Year of the Tiger 2010

Somehow, these are the only pictures I have of Kennedy and Kohen's New Years outfits. Aren't they fun though?
On Sunday church was only the first meeting since it was Chinese New Year. For the first time in 57 years CNY and Valentines landed on the same day which was fun. After church the children got to open a gift from both of their Aunts and Uncles and the V-day shirts were quickly put into use before we headed out.

Shayn and Ander are still tight even though Ander pooped all over him back in November. Definitely buds.
We headed out to the Chang Kai Shek memorial on a gorgeous, if not a tad overly warm, Sunday afternoon. This marked the only day while Shayn was here that it didn't downpour most/all day. I'm glad we made the most of it.
The memorial grounds are beautiful and full of photo ops which, as you know, a good blogger never shies away from.
This was the public outing where the kids were still climbing all over poor Shayn and I had to finally lay the smack down and make rules about when they could and couldn't climb all over their always obliging Uncle. Shayn almost always had one or more of them in his arms despite my "talk". On the other hand it's nice to have other adults around to help when you are in crowds of people.
We waited for probably 20 minutes or so to see the Changing of the Guard. Kohen looked at the guards standing as still as statues and declared in frustration, THEY ARE NOT REAL! He actually tried to leave the area several times. Finally the ceremony started and Kohen was shocked and practically giddy that they were alive!

We were right up front and it was neat to see the soldiers execute their routine of rifle tossing and stomping in unison. I don't know how they stand still like that for so long. Seriously, not a job for me. Unless I could be laying down instead, say on a comfy mattress- then I'd be amazing. Somehow I don't think thats the kind of feel they're going for.

Aly-roo we love you!

Shayn and Kennedy next to this cool tree we thought looked like it was straight outta Mario Brothers.

^Ashley and Shayn, gorgeous couple

^Ashley and Shayn 10 years from now, HA!

After the Memorial we made the somewhat poor decision of heading up Yang Ming Shan which is a giant Mountain where there is a National Park at the top. Turns out our idea was unoriginal as every other Taiwanese person was headed up the two lane mountain with us. With all of the 8 seats in the van taken up it was... cozy. We pulled off at the first sign of greenery though we didn't really make it into the park.
We let the kids run around this area for a little bit, it was so whimsical and reminded me of places I've imagined from books - definitely a place that would stimulate a child's imagination.
I captured my favorite moment of the day when Kennedy had successfully jumped across a stream and was trying to help Aly jump over. Apparently the situation seemed so ill fated that Kohen had to cover his eyes and couldn't look. He was really worried, poor kid. Luckily the girls abandoned Mission: Sopping Wet Pants and stuck to the safer areas.
On our way down the mountain we stopped at this lookout so our visitors could get a picture with this beautiful view. What's that haze you ask? Certainly not smog, heavens no! It's just um... it's just a magical mist that is part of what makes Taipei so special! (aaand may or may not leave black soot on every darn thing it touches). Quite a view though, eh?

Chinese New Years Eve

Asians clearly love Costco, more than Americans, if that's even possible. This is a picture I shot as I ran the Costco gauntlet the day before CNY Eve. Two words: Mad House. But at least we have a Costco here, right?
Aly had a CNY performance at school. She wore her New Year's dress and yes, I know it's actually Korean, but it's so much more Aly than the Chinese style.
They did a Dragon dance and the children all got under the dragon to participate. Aly kept popping her head out to make sure Ashley and I were watching. Besides when she later stole the microphone and performed yet another impromptu number- I think the dragon dancing was her favorite part.
The next morning a big surprise showed up at breakfast. No, not a bright-eyed-bushy-tailed-ready-for-the-day Mom (some dreams just can't come true) but an even better UNCLE SHAYN!!!!
My children stalked their Aunt and Uncles room their entire visit, employing tactics of turning the lights on and off since the switch is right outside their room, quiet knocks that eventually turned into pounds and even little eyeballs and fingers under the door before sunrise. To say they were excited to play and wrestle with Shayn is a gross understatement. They lived for it.
Nathan finally arrived back home (!) in time for CNY's Eve and that day he and Shayn took the kids to Yu Kids Island while Ashley and I ran around to get the last minute prep for our dinner in order.
We put a lot of thought and effort into decorations and food. We didn't want Chinese food cuz... well, because it ain't P.F. Chang's frankly. So we decided to have hamburgers since anything round is supposed to be good luck. Traditionally you are also supposed to have a whole fish and not eat all of it so that you have plenty the coming year, even more than enough. Instead we had a bag of really good chips and didn't eat all of those. Apples to apples? maybe more like Fish to chips. Close enough I say.
We had a fun candlelit dinner amid all of the red and gold and hanging lanterns. The kids enjoyed their meal near by- the gold brick in the middle of their table? Kohen was insistent we buy that decoration, I still have no idea what the draw was, he has has no concept of gold's worth so I think he just liked it.
After dinner we headed out on the balcony area to light off some serious fireworks. This is done throughout CNY to scare off evil spirits. If ours scared off the darn stray cat that keeps tearing our trash open and spreading it around, I'd feel it a success.
This is Nathan channeling the pyro inside always ready to come out when he hears the word "fireworks". We all played with massive sparklers before Shayn and Nathan went up to the upper balcony to shoot off the big guns.
It was quite the show and nice to light off ginormous fireworks without worrying since they're far from illegal here.

Then things got a little wild/weird when we gave the children a small/cheap CNY present that had these hilarious dress up hats we found for a couple bucks. Without discussing it all 3 kind of morphed into the character they'd been given.

Take me to your leader

Aly the bee was running around laughing like a mad woman and then all of a sudden she ran up to Nathan, stopped. poked him with her finger and said simply, "sting!" Was it just cuz we were tired? cuz we laughed very hard over that move.

The dragon/lizard guy pounced on his prey

In the end I figured, if you can't beat em... you know....

Bloggerversary

February marks 3 years of blogging for me. 3 years of sharing stories and documenting the chaos that often follows my little brood. 3 moves, a new country and a new baby and all of you readers have flattered me by reading every last post. I think a reward is in order but I'll get to that in a minute.

You see, the last 3 years have been full of fun and amazing trips and exciting "adventures" but there was also a lot of stress from moving/settling and many times of loneliness during the many, many, MANY trips Nathan was taking for work a while back. There were a few occasions when the only adult interaction I had in a day was comments from people who read my blog and were often leaving me words of encouragement. I truly am not sure what I would have done without that during those times. So I just want to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who reads and thank you to those who take the time to comment and lift my day. Starting to feel a bit like an acceptance speech here so I'll get to the point, which might just be a first in my blogging history.

I am doing a giveaway to celebrate 3 years of sheer blogging genius... or if not that at least 3 years of chronicling our family. Just leave a comment and in a week I will randomly draw 5 winners. I will be sending something from Taiwan which basically means it will be covered in grime and break shortly after you receive it. Nevertheless. I will try to make it worth the postage and befitting of a winner. Don't be shy, if you've never commented before you can choose Anonymous and just sign your name to the comment. May the best readers win.

Seriously. thanks for all the blogging love.

ej

For the last few weeks I've been flying by the seat of my pants. First Nathan left town for a two week trip back to the states and I knew I wasn't quite ready for that long with my crew on my own in a foreign country. I am feeling more comfortable with my surroundings in TienMu everyday but that is also because when anything goes wrong, communication breaks down or I have a "Taiwan UP" moment, I just dial el spouse-o and he smoothes it out. I know my limits and for now two weeks on my own exceeded it. So we called in back up. You may remember from Nanny Diaries past -my little sister Ashley. She graciously agreed to come and rescue me.

This is Ashley in the Narita Japan airport- can you believe that sunset?! This is my sister 20+ hours into her journey to Taiwan. I aspire to look like that when I leave for a trip, and even then I could guarantee nothing after 5 hours. Now if we ever travel together you can't say I didn't warn you.
She came bearing lot's of gifts, yay! Accessories for everyone, of course, since she is the authority after all. Ashley also had a mission (nearly impossible) to help me get our house in order. I hadn't even hung pictures yet. I did move into our house under duress so I feel like that's a legitimate excuse though we all know baby or no, my house would probably look about the same. Both my sisters are quite talented with arranging and decorating. They have an eye for it and I'm not ashamed to say I do not.
Thankfully they both help me and don't mock my attempts at beautifying my home, just jump in and rearrange here and there. A highlight of Ash's trip was that I got to take her to Ikea for the first time which was awesome. She was overwhelmed and kept repeating "We're gonna have to come back here..." over and over. She was surprisingly effective despite trying to take it all in. I was impressed. We've since spent many hours running the Ikea gauntlet.
Other things on the docket: sparkly nails for all of the girls of course.
I was so grateful to have Ashley's help doing our daily routine. She was here the week before Chinese New Year which is the biggest holiday they celebrate in Taiwan and a LOT was going on, especially for the kids at school. One morning we went with Kohen's class to the market around the block from school to buy the ingredients for dumplings before going back to school and making them.
In this ^ pic Kohen is distressed because he discovered some of the fish still breathing. (Now that's what ya call fresh...)
It has been such a treat to have someone besides me taking the pictures- proof that I exist! :)
Not to mention someone to capture Ander's baby blues and Aly's fascination with my heels.
The first week of her visit we spent getting through all of the Chinese New Year prep and trying to get the house stuff started. But then the day before Nathan came home Ashley's husband Shayn arrived and surprised the kids who were beyond excited for UNCLE SHAYN!!!!

Nathan got home the night before CNY's Eve and it's been a blur ever since. Not sure if the blur is cuz it's gone by so fast, cuz I'm constantly exhausted, or from the flash from gobs of pictures my sister and I have taken. Well, whichever, it's a good blur.

To be continued...

Ander, 4ish Months

At 4 months old Ander is a great baby. Really. He puts up with a lot of "love" from his siblings, lot's of interrupted naps and a busy mama. Amazingly he smiles through pretty much all of it.

For months now I've been waging a small war I call Thumb vs. Pacifier. I felt like the pacifier really pulled ahead there for a while until Two Fingers jumped into the fray. I never saw it coming. The battle was lost nearly overnight with Thumb and Pacifier both wondering what the heck happened.
I was never really one who thought thumb-sucking was so "cute" and I thought even less of fingers, but I have to say it's growing on me. For now* this self soothing thing is pretty darn nice.

(I refuse to think about 2-3 yrs from now *cringe*)
He really does it a lot, every where we go now Chinese people who stop to look at Ander have to show whoever they're with that this kid is sucking on his fingers.... not exactly sure what the draw is there but they get a kick out of it.
His favorite position is to snuggle up on you chest so he can do his self soothing thing. The best kind of snuggle- and I have let dinner get cold, clothes go unfolded, and children run wild just so I could snuggle up this sweet pea before he won't let me anymore .

(My friend Betsy made this adorable onesie for Ander and I. LOVE. it.)

I am so grateful for this little guy. I'm grateful for ^ that dimpled smile that can lift my mood in an instant. Works better than chocolate.

Kohen's Dragon

I think I've mentioned before how grateful I am for the creative outlet school is for Kohen. He is in project/supply heaven and now his answer to fix anything is "just a little tape!"

His teacher does a really good job of taking pictures and posting them on a Picasa site for all of us parents to see what our kiddos have been playing with/working on. I love it. Here are a couple of recent ones.

Kohen's Self Portrait

His teacher usually has captions like these: "Can you tell I'm a transformer?"

(Getting Ready for Chinese New Year) One day a Lion Dancer Mask appeared...

And inspired our first Lion/Dragon Mask!

Today I'm going to make another Dragon that's big enough for my whole family to fit under it!

Here comes the Dragon Dancers!

Kohen inspired other Dragons to be made by others and the playground was swarming with them but I didn't think I should post a bunch of kids w/o permission. But he brought home this dragon SO proud and excited, I need to video him showing us his projects because he uses his man voice and is so animated... Anyway, we are working on getting this boy to see some more Dragon Dancers this Chinese New Year, cuz he wouldn't love that at all.