Garage Sale! For Those in Southwest China

Garage Sale!! January 14th - all day long.

We are trying to clear out our garage. Please come out and make an offer on anything you see. Lots of furniture, electronics, clothes (maternity, women's size 4-6, men's tall large and baby), toys, DVDs, books, washer, dryer, etc - including a leather sofa (CHEERS brand) and two love seats (very good condition). Make an offer!

Please help us clear it out.

Stop by the garage on January 14th or post a comment (I won't publisn any email addresses) to arrange another time this week.

Directions:
It is in 金实小区（Jin shi xiao qu） just south of Bei chen. There are a few short streets off of Beichen lu that go toward BeiJing lu. Coming from the Wicker Basket area, if you take the road that curves to the left and doesn't actually connect to Beijing lu, it is called 金秋路 (jin shi lu), there will be a complex on your right: 秋实园 （Qiu1 Shi2 yuan2）. I'm next to bldg 637 in garage #270.

Post Ice Storm

We have had electricity for six days now and I am still just as thrilled today as I was when it came back on. I absolutely LOVE having running water. Flushing toilets, washing my hands, washing the kid's hands, taking showers, drinking it...I can't say enough good things about it.

It has also been bitterly cold here. About 8 degrees when we wake up and there's still a ton of snow/ice on the ground. We're getting intermittent snow flurries too, but nothing that's sticking.

My tropical baby isn't so sure about all this cold. I keep slathering both the kids' faces in petroleum jelly before we go outside and Carolina's skin is still suffering. I have to seal her skin every night before she goes to bed and then again in the morning. I think it's pretty common with institutionalized children, but she is a big scratcher. Her arms and legs are constantly bleeding. I've finally fixed her legs and they look somewhat normal again, but her arms are getting the brunt of her scratching now. And before you say it, I keep her fingernails clipped down to the shortest they can possibly be. She just works hard.

Another issue she is having is that she will only chew once or twice before she swallows. She literally causes her eyes to water by swallowing such huge chunks of food. We're having her evaluated again just to make sure we're not missing anything important.

But, on the whole, Carolina is doing great. Sam is also quite healthy at the moment. He is reading everything he can see. He reads billboards, books, commercials...whatever has letters, he's reading it. We're one big happy family, despite the cold.

Ice Storm!

We had an incredible ice storm here on Christmas Eve. We lost power at 9am Christmas morning and it only just came on yesterday afternoon at 2pm!

I cannot wait to upload all these pictures and maybe some video. Samaritan's Purse has their Disaster Relief workers working on helping people out of their homes and back into them. Click here if you want to help.

We were blessed that we didn't have any damage to our home, and that two of our neighbors kept supplying us with wood for our stove (we ran out twice!). We finally moved into another friend's house who was out of town until today. Hot showers and a warm meal was just what we needed after four and a half days with no water or power!

Apple Pies

Everyone's talking about apple pies this season. I think it is one of the most-baked pie at Christmastime in America. Personally, I LOVE making apple pies. I love the varieties that I can make that have such diverse flavors and are still delicious, once baked and steamed under a flaky crust.

If anyone is looking for a fantastic cookbook on apple pies, I've got just the one for you. Bill gave this one to me about five or six years ago for Christmas. It was a funny gift, because before that moment, I had never made but one apple pie. He loves apple pies and even chooses them over birthday cake at his birthdays. But because I wasn't very good at apple pies (I didn't even want to try), he handed me this book and told me he knew I could do it. And here were are a few years later, and there's nothing I love to bake more than apple pies. Mostly because Bill fights so fiercely over them - he will not share happily - so I know that he loves my apple pies. That gives this wife a great satisfaction.

If you're still thinking about a gift to give someone this Christmas, or for an upcoming birthday, or even for no reason at all, check this cookbook out. You won't regret it.

SNOW!

Edited to add pictures!!

We've had about two feet of snow over here. I can't upload the pictures...again, because of a hardware issue. But I will get it done eventually. I can't wait for my laptop to get back here.

The kids have enjoyed making a gingerbread house (see pictures on FB), lots of different kinds of cookies, fudge, sledding, shoveling and anything else we could think of to keep them busy. It's been a blast. Carolina has really enjoyed it, even though she is a tropical baby. Sam decided he was done for the day on Saturday when he got some snow in his face after a really daring sledding attempt with me. I was surprised when he wanted to go again yesterday.

The snow is so dry and powdery we are unable to build a snowman (which is inevitably everyone's first question).

The kids and I are still snowed in, as Bill's car has a dummy tire on it and it completely stuck behind six feet of snow. He took my car to work this morning for snow-duty at Samaritan's Purse, where he helped scrape the sidewalks to keep everyone safe.

Other than not getting to the rest of our Christmas shopping (yes, I'm a procrastinator...and quite frankly don't really care for buying Christmas gifts or any kind of shopping for that matter), we're happy as clams. Yeah for snow!!

Pictures

Ahhh, finally...

Sweet reunion with the Crawford side of my family

Wowza!

The last week has been very trying on all of us. Bill was out of town for two days while the rest of us struggled with the flu. Yes, the flu. Even after having seasonal flu shots AND H1N1 shots, both kids got the flu. So did Mom. And now, so does Dad. He was delayed a bit on getting it, merely because he was out of town, but rest-assured, when he came back we shared our germs full on.

Thankfully, the kids no longer have lingering fevers. Sam appears to have avoided any heart arrhythmias. Carolina has stopped crying at the drop of a hat. So have I. We only have congestion, coughs and some sore throats now. But, honestly, we're feeling better.

I still wouldn't invite anyone to enter my home right now though. Bill has had the worst of it today, while my symptoms climaxed yesterday and Sam's were the day before that.

In other news, I can't remember if I have shared this or not, but my blog seems to be the right forum for it. Sam is reading. All out reading. I cannot believe it.

When we went to the pedi's office earlier this week, I was writing words and sentences on the paper covering the exam table. Sam demands this of me every time we go now (which seems way too often for my liking). He was reading things like, "The cat is black." and "The dog is green." He read a few new words like, "grass" and "moon" that day too. He's learned that two letters together make the "e" sound or "oo" sound. Tonight he read "noon" and "apple" for the first time. We can't seem to get it on video, as he starts acting out every time the camera is turned on.

His pedi was amazed, to say the least. He said he taught all three of his children to read and the earliest he could get them to even begin was three and a half, but mostly age four.

I was really encouraged by this, but at the same time, I can see that I need to step up my teaching him. He obviously desires to learn more, as he begs me every day to help him learn to read more words. I can't keep up! He read the sentence, "He is wet." all by himself to Bill. The more he reads, the more he wants to read. It is amazing. And it makes me happy that he is book-smart too - because I may have to deal with less struggles as he grows up and I have to say no to certain contact sports.

I am starting to think about schools for him for next year. He has two more years before kindergarten starts. Two. More. Years. Holy moly. I really want to enroll him in the Montessori school Mountain Pathways, but it's just too expensive. Pray with us as we make this important decision. Oh, and for all of you die-hard home schoolers...this is not my calling. It's just not.

Carolina is fully potty trained now. Night time and nap time. I cannot believe it. She is a prodigy in so many ways. She is more empathetic than any other child - nay, PERSON - I have ever met. If I cough she runs up to me and rubs my arms and asks, "you okay?" If Sam cries, she rushes to take him his sippy cup and rub his back or play with his hair while asking, "okay, Gege (哥哥) ?" Even if she's in the throws of screaming herself, if she hears her Daddy cough, she'll stop to ask if he's okay. She is the single most loving creature I have ever known. We are blessed more every day for knowing her and having her in our lives.

In other news...we are still unable to upload photos. It's a hardware problem, not a software one. Eventually we'll get to it, but for now there are hundreds of photos sitting on our CF cards waiting to be uploaded. Maybe one day Gateway will fix the BRAND NEW laptop my parents bought for me (that I got to use for three weeks) and send it back to us.

Until that day...my words will have to suffice.

Dieflugasoftheyougag

We've got it. The whole family. Every last one of us is miserable. Sam had 104.1F and Carolina had 102.1 on Saturday morning. The fevers seem to have abated, but the crud is still hanging on.

I love my grandmother's old expression of die-flu-gas-of-the-you-gag. It really encompasses how we all feel right now. Sam and Carolina both have terrible coughs. Bill and I are only dealing with congestion and sore throats.

Back to the grind...

Post-Thanksgiving Update

I am currently without a laptop again, and so relying on the desktop to do everything a girl needs. Unfortunately, we had to wipe the desktop clean and there are no programs on it to upload pictures or do anything productive. Therefore, you'll have to do without pictures again.

We had a great Thanksgiving with Bill's family. Unfortunately, we spent the eating portion of it apart, but that's what happens when everyone eats during nap time. I have learned one thing about my kids, Carolina in particular, routine is everything. She absolutely has to sleep and it has to be a familiar place. If I try and make her sleep in an unfamiliar place, she throws a fit and won't sleep. Because of my good decision making on Thanksgiving Day, she slept for over two hours. Thank goodness.

She has done an amazing job with the potty training. She didn't have any accidents in the car rides, which were very long. Instead, she rose to the challenge and started going potty in every public restroom I took her to. She is one brilliant child.

So, this week holds many exciting times for us. Friends from far away places are visiting and the weeks ends with a wedding of two of our best friends. I'm so excited to be a part of it all. On to the baking...

Target Giftcard Giveaway

Our friend and mortgage broker is doing a $25 gift card giveaway from Target. Check out his BLOG to enter and win!

Potty Training

I have officially potty trained Carolina now. I cannot believe she is as brilliant as she is, but she is. She can identify many letters of the alphabet, knows her colors, can count to five, say four or five word sentences, and now she can potty when she needs to.

I did a loose version of what I did for Sam earlier in the year. She didn't need the chart or even the M&Ms like he did, nor did she need huge rewards. Carolina is a very empathetic person...she feels sad when Sam or I feel sad and she feels happy with us. She responds very well to high fives and praise, but of course, she needed a potty dance too. We used the following video for her dance - she LOVES this song.

She had a couple accidents yesterday because we went out for the first time, but today she's already asked to go five times and has produced something every time.

Gotta say, I am proud of this girl. She really is very smart. I wouldn't have even tried to do it so early (she just turned two last month!) except she was telling me she was ready.

There's no going back now!!

Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Time!!!

Don't forget to make a shoebox!!

A Story From China

Last week, after uninstalling and reinstalling our monitor heater (a kerosene heater that heats our whole house from the basement), Bill turned it on for us to keep warm. Within 15 minutes, I was lightheaded, felt my heartbeat increase and heard a ringing in my ears. I kept saying something wasn't right, but couldn't move my body fast enough to get outside. Bill, who had been in and out of the room, had to carry me outside to get me fresh air. We think it was related to a leak that caused some kerosene to spill and then it was burning off...or it could have been a leak causing carbon monoxide poisoning. I was fine within an hour.

But it reminded me of a long ago story. A story from China. I don't tell many of our stories from China, mostly because I don't think people are generally interested in them. But this is one I think you'll want to hear. This many years away from it, I can laugh about it. I hope you get some enjoyment out of it too, but it's a bit graphic. So be forewarned, don't read it if you don't want to be grossed out.

I'm changing people's names too...


A long long time ago, way out East somewhere, there were some weary travelers going on a strange trip together.

I don't even remember why we went on the trip, actually, but I think it was just for fun. We took two vans. Molly was with us and the Peace family (mother, father, daughter and two sons).

That night, we were very cold, after traveling all day through the very high mountains. Melinda Peace asked the inn keepers for some coals to warm up with. They brought a tray of hot coals to our bedroom and we nestled into our cozy sleeping bags. Little did we know what we were about to face.

I was sleeping against the outside wall. I was still struggling with low blood pressure at the time and when I awoke an hour or so later, I felt my heart beating very quickly and my ears were ringing. It felt like I was about to pass out due to low blood pressure. I started breathe in and out very slowly and deeply, as that sometimes helps when I'm about to pass out. Things started getting really bad after that.

I heard a distant pounding on the door, and watched helplessly as Melinda kept trying to get out of bed to answer it. Molly started screaming at Melinda that she was going to hit the floor and to stop trying to get up. Melinda was talking gibberish. Her young daughter (about 9) was weeping. Molly finally got out of her bed, still wearing the sleeping bag and hopped over to the door to open it. The owner's wife was the one banging and yelling. She hadn't realized that we were going to go to sleep with the coals and knew the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. Apparently, she was sitting around her own fire downstairs with her husband and suddenly and "inexplicably" started worrying about us and came to check on us. She knew immediately that we were in danger and couldn't get the door open.

Our men were on the other side of the wall from us. D Peace came and swept his girls out very quickly. Melinda passed out outside the door. Her daughter just kept weeping. Bill got me outside and had to go back in for Molly. All the girls were leaning up against the wall in the breezeway on the second floor of this hostel (in a very very tiny town, I might add), when a couple of them started vomiting. I screamed for Bill that I was going to have diarrhea (no vomiting for me). Bill grabbed me and tried to carry me up these long, tall, uneven steps that lead up a steep hill (this hostel was built into) to go to the latrine. We didn't make it - he had me in his arms and all 116lbs of me was too much for him at that point.

He took his next left into another level of the housing that had a courtyard in front of it. It was seemingly empty at the time. I was still hearing ringing and was so dizzy, plus my head hurt really badly and I was weak all over. He tried to take me to the grassy courtyard, but didn't realize it was higher than the sidewalk, with a small cement wall raising it up. He hit his shins on the wall at which point I flew out of his arms while I was pulling my pants down and having diarrhea all at the same time. He was bleeding profusely from his legs and was so concerned with me as I LAY on the ground getting sick. Oh, and it was pitch black, thank God.

He carried me back down the stairs. His hands had gotten bloody too. I leaned up against the wall with the other girls, while the owner's wife was jabbering on and on about how stupid we were and how amazing it was that she just had the idea to check on us. (I hope you're reading into that.)

That's when I heard John Peace (maybe 12 at the time) ask Molly if she was okay. She said, "I'm fine" at which point she threw up all over the blanket that was over her legs and a little on him, I think.

We all had migraines or bad headaches the next day, but everyone was fine. I still remember D calling another friend from some other small town and saying something about almost killing all the "women-folk."

And that, my friends, is why you should always make sure you're outside when you burn coals. Even if there is lattice work in the wall and plenty of adequate ventilation, it's still NOT enough.

My Leaf-Addicts

Sam and Carolina have thoroughly enjoyed playing in the leaves this Fall. Carolina is so funny about it, because just five months ago she couldn't even stand on the grass out of fear. Now she's just in love with everything outdoors.

Sam has amazing discipline as he will let me completely bury him in the leaves and then wait a few moments before jumping out.

I think she just kept running and running and running...sort of like Yellow Dog in the movie "Funny Farm" (still one of my all-time favorite movies).

Fall Photos

Carolina and Sam are loving being with family right now. Especially because Mamaw has so many oaks and sugar maples around her house that create amazing amounts of leaves!


My family finally gets to meet Carolina - I think this will be almost everybody.


Here are they with Mamaw...

High Country Mom Squad

Check out this article on our life with Carolina. It was published on www.highcountrymomsquad.com this morning. Part 2 is coming tomorrow.

Beach

Walking Pneumonia

If you're a friend on FB, you already know that Sam has been diagnosed with walking pneumonia. He got a cold a week ago and his cough got a whole lot worse yesterday. He finally vomited after an especially bad coughing spell.

He also started limping yesterday morning at 11am. For no apparent reason, I might add. The doctor took a look at it and said it looks like it's coming from Sam's hip or joint, despite Sam saying it's his knee. The pedi thinks it could be an injury from playing OR a hip infection. We are now on the lookout for a high fever spike or Sam not being able to bear any weight at all on that leg. He is still limping today, more as the day progresses, actually.

Carolina seem to be doing well, despite all the sickness around her. She pee peed in the potty this morning after asking to go. She's the only child in the world who is happy with crackers as her reward. I'm planning on beginning potty training with her in a week or two, when we have three days to stay at home and concentrate on it.

The new basement floor is being installed today by our neighbor. He is a carpenter and happy to have the extra work. We're happy to be able to save some money, so it's a win-win situation.

Bill's deacon ordination is tomorrow morning. It's such a blessed time for our family, to be able to serve our church this way. We had a fabulous Fall Festival at our church this last Wednesday night, where Sam even got to ride a one-eyed horse named Bo. Once I get the pictures, I'll post them.

This is of me and my friend Julie being silly. We went to a bridal tea last week and everyone had to wear hats. It was especially funny because my hat had to be pulled down low over my eyes (as per the style of the 1950's), so I couldn't see much all night.

The bride, Alison, and me

Health Care

This story really touches me, because we are starting to see our own "insured" doctor's bills come in from Sam's most recent hospitalization. I am extremely concerned about our health care costs, as well as how insurance has inflated our general costs across the board.

Even with the flood in the basement, because we have home owner's insurance, the total bill to dry out the basement and remove the flooring cost over $2000. If we hadn't submitted the claim with our insurance it would have been much less.

I am deeply concerned for our nation and our health care. This story is just one of, I'm sure, many.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

We're Back

I have had several phone calls in the last week regarding our blog. We lost our desktop several weeks ago due to a (possible) broken fan. Since we live on the mountain, it is very difficult to go down to the nearest Best Buy and get a new one. So, we've just had to do without.

However, my loving parents have missed their Skype sessions with their grandchildren so much that they decided to buy me a new laptop! So, here I am - with a computer at last!

Here's a rundown of what you missed in our very busy lives:

• Sam's 3rd birthday
• A trip to the beach (our first family vacation in over two years!)
• Carolina's 2nd birthday
• A water main break in our basement
• Over $2000 to have the basement flooring ripped up and dried out
• Both kids got the H1N1 vaccine and flu vaccine just this morning

Here's what's to come:

• Tomorrow morning at the Optimist Club on State Farm Road - a yard sale! Begins at 8am and finishes at 1pm - come out and support us!
• Next week, a new floor put in, plus new padding, and repair of the bathroom wall where we had to break into the wall to make it large enough for repairs
• I'm catering a wedding with my partner in our new business TLC (Teesa and Lauren's Cooking) - I can't wait to share more about that later

I think that's about it. To say the least, we are definitely keeping very busy over here. So busy we can't even mow the lawn!!

I don't have the camera right now, but I'll get some pictures as soon as I can. Please leave a comment to update me about your lives, since I've been MIA for so long!

Before I write another post, please know that I have thoroughly enjoyed actually speaking to many of you on the phone, rather than it being a bit one-sided and only you keeping up with me on the blog. I love knowing what's going on in your world. Please continue those phone calls! I love human interaction!