sore thumb

I took advantage of feeling sick today to undecorate our home.  Sick enough to skip school but well enough to get some things done in the house.  It's hard to make understandable Mandarin come out of my mouth when my head is pounding and my stomach turning. When I was younger I always felt very sad when the tree came down and we didn't have little lights glimmering in our living room.  But now, I feel happy that it's done and I have my living room floor space back.  Ah, the reality of getting older.  I think it helps that I did it on NY's Eve so that I have tonight and the new year to be excited about. Here are a few things that stick out about 2008. -Lilian Pearl, possibly the sweetest baby on planet Earth -Moving across town because of toxic fumes in the old place -Finding and decorating an apartment that we LOVE.  We may have the largest kitchen in all of China. -Living in Beijing for 6 weeks -Becoming such great friends with Natasha Tompkins -Living in Chengdu for...

If you have ever lived or passed through eastern PA you may have experienced an unspeakable joy in the form of the gas/ convenience store, " Wawa ".  Because of Wawa , I L-O-V-E hazelnut coffee.  Yesterday, a package came from our good friends in northern OH.  Among other wonderful things, was a coffee can of hazelnut flavored coffee.  happy sighhhhhh .  My house smells amazing this morning.  It's a combination of coffee, fresh baked bread and apple butter simmering in the crock pot. If hazelnut coffee wasn't enough to rejoice about, I also finished the 5 th and final book of our Chinese textbooks yesterday.   Yippeeeee !!!  With the birth of Lilian, going to Chengdu and studying this particular book only 4 hours a week, it has taken a very long time to get through Book 5.  So, I couldn't stop smiling yesterday as we finished up the lesson.  I proudly announced to the school office that I was finished and there was much rejoicing among us.  It is a very good fe...

I don't know how many kids I want.  I know how many kids Phil would like, 2.  Immediately, after giving birth to Lilian I looked up at Phil and said, "I don't want any more kids.  I don't want to do this again.  Two is enough."  I have not forgotten what caused me to passionately speak those words to Phil.  But, when I hold my sweet little girl I have this nagging thought that I don't want this to be the last little baby I cuddle with.   So here is what I think about to try to decide: Traveling...5 people boarding a plane, packing for 5, finding lodging for 5, feeding 5 while on vacation.  We travel a lot so this is something that really is good to consider.  Of course, the main time this will be a hassle is when 3 of the 5 are still young and need a lot of assistance from the 2 that are adults. Sleeping...where does a third sleep?  Is it possible to get 3 kids to nap at the same time?  Both of my girls sleep through the night well almost every night , do I wa...

December first saw our lovely tree ascend in the living room.  December second it became adorned with little lights and lovingly made, given or bought ornaments.  Today we're enjoying it.   Madeleine helped decorated.  We have one branch that is very well decorated and then I helped her space the others out a bit.  She was really sweet looking at the ornaments and getting excited about them.  It's nice that Phil and I have collected ornaments over the years and we even have several from his childhood.  So many of them have special meaning for us.  I remember how much fun it was for me to go through the ornaments when I was little.  So we made sure to let Madeleine enjoy the process even though it meant one fragile little sled got broken.  Thankfully, we had several. Lilian was less than thrilled this morning when she saw the tree in all it's glory.  She did roll underneath it, tried to grab a branch and sucked on a stocking for awhile.