Happy New Year!

Today is January 1, 2014.  This morning I tried to describe to Josiah how cool, fun, exciting, it is that today is the beginning of a new year.  He did not seem to get the importance of it.  I guess I should not be surprised.  This holiday season we didn't take a break from the regular routine, instead just added Christmas preparation and events on top of everything else.  I will be posting more on that very soon.  First I wanted to post a few pictures and a bit of life during the past couple months.
This autumn was by far the warmest autumn we have experienced here.  We were even able to go on a hike, near our home, in the middle of November!

 It is now pretty cold, stays below freezing, but still warmer than normal.  So thankful, as all four kids and I are daily outside for over an hour making the school drop offs.

Jacob and Josiah are doing well at their schools, going every weekday morning.  Both of them, along with Emma have been doing well with the local language, thankful!  Josiah's school is getting ready to have an almost two month break over the Chinese New Year and we have decided to also keep Emma and Jacob home, during that time...we are all needing a break.  They will continue with homeschooling and studying with their language tutor, however we will not need to daily pack up, bundle up, and trek out to get to school each day. 

 Emma has been attending the local school three days a week, after the New Year break we will up it to four days.  She is doing well, however I definitely look forward to the mornings when she gets to stay home with me.  Judson does too!  She and Judson are growing and changing fast.  Judson just started climbing out of his crib and talks nonstop.  He also has a natural use of the local language, along with English.  It helps that, next to his family, his favorite person is our househelper.  Emma is our girl.  I love to hear her footsteps as she prances across to floor, and listen to her singing, and poetry.

Emma teaching Bible stories to her 'class'.

Judson reading

Getting ready and out the door each morning is probably our craziest time of the day.

 Josiah is developing a passion for taekwondo and we appreciate the perseverance, patience and discipline he is learning.  His hard work is paying off.  Last month he earned his yellow belt and is now working to earn his green.  I pray that each of our children can have something they work hard at and call their own.  For Josiah, right now, this is taekwondo.

 This season of our lives is packed and many days I find that almost every minute is scheduled.  Jacob has many times done his homeschool work while at taekwando class, Judson has become accustomed to sit in the stroller (wrapped in so many clothes he cannot move) for a couple hours each day as I take kids to and from school, Emma has grown to enjoy school and her teachers even though I still cringe at the idea of giving my three year old to someone else to be taught and trained, Josiah has double the school work with local school and homeschool.  As our kids grow, it seems that it will most likely continue in this way.  We want them to be involved in other people's lives and to be within the community, in order to do that, we are busy.