Emmy's Big Day

Big weekend at Pearlz house. S&G spent a night downtown, including an acrobat show. Fun times for the big 3-5.

Then Emmett's party was Sunday. We'll have a small family celebration tomorrow, on the actual birthday. But Sunday was when we could get some friends over. About 12 kids and good parental representation too. Pizza and rough-housing. Here's pics of the action, and one from the vault, to show how far he's come.

Desi's award show

Thinking Spring

Well, I don't want to jinx it, but spring may have sprung around around here. After tomorrow, the forecast calls for high temps of at least 62 for the next few days. And lovely bird songs can be heard as we awake in the morning. The crack of the (aluminum) bat echoes thru campus as the SAS girls play softball. So we're feeling good that winter is behind us.

Speaking of bats, Desi and a few of his cohort started T-Ball on Sunday. Nothing too organized, just the dads taking them over to the field. We played catch, hit and fielded, then ran the bases. The kids seemed to enjoy it. We're going to make it an every Sunday event. I'll get video soon.

Or if you see Larry and Linda anytime soon, you can ask them about T-Ball. They were here to see it. Right now, they're touring China. We'll meet up again in the Philippines over spring break. It was great to see them, and show them our little corner of Shanghai.

It's Sarah's b-day tomorrow, so we're heading downtown for a night. Secret plans are in motion which cannot here be divulged. Til Sunday. Which is also the day of Emmett's birthday party, which will be small and low key. Expect a report and photos soon after.

Big news from this school week was Desi's award. He was honored at an assembly for his hard work improving his reading and writing. Video is uploading onto my iMac as we speak. He's able to write lots of words now, and loves reading to us his take-home books from class. We're over the Scooby-Doo obsession that made February reading somewhat formulaic. The villain is always the old ski lodge owner or the jilted boyfriend or whoever. And *so* many jokes about Shaggy having the munchies. It's not like you can explain to the kids ("Well, ya see, the reason Shaggy's always so hungry...")

Music is still a huge part of our day. I've been working on exposing the boys to some 50s stuff, some contemporary AfroPop, a little Zeppelin, some Johnny Cash. And what do they keep demanding? Iron Man and Kung Fu Fighting.

Here's one of our lil' rockers now.


Desi award video soon!

Til then, another photo to hold you over:

Defecation Information

this is where the magic happens:

Houston, We Have Had a PeePee

Emmett just sat on his new training toilet and peed.

HAAAAAAALELUJAH!

HAAAAAAALELUJAH!

HAAAAAAALELUJAH!
HAAAAAAALELUJAH!

HA LE LU JAH

more to come.

(we hope)

Philosophy Talk

At lunch last Saturday, the following conversation was heard at my house. E is Emmett, D is Desi, and G is Gary.

Note: Emmy's first line was apropos of nothing.

E: This is for God's sake.

D: That's rude words. It hurts God's feelings.

a minute later...

E: I'm sorry I hurt God's feelings

G: It's OK. He's forgiving [at least the New Testament one is]

E: I like God. He's a sweet kid.

D: He's not a kid. He's a grown-up.

E: I like to hug grown-ups.

D: God, are you a grown-up? He can send messages to my brain and my body.
Yes, he's a grown-up. I know.

Madagascar 2 is really funny

So, as it is February, we have been watchin' some movies. And I just want to put it out there, for all you parents but especially for you non-parents: Madagascar 2 is really funny. I know it fails to specify which country in Africa they're in, and there's more kidnapping than I'd prefer. But it's ridiculously funny. The voices are stellar, and I say that despite the fact that the audio track our copy of the DVD is off by about 2 seconds. (Also, it lapses into Russian for a bit). Sacha Baron Cohen (aka Ali G, Borat) is a lemur who has an Indian accent. Chris Rock is a zebra. What more could you want?

And today, I really needed some movie-time. I had escorted Desi to a birthday party at Pizza Hut in our local mega-mall. (I do live in China, I swear.) In a word? Loco. 35 kids--you do the math.

Random thoughts--
We're psyched that Larry and Linda are coming soon.
We're looking forward to spring break starting in less than a month.
We're wondering if anyone could email us that "Boots with the fur" song.

And it's time for bed. Here's 2 pics that capture how we play at our house.



note: the hotel slippers on his arms make him Batman.