Legos!

I bought two fairly substantive (= a lot of pieces) lego toys, a lex luthor robot and a wolverine helicopter. Both came with three little figures. The robot was the first assembled. Sam at first said he would never, ever, ever take it apart but then a few minutes later wanted to make changes. After it was in a few big pieces he wanted to put it back together and that's how it is now. 

I delayed on doing the helicopter until today. They also each have a little motorcycle (captain america, cat woman, wolverine). It is hard because Sam's probably the only one who can play with these without taking them apart. I have mixed feelings about the more substantive lego toys. They are really, really cool, and the engineers at lego clearly can do a better job of making a helicopter than, say, I or my five year old can. Still, I also like when they experiement and expect all of the legos to have devolved back to pieces in a few weeks. Eva likes them too and we made an airplane together today. I read somewhere that the bulk of the lego market is boys, and they've even introduced pink girl sets. Not really a fan of that, but also thinking of ways to encourage Eva too. Emily said she didn't play with blocks much when she was little. The red box in the last picture is one from my own childhood. They really are a fun toy. When I get over the diapers, the snot, the early mornings and the late nights, this is a really, really fun age and our kids are having a blast.

Today we took them to gymnastics and they had a really good time. With Sam's group they did the thing where you hang from bars by your knees. I think this is a really good activity for them lately.

I'm still feeling a bit stressed just by all that's happening in our lives, but also excited too. I think if I have course load under control, cut the church responsibilities, and if we have extra help (which now seems likely) it will be a much different spring. Here's hoping!

Christmas 2013

Christmas 2013

This was a fun Christmas, although our first away from home and family for a while. Last year was US, then before that baptism, then twins just born. This year was a pastiche of traditions: several church-y events, our durable Costco tree, school potluck and services, some back-from-home gifts (trasnformable vtech dinosaurs, lego superheroes, and so on), a Christmas Eve dinner at Chili’s and homecooked meals on Christmas (chicken, a slow cook roast, etc.).

This was the first time the twins began to catch on to everything. At first Eli was confused that he could have more than one present, and so baulked at opening a second (he thought he’d have to give away the first toy). After that it was really fun. I helped Sam assemble a robot that Lex Luthor sits in and they now have lots of mini-figures that are superheroes. I also found the little plastic action figures that Eli loves so much and he has quite a collection now (before we had the DC ones, Superman, Batman and so on, and now we've added Marvel: Wolverine, Iron Man and others).

I’m skipping afternoon work to go see Ender’s Game. I read that book earlier and liked it. No one else in the family is old enough, but I’m happy to go myself. This is one of the traditions I always like.

One thing we’re missing this year is the post-Christmas let down. Next week is back to class for me with syllabi for next semester and some writing projects due very soon. Emily’s really on the hook for dissertation and then this conference. Busy!

3 Down

I did my conference in mid-November. It was a real change of pace. I did two papers and was part of a group that meets there, and was able to spend about half a week with my uncle Paul and aunt Joan and also a day and a half with Reina. On the way back, I saw Alan for a couple of days, visiting from the base (just a 90 minute flight away). It was an unexpected opportunity to reconnect with several branches of the family and I'm really grateful for the change in pace.

Academic life is a little tougher. I feel like I've come miles, but that I still have quite a ways to go and it's hard to get much flex from my employer. Anyway, this is just to say that we're always in the middle of discernment, but that the answer may become clearer with time.

What else? The kids are all sick. Sam's better and Eli's pretty much back to normal, but Eva has a plugged up nose and would prefer to just sit on someone all of the time. She's currently lodged herself next to me, with her head under my elbow. She definitely still has a fever. Days like these are rough, they just go on and on. The weekend was my most intense too: wedding, sermon on Sunday, speaking at event Saturday morning with Emily.

It will get better, but not immediately. Next semester I am hoping to just have 2-3 classes. I'll see what happens with it.

That's the news. More to follow.

Mid-November?

I knew this semester would be busy, but it still snuck up on me. This month I'm doing my four classes, prepping the trip to my conference next week, have about 5-6 speaking engagements in December, and then there are projects for my church employer and various small scale meetings.

The kids are all doing quite well. I think they are happy with life. As I write this, Sam is working on a "book." I take printer paper, staple it and then he colors it in. Sometimes I write out words for what he is doing and other times he tries to copy out some words ("Animal Planet," "Transformers"). He did an "encyclopedia" last week. It always surprises me what he will request to see. Last night he wanted to look at a museum book I bought before we left. I've taken the kids to the museum and he really liked it, but it surprised me what he would get into certain things. At the museum he had liked the paintings and bronzes and the like, but they really enjoyed the little jade carvings and some of the pottery (for instance, with a handle made out of an animal). Anyway... it made me happy he enjoyed it.

Sam also has an impressive memory about things I would never imagine. He remembered doing bubbles with Barb and Randy and sometimes remembers specific toys or long forgotten (for me) tv shows. 

Eva asks me to go for walks and talks my ear off. Last night I took her out in the backpack and today she went with me to the library. She has a frown she does that reminds me of my mother and grandmother. I don't think either Emily or I make the expression, so it always surprises me. 

We took them all to gymnastics on Saturday. It's an hour at a little center where there are five or six people working with a dozen kids. It's a little pricey, but they all loved it and I think it would make our Saturdays much more positive. This week I went an got a cup of coffee and read a newspaper for a half hour, and was still able to watch half the lesson. I saw some parents brings laptops or phones. Emily enjoyed watching them too and I think it probably helps them sleep better. We've still been meaning to get back to music, but mostly it's tapes, cds, and singing. Sam still likes baseball, which is good. We need to watch some games on tv so he has a better idea of how it works.

I bought a apple laptop. I got the barebones version, but it's very nice and its main appeal is a really long battery life. The plan is I'll use it for my trip and Emily could use it for hers when she's back in the States as well. She's making really good progress on writing and we're hoping/praying she can finish in the next six or seven weeks. It will be a true sprint, but I think it's feasible. 

That's the news! I'm looking forward to seeing Ginny and Reina and Paul and Joan. It's a short trip, but I'll get to be around people I really enjoy. Emily is also excited Alan will be here. I'll see him for at least  part of his time here. This has the potential to be one of our more memorable thanksgivings (of which there are already many). 

Halloween

We'e had a good halloween--event at church, kids can dress up at school and general fun. Last night we carved two small pumpkins, and Emily did decorations with them earlier. Here are some of the pictures:

October already

I knew this semester would be a kind of race. 4 classes, several papers to write, some travel, new responsibilities.

Sam was to have third week of tball, but it got rained out. He's been doing lots of legos lately. On Sunday afternoon we spent the day making spaceships out of legos. The twins like to play with them too, so after a few hours we had an entire fleet.

We also went to the astronomy museum then, which is one of their favorite places to go. We let them each pick out a toy. Sam got a triceratops. Eli picked out a horse. I asked him the name and suggested "Brown" or "Brownie" and he decided to call it "Brownie Chocolate" (funny because Sam had a plush horse toy he'd named "Corn Chicken"). Eva picked out a pink triceratops shirt. Yes, it's a stereotype, but she's already picking out clothes instead of toys.

They all seem to be doing fine at school. Sam has matching activities he does for math homework--he seems to have a fine spatial sense for a 5 year old. That's the main news on them.

Today I had a student meeting and have a small group and then class this afternoon. I have two familiar classes and two classes where I had some prepared materials. I am not drowing, but I am also not just going with the current. I'm trying to be more positive about it all, to recognize that I am learning things and gaining some new schools.

Emily seems to be making dissertation progress. She submitted an abstract for an east coast conference in January. I still haven't bought my tickets for late next month but am thinking about it. Anyway, it is all going along. More updates soon, I hope...

9 More Days

School started this last week. A week ago Friday we all went on a school retreat. It was a mixed bag. I did a "good" with a fifteen minute sharing time in local language. Eli through a gargantuan fit at dinner, but then all the kids played well with another little kid on the basketball court. Sleeping was a challenge. Eli migrated over by Emily during the night. In general it seems like the twins do well together. It's a big development--we can travel and stay in a room together!--but still not perfect, alas.

Eli was sick Monday and by Tuesday Eva was home too. Sam wanted to join them and his Fit of the Week was Tuesday morning. Nothing worked to calm him down. Neither threats nor bribes were effective and Emily was pretty upset by the time she left him at school. We began discussing how things were going. In the afternoon I went to pick him up and... he'd had a great day. We went to his first day of baseball and he joined in with no problems. It's so hard to figure out when and how and whether to push kids to participate. Thursday and Friday were a national holiday here (kind of) although I had school Friday and a retreat yesterday. The work culture here is pretty fierce. It was a pretty good first week of school, but I still think it's a bit harder than I hoped. About half of our teachers have high blood pressure and they all claim its genetic, but, hmmm, I think work culture may be involved too.

There were some other small victories this week:

• Sam loved going to church today with me and stayed in Sunday School by himself, helping with the little kids. Big success!
• Sam's still drawing his little books. He's big into Transformers now.
• Eva and Eli are both pretty hilarious. They are both speaking more, but are still only about 65% comprehensible. Eva says "Weva." Eli sort of slurs his words through his pacifier (we're probably too lax on this--he doesn't use it at school at all).
• They're all doing great on language. Sam interacts with other kids pretty much entirely in local language.
• They like music and it's probably something we should work on.
• We played with footballs outside this afternoon--pretty fun.
• Emily took them all to the student center yesterday during the typhoon.
• Sam's started reading the Ralph and the motorcycles books (I loved these as a kid, and my gerbil was named Ralph)
• Sam has homework now: math, local alphabet, and "proverbs." He likes the homework so far.
• I'm getting to relive my childhood, watching old Justice League Friends shows, transformers, Ralph, and so on. 
• Sam and Eli are a bit competitive, so that drives us a little nuts.
• They're also kind of picky eaters. Em made an excellent eggplant parm, and only Eli would eat it. The trend is: Eli will eat anything, Eva will eat pasta or rice, Sam eats little. They're all skinny, which just amazes me.

That's the news. Not a lot else to share. Will update as able.

A Harbor Visit

We tried a solo family vacation, leaving Friday afternoon and returning Saturday. It was fun, but as I read somewhere recently, with small kids you take "trips" and not "vacations".

We went to a harbor area with some attractions nearby. It worked out well, and we just missed torrential rains. On Friday night we headed to the night market, which had a range of foods: corn, fried squid, vietnamese papaya, baked sweet potato, etc. We haven't been to a night market in forever, and though there is one close. The nice thing about this one was it was not humongous and seemed easy to navigate. It was close to the hotel so that we could get back before anyone melted down.

We had a king and twin bed, so Emily took the twin, Sam and I slept in the king and the twins actually chose to sleep on the floor (I think they're used to it from nap time). The kids have just reached the age where a hotel room is super fun. You can jump on the bed! There's a harbor you can watch! Cable TV! They had a blast.

The next day we did breakfast, Emily got a quick swim, and we went to some sort of Buddhist-theme park, which is one of the main regional attractions. There were few people though. The only challenge was that the kids really wanted to ride the coin-operated vehicles that were almost everywhere. They got basically two rounds and that was enough for us. It's funny how enjoyable I remember Chucky Cheese and these kind of places being when I was a kid, and how much they seem like an incredible time suck now. I probably need an attitutude. I think Sam described riding on this moving car-thing as "the most fun thing in his whole life" or some such language. Anyway, it was a memorable trip for them. I'm kind of glad we won't be repeating this immediately, but know the kids had a great time.

Otherwise life is going pretty well. I have a quiet, creeping dread about the start of the new semester, but am trying to keep it in check. Church work is relatively contained, school is currently an "OK" schedule, but I have this feeling we may end up doing our apartment switch mid semester and Emily is "close" on dissertation. All good things, but also quite stressful.

Daddy Fun Week recapped

The summer is nearing its end. We probably still have some months of heat left, the slower (or just different?) pace is coming to a conclusion. Emily's had her week of conference and it was a really good week for me and the kids too.

I sold it as "Daddy Fun Week," sort of like Christmas or New Year's, a time of fun activities and new plans. They mostly bought it and had a good time.

My basic plan was just to keep things fun for the kids and to have something interesting to do every day. So it went like this:
Saturday: Astronomy museum
Sunday: Church
Monday-Tuesday: committee travel with visit to aquarium
Wednesday: typhoon day (unplanned but okay)
Thursday: Day of school (and maybe park gtrip?)
Friday: Day of school + Sam swimming lesson

There were several good things about the week, foremost that I had to do the full schedule and prep. It's embarassing to admit this, but I now know where all the kids clothes are, more or less, where the trash bags are, what the kids need in their school bags and so on. Doing the whole schedule solo really is exhausting. The challenge is each kid needs attention, but food has to be prepared and dishes and laundray done. I got basically 0 other work done, which is what I'd planned, but it still felt like a lot. I have so much respect for solo parents.

The week was also mostly smooth. There were some hiccups with schedule while traveling, but no serious travel breakdowns, no sick kids, and just the one day of school cancelled.

The kids themselves are doing well. I hadn't really understood how Sam's swim lessons work, but I talked with one of the moms. It seems to be a quarter system and parents can sign their kids up quarter after quarter for years on end. We've been meaning to add music back in for Sam, but haven't gotten to it yet. He is a little bit of a crooner now, although the words don't always make sense. He has some sense of pitch (better than before) but certainly not perfect. Eva and Eli are both cute little dancers. Eli has this funny thing he does where he jumps and swings his arms wildly--fun. The twins are both very smiley and giggly. I'm trying to focus on being engaged with them and encouraing their giggly sides.

There were also some unexpected surprised during the week. On Saturday, Sam had basically played with legos the entire day. We watched a little tv before the museum, but the rest of the day was really all legos. He was able to build some nice little cars and really liked working with the smaller legos. It's been nice to have all of these toys with us because we can alternate what they play with.

Emily continues to build our kid library and came back with a number of books from her trip, including a mix of local books, superhero books, and some others. They like all sorts of things. Sam spent some time reading a children's encyclopedia with me the other day. Fun, fun, fun.

That's the news from here. Life otherwise is "good." I'm pushing a little on work-life balance and I want to do whatever we can to help Emily get through soon. There are some intriguing possibilities for interesting projects here, but I have to sort of pry myself loose from the school, which always has plans for me. Anyway, these are my thoughts.

Recent Days

We're now into the middle of August, and it's scorching hot. Emily's temporarily ceased evening walks. We're doing some more creative child activities. I took everyone to the palace museum, which is close by and is really nice. The museums here are different than back home--fewer portraits, no suits of armor, etc. Instead, it is pretty much exclusively artistic works: paintings, religious sculptures, calligraphy, jade/bronzewear, etc. Painting is usually landscapes, birds, flowers, or calligraphy. Not exactly what most kids would be into, but for a couple of hours very enjoyable. Eli kept asking after the robot. Since there's one at the astronomy museum, he seems to expect every museum to have one. Undoubtably, a great idea, but rarely realized. I liked that the museum doesn't allow pictures, so it at least reduces the spectacle.

The kids are more into legos now too. We've done some great buildings and Sam is starting to use the smaller ones. Sam also got a transfomer recently, which he loves but is still a little too small to puzzle out himself.

For books, we're doing some more classics. We've had two nights of Winnie the Pooh. Emily just read Blueberries for Sal to the whole gang today. The kids are exhausting, but in an endearing way. I still wish children came with volume buttons, but we love them dearly.

The Kids are OK...

This is a little hard to make out but I believe it's one of Sam's recent pen drawings of Ben 10 in his various alien forms. They're fairly intricate. Emily recounts a conversation she had where she counted up about 20 different aliens and then Sam remembered he "forgot one." He's been watching a fair amount of Ben 10 lately.

The kids all seem quite happy today. This was our local Father's day dinner tonight and we went to our favorite pizza place. The kids had a blast. We ordered chicken legs, salad, pizza, and Emily got a calzone. Yum! The boys are pretty eager meat eaters.

Tonight, Eli's favorite toys were a snake, a Ben 10 watch, and a spider man. Eva had a little bag she carried around with her that she got at school. Sam got two dinosaurs and two black spidermans (spidermen?) from his teacher and has a favorite spiderman these last couple of days. Friday night we did some legos. They're into a lot of different things. We have a drawer of dinosaur animals that Eli loves also. He has to get a foot stool in order to pull out the drawer, but he does it daily.

Sam's had some growing pains with his legs. Last Friday and the Friday before he resisted his swim lesson. We let him skip once but Emily made him go the other time. We can't tell why he's resisting the swim class or how to push him to attend. Emily remembers refusing to swim or ride a horse at camp (for several years in a row), but she says her resistance was straightforward (and apparently more honorable). In contrast, she doesn't like how Sam is blaming it on his legs or being tired. We'll try to get him checked out Monday just to make sure he's okay.

I also took Sam to a movie earlier this week, Incredibles 2. Earlier movies were Cars 2, Brave, Rise of the Guardians, and something else. He liked this one a lot. It reminded me of happy movie viewing with the family over the years.

That's the family news from here. I've been complaining more than I mean to lately. Partly it's that the summer is the time when things are cemented from the fall. I know this will be a busy fall so I'm especially protective about extra things that take my time. Often what's fifteen minutes of work for a native speaker is hours for me, or at least a lot more anxiety than I want. I feel like we've made pretty continuous language progress and my workload has increased every semester, but there are limits to what I can do. That said, there's a lot in our life to be happy about, and we're glad the kids are doing so well. I am going to try to leave a little more of work at work. I know this stage of life is one that means a lot of balancing. I'm hoping that in coming years we'll continue to find our way.

General Updates

Kids are all fine. One day this week, Sam's teachers let Eva and Eli come up and nap with him. They like school. Today was sharing day and Sam brought his Ben 10 watch and Eli brought a watch, a dinosaur, and a batman. Eva is very into "Hello Kitty" lately. She's also pickier about her clothes. When she comes home she sometimes demands to put on a dress (today Emily gave her a new skirt).

Emily's been making dissertation progress and is starting to reach out to some of the programs here to see if perhaps in a half year or so she could adjunct or collaborate on something.

Tomorrow is the day I'm to turn in grading. Two of three classes are finished and I just have to review one more set.

Last night Emily took the kids to the pool with an "auntie" friend of ours. They had a blast. She said Eli in particular was gleeful, although just a little afraid. We'd thought Eva the natural swimmer, but time will tell. Sam is coming along also. Emily said he's almost better under water than above. He's still doing Friday lessons, which are fun.

We're trying to enjoy these days. I still am feeling a little "stuck" lately. I think it's probably because I know my job now and have a sense of what will change and what won't, and of what I will be able to do well and what will always be more or less of a struggle. I'm still thinking about it all. At some point we'll have a face-to-face to confirm any changes in the coming semester (housing, teaching, etc.). On the upside, as a family we're growing up a little. I'm also really glad Emily is coming along well and seems to have focus and energy.

More updates as we get them! Hope you are all well.

 Eli and Sam play together

 Eli has new sandles!

 He is now doing a Batman-Green Lantern-Captain America combo outfit

 Eva was really dancing in her new skirt--hilarious!

Here she is demonstrating that can she choose (and unchoose) her own clothes

Day Trip

Saturday we did a day trip for a friend's installation. It was solidly "ok." Emily spent time with the kids in the park, I got to connect with a lot of people, the travel there and back was fine, and the kids even saved their naps until we got home. Hopefully we will become more road-able in the years ahead.

Science Museum

Here are photos I took on the day we did the science museum trip. It is not a super easy museum to navigate because they've intentionally limited elevators in favor of escalators (see emergency room trip #1). On the upside, this time Eva and Eli rotated napping while Emily rested and I walked Sam around the other floors. He was ecstatic and loved the whole time. He hadn't been in about a year and a half so had forgotten all of the cool sections: a play area, bugs, special exhibit, different interactive displays, etc. Fun times!

I can't believe we're half-way through the summer

It's been a mixed summer. This is our most relaxed summer in probably seven or eight years, following:

• Summer on the road 2012
• What is up with Eva 2011
• Oh now, Emily's pregnant with twins 2010
• We are preparing for and moving abroad 2009
• We are moving to rural garden state and fighting with the apartment complex over cats 2008
• I just finished my PhD and I hope this summer is pretty fun 2007 (that was probably the last carefree summer, now that I think about it)

Still, some positive developments. Emily is working hard on dissertation. Something seems to have clicked a month ago.

I've still been feeling job stress. I think it is good to be working on it now, because if I can head into the fall with things a little more mellow we will have a better fall. It will be fairly intense though, with Emily headed towards defense, a heavy teaching load for me, and our pastor gone at church (with me doing more work). Anyway, I think it can be good but will take some planning. 

The kids are very cute/entertaining. Sam played with the younger neighbor boy, which he loved (lots of talk of Ben 10). He didn't nap today and fell asleep very quickly. His language has mostly bounced back and all three enjoy school.

I had tonsillitus but have recovered. My outlook towards the world is much brighter. There's nothing like disease to really dampen the spirit.

Other updates await--the typhoon of a couple of weeks ago and lost power and a trip to the science museum and all manner of flashlight fun. However, this is enough for tonight. This week I finish grading and recommence planning for the fall classes. It's nice to have time and energy to work hard.

Belated July 4 post

I wrote this when I was out but hadn't posted it...

Fourth of July

I’ve been partly out of commission this week. Last Friday I had an ear infection of some week. It really hurt but medicine helped get me mostly better. I can’t tell if it’s the result of swimming, or of a cold or allergies that blocked up the ear. Mostly better today, but no, not my best birthday.

The kids, however, are having a pretty fun week. Eli and Eva are both feeling more independent (putting on own shoes, pickier on food, demand to get into car seats by themselves, etc.) but seem generally happy. 

They’re “mostly” potty-trained, which I suppose is like having two walking coffee cups that only leak some of the time. Sam had a field trip to what was described as a miniatures museum—I’m not entirely sure what that means. Stamps? Art work? He enjoyed it--he already has his own prviate life. He’s working on swimming and tomorrow is his swim lesson.

They all had shots on Tuesday. It was pretty funny. Emily told Sam it would hurt but that he’d get a bandaid and a treat. He’s had shots before, so he knows they hurt, but he really was talking up the whole shot thing to Eva and Eli, “I really like shots,” “I love shots,” etc. Eli’s was easy, Sam’s a little rougher, and Eva was really not happy about the situation. Sam’s was for Japanese encephalitis and he had a mild reaction (low fever for a day or two).

All three are generally agreeable. The morning routine is getting faster. I can do breakfast in about 15 minutes and dressing everyone in about ten if I’m really fast. Evening is still tough, and we may start separating Sam from the twins. It’s hard to give each of the three the attention each one needs. We’re also thinking of restarting piano. Sam never made great progress, but we did find pitch improved. I’m thinking if he could do 15-30 minutes and the twins could listen, that would be nice. We’ll have to see dates, etc.

I’m trying to get on a health kick. My blood pressure was up at the hospital and I really feel like this last semester was more stressful than it needed to be (probably because of housing and the like). I’m cooking more, doing more walks and exercise, and laying off bad food.  I’m going to try to join the senior pool and exercise center. In a novel recently I read this theory about four burners on a stove (family, friends, health, work) and how most people can only cook on two and have to sacrifice the other two. For me, it’s usually friends and health that go. Anyway, it’s a quieter summer, so hopefully this is a chance to re-engage. I’m also helping Emily with transcription and breaking up her proposal into sections for her thesis. I think she’s really close, or at a tipping point now. If she pushes, I think she could have everything pretty much blocked out by the end of the month. I’ll have to see.

That’s the news from here. We’re all going along okay otherwise. I am still plunking on projects for the school here (revising English, helping with entrance exams, grading student papers).  We miss you all! 

Botanical Garden

 Worm!

 The three

 Lotus blossom

 What are they looking at?

 Emily & Eva

Emily & Eva

 Shaded walkways

Spider eating other bugs

Blueberry shakes

 Portrait of the artist...

 Blueberry shake

 Eva's teachers did up her hair

Father-Daughter