3.17.2012

Couples Skate



Hailey's 7th birthday party was last weekend and she had it at the skating rink. And I found out there that neither of my boys had EVER been rollerskating. WHAT? How did that happen? Anyway, we laced them up and off we went.

They had a lot of fun and

After a lot of this.......



they caught on pretty quickly and had a GREAT time!





They want to go back again and practice, and Reid said he might want to have his party there this fall. A fun day that brought back lots of fun childhood memories!

3.12.2012

Hot Pot

While we LOVE the food over here, there are some things that still haven't totally won me over. Hot pot is one of them. It is a very famous meal that originated in a city not too far from ours.
I would compare it to fondue, but I am afraid that might bring too pleasant of an image to mind. 


Here is a picture of hot pot. It is pot full of oil/water/spices/unknown things. This is a split pot with spicy spicy on the outside (red part) and mild on the inside (white part). You wait until it boils and then
they bring you the food that you have ordered--we had potatos, lotus root, beef, mutton, duck tongue noodles, and tofu--and you put it in the pot to cook and then fish it out with chopsticks.

Matt LOVES hot pot. It is not my favorite. So when our crazy  adventerous friend was in town from America and she said she wanted to eat hot pot, I was all on board with taking Matt because then I didn't have to go later by myself. See, we had 8 of us at the table. Therefore, I could pretty much put my chopsticks in the bowl and dig around every once in awhile and get away with not eating a thing. Thats right, I didn't have to eat it but my hubby enjoyed it and I got to hang out with fun friends. Brilliant.


sweet friends!
I have known Lauren and Jane since my freshman year in highschool.
We went to youth group together and now Lauren and I are serving over here together! Jane came to visit on her spring break this year. It was so great to see you Jane!!

3.07.2012

Super fun package!!


We received a really fun package from a wonderful family today!!
Thank you so much!! What a fun blessing!!






3.05.2012

Roar!



Rylie roars everytime she sees one of these lions. And they are everywhere.
 These two were at the antique market where i quickly made a decision we spent a LONG time picking out the entertainment center that Matt and I gave each other for Christmas. The lions provided a bit of entertainment for Rylie while we bargained, which I was very grateful for. Antique buying isn't what it used to be over here.....so much more expensive. But I still love the pieces! So unique and fun.

3.04.2012

Earth Puzzle

E had his first science project this past week and he picked Earth.
They had to write a report and do a visual project. He made a puzzle with questions on the pieces and the answers underneath.



He worked really hard on it, and I think it turned out great!!


and for all of you wondering, I did really well pretty good with letting him do all the work himself. My OCD, prefectionist tendencies took a back seat to the wonderful, innocent creativity of his third grade mind. Oh who am I kidding--I practically had to tie my hands behind my back, and its really dangerous to let a third grader use an exacto knife by himself right? and the don't get me started with the handwriting......


3.03.2012

Can you hear......

....the Hallelujah chorus??

We are singing it loud and proud in these parts of the world!
This little girl is POTTY TRAINED!!!


We have been doing a lot of this.....


a little playing games on the phone while we wait....


and now we are here!!

And the poor thing still gets sad when I tell her she can't go to the bathroom standing up. She just wants to be just like her brothers :)

We are so proud of this girl!

As much as I greatly dislike potty training, Rylie did great!!
She might be 8 before she stops asking for treats after she pees, but candy is cheaper than diapers :)