Easter 2012

Another weekend of big firsts for our two newest additions.  They started the next week of school this morning.  Mr. N did really well, except for his propensity that if you "start" something with him, he's going to "finish" it.  A few different kids apparently bumped into him during the school day, and he came out swinging.  This afternoon he and I ran around town trying to get some of his adoption documents finalized.  We were in two different government offices and he was a dream.  The ladies at the Civil Affairs office checked twice to see if he was the same guy who'd terrorized their office just a little over one week ago!

Mr. E is showing that he has great fortitude when it comes to getting his way.  The drop off with his aide this morning was smooth.  He was pretty smiley and happy.  But sometime later in the morning, he refused to go to English class.  He was coaxed and encouraged, but as he has shown us several times this week at home, he EXPECTS to get his way.  So, he was told he could not go on the "walk" with his aide, mid-morning.  In fact, he could not do anything else until he calmed down and received his English lesson.  Two hours later, he relented.  This character trait will serve him well, no doubt.  But, it is really a major issue in acclimating him to life outside the orphanage nursery!

Some photos of our weekend:

Above & Below:  The Team together for an egg coloring party....5 dozen eggs are colored in minutes with a crew this size!

Below:  Mr. N colors his very first Easter egg

Below:  Now a pro...The Singer is all over his first egg of the season.

Below:  I think Daddy shot this photo himself...he really excels in self-portraits ;)  (Magpie is stifling a laugh.)

Below:  Mrs. V, Brownie and The Bug celebrating the day together.

Below:  Mr. V gets a shot with Brownie too...and Mr. N aims a gun at the camera...don't know where the gun came from...but of course, it is his FAVORITE thing in this house!  AHHHHH!

Below:  Mr. & Mrs. S along with Potato show off some of their hard work/

Below:  Easter morning in the holding cell...waiting for Momma to say..."go hunt for the baskets"

Below:  The first basket was found by Potato

Below:  The Bug is always photo-ready, despite the 6:15 am hour!

Below:  Mr. N is all over this candy in a basket portion of the holiday.

Below:  Mr. E can't believe everything going on around him.  Lots more laughs than fearful eyes...this is a sampling of his infectious smile!

Below:  The highlight of my weekend...at our Easter gathering...Magpie translates the Good News for Mr. N for the first time of his life...he was CAPTIVATED by the story of God's love, Jesus' sacrifice, and that the tomb was EMPTY!  It was something more beautiful to behold than I can ever tell you.  He spent the rest of the day pouring over the children's picture bible...then he told me later that God died...but He's alive today!  Oh the joy in my heart to hear those words from my son!

Below:  Prior to the outdoor egg hunt...an insane posse of hunters.

Below:  Bub is a champion egg hunter.

Below:  Mr. N reached his quota first...he LOVED it!

Below:  The Bruiser charmed us all with his independence and authority as he explained the "how to's" of egg hunting to both Mr. N and Mr. E.

We are blessed.  We are exhausted.  We totter on the edge of feeling totally overwhelmed and periodically delighted by the changes in this brood.  But He is faithful, ever faithful, and encouraging us that we simply must let go and follow Him into the realm of faith...the absence of fear.

Tomorrow, more adventures and challenges await us.  Tonight, resting in His arms of love.

Easter Photos

It is always a rush in the morning to get everyone out the door.  We stop each day though and as the kids are ready to go, one by one, we pray for them about their day and lives.

The above photo I caught as the Bruiser was being prayed for by Daddy.

Below: the shot after the first one, he knew that I had taken a photo...but also that he should keep his eyes closed during Daddy's prayer for him...and should he smile?...obviously conflicted

Below:  5:30 am on Easter morning after finding the baskets.

Below:  I taught my annual lesson on Friday before Easter to all the students at school about Easter.  What is is...how it is celebrated in the West...etc.  One of the flash cards I had was of an "Easter Cake" so I thought I'd take a stab at making a coconut cake from scratch.  This process took me much of Saturday, and then, due to the major bend in my over sized toaster oven's "rack" it baked unevenly....thus it has a bit of a "sliding" appearance. Regardless, it tasted quite delicious and may have been nearly worth the work!

Below:  For our Easter meal we set the plywood table with three bedsheets, used the Coco-cola giveaway glasses from McDonalds last year and managed a "Spring-y" looking table.

Below:  Our fellow teammates from the 4th Floor have announced that they are leaving and returning to the US to care for sick relatives.  (Pray for us, and especially Magpie and The Bug who will be losing their daily friends, classmates, and playmates due to this change.)  So, we thought it important to have one last, large meal celebrating the holiday and their past year and a half living alongside us Here.

Below:  We did manage an egg hunt in our apartment complex.   Bub and The Bug teach the Singer how it is done. Many of the neighbor kids also got involved...it was a frenzy for about 5 minutes!  

Below:  One of the neighborhood two-year-olds.  He LOVED it!

Below:  Potato and The Bruiser searching and searching!

Below:  The Singer shows off one of his finds.

We hope you had a blessed Easter!  It is a time of transition for us with the Wu's departure.  We've had great provision for our paperwork costs for Nehemiah, we're expecting some special visitors from an Abbottsford organization in two weeks, and we have our major English Performance/Competition in two weeks, too!  We could use prayers for stamina and confidence as we face this major change in our life and team situation.  We had great news this week however that two new couples will be joining our team in August as teachers at the school.  This is welcome news.  He gives and takes away.

No matter where we live or what our experiences are, Easter is the ultimate celebration of power over the grip of darkness and despair.  We're so thankful for the hope we have in Him.

Everyone's on the move...

Officially next Thursday begins the "Spring Festival Travel Period"...at least according to the national Railway system here....that will carry a staggering number of people to the far reaches of our massive host nation. 

As a Westerner, truly, I have nothing in my experience to compare to the magnitude of this holiday period of time.  I chose the words "period of time" intentionally because many people will spend 2 -4 weeks away from their jobs, with their families, celebrating the New Year.  (I can remember when one time I took 5 days off work around Christmas and New Years and I felt like I'd won the lottery...living as a person of leisure!)

While our host nation punches the clock and goes on holiday, this is the time that our family also goes on retreat.  It has now become our only down-time in the year, and as we continue living cross-culturally, our spirits and bodies ache for some refreshing. 

We will head out on a "sleeper train" next Friday (with thousands of other happy home-goers) as we head to the South on the first leg of our trip to SE Asia.  Our train tickets, that were purchased after a 2 hour wait in line, offer us the first of many challenges on our trip.  We are holding the only tickets in the "hard sleepers" that we could get...unfortunately, our 6 sleeper berths are on three different cars of the train!  So, we will go to the train, heavy-laden with gifts and perhaps some small money, to try to "swap" berths with others so that our family of 9 can get on the same car (at least) an in the same compartment (at best.)  As no one buys 6 berths at the same time, our purchase was greeted with speculation after an initial refusal.  Ticket scalping during this frantic time is at an all time high...so the ticket office usually sells a MAXIMUM of 3 tickets together (One family-One child...as is still the policy in most of the country.)

Once we'd purchased berths on the getaway train...we realized that we needed to replace a few of our carry-on sized bags, that are simply beat to thunder after all the traveling they've done.  So, I headed into town with Magpie, Potato & Brownie (as The Bug is still in the US for Grampa's funeral.)  As we traveled the main road from our apartment I realized that the exodus from the city had begun.  Each bus stop along our path was overstuffed with anxious-faced and eager souls spilling out into the road, arms burgeoning with burlap bags or the occasional spiffy suitcase at their sides, eyes intent on seeing the next bus that might allow 1-2 people to squeeze on (leaving the hundred others to wait, and wait, and wait for their turn.)

When we made it to the major shopping mall we went to the big K-mart/Walmart-type store in hopes of finding suitcases.  As we rounded the corner in the store, our eyes took in an amazing sight...literally 100 other people in the suitcase section, shopping for the bag that would take home their possessions as well as the precious gifts for their family members living in the the distant countryside villages of their birth.  Suitcases, all with wheels, starting at just 87 RMB, about $15, all the way to slick-sided, four-wheeled bags labeled "Tokyo Chic", selling for 800 RMB.  We were lost in a sea of people...college students...young families with their new babies ready for their first introduction to relatives...young professionals, shopping for that bag that would show that they are on their way to achieving the dreams of their parents...wealthy men shopping for the best bag to accessorize their BMW, Lexus, or Mercedes that will prove to everyone in their hometown that they are as rich as God.

Every eye I could catch revealed the mood of these days...joyful anticipation. 

I thought of our colleagues at the school.

Teacher Linda who was married in October, took 10 days off work to help pack her husband's belongings and send him off to a "new/better" job in the South that will keep their time together to twice a year.  Spring Festival is one of those times...they will have three weeks to live as husband and wife...and then 6 weeks in the summer.  This scenario is so common. 

Teacher Li who was married yesterday, will spend them time taking his new wife to meet his relatives, receiving "hong bao" or red envelopes stuffed with cash to wish them "double happiness" in their new life together. 

The Principal who will host many (15-20) out of town relatives in her 2 bedroom, 1000 Sq ft. apartment (the family is originally FROM our city, increasingly a rare situation.)  All this entertaining around helping her daughter and soon-to-be son-in-law get settled into the new flat she purchased for them.  

Teacher Maggie who will travel with her new husband to her hometown.  The last trip they took, one year ago, they could only get "standing" tickets on the train for the 20 hour train ride.  She will finally get to see the new nephew born this year to her sister.  She has been preparing for her trip to see her mother, who she missed dearly, for months.

The excitement is palpable. 

When I reached the check-out of the store, our two new modest suitcases in tow...I had a monumental experience....

In our first two years Here, I had suffered several embarrassing moments at the check-out of this store...mis-translating the amount of money required, forgetting that I had to BUY the sack to take my purchases home, my bank card being refused for some unknown reason, and two or three times...trying to use a store-issued coupon to save money on my purchase, but always being told that I had it wrong, that it wasn't valid, etc.

As we were nearly done with the suitcase transaction, I remembered that I'd been given one of those coupons on my last visit.  Since I am illiterate, I can't read the rules/regulations on the coupon, but I sheepishly pushed the crumpled paper across the steely, cold check-out counter...avoiding eye-contact for the inevitable barrage of rudely-delivered "you are an idiot, this coupon does not work in this situation" Chinese monologue...

but something magical happened...

she TOOK the coupon, and reduced my bill 60 RMB!  That's $10!

While it was simply luck...I was ecstatic!  I had successfully used my FIRST coupon Here!  In year 3! 

The high carried me home...though the buses had stopped for the night and we had to wait one hour in the freezing, windy night for a taxi...

We're just a few folks enveloped in the masses, headed out of town on holiday...

Christmas Morning & 2 Guys Birthdays



Christmas Morning - The Scene

Just a few more photos to fill in the blanks of our 3 day Christmas Holiday and Daddy/Bub Birthday Extravaganza!  Sorry again about the sideways orientation...for the life of me...can't understand why it will turn every which way on my photo editing program, will save in the upright shot I desire...but Blogger still loads the incorrect orientation!  



The Bruiser diggin' the Christmas vibe



The Singer adding an "axe" to his musical identity

 

Santa brought Bug this oil painting she'd seen many months back...she talked about it non-stop...she loved this painting so much!  To hear her squeal and shriek when she opened this gargantuan gift!  Daddy hung it on her wall after the last present was opened...yes, it is a enormous as it looks!  ;)

 

This cape was also highly prized some months before for Brownie...Little Red Riding Hood rides again!



The two birthday boys hang out during the gift opening on Christmas morn




Hours and hours of endless wheels of fun...the New Guys really liked Christmas!




"Wow Momma, do I look pretty in this?"  Most certainly, Potato!



Modeling the "fur" theme of Christmas...

 

Bub with his birthday cake...5 years old on the 26th...he was certain he wanted chocolate cake with strawberries (and trucks) on top!



Simply impossible on Daddy 's Birthday to get everyone looking at the camera...can you imagine how LOUD this scene is in person?


Will share more soon, back to words, no pictures...must tell you about some little souls we've heard about here in the city who are in need of families!  More on that soon!  Looking for loving hearts and homes...

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  Though for you it is now the day after Christmas...and for us two days after!  I have some photos to post over the next two days as this season is full of photo ops.  We celebrated a quiet (well as quiet as it can get with 7 kids in an apartment) Christmas, focused on family and remembering Immanuel.  The day after Christmas was Bub's 5th birthday...and today is Daddy's 50-ish birthday.  We've got zillions of photos to post here.  I beg your indulgence as you wade through them...and please remember...we do it for the grandmas!  ;)

Above & Below:  We spent an entire day making sugar cookies.  My bakery assistants had a blast, though I'm certain we had some "product shrinkage" due to the amount of raw product strewn about.

Above:  Magpie shows some funky attitude...and Brownie reveals again that she's got a real penchant for crazy faces...we may start calling her Carol Burnett Jr.!

Below:  Potato sports some white-flour gloves.

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Below:  The Bug, a very serious baker, focuses on more dough.

 

Below:  Brownie shows another wacky face.  Generally, she is a quiet kid.  She very seldom will make eye-contact with strangers...and can play peacefully for long periods of time without being managed...but she has a zany side that comes out once and awhile...and she's the life of the party...recently I cannot get her to take a serious picture...in a series of 20, in every one she was crossing her eyes or contorting her face...she cracks us all up!

Below:  On Tuesday, the 21st, the school put on a Christmas Show.  We had not seen most of the performance pieces...when I walked into the auditorium...The Bruiser greeted me with this smile (and hairdo, courtesy of the Kindergarten Teacher stylist)...his personality continues to bloom, as I'm sure you can plainly see!

Above:  Once again, Blogger is conspiring against me as I can't right this photo so you can view it properly...but the photo above...so many potential captions.  Daddy thought he resembles a young Thurston Howell III, from Gilligan's Island.

Below:  "Look at me, I'm impervious to their negative vibes!"

 Below:  Bub, putting on the Ritz!

 Below:  The Bruiser struck a pose at every opportunity...we've watched this guy go from being "zoned out" 80% of the time...to this.  Daddy said he thought the Bruiser was like a baby in a box, trapped, unable to develop beyond basic functions without stimuli.  In June, we got him out of the box and introduced him to the concept of family...and look out...he's a man on fire!

Below:  The scene.  Our little school is growing!

Below:  The Singer charmed us and delighted us with his performance...he is the constant observer...we watched him take in the whole event, then once he'd studied the appropriate reactions (clapping, laughing, enthusiasm) he joined right in...he told me afterward, "Momma, that was fun!"

Above:  Again, no luck with getting this photo to load correctly....he's evoking a "Hollywood: Days Gone By" mood for me here...

Above:  Potato flashes us a confident look before taking the stage...

 Above:  The Bug and her BFF Miss Wu from 4 sang "Enough" recorded by BarlowGirl...they won the prize for best performance...and showed some mighty-fine microphone technique, while executing some fine dance moves, and excellent vocals too!  (Side note...the backdrop was designed and assembled by Daddy...the man has not yet found a piece of construction paper that he cannot compel to do his bidding!)

Above:  The Bruiser (center) and The Singer (center left, with arm raised) do their duty bringing smiles to the fans!  Check out the girls dresses!

Above & Below:  Magpie danced a Rumba for her contribution to the show...

Below:  Then Bug joined her to dance a Cha-Cha

Below:  This photo shows all four girls dancing the Cha-Cha with their partners, Brownie is second from left, and Potato is at right, in red.  They came Here to learn Latin dance...and they love it...it is the rage 

Above:  Magpie & The Bug with the Wu Girls from 4, in their classes' Chinese-language rendering of the "Goatherd" song from Sound of Music...yodel-he-yode-ley-he-yode-ley he-hoo

Above:  Bub, center, danced with his partner to show his showbiz side...that flashed and burned out like a Roman Candle...he left the stage in tears...(no nap = no reserves to emotionally put on the show!)

Above:  A Santa we know and love was recruited to hand out gifts to the children after the performance...

Below:  Magpie, after the performance...

 Below:  Brownie hugs Santa Claus (with the too small hat...and suspect beard)

 Below:  Our Principal just HAD to have her photo taken with Santa(s)...Upon viewing this photo, Daddy said, "Hey, wait a minute!  His beard looks white and new...and mine looks like a public health hazard!"

Below:  The Bug after the show, models the copious amounts of glitter used Here for every performance!

We have some more Christmas morning photos to post.  In general, we've enjoyed thoroughly the sweetness of family and first Christmases for our Two New Guys.  Though this year, the song "I'll Be Home for Christmas" nearly flattened me as it played while I prepared the turkey...but just in the nick of time...all my little chef helpers descended upon our little kitchen, singing, laughing and eager to help me...and I remembered...that I am home.