30 More Minutes

We leave in 30 minutes to go to the Civil Affairs office.  We have had breakfast and showers.  My backpack is packed with diapers and snacks.  Tim's has the cameras.
 
I go back and forth between complete calm - so calm that the rational side of my mind questions whether all of this is even real - and butterflies and sweaty palms.  Life is about to change, and I am having trouble picturing that change. 
 
Please pray for us.  All of us.  Jack, the other three kids, me and Tim.  We are excited and anxious and worried and happy, all at the same time. 
 
(I know my video and some of my posts and photos aren't showing up.  You haven't missed much - mostly a recounting of Beijing, which was pretty much like our 2008 trip.)

Day 3 Nanjing

There aren't any photos tonight - partly because I didn't take many,  and partly because I am posting from my kindle, which is only slightly better than a phone for typing.

We flew in to Nanjing early this morning, then walked around the mall and shopping area with our guide, Jane /Jin. We got lunch at Mcdonald's to head off a tantrum, and then spent the rest of the afternoon in the room vegging. We also took the kids for a quick swim in the pool.

Dinner was a dumpling place called Da Niang Dumplings (YUM!), followed by Cold Stone Creamery (more YUM!).

We are still getting over jet lag, so an easy day was just what the doctor ordered, especially in light of tomorrow. Thank you for all of the prayers!

He is risen!

Great Wall Video

I thought I would try to post the video separately.  I can barely do this when I have access to YouTube, much less when I don't.  This is the video of Kate quoting Will when he was 4.  It is one my family's favorite quotes.

Day 1 Beijing

(Post written Friday night, Beijing time.)

We are here.

After that statement, everything else just seems extraneous, but for those of you who are wondering, in the last 48 hours I have had about 5 hours of sleep. The flights were fine, although the flight to Beijing was delayed by about two hours because of mechanical issues, and the landing was so rough that half of us felt sick (thankfully none of us actually needed the handy bag in the seat pocket, though). On the plus side, we ended up on a plane with individual tv screens. Unlimited movies and tv access make my children very happy. Kate was concerned she had gone over her daily screen time, but I assured her those rules don't apply on airplanes.

Also happily, we found a Jamba Juice at the airport in Chicago. Yay, Razmatazz!

The kids have done wonderfully (if you don't count one or two minor temper flares because of pure exhaustion, which I don't – those are completely justified). They even got compliments from strangers on the airplane. Will and Kate slept a few hours, but Ben slept maybe an hour and a half. He is bunking with Jacob tonight, and I hope he is already asleep.

We are checked in at the hotel. (As I write, there is no internet connection, but I have high hopes that when I can put together a coherent thought I can figure out the problem. If you are reading this, either Tim or I was successful!)

Tomorrow is a full day of touring in Beijing, so I must get some rest in order to be functional.

Miss you all already. Much love.

PS - I cannot actually get on Blogger (I am posting by email), but all of your comments come to me via email.I also don't have fb. So if you need to contact me, email me or leave a comment here.

PPS - Remember, please don't use our last name in the comments. Thanks!

Piles of Paperwork

At this moment I am sitting in the middle of the floor with piles of paperwork around me.  I have one pile for all the kids' birth certificates, copies of all of our passports and visas, and proof that Kate is mine (just in case). There is a pile of flight and hotel reservations, along with itineraries.  Another has all of our US immigration approvals.  Then there are the copies of Jack's medical paperwork, his vaccination affidavit, a copy of our LOA, and our Travel Approval.

This post probably sounds like I have it all together, and paperwork-wise, I am good to go.  But today has been a bit of a roller coaster for me.  I am simultaneously excited and scared out of my mind.  I am teary and emotional.  I cried this morning during the children's Palm Sunday parade.  It's probably my favorite Sunday of the whole year, and I boo-hood like a big baby.

Thankfully the paperwork has helped me to focus on doing something rather than thinking.  Also, thankfully, I will see my sweet kiddos in the morning when their Daddy John brings them up the road.  The rest of the day will be filled with laundry and packing.  It is time to get serious and finish off that job.

And of course, there will be the small distraction of a basketball game tomorrow night.  Hopefully it will be a happy distraction and won't end in a lot of unhappy people at my house.

T Minus 5 Days

Are y'all getting as nervous as I am?  Because I am starting to really feel it.

Breathe in.  Breathe out.

OK.  That's a little better.  Now then.  My dad brought up the new dresser for the boys' room yesterday.  There is no more space for a dresser in Jack and Kate's room because I decided that keeping the rocker was a must.  So the dresser had to go in Ben and Will's room.  Jack's everyday clothes will be in Kate's current dresser, and Kate's off-season clothing will go to the other room.  And I also moved around the boys' clothes to better fit the drawers.  Yes, it is confusing.  Hopefully the kids will figure it out quickly.

Dad and I moved the dresser up the stairs yesterday, and then I spent part of today rearranging everyone's clothes and packing for the two big boys.  I also booked the last hotel.

Check, check, and check. (I like the sound of crossing things off of my to-do list.)

And it is right about now that I am thankful for bunk beds.  Even if they are the devil to change sheets and make the bed.

Techie Preparations

(Before I get started, don't forget to check out the last post, asking for prayer.  Thanks!)

Right now I seem to be obsessed with preparing all of my technology to take to China. I've got my Kindle Fire (thanks, Dad!) (which I have loaded with kid-friendly games and books), Tim has his iPad, and Boopa has loaned us his voltage adapter and a hand full of pocket video cameras for the kids to use. (Last time they proved themselves able camera-men.) We also have another video camera that we may or may not take and our regular camera. Jacob is bringing travel adapters and checking into other things for me. We have headphones, battery chargers, and a surge protector.

I am still on the fence with the laptop. On the one hand, it is much bulkier than the Kindle and ipad, but on the other, our first 3 hotels don't have wireless, so we need to actually plug into a wall, which the other two items can't do. We could purchase a portable router, but they are pricey, and I really am most comfortable typing on my laptop. It's my friend, and I know it's quirks.

I have also been making blogging preparations. We are trying to figure out how/if I will have access to Blogger on the trip, since it is a blocked site. I have set up the blog for email posts (I probably need to double check that again), and Tara D has agreed to be my back-up blogger.

The other day I noticed at the top of my Blogger dashboard a notice that they were changing the layout for Blogger in April, but I had the option to go ahead and update. I figured the last thing I would want to do is play with a new set-up in China, so I went ahead and made the switch. My Internet Explorer also recently updated by itself, and I am still adjusting to that.

So I go to log-in to my Blogger Dashboard (where I can make changes and track my own posts, plus keep up with the gazillion blogs I follow), but it doesn't load. I click refresh, and I get a message that Blogger (owned by Google) no longer supports my browser, and I should switch to Google Chrome. What the heck, Google? I didn't make a fuss when you combined all of my life's information into one place so you could better "market" your products to me, but telling me I can't use my preferred browser? You are crossing a line, man! What's next? Will you block Google Translator from IE users?

So I did the passive aggressive thing and went back to using Firefox to do all of my blogging. It doesn't seem to have any compatibility issues with Google, thankfully. And on the plus side, the new Blogger layout is easier to use, now that I am used to it.

Oh, and today I am updating my virus protection and doing a big scan. I'm sure it will take forty-leven hours. (That's for all of you who knew my Ma-Ma. I like to use her sayings every now and then to keep my family on their toes:)

At this rate, it will take me longer to plan my tech than my wardrobe.