Our week in pictures.

Its been a good week...well mostly good. With a few (a lot) of breakdowns in the middle. I went VT'ing earlier in the week. I though I knew where I was going turns out I didn't. I left 25 minutes early so I would have plenty of time to walk to my teachee's apartment. First I walked those 25 minutes all in the wrong direction. Then I kept trying to meet up with my companion and we couldn't find each other. Let's just say I ran (yes literally) for an hour and a half. Yes, I was an HOUR AND A HALF late for my appointment. I arrived home with bloody feet (wrong shoes for running). I need to learn chinese (so I can take a freaking taxi)...like pronto. Don't worry, I'm working on it.

OJ had half the week off for the lantern festival so we had our friends (Marj and her son Jared) up to our place for a couple of days.

We took them to a park near us to rent boats.

Marj and Jared.

Graham drove.

our week...take two.

Finley tried to get in the front seat. Apparently I wasn't entertaining enough.

OJ helped G.

And I took some pictures.

our week...take three

The next day we went swimming. G kept jumping into the pool like this and yelling "hillyback to the rescue!" Hmmmm not sure where he gets these things but he had us all laughing.

Some of us decided out of the pool was more exciting than in it.

Then she worked on her middle splits.

We stayed up late that night working on lessons and woke up early for our crazy Sunday. We came home, had naps. Then everyone chipped in for dinner.

our week...take four.

OH MAN...a delicious dinner it was. I used this recipe (scroll to the bottom of the page) from a blog that a friend of mine from HS does. Then I modified this recipe from the lovely Pioneer woman. (If my mexican food-loving friend who lives in HK happens to read this...YOU WOULD LOVE this dinner.)

After dinner some of us worked on the computer...

Some of us watched Mountain of the Lord.

Then some of us decided to join...

our week...take five.

PAUSE...here's a picture of my kitchen.

The movie watching was short-lived.... BECAUSE

This guy earned his violin. He's a natural. (He picked it up like this and started playing without anyone showing him how.) He was so excited and kept telling me he was "practicing". haha it was adorable.

Potty training update: He's wearing underwear all day except naps and bedtime...oh and poop...he won't poop in the toilet. But its progress. We made it all the way to church, all the way through church, and all the way home without a single accident!

Oh, and here are some lovely flowers I picked up at the market this week.

THE END.

Park City

Every summer my parents and my brother and his family have a time share the same week up in Park City. We went up and had Sunday dinner. After looking at these pictures I'm realizing how much Finley grew up this summer. It's always fun to see Finley and her cousin O together. They are 6 months apart and Finley towers over O. I also especially love the picture of me and my sisters. We don't have many photos of just the 4 of us.

Cultural Sundays.

I've decided that my Sunday drive to and from church (wedged in the back seat between Graham and Finley) will be a large part of my cultural lessons here in China.

Things I learned today:

1. Its okay to drive your bike on the freeway...against traffic--with a large cart attached---with absolutely no shoulder on the road.

2. As we were driving i kept hearing honking, I asked OJ if it was our driver. He said, "Yes, he's letting the other cars know that he's there." So every time a car came near us he honked. China is a well populated place...that's a lot of honking.

3. There are many toll booths on our way to church. The attendant hands you your money by a long pole and a fishnet.

4. Having church in a house provides the same opportunities for awkwardness as living/staying with a bunch of people you don't know very well. For example: A member of the branch presidency set me apart today in a bedroom (it is a requirement that the church meets in a home, so they have someone from the branch who stays there on the weekends and has the church be their home address...thus the bedroom) Or when I had to go to the bathroom so I climbed over a Primary class sitting on the floor having their lesson in the laundry room so I could get to the bathroom.


Good times my friends, good times.

I wish that I would've had my camera for some of these but I just can't seem to get on top of it as I pack entertainment, snacks, and lunch for 2 kids for 3 hours of driving and 3 hours of church. One of these days I'll remember.

For now I'm off to take a nap. I've got an hour until the dinner we were invited to and both children are asleep.

I sacrificed and used some of that time to blog.

You're welcome.

A violin and a potty.

( yes that is a mini adult size toilet...cute huh? No we didn't buy it, it came with the apartment)

Today's mission: Potty Training

I didn't know this would be my mission when I woke up. But, the opportunity presented itself...so we 're going with it.
I've been bringing up the idea of going on the potty for months now but nothing seems to entice him. I've received loads of advice...I was about ready to just drop the subject completely but then we moved back to China and they just don't make diapers as big as they do in the States. Then OJ surprised Graham and brought him home a violin**. So I had a flash of inspiration and thought....this could be just the motivation he needs. Seems to be working...I told him he can't have the violin until he wears his underwear and goes on the potty for 3 wholes days. I'm crossing my fingers...cause it would be a shame to take that cute little violin back.

** Graham has always loved music. He is always quick to tell us when he hears a violin, trumpet, piano....etc. All his toys become musical instruments. He has especially loved the violin. We have a friend here who plays the violin and started at a young age and suggested we get one that he can just play with as a starting point.
OJ started violin lessons this summer while he was by himself here in China. He has wanted to learn and Graham's intense interest was all he needed to get the ball rollling. When he showed G his violin on Skype G was so so so excited and kept saying "Oh Dad, good job" or "good song Dad!" or "Cool Dad!"

We made it.

We made it, we're here. The flight and jet lag were miserable. A form of torture I wouldn't wish upon anyone. But its over now and I think we are ready to get back to normal (whatever that means). We've been here a week and I've only had a couple of breakdowns which is remarkable compared to our initial move to HK. There are things that are/will be hard ( like our trips to 5 different stores on Sat. to get the food we needed, and you know....the whole complete language barrier) but perhaps I'm just getting used to it. After being in the States for three months I thought I would have a much more rough transition to my Chinese life. The kids seem to be adapting quickly. In fact Graham said to OJ a couple of nights after we got here, "Dad, I'm glad we live in China." Its hard to be sad with that kind of optimism around me all day long. And how about that Finley girl? Isn't she the cutest? She's definitely on the move these days and wants to be with everyone in the middle of everything. She definitely has her own opinion and I love her for it.

Look forward to some interesting posts as we move forward with our life here in Dongguan. And also some posts from our summer (our wonderful wonderful summer) because I'm not ready to forget about that yet. We were spoiled by friends and family. It was so fun to see people multiple times and enjoy big shopping carts, customer service, comfortable beds, good food, and Target. I love America. In fact Graham now says, "Mom, T is for Target...right?" hahaha....awesome.