Hearts in China

May, June, July

2011-07-19T17:04:00.001-05:00

Finally back in business with my computer! I've actually had the computer back for a few weeks, but just haven't had any time to update the blog until now. We've had lots of fun things going on the past 3 months...too much to blog about on one post...so this is a quick recap.

May: some fishing, piano clinic and recitals, Emily's final band concert as an 8th grader, church children's choir program, winning a church auction basket full 'o chocolate, picking strawberries at grandma's house, Emily receiving some special awards at school, and Max enjoying some of his dress-up stuff.

June: we spent a wonderful week in Florida with some great friends. Emily's China travel group rented a huge house (complete with elevator!), and we lived the good life in Destin. It was an awesome week!

July: highlight of the month was China camp. Our two oldest girls were counselors this year, while Claire and Max were campers. Randy and I helped with camp olympics...fun times!

I know I have tons more photos to download from our cameras, so I may have more to add later. I've been busy making lots of cookies, so I'll those pics to upload as well (may start a seperate blog for those). And my project 365 blog? Oh dear I am SO behind on that! MUST make that a priority to get caught up or I fear I'll drop the project altogether. :-(

Computer Woes!!

2011-04-29T15:00:00.000-05:00

Please pardon my absence from blogging. One of the kiddos was playing on our computer, and a virus decided to come home with them. :-( This is the SECOND time this has happened while they were playing on the Nickelodeon site! This is a virus that worked its way around our anti-virus protection. If you have children, I would highly advise AGAINST allowing them to play on Nickelodeon! :-(
I'll be back with a giant catch-up post once we have our computer back......

Spring Cookies

2011-04-11T09:43:00.000-05:00

I was planning to attend an all-day scrapbooking crop at our church, and needed a food treat. Why not cookies? I played with some of my new cookie cutters and tried one of the designs shown on Sugarbelle's blog (of course mine don't even come close to hers!).

Spring Break '11

2011-03-30T08:12:00.000-05:00

The kids were off for spring break last week. ((Our schools actually decided to make up two snow days with the first part of spring break, but we just skipped those days. :-) ))

Randy had a business trip in Dallas, so we all piled in the car and went with him! While daddy had meetings in the hotel, mommy and the kids shopped and played. (please forgive me...some pics may be duplicates of pics on my Project 365 blog...a girl can only take so many pics a day you know!)

Our trip included lots of riding in the car...

Eating out at some fun restaurants...

A little bit of "posing" for mom and her camera...

Feeding the hotel's wildlife...

A little bit of swimming in the hotel pool...

A little bit of shopping...

And a sucker for the ride home. :-)

Alice in Wonderland

2011-03-17T14:24:00.000-05:00

Claire's school had their annual ballet program last week. We are fortunate that this ballet "class" is offered free of charge during school hours. The kids only practice once a week for about 30 minutes, but they put on a really wonderful program. Any student who wishes to participate is allowed...and many of the staff even get involved.
This year's performance was "Alice in Wonderland". Claire's part was a "Rose" and she danced with a King of Hearts (so sweet!) The principal acted as the Mad Hatter, and the librarian was the Queen of Hearts. It was a wonderful program! The school's select choir (of only 20 kids) also sang several songs prior to the ballet (our little miss did a great job on her solo!). This performance was a little bittersweet though as this was Claire's final choir/ballet performance...she's moving up to middle school this fall! (sniff, sniff) I took photos of each group of dancers (there were over 200!), but am only posting a few pics here.

Claire singing her solo

Claire dancing with her King of Hearts

Shamrocks and Music Notes

2011-03-17T14:02:00.002-05:00

I am really enjoying making cookies...I think I have a new hobby! lol My kids are loving it too. I think Emily has eaten several dozen all by herself! Every day after school, she asks if I made any cookies during the day. I practically have to hide the cookies from her! ;-)

In honor of St. Patrick's day, I made a batch of shamrock cookies and tried a lemon flavoring this time...yum! (We *had* to do a taste test you know!)

Claire's school choir had a party to celebrate their final performance for the year, so I made some music note/treble clef cookies for them. The school colors are green/white, thus the color of the notes. ;-)

Little Cowboy

2011-03-08T09:32:00.000-06:00

I realized that I didn't post the best photos from Max's birthday party. Here's a few of my little cowboy!

Max's 4th Birthday Party

2011-03-07T06:06:00.002-06:00

We had Max's 4th birthday party over the weekend. Just a few family and friends...very low key (just the way I like it!). The theme Max finally settled on was "cowboys", because he wanted to wear a hat. :-) The party was during lunch time, so we served cowboy-type food (BBQ pork sliders & baked beans).

I bought little adhesive mustaches for the kids to wear, and made cardstock mustaches for the adults. A little impromptu photo shoot with the mustaches was required. :-)

The kids played several games of "There's a Snake in My Boot!"...every snake hitting the target won them a piece of candy. Even the teenagers stepped up for a turn.

The cake was made by the King of Cakes (a teen boy from our church) who always does a great job.

I decided to do something different for party favors...and made themed cookies. I didn't have cookie cutters for the horse head and cowboy boot, so I made a template and cut them out with a knife. Once I began decorating them I realized I didn't have the right colors on hand, so I did the best I could with what I had. Overall though, I was pleased with the end result...and have plans for more cookies in the future. :-) Thanks to my friend, Christina, for the inspiration to give these a try!

Dr. Seuss' Birthday

2011-03-04T08:53:00.000-06:00

To celebrate Dr. Seuss' Birthday, Claire's school asks everyone to wear their pajamas to school. The kids are also allowed to bring along a favorite stuffed animal and a blanket. We've had a Cat in the Hat costume for several years, so Claire was sweet enough to wear it for a quick photo before she left for school. :-)

YeeHaw! Max is 4 !!!

2011-03-04T08:49:00.000-06:00

Our baby boy isn't a baby anymore...Max is 4! Can't believe he is growing up so fast. Since his birthday falls on a weekday, he has to wait until the weekend for his party. The only thing he has asked for is a basketball goal (hope we can find one his size!).

Blessed to be his mommy!

A Few Layouts

2011-03-04T08:40:00.000-06:00

A few more scrapbook layouts. As I said before, I'm making a real effort to get more caught up on my photos. These are from 2004...my girls have changed SO much! I used sketches for all of these (just not sure whose sketches...PageMaps maybe?). Simple = DONE!

Scrapbook Layouts

2011-02-17T13:08:00.000-06:00

I'm making a real effort this year to get more caught up on the thousands of photos I've taken. I have a room full of scrapbooking supplies, and my goal is to finally USE some of the things I've accumulated. I'm working on pics from 2004, so there is quite a lot of catching up to be done! I'm not into the detailed layouts of years past...I just need simple layouts to GET THEM DONE!

Chicken pox layout - my poor baby looked awful with the pox!

Tie & Tie Again - Allyson learned to tie her shoes in kindergarten (she's now in jr. high!).

Black & White Wednesday

2011-02-16T12:56:00.000-06:00

Max was SO proud of the "puppet finger" (his words) he made at church...he asked that I take a photo of him with it. Too cute!

Valentine's Day

2011-02-16T11:00:00.000-06:00

Our Valentine's Day was sweet...literally. We bought the kids some suckers, conversation hearts (aren't these REQUIRED?!), and a few other sweet treats. Then, our daughter Emily wanted to surprise the family, so she made a yummy heart shaped cake (& decorated it all by herself). I ventured out of my comfort zone and made a card for everyone too. LOVE my family!

Visions of Hope

2011-02-15T14:12:00.000-06:00

Want to get off of "auto" mode on your camera? Lisa at The Long Road To China is giving away a wonderful photography class. All of the paid seats are full, but Lisa is giving away a spot to two lucky people. The great thing about this is that Lisa is also donating a portion of the proceeds to Half the Sky (a wonderful organization that works to help the orphans in China). To enter, just leave a comment on her blog post! Not interested in the photography class? Just spend a few minutes looking through her blog....you'll find some WONDERFUL photos!! And...if you're wondering...I was too late for a paid spot in the class so YES I'm definitely hoping to win a spot!! LOL ;-)

SIX PEOPLE / TWELVE TIMES - Number 2

2011-02-09T19:43:00.001-06:00

This isn't exactly what I had planned to do for our February "6 people" shot, but since this snow was a record-breaker I decided to take our pic today. After all, it isn't every day that we get 23" of snow.

Snow ICE CREAM!

2011-02-09T19:29:00.000-06:00

Since we have so much snow, I see several batches of snow ice cream in our very near future! In anticipation of our forecasted 4-6" of snow overnight, I set a large bowl outside to catch snow in. Unfortunately, I couldn't SEE the bowl this morning because we got nearly 2 FEET of snow! LOL I think we'll have plenty of snow for ice cream! :-)

Here's our easy snow ice cream recipe:

1 large bowl of clean snow (you know, NO yellow snow - blech)
1 can Eagle Brand milk
1 tsp. vanilla flavoring

Simply pour the milk and flavoring into the bowl of snow and mix well. Add additional snow if needed. You can also add a tiny amount of regular milk in if you want a smoother consistency. Enjoy!

And Still More...

2011-02-09T19:18:00.001-06:00

SNOW!! Yes, more of the fluffy white stuff! We now have a new state record...23" of snow in a 12 hour period. :-)
I picked Randy up at the airport around 11:30 last night. It hadn't started snowing yet, but must have started shortly after we made it home. We woke up to about 12" of snow this morning, and it kept coming down for a few more hours. When it stopped snowing, we measured several places in our yard - the snow ranged from 20" to 23" deep. Our city isn't really equipped for this much snow, so we may be stuck here for a few days.

More Snowy Fun

2011-02-07T13:35:00.000-06:00

We received MORE snow on Friday! The temps raised enough that we were able to play outside longer this weekend. Just a few pics of our fun day, plus a little appreciation for nature's beauty in the icicles that were hanging above our front door.

Snow Day Fun

2011-02-03T19:43:00.001-06:00

We got about 6" of snow (on top of freezing rain/sleet) on Tuesday of this week, so schools have been closed. What should we do with our time while we're housebound? We were able to entertain ourselves pretty well....

We played in the snow a little bit...

Then we made snow ice cream!

Max used a straw to get the very last drop! :-)

ThAnkFuL For...

2011-01-23T14:23:00.000-06:00

(Note: This is a duplicate posting from my 365 photo blog. I just love the idea so much I wanted to share it here too!)

We are trying to make our kids more aware of things/people around them...and hopefully, not to take things for granted. I read a post on Becky Higgins' blog last year that really inspired me, so I decided to try the same thing with our family.
I put a piece of poster board into a simple (cheap) black frame and hung it on the wall. I used some scrapbooking sticker letters to spell the word "THANKFUL", and wrote 2011 under that. I assigned each person in the family a different colored sharpie and told them they could write/draw whatever they are thankful for on the poster. We just started this earlier this month, and it has been really fun reading what everyone has written so far. We plan on leaving this poster up all year (hopefully it will be over-filled!), and replacing with a blank poster for 2012.
I encourage everyone to do a similar project with their families! (be sure and send me a link to your photo!)

Snow Day

2011-01-20T15:13:00.000-06:00

We awoke to lots of snow this morning, so schools were closed. When it stopped snowing, we ventured out to play a little. The kids really enjoyed riding their sleds. Fun times!

Park Play

2011-01-16T15:20:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was such a nice day (after frigid temps and snow earlier in the week). We dropped the dog at the groomers and then surprised the kiddos by stopping at a park for some fun. We all had such a great time (even mom went on the slide with Max). :-) I forgot to take my big camera, but happened to have the little camera that I received @ Christmas (specifically meant to carry in my purse). So glad I had that camera!

Emily's Gotcha Day #13

2011-01-16T15:03:00.000-06:00

I've been looking back through photos to see what I've missed blogging about...found one very important event. In late November 2010, we celebrated Emily's 13th gotcha day! Thirteen years...WOW! Thirteen years ago we were given the unimaginable privilege of having sweet Emily as our daughter. I'm sitting here laughing at myself as I type this...wiping tears from my face just thinking about how much I love this girl. OK so to stop the crying, I'm just going to post some of the pictures I took of Emily's travel group during the gotcha day weekend that we hosted! :-) I'm such a sap....

SIX PEOPLE / TWELVE TIMES - Number 1

2011-01-13T13:36:00.001-06:00

Tara Whitney (photographer extraordinaire) came up with a fabulous idea last year of taking a photo of her family once a month. Thus the idea of 6 people 12 times. Her blog link is http://tarawhitney.com/justbeblogged/

I am going to do my best to follow Tara's lead. We are also a family of 6, and we rarely have more than one photo a year with all of us in it at once. We haven't had professional photos taken since...well, I can't remember when! For our Christmas cards, we always just set the timer on the camera and race to sit down. Even though I truly dislike seeing photos with *me* in them, I'm moving forward with this project anyway...hopefully, the kids will appreciate this someday! lol

So, here's our first "6 People" shot of the year. This is actually one of my pics from my project 365 photo blog, but I'm also using it here anyway. Yes, it was taken using the timer again, but we're ALL in it!

December Recap

2011-01-09T15:05:00.000-06:00

I'm getting old so I can't remember everything that I *should* have posted, had I been doing a good job of blogging.....soooooo, this is a quickie recap from the last part of December. Bear with me...this could get long and boring as I find photos to post! :-)
* * *
Claire auditioned and made the cut for her school's choir and swamp band. They call themselves the swamp band because their mascot is a gator. The only instrument in the band is one of those plastic recorders that schools use to teach music...but they sound really good anyway!

Choir (chosen from a student body of 900!)

Claire's swamp band costume

I helped out with our church's Children's Choir this fall. Our program was "A Shepherd, Sheep & a Savior". We dressed all of the kids in shepherd costumes for the play, and they looked adorable! One of the kids' favorite songs was "Stinky, Smelly Sheep"...so cute!

My little shepherd, Claire

I did quite a bit of online shopping for the holidays. Several items were packed with the foam "peanuts". Max was playing with some of the packing material and noticed that it stuck to his hand. I showed Max how to rub the peanuts to make them have more static. He had the best time playing and making them stick to him (love his little peanut beard!).

We all had a great Christmas. The kids got pretty much everything they asked for. We drew names again (among the older 5 of us...Max just isn't old enough yet) and *made* an item for the other family member. Randy made me a beautiful photo frame; I made Randy a CD calendar and a year of memories book; Emily made 3 bookmarks for Allyson; Claire made a journal and bookmark for Emily; and Allyson made 3 cute bottlecap necklaces for Claire. This is one of our most fun traditions, and the kids always LOVE making something for another family member!

The "post gift-opening" mess!

My four fab kiddos (and a crazy looking dog)

Emily brought home one of her art projects from the first semester. It was a self-portrait, and I thought she did a great job on it.

Claire and I helped bake Christmas cookies at church for a fundraiser. We were selling cookies to help with the expenses of children's camp this summer. Allyson will be going to youth camp, but she even helped us for a bit.

Better?

2011-01-06T14:23:00.002-06:00

OK Sherry and Jennifer...is that better?
Sherry, so glad to see you're blogging again! I'm bookmarking your blog.
Jennifer, I lost your blog addy when my computer crashed, so I'm headed to bookmark your site too!
Thanks for the input ladies!

Blog Makeover

2011-01-06T07:56:00.000-06:00

I woke up WAY too early this morning (4 a.m.!). Since I couldn't sleep, I played a little on the computer and gave the blog a makeover. I'm still not sure I like the design, but I do like the colors. I combined several papers for the background - now I'm thinking it's just too busy. Maybe I need to scale it back to just one patterned background? Thoughts????

A New Year

2011-01-05T12:25:00.000-06:00

Once again, I've gotten behind on the 'ol blog. To be honest, I just haven't felt like logging on and writing...we've just been way too busy during the holidays.
I'm still trying to decide if I even want to continue our family blog. (I *did* put a new picture of the kids on the header though.) :-)
My new life word for 2011 is "CHANGE" which involves so many different areas of my life (& one being less computer time!). Not sure what direction I want to head with the blog...tune in to see if it goes down the drain! LOL

Black Friday Ads - Cricut Lites

2010-11-19T07:46:00.002-06:00

Those of you who really know me, know that I am addicted to all things scrapbook related. :-) Yep, it's a fact...I have an entire room dedicated to this wonderful, memory craft. Sooooo, when Joy at Obsessed with Scrapbooking put up a giveaway, I just HAD to jump in. :-)

Joy's post features the new Cricut Lite cartridges. These new babies will be up for grabs on black Friday at Wal-Mart! I'm sure I'll be out at midnight on black Friday with all of the other crazed scrapbookers to try and snatch a few cartridges. I just hope I come home with both hands attached! Be sure and stop by Joy's blog to get a peek at the new cartridges!

Two By Two

2010-11-15T07:53:00.003-06:00

Max likes to play with his breakfast cereal. On this day, he was stacking his Honey-Nut Cheerios in little rows...two by two.

These are the sweet little moments I want to remember....

30 Days of Giveaways

2010-11-11T08:18:00.003-06:00

The Ni Hao Y'all blog is doing a fabulous 30 Days of Giveaways...just in time for the holidays. Head on over to their blog to check it out and register for the prizes!

I've tried numerous times to add the cute little blog button here from their website, but blogger is failing me today. :-(

Halloween / Trunk-or-Treat

2010-11-02T13:45:00.006-05:00

Treat bags Claire and I made for her class:

The costumes:

We recycled some of Emily's previous costumes for Allyson and Claire -a detective, and an artist. Mr. Max was a handsome king. Oh an Emily? She was just a teen! :-)

Halloween has come and gone...a fun time was had by all. Our kids have never done the "house to house" kind of trick-or-treating...it's more like "cubicle to cubicle". We have always taken the kids to daddy's office where they walk the hallways and are given way too much candy from all of the staff. It's a huge event every year with hundreds of kids.

All of that candy-filled fun is followed by trunk-or-treat at church. We have participated in this event for many years...don't even remember the last time we gave out candy from home! It's a wonderful way to reach out to the community. This year, we had over 4,000 people come through!!

We waited too long to work on our trunk display, and couldn't think of anything really creative. At the last minute, I thought of something the event organizer had said during church - that we should get "plugged in" to trunk-or-treat...so I went with that theme! We made a giant outlet and plug, then added signage and some lightning bolts. It was simple, yet effective! We even won a prize in the creative category!! :-)

And these are a few of the other displays:

Honor Society

2010-11-02T13:41:00.002-05:00

Emily was inducted into the National Jr. Honor Society last week. This was her second year in a row for this honor (often difficult to achieve since they require so many points for extra-curricular activities). We are proud of our girl. ;-)

Need a NEW Camera??!

2010-10-26T09:09:00.002-05:00

Everyone who reads this blog (all 2 or 3 of you! lol) should head over to Connie's blog RIGHT NOW! She is going to give away a fantastic new Canon camera! OK, OK, so *I* really, really want to win it, but since I'm never lucky I would be thrilled if one of my friends were to win it. Yes, I would be a bit jealous, but I would be thrilled for you too. :-)
All you have to do to enter the giveaway is make a donation to Connie's adoption fund to bring little Kasidi Joy home from China. Just click on the "chip in" button on Connie's blog. You can also post about the fundraiser on your own blog for an entry.
Take a look at Kasidi's little picture won't you? She looks like the sweetest baby, and she deserves a family! Won't you help this family bring her 'home'?!
Thanks so much for caring!
God Bless!

Cuteness

2010-10-21T08:56:00.002-05:00

Just a few cute pics of our younger two. Pics taken while we were waiting for the cross country team to run by. My babies are growing up so quickly (sniff!).

Dog Show

2010-10-14T10:06:00.003-05:00

We attended our first ever dog show last weekend! One of Randy's employees raises and shows beagles (anyone remember a beagle named Uno?). There just happened to be a local show, so we went out to show our support (& pet a few dogs!). I must say it was quite fun! Some of the dog people are SO serious though. I think if my dog won a ribbon, I'd be skipping and smiling, but they all just took the ribbon and walked away quietly. I have NO place for a beagle, but if she would have allowed it, I would have brought her beagle home with me. He was the sweetest!

Claire found several dogs she wanted to "buy". Of course she wants the little dogs with long hair (meaning shed, shed, shed). After much begging, I told Claire that she could save her money and we'd then talk about it. She only needs about $1000 more in her savings! LOL She promised to train her dog like the ladies in the show did....hmmm, might not be a bad idea to help some of Claire's impulsiveness? I'll have to think about this some more...

Cheer

2010-10-14T10:00:00.003-05:00

We really enjoy attending the jr. high football games. We especially enjoy cheering on our own cheerleader. :-)

After a little fear at first, Max has grown to love the mascot too...requesting to give her a hug EVERY time she walks by.

Toms

2010-10-14T09:53:00.002-05:00

Toms shoes...the kids love 'em!

There are so many trendy things that our girls seem to be "IN" to these days, and I thought I should make a list to put in their scrapbooks. Right now, one of their favorite shoe brands is Toms. Whether it be the glitter, canvas or corduroy style, they love 'em. (I must say I have my eye on the plum corduroys too!)
While we were on the trip with the youth choir, the girls asked me to take of pic of their shoes! lol I guess there's no better time to start that trend list than now....

The girls and their glitter Toms!

Youth choir

2010-10-14T09:42:00.002-05:00

Our youth choir took a "field trip" to Tulsa recently, and we were blessed to be chaperones for the group. After a brief round of shopping and dinner, we all had a surprise birthday party for one of the other chaperones. On Sunday, the group performed several songs for a small church. Our entire entourage :-) was then treated to a wonderful lunch by the church staff before we headed home.

Gotcha Day Pottery

2010-10-14T09:26:00.003-05:00

During Claire's gotcha day, all of the kiddos painted a piece of pottery (most chose a doggie figurine). Since we had to wait around while they painted, I decided to play a little too (otherwise, I would have been wanting to "help" Claire with her painting! lol). I chose a simple plate (the store didn't have one w/o handles). As the kids finished their pottery, I had them dip their fingertips into paint and make a flower. The girls each chose the color of paint and the location of their flower. I love the finished product - a wonderful keepsake from gotcha day!

And...one of the families was kind enough to share photos of the kids with their pottery (my camera battery died so I had no pics!).

14 Years

2010-09-29T09:06:00.002-05:00

Emily is 14 today! SO hard to believe that my baby is growing up. I am so blessed to be called "mom" by this sweet girl.
Emily wasn't really sure she wanted to have a party, but decided on going bowling at the last minute on Saturday. I was happy that so many of her friends could make it on such short notice. She basically sent a text telling them about her party. :-)
Emily requested a cake with zebra stripes from our friend Dylan. He came through with flying colors...in spots and stripes! If anyone in our area needs a cake, let me know. The King of Cakes is in business and does a great job...did I mention he's only 16 years old!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY! WE LOVE YOU OODLES AND GOBS!

Field Trip

2010-09-29T08:49:00.002-05:00

Claire's class took a field trip to a local museum...an old mansion. By today's standards it's probably not considered a huge place, but back in the "old days" it was quite grand. We love the place because we know that Randy's grandma lived there for a short while when her family first moved to this area. I'm not sure how impressed the kiddos are with the mansion and all of it's (ghost) stories, but the 4th graders always seem to look forward to their visit each year.
During the visit, the kids are taught all about the lifestyle of long ago...the food, the games, the homes, the people. One of the things the kids end the day with is an old-fashioned apple bob. Some of the kids plunge their head to the bottom of the barrel; some tentatively pluck at a stem. Claire was sort of in-between. She tried first for a stem, then went to the side for a big bite. Max got in on the apple fun too, but he didn't have to bob for it. :-)
Not the mansion...just a little store behind it.

Hog Wild For God

2010-09-29T08:28:00.003-05:00

Our church has a Stewardship Banquet every few years, and it's always a different theme. This year's theme was "Hog Wild For God"...cool since we happen to live in Razorback country! One of our Sunday School teachers is a former Arkansas Razorback cheerleader, so he got the current junior high cheerleaders together to perform a routine (to the AR fight song of course!). Randy sang a couple of songs as part of the entertainment. The fellowship hall was decked out in razorback red, and the church members came dressed in their razorback attire. It was such a fun evening!

Our cheerleaders

Even Max got in on the act!

Allyson's "Gotcha Day" #11

2010-09-29T08:08:00.002-05:00

Two gotcha days in a row...whew! Allyson's gotcha day was the weekend following Claire's, so we've had our fair share of partying lately! lol
We were the host family for the Hubei girls this year. We were so blessed that all 5 families were able to attend this year, and were thrilled that everyone was healthy! (Last year, one of the dads in our group was hospitalized due to a stroke. Happy to report that he is doing great!)

Allyson just wanted to hang out with her travel group friends, so we didn't plan many activities. The kids swam in the pool, while the parents visited inside (with view of the pool of course). We did take the kids for a short outing for some neon bowling though, before our traditional Chinese dinner. It was such a nice, relaxing weekend!

Our 5 Hubei Beauties...our blessing Miss Allyson in the middle

Swimmin' and bowlin'

Allyson requested a fortune cookie cake. Our friend Dylan did a great job!

(he's only 16 years old)

Claire's "Gotcha Day" #8

2010-09-29T07:44:00.002-05:00

We recently celebrated our sweet Claire's 8th "Gotcha Day"! We are so blessed to call this child our daughter!
This year's gotcha day weekend was hosted by Michelle D.'s family in OK. We were so happy that all five NanPing families were able to attend this year! The party began on Friday evening with dinner, and continued on through breakfast on Sunday. There was lots of playing, lots of photos taken, and lots of fun had by all. The group also went to a pottery store where the kids all chose a figurine to paint. The 5 NanPing girls chose cute little puppy dogs...they did a great job on them! I decided to make a memory plate using each of the girls' thumbprints. (picture to come as soon as I pick my plate up this weekend!) Thanks to the D family for hosting our group this year!

The 5 NanPing girls and a couple of siblings

Even the big siblings got in on the action!

Cross Country

2010-09-15T13:41:00.002-05:00

Emily and Allyson are both on the school's cross-country team this year. During the team's first time-trial event (2 miles), both girls received medals for placing in the top ten! Way to run girls!

New Violin

2010-09-15T13:31:00.002-05:00

When Allyson first began playing the violin in 6th grade, she had to start with a 1/2 size violin since she was so small. The other orchestra students all played full-sized violins. :-(
At the start of school this year, Allyson was THRILLED to have grown enough that she needed a new violin. Sooo, off to the music store we go to look at new musical instruments. After being measured, it was determined that she could graduate to a full-size instrument! We now have one very proud orchestra student! :-)

I didn't realize how small her first violin looked until seeing it next to the full-size unit.

Posing

2010-09-15T13:22:00.002-05:00

A couple of newer pics of the kiddos. They weren't really in the mood for posing, but I convinced the kids to stay still long enough to take a few group photos. These aren't the greatest shots ever, but they'll end up in our scrapbooks at some point anyway. :-) Max is "THE" hardest child to get a good photo of...NOT a *poser* at all!

Bring Home Kasidi

2010-09-07T08:38:00.002-05:00

Dear Bloggie Readers,
If you have time, I would love it if you would hop on over to Connie's blog (I'll put the button on my sidebar). Connie's family is hosting a wonderful fundraiser to help bring home Kasidi Joy from China.

9 Years Old...Really?

2010-08-24T14:43:00.003-05:00

Miss Claire just celebrated her 9th birthday. Hard to believe!
She celebrated with a swim party (surprise, surprise), and a flip-flop cake.

Yes, the blog posts are short and to the point. My way of playing catch-up. I kinda like it this way too!

Go Team!

2010-08-24T14:29:00.003-05:00

Emily had her first cheerleading event last week, during a fundraiser for our city's school sports teams. The cheer team performed a routine prior to a jr. high scrimmage game. They all did a wonderful job despite the blazing heat.

Back to School

2010-08-24T14:09:00.006-05:00

Our annual tradition of taking a pic with school supplies:

Claire and her stash o' stuff for 4th grade

Emily and Allyson didn't have much of a supply list for jr. high (mainly just a few binders). All of the binders were plain, so the girls wanted to jazz them up a bit. (Photos of Emily are on a different camera.)

I must admit that I enjoy taking the kids shopping for school supplies, so it was a little bit of a downer to not shop for jr. high.

Allyson with her decorated binders

The jr. high school held a "locker day" where kids could decorate their lockers, practice combinations and tour the school. (Again, photos of Emily are on a different camera.)

Muscle Man

2010-08-23T08:45:00.002-05:00

Max is still learning to swim (although he has NO fear of the water now). Max didn't love using the little inflatable arm rings, so we decided to give one of the padded swim suits a try. As soon as Max donned the suit, the rest of the family fell into fits of laughter. He looked like a mini "Arnold" with his buffed up muscles. :-) Here's our little muscle man showing off...

Silly Bands

2010-08-23T08:36:00.002-05:00

Silly bands, silly bandz, crazy bandz...whatever the name, they are the latest "thing" in Claire's world! Claire is obsessed with these little rubber bands. She has around 200 of the bands in all shapes, sizes, and colors. I walked into the family room one day and saw that she had spread out some of her collection, so I decided to snap a pic. Just wish I was the person who had invented these!

She Sews!

2010-08-23T08:21:00.002-05:00

In an effort to keep Claire away from the tv screen and be more productive with her time during the summer, I decided to teach her to sew. Her first project is a quilt! We went to the quilt store and Claire spent a good bit of time choosing just the right fabrics (greens, pinks & oranges). I bought a smaller sewing machine that has a speed limit on the foot pedal, and just let her go. She has been doing great, and hopes to have her quilt finished soon. (I'll post pics of her project when completed.)

Natalie & Leah Come to Visit

2010-08-23T08:09:00.003-05:00

We were blessed to have two of the girls from Emily's travel group visit us this month. Emily and Natalie decided to make cookies one afternoon using a rainbow sugar cookie mix. It was such fun seeing the designs they came up with...and tasty too. The "Toms" cookie was made for their friend Leah, who arrived later (not sure why I don't have pics of her though).

*Edited* - found a pic of all 3 girls!

2010-08-23T07:48:00.003-05:00

All the kiddos by the restaurant door

I've been MIA due to being incredibly BUSY. As usual, I'm going to attempt to catch-up on our bloggie happenings, but I'm sure I won't remember everything. :-)
During youth camp, I volunteered to care for a friends daughter so the friend could chaperone our youth group. This was all arranged "last minute" since the friend's babysitter was suddenly hospitalized.
As payment for taking over her duties, the babysitter insisted on taking us out for lunch one Sunday. We were treated to a lovely meal at Shogun, complete with our own entertaining chef. The kids loved the show and the food was delicious.

Youth Camp

2010-07-31T21:46:00.003-05:00

Emily returned on Friday from church youth camp. In her words, camp week was "amazing" and "something we'll never forget". She took over 100 photos (good girl...trained her right!), and I'm posting some here. We heard that Chris Tomlin was performing during the evening worship services at camp, so we decided to surprise Emily with...our family! lol We drove to Branson on Thursday and first did a bit of shopping at the outlet mall. We hit a few good sales and made quite a haul for back-to-school. Randy had to practically drag me out of the Coach store (but in my defense, they *did* have a 20% off sale! LOL). Yeah, I know that isn't much of a discount in that store so I ended up being practical, put the purses down and walked out empty handed. :-) In the evening, I dropped Randy and Allyson off near the convention center so they could attend the camp worship service. The other two kiddos and I headed out for dinner and then back to the hotel and just vegged for awhile (with blizzards from DQ!). On Friday, we hit a couple more stores and then enjoyed a quick lunch @ Red Lobster before heading home (in time to meet the youth group buses). It was a quickie trip, but was still nice to get away for awhile.

The girls got matching airbrush tattoos! :-)

One way to remember the bible verses

Tie Dye

2010-07-31T21:40:00.003-05:00

Here's the pic of the kids and their tie-dyed shirts. We were all pleasantly surprised that they turned out so well. This was such a fun and easy project, and we plan to make more shirts soon using other techniques.

Swim Parties R Us

2010-07-22T22:38:00.005-05:00

Two more swim parties last week! Emily hosted five friends from school on Tuesday. The girls all seemed to have a great time. I was again honored to be able to photograph them (anyone with teenagers knows they aren't always willing subjects). ;-) When I began uploading pics, I had more than 50 pictures of them! Whew! I'm only posting a couple here though. ;-)

**+++**

On Thursday, we had several girls from the church youth group over, as well as a younger sibling. The youth group is getting ready for camp, so the girls decided to make matching tie-dye shirts. Having never done tie-dye before, I watched a YouTube video and we then set out to make swirly shirts. I think they all turned out great, and the girls will look cute in them! (photos to come later since Emily has them on her camera).

Hard work calls for more swimming, so that's where everyone ended up while they waited for the dye to "set".

Max's Gotcha Gifts

2010-07-15T12:47:00.004-05:00

Just realized I missed posting the photo of Max and his gotcha day gifts on an earlier post.

One of the other moms made a super cute clipboard with a photo of the travel group. I made an ABC album modeled after one I saw on eBay, but with my own twist on it. I gave a set of the ABC transparencies to the other families so they can make a book for their kiddos. Max also received a couple of cute t-shirts, some fun toys, and an Asian ornament.

Allyson's 12th Birthday!

2010-07-14T17:04:00.005-05:00

Our sweet Allyson celebrated her 12th birthday last week. As usual, her birthday fell during China Camp so we allowed her to choose a restaurant for a birthday dinner after camp. Her choice: The Cheesecake Factory. Smart girl. :-) She ordered pasta (no surprise), and a snickers cheesecake. Yummy!

Allyson also had a swim birthday party at home the day before we left for camp, and invited a few friends over. She received some really nice gifts from her friends, but the one thing she was truly hoping for came from mom and dad...a cell phone!! She also received a tiger phone case that she wanted. Apparently, she was the last child in the area to have a cell phone (or at least that is what has been reported). LOL

We ordered a flip-flop cake from a friend at church, but things don't always go as planned. Just hours before the party, we received a call stating that the friend was on his way to the ER with a collapsed lung. (We are happy to report that he is better now!)

The party must go on, so I headed to Wal-Mart and picked up a pre-decorated cake. It was cute and "girly" and tasted good. Claire was sad that Allyson didn't get the cake she wanted, so she begged to put some trick candles on the cake...sweet sister! lol I was so proud of Allyson for having a great attitude about the whole situation. She later told us it was "the best birthday ever"! :-)

Discovery Days & China Camp 2010

2010-07-13T21:01:00.008-05:00

It's July, so that means it's time for camp! Our family has been attending China camp since 1998 when Emily was around 18 months old. It's always great to see our travel group families at camp, as well as meeting new families...and sometimes even putting faces to the people we've "met" on the internet. :-)

Since Emily is now a teenager, she attended Dillon International's "Discovery Days" camp this year. She was SO excited about attending since her China orphanage-mates were attending also. Emily had a wonderful time, made lots of new friends, and is already looking forward to attending next year.

Emily and her travel group buddies

Emily climbing the pole to get to the zip line...it was way up there, but fun!

*____*____*____*____*____*

As soon as Discovery Days ended, Emily headed straight to China Camp for her counselor training. Again, more great photos with her travel group. :-)

Emily wasn't the only one having fun at camp though!

Dragon dance during opening ceremonies

Claire and Allyson with camp friends/travel buddies

Some of Claire's art from camp

And last, it looks like Max found a cute hat at the camp store! :-)

Max's Gotcha Day #1

2010-07-12T17:29:00.004-05:00

In June, we celebrated our one year anniversary with Mr. Max. So much to say about the last year with this little guy, but WAY more than I have time to write now. Who knows, maybe someday I'll have time to write a book about it! lol It has been quite an adjustment for our entire family, but I think we're on the downhill slide now....a very good thing. :-)

We were so fortunate to be able to meet with 4 of the 5 other families in our '09 travel group to celebrate "gotcha day" this year. We missed the "B" family, and sincerely hope they will be able to make the event next year!

The "W" family hosted our group in KS this year. A few of the weekend events included: an interactive animal park, eating Chinese, swimming, a yummy dinner (prepared by the host family), and a gift exchange. Max also has a personal souvenir from the weekend...a massive scrape (now a scar) on the backside of his knee from falling off a concrete block step. :-)

Summer Fun

2010-07-11T18:04:00.009-05:00

I have a new computer now, so I'm gonna do my best to catch up on the ol' bloggie! I'm sure there are lots of our activities I've forgotten, so this will be a "hit and miss" kind of post. :-) Away we go!

The kiddos attended a Terrific Tuesday skating event sponsored by our church. This was the first TT of the summer and they had a great time. Max tried to take giant steps with his skates and fell quite a few times...he only cried once when he fell in front of a group of moms and bruised his...ummm ego. :-)

We've done lots of swimming this summer and can't seem to resist new pool toys. We found a cute inflatable shark and the kids had to try it out immediately. They found that this is one shark they shouldn't mess with as it dumps them every time! lol

The girls have had quite a few friends over for swim parties this summer. They love jumping in near the pool house, and even request that I take photos of their antics (& I'm always happy to oblige). :-)

Emily and a couple of her school friends:

We also hosted a cookout and swim party for our church youth choir:

SO thankful for such a great group of kids!

And finally, just some swimming fun pics...

Hello Out there (echo, echo, echo)

2010-06-28T15:21:00.002-05:00

No, I didn't get lost on the way to the internet. I allowed the kids to play on the computer, and it seems we acquired a lovely virus...that then went about its merry little way killing our computer!!
I am posting from an older (slow) laptop, but am hoping to get a new computer soon. I'm hoping to be back soon with lots of pics and updates on our daily adventures. OK, so I know we're a pretty boring family, but I kinda like it that way. :-)

Children's Choir

2010-06-03T11:14:00.003-05:00

In May, our church Children's Choir had their final performance for the school year. It's been a long session as we had kiddos participate this time who were only in preschool (it's just harder for them to learn the parts in a play), but we got through it. Our program was called "Everyday Heroes", and the setting was similar to kids playing a Wii game (about Queen Esther and Haman). Claire was a "Mii" rock-star character, and Allyson played a cousin to the Queen. It was a lot of hard work, but the kids all performed beautifully, and the play was a success. It was a little sad for me though as this was Allyson's final performance with this choir...she will move up to the youth choir this fall.

- - - - -

Hawaii

2010-06-03T11:07:00.003-05:00

My dear, dear husband went to Hawaii last week...with his boss! I stayed home with the kids as usual. I'm thinking the abbreviation "dh" may come to mean something besides "dear" husband if he does this again! :-0
Oh well...he did take a few pics for me so I'll share on the blog.

Pool Guest

2010-05-14T08:32:00.003-05:00

As I walked by the window last week, I glanced out at the pool as I normally do. A little something caught my eye, so I had to take a second look. There was a brown ball of fur sitting on the cleaning tube. A little brown mouse. Apparently, it couldn't figure out how to get out of the pool & had been swimming a long time. It must have been exhausted, since it didn't try to run as we approached. After a few tries, Randy netted the little creature and tossed it onto the deck. Randy said he would dispose of it, so the girls and I headed inside...didn't really care to watch what might come next. I just know that I didn't want to find it on the bottom of the pool...or even worse, in the filter basket after having been sucked up by the cleaner! :-0

Mother's Day '10

2010-05-14T08:18:00.004-05:00

Since our schedule has been so busy lately, Randy and I didn't have time to go see our moms for Mother's Day. :-(
My family was really good to me though. Allyson and Claire wrote the most beautiful poems for me (& made me cry), and everyone gave me cards. My big gift was a mini camcorder...a cute little Sony Bloggie. I've had some trouble with my flip camera, and the family has heard my grumblings about it. So proud of them for "listening"! :-)

After church on Sunday, the kiddos and I posed for a pic. I truly hate being in photos, but I did it for the kids. LOVE my kids! SO very blessed!!

April Wrap-Up

2010-05-04T13:25:00.005-05:00

OK, so I didn't improve on blog posting for April as I hoped. :-) We've just been incredibly busy with a big home improvement project, so my journal (the blog) took a back seat. I'm just going to do a quick wrap-up for the last half of April (since I can't really remember everything we did), and make a new goal for May! :-) May is another CRAZY busy month for us, so my goal is just to post once a week.

OK, so wrappin' it up quickly....

Emily participated in a band clinic, where she played a flute solo...she received the highest ranking and a medal. She also traveled to Tulsa with her church youth group, and attended a wonderful concert featuring Mercy Me. To top off her month, Emily tried out for the cheer and dance teams at school....and she made the cheer team! **Go Emily!!** Sadly, the only pic I have related to any of her activities is of a cookie...one of her friend's mom gave one to each girl as a good luck gift. :-)

Allyson participated in her first school orchestra concert. She had the best time, and the orchestra played beautifully. I love the fact that the orchestra is much smaller than the band, so the gathering seemed more intimate. She has two more concerts in May.

Now...just a few random pics from the last couple of weeks...

And finally, I think spring has finally arrived here. The giant bumble bees were buzzing around our little redbud tree so I grabbed my camera. This little guy was kind enough to pose for me...so sweet of him! ;-)

Easter

2010-04-05T14:15:00.004-05:00

Egg hunt at church on Saturday. Allyson and Claire were in one age group, Max was in another, so Emily and I split the picture-taking duties. Everyone came away with a basket full o' candy (er, I mean eggs). Max was perfectly happy with his eggs...then a well-meaning lady at church showed him that the eggs opened to reveal chocolate candy inside - oh boy! Had to quickly redirect him to keep him from devouring it all on the spot! ;-)

Decided to set the camera up and take a quick shot of the family after lunch. Not a great shot, but we're all in there for once....

Dentist

2010-04-02T14:38:00.004-05:00

Max had his first dental visit yesterday. Before we left home, I explained where we were going and what they would do to his teeth. The only problem was that I told Max about this early in the morning, so I had to listen to "We going to dentist?" at least a hundred times before his early afternoon appointment. :-O The appointment also coincided with nap time, so I was more than a little worried....Max is NOT fun to be around when he hasn't napped! lol (Had to take this appt. time as they only see new patients in the early afternoon.)

Max was first weighed, and then he climbed onto the exam table. He looked around and tried to quickly jump down (mommy is worried at this point, but kept encouraging him). The hygienist used a stuffed frog (with a beautiful smile) to show Max what they were going to do. Max was sold as soon as she showed him the water squirter! He then agreed to lay down, don the sunglasses, and opened his mouth (& asked for more water! lol). Max's teeth were successfully cleaned, and the dentist said his teeth look good. A new toothbrush, a little bouncy ball, two stickers and we were outta there! :-)

Spring Break 2010

2010-04-02T14:19:00.004-05:00

Just realized I never posted about our exciting spring break. Actually, not so exciting...just a break (much, much needed break). We're doing some construction and landscaping around the pool, so that was our break. Emily was none too happy about our plans, because apparently *everyone* in her school (except HER) was going on a trip or cruise of some kind. ;-)

The kids returned from school on Friday, SO excited to play outside. The weather was lovely, there was no homework for a week, and the scooters were charged and ready to go. This was the action here on Friday afternoon/evening:

And THIS is what we woke up to on Sunday morning! A lovely covering of snow! I think we ended up with around 8" of snow by the time it stopped. It was beautiful, but we are all ready for spring.

Cuteness

2010-03-30T12:59:00.004-05:00

Trying to catch up on emptying some of my camera cards today, and thought I'd post a couple of pics to add some cuteness to the blog. :-)

Caught Mr. Max playing with his cars....

And, is there anything cuter than a little boy in plaid deck shoes? Major cuteness happening here!

M.A.X.

2010-03-19T11:21:00.003-05:00

Just took this photo of Mr. Max a few minutes ago. We are so blessed to have this little guy in our family! He is a true joy. He is one smart cookie too...and can already spell his name! I realize that it's only 3 letters, but he can also pick them out of the letters on the fridge. :-) His two favorite words right now are "Why NOT?". LOL He is fully potty-trained now as well (& he did it all on his own btw, because I gave up after only a week!). :-)

Yes, I definitely need to change the picture in my blog header!

Peter Pan Ballet

2010-03-19T11:08:00.003-05:00

While I'm catching up on my poor little blog, I thought I might as well get REALLY current...as current as last night! A rarity for me - yes.

Last night we attended a wonderful performance of the Peter Pan Ballet. Our school is blessed with a wonderful group of staff who encourage participation in the fine arts. Not only is this encouraged, but they have made it a part of the school day. While it's only 30 minutes a week, one teacher (a former ballerina), teaches a ballet class to any students who want to participate. In the spring, the class then performs for their parents. This year's group was made up of 130 dancers, ranging from first through fourth grade. A few of the teaching staff also had parts in the play, including the principal who played Captain Hook.

Our Claire had the part of a fairy in the play. We were so proud of her and all of the other children. They practiced hard, and performed for the school yesterday afternoon, and then for the parents in the evening. The school choir also performed prior to the ballet (& Claire sang in that as well).

What's this? Claire was SO tired by the time we got home, this is as far as she made it to dump all of her things.

Max is 3 !!

2010-03-19T10:48:00.004-05:00

Our baby boy turned 3 years old earlier this month! He isn't a baby anymore though. He even describes himself as a "big boy". Mr. Max doesn't really watch tv, so he isn't really in the know about current favorite characters that most kids want for a birthday party. His favorite toys right now are cars, so we just went with a simple race car theme party. Truthfully, the only things Max could talk about was CAKE and PRESENTS! lol

Since this was Max's first birthday home with us, we wanted to keep it simple and low key. At first we thought it would just be our family, but then decided to invite a cousin and one friend. I spray painted some copy paper boxes and decorated them like little cars (complete with a custom license plate), and the kids made a few laps around the house with those. Max really enjoyed his cake...and even knew what to do when we lit the candles! Can't believe Max is 3 already! He has changed so much since coming home last year. I really need to design a new blog header, because that sad little boy pictured just isn't the same boy I live with. Here are some pics of Max's big day:

The racers are ready...

Max in his "car" going forward

and in reverse...

Thoroughly enjoying cake and ice cream!

Epiphanie Camera Bags

2010-03-17T13:37:00.003-05:00

It's the middle of March...and I haven't posted since Feb. 19th? Seriously?! Not sure why I've neglected the 'ol blog - guess we've just been busy with our normal, everyday, boring life. Oops!

OK, now for the reason I *made time* to blog again! I just saw on the Epiphanie Camera Bag blog that they are doing one awesome giveaway. Of course I want to enter, and in order to get more points, I need to blog about it. Sooooo, if you're interested in winning a choice of some airline tickets or a cool Canon camera, check out their site here. I would love, love, LOVE to win that camera but if I can't be the one to win, then I welcome all my friends and handful of blog readers to enter.

Surgery #?

2010-02-19T14:35:00.003-06:00

We learned recently that Randy needed yet another round of surgery on his eyes. He now has cataracts in both eyes...good grief! Apparently, the cataracts were caused by all of the previous problems and surgeries he's had. :-( Unusual stuff for a guy his age.

The first surgery was done on Wednesday. Max went along to wait with me in the waiting area. When we went back to pick up Randy, Max charmed the staff. Two nurses went scurrying around the room, only to return with an eye patch just like dad's (it's behind the glasses). They also gave Max a doctor's hat and mask to play with at home. ;-)

More Science Fair!

2010-02-19T14:27:00.002-06:00

Well, I guess we just "thought" Emily was finished with her science fair project! She turned her board in and received a grade...that's all we thought was involved. Not so, grasshopper!
Apparently, the teacher put the boards up and had someone judge them...Emily won 1st place in her category, and received a giant blue ribbon! She will now go to the UofA next month to participate in the state science fair. We are told that the winners there receive cash money, so our fingers and toes are crossed for Emily and her orange juice! :-)

My Valentines and Sadness

2010-02-19T13:42:00.006-06:00

For Valentine's Day, the kiddos in Claire's class were asked to decorate a shoe box in which to collect their goodies. Claire didn't want to do a simple box though! She has been asking to make a giant Hershey's kiss for the past couple of years, so this was the year we tried it. Not quite sure about how to make the form, we jumped in and got our hands dirty...very dirty. We used paper mache'(sp?) and built the shape around a bowl, then covered it with aluminum foil. Claire was thrilled with her finished product. Mom was happy. The classmates were pretty impressed too. :-)

The "sadness" part of the post is about Randy's dad. He has been suffering from the effects of Parkinson's disease for some time. The disease finally won and he passed away on February 12th. Norman is in heaven now - if there is fishing in heaven, I'm sure he's catching some big ones. Randy and his brother both gave loving tributes at the funeral, so that visitors would know about the man they called "dad". So very sweet and touching. While we are sad Norman (grandpa) is no longer with us, we are rejoicing that he is with his Lord, and is no longer dealing with that disease.

Since we were busy with the funeral, etc., I forgot to give the kids their valentine goodies. I decided to make made simple cones from scrapbook paper, & filled them with their favorite candies. Made a nice mid-week gift.

Attn:Scrapbookers! Cricut Cartridge Giveaway!

2010-02-04T15:20:00.002-06:00

If you love your cricut machine, and would like a chance to win a new cartridge, go to this blog:
http://scrappinstyle.blogspot.com/
She will be giving away a Love Struck cartridge...all you have to do is become one of her followers and post on your own blog (like I'm doing here). If I'm not the winner (& I would truly LOVE to win this), then I would be thrilled to know that one of my friends won. So hurry on over to her blog and leave a comment!!

More Snow

2010-01-30T21:00:00.003-06:00

We got another round of snow this weekend. It began Thursday afternoon with freezing rain/sleet, and then changed over to snow...giving the kids another day off of school on Friday. We were so thankful to sit in our warm home and watch the beautiful scene unfold outside. SO, SO thankful we didn't lose power. Remembering one year ago this weekend that we had lots of ice, which resulted in power loss for several days.

After staying in all day yesterday, today was a great day to play in the snow. Sledding, snowball fights, building a snowman, and then hot chocolate...good times.

Where...

2010-01-29T08:47:00.004-06:00

did January go??!! Can't believe we're already near the end of the month, and I missed a lot of blogging days (bad, bad blogger). It seems I've been playing catch-up...so the trend continues...

The girls made fudge one snowy afternoon. They had to honor traditions and lick the bowl clean. :-)

Max loved wearing the cook's hat (from fudge making day). He paired it so stylishly with some flower leis (that big sis Emily wore to a Hawaiian birthday party).

And then some shades...

Allyson's class did a study on immigration. The entire 6th grade did a re-enactment about Ellis Island, and each student was an immigrant. Allyson portrayed an 18-year-old young woman named Pirkko from Finland (a young mother and seamstress).

In other school news, all 3 girls made the honor roll at their respective schools. We are so proud of them! They continue to do well in extra-curricular activities as well.

Max continues to adjust well. He has moved up to his big boy room/bed full time (even for naps!). We started potty training, but quickly stopped as I realized he can't even pull his pants up/down by himself. :-( We will work on those skills some more and then start again when we're both ready. Max's speech continues to amaze me. He talks just as well (if not better) as other kids his age (& he's only heard English for 7 months!). I think the most amazing part is that he always uses words in their correct context, and with the right feeling behind them. (note to self: kids are always listening to what we do/say, and they repeat those things! lol).

Last week we had the pleasure of meeting the parents of our dear friend Chun. Randy met Chun in Shenzhen China during a business trip. A few years later, Chun moved to the US to work. She is now married and expecting her first child, so her parents came to help with the new baby. We look forward to getting to know them better in the next few months.

Keeping Busy

2010-01-08T16:16:00.003-06:00

The snow/ice on our roads resulted in our schools being closed ALL week! We were off 2 weeks for the Christmas holiday break, so the kiddos got 3 weeks off total. Not a lot of excitement happening around here, but I did get a few pictures this week:

This is an old bridge in Cotter, AR. We drove over to pick up my mother-in-law and stopped to take a pic of this bridge.

When the kids get quiet, I have to go and find them (to see what they're up to!). This is how I found Allyson and Claire one evening. They had pulled out some scrapbooks and were looking at pictures of themselves as babies. Sooooo sweet!

Max is really into playing with little matchbox cars. He likes to line the cars up, bumper to bumper and show them to me. This day was different though. When Max said, "Mommy, I line up" I was surprised to see the cars spaced out in an arch shape...so of course I had to snap a pic.

Snow Fun!

2010-01-05T13:36:00.003-06:00

We had about 3" of snow/ice when we woke up on Sunday morning. This resulted in school being canceled for two days (which made for an extra long holiday break). The kids didn't mind too much though...the snow was great entertainment.

This was Max's first time playing in the snow and he absolutely LOVED it!

Pumpkin Bites - Revisited

2009-12-30T15:10:00.004-06:00

Jill, you mentioned that you'd like to see what my pumpkin bites looked like using the flower shape cutter...

Here they are! I've made countless batches of these little pies and my family LOVES them! They like them cold, room temp and just a little warm from the microwave. Bakerella posted these little pies made with a pumpkin shape cutter. Hers were cute, but actually I like the flower shape better. :-)

Here they are baking...

And here they are after they've rested a bit...

Oh and here's what one of my kiddos looks like when she knows I've been baking them (she has 5 of them on her plate!)...

Our Holiday Events 2009

2009-12-30T14:28:00.007-06:00

Gosh - I take a few days off and forget to post half of the month! I'm old so I can't remember everything we did...I'll just hit a few highlights before Christmas. Away we go!

The third graders at Claire's school were asked to become entrepreneurs this month. They held a "Holiday Market" and sold handcrafted items to the 1st graders. The 1st graders paid with "brain bucks" they had earned from their teachers. After going back and forth (and back and forth!) on what she wanted to make, Claire finally decided on flower pens and pebble magnets. Claire was extremely proud of her creations and happily sold ALL of her items.

Before Christmas break, Claire's class had their formal lunch party (well, as formal as third graders get). After lunch, the students took turns telling what they were thankful for this year, and then made a toast with bubbly cider. It was SO cute!

The REAL Santa always visits dad's office, and he made the stop again this year. The kids know this Santa is the real one because he always knows details about them (what their teacher says about them, how they're doing in school, how they're behaving with their siblings, if they're keeping their room clean, etc.). Claire was excited to see Santa again, and Max ran up to the jolly man like he was a best friend. We quickly realized that what Max truly wanted was the candy cane Santa was giving out. :-)

First visit w/Santa, and first candy cane (lasted maybe a minute)!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We had freezing rain and snow late Christmas Eve, so the roads were really icy on Christmas morning; therefore, we stayed home instead of going to Grandma's. The kids had a great day playing with all of their new goodies. We exchanged our homemade gifts again this year (with exception of Max since he's too little). Dad made Emily a "to do" tile for her bathroom (in hopes of getting her to stop writing on the mirror!); Emily did a pencil drawing for Claire; Claire made a mod-podge eyeglass container for dad's desk; I made a ink transfer photo for Allyson; and Allyson made a jewelry box and photo mouse pad for me. The kids LOVE making gifts for one another and have already asked to do this again next year.

Emily & Allyson with their hand crafted gifts.

Max - not sure he likes the dinosaur

Christmas Performances x2

2009-12-15T11:02:00.006-06:00

Our Claire wants to be a movie star when she grows up. She's already a star in my eyes. :-)

Our elementary school has a choir this year - what they termed "an audition only choir". Claire decided to audition and won a spot in the choir. We have over 900 students in the school this year, so this is a big deal for Claire. The choir performed for the first time on Saturday at the mall. We were so proud of our little movie star as she had a solo in "Let it Snow".

We couldn't end the weekend with only one performance though. On Sunday, our children's choir at church performed their play, "The Best Christmas Present Ever", which we have been working on since September. We were blessed with nearly 40 children in our choir this time - (Kindergarten through 6th grade, and even a few pre-K kiddos). They all did a great job and I am so proud of them!

Vitamin C

2009-12-15T10:40:00.002-06:00

Ever wondered which type of orange juice contains the most Vitamin C? Since I'm not a big fan of OJ, I never did. :-) Emily's science teacher required all students to do a science fair project, so Emily decided to check out V-C levels in OJ. She found a recipe on the internet that could be used as a vitamin C indicator when added to juice. She compared freshly squeezed OJ, canned, frozen, and bottled.
The verdict: freshly squeezed has the highest concentration of Vitamin C, followed closely by the frozen variety. I think it's probably best to not even bother drinking the canned OJ though, as it had 3 times less the amount of "C" than freshly squeezed...according to our testing anyway. :-)

Oh and Emily got an "A" for her work on the "C". :-)

Emily's 12th Gotcha Day!

2009-12-04T16:03:00.007-06:00

We recently celebrated Emily's 12th Gotcha Day! I say it every year, but it really is amazing how quickly the years have gone since we adopted Emily. We are SO blessed to parent this child! Emily is beautiful, intelligent, funny, mature, articulate...well, just an amazing young lady.

There are 3 other families in Emily's travel group, and we all take turns hosting gotcha day weekends. This group of girls has become SO close and have dubbed themselves the "F4E's". This year's gotcha weekend was hosted by Natalie's family in Texas. After our arrival on Friday, the kids got busy playing the Wii and just hanging out together. On Saturday, we went to a fabulous shopping area in South Lake for a photo shoot (of course we squeezed in some shopping too since the girls are at "that" age!). :-) Dinner was at a Mongolian grill - where we all loaded meat and veggies of our choice into 2 bowls and watched as the chef cooked them on a hot, round stone in the middle of the room....pretty cool! We also celebrated with cake and presents later in the day. The parents really went all out for this year's gifts which included: a special custom necklace for each girl, shadowbox frames with a few photos from past reunions, and a photo frame with F4E tiles. Our gift to the girls was a photo book with pics from the past 12 years of gotcha days and China camp (the book ended up being 39 pages total and I also left a spot for this year's gotcha day photo). Before we left for the weekend, the girls wrote messages to one another in their books. (Note: I'm happy to share the contents of the book with other adoptive families, but don't want to post the slideshow here on the blog...just contact me privately if you'd like to view it.)

Lurch

2009-12-03T08:23:00.003-06:00

I'd like to introduce you to Lurch. Lurch, meet the blog readers. :-)

My sis-in-law Holly is friends with the woman who owns and loves on Lurch. While we were in Mountain Home visiting Randy's dad, we made a quick stop to meet Lurch. Lurch is a world-famous guy you know. He's been featured on Animal Planet and the Ellen DeGeneres show (Ellen even built a new barn for Lurch). Lurch is a 14-year-old African Watusi steer. He is famous due to the size of his horns....they are doozies! Lurch owns the Guinness record for their size (no surprise there...not many guys would want to carry something that big around all day!).

While we were surprised at the size of Lurch's horns, we were also surprised at his wonderful, gentle nature. He is aware of how big his horns are, and is careful to not hit anyone with them. We were sad to learn that Lurch has been sick though. He apparently has a cancer in his right horn. The cancer is making his right horn heavier - thus the reason for the way he is holding his head. :-( Janice (Lurch's owner) said Lurch is feeling better though, so were were able to meet him and take photos.

Janice is a gem of a lady. She has a huge heart for animals and runs the Rocky Ridge Refuge. If you're even near Mt. Home or Gassville, AR and want to meet Lurch, give Janice a call! If you'd like to read more about Lurch and the gang, check out their website here.

Writing in the Sky

2009-12-02T09:15:00.002-06:00

Behind on blogging....again. :-( Hope to catch up later today - after I find Claire's little camera we used on a trip!

We went to visit Randy's dad after Thanksgiving. As we were driving (3 hours), we noticed all of the jet trails in the sky. It was a beautiful day and the trails just looked perfect for photos...so we pulled over to snap a few. Take time to enjoy all of the little things...

"X" marks the spot

Pumpkin Bites

2009-11-18T09:15:00.002-06:00

If you're looking for a new yummy treat to serve during the holidays, I highly recommend pumpkin pie bites! I found the recipe at Bakerella last week and made the little treats for a church gathering on Sunday. My family LOVED these...even Emily who is my picky child! My pumpkin bites looked different than Bakerella's as I used a flower cookie cutter instead of a pumpkin shape. The family thought the mini pies were adorable because the flower shape cutter gave the crust a little scalloped edge. I was also able to fill every hole in the muffin tin since I didn't have to worry about a "pumpkin stem" on the crust.
I would post a picture of our little pies but unfortunately, they didn't last long enough. Trust me though - make these and they will be eaten! ;-) Oh and you can even serve them warm (they just melt in your mouth!). Now...get thee to Bakerella and start baking! :-)

His "Good" Side

2009-11-17T14:00:00.003-06:00

Just thought I'd post a pic of Max's "good side". :-) The boy thought it was SO much fun to slide head-first off the chair and get stuck between the chair and ottoman.

It wasn't long before he discovered it was even MORE fun to slide backwards off the ottoman. It's a good thing he has such a hard head!

Flu Shots

2009-11-17T13:53:00.002-06:00

Our schools gave free shots for both the H1N1 and seasonal flu, so we took advantage of the offer (just wish they had done this before Emily and I got the flu!). Claire wasn't very happy when she came home last week after her shots though. Apparently, they ran out of the nasal mist, so she had to have TWO shots, and THIS one hurt the most! I told her I would take a pic of her battle scar and put it in her scrapbook, so she was willing to pose for me. :-)

Pool - Week 2

2009-11-17T13:39:00.003-06:00

Our girls were SO excited at the end of week #2...the 'cement pond' was finally looking like a pool. The water started going in on Friday, and the girls just HAD to try it out when they came home from school. It was a bit cold, but they didn't seem to mind much....well, only for a little wading in the shallow end.

The squirrels decided to check out the pool too....

I like Pink!

2009-11-09T08:07:00.003-06:00

Daddy's biggest fear has happened....Max likes pink! LOL We have a rug near the garage door where the girls in our house drop our shoes when we come home. (Haven't managed to train the boys yet - doubt we ever will.) Last week, Max perused the pile of shoes for awhile and then chose a favorite....the pink ones! He wanted to wear these shoes constantly. No matter which room I went to, I could hear Max "clomping" after me in his pretty pink shoes. They caused quite a few falls and ouchies, but Max didn't seem to mind much. He looks pretty good in pink!