Olson Family Life

Moving Day

2012-01-25T22:50:00.000+08:00

Today was a big day! We moved to our new apartment....it was probably the quickest and easiest moves we have ever had because we really didn't have much in the terms of stuff. We had all of our clothes in our suitcases, and then we had friends and people from our congregation just take all of our stuff in their cars to the new place. It was pretty quick. I forgot to take pictures of the whole process but I am so thankful to everyone who volunteered their cars, their time and their backs to help us move!

Tomorrow the plan is to clean up the old apartment to get it ready for the new renters. Hopefully it won't take too long.

A meal with friends

2012-01-24T22:44:00.000+08:00

We were invited over to some friends' house for dinner. Some because they wanted to be nice and invite my mom over for a meal and some because it would be fun to get together over Chinese New Year. We had LOTS of food to eat and we were going to shoot off fireworks but sadly it started to rain. Getting to our friends's house was an adventure because we went on an adventure and got a teeny tiny bit lost. Thankfully we got there and had a great time visiting and chatting with everyone.

We had been packing all day and so it was nice not to worry about what we were going to eat and just a nice break from all of the packing up of stuff.

Our New Apartment

2012-01-23T22:32:00.000+08:00

We are in the process of moving. We weren't looking to move but some friends of ours showed a place that we could rent and we just couldn't resist the apartment. It's got more living space and just more space for our family. The apartment is further away from church but still a 10 minute drive to church....just can't walk to church anymore. We are excited about moving to our new place....I think it will help us not feel like we are living on top of one another anymore. Here are some before pictures of the place -- it is new construction and we are the first people to live in the place....advantage is that it's brand new and no one has used it. The disadvantage is that we are coming from a fully furnished apartment and going to an unfurnished apartment. So we have a lot of things that we need to purchase to get our apartment ready. Thankfully we have a couch, we have a crib, beds for the boys and we bought a bed for ourselves. We will get things slowly and as we are able to.

It's an open floor plan which I love -- Living Room, Dinning Room and Kitchen. Then right off the kitchen is where we will put our washer and dryer. The little nook with the breaker box is what we thought would be perfect for a fridge but there is no electrical outlets there so we decided to put our fridge in our "laundry room".

Bedroom 1 - The smallest bedroom. We'll use it as a playroom, craft room, extra bedroom.

Guest bathroom & Kids Bathroom

Next to the bathroom is the boys bedroom.

Across from them is Little H's room

Master bedroom - This is a huge space. We can have our bed, Little H's crib, a couple wardrobes & even like a reading nook in here.

Master Bathroom

A Drive up to Ikea

2012-01-23T10:00:00.000+08:00

We went up to Ikea today....took my mom up to see it and to get some ideas for the apartment. We found some stuff and got some ideas. The kids had fun playing and trying to sit on everything.

Chinese New Year

2012-01-22T22:20:00.000+08:00

Today was a busy day. Little H's first day at church, her baptism and then it was Chinese New Year. This is the first year that we have been around for Chinese New Year. Let me tell you.....it is like a 2 week long celebration with fireworks and it was this week everyone has vacation so Hsinchu is very quiet. Happy Chinese New Year -- It's the year of the Dragon.

Little H - 12 days old

2012-01-22T21:13:00.000+08:00

I love having a little girl to dress up. We had fun taking pictures of her. She is so adorable!

Little H's Baptism day

2012-01-22T10:30:00.000+08:00

Today was a special day for Little H....she was baptized today. She was able to have two of her four godparents around and one of her godparents was able to do the actual baptism of her. (She'll get to meet her other godparents this summer!) She did a great job for being 1 week old...being at church and outside.

Andy and Kris -- one set of Little H's godparents.

Grandma with her Little Girl!

Grandma & Little H's first trip to Bei Pu

2012-01-21T15:02:00.000+08:00

We took my mom to Bei pu area. Drove up to where we had a picnic before with friends and discovered that the road up to our picnic area was not in the same condition as it was when we went up this summer there were some rockslides and some of the road looked like it was ready to slide off into the hill down below. The bridge we walked on was a little bit more scary then it was before. But the area was still really pretty and we went on a drive around the area which I hadn't seen before and saw lots of beautiful scenery!

Cute Picture of Little H

2012-01-21T10:51:00.000+08:00

Little H is now 11 days old! I am enjoying having a little girl to put hair bows on and dress up and snuggle with! She is a cuddle bug too!! Here are pictures of her in all her adorableness!!

Little H & Grandma's first trip to Neiwan

2012-01-20T14:27:00.000+08:00

We decided to take mom and Little H up to Neiwan for a quick trip just to get out of the city and see some different parts of Taiwan. Plus today was supposed to be a nicer day so that we could show her (my mom) some different parts of Taiwan. So we drove up into the mountains. We showed her one of the suspension bridges and she actually went on it with us. I guess she felt it wasn't that scary and that she could go on it. After the suspension bridge we went back into Neiwan. We walked around the town and looked at the shops. We also ate at one of the restaurants.....we ordered lots of noodles and soup type dishes and it was actually pretty good. After dinner we walked to the old theater and then looked at more of the shops. Found a "ice cream" (more like gelato) shop and enjoyed the ice cream. Then drove up into the mountains to go on an adventure. We had a blast. Afterwards we stopped at a friends house and had an adventure there also which I'm pretty sure that my mom will never forget.

A big day for Little H

2012-01-19T07:46:00.000+08:00

Today was a big day for Little H. Lots of first occurred today in her life. She got to ride in a taxi, take the high speed train, take the metro, go to Taipei, go to Dunkin Donuts and go get everything taken care of for her American passport, etc. We woke up early and took the train up to Taipei....she was the first one out of all the kids to take the high speed train in Taiwan. Then we took her to AIT....where you weren't allowed to have your camera, or any electronics inside the building. I could have gotten in trouble because you weren't even allowed to take pictures of the outside of the building and I was taking pictures of I think the 101 building far in the distance. We got the paperwork all ready and everything all ready and realized that the picture we had wasn't the right size for a passport photo....thankfully right down the street there was a place that you could get her pictures taken. Now we just have to wait for all the paper work to go through then we can start working on her ARC card and then her Health insurance card. But it was a busy and big day for Little H.

Kitty Cat love

2012-01-18T13:22:00.000+08:00

What do you do after you have a baby? Well if you are us you decide to move almost 12 days after you give birth and have a baby. We are moving to a new apartment....it just sort of fell on our laps and we decided that we would have more room for entertaining and living. So we have been looking around at new and used furniture because the place that we are moving to is completely unfurnished so we have to get some new stuff. Thankfully the boys have their bed and Little H has a crib. We have a couch, a table and some misc. But for the most part we have to start from scratch. It's slightly overwhelming to think about. Well today we went out with a friend to look at a second hand shop to get some ideas and buy some stuff for our new apartment. We found some wardrobes, a nice bed frame for our bed and some other stuff. While we were there the little boys got to meet and pet a cat. Little M and Little N continue the tradition of their dad in that they love animals. Little M was just in heaven holding the cat. It was pretty cute! After the boys were done looking at the cat we washed their hands and made sure that they were clean.

Little M never stops moving...he's always on the go or doing something. I love him dearly!!

Catnaps on the couch

2012-01-16T14:34:00.000+08:00

My favorite time with each of my kids have been taking naps on the couch. Little N was my biggest snuggler and still to this day would snuggle with me during naps if we could. Little M was a little more independent and didn't really like to snuggle to fall asleep on me during naps. Little H has been a great snuggler so far which I am so thankful for....I love baby snuggles. We have enjoyed our naps on the couch snuggling to sleep.

Baby Shower for Little H & all the new babies at VEF

2012-01-15T16:00:00.000+08:00

We had a baby shower for little H & all the new babies that have been born this past year at VEF. Lots of food, games & fun was had at the party. We had lots of fun. Afterwards Little H spent some time with her little rabbit Flopsy.

Grandma came

2012-01-13T17:30:00.000+08:00

Grandma came last night! It was perfect time because Grandma had said that she didn't want Little H to be very old. Well Little H listened to her Grandma and was only three days old when she finally met Grandma. The little boys were SUPER excited to see their grandma. Little N was a snoop and found some of their presents before Grandma could wrap them up. We also had to celebrate Christmas right away. The boys were super excited to open up all their stuff. They liked their fast pants from Uncle Rich & Auntie Jen & their matching outfits to look like Uncle Ds from Tante Lexi & Uncle Dave. They loved all their presents & kept coming up to grandma to say thank you for everything. Little H couldn't open anything but enjoyed her Flopsy & Dog that she got. She also will look adorable in all her clothes.

Homecoming of Little H

2012-01-12T18:43:00.000+08:00

Little H and Caristy went home early from the hospital. Normally you need to stay for 3 days but we decided to get a double room and share it with someone else & her husband.....the husband snored and the wife was in pain because she had a c-section. It just wasn't very restful and I couldn't hold Little H and get to know her unless I was nursing her. So I asked to come home early....my doctor said yes, which made us all excited. Picked up Little H and made our way home to being our new adventure as a family of 5.

Little N and M were at Stephanie's house for the afternoon and when they came home were exhausted. Three days in a row with no nap equals crabby kiddos. But they were really excited to meet and hold their little sister. Then we had friends come over to meet and hold Little H. E was SUPER excited because there is another girl to spend time with.

The boys meet Little H

2012-01-11T16:40:00.000+08:00

We were blessed to have Andy & Kris watch our boys while Caristy was in labor and that first night, so we didn't have to worry about what they were doing and when we needed to pick them up that first day and night. (Thank you for watching them -- they had a blast with your kids and you!!) They brought the kids up to the hospital the next day so that way they could see their baby sister and so Caristy could see them. Looking through the mirror they got their first glimpse of Little H. They just stared and stared at their sister. Excited to see how they will be with her once they can be in the same room with her.

The birth story of Little H

2012-01-10T20:15:00.000+08:00

We have been waiting for Little H's arrival for a while. With Little M's birth we just figured she would come just as quickly as he did and early. But December came and went, then January 1st (the first due date given to me) came and went and then January 8th (the final due date that the doctor gave me) came and went. Caristy started to wonder if she would ever make her arrival.

Finally on Monday evening Caristy just started not feeling good. Then at 2:00 am I had contractions that were 10 minutes a part for 2 hours. So finally at 4 am I woke up John and told him it was time. We called our friend that was going to watch the boys and she came rushing over. Then we walked over to the hospital (easier to walk over there then to drive over there) and went through the sign in process....always an experience especially when you don't speak the language. They wondered why I came into the emergency room and couldn't quite understand that I was in labor. Finally got it down that I was in labor.

Got upstairs to labor and delivery I got a little nervous because I figured they would send me home because I was only like 3 cm dilated. They checked me and found out that I was 6 cm. Went through the unique procedures of getting checked in which are unique to here and sat on a bed laboring. Got nervous again because they hooked me up to monitors -- to check my contractions and to check the babies heartbeat. I kept on moving which skewed the data some but I couldn't lay down -- usually during contractions I had to sit up. So from like 6 am to 1 pm the contractions were pretty irregular but I was still progressing. Then at 1:45 pm they tried to get my labor going -- breaking my water and seeing if I was ready by trying to push. She came at 2:13 pm finally. I had another all natural birth again and it was vbac to boot! I was thrilled.

Got to hold my little daughter for the first time and John got to take pictures (which you see in this post) of her. We were so thankful that she was here and that she was born healthy and with no complications.

Later John took me to the nursery and I nursed and then we quick snuck John in so that he would be able to hold Little H. (The nurses were not that thrilled about John holding Little H). We had two choices...room in or nursery. But if we had her in the room we had to do everything and in the nursery we just thought we would be able to go and hold her whenever we wanted to like we did with Little N and Little M when they were born. But basically she's in the nursery and Caristy just goes in to nurse her and then that's it. Just a little different then what I'm used to. So we don't have a lot of pictures of Little H in the hospital except through the glass when they had visiting hours.

Daddy's little girl!

Newest Olson

2012-01-10T14:00:00.000+08:00

I'll do our newest member's birth story later but wanted to share some picture!

Hadassah Jewell was born January 10, 2012. She looks very similar to her brothers! We are very blessed to finally meet her!!

She is 20 1/2 inches long
She is 7 lbs 4 oz

Welcome to the world Little H!!

Silly Little M

2012-01-09T13:26:00.000+08:00

A walk to the flower market!

2012-01-07T15:30:00.000+08:00

Today was the first day since Tuesday that it hasn't rained and we (the little boys & I) were so excited to go outside to go and play. We walked over to the park and played on the playground for a while. Then we decided to go walk to the flower market which is a fair distance away but it was so nice and we hadn't gone on a walk for a while. Plus John thought it would be good exercise for me and take my mind off the fact that this baby girl has not made her appearance yet. So we walked, when we got to the flower market they were still setting up and getting ready for it to open. At the market place there's a playground so the kids played and then we explored the flower market side of the market and a pond to look at the ducks and fish. John and Little N saw a rat (ewww) which sure got them excited. After walking around the market we let the kids ride on a train.....for little over a dollar they got to go around the train track at least 20 times and they could have been on there for as long as we wanted to be on there because they did not stop the train to let kids off just stopping it to let kids go on the ride. I like it when we are able to spend time together as a family. It's something that I cherish more than anything and I was thankful that we could go for a nice walk.

Playing at the Park

2012-01-03T17:00:00.000+08:00

We are just waiting for our baby to come. We have been going on little adventures -- walking to the park, walking to church and just little "adventures". Today we went up above the car park to run around and then play at the playground. Lately both Little N and Little M want me to take pictures of them BUT only if they can give SILLY faces. So I tell them they have to give me good smiles and then we will take silly pictures.

Little N's silly face.....the mouth is usually ALWAYS wide open!

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T00:30:00.000+08:00

Well we (John & I) were awoken from our sleep to a firework display at midnight. At first I was just going to ignore it and sleep through but then decided that I should take pictures. Didn't get the best shots but it was pretty to watch from the extra bedroom window. It's amazing what a new year does for reflection. 2011 was alot of change -- packing up, moving, adjusting to a new culture (we are still adjusting) and getting ready to welcome a new addition to our family. I wonder what 2012 will bring -- I know that a little girl will be coming but I have no idea what is in store for us!

Happy New Year's Eve

2011-12-31T20:42:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year's Eve! We spent a quiet night - watching tv, building a fort & play with toys! We were so exciting....around 8:30 pm right before the kids went to bed we got to watch fireworks (or firepowers as Little N calls them) from our porch. I think the whole family was all in bed before 9:30 pm! (So much for ringing in the New Year)

VEF - Youth Group Christmas Party

2011-12-30T22:30:00.000+08:00

We (the little boys & I) went to youth group today to watch the Youth Group Christmas Party. It was lots of fun....they did -- play dough pictionary, they did a White Elephant Christmas Exchange (let me tell you there were some really funny gifts put in -- coal, soap that was made of breastmilk, a broken vacuum cleaner for the computer, etc.) and then they played the fork & knife game -- where you have a present and you can only open it with a fork and knife (but with the added difficulty of having to put on a hat, gloves, & a scarf). It was lots of fun to watch.

Waiting for baby sister

2011-12-30T18:37:00.002+08:00

The boys are waiting to meet their baby sister....her clothes and accessories are in their room and they were looking at the headbands and wanted to try them on to see how they worked. We had fun and they were really giggly while they had them on because they knew that those headbands weren't theirs. After they wore the headbands they told me that they hope that baby sister comes soon so that they can see her and make her wear the headbands. Both boys are anxious to see baby sister and hold her -- mostly because they have seen so many new babies around them and know that she is coming soon. Plus once baby sister comes they know that grandma is coming.

Our Adventure today

2011-12-29T20:04:00.002+08:00

Today the little boys and I went on an adventure. We went to the courtyard and took out the trash, then we went looking for interesting things to see. As we were walking to 7 eleven we saw 4 cats just hanging out on the heater or air conditioners. The boys wanted a picture of the cat sleeping so that became part of our adventure. Our next part of our adventure was going to 7 eleven to get yogurt drinks and then we walked to the park to run around and so that I could tired the boys out. We had a good day and the boys enjoyed their adventure.

Baby Girl update

2011-12-28T23:03:00.000+08:00

Went to the doctor tonight (regular appointment)....she is doing fine, I am doing fine. I'm dilated and was told to walk, walk, walk to start the labor process. I am ready to meet this little one! Found out more details about checking into the hospital and so forth today so I think I am prepared with all the paper work I need filled out, & everything I need to bring. I was hoping that she would be born today and be able to share her Grandpa & Grandma Olson's anniversary but she decided she wanted her own day! Hoping she comes soon!!

Trying to get all the last minute stuff done....making sure the blog is updated, house is clean, boys are taken care of & just the little things that crop up.

P.S. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY JIM & LINDA (MOM & DAD OLSON)

A Glimpse into our World - Hospital Visits

2011-12-28T10:10:00.000+08:00

The doctor visits are very different from the the doctor visit in the states. In the states you get a time to go in to see the doctor and then go from there. At my hospital you are given a number to see the doctor that you have to wait for that number to be called but you also have to have another number to check in and get your ultrasound. Here is the beginning procedures for when you go to the hospital for a regular check up (when you are pregnant). This could change at different hospitals but this is what happens at my hospital & with my doctor. I really like the repetition of it all because for the most part everything is in Chinese.

First you grab a number -- sometimes you can get in right away and sometimes you have a wait a long time. Notice behind Little N and Little M -- they are 4 behind in signing in.

After that you go and pee on a stick...when your number is called to sign in you show the nurses. I'm pretty sure that I have messed up on this and gotten some results that weren't correct because of how long I've waited for my number to be called or just not doing it correctly.

Then you weigh yourself and write down how much you weigh. The first time you visit you weigh yourself and then you see how tall you are.

Then you take your blood pressure....usually I wait for this, because I'll have walked over from the apartment and I've found that my blood pressure is a little high because of the walk over, until my number is called so that it's close to normal as possible.

You sign in and you are given a sheet of paper that you bring over to the ultrasound room. Then you wait for your number to be called. They do an ultrasound at every single visit so I've seen this baby lots, haven't gotten good pictures of her but I've seen her. They measure the head, stomach & leg to make sure the baby is growing properly. They also tell you how many grams the baby is based on the ultrasound. I haven't put much faith in the ultrasound size because it's so subjective. :-)

After my ultrasound I drop off my paper work to the doctor and wait for my number to be called.

The nurses call me in (by my Chinese name) and I see the doctor -- she tells me what's going on & then checks my legs and then I'm on my way. Sometimes I have to go and get blood work drawn but this is a pretty standard pg doctor visit.

Settlers Night!

2011-12-27T18:58:00.000+08:00

So our friends were able to have all their family travel over to celebrate Christmas and the baptism of the newest baby in the family. Our friends' (two sisters who live over here with their spouses & kids) brother is a big Settler's fan so we decided to have the whole family over to play games, and have fun! We had a blast -- even though I didn't win!

Uncle and Nephew doing some nose bonding!

Visitors from Japan

2011-12-26T12:46:00.000+08:00

John had a former student from Japan come and visit us. It was their last leg of their journey traveling in Taiwan. They were very sweet and we had fun walking around with them. Glad we could spend time with them.

Christmas Day

2011-12-25T14:41:00.000+08:00

So this is the first year that we haven't spent it with family since we were in Japan, 9 years ago. It felt a little strange but we got packages sent to us and we tried to talk to our families on Christmas. We didn't feel like it was Christmas....maybe it was the lack of snow, the the traditions of where we spend Christmas with family but we are trying to figure out new traditions and incorporate old ones. Before church we were allowed to open up our stockings, John asked if he could open his when he woke up, but the kids had picked out stocking stuffers' and I figured it would be better if they watched him open it. After church we opened up Christmas presents from the Olson side and then from us after reading the Christmas story. The kids had a blast....Little M wasn't exactly sure how to unwrap the presents in the beginning and actually played with the toys after he opened them until he realized that he had a lot of presents and then he started asking for more. We videoed the opening of presents. After presents we went over to friends to celebrate with them. We had a blast, just a laid back time of spending time with friends with no pressure to entertain and feel like we had to do stuff. We exchanged gifts with the kids and they had tons of fun playing with their stuff. They also enjoyed wrestling and playing pig pen on John....pretty sure our friends kind of roll their eyes because John is usually really good and winding kids up and then not so good at settling them down. Felt bad because Little M decided to play with some Lego's that were not his and might have destroyed a design or two....opps! We had a nice Christmas and we hope that you have a Merry Christmas!

Not sure what's up with Little M's face!

Little M figuring out that he has lots of presents to open up!

Little N - MOM is Gordon's caboose!! I got Gordon's caboose!!

More Geo Trax!

Little M getting into trouble!!

Pigpen on John!

VEF - Christmas Day

2011-12-25T09:30:00.000+08:00

Merry Christmas. We had a busy day at church this Sunday, we had the toddler Sunday School class sing a song, the children's Sunday School class sing a song and then a baptism. It was pretty special -- my kids decided that they were not going to join their toddler class to sing the song but the other kids were so cute. Merry Christmas, thankful that we could celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Christmas Eve Candle Light Service

2011-12-24T19:34:00.000+08:00

We had our Christmas Eve Candle Light Service. We listened and read some of the prophecies about the birth of Jesus and sang some Christmas Carols. Then we lite the candles as we sang a couple songs. This was the first year that Little N was able to hold onto his candle, he was so proud of himself. Merry Christmas!

Waiting around

2011-12-23T09:39:00.000+08:00

Distracted the boys with John's camera while we were waiting for my regular dr appointment.

38 weeks

2011-12-22T18:47:00.000+08:00

So we are in the homestretch waiting to meeting this little girl. I think we have decided on a name however I'm still hoping and praying that I can get my way with the name -- we will see how things go. Usually once I've had the baby I get my way on things, mostly because John is really nice to me. We have non-officially made it past when Little M was born (I still think my due date is Jan. 1 but my doctor switched my due date to January 8). Hoping that she doesn't come on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. I'd be okay with her coming anytime after Christmas. Still hoping for a 2011 baby.

My mom is hoping that she doesn't come until January that way she can hold and cuddle the new baby -- however I am ready to meet this baby. This week we have been doing the final stretch stuff. We cleaned the apartment (which is really an every day thing because of how much dust sneaks through the windows and doors.), the weather is finally cold enough that I have switched over the boys summer clothes to winter stuff, John set up a toddler bed for Little M (which definitely made the boys room feel SO much bigger) and then set up the bed in the extra bedroom for when my mom comes. I made the meatballs that we will be having on Christmas Day, which I'm pretty excited about. I have packed the boys bag and my bag for the hospital. Got most of the Christmas cards sent out today.

All I have to do is wrap Christmas presents, figure out what to give John for Christmas, find some stockings or ask my mom (or John's mom) to pick up 5 stockings once they go on clearance after Christmas. Wait for Christmas Eve and make my rice pudding and then Christmas Day turn it into Rice Cream. I think we are ready to meet baby sister. I go to the doctor tomorrow so I'll see what she says. The good thing is that the last two visits the baby has been head down which is awesome because I can try for a VBAC again. The last two visits she has told me to walk more (to get contractions going and so forth). So we will see what she does after this visit.

I keep on forgetting to take pictures of the baby belly and that was on my goal was take one once a week or every two weeks (I failed miserably). One of my belly picture ideas was putting all our hand prints on my belly and taking a picture. Which I succeeded in doing. Both boys loved putting their hand prints on my belly and I like how it turned out! We are just waiting for baby sister to come and say hello. Little M is very excited, he likes holding babies lately so I think he'll be excited to meet his little sister. Little N is excited but I'm pretty sure he'll be happier once he can actually see and hold her. To both boys the concept of the baby is very abstract.

Little N's Chinese Sunday School Christmas Program

2011-12-18T13:29:00.000+08:00

Little N had his Chinese Sunday School Christmas program today. Last time he had a program he wouldn't stand up and sing with his class. This time he stood up with his classmates but he didn't sing or do the motions. He took off his hat and took all the stars off while the rest of the classmates sang. Video of Little N's performance will be coming up soon.

After the kids finished their songs we watched a reenactment of a Max Lucado children's story - Just the Way You Are. The reenactment was all in Chinese but it was familiar enough that I was able to figure out that it was a Max Lucado book. The kids absolutely loved the story even though I'm not sure how much they understood.

VEF Christmas Caroling

2011-12-17T20:05:00.000+08:00

We joined another international church for Christmas Caroling. It was a small group but we enjoyed ourselves. We went downtown and started singing on a street corner to everyone who walked past. Some people stopped to take pictures of us (and with us) and other just sat and listened for a while. I was thankful to sing Christmas songs because it made it feel like it was Christmas time. It's a little different living over in Taiwan where there hasn't been any snow at all and the weather isn't below 0. So to sing about the birth of Jesus and celebrate through song helped me get into the Christmas spirit. Merry Christmas!

Lunch at the Farm Cafe

2011-12-17T14:48:00.000+08:00

The same family who invite Caristy & the little boys out for dinner the night before also wanted to go out to lunch with us. We went to the Farm Cafe....ordered food and then played outside -- staring at the animals and debating about chasing the chickens that dared escape out of the safety of their fenced in area. We also saw there were fish in the water area and of course the kids and parents had to try to catch a fish....sadly the fish were too smart and stayed FAR away from any of the buckets in the water. It was a fun time spent with friends!

Out to eat with friends

2011-12-16T20:04:00.000+08:00

We went out to eat with some friends. They had come over to our house to make Christmas cookies and surprised us with an invitation out to eat. John wasn't able to join us because he had a movie night at church but we sure did have fun. We had something similar to a hot pot but it was in individual soup cookers. It was an all you could eat buffet, so you could pick your meat, veggies & noodles if you wanted to and then they had juice, soda and desserts -- both cakes & ice cream. We had lots of fun chatting and spending time with our friends. Both the boys really didn't eat except for the dessert & ice cream! Ehh.....eventually they will eat real food, I hope! Thank you for taking us to a new restaurant and introducing us to something new! We had a blast!

Thank you Grandma & Grandpa O.

2011-12-12T21:45:00.000+08:00

We finally opened up the Veggie Tales Live sing along DVD. The kids were very excited and watched the video the whole time. We now know about Veggie Tales -- we hadn't watched any Veggie Tales before today.

Monday Adventure - Drive into the mountains

2011-12-12T21:34:00.000+08:00

We decided to take a drive up into the mountains today. Just driving around and getting out of the city. We drove on some curvy roads and narrow roads which were not very fun! John is looking forward to taking Caristy's mom on those roads because he thinks she'll get a kick out of them! We enjoyed our adventure and thankfully our car made it up and down the mountain with no problems. On our way back to our apartment we came across a water buffalo who was gracious enough to pose for me!

VEF Worship

2011-12-11T16:09:00.000+08:00

Living in Taiwan and working at VEF has definitely being a learning experience. The church is bigger than what John or I are used to. We've had guest speakers and sometimes it's been when we've been gone but other times it's been when we've been around. We have a seminary student who is interning with us that speaks once a month and then like today we have special guest speakers. Today has been the first time in a long time where I have been able to sit through the message and hear a sermon -- mostly because I have been helping out with the Toddler Sunday School class. It made me happy and realize how much you need to heard God's word and also hiding God's word in your heart. Even when you are doing daily devotions or going to a bible study it's still nice to hear someone present from a different perspective then yours.

A Christmas Party

2011-12-10T23:08:00.000+08:00

We were invited to a nice informal Christmas party...more of a time to get together and talk with friends and let the kids run around. Ruth (the hostess) came up with a Christmas decoration to make and then also played her guitar and let the kids sing Christmas Songs. We had a great time, thank you Ruth!

Christmas Card Outtakes

2011-12-09T22:45:00.000+08:00

Getting a family picture is hard work. First we have John who refuses to smile in pictures (personally I think that he's afraid that if he smiles it might occur on a regular basis and he has a great looking smile), then we have Little N who has recently decided that closing or almost closing his eyes all the way makes for a good picture and finally we have Little M who sometimes gives me a great big smile but is slowly taking after his dad. I get distracted with making sure that everyone is looking at the camera, or I blink or give to big of a smile! Then there is the weather which wasn't helping us this week and I wanted to get our picture done and out of the way, sadly it was raining the day I had someone around to help take the picture. But here are some of my favorite outtakes that didn't make it on the Christmas card.

Our Christmas Tree

2011-12-08T21:48:00.000+08:00

We set up our Christmas tree yesterday and the boys really like having the Christmas tree. They just stare and want the tree light up from when we wake up till when we go to bed.

Wednesday Playgroup - JR (Just Right)

2011-12-07T22:15:00.000+08:00

We went to playgroup this week. It was a small group of ladies and kids this week. The restaurant we went to was called JR - Just Right. The food was really good and it was decorated all for Christmas. Little M was afraid of the snowman and all the other kids were intrigued with it. Little N has gotten in the habit where he wants to take a goofy picture, which I have used to my advantage and I let him do a goofy silly picture if he'll give me a good smile and a nice pose! We had a fun time!

Stuck!

2011-12-03T20:48:00.001+08:00

Little M can climb up on his stool no problem and goes between chairs and stools. However today was a difficult and tricky climbing operation. We were laughing so hard.

Little N's not so good day!

2011-11-30T20:04:00.000+08:00

Little N had been taking naps in my bedroom -- he had some incidents that just left me nervous to have him take naps in his room. Well usually I take naps with Little N but I had a deadline for a project I was working on so I skipped my nap. When I came in to get Little M from "baby sister's room" after he woke up there was a funny smell in my bedroom but with Little N sleeping I didn't want to find out what was going on. Cuddled with Little M for a while until Little N woke up and I discovered what had happened.

On John's side of the bed Little N found a black permanent marker which he proceeded to draw smiley faces and scribbles on the wall, then took the marker and drew on his face and hand. Once John got home we discovered that Little N had also colored on John's doggie (each of us have a dog -- both John and I got our almost 8 years ago. Little N and Little M got their doggies when they were first born and are very attached to them!) Needless to say we are not happy with Little N -- it will be a hilarious moment later on in life but at the time weren't happy. Mostly because I had no idea how I was gonna get the permanent marker off Little N's face, off the wall and off John's Dog. Did some quick Internet searches and everything that was advised for cleaning we didn't have and I wasn't sure how to find it either. I saw something about how toothpaste will take marker off so I first I tried toothpaste on Little N -- John has a body scrubber that I put the toothpaste and started to scrub away. Pretty sure Little N will not be writing on himself anytime soon -- I didn't try to hurt him but to get off the marker I had to do some gentle scrubbing. I was surprised at how quickly the marker came off his skin which I was thankful for. The next job was to see if the toothpaste would take the marker off John's dog, which I think it did. After that I tackled the job of trying to get the marker off the walls. With lots of scrubbing and toothpaste I was thankfully able to get the marker off the walls.

The 45 anniversary of the Chinese Lutheran Seminary

2011-11-29T19:45:00.000+08:00

We were invited to a banquet and auction to celebrate the 45 anniversary of the Chinese Lutheran Seminary. There was food, music and entertainment. We had a nice time!

The lighting was a little funky so everyone greenish skin and blue lips, which you can kind of see in the picture of Little M.

A Glimpse into our world: VEF Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T19:10:00.000+08:00

VEF has done a Thanksgiving potluck in the past but this was our (John and I's) first time to be a part of the festivities. We had it on Sunday evening and made it a big deal about it advertising at the colleges in town and to people that we saw. We had a small little program -- we had singing, some scripture, the older sunday school kids sang some songs for us and we had a drawing just because we had so many people that either were new or we didn't have their names -- we offered up some cds -- Christmas music and some other Christian artists.

Someone cooked two 10 pound turkeys, with stuffing, and other people brought cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, a mixture of Chinese dishes and desserts. There was SO much food to try and eat...sometimes people get worried that there isn't going to be enough food to feed everyone at a potluck but there are always leftovers and things for people to take home. I was thankful that they had pumpkin pie that I could eat and that they had whip cream. Yummy!! Lots of fun visiting with everyone and eating food. Glad that we were able to join in the festivities with our church family.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T17:31:00.000+08:00

When you live in a foreign country, holidays that you are used to celebrating aren't really celebrated, but there are other holidays that you get the opportunity to learn about and celebrate. The nice thing is that we have Costco, so we were able to find a frozen turkey to cook, and they had pumpkin pie. Because it's not an official holiday I had a doctor's appointment in the morning then we celebrated Thanksgiving with our friends.

Dr. Appointment -- Went in for my 35ish weeks visit. My doctor did an in depth ultrasound with me and because it was a later appointment I had to bring the boys with. So both Little N and M got to see the baby. Unfortunately baby girl is breech and if she is that at the next visit the doctor will schedule my c-section, which I would like to avoid at all costs. Praying that she turns and I can do a VBAC. Baby is doing well and the doctor told me that I gained too much weight in between the last appointment and this one. (Not a horrible amount but the Doctor said to just not eat too much before the baby comes.)

Thanksgiving....we joined our friends to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was a great time - eating, chatting and playing. The turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie was absolutely delicious. We brought broccoli and cheese, buns and apple crisp. It was a nice way to celebrate the holiday and not feel horribly homesick. Thank you so much for including us in your family's Thanksgiving celebration!

Sorry that John riled up all the kids! It's his gift!

Thanksgiving meal with Victory Co-workers

2011-11-23T14:21:00.000+08:00

This week has been a busy week for us, the retreat over the weekend and then Thanksgiving. Over in Taiwan it's not a recognized holiday but Victory church has done a meal for all the co-workers (and families) right around Thanksgiving time. So we went to a Japanese restaurant to celebrate and also get to know some more of our Chinese co-workers.

Before we left to go Little N and M decided that they needed their socks on their ears. I thought they looked hilarious.

Just because it's hilarious.....and I know that my family will think it's hilarious. A camera should not be around me when I am making silly faces at babies. SIGH....sometimes life should not taken in pictures but in video.

34 weeks

2011-11-22T11:55:00.000+08:00

34 weeks pregnant now. Thankful that we are getting down to the time where we can meet this little girl. Feel kind of tiny still but when I look at the pictures John took I do have a belly so who knows. She moves a bunch lately which is fun because both Little N and M can feel her kick and punch. We have started a count down until we meet baby sister -- a paper chain that we cut off every night before we go to bed.

No name yet for this little one. We need to find something we agree on soon. I like unique names and John well he hasn't liked anything I've suggested. Hoping to come up with something both of us like!

VEF retreat - Part 2

2011-11-20T01:05:00.000+08:00

So you know how when it rains you sometimes get puddles. Do you know what attracts little boys really quickly? If you guessed puddles, you would be correct. Let's just say my two little boys had a blast SPLASHING in the puddles today. They would run up the stairs and down the ramp and then splash in the puddles. I didn't take any pictures of it because I was too busy rolling up their pants, taking off their socks and shoes plus making sure they didn't hurt themselves or splash other people. But needless to say they had a blast!

Our second day of the retreat was nice -- it wasn't really a long day -- more wake up, eat breakfast, session, lunch and then go home. The session time was great -- John asked one of the families if they would play some songs as our worship time (they did a great job) and then we had the session time. OH my goodness....remember how I said that my kids are really spoiled....I think they had 8 bags of cheese pretzels, at least 30 pieces of candy (each day) and they were spoiled with attention. I got a little annoyed because I wanted them to eat real food, but they have a hard time eating the Chinese dishes and that's all that was offered at the retreat. But it was a good day and I was thankful to get away, spend time getting to know people and seeing some place I had never been before.

I'm pretty sure if the weather had been nicer we would have stayed the afternoon and explored but with not pleasant weather we just decided to leave.

VEF retreat - part 1

2011-11-19T23:57:00.000+08:00

This weekend VEF (Victory English Fellowship) sponsored a retreat and the retreat was about spiritual gifts and just a time to get to know one another. I think we had like 22 people attend....a nice size group. We went to and stayed at Xitou Youth Center. It's a really pretty area -- with a variety of rooms you can stay in. Unfortunately it was raining most of the time we were there and I sadly didn't bring enough clothes for the little boys. But we had fun.

It's was a little tricky getting to where we were staying....all the signs were in Chinese and we just didn't have enough Chinese ability to ask for directions. Thankfully we had people who looked out for us and came looking for us and then had us follow them so that we could get to the place we were staying.

Where we stayed was absolutely gorgeous, the buildings were pretty and really didn't interfere with the scenery. The buildings were all separate buildings so if you wanted to a different area you would have to go outside and with the rain it made it a little tricky.

The weather cleared up some so we decided to go for a walk up to this sky walk. John took Little N and was off. Another couple took Little M and off they went. (I have to say that we are pretty blessed with how people from church just love our kids are willing to help out with them! My kids are VERY spoiled at our church -- with candy, treats and lots of attention!) So on the way up I was all by myself just free to take pictures and just enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Caught up to Little M and the people that were with him. One of the ladies told me that everyone had been talking to them and making comments about both Little M and N. Saying that they looked like little foreign dolls and were so cute. It's kind of amusing because while I have no idea what people are saying to both me and my kids -- when we are out in public my kids and I (because I'm pregnant) get a lot of attention. So it was kind of interesting to finally know what people could possibly be saying to me as we are walking.

Finally caught up to John and Little N by the sky walk area. Little N ran up to me and told me that he was going on the sky walk with me and that it wasn't scary. But he was coming with me because he knew I would be scared (I'm slightly afraid of heights and bridges -- bridges because of a certain husband who will remain nameless.) and wanted to protect me. Walked around the sky walk and it wasn't that bad until someone in the group shook a tree and it gave the illusion that I was moving. It was beautiful to see everything from way up high.

After the sky walk we switched kids and started walking back. Little N had SO much to tell me from his walk with his daddy and everything that he saw. It was kind of funny, the family that was walking with me was just so surprised that he didn't really stop talking the entire time we walked back. As we were walking back it started to POUR down on us. So hard that my umbrella wasn't protecting me but actually raining on me. Thankfully we got back and dried off and it was a fun story to tell.

Ate dinner and then had our first session. The interesting thing about being at a retreat where your husband is leading is that while you can get visit with people and get to know people. It's really not that relaxing for you and while the kids can see their daddy, they can't spend time with their daddy, so it was a good weekend it just wasn't a relaxing weekend.

The sessions were great -- John did a great job talking about spiritual gifts and having activities that made everyone interact with one another. It was a good retreat.

A busy Friday

2011-11-18T14:25:00.000+08:00

Today was a busy day! I had to get stuff ready for Toddler Sunday School and also get everything ready to go because we are going on a retreat this weekend. Thankfully I had all the laundry already done and I had a friend come over to help me with the Toddler class. But it wasn't the best time for Little M to get all clingy and cuddly. I was surprised because he is a cuddle bug but just not for long periods of time. He wants to get in for a quick cuddle and get out.

Here he was wanting to sit on my lap and wanting me to stroke his hair just things that aren't normal for him. The other thing that isn't normal for him is him volunteering to lay on the couch and close his eyes during the daytime or nighttime. He is on the go from the time he wakes up to the time I force him to take a nap. Turns out he has a slight fever....nothing to bad but I'm wondering if he didn't get enough sleep last night. Last night was the first night in probably 2 weeks that I let the boys sleep in the same room together. They were in bed at 8:30 pm but not a sleep until probably 11 pm. They were up at the crack of dawn at 7 am. So I'm guessing it's a slight fever and not enough sleep.

Thankful Thursday 3 - Our babysitter

2011-11-17T15:06:00.000+08:00

So back when John went over to Japan the first time a lady from church came up to me and told me that she was going to come over to our house and watch our kids for a couple hours and I was to leave the house. I was fine with the idea in theory but when it came time for her to come over and I left the house I was at a loss of what to do....I had never had that free time to just walk around. I walked to the traditional market and explored some but with the groceries already bought for the week and at the time nothing really needed to buy I came back after an hour and a half. I was refreshed and thankful for the time to just be by myself without needing to be mommy.

Since then it's become a regular thing. John and I usually go out for a meal (our date afternoon) and then get some shopping done or browse for stuff. The kids love when Stephanie comes over and she loves our kids. She wants to keeping watching the kids because she knows if we have time as a couple we are more likely to stay longer term over in Taiwan and feel more comfortable here. She has also helped with other things -- she took me and the boys shopping to help me find some tops for "winter" and she has just taken us to different places and forced us to try different foods (the little boys and I). Some of the foods we liked and others we didn't care for but at least know we know that.

So thankful for for our babysitter. I am so thankful that she loves us and loves our kids. Also thankful that she speaks Chinese to our kids so that they are learning more and more.

Playgroup - Little D's 1st Birthday party

2011-11-16T14:30:00.000+08:00

We had a birthday party for Little D. It was his 1st birthday and it's been fun to watch how he has changed since we first moved here in March until now. It was a fun birthday party with tons of food and lots of fun.

A Glimpse into our world -- Landscaping

2011-11-16T08:50:00.000+08:00

We live in an apartment so we don't have a yard that we have to worry about maintaining. It's wonderful not having to worry about mowing the lawn or trimming bushes and trees but I do miss our garden and having an area for the boys to run around freely without worrying about them.

In Taiwan I have yet to see a lawn mower, if there are grass areas they (whoever does the yard work) wait till the grass gets really long and then take a weed whacker to the grass. It's just so different from what I am used to, having to mow the lawn and then weed whack the edges. Okay I really haven't done much mowing but I have done lots of weed whacking.

Another thing that is just different is that they trim the trees. Some people have told me that the reason why they cut down the tree limbs is because they don't want the leaves to fall down. They don't have a "fall" season over here, where the leaves change color and fall from the trees because of the sub tropical climate that Taiwan has. Which could explain why they trim the tree limbs. Another reason could be that they don't want the trees to get too big so they keep them a certain size for shade. Who knows the reasons, all I know is that it's different from what I am used to, so I thought I would share with you guys just some of the differences that I have noticed.

This past week they have been cutting down the tree limbs and this morning we heard lots of beeps and trucks outside our apartment window. So we looked outside and saw 6 to 8 trucks all ready to take the tree limbs that were on the sidewalk. It was just interesting to watch how many trucks there were and just how it all got done. It was fun to watch, mostly because Little N and Little M were enthralled with the trucks and the the bobcat.

Our New Couch

2011-11-15T22:18:00.001+08:00

Today our new couch arrived, unassembled. So thankfully the delivery people from Ikea came early enough so that we had time to assemble today. I think it took John maybe an 1 1/2 hours to assemble (what with distractions from kids and such). We've realized that white is probably not the best color for us to own but at this point we are stuck with what we got, eventually we will probably order another couch cover for us to use and see about dying this one a different color so that way we would have two covers to use.

Thankfully the couch wasn't that difficult to assemble and we have a new couch to sit on....now we just have to figure out what we are gonna do with the rest of our furniture that we have. Tons of seating room right now so if anyone wants to come over to play games, chat or just hang out you are more than welcome to do so! I'm just thankful that we finally have a couch where I can lay out and take a nap if I wanted to -- like I did with my two boys. I am so happy to have a couch where I can sit comfortably (for now) and we have a enough space for all of us to be on the couch and not be cramped.

Thank you John for taking the time to assemble the couch and break down all the cardboard all in one night! You are amazing and I am so thankful for you!!

Monday Adventure - Ikea style

2011-11-14T14:00:00.000+08:00

We have been talking about getting a new couch for our family room for a while. We have a love seat and two chairs (one of them being one that both boys can sit in comfortably). But when we sit to read a book or watch TV we all have to sit on the love seat which is getting more and more cramped. My belly is getting bigger and the little boys end up either sitting on my lap or John's lap. So we talked about the possibility of getting a new couch. I had gone up to Ikea with a friend back in September and checked out the couches but John wanted to check out the couches before purchasing them to make sure it was what he wanted also.

So after we talked to my mom and tried to get in contact with some other people via Skype we left to go on our Monday Adventure. John's biggest frustration is that we aren't able to get out of the house early enough. Sometimes our Monday adventures are fly by the seat of our pants adventures -- like this one. I had no clue we were gonna go to Ikea but I was willing and excited to go up there.

Got to Ikea and I saw the play area for the boys to go into while we went shopping so I offered it up to John as a suggestion. He decided they were being good and decided to take them along with us. Then got really frustrated with them when they behaved like kids. (They weren't horrible but they weren't angels either!) Checked out the couches and sat on all the different couches, which then the boys had to sit on all the couches too. We also looked at the "rocking chair" type chairs which will be necessary in a month or so.

Super excited because we decided to order our couch and it will be delivered tomorrow! Then it's a matter of putting it together, hoping it comes early tomorrow evening so that we can start working on assembling it otherwise our week will be too busy and it won't get done until next week.

That was our adventure for the day! It was a fun day filled with couch sitting, chair sitting, playing with the toys, looking at beds and eating yummy food! Shopping is lots of fun to do for a girl but I'm pretty sure by the end of the shopping trip John was done! I think the boys had fun mostly because there were toys all around for them to touch and look at. Plus we got a shopping cart and placed them in it and got "stuck" going down the merchandise aisles while waiting for John to order the couch!

Bikes in the courtyard

2011-11-12T10:06:00.000+08:00

The boys still love their bikes.

Little N has figured out how to pedal on his bike but has gotten in the strange habit of running with his bike around the courtyard....guess he's faster with two legs then on the bike still. Looking at these pictures he looks so tall and grown up. He has an opinion about lots of things, one of those things is he wants to grow out his hair to his knees. We will see how long that lasts before either he wants a hair cut or I have to cut his hair. (Probably the first time that someone asks how old "she" is - will be when I cut his hair)

Little M has figured out how to pedal on his bike but sometimes he get frustrated that he can't go as fast as his brother. He gets annoyed if he goes to slow but doesn't want help from us (pushing him along). It's tough being an independent 2 year old. He is talking more and more, which is so much fun! Hearing what he comes up with sometimes is hilarious. Usually after his nap, he will scream to us -- "I stuck!! I STUCK!" It's really funny!!

Thankful Thursday 2

2011-11-10T22:28:00.001+08:00

All right I've decided that for the month of November I am going to do a Thankful Thursday post. Kind of put into perspective what I am thankful for and remind me to be thankful.

I am thankful for a wonderful husband who helps out around the house, who plays with our kids and who loves us all. I'm thankful that he is able to work it out in his schedule to come home to see us and wants to come home to see us even if the kids aren't always on their best behavior!

I am thankful that I live close to our hospital. Close enough to walk to the hospital for my appointments and thankful that when it gets to be time to have this baby I know that John can come see me and bring the kids over easily enough because we are so close. I am also thankful for how relatively inexpensive it has been to go to the doctor appointments. SO thankful that my doctor speaks English and is very matter a fact about everything.

I am thankful for my kids! Both of them are so loving in their own way and amaze me in ways that surprise me every day. Little N has been able to memorize three bible verses since the middle of September. The elaborate stories that he tells while he is playing with his trains are so fun to listen to and he is trying so hard to learn both in English and Chinese. Little M amazes me me with the way he loves, he just surprised me with how he knows how to jump on both feet and he very even tempered and doesn't often get upset when something he is playing with gets taken away, he for the most part calmly moves on to the next toy that he wants. I love that Little M is learning to speak and be understood more and more.

I am thankful that I can wear long pants and long sleeves. It's been cooler and I haven't run the air conditioner all day today! That makes me happy!

What are you Thankful for? You can share it in the comments. I look forward to reading what others are thankful for.

Hymn Sing -- Little N's class sings

2011-11-05T10:02:00.000+08:00

Today, Victory Church had a hymn sing -- the English department didn't know about it until too late so we didn't have any groups sing but it was really interesting to watch. It's really similar to when groups get together and practice singing their favorite song and then perform in front of everyone. We heard songs in Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, Hakka and even some English. Little N's Chinese Sunday School class sang two songs for the Hymn sing.

Little N's Chinese Sunday School class practiced before they went on stage and Little N was SO excited, he was doing the motions, wearing the bee antennae and jumping with the rest of his friends. Then as we were going down the stairs to sing he decided he wasn't going to sing and perform. Sigh!!

Then as we get downstairs we find out that they want Little M to perform also....they plopped bee antennas on Little M's head which he immediately takes off and tears off the Styrofoam balls and holds in his hands.

Tried so hard to get both kids to get up stage with their class, but they wanted nothing to do with being on stage EXCEPT if Daddy sat on stage and they could sit on his lap.

Oh well! Hopefully we will learn that next time we need bribes, and we now know that Little M is supposed to be a part of the festivities. Next performance is in December -- hopefully that goes better!

The little boy in the striped shirt is Little N's best friend in Chinese Sunday School. It's really sweet because the boys both get really excited when they see one another and they are good for each other. The little boy know a little bit of English and tries to help Little N when he can. Little N's friend performed in his parents small group and was so excited to see us (mostly Little N) watch him sing from the balcony!

Thankful Thursday 1

2011-11-03T20:41:00.000+08:00

It's been a crazy week, and I think it will just get busier as the holidays roll around. Wanted to do a post on what I am thankful for this week.

I am thankful that my camera is working again. Monday morning I took out my camera and got the pictures off my sd card from the previous night and when I tried to take the kids in their Halloween costumes, the sd card had an error on it and then my camera just went black. Charged it and THANKFULLY it works again. Hopefully it will last a while longer because while I'm frustrated with the things that I am just unable to do with it....it's still a really great camera.

We got the toys organized into the bins the way I like it. The little boys have been enjoying the variety of toys that they have to play with....the animals, the play food and the cars have all been played with. They also seem to like the structure of having the toys in sort of logical bins that they can play with. Of course they still take out their trains every day but it seems like more of the toys are being played with which I'm happy and thankful for.

Today I am very thankful for loving friends. I have a lady who has volunteered to watch my kids so that John and I are able to get a date afternoon and we were talking about how I wanted to get some longer tops so that I could wear them with my leggings. But the real reason is because I have been wearing these tops and bottoms for three pregnancies and I wanted just a couple new tops to add to my wardrobe. Plus eventually it will be winter so I will need some longer sleeved tops and long pants. (We are in November it's been in the high 80's lately -- I'm not complaining because I know it will get cooler but in my brain it just seems strange to be walking around in tank tops in November. But it's been nice because I haven't needed to buy all new maternity clothes.)
So my friend volunteered to help me find some new tops....we had a conflict in our schedule (John couldn't watch the boys like orignally planned), so she actually organized it so a friend of hers to join us so we could have three people watching the boys instead of just two. Boy did we shop....we tried on clothes, tops and met some wonderful people (salespeople). Lots of the clothes were too snug on me (because we were trying on non-maternity tops), but I don't want to buy maternity tops when I'm only gonna need them for another 2 months or so. Thankfully we kept on going and I was able to find three tops that will work with my leggings and one of the tops, the store I bought it from will alter it once I am not pregnant anymore. Now just have to wait for the weather to cool down so I can wear my new tops!

Just thankful for the little things -- cameras that work, toys that are organized and new clothes!

Toy Organization

2011-11-01T20:21:00.000+08:00

Is there anything worse then having all the toys out on the floor. We still are trying to figure out how to organize our kids' toys!! For the longest time we had two bins....trains in one and everything else in the other, it worked for a while but then we got more toys and the kids would go looking for stuff and then dump both bins out and we would have a fight when it was time to pick up. I had been looking at Ikea at the storage organizers just trying to get some ideas for what can we do better. John stopped at Costco for some stuff one day and saw this toy organizer that might work for us. So the next time we were at Costco we looked at it and decided that it would work for us. Buying it was not a problem...getting it into our car was a whole different story. The box wouldn't fit in the truck and so John wedged it in the front seat and we buckled the boys in the car seats and I wiggled my pregnant body into the middle of the two car seats (which of course I don't fit so I was awkwardly angled and seated as we drove home). John was laughing so hard and tried to get pictures of me which I'm not sure if they turned out or not but at least it was a funny story.

We got it upstairs and the kids were SO excited to see what we had bought for them. John assembled it with the help of his little helpers and after it was assembled the kids started to play basketball. Little N wasn't sure what basketball was called so he called it the orange ball game. I guess we need my brother and sister around some more so that they are well versed in the game of basketball.

Hopefully this will help the kids with picking up their toys and also helping them find more of their toys so they can play with more of a variety of them. I can only dream can't I?

A Halloween Party

2011-10-30T19:17:00.000+08:00

We got together with some of our friends to have a "Halloween Party". We got to play games outside, play wii and eat lots of food -- pizza, pumpkin dip, pumpkin bars & apple crisp! We had SO much fun!!

Little M loves the attention from our friends...both the two younger kids have taken a liking to him.

You see lots of people when they take pictures do the peace sign...I think this picture is hilarious because Little N is trying to so hard to do the peace sign but just can't get it!

The princess of the group!

Our crazy guys!! They put up with us wanting to dress them up and take pictures of them!

As we were driving home from our friends house, we saw the craziest things. First we saw a brush fire, John had to drive on the other side of the road to avoid the flames. We took pictures of the moon and the city skyline. Then we drove home and met up with 8 firetrucks, 4 police cars & at least 2 ambulances. No clue what was going on but hoping everyone was okay! We parked our car and then as we were walking to our apartment we saw a police car and ambulance parked at the next apartment building with people outside the building chatting so we thought it was curious but thought nothing of it until we got into our building and a guy was in a wheel chair (restrained) with at least two or three police officers and 4 ambulance guys. No clue what was going on but it was definitely an interesting night!

A Glimpse into our lives -- The combination of city life & seeing the country

2011-10-29T22:28:00.000+08:00

We live in the city however it doesn't take long for us to be able to see a country landscape (if we take a car). I love walking around the city and being able to very conveniently find stuff -- traditional market, convenient store, restaurants, stores, grocery stores, etc. Something I find very nice about being in the city our apartment is located on a side street so we don't get as much traffic and you don't hear as much traffic noise (or maybe not as much as I was expecting). Love living in the city because you are just surrounded by people and I can get most everything that I need.
However sometimes I just want to escape the city life....get away from the hustle and bustle to just enjoy the quiet and peace of the country side. Today was one such day...we took a drive around the outer edge of Hsinchu & Jhubei and just enjoyed the mixture of city life and country life. In Taiwan they know how to use EVERY single space....you can be driving on the road and they will have planted gardens on the side of the road. Very resourceful!
As we were driving John said that he wouldn't mind living out that far, but so far I living in the city. I like being able to walk up to church to say hello or being able to walk 5 minutes to go in for a doctor's appointment. Maybe eventually I'll want to move and have a bigger place (especially with another baby on the way) but right now I love our location and unless the place was an amazing deal and in a great location I don't know if I'm willing to move quite yet. I'd lose my independence (I haven't driven a car yet since coming to Taiwan) and it's so much easier to walk with the boys everywhere then take them to the parking garage, buckle them up, get out of the parking garage drive through the traffic and then attempt to find a parking spot to do what I need to do.
Here is the unique beauty of Taiwan (at least in our area) I think the combination of rice fields and the city skyline are beautiful. So thankful for a car that we are able to take to get us out of the city when we need to just go for a drive and feel like we are all alone.

Kids Project - Painting Squash

2011-10-28T13:36:00.000+08:00

This week we have been slowly getting ready for painting our squashes. Earlier in the week we went to the traditional market to buy orange squash (which they wouldn't sell to me because they were "bad" -- hey at least they were nice to us and were trying to sell the best to us). Then we went to the stationary store to buy three paint brushes and paint.
Today was all about painting our "pumpkins" for Halloween. I remember as a kid craving pumpkins and setting them out on our front steps for "all" to see. I like having traditions that carry on and that are just fun. I grew up doing Halloween and dressing up, but John on the other hand didn't not so it's a fine balance figuring out what our traditions will be as a family. I think we've decided that we will let them do it but it's really not that big of a holiday over in Taiwan, so it's sort of a moot point.
Anyways back to painting our "pumpkins". The kids have come to realize that every week do a different project and they were so excited to do our project. Little N has painted before and it's just interesting to see how he's progressed with his "elaborate" designs and creations. Little M on the other hand I'm pretty sure this was the first time he's touched a paintbrush and oh my goodness was he excited to try it all out. They both had a blast decorating and painting. The painting kept them busy for at least an hour. We had talked about doing this project with a friend and I have since decided that I'm glad that I did it just with the boys because the boys were in desperate need of a shower to get all the paint that landed on all over their bodies!
They had a blast and I'm sure I'll attempt to do something like it again.

The countdown is on

2011-10-27T10:15:00.000+08:00

Went to the doctors today....today was my last monthly check up, from now on I will be going every two weeks. Passed my diabetes test, gaining weight the way I should, and baby is already head down (which is a VERY, VERY good thing). Baby girl will not cooperate with having her picture taken. She is just a wiggly little thing and keeps hiding her face. I don't know what that means for the future because she better get used to a camera in her face because I have all sorts of plans for her! HAHAHA....I haven't been able to get a good picture in an ultrasound forever now! All I have from today is a picture of her spine...sigh oh well!
The hospital is just an interesting place. You get a number to see the doctor but that number doesn't matter because you also have to get another number to get through sign in and the ultrasound first. I think I have finally figured out the system of how to get out of the doctors in the least amount of time. I have to get there earlier then the reception office is open and get my number and then I'll be able to get out of there in maybe an hour and 1/2 instead of 3 hours! We'll see how my theory works out because this time I was number 2 to see the doctor next time I'll be lucky number 13. :-)

Kids Cooking

2011-10-25T23:17:00.000+08:00

A friend of ours was wondering if we could come over to teach them how to make cookies and I thought about it and said no...you guys haven't been to our house why don't you come over and we'll make a morning/afternoon of it. So she came over.
We (and when I say we I mean the kids and I) made cookies. They helped put the ingredients in the bowl, and helped stir the batter and then did the most important job -- eat the cookies. We had a good time and I was so thankful that they came over to play with my boys. The cookies actually turned out this time too. Every single time I've tried to make cookies over in Taiwan they just haven't turned out as well as they did in the states. So I was super excited when they turned out to be my best cookies EVER made (especially when I was cooking with friends!)
I sadly didn't take out my camera while the kids were cooking so I was SO thankful that my friend had her camera and was taking pictures of the various cute things the kids did!! (Sometimes it's okay not to be the one behind the camera -- even though you are dying to take pictures of everything!)

My little bakers all waiting to help cook!!

These cute cooking trays actually worked and were really cute to use! They were perfect bite size cookie size.

We also made pizzas to eat -- pepperoni pizza for the boys to share and ham, pineapple & corn for the girls to share!

Why is it that boxes are so much fun to climb and play in?

Monday Adventure -- Food

2011-10-24T21:46:00.000+08:00

Today we decided to go downtown to explore. There are so many shops and places to go that we just don't know about. We took the free bus downtown and then just started walking around and exploring. After a while we got hungry so we made a stop at basically a Chinese food court to eat some food. John looked at me and asked if we were feeling adventurous and just pointing at food and ordering blindly (sort of like Russian roulette) I guess I really didn't care and both of us were feeling slightly adventurous. I left quick to go get drinks and some food for the boys. When I got back I realized that nope I wasn't as adventurous as I thought I was....we had a pork meatball wrapped in almost something similar to a wonton in a soup, then another soup - si shen tang (四神湯) which is just interesting pig intestine, and lots of other parts of animal parts that I don't necessarily think would be good to eat. John ate it and Little M absolutely loved it! We also got some pork fried rice and some sort of green veggies which was most likely fried with garlic and other stuff.
Little N wouldn't touch any of the food....he ate the yogurt drink, 3 things of what he calls "healthy" crackers (green onion soda crackers) and then I think some triangle crackers (veggie flavored). Little M ate si shen tang, fried rice and some triangle crackers and also drank his yogurt drink & water! We were shocked at how much he ate -- he ate almost 1/2 the bowl of fried rice and 1/2 the bowl of si shen tang. John tried it all and actually thought most of it tasted good, until we got home and found out what was in the si shen tang...then kind of felt sick to his stomach. I ate the broth from the pork "meatballs" and then ate most of the veggies, still kind of careful with what I eat because I don't want to get sick and I still have the wonderful gag reflex in place due to pregnancy.
We have made the decision that while we will try to be adventurous in our eating out most likely we will not be just randomly pointing on a menu only written in Chinese. We will experiment but make sure we have at least a couple of items that we know and like to eat. Plus it's more fun to try new things and foods with people who take you places and laugh at you while you do it. Plus it builds a relationship and a story to share about the time your friend took you and made you try...."whatever".
After our food adventure we went searching for a couple of maternity stores....I've seen them around and I just want to get a couple of shirts (or dresses) that I can use as tunics for winter time that aren't too expensive. We could not find them anywhere! I've only seen them while we are driving and just wasn't able to find or remember where they were when we were on foot. We wore the kids out with the amount of walking that we did. John ended up carrying Little M for a little bit and he fell fast asleep until we realized that might be a bad idea and woke him up and made him walk -- boy was Little M furious at us!
It was a good day and we need to do it again....just so we know where things are downtown!! Needless to say we all slept good that night from all the "fresh" air and all the walking we did. (John kept on making fun of me as I walked because I kept walking funny once we got home and I had relaxed some!)

Toddler Sunday School

2011-10-23T09:53:00.000+08:00

We are almost a month and 1/2 into our Toddler Sunday School program and I have finally been able to take pictures of the class. The class meets while John gives the sermon. The kids sit with their parents through the worship and songs then are dismissed to their classrooms. In some ways the Toddler class is about keep order in the chaos, but it's lots of fun too!! I love this age for learning and watching them grow because they are SO curious about everything and so eager to explore the world.
Today we got to take musical instruments to shake and sing to our songs. We are growing every Sunday with more little kids joining us every Sunday. They are so fun to watch and teach. Today we learned that Adam named all the animals. So we had lots of animals that the kids told me what the animal was on the picture. It's pretty amazing to think that all of these animals didn't have a name and that they were all named.

Baby Sister can talk

2011-10-22T21:23:00.000+08:00

Baby sister is not even out of my tummy and she is already talking. Little N today found his stethoscope (we've been holding toys back so that we don't have EVERY SINGLE toy out in our living room) and because yesterday we went to the doctor's to get the flu shot and a quick exam, Little N wanted to listen to his baby sister. We asked him what he heard and he told us that baby sister said his name. It was a cute and sweet moment! I think that he will have fun being a older brother again!

Apple Project

2011-10-21T22:15:00.000+08:00

So all this week have been getting ready to do our apple project. On Wednesday before playgroup we went to the traditional market where Little N and Little M picked out the beans that they wanted to use. Then I gave Little N money so that he could buy oranges for us (don't worry I was right there) and he was SO proud of himself that he could do it all by himself.
Then today I quick made the template for the apple and leaf that I wanted them to use. (I miss having a printer at home!!) Then we started on our project! A couple of weeks back I bought them some scissors that I thought would work well for them and be safe, umm...yeah....NOPE! I'll have to go and buy them different scissors.
I have different expectations for the boys but I did the same project with them. For Little M, I cut out the apple and "helped" him cut out the leaf. While I'm sure he would love to do the glue himself...I made the decision that I would put glue on his paper and then he could put the beans on both the red and green paper. He had a blast!
For Little N I had John help him cut out the apple and leaf out. We are pretty certain that Little N is a leftie so it's just interesting to watch him do different things. He got frustrated easily with his scissors so we let him use our sharp scary scissors. But I let him use the glue and put the beans on the apple and the leaf anyway he wanted to. He had a blast doing it and was focused on doing a good job and not trying to mess up.
Our apple project was a great way to spend our Friday afternoon before daddy left to go lead youth group.

Mommy, I can't do it! Help me.

Little M putting green beans on his apple leaf and red beans on his apple.

Little N decorating his apple

Fun with balls!

2011-10-21T10:49:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, some friends of ours gifted us two bags of plastic balls. (If you knew us in Cooperstown you would know how exciting this is for Little N & M). Today, we put all the balls into a postal box and the boys climbed in to play. Little N then had his dad close the box on him and said, "I'm going to Grandma & Grandpa's house now!" After that Little M had to climb in the box and say the same thing, my little copycat!

John took this picture of Little M! I love it!

Gorgeous Sunset Play

2011-10-20T22:10:00.000+08:00

You know, it's really disappointing when you are just focused on your kids and seeing a beautiful picture of them playing together. Then once you get the photos you realize that over half the pictures are unusable because there was a little boy peeing in the corner! Sigh.....oh well live and learn! Here is the only one I could salvage, I cropped the picture down so that the little boy had his privacy!

Wednesday Playgroup - Casa de Socrates

2011-10-19T21:34:00.000+08:00

Playgroup was fun...we got to feed the fish and birds today. We had fun!

Good buddies!!

29 Weeks

2011-10-17T22:35:00.000+08:00

           This post might seem silly and hopefully I don't offend anyone with it either. This is the time in my pregnancy when I get nervous from 28 weeks until I'm well past 35 weeks. It has nothing to do with me and my pregnancies....I've gone to the due date, 12 days early and who knows with this one. But my sister-in-law had all of her kids early and struggled. I've seen what she went through with her kids and just making it's past certain landmarks helps me out immensely. This week I made it past the 28 week mark.
          Everything is going well...seems like baby girl is pretty low already (but I could also be wrong about that!) She is pretty mellow in my tummy so I'm hoping that it will carry over when she arrives. Hopefully she will cooperate next week when I go to the doctors so that I can get some cute pictures of her (she keeps on moving around and hiding her face when the ultrasound tech tries to looks at her!) because I don't have any ultrasound pictures since probably early on in the pregnancy.
          The boys love her dearly already -- Little N will talk to her, and Little M will lift up my shirt and usually do one of three things -- give kisses, give headbutts or just give his sister some love. I think it's sweet. John is distrubed because for the first time in all my pregnancy sometimes my belly button sticks out. We've been watching at night as my whole stomach will change because she has changed her position it's really funny.
           I've been searching on etsy and all different stores looking for all sorts of deals on girl stuff -- clothing (dresses, oneies, etc) and hair bows or head bands (because more than likely this little girl will be bald for most of her first year of life!). I am so excited to dress up my little girl and have fun with her. Nervous about figuring out how to do her hair but I'll have time to figure out how to do that!
           My brother makes fun of me because he doesn't think I'm a girlie girl so all these conversations just make him laugh. Since being in Taiwan I've become more of a girlie girl....wanting to wear dresses and skirts and cute shoes. But that's because the weather is nice enough that I want to wear dresses and it's cooler to wear dresses and skirts. Wow is this post all over the place sorry about that and hopefully you'll be able to figure it all out!

Super windy at the beach but here I am at 29 weeks!

Monday Adventure - New Moon Beach

2011-10-17T22:15:00.000+08:00

We took our Monday Adventure -- I was hoping to go shopping to get some longer shirts but it was such a nice day that we decided that had to go on a exploring adventure. (Pretty sure both little boys & John were thankful for the nice weather!) Little N wanted to go to the ocean & mountains! I wanted to go some place new so John took us to some place new! We went I think it's called New Moon Beach but I really could be wrong about that! We got to the parking area where there was this HUGE playground that was perfect for the little boys to play on.
Needless to say we did not go to the beach first -- for probably 45 minutes we let the kids play on the playground. Then we decided to check out the beach. We haven't found many sand beaches here in Taiwan so I wasn't expecting much. But once we got up to the ocean area, we had TONS of wind, but also sandy beaches. We can't go swimming in the water but we had fun putting our hands in the sand. We also found seashells....so Little N and Little M picked their first seashells in Taiwan.
The beaches in Taiwan aren't like the beaches in the states...well I'm sure that the states have some areas that have the same problem. There is tons of garbage on the beach...we found plastic string, Styrofoam, soda cans and just lots of other stuff. We had to be very diligent with watching the boys as they played in the sand that they weren't touching stuff that they shouldn't be.
Little N did not like the fact that sand kept on getting in his sandals, and in his face so we decided to head back to the playground and have a picnic on the playground. We wanted to be high up while we were eating because there were a ton of stray dogs (dogs that stayed away from us BUT most likely would come up to beg while we were eating our food!) around the playground. It was a good day! So thankful for our time spent as a family.

Favorite picture of the day!!

Bonus there was a bathroom right near the playground!!

Chinese Sunday School

2011-10-17T11:00:00.000+08:00

The fall line up is upon us...at VEF (Victory English Fellowship) we have started a Toddler Sunday School class. I was asked to help out with the Bible story and I've also taken it upon myself to decorate the room. For this quarter we have "apple" name tags up on the wall and gradually I am adding more stuff to the walls. Come November there will be a BIG Noah's Ark (which I'm kind of excited about!) and the kids are just learning small little things about the bible. The thing that I'm most excited about is that every month the class is learning a new bible verse. Little N has be able to memorize both of them so far and Little M tries his best to say what he is able to. They both are very proud of themselves.
After the toddler Sunday school class we rush Little N up to the Chinese Sunday School class....for the first two weeks of October I had to rush back down to do something for John or someone else so I didn't stay for the opening exercises. Today I did.....lots of moms and teachers are curious about us....why do we have our son in the Chinese Sunday school and what are we doing here. I like going to the opening exercises because I can have both Little N and Little M listen to the teachers sing the songs and just pick up on some Chinese. I also like sitting in the opening exercises because then I can learn the songs that they sing and I also have the chance of learning some new stuff. Like I learned that Little N's Sunday school class will be in the hymn sing on Nov. 5 but I would have never learned that if I just dropped him off. The teachers today came up to me after opening exercises and told me that I don't have to stay that Little N does fine during the songs and such but I tried to explain that it wasn't for Little N sake that I was staying...I was staying so that I could learn the songs and motions that he was learning in Sunday school. They thought about it and realized that it made sense it would be something they would probably do also if they were in my situation.
Little N has made some little friends in his Chinese class....I don't know their names but I think it's awful sweet of them to look out for Little N and also the way they say Little N's name is SO sweet. I'm very grateful that Little N likes going to his Chinese Sunday school class. After church he goes running up to me and says, "Mommy, you have to take me up to class! I've already given Daddy a hug good bye, can we go now?"
I'm pretty certain that now Little M is jealous....he just has to wait one more year before he can join Chinese Sunday School. (He tried to join the 3 year old class this week!)

M&M Pie

2011-10-14T22:25:00.000+08:00

So I am addicted to pinterest. Pinterest is a addicting little site where you can build you own virtual bulletin boards and just pin things that you like -- recipes, outfits, photography ideas, quotes, etc.

I have been pinning lots of different breakfast, lunch/dinner, & dessert recipes that I have been slowly trying. Yesterday I decided to attempt the M&M Pie. Which works well however it just wouldn't set right away so it was gooey inside. I made it on Thursday afternoon and by 10 pm that night it was all gone...so it was still really good!

M&M Pie
Adapted from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

1 - 9" pie crust (just buy a pie crust at the store)

1/2 cup granulated Sugar
¾ cup all-purpose flour
3 TBSP peanut butter (creamy or chunky)
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup M&M’s
2/3 cup peanut butter M&M's

Preheat oven to 350°.

In a medium bowl, combine sugar, flour, peanut butter, and butter, mixing well.
Add eggs, vanilla, Peanut Butter M&M’s, and M&M's. Transfer filling to prepared pie crust.
Bake until firm in the middle, approximately 45 minutes.

So with my recipe I halved the sugar and the next time I make this I won't use plain M&M's at all. I'll just put all peanut butter M&M's in instead (but my peanut butter M&M's are a very precious treat.) It was really sweet (too chocolaty for me -- but probably just fine for other people! If I could have gotten my whip cream to work it would have been fine!). But everyone enjoyed it and I'll attempt to make it again I'm sure; once I put in a request for more peanut butter M&M's (they don't carry them over in Taiwan).

Hanging out with friends

2011-10-13T17:05:00.000+08:00

We were invited last minute over to a friend's house. One of the other mom's came and picked me up and drove us over to our friend's house. We watched the kids play and then we ate pizza. I finally got to hold my one friend's baby girl....oh my goodness is she SO stinking adorable! She's got rolls on her legs and the cutest chubby cheeks ever. I am in love! (But I forgot to take pictures!) Little N and Little M enjoyed playing with their friend's toys and then running around outside in the courtyard! So thankful for our friends. Thanks for the visit!

Little M loves his train tracks and trains!

These two are like 6 months a part in age....the little girl is a month younger than Little M. The different between girls and boys are just night and day!! Will be interesting to see how different this little girl (in my belly) will be from my two boys!

They love their Nook

2011-10-12T22:47:00.000+08:00

Little N and Little M love their nook and they love their puzzles.

So curious...

Pastor Appreciation Month

2011-10-11T10:49:00.000+08:00

October is Pastor Appreciation Month; it is a time to thank your pastor and his family for all they do for your church. Do you ever think of all that they do for you and your church family? When did your pastor arrive to your church and community – 6 weeks, 6 months, 1 year or 10 years? Have you ever sat down with your pastor and just visited with them as a person, a friend and not just a pastor? Make a point of being friendly and introducing yourself to both the pastor and the pastor’s wife. Also even if you might have introduced yourself once please do it again it’s not that they don’t want to remember you it’s just that there are SO many people to remember (especially in the beginning of being at a church) so don’t take offense of they don’t remember your name. They probably remember your face but just not your name – which frustrates them because they want to remember everyone’s name.

Do you know if your pastor has people to talk to about his life and has people to play games, spend time with where they just have downtime and don’t have to think about helping the other person with what’s going on in their life?

Does your pastor live close to family? Do they live far away from family? Where do they go for holidays? Did you know that for the most part the pastoral call sends pastor far away from their families and they usually aren’t able to get too many of their family holiday events due to church commitments.

Be mindful of your pastor’s family – think before you call them. Is this an emergency or can it wait till the morning when the pastor is in the office. Remember that you cherish your family time and get bothered when people are interrupting that special time. Be mindful that when you are calling at 6 pm or later that unless it’s an emergency you are interrupting precious family time.

Don’t have unreasonable expectations of the pastor’s family – they are not the perfect Christian family. Kids will be kids and if they get into trouble it’s not a reflection of the pastor. You also need to remember that kids make mistakes and that goes the same even if you are a pastor’s kid. Don’t expect them to be at every single church event….sometimes they need some downtown and not feel like they are on display and have the expectation of being perfect.

Also is your pastor’s wife being nurtured? Does she have friends that she can talk to about life? Is she getting out of the house and doing things that are enjoyable to her. Does she feel included at church events with the other ladies or do you just notice that she is off to the side and not interacting. Be mindful of being to cliquish. It can happen especially in a small community where everyone know each other and it’s hard to break in and become friends. Also remember that just because she is the pastor’s wife doesn’t mean that she isn’t struggling with making friends, being friendly and getting to know other people. If you are struggling with getting to know people remember that she probably is struggling also. She is just putting herself out there and trying to be friendly.

Please remember to pray for your pastor’s family! Pray for your pastor – pray for the ministries that he’s involved in, pray for his family, and also pray that he is not overworked and overwhelmed. Please don’t criticize him if things aren’t getting done quickly enough – stop and think how can I help and volunteer. Pray for the pastor’s family – pray for the kids that they would grow spiritual and physically. Pray that they would have friends that would love them and care for them. Pray that they would not feel neglected because of the responsibilities of the church. Pray for the pastor and his wife’s relationship – do they do a regular date night? Do they have money and someone to watch the kids so that they can do a date night? Are you nurturing their relationship by not talking bad about the pastor or pastor’s wife? Are you praying for their relationship? Pray for the pastor’s wife…sometimes being a pastor’s wife can be a lonely position because they are put on a pedestal. Remember to pray for the pastor’s wife as she goes through out her day – in work, in raising her kids or the involvement in the church. Remember how it feels to be the new person in town and invite her to different events. Make her feel comfortable. Sometimes we as women can be unknowingly cruel by just not giving a simple invitation.

If you have a problem with the pastor or his wife or family….please talk to the pastor or to his wife. Share what is on your heart….maybe it’s a concern about raising kids, maybe it’s a concern about life and their relationship. Talk to them and don’t gossip behind their back. They will take it a lot better if you talk to them directly and there will be less hurt feelings in the long run.

Please remember to thank your pastor for his dedication and involvement in the church. Find a way to share your appreciation with them. Thank you’s go a long way, handwritten cards, even time spent together chatting or playing games go a long way.

Here are ways that you can say thank you to your pastor and his family:

- Commit to praying for them and ask them if they have prayer requests that you can pray for.

- Give them a card and say thank you for all that they do.

- Invite them over for a meal and for a game night.

- Give them a gift card for a meal out or to the grocery store.

- Take them out to eat…find out what their favorite restaurant and take them there.

- Give them fruits, veggies or meat.

- If you are gifted in a way – you can make baked goods, blankets, cards, take amazing pictures – offer your services to them. Christmas is coming up and sometimes family pictures don’t get done unless someone volunteers, etc. Share what you are good at!

- If they have young kids or elementary-age kids offer to babysit and spend time getting to know them.

o Find out what the kids like to do.

o Find out their favorite foods.

o Find out their favorite activities.

- Spend time with your pastor family with no expectations from them

o Ask them how they are doing?

o Ask if there is something that needs help with at the church and then volunteer.

o Find out how to nurture the pastor’s family so that they feel comfortable at your church because when they feel comfortable and loved and cared for they are more likely to stay longer.

Thank you so much for reading this and hopefully you remember to thank your pastor for everything that he does for the church and be mindful to thank you his family also.

Our Saturday

2011-10-09T10:00:00.000+08:00

This Saturday we got to go to two different events (albeit short visits)....our friends were having an open house and invited us to join...so we quick stopped in for a drink and to say hello. Then we were off to another friends house for another get together....lots of food, laughter and just getting to know one another. Little N and Little M were excited because they had lots of freedom to run around and play. It was a good and VERY filling day.

Interesting Fact: The skin of the pomelo works well as a natural mosquito repellent.

I love this guy!

Special bond between these two....I am so blessed!

My two favorite little boys!

The boys Pomelo hat

2011-10-07T11:02:00.002+08:00

One of the things that I have loved living in Taiwan is that every season (or month) there is a new tasty fruit to try. This month we have been munching on Pomelos. Pomelos are part of the citrus family -- they are a big grapefruit similar in taste but also quite a bit sweeter. There is a lot more green skin and white skin that you have to peel off..but the flesh is delicious!

We had NO clue how to cut it and eat it. So I just cut the ends off and the skin of and cut the flesh out. Today we discovered how to cut the pomelo skin so that you can wear it as a hat which is really popular to do. Here are the pictures of the boys with their pomelo hats. Little M is a complete fan of the pomelo but Little N isn't as much!

Wednesday Playgroup - Cha for Tea

2011-10-06T02:30:00.000+08:00

We had playgroup today. It was being hosted at a restaurant about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. I was super excited because I knew where it was and John didn't have to give me a ride there. We began our walk and the boys were SUPER excited because they got to ride in the stroller. (Can you tell I have been making them walk up to church a bunch?)
There were different ladies at playgroup (most of them I had seen before and chatted with) but I was excited to get to know some different ladies. They are all very gracious to have me join their group with me not knowing much (okay ANY) Chinese. Their kids are slowly noticing and remembering me and get excited to see us (which makes me happy!).

The little girl tried some of her mom's vinegar drink....I just laughed and laughed at her expression. She knows what she wants and goes after it. She also didn't want me to take pictures of her and made her wishes QUITE clear!! So I could only get sneaky pictures of her!

The little girl in the blue is the mother's daughter....but the little girl with the orange really likes her friend's mommy.

Happy Birthday Mom

2011-10-05T21:40:00.000+08:00

Happy Birthday to my Mom! I hope you have a great day, wish we could be around to help celebrate and we love you!

P.S. We really need to get some pictures of the two of us together! I have none!!

Thank you Grandma & Grandpa O.

2011-10-05T20:35:00.001+08:00

We finally got a chance to give the kids their long sleeved pjs...we were kind of holding off on giving them because we knew as soon as they saw them they would want to wear them. Let me tell you....they love them! We had playgroup today so we had to get dressed and the only way I could get them to go to playgroup was that when they got home they could put their pjs back on.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Olson.

Little N loves his Buzz Lightyear pjs!

Little M in his Cars pj! Who does he look like?

My two favorite boys!

Pumpkin Project

2011-10-05T05:32:00.002+08:00

Over here in Taiwan it's been hot (summer hot), we have had high 80 to mid 90's on a consistent basis. I have been waiting for the weather to cool and also missing the fall season. The leaves changing, the pumpkins to pick, apple picking and just the smells of Autumn. Sunday we were hit with cooler weather...a typhoon was coming through and giving us the rain. Monday, the little boys and I, put on long pants. Little N was super excited that he got to wear pants and Little M tugged at his pants trying to make them back into the shorts that he has worn for the last 6 months. It was slightly amusing to watch the different reactions. This is just a VERY random side note that I wanted to share so I would be able to remember it later on.

I don't home school my children -- I'm still not sure what we will do with the kids as they get older. Next year I'm pretty sure that Little N will start Chinese Kindergarten (a little anxious about that -- the school we are looking at has really long school hours.) and I'm still not sure what I'm gonna do with Little M. But we are working on responsibility -- they have a chore chart that they have to do and I am slowly working on being consistent on making sure we do everything on the list.
One of the things that I'm really bad at is making sure that Little N does a "school" page and Little M does a coloring page. Things that I have gotten a lot better at is making sure that we read our bible story every night, say our prayers and our memory verse. With the boys being in the toddler Sunday School class at VEF, every month we are working on a new memory verse. This being our first month, we are working on Genesis 1:1 (next week we start a new memory verse). I have been pleasantly surprised at how well BOTH boys are doing with memorizing. Little N can say the verse without prompting for us and Little M tries his best to say the verse when he knows the words -- he can say "In the beginning" and then it gets slightly muffled because he gets so proud of himself.
Today, I decided to be domestic -- do the laundry, make "pumpkin" puree and because I made extra copies by mistake of a pumpkin (that I converted into apples so I could make apple name decorations for the Sunday School class) so I decided to do a learning project with the boys.
The boys watched me cut and cube the pumpkin (squash) and then we put it in the pot to boil. Because they watched me cut the pumpkin they saw that there were seeds in the pumpkin so we decided that we would cook them and then see how they tasted. I also decided I would let Little N and M do a fun project (Little N had more responsibility and Little M had less) I cut the paper pumpkin for Little M and then let him color with markers (boy was he excited about that!). Then I let Little N play with my BIG scissors (both of us decided that he needed to get little scissors that he could use) and cut out the pumpkin all by himself. Halfway through cutting by himself he asked for help on how to cut with the big scissors....so I "helped" him. After that he colored the pumpkin (his was definitely his own creation). By then the pumpkin seeds had cooled enough that I could separate them let the boys use them for gluing on their pumpkin and also to try and taste.
Little M loved the taste of pumpkin seeds and had fun placing the seeds on his pumpkin (he didn't get as many pictures because he needed a little bit more supervision -- otherwise he would have eaten the glued on pumpkin seeds). Little N, I had to convince him to even try to eat the pumpkin seeds (I am working VERY hard on having the kids at least try one bite of things before they decide that they don't like something!) and he didn't like it at all but had a blast using the glue and putting the pumpkin seeds on his pumpkin.
I was thankful for a fun fall activity that the kids could do and that we were fulfill some of the kids chore charts.

Little M trying out the pumpkin seeds.

Little M's final project

Scissors -- this part honestly terrified me.

Coloring

Gluing

Decorating

Little N's final project.

26 Weeks

2011-09-29T01:59:00.000+08:00

I'm almost 3 months away from meeting this sweet little baby girl. Getting kind of nervous because I have no idea what to name her....I had a name and John nixed it. So it's back to the drawing board for me. I want to find something unique for her. I think we will be stopping with the K in the middle of the name....but who knows I could be wrong about that too.
Things are going good. Been taking my vitamins and eating more red meat in hopes of getting my iron levels up. Also been dreaming of all sorts of different outfits and hair pieces that this little girl will get to wear (hopefully -- well for sure the first two years of her life I get to dress her up in whatever I want...then she'll probably take over and make all the clothing decisions).
Super excited to have a girl but a little nervous because for the last 4 years I've been dealing with boys so wondering how different a little girl will be.....will she be the same as a newborn and baby and then become different as she gets older or will she be different from the start. It will be fun to see! I also can't wait to see how John is with her! That will be the most fun....I have a feeling this little girl will be a little princess in our family.

Wednesday Playgroup -- The Farm Cafe

2011-09-28T23:46:00.000+08:00

Today brought us back to the Farm Cafe for playgroup. We got to play in a sand box, feed the ox (or maybe it's a water buffalo) and chat with friends and look at the adorable kids! Little N & Little M enjoyed eating the pizza (first time eating food at playgroup -- besides the food I bring for them). Thankful that we could go to playgroup and play with all the kids.

A nice visit

2011-09-27T08:05:00.002+08:00

We were able to visit and chat with people that we haven't talked or really seen in 9 years. We were lucky enough to have friends watch our boys while we went to Starbucks (vanilla steamer anyone -- even though it was 89 degrees) to chat and visit.
Then we got to do more chatting and visiting with our friends and visitors. It's funny watching how Little N and our friends youngest interact with one another. When we first arrived they played side by side but not really interacting with one another.....today was so fun to hear about how they were playing pirates and playing with trains. They had lots of fun and for that I'm thankful.
While we were waiting for dinner to be ready a little friend of our visitors came out to visit and play with the kids....it's truly amazing how a puppet helps bring out kids personalities and wanting to talk with the mouse about what's going on in their life. Good reminder of how to get a kid who is quiet to talk with you.
So thankful for good friends, good visits and a wonderful meal. Thank you guys so much for everything!

The Mommy Guilt -- birthday party edition

2011-09-25T09:55:00.001+08:00

We all have the mommy guilt....that we aren't gonna do a good enough job for our kids or that our event that we planned for our kids just won't be good enough. How do we combat the mommy guilt? By not comparing our event with another person or by not comparing our kids to other kids. We all have different ideas and things we want to do and it's not the wrong thing to do....it's just what we want to do at the time. Also every single kid different.....each has their own personality and we can't fit them all into the same model (and you know I wouldn't want us all to be the same!!).
We went to a birthday party today for Little N & Little M's friends. The two girls turned 2 and 4 years old. I ran into the mom at the stationary store (okay it's a book store -- but we were in the stationary section) and we started to chat. I commented on how excited I was about going over to her house for her girls birthday party....and her comment back to me was that oh it won't be as fun as your birthday party was for your boys. It's not outside and it's not very fun. I told her that it didn't matter that it wasn't going to be very exciting in her mind. I was excited because we were gonna have the chance to visit and spend time together with one another. I knew that while we were at their house that we would have laughter and that our kids would have a good time.
We got to their birthday party and we ate food -- oh boy did we eat food! Then we watched the kids play with one another and have a blast together. We ate birthday cake -- can I say that the birthday cake was absolutely delicious and super cute -- it was slightly amusing, John and I thought that the cake was amazing the whip frosting was just right and our hosts thought that the frosting was too sweet and after everyone had gotten a piece scrapped off the frosting (to throw away) and kept the cake...it's just a cultural difference and I found it funny! We also had balloons to play with and oh my goodness did I laugh SO hard because one of the balloon pumps would blow up the balloons but then at a certain point it would also suck out the area from the balloon.....so the harder that you tried to blow up the balloon the faster the air got out of it! We laughed so hard.....I was also terrified to attempt to make balloon animals because I kept on thinking I was gonna pop it! We had tons of fun and I was so thankful that we got to go over to play with our friends.
Let me tell you the birthday party for our kids -- it was fun....I enjoyed myself and I think the kids did too. However we didn't have any games, or really any birthday activities. It was just a time where we played in the playground with sand toys, we ate food and we talked with friends and just had a good time. I felt kind of bad like we should have thought out more fun games and stuff to do for the kids....plus we didn't have a cake --we had cupcakes but not cake with birthday candles and singing. I also felt like I was rushing around with my head chopped off but it was okay we had a fun day and I'd do it again.
Ladies (mommies) lets not try to compare or out do each other in the birthday party situation. Do what you can and have fun with your kids and the people you invite. The kids won't remember how much money was spent on their birthday. All they will remember is that they were loved and cared about on their special day by people who loved them. Don't think that what you are doing for your kids isn't enough....you are doing an amazing job just planning stuff out and making the day special for your kids.

The birthday 2 year old (about a month ago was her birthday!)

The awesome cake....I have always been leery about getting a cake from the bakery....I am completely sold and probably will just buy a cake from our favorite bakery for a special day -- hmm....maybe Christmas or when the new baby is here! (okay or maybe I'll just make a day a special cake day --- good listening day?)

The birthday girls with their parents! Such a cute family.

Riding the no push car -- you just steer with the wheel and it moves. The kids had a blast.....here are the two 4 year olds!

Successful balloon animal -- a giraffe. I made a snake & maybe a sword!

25 Weeks

2011-09-22T23:34:00.003+08:00

So we took pictures before my camera battery died on Monday....I am now 25 weeks along. Baby Girl is active and I can feel her body from the outside a lot more than I ever did with the boys. Sometimes in the middle of the night I can wake up and put my hand on my stomach and feel either a hand, foot, head or butt just poking out.
Both little boys and John have been able to feel the baby and quite regularly the little boys will come up to my belly and give the baby raspberries (the mouth kind) and talk to her. Little N is anxiously awaiting Christmas so that he can meet his little sister. He just wants to show her and tell her everything!
Little N & M just started their chore charts again and Little N wants to show his baby sister his chore chart....also he expects her to have a chore chart which we just have to laugh at. Little M has been waking up early in the morning and if he's up too early or if the boys are goofing off in their beds during nap time he gets plopped into the crib.....usually when that happens Little M gets SUPER offended but after he settles down he falls fast asleep. Little N usually will tell John that Little M had to take a nap in baby sister's crib....and Little M just pulls a face that just displays his absolute disgust about it.
Went to the doctors today for a regular check up and John was able to join me for the appointment.....he made it for the ultrasound and then had to leave for class. But he got to see the baby for the first time. She wasn't very cooperative for him and wouldn't show her face or whole body....but he got to see the top of the head, the stomach and the feet. She is head down which is a good thing....and I am praying that she will continue to be head down.
Baby is doing okay and I found out that I'm a little anemic (was given iron pills that I have to take and was told to also take my prenatal vitamins along with them).....so we will be stocking up on the red meat for me and baby! :-) Also was surprised to find out that today I had to take my glucose test....oh the joys of that wonderful sweet drink. Thankfully the hour passed quickly and I'll find out in October if everything is okay!

Our Monday Adventures

2011-09-20T11:22:00.001+08:00

After just not doing Monday Adventures for a long time we finally went on our Monday Adventure.....John took us for a drive and we went to the reservoir near us (when I remember how to correctly spell where we went I'll fix this post!) and it was just the perfect day. The kids (Little N) especially was excited about hiking and going on an adventure. So we started to walk and it was perfect because it wasn't too strenuous and we felt like we were getting some exercise.
Where we went walking there was a suspension bridge....and I was terrified and I think because of what happened one time on another suspension bridge we got Little N afraid of heights also. So we are working trying to get him comfortable on walking on bridges and not being afraid. We also saw lots of butterflies....and again Little N was a little afraid. Little M, on the other hand, had no fear and we constantly had to hold him back and make sure that he was being careful.
Started to take lots of pictures and then after a while we realized that my camera battery was dying.....thankfully we were able to get pictures of me and my belly before it died but we saw lots of different bugs and a snake slithering down the path. It was a good day for an adventure and I hope we will be able to go on another on next week!

A crafting day

2011-09-18T10:00:00.002+08:00

I love to do things creative....art projects, whatever....I'm willing to try it once and see if I can do it. My favorite thing to do is making cards -- now granted I'm not the greatest when it comes to being faithful to send them out to people but I keep on trying. Making cards isn't a difficult thing....you just look to see if there is a design you like or if you have an idea in your head....stamp it and then piece it all together. Something mindless but so fun about it all!!
I was super excited because we finally got stuff so that I could sort, organize my stuff the week before. Finally everything had a place and I could see everything. Then this week we went and bought paper. I was so excited but then felt a little guilt buying all this paper and supplies when I had so much of it back in storage in CT. I needed the paper so we bought and I put it into the organizer and was so excited for Saturday to come.
I decided to host a Craft day for people at church. John set it up so we had a room at church to spread out and get our craftiness on. My goal for the day was to make 25 cards which I succeeded in doing. We had probably 4 people come to the event but it wasn't about the numbers of people, I was just glad to play and make cards. I'm thinking I might even try to do it again next month and maybe even the month after that.

Little M "organizing" my stamp pads!

A Glimpse into our Lives -- Our Place

2011-09-17T10:04:00.002+08:00

Welcome to our humble home! We are still trying to make it homey and our own but figured while the house was semi-clean we could show you around our house. We live in an apartment....which is conveniently located to basically everything we need. The church is a 10 to 15 minute walk from our house, the hospital is a 10 minute walk from our house, the traditional market is a 5 minute walk from our house we are very blessed with our location....it's definitely smaller than what we had before but we knew that we wouldn't be moving to a 6 bedroom apartment.
We have a 3 bedroom apartment, two bathrooms (one is used as storage & will be the nursery), a living/dining room area, a kitchen (that is like a hallway kitchen) and a laundry/storage room. We are slowly organizing everything so that it looks and feels like home and not feel like we are on top of each other. We probably spend a majority of our time in our dining/living room area.

Our dining room & living room open to the kitchen, the entry way, to the bedrooms and we have a small outdoor space where we can hang the clothes & look outside. We have our toy area in the living room so every morning the toys get dumped out and every evening the toys get put away -- sometimes it's a struggle & other times the boys do it willingly. We just finished making our chore charts again so hopefully that will motivate the boys to clean up (stickers make the world go round in our house! Little N wants baby sister to have a chore chart & for her to see their chore charts!)

This is our hallway kitchen....we have a two burner stove and then our microwave. In the laundry/storage area is where we have two small convection ovens, the size of a microwave!

Laundry room with some of our clothes hanging up and then some toys that we are hiding or keeping away from the boys!

Our main bathroom....toilet, sink & tub/shower. We like it.....the tub is big enough that the little boys can take a bath no together no problem -- which is why you see the two coke bottles.....necessary part of bath time!

Extra bedroom -- This room we just don't know what to do with -- it's a toy area when people come over with kids, it's a storage area, it will eventually become a guest room when people come to visit but mostly it's just a room that we don't know how to use. It doesn't have ac so it's just miserably hot in the summer time (which lasts a long time over here!). I know John would like to be able to use at a place he can go to get away & also that I could go do crafts but we just haven't spent the money to make any of that happen....mostly it's just a place for storage.

The boys bedroom --- The room used to be a lot bigger with the two beds put together as bunk beds....but then we decided to put Little M in there so we had to put the beds down and we weren't able to find bedrails easily so we just decided to put the beds together and let the boys sleep next to each other. In the room there are two built in units -- a built in closet & a built in storage area -- which of course we don't use to the best of our abilities but the closet is very well used and loved!!

Our bedroom & bathroom/storage/nursery....when we first moved to Taiwan.....Little M was in a crib and just didn't handle being in the same room as Little N.....so we put him in the bathroom. The bathroom really hasn't been used as a bathroom....the owners of the apartment actually used this as storage so that's what we've ended up doing also. Little M is out of the crib now but we decided that with the new baby coming that she could be in the bathroom and she would be close to us but still in her own little room. Our bedroom is basically all about the bed, we have a chest & built in closets (that I love.....all my stuff fits nicely and they had amazing storage so everything has a place! I love it....)

Thanks for visiting our apartment and hopefully the next time I put pictures up it will look a little more homey....with pictures and things to make it feel like our home!!