Happy Birthday, Josh!

Saturday Josh turned 6. I feel like I don't blog about him very much because he is my quiet one. I can hardly believe that my sweet little boy is 6. He is about to finish kindergarten (at the preschool/kindergarten in our neighborhood) and will start first grade next fall at the international school that Becca attends. This year has been a big one for Josh. It has been a joy to watch him undergo a complete turn around in his feelings for China. When we first talked about moving here last year, he would cry if we even mentioned China. But by the time we got on the plane, he was neutral - not excited, not sad. Then in the fall, he was nervous about starting a new school (a daunting prospect for my shy guy). In January of this year we saw Josh turn a corner and move from just being okay with China to really liking it here, enjoying school, and making friends. If you asked him now he would tell you that while he misses some things about the US (mostly a special friend from Indy and grandmas & grandpas), he wants to live here. This has been a big year for Josh and we have really seen him grow and mature in so many ways. We love you Josh-bug! Happy Birthday!

Of course no birthday would be complete without a fire-flower candle!

Chopping Chickens

On Sunday, all the teachers from Josh and Tori's school came over for dinner. Several days before I had bought an organic whole frozen chicken - kind of a rare find. I guess because it was organic I thought it would be like buying a frozen chicken in the States. Imagine my surprise when I thawed it and discovered that it still had the head and feet! I don't get squeamish about too many things but something about raw meat....   Since it was Sunday and Andy was at work (see previous post for the explanation) and I needed the chicken for dinner, I had no option but to do it. I got my big cleaver and whacked away. But being me, of course I took before and after pictures....

Before

After

 (I am not sure that I could have done this a year ago)

Dragon Boat Festival

Last Thursday was Dragon Boat Festival and a national holiday so both Andy and the kids had the day off. We set off to find some dragon boat races. The marina on Taihu (lake Tai) sponsored races. We had a blast watching the races. The start and finishes were the best. We then came home and grilled out. Saturday we went to a friends house with a bunch of others. All in all a wonderful three day weekend. The only strange part of it was the timing of the days off. Since the official holiday is on Thursday, the official days off were Thursday-Friday-Saturday, and then Sunday was a workday. There are many Chinese holidays that end up working out this way.... we find it a little baffling. Actually, because of the weather and then grilling with friends, it felt a lot like Memorial Day weekend. 

Okay, I have more pictures than this, but the internet is being grumpy and slow. I will try to add them tomorrow.