Katrina's Birthday Visit

Katrina came home to celebrate her birthday (26) and meet her new brother and sister. Ric's mother , Chumsi, and brother, Brandon, joined us for a cookout. Everett stopped by for a game for indoor/outdoor hide and seek and Travis and Lindsay brought baby Clara by for a visit.
The children are all doing amazingly well. Dominic and Rosie seem very happy. Rosie is very demonstrative, usually huggy and affectionate, but also quick to tell me no when something doesn't suit her. She is learning that I don't expect to hear no from my children when I tell them to do something :). She is happy to put on clean clothes every day but thinks we shower and wash our hair entirely too often. Dominic is always very helpful and may understand more English than he has been letting on, or else he is learning quickly. We watch movies every night in English, although I bought alot in Chinese, and he watches intently. We alternate boy movies and girl movies - last night was Indiana Jones, tonight is Cinderella. The children play really well together , there is an ebb and flow to who plays with who with no strong alliances. Rosie and Nellie do girl stuff , Rosie and Dominic can talk to each other, the boys do sword fighting and boy play, Nellie and Dominic are equally matched in races in the swimming pool. Nellie has alot of responsiblity to help R and D , especially R, learn the rules of the house and to teach them many many things (like - we sleep under the covers, not on the bedspreads; how to put dishes in and out of the dishwasher; that we take off and hangup our dress after church; we stay in our bedroom when we are sent upstairs to bed; we do not leave the front yard to walk on the sidewalk in front of the house, etc, etc). I was afraid that she might resent all the extra work but she told me today that life is alot more fun since Rosie and Dominic have come. Phew!
Rosie and Dominic begin piano lessons this week - their teacher speaks Mandarin! Dominic has his first doctor's visit and Rosie will see the eye doctor.

I am so grateful how well things are going but I am still tired and find the days long. I feel like I am entertaining company. I want them to enjoy themselves , so I can't quite really relax. I try to make sure they have something to do and like what there is to eat. Tomorrow we start homeschool. R and D's main job this year will be to learn English, Andy needs to become a solid reader and Nellie needs to back up and work on foundations. I want to get them into a routine so that when I get the email that says I can come play at the theater again, they will be ready. Can't wait! C

SwordPlay

When Everett is around I find myself constantly saying, "PLEASE, be careful!" while everyone else is laughing.

Home Sweet Home

Our trip home was ineventful except for almost missing a plane in Detroit and and losing three pieces of our luggage. We were told they'll deliver it to our house tomorrow. When you are this zombied-out ,you don't really care.
While we were gone everyone (both here and in China) learned to play Uno so while Jerry and I began unpacking the kids did some uno-bonding.
Nellie and Rosie hit it off right away, because they both love their baby dolls and American girl dolls. It will be interesting to see who is the bossiest of the two. Dominic is by far the most worldly so he is still my biggest concern, although he seems pretty compliant right now.
Hope everyone sleeps for days...C

On Our Way Home!

We have added two children, three suitcases and two backpacks since we were last here in HongKong , 17 days ago. At nine o'clock Sunday morning (here) we will get on a plane and travel for about 20 hours and land in Atlanta about 4 o'clock Sunday afternoon (there). It is called gaining a day, but it is something like being outside of time, the way God is.
The one thing I will miss about China, is the food. At a restaurant or noodles in the room -I love it all. I am afraid that the children are going to be very disappointed to go from breakfasts of 6 or 8 kinds of meats , fruits, noodles, juices, pastries with a chef to cook personal omlets to a box of cold cereal. I may have to be more accommodating in the early hours of the day than I am accustomed to ( think they'd settle for pancakes from the freezer, or could my rice cooker keep rice warm if I put it in the night before?)

Only two more flights. When we get home , I will have completed 26 flights in four years. For someone with FOF, I consider that an accomplishment. I keep wondering if maybe I am over it. That won't keep me from taking my Xx, but I might consider a weekend in NYC or two in Amsterdaam....maybe. C, from OUTSIDE the bamboo curtain hooray!

advice to new parents of second children

If you only post your second born child's pictures on facebook and neglect to tell the story, together with many picures, on your blog, when your child grows up and you have learned from Sarah how to make your blog into a book, said second born child will continually reprove you for the oversight. How that for a one sentence tip ?

Children at Work

Jerry trying to get a better price on wooden swords (bested by a 6 year
old). A little girl helping at the fabric mall.

Fabric Shopping

My favorite days (not counting the ones with Cheryl, which were my Very favorite days) in China have been the ones where we have ventured out on our own . Today we decided to go to the fabric market. The people at the front desk write something on a piece of paper which we hand to the taxi driver (being careful to have the hotel's address in Chinese in our pocket) and off we go hoping the ride won't be Too long and the driver knows where he is going. Then we end up in a place where we will not see any western faces, but when we say 'how much?" everyone can type it on their calculator. The fabric store turned out to be more than one building each with 3 or 4 floors of fabric. Since most of it was silks and glitzy fabric (SC would be lost in there for days) and I needed a heavish cotton for summer curtains (25 meters) I didn't have alot of choices but did manage to find something that will give us a cheerful change in the living room and dining room next summer. We wandered around the neighbor and found a nice/ cheap place to eat lunch and discovered an electronics market. Everything seemed to be more expensive than we can get on sale in America (have heard that electronics in Hong Kong is cheaper) so we ended up only buying a suitcase to carry the fabric and books and new clothes we have purchased home. As you can see the taxi driver found our hotel and returned us safely.

Fabric Shopping

My favorite days (not counting the ones with Cheryl, which were my Very
favorite days) in China have been the ones where we have ventured out on
our own . Today we decided to go to the fabric market. The people at the
front desk write something on a piece of paper which we hand to the taxi
driver
(being careful to have the hotel's address in Chinese in our pocket) and
off we go hoping the ride won't be Too long and the driver knows where he
is
going. Then we end up in a place where we will not see any western faces,
but when we say 'how much?" everyone can type it on their calculator. The
fabric store turned out to be more than one building each with 3 or 4
floors of fabric. Since most of it was silks and glitzy fabric (SC would be
lost
in there for days) and I needed a heavish cotton for summer curtains (25
meters) I didn't have alot of choices but did manage to find something that
will give us a cheerful change in the living room and dining room next
summer. We wandered around the neighbor and found a nice/ cheap place to
eat lunch and discovered an electronics market. Everything seemed to be
more expensive than we can get on sale in America (have heard that
electronics in Hong Kong is cheaper) so we ended up only buying a suitcase
to carry the fabric and books and new clothes we have purchased home. As
you can see the taxi driver found our hotel and returned us safely.

Fw: Fabric Shopping

My favorite days (not counting the ones with Cheryl, which were my Very
favorite days) in China have been the ones where we have ventured out on
our
own . Today we decided to go to the fabric market. The people at the
front
desk write something on a piece of paper which we hand to the taxi driver
(being careful to have the hotel's address in Chinese in our pocket) and
off
we go hoping the ride won't be Too long and the driver knows where he is
going. Then we end up in a place where we will not see any western faces,
but when we say 'how much?" everyone can type it on their calculator. The
fabric store turned out to be more than one building each with 3 or 4
floors
of fabric. Since most of it was silks and glitzy fabric (SC would be lost
in
there for days) and I needed a heavish cotton for summer curtains (25
meters) I didn't have alot of choices but did manage to find something that
will give us a cheerful change in the living room and dining room next
summer. We wandered around the neighbor and found a nice/ cheap place to
eat lunch and discovered an electronics market. Everything seemed to be
more expensive than we can get on sale in America (have heard that
electronics in Hong Kong is cheaper) so we ended up only buying a suitcase
to carry the fabric and books and new clothes we have purchased home. As
you
can see the taxi driver found our hotel and returned us safely.

Travel Friends

Consulate Day

We began the day sightseeing at the Chen Family estate, which is a sort of living museum of the arts. We saw people painting inside bottles, demonstrating calligraphy, the tea ceremony, painting, carving and various other local crafts. I am sorry to admit that I am something less than fond of sightseeing, unless I am trying to get my kids to learn something from it. My kids weren't having much to do with me this morning so I spent most of my time in the shops. Mornings tend to be like that for us, with Rosie pushing me away . That is actually fine with me, as I am pretty sluggish and often grouchy in the mornngs. As I type this, she is sitting on my lap. :) A close look at the picutres demonstrates the contrast of old and new , poor and rich, in China. Notice the skyscraper behind Jerry in one picture and the laundry hanging in the other.
This afternoon we went to the American Consulate, where, with 11 other families, we swore that to the best of our knowledge our paperwork was accurate and were told our children would be given a visa to enter the USA. When they step off the plane onto American soil in Detroit they will become US citizens.
Tonight we went out to dinner and then shopped on the bridge(for DVDs) and at the Disney store (most of Dominic's clothes are too small) with our wonderful travel companions Bill and Kathy who will be leaving for home early tomorrow.
While we are sleeping many of you will have the chance to see Steven Curtis Chapman - I sooo wanted to be back for it (almost asked if we could watch it on Skype, but I imagine he has some kind of contractual things that would prohibit it). Ariel will be taking Nellie and Andy. I know it will be great !
One more full day!

Hanging Out Around the Hotel

As we hung out in and around the hotel today, our paperwork was taken to and approved by the US Consulate. Sorry about the awkward format of this, but the vpn is no longer recognizing our computer so it has gotten more difficult to make contact outside of communism.
Rosie's favorite game to play is hide and seek...ever tried playing that in two rooms? She used our translator to type that she is bored and wants someone to play with her so I need to keep this short. I can't wait til she has Nellie as a playmate!
Clara has apparently been born but so far we know nothing....feel very cut off...worry that there may be a problem we are not being told about....C

we ate here

our hotel neighborhood

Length of Days

The days here are soo much longer than days in real life. This morning was years ago. This morning Rosie was still telling me no and resisting every attempt of mine to touch her....tonight she came and sat on my lap and snuggled beside me while playing the didj. In between we took a taxi (just our family) to a huge bookstore and ate at Kentucky Fried Chicken (where we ate fish!) and played Uno (where we spoke numbers and colors in English) went swimming (where the kids played marco polo with a blind 11 yr old being adopted by a family from Indiana) and ate dinner on a riverboat on the Pearl River.
In the midst of this we talked about home schooling (D does not like school or reading so was not at all opposed), found some wonderful books (biographies of Lincoln, Mother Theresa, Henry Ford, Albert Einstein etc.and Little Red Riding Hood, The Ugly Duckling, The Three Little Pigs, etc. all written in English and Chinese and Rosie's favorite Pleasant Goat stories) , talked about violin lessons (D wants them , we watched Karate Kid last night)and talked about limiting their phone calls to connections here in China. Exhausting. C

our guide 'Miko'

in the hotel lobby

the 'real' Dominic, laughing at Rosie

Red Couch Pictures

It is a tradition in the Chinese adoption community to have their children's picture taken on the red couch at the White Swan where many aoptive families stay during the Guangzhou part of the trip. I might have sent Jerry by himself had I not had such fond memories of our last stay here. Unfortunately we are not staying there this time, nor are many other families because the area is under construction in advance of the coming Asian games. We had to make a trip to the area to have the kids TB tests read (they were negative - hooray!) so we stopped by the WS for pictures. The picture tells it all : our son with the earphones hanging out the front of his shirt and our daughter with her pants sticking out. Eleven year olds. And the sweet 3 year old belonging to the family traveling with us. A wonderful family traveling with their only other child, a 24 yr old son who have facinating stories of their short term mission trips in Central and South America. The husband also works for a power company so he and Jerry have endless things to talk about.
That's the easy - here's the hard - the resistant daughter who continually says No! (okay, so it is her only English word) and a son who drinks coffee, plays poker, and sneaks up in the morning to watch music TV. Back to the good- after some pouting and the guide speaking to him about trust he is back to his cheerful self singing along with Cheryl's Chinese worship music on his mp3.....Anyone remember Everett's geisha performance ? That is exactly what he sounds like :)
So please keep praying as we work out this'family' thing.Thanks.C

At the White Swan

at the White Swan

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY - RYAN & JULIA

Anniversary blessings go out to Ryan and Julia today. The big 1! One whole year together on your way to many, many more! The first is exciting but the next is better, if you can beleive that! So far, for me, the first 34 years have been the best!!! :)
dAd

Picture test

Dominic thought this would be interesting. From our room:

What Happened to Quiet and Shy ?

Sorry there will be no pictures today. We have been blocked. We had found a way to get through the censors but it isn't working today. I hope by tomorrow to have a new plan.
Today's post was to have been about the change in Dominic with accompanying pictures, some taken by him. Jerry says he is all boy . He loves to play tricks on us and jump out and scare us. He talks, laughs, smiles, whistles, SINGS, constantly. I just keep thinking that he and Everett together are going to be positively scary.

Medical Examination Day

As you can tell from Dominic's countenance, he is a much happier boy.
Today was the day of the children's medical exams. The US governement currently requires adopted children to have their imunizations completed before entering the US. They must also have a TB test, which if positive, will result in a chest Xray and possible long term treatment. This is all done in a Chinese medical clinic with zillions of new adoptive parents and their children. (think hot and dirty) Today a 3 year old who was adopted last week began to have seizures after her shots. You can imagine her sobbing parents as the so called medical staff tried to offer her candy! Eventually they got out some oxygen and when we saw her later she seemed to have recovered. I pray so. My two each needed three shots and a TB test. I have no idea how they came up with those numbers since Dominic had no record of ever having any shots at all. The TB test was given as a shallow shot above the wrist, causing bleeding on both of them. Both children are reportedly Hep b positive. The nurses did not wear gloves. When they walked out bleeding, I flipped out. They gave Rosie a tissue. Oi
Rosie's eye exam was alot like Andy's where they helped her point her hand in the direction of the Es. We go back on Monday to have the TB tests read. Please pray for negative results. For some reason, this is something I have worried about (okay, so I worry about alot of things)
We shopped a little on Shamian Island and way overpaid for the requisite Chinese clothes for these two and Nellie.
Jerry and Dominic played ping pong and squash. Jerry thought D might have been holding back on him at ping pong and J is pretty good himself!
When you are living in a hotel room , if you don't read books it is electronics to the rescue ! Rosie is watching Disney movie's on computer while playing leapster, Jerry and Dominic are watching English premier league soccer and Yankees baseball. Fortunately, I read books. Which I am going to do now. C

Electronics and Travel

We have always been pretty determined that our children would not have electronic gadgets that would take time from old fashioned children's play and using imaginations. That is also the reason that the only time we watch TV is as a family in the evenings - usually a kids movie.

I made my first exception last Christmas when I bought leapsters and a didji. I did so with the reasoning that they are educational and if they could learn any simple math or language skills without me having to teach them, it would be worth it. For that reason I brought them for Rosie and Dominic to play with and they have been a huge hit. As you can see, Liu Bo and Isabella are also enamored.

I am having a hard time even admitting the next part, so I am going to give all the rationals first. As you know, Dominic had a very hard first few days with us. When we offered to buy him things he usually said no even to food. The afternoon we had pizza at Chicago Cafe our guide took him for a walk and came back saying that Dominic wanted an MP3 player. My first response was an unequivical 'No!'. (the first thing Rosie asked for was a fake Barbie, I had to say no to that too) I hated to say no to anything at that point so I was really struggling. Fortunately Cheryl came to the rescue again. She offered to buy one for him and download tons of Xiao Ping's Contemporary Chinese Christian music. Dominic was delighted. We decided that all 3 of our eleven year olds could have one so Cheryl bought one for Rosie also and we bought one for Nellie. This meant that Cheryl spent the morning downloading music (for some reason Nellie's didn't work - hers will have songs in English).

While Cheryl was busy Jerry and Xiao Ping took the kids on a paddle boat ride. When I returned from going back to the hotel for the camera, I was pretty horrified to see the two nonswimmers sitting precariously on the front of one of the boats, but they all survived and a grand time was had by all.

Dominic is becoming a happy, helpful young man. He gets up early and goes to run at the fitness center with Jerry and loves being asked to help do anything. He watches Jerry to see how to do things. He seems years older than Rosie, although she is definitely the bossy, talkative one of the two.

It was very hard saying goodbye to Cheryl and the girls. Our flight was thankfully again uneventful. Both children love flying. We are now staying in what is by far, the nicest hotel we have ever stayed in. The downside is that it is not on the island where so many adoptive families stay and it appears to be sorrounded by stores where we couldn't afford to buy anything. We will be here 8 more days. It will feel like forever. But I imagine the breakfast will be to die for.....there is usually an up side to everything..C

Hardship and Suffering

No blog on China is complete without a picture of the toilet facilities. It is known as a squatty potty for reasons that need no explanation. Tissue goes in the wastebasket, not down the drain. This one is relatively clean and even had a door. I will not tell about the one in the shopping area in Beijing with no doors and lines in front of every stall. Use your imagination.


For me 17 days of occassional SPs and eating at places so filthy my husband had to go outside is hardship. But what we saw today and what Cheryl sees everyday she is here goes so far beyond that there is no comparison. It is true suffering.
When we walked out of our 4star hotel this morning past that a new pink arrangement of lilies and rounded the corner a 3 or 4 year old girl approached us holding out a stainless steel bowl. Her mother was teaching her to beg.
Most places we went we were surrounded by crowds of people pushing, moving, motorcycles and bicycles weaving through crowds, crowds weaving through traffic. Everything horribly filthy. As we were pushing toward another group of stores , out of the corner of my eye, I noticed an 8 or 10 year old girl kneeling forward on the edge of the sidewalk with her shirt ripped off her back showing terrible burn scars. There was a bowl to collect money on the ground beside her. Cheryl said it is possible she was deliberately burned so as to collect more money. Hardly anyone gave her a passing glance.
This evening as we waited in front of the church for Xiao Ping this is the scene we were part of. I had the nerve to pull out my camera this time. That is a living human being on the ground beside us.





I often glibbly say "you can't help everyone, but you Can help the ones God puts before you". Easy for me to say, I live in America and I am not tripping over people in abject misery daily.
May God's richest blessings be on those, like Cheryl, who have the courage to choose to follow God's call to minister in places like this. C

My Hero Cheryl W

Cheryl, LiuBo and Isabella arrived in Kunming from the US at one o'clock this morning. After that exhausting flight they slept a little and then spent the rest of the day ministering to Jerry and I and the children. (Background info: Cheryl is the reason we ever came to China at all, see sidebar for more of the story)

We are amazed at Cheryl's ability to negotiate this huge city. She bargained for our purchases and took us to out of the way shops. We had lunch at the coffee shop where Xiao Ping works. It is called Chicago Coffee and is in an area where alot of internationals live. The children ate their first pizza and I drank my first caramel coffee frappe.

I have pouted, grumbled, whined and complained alot during this past year about all of the delays. Tonight it was perfectly clear that there was not a minutia of accident in any of the timing of this trip. For on the very day that Cheryl's family and ours crossed paths in the far reaches of China, the young people at one of China's officially recognized churches met to raise their voices and their hands to worship the One True God and listen to a message from Acts1:8 (when the Holy Spirit comes on you, .......you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth) and my son and daughter heard the gospel in their own language and joined in the singing. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit...from China ! c