Getting Ready for Another Birthday

 Hudson has been counting down the days until his birthday. He got so excited when a birthday package from Mamas and Papaw.

 The shirt is a little big, but he didn't care...he wears it all the time :) He loves city skylines!

 They also found a really cool book (that he's been sleeping with) that has all these different skylines from around the world and then tells about each one.

 Well, this girl is studying birds and she is determined to see one.

 Regan had another competition. She's out their somewhere ;)

 How do you pass the time while you wait for your turn to compete? Play cards with your little sisters...

 ...and talk to all the little kids that want to talk to their teacher/coach :)

 Lauren spent several hours preparing a Bible story and several crafts to do with these cuties.

 I think she overestimated how much they could do in a short time...it ended up being a 2 week lesson ;)

 Katherine and her studies had her buying some flowers at the market. She came home with them and my first thought was that they looked just like her. Dark red/maroon is her all time favorite color. Don't let the knife scare you...apparently she needed it for the plant dissection...haha!

 This is how we do school sometimes. He's the only one that can still fit in the chair with me...Shadow didn't want to miss out on learning about American Indian history.

 Our neighbor...our puppies sister had puppies of her own. So cute!

 Hudson :)

 Lauren held all three at he same time :) Interesting....their sister is solid black and all of the puppies were brown.

 With the cooler weather, we are doing more and more school outside when possible.  We are loving the 80's!!

 Lauren and her buddies

 Having some fun at a park nearby....my kids are getting so big.

 Sunset at the park

 Regan was and is the only one who could ever convince Hudson that he can try to crawl through this.

 Technically, he made it through...but a little unconventional...he refused to bend his knees and ended up stretch all the way through. He only used his arms. Funny kiddo

 The new Coke display

 Katherine was super excited about her teeny tiny little green bean starting to grow. We can't wait to eat them!

 Look who is riding like a pro!! Finally, no training wheels! Great job, Hudson!!

 He can down fully enjoy family bike rides.

 These two may fight, but they also have some super sweet moments. I'm so glad that I had my phone to catch it before they rode away again.

 Selfie Time

 Phineahas LOVES the puppies!

 Her zucchini is also starting to grow.

 This is the excited face of a girl who finally opened one of her presents...she got seeds (which she knew)...but SUPER EXCITED when she realized that she had FIFTY different kinds of flowers!!!

 The only flower that she planted at the same time as her veggies...the sunflower is definitely a fun flower to watch grow.

 Birthday Skype with Grandmommy

 He got another cool shirt! He is a huge Mario fan and has gotten several compliments on the shirt every time he wears it.

 It's time to pick a green bean!

 Lauren and her friend Qian Qian had a play date. They practically had the whole place to themselves.

 Love the smiles

 Sweaty girls...who decide that pony tails were not as pretty as having their hair down :) I guess she's growing up!

 Walking the Pearl in support of Holston...a little boy that goes to Auntie Em's church and is fighting leukemia.

 Katherine said that Cucumber loves belly rubs....I'm not so sure, but at least she tolerates it :)

 The first two green beans...and yes, we cooked them!

 The snow peas are ready as well!

 so tiny ;)

These two were enjoying some Full House episodes and eating snacks in the most comfortable chair ever! (and yes, that's all of our laundry...the dryer broke AGAIN!)

October Holiday

 I love this picture. Regan officially started coaching 4 classes every weekend. This little girl travels about 40 minutes by bus to be in Regan's class because she doesn't speak the language here and they know that Regan can help if there's any communication problems.

 This is Regan's white belt class.

This girl has been fighting a cold (which her little sister now has) but she was trying to work on her science project. It called for a certain chemical, which we didn't have, but we tried to make it from a recipe we looked up online.

She was trying to get "leaf skeletons" but it didn't really work. I think we had too much water in the pot so the chemical reaction wasn't as good. It was a fun experiment anyways.

So, we actually had a second holiday. Most people were off for a week, so we invited Grace's family over to spend the day with us. We had had a great time! We played games, ate pizza, and had good conversations.

Trying to get a selfie :)

I went up with the girls one night to see a friend. I talked while my girls entertained her two little ones :) Phinehas kept saying "ride" to Regan, but was too little to hang on. They were so cute.

Again, another day with friends visiting. The kids went to ride bikes since it was such a beautiful day. I'm glad they are good friends. I forgot that the local kids don't really go outside to play when the sun is out because they might "get dark" My friend let her kids go out and play, but she asked me for sunscreen first.

Winter and Cucumber ;)

My twins were dressed similar :)

Another experiment...let's just say that I am not a fan of cooking /melting actual lard. It does not smell good...but apparently some birds like it. Poor girl hasn't seen any birds come for her food. Disadvantages of city living I suppose.

Yes, your eyes are correct. That is another guinea pig. Meet Lemon (another gift from the same friend) I agreed to let her have a second one when we were researching how to care for a guinea pig. The internet said that they are very social animals and that in some countries it is illegal to buy just one. Cucumber was squeaking so much and so loud. I thought maybe it was lonely. The only problem is how to get them to be friends.

According to the internet, it's best to introduce them in a bathtub where they are on neutral and unfamiliar ground. The "trauma" is supposed to make them like each other instead of fight each other.

SUCCESS....and one relieved parent!

How could I pass up this picture.

Katherine's balcony garden is doing nicely! We may even get some veggies soon :)

Day Trip

 My good friend needed a travel buddy for the day to go to HK. She didn't want to travel alone, so Jonathan agreed to stay with the kids for the day, so I could go with her. So we were off to catch the early ferry.

 I saw this van on the road and said that I could picture Katherine owning a car like this one day.

 After a morning of waiting in lobbies while she took care of some business matters, we went to find some lunch. There was a restaurant that was selling New York slices of pizza. I've had pizza in NY and this one was bigger than any of those...and the price was not bad at all!

 Come to find out that my friend has not been to HK in 14 years, so we made lots of memories together. We took another ferry (5 minutes) across to the island.

 I love this picture because we were both laughing at something and I don't remember what.

 We met some celebrities. OK, well the wax versions. WE didn't pay to go into the exhibit, but enjoyed the teasers outside.

 I don't know who this is, but she looks so real!

 This is my friend, Al.

 Xiao Jun was freaked out by how real Einstein looked. She kept saying "but he's dead" :)

 I love free exhibits :)

 Overlooking HK

 One of the things I love is the parks in the middle of the city that are not out of the way to where you are going. It makes the commute so nice.

 The nighttime skyline is nice.

 They have started lighting up the old junks. It is always interesting to see the old mixed with new.

 Lauren went to her friend's birthday party. She was turning 11 and had never had a party before. Her parents said since it was double ones then they would celebrate. She had a good time.

 Science experiments about flying animals

Regan demonstrating for her class. She enjoys teaching and helping others so much. :)