Gabriella Turns 3!

My little baby is slowly turning into a little girl... Today she turned three and we had a "Dora the Explorer" themed party. She loved it, especially the Dora balloon! Unfortunately the weather was a little cloudy, so we weren't able to have a pool party but the kids ran around and entertained themselves. It was a little low key this year, since we've been busy and will be leaving for California, Oregon, and Disneyland tomorrow. The party was at Grammy and Papa's house (who are out-of-town) and all her cousins were there, plus Harper.

Gabby's School Performance

This was a Chinese song and my favorite peformance...

Singing "Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star"

Kung Fu poses- she's in the back.

Gabby's face at the end when she saw me in the audience...

she wanted her mommy.

Gabby's school put on an enf-year performance. She was so proud of herself and was waving "Hi. mommy!" She did a great job, even though she spaced-out a bit. She really is her mother's daughter... :) S

Huangshan, China Trip

Mt. Huang or "Yellow Mountain." We climbed this and it was over 5000 steps and 6.5 km long. It took me about two hours and the steps were straight up and down. I was in the middle-top of the pack, so not too shabby for a 30-something year-old.

This guy is planting rice. Crazy, huh? He is wearing no shoes and does this for almost ten hours straight. Makes you think differently about that bowl of rice and how it gets to you...

These are tea leaves... we got to pick some and then participate in a Chinese Tea Ceremony. I had no idea what was going on because it was in Chinese but I loved trying all the tea.

My attempt at being artistic...

I bet this roof is 800 years-old or something.

This was a village, called Tangmo. It was really cool. This architecture is traditional Huangshan style 

(white w/ black roofs)

I went on a school trip last week to Huangshan for three nights and four days. I picked this trip because you get to fly both ways and I didn't have to take the overnight train with hard-sleepers. I was completely exhausted the whole time because we were insanley busy, but I actually had fun (minus all the Chinese food, so glad I brought my Western snacks). I enjoyed learning about the culture and getting out of Beijing for a couple days- even though I missed my family.

Great Wall Mutanyiu

We had an amazing time up at the Great Wall this weekend. It was Velora's birthday and a bunch of us rented a house, cooked yummy food at the BBQ, enjoyed good conversation, and relaxed. On Saturday, we hiked around the Great Wall. Gabby did fantastic! We were quite impressed by how much she walked and never complained.

Gabby's School Newsletter May 2010

Gabby Jumping during a Kung Fu lesson...

You may be able to see her behind this kid in a white t-shirt...

they're practicing some Kung Fu moves.

Gabby and her class-mates walking...

she looks pretty excited, eh?

Unfortunately, Gabby's new teacher doesn't send the newsletters regularly, which is too bad. But here's the latest...

What's New with the Tebos?

I sound like a broken record, but we've been super busy... Plus, blogspot has been down. The weather is awesome right now so we do a lot outdoors... play dates, barbecues, swimming, etc. Travis and his band played at Rynostock (music festival) on Saturday and he did great job. I'm busy organizing the new Peer Helpers club and Career Day, which I've actually been enjoying this year. I'm especially excited about Peer Helpers. The kids are fabulous and will help us transition the new kids into the high school. As you can imagine,  "transition" is a huge theme in working in an international school... a lot of hellos and goodbyes. It's hard to deal with all the changes and new customs of another culture, so I think this group will do a great job helping out our new kiddos.

Chen, our ayi, was hit by a car. She's okay, but it makes you realize how crazy and dangerous the driving is here. We're thinking seriously about buying a brand new car because we don't feel safe with our current car... we'll see what happens. It sounds like a good idea but when am I going to get my house!!!

Gabby Highlights
1. Riding her push bike everywhere, even up and down the hills in the skate park. The bike is a German conception... there are no pedals, traning wheels, or brakes, so it forces the kid to learn how to balance right away. It's supposed to be the best way to learn how to ride a bike. We'll see.
2. She told Travis after he hurt himself, "I'm sorry that you hurt your toe." I told her what to say one time when a friend got hurt and she remembered.
3. Not sure if this is a highlight, but we're still working on the "taking turns" and "sharing" thing. Sometimes it's okay, sometimes it's a catastrophe. It's the age!
4. She's putting on her own clothes and shoes without help- that's convenient.
5. She LOVES new clothes and pretty dresses. We get into little arguments in the morning because she always wants to wear a pretty dress.
6. LOVES getting her nails painted, but also has no problem getting dirty and messy with the boys.
7. She continually impresses our ayi with all the Chinese she's learning.
8. She had this conversation about the bubbles going down the drain... "The bubbles have to go bye-bye because they're sleepy. They need to stay in bed or they get a time out."

Mother's Day

Finally! A day, other than my birthday, when I get to be the special person... Yippee! I love Mother's Day! We had a great time. We took Gabby to GymNees in the morning, and afterwards Chen came over to watch her for the day. Travis and I got mani/pedis, then drove downtown for a dim sum brunch, then got foot massages. We were going to watch a movie, but I missed my baby so we went back home.

the weather has been awesome lately, blue skies, clean air, and warmer weather. Love it! It's funny how weather can make such a difference in your mood.