I love my kids! It's amazing how the gifts that we take most for granted are made clear to us in light of (potential) tragedy. 2 nights ago, I ran into the kids bedroom after hearing a loud thud to find Karis kind of crumpled up and moaning on the floor. This is NOT where she had gone to sleep 4 hours before, but rather she should have been in her top bunk (which is a tall upper bunk, China-style, I might add). We still have no idea what happened or how she made the fall (she doesn't remember, and she was on the floor on the opposite end of her bed from the ladder, so it doesn't seem like she was trying to climb down), but we know that she landed on her head, due to the large goose egg that we discovered minutes later when we were holding her and trying to get her coherent enough to open her eyes and respond to Kevin's and my questions. Within about 5 minutes, which felt like an absolute eternity, she was able to answer when I asked her what hurt and had her start naming off some body parts (checking for her ability to think and respond--which is never easy when you're awakened at 3 am from the middle of a deep sleep, I might add!). Once I knew we weren't dealing with any broken bones, I moved her into our bedroom (Eli and Hud were awakened, but Noah was still sleeping through the ordeal), and called my sister (an ER nurse). We spent the rest of the night with Karis in bed between Kevin and me, awakening her every 30 minutes or so to check her pupils to see if they were dilating properly and to make sure she could think rationally. This was not a problem for me, as my adrenaline was flowing so much that I might have gotten one 20-min stretch of sleep in the rest of the night.Thankfully, she seems to be doing well today, 36 hours after the fall. She probably has a minor concussion, due to the symptoms (headache and sensitivity to light) she has shown over the last day. But she was DYING to go back to school today after staying home yesterday with Kevin to rest, so we've put her on a strict low-activity restriction and are allowing her to go for at least the first 2 hours this morning so she can get in on the last day of school's Christmas party with her class. It's amazing how much something like this makes you realize how precious your family is to you, and how thankful we are for His hand of protection over our lives in all the little details--even sleeping! We're continuing to pray that Karis doesn't show any other signs of major head trauma, as I know that head injuries can be "sneaky" in symptoms showing up days after the trauma that indicate more going on than can be observed at a surface level. But for now, we're hoping and trusting that our little girl is already recovering (no Tylenol requested this morning) and is, as I type, enjoying cupcakes and Chinese popcorn (probably kiwi flavored!) with her friends!
I'm hoping that this feeling of appreciation continues into our two-week long break from school. I'll be brutally honest and admit that some weekends feel overwhelming when all 4 kids are home all day, especially when the weather is too cold to go outside for long (our high today is 30 degrees Fahrenheit and quite windy with a good amount of ice still on the ground from our snow last week), the dishes that need washing seem never-ending, and my stress and work-load for school is high. I'm hoping that these next two weeks will be sweet family time, and I know that some planning in advance (things to do, crafts and projects to put the kids on, etc.) goes a long way in reducing the tension that can mount so quickly! 
One of my personal challenges is genuinely LOVING having others into our home, and yet having a hard time finding the balance of what is too much in the area of hostessing. So I've already had 3 families from school (one Chinese, one American, and one Korean) who have kids the same ages as ours request that their kids come over to play at some point during the break (in one case, the mom with the kids). I guess we're kind of known for enjoying opening our doors to others and our family is large enough that we're a large group to host, so it's not unreasonable for others to directly make this request (also known as inviting themselves over!). I'm also learning how strong a sub-culture individual cities, states, and regions in the US each have. Some days I feel like I have more similarities culturally with our Chinese friends than I do with others who are from, say, a small town in the mid-west. I think the difference lies in the fact that I am prepared for and even expecting vast cultural differences between myself and our friends who have a different nationality; but living internationally means that the ex-pat community is from all over the US, so I'm constantly navigating the cultural differences between the different regions my American friends who are living here in China are from. Some just invite themselves over, some just stop by on a whim, some seem "cold" in how and what they communicate (coming from a true Southern girl--Texas born and raised where you don't pass by without offering a warm "Howdy!" to anyone on the street). So my goal this break is to be intentional in how we use our time, knowing that a lot of these families are reaching out and are great opportunities to love on them and hopefully show them the true meaning of the holiday season, but also not to over-extend myself or my family in a way that makes our family atmosphere overly stressful and "heavy" feeling. We'll see how I do!We had a marvelous time playing in the recent snow that we had. It was truly beautiful as the bright white of the crystals covered over the usually drab-gray of the concrete that covers most of the city. The kids made countless snowmen and numerous snowballs were throw. Unfortunately, much of that snow has turned to ice, and the kids still think it fun to toss chunks at one another! We've had to be strict on the no-throwing-at-heads policy in order to avoid any major injuries. When the wind wasn't blowing too much, we were able to play outside for quite some time before hands were too cold and wet and we escaped to the heated indoors to enjoy hot chocolate and marshmellows.
Off to check on Karis in her class and make sure she's not fading, due to her energy level no doubt being lower than normal. What's probably more likely is seeing her bee-bopping around on a sugar high! Blessings and Christmas wishes to you all!
