July

I’ve been AWOL on this blog for many moons. This is partly because I’ve moved over to my named blog, where I also talk about some of the cultural, family, and other issues. It’s also just been an exceptionally busy period. We moved off the mountain where we’d lived, finished out the semester, and then now we’re stateside for 10 weeks. We’ll have visited many places and a dozen churches.

As is often the case, one of my challenges is always figuring out where the kids are and how to help them. Sam’s surprised us. He was an enthusiastic but not particularly natural baseball player abroad. This summer we took him out and practiced batting and he had a good time. We’ve been working on second language by showing the kids public television. They at least have retained some comprehension (they’ll watch it) and will say some phrases (“I’m full,” “I don’t want that,” “I’m the big sister”) but I know they’ll have regressed some. Meanwhile, Sam’s also doing an English camp and will have done several other camps (zoo, church, outdoor). He’s having a blast. I think he’s probably behind a little on English. There’s a newer focus on early literacy and his English training for kindergarten was pretty informal. I’m hoping he’ll be fine when we go back and he’ll have help regardless. Still it’s always a lot of work to keep them going.  This week has been a really good one for them. They’ve been to the zoo, to the family farm, and have seen an aunt and uncle a lot.

The time with my parents was really great too. They did a lot of park trips, a visit to a science center/aquarium and a zoo, time with my brother and their cousins, and playing outside with water. We also did a vacation where they went to a national park, an aquarium, museums, and some other activities (Sam and Emily did a ski lift, I did a car museum with the twins), and we had a lot of time at the pool. The kids all have made dramatic jumps in swimming ability. Sam had had a few lessons two years ago and then weekly lessons for about ten weeks abroad (but it was not a great environment). This summer they’ve gotten the pool time and now taking lessons. They can all dog paddle and seem to love the water. I’m hoping that the last few weeks will be good for them. We’re doing an east coast run for Sam’s camp and to see Emily’s aunt and my one set of aunt and uncles in the area. I’m sad we aren’t getting to our more northern relatives in the Midwest and east coast but hope to see them on our next trip back. The time definitely goes faster than expected.

The kids are coming along on verbal ability. The twins still say “mies” instead of “I.” Eli calls Eva "Evo" and says "waffles" like "flossils." He just said "pay-peh" for "paper." Eli has a bit of a froggy voice. They’ve also invented their own very nasal baby language they do when they pretend to be babies together. Eli’s very into dogs and Eva’s on a full princess kick. So far the princess kick isn’t too specialized. She will play an alien princess from a dog movie they like and (Princess Jorala from Super Buddies), but was also introduced to Barbie by cousins and is liking the Disney collection. One of the twins games is "Doggy and Princess" (Eli as dog, Eva as princess). It's a time of imaginative play, that's for sure.

My mom introduced Sam to plants versus zombies. He doesn’t play video games a ton, but it’s a nice break for the parents on car trips or when he needs a post-class break. Sam has given us mixed messages on reading camp. He’s said he doesn’t like it, but also has had happy things to say when he comes home. It’s a good trial run for the fall when we’ll have to have him at school by 8 and he’ll have a pretty long day. I’m really glad we were able to pull off the move before we left, because I think we’ll enjoy getting to know the new place when we’re back. And honestly, it will be nice to have a few weeks before school start where I can be local but not on campus.

That’s our updates. In terms of long-term discernment, we are always a little mixed in our feelings. The last fall was pretty rough but the spring improved dramatically. I find the transitions are a mix too. We get a lot of opportunities to try out new things. For myself, I sometimes feel like this is just a challenging position to be sustainable in. I’m doing it, but I know I need to put more time into exercise and cooking and I’d like more time for research. On the other hand, I know that’s asking a lot for anyone with three small kids living abroad. I think it will also help to have a few weeks before the semester starts because it’ll give me some time to put ourselves back together. This life we live, of back-and-forths, is a relatively wholesome one, but often a bit intense. I'm sort of amazed at all of the environments we've moved between. 

Oh, mid-semester...

I'm blogging more on my named site now, but still wanted to update family pictures here. Things are going along--time always accelerates as we hid the middle of the semester. I've felt a little shell-shocked lately with efforts to finish out the spring semester, plan the summer, and prep for fall transitions. Emily's been a good listener and we're still working on possibilities. I feel like there are good ways to make it all work, but when I look up definitions of burn-out, they usually fit me too (jobs you can't complete, little feedback, poor work/life separation, etc.). It's not that I'm not making progress--I definitely am--it just sort of feels like I'm running a marathon where someone keeps moving the finish line farther into the distance.

On the flip side, the kids are mostly gleeful and are at a really fun stage now. Eva was dancing to the Dorothy the Dinosaur dvd tonight, Eli's started drawing, and Sam does artistic pasterpieces. I get to go to the zoo with Sam's group on Thursday. They're pretty excellent park goers also. Emily took them to the huge park recently, where they played with friends they see there. They all have pretty good language. Last night I heard Eva talking about the four tastes in local language, so she's really making rapid progress. Sam does more formal translation, and his vocab is also more complex. Eli moved to the big class at church, which takes him out of mom's English class and puts him with 8 or 10 kids his own age. He liked the drawing/cake combo in the class, and so I may take Eva up next week too. They definitely are moving on to new things. This summer should be a lot of fun, since Sam will be at an age he can do camp-type stuff. The three do "pretty well" together, but it's also nice to get them some solo time.

Here are pictures from a recent trip up the mountain to some botanical gardens.

Gymnastics

They're enjoying gymnastics lately. The teachers are very good with them and go through an array of activities. Emily said there's less tumbling than in the States, but they seem to be working on basic skills (moving forward and backwards, arm and leg strength, balance, vaulting, hanging from a bar, etc.).

Eli is always a little fidgity and reluctant to stay with the group. Today I saw him and he wanted to come over and sit on me. I talked him back into practice through an appeal to the advanced gymnastics training of the ninja turtles, Robin, and other superheroes. That said, Eli is really strong. He does jumps that most kids need help with. Eva has a blast the whole time, and is flexible.

We've also realized Sam generally does not have the "thrillseeking" gene. He'll do the upside and the flips, but still occasionally gets spooked by lnog flights of stairs and escalators. He'll do them, but he doesn't particularly enjoy it. Both my dad and I are like this with heights. My brother could sit ont he edge of the cliff, but I always wanted to be back five or ten feet.

I'm trying to use my camera more. We've been taking a lot of cell phone pictures, but I miss the clarity of a traditional camera. I'll try to post more pictures in the coming months. I'm splitting my blogging now between this site and a more public one.

Church and Park

Kid update. Their favorite music lately is a new Disney DVD from Grandma Barb. Sam likes We are Siamese and a song about pirates, Eli likes Lion King, and Eva is officially into princesses now. She often wears her princess dress and the boys alternate between Darth Vader, various super heroes, and some legacy bug costumes (a beetle, bees). For reading, they do a mix of things. Sam and I had done Lorax for a while. We are now reading an illustrated Bible I have. It’s written for older kids, but he likes doing two or three little stories at a time.

Emily’s also got him working on English with a workbook I found here. I think one of our dilemmas will be whether 80% of grade level in local scool and 90% of grade level in English is okay. So far, he seems very happy with everything, so we are happy with it. However, if he ever feels like he’s left out we’ll figure out another way. He has a very good vocabulary and is interested in all different subjects. Today we watched a TV show and it had a little girl with an appendicitis in it. He seemed worried that this was something that could happen to him, so we spent a while discussing the body, organs, etc. The weather has turned warm sometimes recently also, so Emily has been taking them to the park. Sam has two friends there, one Spanish-Japanese and one Canadian-local, so he enjoys playing with them in English. Emily says the three boys are a little rough together but all like each other. They range from 4-6.

As I write this, I’m at church. Sam is in his class and Emily is leading her class. Sam’s re-accustomed to his class and likes it. They have a snack and drawing and a story as the 5 year old class. There’s also a time when they’re all together for singing and an activity. I just saw the mom of a kid that was born in the same month as Eva and Eli. Her oldest is finishing sixth grade and their plan is to move to Canada, I think so he can really do English hard. She was trying to figure out if it would be too hard for the daughter to readjust to local schools in five or six years. It really is a dilemma here. Two of our faculty members at my school have kids abroad. We also met someone who was born here but moved to the States at age 7. They adopted a son here and she just brought him back for several months so he could do preschool and work on language. It's interesting that so many people are working on the same challenge, but from a different direction. 

There are little things that are hard to figure out. Eli’s started throwing small tantrums. Today we couldn’t find a small batman helicopter for him as we left and he screamed for probably the first ten minutes of the drive. When he’s like this, it’s hard to know what to do with him. Punishment and bribes don’t really work. At home, sometimes I have to carry him and put him in time out and after a while he will calm down. He just seems to take the transitions a little harder. Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure Sam had a period that was similar, so I hope it’s just a phase. Generally speaking he does very well and seems to do well at school, but the tantrums will make us crazy.

We’re still trying to figure out this summer. The balance is how much time to get with two to four family locations and how planned versus how much freedom we want. My students graduate mid-June and there are real benefits in having grading and everything wrapped up before going home. Sam’s graduation is the 22^nd and it would be really nice to be able to take part if possible. We’ll see. Tomorrow we go to the denom office in downtown Taipei. I don’t know what else will happen, but that’s the basic plan.

Here are some pictures from the park today

February a blur

This has been an intense, exciting few weeks. Emily's now been back for more than a week, and is back on US time. She's been writing well.

New Year worked out impressively well. The weather held and so we were able to spend some time outside. I took the kids to the palace musuem the first day. The second day we visited our friend about 50 minutes a way for a meal (I made spaghetti casserole, which they liked). Saturday we did a park and Emily came back that night. Sunday was church (which was very mellow since the English service was cancelled--we just played in the baby room). Monday and Tuesday were fun days with Emily back and we logged some good playground time. She'd also carried back Randy's baseball mit, so we practiced chasing and scopping baseballs. The rules are still a bit of a mystery to Sam, but he enjoys it and plays well with others (we have a practice tonight). He has his dads propensity for staring off into space or playing with the grass. On the other hand, he's getting started really early. The rumor is that the baseball season starts next month, so I'm hoping we can get some tickets and see a game at the local stadium.

In terms of books/media/music, they are pretty into all things superhero, but love their books. From the neighors we've borrowed the idea of a quiet time, just ten or fifteen minutes after dinner and before bath. Everyone is to go to their beds and look at books or play with a toy. It's continuing to be a highlight of the evening (for us), and the kids even ask for it. I know they love each other, and they play well together, but they also need some solo time and some one on one time with us.

Tonight I plan to take Sam to baseball and then to the movie. It will be a rush to get there, and I hope I don't miss too much of it. Still, it's a rainy day and it will be a nice treat for him. I hope it's fun.

We're also starting to plan the summer. I feel like I'm always a little behind on things. We're still not sure how to do this. Fly to a major airport near family? Fly out of a major airport? When in June do we return? How many church events should I plan? I'm hoping to fill this in during the months ahead.

Not too much else to report. Everyone is healthy and energetic. We watched some of the Olympics, which encouraged a number of gymanstic performances around the house, on the couch, etc. Fun times!

Through Week #2

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. Stitches the day before Emily left, Eva and Eli out of school for five days because classmates had the flu, and several stretches of solo-care (~6/16 days). This falls during what should be grading and prepping for the next semester. I know this time doesn't last forever, but it can sure feel endless.

The kids are making real strides. They're all very verbal, Sam seems to have his alphabets and basically can count up to 50. They all love to read and enjoy playing with Legos and superheroes and probably watch a little too much tv. They've got about six months here where they'll continue to do school and gymnastics and so on. 

For the lunar new year (it always feel funny to write that) we're visiting another person we work with and doing a kind of traditional lunch. I hope they're ready for us! Weather is holding up so far, which makes a big difference in mood. 

We saw our neighbors yesterday, which was fun. She said when her kids were little she started giving them a set period of quiet every day. I'm thinking it might be a good idea. Perhaps a cooking timer and ten minutes. It would be nice if everybody could have some time looking at a book or playing quietly. Part of what is challenging is that we just have three very energetic, vocal, enthusiastic children. Time will tell.

January

The weather has been back and forth here—cold and damp for several weeks, then beautiful for days, and now cold and raining. At first we thought Sam would be rained out of a fieldtrip, but then he was able to go after all. The trip is to a local nature park. He’s been there before, but I hope it’s a good time for him even with the rain.

Everyone is speaking a little more. Linda reads to the kids some in the mornings which is nice, mostly just working on things like animal names.

Emily flies to the US next Wednesday. Her initial plan is to visit Paul and Joan and Reina for a few days, then go to the conference, and then she’ll have six or seven days at the end. It doesn’t look like she’ll go to her school. Logistics always take a while to figure out.

Sam was tired this morning (we thought he’d gone to sleep last night, but he was till up pretty late—sometimes he waits for one of us to go to bed). This morning he was super grumpy. We’re still working on discipline. We do a mix of time-outs, “talking-to’s” (usually very calm), giving toys time outs, and a counting thing I do. Most of the time, even if two are flipping out, one will quickly calm down to be the good one. They’re pretty good but the three of them really can compete. It’s common for Sam to discover that Eli is playing with a toy that was Samuel’s, but which Samuel hasn’t looked at in forever, and to demand it back. Not sure what to do here? Maybe we should create a sequestered drawer where any off-limits toys for Sam have to go. Still thinking about this.

I don’t have any great plans for this month’s daddy fun weeks. I’ll have two weekends and two holiday days plus assorted evenings. I think it could be fun. I’m going to do local museums as possible, which they enjoy, and am also thinking of doing something like inviting people for the Thursday holiday for a potluck. This is, however, probably overly ambitious. 

Quiet Sunday Afternoon

Today was the quietest Sunday I've had in a while. I went with Sam to the big class at church (basically 4-6 year olds). He had a good time. His teachers praised him for his coloring, which pleased him. He's been a little shying going back, but I think it's good for him. I talked to his teachers the day he restarted and they seem to be giving him extra TLC. It helps that several of the kids in his class go back and forth between the English group and the local language group. I get to just sit outside and chit-chat with parents, which is really wonderful. Today Emily went to the ministry leaders' group (since she does Sunday School for the baby group) and I took our kids home and just hung out. Really, really, really nice Sunday afternoon.

Life has also improved remarkably with the return of Linda and with a visit from YH, a dear friend who has been back for around ten days. Linda's helping us in the mornings and will help take the kids to school when Emily goes back to the States for a conference. She also helps the kids with breakfast and getting clothes on, can read to them time permitting, and has reduced our house work by about 90%. It's a small miracle--actually maybe even a large miracle.

My spring is looking better too. My school still is driving me a bit nuts but I have a reduced course load for the spring and since I don't have church leadership it will be much more balanced. Some other institutions are causing me grief--the coeditors of a journal I work on just resigned--but even here the interim editors will be a lot easier to work with. It's as if someone has lifted a weight off my shoulders. I also feel like I have more time for the kids now. I've been doing Legos with everyone and get to read to them every night. In the mornings I can focus on getting ready for the day but jump in as needed. Big improvements!

We just got the Christmas package from Em's parents in the mail. The kids loved their PJs and we're listening to the cassettes they sent. The peppermint bark is almost gone (delicious!). I've been reading through the book they sent, How Children Succeed, which is pretty interesting. It uses a lot of recent educational research on things like education and economic mobility, the relationship between grades and college completion, the traumas that disadvantaged kids face which usually stay with them throughout their life, the impact of stress on achievement, and on and on. The key theme of the book is character. Recent research has shown that things like "grit" make a big difference for kids in overcoming challenges and sticking with boring or challenging work. One of the mysteries is why specific kids are able to navigate challenges and how we can help them. In general, I think both Emily and I come from families with a lot of strengths and some excellent models for handling difficult situations. It really is difficult to know how to give children the mix of values we want for them: kindness and independence, resiliency and sticktuitiveness, a love of learning and an openness to self-criticism, etc. For us, at least for now, there's also a cultural overlay. What are our kids being encouraged in now? What specific challenges do they have? What type of help or time will be most helpful to them? Anyway, these are definitely things I think about as a parent. One of the things that's been a source of encouragement for us here is that the kids seem to be doing really well and are loved in several different communities. We also enjoy keeping up with family and that helps prevent us from feeling too isolated.

More in a while. I could really get used to relaxed Sunday afternoons!

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