Dad Came Home with a Prize!

I return to school from maternity leave in two weeks.... oh my gosh, two weeks. How time flies! I've been thinking about how to make it as easy as possible on my heart. I'm been planning and worrying and thinking some more and decided to have a "rainy day plan"... literally. IF it's raining, it doesn't make sense for Amelia to enter the rain to come to me... it makes sense for me to go to her! So.... this is what dad came home with today!! The nice thing about it is that everybody in the family can enjoy it!! We can zip to school in a jiff or zip to the village when we need some grub. And it's RED!!! Thanks Andy!!

Big Sister Duties

Part of the responsibilities of a big sister is to look out for one's little sister. The few weeks after Amelia was born, the neighbors organized a Meals on Wheels where they made us home cooked meals for two straight weeks. Every night at 6:00 a new meal would arrive and usually a present or two.

Our neighbors genuinely have hearts of gold. I have been curious about how Maddie would handle not being the first one recognized in the family. Would she be jealous of the attention that Amelia was receiving? Every parent out at the Links must have thought the exact same thing because most of them arrived with a present for Amelia AND a present for Maddie!

The is where the big sisterly duty comes in... Amelia obviously can't open presents yet so Maddie is more than willing and able to assist by opening presents and storing them for future use. Tonight she opened a present for our superintendent and his wife. Dennis and Lois brought crotchet booties for Amelia and a nature cotton sweater. Maddie received a flying butterfly to add to her collection. She loved it and LOVED getting on Andy's shoulders to hang it from her light in her room. Check out the grin on that face!!!!

My Miami Ink Girl!

It may be a sign of thing to come! One of Maddie's classmates had a birthday party today and they went way out for the kids. There was a magic show - there was a balloon man - I think the guests may have received more gifts than the kids! The point is that Maddie had fun in spite of one phone call home saying she had bonked her head (I talked to her on the phone and the mere thought of going home early was enough to stop the water works)!

We woke up the next morning and Maddie begged to put on her tattoos. Dad, of course, jumped at the opportunity and they went to work. I don't know who was more excited!! She may not be on Miami Ink anytime soon, but it does have potential.... ACK!

A Daddy Day!

I was along for the ride all day, but I was the official photo taker - I've gotta blog more! I like to tell stories about Madeline. We started the morning off with heading out to Reedville Cafe in the morning for some excellent grub... there's nothing better than a hometown breakfast on a rainy day! Maddie, of course, had her fill of pancakes which left her in an excellent mood!

We then went shopping with Dad and got some things for him - he still needs more things but getting him to shop for himself is almost impossible. He bought some new running shoes with Maddie's approval on the color choice. It will surprise you to know that she felt if he bought anything other than pink, then he just was not a hip dad!

We then HAD to stop by the golf store and as soon as we got in there, I took Maddie to the putting green in order to let dad concentrate on mecca experience around him. Immediately, Maddie went to the PINK gripped putter and started putting away. She was cute in that she would plant her feet and kind of rock back and forth on them to get set up and then she line up the putter and usually get it in. Granted, she was swinging the putter between her legs, but the ball was getting in! We had just bought her a PINK baseball cap at REI and she told me that her pink cap gave her luck.

The lucky pink hat was simply too tempting for Andy so Maddie and I politely sat on the putting green and watched daddy work his magic. We have him the courtesy golf clap and then decided to go ahead and get a putter for Maddie. It does not have a pink grip, but she wanted it and I know she'll use it. We live on a golf course in China and we best take advantage of it while we have it! I envision waking up on Saturday morning and heading to the club house while dad goes to the driving range and Maddie and I hit the putting green!

When we left there, we headed to the recycling place and Maddie knew exactly what to do She is a true Oregonian at heart and gets the recycling thing. When she finished with something that is recyclable, she puts in the our recycle bin without thinking twice. She's a green girl!!

Four more sleeps until we get on that plane! The next couple of days will be spent playing with the boys, getting some last minute shopping in and simply enjoying the moment. It's raining and it's gorgeous... the air is fresh, the birds are singing, the grass is green... I love Oregon - I simply love it. I'm glad that Maddie is proving to love it too!

Maddie Nests...

I love seeing Andy nest. When Andy nests, then Maddie takes his lead and she nests too. It's good for the soul!!!

Today, Andy helped clean up Mom's back patio. When we were falling asleep last night, I "heard" it raining so I went outside to inspect and found that it was only "raining" in one spot on the patio. The sprinkler system had sprung a leak so Andy (and Maddie kind of-sort of) helped repair it this morning. Once Andy got started though, he went nuts. He re-potted tomato plants, planted columbines, put that basil plant into the ground, blew all the leaves off the patio and most importantly installed a misting system over the patio. It actually works quite well as it brought the temperature down from 110 to 85 in that area!!!



As dad finished up, Maddie came inside to nest even more. She is a girly girl and helped to paint both Grandma Dotty's nails and my nails. She is actually getting quite good at this! I still am thankful that she chooses the lightest pinks though as it doesn't show up on the skin like bright red. Good job Maddie and thanks for taking charge on the "How To" of painting your nails!

Maddie's FIRST/SECOND/THIRD Golf Tourny!

I lied... er, um, okay I fibbed.

Maddie attended her first PROFESSIONAL golf tournament a few weeks ago. She actually attended her second EXTREMELY IMMATURE, er, um... I mean, Amateur golf tournament today! SAS holds an annual golf tournament for its staff and parents every May. This was actually Maddie's second SAS golf tournament! So, I fibbed kinda sorta a few weeks ago when I wrote about the BMW Classic.

Maddie and I took Andy to the clubhouse around 11:00 so that he could "practice" (aka: sit in the clubhouse and do some serious male bonding) and then came back home to grab our camera because we were the official picture takers for the tournament. How I got roped into that one, I don't know, but all of the men thought it was pretty funny seeing the pregnant lady on a golf course! Maddie was okay for the first three tee times, but then quickly grew restless and got in "trouble" by playing in the sand traps. I see no problem with that if she's out of the way and quiet but the Links management thought otherwise... I'm so NOT a golfer. Andy says I have the Too Loud gene. Maddie must have the same gene but at least we have fun!

I let two of the school's secretaries, Eva and Ruby, take Maddie for awhile so they ended up in a golf cart taking pictures of various people. Maddie was so happy to be on the golf course. Andy and I were talking again last night about how we are choosing to raise her. How can we explain that this isn't NORMAL when all she knows in her short little life is surrounded by these surreal things that her father and I didn't do until our twenties/thirties? I guess that is why we talk of going "home" for at least a year to help her stay grounded.

Maddie and I met up with Cooper and Tonya after an hour of picture taking and climbed in another golf cart to race around the course. Three year old - golf course - quiet. Those are three words that prove over and over again to not go together! Thank goodness Andy played with the same team that he played with last year so they remember her running down the 14th fairway towards Andy one year ago. She did the same thing again today just because she could. She LOVES being a part of his life. Loves asking questions about golfing, Loves saying "good job daddy", Loves wishing him luck and giving him kisses. As she said tonight after a very exhausting day, "Daddy is my favorite mommy, but I love you too."

Aw, shucks..... at least she doesn't lie or tell fibs! ;)

May Holiday Rocks!

TV Turn Off Week was not too bad - Maddie spent most of her time running around instead of watching her favorite cartoons. This usually meant that she was EXHAUSTED in the evenings when it was time for bed. She was even EXHAUSTED when the May Holiday started on Saturday! Pics like this don't happen that often anymore because Maddie is always on the go!

Jeff and Daneah were coming over for brunch so Maddie and I prepared by making sugar cookies! When Maddie is at school, every Friday is "Cooking Day" so when I told her that we were going to cook, she told me that it must be Friday! There was flour from floor to ceiling, but we had lots of fun and Maddie is quite the little mixer. We didn't quite finish when Jeff and Daneah showed up so we'll have to save the frosting and sprinkles session for later.

It was GREAT to have Jeff and Daneah over as Maddie always shows off for Jeff. She used to just run around and neigh like a horse, but now that her vocab is increasing, she goes to get things and shows him all of her worldly possessions!

May Holiday has been really relaxing so far. We've gone on shopping trips to scope out what's in babyland in China. Andy has rearranged most of the furniture in our house - with Maddie's approval of course. We baked cookies, enjoyed Jeff and Daneah's company... now it's back to school here within the next couple of days. Something tells me that Maddie is REALLY going to be ready!

TV Turn Off Week - Day 1

I thought for sure there would be no way this would fly! Maddie without her cartoons? Me without my American Idol? Then the strangest thing happened when Andy and I got home from school today around 5:00. Maddie was upstairs playing with Ms. Zhou and when she heard us come in, she galloped down the stairs, screaming "NO TV MOMMY - NO TV DADDY - I SAID, NO TV!"

This week marks TV Turn Off Week or for the really hardcore folks out there, it's a screen free week, including computers. Hmf! I'm not that hardcore! Maddie grabbed my hand and told me that SHE wanted to read a book to ME. She read me a quick story about butterflies and took both Andy and I outside for some serious chalk writing on the back porch. While taking a break from the chalk writing, she ran around the yard through plants and managed to scare all of the little creatures out of their wits. She did find a frog which kept her entertained for quite sometime. She would make it hop and then run over to tell us about how it was once a tadpole. She's three and I'm amazed that she can remember this!

After some frog chasing, we all came inside to make cookies. Maddie LOVES to cook and measure things. She usually doesn't like peanut butter, but today was the day! She and daddy mixed the ingredients and then she helped me grease the pan with Crisco. She was an absolute star at rolling dough into round balls and then flattening them in a grid pattern with a fork! I suspected that she may be one of those kids that likes batter better than the cookie itself by the way she was devouring the uncooked dough - weren't we all like that at some point?! Sure enough, the end product came out of the oven and she dropped the bombshell - "I DON'T LIKE IT" she said with every "T" hit hard. Life is about the journey, life is about the journey, life is about the journey - now what I am going to do with all of these cookies?!

We then went into the den off the kitchen and listened to music while she danced for us. Before you knew it, it was time for books and bed! I thought for sure Andy and I would succumb to the TV's whispers of "Prison Break", but we went back into the den where he took the time to update his great blog, Sentiments of Common Sense, and I graded math papers. We're still listening to music and now Lester is dancing and rolling right in the middle of us.

Happy TV Turn Off Week! Even if you aren't participating - don't forget to take the time to do the things you think you don't have time to do!

Maddie's FIRST Golf Tourny!

I gotta say this... Maddie's daddy deserves A LOT of credit. When a major golf tournament comes to town, I'm guessing that most men think, "wahoo - guys day out!" Did I mention that he had VIP tickets which were donated by the Sr. VP of HSBC? Well, daddy decided to take Maddie and mommy to a day of golf... with Ernie Els, Paul Casey, and Retief Goosen to name a few.

Maddie decided to wear her pinkest dress possible for the 2007 BMW Asian Golf Classic here in Shanghai. We arrived at 8:00am with our VIP tickets and parking pass in hand and made our way to the Fairway Club where we showed the nice people are VIP tickets so that we could enter. We enjoyed a leisurely champagne brunch while looking over the 18th green before we decided to actually watch some golf! We watched a few people tee off before heading over to see Paul Casey make birdie on the 6th hole. I've never seen so many news cameras and photographers with such big lens' before and what's funny is that they all turned their attention to the little girl in the pink dress telling her mommy "shhh" while Paul Casey set up his shot. I wander if she'll appear in some magazine or on a sports channel somewhere in this world!

Maddie was a trooper and walked 9 holes with us. Actually, daddy was a trooper because he carried Maddie on his shoulders most of the way. One of my favorite shots was when we were sitting on the back of the 2nd green watching a French golfer trying to make eagle and she was more interested in the grass and the holes in leaves! At least she was quiet... well, she was quiet most of the time! She finally feel asleep around 12:30 so we parked at the 5th hole for awhile to watch a few pairs play through before heading back to the VIP Fairway Club for the rest of the afternoon. Why watch golf in the sun, humidity and heat when you can sit in the comfort of A/C? HA!

We enjoyed another great buffet lunch and headed downstairs where we sat and watched golfers for about 4 hours. Andy was trying to convince me that it really wasn't normal to be sitting on white leather couches in the A/C, 4 feet from the 18th green, having servers in tuxedos bringing drinks on a whim. Well, I just can't believe that and that standard has been set! ;) In actuality, Maddie slept the entire afternoon, but we watched all of the leaders finish on the 18th green and chatted and dreamed about things to come while waiting for the next pair of golfers to come through - it really was a perfectly relaxing day - finally.

Thanks Andy for being such a great husband, a great daddy, and for including us girls in your golfing fun! WE LOVE YOU!

Why, yes.... that is Ernie Els!

90 Minute baths, Naps on the Way to Lunch and a Weekend with Father

Madeline' s mother took a measured risk this weekend and left Madeline with me, her father. Not that can't cook or clean, as I am certainly capable of that and I think Amanda would publically admit that I do most, if not all the cooking. This is part of a verbal "contract" we agreed to before we got married. More on that one later, as I think we may be headed to some mediation on that topic.

Anyway.... Madeline has had a pretty good weekend for a three years old. I have probably earned Father of the year.

Yesterday (Saturday) she and I headed over to school which is about 3 blocks away. This, after some quality french toast made just for her on the stove. They were delivered to her hot, and with copious amounts of Aunt Jemima syrup coating each and every piece of the toast which was cut in bite sized pieces. I tasted one (not on my diet) and it was unbelievably delicious. She has since had 5 servings of these "pancakes" and we are now out of bread. I think I am going to have to go to the store and get more.

After some cartoons and me catching up on some work and blogs, I announced that we would go to school. There is never much discussion about this as Madeline loves school. I didn't mention there were no kids there, as this would have caused enough debate for the US Senate and I was not up to it after a week of debate and arguments at work. Frankly speaking the 3 year old is much better at debating than many of my more "mature" colleagues. If any of my colleagues actually read this entry all I can say is, "if the shoe fits, wear it!".

So.... Madeline decided that since she was suppose to go to school she would wear her dress. The pink gingham one that her Aunt Sissy brought for her. She also chose white tights, those special Barbie Doll underwear AND high top hot pink Jack Purcell Converse tennis shoes. She also combed her own hair, brushed her own teeth and refused to take a bath. Speaking kindly here of my own daughter, I must admit I felt as if I was taking out a mussy haired, smelly circus clown like child. She was pretty cute though, and I didn't give a rip and enjoyed with her the independence she was trying out.

We went to school and I cleaned up one of my two offices, answer about 15 emails and got a bit more organized. We saw a lot of people who commented on Madeline's clothes and she got great joy in knowing she chose it all herself. We then went to lunch at one of the local American diner type places. She fell asleep on the way and got a good quality 35 minute power nap in right there! Perfect! We ate hamburgers and hotdogs (also not on my diet, but by this time I didn't give even a little bit of a rip), had Haagen Daaz Ice Cream and then went to the grocery store for soda, a bottle of red wine, milk, a jar of spagetti sauce and some spagetti. Again.... NONE of this stuff is on my diet, but the "give-a-rip" factor was at an all time low and decending quickly. We also went to the local video shop and Madeline happily chose 3 movies, paid for them herself and didn't even have to bargain for the discount.

*Note: Sorry but there are no photos of any of this as I discovered that the cameras I have at home are all battery deprived and the charger can only work so fast. I think the mental images work better here anyway.

About 3:30 we headed home, arrived at 4:15 and we were watching one of these movies when our friend Todd called (his wife abandoned him too and his "give-a-rip" factor was very low as well) to invite me and Maddie over for buffalo wings he had concocted himself. Maddie at that moment was in the middle of a bowl of soup and some veggies and I was starting to eye the spagetti, but alas..... WINGS were calling.

Madeline and I hopped in the car and were over to the house in no time and we were really enjoying our time. Maddie and Cooper played and giggled and raced with a minimal amount of crying, or injury. At about 6:45 both phones rang and Todd and I had to answer to the women folk off in some town I can't pronounce or even spell! We did the phone call, nodded our heads a lot and Madeline told her mother everything we had done that day. Luckily Amanda couldn't understand her.

At about 7:30 we headed home, Maddie and I read a couple of books together after she refused a bath again. I took the smelly, dirty and recalcitrant three year old to bed where she slept till 7:45 when she came in and pounced on me explained in no uncertain terms she needed french toast and to get up. She helped me make coffee and I scrounged two pieces of stale bread for the toast. She ate it and I then dropped her in the bathtub. While she was soaking I showered, dressed, did about 25 emails and kept check on her. She just wanted to stay in the tub and stay she did for about an hour and a half.

The rest of the day has been spent relaxing, drawing, playing in the playground across the street, making jello (should be ready in a couple of hours) and eating soup, French toast and later spaghetti.

Madeline's mother gets home at about midnight tonight and she will be exhausted and we have yet another week of work ahead of us. This is the tough part of the school year for me working overseas. This is the time of the year when I get extra home country sick. I long for baseball, the smell of grass growing, those early spring golf rounds where you score so well you think you should quit your job and go pro, and then you remember that your really stink and start playing like your normally do. Work is a week in and week out activity for about 4 more weeks and then we really ramp up to the end of the year and I am too busy to think about my homesickness. June arrives, we rush around to get stuff done that needs to be done and we get those big summer checks and guess what... I REMEMBER what is great about working overseas besides the wonder school, the great kids, supportive parents, the wonderful travel, and the amazing benefits. Yes folks, we also get pretty good pay for living in one of the most dynamic cities in the world.

So, this weekend has been a nice change and Madeline is no worse for wear and loves to have fun with me as well as anybody else who happens to be able to giggle and laugh with her. Life is good.

Happy Easter 2007!

This year Easter has been the holiday that just keeps going and going and going... it's been great, but it has been more life Easter week instead of Easter day with the numerous celebrations! First we celebrated Easter and school (twice), then we received an Easter basket from Grandma Dotty on Wednesday, then the Links had an Easter egg hunt Friday night, then we colored Easter eggs over the weekend at home for an Easter egg hunt at home and then we went to Sunday Brunch for yet another Easter egg hunt. That's this entry in an "egg"shell so unless you want more details, stop reading now! ;)

We actually boiled the eggs on Saturday but ran out of time for coloring because of the Annie musical. So when we woke up on Sunday, we got the colors and apple cider vinegar out for some serious egg coloring! Daddy wowed us with multiple colors on one egg and we all had our share of multicolored fingers! Maddie just laughed with glee yet took the task very seriously. Anything to do with art, she just plain focuses! After we colored eggs, we dressed in our new Easter dress that Tailor Zhu had made for Maddie and invited Cooper over for an old fashioned hunt.

Cooper being almost three years older than Maddie quickly found most of the two dozen eggs I had hidden in the back yard, but he slowed down a bit and started directing Maddie towards some eggs of her own. It was just a Spring morning with Easter dresses and birds singing... I really do think they came out to watch!

After the Easter egg hunt, we went down to the German Centre for Sunday brunch at Sysery...I'll never be able to pronounce that name! We met two other couples there and sat as a group so the kids were able to play together. Maddie ate A LOT of food and then prepared for the final Easter egg hunt of 2007. As expected all of the older kids found the eggs filled with candy first which left almost nothing for the younger ones. Please know that I'm not complaining here - it's just the way things go - Maddie will do the same when she gets older. But then the coolest thing happened. If you read yesterday's blog then you'll know what I mean. Hannah, the little girl who played Annie in the SAS musical, came up to Maddie and said, "here Maddie let me share my Easter eggs and candy with you." She proceeded to fill Maddie's bag and then skipped off. Maddie turned to me and said, "I like that Annie."