Budding Sports Photographer

Every once in a while, I let Hunter snap some shots. The following shots are taken by Holly's cousin, biao jie.

Here is Angela and I, she's one of my Tefl Intl friends. I'm lucky she lives just up the street, so we've been able to hang out.


She plays Tennis too. She has a boxer background (she was a professional in New Zealand, where she is from), and was killer on the court. Anyway, back to our sweet photographer.


Can you imagine holding a digital camera for the first time at the age of 48?! Well, here she goes, I think total, she must've gotten 200+ pictures, but her very first were my favorites... how cool to try something so new for the first time in your life?!

I've Been Tagged

I've been Fridge Tagged by my good friend Sherrill. Here's my confession... in China, most food is bought and cooked in the same day (by our Ayi. Don't hate me). Mostly all fresh vegetables (only deep fried in peanut oil to bring it right around to a potato chip nutritional value, lol).

I tag:

Tami

Tracey

Alison

Allison

Morgan

And anyone else in Shanghai.

I'm anxious to see what yours looks like-- and the rule: you cannot make any adjustments before snapping the picture. I got lucky with mine, we just got a new fridge after the last one broke, so mine looks clean. Man alive, if you'd seen my old one, you just might've been too grosed out to re-visit our blog.

** Side note, the red boxes at top are the imported milk ever since the milk problem here in China. It's from New Zealand, and has a 1 year shelf life before opening. The eggs- brown, it's hard to find white here. The watermellon- did you know that watermellon is sweetened here in China? Yes, they actually inject the mellons with sugar water. You've never had a sour watermellon in China!

Tann in Goggles

This kid is constantly putting on a show... he is such a nut!

Brothers

So our sweet little Hunter got that scary chest cough again.
He was such a trooper. He never complained.

And our busy little Tanner would stop all the world around him....

Just to be next to Hunter while he toughed things out.

Happy Mother's Day Sistas!

Thanks Heather for this great poem! I pass it on to all you beautiful mommies and aunties out there that have motherly hearts! I love you gals!

Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on..
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.!
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.
I had never known the warmth,
the joy, the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom .

Hair Cuts in China

Every time we get the boys hair cut here, I think we throw the locals for a loop. As you know, there's still only 1% foreigner rate here, so the locals don't always know what to do with Hunter and Tanner's fine hair.

But they do go all out with the head massage/hair wash.


Sometimes, this can be a 10 minute deal.


Some people pay just to come in for a hair wash. Side note: in this picture Tanner knows he's in for a treat and tells the barber "Wo Ai Ni", or "I love you!".


Love how they always scrunch their eyes when the water first touches their heads.


Oh you little pampered prince.


We've been going to "James" for about a year now.


Don't know if he's ever cut another child's hair other than my boys.

Never fail, I always remind James to cut around their ears. Seems so basic, but sometimes he says he's done and there's still hair covering their ears, lol (we love the guy, what do ya do?!).


Hunter took all of the rest of these pictures. He's actually a very good little photographer. He knows how to get Tann to smile, and can capture some clear stories behind every picture.


Like capturing how itchy your neck gets.


Or how crazy your mom gets.


And capturing why I might still be askng James to trim around the boys ears next time.

We love you James, you're the best there ever was!!

Haha, Yanyan and Dongdong

Every once in a while I get to run into our little friends Haha, Yanyan and Dongdong outside the the building where I get my hair done (the same salon that sells my hair bows). They saw me bring the bows in and wanted some. Never mind that two of the three are boys :).

So I passed on the bows that weren't moving fast enough.

That way they can sell them for some extra money.

Who wouldn't wanna buy some hair bows off of these little models?

They are sure to make anything cuter :). By the way, these pictures were taken at different times, they are just always in the same clothes. Sweet little angels. Wish I could take them home for good and not just for a visit. :)

Sniff.

My Last Attempts

Here are a few of my final attempts at keeping video games outside of our home...

And yes, here I am rocking the boat for Tanner, instead of putting the money in. Cheap mom, I know it. What, it's more fun for him this way anyway. He loves attention, and loves having me close by as he runs around.


Hunter just got a car (that was actually a piggy bank) as a cereal box prize when we got Cheerios this last week. The car was red, about 6 inches big, and taped to the outside of the cereal box. Go figure, gotta love China!! Anyway, Hunter said he was going to collect money so he could go to Tom's world again (above). Some how, within 2 days, it was almost full... we're checking our wallets... our couch cushions aren't that deep.

Just an FYI on the Wii... I was away for Youth Mutual one night, when it was at a different location (it's usually at our house). That night, the Wii had been stuffed with 6 DVDs... are you jealous?!

While the wounds were still fresh (yes, Wiis aren't cheap, even when you get them at the black markets), a friend reminded us that he knew of two other families who had the same thing happen, and the Wii is repairable. In the meantime, tonight Tim took the boys to Tom's World, for ol' times sake. Great Dad, no?