Class

Here is something new I thought I would never do...help teach English. 

We are ALWAYS asked to teach English. It is always a resounding 'no' and I point them to the few English options in town.

But with summer camp coming and NOT coinciding with meetings, the price tag went way up (flights for both girls, international). We told the girls they would have to help pay for camp.

We brainstormed together, formulated a small business plan, and put it into action. I told them I would do a lot of the organizing, planning and prep at the beginning, with the prospect of them learning and taking over a lot towards the end. I told them I would work for free (though they may help with my camp fee :))

We really talked them through the hard work this would entail. They both love to 'play teach' and as part of Chinese school they get up in front of class and help teach with others so it wasn't such a stretch. 

I would never have organized this if I didn't have WeChat (Chinese social media). We only invited people from Sophia and Isabella's classes. We wanted a total of 2 classes, 10 in each. It was first to respond gets the spot. This may have been a little unfair because who knows when you will be looking at your phone. 

In the announcement I also said that the girls would help me and then switch to my helping them only  a little. We were completely honest with what they were getting. No writing, no reading, the focus would be speaking properly, vocabulary, and short conversation. 

Just pooling from these two classes (just over 110 people), we had instant 20 spots filled. Finally we decided, with what we had and our space/time, to add a class and expand to 12 per class. We have 3 classes every Saturday, one hour each, with 12 in each class. We also gave them a comparatively great deal, charging a little less than other English classes with non-native speakers as the teacher.

I pulled from various resources and lesson-planned the first class. Saturday morning I went over it with Isabella and Sophia. I was lead teacher that whole day, but they helped the entire time. 

The following Saturday, again I planned some during the week and introduced it to them Sat morning, with them doing more leading. We also split up in groups and even did trampoline time for our review of actions. The kids love this, and it give Sophia and Isabella charge of a small group, teaching on their own in review format.

 This past Saturday I was lead teacher for class one, and then they led for the next two.
They are doing so great at this! It is exhausting but they are hanging in there. We have class from 2:30-6, during our 15 minute breaks we drink water and sit down (sometimes the girls play with the students coming in). And Saturday nights we veg!

We promised 8 classes, so we have five more to go. Another thing we do on our Group chat is upload videos of all the vocab, conversations, or songs that we taught in class. Their homework is to listen daily for just 10-15 minutes. This is another thing that takes time, but Sophia and Isabella love it. I do the videoing while they do the review and their friends love it.

So far this has been a great learning experience for our girls (and honestly they are making GOOD money). We hope this can lead to something that they do with more like 5 students at a time to help them make money and continue to learn how to lesson plan, time manage, classroom manage, money manage, etc.

Yes, there are some unruly ones in the bunch, but these are their classmates so they know what to expect. I have to separate some boys every once in a while.

As for me? It was a lot of leg work to begin with, just managing who was registering etc. now we are more into a groove and know what to expect. Saturdays are tiring, but worth it. And camp is more than paid for folks!

Photo Round-Up: School, Easter, and More

Now that David has a big motorcycle that he uses to take three of four kids (plus big back packs) to school, it warranted new safety measures: really cool helmets. If we didn't stand out before we do now. The kids love it.

This one was a little small on Sophia so we sent it back. She is growing and is destined to surpass me in height (which is not hard to do)

For our 15th wedding anniversary, I made Aunt Beth's Lemon/Key lime meringue pie and a cheese cake too. We also had a night away at a guest house. David ended up very sick in the night, but recovered quickly the next day.

Part of our morning routine while the older kids are at school is for me to work with Gabrielle. We do catechism, scripture memory, I read to her and then she reads to me (currently on lesson 66 or so). Then when it is time for me to exercise or run she does activities on her own OR plays with our helper. On this day I pulled out the shapes and Gabrielle played under the table the full 25 minutes of my Kettle bell workout.

Once again the 4th graders at school are doing soccer competition between classes. On this day Sophia's class won and she scored two goals. Short fields, 5 v 5.

 Since they won't keep clean water in the pool, our kids now use it as their 'skate park' for skateboarding. It works well actually with a nice little hill. 

 They're really not half bad, I was surprised that not too many scrapes have come from this (so far)

These kiddos dream of a tree house. If only this were our tree.

Every semester the kids have 'spring outings', all kids going to different spots across town. This time Gabrielle's kindergarten even had their own too. Thankfully she was slotted to go to the same place as Sophia. The kids love this, they pack junk food and get to have picnics with their friends.

And Easter. Easter is a BIG deal at our house, though it is not highlighted here much. It was a busy weekend, but the build-up to the celebration was fantastic. We used our Road to the Cross study and each day saw the OT point to the coming one. Then we listen to Jesus in the NT as he proclaims the reason for his coming, we followed Him to his death and rejoiced in his resurrection. It was a simple and sweet time of reflection. 

As our kids get older these times in the Word and discussions during Bible Study are precious and much deeper.
"Praise the One who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead" is the refrain of our life.

 And I was coaxed into an Easter egg hunt too. Last minute, but still fun, I hid about 100 eggs, and I think we are still missing about 10...out there for the rats to get.

On Easter our yard got resurrected. For an American yard this is nothing, but if you are in China, guard your heart against yard-envy :). We took up our flower (weed) beds, moved some trees, took down the fence, expanded the yard, and laid sod. This was my birthday present and it was so late because no one works during the entire month surrounding my birthday (always Chinese New Year).
We are so pleasantly surprised at the space. Let's just hope we can keep the grass alive!

And I leave you with this: 

 All four at the desks. This is completely staged, the older three were working on Chinese HW and I told David to go take a look. They called Gabrielle in for the picture. And yes, I am doing a little homeschool room renovation: cabinets on that wall and one long desk with drawers. And possibly in another corner a tall stand-up/bar stool computer/device desk. I will let you know how it turns out.

Photo Round-Up: Josiah's Visit

Here's a little round up of Josiah's time with us (photos confiscated from David's phone)...

Teaching our kids 'the ropes' of football mobility drills.

A night in the hammock (or a few hours anyway)

Waterfall Hike.

Sub-tropic coconut milk drink.

Story time.

Village Life:

 Feeding the fowl.

Impersonating Mr. Mike

New Temple dedication prep.

 All new Buddhist idols, etc.

Bringing their offerings.

The money ornaments.

village gals, eating corn.

Last day group hug....and our 16 yo, pseudo-son went home....

Small Scares, Skating, and Haircuts

Mar 3, 2018

David left with Mr. Mike and Josiah and headed on to Bangkok for a meeting. As he was leaving he went through the gamut of 'call this person if this...etc. etc.' we laughed a little and Mike said: 'Nothings going to happen while David is away.' We then really laughed because without fail something usually does. 

With minds at ease they went to the airport and we went on with our day. 

Mid-day after a bite from an apple I started having an allergic reaction, instant puffy eyes and throat swelling. I really had no one to call that could help immediately. With the kids by myself and never having felt this way before I had to think it through a bit. I called a friend for a consult on Benadryl, and because Isabella ate from the same apple (we are not allergic to apples, these did not come from our normal vendor and must have had some serious pesticide/poison who knows?) she too was unwell. 

I started talking it through with the kids in case the Benadryl didn't work for whatever was going on. I finally did call one of our closest local friends to come over. (I wasn't sure if I would need to go to the hospital). We all did end up going to the hospital for the doc to see Isabella. It was hard for me to discern what was going on with her, so I needed a better opinion. By then I could tell the Benadryl was working on me. Isabella too was better but sleeply (I might have given her too much medicine :))We all came back and crashed and so thankful that another crazy event turned out fine. 

Needless to say, the text David received when his plane landed in the capital was: 'call me, we are having a little emergency'. With all that had been going on with the fam he almost hopped on the next plane back but I assured him we were fine. 

Though a different kid was in my bed every night David was gone, we really were fine and discovered a great place to skate while daddy was away. I even laced up and had flashbacks of fifth grade skating parties: 

Gabrielle doesn't have skates yet, so we went on a few other rides. 

and then she did try Isabella's and got the hang of it fast. 

When David returned it was time to get some haircuts. This was Gabrielle's first haircut from a hairdresser. She did great!

The Scariest Moment

One story from Josiah's time here was really just one startling event among a few other unsettling ones. I've waited long to put this out there because I re-process it every time, which can be good and bad.

I turned 41 on Feb 5th, and on that day David was in a motorcycle accident. We've lived here almost fifteen years and this was his first motorcycle incident. It was quite minor,  he was going fairly slow, and he was able to jump off to avoid his whole body being pinned. His ankle however is still very slow to heal. This was not his fault and the person at fault agreed to pay damages. We praised the Lord for his protection and prepared for Josiah's arrival on the 8th.

Once he arrived, we introduced him to China by eating Chinese food almost every meal his first few days. But on February 10th I made a Mexican feast: Bean, cheese and chicken chimichangas. It was during this meal that David started choking. He did not panic but he was not breathing. He was trying to help himself get it up, and finally motioned for me to help him. Both Josiah and I stood up, I told the kids to pray. This was already a long minute gone by or more. We heard him make a noise and some mucous came up. But his airway was still completely blocked. It was at this point that I started the Heimlich, I could tell I wasn't strong enough nor in the right position so I told Josiah: "You come do it, I can't!" The kids were crying by now. Josiah put all he had into that squeeze. Finally the food moved more, and he could cough and breathe a little. It still took many moments to recover. But he did. 

Every single one of us were shaken by this. In our first four years overseas we were told twice that David could die from whatever it was that was going on at that time (Rabid dog bite, Bad heart wiring), this was far scarier than those. And sure we joked with Josiah about that being the reason he came, and perhaps it was, but we were faced with the very real reality that life is fleeting. Every breath is a gift. We know this, do we live it?     

We all cried and prayed more, we thanked God. And in the moment I had to tell the kids: 'even if this had ended differently, our God is still a good, loving Father.' Of course that is exactly what I felt at that moment. And on the other hand that is what I am supposed to say. But as we talked through the event and I processed it more, the fear that wrangled my heart was tightening. Honestly I just started to put the whole event out of my mind. As days went by I meditated on God's grace in the present reality and not in the 'what ifs'. The tension of my soul settled a bit.   

But it's not a bad tension: to wonder at God's grace in tragedy and to wonder at God's mercy in saving. The best is yet to come. This is a Christian sentiment that actually means everything. It's the heart of who we are. In the scariest moments it is hope realized, and for every other 'mundane' moment it is the reminder that this world and all its brokenness is passing away.  Eternity with all of God's goodness and glory, joy and relationship unimaginable--this 'best yet to come' is God's promise to His children. It is not a salve, it is not a blind 'goodness', it is not trite. It is what we experience in part every day, and His choosing to take David or leave David on earth a while longer doesn't change any of that. 

But it should, and I hope it does, change us. Let it compel us to live bigger love, give greater sacrifice, use intentional words, see more and more of HIS image displayed in us and talked about....a deeper enjoyment of God and all our gifts from Him, but also a joyful anticipation of HIS BEST that is yet to come.