Woodruff Fam Reunion

WOODRUFF FUN FAMILY TIME:

I am going to try to blog one old item with one new to keep myself motivated to update past events.  So here is the first update from the past: The Woodruff Family Reunion  (in April- I know I am late!)

This Reunion was in a great big house on the shores of Lake Anna, VA.  Todd's family always has each family prepare a day of food and an activity.  It always makes for very yummy and fun times -- although I know I leave 10 lbs heavier since it seems like we have 3 homemade desserts each night- leftovers can't be left to the children!!!

Todd's Mom and Dad organized fun trivia and nostalgic old video time:

Elli really just wants the winner candy!

Some of the Aunts helped the kids plant jelly beans and the next morning Suckers had grown!!!!  All the kids were beyond thrilled.  Elli was so super excited to see a sea of suckers (say that 10x fast)!

Sweet Sienna was such a hit with everyone (except for mommy at night - Sienna had difficulty sleeping that week!)-- luckily tons of people were able to help out the zombie mommy, including cousins Karinn, Alexis, and Isabel, Aunt Jamie, and Grampa too!

Surprisingly, all the kids found hours of entertainment just in this awesome sandbox.  

Elli would have stayed out here all day each day if I had let her.

3 toddlers above- Griffy, Izzy, and Elli having a blast!
Not sure where cutie Sawyer was.

FIELD GAMES:  Todd and I organized an afternoon of three-legged racing, balloon relays, and blind cartwheel races.  Highlight: Adults cartwheeling downhill blindfolded and colliding! 

Todd's mom was such a sport and did it too- it was all too hilarious.

Boys:

Girls:

Mom: THE WINNER!

Later on the adults also enjoyed some croquet and bocce ball.

Paddle boating and kayaking was another awesome past time that we enjoyed almost daily.  Sarena, Adam, Kyle, and Todd also enjoyed getting their work out in swimming across the lake in the freezing water!  Amazingly, some of the kids loved swimming despite the cold!

Trevor was playing peek a boo with Elli!

Tyson and Diana organized some fun family games too:  Stuffing as many marshmellows in your mouth as you can and still be able to say chubby bunny is a Tyson kind of game.

2 alliterative phrases to describe this game: Candy Cramming and Changing Craziness

Easter was the week prior- so an egg pinata was genius Diana!

Maybe you shouldn't have bought an indestructible one though, Diana!

And what Woodruff Reunion would be complete without wrestling! 

Not sure how Elli ended up with no clothes on!

Alyson planned a day trip out to Belle Island just south of Richmond, VA.  We hiked in the area and played in the cold river.  Everyone had a blast and it was really serene and beautiful.  I could have stayed out there even longer.  Elliana especially enjoyed throwing sticks and seeing them go down stream.   

Sweet friends: Izzy and Elli

Todd and Adam competed in a triathlon one day (a different entry for that one) and so Sarena and Adam did a mini triathlete for the kids complete with a finish line.

Elli loved that life jacket and wore constantly!

Alyson frolicking to the finish line! So random and great! 

No fear of the cold water here!  

Lots of fun crafts and activities were also planned!  Here is decorate your own cone activity: A huge hit with all the kids of course!  Unlimited supply of candy for creativity sake- count us in!

One of the last nights, the family enjoyed a big marshmallow roast.  I would venture to say that this was Elli's favorite night.  Again I can't recall why she is naked- I think it had something to do with her being wet and me not being able to get her clothes because Sienna was sleeping.  Regardless, she was happy as a clam and she wanted to do roast marshmallows all by her self too. "I help" is how she says she doesn't want you to help.

She was just eating on the marshmallows forever and eventually it was time to stop and go to bed.  You can see by her expression, she was in her own happy world and really didn't feel that stopping was a great choice for her.

 I told her she could have one more bite (up to now she had just been taking little bites trying to draw out the experience so she wouldn't have to go to bed) and then she had to stop.  She looked at me, and I think she could tell I was going to enforce this statement and take away what remained, and so our "too smart for her own good" Elliana proceeded to run towards the door to give herself time to stuff all the marshmallows in her mouth at once as fast as she could.  She was caught, but all the marshmallows were practically devoured.  I had to laugh inside.  I did say one more bite.

Family photo time (whatever happened to the professional pics that were done, anybody know?)

Cousin time:  

Cuties Alexis, Hallie, Karinn, and Jayci in accidentally color coded dresses for church.

Sienna and Emery below- only a few months apart.  

Sienna was still a bit jaundice and Emery is so blonde and fair that they were quite the contrast.  

They didn't really like being posed but they did like each other!

The whole clan after church: although the guys were mad that they had to take this pic, I for one am glad it happened.

Todd and I are both so lucky that we each have families that we love being around so much.  We are so blessed and we really do have so much fun when we are all together.
Can't wait for the next Woodruff Reunion Installment!

We have arrived in Taiwan and now have Internet!!

Taipei at night (we live right by that ferris wheel)!

So I know many of you have been thinking "What happened to Todd and Heather?  Why haven't they blogged? If Diana and Tyson can get internet in Nigeria- a place with random daily power outages and where nobody has thought to make Peanut butter out of the overabundance of peanuts they have,  Heather and Todd must have internet in their apartment in the metropolitan very technology savvy Tawain." NOT so.  Todd and I have been wanting to blog and tell you our adventures too but we just got the internet today, and it is still REALLY slow!! Our building is brand spanking new- which is very good, but nobody thought that having internet that was at all a normal speed was important yet.  In a month, or two, or three, they will have a new internet wiring here and then we will get better internet capabilities.  We were going to wait until that happened, but realized it could be a long wait- so we got the 3 speed internet, verses the 20 or the 50 like most people here.  I know I am spoiled that the internet is so crucial for us to settle in, but it's my lifeline to what I know as normal!  It is semi okay right now and at least I can download pics (1-2 min per pic, but it happens!!).

So let me go back and give a little picture of some of our life here so far...

We arrived in splendor with 8 huge bags, 5 carry-ons, 2 car seats, our double stroller, our double stroller bag, a front pack, and a car seat base... and don't forget the two screaming children.  The picture really doesn't do it justice-- We were such a huge spectacle with all our stuff,  BUT- we made it!  And we changed in our layover in Japan- because we wanted to be presentable.  Sienna and Elli actually did alright on the plane, Elliana did many many laps running around the plane (while most people slept), and luckily the stewardesses were really nice about it! We definitely took a while to get over the jet lag, but it did subside eventually. 

Here is our new friends and sponsors, the Li family.  I have been corresponding with Susan and Young for the past couple months to get ready to come and it was a huge help to feel so welcomed by them.  Susan and I are already good friends now and we plan to hang out much more here.  Below the pic shows one of the first weekends we arrived, having dinner at a great little restaurant near our temporary housing.  

Some of the dishes before you are various dumplings, tofu and cabbage soup, onion pancakes, radish cake (mostly gone, because it was delicious!), noodle soup, corn soup (gross), and my new staple to help me with some digestion -- COKE.  

These below were super delicious.  They are soup dumplings so when you eat them whole, they gush goodness in your mouth! 

Susan and Young have 3 kids: Michael, Katelyn, and Gabriel.  Gabriel, their youngest is two and Elli and him are two peas in a pod- both with lots of energy and personality!  

Elli also gravitated towards Katelyn, 

whom Elli wanted to copy as much as possible.  It was pretty cute!

Elli already loves chopsticks by the way--

 she enjoys eating with them but also playing the air drum or "Hiyah" sword fighting. 

I, however, am fighting a losing battle with them!

Above is all of us enjoying some awesome ice cream- run by an American! I loved the Mango Ice cream and I hate to say it but Elli loved the Chocolate Obama ice cream!

The first week we did a little exploring and our favorite discovery was this weekend night market/garage sale up the street.  They had all sorts of unique items and gifts.  One thing I actually like -is that normally there is little to no bargaining here.  I am fine with that.  I HATE BARGAINING!

  I bought this awesome camera holder hand made of leather for a good solid price! 

Here I tried to capture how many scooters are zooming around non-stop.  This is a line that formed on the side during a stop light-- there is really no motorized scooter laws as far as I can tell.  They don't have to stay in any lane, they can go backwards in traffic, they can ride on sidewalks and almost run over little girls, and you can pile your dog, sister, mom, dad, and baby all on one scooter- 

(I have seen it done!) Accidents are common- we just had a man's son in our ward get in a scooter accident and he had serious road rash and the girl on the bike with him knocked out her front teeth and now has to have her mouth wired shut.  I can guarantee that our family will not be taking up this mode of transportation.  

After two weeks of living in Tienmu, a very crowded bustling area, we moved to our permanent home in Da Zhi, a new developing area that has bigger sidewalks (hurray!) and less traffic.  

Here are the pics of our new home prior to us moving in-- all the furniture is provided by the State department.  And if Elli looks beat up, she pretty much is- she was falling so much in the first two weeks learning her surroundings- she got a bruise on her cheek, a sty on her eye, a partial black-eye, and various scrapes all over.  Poor thing- it doesn't seem to phase her much though.  

We love the kitchen and dining area; the rooms are smaller than our first place here, though, and the bathrooms even more so.  Oh well- everything is new, which is great, and no bugs.  

One other thing that is not my favorite is that there is no garbage disposal because you recycle the "kitchen excess" as it is called.  They are really into recycling here- I am constantly amazed by it-- but more on that later.

We call this house our secret house, because it has so many hidden storage areas.  

Ask yourself...

Is this a nice decor next to window?  

Or a pull out closet?

 Are these two tiny ovens?

 No- It's a tiny oven and a hidden microwave (what an eye sore, huh- good thing I can hide it!)

Is this a wall?

No it's a hidden pantry of course!!

And one more pretty cool thing-- Showering can happen anywhere here- next to the bathtub, in the bathtub, or on a toilet. You choose!  

If you are in a hurry, you can be pretty efficient and take care of your business while washing your hair- although the toilet paper might be a bit soggy- but who's complaining- not me!

Here is the outside of our building (we are the ninth floor- 3 down from the top on the left)
and the ritzy mall one block over!


We are pretty happy with the house and the area.  It's a little far from the majority of the expats here (expatriate- meaning somebody living outside their home country) but we are learning how to adjust and there are nice places to walk and we are a block from the metro which makes a big difference since I will not be driving here!!

So that's it for now- expect more soon- very soon!!
And we now have our vonage phone hooked up, since we have internet, so you can call that too!

 PS I have a lot of blogging to update about our summer, so you will see those blogs out of order for the next couple months- sorry that's what happens when even before you left the country, you had no reliable internet (in the hotel or vacation) for over a month and a half and before that you were a crazy person getting ready to leave the country!

My Strong-willed child

So this is my lovely strong-willed daughter.  Let me tell you how this picture came about.  Elli had been doing this weird holding the food in her mouth for four days in a row.   She would take a bite willingly at dinner and then she would just hold it there.   I tried to entice her to swallow by telling her she couldn't have a cookie,  I put her in time out, I gave her a little wap on the mouth, and I took away her drink but nothing worked.  We would usually just end up having her spit out the food or she would throw up a little.  It was not ideal either way.

So on the fifth night, I decided that she would stay in that high chair until she swallowed.  Todd wouldn't be home till late so it was me against her-- I was sure I could win, but the power struggle that occurred was much more than i bargained for.  This picture is near the end of the night after green spit from the peas had already trickled down her shirt so I took it off.  I sat her back down, gave her time out in the chair, ignored her, turned the lights out, and would not let her out.  I would check back on her every 20 min or so but every time I would come in, I would ask her if she had swallowed, and she would open her mouth showing me the food still there (the smallest bite ever by the way) and then she would smile.  So I would leave her there.  I tried not to raise my voice, but I tried to stay firm.  Anyone have any guesses on when she was finally let out of the chair-- We started dinner at 6 and I took her out of the chair at 10:30.  That's right 10:30.  She sat in that chair the entire time, really not even crying much, just not swallowing.  OVER 4 HOURS!!!!  I finally gave in, took her upstairs and made her sleep without her elephant and blankey which seemed to make her very upset, so at least I got to her some way, *which is what I will just start out with next time.  But I also learned that in a power struggle, my Elli is not a quitter.  Oh- I am pretty nervous about how this stubborn and strong-willed personality will be as a teenager!!!

Since this night, I gave her one dinner I knew she loved to stop the cycle, and then on other nights since I have only had to threaten taking away Elephant and she will swallow it.  I only make her take two bites and I don't let her snack-- but I seriously still can't believe that she lasted 4 hours in that chair.  OH ELLIANA!!!!!
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FUNNY STORY UPDATE:  So to add to this post, I thought I would add another Elli story.  I have a feeling there will be many over the course of her life.   So I was in the Target parking lot getting both the girls in the car when Elli picked up a shiny rock.  She obviously really liked it so I didn't tell her to put it down.  However as I was putting her in her seat, she started putting the rock in her mouth.  I told her not to put the rock in her mouth, and she looked at me defiantly and then put it on her chin.  I told her that she had to put it away from her mouth, so then she put in on her neck with this death glare.  I said No- you have to put it on your lap like this.  She looked at me, seeing I was serious, and did what I said.  However, as I started to shut the door, I saw her bringing the rock up to her mouth as fast as she could.  I opened the door quickly, pulled her hand down and said "Elli I said No.  If you put it in your mouth, I will take it away."  Well this little stubborn, but smart girl looked at me, looked at the rock, and I could tell those little gears were turning in her head.  Finally, after another moment, she said "Take away" and then she put the rock in her mouth lightning quick, and then handed it back to me with a smile.   She seriously weighed the consequence and decided that she could deal with it- and so happily continued with her plan.  BOY am I in trouble with this one!!!