Wednesday, April 02, 2014

from the other side

We made it! We are getting over jet lag in a wonderful cozy home surrounded by loving and gererous family and yummy food :). But those pictures are for the next post. Here is our last month in China- filled with a great sense of accomplishment in completion of some homeschool activities and also a sense of fulfillment, as we feel filled up by loving relationships and sweet encouragement. 
 One of our last Classical Conversations meetings building a bridge out of straws, rubber bands and play dough! 
 Our last meeting was so much fun. We can hardly believe we finished 24 intense weeks of teaching and learning. After our meeting we presented the eight kids involved with awards and ended our time with a pizza party outside and soccer, football & kickball games! 
 I felt creative and inspired one morning which lead to some funky hair styles :)
This style looked the coolest after 3 days- when we took it out, Olivet again looked like a country music singer.
 Enjoying some long braids before they head to locks of love!
 Our friend Rachel has been an amazing help. She is quite the chef! One afternoon she made us sweet peas & chicken, eggs and tomato and in the front is this amazing eggplant. Yum.
 Before we left, Rachel gave us a really neat wall hanging that said "Emanuel" in Chinese. So thoughtful. 
 Dreaming of singing and dancing I'm sure- two favorite things.
 Hadassah's replica of Elsa. Not a bad job for a 5 year old.
 the amazing coconut
 after sitting in a pressure cooker for about an hour- what a treat. I miss it's taste and texture already.
 Rachel's jiao zi. The way to our kids' hearts.
 I bet it's interesting to say the least to see how a big family functions after growing up solo. 
 If u look close enough u will see a Chinese man playing a piccolo type instrument in the window. What a beautiful sound. 
  We made a trip to a nearby park with our good friends Cheryl, Jayden & Micah this month, knowing we might not see each other for 10 months!
 our neighboring picnickers 
I wonder what part of our brunch experience they probably thought looked strange
 yogurt samples
 bubbles
 trees for hanging from
 beautiful artwork
daring viv
 Olivet was the first to sit in her ride. She was upset when it started to move so lil hoped in with her. Fun to see the kids' unique personalities develop.
a big... map 
 Lil & Cade couldn't wait to ride on this scary swings (scary only because we are often not quite certain if quality control/ inspections ever happen). Josh's thoughts when he rode this thing (the swings get really high and almost horizontal with the ground) were, "Well, if it breaks and I fly into the trees..."
 Olivet playing it safe on the merry-go-round
 Our ride home on the 3 wheel bike with 7 kids all carrying a balloon must have been quite a site. 
This balloons provided hours and hours of entertainment. 
 Happy Birthday August! The next day he turned 1- the balloon is a gift from Lil.
 all smiles
On my to-do list: gotta learn how to adjust light filter on camera :)
 What a fun year with August Richard it has been. Went by so fast. 
 Our friend and babysitter Laura was over and mentioned her mom hardly has any pictures of her and the kids because she is always the one taking the pics. So she grabbed the camera and took a few shots!
 my babes
 treasured moments
 All the kids have to do is ask to have dinner outside and the answer is yes! We were told to enjoy the 70 degree weather before entering Wisconsin's eternal winter!

 Celebrating with little coconut cakes and new animals (that I thought would be fitting for the plane ride, but I was wrong... nothing worked :)
 the crew
 Fun to have one of Lil's BFF's over to join us! There were smiles and giggles all day.
 Our first time ever meeting a little Dutch baby- so precious. The day after August's birthday, Willimein, my midwife with August, came to visit and introduce us to Simon, her 6 months old. 
(Not exactly sure why August wasn't excited about it)
 fun to reminice 
Constantly excited about our trip to America! You should see their faces now! 

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