happy, happy, joy, joy, joy!

I thought this was an amazing video and thought i would share it with you. It just makes you smile. You can be happy no matter where you are. Be happy today! It is life-altering. I love you all.


http://vimeo.com/1211060


I want to hear your comments and if you haven't signed up as a follower - I am waiting.

mid-autumn festival

who is that stranger in blue?

Bronwyn tries her hand at filling up a cup with a water-gun.

Gwendolyn and Dad have a go!

look at my cool lantern!

Here is a site with the story of the mid autumn festival. http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/Festivals/78311.htm The hotel threw this party so we thought we would share some of it with you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZWElC-Qsb4

there are not words to express the pain and disbelief that this act caused. it still seems so surreal. My heart goes out to all affected.

9/11 commemorative quilt

second guessing

I have to tell you that I have been so excited for the last week to have found a house in the location that I wish and that has enough space for my family and all our junk. This morning I met with the realtor and, with the help of Larry's assistant Maggie, went to walk through the house to note any repairs, etc.

Then it happened. I stepped onto the front step and didn't see the potential I initially had seen.

Instead I saw the bent mailbox and the peeling paint. Walking inside I was greeted by walls covered with dirty fingerprints and smelly dog carpet. It didn't help that my driver was walking around shaking his head and giving his opinions. Maggie saying that now she had seen this (very old, smelly house) she could get a better deal.

OK, so let's regroup. They are pulling up the ugly, smelly, super blue carpet. They are repainting and fixing all that I ask. Remy and Bronwyn will have their own room and there is a playroom and a large master. It is super close to church and there are lots of kids in the neighborhood. Once I have my own things inside. My things, all the things I love, it will be great. yeah!

Thanks for the boost!

a little hello

here is a little propaganda for you. it says Empty talk endangers the nation, practical work brings prosperity.

hello to all my fellow bloggers - all three of you. I haven't written in a few days so thought I would loop a bit. all is well here. We had a nice visit from Uncle Jeff this weekend. We carted him around to do things like stand in the heat during soccer practice and walk in the rain for some food. We really enjoyed having him and hope for a return visit.

I think we have a house but I am afraid to be too committed until all papers are signed. It is in a great location and in the community that I wanted. Pictures of house later.

Here are a few pictures. I really just wanted to say hello!

we love uncle jeff !!!

our little soccer girl

yum, yum, eww.

Today after the three oldest were in school. Parrish and I, with the kind help of Larry's assistant and our driver, went out to get me a cell phone and to do a bit of shopping. After procurring the much needed cell phone we went off to lunch. Lunch was yummy with lots of slurping, evidentally a good sign. Parrish and I did have to make a quick trip to the loo. It was a fairly clean one so not so bad. Here are our pics:parrish cleaning his chopsticks

i chose the noodles with mushrooms. quite tasty!

dumplings, bean curd and in the front is what i understand to be lotus root. i really liked it, the sauce was a bit spicy. yum.

don't fall in!
Oh, to be a boy!!

Shenzhen Daily News

Here are a few of the stories in the Shenzhen Daily - the English daily paper.

Man gets death for killing 6 police in Shanghai -

He had been arrested previously for riding an unlicensed bicycle. He tried to sue the officers for psychological damage but the courts rejected the claim. He marched into the police station and started stabbing officers and set a fire. Can you believe that he was deemed psychologically fit to stand trial?

Rat meat in demand as inflation bites

good thing I do not live in Cambodia as I have to have my Rat meat.

Mortar shell found in vegetable patch

A woman ploughing her veggie patch found a mortar thought to be left by the Japanese in the 1940's

French workers biggest whiners, Irish the happiest.

what will we spend money studying next? I always knew that about the French anyway.

settling in

Well, we almost have a full week of school under our belts. School started last Thursday but was cancelled Friday for the typhoon - which i must say was not impressive. I have been in much worse in Texas and Louisiana. So on Monday we truly got to dig in and meet new friends and begin to feel like, yes, we really are here to stay. Remy is so thrilled to be in a different school from the girls, feeling very grown up in middle school. He is off to a good start and has even signed up for touch rugby. I think he will love it. Bronwyn had a bet with her dad that there would be no Brasilians in her class. He thought he would win since there is a large number of Brasilian families here. She won. the next day she met about four girls her age from another class and they were sambaing - excuse the spelling - all day. She is my little Carioca at heart. she signed up for drama class and is very happy. Gwendolyn is making friends and already has a party this weekend. She is loving her class and true to form has chosen Two boys to be friends with. We have been asked to do some modeling - Bronwyn is excited. All the blondish kids get solicited. They just hang out at the school waiting for the moms and evidently many people have done it. Personally I don't feel like putting my children on exhibit even more than they already are

In anticipation of school we went grocery shopping. Did I know there are over 1.3 billion people in China? Yes, I did. Did I realize what this meant. No. It means claustrophobia. No personal space. We went to Sam's and it took us three plus hours to do the shopping. By the time we left I thought Bronwyn might have a meltdown. Too many people touching, looking, GAWKING. She survived. Here are a few grocery shelf offerings.

I couldn't convince my kids that the fish and turtles were not for pets. There was also alligator but for obvious reasons not live. Of course these are some of the more tame things to eat though. Jackie Chan is everywhere endorsing everything from soap to frozen dumplings.

hermit crabs, etc.

back in the saddle

After a long summer we have finally arrived in China. As usual I was thinking I am bigger and tougher than I actually am. I had it all worked out that in about two days I would have conquered my jet-lag and be good to go. Such is not the case. It took all of us a good week to conquer the time change. We flew out of New Jersey on a direct flight. The flight was delayed for about three and a half hours, so instead of arriving in Hong Kong early evening we arrived around 11 p.m. It was almost 2 when we made it to the hotel.

I was so longing for a soft warm bed to snuggle into. I walked over to the bed and plopped down not to be met with inviting, pillowy softness but a big hard thud. I actually think that in the two weeks that I have been here I have gotten used to it. It is so hard - like sleeping on a board. Remy always complained about how his mattress is too hard now he will welcome it with open arms.

It had been exciting to be here for the Olympics. I know there is a lot of negative talk about having them here, but everyone is so excited. Although I am not close to Beijing and will not be attending in person. Just the pride of the people to host this event is great. People don't want to go to work and everyone has given up nightlife so that they can all watch the events. The kids and I have really enjoyed watching the near full coverage.

Last weekend- our first full weekend here - Hubby had a team building weekend event. We all got up Saturday morning and got on a bus to head to the beach. I love the beach, but must say that I am not ready to bare my overweight body in front of a bunch of skinny Asian women. Did they not get any fat genes? The bus trip was straight out of a stereotyped movie. The tour guide stood at the front of the bus and called people up to sing solos and played number guessing games. It is all true. We stopped along the way at a temple. It was over 500 years old. I tried to impress the awesomeness of this to my darling daughter as she unexcitedly trudged up the small hill to get to the temple.

Upon reaching the temple there was a great deal of activity. There were many tour buses and it was a pretty small site. The first thing that happened is that people started coming up to us and trying to get their pictures made with our children. The kids were hot and did not enjoy being man-handled. We did manage to push our way through though. At the base of the temple was a statue of a lovely Buddhist goddess - guan-yin. She has a long story ( which I looked up on the Internet ) but suffice it to say she is the goddess of caring and compassion. there were people selling incense and making offerings. They had a long line of people waiting to wash their feet and hands in the mountain spring water. a lady came up to me and explained that if you were to get washed with this water your family would have good luck for the year. I wanted to get my feet washed but the line was long and the bus was loading.

Next stop was lunch. This was our first real Chinese food. I was ready to be adventurous but not everyone in my party felt the same. It was an open air kind of situation and not really all that clean. They served family style. first they brought out tea - not to drink but to clean your dishes and chopsticks with. At this point Bronwyn was already balking. Then the food started to arrive and she started speaking to me in her language of protestation - Portuguese. There was plenty of rice and there was some squid that really didn't have too much taste, but it was very tough and rubbery. Lots of vegetables and some delicious celery. Some really disgusting soup and various other seafood items. Most of the Chinese people said they didn't like the restaurant but i was feeling adventurous and had a good time. Gwendolyn did a really good job of trying things. i also bought a bag of some kind of fruit from a lady who came to the table. In china they call it a red feather fruit. It is red with little flag like projections - you peel that off and inside there is a fruit something like a lychee but not as sweet.

There is so much more to write, but this is getting longer than necessary and it is late. Needless to say I think we had a good time. The kids had a blast at the beach collecting hundreds - not an exaggeration - of hermit crabs and building them a holding pen, and except for our first foray to the hole in the ground toilet we had fun.

well, you may be thinking negatively right now about my blog but in my defense i am moving and very busy sitting around thinking about all the things i should be doing.

the weather here has been rainy bringing with it a cool low 70's to high 60's. perfect. if you are brasilian you have donned your ski jacket and bundled your little one up in 6 layers of warm things. it makes me feel like it is fall. i always loved fall. you know the beginning of school, football games, frito pies, and hot chocolate. unusual for me to be here during cooler weather, sometimes when we return from summer in the states it can be chilly, but usually it doesn't happen before we leave for break.

moving along though. larry is still in china. he will be returning on the 7th to assist with packing and come to the states for a bit. i am already missing brasil. last week i went to the school and parked and began my ascent up the long flight of stairs which leads to the campus. it was quiet and i was the only person about. looking up into the trees there were four medium sized monkeys. not the tiny ones you usually see. they were jumping about and eating. they were very unconcerned with me. i was then late for my meeting since i stood and watched for quite a while. close to gwendolyn's classroom there are some macaws living in the trees and we have even seen a toucan. the campus is quite lovely it is like a big tree-house.

so just a little short post. more later.

Today is Mother's Day - Dia das Maes. I am trying to remember that as I sit here with cheese sauce and snot on my shirt front. Being a mother is hard work but with it comes great blessings, and joy. We had a special presentation during primary sharing time today. all the primary moms were invited and each brought a picture of their child as an infant. Everyone tried to guess who the babies were and then the mom's each got up and talked about their child. It was clear to me that a mother's greatest joy is her children. No matter what is happening with a particular child a mother's love is limitless. As I watched the mother's tell about their children I could see the love on their faces and on the faces of their adoring children.



I have wondered lately how my own mother felt while away from her family and friends raising four children in a foreign land. I never thought about it until I was in the same situation. It must have been difficult since every other month she was on her own while Dad was offshore.

I came across this post and thought I would post it since it never happened when it should have sorry for the lapse. I think it never got finished.

Hello all!!

Well, I am trying to think ahead and seeing as almost everyone I know will be sleeping while I am awake I thought it might be time to try blogging. That is of course assuming that I have anything worthwhile to say or of interest to anyone else.

I would like this to be a spot for pictures and family musings of life as an expat. Our time here in lovely Brasil is quickly coming to an end. We will all miss the friends we have made here. The initiation into the life of an expat, and so many little things that make Brasil, well Brasil.

Feel free to comment and I will try to keep the postings frequent. Do bear with me though as this is a new medium for me and I am quite computer illiterate.

Beth