How to Make a Pinata-- the EASY Version Using a Cardboard Box

Callie's pinata. 

Cardboard box. Scissors. Rope or yarn. Pinata filler. Tissue paper. Glue stick(s). Printed or hand colored picture (optional).

Cut off the side flaps so that there is no reinforcement of cardboard. It's already quite sturdy so if you want children to be able to bust it open, you don't want to have layered cardboard anywhere. 

Poke holes in top for rope to go through. This yarn didn't last even though it's doubled up several times. It's just because there was quite a bit of candy in there! And it's a big box. Otherwise just 6 strands of yarn would be fine. 

After box is filled with candy/toys etc., tape shut by using pieces of tape that are about 2" long. L Leave a good 2" gap between each piece. Masking tape would be good. I couldn't find it and used boxing tape. You don't want it to be unbreakable! But next time I would tape it better at the top. It's from the bottom that the candy falls and you don't want it to break from the top where it's attached to the rope. 

With a glue stick, glue on your picture. You can print one off that relates to your b-day theme or color one like I did. 

I used colored floral paper as well as tissue paper. Anything goes. I cut approximately 5" strips of tissue paper. And I cut fringe into those strips several at a time. Starting at the bottom of one side, glue fringed tissue paper on with a glue stick. I think it's fun to layer the colors. This was super easy. 

You can see I just kept layering the tissue paper. Do all sides, top and bottom and viola! Not bad for a quick and affordable pinata. This one did the job. 30 children aging from 3-11 each had one strike on this puppy. So even though it's taped really poorly on purpose, it's still plenty sturdy for a pinata. 

Happy Birthday Dash and Callie!

Happy Birthday Dash! The Big 5! March 24th, 2014.

Right after Dash, Thomas and Charlie got home from preschool on Monday, the 24th, we went to Subway for dinner and then to the playground to play. It's so nice to be outside right now! 

Dash is looking taller and and growing up. He's really really sweet. He loves lego guys, lego guys and lego guys. Or whatever Brock and Callie like! He's an awesome dancer. Runs in the family. (They all think they're pretty awesome at dancing.) And he loves to race. But just recently he's started to be torn up about losing. He no longer has Chael as his only competition. The other day he started whinging when he saw that Thomas was about to pass him or get a little ahead of him. There were tears. And a race or two later he even got "physical" about it which he was put in time out for! I'm glad that this sweet boy has some drive. However, he will be a great sportsman because we will not settle for anything less. Lucky kid! 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle style. 

I filled the cupcakes to high and they sort of looked like cookies on a cupcake. But they tasted great! I added lemon zest, chocolate chips and sprinkles to the cake batter. I even added lemon zest to the frosting. These lego turtles were 75 cents each on taobao. LOVE taobao. 

Charma, Brian, Callie, Prisha, Dash, Chael, Charlie, Brock and Thomas.

When Dash goes to preschool, a local Chinese preschool in our complex, he asks me to give him a certain number of hugs before I leave when I drop him off. We're on 11 now. He asked me, "Mom? What's the number after 10? Can I have 11 hugs today?" He would much rather stay home. And even though he doesn't want to go or be there he still does it and doesn't throw a fit. He's sad when I leave though. But I think he comes around quickly. It's hard for him but we're keeping at it. In our family we teach, "We can do hard things."

Dash's present. A Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume!

He reminds me of my brother Rick who was on the small side growing up but was really fast, lean, coordinated and strong. He turned into a buff dude at some point in high school and a really good surfer and water polo player. Rick is now the fastest and fittest dude in his platoon-- as well as the oldest at 38 while most of the other guys are really young. I think Dash will be scrappy and an amazing athlete too. He's also been enjoying learning how to read. He likes to learn and catches on quickly. We've been spending a little time on it and he enjoys working online with learning websites and reading BOB books. He's a really good little dude and we are so lucky to have him in our family. 

Back: Sarah, Mia, Brian, Shauna, Steven, Thijn, Theodore, Anushka, Ayush, Eliza, Naina. Middle: Lakshay, Bany, Anna, Yuxing, Max, Callie, Brock, Sienna. Front: Ronan, Charlie, Thomas, Sammy, Snehal, Anvi, Lucas and Chael. 

Happy Birthday Callie! The big two digits. 10! She can now get her ears pierced. Woowoo! We'll do it this summer. Callie's birthday happened to fall on a half day and the last day of school before their Spring break started. It's a long break this year. So we decided to have "Build-Your-Own Pizzas" for lunch and then go the Children's Park to play. We never made it to the park though. When sending out the email to invite her friends I couldn't leave anyone out and ended up inviting her entire class (18 students) plus a couple of others from the other 4th grade class. And I welcomed siblings to come to. Woops! Some of the children were in the basement making bracelets when we took the above picture. I think Mia, Riva, Mees and Aryan are missing. But there were literally 30 children in attendance, including our own. They were really great and everyone had a good time. I don't think Brian will let me do that again though. haha!

Snehal, Ayush, Mees and Brock building their pizza. 

I bought eight pizza crusts from Andy at Splash and put out the toppings. They got into groups and made their pizzas! Brock later said, "Pizzas are so easy to make." He's a pro now. No secrets to making yummy pizza! 

Aryan, Theodore and Callie made a beautiful pizza that was about to go in the oven.

White Texas Sheet Cake with lemon zest. Callie specifically asked for lemon zest in her cake. She also wanted a zebra on it but that didn't happen. She said she's into zebras now. I guess her love for monkeys is fazing out. I did however manage to put a skateboarder gal on it though! 

Wow! The gifts everyone gave were just so awesome and so thoughtful. Vans shoes, a transparent orange backpack, school supplies, Monopoly, soccer ball, USA soccer jersey with her name on it, Uniqlo t-shirts, Ralph Lauren polo shirt and jacket, light up t-shirt, squid kite, jewelry box, fruit snacks, fun games, pottery workshop... 

Meese and Thijn got her a USA world cup soccer jersey and shorts with her name on it! And the #10. SO COOL!!! These boys are super awesome soccer players. Love them. I don't know what Brock and Dash are doing down there. But they get into it. 

Pinata! I made the cardboard-box easy version and it turned out just fine. I'll post a simple tutorial if interested. It's so much faster then papermache!  

Pinatas are of course a very Mexican custom but also a common thing to do in the USA at birthday parties. You can imagine such a custom with an international crowd like Callie has here at her birthday party. Her peers here are mainly from India, Ireland/Indonesia, Holland, China, Taiwan, and even Iraq. She has one classmate from the States. This was definitely a new experience and a first time for many of these children. And even a couple of my friends who stuck around to help out! It was so funny. There were 30 children lined up to take a swing. Neighbors from around our complex were watching the spectacle as well. Each child got to hit it one time and amazingly, it lasted just long enough for each one to have a go. We decided they had to wait until all the candy fell before they could make a run for it. It was completely crazy when they were given the green light. 

Pinata line up. This was a lot of fun and so intense. We were quite the site for our neighbors in the complex. 

I am so proud of Callie. We recently had student-lead parent/teacher conferences. Her teacher said that she has really progressed in writing and is most improved by far. She also said that she's ALWAYS reading. When Callie first started going to H.I.S. in second grade she was very behind in writing and reading and largely because she went to a local Chinese school for first grade. She had a Chinese tutor for almost 2 hours every day after school just to help her with her homework. We didn't do any work on English. And reading wasn't very easy for her to learn. For Callie, she has put the work in to be where she is. Time on task. It's just really cool to see that her hard work does have positive results. I am thrilled that she, who struggled with reading for a while, LOVES to read. What a great example of hard work paying off. 

On Sunday coming back from Shanghai, Joel left his iPhone in a black taxi! We got home just 10 minutes after they did. He and Brian used an app to locate the lost phone and went in search for this driver and the phone. Quite the adventure! And they were successful. That night when Callie said the prayer, she thanked Heavenly Father for helping Daddy and Joel find Joel's phone. I was so touched that she thought to thank God for his tender mercies. I mentioned her example in FHE the next night and the importance to give thanks for our answered prayers. It was a nice reminder to me. 

Callie is the captain in skateboarding and is a natural leader who takes time to teach and help her peers. Her coach, Jerry, has told me that he's really impressed with her leadership skills and appreciates her way of helping and teaching, her attitude and example. Her soccer coach said she does so well because she's a great big sister! She wrote a really great essay about how having brothers is interesting. It was funny but also showed her great love for her brothers and the pride she takes in having three little brothers. She said that having brothers has taught her to learn how to make them laugh and distract them from crying or doing something they weren't suppose to be doing. She said this has helped her make lots of friends at school. She's a peace maker and is well liked. She has friends who fight over sitting by her at lunch! But mostly, people gravitate to her cheerful nature and light. My friend Yuhai was telling me that she was teaching her sons, Thijn and Meese, Dutch one day and was trying to teach the word cheerful. And Meese who was trying to understand this word said, "oh! Like Callie." She is cheerful. 

At her birthday party we went to the school to play for the last 30 minutes before parents picked their children up at 5pm. Callie was on the field with the boys playing soccer and Brian was referee. He loved it! While Callie was playing soccer with the boys all the other gals where happily playing on the playground doing their thing. She cracks me up. Some of her friends seem somewhat boy crazy already! But Callie is too cool for that. She tells her girlfriends, "My dad said I can't have a boyfriend until after he's dead so..." Callie's friend Sienna spent the night and I was asking them about who liked who and asked her who she liked. She said, "I use to like someone, So and So, but now I don't like anyone anymore. I want to be cool like Callie." 

She thanked me again today for her birthday party. She told me she couldn't believe all the gifts she received and didn't know which one she liked best. She's a doll. We've managed to keep this cute girl alive and well for the last decade. She has grown out of all her jeans and school pants and is wearing MY friends pants. Kristy gave her a pair of navy pants, size 2! And Susan Poon gave her a bunch of pants and jeans she didn't want anymore. Size 2! My friends are super skinny and my 10-year old is getting super big. She also wears a  women's 7.5 in shoes. Crazy! 

Road Trip to Shanghai and...

"Soccer!!!" is what they are chanting. The boys were recipients of a dozen awesome soccer jersies from Thijn and Mees (Holland). Big score! They were so excited. 

Getting home from school. Brock wishing he could have one of those flowers in the tree. 

Callie helped him out. These blooms are really lovely. 

William Lishman, Callie Brock and Chael at H.I.S.

William Lishman, a famous artist and inventor from Canada, came to speak to students at H.I.S. He's done some really amazing things! The movie "Fly Away Home" was inspired by his work as well. Really great story about a person who was told he wasn't smart and overcame by pressing on. He flunked first grade because he couldn't read. He was diagnosed with  dyslexia later on. He made Auto Henge, and amazing sculptures for World Expos as well. 

Lobster on wheels.

Pigs on wheels. Pork anyone?

Road trip to Shanghai! 

We drove to Shanghai for District Conference last weekend. To get to Pudong was three plus hours. We left when the kids got home from school and stayed with Jen and Taylor Price. Their Will and June are super cute and the kids had a blast playing with them. Wish I took a picture! We're glad the Price's are still in Shanghai after six or seven years and not leaving us anytime soon! Great family. 

Chael. 

With Dash in preschool now, Chael is the only baby at home! He's my little buddy and I love having him at home with me. I will probably cry when he starts preschool in the Fall. The only reason why I would have him go is so he can learn Mandarin really well and gain a decent level of fluency. It just doesn't happen if we're together all day unfortunately. Brian and I are trying to speak Mandarin in our home more. But it's just really hard to remember and to do it frequently. Brian's Mandarin is really phenomenal. And when he does speak it with the children he uses funny voices and they just die laughing. He makes it fun though. I think he speaks it all day long everyday and is happy not to when he gets home. Poor guy. His is just SO much better then mine. I'm thinking I need to put up signs in the house that say "Speak Mandarin!" to help remind us. We will be very remiss if we don't take full advantage of the opportunity our children have to learn Mandarin while living here in China. And we hope they will one day be called to serve Mandarin speaking missions! (Like their dad.)

How to Make Tortillas That Don't Look Like Continents... And Fish Tacos!

Homemade Tortillas/Roti

 Grilled Fish Tacos with Fiesta Yogurt Dressing!

I'm going to share some tricks I learned to making tortillas. You can make tortillas that don't look like continents too! (Not that anyone complains when it's homemade tortillas!)

Dough after it's rested for 30 minutes or more and separated into 22 chunks.

4 cups Atta or Indian Wheat flour, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 2 teaspoons graham masala (or more), 2 Tablespoons olive oil and water. Maybe 2 cups? Stir dry ingredients. Add oil. Add water slowly and stir in enough until it makes a nice dough. Kneed for a couple minutes, cover bowl of dough with a towel and let rest for at least 30 minutes. (Very important to let it rest! It will roll out very nicely if you do so.) Break up into chunks and keep covered as you take out each one to roll out one by one. 

 I follow my Indian friends example and don't measure anything. Using 4 cups of flour will make about 2 dozen 6"-sized tortillas. 

Any tortilla recipe will do! But to learn how to make tortillas that don't look like continents is actually somewhat difficult if you don't know a few tricks. I learned this from a Chinese Canadian friend who taught me how to make Chinese Dumplings or Jiaozi with homemade dough. 

Completely cover ball of dough in flour. Flatten with fingers to be a round flattened cookie shape. 

Have plenty of flour on the counter or surface you are using. AND start the rolling pin 2/3 in and press down as you roll OUT. Slight turn and do it again and again with slight turns each time. If sticks to counter use more flour. You only roll starting from the inside and rolling it away each time. 

As you turn it about 15 degrees each time it will start to look like this! Totally round. It's quite impressive really. I have been making homemade tortillas for a long time before I learned how to do this. 

Keep your flat skillet on a medium low heat while you roll out the tortillas. I dust off the tortilla a bit before I put it on the pan. It will bubble up just a bit like this before you need to turn it over. 

This is what it looks like when it's done. 

I used these for fish tacos the other night and they were SO good! 

The dressing I used was plain yogurt mixed with Feista Ranch Dressing Mix. Highly recommend. It's good for taco salads and veggie dips too. Go Fiesta Ranch! I also make my own plain yogurt in a yogurt maker. Super easy and we love it. 

I'm sharing this fish marinade recipe because it was delicious! 

 Marinade for Fish

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar (any vinegar will do)

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (or lemon)

2 teaspoons lime zest (or lemon)

1 1/2 teaspoons honey

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder (I added less for the kiddies)

1 teaspoon seasoning salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste (optional)

1 pound tilapia fillets, cut into chunks (I left them whole and broke up after grilled)

Whisk together ingredients. Place tilapia in shallow dish and pour the marinade over the fish. Cover and refrigerate 6-8 hours. I only did 4 for mine and they still turned out amazing. I used a grill pan on the stove too. Toppings: Shredded cabbage, chopped tomatoes, cilantro and lime wedges. I used lettuce because that's what I had on hand. I even used some homemade refried beans because again, had them on hand! 

A.S.I.A. Women's Conference in Hong Kong, 2014

From the Hangzhou Branch! Christy Moore, Becca Mortensen, me, Kristy Williams and Cindy Greenland. Hong Kong. China, Hong Kong Temple. March 14th, 2014. Dawn Goh came too and stayed with friends. 

We went to the Associated Sisters In Asia Women's Conference! 220 women from about 20 different countries throughout asia came this year to the 8th annual conference. It's kind of like Time Out For Women and it's put on by some amazing gals who live in Asia. The break out sessions are taught by those like us who also live here in Asia. It's supported by our Asia Area Presidency and both first and second counselors and their wives were able to come and speak to us. Elder and Sister Gong and Elder and Sister Funk. A super big high light is being able to attend the temple while in Hong Kong. Living in Mainland China, the temple is just a two hour flight away. Taipei, Soul, Tokyo, Manila, Cebu or Hong Kong. So it's a big deal to actually get there and make the arrangements to make it happen. It's a special trip to me. I just loved it! 

We stayed in temple patron housing which is right across the street from the temple. We flew in Thursday and back late Saturday night. 

Kowloon City!

We ended up getting out of the temple at 9:30pm on Friday night and decided to jump in a taxi and have him recommend where to take us for some dinner. Turns it we had ran by there that morning since we had gotten a little bit lost on our early morning run! We had a bit of sushi and some really good frozen yogurt. It topped the day off really nicely. I would definitely go back to this fun street for eats and froyo. 

Shanghai International District. 

Group Shot! I was also asked to be the Conference's Photographer this year. It was fun! Thanks to Kristy, Christy and Becca we got these group shots done quickly and orderly in record time! 

I love this shot of Heidi Gailey and Carrie Chiles in front of this amazing group of sisters. Heidi and Carrie are two of a few who organized this conference. Incredible women right here.  

Saturday morning on the way to conference. 

I love Hong Kong. I love the British and Asian fusion of this city. I sense the greatest contrasts of this city when riding on the top level of a double decker bus that is driving on the left-hand side on winding, hilly roads. There is lush almost jungle like vegetation all around fused with high rises, city life, Chinese people and Chinese culture. To me, that's pretty cool. 

Kristy, Christy and Becca. Top level of a double decker bus going from the temple in Kowloon Tong to the WanChai church building for Conference. 

I had no idea how difficult it was to take selfies! I usually have Brian around I guess. This is my temple dress I had made in the Mandarin style called a qipao. I've been wanting to do it for a long time now and finally did it! I think it turned out great and am really happy to have it. 

A Fun First Week of March

Pizzas made with Xinjiang bread. 

Uighur men were selling these breads outside the Huan Bei Little Things Market the other day. 50 cents each. They're about 8"? And they make great pizza crusts for an easy dinner! 

This version of Guacamole was actually really good! 

I added chopped red cabbage! And some store bought salsa, lemon, salt and cilantro. The salsa added made it not as green but it tasted amazing. The kids loved it. 3 avocados, juice of 1/2-1 lemon, salt, 1/3 cup finely chopped red cabbage, 1/4 cup cilantro, 1/4 cup salsa (store bought okay!).

Yummy Wholewheat Zucchini Mini Muffins 

I substituted some ingredients and came up with the recipe below. Muffins are especially awesome because they are so easy to make very nutritious and everyone enjoys eating them! I made this with 1 tsp. of cloves and although a very-good-for-you spice it was a bit too much. I liked it but 1/4 tsp. is much safer!

Yummy Wholewheat Zucchini Muffins

Oven: 400

Dry ingredients (mix in large mixing bowl):

• 2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 c. whole oats
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. chia seeds or poppy seeds (optional)
• 2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. cloves (optional)
• dash of allspice and nutmeg (optional)

Wet ingredients (mix in small mixing bowl or large measuring cup):

• 1 c. milk or other liquid (soymilk, etc)
• 1/3 c. oil
• 1 egg
• 1 t. vanilla extract or other flavoring of choice

Add wet to dry ingredients, then fold in:

• 3/4 c. grated zucchini

Sprinkle tops of muffins with raw sugar or clear sugar sprinkles.
Bake in muffin cups for 18-20 mins. Let sit a few minutes before serving.

Makes 12 muffins or 36 mini muffins. 

I don't know what this face is but Chael's been wearing it a lot lately! So funny. It's usually along the lines of Ninjago and play fighting. Construction Birthday Party for Caleb!

Chael, Sarah, Teresa, Joy, Caleb, Dawn, Kristy.

Caleb had an awesome Construction Birthday Party! He's exactly one month older then Chael and will be three on March 14th. Us gals and the Goh family will be in Hong Kong on his birthday. We celebrated a week early and Dawn threw an awesome party for three year olds and little ones.

Thing 1 and Thing 2. Dr. Seuss Day at school!

Nine Creeks. 

This is my favorite run which I usually do early on Saturday mornings. It's 10 miles (15km) and just really beautiful. I really enjoy the beauty of Hangzhou and having really great trails like this quite close to home. There's so much nature in the zhou to enjoy. This run has some nice incline and goes through a steep village before it comes back down the mountain to Hupao Lu (Running Tiger Road). I stopped the clock and laid down on the wet ground for this shot. This day was my fastest time to date: 1:25. I love the climb. You can see the tea leaf bushes terraced into the mountain sides too.

Nine Creeks. A little blurry but you can see why I stopped to snap a pic. Pretty.

Iceskating! Kristy, Thomas, Charlie and Callie.

It was raining on Saturday and we needed to do something to get out of the house. Brian had to work and Joel was out of town. So we went iceskating at the MixC mall! We did school work in the morning. I even made and baked a couple of apple pies for Sunday. (I had some pie dough in the freezer from Thanksgiving.) And then we hit the iceskating rink after lunch. It was Brock and Dash's first time. Chael really wanted to skate but they said you had to be at least three! Soon, Chael. We made it for the last 45 minutes of the session. They all did really well. Dash did one victory lap and told me he didn't like iceskating. It probably took him 35 minutes. I was proud of him for getting out there and doing it even though I couldn't go out there with him. Good job Dash! 

They got those orange gloves for free with their entrance fee. haha!

Huan Bei Little Things Market, 1st floor

One of my favorite things about China is access to wholesale markets! I love being able to buy things for wholesale prices. It's a bit crazy and I believe all real markets in China are a bit overwhelming, but this market ranges in wonderful junk such as underwear, tights, socks, scarves, hats, gloves, rain boots, shoes, bedding, toys, stationary supplies, fake flowers, golden pigs and cats (Chinese stuff), mugs, children's clothes, random electronics, and many more random things. But the best new thing I found at this market is a tailor! I had no idea. You can spend some hours at this market and barley scratch the surface. 

A week ago Monday, Chael and I went on a little hunt. I had fabric and wanted to find a tailor to make a temple dress in the Chinese qipao style. A two-piece set. Six places later we found THE tailor who could do it for me. This would be a very simple task in Shanghai. At least myself and many other foreigners would know exactly where to go for these kinds of things! I picked it up Monday. He made some slight adjustments on the top and I think it's really great. I've been wanting to have one made for a long time and finally did it. 

I will be wearing it in the temple in Hong Kong on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Yay! 

Chael, my buddy, at the Huan Bei Little Things Market.

Dash and Chael.