We are the Webels and this is our blog

Lovely little ladies

Wed, 3 Sep 2008 19:38:22 +0800

While I was out the other day, Steve took some pictures of the girls. This is one of his favorite things to do when he is alone with the kids. It is also MY favorite thing for him to do. How fun for me to return home from a busy morning to find new pictures of my little girls waiting on my computer for my viewing pleasure. They were most active during this particular photo shoot, which made for a lot of action shots, but I still had A LOT to chose from! I narrowed it down best I could, but there are still a lot of pictures to enjoy!

We are having a really busy week, but I promise to update on our happenings very soon!

Remembering labor day

Mon, 1 Sep 2008 18:24:45 +0800

I found this on my friend Heidi’s blog, and I blog-napped it from her! It sure does bring back memories. Mostly all good ones!
Hope you enjoy!

1. How long were your labors?
Elizabeth: 16 hours
Anna: 8 intense hours
Nate: 10 hours

2. How did you know you were in labor?
Elizabeth: Contractions started at 5 minutes apart and grew in intensity. I had not had a single contraction up to that point, so I knew it was the real thing. It was also my due date and as a first time mom-to-be, I thought the timing was perfect!

Anna: After a few days of practice contractions, I started having some more intense contractions for about 24 hours, then in the middle of the night I woke up to find myself in a bit of pain! Contractions were 4 minutes apart and getting really strong really fast. She was 6 days late.

Nate: I had been having contractions every night for over a week, and they were going away at night as I slept. Then one morning they didn’t go away. They stayed with me all day long and that night they were a lot stronger. After we got the kids in bed, we headed to the hospital. Nate was 8 days late.

3. Where did you deliver?
Elizabeth: Adventist Hospital, HONG KONG
Anna: Adventist Hospital, HONG KONG
Nate: Harris Methodist Hospital, Fort Worth, TEXAS

4. Drugs?
Elizabeth: no
Anna: no
Nate: one shot of Stadol because I was pooped.

5. C-section?
Nope, nope, & nope

6. Who delivered your baby?
Elizabeth: Dr. Sally Ferguson
Anna: Dr. Sally Ferguson
Nate: Tania Lopez (midwife)

Anyone else care to share?

Birthday pictures

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:59:00 +0800

I just wanted to share some birthday pictures from Thursday. We had such a fun day!
Sorry the picture quality isn’t all that great - (it was me taking and not Steve!)
The girls had such a good time helping Steve celebrate. They decorated cards for him, they helped wrap and unwrap his presents. In fact, Elizabeth was so helpful, she didn’t even let Steve help her unwrap the present she gave him. Steve got a new camera lens from me. It was the first time EVER that I have really surprised him so that was fun. We had apple pie for desert and Anna managed to eat every apple from her big slice of pie, but not touch the crust. I seem to remember eating pies the same way when I was a child. The filling is the best part!

Dead fish and young ears

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:19:31 +0800

As you know, we have fish. We have two, not one, fish tanks in our house. These are not small, sit on top of your entertainment center kind of fish tanks. They have their own designated spot and take up a fair amount of room. I don’t mind at all. If we have to have a pet, this is the one I want here in China. I don’t have to take them for a walk, or go on bathroom runs, I don’t have to feel bad that they are cooped up in our apartment, and I don’t have to worry about them getting free inside our apartment and have stress over where they are or what they are getting into. I also like having fish because it is a hobby of Steve’s and I believe that hobbies are healthy... and his fish hobby is a whole lot cheaper than his photography hobby (of course fish produce no results, (except cute little baby fish), but his photography hobby produces beautiful pictures of our children, and countless other things).
Anyway - I got off topic. Back to the fish. Anytime we buy a new type of fish (which are SO cheap here in China) there are casualties. Fish who just didn’t fare well on the journey to their new home and bite the dust soon after their arrival. I am not a fan of a dead fish left in our nice tank. When I see a dead fish I quickly point it out to Steve so he can give the fish the old flush-a-roo.
On one such occasion Elizabeth was nearby me as I hollered to Steve “honey, there is a dead fish in this tank”. He came to remove the fish, but Elizabeth picked up on what I had said. “Mommy, what happened to the fish? Why is it on it’s tummy? Where is daddy taking it?” And so began Elizabeth’s education on the ways of life... and death. I had no idea where to begin to explain to a 3 year old what had happened to the fish, or where it was going. I guess I am thankful in a small way that I could begin the introduction of such a heavy topic with a fish.
So, I welcome all ideas and thoughts as to how to begin to explain these things to the kids. What advice do you all have on how to talk about dead fish, and other of God’s creatures.

Happy Birthday my dear husband!

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:41:30 +0800

Today is Steve’s birthday! I am so thankful that we are home to celebrate this year. It seems so many years we are traveling around his birthday, but there is something nice about being able to celebrate at home!
We will have a steak dinner tonight, complete with sweet potatoes (cooked just like at Texas Roadhouse). The girls helped me wrap presents and Anna, about 3 minutes after finishing her wrapping job, tried to unwrap her present to daddy. I am glad I had her use lots of tape! She couldn’t get it open!
Steve is an apple pie kind of guy. He doesn’t mind cake, but on HIS birthday, he would much rather have pie. Our girls however do not understand this logic. They believe that birthday = cake. Then Elizabeth takes it a step farther as she believes that cake = icing.
So when I told them we wouldn’t be having any cake for Steve’s birthday, they were not very happy. “But mommy, it is his birthday, we have to”. I think they saw it as me just being mean and withholding cake from Steve. So, we compromised. (Okay, not really, I just gave in!). Yesterday the girls and I made an “Apple Cake” - which is really apple bread with a name change to satisfy my girls. We then sprinkled a little powdered sugar on top to make it look fancier, and then sprinkles of course to really complete the look. It was either pink or green, and I was quick to suggest green for Steve. We will be making Steve’s apple pie this afternoon, with my trusty helpers, so it will be ready for our party. (Of course when my ‘helpers’ are helping me, you never know what might happen.
Our little 5 person party promises to be a hit! The decorations are up and the excitement level is high, and the girls have been asked to tone down their usual drama for the day.

So Steve, I hope that your day is wonderful, that you don’t feel old or anything, and that you know how much we all love you! You are a wonderful husband, and a really fabulous father. Thank you for all that you do for us and how well you take care of us!

Love,
Erica, Elizabeth, Anna & Nate.

Bathroom fascination

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:37:21 +0800

While we were in Hong Kong, Elizabeth developed a fascination with bathrooms. Because we were out a lot and she has a small bladder, we went into many, many bathrooms all over Hong Kong. As I was realizing that this was a true area of interest for her, I thought about the possibility of blogging about it. I actually (very briefly) considered taking a few pictures of the things that interest Elizabeth, but decided I didn’t need to take my camera into the bathroom. A little too weird, even for me. Instead I chose a favorite bathroom picture of Elizabeth to share. She had just woken up from a nap (she was 18 months old) which explains the flushed, confused look as she sits on her potty and asks for reading material.
The first thing Elizabeth noticed about bathrooms is the automatic flusher. Let me just say that whatever genius invented that, does not have children, at least children who are under 4 feet tall. Those things go off the whole time Elizabeth is using the restroom because it thinks she is not there. We actually had one that flushed 5 times while she was trying to take care of business. When she was younger and had her ‘public-restroom-phobia’, the automatic flushing was enough to convince her to ‘hold it’ and get out of that bathroom asap.
Elizabeth talks about everything, and if she doesn’t have anything new to say, she will just begin the line of questioning that 3 year olds around the world have perfected. Why? why? WHY? whY? The why’s only stop if a new idea pops into their heads. This is no exception in a public bathroom, she talks about everything from the second we walk in, until she has to go again at another location.
Let me just give you a rundown of a typical bathroom experience with Elizabeth...
E: Mommy, what bathroom is this?
Me: Well, it is the bathroom for the restaurant (or wherever we are).
E: Is it a nice bathroom?
Me: Well what do you think?
E: Yea, it seems clean, I think it is a nice one.
Me: Good. Let’s make this a fast bathroom trip.
E: Why does it have to be fast?
--- walk into the stall (I hope this isn’t TMI!)
E: Mommy, is this a big potty, a small potty or a medium potty.
Me: What does it look like to you?
E: It is a medium potty. I like medium potties. Mommy uses a big potty, Anna uses a small potty, but I use a medium potty. How did they know that I like medium potties.
Me: Okay honey!
--- while we are in there, Elizabeth analyzes everything from the design of the floor, to any hooks that may be found on the back of the door, to the condition of the toilet paper dispenser. When we finally finish in the bathroom, the real questions begin.
E: Mommy, how many sinks do they have in here, can we count them?
Me: (Thankful when it is a small bathroom) Yes, Elizabeth, you can count them.
E: There are 5 sinks, but only 4 soap machines, that means that someone can’t use any soap. Will they not have clean hands?
Me: Maybe they will borrow soap from a different machine.
--- since it is rare to find a super short sink, I am usually holding Elizabeth up while she goes through the next line of questioning.
E: Can you help me get soap please?
Me: Just put your hand under here and the soap will come out.
E: Oh good! It is an automatic kind (yes, she really knows that word - we had to learn it). Those are my favorite because you don’t have to push the buttons.
E: The water is automatic too. It has a sensor (yep, learned that one too). How does the sensor work?
Me: It can tell that your hands are there and so the water turns on. (I know, not very technical).
E: Okay mommy, I think I have all the soap off now.
Me: Let’s dry our hands.
E: Do they have the paper dryer or the hot dryer. (She really dislikes the ‘green’ bathrooms that don’t have any paper towel for hand drying and only provide the hot air machines that hurt her little hands.)
Me: They have paper towel in this bathroom.
E: That’s good. I like paper towel for my hands. Where do they keep the trash can? I am finished now? Oh, there it is - look mommy, I can reach it. Okay, let’s go now.
Me: Good!
--- now this might seem simple and short, but keep in mind that we were never alone in a restroom. So, every time someone else came in or left, Elizabeth had questions about them too. “What are they doing in here? Does she like the automatic sink like me? What’s her name? Why does her hair look like that? Why does she have ABC’s on her shirt (this means any type of writing (and she will usually proceed to tell them what letters are on their clothing))? Why is this bathroom clean/dirty? Mommy, are you going to go potty too? we can take turns! Why can’t daddy’s come into this bathroom? Why, why, why.
I can’t count the times I got either snickers from people, or sympathizing looks. (I could always pick out those who had children!).
Now that we are back in China there is no more automatic anything in the bathrooms. When faced with a squatty potty, Elizabeth reverts back to her ‘public-restroom-phobia’ (which she inherited from me), but at least now she will actually use them, when there is no other option. But she does remember fondly the many many bathrooms we encountered together! Fun times with my girl!

The newest news, almost.

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 10:40:10 +0800

I just wanted to fill everyone in on how we are all doing.  We are doing good.
Some of you can stop reading now. But for those of you who might want more information, I always have a lot to say about anything and everything!
Today is a lazy Saturday. It didn’t start out super lazy with someone coming over early this morning and several phone calls, but because the kids and I are still in our pj’s it is officially lazy.
We have all been SO glad to be home again. The girls are playing well together, 85% of the time - no maybe 75% of the time. Either way, it is still a huge improvement.
Nate has been officially crawling for about 2 weeks now. He is daily picking up speed. The one hinderance to his crawling is his desire to be upright like the rest of the family. He will crawl over to a couch or chair so he can try to stand up. Now I say try, because he is incredibly unstable. Way more so than the girls ever were at 9 months. Anna could fly around the house with the help of her stool at 9 months (although took her time walking), and Elizabeth took her first steps during her 9th month.
Anna is still working on her adjustment to China, and not a day goes by that she doesn’t ask to go home (Texas). Granted this is usually said when she is tired or in trouble, but it does get a little heartbreaking that for 2 full months now she has asked this at least once a day.
Elizabeth really loves rice. She is disappointed if we sit down to a rice-less meal. She can eat a huge bowlful. Her second favorite food is oatmeal. Either one and she is happy. Now if you really want to make her day, serve her a bowl full of sticky rice and a bowl full of oatmeal (with brown sugar, but NO raisins).
I still haven’t potty trained Anna. Not sure why I am STILL stalling. Anna is very easy going about it. She has her little potty which she successfully uses 1-3 times a day, but we don’t force the matter. Occasionally she will ask to wear panties and I let her, but usually she just tells me she wants her diaper on. I need to get motivated to train her!
Nate has started sitting on his knees like Elizabeth. She never sat on her rump until she was like 18 months. She went from tiny baby to sitting on her knees. If we put her on her bottom she would move as quickly as possible to correct the mistake. Nate doesn’t seem to care either way. My flexible baby!
Anna fell asleep at dinner tonight. I got a picture, which I am calling “I don’t need a nap mommy”.
Our broken fish tank is supposedly ‘fixed’, but it is still empty, as we are hoping that giving it more than 2 days to dry might help. The fish tank repair man, (not to be confused with the fish tank sales man, or the fish selling man) added some extra steps in the repair this time. I just don’t like ‘guessing’ when it involves 150 gallons of water in my living room.

It is exactly 5 more days until Steve’s birthday. Fun times ahead!
In case you were wondering how band-aids work, Elizabeth has a theory. When you put a band-aid on your boo-boo, the boo-boo jumps off of your skin and onto the band-aid. Pretty amazing isn’t it! Then, according to Elizabeth, ‘you are healed!’ For any of you who have spent any time with my family in the last year, you probably received a band-aid from one or both of my girls. They are generous, but even a freckle gets a band-aid. (Yes, we keep them supplied... they are super cheap here).
Anna still talks about her dear friend, Snow White.
I don’t think anyone reads my blog anymore! It has been SUPER quiet around here. I think I need to find more interesting things to talk about.
Anna has successfully used chopsticks, once. She has tried a few more times after her victory, but the food didn’t make it to her mouth. She is persistent though. She will get it again.
I woke up this morning with a strange red spot on my eye. Like actually on my eyeball. It is kind of big and kind of annoying, and if you see me don’t stare - it looks funny. Everyone in my family, save Nate, has pointed it out to me a few times now, as if I could just wipe it off. It is like a blood vessel in my eye completely exploded in a big way
Elizabeth has been having some sleep issues lately. She can’t go to sleep on her own, (like she completely freaks out) - never mind that Anna is in her room with her, it has to be mom or dad. And, when she wakes up she gets upset because nobody is in there (again, Anna doesn’t count in this situation). For the last week I have woken up to find Elizabeth in bed with us. She gets in really quietly and goes back to sleep super fast. When I asked her not to do this anymore she said she has to because we aren’t in her room. I NEVER thought I would have a child sleeping in our bed with us, especially my 3 year old. We need help with this problem. Any advice?
Nate is down to 3 bottles a day now, and has 2-3 meals a day (just like his sisters he won’t always eat breakfast). Looks like all my kids are just like their father. Me? I LOVE breakfast! Most important meal of the day right?!
I have been doing some apartment hunting, mostly for some friends, but a tiny bit for us. It isn’t very easy here because in our city nobody wants to rent. I thought I had found a place, complete with a pink/purple colored bathroom, but that fell through. Monday will find me at it again - knocking on doors and praying for the perfect place for our friends.
Elizabeth & Anna got a new table this week. It is just their size and is very sturdy. It looks like it belongs in a preschool (but that is kind of the look I was going for). I had to order it and it took 3 weeks to arrive. It is used for playing school and having tea parties. Good times. I also have visions of a ‘kids’ table’ on Thanksgiving!!!!

Well, that concludes today’s random post. Thanks for reading! Goodbye!

Hong Kong airport fun, and some drama

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:02:09 +0800

We made it home and I am so super thrilled. As are the kids. I think even Nate missed his own bed. Our trip home was very uneventful. Our flight left at 3:30, but we left for the airport at 11:30am so that we could have plenty of time for getting lunch at the airport and letting the kids run around. It was great. I must say, this was all made possible because of how fabulous Hong Kong airport is. I know there is probably someone out there who doesn’t like it, but we have only ever had great experiences there. There is so much space and areas for kids to run around and I was thankful they were able to get so much energy out. Especially because all 3 kids passed out on the flight home. Nate’s sleeping didn’t last super long, but the girls slept the entire flight. Nice. We had a nice ride back to YueYang and our home was all ready for us when we got back. Have I mentioned how much I love our house helper? We even had some fresh fruit ready for us!
I got most everything unpacked last night and we all got a good night sleep. I slept SO hard that I was actually stiff this morning when I woke up. I think it is from a lack of tossing and turning!
We have had a relaxing day. Steve had a meeting at the school and ran to the grocery store (okay, so it wasn’t as fast as I made it sound... this is China. if only it was that easy in Asia!).
I am SO glad to be home!

*I wrote all this out mid-afternoon... but before I could put it up online, the tone of our day, our quiet, relaxing day, completely changed! My calm, content children, all of a sudden had multiple issues. There were fights, and crying fits, and discussions on who technically has ownership of which toy. There was a fish tank incident. Big huge leak. There was the sink incident. Big huge leak. There were children who refused to eat their dinner. There was a boy who is getting his third tooth and isn’t thrilled about that. There were dishes in the sink and diarrhea for 2 out of 3 children. Then, there was bed time. Peace.

Isn’t imazing how in the course of 4 hours, everything can change. Steve was out when the fish tank started leaking and I had to start draining it. Not my favorite thing to do, but I was a real trooper and took care of the problem. Steve moved the fish over and finished cleaning it up when he got home. All I could think was how THANKFUL I was that it waited until we got home to leak. This was the same tank that had a leak almost 2 years ago, but had been fixed, or so we thought. Guess not!

So, now I sit here praying that tomorrow is a much calmer day! The whole day!

Even in Hong Kong, people can’t stop taking pictures of the kids. They tried to ignore the photographer and eventually he packed up and went home (or got on his airplane)

A real playpark

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:37:18 +0800

Translation - A playpark is a play ground. No matter how many times and ways we try to clarify, it will not change for our girls. Especially Elizabeth - she is the most stubborn with her name changing. You have to admit - play park makes sense - a park where you play. I get it. The problem is that no one else does... so when she shares with others that she gets to go to a play park they look at her really confused.

Steve mentioned to the girls that when we came to Hong Kong he would take them to the playground. They were quite ecstatic, and as true 2 & 3 year olds, they were fully prepared to hold him to that, so much so that they asked daily if today was the day. Unfortunately the first week of our trip was rainy... so we kept having to push it back. We were finally able to go and the girls were thrilled. Not quite Disneyland thrilled, but very close. (And it was free). We explored and went on swings and down slides and up stairs and got really sweaty.

I love how much fun they have at play grounds. How you can get so many giggles just from going down a slide. Or from going higher and higher on a swing.
My highlight of this day was seeing Nate in the swing. He looked so little & lost in the big swing, and I was kind of nervous as to how he would do, but he had a blast. In fact, after he stopped giggling, he started to look kind of drowsy and actually started to fall asleep. I guess it reminded him of his swing that he used to use. When we first put him in, he had the white knuckled grip on the sides of the swing - just making himself feel more secure, but then in one moment he took his hands off and threw his arms out to the side - just enjoying the freedom of not being afraid.

Well, we are off tomorrow morning (but not super early). We are finally headed back to China and I am so excited to get home again! We will check back in when we are settled in!

Not to worry, we are having a good time

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 08:49:44 +0800

We are still in Hong Kong. But that’s okay! If we had to get stuck somewhere, this is the place we would want to do it! We had planned to return to China on the 15th, but our documents (passports/visas) didn’t come in as early as we thought, so we had to extend our trip. Everything came in late Friday, and Steve was just able to get over to the US Embassy to get more pages added to Anna’s passport. I still can’t believe that my 2 year old filled up her passport and needed more pages added. (Elizabeth had more pages added to hers like a year and a half ago). My little travelers!
Since we had already changed our tickets once and our transportation after the flight and made multiple phone calls to get things arranged, we didn’t want to do it again, so we decided to keep everything set for a Tuesday departure.
In the meantime, we have been keeping ourselves busy with visiting with friends, shopping, eating at fun restaurants, taking the kids to the doctor/dentist, and checking out the local playgrounds.
The kids have done really well with the busy schedule. They are used to being home more than we have been this trip. It has been hardest on Nate who really prefers to be in his bed for his 2, 2-3 hour naps. He will still sleep, but only for 30-45 minutes. He actually woke up with a fever this morning, so I hope that it is a fast illness and he can recover quickly after some good sleep. Or if it is from teething, that the teeth will pop up quickly - before we fly on Tuesday!
We did our Christmas shopping while we were here... talk about planning ahead! I just have to think of a good boyish toy for Nate... but he really doesn’t need much!
Here are some pictures of our adventures... I will have more soon to add to this!

The girls playing with some sweet friends. They have 3 girls who are very blond, and Anna fits right in with their family! Their girls are just about the same age as our 3 kids.

Anna is, of course, fascinated by the baby. We had a fun lunch together and I was thankful for the time we had to catch up. Although I will say it was challenging with 6 children 3.5 and younger!

Anna eating her lunch, and Nate trying to make himself look tough being the only guy with 5 other girls playing around him.

A view from our apartment here in Hon Kong. It was just an icky weather day, but I just love the buildings against the mountains. Hong Kong continues to wow me. How smooth everything works together, considering the crazy number of people in such a small space and the incredible diversity that exists here.

Of course the Webels can be found at Starbucks. The girls love their coffee-less coffee drinks!

We were giving hugs to everyone at the same time. I love how excited Nate got when he realized Anna’s hair was available to him and she couldn’t protest too much!

Nate hanging (literally) with mom in the Baby Bjorn. He has book a lot of hours in that thing this trip. And Nate (once I freed him) playing with daddy.

Steve tickling Nate... and Elizabeth giving a very enthusiastic hug. Big sisters are the best! (I know, I am one!)

Our brief attempt to get a picture of the 3 kids together. (Yes, all this took place at Starbucks).
Steve - very eager to share his coffee with his boy, and Nate - very eager to partake. (Don’t worry... I put my foot down).

Although... I do wonder if Nate got a sip or two. I guess we will find out if Nate only grows to be 4 feet tall.
While we were at the mall (where 1 of the 500 starbucks is located), I ran into a Clinique store to get some eyeliner. The ladies in the store saw the kids and were TOTALLY thrilled. They brought Elizabeth in and offered to put some lip gloss on her. (After asking me first). She decided she was too shy and even told the lady that. But Anna is our not shy one and proudly sat while the lip gloss was applied. Then she insisted on pouting her lips out for the next 30 minutes.

The Clinique lady helping the girls. Elizabeth making funny faces with her new color toy. The markers only work on this specific paper. (This means they can’t write on anything they aren’t supposed to. I LOVE these!)

Anna making a picture, and Elizabeth explaining what she had done. She always has at least a story to tell, and usually a song too. She should have been born into a musical.

We went out to an island to visit some friends and had a great time. This island doesn’t have any cars on it - except for a small police vehicle.
I like this boat picture - kind of the little guy surrounded by the bigger boats.
Here is me with the kids waiting for our friends to meet us. This is how we traveled around Hong Kong. Elizabeth did great with the freedom of not being strapped into a stroller. We became the best hand holding buddies ever!

This picture cracks me up. This sweet old man with the big glasses riding a pink little girls bike with a pink parasol in the pink basket, while he balances on the training wheels.
I guess his bike was in the shop and the only other one available was his little granddaughters bike.

Disney and me

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 07:45:31 +0800

This was taken in 1986 at Disneyland in California. I was 8 years old. I love these old photos my mom has been finding! Too funny!
I love the sandals with socks. That just looks uncomfortable to me now. Oh, and check out my little brother’s hair and my dad’s short shorts! HA! (My aunt is in the picture too (in blue)).
At least the chipmunk doesn’t look outdated!
The girls loved seeing these pictures of me as a little girl... doing the same thing they just did.

Rain or shine, we are going to Disneyland!

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 08:28:58 +0800

We had planned on waiting until the girls were older before taking them to Disneyland in Hong Kong. We wanted them to be old enough to appreciate and understand it all before going. Well, some good friends of ours had recently taken their children, whose girls are the same age as ours and they all had a fantastic time, so we changed our minds and off we went.
We picked what day we would go and then scheduled appointments and time with friends around it. But as the day got closer we saw that the weather forecast didn’t look good. It wasn’t just calling for rain, it was calling for thunderstorms. Hmm. I started to rethink our decision to go, but Steve quickly spoke up and said that we could go rain or shine. At 8:45am our adventure started. It was cloudy, but otherwise dry. We took several different trains and finally found ourselves stepping onto ‘a whole new world’. The train that takes you to Disneyland is a Disney train, complete with blue velvet seats and mickey mouse ear shaped windows and stars on the ceiling. The girls already present excitement grew quickly at the boarding of this train. We heard the famous line “are we there yet?” over and over again. Thankfully it was a short ride on the Disneyland express.
When we got off the train it was raining. I started to second guess and triple guess our decision to go, but once again Steve said we were already there and the castle was within Elizabeth’s reach. There was no turning back!
We made it through the front gate and the look on the girl’s faces was completely priceless. They could hardly take it all in and were just so overwhelmed when they looked around in disbelief at all that was before them. Never mind much of the park was blocked off by the hundreds of umbrellas around us. The girls saw through that. They never once made a comment about the rain or wetness of it all, Disneyland was perfect to them. My dear husband was right. We made a good decision to push on through the rain!
We went on a few rides and then went to meet the princesses. I was so excited for the girls to meet them! Our girls have never watched a princess Disney movie. They are a little too scary for them at this time, but they still knew that they were princesses and that was all our girls needed to know! A princess is a princess. We stood in line for a bit and watched this middle aged Chinese man take his turn getting a picture taken with the princesses. This really made me laugh! :) As we were getting closer, the princesses started waving at the girls and smiling at them. Anna marched right up to Snow White and stayed close by her side the entire 9 minutes we were with them. Elizabeth spent time talking with Princess Aurora and Cinderella. Both girls had conversations with the princesses and I wish I could have heard all that was said. Elizabeth did ask the princesses if they had any sisters. She wanted to know if they were kind to their sisters like I expected her to be kind to Anna. I forgot for a moment that the princesses had to stay in character and I found myself laughing as I was reminded of the Disney movie content. Cinderella replied that she had 2 sisters (“and they weren’t very nice”), Aurora said she had no sisters, and then in a high pitched voice, Snow White said “no, I don’t have any sisters, but I do have 7 dwarfs”. Then once all the talking was finished, we got the girls ready for some picture taking. After pictures came the kissing. Snow White got Anna on the cheek with her bright red lipstick. The girls found this fascinating. Lip prints on their cheeks from the princesses! Elizabeth had one on each side from Aurora and Cinderella. Nate also received a kiss from Cinderella on his leg. After our turn was finished, the girls continued to stand there watching the princesses greet other people. They were so amazed by it all. Snow White kept turning around to wave and blow kisses to them. Next we moved onto Belle from Beauty and the Beast. She was so sweet and gave the girls big hugs. I was so thankful for all the time and attention the princesses gave the girls.
After leaving the princess land, we moved onto more rides. We did Merry go round (twice), dumbo, Winnie-the-Pooh (twice), Tea cups (twice), It’s a Small World, and the Jungle Cruise. We did stop for lunch somewhere during all our riding. We wanted to take the girls on Space Mountain, but Anna was WAY too short, and Elizabeth was a bit too short. Maybe next year they will be tall enough for that one. Elizabeth acted all sad, but she didn’t really know what she was supposed to be sad about.
After the jungle cruise ride, we headed over to Fantasy Land and got in line after line to meet all the Disney Characters. I am sad to say that Donald Duck was not present and we were unable to meet him. Bummer.
We did however, get to meet Minnie, Mickey, Goofy, Winnie-the-Pooh, oh and Buzz Lightyear (we met him before we went to Fantasyland. He doesn’t have a special spot).
I think my favorite, well 2 favorite moments, with meeting the characters were when we were leaving Minnie and Anna said ‘goodbye’ and then let out a very loud, high-pitched ‘SQUEAK’. As if to try to communicate to Minnie in mouse language. Everyone kind of jumped... Minnie included. My other favorite moment was when we were saying goodbye to Mickey and he followed us out. He didn’t want us to leave and he actually started chasing Anna. I think he was trying to get her to play more, but she saw it as chasing and started to run and giggle at the same time. We kind of felt bad for the people he left standing there waiting to get a picture with him. Oh, and one more favorite... I am not sure which daughter started this, but for both Mickey & Minnie the girls felt the need to ‘HONK’ their noses. I was hoping that they wouldn’t get in trouble for nose honking, and apparently that doesn’t break any Disney rules.
Once we were finished with all the character meeting, we headed for dinner and then back out for more riding.
It was still raining, and we decided to splurge and get the girls their own umbrellas. Princess umbrellas no less. They were more curved and came down over their heads quite a bit. This was good for keeping rain off, but bad for allowing them to see where they were walking. Anna would take a few steps then life her umbrella up so she could see where she was going. Elizabeth managed much better with it.
Our plan for the day was to stay as long as the kids were happy/behaving. We stayed until the very end. The fireworks show was nice, although shorter than in Florida. Once again - our kids didn’t know the difference and it was about all that Elizabeth and her sensitive ears wanted to listen to!
We had such a fantastic day. And a long trip home!
I am almost recovered enough to be ready to return. I will say there are a few things we would do differently. We will pay closer attention the schedule of events that occur during the day, we will NOT be putting 17.5lb Nate in the baby bjorn for 12 hours, as my shoulders are still sore. We will try to avoid the rain next time. We will put really high shoes on the girls so they will be tall enough for space mountain.
The girls made some terrific memories, and I am so glad they could go and experience the wonder of Disneyland.

And here they are - DISNEY PICTURES’

**movie coming soon to webelfamily.com

Is she a princess?

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 08:55:07 +0800

I am not entirely sure where it started, or if perhaps it is something Elizabeth was just born with, but Elizabeth loves all things related to princesses. She loves the clothes - tiara included, she loves the title ‘princess’ (sounds great doesn’t it?), and she loves the fru-fru-ness of it all.
There have been several events in the last 8 months that have grown her love for all things princessy. The first was Christmas. Her Aunt Ginia gave her a tiara, rings, necklace and other princess jewlery (a must have for a princess), then her Grandma gave her a princess gown. Then she was asked to be a flower girl in her Aunt Katie’s wedding, and she renamed the position “princess flower girl”. Then she was given a new movie called ‘Gigi, God’s little princess’. All these things have just further proven to Elizabeth that she is indeed a princess, and not just that, but there are other girls like her who are also princesses.  I will say that the message of the movie Gigi has allowed us to take the princess theme to a much deeper level with her and for that we are thankful. Elizabeth understands that a princess is a daughter and the dad is the King (Steve encourages this one) and that means I am the queen, Anna is also a princess (although there are times Elizabeth tells Anna she isn’t a princess (when she is upset with her)), and Nate, well, he is a boy princess. :)
In the movie Gigi, the young girl’s father explains to her that she is a princess because she is the daughter of the greatest King of ALL! Elizabeth is beginning to understand this concept a little more, but we still have some learning to do before she can grasp it more. She wasn’t born into royalty, but when she asks Jesus into her heart she will be His child and He is the King of Kings, and she will indeed be a true princess. I can’t wait until this Truth is a part of her life. I am thankful for the little things that are helping to point her to Jesus.
While this is the biggest reason I like the princess theme that has invaded our lives, another reason is that I use this to teach her how to act. “Elizabeth, do you really think a princess would put her foot on the table like that?” “Elizabeth, do you really think a princess would use her fingers to eat her food?” “Elizabeth, do you really think a princess would treat her princess sister like that?” She usually gets the point really quickly.
One of the areas we are having to work on, is the pointing. Elizabeth is a pointer. It drives me crazy because I don’t like being pointed at or seeing others get pointed at. (It happens a lot in the culture we live in). We will be walking down the street and Elizabeth will point to someone and ask me “mommy, is she a princess?” “Is SHE a princess?” And this will go on for block after block. Everyone who comes to our house is asked the same question. Over and over. I am not sure if she just wants to know for the sake of knowing, or if she has some secret princess handshake and she wants to know if they are in the know like she is. She actually told me that it was very important for me to learn how to say princess in Chinese so that if the person we are talking with doesn’t speak English I can still ask them if they are a princess.
I have a feeling this love for being a princess will only continue to grow in the near future.

Your assistance please...

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 19:59:07 +0800

I have a request. As many of you know, our blog has had many technical difficulties lately. I guess that’s just how it goes sometimes. I think that everything is now working correctly, but I would like for you all to try it out. Let me know if you are having any problems viewing our blog, or leaving a comment. This will mean that for some of you it will be your first time posting on my blog! :)
If you can’t get the comment section to work, just drop me an email! Thanks so much!

Now, I will get back to watching the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. It’s been quite a performance from Beijing so far!

加油美国

We love our Kansas friends!!

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 16:56:29 +0800

We have had another fun summer with some students from Kansas. We are so thankful they could come and spend time with us this summer! We appreciated the fun times of fellowship, the encouragement, the games of Settlers of Catan (and monopoly), the baby-sitting (HUGE THANKS FOR THAT!), the encouragement, the Western goodies, the way you loved on my kids and how you influenced them, the patience & flexibility you showed, the encouragement, the meals out, and most importantly – thanks for loving on the people in our city!
We hope that you all made it home safely, and we hope that you will come back and see us really soon! Thanks for the wonderful summer.

By the way... Anna was watching me put these pictures on my computer and in her VERY EXCITED, VERY HIGH-PITCHED voice shouted “THOSE ARE MY KANSAS FRIENDS!!”