The Favorite Jacket

As I mentioned before, when you order from Taobao.com you have to have a sense of humor.....although the boys think it gives them special powers to become invisible. They fight over this jacket!

Tommy puts the boys to bed

The boys love to read - especially Jack. I loved turning bed time routine over to Tommy. It was a great break. Tommy recoved by going to bed and sleeping 19 consecutive hours when he got home!

The First Snow

Winter is officially here! We have had snow, and it is so incredibly cold in Beijing! The air bites your face it is so cold!

Visiting Gavin's Class

They do not allow parents to visit the classrooms in China and help out. I am sure it is for security reasons....besides labor is so cheap in China that they have 3-4 aids for each classroom. A few times a year they do a show for parents.

I wish I had the bandwidth to upload the video. Everytime they have the parents visit the kids perform several dances. This time Gavin danced with a partner...it was so cute....although at one point I felt a little uncomfortable with some of the moves he was busting. I thought China was supposed to be conservative!

Cutie Pie Jack

I can't get Jack to wear a coat. So instead we have to layer him in several sweatshirts, put a hat on his head, and wrap a scarf around his next. Looks like he's ready for Christmas!

The Spring School Uniforms Are Here!!!

I think that I have a new threat for making sure that the boys get themselves dressed for the day....

Chinese websites that make life cheaper and easier!

You can use a translator - like the one google has and it will automatically translate any web page you want. Being able to shop online makes life in China dramatically easier. Here is a list of helpful websites.

The online place to shop
http://www.yihaodian.com/1/
http://www.taobao.com/ (should set up a gifubao account, but things are 1/2 the price)
http://www.dangdang.com/ (cheaper version of Amazon.com)
http://www.amazon.cn/
http://www.vipshop.com/gz.html
http://www.jinmiao.cn/

Location Services - can help you find places in your area
http://www.dianping.com/

The Chinese Craigslist equivalent
http://www.58.com/
http://www.ganji.com/

Finding people to work for you
http://caijj.com/about/qjjsfbz.html
http://www.jjbang.com/
http://www.ganji.com/
http://www.zhaopin.com/


Groceries Delivered
http://www.tootoo.cn/

Cheaper Air Travel (kids get 50% discount on domestic flights)
www.CTrip.com

Yahoo Groups that answer all kinds of questions and where you can surf past postings for answers
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Beijing_Mamas/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/beijing_homeschoolers/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/beijingladies/
Beijing Cafe is also supposed to be good. You need to be invited by a friend and the request has to be accompanied with your bio.

Online to buy electronics
http://www.jingdong.com/

Everyone chats through a service called QQ. So if your children are in school that is often how you will find out about events, homework, etc.