this is gonna be fun

Thursday the girls participated in a cross country "meet" organized by the international schools in our city.  I had NO IDEA what to expect.... but was greatly encouraged by Luke who, as we pulled into the parking lot, loudly exclaimed, "oh this is gonna be fun!"

His comment's awesome-ness was amplified by the fact that he 1)  had no idea what a cross country meet was and 2) had never ever been in that parking lot before.  

But he was right.  It was fun.  

The girls participated as part of "team home school" - basically the home schoolers in the city form their own team and are able to jump in to events like this one.  It's a pretty sweet deal.

The event was a smidge more competitive than I was prepared for... and neither of the girls were ready for the sprint-madness at the starting line.

And neither of them were really ever in a position to win.  But they enjoyed it!  And I am so thankful!

There were six (or more?) age groups and three different distances.  The girls fell into the same age group and ran 1500m.  They started and finished on the track but the route followed a paved path through a boarding school campus.

I hope that they will grow up to enjoy running.  I'd love to share that with them.  But maybe they won't.  Neither of them really 'love' it now.  Mostly I just hope they grow up healthy and confident and.... if things like this are enjoyable, then we'll do more.  If they aren't, then we'll try something else.  But I'm pretty sure we'll be back at the cross country meet again next fall :)  [though Julianna is a bit intimidated that she'll jump to the next age group and her race distance almost doubles.]

and then as we were leaving - a surprise flat tire in the parking lot.  This part of the story is tremendous testimony of God's provision for us.  Late afternoon, I was with my friend Ashlei, and between us we had 8 children, four of whom missed their afternoon naps.

And one of the local drivers in the parking lot (who Ashlei knew as a friend of a friend) is the one who pointed out the tire, offered to change it, recruited another local driver to help him, and then graciously performed the task - with an audience.  

It took a while, especially since I'd never had a flat on this car and couldn't find the wrench and was exceptionally distracted trying to keep an eye on the littles.... those of you who know JP know how much this must have got his motors running.  That boy is never far from a tool!

But in the end I profusely thanked my new friends the tire-changers and drove away on the spare.  Oh, and Ashlei and I decided that we could have totally changed that flat.  But with all our "help" on the ground it was crazy-blessing that we didn't have to!

So yeah, Luke, you were right buddy.  It was fun.  

my favorite tree

I really love this tree on the south side of our apartment.  And I think I love it the most in the fall.  

It's hard to miss from the boys' room!

Actually this whole side of the house just has great views, the tree is the icing on the cake.

Here it is again from the school porch.  Our building is situated so that we look out over the largest common area and towards the front gate of the complex.  A decorative pond (and accompanying fountain features) sits right in front of our building.  [Girls working with their language tutor.]

Recently it's felt like I stand on this porch every day ...... and look out at mist and drizzle.  Ugh.  But I'm still grateful for this gorgeous tree, and the open views from our second floor perch.

This picture was taken near the front gate looking towards our building  - it's definitely fall, huh?  The  boys are standing on the service road that loops our complex.  It's not technically open to traffic - I think it's mostly for service trucks when needed?  It's proven to be a big blessing as it gives our kids a great "lap" to ride their bikes and scooters.... while they do need to keep an eye out for the occasional truck it's gigantic leaps safer than any other road!  And there are also lots of paths and walkways through the center area of the complex too.

The girls have been busy running laps on this loop road, getting ready to participate in a cross country meet on Thursday!  more on that one later :)

dinner

An empty fridge can be a problem.  I'm fairly creative and can pull a meal out of not much, but Saturday night I was done.  

So we went out :) 

I think this little spot will become a new favorite.  The lady at the griddle is making 煎饼 .  It's a bit like a wrap.  But different.  

Anyways, it's fast, it's yummy, it's filling, and it looks like this.... 

Come visit and we'll take you for a bite.  

a picture from the road

Well that looks like a cool spot, doesn't it?

It's fun to get picture updates but some make me a tad bit jealous.

Though I will add that two girl friends and I - all three of us with traveling husbands - got together for a few hours tonight (thanks to babysitters!) and the time together was pure gift!  Kids were happy to play with friends, I was thankful for a short break, and bedtime was short and sweet since we pulled in late.  yay for an evening full of blessing - for all seven of us!

in long sleeves

These two were ridiculously excited to wear a long sleeved t-shirt.  I cannot explain why.  We really should get out more :) 

The temps are just cool enough to consider long sleeves without breaking into a sweat merely thinking about cloth covering your arms.  Fall is in the air, and we will enjoy it because experience tells me it won't last long!  

I'm dreading the transition from summer to fall to winter clothing.  When we arrived in June I went with a  "stuff it and deal with it later" technique.... all the clothes we weren't currently wearing I crammed into suitcases and under beds, planning to deal with it later.

It seemed brilliant then, my decision to prioritize getting settled as quickly as possible.  It seems less brilliant now when I realize that there are super duper sized piles of clothing that need sorting; by gender, by size, by season.  Shoot me now.

Anyhow, we happen to have approximately one long sleeved shirt each (they were in the airplane carry-ons for a chilly 'night' in the airplane cabin).  The forecast says it'll be quite warm again this weekend so I'm putting off the big clothes sort for another week, at least.

Tonight I took the kiddos out to dinner.  It's 'party of six' with Matt on the road and we had such a great time.

And ordered dessert :)

for the love of campus

No surprise that these guys are learning early and often that a university campus is a sweet spot on the planet.

After dinner Sunday evening we walked a few blocks towards this campus - a personal favorite of ours and a major landmark in our city.

And then we couldn't resist heading inside.  You (usually) don't have to walk far to find something interesting on a university campus and this one is no different.

This elderly man set up a little spot for himself on the sidewalk and played his erhu (a two-stringed instrument).  Isaac was impressed with how much money he was making :)

I guess from a 5 year old perspective, it did seem like a good chunk of change in his jar... and we saw several folks toss in money while we were watched.

This is the second time we've eaten dinner near this campus gate - it's a great spot for us, close to our apartment, easy parking right on the curb, gobs of restaurants to choose from, and a perfect spot for post-dinner walking.  I think we'll be back again soon.

scraping caulk off the bathroom wall

Just another Saturday, ripping the tub off the bathroom wall.  Again.

Unfortunately.

This repair has been on the list since we returned from the U.S. earlier this summer.  Major leaking and drainage issues meant that we were going to need to pull the tub out and get some serious work done.  The worker guy finally came today and got us fixed up - we hope.

The silver lining to this whole story is that I got to attack all our moldy bathroom caulk with my deadly bleach and exact knife combo.  All that nasty once-white-turned-black-with-mold-growth caulk is gone and now that the tub is re-installed and re-caulked it looks so nice and WHITE!

The workman also helped out with a few other little projects and is slated to be back again later in the month for a few more things... sigh.  Tis the tune we sing around here - the land of poor quality construction supplies and hardly-trained construction workers does not lend itself to long term durability.  oh well.  I'm getting used to it.

today's lesson

How to use a Chinese Dictionary.

Good 'ole a-b-c order doesn't do the trick around here.

Thankful for their tutor, thankful that we are now at a place with Chinese studies that I can confidently call "sustainable'.

the neighborhood square

It seems most every community here has some sort of open gathering area.  Usually it's a planned public space, a big open patch of concrete, a large paved gap between high rises.  There are several smaller areas in our complex, but for our neighborhood the hot spot is definitely at "the 广场".  

The 广场 (roughly translates as plaza, or square) is right next to the school gates, surrounded by some of the older complexes that were here long before ours was built.

And all weekend long Julianna's been begging to go up there at night.  I don't blame her.  It's a holiday weekend and that public square is hopping with activity even on normal nights!  People dancing, music blaring, in line skaters, venders with all sorts of food and trinkets and glow in the dark doo-dads spread on tarps lining the edge of the square.  She knows her classmates are up there, and she knew this was the perfect weekend to go :)  

So after dinner they were off - Matt and the three older kiddos.  [I stayed home and read books with the little guys til bedtime.  Some things are best experienced without your favorite 2 and 3 year olds along for the ride!  Plus I knew it would be a late bedtime!]

It's not much to look at, but this concrete square is the heartbeat of a neighborhood.  {and yes, they recently added a fancy mega-flat screen... i have no idea who 'they' is, or who would even fund such a thing, but they do turn it on occasionally}

Once the sun went down, the place lit up.  Isaac is not faking excitement in this picture.  When he got home the enthusiasm was still leaking out of his pores.  He stood (not sat!) next to me on the couch telling me all his stories!

Bounce houses, arcade games.... it's a small town carnival.  And it happens over and over and over again throughout the city.  I bet most everyone in town lives walking distance from this kind of a park (though my neighborhood pride thinks ours might be one of the best! ha!)

Our big three are hooked.  Pretty fun stuff, if noisy-sweaty-crowded-gaudy entertainment is your kind of thing.  

Any guesses where I stand on the issue?  

ha.  i'm just glad they can go and have fun!  [with Matt]

early dismissal

As the only teacher at our home school I'm also the only administrator (well, unless you add in Matt!)... so when the sky is a perfect blue and the temps balmy and the clouds wispy - well, it's early dismissal.  Due to weather, of course :)  We needed to get outside!

No trouble convincing these little ladies!   And of course all the brothers were on board too.

We can catch up when the skies are gray and the streets slick with rain.

Later in the day we even moved dinner outdoors - packed up what was in the cook pot and took it to clover field.  Our neighbors did the same and it was the perfect impromptu potluck.

Tomorrow (Monday) is a national holiday, so no local school for the kiddos.  Then Tuesday marks the beginning of fall travel for Matt.  I'm kind of dreading it.  He hasn't travelled since April!  Actually our entire time in the U.S. he had a only very few trips and just one longer time away.  This fall it's back to travel again.  It'll definitely take a while to get into the swing of things.  We tend to get into a good groove and it becomes easier, but I think the first trips will throw us a few surprises as we make our adjustments.

Much grace needed here, all day every day.

summertime {eating ice cream}

Our summertime is winding down.  School in session and the temps are (dare I say this?) almost fall-ish!  The fall season is a quick one here and we'll be in big jackets soon enough, so we will enjoy it while it's here.  

And eat our final ice cream cones of summer too.

This is what my littlest two look like right before they make a SERIOUS mess :)  Nothing a bath can't fix.  But oh my the sticky-ness.  Oh my.

two days in

Two days in to the public school fall semester.  And we are here.  Sometimes just getting through the day is a victory worth celebrating, huh?

Sunday morning's news from the academic dean was exactly what we were hoping for - the girls were cleared to attend only in the afternoons ... this is our dreamed of situation.... the academic intensity lessens in the afternoon sessions and we are also exempting ourselves from the home work overload :)  good news for everyone!  

The first day wasn't without hiccups, but for the most part, we'll count it a good one :)  Today went even smoother, and I'm learning to navigate the pick up scenario too.  So very grateful this school is super close to our house, but there's just no easy way to dismiss hundreds (thousands?) of students at the same time!  Yesterday was chaos, today seemed like a comparative breeze.  Plenty of kinks to work out for everybody.  

I feel even better about our home schooling set up.  It's busy busy busy with the little boys underfoot but we are enjoying the material and enjoying one another.  I still have a few ideas of things to add to the current curriculum but we're gonna hold off a month or so and just focus on getting into a good solid groove around here.

It feels good to be in September.  All summer long I've had this feeling - like I could see and talk about all the balls in the air, but wasn't quite sure where they were going to land when they came down :)  And now it feels like they are landing, and with few mishaps along the way.