How to cool down in China

Today was super hot. I am not sure why it felt soooo hot, but it was! The fountain was on after our class, and we have been promising the kids we would let them play in it, so we finally let them. They had a BLAST! It was funny to see the students notice the kids in the fountain. A couple of guys even got brave enough to stick their hands in, and one put his head in the water. We were not the only ones that were hot today!

What a day!

Yesterday, I made a short video of our apartment, however I cannot get it up loaded. My computer keeps freezing up wherever I try to put it. So for now, you will have to be satisfied with still pics. I will add the video when I send a video home. I will take some still pictures of the apartment today after my class.
For now, I will tell you about my day.
It all started about 4:30 or 5 with Jon waking up with "China belly". Fortunately he was able to go back to sleep and was OK the rest of the day. We had planned to go to Century Mart to get groceries in the morning. We did not get going very early (liked we had hoped). We probably left the apt. around 10. Instead of going to the close one, we wanted to go to the better and bigger one. We took a bus to the end, but form there it fell apart. We needed to take another bus, but were not sure which one, so we walked for a while. Eryn was whining, Liam peed his pants, and Jon was mad. Finally we got on a bus and just watched out the window, we rode it one stop!
Once we got there, a student called Jon to meet up and look for furniture (mostly bunk beds). We did not realize that it would take us that long to get there! So we hurried through and then Jon went to meet the student and I stayed with the kids. We went to Subway to eat. What a treat! Then we took a taxi back to the school. It was my first time solo with the kids in China. It went well, and the taxi driver and I communicated well enough. We talked about the kids and Michael Phelps.

As we approached our building, I realized that I did not have the keys. Jon had them and he was still at the furniture market. The kids and I waited out side the building for almost an hour. Thank goodness for cell phones. Jon came back. He did not buy any furniture because he did not have enough cash with him on this trip! But he knows how to get back and can take more money
next time.

We were wondering if this was going to be a wasted day. We took quick naps and then went out to eat with Frank, a brother. We were running a little late, but it was ok. Once we met up with Frank, we got in a taxi. Then Liam started to feel carsick. We were close to the restaurant, so we got out. He soon felt better.

We had a great dinner! Beggar's Chicken was a hit with the kids until the noodles came. The kids loved it. They also liked the pancake things that came with our duck. The kids were full and happy!
As we left the restaurant, we ran into a sister that Frank knew. We walked with her and her 8 month old son by the lake. We watched the water show and then took a car back with Frank.

We are excited that we found some more foods that all the kids like! So we ended up having a nice finish to a day that was not so good earlier.

First Day

The guys came to paint our new doorway today. We are assuming that we will only get one coat of paint. We are ok with that because these guys always seem to make a mess. They track stuff all over the floor, and we can't communicate with them very well, it is frustrating. Now that the doorway is finished, I need to get the pictures up....
We will probably finish moving over to the "big apartment" this weekend.

I had my first class today. It went pretty well. Jon had an afternoon class where only one student showed up! So he brought her back to our apartment and we visited with her, and she played Uno with the kids! What a way to improve her English. We are excited about these smaller classes, because they could be a way to share more important things.

That is all from this side of the world today.

Wed. Sept.3

Things are going pretty good as far as our housing. They came today and smashed a hole in the wall for our door way. They just used a sledge hammer. I did not hear any power tools until they cut the wood (or whatever they used) to frame the hole. In a day or so, they will come back and paint it all up. I will post pictures then.

The last couple of days have been hard because the kids have been sick. We think it is just getting used to the food and all. We have been thankful for our two bathrooms. Right now the bathroom problems have stopped, but Liam has been running a fever. When the fever is down (from meds.) he acts fine. Hopefully we will be able to get out again tomorrow.

Jon starts his first class tomorrow. We signed our contracts with the school today. We are looking forward to finally settling into our apartment and getting a routine down. Keep us in your thoughts, especially next week when all our classes start. Love y'all!

We are alive!

We are finally on line! Right now, however, the Internet is painfully slow. I think it will take a little bit to figure out how to do a few things. For instance, Blogger is working fine, but most of the tabs are in Chinese.
We are no longer jet-lagged. We are in our apartment and not the hotel. Which is nice, because we have hot water showers when ever we want and we can wash clothes! It was sunny today, so I washed 3 loads of clothes and they dried. If it is still sunny tomorrow, maybe I can catch up with the laundry.
We have two apartments. It is good, because that means we have 2 washers and two bathrooms, but the apartments are across the hall from each other. However they (the school) has agreed to cut a door way between two apartments next to each other. We hope that that does not take too long to complete (or begin). We are a little more settled, but still cannot completely unpack yet.
The kids are doing well, and having fun, except they are pretty tired with all the walking we have been doing. Today we did not go out anywhere and Hallie actually did some school.
I have a ton of things to post, so check back often.
We love you guys!

Bike Wreck!

H. was enjoying “her” bike. But she did not have a good day with it today. She was trying to ride it on the porch and fell off in the bushes. She was fine, but the other kids freaked out!

Then a few hours later, she went out and was going to ride the bike in the driveway. She failed to notice that the drive way is a pretty steep hill. So she went down the driveway, and could not stop! She ended up on the other side of the median in the road! We heard her scream, and then Liam ran inside to tell us that something had happened. Jon carried her back inside and we cleaned her up. She is pretty scraped up, but that is all. She has scrapes on her knees, hands, elbow and face. She also has some pretty road rash on her face.

She told me at breakfast, that she is going to stay inside today.

Bike Parade

Every year Hixson (Clear Creek) have a bike parade for the kids. Usually it is in the church parking lot. This year it was at a park. Mr. Bobby found some bikes for the kids. So Jon and H. went to Wal-mart to get training wheels and things to decorate the bike. They got stuck in traffic, but make it home in time for us to put the wheels on the bike and decorate it.

She made it once around the track and then one of her training wheels fell off!


After the parade, the kids ate popsicles and played on the playground.

We are in Hixson

We are in Hixson, TN now. We are staying with Bobby and Carol Golden. We are staying in their basement. It is a very large area. We have two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, washer and dryer, and a large living space. It is the perfect set-up for us. We feel very comfortable here.

This is the view from our front porch.

Mr. Bobby (our host) bought the kids fishing rods. We have not gone fishing yet, but the kids have practiced casting almost every day in the front yard.

They have also enjoyed the Golden’s swing.

School's Out

School is out (and has been for almost 2 weeks now). H. finished school the same day that Jon was finished. The first Monday that no one had school, we went to the zoo in Memphis. It has been a tradition the last several years to go to the zoo right after school is out.

For the last several years we have been a member of the zoo. We have a yearly pass. It is so worth it for us. If we go to the zoo just twice on the pass, it pays for itself. It takes less than 2 hours to get to the zoo, and once we get there, we don't have to pay for anything else. We often bring the waggon and a small cooler with snacks and lunch.

This time we got to go into the butterfly exhibit. The butterflies didn't open to the public until the next week, but for members it was open.

Locks for Love

We were super proud of H. yesterday. She got her hair cut for Locks of Love. She ended up getting about 12 inches cut off. Her hair is now at her shoulders, were it was past her waist. Her new hair cut looks great and she loves it.

I must admit, I was pretty nervous about it. I had a fear, that she would not like it, but that was silly.

Yes, it was her idea. Ok, maybe not her idea, but definitly her choice. We had suggested that when she deciced to get it cut that she should donate her hair. But I promised her (and myself) that I would let it be her choice.

I actually remember crying in a hair dressers chair, when my mother took me to get my hair cut. So I was never going to do that, but it was becoming quite a pain to take care of. I suggested to H. that she might think about getting it cut before we go to China, and before this summer.

She got up Tuesday and wanted me to call for an apointment. She was so excited! She told me that she is going to let it grow, so she can do it again. She practically giggled the whole way to "Lookin' Good". She said, I can't believe that after months and months, it is finally happening. I think she was more excited than scared.

Mrs. Brenda cut her hair. Mrs. Brenda is the only person (besides me) that has ever cut her hair. She also has cut all three of my kids' hair for their first haircut.

We are just so proud of her!