It came from Ezra's mouth.

Ezra, my five year old, said between mouthfuls of Japanese curry this evening, "Mom, The Great Wall is just made of bricks. How is that 'Great?'"

Zuri has pink eye and is on antibacterial eye drops. I hope the other two don't get it but the doctor said that there was a 50% chance that they would.

Ayi thinks she also has it and asked to use Zuri's eye drops. Is it wrong that I don't want to? I guess if *I* put them in her eyes ensuring that she doesn't touch the tip to her eye. It would save her some money...I told her to wait until she definitely had it.

The visitors

Well, it's over. Mammaw and Daddaw (a.k.a the in-laws) have come and gone. Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged. They were here for three weeks and according to them, it was their best vacation ever! I had a wonderful time showing them around Suzhou and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I was sick for over a week of their time here and I thought it was hilarious (and took it as a compliment) when they told me they were glad I was sick because I might have run them to death had I not been.

Jet lag was super easy for them; I was quite impressed with their ability to go to bed and stay asleep and keep themselves awake until bedtime. WE all have difficulty being 12 or 13 hours off.

The first day, they hit the ground running. We took a bus trip through the countryside to XiTang Water Town. They enjoyed getting to see the "real" China from the bus: the shacks, the people, the animals, the garbage, the fields...and then, when we arrived at the town, they enjoyed the town. A classic Chinese water town, full of culture AND tourists.

Everyday, I tried to plan something for them to see that they had never seen before. Whether it was just a walk along the lake or a visit to a famous landmark or a massage or shopping, I hope we fit in everything they wanted to do!

Ezra and I posing next to a root carving called "Mother and Son" in XiTang Water Town:


The town itself:




Tom Cruise has run down this sidewalk, MI3 was filmed here:


Locals eating at a restaurant. We were in a boat below them in the water.


Narrow alleyways:


Ezra came with us:


Mammaw and Daddaw posing on a bridge over the water:


Humble Administrator's Garden is the most famous, largest and most expensive garden in Suzhou:


Brad took them while I studied for my midterm:




Daddaw and Zuri have a special bond:


Sometimes, he would only let Daddaw feed him breakfast or Daddaw would have to sit there and watch him while ayi fed him:


We tried to get Mammaw loose lipped:


Daddaw took over as the driver of the stroller:


Playing with Zuri at soccer practice:


At the Silk Museum, Daddaw reenacted the ancient process of making silk softer:


Inside the North Pagoda:


Outside the North Pagoda:


ShanTangJie is a famous street in Suzhou that still looks like it did hundreds of years ago. Mammaw enjoyed the cage full of snakes an awful lot. We also explored the back winding alleys.


ShanTangJie canal. Suzhou is the "Venice of the East"


On the train up through the countryside to Beijing. It was about 11 hours long. We just rented a whole cabin and slept overnight but Mammaw and Daddaw were up several times during the night looking out the window:


Great Wall of China:








I fell down and bumped my head on the Great Wall of China:




"I thought the Great Wall of China was boring, I prefer modeling,":


Daddaw looking handsome:


I made a scene running around on the top of a tower on the Great Wall of China:




No one ever cooperates:


I jumped on the Great Wall of China:


I looked pretty on the Great Wall of China:


I threw a temper tantrum on the Great Wall of China:


Up and down:






Next in Beijing we visited the Summer Palace, where the empress used to spend the summer. I just love this scene, even with all the tourists...can it get more tranquil?:


Mammaw stopping to rest: (She was laughing, "I didn't know we were going to Goat Mountain.")










I think this needs the caption, "I'm comfortable on subways!" But I also would like to point out that this was Mammaw's first time to fly, ride a train and ride a subway! Welcome to the Jungle!



Bird's Nest, where the Opening Olympic Ceremonies were performed:




*roll eyes* He's SEVEN, almost EIGHT, do you REALLY need to pick him up?


They weren't even facing so that the Bird's Nest was behind them. I assure you, the boys were just as much an attraction as the site.


My cute boys in the bath that night:


So maybe I was a little overzealous on some days, but I think all in all it was a good trip. Thanks for getting the courage to come over, guys. You created a LOT of memories for us! I'm ready and willing to play tour guide for anyone else who wants to come up too!

It has finally come and gone: the triathlon

So I came in third which was also technically last in my division. There were lots of other people racing in the short, medium and long courses but only three women who did it individually on the medium course; everyone else did it as part of a team. (Or on another course.) It wasn't obvious that I was coming in last because people from other divisions were still going as I came off, so that was a plus.

I was extremely sad when I realized I had lost. I had to blink back a couple of tears of disappointment (nobody noticed, haha). I thought I was in second place and then I came around and saw that my good friend who was also racing with me was standing on the sidelines. For a split second, I thought she had quit but knowing her personality, the truth immediately hit home, she had been ahead of me the whole time. (It's hard to tell on a circular course.)

It took a lot to tell her congratulations at first, to be honest. Not because I was upset she had won but because two months ago, when I first started running and I was fighting having to stop every 100 yards, I would picture myself coming over the finish line with my hands held high in victory. And I didn't accomplish that.

But everyone was really nice and my friend who won is one of the best kinds of people in the world...and then I remembered that I had won a T-shirt and THAT was totally the only thing I had wanted to win in the beginning! That made saying congratulations so much easier and very heartfelt.

The final thing that made losing so easy was remembering a conversation I had with a different female friend of mine who had won the long course for the women. Last spring, I saw her practicing for a marathon while her sons played soccer. I mentioned that I had never run a mile straight in my life and she gave me lots of encouraging advice. A year later, she passed me once on the bike course and twice on the track and every time, she would say something to encourage me. She may do this for everyone she passed (and that was a lot of people), but remembering our conversation a year ago really made me stop to think about how far I have come and it encourages me to keep trying to get better for next year! :)

My final time for my first sprint triathlon (300m swim, 10K bike and 2.4K run) including transitions, was something like 55 minutes. I think 1st place was 50 minutes and second place a couple of minutes later. I think if I had realized I was in last place, I probably would have pushed myself a bit harder. Oh well, you live, you learn.
-----------------------------------------
My swim was ruined at first because of the high school kid I was swimming with. The whistle sounded and he took off like a bullet and I tried to keep up. It wasn't on purpose...it just happened on accident. After one length, I was out of breath and unable to swim. I honestly thought I might drown there in the pool. I have never had to stop the few times I have practiced but I had to stop for a few seconds, catch my breath and let my heart rate fall a little before continuing. After I got in my groove, I was perfectly fine.


I'm VERY slow on the bike. I tend to blame my slow bike but actually, my friend who won it has the exact same bike, so I know, deep down inside, it's really the biker. haha


I'm also a slow runner--I'm working on it! :)


Thanks for everyone's support. I appreciated it!!!

The kids

Soccer has started back up for the spring. We asked Ezra if he wanted to play and he said, "I don't want to play, just practice." Very well, son, it's just practice. (evil laughter). How much fun it was to watch him actually chase after the ball with the other born-in-2003's! Elias never uses more energy than is needed (I've seen the ball go right by him and he just watched it). He doesn't like soccer. Soccer has been a chore for us the past couple of years and we weren't even going to make him go this semester unless Ezra was also going to play (poorly or not). Ezra, on the other hand, WANTS THAT BALL! Of course, Ezra can change his mind in a heart beat...we aren't going to push him this semester to play if he doesn't want to.

However, Elias has pulled out blank music sheets this evening and is writing his own song tonight. In the past couple of weeks, his piano playing has taken on a new level. It is *almost* on par with mine. I can play more complicated songs by practicing, practicing and memorizing, memorizing. But our music reading is now about on the same level. He told me that he could tell he had improved. I've decided I'm going to continue practicing (and hopefully improving) with Elias.

Zuri's forte, in case you didn't know, is TALKING. Not only does the kid never shut up and repeat everything you say, but he also can carry on conversations. He especially likes to talk about food. If we are walking outside, he points out everything he knows...and if he gets bored, he starts telling me what all the animals say or pointing and talking about all of his body parts. (Sometimes in Chinese, but usually in English.)

Zuri woke up seemingly from a nightmare last night, could tell me that he thought the standing lamp by our bed was a man (in the dark) and then told me he was hungry, wanted rice to eat and chocolate milk to drink. He's a mess but I'm proud of him.

They are now watching "Bob the Builder" in Chinese. I don't know how much any of them understand, but it's good for them to practice listening! :)

I can't believe that a couple of special people will be arriving in China tomorrow. I think this might even be their first time out of the southeast US and I imagine they'll be taking off any minute from Atlanta and I can't WAIT until they arrive!!!

I need to get this out of my system: I hate headwinds. I despise them more than anything I've ever hated in my whole life! I don't usually hold grudges but I promise you that when it took me 10 minutes to go about 2-2.5km this afternoon on my bike, I knew I will never forgive them if they show their ugly head on race day!

yikes...

I only have NINE more days until my race. I'm sooooo nervous! I'm driving Brad crazy. I can't remember if I've mentioned it here or not but I'm doing a sprint-triathlon on the 26th. I'm not in it to win, only to finish it having done the best I can do. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not an athlete. I'm a slightly-heavier-than-pre-pregnancy mother who has set a goal to be more healthy and trying to accomplish it. That being said, I've been working really hard on this. Six weeks ago, I couldn't run 1/4 mile straight and now I'm up to three miles.

At the risk of embarrassing myself...

The race involves a 300meter swim, a 10K bike ride and a 2.4K run. I'm not afeered of the swimming. I can do that in 8 minutes, which may be slow (I don't know) but I just do what I can. I can tell a definite improvement in my biking here recently. Every time I go somewhere, I try to pedal it as fast as I can, sometimes with Ezra on the back. I've "bricked" a few times, which is when you bike a fair distance and then immediately run. This feeling is like when I was a kid and tried to jump on the ground after having jumped for a long time on the trampoline. You just can't do it. So my post-bike mile run takes me THIRTEEN minutes. It takes me half a mile to feel normal again. haha. Hopefully, I'll feel a bit more competitive on race day and will push myself. Oh, and I've improved my normal mile, though. I'm now under 10 minutes (fresh) which is down from around 12 minutes in the beginning. I just look at how far I've come and know that I shouldn't worry about where I place; I should just be happy that I'm finishing!

My in-laws will be here for the race which means that anything I do will always be remembered. I just hope I'm not embarrassed! And if I am, they must remember to forget it. hahahaha!

If anyone has any advice to offer, I would greatly appreciate it either here or in an email. :)

Elias' to do list.

I found this just now mixed with some art that Ezra had done.

What to do?
By: Elias
1. Easter party!
2. New folder (bookmarks)
3. Workout!

And it's over! (the second time)

The Second Annual Marler Easter Egg Hunt and Brunch was officially a success, I think. I celebrated its success with a Mimosa afterwards. haha. Two weeks of planning and organizing and it seems like it's over in a snap. We had around 20 kids total (but some left before the actual Easter Egg Hunt) and lots of their parents and I hope they all had a good time.

We decorated paper Easter eggs and then played "pin the egg on the bunny." Next, we ate. I prepared egg souffle, bacon, croissants, donuts, fruit salad, cake, lots of drinks and then lots of food and treats that other people brought. We then made bunny ears by decorating paper ears and then taping them to head bands and had a game of "Bunny Says" which is just like Simon Says. Brad played some Musical Chairs with them.

Afterwards, I read an Easter book to the children while some parents hid the eggs outside. And then the craziness began. It was so much fun, though!

My high was kind of ruined when a kid stole eggs from Elias' basket while he was trying to see if any would shake out of a tree. His father was standing right there and didn't say anything. It wasn't because it was Elias' basket. It would have angered me no matter whose basket. This kid was being obnoxious the whole party anyway. I honestly am not mad at the child anymore; I wish I hadn't said anything now. It's going through my head over and over and I should have just ignored it.

But, the weather was GORGEOUS. I think this was the first time the weather has been pretty on Easter since we've lived here. It was so warm and sunny. We didn't get very good pictures but here are a few:

Ezra colored and cut out his own bunny ears. he was so proud of himself.


This is the only picture I have of Elias from the whole day:


I asked ayi to come today to clean and help with Zuri. We had soooo many eggs. Even the baby had a nice little basketful:


This is worth noting. One of the parents hid an Easter egg out in the water on top of a pipe! His daughter was so happy when she was the one who got the egg.

The boys are playing

All three of them, together. They are all so hyper; this must be how trips to the hospital are made. Elias is even in Zuri's old walker. Goodness! I think this is the last time I give them chocolate flavored puffed rice (a.k.a Cocoa Krispies).

I've been busy this week planning the Easter Egg Hunt for this weekend. I got tons of bacon fried up today. We have pin the egg on the bunny almost finished and tomorrow, I'm doing the cake.

Looking forward to Saturday with a bit of fear. :)

All three of my poor boys were home sick today. Poor little men! I've missed the past three days of class but hopefully, I can return tomorrow.

A Day in the Life of Carleigh

I know I've got typos and I could have spent a bit more time, but that's time I don't have! Enjoy it. :) (Just click on the thumbnail below to view the slide show.)