Water Play the Apartment Way

 Since this one got up earlier than planned on Thursday, she discovered how to pull up on a box while I had my back turned getting a chore done. Ellie just keeps learning faster than I can keep up with! ;)

When it was time to get Hadassah up, I told her we were going to put on her swimsuit and do some water play. Pretty much the best thing you can say to a 2 year old! ;) With it so hot and humid, being outside and doing our normal walking and running and playground activities wasn't very enjoyable. Yet, being outside is still so good for my girls and their attitudes. I was kind of inwardly complaining about the fact that I didn't have a back yard for putting out a pool or a water play table, when I realized I could still do something similar here. It just might take a little more work. But, really not all that much more....

 So we loaded up the stroller (I so enjoy this versatile sit-and-stand double stroller!) and headed outside. When we first moved to China, I would have never done this sort of thing, too concerned about what people would think. I hardly ever see parents or grandparents letting their children get dirty or wet. But, 2 years in, I know they think we're a little weird regardless, and I'm not going to let fear of what people will think keep me from giving my girls some free fun!

 We chose a quiet, somewhat secluded sidewalk, and Dassah went to work scooping and pouring. Mostly on her sister...

 ... but Ellie didn't seem to mind too much! The water felt good on the hot day!

 Then they tried standing in the tub and splashing around. Was fun for a few minutes, but the size was a little small.

Dassah tried sitting in it, but decided it was too cold. ;)

 Ellie seemed tired of water after a bit, so I moved her to the play mat where she enjoyed rolling and crawling while Hadassah watered the grass, trees, bugs... Next time I may bring chalk out too, so she can draw and then wash it away.

 I entertained Ellie with twirling leaves when she got bored. She was pretty fascinated. :)

 Then it was time to head back home. It had only been half an hour, but I knew Ellie needed another nap, and the mosquitoes were descending more. And some play time is better than none!

 This little cutie slept really well after that too! For a girl that is trying to give up her third nap, I actually had to wake her up from this one! Nothing like a sweet sleeping baby...

 In other cute news, did you know that a slinky can be an awesome toy for a baby and a toddler?

It may not stay in its original shape, but these sisters sure enjoy playing with it! :D

Long flight activities - 2 1/2 year old edition

It's that time of year again. I ALWAYS have tons of ideas of things I want to make in my head, but daily life takes so much time, so they rarely happen. But then I realize I am about to be stuck on a plane for 12 hours with a 2 1/2 year old, so suddenly I find the time (or just stay up late!). Most of these ideas aren't my own - pinterest has come in very handy. I thought I would share the ideas, though, in case anyone else can use them for times an active toddler needs to be still...

 Wrote the ABCs on a plate (front and back) and on the dot stickers you can buy as office supplies. I also made a plate with numbers and shapes. Hadassah loves matching things at this age.

 Hadassah enjoyed helping make this one. She stuck the stickers on popsicle sticks and I'll have her put the corresponding color pompoms on them. It's harder than you'd think to get them balanced!

 These popsicle sticks are to find the match to make shapes.

 She's enjoying playdough more, so I'm bringing a container along with some wax paper (this particular brand is very sticky, so the paper helps it not stick to the tray). I'll be buying more cream of tartar state-side, as I much prefer the homemade recipe (though have failed at every recipe I've tried without cream of tartar!). I also made some shapes on some papers, to see if she wants to press the dough into the shape, and am bringing some toothpicks and small cookie cutters to play with too.

 This is likely a one-time use activity, but if it uses even 5 minutes it can be worth it! It's a pompom drop to match the colors to the holes. The idea was to punch holes in a tupperware type container but I found the plastic in mine too tough to pierce, so used a paper cup...

 These foam sticker pictures are quite cheap of Taobao, so while she needs some help placing them in the right spots, she enjoys it! And we are stuck side by side for hours on end, so help will be fine. :)

 Cut large plastic straws into beads to tread the right colors on the corresponding color pipe cleaner.

 A felt rainbow chain. One idea I saw was to do buttons and button holes instead of velcro, but 1) that would be a bit advanced for Hadassah and 2) I can't imagine sewing on that many buttons! Just peeling the backs off of the sticky velcro was boring enough. ;)

 I am not a perfectionist or an amazing artist. But these little popsicle stick dolls of our family will probably make my daughter happy. :) And ignore the heights of each person, I got them all pretty off scale! ;)

 I've been saving this sticker book for a while, as I found it on Taobao a few months ago. Will make riding on an airplane while doing it all the more fun!

And yes, notice a theme? She loves stickers all the time (we have four other sticker books of random things a friend gave us to bring along!) and popsicle sticks are SMALL so I looked for as many activities with them as I could!

Case in point. :) She's not as crazy about puzzles as she was for a few months, but these will be a new type, so we'll see how she likes them. :)

 Hadassah is getting more imaginative, so I gave her felt dolls a lot more outfits. That way we can pretend they're going to church, or having a party, or going swimming, or wearing pjs, or whatever... It's fun to see her story imagination grow! And I could make felt doll outfits for hours quite happily...

I also made a felt farm. :) There are some felt books my mom passed on that I loved playing with as a child, but they're a little bulky. I wanted to make her activity bag as small as I could, so made my own little things to play with. Again far from perfect, but I had fun!

Other things in her bag:

• Coloring book and crayons
• More random stickers
• about 15 small, thin paperback books
• A new "Water Wow" coloring pad (they're great for this age!)
• her beloved stuffed animal "Travel Puppy"
• Her stuffed sleeping companion lamb

Water cup and plenty of snacks are in another carry on. I think we're ready! And while she may not do all of these activities on the plane, I've finally gotten some ideas in my head made (though there's way more I want to do some day!) and if nothing else this gives our quiet time church activities some more pizzaz!

Each time our carry ons have gotten smaller. I'm getting smarter at packing. And realizing she doesn't need a ton, just the favorites. Like our first flight back from the states I brought her lamb, her bear, her singing dog, and I think even more stuffed animals. Now I've realized just her two favorites are all she needs...

Prayer that we make all connections and our luggage does too is appreciated! And for patience and peace for the girls, as their sleeping will be wacky and Ryan and I will likely be running on no sleep for 30+ hours... 

A Cardboard Doll House

I needed to create today. Like, really needed to. I was tired, brain was foggy, and I just had that restless feeling... Monday I'd thought of things that would take at least a week of uninterrupted time to do, and all I usually have is an hour or two at best when both have naps that overlap, and usually - pretty much always these days - chores take precedence.

But this week, most of our friends are gone, traveling for the Chinese New Year holidays, so we don't have any get-together days scheduled. Sure, the bathrooms I've been procrastinating cleaning for far too long and there's dust in corners that should be swept, but I just had to do something creative.

I've known I wanted to make a dollhouse out of cardboard boxes since we moved here, and planned to do one since September, when I knew my mom was buying these sweet dolls for Hadassah's birthday. But I also knew it would take a while, and long stretches of time are rare!

So once Ellie joined Hadassah in sleep-world, I raced to do lunch dishes and hang laundry, and then let myself make a mess and create. It actually only took less than two hours to do all of it, and the brain clearing and attitude lifting it did for me is amazing. I forget how wonderful creativity like this is!

I've always enjoyed little dolls. My older sister Miriam made me an amazing doll house when I was a girl (complete with an elevator!) and I collected just about everything miniature I could find. One day I want to get a more sturdy, lasting dollhouse for my girls (or even use the one that was mine as a girl), but here in China I don't want to invest in things on a larger scale, knowing we aren't planning on being here long term. And I realized that for a toddler, cardboard is great and you can do a ton with hot glue and paper and felt. Yes, she may destroy some of it, but I also saved on mess and clean up by hot gluing all the accessories to the box house. Saves on frustration too, as things don't move as she tries to put her dolls in.

 Instead of making a huge house with lots of rooms, the whole family sleeps in the same room. :) Adding trim to the blankets was a last minute addition that made them so much more fun (they were pretty bland before). The crib took the longest to make out of popsicle sticks, but I knew that as much as Hadassah enjoyed her crib, she'd want one for the baby (and I was right). :) I would have enjoyed making more furniture out of popsicle sticks but I was short on time.

And it's far from perfect. My blessing (and curse at times!) in being creative is that I'm not a perfectionist. Helps when I'm trying to finish things quickly!

 Being a toddler, I knew Hadassah would enjoy having a bathroom. And I was right. She took the little girl potty and gave the girls a bath in the bathtub together like she enjoys with her baby sister on occasion. She is so enjoying stories and acting things out these days, that it's fun to see her have a chance to do it with these dollies! Before she had a house for them, she hardly ever played with them, but now I see a lot of play in her future!

 Half of a carton that had fruit in it worked perfectly for simple couches. And felt turns into a nice rug when you make fringes! The pictures/windows are simple and hurried - I could do a lot better, but knew the wake-up time of the girls was fast approaching, and it just looked so much better when I put something on the wall!

 I didn't make chairs in the kitchen (save the bouncy chair for the baby, which Hadassah loved having!) because 1) no room, 2) saves the hassle of her trying to get her dolls to sit in them, and 3) they would have been tricky to make! So the family can stand at the table. :) Another half of a fruit carton in the back has a sink and stove, and of course there has to be a window above the sink for the mom when she does the dishes!

And I loved watching Hadassah decide what the dolls would do. :) She put them to bed multiple times. She put them all down on the living room rug to play together (as she likes us doing as a family). She even had the mom nurse the baby, then had her say, "I'm going to take you outside in the ERGO." Then there was a pause and a high pitched, shocked, "We have no ERGO!!" She got her big doll stroller as a substitute. :)

When you have two...

...life just gets cuter.

And more challenging. And more tiring. And more work. And you have less time for yourself. But the cuteness? Far makes up for it!

 Without meaning to, I dressed them both in black and white outfits on Sunday. I often do that subconsciously, even matching my clothes to the girls sometimes without realizing it!

 When I laid Ellie in Hadassah's bed to do something with Hadassah, she LOVED it and wanted to crawl in and lay right next to her! I love how Hadassah loves her sister, and Ellie loves her too! Just today, my hands were covered in meat when Ellie started crying in the bouncy seat. I asked Hadassah if she could bounce her and talk to her, and so she did, saying "You don't need to cry. I'm right here. Don't worry." And Ellie stopped crying!

And yes, that is Hadassah's big girl bed. After about a week of her wanting to be in the big girl bed half the time and the crib the rest of the time, she finally started choosing it each time. So we moved the crib to Ellie's room and Hadassah gets more room to play! My biggest girl is growing up so quickly!

 My lap is nearly always full these days with one or both. But I love it. :) All those dreams and playing with dolls when I was little, then snatching babies to hold at church or whenever I could... And now this. I have to stop and remember sometimes. When did this wonderful blessing happen? Thank You, Lord.

The nice thing about baby toys is that bringing them out provides amusement for the toddler too! :) Part of it is Hadassah just loves doing things with her sister. After some hitting (mostly when she wanted me to hold her and I was nursing Ellie) and lots of explaining how Hadassah was the big sister and needed to take care of her little sister, to be kind, just pat her not hit her, etc. - we haven't had hitting in a while! Hadassah loves her and is so gentle and kind. She'll point it out too - "Look, I'm being kind to baby Elllie!" And when she isn't, it's usually an accident. ;) I am thankful.

And yes, there is marker on Hadassah's hands. But I chose to view it as a sign that I have so much to love. While I took a minute to talk to Ellie and enjoy her coos and smiles (and she got the closest she's gotten to laughing today!), Hadassah decided the window markers would look great on her hands. It's life with two! :)

Merry Christmas 2015!

 When your amazing sister-in-law Megan says she wants to take a few pictures of Ellie, you say "definitely - yes please!"

 She gave us priceless Christmas pictures to cherish...

 And when you get back with your big girl from taking her to get shots and find the midst of the photo shoot, it works to have the big one jump right in, and because she loves her Aunt Megan so much, she gives such sweet smiles!

 Our best gift this year :)

This precious gift just keeps growing... 

 Christmas joy!

Merry Christmas from China! :)

Discovering The Christmas Story

 We started what may be a new tradition tonight. With it being winter, and with a little baby, it's harder to get outside on Sunday evenings like we used to. Add to it the fact that all of us have been sick (some still are) in the past few days, we were pretty low on energy and it was still an hour before bedtime for Hadassah. So, we decided that Sundays may be family movie night!

Of course, we want to be careful what movies Hadassah sees, and our selection is mostly what's on youtube. Flying over on the plane from America, we tried a kids movie to help pass the time, but a somewhat intense (not scary to an adult) part made Hadassah scream and we realized how things can seem so real to a toddler. So what fits the criteria of no scary parts and a good story?

Well, the best story of all is always a good place to turn! We ran into The Beginner's Bible 26-minute animated version of the nativity story, and it was really good! It kept Hadassah's attention, especially as we have been going over and over the story in various books recently, plus she has loved having me act out the story with our nativity set. With each of the characters (angel, shepherds, wise men), she kept pointing to our set and saying "Just like the story!" It's so much fun to watch her discover the joy of the Christmas story.

When we were done, she went over to the nativity set, and started acting some things out. Her favorite is the angel that flies in the sky to say "Glory to God in the highest!" - I often hear her while in another room acting that part out. :) She moved all the pieces down to the shelf and said, "Mama, the story is ready!" indicating she wanted me to act it out again. So I did. Then she found an Arch book with the Christmas story, so we read that too. I told her, "This is the best story, because it really happened! It's a REAL story!" She kept repeating that - "a REAL story!"

I realized recently, that to her, Bible stories are probably the same as any other story we read about puppies or trains or children at play. So it's time to start communicating more to her that these are special stories, because they really happened. What a privilege and joy it is to be able to communicate The Story to young ones.

God, give me the words and the clarity to show her the truth in Your Story...

Past Week Pictures

I have posts I want to write in my head, but with two children, my computer time is greatly limited. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing... I feel like I waste less time online and spend time more productively overall because I know I have less of it to myself! Though I still have moments of procrastination while scrolling through Facebook...

But pictures are quicker to post, and they say a picture's worth a thousand words, right? Most of these were posted to Facebook in the moment because that's quicker, but I've included them below for friends and family not on Facebook. :)

 Girls wearing Christmas bows for our first Sunday back to church here. Wonderful to reconnect with friends! Crazy to remember how long it takes to get to church, and the adventure of cab rides... especially when we end up with a smoke-filled one...

 I love how Hadassah wants to include Ellie in everything! And it often turns out that Ellie enjoys whatever it is, when I never would have thought to put here there (like in this play tunnel - Ellie was mesmerized by the light coming through!). She is blessed to have a big sister. :)

 Whenever Hadassah sees me in the kitchen, she says "Need to help Momma!" and tries to push a chair over to the counter. She has a hard time understanding when I don't have things she can help with - and it's hard to turn her down, even when it takes longer, when she loves it so! She especially loved helping make brownies the other day... And when she got flour on her clothes, which she'd worn since yesterday, I decided to just let her get all out dirty, then wet helping dishes, and change everything afterwards. ;)

 Hadassah in a box? "Want Ellie to get in box too!"

 I definitely have less time to just snuggle like I did with Hadassah as a baby... So I cherish the moments Ellie is awake while Hadassah naps, even though I have less time for chores and things, because this little one is growing up so fast. Already 6 weeks!

 Fun with glasses! The second born gets to wear things the first born never did at this age because she has a big sister who loves to share and wants her to do whatever she's doing. Makes thins pretty cute though!