Marcie No 3 March 24

As I look out our kitchen window, I see the massive trees that line the street have tiny white blossoms. We had a dusting of snow yesterday, followed by a thin layer of ice on all the mud puddles this morning. The sun has been shining almost everyday, too, giving more false impression that spring is here. We've been here for a month now, and life is settling into routine. The kids are finally getting help with their homework from a couple of recent (or almost) college grads, making more time for practicing their instruments and family time. Addison's single motivation seems to be time on the computer chatting with her friends, and it is working very well. She gets all her homework done, practices two instruments and keeps her room relatively tidy without much prompting. Saylor has mountains of homework (apparently once you get behind, the teacher won't look at any of the new work until you're caught up) and very little free time. She probably has the hardest time concentrating and the most excuses about why her work's not done. Before you start feeling too sorry for her, you should know that she has a lot of fun in the in-between times. Alayna is at the perfect age (and has the right disposition) to make a smooth transition although we are finding she is a huge distraction to Saylor. She's had enough Chinese to know what is going on, but is young enough that there aren't huge demands of her time for homework. Coleman had a meltdown (screaming, clinging, crying, etc) two days ago and did not want to get on the bus. I told him I couldn't stay at home with him because I had to go to school, too. Miraculously, he boarded the bus, but made sure that Mark and I both knew he was miserable. After school we snuggled and talked. I told him if he was sick with a fever or was throwing up, I would definitely be able to stay with him, but couldn't cater to him just because he threw a fit. Yesterday morning, he crawled into bed with an "I don't feel good" story. It just seemed too coincidental to believe, but sure enough he had a fever. In hindsight, I think his body was telling him two days ago to take it easy, but he didn't have the words or symptoms to go with it. He was the perfect amount of sick: too sick to go to school, but not sick enough to be slowed down. We had a great day together playing games, working on reading, practicing cello and piano and watching movies. Mark's adjustment (grace) period seems to be over and work is demanding more of his time. He leaves for Harbin in northern China tomorrow (one night), goes to Shandong next week and will go to Beijing in early April with more business trips to come. We will probably all tag along on the Beijing trip, as there is a national holiday (aka 3 day weekend) just before he needs to be there. I finally wore Mark down and hired an Ayi (Auntie) to help me keep our apartment in order (it really is a bigger job in China). She comes three times a week and helps with cleaning and laundry. This frees up my time to study and get other projects done (like blogging). This weekend we celebrate Addison and Saylor's birthdays. Even though Addison has been practicing for a while, it is hard to believe that we will really have a teenager in the house. We continue to be thankful for all our blessings and count you among them. We love to hear from you, so when you have a chance, drop us a line.