Multi-sport

Instead of choosing one sport for the kids to play this Fall, we enrolled them in what is called Multi-sport. Each Saturday morning a different sport is introduced and they play for an hour in their own age groups. The first week was basketball, the second, soccer, and yesterday was field hockey. They love it. Here are some pics from the second weekend, soccer. Below is a video of Jasmine playing "Shrek" during her soccer weekend. They had to dribble the ball up slowly and quietly and "steal" the "treasure" from Shrek while she was sleeping. If she woke, you had to pick your ball up and run back to base. Jasmine was sooo scared she didn't get up there to get her own treasure. She found one that someone dropped and claimed it, LOL!

Ni Hao from Shanghai

Ni Hao, Ya'll! I can hardly believe that as of tomorrow, we have been here 7 weeks. Some days it feels like time has flown by and other days make me feel like we have been here 7 years. We hit the ground running and it still has not stopped. We are starting to settle the house little by little and we are already halfway through the first quarter. Mid-term progress reports go out on Monday. Whew! School keeps us busy to say the least. Sean is doing incredibly well. He seems to really enjoy school and all the amazing activities that his teacher creates. Here is a link to his teacher's blog to see him in action.

Jasmine's honeymoon period ended not when Mommy and Daddy started work 3 days after we arrived because she had her brother. The world came to an end for her once Sean started school and the 3 of us left her with the ayi. "But Mommmmmeeeeeeeyyyyyy! She doesn't understand a word I say, and I don't understand Chinese!!!!" Tears flowing from her eyes, arms flailing, my heart breaking! It was sooo hard. This happened every morning for 2 weeks. Then she started school. WOW! What a difference! She attends from 8:30 to 1:00, and rides a big kid bus with 2 other students from our compound. She loves it and the teacher says she acts like she has been there forever. She is doing great, picking up more Chinese than any one of us, for sure!

Me, well, it has been a challenge as I expected. I would say the most difficult things have been related to the language barrier and how far the school is from where we live. I truly can not stand that 45 minute bus ride to school every morning and 1 hour (or more) ride home every afternoon. Poor Sean gets headaches induced by motion sickness and that just stinks! I feel for the kid. Mostly though, I feel for Jasmine. Coming here next year would have been more ideal as she would have been 4 years old and able to come to our school. It truly is hard for her! This Thursday will be an even bigger challenge as we have Open House. The school is too far for us to come home between the end of school and Open House. That day we will depart our apartment at 6:45 am and not return until late that night, around 10:00 pm. Not looking forward to that, but I absolutely enjoy being back in the classroom, though. I LOVE teaching Humanities, and my sixth graders are lots of fun. Click here to see my Humanities blog.

Anyway, just wanted to post an update now that I have a way to access this blog. Yes, I found a way around the Great Firewall and I hope it lasts! I'll post some pics tonight or tomorrow:)

Zai Jian... we are heading out!

In just 4 short hours, the Carozza clan will be starting a new chapter in our lives! We leave for Norfolk airport at 4:15 am with 15 suitcases, 8 carry-on bags, a double stroller, 2 kids, and lots of hope for a great start in Shanghai. I'm not looking forward to the Chicago to Shanghai flight... 14 1/2 hours! I sure hope the IPods hold out, LOL!

I will try and update with pics of our new place and city as soon as I can. We expect we will have internet by next Wednesday or Thursday.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers:)
Love to you all!

Jasmine's Urology Appointment

Jasmine had her yearly testing done this past week, and unfortunately, her kidney/bladder issue (vesicoureteral reflux) has not resolved. The doctor explained that each year we should be seeing some improvement, but at this point Jasmine is still a grade 3 on the left side and grade 4 on the right. If she doesn't show some improvement next summer, she recommends that we consider a surgical procedure next summer. In the meantime, we had to stock up (1 year supply) on her macrodantin meds and added another medicine for her to take daily. My carry-on is filled. Hopefully the new meds and cutting out some foods in her diet will help us see some improvement at her appointment next July.

Life's a Beach!

The kids LOVE going to the beach! Playing in the sand, hopping over the waves, splashing in the water all make for a great summer morning. On this visit, they were able to catch a crab, a fish, a sea horse, and lots of little waves. Hopefully they will get one more sunny morning beach blast before we fly out on Saturday.

Traveling at the Speed of Fright

Busch Gardens is always tons of fun. This year was especially fun as Sean was finally tall enough to ride one of the big roller coasters, the Big Bad Wolf (a suspended swinging coaster with a 1oo ft drop that sends riders barreling down at 50 mph and swooping just above the river below). During the time we were standing in line, I asked him (more than once) if he was sure that he wanted to ride this one. I told him that this was a LONG roller coaster ride, unlike the Elmo rollercoaster seen above (which by the way is much faster than I thought it would be). When we were next in line, we waved goodbye to one train of cars as they started their ride and another train of cars pulled in. Sean looked at me and said, "Mommy, that is NOT a very long ride!" It was so funny! It was our turn to board, he held on, and LAUGHED the entire time even down the huge drop. It was great! We also enjoyed lots of other rides, shows, and yummy food. We hope to hit Disneyland in Hong Kong in the fall.

The Harvest

I can hardly believe that we are just 9 days out. There is still so much to do, but I guess it will get done. The kids have enjoyed harvesting veggies from the garden every few days with Lolo! We have had a fantastic crop this year... tomatoes, grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, hot peppers, yellow squash, and our new addition this year, snap peas. These snap peas are DELICIOUS... much better than any fresh snap peas we buy at Kroger. Anyway, we have had fun picking veggies from the garden and cooking them for dinner.