Sunday Surprises!

After a very busy week of catching up on sleep and trying to unpack all of the boxes, we took a break from the chaos and relaxed with friends on Sunday! Jen had came up with an idea to play T-ball outside after church. So first we went to lunch and then surprised the kids by taking them to TIS (another international school here where Jen teaches) to play soccer, T-ball and on the play equipment! I'm not so sure the T-ball went over too well because my kids were more excited to run in the open field and play on the playground! In the end, we all had fun breathing fresh air, playing, and visiting! I love that our kids get along so great. The girls both love art and the boys are a bit touchy, but they really just light up when they see each other!! I've said it before, but we are just so blessed to have them in our lives.

After our great time outside, we had to come back and prepare for dinner guests! At church, we always have a time for prayer requests. This morning, the principal from IST (where El and Eens go) stood up and requested prayers for her husband who is having back pain and needs to meet with a neurosurgeon. Dan was so moved by her request that he decided to invite them to dinner with little regard to what we would actually feed them!! Remember, I don't cook, therefore there is no meat in the house to actually prepare a meal!! I was in quite a panic to prepare for our guests, it didn't help that she was the kids' principal!! I settled on brownies out of a bag for dessert, Tastefully Simple beer bread and potato cheddar soup and a prepared salad from the Sheraton!! I also made the infamous Green Goddess dip (they loved it!!) for an appetizer. Danny ordered pizza to ensure that there was plenty of food!!

The evening turned out to be wonderful. They are a lovely family and we have so much in common! This is their first year here also, so I shared some of my shopping places in Beijing with them and they told us all of the places they like to eat!! The kids had a ton of fun playing and were thankfully on their best behavior!

What a fantastic end to a very stressful week!!

St. Martin Soccer

Dan is hoping that one out of the three kids will be a soccer star! The weather has turned beautiful over here, so he is taking advantage of this and playing soccer on the brick road every chance he gets! Thus far, Coop shows the most promise, while Eens tries really hard. Now my sweet Ellie has a little practice to do. She should gets points for simply trying, because the skills are just not there! She may need to be more like her mommy and stick to sports like track where you just have to be capable of running around a circle!! She may surprise us all!!

Here you can see our quiet Saturday afternoon being spent outside!!

As you can see from El's picture, she is more interested in posing and looking good!!

Here is one of the first signs of fall that I have seen since returning from the states!! I think we are about a month behind the Quad Cities weather! We are now in the mid to upper 70's pretty consistently with only a few 80 degree days forcasted for the next 10 days! It is a welcome relief to not have such high amounts of humidity!

As you can see in the pictures, I do allow my children to wear shorts because it is still hot enough for that. I do this, but pay the price for it because we always get dirty looks from some of the Chinese because after the Moon Festival, which occurred at the end of September, they begin dressing in double layers regardless of the weather! They can not believe I do not make my children wear socks and coats - even my ayi got on my case on Friday because I didn't have socks on - it was 80 degrees out!!!

Christmas in October!

I have some very good excuses for being a bit lax on blogging this past week!! Not only were we extremely jet lagged, but our shipment finally arrived after 14 weeks!!! We were so excited to dig through all of the boxes and find treasures that had been packed since July!! We were very excited that almost everything made it to China that was supposed to come. So far I have only discovered that we are missing three things - a shelf unit for the kids' toys, El's favorite princess blanket, and my pizza cutter! That being said, we were the lucky recipients of some huge blankets and comforters that were supposed to go into storage because we have very little storage here!! My ayi made out with three boxes of goodies that we just couldn't find a place for, including my king comforter set from the states (dog hair and all!!). She is so funny, I would ask her to look through the things I didn't want, but she never even looked, she just took! She was so thankful for these items - I'm assuming she will pass things out to her family! She even took some of Danny's clothes which I'm sure are huge for her family, but maybe she will hem and sew to make them work!! I was happy to give all of this stuff to a good home - in the states, no one would be particularly excited to get 2 matching cereal bowls or a small set of silverware, but here, they take what they can get - especially if it is from America. It's interesting though because probably everything I gave her was actually made in China - just payed for in America.

We had a total of 127 boxes arrive along with my "big red chair", 1 king mattress, 3 twin mattresses, shelves, and outside toys like the picnic table, slide, and teeter totter. They brought the first truck at 9:00 and when they finished unpacking I was overwhelmed, but thought it was manageable, then, they said the second truck was arriving in about 1 hour. I was scared and kicking myself for bringing so much "stuff"!! In the end, it all worked out and we are so happy to begin making this feel like "home"! I even made an e-mail buddy with the guy coordinating the movers and translating. He loved that I was a teacher and he "adored" my accent (what accent you might be asking - I'm not sure!!!)! Anyway, he asked if we could e-mail and I could help him with his English!

Here are some pictures of the chaos that occurred two days after we got back from the states!!

This is half of the boxes that we unpacked. It was amazing, by the next morning, all of the boxes were gone!!

What a Wonderful World

I cannot even begin to describe how wonderful September 27th was for our family! First, we welcomed Steph officially into our family!! My brother and Steph were dating for a long time, so she has always fit right in and felt like family, but now it is official!! I could not be happier to have gained another sister!! Second, we were all together! That, in and of itself, was something to be truly thankful for!! Third, it was a beautiful day - you never know what the weather holds, but on this day - it was perfect - 75 and sunny! God was surely smiling down on us as we came together and witnessed the joy of true love!

The wedding ceremony was beautiful at Steph's church. Steph looked gorgeous - she was a very calm bride!! Ellie and Grace walked down the aisle flawlessly! When Robby started to say his vows, my emotions got the best of me and I cried because I heard the quiver in his voice. I think because he is my only brother I am very protective and proud of him. To watch him and Steph filled with happiness and love - filled my heart with joy! The ceremony was short and sweet!

After the ceremony we checked into the hotel up the street and got settled before the reception began! Almost all of my family stayed at the hotel, including aunts, uncles, and cousins, so we had a great time visiting and catching up before the night began!! Once we arrived into the banquet hall, it was evident that Steph and Rob (we'll give him a little credit, I'm sure he muttered yes or no occasionally!!) had remembered every little detail, including keeping the kids busy and occupied! All of the table numbers were photos that Steph had taken of the University of Illinois where her and my brother started dating! Also, in front of all of the kids' seats were little boxes of activities for them to do! I'm pretty sure Eens colored the entire time before dinner was served! During the cake cutting, my cousin Jessica sang and honestly, people thought it was a recording. It amazed me that such a big voice could come out of such a petite girl!! It was beautiful! After cake cutting and dinner, the "dancing" began!! The first dance belonged to my brother and Steph - they started out slow and sweet, but then they busted out all of these moves I thought had been prepared from their dance class! It turns out that Steph had told the DJ to cancel that part of the reception, but he forgot, so they made up an entire choreographed dance!! They fooled me!! With the wine and beer flowing freely (thanks dad!) and hotel rooms waiting, we all "let loose" for the night!! It was such a fun, special place to be! I will have many memories of this night stored in my heart for a long time to come, as I'm sure my whole family will! At one point, there was the 6 of us (mom, dad, me, T, Rob, and Steph) dancing together - it was a moment that I will freeze in my mind to help get me through the tough days!! I have to admit that I may have "let loose" a little too much by the end- my dad prompted me to do the worm - yes, I did a little breakdancing in my dress!! But, it was all in good fun and my muscles really didn't hurt too bad the next day!! It was a fun night with lots of crazy stories to tell that we will all giggle at when we are together!

Thank you Steph and Rob for letting us all join in to watch you celebrate your love for one another!! We love you dearly and already miss you so much!

Please be patient with the slideshow, it takes a little bit of time to load!!! If it does not work, click on "view all images" and it will open in a seperate box!! Enjoy!!

We're Back!!

After our wonderful whirlwind trip back to the States, we are now back in China! I do apologize on the delay posting, but wow - I'm exhausted!! I tried to post the other night, but sleep got the best of me at 8:00! It is now 5:00 am and I am unable to sleep so what better time than right now to fill you all in on our fabulous time with family and friends!!

Once we arrived into Chicago, Danny's parents picked us up from the airport and we went back to their house for the night. Before we left in July, I made sure that we had extra carseats at their house so every time we fly back, we do not have to bring carseats (it's not a law in China to have carseats, but I'm not taking any chances after witnessing the driving skills over here!!). Michel came for dinner and we were able to function a bit, but my main focus was getting to sleep! I also left sound machines and the kids favorite night lights in the US so when we come it is something familiar. This also makes packing more manageable! I think we slept okay besides our dear Cooper being up several times!

On Thursday we all had hair appointments (except El who needed longer hair for the wedding!) and Danny and I had some serious shopping to do! We ate lunch at the mall and then Danny's parents took the kids back while we power shopped! I'm sure our credit card companies were near calling us because we only use cash in China and it was way too convenient to have our favorite stores all together in one place!! After our shopping adventure we headed down to my parents to get ready for the wedding!!

We were met at my parents' house by my sister Steph and her boyfriend, Jeff. They brought our favorite pizza! And yes MP, we got another jar of dressing to bring back!! It was so much fun to relax and watch Grey's with family! We even let the kids stay up late hoping they would sleep - of course that plan backfired with Cooper, but El and Eens slept until 9:30 the next morning!

On Friday, we did some more power shopping. This time with my Aunt Kathy in tow!! We loved spending time with all of my extended family so much this summer. I'm pretty sure that it has taken moving to China to allow my children to truly know their family better. When we lived in Bettendorf, we would rush over to LeRoy for holidays and stay maybe one day - it was never enough, but now we stay for extended periods of time and I couldn't be happier! LeRoy is where I grew up surrounded by my family - now I'm able to show my children the pleasures of living in a small town and the joys of their crazy family!! Of course, Starbucks is a 20 minute drive away, but that is actually not a big deal to me now!! I digressed!! This shopping trip centered around eating at Panera (with my brother Robby, Steph, and Jessica), finding party supplies for the kids birthdays, and going to Jewel to stock up on oatmeal, coffee, coffee creamer, granola bars, and candy!!!

On Friday night we went to the rehearsal for the wedding! We had a ball! Once again, surrounded by family, I was reminded of how many times I took for granted living closer to everyone. Besides, of course, the excitement of the upcoming wedding, the highlight of this night was meeting my new niece Jillian. I am so proud of my sister T for putting on a huge smile for everyone even though I'm sure she would rather have been sleeping! Motherhood agrees with her and I am constantly observing her because she is the most patient mom I know!! She must get it from our mom - I missed out on inheriting that trait!!! I also noticed on this night that our kids are getting older! Danny and I were able to have conversations with people and the kids entertained each other and played with all of the other kids there! I even caught El playing some bag toss game!! They were definitely in their element!! The above pictures are from the "tailgating" themed rehearsal dinner!!

Of course, Saturday was the day we had all been anticipating, and you all will have to anticipate a bit longer because that is a post all on it's own!!

On Sunday we slept until after 10:00am! We have never slept that late as a family, I am assuming the combination of jet lag and maybe one too many glasses of wine for myself contributed to that! We finally dragged ourselves up and got dressed in time to go to IHOP with Danny's parents before they headed back to Chicago! After breakfast we went to Steph's mom's house to watch her and Rob open presents! The kids had a great time catching spiders, but were totally grossed out when Steph grabbed one and was holding onto it by it's leg! She fits right into our family!! We went back to my grandparents' house (this is where we stay when we visit - my parents' house is right next door, but it is a little small for all of us and their 2 huge dogs!!) and rested! After rest time, we took Cooper to Chuck E Cheese with my mom and dad! This child has been talking about "Chuck E" since we arrived in China!! I think my mom and dad even had a good time, with the exception of the pizza not being the best!

On Monday we were blessed to spend an entire day at my sister T's house! She always makes everyone feel welcome so she agreed to let some very dear friends from Bettendorf and their children come for a visit!! This is 7 days after having baby Gillian, but I never saw her flinch when, at one point, there were 7 adults and 10 children in her house!! Thank you T for letting us all come over!! It was absolutely wonderful getting to see my friends because I really didn't think we would get to see any on this quick visit! Jenny, Shonna, Heidi, and Jeannie drove from Bettendorf to Peoria so we could spend time together - thank you so much!!!! This visit just reiterated that I have been blessed with wonderful, caring friends!! Over the summer we are looking forward to spending time with all of our friends in Bettendorf and Chicago!!

On Tuesday we made a quick trip to Toys R Us (I bought all of the kids Christmas presents!) and Target (I had been looking forward to that since landing!!). Afterwards, we had to say good-bye to my family so we could go back to Chicago and spend time with Dan's mom and dad and prepare to fly back. I'm not sure if good-byes will ever get easy for me. I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes a week later. I keep telling myself how lucky I am to have such a fantastic family that I don't want to leave them!! I also scheme in my head all of the fun we will have over the summer!

Michel came back over to Danny's parents' once we arrived!! We always have a great time visiting with him so I'm glad we got to spend time with him when we weren't completely out of it!! Danny's dad grilled yummy burgers and hot dogs (2 things we don't eat very often over here!) for us! It was a fun night and it took my mind off of us having to leave in two days!

On Wednesday, I went out shopping yet again for the final items on our list!! Danny and his parents took the kids fishing!! From what I heard the kids favorite part was digging for worms - I'm glad I wasn't there!! They had a great time though and I'm sure they will be begging Pepere to do it again!! For dinner we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Bob Chin's. Every time I go, I eat too many garlic rolls and appetizers and then by the time my meal comes I'm not hungry. I was bound determined not to do this again, but when my lobster arrived I could only eat half of it. Such a pity....After dinner I got to spend some time looking through Chinese artwork from Danny's grandma. Now that I live in China, I found this so interesting. The art is beautiful and the colors are so vibrant even though the pieces are very old.

On Thursday morning we loaded our nine suitcases into the cars and headed to the airport. I was worried about the kids saying good-bye this time because they knew what they were going back to in China, but we had no problems. I think it helped that they knew Danny's parents are coming to visit us at the end of this month!! We checked in our baggage and got through security very quickly - we are beginning to feel like pros at this!!! Our plane actually left on time and the kids enjoyed their kids meals, watching videos, and playing video games for the majority of the trip! They did sleep for about 5 hours which was a blessing because I was actually able to sleep too. I finally invested in one of those neck pillows and it did the trick!! We of course, in St. Martin fashion, had to have a little drama at the end of the trip - Coop ended up in time out at the back of the plane and Eens puked in the bag, but all in all it was a good flight!!

I am learning to appreciate each day as a gift and this trip was a huge gift that we were blessed to be able to take!! We are very fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends that love us unconditionally and support us during this adventure.

Our Feet Are On US Soil!

Just wanted to post that we have arrived safe and sound in the US! The plane left EARLY and we arrived a bit EARLY - we couldn't believe it!! For the first few hours on the plane I kept looking at my children and thinking I needed to write a book on how to take international flights with kids. They were watching movies, playing games, doing mazes, and eating the plane food (I ordered kids' meals when I booked the reservations)! Then I gave El and Eens a little Benadryl and off to dreamland they went. I had to give Coop his prescription medication which had the opposite effect! He was giggling and popping up out of his seat every few moments. At first it was funny and then it got a bit annoying because I wanted to sleep! He finally fell into a very fitful sleep and would wake up and kick Eens every hour or so. I finally gave up on sleep after about 3 hours of this! So much for my book deal, but it really wasn't too bad! We're off to sleep and breath in fresh air!!

Tomorrow is full of haircuts, shopping, and driving to my parents' house!!

How to Survive a Chinese Massage

I had to post quickly about my most recent massage...I know, I know...manicures, pedicures, facials, massages. I'm not bragging, this is just how I spend some quiet time reflecting on my new surroundings (yeah right!!!). I'm enjoying the spoiling, but I don't feel very guilty because it is extremely cheap. I think today's 1 hour massage cost me $10.

Anyway, today I went with my neighbor to get a massage. This was a dry massage so all clothing was left on - I don't know my neighbor that well!! They started with my feet - about half of the massage was spent on my feet, which is so different than the US. They work on all of the pressure points in the feet which took a little longer on me than my friend because my feet are so big!!! After the feet she moved to my back. She was about half my size, but it hurt like crazy. At the time I wondered if this was really worth it! She was pushing and I would tense up so she would push harder - ouch!! Then I noticed that she is no longer standing on the floor, she is on the table, straddling over me and putting all of her weight into this massage! I had to stifle my laughter as I was laying there! She finally finished with a little chopping on my back!!

I have to admit that my sinuses have loosened up and I am feeling very relaxed (just in time for the flight tomorrow!) since I had this massage! Maybe I should have gotten a massage instead of going to the SOS yesterday!!!

Off to finish packing!!