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?!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
"The Pit"
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!
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!
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
We're OK!
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.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Evening Prayers
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
AJ's Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you for this day, and for boats, in Jesus' name, Amen
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Preschool
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!
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!Saturday, September 8, 2007
Last Week
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.
Tomorrow is their first day of preschool, so that will be the next batch of pics.
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!
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.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Fun for Kate and AJ
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.
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.
and... I'm not really sure what this one means. I'd be happy to hear what you think it means.
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