shoe shopping

Sophia was in desperate need of new shoes before our trip. The problem is (and I was told this more than once) is that her feet are wide and fat, shoes are long enough but she can't 'squeeze' into them. In the end we bought two pair, and an outfit all for about ten USD, but of course I am paying for the quality, I know. To my surprise, the sandals actually light up when she walks, and her new 'adidas' are actually 'adibas' brand. Genuinely fake. At least I know what I am getting.
Here she is diving into her new shoes:


The boxes are much more fun


these are my sandals


My feet aren't really this big but if I am to wear socks (I don't even know what socks are), then I had to get these big tennis shoes. I may end up looking like a clown.

chores (video)

In this video Sophia is helping our 'helper' (who is on loan to us for 2 weeks while our friends are away) do laundry. You can never start them to early...she hasn't quite got the folding down yet, she likes to take the dry clothes and just put them in various places around the living room while I try to fold them.

Thanks TCC!!! (1 video)

Here is a video of Sophia riding on the back of the bike with me for the first time (she looks dazed and confused). I had to practice around the school to get used to the extra 25 pounds. Today we went on our real first outing, in traffic and everything. we ventured to the school (where we used to study) and picked up a package slip, then we traversed across town to the post office to pick up our package from TCC. I was pretty nervous the whole time, especially when the package was bigger than I expected. Thankfully, halfway through the trip I got air put in the tires (very flat) and got my basket tightened. My balancing skills have to be really sharp every time we pass a shop playing music (very often), because Sophia starts dancing, wiggling those hips, and throws me off kilter...I will have to get used to it!
yes, TCC sent us an awesome package. no i will not post every package we get, but this one was so cool, filled with wonderful goodies, candy, magazines, paper towels (yeah), earrings, and check out the pumpkin candle, smells delicious. Now I must decorate for fall, even if it is still 88 degrees in our room at night....fall is here! Thanks SO much TCC! we love and miss you guys.
Kristin: pics are awesome girl, thanks and thanks and thanks.


Thank you TCC for encouraging us so much!


Sophia loves the toy keys, and can actually say 'key'.

colorful cooking

On our healthy diet (half healthy since we cheat half the time :), I love the vibrant colors of cooking that assure we are getting all kinds of good nutrition. This was for making Eggplant Roulades, which turned out for us more like Veg lasagna minus all the cheese. It was really good. I did a two week menu plan, which ends this weekend. It included:

Monday (15th): spinach salad with lots of raw veg, vinaigrette dressing
dinner: bean chili, fresh fruit
Tuesday: Tuna salad on greens, or wrapped in tortilla, fresh fruit
dinner: Veg burrito, acorn squash supreme (delicious, like dessert with no added sugar)
Weds: left overs, dinner Jiaozi (fried dumplings)
Thurs: ordered take out: curry pork and rice, dinner: roasted veg pizza
friday: Left overs, salad, dinner: hearty veg soup (a little spicy)
weekend: left overs and eat out with friends, etc.
Monday: spinach salad with red beans, dinner: Dijon chicken, braised bokchoy
Tuesday: lunch: tuna salad on greens, dinner: eggplant roulades, lemon zest spinach (it was yuck)
Wed: left overs, dinner: jiaozi (dumplings)
thursday: lunch: order out: curry pork and rice, dinner:???

Our 'helper' who is really our friends' helper is helping us while they are away (we are so thankful), she had to go home for a funeral for a few days, so we will see if I can make it to the market and cook some more meals this week. We leave on Monday for Thailand so I won't cook lots as I am trying to clean out the fridge. I may post a recipe of some of the above that turned out well...coming soon (hopefully).

The Williams

Happy Anniversary Travis and Julie, married 7 years ago today! David and I look up to Travis and Julie so much and are SOOOO thankful for them. Even though we have lived most of their marriage overseas, we have managed to go on a few double dates (one of which was here!). Those times have been very precious to us! Thank you guys for displaying a marriage and family centered around the creator of marriage and family. I would post a picture but I have no recent pics of them together! sorry.
Enjoy the day. we love you guys and miss you so much.

reading spots (2 videos)

Sophia obviously does not know how to read yet, but she 'reads' all the time. She likes books almost as much as she likes milk in a bottle. Here is a video of some of her favorite places to take a book. And here is another. Hope you enjoy.

Speaking of milk, yes we are keeping posted on the awful discovery of certain brands of milk powder that has been killing some children in this country. We give Sophia milk, not powder, but we were using the brand of milk that put toxic stuff in their powder, so we have switched brands!

market conversations

Everyday I hear something worth noting, but I always forget. Last week in the market a man asked: "are you a foreigner?" "yes." "so you are not a chinese?" "no, I am American." "oh. (smile and thumbs up followed)" I do get mistaken for having Asian affiliations, but I have never been asked quite like that before. David sometimes tells people I from the Northwest (near Russia), they believe him, or he says I am part of a minority group in America (descendants of American Indians, he means) and they leave it at that. I don't mind the confusion, it can be beneficial at times to not immediately be pegged as completely foreign.

other conversations i hear almost daily in regards to parenting: this is a real conversation:
"she's cold" (a Chinese lady talking about sophia)
"no, she's not" (me)
"she's cold"
"no, she's not"
"she's cold"
"no, she's not."
this was one lady, not three different people, she walked down the aisle next to the stroller with me telling me this. Today a different lady told me Sophia was cold and that she was going to catch a cold, she needed on longer pants (it was probably 75 outside, in the morning, and we were in the supermarket). With fall approaching, I can't wait to hear the scoldings I will receive, not to mention that all of the local children are potty trained in their first few months of life (a very difficult and time consuming task that only works if you have someone holding the child all of the time) so i am sure i will soon began to hear about the fact that Sophia is still wearing diapers. the joys of parenting cross culturally.