Big news

Many of you may know of my friend Jing.
She's from Beijing, she married an American man who is an MBA student at Wharton. We've been hanging out since I met her in late August. They have a son Christian who is a couple of months younger than Alex.
You probably remember that she is searching for God. I have been praying for and so have many others. She's gotten connected to a great Chinese church and has had many, many opportunities to learn about Jesus and why he matters.
The last time I wrote about her, she had thrown away her Buddhist book and has prayed for her husband and son about various things. She even has started reading the Bible.
She came over yesterday for a play date. Towards the end of the morning we got to talking about Christianity. I learned that Jing became a Christian last month, and in April she will be baptized! WOW! The angels in heaven rejoiced on that day!
She is inviting me to the baptism. In Chinese culture, Christian Chinese culture that is, baptism is essential and it is the truer (in their view) sign that someone has truly began to follow Christ with their lives. I am so thrilled that Jing is now part of the family!

Here's what new...

I know, it's been a while.
Not much is new. Actually, not much is picture worthy. A few things here or there, but until spring arrives in full bloom, my camera collects dust.
I have been feeling blah lately. I haven't been up for posting. Plus with Instagram (an iphone app) and facebook, I don't post as much to the blog.
So here's what's new. My dad and Dave are building shelves in Alex's room. Oh, we painted Alex's room Autumn Fog from Lowe's. The shelves will be white eventually. The opening has cabinet doors, also eventually. It's pretty cool though to have some nice storage space in the room. Although have an almost 100 year old house gave my dad a lot of frustrations to put this thing together!

1st Time

We've been crafty.
 So Alex is 2 and four months and this is his first time painting. I love cleanliness. I didn't want to introduce it to him and paint be everywhere.
Lilia was painting and Alex wasn't napping (oh yeah, he gave that up a month ago) so Alex got to paint.
It wasn't as bad I thought it would be.

We painted his hand and now we have it forever!

Say cheese!

Sammy & Hannah, Lilia & Alex

We got to play with friends this week, a lot!
This is Lilia's best friend in the neighborhood, Hannah. (To the left of Lilia.)

Sweet Day

My little girl is turning 5 on the 7th on March and Aunt Karen can't make it to Lilia's birthday party. So instead, they went out on a date day last Friday.
They drove our to West Chester for the best cup cakes ever made (I got to try one).
When they got home I asked Lilia where they went to lunch. She said, "A cute little cafe."
"Oh, what's it called?" I asked.
"Applebees" was her reply.
Then they went to the store and Lilia could pick out her present. She chose a horse and Barbie rider. She hasn't stopped playing with it for very long.
I'm glad Lilia gets to spend sweet quality with her Aunt.

Quote of the day

The following is an interchange between Lilia and Alex this morning.

Alex: "I am the king!"
Lilia: "You're not the king, Jesus is the King."
Alex: "Oh."
Lilia: "And one day Jesus is coming back and we will let him into our house."
Alex: "And he'll play trucks with me?"
Lilia: "Yes!"

Got one for your bucket list

Dave and I had the incredible opportunity to attend a recital at The Curtis Institute.
If you've never heard of this school, don't worry about it. I never did before November.
Dave saw a piece about it on Philly.com and learned that the school is 40% international. Curtis is the top music school in the world. If you get, IF you get in, you go there for free. The average age of a Curtis student is 14-16 years old. Most don't graduate high school; they are that good!
Dave contacted a family where all three siblings got into Curtis. They all play the piano. They are a Christian, Chinese family and the kids were born in America. They were thrilled to meet with Dave in order to gain his help with reaching out to their classmates.
Two of the three siblings were performing on Monday night and we were able to go and see them play. Daniel accompanied a girl on flute, while Ashley accompanied a violinist and a cellist.
Neither Dave nor myself have ever been exposed to live classical music. It was phenomenal!!! I loved it!
You know the best part; IT'S FREE!!!!!
Take a night out with your spouse or a good friend, and sit to hear up and coming professionals play extraordinary music. The theater is just off of Rittenhouse square at 17th & Locust. Believe me, it's worth putting on your bucket list!

Now-a-days

We are in a really good place.
Dave's job (ministry to international students) is going really well; exceptionally well.
We are continuing to love our church and really feel at home there.
Dave and I are doing pretty good. We're getting date nights here and there. (It rocks that the kids are asleep by 7:30 most night.)
The kids are at a really wonderful age. Lilia will be 5 in about three weeks, and Alex is 2 and 4 months exactly (tomorrow).
They play together really well for the most part. Lilia is so much better at sharing. (I did read that developmentally kids can't share till about 5, so take it easy on your toddler.) Alex is pretty good at sharing too. That's probably only because he has a big sister.
Just now Lilia and her My Little Pony, Pinkie Pie, were showing around Alex's new Finn McMissle (from the movie Cars 2) . Lilia was introducing Finn to our kitchen, the chalkboard, and then upstairs. Alex was playing along and responding for Finn.
It's stuff like that happening quite frequently. I love it! It's glorious! I can be getting dinner together and they are just playing upstairs. Sometimes together, sometimes in their own rooms. I may hear bickering and tears occasionally. I don't go running up. If Alex needs me he comes down and I go to him. Sometimes they work it out.
I am really appreciating the kids right now and enjoying their ages.

Sincerely,
Thankful

Lilia's Quote of the Day

As a family we were talking over dinner tonight.
I had made the kids carrots and we talked about how they help you to have good eye sight.
That also led to my comment of wearing sunglasses helps to keep your eyes healthy.
Lilia then says, "The sun is your worst enemy. Water is your best friend."
Dave and I look at each other absolutely puzzled!
I ask, "Where did you learn that?"
To which she replied, "Remember, Man vs. Wild."
Lilia and I had watched that show last week some time and Bear Grylls was in the Sahara Desert. I guess she was learning something after all!

Rainbows & Hearts

Lilia's latest masterpiece. She's been on a rainbow kick.

For our next performance...

Yes that is a tight rope, and yes, that is Lilia.
I love our adventures in Philly.
Yesterday afternoon after Alex played in his crib for an hour instead of napping (his usual routine now) we headed down to Clark Park.
As I was parking the car we observed a little boy maybe 4 walking on this same tight rope holding this man's hand (James).
We were all amazed and I asked the kids, while still in the car, if they would want to try it. They responded with an excited yes.
We walked over as the boy was finishing and we met James. James is just a random guy who put up a line to walk along. They kids both tried it, doing nothing more than standing on it. But I was very proud that they even wanted to get on and try it. James asked me if I was going to try.
Absolutely!
I love stuff like this. It was so difficult. I couldn't even stand on it, let alone move, without holding James' hand. It was really fun though!

Schooling update

For those of you who know about/are praying for our school options, here's an update.
Last Tuesday Lilia was tested at the Christian school (Spruce Hill) at 42nd & Baltimore. She scored pretty much within her age range, falling behind in writing (she does not enjoy coloring) and excelling in the visual. Yesterday we had an interview at Spruce Hill and they unofficially accepted her. However, that means nothing.
The big thing with Spruce Hill will be how much financial aid they can provide for us. The school is about $6,000/year. So we will apply for that and wait to hear back from them.
Then there is the public school, Greenfield at 22nd & Chestnut. Dave was the 1st person to receive at date & time stamp from the school, which should mean we are in, but I'm not counting on that totally. We won't hear from them until early April!!!
Both choices are still on the table. We don't prefer her to go to one or the other. Since we moved here 2 year ago I've been praying about this and asking God to lead and guide us. I am confident that God will.
It's just a game of patiently waiting...

Fire trucks

Who knew that a $10 roll of construction paper from Lowe's would become so much fun. A few days ago, when it wasn't gorgeous outside we read a book about a doggie firefighter. I then had the idea to create a giant one. We rolled out a 5 foot slap of paper, I drew a truck, and the kids added their creative touches.
We taped it to the hallway wall upstairs and the kids played fire, fire engine, something like that.