Our Valentines: 7 Children ages 5 and Under

With the scarcity of babysitters and the wonderful date we had for our anniversary at the end of January, I knew the likelihood of going out for Valentine's Day was pretty slim. So I decided to offer to babysit for our friends in return and throw a Valentine's party for the kids. Then, as I thought of fun activities and scoured Pinterest, I decided we could be crazy and invite the kids of the other family we trade babysitting with too. That way both of them could get dates. And for some reason I just really enjoy planning parties, probably more than I enjoy being at them! ;) But in the end, even with 7 kids, it was fun, though a bit exhausting! 

 Hadassah helped me decorate the door with hearts. :) Paper is cheap and fun to spread hearts all over the room!

 Ellie very sweetly went over to play with her baby friend (7 months old) while I was trying to help the older children decorate their heart pizzas. Somehow we survived the first 45 minutes before reinforcements (Ryan) showed up. And loved seeing Ellie treat this little one with gentleness, even giving her animals to play with!

 While prepping pizzas I kept kids busy with heart butterfly and snail coloring pictures, and a "heart name hunt." I assigned them each a color and scattered hearts with the letters of their name all over the living room. They found and glued them to a page with their name written on it. Kept them busy, and they were motivated by the promise of a candy heart when they completed it!

 I made a big heart pizza for Ryan and I to share...

 And each of the children decorate their own mini heart pizzas. :) They also seemed to enjoy the fact that their veggies were in a heart cookie cutter. I left the mixed veggies frozen to save time and because children often prefer them that way, and several kept asking for more!

 7 children ages 5, 4, 3, 3, 2, 1, and 7 months. Ryan and I stood while we ate because we knew we'd have to always be getting up to get water, seconds, or "more apples without the skin!" so we may as well just stand. ;)

 After supper, to help get out some energy, we played Musical Hearts! I got the idea online. Each heart had an action on it, from "Bark like a puppy" to "jump like a rocket" to "sing twinkle, twinkle, little star."

 The children walked around while the music played and when it stopped, whichever one they landed on they had to do. Even Ellie fully got into walking around with the big kids to music, which was fun to see! We must have played almost 10 times!

 Then it was time for a treasure hunt. I had the clues be different colors so they could each be one to open the one that was "their" color from the heart name hunt earlier. It led them to colored eggs (again, they each got to choose their assigned color - minimized "I want that one!") with little pieces of chocolate and conversation hearts. :)

 The next activity was meant to fill time. ;) They took turns drawing a card (the heart cards from a deck of card) and colored in all the small hearts on their page that was that number. One by one the three youngest grew tired and dropped out, but the two older ones had great fun completing it!

 Ryan and I made a great team, switching off holding babies or distracting kids while the other cleaned something up or got an activity ready. But by 6:45 PM (they'd arrived around 4:30 PM) we were pretty tired and the babies needed more constant attention. So, Cailou cartoons on Youtube to the rescue! ;) It's amazing how it can make 5 children sit so still!

 Ellie loved having some attention after the craziness of the evening. :) And everyone was happy and in good spirits when their parents came! Well, maybe not Hadassah. Of all days, she never fell asleep for her nap so was a bit overtired and over-peopled. But, things like this are good to stretch her, and it just felt so good to spend the evening blessing our friends. Especially when their children excitedly told them everything they did for their "first every Valentine's party!"

Romance was not completely absent, though. My husband surprised me with roses and a shower of rose petals when he arrived home from work (to a bit of children chaos!) and we are always so thankful for a 7:30-8 PM bedtime for our children, so that we have a little time in the evening to spend with each other.

It wasn't the typical "go out for a nice dinner" Valentine's Day. But as much as I enjoy that, I know that this one will be a sweet, special one to remember.

Downtown Shanghai Lights and Sights

The weekend before Danielle and Alex left, we stayed downtown for 2 nights. We'd talked about going various other places by train, but decided to maximize our time and money by just taxing downtown for 45 minutes instead of all the time it takes to travel outside of the city. Plus, with as huge a city as Shanghai is, it has a lot to offer! It was also fitting that they saw the Bund on their first and last weekends in Shanghai. We were also blessed with beautiful weather!

Friday evening didn't quite go as planned... We got to our hotel (a "serviced apartment" with three bedrooms, so it was very comfortable for us all together!) in good time. But then we made the mistake of taking a taxi to the place we wanted to eat for supper. There went at least 30 minutes in traffic... Then the mall we were going to eat at was overrun with people going to a gaming conference next door. Each of the good restaurants were full with a long wait time. Not good when your children are already tired and hungry!

Cold Stone wasn't busy, though, so we decided on ice cream for supper! Hadassah didn't mind! ;)

We also got some savory breads to go with it, since those were a quick pick up as well. Then we had a picnic...

But OUTSIDE of the gate of the park we'd planned to walk through after supper. Despite light lasting into the evening, it seems most parks close around 5 PM here.

But while we waited for Ryan to get the ever-present need of water, it was a pretty place for a cousin picture! It's pretty cool how these cousins will always be a little closer, despite the years age gap, due to the 6 weeks together.

Our hotel had a beautiful night-light view. Ryan took Alex and Danielle to the Bund to see it all lit up after the girls went to bed, and I had a glorious, relaxing time scrapbooking with this view!

We'd planned to go swimming after breakfast, but the pool didn't open until 11 AM. Dassah enjoyed the last minute switch of Ryan taking her to ride some rides at People's Park though!

Alex and Danielle met them at a subway stop to go to the point of the highest buildings in town.

They got to go to the very top of the tallest building in China (and 2nd tallest in the world!) - The Shanghai Tower.

The view was pretty incredible! The city is huge...

From the top, even the other two tallest buildings looked short!

Back at the hotel, I enjoyed another relaxing scrapbooking break while Ellie napped. The view with blue and white was pretty awesome too! And when Ellie woke and we waited for lunch to arrive (ordering gyros to the hotel was the best ever!) and the others to get back, I turned on Chris Tomlin music and danced. It's been a while since I broke out the old ballet moves, and Ellie laughed to see me spin and leap and dance her around. The words rang out:

"I lift my hands to believe again, 

You are my refuge, You are my strength. 

As I pour out my heart, these things I remember: 

You are faithful God forever!"

With the view of a huge city full of people, and the memories of how faithful God has been through all of the transitions and changes, and how He could use this huge city to bring His Name glory... I knelt, lifted my hands, cried and prayed. May His will be done here. And though I'm not always thrilled by the day-in-day-out discomforts of life overseas, I am thankful to be a small part of what He is doing here.

After lunch, Dassah got to do what she had looked forward to most: swim! This girl loves the water! And Ellie enjoyed her first experience in a big pool too! Since it was closed in the mornings, Ryan even took Hadassah again that night before bed. :)

While the girls napped in the afternoon and Ryan rested at the hotel, I got to go with Danielle and Alex to Yu Yuan Garden. It was awesome how, by now, after their trips downtown to see various museums in the past weeks and their recent forray to the Jewish Refugee's Museum, they knew the subway system better than I did!

There were cool rock formations...

And beautiful, artistic gates.

Small details like these make my eyes happy. :)

It is really neat that out of my side of the family, these two will forever know more about our life here than anyone else!

There were a ton of touristy shops selling things, so they were able to pick up some things for family and friends, and even try their hand at bartering!

Then, it was our turn to enjoy the town. :) It was a perfect late afternoon at the Bund, breezy, pretty empty... So we got our own space and took many timed pictures until we got the perfect one. :)

I love being out with my man, and being out with just him made me appreciate the city even more. It definitely is a fun, romantic spot to be!

And the sky... It's been so beautiful in the recent weeks!

We enjoyed delicious food with fresh bread at an Italian restaurant just around the corner. And we just talked and didn't have to get up once while we ate supper. Amazing to parents of two small children!

"Now we see in a glass dimly..." Never would we have imagined ending up here. I look forward to seeing what God will do in the years to come!

Ellie was ready for us to get back home though. ;) She had the best babysitters, but in her current mommy-clingy state and a cold coming on (we realized later) she was ready for mommy's arms!

Our bright blue eyed big girl was also glad to see us. :) But what a blessing it was to have "live-in" babysitters and be downtown so we could even order pizza in for them! Something we haven't figured out how to do way out where we live...

When the girls were safely tucked in bed, we headed out again. We were going to a hotel where there was supposed to be salsa dancing at 9 PM, but we arrived early and enjoyed chocolate. :) It even happened to be half price!

We headed up where the dancing was supposed to be, but there wasn't any going on. But we found this amazing, secluded balcony with the best view of the city. Wow.

Kissing on top of the world! It was a secluded balocny, and almost didn't seem real. The air was clear, the clouds seemed close enough to touch, and I was with the one I love most. Seemed like a dream world... Romantic outings have been harder than we'd prefer to come by in the last few years, but this was a huge blessing from the Lord to remember!

We waltzed in the clouds as we sang our wedding dnace soung ("A Hundred More Years" by Francesca Batistella) - and cried as we realized how blessed we were as...

"they can dance, under the moonlight, 

and God is smiling down on them tonight... 

And they want to stay right here, 

make it last for a hundred more years!" 

Then we went back down the spiral suitcase, back to our responsibilities, who thankfully slept soundly all night!

Before church, since we didn't have the hour commute we usually do, Ryan took Hadassah to do a few more rides at People's Park while we packed up. A ten minute taxi ride to church seemed so short. The singing and sermon were refreshing, and the potluck afterwards (since it was a 5th Sunday) delicious! A great ending to a great weekend.

Loving China with my Man

Date nights with Ryan make me love China more.

Maybe it's because everything is easier to love when you're with the one you love most!

But really, it's a whole different experience when I'm out with him and not with the girls. We don't get too much attention. Even when we do crazy things like steal kisses on the sidewalk because the scent of pollen is so strong and sweet and makes us so happy, hardly anyone stops, stares, or cares. And walking places is just plain fun because it's easy to talk and hold hands, and reminds us of how we fell in love...

With the girls, on the other hand, I often feel like I'm in a zoo. Except we're the animals, not the onlookers. I hear comments almost everywhere we walk. If I stop for a moment, there's almost always someone - or a crowd - that comes up to the stroller. If I dare lay Ellie down on a playmat to kick around while Hadassah plays, there's almost instantly a crowd, often asking me questions. Thankfully we've found some more secluded spots, but outside of those, we're an attraction. And walking, while still something I enjoy, means maneuvering a double stroller over bumpy sidewalk and up and down curbs. That or holding on to the toddler's hand to make sure she doesn't get hit by a car, bike, or trip in the many holes. Okay so really, it's not so bad - it's just harder at times. I am so thankful for how much JOY I have in daily life, especially compared to how almost depressed I was this time last year. I am thankful for how warm and caring the people here are. There are just many moments I'd rather not be so noticed!

So it is so good to get out more alone. To feel a bit more free. To not feel like I'm the "show" for those who pass by. And when the day is warm, the sun is still bright at 5 PM, and the girls both napped well that day so should be doing well with the friends watching them, it's so much easier to be carefree and love being part of a walking society with the buzz of a Friday evening.

Even more fun? Finding one of those rare secluded spots and doing a little swing dancing! I felt light, like a teen again. Ellie's almost six months old, and I feel I've almost fully recovered from the rigors of pregnancy and birth. My man is an amazing leader, and we pulled out moves we've hardly done since our wedding rehearsal dinner and laughed as we got our arms all mixed up. It's easy to laugh when I'm with Ryan.

Dinner was a disaster and a delicious surprise. Both of us had yummy Chinese cabbage on our minds, so we decided to walk to the nice campus hotel/restaurant that had it. Only to find they'd changed their menu. Perhaps even changed who ran it. The "menu" was a huge wall of lighted up pictures with only Chinese descriptions. Nothing looked particularly great, and the ingredients sitting out to chose from (including a plate with a raw, dead fish) didn't look that fresh. They finally took us back to sit down and pulled out an old menu we recognized with English translations, but said they didn't have most of the dishes. And mind you they were only speaking in Chinese, so we were just picking out words we knew and going by actions! ;) When we asked for beef, they pointed out their most expensive, weird looking beef something (equivalent of $20) and they didn't have cabbage... Finally we just decided to leave, very embarrassed but relieved. And it seemed the wait staff was relieved too! Sometimes it's just not worth it to try to communicate when neither of you is catching most of anything the other person is saying...

So we went to the one other place we knew of that had the cabbage, the place with the hilarious menu translations. I hadn't been that impressed with it before, but it never hurts to give a second try, and that cabbage was on our minds! To our surprise we were greeted just inside the door by a man in a Chef's hat hailing from India and asking (in English) where we were from. To our delight we discovered an insert in the menu titled "Exotic Indian bread" - I mean you can't go wrong with that! And we were not disappointed...

Though the 10 or more descriptions of the bread were all in Chinese, so we decided to ask the chef for his recommendation. After some back-and-forth in broken Chinese with the waiter, Ryan got him to take him back up to the chef to talk in English. Only to find out that this man's English was very limited. Ryan asked "what do you recommend?" and the man answered him in an Indian dialect! I think the chef was trying to give the impression to the waiter that he knew English. Pretty awkward for Ryan, but he said one English word - "egg" - and what he brought out (friend thin bread around scrambled egg and chives) was absolutely delicious! Definitely want to go back for more some day!

The other choices - our cabbage, lamb chops, spring rolls, and a pumpkin dessert roll, along with freshly squeezed orange juice as the perfect palate cleanser - were all delicious as well. We actually ate and enjoyed them all. We're getting better at ordering, or maybe just less adventurous!

But the company and conversation was sweeter still. We got our favorite convenience store ice cream to eat on the way home, along with a pack of white paper, since the "paper" I thought I'd ordered on Taobao turned out to be card stock! And we kept stopping to drink in the scent of pollen - the wonderful scent of spring - all the way home. Laughed about how we live in Shanghai but hardly ever take the metro. Looked into each other's eyes and smiled. And never ever let go of each other's hand...

Ellie was crying really hard when we got back though. Life is still life with all it's hard moments. She often gets overtired even after just 2 hours being awake, and she's gotten more mommy clingy lately. She calmed down in my arms, though, and after a long nursing session was her smiley and laughing self again. Even went to bed really easily, being relieved to be home. Hadassah thankfully is fully joyous with our friends and no longer protests at all when we leave, just takes her shoes off and runs in for fun. So they do grow, and I know that this is ultimately good. I hardly ever left Hadassah at this age, but I've learned that a little crying doesn't do a ton of damage, and we're showing Ellie that we always come back... Her tears hurt my heart, but ultimately I am a much happier Mommy for having been out for 2 hours with the one my heart loves most.

What a sweet, sweet time it was... Thank You, Lord.

A walk to Burger King and back

Walking without children is such a treat. I guess I've always been a walker... I used to go for walks along our dirt road almost every day growing up, and I fell in love with Ryan while we walked and talked over many different weekends. So when we had a date last Friday (so thankful for friends who swap babysitting!!), the weather was just too good to get in a taxi or on the subway. We walked. And talked and talked, about anything and everything. I felt like I jabbered, just happy to have his undivided attention for 2 1/2 hours! :)

 I love my man. And everything is so much more vibrant when spring is in the air, blossoms are all around, and you're walking hand in hand.

 And I love that he carries my bag even when it's pink and makes me blush by randomly pulling me into swing dancing in the middle of our apartment complex. You should have heard the cries of Wàiguó rén! as a group of about 10 kids rushed over to rush and giggle, especially when he kissed me at the end. I don't like making a scene, but I don't mind it as much when I'm so in love with him. And the springtime does make me want to dance!

 The Shanghai Lily against gray always makes us happy.

 We found a little hidden path along the way and breathed deeply of the scent. I love all the white and pink blossoms out this time of year! And the way the perfume hits you at unexpected times brings such delight to the senses - especially when you smell many different random - and often not so great - things as you walk along a road with many little shops!

 And I know... Burger King isn't exactly on the top 10 or even top 100 places to go on a date! ;) But when we wanted a burger and wanted to walk, it was pretty nice. :) It took about 40 minutes at a fast pace (felt so so good!) to get to the mall it's in, and we even snagged a semi-secluded outside seat. We'd eaten pretty healthy all week, so the burger and fries tasted great! And especially with all the walking, we felt justified!

 We picked up treats from Dairy Queen (funny how the few familiar fast food shops make you feel at home even when you rarely stopped there in the States!) and sat in this romantic spot to eat. :) We were going to sit closer to the river, but upon further inspection thought it looked better from farther away. ;)

 The ice cream was delicious, and it reminded us of a time in our engagement when we sat on a random piece of cement along a road. I love building memories with this guy.

 Legs swinging, hand in hand... We felt like kids.

 Then, knowing Ellie would be needing to go to bed soon (though she thankfully took a bottle of pumped milk while we were out) we began our twilight walk home. Shanghai does a great job with their outdoor lights.

 Talking, laughing, and enjoying the random sites of small stores.

 You just never know what you're going to see. Yes, that's a wedding dress. On an e-bike. Randomly parked outside a formals shop, with no one in site. How I wanted to know the back story of that one!

 Near the end of our walk, we focused on thankfulness. "What are you thankful for about China, Ryan?" His first response was "that tree." It's such a beautiful, iconic site in Shanghai. We continued to name things... a truck that looked like it was two different vehicles welded together. The ease of walking places. The colored lights decorating trees.

Then it was home sweet home. We remembered how beautiful it looked outside this time of day, and vowed to take more family walks after dinner with the weather getting nice. And as we went inside to a big girl who didn't cry at all this time (finally making progress!) and a baby who was wailing (but calmed down as soon as I took her, yes, it makes a mommy feel needed!) we were refreshed. We had time. Just us. Together.

Last year, part of why we wanted to leave China before we'd planned is because it just didn't seem like we were ever going to get regular date nights. We really value time to just be Ryan and Anna and continue building friendship and love while being out away from home and chores. It's not absolutely necessary to a good marriage, but it is so encouraging and a blessing. And just look how God has provided. We serve an amazing Lord. Sometimes, we just need to keep trusting and holding on, for you never know what is around the next bend.