Category Archives: Kids

Learning to Write My Name

Tonight, for the first time, we had Chinese friends over. They even brought their translator. We had an exciting evening of conversing and learning a new language! I don’t seem to be learning it very quickly, but I am hoping it will one day click, and I will at least be able to understand Chinese. I even learned to write my name!

Luke got the opportunity to tell our story and share some of his lifetime interests. He even got to share how God seems to be pulling together the puzzle pieces of our lives.

Anna had a blast with Tong (Xu Wenli’s wife), and Ruo Mei (the translator) learning hand games, drawing, and playing with their hair. She also practiced writing Chinese a bit and learned to write her name.

Peter was a little clown. He was also told over and over that he looked like the perfect American male model. Maybe he won’t be too arrogant after tonight! 🙂 He, being the early bird that he is, soon grew very tired and put himself to bed on the love seat.

Phillip got along well with Xu Wenli and talked to him most of the evening, even though he only knows about 3 Chinese words. I am sure he will pick it up much more quickly than I will!

Bethany was a bit shy at first, but she soon opened up and acted like herself. Everyone loved her messy face while she ate supper, especially the chocolate covered strawberries for dessert!

Candice didn’t seem to be aware of anything out of the ordinary. She slept most of the time. My wonderful husband was very helpful by helping me care for her and helping with supper! Xie Xie, Luke! 😉

We all had a great time! All in all, it was an interesting learning experience and wonderful time together with new friends!

What Hoppened?

A month or two ago, Phillip started crying, and Bethany said, “What hoppened?” It was so cute, especially the pronunciation. Today, when Candice was crying, Bethany bent down, looking Candice right in the face, and said, “Canny, what hoppened?” It was so adorable!

Other phrases Bethany has picked up are:

“I want a bite of water.”

“Ew! Yucky!”

“Wet’s Pay” as she folded her hands in prayer. (The cutest part about this one is that she folds her hands and then lays face down on the floor to pray).

“Wook at Anna.”

“Anna, Peta, Phup! Tima eat!” as I put food on their plates.

Blankets & Brotherly Love

Luke’s Mom has made it her goal to crochet an afghan for each of her Grandchildren. This is a big project on her part because between her three married children, she has been blessed with ten grandchildren within eight years! 🙂

When we got together at Thanksgiving, Mom gave Bethany her newly crocheted afghan, which was very similar to the one she had made for Phillip. This led to some unnecessary worry on Peter’s part. Here is how the conversation went:

Peter: Mom, Mom, will you come upstairs? I need to show you something!

Me: I’ll be up in just a minute.

Peter: Mom, I need to show you Phillip’s blanket. It’s broken.

Me: What? (and I go upstairs)

Peter (with an urgent expression): Look (and holds up both afghans)

Me: Oh! Sweetie, that is 2 different blankets. Grandmommy made Bethany one, too. Isn’t that cool?

It was the cutest thing! And the best part is that he was so concerned for his brother. That just warms a mother’s heart!

Anna’s New Word

Language has been a big topic during the last several months because we have been trying to learn Chinese. Tonight at supper, our conversation went like this:

Anna: Mom, do you know what Maltome-el means?

Me: No. What.

Anna: it means ‘more’

Me: Where did you learn that one?

Anna: I see it all the time on the cereal bag. It says, “Maltome-el means more.”

This is where I couldn’t help but smile. She was talking about Malt-O-Meal cereal, which indeed advertises on the bag “Malt-O-Meal means more.”

Scary Bathrooms

Did you ever wonder how no-touch technology comes across to two year olds? Think about it. At home, they flush the potty themselves, they at least see the water turned on by an adult, and the hand dryers are something they don’t see at all (especially if mom or dad prefers paper towels over dryers)!

Then they walk into the bathroom at a store and feel like they’re in the twilight zone. The toilet noisily swallows anything that comes near it (or at least attempts to). The sink spits on anything that dares to move in front of it. The hand dryer blows hot air out its snout when someone walks underneath it (two year olds do walk under them, you know). They probably come out of the bathroom expecting the water fountain to stick out its leg to trip them!!

And we wonder why two year olds throw temper tantrums!! 🙂

Bethany is Two!

Last Thursday was Bethany’s birthday. Since we had just moved, we didn’t have anything special planned. We decided at the last minute to do a mini party, and this is how it all came together. I took Bethany with me to the grocery store to let her help pick a small cake from the bakery (a first for us, by the way). She picked green. On the way home, I remembered that we had green disposable plates and napkins at home.

Luke decided to help the other kids make little boxes out of paper. He chose green construction paper to go along with the already green color theme. During supper we were teasing about all the green, and mentioned that we might need to color our noses green, too. Then I remembered that we had the DVD If Only I Had a Green Nose by Max Lucado. The perfect “green” activity to help calm everyone down for bed! To top it off, we painted our noses green, too!

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5 Munchkins at the Mart

A few days ago I made my first adventurous trip to Wal-Mart with 5 children. It has been quite a while since I made that venture with just 4 kids, so I was expecting something near chaos! I am quite pleased to say that things went quite well! Praise the Lord for those carts that have seats for toddlers on the front! I felt like Super Mom!

Which is Right?

While playing Twister tonight, Luke was explaining to Peter how to tell his left foot from his right foot. Luke said, “Peter, which hand do you write with?” After Peter figured this out, I told him to put the foot he doesn’t write with on the blue dot. Somehow this advice still left him confused! 🙂

Waste Not

I guess Bethany took us seriously when we said not to waste food! 🙂 Actually, we had been eating chocolate, and there were still little bits on the plate. I guess we’ve all been guilty of licking the last flavorful bits from a plate…but I bet we weren’t this cute doing it.

Three Men in a Tub

Luke is teaching the boys to take showers instead of baths. They are both excited about taking showers like Mom, Dad, and big sister! And the best part is, I now only have to bathe Bethany and Candice!! Of course, I’m sure they will still take their share of bubble baths!! But in the meantime, bath time is suddenly half the job it used to be!!