a fun visit

A picture in Mongoila in 2004

It's always an encouragement when you find your worlds colliding.. old and new... friends from afar. Seeing people you love from another part of your life in your present life. I had that experience this week with the visit of Krista Ely and Patrick Hastings. Krista was a former student of mine from waaaaaaaay back in the day, way back before I even knew who Dave was and was a young energetic art teacher. She's one of those rare beauties that has a deep heart and so thoughtful about everything you just can't help but get in a good conversation with her. The first time I saw her she was a sophomore in high school. The last time I saw her was at my wedding 4 years ago.
And there's Patrick. The intern Dave and I became friends with in China when we first started dating. I call him Patrick blue eyes. And boy can he ever make Asher laugh!
And then somehow Krista and Patrick met each other in central China and flew across the world to visit us in Vancouver. How cool is that?

We loved seeing them. We wish they lived here. We didn't have enough time for one of those deep reflective conversations! Come back again soon! (Or, as Josie would say, "Krista soon!" )

A week with Nai Nai

Dave's mom came to visit this last week. And boy, did she ever have some energy! She tired those kids right out with trips to Whistler, Gymnastics, walks in the park, playground, garden and around town. She kept them hopping and gave them a run for their money! I hope I have this kind of energy when I have grandkids! Thanks Nai Nai for the wonderful week!

loved

These are some well-cared-for bears. Their every need is met-- whether its a diaper, a drink of milk, a story, a kiss on the nose or a cuddle to get to sleep-- they get it all.Because they have someone who loves them very much.
These bears will find themselves all over the house.
Sometimes they will end up in Asher's bed for a baby cuddle, sometimes in the rocking chair ready for a story.
Sometimes a pillow for a tired head. Always looked after.
And this little girl. We adore her.

We adore those beautiful eyes and beautiful curls. Those little hands and spunky smile.

We love her funny questions and made up words. Yesterday she told me she wanted to "dishing". "Please Mama, dishing?" It took 2 seconds to figure out what that meant. The same as "warshing" but now that she knows what dishes are, dishing seems like a more appropriate word. Her favorite activity of late is dancing like a ballerina and doing hand motions to songs. A special favorite is "Roly Poly" and "This little light of mine". We sing at almost every meal and in-between meals.
And she will always be delighted to have snuggle time with her mom or dad. Loves that we spend evenings in her room playing with her before bedtime. Loves that we laugh as she dances around the room or reads her books or draws pictures at her art station. Loves that we work on puzzles together. Every night we put her to sleep and talk though the day. Josie says each of her friends' names and something about them. She listens to a song and a prayer and snuggles into her pillow, (now a big girl, she sleeps on a mattress on the floor and has a real pillow!) under her blanket and smiles as we say "night night". She's a keeper, that's for sure.
And so is this guy. Our rough and tumble happy camper. Who heals so quickly. I do believe it's Josie's kisses and mama's milk that make owies disappear in 3 days. We're thankful for that.
Yes, we are thankful for so many things.

Simply Irresistable

We all think so. But sometimes I think Josie finds his face simply too irresistable. Especially the area around his eyes. Today he got a matching scratch to the one he recieved a few days ago (which, thankfully, has healed nicely). We're on a learning curve about disciple. And about the incredible strength of Josie's will, and Asher's incredible resiliency. These photos were taken minutes after he was scratched... give him a little applesauce and some smiles and the kid bounces back right away. But I'm sure these little beauties aren't comfortable!

I'm honestly getting quite frustrated with these little lash out and slash sessions, they happen so fast-- one minute Josie is beside us with Asher, helping read a book or giving him a toy to play with and then quicker than we can even see, she's attacked him. And of course instantly says "Sorry Asher" (that's a phrase she's had plenty of practice with). She has instant consequences now for this behavior, but even a spank doesn't seem to make much of a difference. If I had 2 of me, perhaps I could restrict her access to her brother, but that's impossible when I'm trying to care for both of their needs. And even when I put him in "safe" zones so that I can run to the bathroom or something, nothing really seems safe. Just yesterday, when he was in his high chair, Josie climbed out of hers, pushed up a chair behind him, climbed up on it, reached over the back of his chair and began scratching him. Ugh.

I've sewed mittens onto the end of her coat so even though she can bonk him on the head, she can't scratch when we're out and about in the stroller. I'm considering sewing her jacket sleaves to the pockets of her coat so she can't move them either... And here I thought having an older daughter and younger son would be easier with the roughhousing. Guess not.

But oh, she loves him. (What's not to love? Look at this face!) I think perhaps this is all a little zealous love. She just wants to get under his skin... literally. We just have to work on transferring that love in other ways... hmmm. Suggestions?

just another silly video

Sowing

We got out to our "garden" yesterday to begin the planting process. We'll see what the end result is. It's definitely impossible to do without the help of friends-- I discovered this early trying to chase Jos, wheel a wheelbarrow full of compost and push Asher in the stroller-- complete non-productivity. However, with the help of Tara and Nolene yesterday, we got a couple things accomplished.

Noleen chased Josie, I hushed Asher and Tara planted the garden:) Teamwork.

We could almost plant Asher in the garden! His little hat looks like a bulb of some kind.

Josie was happy once she had the permanent marker to create labels with
(aka, draw all over herself!)
"come and catch me!!!"

Getting tougher by the day,

Josie is making sure of it!

How does your garden grow?

We have a garden plot! Woo hoo! Exciting stuff! I've been musing lots on the joys and challenges of living in temporary communities since I've started this journey in college, but 10 years later and still "homeless," (that is, still living in temporary housing) I'm beginning to be grateful for the blessings that come with life in community.

One of the perks here, living in student family housing, is a community garden. Although it's March here and usually we're well into the beginning of gardening season in Vancouver, and our seasoned compost pile has been delivered and is ready to be dispersed on the gardens, its darn cold! I don't think I'm going to be planting in the immediate future. But who am I to know? I truthfully know nothing about gardening. I am no expert. I can pick produce once it's ready for harvesting, but the planting part-- ???

So, you garden experts out there... any suggestions?

More on community life.

Pluses:

I just walked to a big community center here on campus and met my friends for our mom's Bible study. Our kids played happily with the college gals that help us out on Friday mornings and we sipped hot drinks and shared life together. Definitely a big perk. Yay for community centers and living close to Christian women from Church.

My neighbor had a bike accident a couple of days ago (literally neighbor, we share a wall) and I could easily whip up a pot of soup for them last night. I'm enjoying the budding friendships growing in our little housing area. (Recently, we crashed their 3 year old daughter's birthday party and they fed us dinner!)

There are students with young children everywhere. Many go to daycare but many are home. When Josie is particularly antsy, we can walk around the neighborhood and find someone to talk to or play with. Lots of times someone who speaks Chinese-- I get to practice Mandarin on a regular basis.

It's easy to be involved in the lives of students here on campus. Last week a former student of mine visited from Toronto and it was such a wonderful time just hanging out in my little (sometimes sunny) kitchen and make applesauce while the kids slept. My Tuesday night small group has been such a blessing for me as well. I'm so glad that we have this chance.

Minuses:

Definitely laundry. I do diapers twice a week and the whole family laundry once a week. I could probably do diapers 3x a week if I was really trying to always have both kids in cloth diapers, but I'd say we're probably half and half at this point. I probably save on time overall with folding laundry and doing it (I can do it all at once in the 4 washers and dryers in the laundrymat) but timing the process of doing laundry can be very tricky with 2 little people who may or may not have the same nap schedule. It's now scheduled into my week-- 6:30 am on Tuesday mornings before I head to the pool. Oh, there's another plus to living on campus-- swimming! In walking distance (or in my case, biking distance).

Mold. Our windows never seem to dry out and there is constant mold on the windows and sills. But that comes with the territory I think. We do live in a very wet place.

I can't think of any other minuses at the moment. More plusses are price, convenience to get to Regent, living in the midst of a forest and a college campus...

Coyotes. Yes, wild animals. Real ones. I had to shew a coyote off the path between our houses and the gardens yesterday. We are surrounded by the huge forest, and with it, wild animals. The coyote hardly cared that I was headed straight towards it waving a stick! It just ran into the garden and started digging at what was left in the dirt. This can't be good. Just need to remember never to leave little ones out alone! Ever! But once I was almost home I looked up and saw 2 eagles circling overhead. Gotta love living in the Pacific Northwest!

Well, it seems like the kids are making noises in the stroller I wheeled in the front door because they were both sleeping (another plus) so I better wrap up my rambling.

But, gardens.... please please, any suggestions are helpful. What do you most like to grow??? And what do I need to do it besides a raised garden bed, water, compost and sunlight? I've been saving my egg cartons. Can I plant seeds now to get a head start there?