Our Chinese Easter

Last Easter, we didn't do a darn thing. We were still trying to get used to our surroundings and Easter just isn't celebrated out here, so, like other holidays, we skipped it. Kinda just pretended it wasn't happening so that we weren't feeling sad about missing out on all of the fun back home. This year though, Ava is getting very anxious to go back home and just needs things to look forward to. So, we did the best that we could with bringing Easter to China.
I know that Easter isn't all about the Easter Bunny, Easter egg hunts, and getting candy. I know that the true meaning of Easter is about Christ and the sacrafice he made for us so that we could be forgiven for our sins and that this day symbolizes Christ's resurrection from the dead, but, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank the Lord for sending us his only begotten son. So, of course I kept Christ in my heart today even more so than any other day, but, we let Ava just have fun and be spoiled. Call me a bad parent, I don't care. The poor lil thing has been living here in China for over a year w/ no friends, and is bombarded with crazy Chinese people wanting to touch her, take pictures of her, and just bothering her everytime we step foot outside. She deserved to just have a fun day with the excitement and anticipation of the Easter Bunny.
Since they don't celebrate Easter out here, there obviously wasn't any plastic Easter eggs, Easter baskets, or Easter Egg dying kits, so, my husband looked online to find other ways to dye eggs. The methods were a little old school, but we really had no other options. We don't even know where to buy food coloring since we have never seen it out here! He found that you can actually use fruits and veggies to dye the eggs by boiling them. For example: red cabbage turns eggs purple. You boil the cabbage and add the vinegar and eggs, then let them sit. You can use Orange peels, bluberries, grapes...you get the idea. The thing is, is that this method doesn't work well with brown eggs and that is really all you can find out here in China. So, our eggs ended up looking kinda grayish. Not very pretty. So, we just let Ava get her water color paints out and go to town on them. She had a blast! And they looked a whole lot more colorful after she was done with them!
After the eggs were all painted, it was time to prepare Ava's Rapunzel hair for her Easter curls. I wrapped her hair all up in sponge curlers....what a task!! Her hair is down to her bum and my arms were actually achey after I was done rolling all of her hair!Look at that head of rollers!

When we all woke up Easter morning, I had to keep Ava in our bedroom so Joey could go set up the Easter Bunny's little surprises. I hurried and did her hair and got her into her cute lil Easter dress. Doesn't she look adorable?!
She has her purse substituting for an Easter basket :)
We opted to have her egg hunt inside the apartment b/c otherwise, people would just be bothering her while she was trying to find her eggs and if any other kids found any of them, they would just take them for themselves. They honestly will just come up and take things out of your hands if they are curious. So, we just did not want to deal with all of that.
The first surprise that she found when she went out to the living room was this fun lil pretend set which she just LOVED!
Then she started noticing the eggs that were hidden all around the apartment. She had a blast looking for all of them and Ginger even helped out :)
I think Ginger actually helped her find some that she might've had trouble finding herself.

Joey did good at hiding them in some sneaky places :)

She found all of her eggs!

The Easter Bunny also brought her "Rango" It was the closest thing we could find that resemled him! ha ha!
And of course the Easter Bunny didn't forget the candy!

Ava wanted to open her play set up ASAP and put the pretend make up on.
And she was loving the dress up shoes that came in the set.
After all the excitment from the Easter Bunny's visit, we all took a walk outside. The weather was PERFECT today. 74 degrees with a nice breeze! We walked down to a big grassy area that is fun for Ava and Ginger to play on.
They both had a blast! Ava blew bubbles while Ginger tried to eat them!
And Joey played ball with Ava. I think she had more fun trying to throw the ball at Joey's head though lol!
Ava even practiced walking in her new dress up shoes. She still needs some practice :)
On our walk, there were so many beautiful flowers in every color!
These ones were Ava's favorite.
And these are all just so bright and happy looking!
Lately, Ava has really been into taking pictures. She took this one of Joey and I today. She does pretty good!
On top of it being Easter, it was also our little Miss Ginger's 1 year old birthday!
Happy Birthday to our tough lil puppy! We love you!

We had an AMAZING Easter! It went as perfectly as it could have for being out here in China. Ava had a blast and hasn't been so excited since Christmas. Just watching her have so much fun made our day priceless! The only thing that could have made it better is if China had some of those Cadbury mini eggs! Those things are the Devil! but so dang good!
I hope all of our family, friends, and loved ones had a great Easter as well! Can't wait to be home with you all next year to celebrate such a special and meaningful holiday.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

So Close But So Far

62 more days until we leave China and make our LONG journey back home. I know 62 days doesn't sound like very many, and it really isn't, unless you are needing those 62 days to fly by. The days are not flying by. In fact, they are doing the exact oppisite. They are dragging! The universe is trying to punish me for something. I just haven't figured out what I have done that deserves this kind of punishment. Every morning I wake up, I look around and tell myself "Just get through this day." and I do. But my patience is running low and I am in desperate need of a Diet Coke with Lime from Sonic.
Poor lil Ava has had it too. At first, she was excited being in a new place and even enjoyed all of the attention she was getting from everyone. But now, the poor thing keeps asking "When are we getting out of Chinese?" And she hides when people want to take her picture. We are all just so tired of being bothered and feeling like a walking attraction. Of course it's flattering to have people always telling you how beautiful you are but, I have had 2 lifetimes full of compliments out here in a year and the only person I need now to tell me that I'm beautiful is my husband.
God, please keep giving me the strength and patience to make it through these next couple of months without having a mental breakdown and without punching anyone in the face. I really would rather not go to jail out her in China so, please bless me with self control and a peaceful heart as well. Amen.
Everyone else who reads this, you better start praying for me also cause I need all the help I can get to make it through these next 62 days cause they could get crazy! :)

Smelly Smells

For the past week, the little rectangular area in the parking garage of the our apartment building where you wait for the elevator has been "under construction". They have painted and re painted that little rectangle green. I don't undertsand Why. The entire basement garage is a non painted cement. Why are they painting this tiny little area? You are probably wondering why I even care, but believe it or not, this little “remodel” has caused way too many problems, the first and worst problem being the smell! I don’t know what kind of crazy paint they are using but it smells like no paint I have ever smelled before. It is SO STRONG and has made it’s way up into out apartment on the 18th floor. I have had a non stop headache for a week straight b/c of the smell. Even lightheaded at times. There is no way that it can be healthy. So, because of the smell, I have had to keep all of the windows open which is nice at times, but my entire apartment is all hardwood floors that are the perfect color for showing every little partticle dust. China is dusty outside, so, all of that comes inside and onto my floors and anything else with a resting area.
Another problem this paint job has caused is that b/c this area they have painted is the in and out entrance area for the elevator, you can no longer use the elevator to go down to the garage. Instead, you have to go to the first floor, walk outside and go down the stairs to the basement. Not a huge deal except when I need to take the dog out to the bathroom and it’s raining and my key won’t work to open the entrance door to our building so I'm just stuck outside waiting for someone to go in or out....it is not a fun time. I even prop the door open with a rock or something so I can get back in, but there is always some idiot who thinks they are the door police and they move the rock locking me outside again.
I guess I wouldn’t be so frustrated about this situation if there were no dangerous fumes coming up the stairwell and elevator shaft but there are and they are making me cranky. If I pass out and hit my head from these fumes, I will sue…or write a letter…or something scary! All of these unnecessary, frustrating situations for a green, painted, cement rectangle that these Chinese people have been taking their sweet ass time with finishing up. Any sort of renovations that they recieve, whether it be big or small, they will draaaaaag it out until it just drives you crazy! China! I have had enough of you! You have tested my patience over and over again and my departure day couldn’t come soon enough! Peace out China!