Wax Berry?

I have seen this fruit many times when I would go to the market and buy my fruits and vegetables. But being a unadventurous person I have never had the courage to buy it. I showed it to my friend the other day and asked if she knew what it was. She said she didn't and I thought that was that. The next day when I was over her house she had bought some! She told me I had to try one and I instantly fell in love. This weird berry thing tastes a bit like a cherry. It looks and fells like a hard ball. There is a small cherry pit like seed in the middle.

My friend did some research on the Internet and found that they don't have an English name but is most commonly called a Chinese wax berry. So whatever this fruit is it has made my top 5 most loved fruit!

With June comes . . .

During the month of June the roses begin to bloom; trees are blossoming and these fruit (pictures on right) are ripe and ready to eat. The first city that we lived in here in China, Lechee would practically grow wild. We could just pick them off the the trees ourselves and eat them. That is where I first fell in love with this refreshing fruit. The outside is a hard spiky shell that you peel off to reveal a white fleshy "meat" inside. You bite into this sweet but not strong refreshing flavor. The inside has a good side pit.

I would eat soo much of them and our Chinese friends would worn me and say that a person should only eat 10 of them a day or it would cause the body to have too much riqi (pounced houqi here in QingDao). I didn't care - I would eat as many as I could.

Lechee is famous for growing in the south but is only in season for the month of June. The emporer way back when also had a love for these fruit and would have them brought up over the rough roads of the day to be delivered to him.

After two years of eating them while living in Dongguan I was delighted to see them in Beijing while we lived there. When I went to purchase them I was shocked at how pricey they were, but I knew how much I loved them and it was worth the price. I was greatly disappointed when I got home and they were not very good. Because lechee only grows in the slow this fruit was imported making it so expensive & not very fresh.

Since moving to Qingdao I saw my favorite fruit out this past June but was very hesitant buying it since my horrible experience in Beijing. I don't know what changed my mind but I decided to give it a try and boy was I glad I did. These lechee were very delicious! I have been reminded how much I love this fruit . . . . I think I might go and finish the few we have left.

Which is better? McD's or KFC?

The other day Anna and Mommy went to the doctor for a checkup. Afterwords, they headed to KFC for lunch. Anna now seems to have associated KFC with the doctor and pregnancy. We thought it was pretty funny.

Alphabet Song & Downhill Ride

Anna Mae has been learning her alphabet. Although she doesn't quite get it in this video, she's usually able to sing through the whole song.

At the end of the clip Anna and I are headed down a hill on a little car-thing in the park next to our house.

Jeremy, The Police & The News

The other day some friends and I were invited to hear the local police explain how they can help us foreigners in case of a dispute. A local news crew was there ready with their cameras. We all sat down at the table while the police woman explained that if we have a dispute we can call the police and have a "sit-down" with the other party to resolve the problem. It is actually quite nice knowing that we can do that. After I volunteered to translate for English-speaking foreigners, the news team asked me why I volunteered.

Now, I've never been interviewed by the news before. I had no idea who to look at. To make things more confusing, it wasn't the reporter that asked me the question, it was the cameraman. Should I look at the camera, the reporter, or the cameraman? In the end I looked at the cameraman. Is there a standard protocol when being interviewed?

3 years have past

My baby is no longer a baby. A day does not go by with one of us saying "You're/I'm not a baby any more, you're/I'm a big girl!" She has changed a lot these past 3 years.

Here are some things she has accomplished since turning 3:

• Potty Trained (yeah! no more diapers!!)
• English language: she is able to express herself using words but still struggles with distinguishing when to use his/hers & when speaking about time she always uses yesterday
• Can be polite when she wants to be: "Excuse me mommy" my favorite is when she spontaneously at the table says "Thank you mommy for making dinner, thanks daddy for making the bread"
• Can sit through a whole movie (as long as it interests her
• Writes both a capital and lower case "A"
• Draws a face
• Colors in the lines (most of the time)
• Loves to dance
• I think she is a little lonely, she gets upset when I'm not in the mood to talk back to her. She looks at me as says "Mommy, talk! Use words."
• She is very excited about mommy having a baby - she talks about it everyday, for awhile there I think she really thought she was pregnant to
  

It has been a great adventure raising a 3 year old, many tears, laughs, exiting times & dull times. I am so thankful for all those times. I look forward to many more years!! I love you Anna May, Happy Birthday!!

The Daddy Book

During Anna's bedtime routine, one of the things that we do is read, "The Daddy Book". First I will read it, then Anna will take her turn. It's one of her favorite books, which always makes daddy happy. How can I resist when she asks, "Daddy, can we read the daddy book?" Of course we can!!!, I always say.

Merry Christmas!

We all had a great Christmas this year. Check out the cute video of Anna playing with some of her new toys.