Coming out of "The Desert"

Whoah - get down! Be careful if you see this guy in the area waving assault rifles around. (Psst! He's not qualified with that weapon!)

Check out this photo and many more in a new upload at my Flickr page, which will certainly be the last done from Taiwan for us. The movers will come and take all of our stuff next week, and then we're off to "the big PX in the sky" - back to the U.S.! Over 600 new items will soon be available for your viewing pleasure.

Lack of posting over the past few months can be attributed to a few things. First, my thesis, which I completed about 2 weeks ago, consumed most of my time from April onward. Plus, now that we are so close to heading home, the motivation to post waned. It will probably wax again sometime in the future - stay tuned.

GJS

Lance's Birthday Party

It was a low-key affair with a very limited guest list, but we had a good time!

It's my birthday party!

I got SKILLZ!

No slouch in her own right

The cake is ready

A chocolatey masterpiece!

I want some of that!

First bite...not sure what to think

OK, I have decided that I like chocolate!

Big brother takes a break from eating to wash it down

I also know baby sign language - MORE!

A little milk to wash it down really hits the spot

There are indicators of cake consumption all around

Then came the balloons

And now for the presents!

Gonna be a while before this one will fit

Something else to eat!

Check out my new dinosaur tattoo!

Lance wanted to get in on the tattoo action as well

Who's that on the TV screen?

Check out his new "ink" - Thomas and Friends! (of course)

I also like going to the playground

This rock is almost as big as me!

GJS

Those Huskers, Our Huskers...and Happy New Year!

He still loves the Scarlet and Cream

The one Husker football game I decide to watch this year, and we get handled!  Very disappointing.  Yes, we were playing in a bowl game and should be satisfied with that to a certain degree (look at teams like Tejas who were not in a bowl this year), but the Huskers manhandled the same Washington team they were pushed around by today just a few months ago.  If we could play a game without self-destructing with penalties, that would be a nice start.  Off to the Big 10 next year...hopefully we can fix some things before next season starts.

We're only a couple hours from 2011 here in Taiwan...Happy New Year!

GJS

It's beginning to look a lot like....oh, nevermind

Let's not kid ourselves: it's never going to look like a stylized Christmas scene from Norman Rockwell here in Southern Taiwan - no snow, palm trees, generally pretty warm (though apparently the weather didn't get the memo about this last bit today - it was a chilly 55 degrees Fahrenheit with gusty winds and rain today) - but that doesn't mean the man-made trappings don't start popping up all over the place.  To wit:

Near our church

I am unable to show my teeth while smiling. :)  Still a cute photo.

These photos and more are freshly uploaded at Flickr, just for you.

GJS

John's movie

Back in September I posted a "Lance movie" made from photos of him set to music.  Now it's John's turn!



You may notice in this video a few photos that seem to be a part of a larger mosaic of photos of John.  Here is the full photo mosaic:

There are over 1000 photos here!

I'd recommend you download the photo mosaic and view it as large as you can on your screen to get the full effect.  Pretty cool!  I made both of these things using Picasa photo editing software, free at http://picasa.google.com/.

Enjoy!

GJS

Long time no post

What gives?

Well, I've been doing a lot of triathlon training, first of all.  Then, we were out of town the weekend before last to Sun Moon Lake in central Taiwan.  Right after we got back from that trip, I found out my grandma died and I went back to the U.S. for the funeral.  Now I'm back in Taiwan and headed back to class tomorrow.  More busy-ness!

Back on this side of the Pacific, I'm going to be busy writing term papers, preparing presentations, getting ready for the Taipei Half Marathon later this month, and all the biking and swimming I can manage to fit in!

I did post a bunch of photos from the trip back to the U.S., the trip to Sun Moon Lake, and other assorted goodness over at Flickr (some are also on Facebook, if you are on there).  I'll put up a few here just for fun:

At the Formosan Aboriginal Cultural Village (FACV) near Sun Moon Lake

John at Sun Moon Lake

Barb and Lance on the Sun Moon Lake "ropeway" (cable cars)

This guy likes to ride on trains (at FACV)

On the way to the funeral

An all-grandson casket detail

Mild weather in Omaha means backyard football!

There was a massacre (of Lego men) - at the Fun Fair at John's school

Our new pets (two are still alive)

Folks, that's Carl "Stump" Merrill on the right, former NY Yankees manager (early 1990s).  He was the "guest of honor" at the school Fun Fair.

It was a rainy day at the Fun Fair.  Here's John trying to outleg his best buddy.

John's new tattoo (don't worry folks, it's only temporary!)

Sailboats on the Love River, Kaohsiung

GJS

By popular demand

Here's a small sample of recent autumn-themed artwork by John, by popular request.  He made these at school - quite beautiful!

GJS

The heavy burden of parenthood

One recent evening the family went to a one-year old's birthday party and we came home well after the boys's bedtime.  I had Lance in the back carrier, sleeping peacefully, and John fell asleep on the subway ride home.  I decided the easiest way to get him home was to carry him.  Here you go - action shot!

I explained to Barb that even though they probably weighed 60 lbs together, that was peanuts compared to the average load of any combat soldier, so it was an easy day!

GJS

Recent breakthroughs in child-rearing

Home from school

We have a couple significant developments on the child-rearing front to report.  First, John has recently begun 5-day a week, full-day pre-kindergarten classes.  This school, unlike the one he had attended since last October on a part-time basis, teaches in English. (John likes this much better.)  Week one was successful, and John even told us that staying at home was "kinda boring" compared to all the fun stuff he gets to do at school.  You go, John!  Keep that attitude forever, son!

我喜歡吃crackers!

Lance is also hitting the developmental milestones.  Like I mentioned in a recent post, he is just a week shy of 5 months old right now, and this past week he began limited non-breast milk food trials, a first for him.  One evening he dined on a cracker (pictured) and since then he has begun regular evening servings of rice cereal while sitting in his high chair.  It took but a few days of this for him to develop quite a gusto for the stuff, pulling the spoon into his mouth and celebrating each mouthful.  This new food's "staying power" seems to be allowing him to go longer without feedings in the middle of the night, sleeping for a solid eight hours the other night.  In non-food related updates for Lance, he is edging ever-closer to becoming mobile, perfecting his ability to hold his head up high while on his tummy and beginning to get up on his knees (but not the essential hands and knees that he needs to figure out to crawl).  He's also working on being able to sit up by himself (actually, maintaining a sitting position on his own after being helped into it by Mom or Dad).  But he likes being in a standing position more than anything (photo).

Only a little help!

The boys are getting big!

GJS

End of an Era: Last Day of School

John (at left), flashing the "V" sign (he has picked up on some local things!)

Today was John's last day at his local pre-Kindergarten class.  He'll have next week off, then we'll be travelling in China for about 2 1/2 weeks, and then he'll have about a week of vacation time left before he starts at his "official, have-to-be-4-years-old" pre-K at a new school.

It was sort of bittersweet for John.  On the one hand, he would tell us that he didn't like to go to the old school because he had a hard time communicating (it was entirely in Chinese), but at the same time it was clear that he liked having time to play and interact with kids his age.  Kids don't necessarily need to be able to speak the same language to be able to play effectively together, although when conflict arises it is often made more difficult when they can't communicate with each other to resolve it using a common spoken language.

They gave him a couple parting gifts, which was nice.  Folks there were really nice, and I hope someday he remembers going to this school.

GJS