Merry Christmas!!

Here's hoping that everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We had a relaxing, low key 1st Christmas in Shanghai. It was just perfect. We started the day by opening presents, relaxing and Skyping with family. Then it was off to our friends The Hoskins for a wonderful Christmas dinner. This dinner was much better than our Thanksgiving dinner and it just goes to show that if you are a good cook (like Vickie is) then anything is possible. Thank you Vickie for teaching me a few of your tricks.

We ended the night relaxing on the couch where Brycen was zonked out at 7 and Les and I weren't too far behind him.

Class Christmas Party

Yesterday was Brycen's Christmas party at his school. It was jammie day, and the kids looked so comfortable. All the moms were invited to join in and help out. I was glad to go because Brycen keeps coming home and mentioning different kids, so it was nice to put some faces to these names.
It is amazing to me how the demeanour of a child can change so quickly when his mom enters the room. He was singing when I walked in and then totally clammed up. This is what he was like when I was around (don't you love the Christmas cheer on his face):

and when I was not around:

this is his classroom. I think one of the things that drew us to this school was the size of his room. There are lots of little areas where they can do crafts, have music and play. I have new respect for his 2 teachers and 2 ayi's. There are close to 20 kids in his class and they are all younger than 3.

Ayi

What is an ayi you ask? Well apparently it is mandatory here in China. We have had ours for almost a month now and it is just now starting to become a lifesaver. SO, what is this ayi you ask?
An ayi is anything that you want her to be...nanny, cook, cleaning lady, errand runner...anything really. We have our ayi 5 days a week for 5 hours a day. For the time being she does all our cleaning, laundry and ironing. I wanted to get her accustomed to doing that before having her help with anything else. She is very slowly getting to the point where she will come in and help me give Brycen a bath at night, play with him, and occasionally (when he won't listen to me) put him down for a nap.
I do have to admit that having this ayi, this person who is supposed to be your lifesaver, was in fact one of the most stressful transitions of moving to China. It was very weird having someone in your house for so many hours a day doing all the things that you have done yourself for your entire life. It teaches you alot about yourself as well. Like how anal I am about how the dishwasher is loaded (I totally get that from my dad) and how I like my laundry sorted and washed a certain way (I know she thinks I am crazy for needing my undies air dried vs put in the dryer) :)
Our first few days with our ayi played out like this:
On her first day she went through almost a whole bottle of bathroom cleaner on just 2 bathrooms. Les and I were in the living room and all of a sudden we started smelling all these fumes. She was in there hacking and coughing, but I didn't know what to do as she doesn't speak English and my Chinese consists of hello and thank you. She then proceeded to go through a bottle of toilet bowl cleaner within the next week. On her third day with us she put a whole capful of laundry detergent in to wash 4 hand towels. Our washer was sudsing everywhere and proceeded to go on emergency lock. I was fuming. I knew something had to change if we wanted this business relationship to work.
I got a translator in here the next day and went room by room and cleaner by cleaner showing her how much and what to use where. It was a total eye opener for me as I also had to realize that she has probably NEVER used a washing machine or used cleaning products. It is really embarrassing how much they work for and most of them leave their families in the countryside to come work in Shanghai for what they consider is good money. I was willing to make this work as I could tell she was sincere and had nothing but the best intentions.
I came up with a daily routine for her, but am going to cut back on it, so she can eventually cook for us on occasion and help with Brycen and the baby as needed.
As this is getting lengthy I just have to end with the fact that people rely on these ayi's like crazy. It is really funny to hear other women panic when their ayi needs a week off for Chinese New Year. Are you going to try and find another one?? How are you going to do it all by yourself?? Seriously what did you do before you moved to China:)
I think I will get used to this in no time, but not sure what I will do when it is time to move back and then I am responsible for it all over again...such is life. (I can't imagine the comments I am going to get on this post)

Ahhhh....

I think this picture says it all. For those of you that know me, know that I have to have cereal in my pantry at all times. A box (very small box) of Lucky Charms here is almost $10. I love cereal, but even I can't fathom spending that.

I am not picky on the cereal I eat so here are my latest finds:

THIS made my day today:)

And for whoever we visit first when we come home, I want a bowl of Lucky Charms and a glass of Dr. Pepper. Thanks!!

Winter Festival

For once we were busy this weekend doing something other than going to Ikea (ok, so we still went there) or the grocery store. Brycen's school had a Winter Festival and we volunteered to work at one of the craft tables. There were lots of crafts for the children, a bake sale and vendors in case you wanted to do some holiday shopping. Santa was also there but Brycen is still to scared to sit on his lap, so I had to hold him.
After the festival we were invited to a Spiderman birthday party at one of his classmates houses. It was really good to meet some of the other parents and learn where everyone is from (very few are from US). Then it was off to Ikea to get a Christmas tree and some decorations. Apparently this is one of the few places in Shanghai where you can get Christmas stuff so the pickings were VERY slim. Still looking for some lights for the tree! Oh how I wish they had Hobby Lobby or Target...

Misc. China

On Thanksgiving Day Brycen had school, but Les had taken off work. So we put B on the bus and went and had a breakfast date at this cute little coffee house and then went exploring. We decided to take this little entrance into our complex and I am so glad we did. As you can see from the pictures there were all these mysterious rock caves and walls. After navigating our way up and down through these caves we came upon some cool architecture and a waterfall. You can see this waterfall from our dining room window, but I never knew how to get to it. It is so funny to have all this beauty and then look up and see your 56 story high rise looking down at you. I guess that is real city living.

Most mornings as you walk along the streets it is not uncommon to see people exercising and doing some form of tai chi or yoga. It is really cool and I would love to jump in and join them.

Thanksgiving

I know this is a little late, but I wanted to post about our first Thanksgiving in China. We debated between going out for dinner (some of the restaurants and hotels offer a "traditional" dinner) or order in. We decided to order in and make it a family event. This can be costly so we kept it minimal. Instead of the ham that fed 12-15 people we decided to do meatloaf:( Pretty positive it was spam. We also had sweet potatoes, mac n cheese, green beans, rolls and apple pie. I thought most of it (minus the spam) was pretty good...considering. Don't let Brycen's thumbs up fool you, he only ate the rolls and maybe some of the mac n cheese