My birthday man

Josh's birthday was last week. And somehow I didn't blog about it. I think because we postponed his party to this weekend that it didn't quite feel like his birthday. We are doing a pool party and the time that it was supposed to be was rainy and kind of cold. Which is really, really odd for Suzhou at this time of year. It is going to be this Sunday and I have hopes for better weather. We shall see.

Last week, he opened his gift from us.

doesn't his face say it all?

And then a package that had arrived from Grandma. Packages are the best.

He kept saying, "what's inside? what is it?"

BOOKS!

And more BOOKS! The perfect thing for our little man.

We have started a tradition of going to Coldstone for birthday ice cream. This is a tradition that I can wholeheartedly support.

After much deliberation and several samples, he finally decided on bubble gum with M&M's.

Then the next day I took cookies in to share with his class.

I think there is not much better as a parent than watching who your kids are becoming and then really enjoying the person that they are. Josh is our easy-going guy and can sometimes get overshadowed by his more exuberant and intense sisters. But of our three kids, he is our feeler. He can be so sensitive (in a good way) and has such great empathy for others. He is so smart and loves, loves to read. I think he has read every age-appropriate book in our house. (And quite possibly, a few ones that are a bit beyond him) It becomes such a challenge to provide him with new reading material. Makes me miss the library! But over the last few years, China has been good for him. He gears up with excitement for each of our adventures. We have also seen him become more comfortable with who he is. While I am sure that this would have happened if we were still in the States, I think being here has expedited the process. 

Happy 8th Birthday, Josh! We love you and are so glad you are part of our family.

Sick.

Tori woke up this morning with a slight fever. I did the "hand trick" as Tori calls it -- feeling her forehead to see if she is feverish. She asked me if she will be able to do the "hand trick" when she is a mommy. And nothing I have told her will convince her that her dad is also capable of determining fevers this way. "Mommies are just better at," she informed me.

She watched a movie in the morning and was playing and dancing. I began to wonder if she was really sick. After lunch she was walking around singing various songs (mostly in Chinese). After a bit she told me that her head hurt. I suggested that she lay down on the couch. Which she did. But she continued to sing. Adorable song after song in Chinese. Until suddenly she stopped. I walked into the living room to find:

She had sung herself to sleep. Sweet girl.

Talking with T

at the dinner table tonight . . .

I honestly don't remember what I said to her, but for some reason a comment of mine prompted T to roll her eyes. Not one to let this go, I asked:

Me: Tori, why do you think it is not a good idea to roll your eyes at other people?


T: Because it is bad for your eyes?

Umm, not really what I was going for. And as soon as she said it, Andy and I looked at each other and tried not to laugh. Andy somewhat hid his laughter, but I just couldn't keep it in. That girl is something else. I should have known that asking her an open-ended question is a dangerous and hilarious thing.

Sunday Snapshot: Celebrating 3 years

Can you believe it? 3 years. The time has gone so fast. But in the same regard, when we think back to living in the US, it seems so long ago. Back to when we owned a house. Days of carpool. Library story time. Instead our life is filled with other things. Saturday morning soccer in the neighborhood. Swimming afterschool. Interesting travel. Adventures on the bus. While we miss many things of our life in the US (really we mostly miss family and friends), we continue to rejoice in our life here. It seemed appropriate that on our China-versary of celebrating 3 years living in China that I had 2 events at the kids' schools. Think of this as a snapshot into their daily lives.

I started the day at Tori's school. She is so proud and pleased when I come to school. Her school had gone a field trip to a fire station earlier in the week. Then all the parents were invited to come to an open house on Friday as they showed us a typical day and then shared about the excursion. It is always an interesting experience for me to go to her school. Kind of never know what to expect or exactly what will happen. While I understand most of what is said, somehow I still feel that I am missing something that all the other parents inherently know and understand. I am sure that many immigrants to the US feel this way as they come to events at American schools where their children attend.

*If you want to find my kids in any of the pictures, just look for the blondies.

The teacher was explaining the order of events to the class.

But somehow my girl knew I was taking her picture. 

Typical morning exercises. In schools all over China, kids start their day like this. With movement set to songs so that their bodies and brains are ready to learn.

Such concentration!

After some more activities inside, Tori and I were off to the International school where Becca and Josh attend. You may ask why they are at different schools. But unfortunately that is a complicated question for another post. . .

At Eton House, they were having Sports Day. Much like Track and Field Day of my childhood. We always had it on the second to last day of school. When there was no possible way that learning was going to take place. But their last day of school is July 1st and by then it will be so beastly hot and humid here. I had missed some of the activities, but was able to get there in time for all the track events. Like many Australian and British schools, the entire school is divided into 4 houses. Much like the 4 houses of Hogwarts in Harry Potter, the entire student body is divided equally into the houses and families are sorted into the same house (though no sorting hat here). Throughout the year, they have House competitions and at the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded a trophy for the year. Different school have various names for each of the houses. In honor of our host country, each of the houses at Eton House are named for one of the 4 dynasties in China: Han 汉朝, Ming 明, Song 宋, and Tang 唐.

Josh cheers on his fellow Ming teammates.

What determination!

Becca and Silje proudly show off their second place medals. 

Look at those legs! Somehow she reminds us of a deer.

In tug-of-war, everyone was pulling so hard. . .

that they landed in a heap of giggles.

85度 开办了！

(a 85° has just opened!)

欢迎光临85度！(Welcome to 85°!) Those are such happy words!

So, you are thinking, just what is 85°? Cafe 85° or as it is referred to in Chinese: 八十五度 (pinyin: bāshíwŭ dù) is a Taiwanese chain with coffee and a bakery. I so enjoy coffee, but for various reasons don't drink it very often in China. One reason is that until recently coffee is not as much of a Chinese thing. Tea, yes. Coffee, not so much. This is changing with the emerging middle class in China loving all kinds of things from the West. But still for many places their idea of coffee is Nescafe. I am truly a coffee snob. If I am going to drink it, I want it to be good. We bring beans from the states, but every now and then I enjoy a yummy, girly, fru-fru coffee drink. But those drinks here in China are just too expensive. Starbucks is readily available, but so expensive. Granted it is not that much different than US prices, but compared to many things in China it is crazy expensive. For example, a mocha at Starbucks is 30 RMB (or $4.50) for a medium-size. Black coffee is 25 RMB (almost $4). Our entire family can eat at a Chinese restaurant and have a ton of food with leftovers for another day and spend only 120 RMB ($18.20). So it is hard to justify spending that much on just COFFEE. So maybe I am not the hard-core coffee lover. In a battle between wanting coffee and my inner-frugal-self, I cannot bring myself to spend that on a regular basis.

But at 85°, you can buy a cup of coffee for 9 RMB ($1.40) or a mocha for 12 RMB ($1.85). Now that is more like it! There were 85° all over Suzhou, but none near us. But just this week, one opened a block or so away from us.

My only question is: is this a good thing? or a seriously dangerous thing?

Hassles

There are times when it is just a hassle to live overseas. Unless you are active duty military, dealing with things in the US just gets complicated. Because while I agree that things should be easy for our men and women serving in the armed forces, people just don't know what to do with those of us that are just expats. Yes, our billing address is Seattle. And the phone number is in Indiana. But we don't live either of those places. I know you are confused, helpful customer service lady on the phone, but keep tracking with me.

While in India, my wallet was stolen. Which was not that big of a deal, but now we are dealing with the hassle. One of those things is my US driver's license was in the wallet. We are planning to switch our state of residence this summer, but in order to do that I needed the old license. Tonight (because its morning in the midwest) I called to see if I could get a replacement mailed to me. I waited on the phone for 10 minutes only to be told that I needed to call a completely different number. Called the other number. . . no answer. [sigh] Guess I will try again tomorrow night. Unfortunately, there is only a 1.5 hour window of time when we are awake and the BMV is open. But if I don't get a replacement card that means that I will have to take a driving test.

And I haven't driven in over a year. 

Gracious. This could be interesting.

Great expectations

The day is looming ahead of us on the calendar. . . 40 days until we get on the plane to go back to the United States. We look forward to this special time with the people we love each year. But I must confess something to you. . .

All I am feeling right now is: STRESS.

In fact whenever we sit down to plan or figure out our schedule, a hard ball of stress settles in my stomach.

To our dear family and friends, please don't read this wrong. We are so looking forward to seeing you and spending time with you. But the reality is, we will not make everyone happy during our trip. Everyone has expectations of us and how much they want to see us. But our time is limited and then geography just limits us even more. Andy will only be back 2 weeks. How in the world can we see everyone, with enough time in two weeks? It is just impossible. So even as I type, I am trying to let this go. We will do our best to balance. To share the love. But I am just asking for a little bit of grace. Hopefully, if I can work through this now, by the time we touch down on US soil, I will be okay. I can enjoy our time without that little black cloud following me around. You would think that we would be getting the hang of this. But honestly, each year it is hard. But I am going to let go, giving it up to the Lord. And maybe, just maybe I can truly let all those people-pleasing-tendencies slip away. Here's to hoping, anyway.