The Russ'? The Russ's? The Russes?

Hibernation Theory?

2009-01-05T14:39:00.002-06:00

Mike's Hibernation Theory is proved right today. The cold, rainy weather has induced a nap in both my children, which has not happened in a long time. Maybe that's what I should be doing!

Crafty, Crafty

2009-01-04T20:58:00.003-06:00

Who knew?! I can be crafty? Not me, but I must say, I think this turned out super cute. Kate was putting push pins into the wall to display her favorite pics and drawings, so I thought she should have a better place for it. Kate helped me with the stickers and she is so pleased with her work.

Princess and Knight Party!

2008-12-29T10:42:00.007-06:00

So, about 3 months ago, Kate and AJ turned 4! We had a fun Princess and Knight birthday party for them. It was a fun way to incorporate girl and boy things. The girls came in their pretty dresses, and I made and bought things for a knight's costume for each boy. I read too many good ideas online and got the idea to make a cardboard castle. Mike agreed to it thinking there was no way I'd be able to procure enough refrigerator boxes to make the castle. Lesson to Mike: Don't tell me I can't do something!

The night before, everything was pretty much ready to go, except the castle. Then AJ gets a fever. We took him to the after hours clinic and found out he had strep. We decided to test Kate, and she had it too. So, do we give them shots so they can have their party, or do we get the normal meds and miss the party? Mike gave them the choice, and they both said they wanted the shots so they could have their party! Wow, we couldn't dissapoint after that! We finished the castle that night at 1:30. What dedicated/crazy parents.

Here's some fun pics of the party. The girls' game is a version of pin the tail on the donkey, it was kiss the frog prince, which they loved because they each got to wear lipstick for it. The boys had an obstacle course with quicksand(couch pillows on the ground), slay the dragon(dinosoar costume hanging in doorway), ride the horse to the castle, go through the castle, cross the moat(blue plastic tablecloth with lily pads and alligators), and then get to the treasure chest of chocolate coins.

AJ Answers

2008-12-28T23:04:00.002-06:00

The same questions, and at a diferent time, since they tend to copy each other if asked at the same time.

1. What is something mom always says to you? it's my birthday
2. What makes mom happy? obeying
3. What makes mom sad? when you don't obey
4. How does your mom make you laugh? when you tickle me
5. What was your mom like as a child? if you love me (hug)
6. How old is your mom? how old are you mom? I don't know
7. How tall is your mom? super big
8. What is her favorite thing to do? play with me
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? not playing
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? you, it's going to be for you, mom
11. What is your mom really good at? playing with me
12. What is your mom not very good at? not trying to catch me
13. What does your mom do for her job? try to fix walls
14. What is your mom's favorite food? salad
15. What makes you proud of your mom? (thinking...) that means I love you
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? good, maybe you have to think of it yourself if you want
17. What do you and your mom do together? play a game
18. How are you and your mom the same? when we're taller
19. How old are you and your mom different? when I was little
20. How do you know your mom loves you? real big

I love his last answer, because Mike and I will ask them, "How much do I love you?", and they spread their arms and say, "Real Big".

Slacker Returns...

2008-12-22T20:39:00.002-06:00

I know, it's been a long time. I would guess most people have stopped even checking. As another friend of mine said, blame Facebook.

A friend of mine, Traci, had this on her blog a while back and I copied it. These responses are Kate's.
1. What is something mom always says to you? I love you
2. What makes mom happy? when I smile
3. What makes mom sad? when I whine
4. How does your mom make you laugh? making funny faces, that's what I like best
5. What was your mom like as a child? I don't know, do you know?
6. How old is your mom? 33
7. How tall is your mom? can you show me?
8. What is her favorite thing to do? playing with me
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? do your own things
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? us
11. What is your mom really good at? taking care of us
12. What is your mom not very good at? um...hmmm...you're not very good at putting up Christmas decorations
13. What does your mom do for her job? you don't do what we want
14. What is your mom's favorite food? salad
15. What makes you proud of your mom? doing things as we should do together
16. If you mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? um, like Little Einsteins; like Annie
17. What do you and your mom do together? play games
18. How are you and your mom the same? dressing up the same; smile
19. How are you and your mom different? as we wear different clothes
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Hugs and kisses

I really do have quite a few things to blog about, and the next edition will be AJ's responses to the same questions.

Fall Fun-Overload!

2008-11-02T20:36:00.002-06:00

If you want to look at all the pics, get comfortable. Since it's been over a month, we have a lot of catching up to do.
Playground fun. Pumpkin patch with friends, Brynna and Addy. First choir "performance", in their pj's. First Fall Festival, AJ is a dinosaur. Feeding the ducks. Second Fall Festival, AJ is a cowboy riding "Bullseye" from Toy Story(only one lousy pic of that, it was a crazy night). Dress up day at school, AJ is Batman. Trick or Treating, AJ is Spiderman. We have so many costumes, I just let them pick which one they wanted to be each time. Kate wore her dance recital outfit(pink one) 3 out of 4, and as you see, AJ mixed it up. Kate suggested he wear his "Bullseye" costume to school. His response, "Ka-ate, I wore that last night". A little worrisome there:)

Family Pics

2008-09-11T21:11:00.003-05:00

We love this photographer, Jonnye, who has taken pics of our kids now for 3 years. If you want to check her out, her website is www.jbowerphoto.com.

First Day of Preschool

2008-09-04T17:16:00.006-05:00

My sweetie and buddy started their new preschool on Tuesday, and did great, or so their teachers told me. They are in separate classes and have teachers that are perfect for them individually. I look forward to seeing them grow and learn even more this year. I also had a first this week, I started a part time job while they are in school two days a week. All sorts of changes going on around here, I know, it's hard to keep up with our exciting lives!
And, AJ decided he wanted to wear a costume to the doctor's office the other day because we just found the body part of it in a box. Before then, we only had the head part, and we called him Simba-head. Since I was taking pictures of AJ, Kate wanted in on the action, so there's a pic of her in the car as well. Gotta be fair!

Kate's Ballet Recital

2008-08-28T20:28:00.003-05:00

Kate and her friends, Brynna, Noelle and Carly, all participated in their first ballet recital and more than loved it. The girls were so cute together.

Fun Summer Pics

2008-08-17T15:52:00.003-05:00

A day at the lake and their new "Marble Parade", as they call it.

Fruit Ices

2008-07-31T12:45:00.007-05:00

So, I decided to make some popsicles for Kate and AJ, just for fun. They LOVED them, so I thought I would share the recipe with my friends. Just follow the link below. We did the blueberry and banana ones because that's what we had on hand. Be forewarned, these were very messy, but I bet some of the other fruits would not be as bad as the blueberry was. I think next time we have them, we'll be playing in the sprinklers with swimsuits on.
http://www.parents.com/recipes/cooking/kid-friendly-food/frozen-desserts/?page=3
Kate looks a little Joker-esque.

AJ hadn't gotten as far as Kate, so he wasn't as messy, yet.

HTTC

2008-07-28T16:32:00.004-05:00

By now, many of you know that I will be competing in the prestigious Horney Toad Texas Classic August 9th at Suger Tree Golf Course. If any of you are interested in following me on my quest to bring the championship back to Murphy, you are more than welcome to come out and cheer me on. The HTTC has not been too kind to us Murphyites in recent history after my friend and inaugural champ Brent Baldwin brought the Championship first to Murphy and I followed it up the next year by keeping it in the neighborhood. Much like the US Ryder Cup team has gone into a slump, so too have we. Fortunately, it is a new year and a new opportunity. I am reminded of the immortal words of Goonie Mikey Walsh "Down here, it's our time. It's our time down here." Down here in this case is Murphy! I also have adopted "Anything less than the best is a felony" as my personal battle-cry as I seek to reclaim the sacred Toad.

Below is a story of interest:

It’s Official –
A.P. Report: July 28, 2008 - After years of being pursued by Callaway, past HTTC Champion Mike Russ has agreed to play their ball in the upcoming HTTC. In a bidding war that came down to the final weeks, Srixon succumb to the deep pockets of larger golfing giant Callaway Golf Company NYSE ELY. Srixon worked quickly to disseminate information that the Callaway ball was $8.00 less per dozen (due to a $10.00 off sale at Golf Galaxy) and might have contributed to him switching sponsorship. New Callaway CEO William C. Baker is quoted as saying that “we hope Mike does for Callaway, what Tiger has done for Nike!”, also “the Toad and Callaway and Mike, go together like winners do – we look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship.”

Please check the Hornok family blog for more information regarding the HTTC.

July 4th Fun

2008-07-16T22:53:00.003-05:00

Oops, didn't remember to put some cute pics up of the kids. Mike left for Australia on the 2nd of July, so he wasn't able to celebrate with us this year. Kate, AJ and I went to my sister's house to play with their cousins, eat some good food, and for Kate and AJ to have their first fireworks experience. The past three years we opted out of fireworks because they were all well after bedtime. And, even though I think it is un-American, Mike doesn't really like fireworks, so he was fine missing them. They enjoyed watching them, but were tired fairly quickly since they'd been going all day to keep up with their cousins, whom we all adore.

Far?

2008-07-12T10:17:00.019-05:00

I know that it has been a while since I have posted something on our blog...(that's right Bekah, it is OUR blog, just like it is OUR camera), but I have been busy traversing the globe.
Some background -
Growing up, I thought that there were only two places that existed, where I lived and Tennessee. You see, every year, our family vacation was spent in Johnson City, TN visiting both sets of grandparents. Disney World was this magical place that really didn't exist except in dreams, and the rest of the world, that was something that you just read about in history books! I also grew up with parents that gave me a skewed idea of what "close" and "far" were. My earliest memories in life were of living in Cottage Grove Minnesota. There was a Target and a Kmart in our town. To this day, I still like Target over Kmart, but at that time, my family was a dedicated Kmart customer - why? Because it was "close"! As a kid, I really did not challenge my parents on that, but as an adult, I had the opportunity to re-visit Cottage Grove. What I found (much to my disappointment) was that Target was 2 blocks away, whereas Kmart was 1 block away. So to re-set the stage, Tennessee was the only other place besides where I lived and 1 block = "close", 2 blocks = "far".
Why am I giving you all of this background? Because after July, I will have traveled over 70,000 miles this year alone. For those of you keeping track, that is 70,000 trips to and from Target or 140,000 trips to and from Kmart - depending on your shopping preference and not one of those miles has been to Tennessee.
This year, I have been to New York, Chicago, Tampa, Shanghai, Beijing, Bentonville, Nevis (Caribbean) and last week, I got to go to Australia!!! I spent 5 days in Sydney and another 4 days in Melbourne and the surrounding cities of Ballarat and Bendigo. I highly recommend Sydney and Australia for that matter. Interesting side note - did you know that there are more kangaroos in Australia than people and there are more people in the city of Shanghai than the entire continent/country of Australia! The main reason for my visit to Australia was to visit some of our clients that we do work for out of our China office, but I did get a weekend for sight seeing in Sydney. On Saturday we walked all along the harbor and around the opera house. While walking around, we stopped (with about 500 other people) to watch a street performer apply his trade. He was a bicycling juggler, but not your standard run-of-the-mill bicycling juggler. For the grand finale, he climbs to the top of a 20ft pole that he has affixed his bike to and balances at the top while juggling an apple, a machete and a flaming torch. The pole is quite an elaborate contraption. For the finale, the performer also calls on members of the audience to participate. At one point he asks for help from the biggest guy in the crowd. As soon as he said it, I knew it would be me! As I am drawn out of the crowd and into the performance area, the performer begins to ask me the same series of questions that he has gone through with the other "volunteers". Side note: for those of you that play golf with me , you know that I have this amazing knack for what is known as "the early call". It is when I think that a putt is made or a shot is good, to find out that it is pretty much the opposite. So while I am being interviewed by the performer, I "early call" one of his questions when he asks me what state I am from...Dallas I said (as he had asked the previous volunteers the more generic - where are you from?) - the audience erupts in laughter - stupid American, he thinks that Dallas is a state.
I also went jet-boating in Sydney harbor, which happens to be a really cool way to see the city and surrounding area. Here is a picture of me ready to get wet. If you have ever been jet-boating before, you understand that the point is to go really fast and then stop, turn or dive the boat to essentially drench the people sitting in the front two seats. Notice where I am sitting! At one point I am laughing so hard and then the boat submerges and I pretty much drown.
This year has not only been the year of travel for me, but I also have had many close encounters with animals. While scuba diving in Caribbean, I was close to a shark (I think that it was either a 20ft great white, or a 7ft nurse shark, I'll let you decide), all sorts of fish and a sea turtle. I hung out with cows and monkeys while playing golf in Nevis and on this trip, I got to pet wallabies, kangaroos, wombats and koalas. I am like a real life Beast Master. I am going to start wearing only a loin cloth and walking around with a bow staff and sword! Also, Bekah is going to have to grab my leg and wear skimpy clothes all of the time. It's going to be awesome. Look for pictures of that in our upcoming blogs.

Even with all of the fun places that I have been, I would still rather be at home with my wife and kids and a Target close ("far") by.

Kate, too!

2008-07-08T20:29:00.003-05:00

Just so all you moms of boys out there know, my daughter has some need to comment about her poos, as well. And it went like this...

Kate: MOMMY, I POO POOED, COME WIPE MY BOTTOM!
Me: Good girl, Kate.
Kate: Do you think my poo poo is as tall as you?
Me: No, Kate.
Kate: I think it might be as tall as me, though.

There was no way of knowing, at least, no way that I was going to test.

Side Note: I saw on a friend's blog that his son has been treating his poos like the clouds, you know, finding objects in the shapes. AJ's newest fascination has been any kind of marine animal, especially sharks. So, you can imagine his joy when he thought his poo looked like a shark. Of course, he couldn't flush it until I agreed with his findings.

I hope to one day get past all the potty humor and on to other types, but we seem to be stuck here.

Cheating, as well...

2008-06-29T22:25:00.003-05:00

I've seen this on a few blogs, and thought, since I have digressed to writing only about my kids lately, I should do something different. You know, mix it up. So, I would love to see this on some more of my friends' blogs soon.

I am: trying my best at being a mom and wife
i think: my best is not good enough
i know: I am going to heaven when I die
i want: an interior decorator and a big budget
i have: the best husband
i wish: I could lose 10 pounds
i hate: cleaning toilets
i miss: Matthew and Mike's mom
i fear: losing my children and husband
i feel: thankful
i hear: the TV, Mike's sports
i smell: the chlorine on my skin from swimming
i crave: something sweet after pretty much every meal(hence the 10 pounds mentioned above)
i search: for better ways to be a mom
i wonder: what my children will choose to do when they are grown
i regret: a lot of things I said to Mike early in our marriage
i love: snuggling into the couch with Kate and AJ to read them book after book
i ache: for children who are unloved
i care: about my friends
i always: wish I'd eaten less/better
i am not: very good at keeping my house clean
i believe: I can get better at it if I manage my time better
i dance: to have fun with my kids
i sing: and think I'm better than I am
i cry: at anything where a family is being torn apart
i don’t always: keep up with my friends as well as I should
i fight: even when I know I'm wrong, because I don't like to be wrong
i write: something I love about my husband, and each of my children each night before I go to bed
i win: when I play sudoku
i lose: my temper too easily
i never: get drunk
i confuse: Roth and Traditional IRAs, no matter how many times someone explains them to me
i listen: to my children's laughter with joy that just wants to burst out of my heart
i can usually be found: at home
i am scared: of losing control of what I have control of(really, though, is that anything?)
i need: time to talk with Mike every day
i am happy about: my awesome answers to this questionnaire

Self Taught

2008-06-24T21:51:00.004-05:00

So, I was sitting outside on the phone while Kate and AJ played with sidewalk chalk. Kate says, "Excuse me, Mommy. I wrote my name."
By golly, she did, and I didn't even get to teach her how!

Sprinkler Fun!

2008-06-17T15:39:00.002-05:00

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T20:54:00.002-05:00

I had fun copying an idea from a magazine for Mike's Father's Day gift from the kids. I dressed AJ up as "Weekend Daddy" and Kate as "Work day Daddy", in their daddy's clothes. They had a blast doing it, the pictures turned out cute, and Mike loved them, which was the goal.

Ballet and Soccer

2008-06-11T19:07:00.002-05:00

Kate had her first dance class this morning with a few of her friends from the neighborhood. I was too slow in registering AJ for soccer and they were full, so I took him to the park while Kate was in class to play with him. Kate loved dance; AJ did not love soccer. Either mommy is a poor teacher or soccer is just not his thing. He did like the gear, though, so he's like his daddy in that respect.

Ahhh...Nevis

2008-06-08T22:20:00.003-05:00

What a great week we had on vacation! Nevis was a great mix of something to do and nothing to do. We relaxed by the pool, read, ate, went scuba diving twice, Mike golfed twice, I got a massage, and enjoyed the quiet. We went with some great friends, the Fudges, and yes, we are still great friends. It was just the right amount of time, and we were happy to get home to our families. I'm sure some funny stories will come from Mike soon, but I thought I'd let you all see where we were.

Bon Voyage to Us!

2008-05-31T22:54:00.002-05:00

We're headed to the island of Nevis in the Caribbean for a week without our kiddos, in celebration of our 10 year anniversary. Pumped is what we are! We'll post pics when we return. I'll make sure to edit out the ones of us on the nude beach.

The Shack

2008-05-25T22:06:00.002-05:00

A book by William P. Young. This book took me a long time to finish because there was so much to think through after each chapter. I loved it! There are a few things I don't whole heartedly agree with in it, but it is an amazing picture of the Godhead. I don't think I will ever think of God in the same way again. I highly recommend it.

Mother's Day

2008-05-11T21:51:00.003-05:00

Really one of the few times a year that I get in the pictures with my kids. Love it!

Gardening

2008-05-09T22:46:00.003-05:00

Russ Style, which means it's in a pot and will probably turn brown before it flowers. I don't have a good record with keeping plants alive, but I'm getting therapy. We got our gear on and AJ was more interested in his froggy gloves, but Kate was focused on putting soil in the pot one small shovel full at a time. It was a great time killer.
We did this over a week ago, so we already have some sprouts coming up. Kate and AJ love going outside to count and water them. So, hopefully, they will survive because two 3 year olds will remember to water their plants.

"Camping"

2008-05-05T13:52:00.003-05:00

I've been trying to find a weekend when we could go camping as a family and have not found one yet, so we decided to just "camp" at home. So, the tent went up and we kept wondering why we hadn't thought of it before. We couldn't keep Kate and AJ out of there, they loved it. We read books, played games, and even slept, most of the night, there. Mike bailed at midnight, and at 2am when I was running out of covers to keep us all warm, we took the kids inside and finished the rest of our night in bed. They never woke up, thank goodness. We ate all our meals at the picnic table and made S'mores for dessert the next night. Kate and AJ were not too sure about them at first, but when they realized it was pure sugar, they gobbled them up. Enjoy the pics!

Skills

2008-04-21T09:09:00.004-05:00

Kate and AJ have skills! AJ's is balancing odd objects(grocery cart, dump truck, bus, blankies, and the piece de resistance, the stroller with baby inside!)
and Kate's is presentation(notice the lovely blankie as the starting point for her display of princesses and produce).

What the wind did...

2008-04-10T13:07:00.004-05:00

to our swing set!

Bubbles!

2008-04-02T21:25:00.003-05:00

Picture the funny little fish in Finding Nemo who yells, "Bubbles! Bubbles! Bubbles! My Bubbles!" every time the treasure chest opens, and that is AJ with his new bubble machine. Kate loves them too, but with not quite the same reaction.

My first time doing a slideshow, and I think I like it!

The Hunt is On!

2008-03-24T08:21:00.007-05:00

As I'm sure everyone else is going to have their pics up, I figured we'd join the crowd. Let's see, we had in total 3 egg hunts. Candy overload!

Church Eggstravaganza, #1:

Later that same day at our house, #2:Saturday before Easter at Mimi and Grandad's, #3(post haircuts):

Our cousins, who we love!The boys(watches, camo, and bunny ears)Grandad, Mimi and all the cousins:

10 Years!

2008-03-14T22:42:00.024-05:00

Bekah and I celebrated our 1o year wedding anniversary and we are looking forward to many more years together!

To bring you up to speed here is a recap -

1-Reality Show Appearance
2-Countries lived in
3-Children - Kate, AJ & Matthew (who is now in heaven)
4-Ambulance trips
5-Addresses/residences
6-Days Kate and AJ spent in NICU
7-Different Vehicles(3 Jeep Cherokees, Accord, Volvo, Odyssey, Camry Hybrid)

8-Number of friends we made in China

9-Jobs(Bekah-7, Mike-2)

10-Vacation Locations (Cabo, Hawaii, Colorado, Niagra Falls, Hong Kong, Georgia, San Francisco, Austin, Vancouver, Vegas)

Top 5 things about Mike, from Bekah's point of view:

-a better dad than I am a mom

-committed

-insightful

-witty and incredibly funny(I know, that's two)

-kind

Top 5 things about Mike, from Mike's point of view:

-rock'n bod

-good hair

-great hands

-great lover

-great lover(that's right)

Top 5 things about Bekah, from Mike's point of view:

-Awesome Mom

-Brilliant

-Great laugher

-Woman of God

-Caring heart for others

*Bonus*-Smok'in Hot

Top 5 things about Bekah, from Bekah's point of view:

-Modest

Any Suggestions?

2008-03-12T00:08:00.002-05:00

I am hoping to get some suggestions on good(it's ok if it's a little pricey) places to eat for our date on Friday night. We are celebrating our 10 year anniversary, that's right, we're moving into double digits. So, a nice place, and Mike would like the option of getting crab.
And...Go.

"Mom, Will you play...

2008-03-07T08:06:00.006-06:00

...Pyro Cherri-O?" As I tell AJ yes, I am picturing little plastic cherries, en flambe, and the person who gets the fewest burns wins!
I guess we need to work on pronunciation.

Snow Day!

2008-03-04T20:38:00.004-06:00

We almost didn't even realize it was snowing so hard last night, and Mike wanted to run out to take pics and got a good one of the house. And another down the street(and Speight's House) Mom, Just let us go out and play!I just wish we'd had more time to play, because they loved it!

Dance Like Nobody is Watching

2008-02-24T14:58:00.004-06:00

This morning at church, we had a guest pastor give the sermon. He used an illustration to convey the idea of leaving your comfort zone and taking a risk on God. Much like at a Jr. High dance, someone would leave the comfort of the "wall" and join in on the dance of life. The pastor spoke about how he was one of those guys who loved to dance, but in reality, was not gifted with being able to keep a beat. The entire sermon, the attached kept playing over and over in my head!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2843499070026558787&q=wimbomix&total=11&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=9

My friend Josh, who relishes in moments like these, is a Partner for a high end executive search firm and this is what he does at their Holiday Party. I am not surprised, as I also got the opportunity to spend a summer working with him in Cancun. Many of the moves he uses in this video, I saw him "master" while on the stages of La Boom, Daddy Rocks and Daddy O's. He has also written a book detailing a 5 step process to ensure that you get featured on the jumbo-tron at sporting events. I think dance moves like these are steps 1-4!

Enjoy!

Before Winter Returned

2008-02-21T15:14:00.004-06:00

It got cold and rainy today, but yesterday it was beautiful. We were getting warm in our long sleeve shirts! So, we took advantage of the weather and played outside as much as possible. Kate and AJ feel like such big kids when they ride their bikes. They love putting on their helmets, too. We went from one necessary hat to another when we started playing on the swingset. The giraffe and turtle hats.They were instrumental in the flying technique of "Superman" swinging.Then, in anticipation of the rain I guess, the boots came out.The whole ensemble.

"Potty Like A Rock Star"

2008-02-18T11:00:00.012-06:00

I am a fearful man! Like many young tots, I had your normal fears growing up. Fear of the dark, reptiles, crustaceans, rodents, strange oil paintings with eyes that seem to follow you wherever you go, reading and public toilets. My fear of reading was not so much the reading aspect, but the idea of getting a papercut in my eyeball. I remember that, when forced to read, every time I had to turn a page, I would hold the book out as far as I could reach then turn the page before bringing the book back to proper reading distance. So I guess you could say that I had a fear of papercuts, specifically to my eyeball, that manifested itself into a fear of reading! In actuality, that is not what this blog is about anyway, but is focused more on my last and greatest fear...the fear of public toilets. A fear that I couldn't avoid for long.

I know what you are thinking, how did he live in China and survive with this incapacitating fear. Well, I am proud to say that I overcame this fear of the public toilet (circa 1994) and now actually consider myself somewhat of an expert on the topic! I am a self proclaimed, expert in the areas of Ceasar Salads, Pro Quarterback prospects and Public Restrooms including public restroom etiquette.

I remember growing up that I always seemed to have amazing sphincter control. But, I lived every day with the fear in the back of my mind as to what happens if it was an emergency. Fortunately for me, as a highschooler, I lived relatively close to home and I went to school in the days where the campus wasn't on a 24hr lockdown, so whenever times got desperate, I would "fly like the wind" to my home court to take care of business. It was in college that my PR philosophy began to shape into what it is today. Many young men and women go to college and experience enlightenment in the areas of theology, philosophy, relations...I was enlightened in another area. My friends at other schools were busy learning guitar, experimenting with drinking or streaking campus wearing only Mardi Gras beads, what was I going to do to qualify for elite status among my peers? How do I become reveered for all time??? Do I score a par on a par 3 while naked at Bryan Municiple Golf Coarse? Been there, done that! Do I run a sub 12 second 100 yard dash on Kyle Field (right after they lay the grass field) - naked? Who hasn't.

Like a man who fears heights decides to skydive, or someone who fears water goes scuba diving, or someone who fears reading wears chemistry lab goggles, I would face my fears - head on. I decided that I would use the restroom in every building on the A&M campus. So my quest began! It was during this quest that I learned a lot about myself and I learned a lot about the general habits of the human race. You've heard it said that you can tell a lot about a man's character by what he does when no one is looking, but you can equally learn a lot about a man when he thinks that no one is in stall #4! It was also on this journey of enlightenment that I decided that I should/would write a book about my experiences. I would call it: "Potty Like a Rock Star" - 14 essential techniques to avoid being caught with your pants down. Each chapter covers a technique that I have mastered or gives advice on proper restroom management. Some of the highlights are:

1) Always lift your feet - you don't want anyone knowing you are in there - be covert! Also, a funny byproduct is when you get a "snooper" who is unsure if someone is in the stall and either looks under or over the wall creating quite an uncomfortable moment for him!

2) Always disquise your voice - if someone asks if the stall is taken, mix it up. Try and respond in a woman's voice or a foreign language.

3) I used to be a stander, now I am a sitter - if you are over 6'2" always sit, or the top of your head will rise above your standard stall wall height. If below 6'2" it is up to your own discretion. If over 6'2" and you have to stand, I would suggest carrying a wig with you in your backpack.

4) When in doubt, mid-flush! Make sure to stand when you mid-flush as to not get residual spray! AKA "backlash" or "splashback".

5) Always read the writing on the walls, you are bound to learn something.

6) In an office setting begin to recognize people's shoes - you need to know who is in the stall next to you at all times, so that you can make funny noises and try and induce laughter if it is someone that you know. You also want to know who does and does not wash their hands.

7) Absolutely no talking on the phone or carrying on a conversation while takin' care of business.

8) Be aware of your name badge - this is a rookie mistake. I have seen many a person who inadvertantly advertises to the world that they go #2, because they have there badge on a belt loop. When you drop the pants, the badge also goes with it! THINK PEOPLE, THINK!!!

9) Check for toilet paper prior to starting - I have fallen for this trick many-a-time! #1 tactic of the restroom Gargoyle or Gremlin.

10) Use a fake sneeze rather than a fake cough to cover any unwanted noise.

11) Awlays leave things better than you arrived. This is a practical way to make the world a better place. No matter how proud you are of the mess you made, don't leave it for someone else to "discover".

12)If circumstances are dire, go David Blaine style and try to levitate - bacteria can't get what it can't touch.

13) No laptops - too many nooks and crannies, plus it is just gross.

14) Randomly throw out words like "awesome" or "amazing" if you have multiple people in the rest room. Be sure to use your fake voice!

I am proud to say that when I graduated in December of 1997, I had acheived my goal. Some people strive to graduate with a 4.0, my aspirations were much higher! Many new buildings have been added to the campus that I have yet to visit, but I feel complete in spite of that. I have conquered a fear and it no longer cripples me.

Why did I choose today to write about this? Beacause today, I "witnessed" a man in two-toned brown hush puppies make all of the sounds of a #2 while both feet were facing the toilet. He didn't even know I was there - shhhhh!!!

Later

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T15:24:00.004-06:00

Just a few pics, nothing profound about love. Kate loves cooking with me, and like most things, she needs the whole outfit to do it properly. Loving on our sweet dog, Kelty. A few posed pics, but turned out cute. I only had to take about 12 this time to get one of them not doing their "Cheese" face.
A note about AJ's shirt. Sweet, I know, but...I've tried to get him to wear it 3 times before today, but he would cry and scream because he didn't want it. Today, bribery worked just fine. A little of the "Cheese" Face.

Curious

2008-02-08T14:51:00.000-06:00

We watched Mary Poppins over the past two days, and Kate and AJ really enjoyed it and keep saying things about what was in the movie. So, it got me to thinking... What movie reminds you most of your childhood? To find the answer to that question, I put a poll on our blog. It's a first for me, so I'll be interested to see what you say. If the movie that most reminds you of childhood is not on that list, let me know what it was. I'm just curious.
Mine is a toss up between Annie and The Sound of Music. Although, I did love Mary Poppins, The Wizard of Oz, and The King and I, too. I was a little afraid of Willy Wonka, so I didn't really care for that one until much later.

Silence is Golden

2008-02-07T13:26:00.000-06:00

As a mom, I crave silence sometimes, but when my kids are awake and it's been quiet for too long, I automatically think they are doing something they shouldn't. Much to my surprise, Kate and AJ were just reading their books. What good kids... Well, that didn't last too long!

Which is More Funny?

2008-02-02T15:24:00.000-06:00

This conversation with AJ as we are changing him out of his pull up into big boy underwear:

AJ - "Mommy, pee pee comes out of my penis."

Me - "Yes, AJ."

AJ - "And poo poo comes out of my bottom."

Me - "Yes, AJ."

AJ - "And frogs jump, Ribbitt."

Me - "Ribbitt"

OR, Kate's bed head? Something really could have been hiding in there!

Hallelu!

2008-01-31T18:45:00.000-06:00

All #2 went in the Loo! Can you tell we played a lot of rhyming games today?

FYI

2008-01-29T20:46:00.000-06:00

My mom called to correct me on my grammar yesterday after she saw the blog. I told her that I know what the proper spelling of The Russes is, but because most people try to find ways to avoid it or completely flub it up, I thought it was an appropriate title for our blog. So, I'm guessing it's not that funny.

Travels and Travails

2008-01-27T21:59:00.000-06:00

As many of you know I left last Friday to go to back to China. This happens to be my first trip across the Pacific while not sitting in business class. The good news was that through some nifty maneuvering, I had been assigned the bulk-head seat - so no worries! I woke at 4:00AM to drive from my home on the border of Louisiana and Texas (Murphy) to make sure that I was on time for my flight to Chicago, where I would get my connection to Shanghai, China, from there. It is extremely important not to miss the connecting flight as there is only 1 flight per day direct. The bad news is that even though I was on-time to the airport, we had a 1 hour delay to our flight to Chicago. The good news is that when we landed in Chicago, we were not late for our next flight, because it had been cancelled!!! After standing in line for 4 hours we were re-booked on a United Flight for the next day – looks like I am partying in Chicago – “what, we can’t get our bags” – looks like I am bunkering down in my hotel room as to not get my clothes more rank than they already are.

Side Note: I saw Ron Jeremy in the airport, he was wearing a shirt that said “rise 2 the occasion” on it. If you don’t know who he is, then count yourself as a quality human and I would not recommend Googling his name. I happen to know who he is from the show on VH1 – not from any of his award winning videos.

Since it was 19 degrees in Chicago and I hadn’t planned on walking anywhere, I was not really dressed to walk around town looking for a place to eat. The very nice hotel/airport shuttle driver “offered” to take us to a local pizza place for an authentic Chicago Pie. After eating we had a nice brisk walk back to the hotel (1.5miles) in the cold. Upon entering the hotel, we were greeted by our kind driver that had dropped us off. She was a bit disappointed that we had not “taken care” of her with a tip for dropping us off at the pizza place. She proceeded to demand a tip for her services – only in Chicago.

Day 2 of our initial 1 day trip and we are on our way. I decided when confirming my seat for my United flight that I would pay $119.00 extra dollars for the 5 extra inches of seat space – that might be the best decision I have made in a long, long time! I get on the plain and wedge myself into my window seat for my 14 hour flight to Shanghai. Miserable. Good thing I have 4 of the best movies to watch and take my mind off of how uncomfortable I am. Stardust, Resurrecting the Champ, Game Plan and December Boys – AWESOME. Also, the route through Chicago goes directly north over the polar icecap, down through Siberia, Mongolia and then into China. All of those rumors you have heard about Siberia…they are true – not much going on there.

I finally made it and am in pretty good spirits. Friday, I get to try and do it all again!

Sound Theology???

2008-01-21T09:30:00.000-06:00

Over the last several weeks, Bekah has begun an important teaching lesson with our kids. She has started to post a bible verse of the week so that Kate and AJ can begin to memorize scripture. It is sad to say, but after only 3 weeks of "training" Kate and AJ have committed more scripture to memory than I did in the first 16 years of my life. I don't think that I have ever been more proud of our kids after they recited their first week verse for us. Yesterday after lunch, I asked Kate and AJ to recite 3 weeks worth of verses for me so that I could bask in the glory of how good a job I am doing as a parent. In reality, Bekah is responsible for the good stuff, while I am responsible for AJ not being offsides in our game of living room tackle football and for both our kids having a black belt in nose picking at the age of 3.

Side note: nose picking has long been a skill that has been passed from generation to generation in the Russ clan. I believe that Jedediah Russ (back in 1743) was described as a "master blacksmith and thine nose pick'r" - Old English. It was not unusual on a Sunday afternoon as child to see my dad taking a nap with the double-finger tri-pod nose napping maneuver. Visual - Index finger in each nostril, elbows on stomach for support and head slightly leaned forward with your neck creating the other "leg" of the tri-pod - sweet dreams. Try it, you won't regret it.

Now back to the story at hand. It was during lunch that Kate decided to share with the family what she has been learning about God! "In the beginning God created...(wait for it, wait for it) - Taquitos". I guess Kate had really enjoyed the Taquitos that we had gotten her for lunch! After lunch, Kate and AJ went outside to play on the their swing set and Kate kept referring to it as her "temple". Apparently, they learned something about the Temple in Sunday School, but I don't think that they ever told Kate that it was in her backyard. Bekah and I are now carefully monitoring Kate to make sure that she does not start a cult with the neighborhood children, where everyone comes to our backyard temple and worships at the alter of the Taquitos. I think that this is how a young Joseph Smith got started. We are concerned!

More concerning is that later in the afternoon, while watching the Partiot-Chargers game, AJ got a hold of the remote control and changed the channel to ice-skating. After I changed it back to the game, AJ was upset and kept asking to watch ice-skating. I calmly explained to AJ that we don't watch ice-skating over football in our house. Doubly-concerned!!

I spent 90% of my time today in the ...

2008-01-17T22:48:00.000-06:00

BATHROOM! And not because of me, thankfully. Today was the big potty training push at the Russ home. And, even though Kate is pretty much potty trained, she's been struggling with some issues, and struggling is truly the right word. So, she's in there about once every hour, and AJ decided that he likes just sitting there until he can go. Good thing we have two potties crammed in there. You know, quality time together. Well, I figured since he was just happy sitting there, I'd go straighten up the kitchen. That 1% of my day in the kitchen prompted about 10 more percent in that bathroom. I return to find that AJ has decided to conduct an experiment on how much toilet paper one toilet can handle. Apparently, he had to keep increasing the amount since the entire roll was gone. When I walked in, the water was already touching his bum. I grab him off the toilet, put him out of the bathroom, and proceed to plunger with a fury like none other. But, as mentioned above, the toilet was already full, so, the push down of the plunger caused a deluge of toilet water(which let's face it, even if there was no human exrement in it, is still gross) over the rim and onto the floor, the bath mat and my slippers. Quick, get to high ground!
I finally got the situation under control with a fully functioning toilet back and a cleaned up bathroom. I come out, and AJ is still crying, and I think it is because I had not kept my cool. Come to find out, he's crying, "My socks are wet!" So into the wash go the bath mat, my slippers, the towels, and AJ's socks. Good as new in no time at all. Gone are the days when AJ gets to sit on the potty and wait it out unsupervised.

Christmas Fun

2007-12-29T16:12:00.000-06:00

We had a great Christmas with our families. Kate and AJ enjoyed making cookies for Santa, and they were proud of their work.Christmas Eve we read the Christmas story out of one of their children's Bibles and then read the Night Before Christmas. We set up their cookies and then tucked them into bed with Christmas songs, which they still ask for a week later. The morning was just the four of us. AJ with his Lightening McQueen car, which he likes to take to bed. Kate in her newest princess outfit. Cutie. Swinging outside on Christmas day without coats! (We love our new camera, we could have never gotten these pics before!) Santa (aka Grandaddy) came to visit at our house, and they loved it! They also love having their cousins around.

Go Mavs!

2007-12-21T16:03:00.001-06:00

Mike and I went with our friends, Greg and Julie Hornok, to the Mavs game on Wednesday night when they beat the Suns 108-105. It was a really good game even though I enjoyed talking with Julie more. Mike gave me such a hard time because I wanted to get pics of the two of us and the four of us, mainly to document that we actually went out and did something without our kids. He said we looked like we'd never been to a game before. Well, I didn't care much, plus, I wanted to use my new camera again.

Great pic taken by a stranger. How do you like my Old School Mavs shirt? (Found it at a Garage Sale a few years ago)

Loving Christmas Time

2007-12-19T07:55:00.000-06:00

There are many reasons to love the Christmas season, and today I experienced one. I went out to the mailbox and Glory Be! I opened it to find JUST Christmas cards. No bills, no credit card offers, no coupons, no other junk, just Christmas cards. A Huge smile broke over my face, think Grinch-style after his heart grows three times it's size.
Once again, made me thankful for our friends and family and being back in the States in time for Christmas.
As we remember the biggest blessing God has given us, let's also keep our eyes open for the little ones.

New Camera

2007-12-16T21:04:00.001-06:00

Mike and I decided it was time to upgrade from our 5 year old 3.1 megapixel camera and got a Nikon for our Christmas present to each other. We got it the day of Kate and AJ's birthday, and I've been playing with it trying to figure it all out. So, here's some pics from the past few days with the new camera.

They're both into hats lately, and thank goodness we got two cowboy hats handed down from my sister, or we'd have even more scuffles than we do now!

And Hoods! One of their favorite games, get Daddy! AJ loves his Mack truck from the movie Cars. I need more pouting! AJ loves mom and dad's bed. The threesome back together on the teeter totter. The Sunday night dinner boys.

The Teacher?

2007-12-15T21:44:00.000-06:00

Last night after putting Kate and AJ in their separate rooms for bed, we hear over the monitor that someone is up and about. After about a minute of silence we hear talking, and since our monitor is not too clear, we can't tell who is talking, so Mike goes up to regulate. Before opening the door to Kate's room which had a light shining under the door, he hears AJ saying to Kate, "This is the letter C. What letter is this?" Mike didn't hear any response from Kate, so he opened the door. AJ is sitting on the edge of Kate's bed with an ABC book open reading to her. So sweet, and yet so funny, because she was sound asleep. We figure he went in there, turned on her bedside light, got the book and decided he didn't care if she was awake because he'd heard kids can still learn while they're sleeping.

Happy Birthday Kate and AJ!

2007-12-13T08:10:00.000-06:00

Kate and AJ turned 3 on Saturday, and we were able to have a family party that night. For months, Kate has been saying she wants a princess watch for her birthday. One day as Mike was going to work in China, she asked him why he had to leave. He told her, "So I can buy you a watch for your birthday." After that she thought that was the solitary reason he went to work. This is Kate after she finally got her princess watch. AJ's excitement over Cars(two of which he already had, but that didn't keep him from being excited). These hats are the same ones they've had each year since they turned one. They came with stickers that you change out each year. Sadly, three was the last number provided, but I will try to come up with cute ones for the upcoming years. Oh, how we love our kids! AJ's handlebar moustache and gangsta party hat. Kate in her new Tinkerbell costume. The Turtle Hat was rediscovered tonight, so they both got into the act.

We're Home!

2007-12-03T13:42:00.000-06:00

Many of you know, but just announcing that we are home now! We were able to come home early. After about a week, we got our clocks set back to this time zone, which was great. Now, Mike and I are able to keep our eyes open past 8:30 and the kids aren't waking up at 4am.
We are getting somewhat settled, as settled as you can be in the Christmas season. We are all glad to be home again, and we pray that the lessons we learned from our short time in China will remain with us.
We are thankful for all of your prayers, emails, and calls during our time away.
More posts to come soon, since we just had Kate and AJ's 3rd birthday.

Sweet and Fun

2007-11-20T05:07:00.000-06:00

We've had a good time lately, especially with the weather being nice and cool. This is just a few pics of Kate and AJ.

Being sweet at the park(I know, I know, I've got to find some more shoes for Kate, but don't let that distract you from how sweet it is).Riding a boat in the park. The "life jackets" were quite sketchy. Daddy reading them a book. Kate reaping the rewards of helping me make brownies.

Beijing and Xi'An Trip

2007-11-12T06:28:00.000-06:00

My dad is visiting us right now, and last week for a few days, he and I went to Beijing and Xi'An(She-An). Mike so wisely decided it was best not to take the kids, so he graciously stayed with them. We were able to see some amazing sights, like Tianneman Square, The Forbidden City, the Great Wall, and the Terra Cotta Warriors. All of these things were incredibly telling of China's history, which is a long, varying one. I won't give you a history lesson, well, because I simply wouldn't get it all right, but I will show you some pictures.

Forbidden City: The Great Wall: Terra Cotta Warriors: Terra Cotta Warriors tourist trap: Hu Tong(close knit communities in Beijing): Summer Palace for Emperors: Xi'An Bell Tower and Drum Tower: Water Town near Shanghai called Zhujiajiao:

Halloween Pics

2007-11-05T06:34:00.000-06:00

I guess it goes without saying by now, that Halloween was a little different here. In this case, different did not mean bad. Since there are not many kids in our complex, much less kids that would actually trick or treat, we decided to go to a different area. The teacher of Kate and AJ's preschool organized a bunch of families to have trick or treaters in their complex. All of the families that participated have one or more parent who teaches at a big American school here in Shanghai. So, we felt safe in going there. The main difference was that we went up and down elevators and stairs to trick or treat in the different buildings. Other than that, it was pretty much door to door like at home. Of course, there were some iffy Chinese candies given out by some, but we've found a few more things we like that we may not have tried otherwise. It didn't take them long to figure out if they just say the magic words, "Trick or Treat", smile and open their bag, then the candy falls in.

Kate was Cinderella and AJ was Spiderman, sans the mask. We barely got him into his costume that night, since he was not a big fan of the muscles. I am a big fan of the muscles, though. Made me laugh. Kate however, had been "practicing" being a princess for many days in advance. They fell asleep on the drive over, funny. I guess it was a good thing so that they wouldn't be as cranky once we got there. When we did arrive and AJ came out of his stupor, he would go around doing his signature growl, scowl, squatting and flexing pose. I guess he liked his muscles some.

Kate with some of her friends from preschool. Allison as Ariel and Zoe as the butterfly. Waiting for the elevator.

I'm sure they will be pros next year.

Modeling Gig

2007-10-29T09:21:00.000-05:00

Yes, it's true, Kate and AJ had their first modeling gig here in China. As you drive up and down the streets here, you will see small clothing shops everywhere. There are a lot of clothing designers here. Not sure why. I am in a Shanghai moms group online, and I saw a post about one of the moms, a designer, who needed models for her kids' line. Well, I knew she wouldn't be able to say no once she saw how cute our kids are, so I responded. Her idea was to make personalized t-shirts for kids. I was thinking, could be cute, but not sure about it. Here are just a few of the shots they got. The first ones are the ones where they used a little photoshop.

Super cute, but you can't read their shirts because they had to lighten up the picture so much. They say "Twin Sis" and "Twin Bro". Not sure why they decided to put "katie and aj", when the shirt obviously says, Kate. Oh, well, not my clothing line. AJ was being a funny boy that day.They were doing good trying to show off the merchandise. Hey come on guys, there's a party over here! Kate and AJ seemed to have fun with it, and we got a few cute pics in the process.

Food Philosophy

2007-10-24T22:42:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, two of my co-workers and I went to have lunch together. Since the frog eating incident, I have tried my best to avoid office lunches without offending the people that will make our company successful here. On this particular day, I was unsuccessful! We went to a local restaurant where we proceeded to order some sort of "mud-bug", egg plant, chicken feet and a pork dish of some sort. I must tell you that here, there is no thought of de-boning or removing of the fat, so the pork is more like pork flavored chewing gum with a hard bone in the center - Mmmmm delicious. I think I have described that the people here throw the whole piece in their mouth and proceed to remove the bone and spit it out, much like the de-shelling of a sunflower seed. During this meal I asked some specific questions about my co-workers eating habits. I was told of some old sayings from Guangzhou (a region in China known for its great food) that when translated go something like this:

We (the Chinese) will eat anything with four legs except a chair

We will eat anything with wings except a plane

We will eat anything from the water except a boat

We will eat anything with hair except a brush

Yep! - That pretty much sums it up.

It was this conversation that got me to thinking about my own food eating philosophy/sayings. I know that in general conversation I have stated many of my rules for eating, but I have never written them down...so here goes:

I will not eat anything with suction cups

I will not eat anything that I would also sleep with (good news for my family and pets)

I will eat anything that is fried as long as it does not conflict with other food eating principles

Ranch is the Michael Jordan of condiments

In the future, I will not eat anything that makes my arms or legs go numb

Peanut Butter + Chocolate = Magic

Butter is good!

If poop tasted like a Kit Kat, I would eat it!

Don't eat fungus

Later

Hong Kong

2007-10-15T06:56:00.000-05:00

Sorry we've been off the grid for a while, we just got back from a short trip to Hong Kong. We went to the Disneyland and then stayed in the city for one night. We are glad that we will have an extra set of hands on the next trip we take. That's you Dad!

As we suspected, they loved Disneyland. We kept hearing how small it is, and everyone who told us that was right. It would not have kept older kids entertained for long, but for two year olds, perfect! There were the tea cups, Dumbo's flying ride, the carousel, a Winnie the Pooh ride, a Buzz Lightyear ride, cars, spaceships, and a few shows. Plenty to keep them entertained. The timing was good as well, because it was not very crowded, which meant a little more freedom for our two who like to explore(i.e. run away from us in opposite directions).

Hong Kong is a beautiful city that was a mix of San Francisco and Hawaii. There were incredible hills and it was lush and tropical. It is a very rich city, we discovered. We lost count of how many Ferraris we saw, and didn't even try to count the number of Bentleys. We fit right in, with our shorts, t-shirts, tennis shoes, and two screaming kids! Actually, though, Hong Kong was nice for many reasons. Every sign is in English as well as Chinese, most people speak English, the taxis are bigger(for us that is noticeable since we always cram in the back of one in Shanghai), we actually had people offer to help us instead of running over us to get there first, and we found Dr. Pepper. All these things we'd been used to living without in Shanghai, so we enjoyed it for a few days.

So, here are the pics. The only decent family pic:) We walked into the hotel to check in and Cinderella was there, I didn't get the camera out quick enough to capture the excitement on Kate's face. Breakfast with the characters was fun. They didn't really know most of them, but that didn't stop them from loving it. AJ running up to Mickey. Kate enamored with Minnie. They both liked Goofy, well, because he's goofy. He "picked" some fake flowers from the arrangement behind our table to give to Kate. We seem to have a lot of pictures on the carousel since it was their favorite, as you can see by their faces. AJ got to sit in the driver's seat, which made him feel, oh, so cool. And, well, he is! Just cooling off a bit. They didn't have to wring out their clothes this time. Our friends, the Youngs, just sent a bunch of pictures from their Disney World trip, and they got about 25 good family pics in front of Cinderella's castle. This is what we got! As you can see our kids are not fighting being in the strollers. As this does not usually happen, know that they were exhausted and they were watching fire works. AJ especially liked the show. The rest of our trip we were in Hong Kong, and since it was incredibly cloudy/smoggy, we didn't take any pics that are worth sharing, but Hong Kong is set in a beautiful part of the world.

Recent Pictures

2007-10-01T08:12:00.000-05:00

I wonder what the Chinese equivalent of white trash would be? Whatever it is, Kate and AJ are pulling off the look well. It was fun to watch them stomp around the apartment with our shoes on, unfortunately, we didn't get the video camera out in time. Since this picture, they have stopped using their pacifiers. Yeah, before three! Now let's see if we can get out of diapers before then.
Even though we took this picture, we don't condone topless dancing.

There is a big park here, Century Park, where the water fountains and little amusement park are, and they really love to get to run around and play. AJ bookin' it when the water came on suddenly. Kate wringing out her clothes after the fountain play. It didn't help much, they were soaked. AJ watching Kate and Mike on the bumper cars. We walked from the park to an eating area, and they loved being on Daddy's shoulders. Of course, they almost hit their heads on the trees. AJ got a kick out of wearing his hat and Mike's. He kept saying, "Two Hats, Mommy!" Kate looking cute in her hat, too.They have a lot of fun at a nearby play area. Kate puts on the Jasmine or Belle costume as soon as she walks in. Then she goes to the mic to show off her musical prowess with a riveting rendition of the ABC's. AJ usually goes straight to the train table, then works his way around to the other boy things. He got very into the construction stuff this day.

Another great example of the attention they get here. We stopped for a minute to buy some "cotton candy" from a street vendor, and this crowd formed in that time. Notice AJ. There was a guy with a video camera as well, but he put it away before I could get out my camera. Every time this happens, which is a lot, we wonder, "What are they going to do with the pictures?!"

We had to buy swim caps to be able to use our pool, so they got into their new "hats". Funny!

Home Sick

2007-09-30T06:06:00.000-05:00

Sundays here are very different. Even though we have a church we can go to, the service is in the middle of the day, 3:00. With kids that are usually napping at that time, it is hard to figure out our day around it. So, all this made me home sick today. Sundays at home start a little hectic, but we love being able to get up and get ready to go to church. Maybe stop for a special treat of donuts, where we usually see one neighbor headed to church, too. Then we can take our kids to a familiar, comfortable place where we know they will hear about Jesus. And we are able to go fellowship with our friends. A quick lunch after church, then home for a nap and some football. Then a fun evening with our Sunday night dinner friends.
Here, just getting to church is interesting, since we don't have our driver on Sundays, we have to take a taxi. Lately, taxi rides have been iffy. Kate has had a sudden burst of motion sickness, and that could be a whole other blog in itself. Each time we leave the house now, we are stocked with a ziploc, change of clothes, and a plastic bag, that she has come to call her "throw up bag". Sounds fun, I know, and you may ask yourself, as we do, is it worth it?! We decided, we would go to lunch and walk around an area that is half way from our house to church so that we can break up the taxi rides. I think it worked well, no vomit. After lunch and wandering around a little, we taxied to another area closer to church to wander around, again, no vomit, bonus. We didn't do much, but it was what we like to call a penalty kill. We seem to be doing a lot of that lately, you know, things to kill time because you really don't have any thing else to do. No, you probably don't know because you're all busy with something or at least enjoy just relaxing at home. Here, home is a small apartment that gets a little crowded with two, high energy two year olds. And to Mike's dismay, no football. Actually, there's football, but it's really soccer. So, once we get to church, sit through the service and get home (no vomit then either, extra bonus), there's not much for us to do except find another penalty kill. Basically, Mike and I work all day just clearing the puck out of the zone. Today, we watched two movies, which is about a week's worth at home. There's some value to Disney, isn't there?!

"The Pit"

2007-09-21T03:27:00.000-05:00

The Russ family (mostly Bekah and I) have grown lackadaisical on one of our most important rules for raising our kids, and yesterday, was a brutal reminder of why we avoid THE BALL PIT.

The summer after my senior year in high school, I took a job working at a bread factor. This job was going to be the greatest money making venture of my life. I was set to earn the large sum of $9.00/hr to simply make bread - easy enough. In fact many of the people reading this blog will remember that I tried to recruit them to join me in what I called "the richest summer ever"! I had already planned all of the things that I was going to buy with my newfound fortune, but it wasn't meant to be...I only lasted 3 days before I quit. A friend later wrote a song called three days in hell to commemorate my time at the bread factory. I would love to take some time and recount those three days of bread making genius, but this blog is not dedicated to that brief chapter in my life. What I learned as a result of quiting at the bread factory and subsequent 2nd job of the summer is the "meat" of my message.

Desperate for a job to earn some spending cash for all my "ladies", I took a job as the "Game Technician" for a little outfit called Chuck-E-Cheeses Enterprises. In my mind, I was several notches up from the lowly pizza runners that were a dime a dozen, I was 1 of 3 game technicians for the Lewisville store that also happened to have the highest play rate of any arcade in the metroplex. I was big time! It was here that I promised myself that if I was fortunate to have a child and if I wanted to be even a marginal parent, I would not allow my kids to EVER play in a ball pit. One of my main job functions, to go along with making sure that ski-ball, pop-a-shot, whack-a-mole and the various other games were in working order, was to make sure that the ball pit was clean and sanitary. The evening of my first day, the last item on my checklist was to make sure that the ball pit was clean. To do this properly, all of the balls are removed from the pit and put into a garbage bag, the garbage bag is then taken to the utility closet and all of the balls are washed as quickly as possible in the utility sink (sometimes with soap and sometimes not so much). Then, prior to returning the washed balls to their home, you were supposed to remove any loose items that had been caught in the netting that holds both child and balls. It was then that I made a startling revelation...I will never let my kid swim in a pit of balls. There starring up at me from the bottom of the empty pit were several pieces of candy, chewed gum, Barbie arms & heads (severed of course), several dozen of the "prize" toys that are purchased with the tickets won on the games that I maintained, stained netting (I would supposed some sort of concoction of urine and vomit) and...a petrified poo log! Yikes! I knew that many of the past Game Technicians apparently had not taken their job a seriously as I. I put on my C.E.C. hazmat uniform and managed to remove the debris, but was unable to do anything about the stains. My manager later told me that it is not unusual for ball pits to go several months without a good cleaning.

(Now take that same ball pit and put it in a country that routinely goes to the restroom anywhere and everywhere and dresses their children in pants without a crotch.)

Why do I tell you this story from my youth? Because yesterday the curse of "the pit" took its vengeance out on my children. Bekah and our ayi took Kate and AJ to the ball pit in our apartment complex. When they arrived, there was only one other child playing in "the pit" - fortunately for us, he wasn't wearing poopoo pants...unfortunately for Kate and AJ he wasn't wearing pants at all. You may be saying to yourself that is when you would have turned around and walk away, but you are not in a foreign country, with little else to do and high amounts of pollution clouding your mind. Before Bekah could get her wits about her, our ayi had already put the kids in with the balls. So, in violation of rule #1 in the Russ parenting book, we allowed Kate and AJ to play in a ball pit. Apparently our complex's ball pit is equipped with the latest and greatest invention...the urine slide!

Maybe in relaying this story, we can save some other children from the pain that can be caused by the ball pit. Maybe some of you reading this are thinking "of course" I already knew that about ball pits, and maybe there is another small faction that is thinking..."a urine slide - sounds fun"! This is just the latest in a string of minor disasters from our time here.

Days here will seem to be going along fine, then wham! - A BIG KICK TO THE GROIN. It happens almost every third day. So much so that Bekah and I have adopted a phrase call T.I.C. This Is China is similar to Hakunah Matatah - "It's our problem free philosophy".

And yes - I have worn the Chuck-E-Cheese costume!

We're OK!

2007-09-19T08:57:00.000-05:00

Just to let everyone know, we're OK! We got a lot of rain, but no real typhoon activity. I think the worst of it hit just outside the city and on the coast. Thanks for all your emails and prayers.

Evening Prayers

2007-09-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

Kate's Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you for this day, thank you for Grandad and Mimi, and Aunt Rachel, and Pa, and Aunt Rachel and Uncle Mike, and Aunt Sara and Uncle Lloyd, and Bailey, Jackson, and Nathan, and Aunt Sue and Uncle Steve and Nicholas, and...(with one eye open looks at us and asks), Who's Next?(we say, Aunt Jamie and Grandmommy) Oh, Aunt Jamie and Grandmommy(same thing with the eye), who's next? (we say, your friends) Oh, Miss Kristy and Jeremy and Addy and Brynna, and Miss Stef and Mr Brent and Blake and Ben, in Jesus' name, Amen

AJ's Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you for this day, and for boats, in Jesus' name, Amen

Preschool

2007-09-13T07:35:00.000-05:00

I guess it's official, Kate and AJ have had their first day of preschool. On Tuesday, when I took the pics, we really just had about 30 minutes of "school" activities, the rest was the moms just figuring things out. Today was their first day with activities for the whole time. All in all, the kids did great, and not just mine, but all of them. There are seven kids in their class, including them. The teacher is the mom of one of the girls, and then the helpers are the mom whose house it is in and then today, me. It was good to be there and see their reactions to all the new things, like just sitting in a circle. None of the kids have been in any kind of school setting before, so even something like that is a new concept. I think Kate and AJ are going to like it. There is one girl younger than them, but all the rest are a little bit older, not much, but apparently enough to have a little bit longer attention span. We had to repeatedly bring Kate and especially AJ, back to the group. It wasn't a big deal, though, which is good, he started catching on and doing better. I won't be there to help every day, but it will be nice to be there some just to watch them engaged with the other kids and absorbing the new things. Today, the teacher's theme was all about how God made each of us special and it also helped them get to know each other's names. She had a mirror that she let each of them see themselves. On Tuesday, she had taken head shots of each of the kids. She had laminated those pictures and used the pictures to help the kids find their seats in the circle. Then she had made the pictures smaller and put them on a Popsicle stick with a little body cut out. She read Eric Carle's book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? After the book, she used these little "people" to help the kids identify each other by asking them, "AJ, AJ, Who do you see?". At the end of class, she gave each mom a paper with all their names and pictures on them so they could go home with us for the kids to see and remember their friends in class. Needless to say, I was impressed. She was very organized and very relaxed about the whole day. I am so thankful to have been invited to this for our short time here.

AJ likes his backpack. Funny boy. Kate was very into posing today. Ok, even though they aren't both smiling, I love that I actually got them to hold hands for the picture. This is their class, and I love that she has grabbed all of their attention, even if they're not in a circle. Hard to do with this age!
More to come later!

Last Week

2007-09-08T20:50:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to let you know a few of the things we've done this past week. Kate, AJ and I spent this week with our new ayi, Jenny(her English name), who, so far, is working out great. We went grocery shopping with her, to a play area at the mall, to a playgroup at our new friend's house, and they stayed with Jenny while I went to a women's ministry kick off.

Kate and AJ's new friend, Jacob, is about 2 months older than they are, and he is the youngest of four boys. They love going to his house because he has a trampoline where they can "Jomp". Pure Joy!We tried painting for the first time. Jenny and I painted more than either of them did, but they liked making a mess. AJ thought painting meant to mix up all the colors. Now his palette is all brown.Just a funny pic of them sleeping in the same bed. I don't know when the stuffed animals got so out of control! But now every night they ask us to build their "ark", which means sandwiching them in the middle of all their animals. On Saturday, we went to a cool kids' place called KidsTown. It is a little play town with a theater, beauty salon, home, school, fire station, hospital, police station and market. At each place, there are appropriate toys for that area. In the middle is a big pillar that is decorated as an apple tree. They have tables and chairs for parents to sit and watch the kids, which is nice because you can see the whole room. There is also a separate room for parties, and another for art projects and little classes. This was a cool place, and Kate and AJ loved it. They would have stayed all day.

He probably spent half his time in the Fire Truck.

Kate getting dolled up in the Beauty Salon. Daddy helped with her ensemble. Our little handy-man. Kate not only enjoyed playing the phonics game, but she dominated it! All with style, too. The only time he will ever get to ride on a motorcycle, if it's up to me. Playing house.What a good helper. I think she is stocked up. Hopefully we won't have to worry about this in the future. That's a better future.That's right, stay in school, AJ. What a good mommy, she brought supplies. Can't go anywhere without snacks and the stroller.Nice Form! Lefty?!A little stage fright.AJ is loving trains lately, so much so that we might have to get a train set and table when we get home!

Tomorrow is their first day of preschool, so that will be the next batch of pics.

Fun for Kate and AJ

2007-09-01T08:37:00.000-05:00

We found a fun little play area in the mall that is really perfect for Kate and AJ's age. It is not too babyish, and it is still challenging for them. Here are a few pics.

The always fun ball pit, but since Poo Poo pants are around, you have to be leary of this one.This thing is spinning while they climb it. They have a big room with a bunch of balloons and a fan going so that the balloons are always moving, and Kate loves it. This is a fun part, it is a tree with a bunch of swings on it, and the tree is constantly rotating. I have to help them get up on the swing, but once they're up there, tons of smiles and giggles.These pictures are a little misleading since there are no other kids in them. They were taken right when the play area opened before it was overrun.

These are the signs in the shuttle we take to the mall. The Chinese version of "Don't talk to strangers", and... I'm not really sure what this one means. I'd be happy to hear what you think it means.

"Thanks...Mr. Jew"

2007-08-21T08:03:00.000-05:00

There are few things in life more brutal than children's recitals. I know that probably offends many parents, but let's face it, unless your child or a close relative is performing there's no reason to be at a recital. Unless...you are trapped in a foreign country (say China) with no way to get around and absolutely no friends. How then do you end up at a children's recital? Glad you asked. A woman who works for our apartment complex invited me, Kate and AJ to watch children dance and sing, and I thought it could be "fun" as well as a good time killer. I don't think I can make it until December if this is how I have to spend my days! All along, I thought we would be going to some performing arts center to watch a professional children's performance. Little did I know, my Chinese-English dictionary did not have a proper translation for "show" performed in an elementary school cafetorium (cafeteria/auditorium that we all grew up with). Apparently recital in Chinese translates to propaganda filled talent show espousing the economic, cultural and social benefits of China.

It is important to note that after each performance, a thank you was given to the performers by the emcee in Chinese and then translated in English.

Here's my "review" of the performances(I know I'm going to get in trouble for making fun of 5 year olds).

Act 1: A 30 minute power point presentation about the strenuous selection process for the upcoming performers, all in Chinese. Have you ever thought of taking two year old twins to a 30 minute power point presentation? How about in Chinese? I can go ahead and tell you it's a bad idea, especially when the music is so loud that you can't hear anything. Except for the one break in music when your son looks at you with the saddest eyes and says,"I want to go home, Mommy." It was the only thing all morning that had proper timing.

Act 2:Shakira and the Salsa Dancers-if you're in the mood for Shakira played on a Sony boom box and some not so on beat dance moves, you might want to join me next time. This act had three couples, none of them older than 8, seductively dancing their way into the hearts of all the other guests. The little boys and girls were dressed in their sexy outfits with makeup all over their faces. Is it ever a good idea to put blue eyeshadow on a boy??? You make the call in the attached picture - and yes that IS a Jackie Chan hair braid. I think AJ is planning to come back to Texas with one.
Act 3: Have you heard the one about the Rabbi, his Chinese wife, and their son? Well, I have, and let me tell you, it's not too pretty. This performance was supposed to be their son singing a traditional Jewish song, when in fact it ended up being the two parents performing a rousing rendition of Hava Nagila. About half way through, all the Chinese people started clapping and stomping their feet, again, not on beat. It was pure chaos! Mike and I are starting to think that maybe two hands are unable to meet in rhythm in China as referenced by the "high five" side-note blogged about earlier. Maybe the "Butterfly Effect" of two hands connecting in-rhythm in China results in a tornado in Oklahoma??? I don't think one beat was hit in two hours...Good news for Oklahoma - Brutal for me. After this performance is where "the line of the year" (as Mike calls it) was issued. After the performance the emcee got up to thank the performers and said..."Thanks, Mr. Jew." My jaw dropped. It is either a strange coincidence that in a country of 1.2 billion that the one Jewish performance is done by a man named Mr. Jew or in fact Engrish took over. The Chinese are not known for being politically correct either!
Act 4:Violinist- I actually have nothing bad to say about her. Mike said "of course she was good -if you think back to elementary school again, weren't all of the really good violinists who performed in the cafetorium Asian". At least that's what he said it was like at McCoy elementary! Even though she was extremely good, it still couldn't hold the attention of Kate and AJ.

Act 5: Kung Fu demonstration- What would a recital be in China without a Kung Fu demonstration. This one was prefaced with a "Do not try this at home. These are trained Kung Fu artists." I took it as a challenge. I figure all I really have to do is yell "Huh!" a lot and act like I'm going to hit someone and then roll around on the floor. Apparently that takes a lot of training for a 5 year old to do. I guess Kate and AJ are advanced for their age because they do all of those things already. I'm so proud. Now if I could get them to quit pooping in their pants. I do want to see if Kate will let me do her hair like that, though.

Act 6: Australian Song: This was sung by three children that I think were siblings. This was the only act in English, so I understood every word. At this point, I switch from being glad I didn't know Chinese to wishing I didn't know English! I think the Australians need to rethink some of their songs, since this one focused mostly about being brought to Australia because they were criminals. Now I know that it used to be a prison island, but having kids singing about it was a little weird. As a result, Mike has decided to write a song about Huntsville that he is hoping Kate and AJ will perform at their first recital.

Act 7: Handkerchief Dance- Cute little girl doing what was a traditional Chinese dance. She did a good job, I think - I really have nothing to compare it to. Kate and AJ liked it at least. I did finally figure out who actually uses all the handkerchiefs.

Act 8: Saxophone player- Awkward boy playing well, but each page turn involved stopping completely, turning the page and then starting again in the middle of the song. Poor guy, they could have helped him out a little and turned the pages for him.

Act 9: Traditional Chinese Dance- Three teenage girls performing a dance that had some significant meaning in Chinese, but again, not sure what it was. I was just glad it was the last act of the show as I had already been defeated by Act 1.

All of the performers got on stage and posed for a picture at the end, and this is when they asked all of the children to come up for the picture. I found out that the whole purpose of this show was to demonstrate how accepting Chinese people are of all the different cultures from around the world and that is why we were invited - token Americans. I don't think there was an act for the USA (I am not quite sure because I went comatose about 45 minutes in), but if there wasn't I guess I should have gotten up there and sang, "I'm proud to be an American." That would have fit in just right at this sad, sad show.

We're looking forward to inviting each of you to Kate and AJ's first recital.

Love

Mr. and Mrs. Christian

Every Day Things

2007-08-20T07:21:00.000-05:00

So, we get a bill in the mail today, or at least that's what we think it is. Not sure what it is for or how to pay it since it is all in Chinese. Fun! It is weird to have to learn how to do every day things in a whole new way. I think we've already demonstrated that with the muffin making post. With this, I started to think about all the every day things that I look forward to returning to in December. Here's the List:

Driving myself around, and going when I want/need to go
Being able to read signs
Finding ingredients for dinner
Grocery stores who clean and stock at night, not in the middle of the busiest time of day
Having a back yard
Going to our church
Eating out and enjoying the food
Seeing the price for something and paying that price
A phone that works each time I pick it up
Being walking distance to friends
Being driving distance to family
Not being stared at every where I go
My kitchen
My bed
My house
Not feeling like I've been sucked of all energy every time I run an errand
English
Being able to take a deep breath without gagging or coughing
Going to the grocery store and not having to hold your breath
Not having to yell at Kate and AJ for touching everything, especially in the bathrooms, YUCK!

I'm sure I will be able to add to this list, but for now, it is a good start.

To Stay or Not To Stay

2007-08-15T03:39:00.000-05:00

Since our/my company has asked us to extend our relocation to Shanghai, Bekah and I thought that we should put together a list of pros and cons to determine whether or not we should stay!

US - Spork/China - Chopstix = Advantage US - the spork is behind only the paperclip and the internet for greatest invention of all time!
US - Reunion Tower/China - Oriental Pearl Tower = Advantage China
US - Potatoes, Bread, Pasta, Cole-Slaw, Potato Salad, Okra, Corn, French Fries, Baked Beans, Green beans, salad, chips, onion rings, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, sweet potatoes, mac-n-cheese and rice/China - Rice = Advantage US
US - Tiger Woods/China - KJ Choi = Advantage US (13 Majors to None)
US - Kleenex/China - Finger = Push (I prefer my index finger, I don't know where the Kleenex has been)
US - Diapers/China - Poo Poo Pants = Adv China
US - Grandparents have own home/China - Grandparents live with kids = HUGE Adv US
US - Buffalo Chicken Wings/China - Shanghai Chicken Feet = Adv US, unless the chicken feet are covered in Buffalo sauce, then Push
US -15-20% Customary Tip/China - NO Tip - Adv China
US - Restrooms/China - any alleyway, street corner, bush, curb, garbage can, bucket = Adv US for women, Adv China for men = Push
US - Driving/China - Driver = Push (my driver doesn't speak any English, so I can never go where I really want to go anyways)
US - Hot Dog/China - Sticky Buns = No one wins - it's mystery meat!!!
US - The wall that separates the Aviary from Hunters Landing/China - The Great Wall = Push the wall in Murphy helps to provide a buffer from the Youngs while the great wall stopped an invasion by the blood thirsty Mongols!
US - I dominate basketball/China - I still dominate basketball = Slight Adv China - Because I dominate more!
US - Baylor Football/China - Tingong University Football = Huge Adv China though they don't even have a football team!!!
US - Blockbuster (where you can rent movies for $4 a piece)/China - random street merchant on a bike (where you can own movies for $.50) = Adv China - Even though the movie may be in Russian or French and have to have the language setting changed to play
US - NASCAR/China - Taxis = Adv China - I get to experience it!
US - Michael Jordan/China - Yao Ming = Adv US
US - Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner/China - Meal = Adv US
US - Weight Watchers/China - Diarrhea = Adv China - its quicker, but problematic if you refer to restrooms/various locale comparison mentioned above
US - Nesquick (Chocolate or Strawberry)/China - Milk Tea = Adv US - milk and tea should never mingle.
US - $3,000 Rolex, Tag, Breitling, Cartier, Omega/China - $30 Rolex, Tag, Breitling, Cartier, Omega = Adv China for now, but in a year when the watch breaks Adv US. I take that back Adv still China, because I can buy 100 of them!
US - Pajamas for sleeping/China - Pajamas all the time = Adv China
US - Pre-packaged meat products/China - bulk bin meat products = Adv US - refer to Kleenex/finger comparison above
US - Atlantic and Pacific Oceans/China - Pacific Ocean only = Adv US - (SUCK-IT China)
US - speak English/China - speak Engrish = Push - Engrish is funny (http://www.engrish.com/, thanks Drew)
US - Maid Service $35/hr./China - $2/hr. = Adv China
US - MTV/China - MTV Phillipines = Adv US
US - Clear Drinking Water from the tap/China - Tea colored drinking water from the tap = Push due to contributing weight loss redeeming quality of China tap water.
US - Pants' Fly closed/China - Pants' Fly open = Adv US - it may be cute with the Poo Poo pants, but not with grown men!

So in recapping the final score it was a close one, US = 12 and China = 11 - Looks like we are going to be home for Christmas.

By the way, our company has not asked us to extend our stay, but it makes for a better read.

Later

Making Muffins in Shanghai

2007-08-12T02:56:00.000-05:00

A whole post about making muffins?! How can that even be remotely interesting? Well, at home, it's not, you just buy the box at the store, open it, read the instructions, turn on the oven, mix the proper amount of ingredients, put it in the oven and wait for the timer. Then, voila, perfect muffins for the whole family to enjoy. If only it were that simple here. Let me tell you the Shanghai way of making muffins.
First, even finding a box of Betty Crocker blueberry muffins in Shanghai is exciting, even if you have to pay close to 5 dollars for it. Of course, you pay it for the glimmer of hope it gives you that you might be able to have a taste from home. Then you realize, hmm, that fully furnished apartment came with one pot, one pan, and three cooking utensils. That's not going to cut it when it comes to making muffins, or even the quick bread recipe on the back of the box. So, you have to make a big trip to IKEA across town and pray that they have a muffin pan and measuring cups since you didn't bring them to your fully furnished apartment. You do a little dance in IKEA when you find both. At the grocery store, you buy the boxed milk that is not in the refrigerated section, the eggs that are not in the refrigerated section, and the only recognizable vegetable oil which comes in a Sam's size container. Now we have all the ingredients, the pan and the measuring cups. Just pull off the sticker with the Chinese instructions that is covering the English measurements and oven temp. We're ready to make muffins, oh wait, no cooking spray to be found. Let's get a little creative. Put some butter on a paper towel and grease the inside of each muffin cup. Ok, now we're ready. Turn on the oven, oh yeah, it's in Celcius, and the box has the temperature in Farenheit. So, go to the computer and hope that you are not the only one who has forgotten the conversion calculation from elementary school. Yes! More people with bad memories, there is a whole website devoted to conversions, got it. Ok, now turn on the oven. Good, check. I did bring an oven thermometer so I could know if the temperature was right in Farenheit. Now to mixing the ingredients. No big deal, I can do this part easy, I've got my measuring cups, oh wait, they're in milliliters! Back to the conversion website. Now at least I have an educated guess, since my 100 ml cup is the equivalent of .42 cups, and I needed 3/4 of a cup of milk and 1/4 of a cup of oil. I almost pull out the calculator, since my head is starting to hurt. So, in go two eggs, and about the right amount of milk and oil, I hope. Mix, and put in the muffin cups, really this was the only normal part of the process, but I had to buy a bowl to even mix it. Ready to bake, wait, the oven is not on, great(at this point, I'm close to giving up). Figure out how to turn on the oven and then wait for preheat. Come back in about 10 minutes to check, readjust since it is not quite hot enough. Apparently, I unknowingly turned it off, because when I came back in another few minutes it was not hotter, but cooler(at this point, I'm close to cussing). Stand over the oven and watch it to make sure the temp goes up and not down this time. Ok, close enough. Put the muffins in, and set the time for a little shorter to make sure I don't burn these now precious muffins. Come back and check a few minutes before the timer goes off, and they look done. Put in a knife, and yeah, they are finished. Glad I checked, if I had waited until the timer went off, they would have been burned.
Finally, voila, perfect muffins for the whole family to enjoy. And believe me, they were the best muffins I've ever tasted, even if it took me 12 days to make them.

Outings in Shanghai

2007-08-09T01:26:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, it's been too long between posts, but really, with the response Mike got about how funny the Poo Poo Pants are, it's a tough act to follow. Don't expect too much humor here, I just want to give you a peek into what we've been up to here.

While Rachel was here last week, we went a lot of places around Shanghai, and because we had our own personal photographer, we got a lot of pics. Here, Kate and AJ are at the little play area at our apartment. These are some pics from our day at Century Park. Century Park is probably the only green space in Shanghai that I've seen so far that allows you to walk on the grass. It is a huge park, and we actually got lost. I guess it is probably equivalent to Central Park in New York. Me and AJ on the Bee ride, which they loved. See, very Sandy Lake Park! Kate and AJ playing in the water fountain thing. This was a great way to cool off, since our AJ thermometer was reading bright red. It was on our way to this that we took the picture of the poo poo pants. Oops, should have cropped that picture before putting it in. Sorry, didn't mean to show the guy grabbing his crotch in the background!

After the water fountain play, on a bridge in the park.

We found a little path to take in the park, and this is what led us to getting lost.

On our way to dinner one night. I told you everyone stares at us. Is there a single Chinese person in this picture that is NOT gawking?? Even the kid in the dad's arms is staring at us. Apparently, the parents in China don't teach their children that it is rude to stare. Really, we get looks because people are curious. For the most part, people are smiling and kind, only a few times have we gotten scowls.

After dinner, behind us is the other side of Shanghai, Puxi. Along the river behind us is a historic part of town, called the Bund. The Chinese don't have a knack for naming things well, in my opinion.
We went to the Shanghai Aquarium, and as you can see, they had an exhibit on deadly aquatic animals. Don't worry about scaring the kids, geesh!

This was a cool place to visit for the adults, not the kids. It was the Urban Planning Museum. What you see is a model of the whole city of Shanghai. We couldn't even get the whole thing in the picture. We found our building and some other major landmarks, but it gave us a perspective on just how spread out and large this city is.

Rachel and I went out one day, while Mike stayed home with the kids, and we visited one of the only ancient sites that survived the Cultural Revolution. It is the Yuyuan Garden, and all I know is that it is old, unfortunately I don't know much more than that since all the signs were in Chinese. But, you can see for yourself some of the traditional Chinese architecture. In an extremely modern city like Shanghai, you don't see much of this around. This is called the Dragon Wall, for good reason. The amount of detail was incredible. On Tuesday, Kate, AJ and I met some other moms of little ones at a wave pool to play for the morning. It was a great place, the entrance to the pool was a slope and not steps, so they could actually go out quite a way before it got too deep. They also had a sandy beach area and kiddie pool close, so we played there all morning. It was a relief in the hot, muggy weather here. Of course, now I'm paying for it, since I remembered to put sunscreen on Kate and AJ but in the chaos forgot to put some on myself. I'm burned worse than I ever have been in my life!

I'll try to be better about posting more often. Thanks for reading, Miss you all!

Poo Poo Pants...A Model of Efficiency

2007-08-05T05:01:00.000-05:00

Our first Saturday in Shanghai began with the basic question of what are we going to do to fill an entire day here. The girls and kids have pretty much concluded their week of shop-till-you-drop so we were looking for something less crowded. We decided to head out to Century Park to explore the biggest green space within 2 hours of where we live. When we arrived at the park, we were surprised to discover that we had warped closer to home to a place that I hold so dear...Sandy Lake Park! For you that don't know what Sandy Lake Park is, first, I feel sorry that you haven't gotten to experience the greatness, and second, I guess I don't have enough WT friends. SLP is a smaller (way smaller) version of Six Flags. But in SLP, all the rides have a little extra terror built in because you are not sure if the ride will make it through one more go. Well Shanghai's version of SLP is a litle smaller than the original, but still filled with the same WT and added terror. (What do they call WT here? I dont know, I'll find out and post later). We spent the first several hours riding the rides - Kate and AJ loved it, while mom, Dad and Aunt Rachel just tried to keep our food down from our morning breakfast. While the rides at most places are usually the most interesting thing, I saw my first example of the famous Poo Poo pants of Shanghai. What are Poo Poo Pants you ask...only the greatest invention ever! Parents here have determined that the cost of diapers and the time to take kids to the restroom can cut into there productive daylight hours, so they have invented pants that have a "gap" in both the front and the back. Think chaps, but not leather and the openning isn't as wide. Kids here are allowed to turd and pee anywhere they want. I remember the first day that I was here, I saw a mom holding her kid over a trash can in the middle of the mall letting the kid take care of business for all the world to see. A picture has been attached for your reference. These pants are all over the place. I am thinking that I will begin using these when I get back to Dallas, my days will be much more efficient.

Later - I gotta go to the bathroom (see, if I had my Poo Poo pants I could just keep writing)

First Impressions

2007-08-01T02:21:00.000-05:00

I wish I could say that my first impressions of Shanghai were wonderful, but most of them were not. I felt that I had researched and read a lot about life in Shanghai, but like most big changes you just can't really know until you get there. Add a serious lack of sleep, jet lag, and language barrier, and things get a little hairy. Things have gotten better in just a few days here. I've already met a few women who have offered to help me figure things out. Like, what do you cook, what do you do during the day with kids, where are good places to go shopping for necessities and fun things. How have I met them you ask? Glad you asked. One I met in the grocery store, where a box of the Capt'n is about 8 USD. I stopped her and her four daughters in the aisle to ask a few questions. She was great, and I think she will be a wonderful contact because she knows other moms of young twins. She listed off 4 or 5 people she knew, but didn't know if any of them lived near us. I also met a mom of 4 year old twin boys today at a coffee house where the American Women's Club of Shanghai meet every Wednesday. She and I hit it off, and are in a very similar situation. She is only here for 6 months, and is a few steps further in figuring things out, which will be a great resource(and friend?). Keep praying for that all of you who are!
Mike told you a little bit about our first day here when Kate and AJ were being photographed and the mob scene that ensued. It was a little scary being in the middle, because Chinese people don't have a very big radius for personal space. I guess in a city of 18 million, you're going to run into other people a lot. So, if we get in your personal space when we get back, just tell us to back off.
Again, I am so thankful that Rachel is here to help me this first week, because otherwise, I would probably just hole myself up and not get out as much as we have already. We have been shopping for some good fake things, like purses, shoes, jackets, really most high end brands you can find a knock off here. Rachel has found a lot of good things. I bought Kate some cute little pink Puma shoes for about 10 USD. They didn't have AJ's size, so he'll get some later. I also got myself a Diesel messenger bag for a diaper bag, which hopefully, I won't have to use for too much longer.

Each time I go out I am more comfortable about how to do things. Even just telling our driver where to go and when to pick us up is getting easier. A driver? Yes, because, believe me, you do not want to drive yourself around these streets. Our driver, James, is actually a very safe driver, but the rules of the road are different here. Pretty much, as Mike described it to me, you don't have to worry about any other car except the one in front of you. You can just pull over without looking, it is a very aggressive way of driving, although to them, it is normal. There have already been a few times when we could have reached out to touch the people in the car next to us. As a pedestrian, you have to walk very defensively, because cars/bikes/scooters/buses, don't really care if you're there, they will keep barrelling at you.
Another big difference, as you might guess, are the grocery stores. There are a lot of brands you might recognize, but just a little bit off. Also, there are open bins of frozen chicken pieces. Rachel said that when she went to the store, she saw two little girls playing drums with frozen drumsticks. We went to another grocery store,and they had open bins of non-frozen chickens, head still in tact, and people just put their hands in and grab them out, touching all the others while they're at it. Apparently, chicken feet are a tasty snack, too. GROSS!!! Don't know how much chicken we will be eating here. We may become vegetarians by default.
A funny thing that Rachel and I get a kick out of, are all the shirts that Chinese people wear with English on them, that they probably don't know what they say. There are lots of signs in Chinese and English, but it is obvious the translator didn't know the English language very well.

I'm guessing that they don't think too highly of us. What do you think?

I am sure I will have more stories and pictures soon.

Ni hao

2007-07-30T16:55:00.000-05:00

This means hello, and I figure this is a good title, since that is all the Chinese I know. Unfortunately, it doesn't get you very far.
Well, since some have asked how the trip went and all you've gotten so far is Mike's version, I will now tell the whole story. We got to the airport with our 6 large bags and 2 car seats to check, and we had a backpack each, a rolling carry on, a double stroller, and oh, yes, 2 kiddos. Quite the circus! We had help getting our bags and other paraphernalia to check in, and it all went without a hitch. At the check in counter, the manager had to come look at our passports because they were so new, they hadn't seen the new style yet. A little apprehension on their faces, but no trouble. By the time we got through security, we didn't have a lot of time to kill, which was good. We let Kate and AJ run around some before strapping them in for 14 hours. When it was time to board, it was nice that we were able to go in Business class since we could skip the long line and get some help with our kids and all our stuff. AJ was in the window seat, I was on the aisle, Kate was on the other side of the aisle, and Rachel was in the middle seat. This worked out well since we took many trips to the potty. More on that later. We didn't have any problems at all with Kate and AJ at takeoff or ear pressure, which was great. We did however struggle with the harnessing system that I had bought. It was supposed to act as an extra safety measure instead of just the lap belt, but because the sides of the seats sloped in, they kept sliding down. Kate and AJ ended up slouched in their seats a lot. We finally took them off and they were much more comfortable. Mike told me I didn't need them, and he was right. Thankfully, he didn't gloat. So, what entertained my kids for that long? Mostly, colorforms, thanks to the brilliance of Kristy and Korean Air who gave them each one at the start of the trip. We tried watching movies, but the DVD player died before Kate even got through The Little Mermaid, and the computer was not far behind it. The personal tv's in the plane did not have any movies that were what I would choose for my kids, but they got to watch one anyway, mostly without sound. We also read books, made sticker pages, colored some, let them listen to music, played with my handheld Yahtzee game, which has lots of buttons that beep, meals were a long process, and don't forget the many trips to the potty. AJ also loved all of the buttons he had access to, and he turned the light off and on pretty much the whole trip. He loved that!
Mike was right in telling you that they didn't sleep much. AJ finally fell asleep about an hour and a half before landing(11:30 pm), and Kate fell asleep about 30 minutes before. As for the potty situation, of course, each time one had to go, the other saw it as their opportunity to get out of their seat. Usually, when I took one, the other wanted to go right after. You all know how small the restrooms are on airplanes, now imagine me squatting in there, holding a kid over the potty and then maneuvering around to get cleaned up. A little cramped. Now, imagine what you would do if you realized that your daughter has had a little too much juice and the diarrhea set in and leaked through her pull up and got onto her pants. So, in the little bathroom, your daughter is sad and feeling sick, you take off the pants trying not to streak it down her legs, get the pull up off without getting it all over you or the bathroom, get her cleaned up without making a bigger mess and then putting a new pull up on, all the while praying she doesn't go through all the pull ups you've brought on the plane! She got her extra change of clothes on and was clean again. Thankfully, we were fine after that, but it makes for a good story.
We got to Seoul, on no sleep for me or Rachel, and a cumulative 2 hours for Kate and AJ, not even a normal long nap for them, and your body is telling you it's two in the morning. Since we had to wake both of them up when we landed, they were oh, so crabby, and we felt so sorry for them. We got in the stroller for the long walk to the ticket counter to see if we could get our seats for our next flight together. Rachel was 3 rows back from the 3 of us, and we were not able to change that. We had a four hour lay over in Seoul, and we visited a playroom, where Kate and AJ took off playing as if they'd had a full night's sleep. I however was beat. I am more than thankful for my sister because I wouldn't have made it here without her.
On the next plane, we sat in the middle three seats, and Kate falls asleep as soon as I buckle her in, head bobbing all around. Apparently, the hour and a half was enough sleep for AJ, because, he was awake all but the last 30 minutes of that flight. I think I may have nodded off for about 15-20 minutes. Nothing that you'd actually call sleep, though.
So, we're finally in Shanghai, and we get the stroller, with a little trouble, and head out to go through customs and get our bags. Thankfully, one of the guards at the customs counter saw us at the end of the line and sent us to another lane for "People who need help", that was definitely me at the time, even though I am the first to say I don't need help. I hadn't realized, Mike wasn't able to come into the baggage claim area, so remember all of that luggage, and the stroller with two kids? Here comes the circus again, actually, the looks we got were more like Mike's description, freakshow! Of course, the way out is not a straight shoot, we had to make 3 turns, which made our arms burn, but we did it and were able to see Mike as soon as we got out, he's not hard to miss after all. It was a sweet reunion full of hugs, kisses, and some tears. Can't you just hear in the background, "Reunited, and it feels so good..."? That's the only part of the song I know. We found out quickly that ramps are not a big priority in Shanghai engineering, so we struggled with getting all of our luggage to the van and then in it was another challenge. We weren't able to get the car seats buckled in with the rest of us and all our stuff, so we were forced to hold Kate and AJ in our laps. Off we go to the apartment. It is night time in Shanghai, so I'm praying for a safe trip there and sleep for all.
We got to the apartment, and it is very nice. As I might have mentioned before, nothing is child proof like it is in the States, and so, my mom radar goes up again, and we start to figure things out. Kate and AJ share a room and a bed, which, besides not sleeping much yet, has not been a big deal. They, through all of this, have shown incredible flexibility.
So, we're finally done travelling, and we're in our new home. We thank you for all of your prayers, I believe they sustained us during our arduous travel, and we will covet them as we begin to get acclimated here.
As for our blog, we are able to post and read our post, but we cannot see the blog when the posts are published. We are not able to see the comments made either, so if you have our email, which I'm fairly certain you all do, please let us know your comments through that. We would love to continue to get your feedback that way.
As for prayer requests:
-Continual adjustment to the time change
-Finding some connection with other expatriates
-Figuring out how to get around town by myself with the kids(Rachel is here for another week, so after she leaves)
-Making our apartment our home
-Stress level for both Mike and I, especially regarding the safety of our kids
-Peace
I will post again soon on my first impressions of Shanghai.

The Gang is All Here and A Star is Born

2007-07-30T03:21:00.000-05:00

Good News, Goods News...everyone is here and safe!
Just a quick note to let everyone know that Bekah, Rachel (Bekah's Sister), Kate and AJ all arrived in Shanghai last night safe and sound. From what I am being told, Kate and AJ did great on the plane except the fact that they only slept the last 2 hours of the trip. As you can guess, that means mom and aunt Rachel only slept about 20 minutes. They may have set a new record for the longest flight without at least getting a prolonged nap. If you need to know, apparently the Seoul international airport has 3 amazing kid play rooms that Kate and AJ tested ALL NIGHT LONG!!! Even after not sleeping much on the trip over, Kate and AJ's internal clocks were still set on Dallas time, thus resulting in the early morning wake up (5 AM) so Bekah and Rachel started out their first day in Shanghai on about 5 hours sleep in 3 days.
We were able to get some house keeping duties out of the way this morning by going for an early breakfast and stopping by the local grocery store for some essential food items. Apparently the Spicy Doritos, Low Fat Pop-Tarts, Coke Light, Peanut Butter, Captain Crunch and Cheese weren't good enough for Bekah. Don't ask me what amazing recipe I was going to prepare with those 6 items, but good news...the Capt'n still represents even in China!!!
After the shopping extravaganza, I decided to take the crew for a local lunch and to get a sampling of the world renowned "sticky buns of Shanghai". I was also thinking about dubbing myself "sticky buns" because of my amazing D in basketball and my big bum, but I will cover more of that in later blogs. Just a tease though...we are all used to teammates slapping us on the butt after a good play, but what happens if the hand rests, cups and slides just a little too long? "Sticky Buns"???
For the last three weeks, I have grown somewhat accustomed to the prolonged stares as I walk by, but nothing prepared me for the utter freakshow that Kate and AJ represent here in China. While partaking of our sticky buns, I noticed a table of Chinese folk taking pictures of Kate and AJ from across the restaurant. We also have several people stop buy and introduce themselves to Kate and AJ. AJ was pretty reserved, but Kate took the opportunity to steal the show. I don't know where she got her love of the spotlight. After lunch we walked around a local outdoor shopping area. During our walk, a young local girl stopped to have her picture taken with Kate. She pretty much took Kate right out of my arms and held her so that the picture wouldn't be ruined by including me in it. The local girl then noticed AJ and put two and two together to discover that they were twins. The full scale photo shoot was on. At one point she even got AJ to kiss her on the cheek for a photo op. AJ has been here 1 day and he's getting action. By the end of the 5 months, he may want to stay! In all, I think about 5 groups took pictures of Kate and AJ and countless others gave high fives or knuckles (which I started with Kate and AJ long before Jeremy started it with Brynna, so give me all the credit). Another side note, this may be racial, but I don't think that Chinese people give good high fives. Watching AJ and the locals was like watching my dad and his golfing buddies give high fives - a complete disaster - out of sync, hands wide open and flat also promoted by a loud announcement of "high five" and then the slight hold and release. Brutal to watch.
The lack of sleep finally caught up with everyone, so we returned "home" to unpack and put the kids and Bekah down for a nap. I am glad they are all here!

Gearing Up to Go

2007-07-25T14:01:00.000-05:00

In our last few days before going to China, we are trying to cram in as much time with friends and family as possible while still packing, cleaning, etc. I think Mike is more than ready for us to be there so we can be together as a family again. As am I! I am not sleeping well because, even with my plethora of lists, I have things running through my mind constantly. Like right now, I really should be doing something besides this, but I'll get to it in a minute.

Let's see, funny things with Kate and AJ have been their fascination with the boy "part", which we call by it's technical term. Because we are potty training, this word gets said more than in your normal every day conversation(at least, my normal every day conversation). Pretty much every time Kate goes to the potty, she'll say, "Mommy, I don't have a -----, just boys." In response, I tell her that's right because that is how God made us. I know I'm not supposed to laugh, but call me immature, I do sometimes. The other day, she must have realized that what she was saying was the cause of my laugh, so she sat on the potty saying, "-----,-----,-----,-----", kind of in a sing-song voice. I didn't sing along, but AJ did. Oh, the joys of children. I'm just waiting for the ----- song to be sung in a public restroom.

Here is a pic from their last playgroup for a while. Besides the two little ones, all of the kids were born within 3 months of each other, and one little boy wasn't there yesterday. We all live within 5 minutes of each other, too. Fun Times!

Lunch time in Shanghai

2007-07-23T02:21:00.000-05:00

Just got back from lunch - ate frog...not bad!

News from Shanghai

2007-07-22T23:15:00.000-05:00

1 more week and counting until Bekah and the kids arrive here in Shanghai.
I have spent the last couple of weeks searching for our home for the next 5 months and seem to have found the perfect location. Depending upon how the negotiations go with the landlord, we will be living in the Skyline Masion in Pudong (East of the River). This apartment will be within walking distance of what hopes to be our new office here in Shanghai.
My first couple of weeks have been a lesson in adapting to a new culture. I have learned quickly that I will average more showers a day than meals. For those of you who know me well, this is an huge reversal as I am usually 3 to 1 in favor of meals in the states. Shanghai happens to be the most humid place that I have ever lived, thus creating my need for multiple showers. I have eaten mostly at chinese restaurants since arriving, with the acception of breakfast. The chinese really do not have a concept of breakfast as being dis-similar to any other meal in the day, so I have made frequent stops at the local McDonalds to get hotcakes and sausage.
I have spent most of my week working with the new associates from China Printing Solutions and looking for apartments and most of my weekends shopping at the local markets looking for good deals. I seem to have negotiated "friend" price at most every place that I have visited. I was able to get some Puma shoes for $16.00USD and probably overpaid by 50%. Not to mention that these Puma shoes indicate that I now wear size 10's. I have also gotten to play some basketball with the crew here. Shark is the basketball expert within the company and he has recently asked that I begin to play on his team for the weekend games. During the first game, they quickly realized that you can't leave me open for the baseline "j". Alan said "you like shoot at no backboard"...I said "when you have as sweet a shot as me, you don't need a backboard" and proceeded to tell him how I learned to play basketball on a dirt court shooting at just a rim on a wooden post with no backboard. They seemed to believe it! It also helps that the rim we play on seems to be a couple inches short of the regulation 10ft. I have found that I am much more accurate on a rim that is somewhere between 9'8" and 9'10".
For my first local meal, the team from CPS took me to a Budhist, Vegetarian, Chinese restaurant (I know - 0 for 3). I tried everything that we ordered. I didn't realize that tofu could be molded and flavored to taste like almost anything. My favorite item was "cow peas" which happen to be glorified green beans, but surprisingly enough, my 2nd favorite item was a tofu, beef substitute that had been compressed to the shape of a rib...think McRib made out of tofu. Mmmmmm - good. I am the largest man here! I will post later!

7 More Days!

2007-07-21T22:03:00.000-05:00

I figure, what's a blog without some pictures, and since Mike has our camera, I had to pick some older pics. These are from Kate and AJ's professional 2 year pictures.

I love this picture of AJ
Such a sweet girl!

Well, we are only a week away now. Next Saturday, the kids, my sister, Rachel, and I will be leaving for China. This past week and a half have been long for both Mike and I. With so much for each of us to do and only getting to talk less than 30 minutes a day, usually, it has been a little hairy!

For Mike, he has found a place for us to live, now he has to get all the paperwork, etc. done on Monday in the hopes that it will be ready when we get there on Sunday night. He's hoping to be able to move in by Friday so he has the weekend to get ready for us. There were two options, both with lots of pros and a few cons. We decided to move into the Skyline Mansion, sounds fancy, I know. It is on the Pudong side where we are fairly certain the office will be when they move. Now, the office is in Puxi, which will be about a 30-40 minute commute from Pudong. When the office moves to Pudong, we have hopes that it will be within walking distance, but as with everything else, no guarantees. Either way, this apartment is close to necessities and things to do during the day. We also think it is where a lot of expatriates live, so we're hoping to meet some people there. Let's all pray that everything goes smoothly with the renting of the apartment.

This past week for me and the kids has been full of family, which has been extremely nice. I've been able to get a lot of things done with the help of my sister, Jamie and her fiance, Kevin, who were in town. It was also good to have some distraction, because being without your husband for 18 days can get very lonely, even when lots of people are around. My last week is full of last minute things to do, like haircuts for all of us, a vet visit for Kelty, one last playgroup, cleaning the house, getting things ready for our house sitters, and oh, yeah, packing! Should be fun!

Our Fun-Filled Sundays

2007-07-16T08:19:00.002-05:00

Both Mike and I did quite a bit on our Sundays. Mike walked around to get more acquainted with Shanghai, and then Aaron and his fiance, LJ, invited him to lunch. Maybe they were being nice, maybe they were feeling sorry for him, I'm not sure, but they took him to an American Diner for lunch. It was almost out of the city, but Mike said it was good and he saw some American families there. After a good lunch and getting to know Aaron a little more, he went to see Transformers. Funny enough, it was still in English, with Chinese subtitles. Mike said that each time the script of the movie was going to say something about the U.S., it got jumbled. Interesting. Also, Mike made his first faux pax, and wore a green hat. Apparently in China, if you wear a green hat, it means your spouse is cheating on you. Great! I'm not even there yet, and I already have a bad reputation. Of course, being American, they don't necessarily apply the rules to him, but we thought it best that he not wear that hat anymore, just in case people start talking.
As for Kate, AJ and I, we went to church for the next to last time. Afterwards, we went out to my mom's lake house where my sisters were and played in the lake all afternoon. Kate and AJ had a blast! We let them sit on the jetskis with us and motor around, barely touching the gas, but they loved it any way. They also had their first popsicles, red ones. I wish I'd had my camera(Mike's got it in China), but you can imagine, red clown faces, red hands and then streaks of red down to their elbows. We did our first day with no naps, and they did great. Before leaving, we bathed them, put them in PJ's and head home around bed time. They were asleep in the first 15 minutes, and I'm surprised they lasted that long. When Kate gets snuggly, she's sleepy, and she was very snuggly before we left. All in all, a great day at the lake, and the only thing that would have made it better was if their daddy could have been there.

Some Shanghai R & R

2007-07-14T10:26:00.000-05:00

Today was Mike's first Saturday in Shanghai, and some of the people he will be working with invited him to play basketball. Let's see if I can remember their American names, Shark, Fox, Dee Dee, Aaron, Alan, and Mike all played three on three. Aaron and Mike were the only two Americans, the rest were their Chinese co-workers. Apparently, Mike dominated on the court. No surprise to me. Shark, who is an avid basketball fan even complimented Mike on his abilities. After basketball, they went to have lunch together at a Buddhist vegetarian restaurant. Mike said he tried everything, but I'm not sure how much he liked it all. Then since Mike is still feeling sick and has not adjusted to the time change fully, he took a nice long nap. Sounds like a nice Saturday to me, wish I could take a nap!

Day 2

2007-07-13T08:50:00.000-05:00

Day 2 for Mike was much better. He is not as discouraged about finding a place to live. He was able to talk with Aaron about different areas and also look for some office spaces in both the main areas, Puxi(West of the river) and Pudong(East of the river). It looks more promising now that there will be a family friendly place to live regardless of where the office is. Aaron told Mike there is a nice area in Puxi, that is called the French Quarter and has a lot of amenities for expatriate families.
Something Mike told me makes me a little worried about keeping up with the blog when we get there. He said when he tries to access the site to add to it, it is in Chinese, so unless we figure out how to change it to English, we're not going to be able to update it when we're there. Surely, there's a way, we just need to find it. Any ideas are welcome.
As for us here, we were close to selling Mike's car and then the buyer changed her mind and bought something different in the end. I feel bummed, but hopefully there will be another deal before I leave. If you know of anyone looking to buy, I have a great deal on a Volvo.
Kate and AJ are very anxious to go to China, even though they don't understand what that means. As long as they get to see their daddy again, they don't care. I guess I feel the same way.

Day 1

2007-07-12T14:13:00.000-05:00

Day 1 for Mike in Shanghai did not go so well. On top of jet lag and still being sick, he went apartment hunting for our family. This was not a success. Our hope and prayer is to find a place where we can be comfortable as a family, and have it close to Mike's new office. One major problem is not yet knowing where the office will be, but going on where he thinks it might be, he went to look at places to live in Puxi. The first 3 were on the 60th floor or higher, which wouldn't be as big a deal if they didn't have open balconies. AJ seems to have an uncanny ability to figure out how to unlock and open doors, combine that with the fact that he likes to climb, and well, you can see that is going no where good. So, scratch the high rises with balconies, and go to more Western style apartments in Pudong. These seemed to be more what we were looking for, but it all goes back to where the office will be. If the office is in Puxi, and we live in Pudong, his commute would be close to an hour. We do that here, but we were hoping to not have that in Shanghai. So, all that to say, please be praying for Mike as he tries to find a place for us to live. Hopefully Day 2 will be better for him. Mike will be going with Aaron, the owner of the company they are acquiring, to look for a new office space.
As for us here in the States, we are doing well. We already miss our Daddy/Husband, and talk all the time about going to China to see him.

And He's Off...

2007-07-10T15:11:00.000-05:00

We all went to the airport to drop off Mike this morning, and it was sad and exciting to see him go. The first leg of his trip will not be over until around 2 am our time and then he won't actually be in Shanghai until around 8 am tomorrow morning. I guess when you go to the other side of the world it takes a while.
Please be praying for him while he travels. Since yesterday he's been extremely congested in his head and chest and just not feeling well. That can't be fun if you are stuck in a plane for 17 hours. He has some good meds, so I'm hoping that will help.
As for us, we are getting ready to go ourselves. This morning Mike was getting ready and he looks at me and says, "You've got a lot of things to do before you go." My response with as much sarcasm as you can imagine was, "You Think!" So in the midst of getting ready to move my family to China for 5 months, I am also trying to potty train my kids, sell Mike's car, get our house ready for people to live in it, and stay sane. Thankfully, again, the Lord provides us with family and friends who have offered to help, so if you are one of those, expect a phone call!

Welcome to our blog!

2007-07-06T14:46:00.000-05:00

Hello all. As most of you know, our family is about to head off on a big adventure to China for almost 6 months. At the request of some friends, I am going to try to keep up with this blog to let you know what life for the Russ family is like in Shanghai. Mike is leaving on the 10th, so in a few days, and then Kate, AJ and I will be leaving on the 28th to join him. My younger sister, Rachel will be flying over with us to help me during the flight and for the first week there, to get acclimated. For those of you who think we are not coming back, we will be back December 22nd, just in time for Christmas.

Since this is my first posting, I thought I would attach a few recent pics of Kate and AJ. They are now 2 1/2 years old, and we are having a lot of fun. They love to sing, run, scream, read books, watch Veggie Tales, chase Kelty(our dog), play with their friends, and are talking all the time.

I don't know if they are getting the whole potty training thing, do you? Your underwear should not be on your head! Actually, they are both doing really well with potty training, which has been a big push here lately since I found out diapers are very expensive in China.