Dropping the Ball on the Blog

And I'm back.  Well, probably not really.  But, I'm suffering some insomnia tonight and instead of working on my paper for school (due Saturday), I'm writing a blog!  I've been delaying this way too long and have felt badly that I've not posted anything in so long.  I'm at the point where I don't even know where to begin to catch up!  I guess anywhere is better than no where, so let's go!  

So, a few reasons that I've been MIA on the blog.  Other than general laziness and blog apathy.

1.  I've been trying to be better about running every day.  I really want to run a full marathon before trying for Baby #3.  Although I'm in pretty good shape, I don't want to hobble, limp, and barely finish this one like I did the last one we did in 2009.  I had a great January, a dismal February and March, but I'm trying to finish April strong.  We'll see how that goes.

2.  I'm in school.  I'm taking two classes this semester.  One is pretty manageable, but the other one is pretty overwhelming and is kind of killing me right now.  It's the class I have the paper for that's due on Saturday.  Right now, the paper is 90 pages long (single-spaced).  Ugh.  I can't even write about it without feeling overwhelmed.  

3.  This one is only recent, but I'm working to help with the youth conference for our church.  I'm in charge of the food for the weekend.  It's kind of been a lot of work with the logistics and planning.  Doing this kind of thing is so much easier in the US where you have access to bulk foods and cheaper foods and transportation isn't an issue.  It is a great opportunity for the youth of our church though.  It is a 5 district youth conference with kids coming into Hong Kong from Shanghai, Beijing, Central China and Shenzhen.  I feel really blessed to be a part of it.  But don't expect another post until it's over on April 29th.  

4.  Miscellaneous busy-ness.  We've had Richard's sister visit, my parents and SIL visit, baby showers to throw, reader's groups to organize, and much more that we will report on in future posts.  Really, I promise to report!  Okay, don't hold your breathe.

Alright.  So, that is what I've generally been up to.  And now, some pictures.  I've also not blogged because I'm too lazy to import my pictures from my camera onto my computer.  So, these pictures are all from December.  Sorry.  Some thing is better than nothing, right?!?!

 Richard and the kids having fun in our old apartment.

We've been loving where we live and feel so happy for the move.  It is a much more local area, shopping is cheaper and public transport is closer.  I take the bus more and the street car more.  It has been fun.  I do miss how nice our old apartment was.

The kids are as adorable as ever.  I need to post some new pictures, especially of Calvin.  Richard gave him a haircut and he looks so grown up!  His language has also just exploded over the past few months.  He is talking so much and is pretty easy to understand.  He still says cute things like "Tarry me!" instead of "carry me" but, I know that phase is ending soon.  It makes me a little sad because I love this in between baby and big boy phase.  I ask him everyday, "is Calvin a baby or a big boy?"  And he gets this cute little smile on his face and says, "Baby!"  He is addicted to chocolate milk.  Richard posted this on Facebook last week, but if you ask him to tell you a secret, he'll whisper "Chocolate milk" in your ear.  It is so adorable.

Nora is wonderful.  She is loving reading right now.  Thanks so Aunt Emily, we just finished Charlotte's Web and are now reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  She wakes up in the morning and wants us to read her a chapter.  She cried when Charlotte died and felt really tender about it for a few days.  She asked me if animals go to heaven.  It was so sweet.  She is very loving and always giving hugs to our friends.  Our friends, the Stice's stopped by a few days ago for dessert and when they arrived, Nora ran up to Derrald and threw her arms around him in a great big hug.  He was a bit surprised, but I love that she is excited and happy to see our friends.

Richard and I have done a bit of traveling and have really enjoyed that luxury about living in Asia.  In December, we went to Cambodia for a quick trip to run a half-marathon.  We ran it in the town of Siem Reap, through the Angkor Wat temple complex.  It was incredibly amazing.  It reminded me of the Sistine Chapel, in that it was MUCH better in person.  Pictures don't do Angkor Wat justice.  I loved it and as I was running, I couldn't help but think about what an amazing and blessed life I lead.

 A picture of part of the Angkor Wat complex.  After running, we spent the rest of the day relaxing.  The next day, we toured the complex and really enjoyed ourselves.

 No running pictures, but we did have fun making silly faces.  We missed the kids (who stayed home with our nanny/helper), but it was nice to spend a few days with Richard.  He is dreamy and I love him.


In December (remember, no pictures uploaded yet), we also celebrated Nora's birthday.  This was her first birthday party, so we went all out.  It was princess themed and we invited about 25 kids.  We had to rent a room in the clubhouse of our apartment complex to accomadate everyone.  She still hasn't opened all her presents from the day.  She is spoiled and we are blessed to have so many great friends.

 Blowing out the candles on her cake.  I made it, and although it isn't the most beautiful cake, I think it might be the most delicious.

 The gang during one of our games.  A few were a hit (Don't wake the dragon!).  And some were a miss (telephone...we called it something else, but I can't remember).

 Nora with two of her neighborhood friends.  We love these little girls.  It is so much fun to be in Hong Kong and meet people from all over the world.  The little girl in the middle is from Japan and the girl on the right is from The Netherlands.

And this is what Calvin did during the party.  Secretly ate cupcakes.  I think he might have had four.

Alright, an update!  Now, let's see if I can try to go back to sleep for a couple of hours.