Hospital Time

Most of your know we have been in the hospital this week for a bad case of pneumonia. We are home now and hope to be better soon! All the TV you want, all the Sprite you want and the only catch? An IV once a day! Mei was pretty happy to corporate for that!

Asa was thinking this was pretty nice- Cartoon Network on the TV and a bed that you could play with to go up and down!

She is cute, she is walking a little bit and she gets into everything= Salome Grace Elaine Meyer.

Something that is actually "working"

We gave up television/movies until the weekend starting in September. Last year Miriam and Asa could watch some television (all in Chinese) once Mei finished her homework. However, the Post Traumatic Television Whining (PTTW) was too much for Mommy. So since then it has only been books Monday- Friday. And on Saturday they get a movie. I have been blown away how much not have PTTW in my family has actually made me enjoy the evenings! Even the baby gets into the action.

15 months. Can say: Mama, Mom, Mommy (she loves me the best), Daddy, Bye Bye, Ayi (Chinese for Auntie) and ME, MINE and AH ME (she loves herself the second best). She loves to eat, read books, talk to people, wave at people. And in general a joy to be around. She can walk- but perfers to crawl very fast and be picked up.

Banana last night was a pirate hook. And he was the pirate.

I cut his hair last night. Only to discover GREEN permanent marker all over the back of his head! I was shocked and at first thought it might be blood poisoning (why do Moms always go to the worst option first ??). So, I looked at him in the eyes and said, "Asa where did this come from?". He looked right back at me and said "the robbers did it". I had to laugh. But did remind him that fighting with markers at Sunday School is not the best way to learn about God!

A Get Well Soon Smile

Dear Christy Grandma

So sorry we have to get a new knee!
Hope you feel much better soon!

Love,
Asa

March Update

Asa lately MUST create. It is like he has to- very interesting to see. So two nights ago he made, cut out and colored a pirate robot (to the left). After that he had to take two paper cups, tape and markers and create a spinning top thing. He knows exactly what he wants to do! Also the morning is not complete if he does not come to breakfast with this knight helmet on. He keeps us laughing and creative. Thankful for that!

Salome still loves her baby dolls! And she can not put them into the baby stroller and walk all over the house. She can take a few steps without hanging on to anything and will be full on walking/running soon!

The World Expo (used to be called the World's Fair) was in Shanghai this year. It is over but the main attraction - The Chinese Pavilion is still standing. We braved the 40,000 person a day crowds last Friday to take the whole family there. This picture is not the best but when thousands of people are behind you in line you do not have a lot of time to snap photos!

Here are some of the crowds. We thankfully, had a stroller so in most lines we could just go right to the front. However, that meant that all these people are behind you in line!

A quiet moment in front of some Water Lilly Plants. Miriam also for the first time in her life chose to wear ribbons in her hair.

Here are the waiting cues just to buy tickets. Thankfully most of these were not used anymore! During the World Expo most people had to wait up to five hours to just get into the Pavilion!

Inside the Pavilion we saw many things on the history and culture of China. All in all I am glad we went- but I never want to go back! Yikes, too many people!

"Mom, this is the best year yet" - A Chinese New Year Recap

Happy Lantern Festival Day! This day marks the end to Chinese New Year. Tonight the fireworks are LOUD! My kids running to the window (and not to bed). Thankfully the baby sleeps through it all!

WOW- what a Chinese New Year! I hope to capture some of the highlights in this very long blog post! Mei had finals and then was off school for almost a month. We caught up on English homework, had play dates and watched movies. It was fun to just be together.

Our dear Chinese friends asked if they could come over and cook a meal for us for Chinese New Year's Eve. We said, please do! Above is the whole fish being fried in peanut oil. It was so yummy!

Here is the chef!

Here is the 13 month year old

So I made some Christmas cookies to celebrate and put them on a Christmas plate! They were very good and somehow made me feel more "in the spirit".

Asa wanted to wear a tiger costume all night. Which was pretty funny since we were changing from the year of the tiger to the year of the rabbit!

Fireworks all day- and lasted to about 2 in the morning. Then they started up again about 5 AM and lasted until noon the next day. Again, so thankful my kids can sleep through this. You can buy fireworks here that look like a 4th of July display at home. It is really amazing to see (and hear).

Then it was off to bowling a few days later. Friends here (mostly girls, but sometimes boys) hold hands if they are good friends. Here Mei is holding her Chinese friends hand.

Us in front of the bowling pin! Kids not too thrilled about this picture.

The bowling alley is really a bar at night. Here is Joab one second later stepping right in a huge pile of you know what. SO gross. It was not the best way to start out bowling fun!

Our friends we went bowling with said there wiere stretches we needed to do before we could start!

A pink bowling ball for Mei!

Chinese New Year drum, advertisement thing

At the end of the holiday we gathered up 12 orphaned children and brought them to the sea. No, just kidding...these are the twelve kids of the three couples who ventured out to the far eastern part of the city where the ocean is! We wanted to have a little break from the city (and the fireworks). We had a blast. I think the kids did too!

Little kids in the front, a Daddy per bike and bigger kids helped to peddle in the back. We raced around and around the mostly abandoned park! It was so fun.

Daddy Bowman trying to find a ship at sea

Trying to look big

Yes, she is from the USA

No park in China would be complete with out a jumpy castle thing. The kids played and played on this.

Mommy Madson loving on Salome

Good vs. Bad Spider man at the hotel

I tried to pack us up (while Daddy took the kids to the pool). But every time I turned my back the baby was in the suitcase.



So, we get back from the hotel by the sea and my dear friend calls me. She said she has some chickens for me! The last time she went to her hometown she brought me back some very good semi organically raised local chickens that were FROZEN. I told her the next time she went home I would gladly take some more! So, when she calls me to say she has my chickens she also tells me this time they are ALIVE. And need to be killed ASAP.

I am shocked as I had not ever thought she would give me LIVE chickens. Thankfully I remembered a place at my veggie market that sold chickens. I walked over to the guy and asked if he also killed chicken. He looked at me like, duh...they have to die to eat them!

So, here are the four chickens. All in one bag.

Also, this is my veggie market go here about three times a week. They know me, love me, know my kids and generally make my life easier.

My friend's son wanted all the chicken blood for a soup he likes. Here is the blood collection.

So, bird is killed then thrown into this huge turning vat where boiling water is thrown into it. The feathers come out on the lower left.

I told him no thanks for the head and feet. All internal organs given to my friend for more soup? Not sure.

All in all it was not that bad to watch it all happen. Pretty cheap too! Cost about four dollars for him to kill, clean and chop four chickens.

The end of Chinese New Year is the Lantern Festival (think Tangled Movie- Birthday Party Lanterns). Well, it used to be really Lantern like a long time ago. Now they sell these really LOUD and corny lanterns on the street and light off a ton of fireworks. Asa gets to pick one out each year to take to preschool to show off. He LOVES this.

Thankful for great friends to share this holiday with and you for reading about it! On our Eve Dinner party Miriam turns to me and says "Mom, this is the best year yet". And I think she was right.

Chinese New Year 2011

My "minivan" with groceries this weekend. With most of my egg/rice/veggie/ and fruit vendors heading back to their hometowns for a week (or more) I needed to stock up this weekend. When I told my veggie vendor to "keep the change" and "Happy New Year" when I bought my veggies she decided to gift me the two pumpkins you see on the left side of my handle bars. I had so many bags and backpacks full of food I almost called Joab to help me get home. But I just biked really slowly and made it!

I struggle to love Chinese New Year. Okay, if I am really honest I struggle to even understand Chinese New Year. First, they are celebrating for a whole week the start of a new lunar new year. Number one, when at home do we celebrate anything for a week and secondly, who even pays attention to the moon. Well, China does. And this city of 23 million people loves this holiday.

I struggle to understand what people eat on Chinese New Year. The grocery stores change from their mild usual craziness to a place where, if you do find a cart to use, you can not even push it down the aisles as their are too many people in your way.

I struggle to understand what they are even celebrating. Is it really the moon? No. Is it really their families? No. Is it really food? Probably.

I struggle to understand the fireworks. The fireworks who will keep my children up until 2 or 3 in the morning on the Eve of Chinese New Year.

I struggle to understand the glee and wonder my children feel for this holiday. How they are thrilled to stay up until 3 AM watching in wonder fireworks displays that will put any Fourth of July show to shame.

I struggle to understand how businesses and people take a whole month holiday in the middle of the year.

This will be our fourth Chinese New Year here. I thought by now I would look forward to this holiday. But I find myself as I get closer to understanding what people are saying to me more questions about what they are doing/buying/choosing/eating and thinking.

I don't struggle this year being alone on Chinese New Year's eve. Dear local friends have asked us to eat with them on New Year's Eve. I hope to stop struggling a bit this year and to just enjoy it. I am getting there....slowly.

Cheap Winter Fun

It snowed! And it was cold enough for it to stay on the ground for a few days. In fact, they say it is the coldest winter in 30 years. My kids could not be any happier! I say: pass the coffee, tea, hot cocoa, boiled water, long johns, electric blanket and/or cuddling on the couch!

My kids were itchy to get out and play in it! Here is Mei making her snow angel.

Miriam has been dying to get her hair straightened. One of my good friends here Amy does this a lot so we went with her to check it out! Here is my eight year old going on eighteen....

She could not be happier with her hair. Today we had some friends come over to play. I could not find Miriam because she was in the bathroom finding the right earrings and lip gloss to match her hair I think!