The Yue Hu Sculpture Park

Ah! Finally, a relaxing Sunday night! What a week!

So, Thursday night ended up being another night of "bombing", Shanghai style. Not as bad as Sunday night but still- bad, bad sleep! So glad the celebrations are over. Back to school and work tomorrow, back to routine. I'm glad because, as much fun as galavanting around the city is, the kids and I need to get back into routine!

Friday we had a great day of relaxing- swimming, naps, chicken parm for dinner (costs twice as much to make it here but still tastes great!).

Saturday was breakfast, playing with friends at the clubhouse (while the grownups discussed which white sandy beach to stay at over Spring Break), naps and then the Liz gang, Laura gang and us went to the Hungqiao Pearl Market (a 3-story building full of little shops where fake goods are sold). Momma got herself a new pair of black uggs and Soph got herself a Rupunzel Barbie. Daddy wanted to buy another helicopter (yes, he's busted his first already trying to fly it outside) but decided against it for now. After shopping we headed to this great restaurant called the Blue Frog. Ah, what a great little place! There was a fabulous kid's room and Happy Hour was until 10p. We had burgers and sweet potatoe fries and it was all so delicious! This was my first beef experience since moving here- I was nervous, I won't lie. But it was wonderful! Another great night out with great friends. We need to do this more often!

Our church still had no nursery for today so we had another day to explore the city. Regular nursery and services start up again next week and we are really looking forward to getting back into the swing of worship and study again.

Today it was sunny and a bit warmer so we decided to head south and check out the Yue Hu Sculpture Park (also known as Sheshan Mountain). Our friends, the Lawler's decided to come with us to explore. It was a bit of struggle to get there (our taxi driver was a bit lost) but it was so worth it! I imagine this place is really packed and amazing in the summer when it's hot. Today is was completely empty and most of the restaurants and such were closed, but we still had so much fun! Here are some pics of our day:

What a day! It got really cold and windy at the end but overall, a really fun day. We'll definitely be going back when it's hot out to enjoy the pools and other things. Fun fun!

Ok, time for bed.

Prayer Requests:
-Coop needs some prayers for sleeping. He's been going to bed ok every night but then wakes up screaming and scared every night for over and hour and then is so out of sorts during the day. This has been happening for several nights in a row now and I'm getting really tired of it so I'm sure he is! ;)
-Prayers are coveted for this coming week. Getting back into routine is great but can also be rough for a while. Pray the kids and Ben all adjust into their routines again and that I may help all of them as best as I can!
-We're still waiting to hear whether this family from Missouri wants to buy our house. Last we knew they still hadn't been able to pick so pray God's will be done and that we have peace with whatever happens (bc we know He has a plan for us!!)

We love you all and wish God's blessings on you in this new week.
One of my best buds, Christy Oosting, has a birthday on Friday, so be sure to wish her a happy one. :)

Talk to you all again soon!

So much to see!

Hello! Hope you all are doing great. We have been busy on our bonus week off and I have a lot of pics to show!
We have had 3 straight nights of quiet- yay!! People are still insisting tonight or tomorrow night will have the night lit up with fireworks again, but I'm not convinced. We shall see....  :)

Monday we rode our brand new bikes through the flurries (seriously, those are supposed to be in Michigan, right??) to McDonald's! Our first Chinese McD's experience and I was worried. Ben thought it tasted the same, I disagree, Coop ate it up, Soph refused... so, I guess we're split on that decision. The fountain Diet Coke, however, was heaven. I swear they put crack in it!!!

We have had a great week together exploring the city and seeing Shanghai put on a show for the New Year. On Tuesday we went to Xintiandi with the Winklers (Laura and gang) to have some lunch and catch the dragon dancers. We ate at a great place- Pizza Marzano's (dough balls- SO good!), then headed to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, grabbed a cuppa and waited. It was worth it, though. Here are some pics:

On Wednesday we decided to head over to the YuYuan Gardens bc we heard they had a pretty impressive lantern display going on. Wow- that place was nuts!! Ben and I decided that every person still in Shanghai thought the same as us.
We wanted to be there when it turned dark so we could see them all lit up. We were early and it was really cold and really busy so we camped out at a Starbucks and waited. Another reason we hid out- whenever we are out in a busy area we are quite the attraction. You would think that at some point they would get used to seeing white people but, nooooo. People nudge their friends and point at us, constantly try and take pics of the kids, bring their kids over to us and show us to them. It's weird and uncomfortable and gets old really fast. So, we hid in Starbucks. :)
Once it was dark, though, everything was turned on and it was a great show! Really busy with people but not crazy overwhelming. The kids were enjoying themselves and that helped a lot. I mostly get stressed when I can tell they are so I was glad they were happy. Here are some pics of what we saw:

We turned the tables for a sec- this baby was TOO cute!

A busy 2 days! So, why not one more? Today we headed out to the Shanghai Zoo bc it was sunny and warmer and we like to over-extend ourselves... :)
There were many things that you would see at any zoo and many things I've never seen before in my life.

There was a huge goldfish exhibit. Seriously. Probably 25 huge water tanks with all different kinds of goldfish. Mmm-hmm...

Dozens and dozens of exhibits with weird birds...

Pelican Island: look out! :)

Some beautiful black swans...

We attempted lunch at the zoo. Man, this was almost our downfall. I really should have packed a picnic!! I don't know what I was thinking- this was LOCAL and scary. :) We attempted the beef noodles hoping for something ramen-like (IT WAS NOT!). Then we tried the dumplings. I'd rather starve. Soph ate this weird sweet hot dog thing on a stick. It looked so scary but she seemed ok with it. We'll see... Ok, so, no one's really eatten, we haven't seen the pandas yet and we're running out of food options really fast. Our last attempt was this large cardboard bowl thing they added water to. At last! Real ramen noodles. Thank heaven- lunch was saved.

The poor pandas. Really, I feel bad for all animals in zoos. They always seem so sad, but this poor panda was stuck in a tiny cement room with a glass wondow that people were completely crowded around and pounding on.

These pandas had it better- a large enclosure but people are still weird. They throw food at them and yell at them. I don't get it.

This is a perfect example of how ridiculous people were acting. These people were feeding these animals right next to a sign that says "Don't feed the animals", "Danger- animals may bite". Hello!! No sense...

The giraffes were neat. Soph said they were her favorite. I was amazed how close they put all the animals to the people. People throw food and bamboo branches at the animals. It was sad...

Overall, a really fun day at the zoo and we didn't even see half of it. We'd definitely go back (bringing a picnic) to see the rest of it. We had promised Soph she could get one thing from the zoo and she picked a blowup panda stick for herself and a giraffe one for Coop.

Tomorrow plans to be a slower day- breakfast, swimming, the store. It's been a good week, though, and we may even try out the aquarium on Saturday... :)

Happy Birthday Wednesday to my Mom and on Sunday to Ben's Mom. We're bummed we can't be there in person to help you celebrate but we hope you know we love you and miss you!!

Prayer Requests:
-So, we had a family come through our house for a second look this week. They are deciding between our house and one other. Pray that God's will be done. It would be a huge weight lifted if it sold but we're trying to be realistic and we know that God has a plan.
-Praise God that my cold is almost gone already! Less than a week of feeling really bad and I'm already feeling better.
-Praise that I can't think of anything else right now! Seems as though God is carrying us right along with His angels protecting and guiding us each day.

We hope you are all well and do know we miss you A LOT! We Skyped with the Oostings again this morning and Sophie kept saying "I want to go to Michigan and play with my friends". She is doing better, though. Less sass, eatting a bit better...one day at a time! :)

Xinnian Kuaile!! (Happy New Year)

Happy Chinese Lunar New Year, or something. :)

Last night was the beginning of a week long celebration here in China to welcome in the new lunar year. We just sent off the year of the rabbit and have now welcomed in the year of the dragon! What does this mean, you ask? I have no clue, people! Google it! This is what I do know. The Chinese love fireworks. I mean, they looooooooovveee them. They love them so much they set them off all night long for 7 straight days. Uh huh. I believe there is a thought that if you set off fireworks on New Year's Day it will bring you luck for the whole year. And if you don't, well, ya know...

So, the firework show started at about 8pm. A few here, a few there. Around 11p it kicked up a notch. Not quite 4th of July, but it was pretty impressive. I tried to go to sleep around 1130 but it was getting ridiculous outside. Ben gave up on trying to sleep and decided to watch it for a while. He recorded some of the show for you all...



It was nuts. As far as the eye could see there were explosions and noise and lights. About 50 yards away from Sophie's bedroom there was a full scale show going on that could rival the Grand Rapids 4th of July show. The kids thankfully fell asleep before the really big stuff started and actually slept through it, we think. It just went on and on and on. For hours and hours and hours. I put on my eye covers, put in my ear plugs and still slept terribly. It finally started slowing down around 630am (probably bc the sun was coming up). We were so tired all day! Now I've been hearing that this goes on every night all week. Oy, you've GOT to be kidding me!!!

Anyway, besides last night, not too much has been going on around here.

Cooper is really liking his school- he spent a whole week with another student, Shaveer, and Indian boy who is about a month older than Coop. I don't think he's autistic- he doesn't seem like it to me, at least. He definitely does have some kind of communication issue, though. Anyway, Coop's teachers sent me some pics of him having fun at school-

We've been testing some new and interesting foods, like blueberry Lays potato chips...

We've been able to find some places to eat that taste just like home and are a comfort for hard days...

Sophie has been falling apart after school almost daily. Half of the days she ends up like this around 430pm- :)

Life is settling. Things are still hectic and anxiety can occasionally get the best of me, but on those days my girls just take me to see The Monk. :)
The Monk is a bar and on Friday, Laura, Liz and I ventured out to throw back a few. We had a night of fun I haven't had in a long time. It helps when the bar is walking distance to where everyone lives so all can have a really good time. :) We were doing so well and then a group of guys kept buying us drinks. Mercy. Here is a pic of us early in the night- when there was a baby playing on the pool table (You have a baby- in a bar. Anyone, anyone??)

I know, the pic is dark, but my phone doesn't have flash. Liz is on the left, Laura on the right. Aren't they beautiful people?? Truely they are, inside and out. :)
Anyway, we had fun. The walk home was fun. I fell into a bush and while Laura was practically on the ground laughing at me all Liz could do was comment on how the bush would never be right again. It was even funnier in her British accent... :) And don't get me started on her attempt at "Who let the dogs out".....

Ben finally got his helicopter he's been wanting since we got here. It's a remote controlled one and he's only flown it indoors so far. I'm sure our downstairs neighbors are loving every time he crashes it... :) His devious plan is for his buddies, Ben and Patrick (Liz and Laura's hubbies), to get some and then they can combat out on the big lawn. Seriously. :)

Prayer Requests:
-We have continued need for prayer for Sophia (and us!). She is still struggling with adjustment and is acting out a lot. It's hard for me to know what is her just being 4 and what is this move. Everything is a fight, she doesn't listen or respond or pay attention to either Ben or myself. When she does speak to us it's full of attitude and sass. She seems to be either really really high or really really low. We are exhausted and have run out of ideas on how to change her attitude and help her life be easier and more relaxed and fun.

-I am sick again (ugh). Another cold, I think, but I'm hoping it's not a sinus infection bc that would mean I have to find some kind of doctor to see here! :) Pray I can be less stressed and have a stronger immune system so I can be a better mom and wife for my family.

We hope you are all doing well and enjoying your odd weather (snow storms, thunder storms, what next?). I love reading all your comments and hearing what you are up to. God bless and we'll talk soon!

(Hey, it's 1115pm and no fireworks yet... could it be???)   :)

Seriously, it's just banana bread.

Good morning to you all (wherever you are)! Hopefully you get some of the sunshine we got today here- it was about 48 and sunny- just a gorgeous day! Here's the view from my bedroom on this pretty day-

So glad to have it after 3 days of freezing rain. Ick. Sometimes I think a day of sunshine after many of rain and clouds is better than any antidepressant taken with chocolate and wine. :) (I feel like that would make for a really good day as well). I digress...

Anywho, I've had an interesting few days and I wanted to jot down some thoughts and fill you all in on the happenings around here. Hold that thought, my banana bread is done- maybe. I tell you more about that later. One sec....

Ok, SERIOUSLY. Can nothing just happen as planned? Needless to say, it's not done. Ok, I'll tell you about it now. I've had these 3 bananas that were over ripe. I'm like- dude, I'm totally making banana bread. It'll be like a taste of home, right? Really easy to make, no problem. Good night! So, I had to make a whole seperate trip to the store today bc I realized I didn't have baking soda. So basic and yet so needed. So, I got that. Tonight, I get out my ingredients when I realize, I have no mixer. But, I do have a blender so we're powering through. Oh wait, I have no measuring cups or measuring spoons. Good grief, what DO I have?? Ok, so I melt my super-expensive stick of Australian butter in the micro to soften it, put it in the blender with my sugar (estimated) and blend. It works ok. Add my eggs, baking soda, bananas, flour (all basically estimated). Could only find wheat flour at the store earlier bc the regular white was out- oh well. Well blended, here we go. In the oven it goes.
Oh, the oven. It's gas and you have to light it every time you use it. The first time I tried using it I couldn't figure out how to turn it on to bake some chicken except for this one way that made it really hot. Turns out that was the broiler (that part is electric). Seriously, people. So, I prewarmed it tonight, popped it in, waited my 75 min and just went to check on it. The pilot had gone out at some point in the baking process and the bread is half baked with a stonecold oven. It's just banana bread!! I just wanted to make some banana bread. And all I could think of was, oh, I paid $10 for that flour and now I wasted 2 cups of it, the one stick of butter was $2 and now it's wasted, etc, etc... good grief.  :)

Ok, let's chat about the other stuff.

Sunday we tried out a new church that is just around the corner and actually has a shuttle bus to take us there and back. We met a great family from Alabama on the bus that we had actually seen in the clubhouse restaurant Saturday morning when we were both eatting breakfast. I remember overhearing the mom quoting scripture about honoring thy father and mother and it had caught my ear (they have an 11 yr old daughter- nuff said).
The church service was great but there's a huge problem. NO NURSERY. I mean, really?? There's Sunday school for ages 4 and up but no nursery. Let's all imagine our sweet little Cooper during a 30 min sermon....yeah. Ben went out during the singing bc he was so restless and I thought, oh, this'll never work. A wonderful woman, Helen, who is in charge of the kids' programs offered to watch him during the sermon so Ben could join me. I know, we gave our 2 yr old to a complete stranger at church. Really, though, she was very sweet and was singing to him when we went to pick him up. So, I'm not sure how that's going to play out. Time will tell... we really liked it besides!

Monday was a perfectly normal day- school, grocery shopping...There are 3 guys from GR that are here right now visiting from Ben's office and they came out by us for dinner that night. We had a great meal and great conversation. Although, at one point, all 4 boys were dinking around on their respective IPhones and there the kids and I sat. (*sigh*- engineers...)  :)

Today I had my friend Liz take me to the local wet market. Sounds really gross, right? A wet market is basically a local farmers market. This is a place where most locals get their produce. (My mom will NOT like reading this.) Many expats have bought their produce here and there have been no complaints (yet). No one gets their meat there, though. That really did look gross. I'm not posting pics of the place bc it really did look that bad. :)
So, I bought what looked fresh and safe and what I know others have tried before. There were several other expat wives there as well as many locals when we went. I went home, thoroughly scrubbed everything down with my trusty vinegar wash, then rinsed it all in bottled water and into the fridge it went. Do you all see how easy you have it?? ;) It all tastes wonderful and was really cheap- like $25!!. See how pretty it all is?

So far so good! :)

Here's a couple of other random pics....

These are Cooper's sleeping digs. It's a bedtent especially designed for autistic kids that are too big to be in a crib yet won't stay in bed. He loves it in here and I often find him playing in it with his toys. I think he feels safe there...

This was the first piece of artwork Sophie brought home from school- a dragon colored for the Chinese New Year celebration week. :)

This one is for my dad- I wanted to show him where I decided to put his gift. I see it and think of him every morning and every night this way. :)

The picture of my parent's place (and the view of their amazing property) is sitting on my kitchen counter so I can think of them often. It's nice. :)

Tomorrow I plan to go run. I have been craving this for weeks but haven't been in the right place mentally to do it. I'm really looking forward to it!

Prayer requests:
- A HUGE praise to God! My darling son says "nana" for banana. He has said "baba" for his sippy cup before but then lost it. This is so rock solid- every time he sees one he says "nana". With every bite he says "nana" and signs 'more'. Needless to say, he's eatting at least one a day right now. :) It's so precious. He seems so proud when he says it and we just burst out with encouragement and laughter each time he says it. Praise God and pray this amazing thing continues and that there are many many more words to come!! :)

- Another HUGE praise! Ben is in the carpool. I know, you don't even believe it, right? Today Ben went to talk with the guy that had made the final decision to not let him in. I think he simply had a change of heart (thank you, Lord!), sent out an email to the other guys, the lead of the carpool also had a change of heart (mmm-hmmm) and he is now in. Amazing what the power of prayer can do. Thank you all!!!

-Oh wait, I have yet another praise. This is getting fun. :) My friend, Liz, made some calls for me today bc she knew I have been looking for an ayi but didn't know how to go about finding one. I got an email this afternoon from a friend of hers that has the absolute most amazing ayi and she wants to share her with me. She even speaks some english, her credentials are amazing and it sounds like she would be a great fit. Pray this works out bc I think it could be great!

It's been another good day! :) They're happening more and more.
Oh, and I just checked my banana bread (after restarting the oven and trying to rebake it). It's perfect. :)

God bless and I'll speak with you all again soon!